13 March, 2004; NOW! 1

C M Y K

WHO WAS CK?

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KALIMPONG:

In the iconography of local heroes, thereis none that so closely resembles thetragic heroism of Che Guevara more than

our very own local-born and locally-extin-guished CK. There are more parallels betweenthe two than just their photogenic appeal; theleast not being the last drop of polemical juicethat everyone from fashion stores and recordcompany labels would want to extract fromthe image of Che and by a similar token theposthumous political posturing that has attrib-uted to CK a larger than life image (the ironyof the pun being unintended.)

When people begin to be known by their

initials we can safely assume that they havebecome very famous. But that still does notanswer the aforementioned question as towho really was the person behind those twoconsonants.

To most of us folks who were neither themembers of his fan-club, nor were particu-larly impressed by his hands-on style of func-tioning, CK was synonymous with his facialfuzz and the flamboyant profligacy of his sig-nature. But even in those two very visibleattributes of the man, there was enough sym-bolism attached to pass into a veritable folk-lore of the cult of personality that CK andhis band of followers so astutely cultivated.

To most of the so-called hill intelligent-sia, CK was not more than a rabble-rouser, arowdy raconteur who could have dressed bet-

ter given the access to the clothes and thetailors that he had. But in making so sweep-ing a generalization of the man, theymissed the point. CK was the closest thatthe political laboratories of Kalimpongwill ever come to making a true leaderin the generic sense of the word. The con-troversies that he courted, the unconven-tional lifestyle he adopted, the rebellionthat he spouted, both in word and indeed, and the daring presumptions thathe made in his speeches are testimony tothe fact that the man had it in him to riseabove the ordinary and the mundane.

CK’s calling came during the agitationfor a separate state. The movement waslooking for a symbol and CK fitted the bill

PRAVEEN MOKTAN

turn to pg 2

Pinki Singh, 30, sufferedsevere burns on her leftleg when left unattendedwith a blower at CentralReferral Hospital.She wasunconsciousat the time,havingjust beenoperatedupon.

GANGTOK, 12 March: Horrific reports of negligence by hospital staffare often heard of in mainland India. It is, in fact, very common andquite taken for granted that if a person is admitted into a governmenthospital he/she will emerge with more complications - and somewhatmore sinister - than the patient complaints that took the patient to hos-pital. But that’s a common enough story from the plains where the weightof the general population is too pressing to guarantee effective medicalcare. But how does one react when it happens here, at what we are ledto believe is a state-of-the-art referral hospital?

Pinki Singh, aged 30 years, was admitted to the Sikkim Manipal In-

stitute of Medical Sciences [Central Referral Hospital, 5th Mile, Tadong]on 7 January, 2004. Her husband, SK Singh, informs that she was toundergo Bilateral Tubectomy – a family planning operation – the nextday. The operation was conducted at around 8 AM and by 10:30 AM shehad been transferred to the ICU in a state of unconsciousness.

Her husband was told that she would be transferred to the generalward by late afternoon. In the meantime, reveals her husband, the doctorsuggested a blower be provided to keep the patient warm. Singh had toleave his wife’s side to make medicinal purchases in Gangtok. When hereturned at about 1:30 PM he was treated to a spectacle most depressing.

His wife’s right thigh was a mass of burnt flesh. Pinki had sufferedthird degree burns caused by the unattended blower which was kept

a NOW REPORT

turn to pg 7

Studentsrun overKARAN SHAH

KALIMPONG, 12 March: Threestudents were gerivously injured whenthey were runover by a vehicle atOngden Road besides Mela Groundhere at around 3:30 pm.

The three students: TashiBhutia, 14, Prem Dorjee, 14, andhis brother Khandu Dorjee, 16 , areappearing for their Madhyakik ex-ams from Scottish University Mis-sion Institution [SUMI].

According to the driver of thefateful vehicle, Samar Pradhan, theaccident occurred when he was try-ing to avoid running into anothergroup of children on the narrowroad. He has been arrested.

Prem Dorjee has sustained headinjuries while the others are beingkept under observation though it isreported that they are out of danger.

SUMI principal, NR Pradhan,has assured that “proper arrange-ments” will be made for all threestudents so they can sit for their ex-aminations, perhaps through writ-ers with the permission of the sub-divisional officer.

AIDS scareforces bettertraining forNGOsAMITAVA BANERJEE

DARJEELING, 12 March: Factsand figures available with the Vol-untary Counseling and TestingCenters [VCTC] here do not painta very happy picture as far preva-lence and rise of AIDS in theDarjeeling hills is concerned.

Sensing the urgency of the mat-ter, Suresh Kumar, Director of theWest Bengal State Aids Programmedeputed West Bengal State Manage-ment Agency [WBSMA] to evaluatethe work being done by the DarjeelingAids Control Center [DACC].

turn to pg 7

2; NOW! ; 13 March, 2004

C M Y K

NOW!FIRST WITH THE NEWS

ED-SPACE

Orphaned at Seven-3-

My father again took up the making of biscuits. The work was hard and my fatherwas very busy. Just a week before the date of our Chinese feast, my stepmother gotup one night, stole all our money, about thirty rupees, and ran away. When next

morning my father got up early he found her gone and also the money from the cash box. Hecried out in dismay and I woke up. He got wild at losing all his moneyand went at once to the Chinese Club to ask what they could do to helphim catch her and have her punished. But the Chinese Club did not helpus. Then my father sent for a friend and told him the whole matter. First wesearched every part of Kalimpong but we could not find her. Then my father’sfriend said, “I had better go to Darjeeling and look for her there.” “That is verykind of you,” said my father. So the friend went to a stable and hired a horse forthree rupees a day and went straight to Darjeeling. That very same morning myfather’s friend came back with twenty rupees for my father, which he hadmanaged to get back from the bad woman. For these twenty rupees my fatherbrought everything needed for the festival called WuYueh Twan which means the fifth day of the fifthChinese month. That day was the anniversary of thedeath of a very good man of olden times in China,and at the same time it was my birthday. Because Iwas born on this day I was called Twan Yang. Myfather and I went to the Chinese Club, for there wasa big exhibition of the dragon play, played by eightor nine people, and several musicians. They tookthe dragon all around Kalimpong from door to door.Every home to which they went had to give two orthree rupees for seeing the dragon dance. And many

Ani Pachen Dolma, whodied two years ago inDharamshala always said

it was faith that kept her alive dur-ing the 21 years in Chinese prisonswhere she endured starvation, iso-lation and physical torture.

