Large Cardamom farming on the verge of extinction in the Sikkim Himalaya

By: Privat Giri, Published in Sikkim Times

The research conducted by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) on the disease problem of large cardamom has indeed not helped the farmers in Sikkim to preserve their native cardamom farm and to overcome their only means of livelihood. The study was carried out with regard to the problem addressed by the Horticulture Department, Sikkim Government to the Dy Director General (Hort.), ICAR, New Delhi. The team of experts in its report advised the farmers to avoid the use of infected planting material and also recommended a pesticide to be used as a preliminary solution. However, even after the use of uninfected planting materials, the farmers are not being able to prevent their farm from this fatal unidentified disease. On the other hand, the use of pesticide has not gained wide acceptance among the farmers who still hold great faith in their traditional techniques of farming. They opine that the pesticide would pollute their water resources and is harmful for their animals who feed from the same land.

 Presently, there are approximately sixteen thousand growers of large cardamom in Sikkim among which thirty percent are totally dependent on this crop. It covers around 26 thousand hectares of land under cultivation.  As per the official figures, the production and export had surpassed a record of five thousand metric tons. The bulk of the produce is exported to Gulf and Central Asian countries and Pakistan and earns huge foreign exchange for India. Mainly on this ground, Sikkim is fondly known as the ‘land of spices’ in the world arena. But in recent times, the production has been declining drastically though substantive efforts are being undertaken especially by the farmers to overcome the crisis. The Spices Board of India is providing financial assistance for constructing nurseries so that the growers could collect uninfected saplings for replantation. If the similar trend continues for next couple of decades, it will have an enormous impact on the economy of not only Sikkim but also India. Besides the destiny of the thousands of cardamom growers will be at stake.

 The farmers in the villages of the Ravangla sub-division say that the diseases namely ‘Chirkey’ and ‘Furkey’ are common and are not so as destructive as this newly arrived viral disease (the villagers call it ‘Paheley’).  How assuredly the researchers affirm this as a viral disease is unknown. The condition is so severe that the growers who were contributing approximately three hundred kilograms of fruit in the market before 4-5 years have nothing to sell this year.  So as a final solution, the farmers are presently planning to burn the entire farm, keep it barren for some years and do replantation.They have now come across a collective conclusion that the problem lies not with the planting material but the farm itself. And by burning the farm, they hope to wipe out whatever viruses present. The successful cultivation of cardamom by some of the farmers in their normal agricultural farm confirms their assumption.

Therefore, the primary concern is to probe into the variable which can be held accountable for ruining the fate of these cardamom growers. Keeping all those complicated macro scientific discourses (eg: global warming) aside and just evaluating in micro terms, cardamom is best grown under the shade of forest trees. This is the only reason why initially when our ancestors started Cardamom farming in Sikkim, they opted to cultivate it in the jungles. Forest tree covers the plant from frost, hail storms and also direct sunlight which are very injurious to plants during flowering. It is equally pertinent to recognize that Cardamom thrives in moist soil. Therefore, the tree shade helps the farm to retain its moisture and protects it from getting dry. Hence considering all those factors mentioned above which are very vital for the survival of this plant: Is it reasonable to presume that the falling number of trees (rapid deforestation) in the Cardamom farms in Sikkim is liable for this entire crisis? Deforestation minimizes the ability of the farm to retain its moisture which leads to dryness of the land and change in temperature patterns. Change in temperature patterns facilitates change in habitats. Plants, animals, birds and insects previously living there will seek new place suitable for their survival and is replaced by other new species of living beings. Like other species, even the cardamom plant will not be able resist the changing climatic conditions and new varieties of insects with which it is not accustomed to.

Under such circumstances, the fundamental duty of the parties concerned (whether Government or NGOs) is to generate awareness among the farmers about the basic essential requirements for cardamom cultivation rather than confusing them by giving complex scientific term to the disease(viral), which they will never understand. Cutting of trees covering their farm should be discouraged. Comprehensive planning should be formulated for repositioning the already deteriorating condition of the farm and rehabilitate temporarily those thousands of farmers who are directly dependent on this profession. Else in future, Sikkim not only has to bear the burden all these sixteen thousand farmers engaged in cardamom farming but also has to part way with its brand image... ”The Land of Spices”.

