rajdhani - digital himalayahimalaya.socanth.cam.ac.uk/collections/journals/now/pdf...rajdhani a now!...

4
ra j dhani a NOW! supplement for GANGTOK Oct 30 - 05 Nov, 2002 NOW! Vol 1 No 20 MI TIN g g g RESTAURANT TIBET ROAD, GANGTOK CALL 24101 FOR HOME DELIVERY Authorised Distributor: Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. The BEST Lubricant for your Car / Jeep / TATA / Van / Gypsy / Bolero... Behind Sikkim Sarda, MG Marg, Gangtok (Sikkim). ph: 20279 THE ART OF THE POSSIBLE T hree weeks, 20 songs, no budget and viola, the Dra matics Society of Tashi Namgyal Academy had pulled off the near impossible - staged Evita the musical. Perhaps energised by the huge success of its last musi- cal, Jesus Christ Superstar, the Dramatics Society decided to push the envelope further by taking on the equally challenging Evita from the Andrew Lloyd Webber-Tim Rice stable. Tied for time and cast (a mu- sical this big requires at least 150 artists and Evita was pulled off with a line-up of 65 at TNA), the cast and crew took on the odds (with generous help from various T he thing about Gangtok that makes it so adorable is the sheer laid-back attitude that allows you to breathe… sometimes to the extent of having a six-pack aqualung strapped to your back. There’s time for everything and everybody. Nowhere else does everybody have so much time for everybody else… everyone is approachable, and one can unload one’s problems at will. The bonhomie is enough to minimise your woes to a negligent or at least a manageable extent. Besides, on your way in or on your way out, you in- variably bump into a smile, even when you don’t know the smiler. Some- times on sunny days when the harsh rays make you grimace, someone from across the road smiles back mistaking your expression for a smile. And since it’s a small town and we all have seen each other at some time or the other… perhaps at a marriage or a funeral (ah, that’s another fa- vourite, but more on that later), he presumes that you’ve met. And Man being a creature of habit, you probably meet at the same point the next day, and the smiles happen again and by next week you’re chummy enough to nod and ask “where to?” - as if you really cared to know. Ditto from across the street. So it goes on until you DO bump into each other at a funeral or mar- riage, and after the mandatory “tsk! tsk! nice fellow… so sad” (applicable to both social events), you lapse into companionable silence until some- one bumps into you and shakes your hand (we always seem to be shaking hands limply, before, after and during whatever). Of course the newcomer smiles genially at your “friend” and expects to be introduced. Which is when you wisely seek a cup of tea or some happier fluid, hoping to find someone who knows either one. And the naming game moves on. This friend of mine once walked into a pretty bureaucrat’s office and for a torturous 20 odd minutes could not recall her name to save his life. Making all the right responses and expressions, he frantically scraped the recesses of his grey cells, until deliverance came in the form of the peon bringing a letter for the lady. A discreet glance gave him the much-needed name thereafter used by him in so often that she’s probably changed her name by affidavit long since. The best technique of course is to wait till the person concerned is distracted elsewhere and then politely inquire from the one on your left. This works most of the time, except perhaps in the lady bureaucrat situa- tion (unless there’s a co-visitor and she has a weak bladder). The smartest move of course is to mumble a name depending on the facial characteristics, or use a common form of address. Like the husband who always addressed his wife with endearments like “sweetheart”, “dar- ling”, “honeybun”, “mother of my child”, etc. etc. When a friend inquired how come after all these years he was still so much in love with her, he replies, “Oh, I forgot her name a long time back.” But more on this some other time. - the PEANUT WHAT’S IN A NAME? a NOW! pic government departments) and in- side three weeks (which included the week-long puja vacations) had rehearsed a tight act. What makes the performance even more enviable is the fact that everything was arranged in-house. Music teacher, Albert Gurung, ar- ranged the music, former music teacher, Suraj Khati, plucked the lead guitar and four talented stu- dents handled the guitars and per- cussion. The lighting was taken care of by two other teachers, Naveen Prasad and M. Panikar while SD Bhutia handled the sound equip- ment. With SK Srivastav as the event coordinator and Mrs. Y. Topden overseeing the costumes, all Evita required was the right cast. And does TNA have talent! Adeline Wangmo Simick as Evita had the crowd eating out of her hands with her emotional charged performance. Her rendition of Don’t Cry For Me Argentina had the audience in rapt, pin-drop at- tention. Ayush Man Shrestha as Che the narrator was perfectly cast as he flaunted both attitude and skill on stage. Karma Phintso Wangdi made a dashing Col. Peron while Girish Pradhan’s Magaldi fleshed out the bitterness of being Eva Peron’s first rejected lover. While musicals are a difficult proposition for a school concert, there was nothing amateurish about the TNA show. If anything, the rough edges had an endearing qual- ity to them. Unnoticed to the audi- ence’s eye, the chorus was rushing between their stands and the stage throughout with most of them also doubling with bit roles in the play. The main set of dancers per- formed all the dances in this 2- hour musical and the exertion was noticable on the last day of the performance when most of them limped to the school bus waiting to ferry them home. If you missed the show on October 26 and 27, then you have missed a lot. No chances that you will get to see it on local cables either since all video cameras in town were occupied on the two dates filming the boxing nation- als. Take our word for it, the kids are talented and they were good. - a NOW REPORT Che, the narrator (Ayush Man Shrestha), flanked by the dancers, takes Eva’s story further at TNA’s Evita MOUNTAIN GAZING WITH D.P . SHARMA a NOW REPORT It is definitely the mountains which draw the tourists to Sikkim. One pre-dawn visit to Tashi View Point and the number of tourists gathered there to see the first rays glint off the Khangchendzonga drives home the point that mountains are Sik- kim’s USP. The near panic which grips the vacationors as they fum- ble through numb fingers to get their cameras ready to capture the third highest peak as it starts open- ing up is a unique experience. The collective sighs, the rushing to get everyone in the frame, guess that’s what tourism is all about. The one complaint that most visi- tors had thus far was that apart from Khangchendzonga, they could not rec- ognise any other peak. All they have to do now is carry on from Tashi View Point to Ganesh Tok and find DP Sharma and his binoculars there. Sharma has trained at the Sonam Gyatso Mountaineering In- stitute here and has some mountaineer- ing feathers in his cap. This also makes him the perfect introducer to the Khangchendzonga range. He focusses his telescope and binoculars a peak at a time and then introduces it to the toruists. He has been offering tourists a more up close and personal introduction to the peaks for almost a month now. His innovative venture is surely going down well with the tourists. At Rs. 10 for a peak-wise glimpse of the entire range, even the toruists are not complaining. Sharma’s equipment is reportedly worth Rs. 70,000. TUESDAY MORNING IN GANGTOK: DP Sharma guides tourists on a telescopic journey [above] and tourists at Tashi View Point dwarfed by the Khangchendzonga. NOW pix

