 Photo taken on the last day of Tashi Namgyal Academy In praise of Heritage
Sir Tashi Namgyal High School now Tashi Namgyal Academy My Alma Mater No More Rajiva Shanker Shresta It was around this time in 1956 that I came to Gangtok for the first time ever. The atmosphere was warm and filled with inviting music with songs like Panchhi banoo udati phiroon mast gaganmein … Hillory, Hillory Lata’s number from Raj Kapur-Nargis starrer Chori Chori (1954) music by Shanker Jaikishan and Maangke saath tumhara by Mohammad Rafi and Asha Bhonsle from Dilip Kumar- Vijayantimala starrer Naya Daur (1956) blaring out from the Polo Ground (now Paljor Stadium) where Raymond Circus or was it Gemini or Royal Circus was being held. We all were there next evening and I am not sure if the sandow there was the fabled Bhim Sandow. Sanu Maiju had then told me that very recently an aeroplane had landed there on the Polo Ground amidst rousing welcome from the people - some bringing a puja thali with flowers and a garland all complete to worship it! Years later, when we were in class eight in the year 1959 one of our classmates, Rudra Sharma was lucky enough to be selected by a draw of lot for a ride in a helicopter that came and landed there for the first time. I was with my Buba and Thulo Mama for the admission before the head master late B. N. Singh more popularly known as M.A. Sir. Finding me coming from Banaras, he said reciting a Sanskrit sloka that here the river flows reverse – instead of people going to Banaras for higher studies; one has come from there to study here. He was an interim arrangement to fill up the vacancy caused by departure of the head master K. L. Kapoor following a strike by the senior students in the class 10 batch of late Krishna Chandra Pradhan the previous year. The school got late V. N. Langer in controlling the situation and converting it into a new avatar as Tashi Namgyal Academy and him the Principal. Strict disciplinarian he was and there was an attempt to throw him also out by our seniors of the batch that included late Arun Kumar Pradhan. Such a move was thwarted then but again a year or so later once again but Langer dealt with it strictly. It was probably the reason what made him even hold back a student from the batch of 1961 with late Badri Nath Pradhan in the Sent up Test stopping him from appearing the School Final Examination next year. He repeated class 10 with us and his copy of Wren and Martin’s High School Grammar and Composition had solutions written for the lessons previous year. Principal used to take the class for English besides Economics. We had his book with friends in the front desk that helped us give correct answers from it in reply to the questions readily to his satisfaction. Once admitted in the Sir Tashi Namgyal High School that became Tashi Namgyal Academy next year, a big room upstairs in one of the blocks of the barracks turned into the school served the purpose of a hall. Not only the dignitaries like the Maharaja Saheb and Maharaja Kumar Saheb, Political Officer Appa B. Pant, Dewan of Sikkim