She was born in Gonjo districtin the eastern Tibetan provinceof Kham around 1933 — theonly child of Pomda Gonor,the chieftain of a local clan.

Coming from a very reli-gious family and heavily in-fluenced by her devout aunt,Pachen became a Buddhistnun at the age of 14, but plansfor a life spent in religiouscontemplation were turnedupside down when Chinesetroops seized control of Tibetin 1951.

Faced with the oppressivepolicies adopted by the Chi-nese, her father organisedseven local clans into a resist-ance movement. PomdaGonor died from an illness in1958, leaving Panchen with astark choice.

“I was the only child in thefamily, and since my fatherhad so much love for his country, Ihad to carry on what he left behind;the task, the struggle against theChinese,” Pachen said in an inter-view last year.

As a Buddhist nun, she wasacutely aware of the conflict betweenher belief in compassion for all thingsand the idea of taking up arms.

“I realised there would be nega-tive karmic imprints and I wouldhave to bear that for the actions Ihad taken.

“To be truly a Buddhist, youmust be loving and all compassion-ate. But I was faced with that par-ticular situation and I thought whatI did was right at the time.”

The following year, Pachen ledher united clans during a major Ti-betan rebellion against Chinese

rule, which finally ended in failureand the flight of the Dalai Lama toexile in India. “We killed many Chi-nese soldiers,” Pachen recalled “butwe didn’t have proper weapons.”

She and her comrades tried toescape to India on foot across theHimalayas but were caught on theborder and arrested.

Pachen was 25 when she wassentenced to jail for taking up armsagainst the Chinese state. She didnot come out until she was 46.

In prison, Panchen was regularlytortured and beaten and spent longperiods of time in solitary confine-ment. One regular punishment in-volved being clad in leg irons andhung upside down. The years ofmistreatment and malnourishmentcaused her hair to fall out and she

never fully recovered.Announcement of her re-

lease in 1981 came as a sur-prise. She left for Lhasa, as perChegye Lama’s advice. Sheworked along with hundredsof other Tibetans, who werevolunteering their time, mov-ing earth and stones from theruins of Gaden monastery.Later, she left for pilgrimage.Ani Pachen was an active par-ticipant in all the three majorprotest demonstrations organ-ized by the monks of Drepung,Sera and Gaden in Lhasa onthe 27th September 1987, 1stOctober 1987 and March 5th1988 respectively. In order toavoid re-arrest by the Chinese,she escaped into exile in 1989.

Once in exile, Ani Pachennever ceased to work for thefreedom struggle. “Sorrow

Mountain” - The journey of a Ti-betan warrior nun was publishedwith the help of Adelaide Donnelley.Ani Pachen has given lectures aboutthe Tragedy of Tibet and her experi-ences to hundreds of Tibetan andforeign audiences. She had also par-ticipated in Peace Marches in vari-ous countries of the world.

She died at the age of 69 at herhome in Dharamsala on 2 Febru-ary 2002 at 6.30 p.m. shortly aftershe returned from Bodhgaya.

crackers were fired and the music played till midnight. At home, at night, my father fired abundle of crackers and burned a bundle of paper money. Then we had to kneel down and prayto Confucious, and to call on our dead relatives and send our love to them in heaven.

My stepmother had been with us about a year.When I was seven years old my father fell ill and had to go to the hospital. He made an

arrangement with a Chinese family to take care of me. Early every morming I used to visit myfather, taking some milk in a bottle. I used to sit by the side of his bed and he gave me goodadvice. He said: “My son Twang Yang, I am getting worse every day and I have no hope ofgetting better again. My son, stay with that family as long as you can, and behave yourself.

Keep also thinking of your sister Mimila. Go from time to time to seeher.” I promised to do as he said with all my heart.

One morning I went as usual to see my father, taking my bottle ofmilk, but when I reached the hospital I was told that he was dead. I came

home full of grief. The sun had dropped out of my sky. I first told the sor-rowful news to my adoptive mother and, after telling her went to Mr.Tharchin to give him the sad news. He was sorry to hear it and went to call

some members of the mission to bury my father. They placed his body in acoffin, which they covered with flowers. Then they said a prayer and slowlymarched towards the church. The Church bell was toiling every three min-utes. I followed the hearse, which five or six people were pulling. From the

church we all went to the burial place. I was sobbing and two grown men weretrying to console me, saying, “Don’t weep, your father is now in heaven.”The burial place was a deep bamboo forest with many wreaths and crosses side

by side. This was the first time that I had been there. My body began to trembleand I heard a strange noise as if someone was whispering something into my

ear, but I could not make out the meaning and I was sobbing all the timeand could not think properly. Mr. Tharchin made me pray and bow my head

towards the coffin. Then they buried it. At this moment I felt as if the ground wasshaking. I knew not it was my own body trembling and thought it was the ground…

to be continued

Artist, filmmaker, keenphotographer, columnist withinternational magazines...It’s hard to pin TwangYang down. Born to aChinese father andTibetan mother, he grewup in Kalimpong andworked in Sikkim.NOW! serializes TwanYang’s autobiography,Houseboy in India...

In the Absence of HistoryThe news that “Sikkim” will be included in text books of the Stateis welcome even though it debuts only in class III at present. It isafter all in the absence of a sense of history that rhetoric sells andpropaganda succeeds. Now that students in Sikkim will be intro-duced not only to Sikkim’s history, but also its geography, cultureand other aspects, one can also hope that students here will de-velop a better appreciation for education. Dropout rates remainhigh in the Hills primarily because the students cannot relate towhat is being taught in classrooms. The educational system andthe curriculum they prepare have managed to make even hu-manities as abstruse a stream as organic chemistry. Now, hope-fully, students here will “connect” better with the subjects theystudy and slowly start appreciating the value of true literacy.

Learning about their history is necessary for Sikkim studentsnot only because it will help them understand where they be-long, but also because very few are familiar with Sikkim’s past.While the rest of India, with their colonial past and groomed onthe British obsession with recording everything, have a fairlygood sense of history, Sikkim gradually lost all connection withits past with the fading away of its languages. History in Sikkimwas after all hidden in its folklore and religious texts and sincefewer and fewer Sikkimese are familiar with these any more,information on pre-Merger Sikkim had become scarce. Sikkim’srecorded history details only the lives and reigns of the Chogyalsand sheds very little light on what actually happened at differenttimes or how the people lived. Perhaps, with their initiation intoSikkim at the school level will lead some scholars in comingyears to unravel this aspect of Sikkim’s history as well.

