rajdhania NOW! supplement for GANGTOK

13-19 Nov, 2002 NOW! Vol 1 No 22

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The Cabinet on October 29,sanctioned the proposal seek-ing creation of the posts of

lecturers for Economics and Math-ematics at the Sikkim GovernmentCollege (SGC) Tadong.

SGC has made this proposal inorder to start Honors Degree Coursein Economics and Mathematics. Buteven though the Cabinet has clearedthe way, Honors in these two sub-jects might still take some time tocome by since North Bengal Univer-sity, to which SGC is affiliated, isdithering over the matter. SGC is yetto receive permission from NBU tostart these streams in the college.

Dr. Sunwar, Principal, SGC toldNOW that the college wanted to startHonors in the two subjects and hadaccordingly applied for the same toNBU in July this year. However, hereceived a letter from the Vice Chan-cellor (VC) of NBU denying permis-sion to SGC. The letter explainedthat the college should have appliedin the month of February.

Dr. Sunwar, however points outthat when SGC started Honors in So-ciology in 1999 it had applied forpermission only in July. Taking thisinto consideration he had applied thistime too in July. The Principal fur-ther defended that there are no “rules”specifying that such applicationsshould be submitted before February.It now appears that SGC shared agood rapport with the previous VC,but is yet to strike one with the cur-rent incumbent Dr. PK Shah.

While the confusion over theincorporation of honors dergreecourses in the two subjects contin-ues, SGC is simultaneously busyingitself with preparations for its Sil-ver Jubilee Celebrations scheduledfor later this month. Dr. Sunwar in-formed NOW! that the collegewould invite the VC Dr. Shah to thisfunction and that he would againtake up this issue with him.

ECO & MATHS HONORS

AT SGC

Cabinet

sanctions,

NBU dithersa NOW REPORT

There is one Hindu festival thatis uniquely Bihari, and that isthe festival of Chhat. Ob-

served mostly by the people of NorthBihar, the festival saw an enthusias-tic celebration in the Rajdhani too.Devoted to the worship of the SunGod, Chhat Puja is also known asSuryaShashti. The festival begins onthe sixth day of the month of Kartikin the Hindu lunar calendar and isone of the holiest festivals forBiharis and extends for four days.

On day 1, the devotees take acleansing dip - preferably in the holyriver Ganges (Teesta will do in Sik-kim)- and bring river water to pre-pare the offerings. On day 2, a fastis observed for the whole day and inthe late evening, the devotees, afterperforming a puja at home, breaktheir fast. The offerings - typically aporridge of rice, puris and bananas -are shared among family and visit-ing friends and relatives. Day 3 isspent in the preparation of offeringsat home during the day.

In the evening the devoteesmove to a river bank (or a pond, evenan artificial one like the one atThakurbari will do) with the entirefamily and friends. There the offer-

banks near Singtam draw perhapsthe largest crowds in Sikkim). Of-ferings are made to the rising sun.At the completion of the offerings,there is great celebration. The devo-tees break their fast and the rich of-ferings are made available to thefamily, friends, relatives and the on-lookers! The offerings are also verycharacteristic. They are: a deep fried

ings are made to the setting sun. Atnightfall, the devotees along with thefamily and friends return homewhere another colorful celebrationtakes place.

The devotees maintain a strictfast without even water. Then nextmorning a similar procession of thedevotees, family and friends, movesagain to the river bank (The Teesta

a NOW FEATURE

and sweet rolls of stone groundwheat flour, grapefruit, whole coco-nuts, bananas, and grains of lentils.These items are contained in small,somewhat semi-circular, pans wo-ven out of bamboo strips.

Chhat is a very colorful festival.New clothes are a must for the devo-tees. And the family also are dressed

TYPICALLY BIHARI, TYPICALLY SIKKIMESE

A CHHAT PUJA CONGREGATION AT DEORALI [TOP LEFT]. OFFERING PRAYERS AT THAKURBARI[BOTTOM LEFT] EVEN AS FAMILIES WAIT THEIR TURN [RIGHT]

MUSIC TO OUR EARS

PREFIX ALL TELEPHONE

NUMBERS WITH “2”

BEFORE DIALLING.

THE NOW! PHONE

THUS BECOMES

“2”70949

THE MUSICAL FEVER IS TRULY HERE. AND, IN STYLE. KYI-DE-KHANG’S “SOUND OF MUSIC”

PERFORMED OVER THREE DAYS PLAYED OUT TO A CAPTIVE AUDIENCE AS CHILD AFTER

TALENTED CHILD DISPLAYED A SURPRISING RANGE OF VOCAL ARTISTRY...

