Darjeeling Carnival condemns the article of The Telegraph

The Darjeeling Initiative and the organizing committee of the Darjeeling Carnival 2006 strongly condemns the article "Fest against Ghising Politics " which appeared in The Telegraph dated 15 December 2006 and would like to state the following facts:

1. The Darjeeling Carnival is a cultural event and is organized by the citizens of Darjeeling to showcase the vibrant culture of the entire Darjeeling Hills to the whole world and also bring prosperity, harmony and unity in the entire Hills and is totally apolitical, devoid of any political leanings.

2. The organizers did not give any press statement to the concerned correspondent. Rather, the correspondent seems to have come along with another correspondent of a leading national magazine and the organizers were never introduced to this correspondent from The Telegraph. The organizers categorically spoke only to the correspondent of the national magazine and had no idea that a correspondent from The Telegraph was also present. Since no clarification was sought by the correspondent of The Telegraph, what has been printed in the impuned article is totally out of context and even the quotes attributed to Samir Sharma and Ajoy Edwards have been concocted by the correspondent.

3. We would like to state that members of the Darjeeling Initiative have never said that "the fest is a movement against Subash Ghising and his brand of politics". Infact, we respect the Administrator of DGHC Sri Subash Ghising and are grateful for all the work he is doing for the Darjeeling Hills. The Darjeeling Initiative is an apolitical body consisting of local youths and college students who are all volunteering their precious time to make Darjeeling a better place through positive initiatives like the Darjeeling Carnival. We do not dabble in politics and politics has never been our agenda.

4. The statement "the Carnival organizers also said they will not support the Sixth Schedule status…" is also wrong and was never stated by any organizers and the statement also defies logic as the Darjeeling Initiative consists mostly of college students and youngsters who hardly understand constitutional provisions like the Sixth Schedule status.

5. The Darjeeling Carnival is not a platform for politics but for bringing peace, prosperity and harmony to the entire Darjeeling Hills. The Carnival is not a platform to discuss Gorkhaland or Sixth Schedule Status or any other political matter of any sort. The Darjeeling Carnival is also not a platform to condemn the Govt. whether the State, Central or Local. Infact, the Darjeeling Carnival is a move towards working in harmony with all the Govt. departments and has always been supported by all Govt. agencies, local organisations and the citizens. The partners of the Darjeeling Carnival include the Darjeeling Police, Darjeeling Municipality and the district administration. Even DGHC tourism has actively supported by means of sponsorship and in the given light, the entire story is but a complete fabrication from the ground realities.
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6. Due to this article, the peaceful Darjeeling Carnival has been mired in controversy with its partners and local citizens of the entire Darjeeling Hills. There has been a lot of misunderstanding between the different participating organisations involved in the Carnival, due to this damning article. The credibility of your esteemed news paper has also come under the scanner and there has been spontaneous reaction to the published article by more than 20 organisations involved in the Darjeeling Carnival and it is being seen as a move in creating communal disharmony in this region.

7. Following the article, many sponsors and partners who have extended support to the Darjeeling Carnival, after understanding the aims and objectives of the fest, have immediately withdrawn support. Relationships that have taken years to build have been jeopardized by just this one damning article.

It is our sincere and urgent appeal to The Telegraph to rectify this matter as soon as possible and publish a corrigendum to this article .

Darjeeling Carnival 2006 in Full Swing

We are all on familiar ground now with the Darjeeling Carnival in full swing. There’s a strange feeling of déjà vu every time of having been there, done that. The hick-ups and obstacles are always there, but after 3 years of organizing such a mega event the team is prepared and raring to face such challenges.

Need a car in 5 minutes? Call Ruben and its done. Orient Express needs sound check at 9am? No problem, Lipok, Gopal and Avinash are there, wiping sleepy dust (kachera) from their eyes. Security guards needs to be tightened? Rueben and the Gorkha Shield are there. The troupes arrived late or someone can’t find a room for the night? Well, Nita and Monlom are just a phone call away. Running short of volunteers? Sabina smiles, your volunteer’s there! Firefighting and motivation? Hey, we have Ajoy ready to hear you out and solve your problem.

You can also see Suraj kaku and his enthusiastic volunteers busy feeding everyone and making sure that the guests are being served hot cups of Darjeeling tea in the evening. Yangchen, in her own slow and sweet way, is making sure that the Cultural groups are on time and performing according to the schedule. Gatty and Sikher are in charge of playing the sponsor ads every evening and also controlling the stage light and doing a great job at that. Kundan is on tenter hooks trying to manage the Carnival Idol which is becoming a big hit by the day. Namgyal (Pala) and Suman can be seen on and off stage trying to get the best angle and shot with their cameras. And good old Rajeev? Well, he is everywhere, from designing flexes and posters to volunteering on stage and doing everything else that’s being left out for the last moment.