Upload: dangthu

Post on 01-Apr-2018

215 views

Category:

Documents


1 download

TRANSCRIPT

rajdhania NOW! supplement for GANGTOK

Oct 30 - 05 Nov, 2002 NOW! Vol 1 No 20MI TINgggggRESTAURANT

TIBET ROAD, GANGTOK

CALL

24101 FOR

HOME DELIVERY

Authorised Distributor:Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd.

The BEST Lubricant

for your

Car / Jeep / TATA /

Van / Gypsy /

Bolero...

Behind Sikkim Sarda, MG Marg,Gangtok (Sikkim). ph: 20279

THE ART OF THEPOSSIBLE

Three weeks, 20 songs, nobudget and viola, the Dramatics Society of Tashi

Namgyal Academy had pulled offthe near impossible - staged Evitathe musical. Perhaps energised bythe huge success of its last musi-cal, Jesus Christ Superstar, theDramatics Society decided to pushthe envelope further by taking onthe equally challenging Evita fromthe Andrew Lloyd Webber-TimRice stable.

Tied for time and cast (a mu-sical this big requires at least 150artists and Evita was pulled offwith a line-up of 65 at TNA), thecast and crew took on the odds(with generous help from various

The thing about Gangtok thatmakes it so adorable is the sheer

laid-back attitude that allows you tobreathe… sometimes to the extentof having a six-pack aqualungstrapped to your back.

