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extrasTHE NOW! SPECIAL 8-PAGE PULL-OUT

extrasNOW!

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Buzz. . .

presentsGOOD MORNING, GANGTOK

PANORAMA COLOR LAB offers a panorama of photoservices: Mounting and Hard-board lamination, enlargements,slide processing and framing in imported mould.

MG Marg, Gangtok, Sikkim - 737 101. ph: 225098 / 222488

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One sunny day along the north Sikkim highway...

extraneousTHE GANGTOK STATE OF MIND

Migtin

How many constituencies are reserved for

the SC community in SIkkim?

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

Last Week’s answer: North Sikkim Winner: Rajen Thapa, MG Marg

WHAT’S UP, SIKKIM

CONTEST

WIN A FREE MEAL FOR 2 AT

HOTELTibet Road, Gangtok. ph: 224101

Italian, Mexican,Chinese,

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cuisine

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darknessdarkness

FIT FOR THE

FUNNY FARM

It is commonly known thatpower can go to your head.But in the case of GNLF

leader Subhash Ghising it holdsmore true than others. Strangetales are heard about the manthese days. His antics coloureven official functions. In aseminar on disaster manage-ment, he told the select gather-ing that earthquakes and land-slides are the result of god’sanger. ‘When he raises his leftleg an earthquake is felt andwhen he raises the right its timefor a landslide’, he said, muchto the dismay of the expertspresent. At another meetingwhich was held to solve the wa-ter crisis situation in Darjeeling,he got up abruptly and pro-claimed that he must leavesince Sai Baba was calling him.Most bizarre was when heturned up at a meeting with hiscouncillors with bags full of rho-dodendron claiming it had cura-tive powers, as told to him byGoddess Saraswati in a dream.The poor councillors had nochoice but to solemnly munchfists-full of flowers under the be-nign eyes of the supremeleader! It is believed that he’sso paranoid he locks his wife ina separate room before goingto bed. At this rate bechaaraHum Jayega kahan jayega!!

OH SHIT!

The people living belowthe All India Radio quarters at Arithang had a

shitty experience recently. AndI mean it literally. It seems thesewage pipe leading out of theAIR quarters broke, floodingportions of the houses below.There was shit everywhere, ontop of the water tanks, on theroad, and in the courtyards.People living in the area wereso disgusted they couldn’t eatfor days. Last heard a delega-tion of affected people were fu-riously typing a letter to be givento the DC East.

WHERE IS BIMAL GAJMER?

On bad days the questionmany Gangtokians areasking is where the hell

is Bimal Gajmer and what’s hedoing with his money. For a guywho’s won the biggest jackpotin the history of lotteries in In-dia, he’s unnervingly low profile.I mean all that the man has donesince he won the money is buya measly Wagon R. Even hishotel is taking months to getrenovated. Wonder what hap-pened to his plans to donatemoney to charitable causes,especially to the Blind school,which he had claimed was thefirst thing that he would do.

HAVE YOUR CAKE

& EAT IT TOO

The Cable War has nowbeen replaced in the peo-ple’s mind by the battle of

the bakeries. They seem to begetting fancier and fancier withno one even considering poorTripti’s a bakery any more.While Baker’s Cafe and Buzzfight for the upper segment cus-tomers, smaller places like Let’sEat continue to do amazing busi-ness. With so much money beinginvested in the business it wouldbe interesting to see how much ofa sweet tooth Gangtokians haveafter all. In the end, who deliversbuns and bread to your next doorshop when unexpected guestsarrive and you have nothing toserve but a quick sandwich?Tripti’s of course!IN COMES FREE, AGAIN!

All incoming calls free onthe mobiles! Wow! Butask our ‘FREE SMS’ -

BSNL whether they understandthe term correctly. Or just likethe FREE SMS slogan, peoplemight go bankrupt paying billsfor supposedly FREE phonecalls.

DID YOU KNOW?

A big fight broke out at theChina Bazaar last Sunday between the organ-

izers and some local youth. Costof the fight? Rs. 90!

extras 3

A prayer for the Mandir

9

rajdhaniWHAT THECAPITAL’SBEENUP TO

sikkim

SNIPPETS

The United Christian Welfare Society of Sikkim(UCWSS) organized a

grand Easter Rally on the aus-picious occasion of Easter Sun-day on 20 April, 2003.

The procession started at1:30 PM from Convoy Ground inTadong and ended in PNGSSScompound in Gangtok. The rallywas organized to commemoratethe Resurrection of Lord JesusChrist, two thousand years agoand was participated by mem-bers of almost all the Churches

and Christian organizations fromin and around Gangtok.

