Hindustan Times
The Danny Denzongpa Model for the North East
I met Meghalaya Chief Minister DD Lapang at a dinner reception in Delhi the other night. He’s a good listener who put up with my monologue for quite a while as I held forth on ways to open up opportunities in the rest of India for youth from the seven northeastern states.
Danny Denzongpa
Lapang left with the promise of another meeting. But not before I asked him why Bollywood boasts of only one Danny Denzongpa? Given the abundance of physical beauty in the northeast, why do governments there not encourage young boys and girls to seek careers in films or in the television industry as smart reporters and news anchors? They also have the physical fitness to become world-class athletes with proper training and facilities.
Broader northeastern participation in these areas of opportunity would fetch double dividends: fame, remuneration and countrywide following for NE’s Gen-X scaling up their stakes in a strong and united India.
Films, performing arts and sports are time-tested vehicles for national integration. Remember Shahrukh Khan’s Chak De with its adorable pan-India hockey team? Or the huge public support for Darjeeling’s part-Nepalese celebrity Prashant Tamang when he won Indian Idol III?
Prashant Tamang
The audience vote for Tamang came not just from West Bengal. His appeal transcended boundaries to mobilize fan following across the region including Nepal, Sikkim and the rest of India. Danny too is from Sikkim. He got his film name from none other than Jaya Bhaduri, Rajya Sabha MP from UP who was his classmate in the Film and Television Institute of India.
I’m convinced problems in the northeast can be best addressed through a broader emotional bandwidth.
The larger the number of national icons from that region, the greater will be their people-to-people communication with mainland India.
Yes, opening track-II with the alienated northeast is vital to peace in that region. China and Pakistan can wait. We must first start talking to our own people with the objective of giving them ownership in India’s future.
(4 votes, average: 4.5 out of 5)
Loading ...Posted by Vinod Sharma on Monday, September 21, 2009 at 7:53 pm
Filed under india · Tagged Danny Denzongpa, Darjeeling, Northeast, Prashant Tamang, Sikkim, West Bengal
Dear Vinod,
I’m glad you came up with this post. I liked your suggestion. Let me tell you that there is a huge demand in mainland to know more about the states in north-eastern India.
[Reply]
@ Vinod
This post from you is really meaningfull and pragmatic.
Thanx, good work
[Reply]
May I add one more to the bio-social aspects of the pleasing NE guys? They have got ear for music. Brought up in hills, they are clean and think fresh. We here have cluttered mind. I hope I am not far off the mark.
[Reply]
Dear Vinod,
No plotical party will give a damn for NE until they increase their population and makeup for 80-90 seats in Loksabha.
Thanks,
Yash
[Reply]
vinod Reply:
September 22nd, 2009 at 2:26 pm
Yash,
I don’t share your pessimism. One visionary Chief Minister can trigger a trend. Youth in the northeast are gifted, beautiful and so refreshingly different in their way of life. We must give them a stake outside the region. The private sector must take the lead. Film companies and TV channels aren’t government owned.
[Reply]
Nikhil Reply:
September 25th, 2009 at 11:17 am
Dear Vinod,
With the risk of digressing from the topic, I’d like to recommend a book authored by Pakistani journalist and scholar at Harvard, Arif Jamal. The title of this book is “Shadow War: The untold story of jihad in Kashmir”. The book uncovers the sinister designs of Pakistani establishment and how cause of jihad has been used against India since 1947. He argues that the Pakistani military and sub-contractors have trained close to half a million jihadis to fight in either Kashmir or in Afghanistan despite the talks of peace. It’s a scary revelation. Following is the link to more information about that book
http://www.amazon.com/Shadow-War-Untold-Story-Kashmir/dp/193363359X
[Reply]
vinod Reply:
September 28th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
Thanx Nikhil. Shall read and comment on it.
Vinod Ji,
From a person who started deriding your blog posts, I must say I am pleseantly surprised with this blog. Compliments to you on such a wonderful post and may I say, a really great “out-of-the-box” idea.
My advice : Please keep interspersing such blogs with your usual peace mails to all things Pakistan. This will keep the bile of us Hindu bigots down !