Media must revisit north-east

UGEN BHUTIA

Even after 65 years of Independence the national media has been consistently lukewarm towards north-east India. The media should help build and sustain “positive peace”.

Nearly a month ago, India celebrated its 65 years of Independence. Each year we celebrate our freedom and democracy with the pride of past achievements and new enthusiasm for future possibilities. But, this year, August 15 came with doubts on our proclamation of being democratic rather than the jingoism that always prevailed in our minds. Prior to Independence Day, Kokrajhar showed how democratic we are. And in the process, it also highlighted the callous attitude of the national media towards north-east India.

The Kokrajhar violence was caused by the sense of insecurity that has prevailed in the minds of Bangladeshi immigrants and the Bodos for a long time. But the unfortunate part of it is that the media (particularly the so-called national media), which are considered as the pillar of Indian democracy, have their share in it.

One of the basic principles of democracy is the integration of different communities, cultures, identities, etc. It becomes more significant in a nation such as ours where diversity is not merely on the basis of cultures and identities but on geographical differences too. These differences, when not addressed earnestly, turn violent as they did in Kokrajhar. Indeed, the violence revealed the inability of the state in peace-building and peace-keeping. It also revealed the disdain of the media in initiating such measures.

Johan Galtung, a Norwegian sociologist and the principal founder of the discipline of peace and conflict studies, has presented two aspects of the term “peace” where “negative peace” is the mere absence of war and violence, whereas “positive peace” exists when there is absence of war and violence together with constitutional freedom and rights for the people concerned. Here, one can argue that a democratic nation and its media should always strive for building and sustaining “positive peace”. However, it may be fruitless to hope that political leaders and governments would strive for integration of different identities in the era of identity politics. Therefore, the role of media becomes important. It should not only question the leaders and the governments for their lack of interest in integration but also can initiate such integration on its own.

The national media has done little to address the issue of immigration in Assam and other north-east States. All they have done is to report a few events where/when a large number of people die or displaced. Thanks to our national media, the death of a film actor becomes national news but the ongoing conflict in the north-east never reaches the national level. The national media’s indifference towards the north-east is not new.

The north-eastern part of the country is getting negligible space and time in national newspapers and on television channels. The reason for such an attitude can be found in the book, “Manufacturing Consent” by Herman and Noam Chomsky in which it has been described how “money and power are able to filter out the news fit to print’’. North-east India is a part of the country where there are at least 200 ethnic minority groups. These groups have nothing to do with the commodities produced by multinational corporates which advertise in such media. Naturally, these ethnic groups are of little significance to our national media. It’s only when there is a huge chaos in the north-east that the media give their minute focus to the region. For instance, the September 18 earthquake last year in which more than 75 people lost their lives in Sikkim last year suddenly attracted the attention of a large number of newspapers and television channels. No channel or newspaper stayed behind; all they wanted was to be “first with the news”. But when things settled, all OB (outside broadcasting) vans returned to where they came from.

This year, on July 20, after violence broke out in Kokrajhar, rumours spread in places such as Bangalore and other parts of the country about impending attacks on the students there from north-east. The rumour-mongers were perhaps taking revenge for the Kokrajhar incident but they failed to realise that north-east India comprises seven States together with Assam. More importantly, they failed to realise that Kokrajhar was just one district in Assam and not all of the Assamese could be blamed for the incident. Such a stereotyping and lack of knowledge about our fellow countrymen are caused by some part of the profit-centric media which continues to show the Nepalese as a gatekeeper, the Bihari as a dacoit, and the Muslims as fundamentalists.

The media cannot afford to have such an attitude towards the north-east or any other part of the country if they want to sustain peace among the people. They should strive to represent every section of society and help remove stereotyping of one another and encourage people to educate themselves about their fellow countrymen.

