13 April, 2004; NOW! 1

C M Y K

Tuesday, 13 April, 2004 Vol. 3 No. 15 Gangtok � Rs. 3

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Slip-shodding our way to slides

No suspensions,no over-paying

THE GOVT.CLARIFIES

GANGTOK, 12 April: The monsoons are still officially a month away,but the weather has a way of reminding us of its cyclical occurrence. Ina sort of cameo performance, high wind and gale along with heavy andintermittent showers on the night of 11 April replicated the actual weathersituation as can be expected at the height of the monsoon months. Andwhen inclemency is involved in its tale then apprehension levels runhigh which could make people mistake the “trailer” for the movie.

Sikkim has always dreaded the rainy seasons. It is perhaps the onlyphenomenon which claims more innocent lives in its few months ofexistence than the annual list of unnatural deaths in the state.

A taste of what could be expected hit Gangtok in the form of threelandslides which though not very serious should be an unpleasant re-minder of the inappropriateness of some schemes which pass in thename of development.

A government residential complex, a shanty and a rural junior highschool were visited by slides brought upon more by inconsiderate fell-ing, improper drainage and shoddy water pipe laying.

Worst hit was the shanty below the National Highway, behindTenzing & Tenzing, where a desperate Sukhbir Kharka had to clawthrough the debris to reach his daughter Mary who was buried under it.Mary survived with a few bruises, but Sukhbir’s hut was obliterated.Without a regular job and with no where else to stay, more rain is obvi-ously not Sukhbir’s foremost concern at present.

The same, however, cannot be said for the Upper Syari Junior HighSchool at Kopibari, which felt the swathe of a slide triggered by thebreaking of a water-pipe high on the hill. The locals are convinced thatmore rain will bring down more soil and cause more damage. The schoolhas been shut down for a week for now during which the managementhopes to clear away the debris which has piled up to the window sills.The teachers add that classes will not resume till the facility is safe forits wards.

TURN TO pg 3 FOR DETAILED REPORT

AND PHOTOGRAPHS

Sukhbir Kharka with his daughter Mary, who he rescued from the debris which

levelled his hut [in the backdrop] behind Tenzing & Tenzing on NH31A

a NOW REPORT

GANGTOK, 12 April: The StateGovernment has refuted reportssuggesting that it was doling outhigh salaries to advisors appointedat various capacities.

In a press release issued here to-day, the Information & Public Rela-tions Department, on behalf of theState Government, has said that it hastaken a “very serious note” of a news-item that appeared in an English dailytoday, which carried allegations madeby former Chief Minister and SPCC[I] president, Nar Bahadur Bhandarithat the State Government was “over-paying” its advisors.

Mr. Bhandari, according to thenews item, had singled out Dr.Mahendra P. Lama from theJawarharlal Nehru University,economists Dr. Ashok Lahiri andProf. Muchkund Dubey, all advi-sors to the Government of Sikkim,as being given abnormally highsalaries by the State Government.He had alleged that while both Dr.Lahiri and Prof. Dubey were eachbeing paid a salary of more than Rs.50,000 per month, the stationerybill of Prof. Lama alone exceededRs. 20,000 per month.

Stating that there is “not an iotaof truth” in these allegations, the pressrelease clarified that Dr. Lahiri is theChief Economic Adviser to the Gov-ernment of India and is not with theState Planning Commission as al-leged. Prof. Dubey and Dr. Lama,vice-chairman and member of theSPC respectively, are not being paidany monthly salary but a nominalhonorarium of Rs. 1,000 for attend-ing the SPC meetings held twice orthrice a year, plus travelling expenses,the release informs. Further, theamount of Rs. 20,000 per month be-ing paid to Prof. Lama was not for sta-tionery as alleged, but a consolidatedmonthly honorarium for discharginghis duties as the Chief Economic Ad-viser to the CM, IPR has clarified.

turn to pg 4

a NOW REPORT

GANGTOK, 12 April: Gangtokhas been witnessing somethingclose to what is oftencalled the “EnglishWeather” the pastfew days with sunshine brokenintermittently with showers andvice versa. The overnight rainwas not unusual informs the Met.Office, but the slices of earth itscooped out were cause for muchworry.

Speaking to NOW!, the As-sistant Meteorologist, M. Das ofthe Meteorological Departmentinformed that thunder showersas the one experienced last night

were not out of the ordinary thistime of the year, although theyare usually more common duringthe months of May and October.

“These showersare caused by the in-tense low pressure

over the Bay of Bengal,” he in-formed.

As per the meteorological re-port of the last 24 hours, that is,from 8:30 AM 11 April to8:30AM, 12 April, Gangtok ex-perienced a rainfall measuring133 mm, or 13 cm, while Tadongexperienced 12 cm of rainfall.

The heaviest rainfall re-corded was between 4:25 AMand 5:45 AM on 12 April.

WEATHERREPORT

Low Pressure at the Bay causeshigh Tension in the Hills TULSI GHIMIRE TO MAKE

MOVIE ON THE ANDOLANKATHMANDU, 12 April: Theeighties are etched in the Hill psycheas the decade of the Andolan. Al-though brimming with possibilities,it has never been tapped by filmmak-ers, as the backdrop for their works.

Until now, that is. CelebratedNepali film director, Tulsi Ghimire,has announced plans to team up withnoted Assamese film-maker JahnuBarua [who bagged the NationalAward for best director in 1995 forhis film, The Sea is Far Away] to makea film on the Gorkhaland movement.

Ghimire, whose Darpan Chaya,was the biggest Nepali hit in recent

years, will begin shooting for the yetunnamed movie in Darjeeling,Kalimpong and Kurseong in July-August later this year.

Information available thus far sug-gests that the movie will follow thelives of a group of friends from dif-ferent communities whose lives areirreversibly changed by the Andolan.

Interestingly, Kalimpong-bornGhimire says that the movie is an at-tempt to “internationalise” the evilsof communalism. The separatistmovement of eighties, he says, dis-rupted the harmony of the hills andcreated distrust between the commu-

nities which had lived here in peaceuntil the Andolan happened.

Ghimire claims that he himselfsuffered boycott by the agitators andwas also roughed up by securityforces. The infamous Kalimpongbandh of 40 days will also definitelyfigure in the narrative.

Ghimire, who is known for his sil-ver-jubilee family entertainers, has nomisconceptions about the commercialworth of his latest venture. The movie,he admits, does not have a market ineither India or Nepal. This one byGhimire is headed for the internationalfilm festivals and audiences abroad.