That apart, a sense of history, as mentioned earlier, is essen-tial to moderate public debates which have become increasingpuerile of late. In Sikkim’s case, any wannabe politician picks upArticle 371F or the Old Laws or the Tripartite Agreement and startsscreaming about their dilution or violation. The speaker, in mostcases, is as ignorant as the audience on the significance of any ofthese topics. Should the students learn about these in school,they will also understand the mime-side-act that the politician playswhen they pay lip-service to these emotional issues. Maybe theHill Council civil society should also start building pressure forincorporating their history in school books. Then, maybe,Gorkhaland can be argued more intelligently and the mockery ofissues like non-man’s land attract the ridicule they deserve. Untilthen, people like a senior citizen in Sikkim who claims his orphan-age runs on Article 371F will continue to be seen as leaders.

Ani Pachen

WARRIOR NUN

13 March, 2004; NOW! 3

C M Y K

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and excelled in the role. He had his hands firmlyon the pulse of public opinion and could getaway with statements like “I am the king ofKalimpong.” But as the strength of his partygrew and the political compulsions of the timeschanged the good times started rolling in forhis “hirsute highness.” Like Jim Morrison orsome of the other hedonistic icons of the six-ties CK partied heavily, enjoyed the companyof the hangers-on and the political groupies andgenerally reveled in the image and the lifestylethat befitted a rock star. As his fame and powergrew so did his sense of self-importance. Hetook it upon himself to run the show inKalimpong, trying when he could to get downto the microscopic detail of any endeavor. Peo-ple recall the almost missionary zeal that heshowed in implementing traffic rules at theMain Road where he corporally chastised thosewho jay-walked into the main road meant forvehicular traffic [this was done supposedly tohighlight the construction of the pedestriansidewalk, a feat that countless municipal com-mittees attempted before him with no success],or his stricture at the hospital forbidding visi-

tors from taking in food in hot cases to the in-mates - the ostensible reason being that the foodserved by the authorities was good enough. Andwho can forget the license that he gave one 15thof August to the student community to have afree-for-all with the booze and the works has-tening quite a few of the scholars to an earlyloss of innocence. And sticking with the Inde-pendence Day, it was CK who turned conven-tion on its head by having a politician [i.e. him-self] up on the dais receiving the salute. Thejustification that was given for this gesture wasthat the political leader being elected by a demo-cratic process had more right than the nomi-nated bureaucrat to receive such honor fromthe masses.

Of course, the more welcome aspect of thenew scheme of things was that CK could ex-hort from the podium to the school authoritiesto shut school for the 17th so that students couldrecover from the excesses of the previous days’

celebrations. Something that the more duty-bound, orthodox SDO could never dare to doin his wildest dreams. The popularity of thisgesture can be gauged by the fact that notwith-standing the student-centric inspirationalspeeches belted out on this day, no one fails toindulge the sun-drenched scholars their due;holiday on the 17th or the following Monday,which ever is more convenient. This is the last-ing legacy that CK left for them.

These examples amply illustrate the man-ner in which he struck a rapport and touchedthe lives of all in the town so that none wereleft without any opinion of the man.

CK’s greatest strength was his ubiquity. Hewas present everywhere. There was no occa-sion that was too unimportant for him to de-vote his time to. His was the most high profilepresence in any event. But in the last fewmonths before his death CK was a lonely man.Bereft of the blessings from the higher powers

and kept at an arms length by his former friends,CK trudged a lonely path. Down, but not out,he was biding his time to get back once againin the limelight. The true hallmark of politicalgreatness is a politician’s instinct for survival.We will never know whether the man had it inhim to turn the tide because when he was try-ing once again to get back to doing what he didbest, he was cruelly gunned down in an anticli-mactic finish to a rather remarkable saga.

Perhaps the person that he was can be bestsummed up in an apocryphal account recol-lected by an admirer at the funeral. It seemsthe person had got into a scrap with anotherfellow and the police officer concerned wasdemanding a hefty sum to resolve the issue.He went to CK with his case, who promptlyphoned the concerned officer telling him thatthe defendant was his nephew and the victimwas his brother-in-law and that since it was afamily affair they would resolve the issuethemselves. This was the appeal that CK ex-uded and to an extent the local political out-fits also extend. They expedite justice and revelin the spontaneity that such quasi-judicial ex-ercises entail. However, it’s a justice that hasironically eluded CK himself.

Who was CK?Contd from pg 1

GANGTOK: The prospect of theopening up of Nathu La route fortrade with China is creating a lotof excitement. If business men arechalking up their plans, the bankstoo are making sure they reap allthe benefits of trade.

After UTI, which opened theworld’s highest ATM at Thegu, enroute to Nathula, it is the turn ofthe State Bank of India to get pro-active. The bank is planning to openforeign exchange facility at NathuLa itself. This will help speed upand simplify the forex transactionsinvolved in trade between the two

countries, inform officials. The for-eign exchange facility at Nathula isslated to open with the resumptionof trade which might be as early asthe summer of 2004.

Apart from opening a foreignexchange branch, the bank also hasmajor plans to participate ininfrastructural developmentprojects, which would emergethrough the opening up of the pass.

Speaking to NOW! ShyamalSinha, Assistant General Manager,State Bank of India, said that thebank was ready to take up any chal-lenge and extend its services to anypart of the state.

“With the opening of the route,obviously commercial activity will

go up and we have to be ready forthat,” he said.

He also informed that SBI,which already has 26 branches inSikkim, will set up three new ATMcentres here and convert its mainbranch at Gangtok into a “CoreBanking” centre by 2005 to expandits business in the state.

“SBI presently has three ATMsin Gangtok. We plan to strengthenour network of ATMs in the state.Three new ATM’s are coming upin Singtam, Namchi andJorethang,” informed Mr. Sinha.

ANAND OBEROI

SBI PLANS A FOREX FACILITY AT NATHULA

Wanna exchange some Yuan?A Chinese soldier with Indian

journalists at Nathula

GANGTOK: The first passen-ger ropeway in Sikkim con-necting Deorali to the Secre-tariat may not see as much“passenger” traffic as washoped, but DamodarRopeways have many otherplans to entice people to thecable cars. The company nowplans to start a shopping com-plex on the three floors of theropeway buildings at Deorali,Nam Nang and Tashiling.

