Strike shadow on festival

RAJEEV RAVIDAS, TT, Kalimpong, Sept. 29: Dashain is here, but what is missing is the usual spirit surrounding one of the biggest festivals in the hills. 

People are blaming the nearly three-and-a-half month shutdown that ended on Wednesday morning for the dampened mood.

For the vast majority of the people, tomorrow will be a Dashain unlike the previous years as they are forced to make comprises on many fronts - ranging from dresses to dishes. People simply do not have enough cash to indulge in their usual splurges, which have been an integral part of the festivities. Some of them cannot even afford to buy a complete set of new dresses for their loved ones.

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Jiten Tamang, a worker on the Singtam tea estate, 8km from Darjeeling, was in a sombre mood a day ahead of the festival. "I have not been able to buy new dresses for my three minor children. I do not have enough money," he said.

Tea workers like Tamang have not got their wages for the last three months because the gardens, too, were forced to stop work during the strike. They have also not got their bonuses which are generally handed out in two instalments during the Dashain-Diwali festivities.

"The bonus could have come very handy for me this time," he rued.

During the strike, Tamang had sold off his pigs and goats to feed his family and had saved some money for Dashain. "With the little money that I had managed to save, I could only buy one dress each for my kids. I, though, am not that worse off. I have friends in the garden, who cannot even afford to do what I have managed," he said.

Traders agree business has been very low in the last two days. "I have made hardly any sale in the last two days. The stock available with me is old, and because the garments have been inside shelves for so long in this wet season, they are mould-laden. Even the few who have visited my shop are not willing to buy them," said Ravi Prasad, who runs a readymade garment shop on H.D. Lama Road in Darjeeling.

Traders, hoteliers, transporters, and even some government employees are having to make do without liquid cash this time. "Last time this year, I had made good money because the town was overflowing with tourists. This time, however, it looks like I have to take finance to pay the EMI for my car. Dashain is far from my mind," said Dorjay Tamang, the owner-driver of a local taxi that caters for sight-seeing in and around Darjeeling.

People are also spending less on food items. "Normally, people used to buy meat in huge amount on Dashain-eve, but the demand this time is very low. Regular customers who used to buy, say, four or five kilograms are taking less than half of it," said a meat-seller in Kalimpong's Goshkhan.

Dashain is also the time people visit their families and relatives in different parts of the hills and the plains. However, many have decided against taking the trip this year for want of money. "For the first time in many years, I have decided against paying a visit to my relative in Mirik. By doing that, I want to save money by avoiding travel and also help my relative cost cut. It does cost a decent amount to host a good meal or two. Like me, his condition is also the same," said Dilip Rai, a resident of Kurseong.