There’s time for everything andeverybody.

Nowhere else does everybody have so much time for everybody else…everyone is approachable, and one can unload one’s problems at will. Thebonhomie is enough to minimise your woes to a negligent or at least amanageable extent. Besides, on your way in or on your way out, you in-variably bump into a smile, even when you don’t know the smiler. Some-times on sunny days when the harsh rays make you grimace, someonefrom across the road smiles back mistaking your expression for a smile.And since it’s a small town and we all have seen each other at some timeor the other… perhaps at a marriage or a funeral (ah, that’s another fa-vourite, but more on that later), he presumes that you’ve met. And Manbeing a creature of habit, you probably meet at the same point the nextday, and the smiles happen again and by next week you’re chummy enoughto nod and ask “where to?” - as if you really cared to know.

Ditto from across the street.So it goes on until you DO bump into each other at a funeral or mar-

riage, and after the mandatory “tsk! tsk! nice fellow… so sad” (applicableto both social events), you lapse into companionable silence until some-one bumps into you and shakes your hand (we always seem to be shakinghands limply, before, after and during whatever). Of course the newcomersmiles genially at your “friend” and expects to be introduced. Which iswhen you wisely seek a cup of tea or some happier fluid, hoping to findsomeone who knows either one.

And the naming game moves on.This friend of mine once walked into a pretty bureaucrat’s office and

for a torturous 20 odd minutes could not recall her name to save his life.Making all the right responses and expressions, he frantically scraped therecesses of his grey cells, until deliverance came in the form of the peonbringing a letter for the lady. A discreet glance gave him the much-neededname thereafter used by him in so often that she’s probably changed hername by affidavit long since.

The best technique of course is to wait till the person concerned isdistracted elsewhere and then politely inquire from the one on your left.This works most of the time, except perhaps in the lady bureaucrat situa-tion (unless there’s a co-visitor and she has a weak bladder).

The smartest move of course is to mumble a name depending on thefacial characteristics, or use a common form of address. Like the husbandwho always addressed his wife with endearments like “sweetheart”, “dar-ling”, “honeybun”, “mother of my child”, etc. etc. When a friend inquiredhow come after all these years he was still so much in love with her, hereplies, “Oh, I forgot her name a long time back.”

But more on this some other time.- the PEANUT

WHAT’S IN A NAME?a NOW! pic

government departments) and in-side three weeks (which includedthe week-long puja vacations) hadrehearsed a tight act.

What makes the performanceeven more enviable is the fact thateverything was arranged in-house.Music teacher, Albert Gurung, ar-ranged the music, former musicteacher, Suraj Khati, plucked thelead guitar and four talented stu-dents handled the guitars and per-cussion. The lighting was taken careof by two other teachers, NaveenPrasad and M. Panikar while SDBhutia handled the sound equip-ment. With SK Srivastav as theevent coordinator and Mrs. Y.Topden overseeing the costumes, all

Evita required was the right cast.And does TNA have talent!

Adeline Wangmo Simick as Evitahad the crowd eating out of herhands with her emotional chargedperformance. Her rendition ofDon’t Cry For Me Argentina hadthe audience in rapt, pin-drop at-tention. Ayush Man Shrestha asChe the narrator was perfectly castas he flaunted both attitude andskill on stage. Karma PhintsoWangdi made a dashing Col.Peron while Girish Pradhan’sMagaldi fleshed out the bitternessof being Eva Peron’s first rejectedlover.

While musicals are a difficultproposition for a school concert,there was nothing amateurish aboutthe TNA show. If anything, therough edges had an endearing qual-ity to them. Unnoticed to the audi-ence’s eye, the chorus was rushingbetween their stands and the stagethroughout with most of them alsodoubling with bit roles in the play.

The main set of dancers per-formed all the dances in this 2-hour musical and the exertion wasnoticable on the last day of theperformance when most of themlimped to the school bus waitingto ferry them home.

If you missed the show onOctober 26 and 27, then you havemissed a lot. No chances that youwill get to see it on local cableseither since all video cameras intown were occupied on the twodates filming the boxing nation-als. Take our word for it, the kidsare talented and they were good.