Similar Rallies were also organ-ized by UCWSS in Namchi andGeyzing simultaneously, whereChristians from all denominationscame forward to participate. Theparticipants carried placards andbanners containing words of Godand also prayed and sang hymnswhile walking in the processions.

Later in the day cultural pro-grams were presented by youthsfrom different churches andpreaching of words of God byRev. P S Tingboo.

The UCWSS had also organized Blood

Donation Camps on the occasion of

Good Friday simultaneously in Namchi

Hospital and STNM Hospital, Gangtok

on 18th April, 03. Bearing in mind the

sacrifice made by Christ for the sake of

humanity, at least 63 donors registered

for blood donation in Gangtok, out of

which 29 donors could donate blood in-

stantly. Similarly, in Namchi, out of 46

registrations recorded, 4 donors do-

nated blood on the same day. The re-

maining registered donors shall be

called upon as and when the need

arises. The donors’ details are available

with the Namchi and STNM hospitals

and also with UCWSS.

Prakash Gurung, after donating blood,

being attended by doctors. a NOW! pic

Devout Christians at the Easter Rally (top left) and easter bless-ings at the Saint Thomas church. NOW! pics

a NOW report

EASTER SUNDAY

Been to The Buzz? If youhaven’t, then you aremissing out on The Hap-

pening place in the Rajdhani!The Darjeeling invasion con-

tinued last week with theGlenary’s adding not one, butthree investments in Gangtok.The Buzz - family restaurant,pub, and coffee shop-cum-bak-ery, opened shop across threefloors in the heart of MG Margearlier last week.

Three surprises, one package.The entrance on the ground

floor serves as a bakery, with amouth-watering scrumptious ar-ray of cakes, pastries and breadsthat Glenary’s is legendary for.For those who need to stayonline, the place also doubles as

a cyber café, aptly named theDigital Doughnuts.

A flight of stairs up and you areon the second level - the CoffeeShop. The décor is minimalistand the focus is on detailing. TheCoffee Shop accommodatesabout 25 persons at a time anda huge flat screen TV dominatesthe rear. Imaginative lightinggives the place a very cosmopoli-tan feel, the delicate track lightsin steel on the ceiling grabbingattention. One can gorge on thedelicious pastries and sip a cupof Cappuccino while listening tosome great music here.

As you continue to the thirdlevel, you are expected to standand stare in awe. The Buzz isdefinitely one world-class act. Itcertainly makes you wonder for

Buzzed Yet?

by SARIKAH ATREYA

- continued on page 6

Shiv devotees ofD e o r a l i

were elated whenthe Mandir Committee of theShiv Temple here decided tobuild a new complex. Little didthey realise that this would cre-ate a nuisance for the people ofthe locality itself.

Two months have alreadypassed and no one has botheredyet to get rid of the displaced mudfrom the site. This mud has cloggedthe drains and with every downpour,water and slush spills on to the road.

The old temple was dismantled,the site excavated but the construc-tion works was stopped for no ap-parent reason at all.

It seems that this project wasinitiated without proper planningsince neither the Mandir Commit-tee nor the priest seem to haveany clue of what is going on.

When NOW! met PratimaanGautam, the priest of the temple,he told this reporter that the con-tractor RC Mundra had gone ona pilgrimage. He further said thatthe Mandir Committee was mak-ing arrangements to get trucks toget rid of the displaced mud.

Mr. Mundra, who was still in town,assured this reporter that the workwould resume from April 21, but therewas no sign of any activity on this day.

Meeting the committee mem-bers was also not very easy asmost of them seem to be out ofstation or unavailable for some rea-son or the other.

Pramod Rathi, a member of theMandir Committee, told NOW! thathe had made arrangements for sixtrucks to carry the displaced mudbut that Mr. Mundra had been “toolazy” to carry out this task. He as-sured that he would immediatelycontact Mr. Mundra and get themud removed. When attemptswere made to contact Mr. Mundraagain, it was learnt that he had leftfor Siliguri “for some work”.

