Testing the waters

It’s kind of hard to come up with a start for this update.  2 weeks later, but it feels like half a lifetime and frankly I am already exhausted slightly over 3 weeks into my research.  I went North, East, West, South and back. I saw pretty much every damsite made in the areas where I am allowed to go.  Some from the windshield of my jeep, bumping around on the ‘dancing’ roads as one of my drivers calls them and some by boldly walking up the terrain and smiling my way passed the guards, and suddenly standing on top of one.  After my headrace start of interviews, I fell into a bit of an empty space… No contacts, no plan, no local friends…. Which is how I decided to just do this trip around the state.  See these projects.  See the rivers.  Putting my feet into the water and testing the temperature of this whole thing a bit more, instead of drinking cappucino’s and reading local newspapers for leads. 

And of course, once you start moving, everything starts moving.  So after a short trip up North.  Finding out that there is NOTHING there.  Not even a phone-connection or a cybercafé (which I have always pretty much found everywhere) in the 2 street district capital, I was forced to come back to Gangtok.  There I managed to arrange a meeting with a local professor and Binnie (Binita), a student who will be my translator for the coming weeks.  And then things started to roll.  Through Binnie, I managed to move to a rented room in Kessang’s, Tsewong’s and their mom’s house.  They’re a Bhutia family and I’ve been warmly welcomed at their place.  Kessang keeps on stuffing me with all the Bhutian delicacies she can fit in me, and becomes worried that I don’t like her food after not being able the finish the third plate.  Tsewong, her brother is a great guy and political very active, so with the three of us we watch documentaries on Sikkim and have wonderful conversations about local life, politics and bhuddism.  I am learning so much from them!  Only the second the night, they brought me to a family celebration of Losar (Tibetan newyear), where again I was fed 4 meals, chang (local ricebeer) and bonus breezers, after which I was sent to a bedroom to dance with all the family members to traditional and modern Nepali music.  Needless to say, I impressed everybody by moonwalking out of the room in my Baku (traditional Bhutia dress)….

After this warm welcome into Sikkimese life I felt ready to explore other parts of Sikkim, the East and the West, which are much more densely populated and less remote.  My first stop was definitely the most interesting one, as I ventured into this area by myself, without a plan.  I have quickly learned my lesson that I need some local reference or contact.  Within an hour I was lifted from the street by a government representative and questioned.  I managed to get rid of him by asking for some govt. ID, because it had become dark by that time and he didn’t look official at all, so I told him to find me in the morning if he had questions.   Surely he understood I couldn’t be giving all my information, including hotel, to any random stranger on a sundaynight right?  Of course in every one street town, everybody knows where the single foreigner is staying, so after having some food I found the same guy with a military officer in my hotel, with more questions.  And one hour later, again I was called from my room for more papers and questions.  When I left the next morning for the local damsite, things went more smoothly.  I just walked up the dam and asked if I could take some pictures and talked to an engineer that was working there. All was fine.  However on the way back, it seemed that my govt. friend named Ashu was tracking us down and stopped our car, halfway back to the town.  Again I was friendly ‘requested’ to come and have some tea and answer some questions.  I was brought to a room and asked a lot of questions, which were nicely noted down in a little book.  My research has definitely taken an interesting turn, because this really reveals the sensitivity of the topic.  I understand now why villagers are afraid to talk and how small this state really is.  When I crossed the state all the way to the West (a 5 hours drive), the first person I asked the way to a certain street knew who I was and whom I was visiting… Phone-calls had been made and the grapevine had done its work.  Weird and yes, also a bit terrifying…  I am not entirely sure how I will be able to convince people to talk with me, as everybody here seems to pass information to everyone else.  It’s just the way it works in this small place and the state seems to be everywhere.  At the same time it’s hard to find a balance between association with the people like activists and anti-government groups that you are dependent on, and the impossibility of just approaching villagers by yourself as an independent researcher.  So I am trying to figure out how I will gain entry to these people without getting myself or anybody else into trouble and conduct unbiased research.   In the meanwhile I am enjoying all the interesting meetings with activists, students and guru’s, my observation- and more touristy de-tours of this beautiful place. This other day I was just hiking the mountains by myself, following the river and occasionally hitching a ride to the next place.  I found a (previously) hot-spring next to a holy rock, washed away by dam-induced change of riverflow and some beautiful bridges as well as a nomad farming community living in stone-age looking huts.  I was alone, so I couldn’t get any research worthy data, but the spring was refreshing and the hand and foot Nepali at least bought me some smiles…  I would say life is pretty good.