- a NOW REPORT

Che, the narrator (Ayush Man Shrestha), flanked by the dancers,takes Eva’s story further at TNA’s Evita

MOUNTAINGAZINGWITH D.P.SHARMAa NOW REPORT

It is definitely the mountains whichdraw the tourists to Sikkim. Onepre-dawn visit to Tashi View Pointand the number of tourists gatheredthere to see the first rays glint offthe Khangchendzonga drives homethe point that mountains are Sik-kim’s USP. The near panic whichgrips the vacationors as they fum-ble through numb fingers to gettheir cameras ready to capture thethird highest peak as it starts open-

ing up is a unique experience. Thecollective sighs, the rushing to geteveryone in the frame, guess that’swhat tourism is all about.

The one complaint that most visi-tors had thus far was that apart fromKhangchendzonga, they could not rec-ognise any other peak. All they have todo now is carry on from Tashi View Pointto Ganesh Tok and find DP Sharma andhis binoculars there. Sharma has trainedat the Sonam Gyatso Mountaineering In-stitute here and has some mountaineer-ing feathers in his cap. This also makes

him the perfect introducer to theKhangchendzonga range. He focusseshis telescope and binoculars a peak at atime and then introduces it to the toruists.He has been offering tourists a more upclose and personal introduction to thepeaks for almost a month now.

His innovative venture is surelygoing down well with the tourists.At Rs. 10 for a peak-wise glimpseof the entire range, even the toruistsare not complaining. Sharma’sequipment is reportedly worth Rs.70,000.

TUESDAY MORNING IN GANGTOK: DP Sharma guides tourists on atelescopic journey [above] and tourists at Tashi View Pointdwarfed by the Khangchendzonga. NOW pix

Oct 30-05 Nov, 2002iirajdhani

The evening of October 23drew a large crowd of localsto Naya Bazaar. They had all

gathered to witness a foreigner goneberserk. This man was seen bang-ing his head on the walls of HotelAnnapurna situated at Naya Bazaarand then punish his head similarlyon the bumper of a nearby truck.The man was obviously drunk anddistraught. Help came his way whenone of the onlookers, GompuNamgyal Bhutia, an employee ofHeaven Tours & Travels, informedthe cops at Sadar Thana that theyhad a situation at hand.

PM Rai, PI Sadar Thana toldNOW! that when the police reachedthe scene, this man was sitting onthe footpath with tears in his eyes.He was obviously drunk whichmade his accent even more difficultto decipher. No one could make outwhat his “problem” was.

Mr. Rai disclosed that they fi-nally learnt that the tourist’s namewas Andrew and that he was a Brit-ish national. This foreigner was so“high” that even in the presence ofthe police officials too he tried toinflict injuries on his thigh with aSwiss knife. The cops had to escortAndrew to the STNM Hospital fora medical examination because hisforehead was bleeding.

The first-aid over, the man so-bered down enough to tell the po-lice that he was in Gangtok with hisgirlfriend whom he had left behindin “some” hotel. He had no idea whatthat hotel was or what it was called.It was because he was missing hisgirlfriend so much that he was be-having so irrationally, he claimed.

Concerned cops then escortedAndrew to “hunt” for his hotel.Andrew just could not locate it andreturned with his escorts to spendthe night at the thana.

Early next morning, a SadarThana contingent managed to locateAndrew’s girlfriend at Hotel Soyangand delivered their unexpectedguest to her. She obviously waselated to have him back. Interest-ingly, when an inquisitive cop askedher whether she knew the name ofthe hotel, even she drew a blank.Thank God, they did not go miss-ing together...

The Chief Minister, PawanChamling, inaugurated theSikkim Philatelic Exhibition

2002 here at White Hall on Octo-ber 29.

This first of its kind exhibitionwill go on till October 31 and isbeing organized by the Departmentof Posts.

The Post Master General(PMG), North Bengal and Sikkim region, John Samuel, said that a largecollection of stamps are on display at the exhibition.

The stamps on display include those issued by India as well as othercountries. There would be a large number of exhibits from invitation andcompetition class as well.