The photograph in thisweek’s snippets is avery rare one taken ata spot en route toDzongu. NOW! waslucky enough to beable to borrow thephoto from the albumof a senior citizen whowould prefer not to benamed. So what is so specialabout this particularrock ? The rock bearsthe hoof prints of thesheep and goat thatbelonged to ThekongTek, the great Lepchaleader and mystic.This spot is considereda ‘Nye’ or a holy spotby most Sikkimese.

extras 4

INTHECITY

10

rajdhani

It is not too difficult to locate the building atDevelopment Area where a basic course onArt of Living is being held. Sounds of full

throated laughter can be heard on the road, andfollow you upstairs as you enter a large room.Around twenty men and women sit cross leggedin a circle laughing heartily. I had come expect-ing yogasanas, quiet meditation and some deepbreathing. So whatwas this? It lookedmore like a group ofpeople having funrather than a spiritualmeet. Laughter, I wassoon to find out, playsan important part in thecourse. ‘The laughteryou hear is a result ofwhat happens in thecourse. To be able tosee any problem withlaughter is a knack thatsome people have andwhich others need todevelop ’, explainsPallavi Wagh, a formerAir hostess, who gaveup her career to de-vote full time to teachthe Art of Living asshown by Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji, the founder ofthe International Art of Living Foundation. Spreadover 135 countries, this new age religion contin-ues to gather converts everyday. Says VivekPradhan, a young man who has just completedthe basic course, ‘I started realizing who I reallyam. It gave a smile inside me and a smile on myface’. Speak to anyone and they say the coursehas helped them tremendously. From bringingdown anger and stress levels, to making themmore in control of their emotions. ‘You must havefaith, like a child has faith in the mother, and eve-rything will work out for you. We all go throughperiods of depression, of tension. What thecourse teaches you is that life goes on. It has togo on’, affirms Ratna Namgyal, who is doing thecourse for the second time. ‘It is like an ocean,you dive in and you don’t know what you will find.But everyone finds something. Whatever youwant, whatever you require, you’ll get’, addsPallavi.

The Art Of Living

So you can forget about existing. It’s the art ofliving you need to work on and to help you do thisthe foundation offers many courses. The basiccourse for newcomers is a 20-22 hour workshopspread over 6 days. The course consists of talks,simple Yogasanas, Pranayama, meditation tech-niques of self awareness and the SudharshanKriya. ‘Just as there are rhythms in nature, there

is a natural rhythm inour body, mind andspirit. This is disturbedby the effects of ourdaily lives. Just twentyminutes of SudharshanKriya everyday ener-gizes you, taking out allthe toxins from yourbody’, vouches KuntaPradhan, the first fullytrained Art of Livingteacher from Sikkim.Kunta who has com-pleted advancecourses fromBangalore is now totallycommitted to spreadGuruji’s message to theremotest corner of thestate. ‘Whatever I havegained emotionally,

physically, from the course I want to give it to oth-ers’, says Kunta.

The Sikkim chapter of Art of Living has alreadyheld many programmes in the state. From theprison programme at Rongyek jail to sendingyoungsters from the state for the Youth TrainingProgramme held at Siliguri. Basic courses havebeen held at Gayzing, Legship, Rhenock, Namchiand other places in the state.

So what accounts for the popularity of the pro-gramme? ‘The main attraction of the course isits simplicity. We teach simple things, like how todeal with situations, with anger, frustrations. Weoffer solutions in a practical and simple manner,in a way which people can relate to’, says Kunta.

As Guruji said, ‘I have no message. The wiseman will give you no message. He will simplyawaken you’.

For those in search of self awareness, TheArt of Living offers an advance course from 8thto 11th May in Gangtok, ph: 224733

Lather Expo’ claim the banners in town. But it has little to dowith soap or even water. A leather exhibition cum sale isgoing on at the UDHD hall, below Shere Punjab. An annual

event, this is the 6th outing for the expo in Gangtok. Bags andshoes from Calcutta, Kolhapuri shoes, nagras, jutis and chappalsfrom Maharashtra are being sold in the various stalls. Prices formost items range between Rs.200 to Rs. 550. The sale is onfrom 20th April to 9th May. Check it.

I have 300 regular members,”says Suresh Kumar the ownerof He & She Arnold Classic

Body Temple situated at NorbuBhutia Bhawan, Amdo Golai. Ofthe 300, the youngest memberis a thirteen-year-old and the old-est, is fifty-five. Fitness seems toknow no age around here.

Suresh, himself a bodybuilder,maintains that Sikkim could pro-duce national and internationalbody-builders is some “naturaltalents” were provided some help.

But then, a visit to the gym isnot just about body-building, it isalso about fitness and while theGangtok girls might not be keenon packing muscles, they are allfor the toned look. They can beseen sweating out the extrapounds along with the boys andmen at Suresh’s gym.

The interest in fitness does not

dwindle with acquiring the rightshape.

“Some join in to gain weightand some to shed weight andeven after getting into the rightshape many continue to work outin my gym,” adds Suresh.

While Suresh is all praises forthe Gangtokian passion for fit-ness, Mr. Sikkim 2003, LegdenDorjee Bhutia, of Gold Gym, ismore cautious. He admits thatGangtokians are becoming moreconscious, but maintains that thisis happening only “gradually.”