The decision was takensince only two of the floors arebeing utilized for the ropeway.The remaining three floors areempty and are now going to bean added attraction, especiallyfor tourists.

According to officials atDamodar Ropeways, they have a10-year contract with the Govern-ment of Sikkim during which time

DARJEELING, March 12, 2004:Twenty-five year old Bikash Raialias Kaley of Poosimbing Tea Es-tate under the Jorebunglow PoliceStation was arrested under Sections341, 354 and 323 IPC for allegedlymolesting an 11-year-old minor inhis locality, yesterday. He was pro-

duced at the Darjeeling Court to-day, where his bail plea was deniedand he was sent to judicial custody.He was caught by Forest Deptt.employees yesterday who re-sponded to the distres calls of an11-year-old girl being molested byhim. The employees rushed to thespot, rescued the girl and handedKaley over to the police.

CHILD MOLESTERDENIED BAIL

from OUR CORRESPONDENTthe company decided on theidea. The Rs. 14 crore projecthas got off to a slow start andthis new initiative is expected toget the crowds in.

Which ever party is inter-ested in acquiring space at thesebuildings will have to gothrough a process of lease whichwill be held like tenders. Thespace will not be sold, but willbe rented out on an agreementwith the party. The rent will bedecided as per the lease and willdepend on the area size. Afterthe lease time is over it will beextended as per the contract withthe company.

People who take up thespaces will have to do all thefurnishing, partitioning and set-ting themselves. Most of theshops will obviously be tourism

based and will include handicrafts,books, and garments showrooms.Restaurants are also invited to setup shop here.

a NOW! file foto

they have to pay a certain amountas lease money. Until the ropewaystarts running frequently enoughthey will not be making profits thus

TO-LET

Floor space available on Gangtok’sropeway terminals for rent

Ropeway terminals as real estatea NOW REPORT

4; NOW! ; 13 March, 2004

C M Y K

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DIKCHU, 12 March: The SikkimDemocratic Front concluded itsCheli and Youth Meetings forRakdong-Tintek constituency hereon 11 March, yesterday.

A series of meetings in 13 vil-lages in the constituency, whichstarted on 26 February, concluded

at the Dikchu Bazaar yesterday.The final meeting was attended

by about 2,000 people and sawFood & Civil Supplies Ministerpreside over the proceedings as thechief guest. Others who attendedthe meeting were area MLA,Mingma Tshering Sherpa,Upadakshya, East, Hari HarPoudyal, MLA [Dzongu] SonamGyatso Lepcha, DN Sherpa and

Zilla and Panchayat members.The chief guest in his speech

reminded that a candidate was justa representative of the party whichshould always be viewed as su-preme. He further told the votersthat SDF believed in free and fairelections and that the supportersshould follow the same principle.

He also spoke on the variousdevelopmental works that had been

carried out by the SDF governmentduring its tenure and further assuredthe people that more work wouldbe done for the general public afterthe party assumed office for a thirdtime in May.

Area MLA, Mingma Sherpa inhis speech spoke about the unem-ployment problem and how thegovernment was finding a way toend the problem. He assured the un-

employed youth that the partywould definitely solve all theirproblems in the next term.

Amongst others who spokewere Jigme Tongden Lepcha, rep-resentative, Lower Rakdong andTintek Youth, Arjun Rai, CECmember SDF party and representa-tives of All Sikkim Labours Demo-cratic Front.

DARJEELING, 12 March: ThePublic Distribution System [PDS]will feature as a top priority issuein the People’s Democratic Front’s[PDF] election campaign.

This comes in the wake of themajor scam unearthed when truckswere caught smuggling foodgrains[earmarked for PDS] out of the FCIgodown and unloading at a flourmill at Salbari.

Working on a tip off, police ar-rested Raju Garg and Deepak Gargalong with Jagat Chettri, Managerfrom the site and confiscated foodgrains worth Rs. 8 lakhs. All thesacks were FCI stamped. Police areinvestigating whether FCI officialswere involved in this.

Today, the core committee ofthe PDF sat in a meeting over thisincident and demanded a CBI probeinto the matter.

“This is just the tip of the ice-berg. The police have done a com-mendable job, but we expect moresuch raids in future,” said DKPradhan, spokesperson, PDF.

“The PDS has been in sham-bles in the hills for quite sometime. Though Darjeeling is a non-producing area and a lot of peopleare dependent on the PDS, the

Government is not concerned atall,” he added.

He also suspected that the tip-off could have just resulted from a“business rivalry” among the sup-plier community.

“It is the duty of the govern-ment to block the entire lacuna,” hedemanded.

He, however, also admitted thatnot much follow-up could be ex-pected since the “entire system”was engulfed in corruption and cor-rupt officials from the administra-tion, FCI, businessmen and evenpeople from the ruling party wereinvolved in the PDS scam.

“How can people snatch foodfrom the mouth of the people be-longing to the BPL? Is the Govern-ment capable enough to clean theexisting corrupt system?” he won-dered.

Incidentally, Pradhan is also theMLA from Darjeeling and he is allset to raise this issue in the next As-sembly session.

The Central Committee of thePDF will discuss this issue in moredetail and chalk out steps to com-bat such pilfering at a meetingscheduled for 20 March, later thismonth. The party is also expectedto launch a massive awareness cam-paign on the issue.

“We will start large-scale

postering highlighting this problemalong with other problems of theHills,” informed Pradhan whileadding that the PDF will ensure thatsuch mal practices came to an end.

Incidentally, the PDF is a 5-party alliance comprising of theCommunist Party of RevolutionaryMarxist, Akhil Bharatiya GorkhaLeague, Cong [I], GNLF-C and theBJP.

Today, a 37-member PDFDarjeeling subcommittee was alsoformed with Luxmon Pradhan asthe Convenor. Similar subcommit-tees will be formed in Kurseongand Kalimpong on 14 March andin Mirik and Siliguri on 21 March,the PDF spokesperson revealed.

“We are giving special stress toMirik as it is the constituency andhome of Subash Ghising, the GNLF

a NOW REPORT

SDF concludes series of meetings at Rakdong Tintek

Vidhya Bharti acceptsVP’s resignationGANGTOK, 12 March: An emer-gency meeting of the executivebody of Vidhya Bharti, Sikkim, washeld in its state headquarters atNam-Nang here today. The meet-ing was presided over by statepresident TB Chettri and unani-mously accepted the resignation ofits vice-president SuramardhanChettri from the post as well asfrom its primary membership of theorganization.