Regards,
[Reply]
vinod Reply:
September 23rd, 2009 at 12:31 pm
Thanks Akhilesh. Bile is acid that causes pains in bone-joints, makes one lazy and dull. I’ll certainly help you keep it down so that you are open to my other ideas.
[Reply]
Rajeev Reply:
September 24th, 2009 at 8:17 pm
Vinod,
You kind of look lazy and dull for a punjabi
Nice to see you coming out of pakistani obessesion. I applaud you for bring North East into focus. I used to study with lots of guys from Manipur in a muslim college and I have see how they are discriminated in daily life by both opressors i.e. hindus and opressed i.e muslims.
[Reply]
vinod Reply:
September 25th, 2009 at 1:20 pm
Looks can be deceptive dear Rajeev. I am a warm and energetic punjabi. bina miley he aapney mere bare mein rai bana le.
Rajeev Reply:
September 26th, 2009 at 3:07 am
It is just based on my observation on your TV appearences.
I just wish that your become neutral journalist because that is what that matters most.
vinod Reply:
September 28th, 2009 at 4:43 pm
What you may call netural could be totally partisan in some other person’s view. I listen to everyone but follow my own conscience and sense of impartiality and truth. Or else I’d end up carrying the donkey on my shoulder—- woh gadhey or baap-betey wali kahani to apney padhey hogi.
Rajeev Reply:
September 29th, 2009 at 1:51 am
Vinodji,
As a journalist you are accountable to people and if they percieve you biased then you should accept it as fact and change yourself.
You can not hide your bias behind so called conscience.
May be according to Indira Gandhi’s conscience ememergency was correct but it was not so in the eyes of people. You journalist are no different from public servants thus accountable to people.
Dear Vinod sir,
Emotional integration of these 8 states is vital for the idea of India.
Though i’d beg to differ on one point - don’t say North East. By saying this u r viewing entire area as a different entity.
I’m sure in some time government will take few more welcome steps like subsidised transportation to and fro for the area.
Keep writing, This blog is vibrant.
[Reply]
Dear Vinod
You have touched upon a soft side of the issue. Here is the serious side.
Rajeev has recalled above how badly his college mates from Manipur were treated by others. This example is typical : Delhi-based newspapers have written a great deal about the hostility , prejudice or unfriendliness with which these fine, well-behaved young men and women from the north east are often treated by people in Delhi, including apparently educated youths and even older people. It is obvious our education system and social environment have not taught our students what it means to be an INDIAN , also failing to impart to them even minimum civic sense and awareness of social responsibility The education system has just been teaching students how to pass exams, not how to be good citizens in a multi-cultural, multi-linguistic, multi-religious country that India is.. In Track-II , therefore, we need to fix our education system, besides doing a whole lot of other things to make people of the plains more north-east friendly.( Having more icons like Danny Denzongpa and Prashant Tamang will certainly help, but will be just one part of a large equation.)
In Track-II, we also need to address very quickly the issues of acute economic backwardness and lack of employment opportunities in the north-east, problems which lie at the root of the insurgencies.
[Reply]
vinod Reply:
September 28th, 2009 at 4:34 pm
Dear Sethi Sahab,
Hindustan Times had run a series on racial barbs students from the northeast faced even in big cities like Delhi. That’s a reality that needs to be corrected. Don’t you think it was wonderful for a national newspaper to take up their cause?
I agree with all the points you have raised. But in the middle of a spate of insurgencies and armed sub-nationalist movements, it’s the soft power of the northeast that needs to be focused upon— their ear for music, their culture, their captivating presence.
[Reply]
Thanks, Vinod Ji. I appreciate your comment.
[Reply]
Vinodji. i saw your latest post on Pakistan and could guess your usual ‘love thy murderous neighbour’ and moved on to this post which was quite nice. i think tourism to NE should be encouraged in a big way. with its pristine forests and i guess less urbanization it would be a great relief for people from the peninsula. the NE guys should also be encouraged to work in the Retail industry. i think they will fit in well. they seem to be overall more presentable and fluent in English.
Sethi saheb the man with the ever forgiving heart. chalo koi nahi . Greetings on Dusshera
even in this region your favored people are as usual upto no good. but i am sure you have a nice explanation / rationale for that
[Reply]