Most of the males at Gold Gymare eyeing the Mr. Sikkim con-test next year, but women are stillreserved about flaunting mus-cles. “The girls,” says Legden,“are all interested only in shed-ding weight.”

Shed or gain, it is all about fit-ness and here ’s hopingGangtok’s passion for fitnesscontinues…

HOW CONSCIOUS ARE

GANGTOKIANS ABOUT THEIR

HEALTH AND PHYSIQUE NOW! decided to find out from two of the leading

physical instructors in town.

by TINA RAI

LEATHER EXPOCOMES TO TOWN

A Two days circuit assembly of Jehovah’s Witnesses is beingscheduled to be held at Sangram Bhawan, Gangtok on April 26 &

27, 2003. The theme of the Assembly is “Trust in Jehovah and Do

Good”. This convention shows us how to find and apply Bible-

based information that can help us to build a successful marriage,to handle problems that arise in the family circle, and to meet our

material needs. “DELIVERANCE FROM WORLD DISTRESS IS

NEAR”will be the public address which will be delivered by Mr.

Sunder Arther, the representative of THE WATCHTOWER BIBLEAND TRACT SOCIETY OF INDIA. All interested persons are

cordially invited to listen live interviews, experiences and

demonstrations at this circuit assembly on the above mentioned

dates. There will be no collection, all seats are free.

CIRCUIT ASSEMBLY OF JEHOVAH’S

WITNESS AT GANGTOK

Kunta Pradhan with Pallavi Wagh

‘Whatever you want, whatever yourequire, you’ll get’

extras 5

HELL

11

Bookworm Asks CONTEST

the winner [decided by draw of lots from all correct entries] wins a discountvoucher worth Rs. 100 from Rachna Books and Publications

books and

p u b l i c a t i o n s

Near Community Hall Gangtok Sikkim

�224336 �rachna_books@yahoo.co.in

Which is the book published in 1954, which is a black

parody of Ballantine’s Coral Island and who wrote it?

last week’s answer:NO CORRECTENTRIES

send your creative writings to NOW! Gairi Gaon, Tadong, Gangtok - Sikkim

and see whether it makes it to the litNOW page

SO YOU THINK YOU CAN WRITE?why don’t you then throw those short-stories, poems, vignettes, essays in the public

domain and see whether they are appreciated or trashed...

THE BEST ENTRY EACH WEEK,

APART FROM SPACE iN litNOW! WILL ALSO WIN ACOFFEE-TABLE-BOOK from

RACHNA Books & Publications

CONTEST

WIN A COFFEE &

SNACKS COUPON

WORTH Rs. 100 AT

BAKER’S CAFE, MG

MARG, GANGTOK

Tick the right answer and rush en-tries to NOW! office at Tadong to

fresh everyday

- QUESTION OF THE WEEK -

WHAT IS THE AVERAGELIFESPAN OF A COFFEE

TREE?

� 6 Months� 1 Year

� 50 Years

coffee

NAME: .........................................

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LiTNOWWHEN THE HILLS WRITE

Last week’s answer: 1.4 billion. Win-

ner: Bishal Chettri, Remon’s Hostel

ONTHEBOOKSHELF

Living on bread and waterfor fifteen days is capableof breaking the strongest

nerve, which Virendra did nothave.

The police were after him. Amurderer of thirty seven does notstay long in the sidelines. He getsdragged out in the open one day.That along with bread and wa-ter.

After murdering Del Carlos hehad quietly but quickly checkedout of the hotel and left town. Hewas puzzled, shocked but mostof all scared. Hell no, he was ter-rified. The darkness still livedwithin him.

The addiction to the drug hadnot stopped. He thought that kill-ing Del Carlos would stop it. Hehad not known that you may killthe devil but not the hell thatcomes with it.

To add to his misery he wascrying. Crying the same way hehad twenty years before, whenhe was a small kid, washingblood from his hands. Blood thatcame from the animals he hadkilled.

Sometimes, the blood hadbeen human too.

The police were closing in. Hehad to think fast. The rocky hillslopes had very little trees, verylittle protection. Sooner or laterthey would hound him out and alittle steel bullet would find hishide.

The hill slope was large androcky. Few rocks were largeenough to shelter him. On top ofthat, they were too far away forhim to run to anyway. Suddenlythere was a shot. The bullet bur-ied itself inches above his head.The police had seen him.

Panic struck. He took to hisheels and ran full tilt towards thelarge boulders. There was a hailof shots, the bullets buryingthemselves in the rocks just be-hind him. Many times his feet

slipped, threatening to send himdown towards the police. But,somehow, miraculously, hereached the rocks unhurt.