The meeting also reviewed theprogress of the work of the organi-zation. Dinesh Nepal briefed themembers about the work beingdone and stated that the preliminarysurvey work of the approach roadto the Namphing project site wasunder way.

Supremo,” he added.Very soon block-level and vil-

lage-level Committees will also beformed, he added.

“This year PDF, or the candi-dates supported by PDF, will havea fair chance as our polling agentswill ensure free and fair elections.It won’t be like previous electionswhen there were no oppositionpolling agents present at the boothsand the whole show was run byGNLF agents,” assured Pradhan.

All political camps are keeping aclose watch on the PDF and speciallytheir central committee meetingscheduled for 20 March during whichits battle-plan for the forthcomingelections is expected to be drawn out.At the meeting, PDF is also expectedto decide on the candidate to supportfor the MP elections.

PDF to take up PDS issueAMITAVA BANERJEE

Sikkim Viklang

Samiti gets

new bodya NOW REPORT

GANGTOK, 12 March: New of-fice bearers of Sikkim ViklangSahayata Samiti were selected at ameeting held here at the MLA hos-tel yesterday.

Draupadi Ghimeray has beenre-elected as President while Dr.Neopany and Ramesh Periwal havebeen elected Vice-Presidents. NBTiwari has been made General Sec-retary and Saroj Deep Sapkota isthe new Publicity Secretary. Dr. PTBhutia, Consultant Ortho surgeon,is Chief Medical Advisor of thisorganization.

Sikkim Viklang Sahayata Samitiis presently engaged in a massivesurvey work where in various typesof disabled persons are being ear-marked. This survey work will helpin finalizing total disabilities andhandicaps in Sikkim. The report willbe handed over to Government ofSikkim for further evaluation. Acamp is also soon to be organizedfor the physically challenged peo-ple of our society in the near future.

Over the last few years theSamiti has tried hard to allow eachdisabled person to live as fulfilling,self-reliant and whole a life as pos-sible. The Samiti runs a centre atRanipool which provides free arti-ficial limbs and follow-up treatment.

13 March, 2004; NOW! 5

C M Y K

� NEWSSCAN

GANGTOK, 12 March: The wetand dull morning that greeted thecapital on Friday did not dampenthe spirits of the 500 Tibetanwomen who took out a peacefulrally here to mark the 45th anniver-sary of the Tibetan Women’s Up-rising Day.

The rally, organized by TibetanWomen Welfare Association, startedfrom Phelasosa, Chanmari andpassed through the Ridge, Kazi Road,Assembly House and concluded atChogasum, Nam Nang. It was alsoattended by students of ThumiSambhota School. A meeting to payhomage to the brave Tibetan womenwho laid down their lives during theuprising was held at Chogasum

Speaking to NOW!, NimaChungda, President TWA, said thatthe rally was organized to “pay trib-ute to all the women warriors of Ti-bet as well as campaign against theillegal occupation of Tibet by China.”

The day, she informed, is heldin honour of the women who pro-tested against the Chinese on 12March 1959, and the Tibetanwomen, both in Tibet and in exile,who continue the struggle for theircountry’s independence.

The Tibetan Women’s Uprisingtook place during the events that led

up to the flight of the Dalai Lamain March 1959. As Tibetans gath-ered outside the Norbulinka andmeetings were held to decide whatshould be done about the mount-ing frustration and tension result-ing from the usurpation of powerby the Chinese, a group of Tibetanwomen emerged as some of the Ti-betan leaders.

In this meeting, the womenpublicly pronounced Tibet’s inde-pendent status, demanded that

China leave Tibet, and proclaimedthe ability of Tibetans to managetheir own affairs.

By 18 March, there were over5,000 women gathering outside theNorbulinka to demonstrate. Hundredsof the women were subsequentlykilled when the Chinese opened firethroughout Lhasa. But this Women’sUprising had set a precedence and theTibetan women have continued to playactive roles in political dissent withinTibet as well as in exile.

a NOW REPORT

Tibetan Women of Gangtok march to mark an Uprising launched 45years ago which continues to this day

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KALIMPONG, 12 March: Keep-ing in mind the susceptibility of theyouth in getting exposed to varioussocial evils, the Kalimpong Sub-Di-visional Information and CulturalDepartment, along with NGO’sSangha Atma Bodhi and Reiyukaihave announced a Higher Second-ary School Debate in rural sub-di-visions of Kagey and Lingsay for 16March and Samthar cum Suruk on17 March.

In the first event, the focus willbe on health while the latter willdeal with environment.

The event has been funded bythe Information and Cultural De-partment which has been active inorganizing various such pro-grammes.

Speaking to NOW!, PD Bal, anofficer with the department re-vealed that both the events are tar-geted at higher secondary studentsbecause they were most exposedto the various enticements andmost susceptible to their spell.Similar events have also beenfixed for all the sub-divisionswithin West Bengal.

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dinnersa NOW REPORT

GANGTOK: To encourage peopleto use their debit cards, UTI bankhas launched a scheme for the monthof March. All you need to do is usethe debit card for at least five timesduring the scheme period to pur-chase goods at any shop in Gangtok.The total cost of your purchasesshould be at least Rs. 2,500. Then,walk across to UTI Bank, Gangtok,with your receipts and collect yourfree dinner pass. The offer is validfrom 1 March to 31 March.

“The advantages of using yourcard for buying goods and servicesare many. Since there is no cash in-volved, it is very safe. The moneygoes directly from your account tothe shop,” informs JayantoChatterjee, Vice-President, UTI.

All UTI Bank Debit Card hold-ers are also automatically eligiblefor a free personal Accidental DeathInsurance policy of Rs. 2 lakhs, headds. The policy, however, is acti-vated only if your debit card is usedat least once in a shop or other es-tablishments to make a purchase.

The places in Gangtok where youcan now use your UTI debit cards areEntel Motors, Hotel Golden Heights,Agarwal Stores, Archies Gallery,Josse & Josse, Little Italy, PineridgeTravels, Shakya Jewellers and SilkRoute Tours & Travels.

“Though DACC and theNGO’s working on the sector havea strong intention to work, theywere not very sure about how to goabout it. Expertise was missingalong with the focus,” points outMahesh Nathan of the WBSMA.Coordination between NGO’sseems amiss too.