A rare treat for the people of Sikkim would be the issue of personal-ized stamps during the exhibition. A new concept in India and done onlyonce before in the country in Kolkata on an experimental basis. Interestedpersons can buy stamps with their photographs on them. “This concept isbeing tried out for the second time in the country and we are certain thatthe people of Sikkim would participate wholeheartedly in this rare event,”

Tendulkarbriefs,anyone?

a NOW! pic

Raja and Sudhakarwork for Tendulkar,not the Sachin, but a

Shakti Tendulkar, and are inGangtok selling his undergar-ments. No, not “his” under-garments, but his company’s.From Tamil Nadu, the duo notonly have a name to backtheir briefs, but also amarketing gimmick and amatching price. The cottonundergarments are selling forRs. 20 a piece and Raja andSudhakar manage to attractattention because they havetheir wares displayed on abicycle. No, not the mountainbikes one would expect inSikkim, but the real Hero-Atlas types that milkmen usein the plains. The duo admitsthat business has been goodand their claim is drivenhome by the crowd that canbe seen bargaining a dealaround them. If you are reallyinterested in checking themout, their cycle-shop isparked outside Quick Bite atNaya Bazaar for most of theday.Don’t expect any changingroom though...

Drunk westernerforgets hotel,

misses girlfrienda NOW REPORT

Mr. Samuel said. A “Design a Stamp” competi-

tion is also being held for schoolchildren, the theme for which wouldbe “Beautiful Sikkim,” along withspecial cancellation programme forphilatelists. Workshops on philatelywould also be held during the three-day event.

The last such exhibition in Sik-kim was held twelve years back.This year also sees the presence ofexperts from various fields at the ex-

hibition. Some of them are: Dipok Dey, an expert on cinema, BasudebGanguly (Orchids & Mountains), Madhukar Deogawanka (airmail), BabulDey (history of painting) and Kaushik Dey (size and shape of stamps).Their presence should excite all amateur philatelists in the State.

What should excite Sikkimese some more is that officials at theexhibition told NOW! that the Department of Posts will soon be issu-ing new stamps with Sikkim as a theme. The new stamps will show-case Sikkim’s orchids, it is learnt. The last time Sikkim featured in apostal stamp was twenty-five years back when a stamp was commis-sioned to mark the first successful ascent of the Khangchendzongafrom the Sikkim side.

CALLING ALL PHILATELISTS

Chief Minister, Pawan Chamling, inaugurates the SikkimPhilatelic Exhibition, 2002

a NOW REPORTER

womenIN

NOW!

For some youngersolutions

a NOW! pic

a NOW! pic

WOMEN

POWER

THE

WORLD

If you have ever wondered about the fate of science in the hands of theyounger generation, one visit to the State-level science exhibition heldat White Hall would have dispensed all your fears. Not only do the

kids in school have a grasp over science, but they also have imaginativeinterpretations to what can be practically achieved. Take for example thePenlong Senior Secondary School’s model for effective transportation ofagricultural products using the power of vacuum. Not only was the stu-dent with the model confident that her idea would work, she also had ascaled down working model which was not only simple, but also interest-ing. The fact that there were exhibits on recycling paper and generatingelectricity from wind, gladdened the heart. Not just science, even envi-ronment will be in safer hands soon.

A VACUUM PUMP EVACUATER TOTRANSPORT AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS

They are at it again. The AnimalHusbandry and Veterinary

Services Department is all set to“respond” to the demand of the hourand snuff out stray dogs in theRajdhani. “Putting them to sleep,”would be more politically correct,says one “concerned” officer.

The local Police, along with theVeterinary Officers from the StateVeterinary Hospital here will carryout the shooting of the dogs laterthis week. According to one source,the Department received com-plaints from the residents of 5th MileTadong and the Central ReferralHospital area about the increasingpopulation of strays in the locality.So, the Department is ready to“catch them and put them to sleepusing humanitarian (?) methods.”

The strays around the area havebeen singled out because they are“suspected” carriers of Rabies.

Once again, the question thatarises is whether the Departmenthas explored any other method ofsolving the stray menace apart fromkilling? Apparently, sterilization tocontrol the stray numbers is not“prescribed” within the Depart-ment’s tenets. Neither is mass vac-cination to control Rabies. But kill-ing stray animals is not that easythese days due to the Prevention ofCruelty to Animals Act. However,this time, even such laws may notwork or rather prevent the Depart-ment from carrying out the act.