He hunkered below the rockssending out shots of his own. Hedidn’t know how many bullets wereleft; you don’t with a policeman’srevolver.

He craved for the drug but crav-ing was useless now. The drug, thesyringes, the chequebook, all bur-ied in the sands of the Teesta. Tak-ing the drug was useless if he hadit anyway. He would probably runtowards the police in the murder-ous rage, rage created by it, and ifhe got a few bullet holes in him somuch better for them.

The body of Del Carlos had beenfound much earlier than he thought.Eye- witnesses had probably seenhim walk up the villa. After that hisface was in every newspaper andthe police had enough clues toknow that this murderer was thesame infamous Virendra Chauhanwho had murdered thirty- threepeople and inexplicably disap-peared over a year ago. Even thenew face from the plastic surgerycould not help him now.

And all of that because of a sim-ple drug and Del Carlos.

Del Carlos had forced him to takethe drug 20 years ago. The drughad given him a murderous ragethat had caused him to kill animalsand human beings. The addictiondid not cease over time but grew

on like a tumour. Desperately, heunder went plastic surgery andcame back to his hometown andkilled Del Carlos thinking that withhis death the addiction would dietoo.

He was instead greeted with thetruth that the addiction would notcease and probably never would.The murders would continue.

Stunned with the truth he tookanother desperate step and buriedthe box in the river sands of theTeesta. The box which had con-tained, for all those years, a vial ofthe drug (his last), some syringesand a chequebook full of blankcheques (each of them signed incase of emergencies) was probablyenjoying the cool wash of the river.

After that the police swoopeddown upon him like a thunderclap.He had fled to the hills and was nowgambling with his life in a seriousgame of hide & seek.

The bullets whined dangerouslyclose to him. Well, he thought, Ican’t take the drug now whether Ilike it or not. He quickly crawled overto the next rock giving off a salvo ofbullet fire in response.

He heard a sharp cry. Peeringdown he saw a policeman clutch-ing his arm. Virendra’s bullet hadembedded deeply and broken thepoliceman s arm.

A murderous volley came backin response, chipping rocks andshowering Virendra with a cascadeof loose pebbles and sharp splin-ters of rocks. Even though he hadcovered his face with his hands, he

got cut in various places.Anger boiled in him. The lack of

the drug, constant hunger and theforlorn hope of escape made himstand up straight, showing his en-tire form to the police below. Heraised his gun.

Click! Click! Virendra stared indisbelief. The gun was empty! Butthe hail of bullets from the policewere not. He fell flat on back, theexpression of shock on his face.He was not dead yet but he knewhe would be soon in a few mo-ments.

At least, he thought, I won’t betaking the drug anymore.

He died with a smile on his lips.The police took their time in

reaching him. They knew that hewould be dead. Most of themwere thinking whether they wouldbe awarded for it. They found himbehind the large boulders. Hisarms were splayed out like thewings of an eagle. The eyes wereclosed, the strange smile still onhis lips. It would make a nice pic-ture for the papers.

Son of a bitch got away tooeasily, the inspector thought. Hethen began to compose hisspeech for the press review in hishead. He licked his lips. He mayeven get a promotion.

The river Teesta gurgules on-wards, searching for the ocean.The sands beside it are litteredwith rocks. At one spot,Virendra’s box (containing thechequebook, the drug and sy-ringes) nestles comfortably un-

THE END OF

by BIKRAMJIT CHANDRA, Std-XI, TNA

der the ground listening to therivers song. As the years go by,when the bolt of time forgetsabout Virendra and his thirty-seven victims, the wind blows onpicking up the sand from the topof the box.

Perhaps one day, when thewind has eroded enough sand tolet a corner of the box to peekthrough, a boy, whistling tune-lessly and walking in a carefreefashion, perhaps thinking of hiscatch of fish and the deliciousdinner ahead, will stumble overit and fall, sprawling on theground. He will get up, cursing,and look around on the sands.He will spot the box’s corner, andbeing a curious boy will take itout. He breaks the rusty lockopen, revealing a bottle of thedrug, syringes, a blank chequebook (full of signed cheques). Ifthe boy is adventurous sort, hemight inject some into himself.

After all who knows, life is fullof surprises.

Education is more important today than at anyother time in history. In

this information age, the valueof one’s education continues toincrease. The question today is,Is the education you or your childreceives in school adequate tomeet the challenges of the fu-ture? Is the school system ca-tering to the special needs ofyour child? Do good grades en-sure lifelong professional suc-cess? These are some of thequestions Rich Kid Smart Kid, a

new book by the authors of RichDad Poor Dad tries to answer.