Based on the reports, Kumardecided that there was need for amonthly workshop for six monthsto put things in perspective and theanti-AIDS campaign back on track.The 4-day second, monthly work-shop ended today.

“The DGHC area and speciallyDarjeeling due to many high risk

factors like a large floating popula-tion of tourists, flying sex workers,vehicle drivers visiting the plainsand also a large number of intrave-nous drug users has become veryvulnerable to AIDS,” said Paramitaof the WBSMA.

The workshop aimed at hand-ing out expertise starting from pro-posal writing to financial manage-ment, including team building andgovernance and accountability, wasattended by NGOs and social work-ers from all over the DGHC area.

“The need of the hour is targetedintervention and for this, one has tobe perfectly focused,” adds Nathan.

Another problem that was ear-marked by Nathan was that most ofthe NGOs are “part-time” in the hills.

“There has also been no systematicstudy conducted on prevalence ofHIV/AIDS in the Hills,” he adds.

“This dreaded disease can beonly countered with the active par-ticipation of the NGOs and thecommunity as a whole. For this, allinvolved have to be perfectlytrained to meet the challenges andwhat could be better than such train-ing programmes,” stated SumanPradhan, Secretary Health, DGHC.

The workshop ended with anevaluation session today.

“We were taught to make our ap-proach more professional and sys-tematic in this workshop,” said DrN Sherpa of the Darjeeling NorthPoint School Alumni Association.Along with Paramita and Nathan,

Contd from pg 1

AIDS scare forces better training for NGOsColin Fritzgual was present as theresource person for the finance sideand Samir Roy who has been work-ing in this sector in 24 Tea Gardensof the Terai and Dooars.

NOW! can be contactedat 953592 270949 or

emailed atsikkimnow@rediffmail.com

6; NOW! ; 13 March, 2004

C M Y K

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GANGTOK, 12 March: The mis-sion to spread nonviolence hasmade four Jain nuns, SadhviKundan Rekhaji, 46, Sadhvi SaralYasha, 44, Sadhvi SoubhagyaYasha, 41, and Sadhvi KalyanYasha, 29, walk 30,000 km fromRajasthan to Sikkim. It took them25 days to reach Gangtok, whichthey did via Kalimpong andDarjeeling.

The four, who are at presentresiding at the Singhi residence atMG Marg, are the disciples ofDharma Guru Acharaya Shri MahaMaha Pragyaji. They are a part of2,000 disciples who have beenwalking for the last 29 years tospread their Guru’s message fromRajasthan through Gujarat,Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.

In Sikkim for the last fortnight,they leave for Biratnagar, Nepal, on

Saturday where they will stay for 4months and spread the message ofnon-violence and brotherhood.

Nonviolence or Ahimsa is ad-vocated by many religions, but inJainism it is elevated to the highestprinciple of behavior.

Speaking to NOW!, SadhviKundan Rekhaji, who was goingthrough the Jain ritual of “Loch,”where the nuns pluck hair out oftheir head by hand, said that shewas 18 years old when she joinedthe walk.

All the four sadhvis are doubleMAs and PhDs in Dharma and aresuch strong believers of their guru’steachings that they have walked for29 years to spread the same.

According to Raj Singhi,Yuvak Parishad Adhakshya, theGovernor, V Rama Rao, moved bythe dedication of the nuns, assuredthe sadhvis that a road in theRajdhani will soon be named“Ahimsa Marg’.

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GANGTOK: Got a mobile just theother day and already it looks old?Hate those plastic mobile covers? Noworries, help is now at hand. SushilKumar Agarwal, the BSNL distribu-tor at MG Marg and Rathi’s at Deoraliare two places where you can find it.

The service they offer is calledMobile Lamination, which means,well, laminating the mobiles, usinga set of two machines - the blowerand the sealing machine.

“This procedure allows themobile to stay scratch free and pro-tected. It works like the outer shell

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Vehiclecatches fire

KALIMPONG, 12 March: In afreak accident, a vehicle caught fireat RC Mintri Road here in the earlyhours of the morning. Luckily, justas the fire broke out, neighbours ofthe vehicle owner, who were stillawake noticed the fire and instantlyinformed the police who arrived atthe place of the mishap and broughtit under control.

a NOW REPORT

FOOT SOLDIERS OF NONVIOLENCETwenty-nine years of walking brings Jain Sadhvisto Gangtok with the message of compassion

of an egg,” informs Arjun Elizah,in-charge of the MG Marg shop.

The process is fairly simple.The mobile phones are put in a plas-tic pouch of a special quality andthen sealed. Once sealed, it looksquite natural claims LB Subba ofRathi’s and “does not decrease thequality of the mobile at all.”

Increasing number of peopleare trying out mobile lamination.The best thing about the process isthat it is not permanent. If you don’tlike it you can take it off. But pro-tection for your mobile for only Rs.30 is worth it, say new converts.

a NOW REPORT

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13 March, 2004; NOW! 7

C M Y K

� ELSEWHERE

too close to her and left unattended eventhough she was unconcious.

Medical records released to the husbandrecord the burns as being “accidentallycaused in the ICU by a blower.” The hus-band, however, is convinced that it was “neg-ligence” and not “accidental.” In fact, hospi-tal authorities admitted to as much whenSingh confronted them and even assured himthat “action” was taken against the errantnurse on duty.

“They served her a warning letter. Whatkind of action is that? My wife was to bereleased the next day, instead she had to stayon for two months,” says an irritated Singh.“The nurses on duty knew that a blower hadbeen placed next to the patient. They obvi-ously were aware of the dangers and yet noone bothered to check even as her fleshscalded away,” he adds.

When Singh raised a furore, the manage-ment assured him that all that was necessaryfor his wife to recover, including the medi-cal expenses starting with local dressings,antibiotics and other supportive treatment,would be provided for free. Three surgerieswere performed. Even her knee cap had tobe removed. Thereafter, she had to undergosplit skin grafting which has still been un-able to cover the areas of her knee and thestrip over the tibia.

As the accompanying photograph takenyesterday illustrates, Pinki’s wounds are stillin the healing process. But Singh, exasper-ated with the incomplete treatment that sheis slated to receive has decided to take heraway. After two months and five days at thereferral hospital, Pinki was discharged todaywith a suspended sentence. According tomedical reports, Pinky needs reconstructivesurgery by a plastic surgeon and an ortho-pedic surgeon and CRH does not have the

infrastructure to provide the same.Singh is understandbly upset. While

speaking to NOW!, he complained of howthey [the couple] suffered through twomonths for a minor operation which shouldhave seen her discharged in two days. “Wewent through all this thinking that the hospi-tal will provide all assistance to cure my wife.The third degree burns were neither causedby the operation nor were they accidental asthe management claims. It is a clear case ofnegligence and now, just because they don’thave an in-house plastic surgeon, they wantme to seek treatment elsewhere. Is this fair?Shouldn’t they now refer her to a hospitalwhich has such a facility and pay for her com-plete treatment?” Few will be able to contesthis argument.