(Posted/Updated Tuesday, Sep 11 14:14:34, 2012, The Hoot)

Unexplored potential of CR

PRIVAT GIRI

The prospect unlocked by the February 1995 landmark judgement of the Supreme Court that the airwaves or frequencies are public property, still seems to be awaiting recognition from the educational institutions, non-governmental organisations, and civil society in Sikkim and other north-eastern States.

The approval of the Community Radio Policy by the Government of India in December 2002 was a follow-up of this judgement. Initially, only the well-established educational institutions, including IITs/IIMs, were eligible to get licences for setting up community radio stations. The matter has now been reconsidered and today all the non-profit organisations such as the civil society and voluntary organisations can apply for licence.

The liberation of radio technology in the public domain is the most crucial development in the history of radio broadcasting in India. The history of radio is older than the history of Independent India and since its early days, radio broadcasting has been a government enterprise fully controlled and managed by the Government of India. It is enthralling to ascertain that radio was introduced in India not by the government but by a handful of members of the British civilians during the late 1920s and early 1930s who promoted community listening systems on the rural outskirts of Lahore, Delhi, Peshawar, Madras, and Calcutta.

One of the most influential champions of rural development and community broadcasting was Frank Brayne. Brayne directed the powerful radio technology towards eliminating social ills of rural life, empowering women, and imparting education on health and hygiene. Unable to sustain under the expansionist policy of the government-controlled All India Radio, by 1937, all the operations were taken over by the government (then British). With their closure went the commitment of broadcasting towards development, participation, and social change. Though the idea of community broadcasting was short lived, it has set the basis for the future use of radio technology at the community level.

It is under this framework I argue that the initiative of the government to sanction frequencies at no cost to community radio programme is an opportunity revisited and a breakthrough in attaining those unfulfilled dreams of using radio for community development and social change. The community radio policy guidelines are specifically designed to involve the “community” in all aspects of management and programme production. It has an approach that is different from conventional broadcasting. Community radio’s fundamental priority is to give voice to the voiceless and make its audience the main hero.

So, where do Sikkim and other north-eastern States place themselves in this unexplored arena and how can they make use of this great technology? As on, November 2011, there are 121 functional community radio stations in India of which the north-east operates only two. Both these stations are based in Assam and are run by educational institutions, Guwahati University and Krishna Kanta Handique State Open University. In Sikkim, one NGO and Sikkim University have applied for a licence. The situation is more or less the same in the other north-eastern States. Tamil Nadu, with its 20 operational stations, has the highest number community radio stations.

The figures from the north-eastern States make one wonder why the non-profit organisations from this part of India are first from the bottom in the realm of community radio. The question also demands investigation to affirm how the community radio can be used here. In March, a three- day workshop on “Community Radio Awareness” was hosted in Sikkim by Sikkim University and organised by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India in collaboration with Commonwealth Education Media Centre for Asia. The workshop was in particular an exercise to orient the NGOs in Sikkim and the adjoining region, on the various aspects of community radio technology and its uses.

Although only a handful of NGOs attended the workshop in comparison to their huge presence, the major subject that concerned all those present was funding. The cost of establishing an ordinary radio station comes to around Rs. six lakh, and the government has no provision for funding a community radio project. However, in the context of north-Eastern States what is more severe than the crisis of funding is the reluctance and increasing dilemma among the concerned on how and where to direct this technology.

North-east India has been identified as one of the most vulnerable regions with regard to drug abuse and spread of HIV/AIDS besides domestic violence. The latest figures show 2114 HIV positives cases the seven north-eastern States, almost 91% in Manipur. Further, several studies have revealed inextricable connections among drug abuse, spread of AIDS, and domestic violence. Of the nearly two lakh IDUs (Inject Drug Use) users in India, 50,800 are from Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, and Meghalaya.

Gary Lewis, representative of United Nations Office on Drug and Crime, has reported that the issue of drug abuse and HIV/AIDS in the north-east region has reached “terrifying dimensions”, with Nagaland and Manipur showing strong links between drug abuse and HIV transmission. Experts from NACO have also held that HIV/AIDS epidemic in the north-eastern States is spread by intravenous drug-users who pass it on to their partners by way of unprotected sex.

