Reflection- 4

**A Tribute to Mountain Forum (www.mtnforum.org) on its 10th Anniversary**

As a son of the Eastern Himalaya, I have always been
fascinated by the Mountains. I grew up in a mountain
environment playing on the lap of the Himalayas and
enjoying each and every aspect given by nature. In the
process, I wasalso learning to understand the pros and
cons of thisunique system. With time my love and facination
about the mountains grew by leaps and bound.

However, it was only after I came to Delhi for
higher education in 1999 that I understood the true
importance of the mountains. It was here that I was
able to differentiate between the physical attributes
and human characters between the prime lands and the
marginal locations like the mountains. I was missing
the simplicity, innocence and the smiles of my people;
I was missing the rivers and forests. I was missing
the mountains.

It was in Delhi that I made up my mind to work and
write for mountains and the people therein. However,
as a student of MA, I had no platform to do the same.
I found hardly any persons to support and guide my
interests.

My introduction to Mountain Forum and ICIMOD by one of
my MPlan ( in Ahmedabad, Gujarat) class mates who happened
to attend a conference held in ICIMOD in 2002 led to a
paradigm shift in my academic and research career. It
was he who attended the conference and the benefit was
reaped by me. As he knew of my interests for the
mountains, he narrated me each and every aspect of
the discussions that took place in ICIMOD. He also
talked about Mountain Forum where we can register as a
member free of cost and discuss our interests.

I immediately made up my mind to register in the forum
and dreamed of associating myself with ICIMOD
sometimes in the future. Since I registered as a
member of Mountain Forum sometimes in 2002 I have
never looked back. I have been grabbing the
opportunities to express my views and points with both
my hands. In fact, I do not hesitate to go a little
ahead and say that it was Mountain Forum that gave me
and still is giving me a platform to evolve as a
researcher and writer. I cannot quantify how much I
have benefited from this forum but I know this forum
has a large share of contribution to put me in a place
where I am today.

Last but not the least, because of this forum I have
been able to make friends throughout the world. There
are cases when in the process of discussing on a
particular issue or issues we end up becoming friends
and here I guess I have benefited immensely. Who will
not be happy when you are still a Graduate student and
there is an e-mail for you addressing Dear Dr. ...
It not only helped me to move ahead academically but
it also gave me a moral booster to think that 'yes I
have something in me and that I am capable of
contributing and writing'. And finally, I was somewhere
on the top of the world when Dr. N. S. Jodha thought
of me on a New Year 2006. I was not only flattered but
I gained tremendous energy when a scholar of Dr.
Jodha's stature sent me a greeting card in Delhi. And
here too he addressed me... Dear Dr... However, I am yet to
clear my PhD.

Thank you 'Mountain Forum'. I look forward to be a very
active member of this forum in the days to come. My
heartfelt congratulations to this forum for completing
10 years. May this forum be alive for centuries and
support people like me across the globe.

supplement-1

Basics of Life

The most selfish 1 letter word "I": Avoid it.
The most satisfying 2-letter word "WE”: Use it.
The most poisonous 3-letter word "EGO": Kill it.
The most used 4-letter word "LOVE": Value it.
The most pleasing 5-letter word "SMILE": Keep it.
The fastest spreading 6-letter word "RUMOUR": Ignore it.
The hardest working 7-letter word "SUCCESS”: Achieve it.
The most enviable 8-letter word "JEALOUSY": Distance it.
The most powerful 9-letter word "KNOWLEDGE": Acquire it.
The most essential 10-letter word "CONFIDENCE”: Trust it.

Source: unknown

Reflection-3

Since the creation of Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) in July 1988 the ruling GNLF led by Subash Ghising has indulged in a number of development projects often funded by the foreign institutions. Construction of roads across the rural spaces of the ‘Queen of Hills’ occupy an important place in this connection. A large sum of money amounting to hundred of crores have been expended in such venture. Truly, development, be it in the field of health, education, tourism or infrastructure, is the single most important aspect of human civilisation on the ongoing march towards ever higher reaches. Darjeeling hills cannot be an exception in this regard.

The point, however, is how sustainable has been a particular development venture. While we proceed ahead in the process of development we need to respect certain aspects concerning the geographical location, environment conditions, over all aspirations of the general public, cultural institutions, and quality of the work, to name only the important few. It is here DGHC fails and it fails badly. One such failed venture has been the construction of a road stretching from Pala to Charkholay in Kalimpong Sub-division.

I could get hold of an opportunity to travel through the recently constructed ‘Pala-Charkholay’ road and from Charkholay to Suruk via Samthar this October (2005). In the mean time I could also lay my hands on an impressive article titled ‘Bahra Barsama Unniu Phulyo Gukai Ganda’ published in a local vernacular daily ‘Himalaya Darpan’ on the ‘Pala-Charkholay’ stretch by a local writer from Sinji Busty. My travel through the new road and my personal observations on the regional planning, designing, engineering and the total budget invested on the project validated the proverbial title and the bold arguments presented in the article.