N. K. Rustomji but also visiting distinguished guests like late Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, HH the Dalai Lama, philosopher and educationalist Kaka Saheb Kalelkar (1881-1985)and others were welcomed and entertained here. I remember our seniors Palden Gyamtso and Samdup Norden with classmates Norden, Samdup, Chewang Dorjee, Pintso Tsering and Pem Tsering performing Tibetan dance. They also used to perform Lama Dance at the lawns of the Tsukhlakhang monastery near the Palace during Worship of the Snowy Range now known as Pang Lhab Sol. A senior B.B. Chettri had once performed Mera juta hai Japani. Duryodhan Pradhan, a junior paired with another, had also performed a Nepali dance once. Other block served as the hostel with Bhutia and Nepali sections with a portion served as residence for the hostel superintendent E. Menon, our mathematics sir. There was a room for table tennis and other indoor games and another for our carpentry class. We were taught wood carving and sculpture from clay and wood. A Dhobi with his donkey used to stay in the quarter near the main gate. Students found coming late were made to run around the school ground by the Principal. Once I had to hide myself in the thick grown bushes in the place behind the gate yet to be come up and save myself from the punishment. Present structures for the school came up later and we shifted there in 1959 when in Class 8. We still used to go in khaki shorts and bare foot. For PT drills on Saturdays we had black shorts and white shirt with students divided into four groups, viz., A, B, C and D. Scouts had to be in uniform with scarf complete who welcomed guests near the upper gate with arch made of their sticks. The older one becomes the quicker the present fades into sepia and past looms up in glorious technicolour. Beryl Bainbridge  मलाई दार्जीलिङ मन पर्छ कारण यहाँ मैले आफ्नो तरुण अवस्था प्रवेश गर्दै वयस्क हुने जीवन याम देखें | यहाँ नै अवसर पाएँ उच्च शिक्षा हासिल गर्न र धेरै धेरै मित्रहरु चिन्ने र भेट्ने | दार्जीलिङ सरकारी कलेजप्रति हरेक क्षण नमन गर्छु जब यस विद्या मन्दिरको नाम वा चर्चा कतै कहीं सुन्नु-पढ्नु पाउँछु | सन् १९६२मा यहाँ नव-स्थापित उत्तर बङ्गाल विश्वविद्यालयको प्रि-यूनिभर्सिटी कोर्स गर्न प्रवेश गरी अर्को वर्ष १९६३ प्रथम ब्याचमा आफ्नो नाम राख्न सफल भएकोथिएँ | ४०-४२ जना विद्यार्थीहरुमा १७ जना सफल भएका अनि सिक्किमबाट पाँच जना टङ्कराम शर्मा, ओङ्ग्छेन लक्सम, टाशी याङ्ग्जुम, छिरिङ्ग डोङ्का अनि म | डाक्टरी पढ्न भारत सरकारको छात्रवृत्ति यहाँका पोलिटिकल अफिसर आप्पा बी. पन्तको अध्यक्षतामा सम्पन्न अन्तरवार्तामा प्रस्तुत भई पाएको तर शिक्षा विभागले सिट उपलब्ध गर्न नसकेर हाम्रो ( टाशी ल्हामु अर्की विद्यार्थी थिइन् ) एक वर्ष बिग्रिन गयो | त्यो साल कृषि विभागमा प्लान्ट प्रोटेक्शन क्लर्क को रूपमा केही महिना बिताएर निर्देशक नरसिंहम्-को व्यवहारले असन्तुष्ट भई काम छाडें | रिनाक गई साथीहरु भेला गरी ‘नव दीप सन्ध्या क्लब’ प्रारम्भ गर्छु | रिनाक स्कूलका ‘हेडसर’ बुवाको आशीर्वादमा सिक्किम सरकारका प्रिन्सिपल अड्मिनिस्ट्रेटिभ अफिसर आर.