In Praise of Salmons

Tashi Wangdi

Sometimes I am grateful to the many benefits and opportunities I take for granted. Nobody wants to know or investigate how and when we were fortunate to be beneficiaries. It is always owed to a few people, unsung and yet unmindful, who had the moral uprightness to stand up for what they believed as unjust, unwarranted such that it changed the course of our lives for better. These people lead their lives without the pomp and ceremony only to speak when the equilibrium of their scales get upset.

   I like to refer to this tribe of people as salmons, the fish that swims upstream to spawn after travelling across oceans. What feat of nature or madness of flesh that salmons must endure thousands of miles of journey and predators along the way only to swim against the current and give birth where its own life once began. Thus continuing a natural heritage and imprinting the future generations with the same genes.

   Most of us are happy in a herd and go where others go. Our direction is bereft of independent action and limited to that of the herd. We take the softer option, pluck the low hanging fruit and walk the much-traversed path. Our souls are anemic, irreverence is not our creed, stubbornness of heart not an ideal and perseverance not cheered upon.

   Unbeknownst to most of us it is this very irreverence, stubbornness and perseverance of these salmons so adept in swimming up current that ironically ensures that people like you and I continue to live in our cushioned world without exertion or need to invoke our rights. To have a meaningful progressive society it is therefore imperative to have the naysayers, to ponder on an alternative view and champion an incorruptible voice of courage.

   One such salmon I know swims everyday upstream in the streets of Gangtok and our well being as Sikkimese people, however immediate or remote is somehow somewhere connected to his very existence and his name is Jigme N. Kazi. He is the holder of our conscience and keeper of our stories. There could not have been a more apt tribute than Sunanda K. Datta-Ray, the author of “Smash and Grab – Annexation of Sikkim”, a Bible for Sikkimese students in those days, when he anointed  him as a true and loyal son of Sikkim.

(Courtesy: TALK SIKKIM, The People’s Magazine, Vol. 6. No. 5, September 2013)

LET US RENEW OUR BONDING: 
Over the years and since its formal formation in 1984 the Sikkim Hermonites Association has been a nucleus for the fulfilment of our motto: 'closeness for life' for all Hermonites. 
Those of us who are aware Sikkim Hermonites played a crucial and leading role in the successful celebrations of the school's 100th anniversary in November 1995.

Even as we continue our cherished tradition of preserving our closeness, friendship and camaraderie we meet again on March 14, 2014, just three days after our beloved alma mater's 121st Birthday, to welcome Lucinda Gibbs (Cindy is St. Paul's former Rector Mr. Gibbs' daughter), Pradip Verma (SC 1971) and Mr. Mapley's daughter, Margaret Mapley. They now live in Ireland and UK. The venue is our favourite haunt - Hotel Tashi Delek, located in the heart of the town.

During the reunion we would like to nominate Uttam Pradhan as the next President of Sikkim Hermonites. Uttam has been ably assisting our President Karma Bhutia for a long time and many of us feel that Karma needs a break and Uttam needs a 'promotion'! Both have recently retired from government service.

Karma has done a lot for the Hermonites in general and Sikkim Hermonites in particular. He has provided us sound and effective leadership over the years and we are thankful to him and his family.
Hopefully, the younger Hermonites will combine their strength with the older lot and take us to greater heights. We would like to urge all of them to join us at the reunion dinner on March 14.
You may brings your own booze and there will be some singing session as well!
Cheers!!

Birthday message for MH: ‘RIDE THROUGH THE STORM’

In his last message to me and my situation, Rev. David G. Stewart, our beloved Principal who passed away in December 2014, advised me:  “Ride Through The Storm.”

I believe that his advice is not only applicable to me but also to our beloved alma mater, which is passing through perhaps the worst period ever since its birth on March 11, 1895.

So, my fellow Hermonites, and to our beloved MH:  no matter what you are facing and the situation you are in just remember what Mr. Stewart said, “Ride through the storm.”

Mrs. Welthy Honsinger Fisher, wife of one of our Founders, Bishop Frederick Bohn Fisher, during her Speech Day address in MH in mid-’60s reminded us: “It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness.”

