Darjeeling

Communities

Ira Pradhan April 2, 2020

The Great Thing about Communities

I grew up in a small community village in Darjeeling, where we were strewn together with the rest in an unbreakable bond – with similar values, language, likes and dislikes and almost similar surnames – and yet we were all different. I remember in 1986, my father was in a hurry to get us a television set. We would be the first one in our village, but that wasn’t his motivation, of course. The World Cup football was afoot and he wanted to make sure our village gets to watch it at our place.

COVID19 Darjeeling Quarantine

Ira Pradhan March 19, 2020

1986, Lockdown in Darjeeling – Down the Memory Lane

The word “quarantine”, takes me back to 1986 when I was a little girl during the Gorkhaland agitation in Darjeeling. A 40-day strike was declared, which meant a lockdown with no movement of vehicles, no movement of people, rationing of essentials and no schools – a dream come true for us, children and the worse nightmare for parents. While it wasn’t exactly like being caught in a health pandemic, but it has its similarities – working from home, no schools, restriction on transport and the worst one – stocking up on essentials.

Mount Hermon School

Dazzling Darjeeling March 16, 2020

ICONIC: The Legendary Mount Hermon School Completes 125 Years

“It was the best of times; It was the worst of times” – Charles Dickens, A tale of two cities. There are emotions, events and memories for each of us, of our times, spent at Mount Hermon that fall into either of the categories mentioned above. Nonetheless, there are defining characteristics of a Hermonite that you might identify us by.

Gorkhaland

Upendra January 31, 2020

Post Bodo Pact, All Eyes on How Centre Deals with Gorkhaland Issue

As the news of a settlement between the government of India and various factions of Bodo groups started to trickle in, there was much curiosity in Darjeeling hills – home to another demand for the separate state — Gorkhaland. Even though parallels can be drawn between the two, the demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland supersedes that of Bodoland by decades, and the unique geographical positioning of Darjeeling hills, Terai and Dooars, makes it one of the most cosmopolitan and at the same time one of the most vulnerable regions in India.

दार्जीलिंग

Articles January 19, 2020

दार्जीलिंग पहाड़को राजनैतिक परिप्रेक्ष्यमा – झारखण्ड चुनावको नतीजा बीजेपीलाई असल पाठ

हुन सक्छ दार्जीलिंग, तराई, डुवर्सको स्थायी समाधान हेतु बंगाल विधान सभा अघि भाजपाको आफ्नै विवशता हुन सक्छ तर छुटेका ११ जनजातिहरूलाई जनजातिको दर्जा भने दिलाउनै पर्नेछ। २०१४ को डुवर्सको मालबजारबाट आफ्नो चुनावी भाषणमा तत्कालीन भाजपाका प्रधानमंत्री उम्मेद्वार र बर्तमान प्रधानमंत्री श्री नरेन्द्र मोदीद्वारा गोर्खाका यी छुटेका ११ वटै जातहरूको एक एक गरी नाम लिएर जनजातिको दर्जा दिलाउने प्रतिबद्धता जाहेर गरेका थिए । तर २०१४ पछि बिभिन्न कमिटिहरू गठन पश्चात भारतीय गोर्खाहरूलाई जनजातिको दर्जा हेतु कुनै ठोस कार्य नै भएन अनि शंका लाग्छ कहीं हामीलाई भुल्लाउने काम मात्रै त भएन?