The present condition of the ‘Pala-Charkholay’ road compelled me to explore few technical details of the project. The project amounting to over 8 crore was funded by the World Bank. The main objective of this venture is to connect the rural spaces located beyond Relli Khola that had been isolated from the paradigm of development for a very long period of time within Darjeeling Hills. It was to be implemented under the direction and guidance of Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council. The technical resource was to be shared between the adhoc officers of DGHC and the deputed officers of the Government of West Bengal. The total length of the ‘Pala-Charkholay’ road is 20 kilometer while the breadth comes to 22 feet on paper. The first phase of the project started in early 2004 and completed in early 2005.

As a critical observer I could find the following avoidable shortcomings in the project, among many others.

1. There is a total lack of professionalism on the part of the project implementer through out the 20 kilometer stretch;
2. The occasional walls constructed to prevent erosion and slides are far below the satisfactory mark;
3. The causeway along the road is not up to the mark;
4. Roadside drainage built to direct the young rivulets is below the official specification. Reportedly, on paper it is 2 ft but on field it is not more than 1 ft;
5. The estimated breadth of the road on paper is over 20 feet; on field it is not more than 12 feet (approximately), going down to less than 8 feet (approximately) at some places;
6. And most importantly, the road lacks scientific alignment. Alignments are directed as per the vested interest of the local heavy weights. The designing of the road is zero. It appears that the road was dug by the villagers voluntarily without the expertise of professional engineer(s) not to talk of regional transportation planner or architect. In short, the whole project lacks proper regional planning and contemporary professionalism.

While we were on the way, the rustic passengers often joked and gossiped on the workings of the DGHC. One middle aged man went further to point out that the construction of this road might not have cost more than 3 crore while others started laughing as we were at the point where we had to get down and push the vehicle. There are some points where the tired Marshal, Savari or Commander denies climbing. At such points passengers are forced to unload and push the vehicle. Further there are turning points where the vehicle cannot pass through at one go; it has to stop, get back and go again slowly. The walls are horrible. Many of them could not sustain the 2005 monsoon and have already collapsed. Seeing at a particular collapsed wall one passenger quickly spoke out his mind, “12 bag baluwa ma ek bag cement misayo bhaneh yestai huncha. Darjeeling ma gharkai manche le afnai ghar lutcha” (if you mix 12 bags of sand in a bag of cement this is the only consequence. In Darjeeling we have a habit of looting our own house). Here he was referring to the local contractors and engineers.

The road stretching from Charkholay to Samthar although not carpeted is much better than the earlier counter part. From Samthar to Suruk (Santi Bazar), officially, there is no road communication. But the energetic and enterprising Surukays have dug a road stretching over 5 kilometers on their own on a voluntary basis. Besides few thousands rupees granted by Gram Panchayat and local Christian Missionary no financial resource was available for the purpose. It was the villagers who collected money from among themselves and contributed human resource needed to build this road. Yet this stretch is as good as the 20 Kilometer ‘Pala-Charkholay’ stretch that amounted over 8 crores of rupees and that was constructed under the able guidance and direction of Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council.

My basic purpose of travelling through ‘Pala-Charkholay’ road was to save my time and reach Suruk earlier than it usually take me from my traditionally route. But by the time I reached Santi Bazar (Suruk) it was already dark. May be it was over 6 pm. Our marshal had left Kalimpong at 12.30 pm. Did I save my time? Besides being tired after pushing the vehicle and jerking all day along the rocky bed of the road, one has to bear in mind that the whole stretch is very risky to travel as the road needs tremendous corrections and recorrections. For me this will be my first and last travel through this route. I would prefer to follow my old route via 27th mile and walk the forested hills stretching about 4 kilometers. Even after walking for 4 kilometers I would save some 2 hours; that too with a guarantee to reach my destination in peace not in pieces.

This has been one of the first attempts of DGHC to connect the villages located beyond Relli Khola with Kalimpong Town in the last 17 years after it was formed. Hence, instead of terming the ‘Pala-Charkholay’ project as ‘Bahra Barsama Unniu Phulyo Gukai Ganda’ I would dare to slightly reframe the proverb and put it as ‘Balla Balla Unniu Phulyo Gukai Ganda'.

reflection-2

I, all of a sudden, awoke from my tired sleep on one of the midnights of October 2005. After completing a daylong field survey in a nearby tea garden, to enjoy deep lazy sleep was all I could be entitled with. However, an uncanny sound followed by high-pitched noisy bark of uncountable dogs in the vicinity forced me to come out of my utopian berth. Few seconds of careful listening and I made it. It was a Jogi performing his usual customary chore. That is that; it is not new to me. I have been hearing this uncanny sound followed by numerous indecipherable mantras during the midnights of a particular day of particular month since my childhood. I, however, never thought of exploring as to why Jogi performs such a difficult job during the dark scary moonless nights, the meaning and significance of such performance etc.

