By Younita Pandey
“Smash and Grab”, as historians would call the annexation of Sikkim as the 22nd state of the Indian Union on 16th May 1975, Sikkim, today, is one of the fastest growing states in terms of GDP and education.
We aren’t just proud of our rich culture, our giant mountains, sacred rivers and beautiful landscape; we are also equally gratified by the fact that we are the most peaceful state in the country.
Does that mean our lives are simple? Not really. If there was anything that led us to experience contradictory feelings, it probably surfaces from internal identity crisis we suffer.
“Where are you from?” I get asked often, when I travel,
“I am from Sikkim,” I answer proudly.
“Ooh! What a wonderful place. I’ve always wanted to visit Sikkim,” comes a reply from a newly-acquainted educated Indian
Other literates ask, “Do we need a passport to enter your country?
It isn’t just me encountering these ignorant people, but you could ask any Sikkimese living in any part of the country be it Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Goa, Hyderabad, one in three of us has definitely been asked this question, “Is Sikkim in India?”
I recall an incident with a tailor who asked me where Sikkim was. Finding it too hard to help him form a geographically precise map in his head, I said Sikkim is near Tibet, which is near China.
The tailor replied, “If Sikkim is near China, why do you look like Paki?” Initially such incidents sound funny, but after a certain point of time, it gets really frustrating to explain that Sikkim is an amalgam of different communities, predominantly Bhutias, Lepchas and Nepalis.
Of the Nepali community, the chettris and bahuns, defy the usual ‘north-eastern’ look and hey presto! We happen to have big eyes.
“So you are from Nepal then!” comes the prompt response from a smug face which unmistakably adds, “I knew you weren’t from the north-east!”
There is a phrase in Nepali which goes, “Bhalu lai puran sunaunu”, which translates, “Explaining things where ignorance persists perpetually is similar to reading out the holy books to a bear.”
So how do we deal with issues such as these?
Well, we happen to be peace-loving people and hence, we simply ignore questions like that. Usually we take then with a pinch of salt and either ignore it or reply politely. We have been brought up in a region, nurtured by the hospitality of our ancestors, who were and wish us to be liberal people who celebrate all festivals with equal fun and frolic, beyond religion, caste and community.
We won’t deny that our state has been ruled by the same leader for around twenty years now, and political uprisings occur every now and then during and before elections of any kind. But, citizens are never under any real threat during a political crisis.
Of course, it isn’t always sunshine and rainbows, we do have conflicts and differences when it comes to property, ancestral land ownerships, etc. However, from what I have observed, any form of conflict in a society is resolved through meetings held by concerned members.
History books talk about how tribal wear has evolved in our region. We used to share similar clothing with the hunting tribes that exist in the north-eastern lands including Bhutan and Tibet. But, our ancestors chose to wear longer forms of clothing which restricted the movements needed for such purposes. These very small details lead us to infer that our people were inherently peace-loving and resolving conflicts came more easily than expected.
Coming back to our identities, when Sikkim was added as the part of Indian Union, two groups of identification emerged – the ones who hold the certificate of identity, commonly known as the COI, which is basically the Sikkim subject, and those that possess a residential certificate. The former identifies the Sikkimese, the indigenous people who enjoy multiple basic rights in terms of jobs, education, land, etc., while the latter comprises the business community, mostly the Marwaris and Biharis, who settled in our state while it was still a monarchy.
Therefore, the identity within the state is very much balanced and secure and this difference in documentation is essential in protecting the rights of the indigenous people, lest they be encroached upon by those settling in Sikkim. Being landlocked on three sides by three different nations has not really bothered us. Often, when the only highway we have running through our state into West Bengal is blocked for some reason, we do turn outrageous, but that is because we are denied of basic rights of food and freedom to travel.
Apart from the minute political issues and communal conflicts, that occur in many other parts of India too, we are an open-minded, respectful community that doesn’t discriminate. This of course is a subjective opinion of life, as it is in Sikkim. Anything contrary to this is always a possibility and must be duly respected as a point of view, too. But, as a Sikkimese, I can proudly say that our home – Sikkim – has treated everyone on her soil as one.
Like myself, many of my generation have briefly left our motherland to build our careers, see the world, live a little more, but despite all the novelty we experience elsewhere, most of us return for the kind of solace only Sikkim offers.
The author is a student at Goa College of Engineering and is very much interested in learning and understanding new cultures. This is Sikkim, according to her. Racism is an excuse many of us use to draw geographical outlines in our heads, but these biases based on culture or colour sometimes gets manifested in inhumane expressions that are bred in a hostile and fanatical neighbourhoods in many cities in India. People from the north-east of India continue to be victims of racial prejudice, and more often than not we don’t realize that we have unconsciously been a part of this behaviour. Most of us don’t mean any harm and are openly racist for the sake of humour. The lesson though is that what words we choose to use in a conversation with someone from a different region. The tone of our voice, the questions we ask, the opinions and views we share – we must rehearse most these in our minds before we say it out loud to them, thus preventing awkward, sometime tense situations. Building a rapport and drawing a line is essential while engaging racism for humour, highlighting a need for us Indian’s to imbibe for people skills. – JR
Mediation Musings 
As beautiful as Sikkim itself!
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