Research by Equal Access, supported by the UN Trust Fund in Nepal, has found that HIV positive women are likely targets of violence and discrimination. To address this challenge and the link between violence against women and HIV, Samajhdari, a weekly grassroots radio programme, has been effectively broadcasting programmes highlighting the link between HIV and violence, and o informing the listeners, particularly women, on ways to stay safe.

The civil society, voluntary organisations, and NGOs in north-east should learn from the good experiences of the community radio programmes such as ‘Samajhdari and make use of radio technology for tackling the immediate concerns of society. There are also several other areas where community radio may be employed. North-east India is home to a multitude of conflicts ranging from separatist movements to inter-community, communal, and inter-ethnic conflicts emerging out of diverse outlook of its people and their culture. Such conflicts are halting the emancipation of society from all social odds and undermining the progress of the country. Against such backdrop, community radio can be used as a vehicle to facilitate and contribute in unification and integration of various stakeholders involved in the conflict, ultimately bringing the diverse communities towards peaceful co-existence.

North-east India is also seismically one of the six most active regions of the world, the other five being Mexico, Taiwan, California, Japan, and Turkey. It is placed in zone 5. The region has experienced 19 large-scale earthquakes including the great earthquakes of Shillong (1897), Assam-Tibet border (1950), and Sikkim (2011). The recent earthquake in Sikkim uncovered huge flaws in the formal disaster management institutions of the State and their inability to cope with the situation. Prof. Mahendra P Lama, Vice-Chancellor, Sikkim University, in an interview with The Hindu, said: “The robust system of community-based voluntary management of natural calamities, which remained the most pre-dominant phenomenon for centuries, is fast vanishing. The disaster management task has become government centric whereas traditionally it used to be essentially community centric.”

During such crises, community radio can serve as an alternative to the formal disaster management institutions and simultaneously help the affected people sustain and rebuild their community. It can facilitate people’s participation and also assist in restoring community-based voluntary management of natural calamities. WQRZ-LP, a non-profit low power FM radio station located in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, operating in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina is an overwhelming example of such an exercise. It was successful in providing vital emergency communication – including information related to evacuation procedures, search and rescue operations, and distribution points for food and water, when other local media outlets had gone silent.

In addition, community radio can provide a platform to those individuals and groups, whose voices are often being marginalised by the profit-oriented commercial media enterprises, to express the distinctive needs and socio-political interests. Its colossal potential can be directed towards reflecting and promoting local culture, encouraging participation and democratic process, promoting development and social change, and good governance. This will contribute in the integration of the people of the north-east region with the rest of India. Likewise, the government should also assist the organisations concerned in the north-east in the process of establishing a community radio station by providing funds. If the government could commission 22 transmitters the 1982 Asian Games, which was seen as a prestigious event, it also becomes imperative on its part to support community radio which caters to the  to diverse needs and interests of society.

                                                                                                                                              

(Posted/Updated Tuesday, May 08 15:35:41, 2012, The Hoots)

Genius from the banks of Luit

Genius from the banks of Luit*    

Bhupen Hazarika is the most loved and admired artist in the north eastern region. His death last year brought tears to the million of Assamese living across the globe and to his listeners. He is regarded as the greatest Assamese of this century. He was a multi faceted personality. We know him as a poet, lyricist, film director, writer, thespian and above all a humanist who could communicate to all age groups.  His philosophy transcends the boundary of the northeastern region of the country and anyone who could grasp the Assamese and Bengali language  can feel the magic and compassion of his words and his music. He won recognition from the Indian Government in the form the Padma Bhushan in 2001. During his lifetime he was loved and criticized by many. He never escaped criticism and at times he became very upset with them. He even doubted if the Assamese people any longer loved him.  At the time of his death he had become a cultural icon of the whole of the northeast region.  Jnanpith award winning writer late Indira Goswami once noted that the socio cultural map of Assam is impossible to draw without the name of Dr. Bhupen Hazarika.