So, what has the Sikkim Chap-ter of the Society for Prevention ofCruelty to Animals been doing allalong? Can we expect any protestsfrom them?

STRAYSBEWARE!a NOW REPORT

Oct 30-05 Nov, 2002 iiirajdhani

NAME: ............................................... Address.............................................

Last week’s answer: A Rush of Blood to the Head. Winner: Karma T. Lama

NAME JENNIFER LOVE HEWITT’S LATEST ALBUM

� BARENAKED

� HAIRNAKED

� STARK NAKED

Pick the correct answer and win

an Audio CD of your choice sponsored by

Hot Stuff, MG Marg. In case of more than one

correct entry, the winner will be decided by a

draw of lots. The prizes cannot be exchanged

or reimbursed in cash. Cut out this comptt.

and reach the entries to NOW! Gairi Gaon,

Tadong; or Oberois, MG Marg; or Jordy’s,

Tibet Road, on or before Sunday.

MigtinT H E

AROUND GANGTOK

CONTESTWhich Gangtok school staged the musical EVITA?

� TNA

� BAHA’I SCHOOL

� KYI DE KHANG

NAME: ............................................... Address.............................................

Last Week’s answer: Community Hall Winner: Pranay Chamling. Tick mark

the correct answer and reach the entry to Oberois’ MG Marg, Jordy’s, Tibet

Road, or NOW! Gair Gaon before Sunday and you stand to win a free meal for

two at Migtin Restaurant, Tibet Road. The Winner’s Coupon should be col-

lected from the NOW! office, Gairi Gaon, Tadong.

Which watch

does tennis star

Anna

Kournikova

endorse ?The first correct entry gets to play

1hr Pool and 1/2 hr playstation

at Jordy’s, Kundeh-Khang Bldg.,

Next to Sadar Thana, Tibet Road.

SUBMIT ENTRIES AT JORDY’S

ANSWER:

........................................................................

NAME:

................................................................

LAST WEEK’S ANSWER:

SIYARAM. WINNER: SUBHASH

PRADHAN, GANGTOK

AD MAD

CONTEST

THE NOW! BOOK APPRECIATION CLUB

OUT NOW!

THENEXTBESTTHINGA M B E R

Truth

love

&

a little

malice

• Say goodbye to all those dirtycuffs and collars- the perfect solu-tion for these problem areas hasjust made its appearance in an eco-nomical Rs.28 bottle ( 200 ml).Bambi Cuff & Collar Cleanerand Stain Remover does not re-quire any pre soaking, it only callsfor a little rubbing on stained /dirtyareas. Besides it’s safe for all fab-rics. Check it out at Quality Pro-vision, New Market.• With a palpable dip in tempera-tures already, winter’s dry skin willsurely come knocking in just amatter of months. We’re sure youwill lap up the new internationalformulation of the Nivea skincarerange that is enriched with Vita-min E. Pamper normal skin withNivea body lotion and slather ondry skins Niveabody Skin Milkwith creamy en-riching oils.• Lotus Herbals rolls out awhole plethora of face packs innew eye-catching squeeze tubes -Tea Tree Clarifying Face Pack forpimple prone skin, anti-ageing and

anti –wrinkle Marine RestructuringCream Face Mask, complexionlightening Mud Skin WhiteningFace Pack and Fruit Pack that reju-venates the skin. So no matter whatyour skin type, there’s a mask foryou. The company ad line reads‘Pack away your skin problems’.• The Twinkle twinkle little starhas got competition- MaybellineNew York’s Wet Shine Diamondslipsticks. These more than live upto their name with their slick wetlooks. Prices are psychological atRs.199, the names- Berry Babe,Racy Raspberry to name a few- sug-gestive all right!• Meanwhile Amber Enterprisesis all geared up to make sure you havea great Diwali this year. They have aspecial offer just for Diwali whereby

a purchase of any oftheir products ofmore than Rs.5000/- allows you

to qualify for their exciting prizes likewashing machines for starters. So ifyou have been saving up for a telly ora comp, this is the time to buy! Andwin great prizes!