The book is written for parentswho want to take a more active rolein their child’s education, ratherthan leave the responsibility to theschool system. The authors arguethat because school cannot teachour children everything, it becomeseven more important for the familyand the community to be aware ofmeaningful and beneficial meth-ods that encourage our children tolearn. The book lays out some sim-ple action steps, academically and

financially that parents can take tobegin preparing their child for thereal world, giving your child a ‘fi-nancial head start’ as they call it.The book also illustrates some ofthe latest technological break-throughs in education that will en-hance parents’ ability to find theirchild’s natural learning ability andnatural genius. So if you want aninsight into how your children thinkand learn best, check out thisbook.Pages: 265; Price; Rs. 460;

Available at Rachna

SOMETHING FOR THE PARENTS

extras 6

ANALYZE THISANALYZE THISANALYZE THIS

12

WOMENNOW!

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WORTH

Home remedies, kitchen tips, beauty makeovers, recycling advice... just aboutanything that makes life easier for the housewife... Send in your tips and if ad-judged the most useful tip of the week, you will win a Gift hamper worth Rs. 250/- sponsored by CURTINA, MG Marg.Send in your entries to: NOW! Near AyurvedicClinic, Gairi Gaon, Tadong, East Sikkim. Or email us at sikkimnow@rediffmail.com

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� To cook potatoes faster, add a pinch of haldi while boilingthem.

� Honey is an excellent antiseptic, apply on cuts to stopbleeding.

Topped in Commerce fromTashi Namgyal Academy.Merit Certificate from Lady

Sriram College, where shegraduated in Clinical Psychology.Certificate of Excellence fromSafdarjang Hospital where sheworked in diagnostic manage-ment. One of twelve to be se-lected from over 700 candidatesfrom all over India to the NationalInstitute of Mental Health andNeuro-sciences (NIMHANS),considered the best in Asia.Topped the class with a seconddivision, missing the first positionby less than 1%.

Sonam Ongmu Lasopa hasexcelled in everything that shehas done. Today she is the firstNIMHANS trained clinical psy-chologist in the state. Back inGangtok in October 2002, sheworked as a volunteer in STNMfor a couple of months and is nowhoping her application for a regu-lar appointment comes throughsoon.

How and why did she choosethis profession you ask her. Shesays behavior science has al-ways intrigued her. But it waswhile in college that the desirefinally crystallized. Training andworking at Safdarjang meantmore involvement with the pa-tients and a closer experience ofthe subject. But studying atNIMHANS was tough. Twelvehour days filled with theory

classes, seminars, and hands ondealing with patients. ‘NIMHANSwas basically stress inoculationfor me. It was so stressful that Ifelt that if I could handle this I

a minute whether you are actu-ally in Gangtok or some swankypub in Mumbai, Delhi orBangalore! Although no singletheme is prevalent, the interiorsof the pub have been done upexceptionally well. No one faceof the wall is the same; the inte-riors are as diverse as ever, butthe mood is definitely retro. Thereis an interesting display of an-tiques and memorabilia from acustom made canoe to miniaturetrain engines and radios. Oneside of the wall is devoted totallyto maritime theme, while anotheris devoted to Hollywood with animpressive collection of miniatureclassic movies posters. The lowlights and brown and red huesgive a warm ambience to theplace. The place can seat about35 people, with a lounge sittingin the rear.

The multi-cuisine menu is sim-ple with popular Indian, Chineseand Continental dishes at a rea-sonable price, which can bewashed down with the usualdrinks. The more daring onescan try the cocktails andmocktails, which are fast becom-ing popular with the locals.

For Edna and RajeevEdwards, setting up this placehas been a labour of love withmore than six months of hecticpreparations that included givingthe three floors a complete

makeover.“A lot of hard work and prayers

have gone into making ourdreams to start this place a real-ity. We hope we live up to theexpectations,” says Rajeev.

The Edwards have plannedsome interesting events in TheBuzz, which will begin “once wehave settled in,” says Edna. Theevents will range from live bandsto food festivals and “other sur-prises,” she adds.

The Buzz has already becomethe latest watering hole forGangtokians, judging by the buzzit has created. I’ll drink to that!

- from page 3

BUZZED YET?

could handle anything’, she re-calls.

So what exactly is clinical psy-chology? ‘It is a science whichdeals with understanding psy-chological development andmental processes of psychiatrydisturbance’, she explains. Insimple layman terms it is alsocalled the Talking Cure therapy,where you try to search for theroot of the problem and offercounseling. It is not so muchabout medication but more abouttherapy. ‘We have psycho-diag-nostic methods, questionairesand intelligence tests throughwhich we determine the problem.It is more like a social sciencewhere we work as a team to treatpatients holistically’, she adds.