As for yours truly, well, I am gliding around, trying to be the odd job man. No department tag on my volunteer badge, so am free to butt into anything I feel. From whispering the last number to the bands, to distributing invitation cards for the exhibition, from pleasing sponsors with my sweet talks to going in search of the electricians. There is no excuse for feigning tiredness or being sick till the 17th. This is after all, Carnival time!!!

Darjeeling Carnival 2006_Updates_27 Nov 06

11 days to go for D-Day! Everyone's in a hurry to get things done and beat their deadline. Good to see the office packed with people working their ass off. The No-Smoking rule inside the office is still not being followed too seriously! I can see tired faces and droopy eyes, top it up with the late hour team meetings in empty stomachs and and you have the perfect zombies next morning!

We have managed to inspire a group of proactive youth from Kurseong and they have decided to take up the challenge of organizing The Kurseong Carnival from 13 to 14 December. Mirik is on its third edition from 8 to 11 December. Arbin, Gyanendra and the gang are doing a great job there.

The Press Conference was perfect with all our local press friends attending and reporting well. Ajoy stirred the crowd’s emotion once again with his explanation on the Darjeeling Carnival. Its great to hear him talk, revives our faith in what we are doing. You can also hear his speech and read the press release at http://www.darjeelingtimes.com/

Darjeeling Carnival 2006_Updates_14 Nov 06

Its good to attend the Darjeeling Carnival meetings. Feels like coming back home. The energy is high and there's so much enthusiasm within the group now. Great ideas are coming up and the program schedule is finally taking shape. People are spending more time at the Carnival office than at their workplace or at home, but then thats what happens when you are so engrossed with the Carnival!!!Kundan is still trying to juggle his time between his job and the Carnival...

Good news! Ajnish is back from London after his first international performance so the team can now gear up for the Darjeeling Carnival Idol to be choreographed by Ajnish and the Darjeeling music fraternity. Sweta, Shradda and their gang are busy preparing for the inauguration ceremony, Lipok and his cronies are gearing up for the music audition of all the local bands to be held tomorrow, Monlom and Nita are out begging hotels to sponsor rooms for visiting participants, Ranjeeta and her gang of architects are busy researching and collecting materials for the exhibition "Darjeeling - Past, Present & Future". Rajeev and Yangchen are running around trying to get the cultural communities involved, Ruben just came back after distributing the invitation letters to 22 schools. So much running around!!!

Mary is still in Calcutta going crazy with the "city of joy" and its irritating humidity. Narayan has again started his financial nagging and bringing us back to the ground. Love him for his reality checks! Ajoy is still running his brain and his imagination overtime (as always) coming up with new ideas for the Carnival. Neeraj is busy with his work on heritage awareness with support from Victoria Memorial, Caclutta.

We have finally managed to convince Alvin (Shalvin???) to stay back and work on the Press & PR dept. He was running away to Australia! The Superintendent of Police has promised his full support and participation so all the drunk rowdies can start running for cover!

Endless discussions, never ending meetings, empty stomachs, freezing feet, late nights, groggy mornings.... but hey, its worth doing it all over again just to make sure that Darjeeling regains its former glory.

Darjeeling Carnival 2006_Updates 10 Nov 06

The Darjeeling Carnival is actually here, I can feel it, smell it and see our guys falling sick! Ajoy is admitted at Planters' Hospital, Narayan is runing a high fever, Reuben has his backaches and as for me I have my perennial congestion and tonsilitis.... Yes, Carnival time is really here!!!

AIRCEL will be our official presenting sponsor for the Darjeeling Carnival 2006. Isn't that great news! The guys from Aircel were here on Monday and the deal was sealed over ham, bacon and sausages at Keventers. As for the volunteers, they can now work their ass off and then gorge on Urgen daju's "sungur ko khutta and bhaat" without worrying too much in how to foot the lunch bills! Ofocurse, Narayan will go mad but then, thats so much like Narayan...

Poor Mary, she is in Calcutta trying to woo in more sponsors and make people understand what the Carnival actually means to the Darjeeling Hills. She's done more for this place than most of the fence sitters who are born critics. We are praying that World Space and Pepsi comes in also. No replies yet from the Chaudhary Group and so many others... Pray guys pray.

The team meeting on the 7th went off extremely well with lots of new faces and new ideas. Responsibilities have been taken up eagerly by the volunteers and we have a feed back meeting on the 13th Monday. All are welcome to join.

