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RANGPO, 03 April: With Nathula expectedto open for trade by July this year, the busi-ness community in the State is making surethat it does not get left behind. The commu-nity has demanded that the State Governmentadopt suitable measures to issue tax-payersin the State the equivalent of Personal Ac-count Number [PAN] in order to enable thebusinessmen from Sikkim to take part and

derive benefits from export-importtrade through Nathula. Similarly, thebusiness community wants manda-tory inclusion and participation inall trade activities through Nathula.

A memorandum, spelling out thisdemand along with other demands ofthe business community, was submit-ted by the Sikkim Vyapari Samaj tothe Chief Minister, Pawan Chamlingat the 2nd All Sikkim Vyapari

Sammelan held here today.The president of the SVS,

Swaminath Prasad, while, declar-ing the “charter of demands, goalsand priorities” of the business com-munity, said the demands were for“safeguarding the interests” of thevyapari samaj in the State.

The memorandum has also de-manded simplification of the li-

Vyaparis want PAN equivalent for Sikkim’s tax-payers

turn to pg 3

The skirmishes have startedTURN

TO pg 4FOR

DETAILS

CHAMLING CAMPAIGNSFOR RIVAL PARTIES!DETAILS

ON pg4

KARAN SHAH

KALIMPONG, 03 April: The Cong[I] Working Committee [hills] todayheld a meeting at the Jagannath Hallto discus plans andfuture schedules forthe upcoming LokSabha elections.

The major is-sue in today’smeeting was thenaming of the can-didate fromDarjeeling for theforthcoming LokSabha elections.The two namesthat cropped-up were those ofSurendra Parekh, Congress state or-ganizing committee member ofKalimpong and Dawa Norbula,

President of the District Congresscommittee from Darjeeling.

“We certainly won’t have anyhard feelings if any between thetwo is named for the elections as

they will get a chance to serve thecountry as a Congress candidates,”said PB Ghatani, vice-president, of

DAWA NORBULA IS CONGRESS MPCANDIDATE FROM DARJ

A file foto of Cong members from Darj with Sonia Gandhi

turn to pg 4

2; NOW!; 04 April, 2004

C M Y K

Artist, filmmaker, keen photographer, columnist with internationalmagazines... It’s hard to pin Twan Yang down. Born to a Chinesefather and Tibetan mother, he grew up in Kalimpong and worked inSikkim. NOW! serializes Twan Yang’s autobiography, Houseboy in India...

NOW!FIRST WITH THE NEWS

ED-SPACE

It’s 10 years ago today thatgrunge hero Kurt Cobain supposedly put a barrel in his

mouth and pulled the trigger, thusearning himself the ironic immortal-ity of all rock stars who die young.

He also spawned more con-spiracy theories than you could shakea shotgun at and some of the worst“tribute” poems ever seen on the web.

For a factual, if brief, biogra-phy dealing with the seven yearsCobain’s band, Nirvana, was inbusiness, take a look at the alwaysreliable RollingStone.

For a much more in-depth re-source on Cobain and his band,click through to the Internet Nir-vana Fan Club, an “unofficial” fansite of surprising depth. The “fre-quently asked questions” sectionhas an amazing level of obsessivedetail about the band. If you wantto know what brand of cigarettesCobain smoked or why he got intoa fight at a 1991 concert in Dallas,this is the spot for you.

You’ll also find a massive dis-cussion board, a huge number ofarticles and even guitar tablature ifyou reckon you could be a bit of agrunge hero yourself.

Over at the simply titled “Nir-vana” site there is a more manage-able amount of Nirvana stuff, in-cluding most of the band’s lyrics,which make Leonard Cohen looklike he was playing it for laughs.

The Cobain Memorial “is notabout Cobain’s tragic end, but hislife”. It covers much of the sameground as the Internet Nirvana FanClub but may be worth stopping byfor the extensive gallery of Cobainpictures, if that’s your thing.

Trawl online for Cobain/Nirvanastuff and sooner or later you will haveto ask yourself the question: What is

it about the phrase “young dead mu-sician” that for some people equatesto “gotta write a poem”?

Surrealistic Fantasy: A NirvanaSite is by no means the worst offenderbut “Tim’s” poignant offering enti-tled “Why?” particularly grabbed myattention. Here is a sample:“The first time I saw you I saidwhat a guy,But Kurt, Why Why Why?”

Hark - is that the sound of adead rock star spinning in hisgrave?

Of course, Cobain’s music is nolonger the most interesting thing abouthim. Ten years after he removed theback of his head in the greenhouse ofhis mansion outside Seattle, debate isstill raging among fans and at least oneprivate investigator over whetherCobain was murdered.

That detective is Tom Grantand, as his site indicates, he hasmade something of a career out ofinvestigating the musician’s death.

The site itself is fascinating, ifobviously lacking in any balance. As

on most of the Cobain conspiracysites, Cobain’s rambling suicide notefeatures prominently, but Grantscores by having an image of thedocument itself. His interpretationof the note is compelling, as is thetantalising thought of a “secondnote”, allegedly concealed byCobain’s wife, Courtney Love.There’s plenty of other interestingstuff on the site that reads, in places,like a classic detective yarn.

Justice for Kurt is another well-organised, good-looking site thatattempts to get at the truth behindCobain’s death. “Whatever youbelieve happened in April 1994,”writes the site’s author, “the fact ishe should have never been a vic-tim of shoddy police work, blatantcover-ups, media manipulation andgeneral misinformation.”

The site neatly skewers manyof the more outrageous hoaxes andmyths circulating online - amongthem the inevitable “hidden mes-sages” to be found by playing Nir-vana tracks backwards - andpresents a fascinating debate aboutwhether Cobain was too whackedout on heroin to have possiblypulled the trigger himself.

In Defence of Kurt Cobain cov-ers much of the same ground as theother two sites but tends more to-wards the hysterical. In particular,Love comes in for some heavy-dutyaccusations that most defamationlawyers would have a field daywith. Presumably, she reckons pur-suing the authors would not beworth the aggravation.