Bhupen Hazarika connected with people irrespective of caste, community, tribe and appeals to a human hearth. His simple yet powerful lyrics covey the message of humane perspective to which even a laymen can connect to. “ On a cold, wintry night/ let me be the smouldering fire/ Warming the tumbledown cottage/ Of some poor unclad peasant”.  His simple choice of words and the innate message it carried are easily communicated to the audiences. He called for unity and compassion and he often finds inspiration in the mighty Brahmaputra, which he regards as a thread connecting the people of the state. “The mighty Brahmaputra, Holy site of great synthesis/ Has for untold centuries been propagating / the message of unity and harmony. “  The artist often uses the mighty Brahmaputra to convey his philosophy of unity and sometimes of lament on the erosion of human values. On your vast banks/ live multitudes of people / You witness their pain and suffering / then silently, oh old river/ How do you flow away? / The world is no longer ethical/ Even humanity lies eroded/ Then shamelessly, oh old river/why do you flow away? .

The artist loved to be called a “setu” meaning a bridge. He indeed was a bridge between the different northeastern states and his homeland and also with his nation. The fault line of identity has divided the northeastern states and the region has been a catalyst for many militant movements. The singer with his poetry tried to assimilate the various tribes of the region. The Khashi, Nepali, Deory, Missing, Nagas and numerous tribes could identify with Bhupen Hazarikas songs.

During the Indo China war of 1962, he saw 56 death bodies when he went to the battlefields to report for the war, when he was still a fresh journalism student from the University of Colombia. The 56 frozen  death bodies pour out of his pen as a song: “How many soldiers died, their youth their lives are now gone/ In Death , the are invincible/ I should have been one of them”. The people of North east felt a sense of betrayal when Nehru said goodbye to Bomdila and Goodbye to Assam and Bhupen Hazarika too felt betrayed by Nehru which the artist expressed through his songs.  The music maestro also wrote songs for the Bangladesh’s war of liberation. “ Glory to the new country  Born to the world /  Oh Bangladesh glory to Muktibahini/ together with the Indian Army , you have created a friendship…”   this song became an unofficial anthem to the liberation movement. Soon after his death Bangladesh conferred its highest civilian award “Muktijodha” to the artist.

Well known Assamese filmmaker Jahnu Baruah noted about the artist as, “Bhupen Hazarika was inspired by the landscape of his homeland Assam. The people of Assam always look towards his songs for answer whenever they are confronted with any danger to their nationhood. Every time I listen to any of Bhupen Hazarikas songs, I feel sad that the Assamese language is understood by only 0.3 per cent of the people in the entire world. I feel sad that appreciation of the true genius of the man is confined to a very small section of people, compared to the number by whom he actually deserved to be admired.”**

* Luit is another name of the Brahmaputra.

**Indian Express, New Delhi, Tuesday, 8 November, 2011

8 september is the birthday of the music maestro. The article is written in this day remembering him.

Deepmoni Gogoi

Changing forms of storytelling

Changing forms of storytelling

Journalism is storytelling with a purpose. As a student of journalism, we are often confronted with  issues regarding the morality and ethics associated with the profession. Even though ethics and  morals are areas which changes from person to person, organization to organization. A persons value may not be shared by the other person. Certain allegation are constantly raised against the media such as sensationalizing events, neglecting certain sections of the society, stereotyping or being disproportionately negative in certain cases. So can there be some standards or principles which should govern the field of journalism. Issues regarding Principles and ethics have been raised time and again. Tom Rosential and and Bill Kovach in their book “ The elements of journalism” examines the character of journalism at the end of the twentieth century. It discusses the principles that underlie journalism. According to the authors there must be a balance about what the reader knows and what they want and also give what they need but cannot anticipate.

