A visit to Sikkim

During  my school days , I remember  understanding and marking the rivers, lakes, mountains, states of india and world was one of the toughest  expedition for me. Nevertheless, I had  since those times developed  a deep sense of curiosity about the seven states located in the North east of India. This curiosity was further escalated when I started reading special editions of Yojana and kurukshetra on the North Eastern states. While reading about these states I had roughly figured out that these states are abound with natural beauty and resources . I as an economist had also pondered several times as to how these states economy thrived and as to how a balanced and holistic development can be attained. This  curiosity  was  raised to the top eschelons  when I strated enjoying Anthropology of India and this region seemed to me as a living library of anthropological  world.At that point in time with the nits and bits of knowledge picked up through different avenues of Information , I had  developed a strange curiosity to comprehend and witness the beauty, politics , economics,anthropology and sociology of this region. I got the opportunity to satisfy this curiosity recently last week when I accompanied my parents for a conference to Gangtok. The journey was no doubt a bit long but definitely not tiring with absolutely scintillating scenes and mesmerizing images. The road trip with the Teesta  river on one side and tall Himalayan trees on the other  ….beautiful  little wooden houses thatched sparsely on the hill ranges  with sunny windy day in hindsight  …everything seemed as a perfect scene. The resort at Ranipool  was extremely beautiful …with lush green bamboo grasses all around you…a temple and a monastery at the foothill and  extremely cosy  ensuites. The trip to the mall road gave me an opportunity to witness the state in its entirely over around 12 kms journey. The city of gangtok is a well administered city with lovely people around.The Himalayan scenes, the beautiful ,pure and refreshing natural beauty was reflected in the people's nature and culture.What attracted me most was the so what matriarchal society  and the gender equality and women empowerment . Young girls were seen as managing front office in hotels to housekeeping to all the important managerial and in fact almost all the jobs and occupations (which in the plains of India are often  patent right for the men folk). People were extremely nice and I discovered that these people were THE champions of peace in entirety. “ BUDDHAM SHARNAM GACCHAMI” –Dharma , peace and tranquility was in full display . I found this place to be a  peaceful place where Buddhism and Hinduism coexisted with the perfect dignity and respect.  The place was extremely hilly . On reaching Mall road I was almost flabber gasted on  seeing  the MG road -It was  clean and beautiful with little shops of textiles and woolen embezzled on both sides of the lane. The Mall road was  nicely maintained with hardly any waste thrown and in stead beautiful little flower pots dotted the middle of the road  and  not a single flower was plucked! While shopping (even though I utterely wish that this aspect of mine doesn’t overempower me) but the economist and economic historian in me drew my attention to   a   number of facets of economics of the city and market. I found that the entrepreneurship  was essentially driven by one of the traditional business community of India –the Marwaris… I also witnessed the  perfect assimilation of immigrants from Bihar, Bengal  into the community networks  and cultural fabric of the state. Being closer to China …I had expected this place to be dumped with Chinese textiles and electronics …also I had expected that on the principle of supply outstripping demand ..prices per unit would be comparatively low which was in fact not so. I did felt that logistics and supply chain management for these hilly states is what needs much more attention. I was really impressed to find Kisore Biyanis’ “Big Bazaar” perched on the hill top. I could sense that the state must be registering good GSDP and high PCI (which on searching on internet reaffirmed my belief). The large numbers of hydroelectric projects on the river Teesta drew my attention to the sincere efforts to harmonise the hydro power to feed the energy needs of the state economy. In fact I got to know that the state is an important link in the newly evolving POWER TRADING industry in the country (which essentially is a kind of flow of power from surplus to deficit states).I sensed that the region had almost all the important factors of production and an extremely conducive environment  for rapid development.  The state is a perfect example of how polity ,economics and institutions in a democractic society can do wonders literally if governance is exercised in the real spirit. Pawan Kumar Chamling (the CM of the state ) has been on that position since 1994 winning the successive elections in 1999 ,2004 and more recently in 2009(when his party Sikkim democractic front) sweeped all 32 seats of the state assembly. On interacting with a couple of people there ….i could sense a very deep respect amongst the people for chamling.. They told me that they were provided financial assistance when needed, free medical services were available and that during festivals the people (no matter which strata of society one comes from) was assured with minimum assistance. They were all in praise for the governance system which actually delivers service in the right earnest . Being from the plains and specially from Bihar/Jharkhand…the sparse population density drew my attention. I also found the place to be extremely silent and peaceful. In fact when I asked the driver who was driving us down as to why and how people here are so simple  and so peace loving..His reply was “Madam this is the abode of God”. He then briefed us about the large number of monasteries and temples in the city . At the same time another instance   which reaffirmed my  belief that the best ambassador for India-within the nation and abroad- was THE BOLLYWOOD- one of THE most important industry  and part of our country which binds the whole nation , several cultures , languages , religions together. The shops and cars in the city were still playing the same “Dabaang”  songs.The city administration of gangtok also  does deserves a special mention. During the last night stay at Gangtok , we became a bit late (by a hill station standard) and were looking for a cab when we met  two police people who very kindly escorted us on approaching them and made a statement which was so unheard of nowadays –“Sir kaffi late ho gaya hain…parr agar cab wala Rs.250 se jyada mange toh please let us know” . I know am sounding too pessimist but I have never expected nor heard such cooperative  words from police personnel in this part of the country. More so while driving down the car I and my parents were stopped at a checkpost and the driver was taken in for an investigation and thorough check  because he had not switched on the ‘TAXI LIGHT” mounted at the top. These are extremely petty instances (taking into account the fact that it’s a border state) but what is important is that this is how and should the law of the land  be enforced. The maiden visit to Sikkim for just a couple of days was not sufficient to witness the grandeur and culture of the city but nevertheless this small trip helped me to reaffirm certain instrinsic theories ….The state of Sikkim was a peaceful state  registering one of the highest rates of GSDP and PCI with comparatively low degree of inequality (at least that appeared to me apparently-though I had not calcuted the Ginni index and Lorenz curve!). And I attributed all this to the basic theory of good institutions which operates in a circular fashion-High literacy (around 70%) combined with good governance and the desire in the people to move forward provides all the ingredients for development. On my way back – just a thought flashed by my mind-that I was fortunate to witness this beautiful jewel of India –and felt proud that I belong to a country as diverse and richly endowed with variants of culture as INDIA.