Bizarrely, the site also featuresa flyer for you to download and,presumably, hand out to passers-byand a “Kurt Cobain Was Murdered”T-shirt design.

courtesy: Seattle Times

Kurt so good

Reference your coverage ofDzongu constituency byDeepak Sharma in NOW!

dated 02 April, 2004. We wouldlike to submit the following factsfor the information of the generalpublic.

The article titled “Dzongu racefor tickets triggers a volley of alle-gations,” does not represent anyfactual data and it seems to havebeen published with the maliciousintention of defaming all other po-litical aspirants of the constituency.First of all that inthe meeting ofShri SonamGyatso, MLADzongu, at Lingee-Payong area, thepublic gathering was well short of250 persons and most of them havebeen ferried from other parts of theconstituency [checkpost entryrecords show that 15 vehicles werebrought from outside Lingee-Payong]. It must be taken into con-sideration that Lingee-Payong areahas 2700 voters out of total of 5903.Meeting of a sitting MLA with onlya fraction of the populace in attend-ance itself speaks of the level ofPublic support he has from the area.

As far as development is con-cerned, it is essential to note mostof the works have been undertakenmuch before Mr. Sonam Gyatsobecame MLA. Whatever progress

that the area has witnessed is purelydue to the personal initiatives of theHon’ble Chief Minister and theSDF party cadres. The MLA hardlyvisited the area after he let downhis voters by changing his party.

Further, as far as the matter ofthe party ticket is concerned, it isthe prerogative of the Party high-command who has all the detailsof the constituency, the question ofasking for it is not in his hand.

The question of anti-party ac-tivities is totally false, as there have

been no suchactivities in thearea. Personalresentment at

the failure of the MLA to deliverany good cannot be termed as anti-party. In fact, it helps the party toexpose the shortcomings of thepeople who claim to be representa-tives of the people. Majority of thepeople of Dzongu are happy withHon’ble Chief Minister but what-ever problems are there in the con-stituency are purely against theMLA and his supporters for misus-ing the post of MLA for personalgains only and neglecting the poorand innocent Lepchas of Dzongu.If the true picture is not projectedthen it will hamper the SDF partyand in the process cause irrevers-ible damage to the reputation of

�LETTERS

MISREPORTING ON DZONGU

turn to pg 6

Draw The Line On DelimitationThe droves that the public hearing of the Delimitation Commissionattracted in Sikkim last year was impressive. Since delimitation was[is] all about how the constituencies should be reshaped and becausethe realignment demands were sharply divided in how it should bedone, many would interpret this public interest as a sign of how thesociety has been cleaved on caste and community lines; but lookdeeper, isn’t such public interest a sign of a healthy democracy? Al-though everything that the delimitation process had achieved till 23April, 2003, is now redundant, it did manage something which lin-gered for a while and is now back again, thanks primarily to impend-ing elections and the rerun of delimitation recommendations. The pic-ture-postcard illusion of communal amity between the three ethniccommunities of Sikkim has been debunked. The delimitation processforced people to abandon their pseudo-secular stands and addressreal issues. Some still managed to play the field from the sidelines,but it is not really important to know who played whom in this entireexercise. The bottomline remains that there exist misgivings and sus-picions which have been cashed in by those who can play the game.

To look at the positive side of things, developments sincedelimtation first came to Sikkim have aired the incertitude that vari-ous communities hold. Why this is good is because now that thedoubts have been expressed, they can be settled and resolved.Things become dangerous when such fears are suppressed fortoo long only to explode in an ugly conflagration later. Sikkim shouldlook at the announcement and subsequent postponement of thedelimitation process as a boon. We now know of the anxieties andbefore they could become serious afflictions can now address them.If we can hold our peace till the election process is over we standa good chance of preventing further communal splintering. Thisfactionalism is a real possibility now that political activity has height-ened and the need to play the communal card become immediate.The most advisable option is to discourage political parties fromgetting into the blame-game. They should be allowed to only ex-press their stand on delimitation and then told to clam up. The mo-ment they start flogging delimitation in the public domain, the com-munal amity which still exists will take no time to vitiate. As for thepeople, they should take everything parties say at this juncturewith a pinch of salt.

-22-

Miss Mary went to school, but the smaller children remained at home and during the day would

play with me in the house or garden. Every day, to-ward sunset, Miss Mary and the other children and Iwent out for a walk to get fresh air. All the childrenspoke English among themselves but Hindustani withme, though a very imperfect Hindustani. I had not yetlearned any English, and very often I had to ask themto translate their words into Hindustani. But after sometime, as they always used the same words, I began tolearn a number of simple words, like go, come, eat, donot want, come along, sit down, stand up, good-by.All this I learned from Miss mary, and this was thebeginning of my English education.

My mistress was Miss Mary’s stepmother. Shedid not look quite like a European, as her skin wasdark like ours. But Miss Mary, whose dead motherhad been an English lady, looked English. She hada gentle voice and was always kind. When I learnedthat she had lost her own mother, I began to thinkhow she must feel being in the hands of her step-mother, who was never kind to her as a real mother.This made me remember my own childhood, andone day I told her” “Miss Mary, it is not only youwho have lost your mother. I also have not had afather and mother for many years.”

“Yes,” she said, “my father is always absent on dutyfor two or three days at a time, and my stepmother is notkind to me and always quarrelling with me. But what canI do?” Saying this, she sighed very sadly. She was veryfriendly in every way and often joined us in playing withthe children and sometimes gave me toffee. Every morn-ing when she went to school I had to bring her to the bus,carrying her satchel containing her schoolbooks.

My master was very fond of the races and of gam-bling there, and also of going to the pictures, and my mis-

tress no less so. On Saturdays they wouldusually go together to the racecourse

though sometimes my mistress wentalone. Sometimes they would lose

Racehorses and My Darling Miss Mary

turn to pg 7

04 April, 2004; NOW! 3

C M Y K

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censing procedures for trade in theState. Along with making the proc-ess of obtaining trade licenseseasier, the business communitywants single-window system to beintroduced in the State for trade li-censing procedures. It also wantsall licenses, including trade anddriving licenses, to be valid for tenyears and the renewal system mademore convenient. The maximumfee for composite trade licensesshould be fixed at Rs. 2,000 peryear for all items, it further says.