For more information get in touch with us at darjeelingcarnival@gmail.com
or come and meet us at: 22 Ajit Mansions, Chowrasta, Darjeeling - 734101
or call me at 9434209887 / 03542253905 (Samir)

Darjeeling Carnival 2006_Updates 04nov06

The sponsorship proposals are going out and the team members are busy trying to convince people to support and participate in the Darjeeling Carnival 2006. We badly need a presenting sponsor from whom the bulk of the finance will come. Ajoy, Mary and Reuben had a meeting the other day at Siliguri with the top brass from AIRCEL, a cellular service company. We are keeping our fingers crossed for positive news. Beside that the team is also approaching other comapnies for sponsorship.

If anyone would like to support the Darjeeling Carnival then please write to us at darjeelingcarnival@gmail.com

For sponsorship details please get in touch with the following members:
Mary B. Lama @ 9434176995
Ajoy Edward @ 9434006782
Samir Sharma @ 9434209887

Darjeeling and the Darjeeling Initiative_Thoughts from a friend

Hi All,
Here's what Karma's written to me about her feelings... She's in Delhi working for Wipro and we miss her like hell...
Sam

"Dear Darjeeling people,
When i walked down the Ajit mansion building for the first time , I never knew that life would take such a beautiful turn, was tired of monotonous life and wanted to make some changes in my own life and seeing nothing interesting happening in Darjeeling....everyday the same talk about youths getting spoiled, politicians screaming from chowkbazar and elders telling us "hamro time ma darj yasto theyo ra thesto" but no one did anything.......which could have done by them was done by these 25 youths, whom i met at Ajit mansion.

And the one man who will remain immortal and the biggest loss for darjeeling is our dear friend "Shasheesh"...........he was the one person whom I had big discussions with, worked together and ofcourse my last days with him was when he took Sameer da and me to Nirula's in Delhi and gosh he spoke for two hours about how to make Darjeeling beautiful. At that time I never took it so seriuosly but when think of it now, he was the one who made the DARJEELING INITIATIVE what it is now and I know no one can replace him.... We want to stay back in Darjeeling and work for betterment, but at times greener pastures are also needed to survive in this world but no matter what, we will do everything to make our palce beautiful!!!
cheers...
Karma"

Darjeeling Carnival 2006_meeting at 4

Dear All,
The group is meeting this evening(30 Oct) at 4pm at the Carnival Office to discuss all matters pertaining tho this year's Darjeeling Carnival. All are welcome to join and bring along their suggestions. Volunteer registration will start this week. PLease contact Samir at 9434209887 or Ajoy at 9434006782.

Darjeeling & NP pay homage to their Loyal Son

The sun was up, the students stood in line, the family and friends were there and the School Colours were out in full form to pay homage to the Loyal Son of North Point. Shasheesh was no more with us but his dedication, loyalty and love for his alma mater and his home town was there for all to see.

Fighting the lump in their throats both Fr. Van and Fr. Kinley gave a befitting tribute to the man who had done so much for Darjeeling in such a short time. As one of our guys said " He was more Paharey than all of us".

Was it just yesterday that we all stood there with our dear departed friend in one of the school assemblies trying to figure out more ways in making North Point a better place for everyone. I finally realised that he was no more with us and will never be back. All this while we had fought back the tears but we let it out one last time for our friend, my philosopher and guide. We will miss you Shasheesh. Way to go brother, peace...

DARJEELING CARNIVAL 2006_Logo

Hi All
Here's the official logo for this year's Darjeeling Carnival. Enjoy!

DARJELING CARNIVAL 2006_Once Again

Fighting back the pain and shock of losing Shasheesh the Darjeeling Initiative has taken up the challenge of going ahead with the Darjeeling Carnival 2006. The group sat down yesterday and unanimously decided on going ahead with the dream that Shasheesh had so lovingly envisioned. He always said that "the show must go on, no matter what happens to the individual" so here we are back again, on track, trying to fulfill our dear friend's dreams.

We are planning to hold the Darjeeling Carnival around the first week of December so that the school exams get over by then. The timing has always been a major concern for schools because of the term end exams, hopefully all that will change this year. Our partners all over India such as EZCC, ICCR, IGNCA and the variuos Consulates are still there supporting the cause and ready to send their teams to the Darjeeling Carnival 2006. Not to forget our local partners, the DGHC Tourism, Darjeling Municipality, Darjeeling Police and the District Administration along with numerous local organisations who will always be there come rain or shine.