New forms of storytelling have emerged in the field of journalism. Some suggest that the definition of journalism has exploded with by technology as anybody with a modem and a computer can claim to be a journalist. Technology is transforming citizens from passive consumers of news produced by professionals into active participants who can assemble their own journalism. With new technologies and new efficiencies entering newsrooms there is a change in the dynamics between the consumers and information providers and the line between news and opinion can easily be blurred  which might imperil the credibility of the practitioners and their organization. So certain principles must be imposed by the journalists on themselves. Certain things must always be clear regarding the moral issues of journalism such as the journalist’s loyalty with the citizens, a tendency for verifying information or cross checking, and provision for public criticism and compromise and the professions obligation to truth.

Deepmoni Gogoi

From Propaganda to Anna -Ugen Bhutia

 "I want to thank the media for spreading our message to all my countrymen for the past 12 days...this is a success for them as well." Anna Hazare.

On April 5^th 2011, anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare and his team geared for the agitation against the endemic political corruption in India. Their hunger strike in Jantar Mantar (New Delhi) attracted the floods of mass media which gave the larger hype to the issue. This helped team Anna to escalate its agitation and win support for their cause.

The intervention of media, resulting in escalation of conflict is not a new phenomenon. From the very initial era of mass media, it has played an important role in feeding the information in the minds of people for different reasons. The information produced by any party through media can be either neutral or biased, but in all the cases, it is produced with some objectives. And during the time of conflict, all the stakeholders of the conflict tend to gain the support from the media, because winning the media’s support can help in winning the support of the masses. 

But this advent was not a natural process, it needed a large amount of investments from the private players. This resulted in the commercialization of media and press. Now businessmen became the owners whose ultimate aims were profits. Therefore, the upper-middle and the elites section of the society who can afford to purchase these technologies became the prime targets. Apart from these two sections, people belonging to other low income classes are totally ignored. Any event that occurs in high profile society makes a “headline”, no mater it’s a sports, health or investigative news, one thing is sure, it will talk about the elites. One example, is media coverage of first “Formula 1” racing in India. Prior to the race, every news channels and papers started talking about the history and champions of Formula 1. After, they went further and congratulate F1 organizers for successful event. Limits were crossed when F1 was stated better in compare to Commonwealth Games in India in terms of organizing the event. Though it’s true that CWG games brought many controversies, there is another way to look at the issue. Private news channels, whose owners are the business tycoons will surely advocate for the privatization of sports too. Even the F1 was not a clean event, many controversies accompanied it. But elites-favourable media did its best to hide it. One of this was the land controversy.

As stated at the beginning, stakeholders of the conflict tend to gain the support from the media. And once media comes under control, it becomes the tool of propaganda. The early critic of mass media Walter Lippmann in 1920s claimed that propaganda had already become “a regular organ of popular government”. The ‘propaganda model’ brought by Herman and Noam Chomsky in their book ‘Manufacturing Consent’ focuses on the inequality of wealth and power and its multilevel effects on mass-media interest and choices which states that the money and power are able to filter out the news fit to print and allow the government and dominant private interest to get their message across to the public.

Back in recent history, media has been useful tool of propaganda during First and Second World War. The present connotation of word ‘propaganda’ came during this period. Media became the additional weapon of wars since then. One of the best examples was, U.S government using the Associated Press to incite U.S citizens for declaration of war. President Wilson gave the German coded message intercepted by British Intelligence Service to AP, which was a propaganda ‘plant’. It asked Mexico to seek adherence and military support from Japan for a Mexican-Japanese attack on the U.S. from the Southwest if America went to war against Germany. During the Vietnam War propaganda was used to show that the war was between the Vietnamese against Vietnamese and the U.S intervened in the support of democracy and freedom.

In India, the recent event of Lokpal Bill showed us how mass media can even fulfill the purpose of propaganda for them who want the common consent. When mass media gave its interest in team Anna’s agitation, team Anna constantly created news events for live TV and media on the other hand gave gigantic coverage to the team. More talks were done on the life of Anna Hazare and other members, than the issue itself i.e. Lokpal Bill. Neither the team itself nor anyone else would have imagined (hoped) about the support that they were going to get due to the use of mass media. New media like internet, text mgs, played important role in mobilizing people and made Anna Hazara a successful campaigner and created his image of 21st century Gandhi. 

