It's time for your weekly dose of world news. I bet you might not know about where your Darjeeling tea leaves come from, or perhaps you know the geographical region but not the political setting. Here's one of my journal entries from my time there a few weeks back, amidst the political turmoil:
I've never been so close to a political rally that has been so heated with emotion. For goodness' sake, hundreds of people were rallying just down the street from my hotel; I leaned out the window and took a photo even! Tourists aren't involved and I didn't feel unsafe, but only God knows what is in the cards. I believe in idealism, solving issues reasonably without violent means to an end, but these Gorkha people have been fighting to obtain their ancestral lands for the past 100 years (non-violently from what I can gather, struggling with the Bengali and Indian governments). The agitation turned violent when 3 citizens were killed from open fire from the Bengali police force. From what I've seen and from talking with the local Gorkha people at my hotel, they are very adamant to have their own state with the hopes that their government will be more free from the corruption of the Bengali government, so that more development will be possible for their ethnic group living in the hills.
I can completely understand this sentiment after seeing the corruption at every level that completely and utterly leads to stagnant development which the people so desperately need and desire. The common people work so hard and deserve decent sanitation, education, and at least the opportunity for advancement. This desire has unfortunately turned violent for the time being, altering my views about the world. How can we bring about positive change when our governing bodies refuse to listen?
These people have struggled peacefully for the past 100 years- what are their options now to bring about peace and prosperity to the area they live. I have seen such kindness here and yet still, so much greed. A rickshaw driver demanded I pay him 10 times more than necessary, but luckily other men noticed his greed and sorted him out, convincing him it was right to take advantage of this white foreigner. There are both sides of the card in any part of the world, which side would you be on? What would you do in this situation? Is idealism or realism the answer? Gandhi or Bose?
I've never been so close to a political rally that has been so heated with emotion. For goodness' sake, hundreds of people were rallying just down the street from my hotel; I leaned out the window and took a photo even! Tourists aren't involved and I didn't feel unsafe, but only God knows what is in the cards. I believe in idealism, solving issues reasonably without violent means to an end, but these Gorkha people have been fighting to obtain their ancestral lands for the past 100 years (non-violently from what I can gather, struggling with the Bengali and Indian governments). The agitation turned violent when 3 citizens were killed from open fire from the Bengali police force. From what I've seen and from talking with the local Gorkha people at my hotel, they are very adamant to have their own state with the hopes that their government will be more free from the corruption of the Bengali government, so that more development will be possible for their ethnic group living in the hills.
I can completely understand this sentiment after seeing the corruption at every level that completely and utterly leads to stagnant development which the people so desperately need and desire. The common people work so hard and deserve decent sanitation, education, and at least the opportunity for advancement. This desire has unfortunately turned violent for the time being, altering my views about the world. How can we bring about positive change when our governing bodies refuse to listen?
These people have struggled peacefully for the past 100 years- what are their options now to bring about peace and prosperity to the area they live. I have seen such kindness here and yet still, so much greed. A rickshaw driver demanded I pay him 10 times more than necessary, but luckily other men noticed his greed and sorted him out, convincing him it was right to take advantage of this white foreigner. There are both sides of the card in any part of the world, which side would you be on? What would you do in this situation? Is idealism or realism the answer? Gandhi or Bose?
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