MH’s history right from the very beginning was a tough one. Just a few years after it began in a cottage near Chowrasta in Darjeeling on March 11, 1895 a number of its students died when the school building collapsed in the 1898’s disastrous earthquake. The school was then called ‘Arcadia’.

But our Founder Miss Emma Knowles did not give up. With God on her side and with a firm determination to continue her mission she began the Queen’s Hill School just above the railway station in Darjeeling.

By 1920s the school was growing and expanding and needed a bigger place. Miss Knowles, assisted by Miss CJ Stahl, shifted the school to the present location. In 1929 the school was renamed Mount Hermon School.

Mt. Hermon went through a difficult phase after the 1935 earthquake and during the IInd World War. But somehow MH pulled through and it was Rev. Stewart (Principal 1953-1963), who made MH one of the top boarding schools in India.

Mr. GA Murray, Rev. JA Johnston and later Mr. Jeff Gardner, assisted by loyal, able and dedicated staff, kept MH’s flag flying high.

Hermonites all over the world know that our school is passing through a tough time. When the going gets tough the tough gets going. MH was born tough. On its 121^st birthday let us all wish her the very best and remind her to “Ride through the storm.”

Hail Mt. Hermon!

March 11, 2016

"ULTIMATELY TRUTH WILL PREVAIL," said Union Minister Harsh Vardhan while speaking at a function of the Indian Federation of Working Journalists (IFWJ) in New Delhi recently. 
I took the opportunity to present my book, "The Lone Warrior: Exiled In My Homeland", to the Minister and Union Minister Dr. Mahesh Sharma. 
The Federation has sought Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh's "personal intervention" on the issue regarding demolition of my press-cum-residential building in Gangtok.
In a letter to the Home Minister, the Federation said,"We..appeal to the Union Government to give justice" and ensure "speedy resolution" on the matter.
"Mr. Kazi is well known for his fight for Press Freedom" and "independent stand" in "his career spanning 33 years in the Press," the letter said.
In my appeal to the Sikkim Government, I had said, "There have been many judgements in the case but justice has been denied."

2015: A TOUGH & CHALLENGING YEAR

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

                                                                                                 —Martin Luther King, Jr.

After a decade of living in quietness and solitude (well almost), 2015 was packed with events – making it one of the most memorable and eventful years of my life. The situation at the home front was most fluid throughout the year. I now realize that my family members and I in particular have been living away from our home in Gangtok most of the time ever since the partial demolition of our house in the third week of March 2015  by the powers-that-be.

2014 ended on a sad note with the passing away of my mother-in-law Ama Yangchen, who was living with us, in November 2014, followed by the death of our beloved former Principal, Rev. DH Stewart (of Mt.  Hermon School, Darjeeling), in New Zealand in the month of December. In April 2015, another former Principal of our alma mater, Mr. GA Murray, also passed away.

Their passing away and the deaths of our family friend and former Gangtok MLA, Mr. Balchand Sarda, and my brother-in-law, Sonam Gyatso Chingapa (Yap Saila of Ben, South Sikkim), and Khenzong Anyola during the year, were very personal losses to me and my family. We will continue to miss them but will cherish their loving memories.

However, despite these sad and trying moments we were able to lift up our spirits mainly due to our own inner strength, the blessing of the Almighty, and the tremendous love, affection, support and sympathy shown to us by our family members, relatives, friends and well-wishers.

As the year passes by I want to particularly thank Sikkim’s Ponpola and his wife Kesangla, Princess Hope Leezum and her husband and my cousin Wangyal Topden for graciously allowing me and my family members to stay in their home when it became virtually impossible for us to live at our place after the demolition. Thank you for being there for us when we needed the most.

As summer gave way to autumn our twin daughters, Sonam and Kunga, gradually moved away from home after 21 years. They are now graduates and learning to live and work on their own. This is another phase in our life which is hard to face but accept we must. It is both a joyful and painful process.