During her voluntary work atSTNM, Sonam encounteredmost of the psychiatric casesavailable in Sikkim. One interest-ing thing she noticed was thatmost of the patients were from

the lower income segment.‘There were very few from theupper segment of society. It isalmost as if they are hesitant tocome forward with their problem’,she says.

People mostly came withchronic alcoholism or drugdependency problems. Es-pec ia l ly many youngstersw h o w e r e a d d i c t e d t ospasmoproxyvon. Here hertraining helped to ident i fythe problems and suggestcure apart from the usual.‘We have various kinds ofpsychological treatment, likecop ing sk i l l s , behav io r ia ltechniques etc. to give themski l ls to handle the otherp r o b l e m s t h a t t h e y m a yhave ’, she tells us.

Teaching people problemsolving skills forms a majorpar t o f her work. As a lsoworking with families of theaffected. ‘Research shows

that social support and rela-tionships buffers the effectof any psychiatric disorder.So you wil l see that manywho do not relapse seem tobenef i t f rom th is support .That is why invo lv ing thewhole family sometimes be-comes very important ’, shesays earnest ly. Motivat ionenhancement is another fo-cus o f he r t rea tmen t be -cause as she says ‘a drugaddict or alcoholic should bemade to want to leave thedrug. There is no point inconstantly telling him that itis bad. He knows it is bad.Why is he still carrying on?T h a t i s p r e c i s e l y w h e r eSonam Ongmu comes in asa clinical psycologist. Deter-mine the cause through talk,teach coping skills and mo-tivate the patients. Doesn ’tshe get affected by all this?It can ’t be easy dealing withall kinds of psychiatric dis-orders on a daily basis? ‘Wedon ’ t let our emotional re-sponses affect treatment. Itis a major part of our train-ing. Initially we were over-whelmed, felt sad. But now Iam able to dissociate and bemore emotionally resil ient.We have to look at situationssubjectively. There is a dif-ference between sympathyand empathy. It is the latterthat we are trained to feel ’,she replies.

Sonam Ongmu is also anavid reader and excel lentartist. In her spare time youcan f ind her sketch ing orworking on her glass paint-ing. You ’d think al l this isenough to keep her morethan busy. But no, she hasmajor plans for the future.‘There is no stat ist ical re-s e a r c h a v a i l a b l e i n t h ewhole of the North East. It ’sa big lacunae and I ’d like toget into research. I ’m alsoexp lo r i ng poss ib i l i t i es i nchi ld psychology ’ , she re-vea ls . Knowing Sonam i twon ’ t be long before sheachieves whatever it is thatshe wants.

Meet SonamOngmu Lasopa,

Sikkim’s firstfully trained

female clinicalpsychologist, back

from NIMHANSwith some serious

therapy forGangtokians

extras 7

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Sweet NothingsMESSAGES FROM THE HEART

Come and hold my hand I wanna contact the living

Not sure I understand This rope I’ve been given

I sit and talk to God And he just laughs at my plans

My head speaks a language I don’t understand

I just wanna feel Real love fill the home that I live in

Cos I got too much life Running thru my veins

Going to waste I don’t wanna die

But I ain’t keen on living either Before I fall in love

I’m preparing to leave her

Scare myself to dead That’s why I keep on running

Before I roll eye I can see myself coming

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Cos I got too much life Running thru my veins

Going to waste And I need to feel

Real love and the love ever after I can not get enough

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To go to waste

I just wanna feel Real love and the love ever after

There’s a hole in my soul You can see it in my face

It’s a real big place

Come and hold my hand I wanna contact the living

Not sure I understand This rope I’ve been given

Not sure I understand Not sure I understand

Not sure I understand Not sure I understand

FeelROBBIE

WILLIAMS

Peggy Gurung is all of eleven years old and is a sixth standard student in Tashi NamgyalAcademy. An average eleven year old who has accomplished a not so average feat. She earnedherself a life long membership in the Help Age India by being the highest and the youngest aidcollector from the state for HAI.

With sheer hard work , dedication and sincerity, Peggy managed to collect a sum of Rs. 3610(mostly from Mangan, North Sikkim) which, besides bringing her personal satisfsaction, alsoearned her the highest aid collector’s tag and a Mini Cricket Bat bearing all the signatures ofthe Indian Cricket Team, a Cap with the Help Age India logo, a table clock, medal and a certifi-cate. All these were awarded to her by members of Help Age India in the Principal’s office atT N A.

A special assembly was also held to congratulate her and the Principal has also announceda reward for her on 25th April 2003, at Hotel Tashi Delek.