At about 8 am in the morning before I was free of my morning chores, a voice ‘Jai Goraknath’ greeted me. He was the same man who produced series of uncanny sounds in the midnight. He had come to collect the fruit of his wakeful service. I secretly made up my mind to explore the significance of his midnight venture and few other associated details. Our conversation enlightened me with some interesting ethno-cultural information of which I was debarred from, all these years.

Jogi-s or what people also locally address them, as Pheriwala-s across Darjeeling-Sikkim Hills and Nepal is one of the ethnic groups belonging to a larger Nepali/Nepalese community. They believe themselves to be the loyal disciples of Lord Shiva or what they also call Goraknath. They have a total of 64 bhairungs (sub-tribe) out of which only 12 bhairungs are entitled to be pheriwalas. Meaning thereby, only 12 sub-tribe of Jogi are culturally given to practice this customary duty. Therefore, all Pheriwalas are Jogis but not all Jogis are Pheriwalas.

It was Lord Shiva who sent them to this world, as Goraknath knew the world is featured with innumerable evil spirits. As the loyal disciples of Goraknath it is their duty to protect human beings from the evil spirits characterising the world. In this connection they set out for their rounds in the mid-night as it is believed that evil spirits are active during the period. They visit every household in a village or a particular region and blow Sankha Dhoni with the help of a horn of an animal locally called brat (an animal belonging to deer family). In the process they produce a series of uncanny sounds supported by spiritual mantras often hard to decipher by an ordinary soul. One Pheriwala visits one pre-demarcated village/region. There is no overlap in the performance i.e. no two pheriwalas perform in the same village in a same night. There are, however, cases when two pheriwalas perform collectively. In that, one of them would be a junior or a disciple who would be learning the lessons of pheri phuknu (blow) and the associated mantras from his senior or master.

Pheriwalas usually perform their age-old customary duty during chayit roughly corresponding the months of mid March – mid April and Kartik i.e. mid October- mid November. They believe evil spirits are most active during these two periods and as the ardent disciples of Goraknath they are bound to protect the human beings from their evil objective of negatively influencing the everyday human life.

They collect alms or what they also call it daan the very next morning from the individual households of the village/region where they perform. They do so for the nau grah santi (peace to the nine planets of the solar system) of the members of the households. They believe, they have the power to carry along with them all the planetary problems of human being inflicted upon by different locations of nine planets revolving around the solar system. They offer sacrifice to their Sankha Dhoni to keep their instrument active and effective for the cause. The sacrifice is usually offered during the Nepali/Nepalese calendar of asthami or noami.

Superstitious it may sound pheri phuknu is one of the important ethno-religio-spiritual attributes in force across both rural and urban spaces since time immemorial. Rustic hill folks often wonder as to why Pheriwala did not visit their houses if, by chance, a particular village or a region is left out during the period. It is strongly imbibed within the culture of Nepali speaking households across Darjeeling, Sikkim, and Nepal.

Further, Jogis also play a role of traditional ethno-spiritual faith healers. There are numerous instances when the people to heal their ailments have called them. Examples abound across the hills of Darjeeling and Sikkim where Jogis have cured paralysis, epilepsy and other forms of diseases.

Nevertheless, the present young generation Jogis and those that are yet to come may not be quite interested to carry forward this odd profession. Jogis themselves feel that they have been gradually deviating from their historico-cultural attribute over the period of time. Education and other associated postmodern forces have been playing important role in this connection. Truly, as the whole of human species is entangled in the process of development, Jogis/Pheriwalas cannot be an exception. Pheri Phuknu, apart from being a ritual, custom and tradition of Pheriwalas, is one of the prominent ethno-religious assets of the larger Nepali/Nepalese community. We must not lose this asset as we proceed ahead in the spectrum of development dynamics.

reflection-1

Suruk, one of the remote villages, located in the southern part of the Kalimpong Sub-division in Darjeeling hills is a relatively unknown place to the majority of the Darjeelingays. The village accommodates a number of sparsely scattered hamlets across its yet relatively green spaces. The village survives mainly on the subsistent agriculture. When the world has already entered the cyber age Suruk is yet to see the light of the day. Some of the basic parameters of human survival like safe drinking water, electricity, primary health centre, efficient primary school, minimum motorable road network etc are yet to make their ways to Suruk. Fortunately or unfortunately, I have been the part and parcel of this historic village. My very existence, behavioral pattern, intellectual orientation, and the way I perceive this world, have all been shaped and reshaped by this village. Whenever the wind of the so-called post modernity attempts to persuade me I reflect back to my root, and the spaces of Suruk, to which I belong.