TURN TO pg (iii) FOR DETAILS

turn to pg (iii)

13-19 Nov, 2002iirajdhani

NEW ARRIVALS

Gangtokians will now enjoy theprivilege of receiving and send-

ing speed post consignments on thevery same day of booking. At leastwithin city limits.

The new service - Same DaySpeed Post Services - was launchedat a function organised by the De-partment of Posts here at Commu-nity Hall on November 8.

The Same Day Speed Post Serv-ice has been launched to provide “in-novative” and “customer-friendly”speed post services in Gangtok. Speedpost consignments booked up to 1 pmin Gangtok will be delivered to ad-dresses on the same day of bookingwithin Gangtok till Ranipool area. Theconsignments from Gangtok toKolkata, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai andother major cities will be delivered onthe third day. By dialling Speed PostCentre at 227427 the executives incharge there would make arrange-

ments to collect the consignmentsfrom the customer and then deliver it.

The day’s function also felicitatedselected employees by awarding themtrophies for their contributions towardsproviding better post services in Sik-kim. Kumar Sewa, Public RelationOfficer, was awarded for his excellentrapport with his customers; ArunKumar Sewa, Post Master, Tashiling,for the excellent rapport he shares withState Government officials at Tashiling;Umesh Rai, Marketing ExecutiveSpeed Post (Gangtok) for his skilfulmarketing skills; Sonam Palmu Bhutia,Postal Assistant, Gangtok for her ex-cellent work at Gangtok Head Office;Swastika Chakravorty, System Admin-istrator, at Gangtok Head Office for herexpertise in the field of computer tech-nology; Dhurba Thapa, Postal Assist-ant for his skilful customer dealings;Nazima Lama, Assistant DivisionalOfficer for her hard work and tenacity;KB Chettri, Male Overseer for his sin-cerity in discharging his duties; Gopal

Thakuri, Postman Gangtok branch forhis passionate work; Subhash Rai, an-other Postman of Gangtok branch forhis punctuality and sincerity; BimlaSubba, a Group B official fromTashiling for her commitment and hon-esty; Krishna Lepcha, branch Postmas-ter of Assam Lingzey for his services.

DR Marak, Director, Postal Serv-ices (North Bengal & Sikkim) informedthe gathering that this was for the firsttime that such awards were being givenout in Sikkim and expressed hope thatit motivates the postal staff to workereven more diligently.

The Governor, V. Rama Rao,who presided over the function asthe Chief Guest, urged that the De-partment should focus on providingbetter postal services in the rural sec-tors. The Health Minister, DDBhutia, who was the Guest of Hon-our at this function congratulated theawardees and stated that they hadnow a greater responsibility towardstheir customers.

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TO SUCCESS BAS AUR KYA?

Sagar Mull is fit at 63. Still not requiring a sweater for his morningwalks, he struts the climb from his house at MG Marg toTsuklakhang with a bag slung over his shoulders. It is amazing to

see how stray dogs all along his route start running towards him, their tailsawag. Not so amazing when Sagar Mull pulls out chapattis from his pock-ets for his canine friends. For the past two years, Sagar Mull has made it ahabit to rise early, collect leftovers for the strays and then make his walk.He also carries wheat grains for the birds. The morning air is good for thePhefdas (lungs), he says and his habit good for the soul. Walk with him andthere are many tips for healthy living. Sagar Mull for example collects themorning dew from the leaves and rubs them on his eyes. They are thera-peutic he insists. There are also lessons in cordiality. There are a handful ofother elders who share Sagar Mull’s walking route and each greets theother with a smart “Ram, Ram” and “Salaam”. Sagar Mull is also an exam-ple of the communal tolerance and respect that the present times require.Obviously a Hindu by faith, he does the koras around Tsuklakhang in de-vout fashion and ends with dhoks at the altar. Ask him why he does what hedoes and he says, “Karte hain, bas aur kya”.

SAME DAY SPEED POSTWITHIN GANGTOK

POSTAL DEPTT AWARDS MERITORIOUS PERSONNEL

a NOW REPORT

13-19 Nov, 2002 iiirajdhani

NAME: ............................................... Address.............................................

Last week’s answer: Elton John. Winner: Mahendra Gurung, Nam Nang

WHAT IS NICK CARTER’S LATEST SINGLE CALLED?

� HELP ME

� BEAT ME

� TREAT ME

Pick the correct answer and win

an Audio CD of your choice sponsored by

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correct entry, the winner will be decided by a

draw of lots. The prizes cannot be exchanged

or reimbursed in cash. Cut out this comptt. and

reach the entries to NOW! Gairi Gaon,

Tadong; or Oberois, MG Marg; or Jordy’s,

Tibet Road, on or before Sunday.