SKY’S THE LIMIT!

Amber Electronics, when itstarted eight years back,brought the first MNC to

Sikkim with Akai. As it approachesits eighth anniversary, it has manymore brands on display at its show-room at MG Marg and with Diwaliapproaching, it also has a deal whichfew would want to ignore - For anypurchase of more than Rs. 5,000, thecustomer gets to pick a surprise giftfrom a magic box. This surprise giftcould be as expensive as a washingmachine or a colour TV or as hand-some as stylish wristwatch. This,above and beyond whatever free giftscheme the company’s have an-nounced. The scheme kicks off onOctober 30 and will last till Diwalieve - November 3.

On these dates, the showroomwill also play host to a road-showof sorts with Samsung engineers

holding demos for their microwaveovens. There will be actual cook-ing going on and hopefully a tastybite for the customers.

The Dhamaka becomes all themore interesting with IT productsincluded in the bonanza. LCD pro-jectors and state-of-the-art comput-ers will be on display for bookingalong with hard to come by softwareCDs and computer books.

Amber plans to establish itself

as the leading provider of electronicand IT solutions at least forGangtok. Going by the deals theyhave to offer, it will only be a mat-ter of time before they do so.

To share a secret before we signoff - the company expects a sale ofabout 100 units above Rs. 5000. Whatthis means is also that there are onlyabout a 100 exciting gifts to last theweek. If you are planning on some-thing electronic, you better hurry...

NEW RELEASE

This new album of Nepali songs is the first solo album of singer Vanu Ramudama.Although he has composed music for six previous albums. In this collection of love

songs and sentimental numbers, Vanu has written the lyrics,composed the music and also lent his voice. Quite a solo ef-

fort that! One of the numbers in the album is about the beauty of Sikkim.NEW IN TOWN

From the team of Mujhe Kuch Kehna Hai comes a timeless love story and with it theusual songs. With music by Nadeem-Shravan and lyrics by Sameer many of the songsare already hitting the charts. Catchy numbers like Allah Allah sung by Sonu Nigamand Alka Yagnic and the title song Jeena Sirf Mere Liye seem to be quite popular.

For those who like autobiog-raphies, this book byKhushwant Singh makes in-

teresting reading. In a career span-ning over five decades as a writer,journalist and editor, his views havealways been provocative and con-troversial. His autobiography is ofa piece with his life and work. Bornin 1915 in pre-partition Punjab, hehas been witness to most of themajor events in modern Indian his-tory. He writes of famous people aswell as everyday life. Truth, Loveand a Little Malice is a memoirworth its Rs. 450 price tag (hard-bound) as it takes us closer to oneof the most colourful and forthrightcharacters of our time.

He quotes poet Hakeem

Makhmoor to say: “ I told no onethe story of my life/ It was some-thing I had to spend/ I spent it.”

He also quotes BenjaminFranklin who wrote : “if you wouldnot be forgotten/ as soon as you aredead and rotten/ either write thingsworth reading/ or do things worthwriting.”

Khushwant Singh has certainlydone both.Price Rs 450, available at Jainco

When the Sardar turns the mirror

For further details and

test drive contact

Hotel Rendezvous,

Behind Telephone Exchange

Phones: 26270-74

FOR SALE ALTO VX 1.1Dec 2000 model, owner driven ,doing

12,000 kms. In excellent condition.

� AURA Alloy wheels

� Music system 1500 Watts ( Sony Player,

Pioneer Amplifier,4 Nos Pioneer Dual

Cone Speakers, 1 Pioneer Woofer)

One Man Show

ACROSS1. Without worth (9)8. Brother of Moses (5)9. Reptile (5)10. Reduce (6)12. Celestial body (4)14. Quantity of paper (4)15. Next after the third (6)17. Grasp (5)18. Steeple (5)20. Spoke quietly (9)

DOWN2. Belonging to us (3)3. Mender of pots and pans (6)4. Whip (4)5. Throw loosely about (7)6. Small brush for cleaningfingernails (9)7. Cogwheel (4,5)11. Pertaining to Spain (7)13. Sweet dessert (6)16. Precious stones (4)19. Frozen water (3)

Oct 30-05 Nov, 2002iv rajdhani

CROSSWORD

QQuickBITE

T H E

020

WinWin100100100100100Rs.