One of the long-pending demandsof the business community in the Statehas been the demand for provision ofidentification certificates to them. Re-iterating this demand, Mr. Prasad saidthat issuing identification certificatesto members of the business commu-nity would enable them to avail “pro-tection from being singled out from[their] brethren in terms of Article371F; all benefits granted by the State

Government, including BPL status fordeserving people of the community;smooth trading procedures; rightfulstatus in execution of deeds and docu-ments; health and family welfare andbetter opportunities in education andcommunity developments.”

Further, the SVS also wants res-toration of quota seats in highereducation at 15 percent and repre-sentation of the members of thebusiness community in decision-making bodies concerning policymatters on trade and commerce.

Speaking on the various de-mands placed by the SYS, the ChiefMinister said that he was not hereto speak on political issues or “askfor votes” but to deliberate on howto improve the lot of the businesscommunity and to appreciate theircontributions to the economic de-velopment of the State.

Mr. Chamling said that all thatwas imperative to ensure the welfareand development of the businesscommunity of the State was their ac-

tive participation for the overall de-velopment and progress of the State.He assured the business communitythat the Sikkim Democratic Frontwould take up all their demands posi-tively once it came back to power.

Mr. Chamling said that theNathula pass would be opened fortrade by July this year and the par-ticipation of the local businesscommunity in a major way wasimportant for its success.

“My government has alwaysbeen in favour of the progress anddevelopment of all the communi-ties in the State, including the busi-ness class. We have always workedfor your betterment and ensuredthat you all are secure and safe andenjoy all the benefits as the othercommunities. We will continue towork for you and ensure a congen-ial atmosphere for you to prosperand progress,” Mr. Chamling as-sured the gathering of over 2,000representatives of the businesscommunity from all over the State.

Contd from pg 1

Vyaparis want PAN equivalentfor Sikkim’s tax-payers

a NOW REPORT

GANGTOK, 03 April: The2,603rd Birth Anniversary ofBhagwan Mahavir was celebratedwith much devotion here at theRajdhani by the Jain communitytoday.

To mark the day, a processionwas taken out at MG Marg byaround a 100 devotees belongingto the Jain faith. The devoteesraised slogans on the main teach-ings of the Jain faith.

“Respect each and everything,living and non-living, Live and letlive and Self discipline, preach dis-cipline,” were some of the mes-sages propagated on Gangtokstreets early in the morning.

The devotees went to the resi-dence of Chananmal Singhi, oneof the senior Jains in the state,where they had a bhajan and kirtan

ceremony.Sikkim has around 300 Jain

families, out of which 100 arebased in Gangtok.

Jains march through a wet MG Marg in

observation of the 2603rd Mahavir

Jayanti on 3 April, 2004. There are 300

Jain families in Sikkim.

MAHAVIR JAYANTI CELEBRATED

from OUR CORRESPONDENT

PEDONG, 03 April: Other thanBhutan, Sakyong is said to be theonly other place where the TeschuChham [literary meaning themasked dance] festival is per-formed. The festival is held in cel-ebration of the inception of theSanchen DorjeeGompa in 1770.The three-day fes-tival began hereon 30 March with‘Champak’ [lastrehearsal] andended here yester-day on 2 April.

The monksperforming theChham had beenpractising atBodhgaya for thepast three months,it is learnt. The different types ofmask dance performed were Sinjee,Shanagngacham, and Jana.

According to Sonam Dorjee,Secretary to the late RinpocheShabdung Nawang Jigme, “Themasked dance is believed to bring

Bhutanese Masked Dancefestival held in Sakyong

good fortune to the people and alsoprevent epidemics and variousother calamities. It also bringspeace by driving away all the evilspirits.” He also added that, “Itbrings a kind of awareness amongthe people about life after death.”

However, Dorjee did admitthat since of the demise of the

Rinpoche lastyear, the celebra-tions had damp-ened a little with asmall crowd turn-ing up this year.

“Last year, thedance festival didnot take place dueto the death ofRinpoche, and cer-tainly one cannotdeny the fact thatafter his death wehave been through

many hardships.”

However, people from differentcommunities and also from nearbySikkim and Darjeeling attended thefestival and holidays were declaredin the local schools.

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Kawangs.Organisers

a NOW REPORT

RANGPO, 03 April: Know yourpolitical parties and their symbols.A crash course in getting familiarwith the who’s who of theSikkimese political arena. And whobetter than the Chief Minister,Pawan Chamling to tell you that?

“Get familiar with all the po-litical parties in the State. It’s im-portant that you know who all arefighting the elections this time,”Mr. Chamling told an amused gath-ering at the 2nd All Sikkim VyapariSammelan here today.

“Let’s see. There is the SikkimDemocratic Front, which I lead, andour symbol is the Umbrella. Thenthere is the Sikkim Pradesh Con-gress Committee-I, with the Hand,the Bharatiya Janata Party with theLotus, the hammer and sickle of theCPI [M], the Sikkim SangramParishad with its Elephant, SikkimHimali Rajya Parishad whose sym-bol is a House and a new outfit,called Gorkha Democratic Party,with no symbol as yet. All theseparties will be fighting it out in theensuing polls. It is up to you all todecide whom to vote for,” he toldthe crowd.

“See, I am even canvassing forthem,” he quipped, evoking loudlaughter and cheers from the public.

Chamlingcampaigns forrival parties!

Chamling at the Vyapari meet at Rangpo

a NOW REPORT

GANGTOK, 03 April: With littleover a month to go for the elections,reports of inter-party skirmisheshave started filtering in from allover the State.

In Mangan, according to a reportfiled by the police, some SDF youthwere attacked by Congress youth.The SDF party office was also peltedwith stones, the complaint alleges.

Three of the SDF youth who wereinjured in the attack were sent to thehospital for treatment, whileChangchul Lachenpa and SonamLachenpa, belonging to the Con-gress were arrested. The case is stillbeing investigated.