No one from the management agreed tocome on record and kept avoiding all attemptsto contact them for their side of the story.

As things stand, Pinki has been dis-

charged. Her leg still bandaged, the coupleplan to seek corrective surgery in Kolkata.As for the management at CRH, one suspectsthey are relieved to see the back of Pinki andall promises of “complete recovery” of herleg now sound hollow.

The incident brings to the fore the gan-grene of incompetence that afflicts the insti-tute. The Medical Council of India has al-ready found glaring holes in its infrastructuralclaims and allegations of negligence havebeen made often. All this when the hospitalhas far less occupancy that the 500 beds it isequipped to cater to. One shudders at whatstories will come out of the institute when itstarts operating at full strength.

The management may, however, not haveheard the last from Singh. As he left theNOW! office he promised to sue the hospi-tal for the shoddy treatment the couple re-ceived there.

Contd from pg 1

SCALDED IN HER SLEEP

EnriqueIglesias toperform in

India

India is slowly but surely surg-ing ahead as a music destina-tion. The country has witnessed

some top acts during the last fewyears including Michael Jacksonand Pink Floyd. Now it is the timefor the bad boy of pop t visit theland of sages.

Latin pop singer EnriqueIglesias will perform for the firsttime in India. live in Mumbai andBangalore on April 11 and 13 re-spectively. This concert is under theaegis of Bangalore’s UB Group.

Vijay Mallya, chairman of theUB Group says, “We have broughtinternational music legends to In-dia earlier. We are happy to an-nounce that Enrique Iglesias willperform live for the Indian audi-ence.”

The Mumbai performance willbe at the MMRDA Grounds,Bandra Kurla Complex, and theBangalore Palace Grounds will hostthe other concert.

The organisers promise that thebiggest concert in town will featuresome of the singer’s hit songslike Escape, Hero, Bailamos, BeWith You, Rhythm Divine, Ad-dicted and many from his latest al-bum Seven.

NEW DELHI, 12 March: TVchannel Ten Sports agreed to pro-vide live telecast feed toDoordarshan and all cable TV op-erators free of cost for the one-dayinternational cricket match betweenIndia and Pakistan on Saturday.

Ten Sports gave an undertakingto the Supreme Court saying that it

will provide the television feed toDoordarshan, but only for Satur-day’s game.

A three-judge bench headed bySupreme Court Chief Justice V NKhare heard the matter at his resi-dence and recorded the undertak-ing of Ten Sports.

The matter will come up for

hearing before a full bench of theSupreme Court on Monday. KapilSibal was the counsel for Ten Sports.

The Supreme Court restrainedall other courts in the country fromentertaining any petition on the is-sue. The court took the petition forhearing and issued notice to PrasarBharati.

For Prasar Bharati, AttorneyGeneral Soli Sorabjee and Solici-tor General Kirit Rawal appearedbefore the court and said non-dis-tribution of live telecast of the one-day international match on Satur-day through Doordarshan woulddeprive millions of people fromwatching the match live

Telecast on! Ten Sports to give feed to DD

US telecom major MotorolaInc has shut down its semi-conductor design units in

Singapore and Taiwan as it moveswork to China and India. Their rea-son - here engineers are abundant andwages are lower. Motorola firedabout 50 chip-design workers lastweek in Singapore, Taiwan and at afacility that will stay open in HongKong, spokeswoman of the telecomcompany Gloria Shiu said in Beijing.

Schaumburg-based Motorola,which is planning to spin off its semi-conductor unit by the year’s end, will

Motorola to shift jobs to Indiadivide the work among operations inChina, India and Australia.

In another development thestate of North Carolina , USA, isplanning to bring food stampingjobs back from India, even as statesare planning several legislativemeasures to curb the shifting ofwhite collar jobs out of the US.North Carolina officials will ask theLegislature for money to locate astate food stamp call centre in Mar-tin County after learning a contrac-tor operated it in India. The foodstamp system is a way of subsidis-

ing food purchases by the poor. TheGovernor, of the state, it seems, hadbeen unaware that the center hadbeen outsourced to India until themedia reported it. In North Caro-lina, the Republicans, who nor-mally favour outsourcing, had criti-cised the move, saying the jobsshould be performed by NorthCarolina residents.

Carolina officials will ask thegovernment operations committeefor $1.2 million to hire up to 34workers to answer calls from foodstamp recipients.

Mixed signals emergedfrom Mike Tyson’s campon Thursday over the

prospects of the troubled formerworld heavyweight champion re-turning to the ring this year.

While his advisor Shelly Finkelspoke confidently of a fight in themiddle of the year, Tyson, 37, saidhe was old, tired and out of shape.

Finkel told Reuters that Tyson,who has not fought since knockingout Clifford Etienne in the firstminute of their 10-round bout inFebruary last year, could fight inJune or July.

“We’re looking at late June orearly July,” he said. “Mike has to starttraining again and get himself going.

“When he does (fight again), itwill most probably be in the UnitedStates. It’s too early to talk aboutan opponent.”

But asked in an interview on FoxNews Channel whether he thoughthe would fight again soon, a dispir-ited Tyson replied: “I don’t think so.”

“I’m old, I’m tired, I’m out ofshape,” he continued. “I don’t know.It’s probably too difficult to get intoshape now ... I’m exhausted now.”

Finkel, who said he hopes to“firm up” an agreement to officiallymanage Tyson, said the fighter wascapable of more success.

“Physically he can do it andmentally he can do it if he wants to,”he said.

“I don’t think he has to prove any-thing. His last fight showed what hecan do. He can do it if he wants to.”

Tyson’s career has been punc-tuated by run-ins with the law andoutbursts of bad behaviour.

He served three years in prisonfor the 1991 rape of a former beautyqueen and was suspended fromboxing after he bit off part ofEvander Holyfield’s ear in a 1997heavyweight title bout.