Last week’s answers: ACROSS: 1. Scale 3. Swans 6. Noon 7. Manila 9. Eagle 10. Hush 11.Moo 13. Ache 15. Rumba 18. Warren 19. Sake 20. Salty 21. Arson DOWN: 1. Singer 2.Among 3. Sea shore 4. Alias 5. Scar 8. Cemetery 12. Tavern 14. Coral 16. Moats 17. Owes.WINNER: Phuchung, Nam Nang

100100100100100Rs.

Solve the crossword correctly. Rush it to Oberois (MG Marg) or NOW! Gairi Gaon, Tadong, on or before Sunday and

a lucky draw of all correct entries will win the Chosen One a Snacks Coupon worth Rs. 100 at Quick Bite, MG Marg.

SNACKS COUPONS TO BE COLLECTED FROM NOW! OFFICE

SNACKS COUPONS WORTH

HOTTHIS WEEK

just arrivedttttt

MOVIES@

ashimovie

CLUB

MUSIC� 70’S ROCK

CLASSICS

� HEAVY METAL

ISLAND ROCK

� BEST OF

DEEP PURPLE

� SCORPION KING

(THE ROCK)

SOUNDTRACK

womenIN

NOW!

� BLOOD WORK

� THE TRANSPORTER

� THE GURU

� RFK

� MY BIG FAT GREEK

WEDDING

� XXX

� MR. BEAN 2002

� GREAT BALLS OF FIRE

� SIGNS

� BLUE CRUSH

a N

OW

! pic

BuzzBAZAAR

. . .

FOR SMARTER ROAD SIGNS: IF you have been wondering why there are fewer road signs on the roads oflate, it is because they are getting a facelift. New sponsors, new look and hopefully no new traffic regulations.

ANYONE FOR LUDO?

A game very popular with officeworkers these days in Ludo - a

very innocuous game, you wouldthink. But for those hooked to it, itsas strong an addiction as any. Allthese diehard ludoists play theirgame oblivious to the world aroundthem. Woe befall anyone who en-ters their Ludo-land as a friendfound out when he went to an of-fice to enquire about a bill (whatelse?!). Apparently, the game istaken very seriously indeed. Wagersare made, accounts maintainedscrupulously and money made andlost. Gambling in office hours trans-lates to gambling with governmentmoney. Nice...

I JUST CALLED TO SAY...

What’s with the telecom peo-ple these days? When not on

strike, they are scripting huge bills.Anyone you meet is mad with them.Double billing, over-billing and latebilling were some of the specialDasain gifts given to the consumers.Thank You cards in the form of com-plaints are piling up at the Depart-ment with some people calling upthe office about what they allege isa “scam”. Telecom, please call back..

CHOMPING GUTKA

Gutka may be banned, but whocares. At least not the two

policemen on duty at a recent offi-cial function. Happily displayingtheir “gutka” packets, they were en-joying their paan masala when a gov-ernment official asked them not tobe so brazen. They turned quite bel-ligerent it is learnt. “We are not sell-ing the stuff, so what’s the problem?”No problem..

POWERLESS

Winter is still not here, but theload-shedding has already

arrived. Two to three hours of powercuts a day are the norm now. At leastthey could have waited for the tour-ists to go back home. Witnessed themost surrealistic sight the other day.It was pitch dark in town, touristsunfamiliar with the roads were cre-ating chaos by crossing at wrongtime and place. Many of them wereclinging to the flyovers, gropingtheir way around while the policeband played furiously at Titanic.Something else...

Nothing like a good cuppa to begin the day

MG MARG, 5 AM, TUESDAY MORNING: Even as we struggle with the quilt to get out of

bed, the neighbourhood has already started his day with a steaming cup of strong tea. No

styrofoam used here, it’s the real glass mini-glass and the tea is good. You shoudl try it

sometimes.

a NOW! pic

ANALCOHOLIC’S

FAMILY