Resuming old ties with people like Suresh Pramar, my mentor and journalist who introduced me to journalism in 1983, and Mani Kumar Subba, former Assam MP, is a good thing that I was able to do this year.

Now a word about my extended family: the Hermonites. Surprisingly, even as we were in the midst of ‘turmoil’ the Hermonites, once again, made concerted efforts to make me Principal of Mt. Hermon in order to save the school. However, the authorities kept mum and because of this I have decided to close the chapter from January 1, 2016.

To all Hermonites, thank you for your concern for MH and the support to my candidature. We know that our dreams are buried in our wounded heart and we must gradually learn to accept the reality of the situation. Now no one, including God, can accuse us of complacency on MH affairs. We must move on.

Despite these developments Hermonites continue to join hands to have a good time by themselves. The small reunions at dinners, weddings etc. and the big splash at the North East Hermonites Alumni (NEHA) meet in Assam, Nagaland and Manipur in the first week of December this year all go to show the tenacity, camaraderie and the spirit of MH and Hermonites. We are indeed unique and rare – the salt of the earth! Hail Mt.  Hermon!

Special thanks to Hermonites Krishna Goenka and Mahesh Singh for being there and for their help and cooperation while my family was in the process of finding a home away from home towards the end of the year.

2016 is bound to offer more surprises and I’m ready to face anything. But I hope it will be a less eventful and quieter year.  I want to spend more time with myself, my family, and my close friends.

Cheers and Happy New Year!

HAIL MT. HERMON!

Regretfully, I now confirm that I will not be able to make it for NEHA (I believe over 200 Hermonites will be present) meet this time. Some of you already know the main reason – domestic affairs. The 18-year-old legal battle regarding demolition of my house in Gangtok has reached a decisive phase with the Sikkim High Court allowing me one last time to settle the issue with the State Government.

I know this news is most disappointing and hard to digest for some of you, including myself. However, the show must go on. The main objective of such a gathering is to have a good time, deepen your friendship and stay in touch with each other in future.

For discussions on MH and Hermonites I would like to make the following suggestions:

1.     1.1.   We cannot do much for MH in a more meaningful and lasting way unless the Managing Committee, which runs the school on behalf of the Methodist Church in India, takes the Hermonites into confidence and interacts with us from time to time. As far as the Hermonites are concerned we are willing to help MH in more than one way. But the authorities must be more responsive and transparent in their dealings with MH and Hermonites.

2.     2.   Alumni bodies all over the world must be strong and united. Membership needs to be enlarged with an active nucleus. Interactions between various alumni bodies and Hermonites in general must be regular.

3.    3.    NEHA’s priority should be to form chapters in each Northeast states. This process could be initiated during the present meet.

4.      4.  The All-India Hermonites Association should be revived. I suggest that we float a South India Hermonites Association (SIHA) during the NEHA meet. We have already spoken to some Hermonites from South on this.

5.      5.  Hermonites International (Hi!) was formed in 2005. It should become more active and representative. There should be only one global body for the Hermonites. Since I’ve headed Hi since its inception someone else should now takeover.

6.   6.     Despite our sincere efforts to revive MH in all ways the authorities have not responded to my application for the post of MH Principal. If my candidature is not acceptable I’m ready to withdraw from the race to allow any other Hermonite for the post. We cannot wait forever.

7.      7.  MH is a great educational institution and Hermonites are a special and unique kind of people.  We must preserve, protect and promote our rich heritage.

8.     8.   Hail Mt. Hermon!

Hermons On The Mount

My alma mater, Mount Hermon School (MHS, often referred to as MH), Darjeeling, did not start with a bang. For Miss Emma Knowles, a Christian missionary from the US, who founded Queen’s Hill School in Darjeeling way back in the latter part of the 19^th century, it was an uphill task. Funds were low and competent and dedicated teachers were even more scarce.

MH was first called ‘Arcadia’ when it was first established in a bungalow below Chowrasta facing Lebong in 1895. Three years after its founding a massive earthquake in 1898 killed thirteen of its students when the school building collapsed. Failures did not deter Knowles. She had faith in God Almighty to provide for all her needs.