2; NOW!; 13 April, 2004

C M Y K

NOW!FIRST WITH THE NEWS

ED-SPACE

No Surprises In DissentThe Congress is riding high on its recent acquisitions from theSDF camp. While the new inductees score high as morale-boost-ing injections for a party that has had little cause for cheer in therecent past, look deeper and one wonders whether the develop-ments of the past week are really as significant as they are madeout to be.

Agreed, the joining of a leader with some support base is al-ways welcome and healthy. One can also grant that the leaderswho crossed over had some appeal with the electorate whichfuelled their thirst for contesting enough to even consider partingways with a party which many still tip to form the next government.Support for any leader comes at two-levels - one is drawn to himby his personal charisma and appeal and the other comes to himbecause he belongs to a particular party. A real acquisition wouldbe one in which the departing leader weans away not only hissupporters, but also convinces supporters from his erstwhile partyto join the exodus. This gain is yet to be seen. Since the recentdissent stemmed from denial of party tickets, one also begins towonder why, if the leader really had a strong chance of winning,was he denied by the parent party in the first place. That must bea question that is on the minds of many voters too and will prob-ably be answered when the SDF takes to the campaign trail on 16April. Till then, it will be the dissidents and their allegations thatwill hog the limelight.

Whatever be the arguments suggesting that the new inducteesare of only limited use, the Congress cannot be faulted for wel-coming them in. Given a chance, the SDF would not let such achance slip by either and in fact, it has stolen away many oldCongressmen from the party already. That is politics. What theCongress needs to bear in mind is that these are temperamentalleaders it has acquired. Given a situation that the Congress formsthe next government, it would not be surprising if the same lead-ers created trouble when the portfolios for the Cabinet are distrib-uted. They have already proven that they are ambitious and thereis no need for them to change when they are within sniffing dis-tance of a ministership. It is also possible that it was this streakthat kept them from bagging a ticket with their earlier parties in thefirst place. Given the rate at which Congress is receiving SDFdissidents, it is possible that it will also inherit its problems beforethe State goes to polls. There is already a bank of old faithfulswho must have been assured tickets and other sops within theparty. Many Congressmen are already uncomfortable with formerSangramis calling the shots at Congress Bhavan. When thepresent trickle turns to a deluge, as it well might as elections draweven closer, that will be a problem that the SPCC [I] chief will feelhe could have done without.

Still Sleeping?Three landslides reported in one night of what meteorologists sayis “normal” rainfall. The capital is lucky that no casualties werereported, even though at least one landslide could have claimedsome lives. And we are not even into the monsoons yet. The show-ers hitting Gangtok are still just local condensation pouring backbecause of some atmospheric shenanigans brought about by alow-pressure, high-pressure combine. One can only imagine whatcould happen when the water-laden clouds rising from the Bay ofBengal march into the eastern Himalayas and unleash over ourhills. What is disturbing is that Gangtok remains consistent in itsrefusal to wake up to the possibility of getting hit by major land-slides. Most have already written off the horror of 1997 as anabberation, something that cannot repeat. One look at the cloggedjhoras, which even the torrential downpour of last night could notwash away and the still threatening water pipelines which passover residential areas should force those who feel that Gangtok’sbrush with slides is over into a rethink. After all, what lessons hasGangtok really learnt from 1997. Save some studies and somesuggestions, one does not see anything concrete being done toavoid landslides from scooping away whatever loose earth theconcrete jungle has spared. The Civil Defence is perhaps the onlypro-active initiative, but even this group comes into play only aftera slide has taken place. It would be unfair to lay the blame squarelyon the shoulders of all the digging and scratching that is going onalong the highway. None of yesterday’s slides were triggered byit. The slides were caused by reasons that were identified in 1997itself - improper drainage. By the way, has anyone been fined fordumping in the jhoras thus far?

lsewheree

SANGITA RAYAMAJHI

Looking at Nepali politicsfrom America I get a picturethat is as nebulous as an ab-

stract painting. Here are some post-impressionistic perceptions of anon-political person.

The King does not trust the po-litical parties and the Maoists. Thepolitical parties do not trust theKing and the Maoists and the Mao-ists do not trust the King and thepolitical parties. At such a time UNmediation would be the best bet.But the government has an ambiva-lent attitude about it. How capableis the government itself to handlethe situation? Is the governmentgoing to bring about peace in thiswar torn nation by revamping thephysically and psychologicallyshattered security personnel, armyand police? Does a governmentminister who looks after the secu-rity regime know what is happen-ing to the people? Military mightis not the solution, at least not inNepal. I wondered if Maoistleader Prachanda had acceptedthe offer of UN mediation, whyshould the Home Minister KamalThapa decline it?

The King expressed his desireto see elections conducted within2061 BS. But is it going to be pos-sible under the present prime min-ister and his Pied Piper cabinet?Ironically, the King had a bone withDeuba over the issue ofelection. The King’s raisond’être for taking over thegovernment on 4 October2002 was that Deuba wasnot competent enough tohold the elections. Deubaon his part openly flauntshis ire against the King andGirija Prasad Koirala con-tinuously displays his hos-tility towards the presentgovernment. Is it that Koirala re-ceives the UN offer for mediationwith open arms, only becauseHome Minister Kamal Thapa de-clined the offer? He has announcedthat he will initiate a dialogue withthe Maoist through exchange ofmessages, for peace, and yet hestarted his “activities” from April1. To swallow everything easily likemaple syrup, that the ruling govern-ment says is as I understand, to giveway to dictatorship. One shouldresist and be able to critique. Andwe know that those who resist havean ideal, and they have the right andability to critique. But at the sametime they must understand that theyhave duties too, towards the peo-ple and the nation. So when the fivepolitical parties opened the flood-gates for people to come and par-ticipate in the April activities werethey doing something for the goodof the people and the country? Dothe people want this? Maoists toohad (I put it in the past tense) theirideals but sometime, someplace

A Triangular Impassetheir vision fractured and their ac-tivities went haywire. I want to be-lieve that the Congress togetherwith the other political parties toohad visions. But someplace, some-time along the line their visionsfractured and activities turned hay-wire. Where is the difference? TheMaoists took up arms and the Con-gress, UML and others are takingto the streets, burning establish-ments, kicking poor bicycle riders,closing medical shops and

choking the tourist districts as I readon the website. The Maoists sincerecently have been using womenand children to put pressure on thegovernment—students abductedfrom schools (as the newspapersread) and women and childrenamong the sea of faces in the Beniattack. The political parties too areusing the people to get what theywant through “activities” as theysay. And why did the Maoist comeup with ideals and opposition after1990? Isn’t it also because of thegrowing dissatisfaction among thevarious sectors of the society?

