Reportage – 2005

Discovering Ravangla Tibetan settlement

GANGTOK, India, 28 April 2005

Ravangla Tibetan settlement does not have internet. So, this story is composed in Gangtok.

The Dalai Lama blessed the settlement with his visit and a discourse on 24 April. The reception for him was as ceremonial as usual. The residents of the settlement gathered in front of the yet-to-be-finished temple.

The Welfare Officer of the settlement read a report of the settlement with the following facts.

Ravangla Tibetan settlement became an exiled Tibetan government undertaking in 1978. There are seven camps sprawling over 328 acres with a population of little over 1000 people.

The settlement has a school up to class eight, a kindergarten and a creche.

For the livelihood of the people there is a carpet weaving centre. But the chief source of income for the settlement comes from the men who join the nearby Cantonment 7 of the Tibetan army and other cantonments under the government of India. The temple also needs some immediate financial assistance in order to be completed.

Ravangla, situated in the South of Sikkim, is 2136 feet above sea lavel. The weather ranges from cool to cold.

The Tibetans live in harmony with the local people and the relationship between the two are congenial.

The fact got jolted when a few Tibetan youths started to narrate how a few years back there was a fight between the local Bhutias and Tibetans at Namchi, the chief centre of South Sikkim.

All Tibetan businesses were thrown out from Namchi after the fight. "I am sure there are still marks remaining from that incident, and get a feeling of hostility from the locals," says a settlement youth.

That definitely was a lesson to learn. We are living in their land and we have to be careful in our dealings with them.

The Dalai Lama also presumed that the Tibetans are living side by side with the locals on good terms. Nevertheless, he exhorted the Tibetans to be friendly with the locals.

While this issue does not seem to be a main cause of concern for the Tibetans, the quality of the education at the school is.

The school is one of the Indian government administered schools for Tibetans called Central School for Tibetans.

Indian teachers who need to be sent off as punishment, for whatever reasons, are transferred to Ravangla school, which is seen as a miserable place due to its remoteness and cold winters. It is, therefore, understandable that there is a low quality of education, and this must be the main reason for the high number of school dropouts in the settlement. In an interaction with some of the youngsters of the settlement, we (with my friend James, an IT professional) learned that education is what they want to pursue. An internet cafe and a computer centre would bolster up their quest for learning.

A good internet connection could be available for the settlement with 400,000 rupees (42 rupees is 1 USD approx). There are already three computers at the settlement office, but these are only for clerical use.

June and July are the two months to avoid going there. These two months experience heavy showers when the leeches become a major problem. The settlement tries to grow potatoes, but the crop has been failing for the last several years due to hail.

With many things failing in the settlement, a new and fresh start is standing in the offing if the offer could be grabbed.

Ravangla is getting prominent on the maps of tourism. There are interesting places around—religious sites especially—getting known to tourists. There is a 135-foot-high stutue of Padmasambava (Guru Rinpoche) at Samdruptse, which was inaugurated by the Dalai Lama on 24 April. Some monasteries in the outskirts of Ravangla are Pemayangtse, Sangacholing, Khecheopalri, and Tashiding.

As Ravangla is ideal as a base to see all these, tourism-related enterprises could be targeted and established for the settlement residents as a source of income.

Internet and a computer centre, and better teachers in the school, could do a lot towards improving life at Ravangla Tibetan settlement.

These are immediate and important requirements of the settlement, before more talents are wasted as more young Tibetans drop out from schools, and leave the settlement.