A few years later, Knowles shifted the location of the school to below Mt. Everest Hotel near the railway station and renamed the school – Queen’s Hill School (QHS).  In the turn of the 20^th century, QHS (the old schools buildings are still there) shifted to the present location below Singamari. The school was expanding and needed more space. It was again renamed Mt. Hermon School in 1929. The present MH campus originally had 100 acres. It has now only about 80 acres. The rest is history.

I have great love, affection and regard for my alma mater. Even after nearly three decades since leaving MH my passion for the school has not diminished. MH not only gave me a sound educational foundation but also gave me the much-needed training and experience to become a qualified teacher. What MH taught me has withstood the test of time. And that is why I recently dedicated my second book, “Sikkim For Sikkimese” to “My teachers who taught me how to read and write and aim for higher things in life.”

Hermonites: We Hermonities are a peculiar breed. Commented a Northpointer, who at times get invited to our ‘reunions’: “Your get-togethers are very different and informal. I enjoy it. We get stuck in protocols.” My reaction to this has been: “We are Protestants, you chaps follow the Jesuit Order. We are comfortable with disorder!”

 When Hermonite NK Pradhan was recently inducted into the Chamling Cabinet as Human Resources Devlopment (HRD) Minister it was time to party again. “NK” (Senior Cambridge 1968), fourth time winner of the Assembly elections, during our get-together in Hotel Tashi Delek (one of our favourite haunts) rightly acknowledged, “We Hermonites should feel proud that we have many Hermonites in high places.”

One of the oldest active members of the Sikkim Hermonites Association (SHA), formed in 1983, is former Secretary, Tashi Densapa, who is presently the Director of the world-renowned Namgyal Institute of Tibetology (NIT), which is one of the three such institutions in the world for study and research on Tibetology and the Himalayan region.

Hermonites, by and large, are a versatile lot. Our definition of “high places” is not confined to “government service.” Even on this count we have several big shots. Our Association’s President, Karma Bhutia (Senior Cambridge ’72), is Principal Secretary and Chief Engineer. Senior Hermonite Nim Lhamu Ethenpa is also a Secretary and another senior Hermonite Tempo Bhutia is not only the Managing Director of SITCO but also the President of the Sikkim Football Association. And the list could go on and on…

Besides myself, one of the Hermonites who has been giving a tough time to the establishment is Athup Lepcha, former Minister who now heads the Affected Citizens of Teesta (ACT) as its President. The ACT is against big hydel projects in the Dzongu region of North Sikkim, largely inhabited by the Lepchas, widely regarded as the original inhabitants of Sikkim. The Lepchas are now a fast-vanishing tribe and a prominent Hermonite is leading the movement fighting for their survival in the land of their origin.

Karma Bhutia rightly noted during the dinner hosted by the Hermonites to felicitate “NK”: “Where in Sikkim would you find a member of the Opposition like Jigme enjoying the company of a Cabinet member of the ruling party?” Even if others don’t follow our example we still need to set the right trend.

 “NK daju” must recall the times he used to lead groups in singing patriotic songs during Independence Day (August 15) functions in MH. The song sung in Hindi went like this: “Insafki dagarape /Bacho dekhao chalke/Ye desh hai hamara/Neta tume ho kala ke” (the song exhorts children, who are the future leaders, to tread the path of justice)

Now that “NK” himself has become a pucca neta he must try to always tread the path of justice. We, particularly the Hermonities, will judge “NK” not only by his loyalty to his government, party leadership, and the people but by his commitment to ideals and principles that give birth to great institutions and nations. What is the use of our unique educational background and experience if we cannot set high standards in public life?

White House connection: Luckily, Hermonites now have a live connection with the most powerful man on earth – the US President, Barack Hermonite Obama! Only last week Obama appointed Hermonite Barbara Nichols-Roy’s South Indian husband (now settled in the US), Vinai K. Thummalapally, as the US Ambassador to the small Central American country of Belize. (see page 1 for details).

The Nichols-Roys, originally from Shillong, are known to most Hermonites of the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s. “NK” is familiar with Marian Nichols-Roy, the eldest daughter of Stanley and Helen Nichols-Roy.

