Damber Singh Gurung was the only Gorkha in the nation’s Constituent Assembly, which was setup to draft the Constitution of Independent India. It is in his name that Kalimpong’s famous Damber Chowk has been named… Yet there was no commemoration of his birth anniversary
World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends average eight hours of sleep per night for adults. Two-thirds of adults throughout all developed nations fail to obtain it. This has led to WHO declaring sleep loss epidemic throughout industrialized nations.
Home is where, your heart is and the heart of Kalimpong is in Damber Chowk. If you live in K-Town and have not spend two minutes at the Damber Chowk, believe me, you are missing the zest of the town.
After staying in northern part of the country for some years and reading about societies of different parts of India , one significant thing I have observed is our North-East as a society has developed more than other parts of India (like I said, I have my bias here as I have little understanding of Southern India). I am not talking about the economic aspects here, it’s purely societal.
Spotlighting such unfair practices in teachers’ recruitment does not seem to create much outrage among the hill public these days, as the whole education system in the hills is widely politicised by the politicians and their party workers. So, the practice of nepotism and favouritism is very overt in the hill education system, and it has become a culture of sorts and is perhaps appreciated and expected by the educated hill mass.
Tea workers of the region are working below minimum wage, and over the years systematically all of their facilities have been stripped off. In order to support and sustain their family, they are forced to do small scale animal husbandry and horticulture. This is in addition to 12-14 hours of back-breaking labour every day.
When I discovered a remarkably unique species having a claw resembling the Gorkha machete ‘khukuri’, my professor Dr. Karmakar immediately told me to name this species after this traditional Gorkha weapon. Besides, we found our way to tribute the Gorkha people for their hospitality and hence the species was named “Floridotarsonemus kukri Karmakar & Mondal 2021”.
Dashain is all about catching up with family members, relatives, and friends and of course, eating scrumptious meals.
Forget politics, forget sloganeering, forget worries. Folks! Dashain is near! leave the worries to the Khasi(Goat), “Sungur”(Pig), “Goru”(Bull), and “Ranga”(Buff). It’s close and Judgement day for them- “Maar” looming, making them worried! only the cat and dog are in a jovial mood, though later they too have to deal with gastric problems.
People around the world create fences, walls, and boundaries, not so long ago in our villages of Darjeeling and Kalimpong we did it too, although naturally!