In Soreng, pre-election violenceled to the filing of allegations andcounter-allegations by supportersof both parties.

Nanda Lall Dhital, a Congress

supporter filed a report againstNowel Prasad Dhital alleging thatthe latter and four others attackedhim while he was working on hisplot of land on 02 April.

According to him, they threatenedhim with dire consequences if he didnot join the SDF. Even as the policewere filing the case, Nowel PrasadDhital and Dil Kumar Dhital, SDFsupporters reported that on the sameday, at around 8:30 pm Congress sup-

porter, Nanda Lall Dhital and nine oth-ers of Timbirbong, entered their houseat Ridang Busty and assaulted themphysically with iron chains and stickswhich lead to injuries.

The assailants reportedly camein two vehicles from Tharpu. Thetwo victims were forwarded toSoreong Hospital for medicaltreatment and the police are stilltrying to figure out who really isthe guilty party here.

THE SKIRMISHES HAVE STARTED

a NOW REPORT

GANGTOK, 03 April: TheSikkim Democratic Front todayclarified its position vis-à-vis theallegations levelled against it by thestate BJP at a press conference yes-terday. The BJP [Sikkim] president,HR Pradhan had said that the SDFhad misled it into believing that aseat-sharing arrangement would beworked out by the SDF when actu-ally it had no intention of doing so.

Speaking to NOW!, SDF’s RajyaSabha MP, PT Gyamtso, said, “Sen-ior BJP leaders, Mr. Niraula and Mr.Sunil Shastri had visited the state inearly-March. At that time it was de-cided to consider giving the state BJPa couple of seats in the upcomingassembly elections. Later, when thematter came up with the political af-fairs committee of the SDF party, themajority decision went against seatsharing with the state BJP.”

He further explained thatthough the Chief Minister hadagreed in principle to some level ofseat-sharing earlier, the SDF partyfunctioned in a democratic mannerand the right forum to decide on the

matter was the political affairs com-mittee of the party which func-tioned democratically and inde-pendent of personal commitmentsof the party president. “Whateverdecision is taken in such a mannerhas to be respected,” he said.

“Furthermore, the BJP inSikkim is hardly any force and hasno support among the masses or atthe grassroots. So allowing themeven two seats would mean a loss

of two seats. We cannot just let twoseats go to the Congress so easily,”Mr. Gyamtso elaborated further.

Explaining on the need to mustergrassroots support, he also mentionedthat the BJP heavyweights in the statewere all bureaucrats without any ex-perience in contesting elections or inmass contact at the grassroots level.“They need to have at least one politi-cian among them,” he said

Reacting to the Congress alle-gation that the Chief Minister’s at-tending the Vyapari meet at Rangpotoday was a violation of the modelcode of conduct, Mr. Gyamtso said:“If you notice, the Chief Ministermade no political statement atRangpo today, so there is no ques-tion of violating the code.”

Gyamtso responds to allegations of “misleading”BJP and violating code of conduct

SIKKIM BJPSHOULD GET SOME

POLITICIANS,ADVISES RAJYA

SABHA MP

PositivePSummer Collection

STYLEHotel Golden Pagoda

MG Marg, Gangtok

Aftersledge-fest,Chewang

Daduljoins SDF

a NOW REPORT

GANGTOK, 03 April: ChewangDadul Bhutia, former SikkimPradesh Congress Committee Sec-retary and a prospective Congresscandidate from Sang constituencywho was recently involved in asledge-fest with his previous partyjoined the Sikkim DemocraticFront party today at the party of-fice here at Deorali.

Mr. Bhutia, along with his sup-porters, met party president, PawanChamling today and expressed hisdesire to join the SDF.

Mr. Bhutia has accused the Con-gress chief, Nar Bahadur Bhandariof running the party like a dictator.

“A leader who does not under-stand democracy is not fit to be aleader and a party that does not fol-low democracy will only ruin the fu-ture of the people of Sikkim,” hesays, adding that the SDF and Mr.Chamling have now become the“hope” of the poor people of Sikkimand that he would work for the vic-tory of SDF in the coming elections.

SDF denies exodus from Sang-MartamGANGTOK, 03 April: The SDF has voiced concerns over media reportsthat 60 of its party workers and youth from Sang-Martam constituencyhad joined the Congress. The SDF party has said that the report given isbaseless and false. The panchayat and the party workers have denied anysuch mass joining and have condemned the report.

“By giving such false news the Congress and its leaders have proventhat they are a party that lies and which give baseless and incorrect infor-mation to the people,” a press release states.

the district working committee.However, according a press re-

lease, 10 candidates from the stateof West Bengal have already beenselected by the party high-com-mand in Delhi with the name of Mr.Norbula as the candidate fromDarjeeling Constituency.

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FROM DARJContd from pg 1

04 April, 2004; NOW! 5

C M Y K

� NEWSSCAN

It was with a fair sense of trepidation thatI made my way past the Nasturtiumblooms and the umbrella plants and up

the stairs of Fairview, the residence of mycolleague Ms. SD Putsure. My being therewas in response to a kindly invitation fromMs. Putsure who had asked me to join in fora cuppa with her mum and grandma. Al-though this was to be your typical high-teawith friends and family there was somethingnotably special about the whole affair.

Ms. Putsure’s grandma is 104 years.To put her age into perspective, grandma

was 13 years old when the First World Warbroke out. In 1947 when India woke up to hermidnight freedom and her famous tryst withdestiny, she was already 46. Of course, num-bers of late have lost their sanctity. Google is acommonly used verb and triple centuries arepassé. But 104 years of living, even in our dayand age given to such generous doses of hyper-bole, was to say the least, highly remarkable.

There were a number of journalisticthoughts racing in my mind. What could bethe secret of her longevity was a cliché therewas no escaping from. How did she feel aboutall the changes that had taken place in theworld around her was another? And, could shethrow some light on the type of place the hillswere in her time? Also, did she have any youth-ful vices? These and a hundred other ques-tions were persistently popping up in my headas I walked into the room where she lay nap-ping. However all of these queries vanishedinto that freshly scented air when I was in theactual physical presence of the matriarch.