On Thursday, Tyson began 100hours of community service, in-structing youngsters at Gleason’sgym in Brooklyn, after pleadingguilty last month to charges of mis-demeanour following a 2003 brawlwith two men in a Brooklyn hotel.

TYSON MAY NOT FIGHT AGAIN

VAJPAYEEHITS OUT ATU.S. ON BPO

ISSUENEW DELHI, March 12, 2004: Ina veiled attack on the United Statesfor restricting outsourcing of businessprocesses, Prime Minister Atal BihariVajpayee today said “sensible eco-nomics” of pursuing liberalisation inrecent years should not be reversed.

“The world has spent the lastdecade trying to make sensible eco-nomics prevail over temptation forshort term political gains. Weshould not now drive a reverseprocess,” Vajpayee said, referringto the “strange controversies” thathave been generated in businessprocess outsourcing.

“The very process of liberali-sation, on which we have been lec-tured on for so many years has cre-ated competitive skills which areavailable for utilisation by busi-nesses everywhere. Outsourcing isa natural consequence of this proc-ess,” he told India Today Conclavein New Delhi.

As economists around the worldhave been pointing out, outsourcingmakes businesses more competitive,increases their exports and theirprofits and places more investablesurpluses in their hands, which canbe deployed to create more jobs, hesaid in an apparent attack on the USfor its protectionist tendencies onoutsourcing from cost-effective des-tinations like India.

8; NOW! ; 13 March, 2004

C M Y K

Published by Lt. Col. (retd) P. Dorjee and printed at Darpan Publications Pvt. Ltd, Siliguri. Editor: Pema Wangchuk. Executive Editor: Mita ZulcaNow! Near Ayurvedic Clinic, Gairi Gaon, Tadong. East Sikkim. ph: 03592 270949 email: sikkimnow@rediffmail.com

THEFINALONE �

Even as you listen to the slowdrone of Vicrant Pradhan’svoice as he responds to your

questions, you are amazed by thewealth of work experience that hehas accumulated in such a shortspan of time. His solid credentialsas a designer and IT specialist havemade Vicrant, Sikkim’s Man atInfosys. No mean achievement this.The IT giant’s head-hunters areknown to pick only one in every1,000 that are shortlisted as pro-spective Infosys material.

In fact, even before Infosyshappened, Vicrant’s career graphremained decidedly upwardly mo-bile. A product of St Paul’s School,Darjeeling and Delhi PublicSchool, New Delhi, his inclinationfor all things technical made himzero in on the Indian Institute ofTechnology as his next destination.But as he says, “I slowly began torealize that IIT was not really mypiece of cake. I had other creativeinterests and the competitive at-mosphere there would not allowtime to develop these.”.

For a while he was tempted toeven go in for fashion designing.He applied for admission to theNational Institute of Fashion Tech-nology and on the advice of acousin, also to the prestigious Na-tional Institute of Design,Ahmedabad. And to the surprise ofnone who knew him, he was se-lected for both. Now, NID has in-teresting statistics of its own. Eachyear out of the 10,000 who applyfrom all over the country, only 30are selected for the five year course.

“It’s a great place to learn,” of-fers Vicrant, “All the best talentsconverge at this one institute.”

The foundation course of twoyears was a general course in de-sign conceptualisation. Vicrant fol-lowed this by taking up furnituredesign as his special focus for thenext three years. Any spare time he

had, he freelanced by designing res-taurants. “Agashya,” a rooftop res-taurant designed by him for AbhayMangaldas, of the well-knownSarabhai family of Gujarattook him to another horizon inhis career.

“We decided to start adotcom company. At that timeIT was big and I wanted to makethe most of it,” recollectsVicrant.

He became theproject leader and crea-tive head, whichmeant scouting forventure capital-ists to fund thestart-up and alsobeing handson the design-ing part of it.“My traininghelped the de-sign processand the focuswas on quality, withuser friendly designs,”he tells.

Excited and happyabout the new medium,Vicrant did not knowthat the next bigthing would be the dot-com bust,which saw most start-ups closingdown for lack of funds.

But no regrets. He was soonoffered a project in Bangalore byAeronautical Development Agency

for designing Aircraft simulatorsfor Light Combat Aircraft.

“It required me to put in all as-pects of my training. I had to de-sign the user interface along withthe hard panel, which means thewhole cockpit environment,” heinforms. He adds that the simula-tor was in fact produced subse-quently and is in use now.

This was followed by a stint inTurin, Italy, where he was commis-sioned for a project by a researchcentre on interactive design ownedby Telecom Italia. This phase, ac-cording to Vicrant, was a greatlearning experience.

“In India designing is more likelooking for problem solution whileit is much more conceptual outthere,” he says.

A few months later he was backin India and again in Bangalore.

“I started to work as a designconsultant with the BangaloreAgenda Task Force. They are thegroup which control town planningand city development,” informsVicrant.

The most visible result of thisproject is the Majestic area inBangalore, which has both the rail-way station and a bus stop. Vicrant

designed this along with a friendfrom NID.

“This phase allowed me tobuild a clot of contacts. I used tomeet Nandan Nilekarni, Vice-Presi-dent, Infosys on a regular basissince they were funding theproject,” he recalls.

Today, he is a senior user-inter-face designer at Infosys and also apart of an elitist group in the com-pany which prides itself as beingthe specialists in every task.

“We are like the rescue group,the people you call when you arein trouble. You can say we are thethought leaders of Infosys,” saysVicrant proudly, adding that work-ing for the country’s IT giant is agreat motivating factor. “Yes, thereis a lot of pride. Everyone I workwith are great brains who are car-rying the name of Indian IT on theirbacks,” he admits.

Does being from a small placelike Sikkim inhibit him in any way?

“Being from Sikkim gives mea distinct identity. It’s fascinatingfor people to know that you arefrom the hills. It gives you a softerand calmer approach to things,” heinforms.

And will he ever come back andshare his talents with the state?

“I would love to come and workhere, but first I must learn all thereis to from the outside world,” statesVicrant.

In town, with bride YokoYanagida, Vicrant may soon leavefor Japan, as South Asia in-chargeof the interface design wing ofInfosys. What next, is the questionin your mind, as you leave.

�

SIKKIM’S MAN AT INFOSYSVicrant Pradhan

Not yet out of his twenties, Vicrant has travelled all over the world

reaching design solutions to international clients. He was recently home

for his wedding before he leaves for Japan to take charge as South Asia

in-charge for the Interface design wing of Infosys.He shared some of his experiences with NOW!...

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