Each political leader whengiven a chance to give a speech sovociferously declares what he (noshe here) would do if he were to

come to power. In these nine yearsmany have tried their luck andplayed directly and indirectly withour lives. And now it is the likes ofKamal Thapa who rule. If our livesare completely at the mercy ofthese political leaders who comein one after another trying theirideas and luck and using us to fur-ther their political and personalwhims, why don’t we try out al-ternative politicians to rule? Whatworse fate can the politicians ofalternative streams bring to us thanthe present?

The King, well what abouthim? He has announced that theelection take place within twelvemonths. As a constitutional mon-arch who has taken the power inhis hands until such time when hecan hand it down to a stable gov-ernment, can he rest complacentlyafter this announcement? Does HisMajesty think that all will be wellwhen he would do what Deubacould not? What about the civil war

raging in the country? The King hasbeen receiving civic felicitations,first in Biratnagar, Nepalgunj andnow in Pokhara, that is because heknows the power of the people, andgoes on deliberately provoking thepolitical parties, Maoists and thosewho do not want the King to comeout like this. If he, as he says, neverlies awake except to think about hispeople, what are his nights likenow? Did he, could he sleep withease on the night of the civic fe-licitations in Pokhara? I wonder!

One psyche at this moment isto look at political leaders as jok-ers within a circus arena. They pro-fess to be educated, world-wise andworld-smart, but like castratedhorses wearing blinkers they moveabout whining and neighing inef-fectually searching for their greengrass to dig their bared teeth into!The proof of this psyche are theidioms people have created now. Icollected them from conversationswith educated Nepalis. Who is re-sponsible for creating this psyche?A total cynicism towards politicswill seriously jeopardise the struc-ture of politics. Not democracy butguns alone will rule.

Talking to a few professors herein America who have been severaltimes to Nepal, have lived andworked there and are genuinelyconcerned about Nepal, are sur-prised that our government has re-fused Kofi Annan’s offer for peace

mediation? Are they fool-ish enough to think thatthe UN will occupy Ne-pal, or that the UN mainly“advised” by the US willhand Nepal to America?What is it that makes thegovernment deny the of-fer? Is it because peacetalks and mediation willallow time for Prachandato recruit and regroup his

people, as during the peace talks?But can we not think that the Mao-ist leaders too have become wiserand after all they too are educated?

We don’t care whether one po-litical group becomes stronger orweaker than the other, we just wantnegotiations and peace and a de-mocracy of law-abiding people. Adialogue does not mean the govern-ment needs to succumb to thewhims of the Maoists, but it couldvery well lead to an outlet for peace.During the King’s visits even thecommon people, the general mass,have pleaded with the King to bringabout peace.

It is natural to have somequalms about international inter-ventions. The Bhutanese refugeesituation may have created thisdoubt. But UN is a different mat-ter. Did the UN make an offer tonegotiate in the Sri Lankan civilwar? If it is making that mediationoffer and if the UN means it, whynot accept it?

-courtesy The Kathmandu Post

NEPAL

THE KING DOES NOTTRUST THE POLITICAL

PARTIES AND THEMAOISTS. THE POLITICALPARTIES DO NOT TRUST

THE KING AND THEMAOISTS AND THE

MAOISTS DO NOT TRUSTTHE KING AND THEPOLITICAL PARTIES

13 April, 2004; NOW! 3

C M Y K

� NEWSSCAN

RANJIT SINGH

GANGTOK, 12 April: The PWDquarters at Deorali was the sceneof a heavy mud slip, which, thoughminor was a wholly man-mademess which could have gone worse.

At around 7:45 AM, accordingto the residents of the quarters, thehillside which forms a wall in thebackground for the quarters gaveway and a big chunk of hill madefor the prolonged early morningcleaning activity.

Though no one was injured, theground floor of the building whichbore the brunt of the mud weightwas damaged with windowpanesshattered and the ground outsidesuddenly raised a good five feetwith newly deposited soil. Hadsomeone been inside the room, saythe residents, the injuries couldhave been grievous.

A Civil Defence team was al-ready there when NOW! arrived andclearing activity was underway. Ac-cording to the locals the plot of greenabove the quarters opposite the Ho-tel Sonam Palgey had been requisi-tioned by the UD&HD for makinga car park. Permission was soughtfrom and granted by the Forest De-partment for the cutting of trees.

“About 10-12 days back, sev-eral trees were felled here,” dis-closes one resident. Even an envi-ronmental novice can vouch that notrees on a hill is a sure invitation toa mudslide. The residents alsoraised several questions on the con-cerned Department’s decision tofell the trees and even the owner-ship of the plot in question.

Further up the highway...

Sukhbir Kharka has a three yearold daughter who perhaps can’t

even remember the death of hermother two years ago. In anotherfew years, she might not remem-ber the morning of 12 April whenher father dug her out from underan unlikely blanket of slush tobreathe a sigh of relief to find herstill breathing.

Sukhbir lives or more accu-rately lived in a shanty - one ofseven - beside the jhora belowTenzing & Tenzing. A landslide onearly Monday morning literallypulled the ground from beneathSukhbir’s feet. Today, the remainsof his shanty hangs precariously,more on air than ground.

When NOW! reached the spot,one of the shanties had already beenflattened. A frail looking man witha child in his arms stared despond-ently up at his hanging home.

Sukhbir related his story: “Itwas at about 8:30 in the morningas I was feeding my child that Inoticed that a stream of water wasbeating against the house. As I gotup to check a burst of debris sud-denly hit me and I lost conscious-ness for a while. When I came to,the first thing on my mind wasMary, my daughter. I gathered some

LEAPING TOWARDS LANDSLIDES

courage and started digging my wayout. When I finally emerged fromthe mud my neighbour’s shanty hadvanished and my own was hangingwith only a bit still stuck againstthe hillside. I hastened up towardsit and saw that in the corner whereshe had been eating was a smallmouth gasping for air. I franticallydug her out.”

Mary has survived with a fewbruises and a large swelling on herleft eye. How she survives with herfather in the days to come will bemore challenging. Sukhbir used tobe a driver, but he had to give upthe profession after an accidentdamaged one of his legs. He thentook up the job of a mason till hiswife died leaving him with a oneyear old Mary. Today he is a tailor.

A closer inspection revealed asewage pipe sticking out from thehill side exactly where the land hadgiven way. It is obvious that water

from the pipe loosened the groundwhich gave way when the load oflast night’s rain fell on it. There wasno Civil Defence team withSukhbir and his neighbours.