Personally speaking, I am one of thosewho cannot reconcile with growing old. Nei-ther of myself nor of others. There is some-thing unnatural and repulsive about the rav-ages wrought by age. The grey hair, the wrin-kles and the slow degeneration of the facul-ties make such a mockery of human life thatI find it all so unspeakably tragic. For a mo-ment I was wondering what I would feel,being in front of a veritable museum of ahuman being that she would be. But I needn’thave been so crude and presumptous.

Grandma, in a sense, had turned full cir-cle. There was a rather mischievous glint inher girlish eyes and I could sense her mock-ing at me. She seemed to be faintly amusedby the antics of this upstart who had the te-merity to come to her with queries on her

life and longevity.I decided it was not going to be like what

it was in the magazines and put aside mypaper and pencil and chose rather to blend inwith the gathering and the prosaic banter.

Ms. Putsure’s mother, Mrs. PedmaDolma, formerly teacher of Kalimpong Girl’sHigh School and two time Municipal com-missioner from Ward no IV, helped me outwith the facts. Her mother, Yonden Lhamuwas born at Bhutia Busty in Darjeeling. Shehad been sent to Victoria Hospital to train asa nurse under the “Mems” [white memsahibs]but did not complete it as she was wooed,courted, married and brought to Kalimpongin 1921 at Gyalpo House [now Fairview] byher husband Mr. Lhatsering. Her father-in-law was Raibahadur Achuk Tshering, ADCto Sir Charles Bell of Lhasa, representativeof the British regency to Tibet. Her husbandwas a pioneer of the intelligence service andone of the founding fathers of the KalimpongSIB. Sometime in her life she had also beenup at Lachen and Lachung learning to weaveTweed with the British mems.

I was getting heady with the history thather life was so redolent of. Her connections,both past and present, spanned a veritable cul-tural who’s who of the hills. Ms. Putsure’s dadwas Ganju Lama, VC. One of Grandma’sgrandchildren, Ms. Renchen was married toGopal Yonzon, the popular musician, lyricistand singer. Ms. Renchen in her own right is afamous landscape designer and a Culture Con-servationist. For want of space I will limit thefamily tree to just these aforementioned facts.

As the afternoon progressed and the ladyhelped by the affectionate interjections of herdaughter and granddaughter warmed up to me,I got an insight into her secret of her long life.

Yonden Lhamu was disarmingly simple.

She made no big deal about her hundred plusyears. She treated the progression of yearswith a stately nonchalance. She lived herusual life, unchanged for over a century.There were no fusses with the food, no geri-atric tantrums, no demands and also no senseof the immensity of her chronological accom-plishments. Contentment was the chief vir-tue that helped her defy the years. If therewas any hint of sadness she betrayed, thenthat was the sense of helplessness that shefelt on being the one to live through the deathsof so many of her friends, relatives, contem-poraries and also those much younger thanher. In a sense, she had been that lonely mile-stone overseeing the progression of the yearsand also of fellow mortals whose brief hoursof strutting on the stage having ended said intheir last goodbyes and put in their final bowsto grandma who stood as still as time and

Ms. METHUSELAH OFTHE MOUNTAINS

Kalimpong’s history stretches deep into the past and in Kalimpong is a lady who has

spanned a whole century and more. Yondem Lhamu is 103 years old and still displays a

sharp wit and lucid mind. PRAVEEN MOKTAN meets this...

Vajra Guru Dhungdrupat Pemayangtse Monastery, West Sikkim

The Vajra Guru Dhungdrup or recitations at Pemayangtse Gompa,

Sikkim’s premier monastery in West Sikkim will commence from

8th April 2003 ( Lunar calendar : Dawa Nyipa Tsey Chopgay).

The recitations will be headed by his Eminence Yangthang

Rimpoche.

Devotees and interested persons from all over Sikkim who are

interested to participate at the recitations are invited to join us.

We would also like to inform that we will be providing free fooding

and lodging for those participating at the recitations. However,

please bring your own utensils like plates, mugs and spoons.

Once again all are invited to join us for the recitations.

Dueche, Pemayangtse Gompa

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looked at it all in serene bemusement.I was quite overwhelmed and also in a

sense immensely gratified by her normalcy.Hers was to put it simply, a good life welllived. Regrets she had none and she seemedperfectly at peace with all that was aroundher. Her memories were fresh and still get-ting filled. Her brood increasing and explor-ing new possibilities.

And she was her usual self the way shehad been for more than a century.

When our encounter was drawing to aclose and I said in my final thank yous to thethree ladies for that fine evening I wastempted to ask Ms Putsure’s mother, the veryalert and agile Ms. Pedma Dolma, a very un-gentlemanly question, her age. She told memodestly that she was eighty-two. And thatbrought me right back to that age old di-lemma, “Was it nature or nurture?”

The five generations at Fairview , Kalimpong

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C M Y K

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GANGTOK, 03 April: The risingprice of cement is proving to be adampener for building activity in thecapital. The existing rates at whichcement is sold means only the veryrich can afford construction.

“I have been wanting to makean extension to my flat for a longtime, but am unable to do it becauseprices are shooting up every day,”says Sonam Lepcha of Arithang.

A bag of cement, which wasavailable for around Rs. 175 tillsometime back is now costing Rs.220, a rise of almost 25 per cent inlittle over a month. While this risein price may not affect the bigbuilders who buy wholesale fromSiliguri, it definitely inhibits theless well-heeled.

“The rate here is very steepcompared to the rates in Siliguri

from where the dealers get theirmaterials at wholesale prices,” com-plains a buyer. But it’s a no-win situ-ation for him as the amount he re-quires is not enough to make himbuy wholesale and yet large enoughto make a dent in his pocket.

A local dealer informs that hepurchases a bag of cement for Rs.170-175 in Siliguri at wholesaleprices. This, he says is excludingthe taxes, carriage and other fares.However, if anyone were to pur-chase cement in Siliguri it will costus about 185-190 a bag.