The major hurlde now lies in raising the sponsorship for the entire 10 day event. The team has started sending out proposals to the sponsors and hopefully we should be able to raise the required amount by end November. Another big challenge is in finding the right volunteers for the designated jobs. Every year we have team members leaving for greener pastures and we have to be prepared for new faces and new hands taking up the challenge. Fortunately most of the core group members are still around so they should be able to steer the team well.

Volunteers are most welcome as we always run short of people. There's no fame, no glamour, a lot of hardwork and excitement and ofcourse, that great feeling of having achieved something good at the end of the 10 days. You wont regret it. Its a promise!

Come join us....
22 Ajit MansionsChowrastaDarjeeling - 734101
email: darjeelingcarnival@gmail.com
ph: (Samir) 9434209887 / (Ajoy) 9434006782

Darjeeling and all of us will miss Shasheesh

DEAR ALL,
HERE ARE SOME OF THE MAILS I HAVE BEEN RECEIVING FROM PEOPLE ALL OVER...

Shasheesh was a very special kind of man. With his powerful energy, he acted in so many fields – motivating others often in a very unselfish manner. I am very grateful about our relationship, proud to say: He was a friend to me.
Claire and Hans Joerg Bodenmann (Switzerland)


Many of us talk about giving back to the community, but never actually do anything about it. Shasheesh walked his talk, in that inimitable style of his. God rest his soul.
Jaideep Lahiri(New Delhi)


Shasheesh has taught me most of what I know today. Not only in terms of architecture but also in terms of how a life needs to be lived. What is important and what is not. He inspired me to believe in myself and take pride in what I do. I am lucky to have had a mentor like him in my life.
He always had some solution or the other for all the other things in life.
He loved Darjeeling in a 'devoted for life' sort of way and I hope that we can all together fulfill his dreams in our own ways.
Malvika (Bombay)


It is really an uncompensable loss to Darjeeling. We too miss such a good, hardworking and sincere teacher. I'll always treasure the days I spent there.
Milan (Kathmandu)


This is extremely cruel and unfair to all of us.
May be we could all meet a little later in Darj and
sort out some of the things close to his heart.
Things will never be the same.
Ashish Sharan lal (Kolkata)

Shasheesh_Great Loss for Darjeeling

Dear All,
Our Beloved Shasheesh, dear friend, brother, guide, key member and the brain behind the "Darjeeling Initiative" and the "Darjeeling Carnival" passed away after a brief illness at Delhi on 30th September 2006. There will never be no other like him and his commitment to the development of the Darjeeling Hills in all forms shall remain unmatched. I shall write more on his contribution as soon as I am back to my normal self.
The Shradh Ceremony will be held at Ajit Mansions, Chowrasta, Darjeeling on the14th of October 2006 from 1:00 pm onwards.We sincerely request all friends, relatives and well wishers to join us to pray and pay homage to the departed soul.
Darjeeling Initiative
Darjeeling Carnival

DARJEELING CARNIVAL 2006

Dear All,
It is with much regret that I would like to inform that as of now the Darjeeling Carnival 2006 is postponed till further notice. Shasheesh, one of our key members and the driving force behind this whole excercise is very sick and admitted in a hospital in Delhi. He just underwent a brain surgery. The entire team is praying for his speedy recovery. There is no will to work towards a carnival at the moment. We will wait for him to recover in order to finalise anything on the Darjeeling Carnival 2006. Till then, please bear with us and pray for Shasheesh's recovery.
Samir

DARJEELING CARNIVAL 2006

It is a common complaint that we face every year about not informing everyone about the preparations for the Carnival. I feel a blog would be the best way to deal with this and keep eveyone informed and happy. I shall keep updating this blog, so valuable comments and suggestions are most welcome.

The first group meeting for the Darjeeling Carnival 2006 was held yesterday evening (08 Sept) at the Buzz with around 25 interested people attending at a short notice. Although we could not inform or get intouch with all our friends we hope they will hear about this and try and attend the next meeting. The group consisted mostly of old members, but it was heartening to see some new and enthusiastic faces also. A lot was discussed and achieved in this first meeting. I will be updating the blog with the minutes of the meeting so everyone gets to know where we stand.

Volunteers are most welcome as we always run short of people. There's no fame, no glamour, just hardwork, a lot excitement and ofcourse that great feeling of having achieved something good at the end of the 10 days in November. You wont regret it!

Come join us.... at
22 Ajit Mansions
Chowrasta
Darjeeling - 734101
email: darjeelingcarnival@gmail.com
ph: (Samir) 9434209887 / (Ajoy) 9434006782