The Third

One residential complex andone colony of shanties. The

third act takes us to more youthfulenvirons – Upper Syari Junior HighSchool, Kopibari. And another bro-ken pipeline – this time belongingto the Army [MES] - sticking outhigh above to tell a tale of yet an-other loose grip.

Enter the ground floor of theschool which houses classes V, VI,and VII and one would wonderwhether the children needed a sepa-rate playground any more. Ormaybe it’s another one of those ‘op-timum teaching tricks’ with theclassroom doubling up as the play-ground. Mud, stones, rocks and

water with desks and benches inbetween. The broken windowpanesand furniture in the classes informthat a major disaster has beenaverted. Had the landslide occurredduring class hours…

The entire school seems to befilling up with water – the groundalong with the school compoundalong with rocks and mud. The toi-let of the school has been com-pletely damaged.

According to locals, the land-slide occurred at about 4 AM andthe last of the trickle ended at about6AM. When NOW! arrived at thescene, the entire school staff alongwith the children were engaged ina school salvaging mission. Classeshad been suspended for the day asthe corridors seemed a convenientspot for some light rafting. Thelandslide also damaged the maindrinking water source of the entire

One morning,three slides

village. An application has beensubmitted to the Zilla Adhakshyato conduct a survey of the area andtake steps to prevent a repeat.

Ratan Tamang, Panchayat Sec-retary, 28 Tathangchen-Syari unit,said, “If there is more rain like lastnight it would certainly damage theentire school and village. It couldhave been more disastrous if it hadhappened during school hours.”

He has certainly read ourthoughts but what he hasn’t speltout is that with the kind of thickheaded development activity cou-pled with a cold shouldering ofenvironmental and ecological con-cerns disaster is a byword aroundthese parts.

And, the rainy season has notyet begun.

[with additional reporting by ANAND

OBEROI and SAGAR CHETTRI]

THE SLIDES [top, clockwise]: PWD Quarters, Deorali, resident clearsup the debris which stacked up to his window sill. Students of Govern-ment Junior High School, Kopibari, play in the waterway which broughtdown the slide on their school. Residents of the shanty stare at the slipwhich levelled a shanty [the gap between] and damaged another [left].Kopibari students help with clearing work at the school campus.

NOW! pix

4; NOW!; 13 April, 2004

C M Y K

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RANJIT SINGH

RHENOCK: Rhenock has votedfor candidates who sat in the Oppo-sition bench for the last two terms.While it was the current SPCC [I]president and then SSP chief, NarBahadur Bhandari, who won fromthe constituency the last time,Rhenock has been consistent in itssupport for Bhandari-led groups,starting from 1979 when KN Upretiwon from the constituency for thefirst time. The constituency was ig-

nored by Mr. Bhandari in his lastterm and is perhaps the reason whyhe is betting on Temi-Tarku and Gangtokthis time around. Theconstituency itself isin a quandary, unsureabout which party toback this time around.

Backing thewrong horse has leftRhenock rather un-derdeveloped andthe people seem to realise it. While

the Cong [I] remained somnolent,the SDF made rapid progress in the

constituency. This isapparent from the in-formation one partysupporter shared:there were appar-ently 23 ticket hope-fuls from within theSDF at Rhenock!

At a time when thesamashtiputra sloganis catching on, an al-

ready dithering Rhenock has beengiven an SDF candidate from else-where – Bhim Dhungel. He will besquaring off against KN Upreti, whohas represented the constituency fourtimes in the past. Official announce-ment of his name as the Cong [I] can-didate is however still awaited.

Unlike some other constituen-cies, Mr. Dhungel’s nomination hasnot created any trouble for SDF. Thisis best reflected in how BB Dahal,Sikkim’s first Education Minister,

MARGINALISED FOR TOO LONG, RHENOCKWANTS TO GET BACK INTO THE ACTION

put it: “We are with the SDF in what-ever decision it takes. There is noquestion of resentment.”

“We have only one demand andthat is for the establishment of acollege here,” Mr. Dahal adds.

Rhenock has an approximatepopulation of 14,000, of which8,000 constitute the electorate. Theconstituency is dominated byChettris and Bahuns and has a size-able Rai presence.

According to a local, the man-date given against SDF in the lasttwo terms was “because the SDFwas seen as a party which threat-ened the Bahun-Chettri hold overSikkim politics.” Things look dif-ferent now, people are more keenon development and progress,hopefully, caste and communityequations will take a backseat thistime, he adds. Now, that is an equa-tion, one hopes, can be kept out ofevery constituency.

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a NOW REPORT

OMCHU, [WOK, SOUTH SIKKIM], 12April: One of Sikkim Democratic Front’s newface for the elections, party treasurer and Con-fidential Assistant to the Chief Minister, CBKarki, nominated from the Wok Constituencyin South Sikkim, formally began his campaignhere on 10 April.

A public reception was organized at theOmchu school grounds on 10 April by the partyto formally introduce the new candidate to the

Wok public. The meeting was at-tended by the youth, cheli morchaand active members of the party,along with the people from theOmchu, Chumlok and Sikkip areas.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr.Karki, who is also a childhoodfriend of the Chief Minister, whileexpressing his gratitude towards theparty for nominating him, said thathe would continue with the workstarted by the sitting MLA, KN Rai

towards the development andprogress of the constituency. Healso expressed his happiness thatthe SDF had massive support of thepeople of Wok and hoped that thepeople would continue with theirsupport to the party.

Mr. Karki has formulated a cam-paign strategy and programmeschedule for the constituency in con-sultation with the members of theZilla Panchayat and party workers.

NK Subba assuresdevelopment for

Hee-Bermioka NOW REPORT

GANGTOK, 12 April: An incum-bent MLA of the sixth LegislativeAssembly, SDF’s Narendra KumarSubba finds himself in a new con-stituency this time. Moved out ofDentam and handed the ticket forHee-Bermiok, Mr. Subba, kickedoff his campaign trial on 10 Aprilfrom the Yangsum block in his newconstituency.

Mr. Subba is being accompa-nied on the campaign trail by sit-ting MLA of Hee-Bermiok, TulsiPrasad Pradhan.

A meeting was held at BermiokBazar yesterday during which theparty workers welcomed Mr. Subbato their Constituency.

Addressing the Yangsum meet-ing, Mr. Subba said that the SDFparty would definitely return topower once again with a resound-ing majority. He said that the party,under the leadership of PawanChamling had lived up to the peo-ple’s expectations and had providedprogress, development, securityand justice to the people, especiallyto those from the rural areas in ademocratic environment.