It is not just cement, even brickshave registered a rise in prices mak-ing the overall building scenario anexpensive proposition. The price ofa single brick is Rs. 4.50 these days.The same brick costs around Rs.2.00 in Siliguri.

Asked to explain the suddenrise in prices, the dealers inform

that while the rate of bricks hasconstantly been shifting from Rs 4to 4.50 for the past one-year, theprice of cement rose up dramati-cally in the last two months.

According to them, they can donothing about it as companies are rais-ing their prices because of increasingdemand and a shortage of supply.

“If the companies reduce the

prices then we will do the same. Keep-ing in mind the various levies andtaxes we have to pay we do not have avery large margin,” they maintain.

With no indication that priceswill ever go down, this sudden risein price is something we have tolive with and factor in on our build-ing budget.

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Dzongu constituency and the indig-enous Lepchas residing there.

As far as the allegation of as-sault on the headmaster is con-cerned, it was the supporters of theMLA who had created trouble andsix of them were arrested by theRavalangla Police. Moreover, Smt.Indra Bhandari, MadevLamichaney [teachers] husbandand wife have been openly in-volved in political activities, ne-

glecting the future of poor studentsand causing resentment amongstthe local population.

As such, we the undersignedresidents of Lingee-Payong requestyou to kindly verify the facts andthen only publish such articles. Itcauses further friction in the remoteand peaceful area.

Danbir Rai [Zilla Sadasha],Lingee Payong, Kubirnath

Temsina [Panchayat], Payong,Tsering Dorjee Lepcha

[Panchayat], Lingee

Contd from pg 2

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GANGTOK, 03 April: Thescheme “Search for moreBaichung’s” launched by the De-partment of Sports & Youth Affairs,in 1999 is beginning to yield re-sults. This talent search schemescreened 6,000 boys in the under-14 age-group, out of which thecoaches of the department selected30 of the most talented.

The team of Namchi SportsHostel has been participating regu-

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Bricks and cement are fast moving beyond the middle-class budget in Gangtok

larly at the Subroto Mukherjee Sub-junior Football Tournament in NewDelhi for the last two years and wassemi-finalist on both the occasions.

Dawa Lama, Sanju Pradhan,Sagar Rai and Karma LendupLepcha were four of the boys fromthe hostel who have represented In-dia at the Under-14 Asian FootballConfederation Festival during 2002.

Now Sanju Pradhan, a regularmember of India Under-17 footballteam since last October, will be leav-ing for Goa on April 5 for another

coaching camp session with the In-dian Under 17 football team. Theteam is expected to go to Englandsome time in the month of August-September as part of Exposure Trip.

According to Karma Yougyal,Joint Director, South/West, Depart-ment of Sports and Youth Affairs,“The present achievement is basedon the performance of the boys inthe National level Tournament andit also speaks of the fact that theintensive coaching and rigorousphysical training has started bear-ing fruits.”

The search for more Baichungspulls out a Sanju Pradhan

call NOW! @953592270949

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04 April, 2004; NOW! 7

C M Y K

� READON

NOTICEState Bank of Sikkim Employ-ees’ Association raffle drawextended up to 16.05.2004.

Norbu Tamang,General Secretary

ph: 9434117402281469 [r]

FOR RENTBarsaana College Building &Hostel available for rent inKalimpong after June 2004.Contact B K Ghatraj.Phone: 953552-257810

EARNExcellent Money MakingFranchise Opportunityavailable for Foreign Educationand Employment. Interestedparties please e-mail:info@TheMemorexGroup.com

FOR SALEPure Jersy Cows forimmediate sale in Kalimpong.Contact: B K Ghatraj.Phone: 953552-257810

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LAND FOR SALELand for Sale at Sichey [aboveDC Court] and Tadong [aboveManipal Hospital]. For details,contact: 9434028001

FOR SALEA white colored soft top gypsyin excellent condition. Pricenegotiable. Interested per-sons contact: 220994 (R),9832014371 (M).

Kutse SheguThe 49th day Kutse Shegu of late Tshering Doma who leftfor her heavenly abode on 20th February 2004 falls on 7thApril 2004. All friends, relatives and well wishers arerequested to join us in offering prayers for the departed soulat our residence at Manjushree Niwas, Tadong, Gangtok.We heartily thank all those who stood by us during the timeof bereavement and regret our inability to do so individually.

H. R. Sharma (Husband), Vijay Sharma, Ajay Sharma (sons), Neelam

Sharma, Dr. Yogita Sharma (daughters)

PUBLIC NOTICEThis is to inform all Raf-fle holders that Raffle,MCC, North Sikkim thatwill be drawn on 31stApril, 2004 instead of31st March 2004.

LOST The All India Senior Sec-ondary Certificate Examination 2002,Pass Certificate of Dal Badhur Chettrison of Prem Badhur Chettri residentof Upper Chaindmari, Gangtok, RollNo 3213688 has been lost. Anyonewho finds it should kindly please con-tact phone number: 229296.

Kutse SheguThe 49th day Kutse Shegu of late Sonam PintsoBhutia who left for his heavenly abode on 24th Feb-ruary 2004 falls on 12th April 2004.All friends, relatives and well-wishers are requestedto join us in offering prayers for the departed soul atour residence at Rongong, Phodong, North Sikkim.We also take this opportunity to thank all those who stood by usduring the time of bereavement and regret our inability to do soindividually.

