In a shocker of sorts, it has come to light that the Govt of West Bengal hasn’t paid arrears due to Hill College Professors to the tune of Rs. 2,71,67,825/-. This comprises of various types of arrears such as salary arrears, promotional arrears and increments for MPhil and PhD.
I want to begin my indictment of the TMC-led government by sharing a story about Pandit Oroan — a 35-year-old Adivasi man from Baroghoria Gram, which falls under Alipurduar district. In June 2017, Pandit Oroan and his wife were blessed with a baby boy – they named him Abhiraj. Sadly, Abhiraj was born with a birth defect, which prevented him from passing stool normally. All Abhiraj needed to function as a normal child was having a simple procedural operation, which would have cost around Rs 10,000 in a government hospital in Siliguri.
As much as he loved music, he also loved his hometown, Darjeeling. Once in an interview he was asked about the best moments in his life. He didn’t think twice to say that it was performing at Gangtok with the native band of Darjeeling, The Darjeeling Carnival. He was also asked in the same interview about the awards and honour he had received, to which he mentioned few honours that he was given by different organisations, but most of all, he recognised the love from the people of his hometown Darjeeling as always to be the highest honour for him.
‘Gorkhaland’ the very name evokes strong sentiments – from a motley crew of passionate supporters to very dedicated gang of opposers, to a vast majority of well-meaning but clueless neutrals who irrespective of their understanding of the issue or absolute lack of it, comment on it passionately.
Before you even start reading the article, let me be clear that I am a 4th generation Gorkha settled in Manipur. And I will accept criticism if you at any point feel that the article is a little biased. I am a confused person right now. Suddenly, after having lived for 31 good years of my life, my belongingness and loyalty towards my motherland are being questioned.
In a blow to the West Bengal police the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Darjeeling District Court yesterday quashed their earlier order proclaiming Bimal Gurung, Roshan Giri and four others as “proclaimed offender.”
Many of our youngsters know that we commemorate 27th July as the Saheed Diwas, many more would know that we commemorate it to remember the Gorkhaland martyrs, but very few would know what actually happened that day.
The murderer of thousands of Gorkhas can be the tallest statesman for some people who can compromise with their dignity, but not for those Gorkhas who are even today living a life of dignity.
Kamala Chettri from Darjeeling is a nurse by profession, has found love not only among her patients, but also in the world of modelling. Even though she is pursuing nursing as her career, her forever love for modelling never ebbed. It takes a real discipline to manage two seemingly contrasting interests – nursing and modelling, but Kamala is handling it with ease. She is a “Model Nurse” in true sense.
Darjeeling has always been a Mecca of Music in the Nepali music world, adding to the long list of artists from Darjeeling is Gunjan “Gigga” Lama. Though Rap music took time to dig its roots in Darjeeling hills, today we have exciting new up and coming artists who are looking to establish Brand Darjeeling firmly in the hearts and minds of music lovers.