While asking the people to onceagain vote for the party, Mr. Subbapromised the people of the Hee-Bermiok that he would remain com-mitted to the party and will workselflessly towards the developmentof the constituency once elected.

Others who spoke on the occa-sion were Mr. Subba’s predecessor,Mr. Pradhan, LM Sharma, OSD tothe CM and Phurba Sherpa, presidentof the Sikkim Sherpa Association.

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PURAN TAMANG

JORETHANG, 12 April:Jorethang is a constituency whichsaw some vicious infighting withinthe SDF camp in the run-up to theticket distribution stage. There werealso fears that the decision to dropthe incumbent MLA, Bhoj Raj Rai,might not go down too well withhis supporters. All such specula-tions were laid to rest today whenthe constituency accorded a grandwelcome to their “new” SDF can-didate, party chief whip, KN Rai atJorethang Mela Ground.

Before initiating the meeting,the new candidate walked through

the town visiting Jorethang Bazar,Naya Bazar and other localities. Hisfoot march started from 16th Mileand ended at Naya Bazar.

Around 5,000 people attendedthe meeting which commenced ataround noon with a welcome speechby CB Rai, Zilla Panchayat, Ghum.

The incumbent MLA, Bhoj RajRai, while addressing the gatheringsaid that he would continue to workfor the people. While expressing hissupport for the new candidate, Mr. Raiexpressed confidence that he wouldwin with 90 per cent of the votes.

“But that is not enough; wewant to see him made a minister inthe next SDF government,” he said.

Bhoj Raj Rai, who has representedJorethang in the past two assem-blies did not make it to Cabinet ei-ther time, and his replacement fromWok was not a Minister either.

The meet was also addressed byBinod Rai, who also was in the run-ning for the party ticket. He clari-fied that there were no party factionsin Jorethang but that all were unitedunder the SDF. He urged the peopleto vote for the SDF candidate. Healso congratulated the outgoingMLA for the work done in the con-stituency in the past 10 years.

Another Jorethang hopeful, BinaRai, also spoke at the meet and exhortedsupport for KN Rai’s candidature.

The candidate, in turn, reiter-ated his belief in the leadership ofPawan Chamling, who he believesis the right person to lead Sikkiminto the 21st century.

He also reminded the people ofthe difficult early years prior of theSDF. “During those years the peo-ple of Jorethang showed immensesupport and sacrifice which had agreat role to play in the present po-sition of the party,” he said whilehoping that the support continues.

The meeting was also attendedby BM Rai, Upadhyaksha, south,Phurmit Lepcha, Zilla Adhyakshya,south and Chelli Morcha chief con-venor Mrs. Mallika Subba.

JORETHANG SETTLES DOWN, BHOJ RAJ AND KNRAI PROMISE TO CONTINUE GOOD WORK

13 April, 2004; NOW! 5

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DARJEELING, 12 April: Theopposition coalition in theDarjeeling Hills, People’s Demo-cratic Front has expressed resent-ment over the recent transfer of thetwo Sinchal lakes, which serve aswater reservoirs, and theRoongdoong Khola project fromthe Municipality to the DGHC.

In a memorandum submitted to theDarjeeling DM today, the PDF has al-leged that the transfer was a “clear vio-lation” of the model code of conduct.

“The Municipality cannottransfer any of its properties accord-ing to the Bengal Municipality Actof 1993 and likewise the DGHCcannot acquire any property directlyand has to go through the StateGovernment,” said DK Pradhan thePDF spokesperson.

“As the State Government has notyet raised any objection, we feel it is

a consent from the State,” he added.The PDF will also be complaining tothe Election Commission, soon.

Mr. Pradhan added that oncethe PDF comes to power, it willensure that these assets are returnedto the Darjeeling Municipality.

A silent rally was also organ-ized by PDF today from theDarjeeling Station to the DistrictMagistrate’s Office. PDF’s demandwas that an expert committee beformed of representatives of all thepolitical parties and experts to finda permanent solution to the waterproblem.

“We have seen a number of ex-pert committees, but nothing hasbeen done thus far,” alleged MadanTamang, Chairman, PDF.

The PDF is convinced that thereis no dearth of funds, but what islacking is the initiative. Mr. Tamanginsisted that the State Governmentshould work out a time-bound, per-

manent solution to the water prob-lem of Darjeeling.

Dr. A. Aftab, Darjeeling DMsaid that he would forward the de-mands to the State Government.The PDF insisted that the DM pro-vide a copy of his communicationwith the higher ups be given to thePDF as it was a public documentand the people had the right toknow what steps the District Ad-ministration was taking.

PDF supporters also burnt emptywater vessels as a mark of protest infront of the DM office. The PDF, inits second phase of agitation, will bestopping all Government vehiclescarrying water for the officials.

“Water problem has never beena problem for the senior officialsand the rich. It is the common manwho suffers. With the second phaseof our agitation we will put the of-ficials in the shoes of the commonman,” said Mr. Tamang.

PDF sees code of conduct violation in transferof Sinchal and Roongdoong project to DGHC

KARAN SHAH

KALIMPONG, 12 April: Four ofthe five parties constituting the Peo-ple’s Democratic Front handed overa memorandum to Kalimpong SDOtoday regarding the water shortagefaced by the residents of the town.

The memorandum, while high-lighting the water crises plaguingthis hill subdivision, raised ques-tions on where the crores spent onwater supply projects were drainedin the past decade.

“Crores of rupees have beenpumped by the state/central Govtfor the Neora water project, but stillthe tanks from Lava to Delo are dryand empty hence the situation isquite astonishing, besides an extra

fund of Rs. 10 crores has also beengranted for the maintenance of theproject. The PHED has also failedto stop the seepage and unauthor-ized tapping which account for al-most fifty percent of the loss in thedistribution of water,” the memo-randum records

PDF leaders were also curiousas to why the West Bengal govern-ment had recently sanctioned Rs.4.50 lakhs for Darjeeling and Rs.3.5 lakhs for Kurseong to ease thewater crisis but made no such allo-cations for Kalimpong which isalso badly hit as the other two con-stituents of the DGHC.

“With the onset of the summermonths, the problem is bound toescalate,” said Col. DK Pradhan,

the convenor of the branch commit-tee of the PDF.

He revealed that water was be-ing sold at Rs. 170 per thousand li-tres and for even more in the suburbs.

“Besides, the supply comesmostly from the jhoras and is unfitfor human consumption,” headded. He said he would have pre-ferred the Neora project to be un-der the DGHC.

