Kids from Hills set Christmas stage on fire

TNN | Dec 23, 2015,KOLKATA: Once upon a time, not so long ago, Park Street was alive with the sound of music from the Hills. On Tuesday, history repeated itself, albeit in a smaller scale, at the Christmas festival at Allen Park, with children from various communities of North Bengal and Sikkim singing, dancing and sashaying down the stage in their ethnic outfits.

The first group of children to take the stage was from Joy Bell, an orphanage in Darjeeling. They danced to the song 'Dil Nahin Lagda', following which 13-year-old Sendrilla impressed the audience with her Hindi and Nepali Karaoke tracks and sweet voice. "She was found when she was three months old. And now look at her," state minority commission vice-chairperson Maria Fernandes proudly told TOI.

Next came the much-awaited fashion show by kids representing various tribes from the Hills in their traditional attire. First off was a pair from the Magar community. "They are known to be the oldest ethnic people from Nepal. They have great fighting skills and are known for their courage," said the emcee. The Magars were followed by Dukpas (of Bhutanese ancestry), Rais (ancient indigenous group in Nepal, Sikkim and Darjeeling), the Sikkimese, Lepchas, Tamangs and Gurungs. A special mention was made for the Gurung community as it was announced: "They are known as the most hospitable and practical people and they are gifted craftsmen."

Next up was the Limbu community (descendants of Mongolian-Tibetan people), Newars (indigenous people of Kathmandu valley) and the Nepali community. All the 'models' were carefully dressed up by Pastor Philp Lepcha of Kalimpong. "The Kolkata Christmas festival has been taken to another dimension," commented MLA and Anglo-Indian representative Michael Shane Calvert.

"The energy of the venue is electrifying and I'm happy to see so many fellow Kolkatans thronging the park with their friends and families. It's also wonderful to see the children from different tribal origins performing," said entrepreneur Jasjit Singh.

Among the singers to follow, a loud cheer was reserved for Thomas Chen, who sang in Hindi, English, Chinese and Bengali. He also sang the "original" Chinese version of MLTR's 'Take Me To Your Heart'.