Diwali boosts hill economy

VIVEK CHHETRI, TT, 06 Nov 2018, Darjeeling: The hills are alive with festivity and cheerfulness after a forlorn celebration last year.

With tourists turning up in droves, the economy of the region has got the much-needed big push and the impact is visible with the preparations around Tihar (as Diwali is called in the hills) festival that started on Monday.

"Last year, at this time, the occupancy in hotels was around 20 per cent, it is around 60 per cent now. Queries are coming even for January and February," said Pradip Tamang, the general secretary of the Darjeeling Association of Travel Agents (DATA) Last year, the 104-day shutdown had been lifted just before the start of the Puja leaving little time for the tourists to plan trips to the hills. With tourists giving the Darjeeling hills a miss, the common people were the hardest hit and celebrations were low-key both during Dashain (Puja) and Tihar.

The scenes in the hills this autumn -- from traditional events at Chowrastha to flower shows -- present a contrast and it has become a talking point in the hills.

"Tihar has deep-rooted traditions and the celebration is unique," said a Darjeeling resident while preparing for the festivity.

On Monday, as the festivities started, the Gorkha community celebrated Kag (crow) Tihar by leaving food at vantage points for the crows. On Tuesday, (coinciding with Kali puja) on Kukur Tihar, dogs will be doled out a treat, garlanded and fed to their fill.

While scriptures and folklore portray the crow as a mes- senger of Yamraj, the god of death, dogs are believed to have powers to feel the presence of His emissaries.

On Wednesday, the hill residents will be busy performing Lakshmi Puja. "The goddess of wealth is worshipped in the evening while cows, considered an incarnation of the goddess is worshipped in the morning," explained a hill resident.

After pujas in the evening, Bhailo singers take centre-stage. The songs, which are blessings in verse are sung at every home by roving teams for which the families offer money as a mark of respect.

Similarly boys sings Deusa but this is played from the day after Lakshmi Puja.

"The traditions of the hills are unique. We want to showcase this to the tourists and on Lakshmi Puja day, we will be organising a Bhailo, Deusa programme at Chowrastha from 1pm onwards for the tourists," said Sagar Tamang, the vice-chairman of Darjeeling municipality.

On November 10, the Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh has decided to organise a Bhailo and Maruni dance show at Himalayan Kala Mandir in Darjeeling. A flower show is also currently being organised at Gorkha Dukha Niwarak Sammelan Hall (GDNS) Ground in Darjeeling.

"This year, local marigolds are selling like anything. They are very few takers for marigolds coming from the plains. The local flower has a better fragrance and last longer, too," said Suraj Sharma, an organiser of the show.

Every house in Darjeeling is decorated with marigold flowers starting from Lakshmi Day. A day of celebration is also Bhai-thika which falls on Friday. Before the Bhai-thika day, bulls are worshipped on Goru Tihar.

The happiness of the hills has also brought a cheer to businessman in the plains.

The trader of Bidhan Market, Seth Srilal Market and Nayabazar areas in Siliguri said Monday was the "busiest" day of the season. Dhan Teras -- a day when people buy some metal object -- also falls on this day.

A large number of people from Darjeeling and Sikkim also shop in Siliguri.

"We were quite disheartened for the past few days because of poor turn out, but almost every members of our organisation did good business today," Bapi Das, the secretary of Bidhan Market Byabsayi Samity, which has 16,00 members, said.

Additional reporting by Bireswar Banerjee in Siliguri.