When NOW! contactedKalimpong SDO, AK Yadav, heinformed that the memorandumsubmitted to him by the PDF rep-resentatives would be handed overto the Executive Engineer for himto look into the problem and alsoto the DM for the allocation of req-uisite funds.

KALIMPONG RUNS DRYPDF wants to know how the Neora crores were drained

6; NOW!; 13 April, 2004

C M Y K

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Readymade garments. Purchase above Rs500/- 10%Shoes. Purchase above Rs.1000/- 10%

4. Weldon Motors (all parts). Purchase above Rs.300/- 5%5. Beekay Hardwares. purchase above Rs.500/- 5%6. Jainco(stationeries/books). Purchase above Rs.200/- 10%7. Computers. On long term course 15%

On short term courses 10%a) sales & services 5%b) Purchase 5%

8. Sarda continental (confectionaries & electronic goods) 5%9. Quick Bite. purchase above Rs.200/- 10%10.Expression(gift & stationeries) 10%11. Pariwar restaurant (pure veg only) bill above Rs.200/- 10%12.Sunny Guest House on season 5%

Off season 50%13.Mobiles (all) hiring & Purchasing 5%

Accessories 5%14.Kalimpong Supply Agency( lubricants) purchase above 7 ltrs. 3 ltrs off.15.Snoopy Tours & treks. Xerox above 100 pgs 25%

Vechiles. On season 5%Off season 10%

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Xerox above 100pgs 10%20.Himalayan Book Stall on annual subscription 10%

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Parts above Rs.3000/- 10%29.Normaya Computerised printing press. All items 15%-20%30.Beauty parlor. Bill above Rs.300/- 10%31.Dr. Sheila Pradhan(Child Specialist) 20%32.Dr. D.N. Joshi( clinic visit) 10%33.Dr. P.K. Gupta(clinic visit) 10%34.Dr. C.B. Rai. Netra Jyoti opticals above Rs.500/- 15%35.Hotel Prince above Rs.1500/- 15%36.Now, Sikkim Matters on annual subscription 10%37.Arambagh’s Chicken Roast items above Rs.800/- 5%

Raw items above Rs.500/- 5%38.Rathi (General Store) above Rs.500/- 5%39.Dr. P.K.Golwa. Clinic visit 10%40.STYLE (readymade garments) above Rs.1000/- 10%41.STEPS( footwears) purchase above Rs.1000/- 5%For further details contact us at Hotel Radiant Building, Nam Nang, Near

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Kutse SheguThe 49th Day “Shegu” of lateDhondup Tshering Bhutia who ex-pired on 4th March 2004 falls on 21stApril 2004. All relatives, friends andwell- wishers are requested to joinus in offering prayers for the de-parted soul at Tshoka Tshum, NamNang, Gangtok. We would also liketo take this opportunity to thank allthose wo extended their help in ourhour of bereavement.

Pempa Bhutia (wife), Namgyal DorjeeBhutia, son , Nedup Doma Bhutia,

Daughter, Passang Bhutia, Brother, ChungChung Bhutia Sister-in-law, LhakpaBhutia , Brother, Tshewang Bhutia,

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GANGTOK, 12 April: AirTel is allset to make its presence felt in EasternIndia. The country’s leading mobileservice has unveiled its “StrategicRoadmap for Eastern India,” whichwill see it operating in West Bengal,Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam andNorth East by the end of this year.

The new roadmap, an extensionof the company’s All India Strat-egy, is all set to make AirTel, thefirst GSM operator to provide cel-lular services in 23 of the 25telecom circles in the country.

AirTel currently provides mo-bile services in 15 circles and hasalso acquired licences to provide

mobile services in five new circlesof Bihar, West Bengal, Orissa, J&K,and UP (East). In addition, AirTelhas also entered into an agreementto acquire Hexacom, which operatesits mobile service in Rajasthan andalso has a license for North East.

To complete its footprint in theeastern region, AirTel has now aunified access license to commenceits service in Assam.

As a part of the new easternroadmap, AirTel plans to connectover 200 new towns by 2004-05, thustouching the lives of a population of260 million in the 12 eastern states.

To service the telecom needs ofa region with such a large potential,AirTel plans to set up over 500 sites.

As part of the new rollouts, AirTelis all set to invest approx. Rs. 300crores by the end of this fiscal year.

AirTel’s All India strategy in-volves making mobile telephonynot only affordable and exciting butalso enjoyable for its customers.

“With the rollout of our strate-gic roadmap for the east, AirTel hasnow become the only mobile serv-ice operator to be uniquely placedto offer the same national benefitsto all its customers in the region,”Deepak Gulati, CEO-Eastern Re-gion, Bharti Cellular Ltd., said.

a NOW REPORT

GANGTOK, 12 April: Three lo-cal beauties will be sent to the MissNorth East Beauty Pageant, 2004,to be held at Kohima, Nagaland on19 May, 2004.

SK Audio Vision, liaisoning onbehalf of Beauty and Aesthetics So-ciety of Nagaland, the organizers ofthe pageant, will be short-listingthree local contestants for the eventnext month.

According to a press release is-sued here, applicants should be lo-cals between 17-23 years of age,single, not less than 5ft. 3in. inheight. The contestants will be

judged on their performance inthree rounds consisting of tradi-tional, designer and formal wear.

In the Traditional round, con-testants will be required to wear tra-ditional costumes of the State rep-resented by them and in the Formalround, they will be required to wearwestern evening gowns that ex-presses their individual taste. Cos-tumes for the Designer round willbe provided by the organizers.

Interested candidates can sub-mit their bio-data and photographsto Rakesh Somani, SK Audio Vi-sion, Somani Building, New Mar-ket, Gangtok before 19 April, thepress release added.

NE PAGEANT SEEKSLOCAL BEAUTIES

The State Government has alsotaken strong objections to the newsreports that appeared in a section ofthe local press alleging that the ChiefMinister had directed suspensions ofa number of Government officersfor their involvement in politics.

Terming the news reports as “to-tally false and baseless,” the IPRpress release, while admitting thatthe State Government has receivedcomplaints against some officersand their involvement in politics,said that no one had been suspendedthus far. The complaints have beenforwarded to the concerned depart-ments for verification and reports arebeing awaited, the release added.

Contd from pg 1No suspensions...