For Barbara and Vinai, Obama is not only their former college classmate but they also helped to raise funds and campaigned for him.

Says Barbara,“We are very honoured and privileged, proud and humbled, all at the same time, to have been a part of it and to know that we played a part in Obama's historic success.”

Vinai’s appointement naturally gave an opportunity for global Hermonites to get in touch with each other. I’ve already congratulated Vinai and Barbara on behalf of Sikkim Hermonites and Hermonite International (Hi!) and also hinted for a global Hermonites’ meet at Belize to which she replied, “Thank you, Jigme.”

Press freedom: Earlier this week, I met one of my former colleagues in the media who participated in the historic rally for Press Freedom in Gangtok on June 19, 1993. We were supposed to meet again and chalk out a plan to strengthen Press Freedom in Sikkim. He did not turn up. Therefore, I take upon myself to strengthen our resolve and float a body known as “Sikkim Press Freedom Forum” (SPFF) on this special day – June 19, 2009 to mark the 16^th anniversary of our rally. If the opportunity comes we hope to observe June 19 each year as Sikkim Press Freedom Day.

This body ought to have been formed last year when several journalists belonging to Hamro Prajashakti, an independent Nepali daily, were brutally assaulted by unknown assailants at their work place. Though my advice went unheeded the need to safeguard Press freedom in our Sikkim still persists.

My message and statement issued during the rally on June 19, 1993, which was carried in my book, “Inside Sikkim: Against the Tide” (released at the Press Club of India in New Delhi in December 1993 by former External Affairs Minister, K Natwar Singh, and launched in Sikkim in February 1994 by Pawan Chamling, the present Chief Minister of Sikkim) is still relevant:

“Let me remind you today that media-persons and media organizations cannot alone ensure and protect the freedom of the Press. In the final analysis, it is the people who have to come forward and provide the much-needed protection to journalists and safeguard freedom of the Press.

But we, as journalists, must make our stand very clear. We must stand firm and resolute in our stand. While our opinions as journalists my differ on various issues and matters, we cannot and must not allow vested interests or our own selfish motives to creep in and deprive us of the opportunity to stand erect and united on the issue of the Freedom of the Press. It is not how many of us are here today to support the cause of the Freedom of the Press that matters, but how much faith, sincerity and dedication that we have in the righteousness of our cause.”

Free Suu Kyi: June 19, 2009 also marks the Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s 64^th birth anniversary. Though her National League for Democracy (NLD) won the 1990 general elections in Burma the military junta unjustly put her under house arrest. The pro-democracy leader has already spent 13 of her last 19 years under house arrest.

Barack Obama recently called for Suu Kyi’s “immediate and unconditional” release even as several world leaders mounted pressure for her early release. We, too, join them in their endeavour to seek her early release. In fact, only last week I floated the formation of a global body – “International League for Democracy” (ILD) – to  pressure the authorities for Suu Kyi’s early release through the pages of this paper. I’m hopeful and positive that the Hermonites will turn this solo into a chorus till the world community takes notice and forces democracy and justice to prevail in Burma.

My last week’s appeal on the Burmese leader read: “Sikkim Observer joins freedom-loving individuals and organizations throughout the world in celebrating the birth anniversary of this gentle rebel and urges everyone to put more pressure on the authorities for her early release. It proposes formation of International League for Democracy (ILD) to achieve this objective and to fight for freedom and democracy for all people all over the world and at all times.”

Change has indeed come to America; change must also come to Burma. India’s future Prime Minister, Rahul Gandhi, (for June 19^th is his birthday, too), must know that India’s Look East policy will remain a distant dream if the situation in Burma continues to remain unchanged. Moreover, India must regain her rightful place in the world community and exert her moral authority on bigger issues such as freedom and democracy.

The voice that spoke these words in her famous “Freedom From Fear” speech must not be silenced forever: “It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it.”

How true are these words in our situation in Sikkim in the past so many decades.

(This is an article by Jigme N Kazi in his Sikkim Observer in May-June 2009)