While Speaking to NOW! she said that it was her father R.B.Gurung who inspired her themost and that it was with his help and inspiration that she managed to achieve this goal. Agoal for her, a source of inspiration for her friends, pride for the school and an example for thestate.

WITH A LITTLE

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extras 8

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Okay, here’s more news for mums. We’re sure you’ve picked up some productsfrom the Pigeon range of baby and mother-care products. Good news! ThisJapanese company has entered into a business alliance with the Indian Rama

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This one follows the age-oldformula - cop busts drug

dealer, drug dealer goes toprison, drug dealer orders deathof cop, cop lives, wife dies, cophands in badge, ex-cop kills drugdealers. And I really don’t think Iam giving away any major plotdevelopment by telling you hiswife dies. Every single theatricaltrailer and TV spot has alreadytold us this. I knew this twomonths ago. The movie really isa no-brainer. I mean it did leaveme scratching my head at a fewpoints.

Were Sean Vetter (Vin Diesel)and his partner Demetrius Hicks(Larenz Tate) two former gang-bangers who are now working forthe DEA? Do gang-bangers ac-tually become DEA agents, or isthat just a Hollywood myth?Were these two DEA agents ac-tually working closely with a bigfat drug dealer named Sexy toarrest other drug dealers? Whythe hell would they be working

and close friends with a drugdealer? How did a 300 lb. drugdealer get the name Sexy? Is thisnormal police procedure? I wasalso slightly confused about whoall the drug dealers were thatwere popping up throughout themovie and how they were con-nected to each other, but I guessthe fact that they

were drug dealers and Vin Die-sel was going to kick their asseswas the main point.

As for Vin’s performance, Iwould have to say it was prettydecent. Probably his best per-formance to date. He was not alltough-guy. He was very believ-able as a loving husband andthen a distraught, angry cop andthe few dramatic scenes themovie had were quite good. Hedoes have a great angry movievoice and I would like to see himplay more dramatic roles in thefuture with a stronger script thanhe was offered in A Man Apart.The movie did not focus on the

muscles too much, which is arelief for all heterosexualmen planning on seeing thisone. I will end by saying that

A Man Apart really is notmuch more than a StevenSeagal/Jean Claude VanDamme type of movie, but witha better performance by a morecharismatic Vin Diesel.

ARIES: You will be in a position to pursue higher education. Some maywant to learn a new language or take up a new hobby. Business will bebrisk and busy. Cash flow will be good. Artists and musicians find greatsuccess. Political life will be very comfortable.TAURUS: Some may decide to start their own business. Business willbe brisk and busy. You enjoy the support of your elder brother. Friendswill come to your aid when you need them. Court affairs will be post-poned.GEMINI: Some may go on an overseas trip. You will enjoy the supportof your superiors at work. People in employment may get a promotion.Business will be brisk and busy. Cash flow will be good. Your under-standing with your family will be very good. Health will remain stable.CANCER: Political life will be very comfortable. Some may look at buy-ing a new car. Some may get good news from outstation. You will go ona religious pilgrimage. You enjoy a loving and supportive relationshipwith your spouseLEO: You may invest in property. People in the trade and commissionagency business do well. Expenses will prevail. Some may look at buy-ing a new car also. A change of environment will give you mental happi-ness.VIRGO: Business will be brisk and busy. Encouraging communicationwill be received at work. Cash flow will be very good. Ladies may pur-chase jewels and designer clothes on a shopping binge. Students willstudy well. Professionals may find some misunderstanding with theirsub-ordinates at the work place.LIBRA: Some may get a great job opportunity. Professionals will bebrisk and busy. Students will study hard. Your social status will be good.You will be popular among your friends. You take a major decision re-garding family matters.SCORPIO: Cash flow will be very good. Some may be able to encashtheir money bonds which were previously tied up. Some may get newjob opportunities. Traders will find a high turnover. You will go on a reli-gious pilgrimage. function in theirhouse. Mental happiness will prevail.SAGITTARIUS: Business will be brisk and busy. Expansion in yourbusiness and wealth is denoted. Health will remain stable. You have afine understanding with your life partner.CAPRICORN: Your financial position will be good. Expansion on yourbusiness is denoted. Expenseswill be reduced. You will be in a position to socialize a great deal. Youwill enjoy the party circuit and be the life of the party.AQUARIUS: Some may get a huge loan and expand their business.Business will be brisk and busy. Some may look at buying a new car.Some may decide to commence a new business activity. Cash flow willbe good.PISCES: You will have a financial crisis. Uncommon expenses maytake place. You have a misunderstanding with your business partner.You enjoy domestic bliss.

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