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13 April, 2004; NOW! 7

C M Y K

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ATTENTION

by SHYLL

The monsoons were early this year. Itleft in its wake havoc in the little village of Topogaon, in the northern

plains of India. The river was murky and vo-luminous. It was dangerous to venture far outin the turbulence. Vidyanath had seen thefluctuating mood of the river and lived withit. He had not had a good harvest and waspoorer for it. His wife Smita was pregnantagain with his sixth child. At times he feltangry at the injustice of it all. He just couldn’tunderstand why it was the lot of the poor tohave more children while the rich had less.He had heard that there were facilities to pre-vent child birth but he neither had the time,resource or inclination to walk 45 kms awayto the hospital. It’s not that he didn’t love hischildren…it was just that it was getting harderwith each passing year to feed his family. Hehad often thought of going to Calcutta to lookfor a job but didn’t have the heart to leaveSmita and his children.

He often looked at his wife of twelve yearswith something akin to his former passion. Heremembered the first time he had seen sway-ing to the rhythm of the village drum at theharvest festival. He had known it then that shewould one day be his wife. In all his childrensaw an uncanny resemblance to Smita, amongthem all, Zeena, the eldest was his favourite.To any but the partial eye of her father, Zeenawas a gawky eleven year old with a preco-cious expression on her face. Her slenderframe and her dark skin made her look morelike a teenager. You couldn’t call her a beautybut Vidyanath doted on his daughter, alter allshe was his first born. It was his dream to seeZeena settled in time. He put away a little of

his earnings each year for her dowry. Hewanted a man with a secure government jobfor his daughter but with each passing yearhis dreams began to look more distant.Vidyanath had begun to harbour doubtswhether he could hold on to his land if thepoor harvest continued for a few more years.He could not let hisfamily starve and itwas painful for himto see the silent sac-rifice of his wife.She had begun tolook pale and irrita-ble and he knew that some-how the strain of childbearingand hunger were telling on her. He knew hecould send his children to work for thezamindar (landlord) but he was a proud man.He loved his kind too well t see them suffer alifetime for a season’s misfortune. With thesethoughts playing on his mind he opened thetin door and went towards the river. If he waslucky he could always catch something.

Zeena followed her father outside. Shelooked at the wet ground and towards theriver. Suddenly her face lit up.

“Ma, those people have come back…theylook so rich!”

Smita who had been sitting leaning againstthe wall suddenly sat up. She looked at Zeenaand then the walls of her house, the brokenvessel at the corner and then back at her child.She knew Zeena would grow up soon. Shortof starvation there was very little future forher. She also knew the villages and the thoughtmade the soft face of Smita harden.

“Zeena, go wash your face. You betterhurry before baba comes back.” Zeenaskipped away to the village well. She had

dreamt of this day ever since Roopmati hadreturned from Darjeeling where she had beentaken to work as a hired help in a rich lady’shouse.

Zeena looked back and saw the housesm e r g e into darkness. She

loved her fam-ily but knewshe would beback one day.She just

thoughtof all the things she would bring back whenshe returned home.

As the cool evening breeze stirred,Vidyanath’s cough began to play up. Heslowly waded out of the water with his catchof the day. 1 kilo of fish. He could sell it buthe was too tired to go to the market. He couldmake a good meal of it. In the distance hesaw a faint flicker of light. It was funny howhe could tell where his house was blindfoldedfrom the maze of mudwalls. Just the thoughtof a good fish meal made him feel lighter ashe began walking briskly towards his house.

He threw the fish in the pot, cleaned it

and took it to Smita who sat huddled in acorner as though in pain. The room smelt ofdamp stale rice. Smita began preparing thefish while Vidyanath smoked his biri. “Smitalooks pale…almost sick. Must be the baby”,thought Vidyanath worriedly. As his childrentrooped in from the village he could not seeZeena. She was getting in age and he did notlike her out late.

“Where is Zeena?”Smita ignore the question.“Where is Zeena?” Vidyanath asked,

sounding a little more suspicious. Suddenlyhe heard his wife whimpering in the corner.

Vidyanath walked out of the tin doorand into the village, like a man in frenzyre ran all the way to a bus depot twokilometres away. After some hours, tired

and hungry, he returned home to his wife.Smita slowly served him his meal. He

looked at his food and somehow knewwhere Zeena was. He looked at this wife ac-

cusingly and said, “You sold her.”Vidyanath walked out the house, unable to

face the wife who had sold off his daughter.He wept bitterly at his poverty, his helpless-ness, his anger and his inability to do anything.

For long he sat crouched on the groundcrying for his daughter, his dreams for her.

Some hundred miles away Zeena sat sur-rounded by her new friends. They were go-ing to Darjeeling, Sikkim, God knowswhere. As the contractors bought them theirevening meal, Zeena sat in front of her platefull of rice and curry. She had never seen somuch foot at a time. She opened her mouthto eat could not. Her throat hurt as shethought of her baba and her family backhome eating nothing.

I let you go

and now there’s nothing

to hold on to.

I let you slip away

and have myself fallen

down and hard.

I let you go

because of responsibilities

and obligation,

because I felt grown up

and so had to think

about the future,

about the ‘what-ifs’

and the ‘maybes’

I let you go

because I felt a little space

would make us stronger,

would make us grow.

I let you go

because at that point

it seemed sensible.

And now that I’m alone

and now that I’m free

those responsibilities,

those obligations,

those what ifs and maybes,

that future,

that freedom,

that strength,

nothing seems to matter.

Now that I’m alone

the only thing that does

matter, is you,

and you, but I let you go.

- PENNY

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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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837: Best view of Halley’sComet in 2000 years1796: First elephant brought toAmerica (from Bengal, India).1829: English Parliament grantsfreedom of religion to Catholics.1899: Born, Alfred Butts, theinventor of “Scrabble”.1906: Samuel Beckett, Frenchplaywright (Waiting for Godot)is born.1919: Jalianwala Baghmassacre Amritsar.1959: Vatican edict forbidsRoman Catholics from votingfor communists1964: Sidney Poitier becomesfirst black man to win Oscar forbest actor.1971: Apollo 13 announces“Houston, we’ve got a problem!”as Beech-built oxygen tankexplodes en route to Moon.1979: Longest doubles ping-pong match ends after 101hours.