I, vividly, remember some specific periods and personalities that inflicted a lasting impression on my overall personality.

First, 1981 was the year when I first stepped into the formal education system in Kalimpong. King Nursery School, popularly known as Mrs. King (the name of the founder headmistress) was one of the finest Nursery Schools in Kalimpong during those days. My days in this school between 1981- 1985 were among the most fruitful ones that I remember so far. It was this school that built within me a confidence to face this world, otherwise so competitive in nature. The headmistress of the school late Mrs. King was an authority in herself. One of the best teachers in Kalimpong, she guided us not merely as a teacher but as our mother and moulded us towards ever higher pursuits. Whenever I conquer success, I remember her and be grateful to her scholarship and guidance extended during those formative years.

Second, in 1987, Dr. P.N. Mallic declared me as a victim of fibroma (later the finding was updated to fibrometosis), a deadly tumour that normally attacks the minors and often re-occurs (approximately up to the age of 13 yrs). I regard the period 1987-1993 as the dark patch of my life. I exactly remember the days and nights I passed through these horrible years. To mention the least out here, I didn’t experience the golden teenage years. Many felt I would die. I was quarantined across the hospitals in Kalimpong, Siliguri, Calcutta, and ultimately Vellore during the period. When my classmates were nervously wandering around with their girl friends I was either under active medication or under major surgery. After undergoing three major surgeries and one major radiation treatment I became capable of interacting with the normal world but not without numerous physical and psychological constraints. My academic life suffered tremendously during the period. There were no academic years when I was not absent from my class for less than two to three months. I, gradually, overcame these limitations with the dint of my hard work, patience and the support of my family members & friends.

Third, I regard the year 1999 as a turning point in my life. This was the year when I cleared the National Entrance Test to study Postgraduate at Centre for the Study of Regional Development, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Two years of rigorous academic training in JNU brought out a scholar within me. Besides, interaction with the students and scholars from across spaces of the country and abroad made me relatively dynamic and taught me to observe things from much larger perspective. It was in JNU that I discovered my inner self, my advantages and drawbacks. JNU is a melting pot of the ‘land of unity in diversity’ representing almost all the cultures from every nooks and corners of the country.

Fourth, apart from the above specific circumstances, I regard myself as the product of three great personalities- my father Mr. D. S. Khawas, Dr. Shrawan Kr. Acharya and Prof. Mahendra P. Lama. My father, a semi-literate farmer who still ploughs the fields in Suruk is no less than Mahatma Gandhi to me. Popularly known as ‘Panchgothay Saila’ across the hamlets of Suruk he left no stone unturned in facilitating me to reach where I am today. Given his level of education and economic background I do not hesitate to regard him as a ‘visionary in disguise’ and a man much ahead of his time. Once he wrote a letter to me in Delhi. It had the following points, which I still remember “chora, always remember that you are a son of a poor farmer; never get swept by the superficial wind of the city. Money is always an issue for us, so think appropriately while spending them. We all love you son”. Even today these words are my guiding forces, towards which I reflect upon whenever I am disorientated in the sea of Delhi.

Dr. Shrawan Acharya, a scholar of repute, was instrumental in orienting me towards the field of development planning. It was on his advice I left JNU in 2001 and joined Urban and Regional Planning course in Ahmedabad. Little did I knew then that I was in the process of changing my career for all time to come. Himself, a senior faculty in the School of Planning, Ahmedabad, Shrawan Daju not only taught and guided me academically but also cared me as his younger brother throughout my stay in Ahmedabad. I still fall back to him whenever I am in dilemma.

Little did I knew, when I returned back to Delhi in February 2004, that I would be working with Professor Mahendra P. Lama. Although, we knew each other when I was studying in JNU my professional association with Prof. Lama started from March 2004. Here is a man whom I regard as equivalent to 10 scholars. The most important aspect I realised in Prof. Lama is his ability to handle multiple assignments at a time. He is a total work alcoholic. For me the term scholar is an outdated concept for him; he is a living institution and whatever he speaks becomes a law for me. He instilled in me that there is no shortcut to success. He says, success is right in front of you but you have to struggle to achieve it. Consistency in work is yet another term that Prof. Lama made me familiar with. Professor Lama often remindes me of the classic quote “30 years from now, it won’t matter...How your hair looked, how many frens you made, or the jeans you bought. What will matter is what you learned and how you used it”. To share with you a secret, Prof. Lama is also a very good cook. You have pork cooked by him and I tell you, you will fall in love with him.