MigtinT H E

AROUND GANGTOK

CONTESTWHERE WAS KDK’S SOUND OF MUSIC STAGED?

� SANGRAM HALL

� KRANTI HALL

� COMMUNITY HALL

NAME: ............................................... Address.............................................

Last Week’s answer: V. Rama Rao Winner: Avhir Chettri, Burtuk. Tick mark the

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GANGTOK

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OUT NOW!

• Something to gladden thehearts of all those who wish toavoid butter and even the regularmayonnaise in their sandwichesand salads- Fun Foods adds an-other product to its range, thebrand new Diet Mayonnaise. Notonly does this mayo economize onthe calorie count, it livens up yourbland s’wiches and salads with itstangy flavour. By the way, this isan egg less product in that ratherthan use eggs, it uses milk solidsso even the ultra finicky vegetar-ian can opt for it. But once open,you have to refrigerate it.

• If you want a watch that givesyou a positive edge over the ordi-nary, check outthe Titan Edge.At 3.5 mm it isTHE slimmest watch in the world.What’s more, it is waterproof. Defi-nitely a feather in the cap of mak-ers – Titan of the Tata stable.There are 13 design variants. TheTitan Edge’s best feature is its con-temporary and extremely sleeklooks accentuated by a finelycrafted ceramic dial withenlongated etchings. Gone are thedays when you bought a watch forits functionality. Today nothing lessthan a style statement will do toadorn your wrist! Get the Edge toadorn yours for Rs. 4995/-

• We can’t figure out why peoplecan’t leave their hair its naturalcolour unless of course it’s neces-sity that prompted the colourchange in the first place. Anyway

check out the three new hair col-ours created especially for Indianhair that Godrej has added to itsproduct portfolio –Burgandy, Cop-per Brown and Dark Mahogany.Positioned as ‘World class colourfor Indian hair’ these new colourstake the total Godrej tally to seven.Actually who will understand In-dian hair better than an Indiancompany? Makes sense to use adesi appeal.

• Another one jumps on thebeauty bandwagon. This time it isMadhuri Dixit who follows the ex-alted footsteps of the likes of Eliza-beth Taylor by launching her ownrange of products in collaboration

with Emamiwho manufac-tures them.

Called Beauty secrets byMadhuri, the products claim to beformulated using ingredients thatwere part of Madhuri’s own beautysecrets. The 3-in-1 herbal hair oilfor instance is said to be handeddown to her by her granny. Theother products include creams forsummer/winter as well as sham-poos for different types of hair.

• Kwality Walls tries out an in-teresting new brand extension.Following the tremendous suc-cess of its lower pricedKwalityWalls range of icecream,the company now offers you Maxcream modified flavoured toffeethat promises the same great tasteas the icecream.

�

in their finest on the visit to the river.There is much music and a lot of

singing of folk songs, both at homeand on the river bank. In Patna, liter-ally millions of people throng thebanks of the river Ganges for miles.

There is much gaiety even among somuch piety. The streets are kept spot-lessly clean by bands of volunteers,who also decorate all streets leadingto the river with colorful festoons, rib-bons, and banners. Loudspeakersblare chath songs all through theevening and early morning.

Contd from pg (i)

TYPICALLY BIHARI...

MUSIC TO OUR EARS

The moment the strains of theopening song dedicated toworld peace died down, the

audience knew these kids on stagewere on a mission. The solemn is-sue of ending strife in the world over,the 90-member strong team fromKyi-de-Khang launched into emot-ing what is perhaps the most subtlyeffective antiwar musical - Sound ofMusic. Their mission was now toentertain.

On November 11, when the mu-sical was staged for an audience whohad paid for the evening, not a sin-gle person returned without a senseof awe at what such young studentscan achieve.

Rinzing Nedup, a KDK teacher,who directed, choreographed andalso sang for the musical, was fullof pride and excitement when NOW!caught up with him after the finalcurtain call. Originally prepared forthe Parent’s Day of the school,Rinzing revealed that the tremen-dous response to the show convincedthem that the talent had to be show-cased for a larger audience. Hencethe November 11 performance.

And talent there was in abun-

a NOW REPORT

dance. Chung Chung Bhutia (classX), was outstanding in the lead roleof Maria. She was ably supported byher classmate Namgyal Tashi asCapt. Vontrapp. The Vontrapp broodof seven were lovable on stage anddrawn from classes I to VIII. Theyoungest of them all, Shilpa Sundas,won the hearts of the audience.