एन. हल्दिपुरलाई रिनाक बजारमा १४ जनवरी १९६४को दिन स्वागत गरी उनको ध्यान हाम्रो यस प्रयासतर्फ आकर्षित गर्न सफल हुन्छौं | त्यो वर्ष अगस्तमा दार्जीलिङ सरकारी कलेजको शरणमा फेरि पुग्छु | नयाँ-पुराना अनेक साथीहरु भेट हुन्छ अनि कलेजको छात्र सङ्घमा चुनाव जिती ‘पाइन्स एण्ड केमेलियास’को लागि सह-सम्पादक चयनित हुन्छु | सन् १९६७मा बी.एस्सी. सिद्ध्याएपछि पनि डाक्टरी पढ्नबाट वञ्चित भएर बीरगंज नेपालको माइस्थान विद्यापीठमा केही महिना शिक्षक हुँदा ‘सरल जीव विज्ञान’ तयार गरी प्राचार्य डा. बी. दासगुप्तप्रति आभार प्रकट गर्छु | बुवाले एम.एस्सी. पढ्ने इच्छा/हुकुम हुँदा यहाँबाट सन् १९६९मा आफ्नो पढ़ाई समाप्त गर्छु | सन् १९९८मा कलेजको स्वर्ण-जयन्तीको अवसरमा प्रकाशित स्मारिकामा मैले मेरो लेखमा सो वर्ष यो मनाइए ता पनि हामीले बिताएको समयमा शैक्षिक, साहित्यिक, सांस्कृतिक, राजनैतिक, क्रीड़ा आदि क्षेत्रमा चरमचुलीमा पुगेकोले नै त्यस बेला दार्जीलिङ सरकारी कलेजको स्वर्णिम काल थियो |
सिक्किममा शिक्षक पदको लागि अति-शिक्षित अत: अयोग्य ठहराइएपछि बीरगंजमा ‘यति एक्सचेन्ज’ पत्र-मित्र क्लब थालेर ‘यति’ पत्रिका सम्पादित-प्रकाशित गर्छु | नागरिक सेवा परीक्षाको अन्तर्वार्तामा विफल भएर १९७१ सालमा म भोटाङको मानस अभयारण्यमा गेम वार्डनको सेवा हासिल गर्छु | अर्को वर्ष नागरिक सेवा परीक्षामा सफल भई सिक्किम सरकारद्वारा दुई वर्षको लागि भारतीय लेखा सेवाको प्रशिक्षणार्थी भई मसुरी, शिमला, कलकत्ता, आदि स्थानमा तालिम सिद्ध्याई सन् १९७४मा गान्तोक फर्किन्छु | अन्तमा, सन् २००७को नवम्बर महिनामा सेवाबाट फुर्सद पाउँछु | जीवन धान्ने क्रममा दार्जीलिङसित टाढ़िन पर्छ यद्यपि त्यहाँबाट स्वर्गीय मित्र शरद् छेत्रीले आफ्ना नयाँ पुस्तक समय-समय सम्झना गरी पठाइबस्थे | यस बाहेक दार्जीलिङसित सम्पर्क नवीनीकरण गरी प्रगाढ हुने सुअवसर एक वैवाहिक सम्बन्ध स्थापित हुनगएर हुन्छ | स्वर्गीय राधिका रायाकी कान्छी बहिनी चन्द्रप्रभाको रिनाक स्कूलमा ‘हेडसर’ हाम्रा बुवासँगै सेवारत के. के. थापासित भएकोले हाम्रो परिवारसित राम्रो चिनाजाना थियो | उहाँहरुकी जेठी दिदी प्रभावतीका छोरा शरद्-का भाई सुभाष हिमुलमा नै कार्यरत उदयचन्द प्रधानका मित्र भएकाले परिचय-प्रस्तावको माध्यम कायम भई मेरी जेठी बहिनी सुनिताको लगन-गाँठो १७ अप्रेल १९८०मा बाँधिनगयो | १६ अप्रेल २०१२सम्म मात्र यी दुईको भाबी लेखिएको हुनाले त्यस दिन दार्जीलिङबाट गान्तोक आउँदा मल्लीछेउ टिष्टा नदीमा वाहन-दुर्घटना भई दुवैको दुःखद निधन हुनगएको थियो | आज दुई वर्ष बितिसक्दा पनि उनी दुई अझ हरिदास हट्टा अवस्थित आफ्नो निवास ‘शुभश्री’मा नै छन् भन्ने कहिले काहीं अझ पनि लाग्छ | विश्वास लाग्दैन कि यी हामीमाझ अब छँदैछैनन् | |
 About the AuthorSikkim-based ex-bureaucrat (b. 1947/ BS 2003) known more for his associations with Newah Vijnana, NESOCA, WNO and the publications through this Guthi than propounding of the Sikkim Newa: Guthi in 1982 that came into existence and registered in 1994. Rajiva Shanker Shresta was in news recently when he was invited to be the Special Guest in the 9th Convention of the Newah Organization of America on May 30, 2010 at Potomac Community Center, Maryland USA and speak on the Newars of Sikkim. It was here that his latest Newar : Haami Yastai Chhaun - with notes on contemporary issues that grasp and grapple the Newars - had a worldwide release. Reaching Beyond
Reaching beyond for him is being dedicated, repay the society - the best way you can and all the manner possible at every opportunity you come across.
Archives
September 2023
Categories |
RSS Feed
Karuna Devi Smarak Dharmarth Guthi © 2010