Khamsum Bhutia (Father); Diki Doma (Mother); Pema Yangchen (Wife); Sonam

Tenzing (Daughter); Peden Bhutia (Sister); Sonam Thendup (Brother);

Tenzing Namgyal (Brother); Gita Pradhan-Bhutia (Sister-in-Law);

Dup Pintso Kaleon (Brother-in-Law)

ph: (Gangtok) 228419, (Mobile) 9832005509

Kutse SheguThe 49th Day “Shegu” of late Manoj Tamang whoexpired on 26th February 2004 falls on 14th April 2004.All relatives, fiends and well-wishers are requestedto join us in offering prayers for the departed soul atour residence at Ranipool Bazar, East Sikkim. Wewould also like to take this opportunity to thank all

those who extended their help in our hour of bereavement.Smt Man Maya Tamang, Smt Suk Maya Tamang (Mother), Smt Sakuntala Pradhan

(wife), Sisir Tamang, Basant Tamang, Sunil Tamang (Brothers), C Doma (Sister in

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BEFORE THE CHIEF JUDICIAL MAGISTRATE (FIRST CLASS) EAST SIKKIM &

NORTH SIKKIM AT GANGTOK

AFFIDAVITWhereas I, Mrs Stella Singh (new name) Stella Mary Moore( former), wife of late VishnuSingh aged about 60 years, by faith Christian, resident of Development Area, Gangtok, EastSikkim, do hereby solemnly affirm declare as under:-1. That I am the legally wedded wife of late Vishnu Singh, son of late F. Singh, resident ofUdaipur, Rajthan. Our marriage was solemnized in accordance to customs prevalent inChristian community in the year 1966 at Darjeeling, West Bengal.2. That prior to marriage my maiden surname war “MOORE” and my name has been re-corded as “ STELLA MOORE” in my relevant documents.3. That I hereby wholly renounce, relinquish and abandon the use of my former name ofSTELLA MARY MOORE, and in lieu thereof, I do hereby assume, retain and adopt the newname of STELLA SINGH and so that I may hereinafter be called, known and distinguishednot by my former name but by my assumed name.4. That for the purpose of evidencing such declare that I shall hereafter in all records, deedand writings and in all proceedings, dealings and transactions as well as upon all occasions,whatsoever use and sigh my name as STELLA SINGH in place and in substitution of myformer name STELLA MARY MOORE.5. That I expressly authorize and request all persons in general, relatives, and friends inparticular at all times hereinafter to designate and address me by my such assumed name ofSTELLA SINGH.The statements made herein above are true to the best of my knowledge and belief andnothing has been concealed therein.AND I sign this Affidavit on this the 2nd day of April 2004 at Gantok , East Sikkim.

Deponent, S.SinghDeponent identified by: Michael Butler, Gangtok, Sikkim

money, at times very much: but atother times they would have a luckyday and feel very happy. In addition,my master smoked a tin of cigarettesa day. These were his habits to fulfilhis desires.

This was the first time that I saw ahorse race. Every Saturday during theracing season Miss Mary and the chil-dren and I went in the afternoon to aplace outside the racecourse, beyondthe railings, where the public couldlook on. I began to take a great inter-est in watching races because this wasa new kind of amusement open to me.

My master also had a habit ofgoing to the pictures as often aspossible. When he had his free eve-nings he went at least twice a week,

and the children went at least oncea month.

My wages had been arranged atfour rupees a month, but I was ac-tually given only two. Two rupeesa month were to be saved for me touse in the future if any troubleshould come. I thought this a verygood arrangement and accepted it.

Karachi was not so cold asPeshawar, but early in the morningand also in the evenings it would bevery cold. One day I caught a coldand got fever. I had to go to bed andmy master told me that as long as Iwas ill I need not do any work. Be-cause of this fever my body beganto shiver and all day long I had nocomfort, whether sitting or lying. Idid not know that it was a return ofthe malaria. I had again an attack of

delirium and began to talk all kindsof nonsense and wicked things asin Ghaziabad. I said all kinds of badwords to my mistress as well as toother people. But one day in mymadness I called to Miss Mary, say-ing that she was my darling, and mymaster heard me.

to be continued

Contd from pg 2

Racehorses and My Darling Miss Mary

We are all in awe of celebrities and publicfigures. We always wonder how they doit? That is, remain celebrities and in the

public eye despite their potbellies and bald pates andtheir inherent allergy to sunlight. One reason is thatthe public eye is usually closed. So now we attempt toopen your eyes to what you can learn from celebritiesand public figures from these Instructional Bookletsthat produce no sweat.

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“Rebel without a pause,” ArundhatiRoy. And in case you do pause - pauselong enough to write a novel! Along

with her theories on global warming, theNarmada waters, women’s lib, GeorgeBush’s use of parenthesis and her newhairstyle.

If interested on how to supplement yourproduct endorsements with a part time sports

career, pick up a copy of Anna Kournikova’s “With noSweat!” This one comes in the Indian edition with specialmessages from the cricket team.

And now, fashion tips from none other thanGovinda - the post modernist throwback to attitude.“Fashion flips” introduces revolutionary sartire- How to make a size 28 accommodate a 40 inch waist-line. It actually induces a big grin!

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The new service is called Gmailand will include a built-in searchfunction that will let people searchevery e-mail they have ever sent orreceived.

As Microsoft’s MSN and Ya-hoo are preparing to attackGoogle’s role as the first place mostpeople turn to carry out an Internetsearch, Google is hoping to coun-ter those assaults by moving ontothe turf its competitors have alreadyclaimed in providing e-mail serv-ices as part of their portals.

Google will offer consumersbetter access to searching their owne-mail and could well upset the in-dustry balance by offering free ac-cess to services that previouslywere only available by paying amonthly subscription fee.

Google’s entry into the e-mailbusiness will sharpen the lines be-tween the major competing portalslike Yahoo and MSN and Internetservice providers like AOL andEarthlink. Google recently lost itsposition as search provider for Ya-hoo, which has turned to a companyit acquired, Overture, to take advan-tage of the growing amounts ofadvertising revenue available onsearch pages.

We now have instructional bookletsto Accentuate every disorder

8; NOW!; 04 April, 2004

C M Y K

Published by Lt. Col. (retd) P. Dorjee and printed at Darpan Publications Pvt. Ltd, Siliguri. Editor: Pema Wangchuk. Executive Editor: Mita ZulcaNow! Near Ayurvedic Clinic, Gairi Gaon, Tadong. East Sikkim. ph: 03592 270949 email: sikkimnow@rediffmail.com

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1507 Future German reformerMartin Luther, at age 21, wasordained a priest in the RomanCatholic church.1905 Earthquake in Kangra In-dia, kills 370,0001912 Chinese republic pro-claimed in Tibet1932 Vitamin C 1st isolated1968 Rev Martin Luther King Jrassassinated in Memphis(Dream continues)1979 Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto formerPakistani president, hanged inPakistan1975 USAF transport carryingorphans from Saigon crasheskilling 155

ARIES: You are in a dreamy, romantic

mood. Yearnings for love, feelings of com-

passion, or even religious devotion accom-

pany this time period. You are definitely

more idealistic, tolerant, and selfless in

your relationships, which may cause you

to act against your own interests.