ARIES: You will be very successful. Hap-piness will prevail. A problem of long stand-ing will be over. You will prosper in yourbusiness. Expenditure will go down. Youwill take a good decision regarding finan-cial matters. Family life will be very good.TAURUS: You may get an opportunityto travel abroad. Your trip will be very suc-cessful and profitable. Happiness will pre-vail. You will be wealthier. You will earn agood turnover. You will be successful in allyou take up. Long travel is indicated. Lifewill be comfortable. Loans will be reduced.GEMINI: This will be a problem-free pe-riod. A financial crisis is indicated. Longdrawn litigation will be over. Unplanned ex-penses are likely. Those appearing forhigher exams will do well. Overseas job willbe successful. Those in trade or with agen-cies will find little improvement. You maydiscover changes in business.CANCER: You may start a business part-nership. Business will be brisk. Political lifewill be very successful. Avoid taking on anyresponsibilities, since you are likely to getbogged down by your commitments. Under-standing with your life partner will be good.Social status and popularity will be high.LEO: You may go abroad. Social statuswill be maintained. Uncommon, unneces-sary expenditure is indicated. Inimical ac-tivities will be reduced. You may get a pro-motion. You may get married.VIRGO: You will be very successful. Youmay go for new agency business. Businesspartnerships will work well. Expenses willcome down. Worries will be over. Cash flowwill be good. Religious activities are indi-cated. Litigation will be postponed. Under-

standing with your life partner will be good.LIBRA: You may take a new decisiontowards your welfare. Chemical, textile andcomputer oriented businesses will be verysuccessful. The stock market will yield goodreturns. Loans will be reduced. Stockbro-kers will find good changes at work.SCORPIO: Those appearing for com-petitive exams will do well. Understandingwith your life partner will be good. Inimicalactivities will be reduced. Political life willbe very successful. Litigation will be post-poned. Business expansion is indicated.Some may be blessed with a baby. Changeof environment will give you peace of mind.SAGITTARIUS: This may be the besttime to start new business ventures. Under-standing with your life partner will be good.Prosperity in your activities is indicated. Youmay acquire immovable property. You maymake some household purchases.CAPRICORN: Business will be profitable.Expenses are indicated. Popularity will behigh. You may be in a position to make a goodinvestment. You may consider new businessactivities. Business will be brisk. Expansionin business is indicated. Long drawn litiga-tion will be over and it will be in your favour.AQUARIUS: Financial status will bevery good. You may be in a position to makean investment. Expenses are indicated.You may receive a promotion and a trans-fer. Employees will be happy. You will earnthe support of your superiors.PISCES: Favourable changes are indicated.Cash flow will be very good. You will notice animprovement in status. You may purchase im-movable property this year. Loans will be re-duced. You will be very successful.

HE’S WRITTEN A

RAT TALE

Rodentologists say that rats havesex up to 20 times a day, but

that’s a minimum, says RobertSullivan, author of a new book,“Rats: Observations on the Historyand Habitat of the City’s Most Un-wanted Inhabitants.” Sullivan, aNew Yorker magazine contributor, isthe talk of the literary crowd for hisnew book, which compiles every-thing you wanted to know about rats.

Sullivan spent nearly everynight for a year, from summer 2001to summer 2002, watching a colonyof rats as they feasted on garbagefrom a Chinese restaurant.

Want to know what else theydo? Here’s more from his book:* Rats live for about a year, and afemale can have up to seven littersin that time, with up to a dozen off-spring in each. That’s 84 rat babies,per female, per year.* Rats are almost blind which iswhy they usually hug the side ofa building as they run. “If you seerats out in the middle of thestreet,” Sullivan says, “you knowthose are some happy rats.They’re going crazy becausethere’s so much food.”* Rats are homebodies. They’renever found more than 65 feet fromtheir nests.

LAS VEGAS: A British man whosold all his possessions, includinghis clothes, stood in a rented tuxedoon Sunday surrounded by family andfriends and bet everything on a sin-gle spin of the roulette wheel. Hewon’t go home empty handed.

Ashley Revell, a 32-year-oldLondoner, sold all his possessionsin March, took $135,300 to the PlazaHotel in Las Vegas, did some lowstakes gambling and then placedeverything he had left on “Red.”

LONDON: The tabloid saga ofsoccer star David Beckham’s lovelife took a fresh twist Sunday whena second woman claimed she’d hadan affair with him.

Malaysian-born model SarahMarbeck, 29, was quoted as tellingthe News of the World tabloid shehad sex with Beckham hours aftermeeting him in Singapore in July2001. She said they spent their sec-

The wheel was spun, a crowdof supporters including his Mumand Dad from London went wild,the ball bobbled over the slots andlanded on Red ‘7’ - and Revellwalked away with $270,600.

“It all happened so quickly, itwas spinning before I knew it,”Revell said, adding he did not in-tend to try to double it again.

“It’s really down to my friendsand family and Mum and Dad,” hetold Reuters Television. “I knew

even if I lost I’d always have ahome to go to.”

“I’m still against it,” said hisDad. “He shouldn’t have done it.He’s a naughty boy. I tell my kidsthey shouldn’t gamble. I’ve got fourothers and they’re all going to wantto go the same way.”

“It’s just brilliant,” said AshleyHames, a friend from London inLas Vegas for the occasion. “He’sput his neck on the line and gotaway with it. It’s absolutely great.”

BRITON BETS ALL, AND WINS

ond and last night together inMarch 2002.

“Sleeping with David Beckhamwas a momentous day for me, notjust a one night stand,” Marbeck,who now lives in Australia, wasquoted by the newspaper as saying.

Last week the newspaper re-ported that Beckham had a sexualrelationship with his personal as-sistant Rebecca Loos, 26, between

September and December.The story of Beckham’s alleged

infidelity has dominated tabloidfront pages in Britain for a week,though it has been largely ignoredby the press in Spain.

The News of the World devotedseven pages on Sunday toBeckham’s alleged affair withMarbeck and a further five pagesto an interview with Loos.

SECOND WOMAN CLAIMS AFFAIR WITH BECKHAM

VARMA’S NEXT :

ONE FILM, TWO

VERSIONS

Trust Ram Gopal Varma to pushthe envelope each time. Carry-

ing the cinematic experience furtherand further down the unknown roadhas become a habit with Varma.

It therefore comes as no sur-prise to know that he plans to re-lease his thriller, earlier entitledMurder At Shri Krishna Buildingas 2 separate films, Ghalti Se andJaan-Boojh Ke.

Varma explains, “It’s about aguy, Anil Kapoor who kills his wife.When the director Jijy Philips (mychief asssistant in Bhoot) and Iwere discussing the plot we cameto two equally tempting conclu-sions: either the guy killed his wife,Suchitra Krishnamurthy, accidentlyor intentionally.”

“Instead of making a hard choiceI suggested we go ahead and filmboth versions of the same story. Ba-sically it’s the same character under-going the same situation, but fromtwo separate perspectives. So we’reputting out two different versions ofthe film with different footage, ed-iting and background score. Eachversion will be autonomous experi-ences. Therefore it’s two differentmovie experiences.”

Varma says about 30 percent ofthe two versions will be different.

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