The cast did not sing one noteout of tune and were ably backed by

a 60-strong choir which packedSangram Hall with powerfulsoundbytes. A 9-member musicalteam, three solo singers and sevenviolinists from the school and a megamusical was afoot.

What is surprising is that the vio-linists provided the score riding onbarely two months of practise. Whatare kids made of nowadays?

Well done KDK.

ACROSS1. Father Christmas8. Wrong9. Stupefy10. Fasteners12. Pot14. Break17. Strong taste21. Tremble22. Little23. Sister by marriageDOWN2. Extraterrestrial3. Trial4. Box5. Modify6. Inhabitant of Sweden7. Twist11. Bring civil action against13. Small child14. Flowers15. Pursue16. Appears18. Rouse19. Aquatic bird20. Employs

13-19 Nov, 2002iv rajdhani

CROSSWORD

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Solve the crossword correctly. Rush it to Oberois (MG Marg) or NOW! GairiGaon, Tadong, on or before Sunday and a lucky draw of all correct entries willwin the Chosen One a Snacks Coupon worth Rs. 100 at Quick Bite, MG Marg.

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. . .

GOOD MORNING, GANGTOK

LITTLE BIHAR

Arithang was once a part ofBihar. That’s what a new book

‘Little known facts on the EasternHimalayas’ says. That perhaps ex-plains why so many of them havecome back to reclaim their land. Waswoken up on Tika day not by Dewsibhais but the high pitched wailingof a dozen Rabri Devi’s singingsongs in praise of some not presentbrother. There are nearly 20 shopsin less than a ½ Km stretch ownedby these good folk and on the 10th

which was the day of the Chhat puja,Arithang wore a deserted look, whatwith all the original residents walk-ing barefoot to Thakurbari carryingbaskets of fruits on their head, as theritual demands. From Little Italy toLittle Bihar, we have them all here.

GOOD OLD JHORA

Talking of Arithang, there hasbeen a revolutionary change in

the way people are dealing with theirgarbage. Readers may recall photo-graphs and news reports we had pub-lished to draw attention to the for-ever overflowing dump. Subse-quently the police and the Panchayatreached an agreement wherein the

police supplied 10 extra dustbins andthe Panchayat promised to get themcleared regularly. It seemed like theperfect ending. But like all goodthrillers, there was a twist in the tale.Now two months later, not only arethe dustbins nowhere in sight, buteven the dump has been demolished.Which leaves the residents with nochoice but to throw all the garbageinto the jhora. Did someone say, themore things change, the more theyremain the same?

NAKED MAN

A half naked, sometimes fully na-ked man, is scaring the hell out

of pedestrians taking the Whitehall– Modern school shortcut. Naturally,his sporadic appearances have beenbothering the students and teachersof the school who have approachedthe police for help. In a related de-velopment, a teacher was at the re-

ceiving end of some very obscenebehavior on that stretch recently. Theman was later identified as a driverfrom Chongey by the teacher and thepolice have been informed abouthim. But the original naked man isstill at large and many are nowfrightened to use that particularshortcut.

GUNS & ROSES

Deorali is fast becoming the pre-ferred destination for those in

search of accommodation cheaperthan Gangtok but with the same con-veniences. A colleague who shiftedthere recently was warned by theneighbours that the only blot on thehorizon was the constant barking ofstray dogs at night. Apparently, thesenoisy dogs are cursed by all at nightand yet when the MCD men comewith their guns, the very same peo-ple say bechara and hide the dogsin their homes. A sentiment echoedby many at different localities. Iguess, we are like this only.

SIZE DOES MATTER

The change in the size of thisnewspaper has elicited various

responses. Some have liked the newsize while others preferred the ear-lier one. One reader says she likesthe new size because she can coverher shelves better with it while ashopowner wants the previous sizeback because it was perfect for pack-ing! We’re sorry we asked.

a NOW! pic

A REAL KODAK MOMENT THIS: The Chhat Puja crowd atThakurbari spilled over to the Statue of Unity complex nearby and

offered some photo-ops

Sikkim Police, Traffic Branch, has designated various taxi stops in and around

Gangtok for the convenience of the general public. Taxi Stoppage signs have

been put up at these designated places. However, most of the times, the pas-

sengers ask the drivers to stop elsewhere and not at the designated stops to

serve their convenience. This way, the drivers are fined by the Police. This

practice, adopted by the public, is in a way encouraging the drivers to break

rules. The general public is hereby requested to abide by the rules and not

ask taxi drivers to stop at undesignated stops for their own safety.

SIKKIM POLICEOffice ofthe SP, East

6:35 AM.

Kazi Road, Gangtok