 

The Shadows of Culture Extinction

Saurabh Thapa

‘Who is he and what is he playing?’ asked a small Nepali boy to his mother pointing towards a ‘Gaine’ or a ‘Sarangi player’ in a busy market place. It is sad to know that many of the young generation teens have very little knowledge about their rich cultural heritage. Cultural homogeneity, an effect of Globalization have disrupted and confused many of the younger generations regarding their cultures around the world. But excluding these cultural effects, the rise in the standards of living has also a great role to play in leading many of the cultures towards the verge of extinction.

A Gaine, (by the profession) in the district of Darjeeling, has a lot of concerns regarding this context. He explains that it is very hard to live a decent livelihood only with the help of his occupation in the modern standards of living. The constant rise in the prices of daily needed commodities has made it very difficult for his line of work to cope-up with the harsh and expensive world. He worries that the youngsters of his community are slowly leaving their profession and are opting for other jobs for a better life. In this pace whole of their community would be extinct in a matter of time.

Media, specially the television and internet, has a great dominance over the recent world. These mediums of communications are empowered with the great power of persuasion. Therefore, it does what it’s meant to do, act as a powerful tool of globalization and sow the seeds of some influential cultures upon other communities. Better known as ‘Mass culture’ and ‘Pop culture’, these are widely accepted by a huge heterogeneous mass on the planet. Many of the cultures are dying because of the massive adaptation of Mass culture by not only the youngsters but also their parents. Adaptation of mass or the pop culture not only mean to adopt the most accepted culture and trends of the world but it also means to let go of their long held and accepted ethnic culture and rituals.

It can be witnessed in the district of Darjeeling and the state of Sikkim (even in many north-eastern parts of India) that a huge number of teens have been greatly influenced by the Korean culture. They mostly watch Korean movies and T.V shows and even dress like them. Some have even started learning Korean language and we can see a lot of names changed into Korean names in their Facebook profiles. Though these acts may seem harmless but in a context it is slowly ‘deterritorializing’ the regional culture and is ‘reterritorialized’ by the Korean one. But no one can say whether this is a temporary or a permanent process. Though it can be rightfully said, that in the coming future the persuasiveness of Korean culture may be instantly replaced by another popular culture. These can be seen as an evidence that our culture is slowly losing its grip on the young generation teens. However, this is only one of the examples prevalent in these parts. Other cultures such as Hiphop culture, Heavy metal culture, etc, has also slowly started its influence within the youths of the region.

The ignorance or the negligence by the people of any community towards their culture may result in the total disappearance of what portrays their identity, their rich culture.  A culture not only signifies the long held belief, customs, rituals etc, but it truly helps to identify and give identity to any specific community within the world. But with a very high rate of mass culture adaptation, communities are now slowly merging with each other. The uniqueness that once differentiated one culture from another is slowly fading away.

Evolution is a part of human characteristic and like everything else, the world now is experiencing cultural change in the name of cultural evolution. But when we talk about evolution, need or the requirement to do so plays an important part to justify it. There is always a reason and necessity, which is normally for the survival for anything to evolve in the planet we live in. Keeping this in mind the question arises, Is there any need for cultural change regarding the context of human survival? Or is the change necessary in-order to walk in the footsteps of modernization?

The ongoing traditions and cultures that have been passed from generations to generations seems more like a silhouette in the modern world. Every thing’s changed in the name of modernity. Not only in the perspective of culture but the so called modern world has led the people to leave their ancestral settlements and move to bigger cities. As a proof of the persuasive and very influential power of the media, it can be seen that the life styles advertised by the big media houses have been very successful in changing the livelihood of more than half of the population of the world, in some way or the other. These changes may be both good as well as bad but it is all upto the people to recognize and act accordingly. It totally depends upon what you adapt and what you let go of. The main challenge here is to maintain a balance between the inherited culture and the new culture adapted. The adaptation of new culture may not always be harmful but to let go of the culture passed on from generation to generation by our ancestors may prove to be very devastating in some context.   

(Published at Sikkim Express newspaper on 29th august,2012)