Deusi Archives - The Darjeeling Chronicle https://thedarjeelingchronicle.com/tag/deusi/ The News Site, That Proudly Supports Gorkhaland Statehood Fri, 08 Nov 2024 05:34:49 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://thedarjeelingchronicle.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/favicon.png Deusi Archives - The Darjeeling Chronicle https://thedarjeelingchronicle.com/tag/deusi/ 32 32 DEUSI BLUES: We are losing touch with our cultural roots https://thedarjeelingchronicle.com/deusi-blues-we-are-losing-touch-with-our-cultural-roots/ https://thedarjeelingchronicle.com/deusi-blues-we-are-losing-touch-with-our-cultural-roots/#comments Fri, 08 Nov 2024 05:34:48 +0000 https://thedarjeelingchronicle.com/?p=11766 Deusi is a quintessential Gorkha tradition. It is not just a part of our culture, but it is also one of the threads that binds our community together. It is truly disheartening to hear from my mother that this time around, no one came to our home for Deusi – not even in our entire village. What’s even more troubling is how the vibrant tradition of Deusi, once played with so much vigour and enthusiasm in the hills of Darjeeling, is gradually fading away. Today, the youths who continue to carry forward our tradition can perhaps be counted in the tip of our fingers. It’s a painful reminder of how quickly we are losing touch with our cultural roots.

The post DEUSI BLUES: We are losing touch with our cultural roots appeared first on The Darjeeling Chronicle.

]]> Deusi is a quintessential Gorkha tradition. It is not just a part of our culture, but it is also one of the threads that binds our community together. It is truly disheartening to hear from my mother that this time around, no one came to our home for Deusi – not even in our entire village. What’s even more troubling is how the vibrant tradition of Deusi, once played with so much vigour and enthusiasm in the hills of Darjeeling, is gradually fading away. Today, the youths who continue to carry forward our tradition can perhaps be counted in the tip of our fingers. It’s a painful reminder of how quickly we are losing touch with our cultural roots.

On the other hand, we are seeing a rise in the influence of external cultures, especially the trend of Korean pop culture, as more and more young people aspire to emulate “trends” rather than embrace their own heritage. I can’t help but feel disturbed by this shift. As my daughter rightly remarked, “Darjeeling no longer has boys who look manly and robust; all they are now are copycats and overly feminine.” And I thought to myself, “Wow, you read my mind, darling.”

This erosion of our community, culture, and identity – our very essence as “Darjeeling” – is incredibly painful. It feels as if we’re facing an invisible threat, one that we’re not even aware of but is quietly dismantling our society. Globalization is undoubtedly having an impact on every society, but our community seems to be hit the hardest, and the reasons are many: illiteracy, unemployment, greed, lack of awareness, and a growing disconnect between our youth and their cultural roots.

Perhaps the greatest tragedy of all is that we, as a society, have failed to teach, pass on, and preserve our culture for the next generation. Meanwhile, other communities – despite facing their own set of challenges – continue to uphold and pass down their rich heritage. We, on the other hand, have become ashamed of our own.

We’ve already lost our land. Now, we’re losing our youth – the very generation that could have been the beacon of hope to revive and rebuild our culture and identity. This is happening at an alarming rate, and it’s devastating.

So where does that leave us as a Gorkha society today? We need to pause, reflect, and truly analyze where we stand. It’s time to confront the things we’ve chosen to ignore in our pursuit of external validation. But what we’ve forgotten is this: it’s not the world that needs to accept us, it’s our own society that must nurture, value, and love us. That acceptance, that bond, is far more precious than any external approval.

Let’s now make a collective effort to rebuild what we’ve allowed to fade, to pass on our culture, and work towards bringing the joy and pride back to being Gorkhas. We owe it to ourselves and to the future generations of Darjeeling.

Writes: S Chettri

The post DEUSI BLUES: We are losing touch with our cultural roots appeared first on The Darjeeling Chronicle.

]]> https://thedarjeelingchronicle.com/deusi-blues-we-are-losing-touch-with-our-cultural-roots/feed/ 1 Some Diyas Away From Home https://thedarjeelingchronicle.com/some-diyas-away-from-home/ https://thedarjeelingchronicle.com/some-diyas-away-from-home/#comments Thu, 08 Nov 2018 05:42:35 +0000 http://thedarjeelingchronicle.com/?p=2650 It was just like any other Diwali evening. It was past 6 pm and the sky was already starting to glitter of fireworks. The only...

The post Some Diyas Away From Home appeared first on The Darjeeling Chronicle.

]]>
It was just like any other Diwali evening. It was past 6 pm and the sky was already starting to glitter of fireworks. The only difference was that it wasn’t home, and it was perhaps the first time for Dibya.
 
She had just video called home.
 
The puja was done, rangolis were set, the flowers, tuning lights and Diyas were beautifully decorated by Baba. But the home that would otherwise be filled with noise, laughters and joy, was kind of silent. Aama and Baba sat together in some sort of loneliness. The Bhajan was playing and the Puja ko Thaal was properly set to welcome the Vailenis. The video call ended with Baba saying “We miss you.”
 
Dibya looked around her room. Her roommate had gone home for Diwali, while she had to hold back because of her college. So it was only her, the room and the small Puja Thaan that she had made earlier for Diwali. She tried her best to make the Diwali bright in the land far away. She lit wax candles on the balcony, and decorated the Puja Thaan with diyas. She struggled for around 30 mins trying to light up the Diyas, as it was her first time doing it herself. Some Diyas obliged, some didn’t.
 
She went out to the balcony and watched other homes, balconies and terraces. Lights, diyas, new clothes, happy faces. She thought she would be burning flower pots (Haari Bomb) too if she were home. She scrolled through her phone while she was also thinking about what she should cook for her dinner. Right then, her phone beeped. It was a video on whatsapp from her Baba showing little girls playing vaileni at their door.
 
This was the saturation point. She could hold it no longer and tears started rolling down her eyes.
 
She was still trying to control her emotions when there was a knock at her door. It was the maid of her landlady with some boxes. The landlady had sent dinner for her as a Diwali Gesture. And thus with the dinner, the Diwali ended.
 
This goes out for every other person who might have celebrated Diwali differently this year. Some with friends, some alone, some with good food and booze, some enjoying shopping, but for everyone who in common, share the feeling of missing home. Soldiers, students and people working away from home. People who missed their family, home, selrotis and most of all, the warm feeling of Tihar.
 
Some may be used to it by now, or it may be the first Tihar this way for some others. They might be missing the amazing food, dewsay-bhailo. Some may not be able to have bhai tika on their forhead, while some may not have their brothers to put tika on. Some may be holding their guns at the borders, not even getting time to miss anything at all… To You and All Others… We wish you all a very happy Diwali.
 
It may not be the same this year, but there this additional joy you are investing in, when you finally light a diya at home, maybe next year, maybe after that.

The post Some Diyas Away From Home appeared first on The Darjeeling Chronicle.

]]> https://thedarjeelingchronicle.com/some-diyas-away-from-home/feed/ 1