TAURUS: Your sexual and aggressive

energies are stimulated, and you take the

initiative. Emotional outbursts and impa-

tience are also likely. You're in a combat-

ive, energetic mood.

GEMINI: Your personal magnetism is

strong and you attract appreciation, affec-

tion, and attention at this time. You beau-

tify your surroundings and pay particular

attention to your appearance. This is a

good time to treat yourself or do some-

thing fun just for you.

CANCER: Your defenses are weaker

than usual now and you are inclined to pas-

sively withdraw or give in to other people

rather than act decisively. Confusion, vague-

ness, or misrepresentation can occur in your

relationships. You're likely to see things

much more clearly and realistically later on.

LEO: Tensions in an intimate relationship

make themselves felt now. You may feel

out of sync with your partner, dissatisfied

in a way that may be difficult to pinpoint

and resolve. Your love rhythms are a bit

off. This affects all your relationships but

particularly those that are sexual in nature.

VIRGO: You are highly ambitious, full

of optimism and enthusiasm. In fact, you

may be foolishly overconfident and take

on more challenges than you can really

meet. Beware of overexerting yourself.

LIBRA: Physical thrills and excitement

have a strong appeal for you now. You also

have a lot of energy and quick reflexes.

Acting on your spontaneous impulses and

following through on some of your more

unusual or "crazy" desires will yield sur-

prises, mostly positive.

SCORPIO: A short trip, or at least a lot

of activity and movement, is very likely

now. You may hear from someone who has

important information for you or feel a

pressing need to write or call someone else

in order to bring some matter in the open.

Communications of all kinds play an im-

portant role in your life now.

SAGITTARIUS: You know just what you

want right now and woe to anyone or any-

WE WERE PUNK’D! KUTCHERRESURRECTS MTV SERIES

Just four months after Kutcher ended his hit MTV prankster seriesPunk’d, the music cabler announced Thursday that Punk’d will return

to its slate next month for a third season, with eight episodes already inproduction. The 25-year-old actor had announced his decision to nix athird season of Punk’d in December. At the time, TV pundits suspectedKutcher’s announcement was a ruse aimed at throwing off celebrities,who were catching on that they were being pranked too early in the game.

OPRAH TOPS GREEDY LISTOPRAH WINFREY has been named and shamed as the greediest star ona new list which also features JOHN TRAVOLTA, WILL SMITH, MA-DONNA and SEAN ‘P DIDDY’ COMBS.

Oprah tops America’s GLOBE tabloid list because she’s “the queenof big spenders”.

And the Globe claims her eight homes in America alone are causeenough to rocket her to the top of the greedy list, but the addition of herlove for huge shopping sprees, fitted cashmere carpets and 24-carat goldshowerheads give her the edge over her fellow celebrities.

Meanwhile, JULIA ROBERTS, LISA MARIE PRESLEY and HALLEBERRY are among the stars on the Globe’s Cheapskates list.

Insiders in the film industry haveit that cozy couple Bipasha Basu

and John Abraham have split. Johnwas heard telling a close friend thatBipasha was not interested in get-ting married at the moment. Sourcesalso have it that John has got en-gaged to some small time model.How far are the stories true nobodyknows. John always maintained thathe and Bipasha were good friends.Bipasha also said that she does notwant to comment on her relationshipwith John. Director Amit Saxenawho worked with them in Jismmaintained that the chemistry sharedby them on the sets of Jism madeone feel that they were in a relation-ship. That there was certainly moreto them than just friendship!

BIPASHA-JOHN ABRAHAM SPLIT

thing that gets in your way! You are much

more likely to become domineering, pushy,

or inconsiderate of others now. Accidents,

mistakes made in haste, or ego conflicts may

occur due to your impatience and willfulness.

CAPRICORN: You're feeling quiet,

somber, realistic, and contained. If a dark

mood comes over you, know that it is tem-

porary. You tend to see things more pessi-

mistically than usual right now.

AQUARIUS: Your sexual and aggres-

sive energies are stimulated, and you take

the initiative. Emotional outbursts and im-

patience are also likely. You're in a com-

bative, energetic mood.

PISCES: You seesaw between caution

and impatience, which generates a great

deal of stress and inner anguish. You may

blame your feelings of oppression and

barely contained hostility on an unjust situ-

ation, a corrupt society, or your childhood

conditioning but it is your choices and your

own internal struggles which are the real

issue at present. Right now, trying to do

battle with the outside world will be like

banging your head against a brick wall!

NETS BALK AT JACKSON

TV PITCH

Speaking of Michael Jackson,the self-proclaimed “King of

Pop” seems to be losing his allurewith TV networks. According toVariety, Jackson’s managers haveapproached several networks aboutthe idea of a Jackson TV specialbuilt around videotape footagefrom the singer’s trip this week toWashington as well as some ofJackson’s meetings with his innercircle of advisers, but the early re-sponses have been less than enthu-siastic. Jackson, who is chargedwith molesting a boy under the ageof 14, would also agree to sit downfor a seven- to 10-minute interview,although topics covered by the gagorder in Jackson’s criminal casewould be off limits. Insiders tellVariety the asking price for a pack-age deal: $3 million.

If not father then son… that’swhat will happen in the upcoming

IIFA awards to be held in Singapore.While initially Amitabh

Bachchan’s multi-starrer Deewaarwas to premiere at the IIFA awards[which didn’t materialize later], itsson Abhishek Bachchan’s multi-starrer Yuva which will finally pre-miere at the IIFA 2004.

The film also starring AjayDevgan, Vivek Oberoi, RaniMukherjee, Kareena Kapoor andEsha Deol will make a worldwiderelease on May 21.

‘YUVA’ TO PREMIERE AT IIFA