Yuksom (Sikkim): Rushing around the holy grounds of Norbugang, Indra Hang Subba is busy working with volunteers to get things ready for the first edition of Sikkim Arts and Literature Festival (SALF).
While often people can be seen jostling to take pictures or shake hands with their local MP, the air of ease around Subba, the sole Lok Sabha member from Sikkim, makes one wonder if he is not popular. However, the 34-year-old says people here “don’t go crazy” since all public representatives in the state regularly spend time with them.
“We go among people every day and we are with them. So, leaders are not treated as celebrities here. We meet people and we sit with them. You might have seen me working here with the volunteers the whole day. All the other (public) representatives also work like that,” the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) leader said.
“Having a (public) representative at an event is a very normal thing in Sikkim. We don’t believe that we should have that type of status. Protocol is there, which is the law, we should follow that but apart from that, we have always been with the people.
“So when ministers, or MLAs, or MPs come to a place, it’s not a very new thing for the people of Sikkim. We are always with them, that’s why they don’t go crazy, although they love us,” he added.
Talking about the SKM’s efforts to revive the state’s art, culture and literature, Subba said the idea behind events like the SALF is to encourage the youth to broaden their perspective and understand the social structure of the country.
“We want to encourage our youngsters to learn something from the experts who have come from different parts of the country and will be speaking from different perspectives. So, we want our youngsters to have that perspective, to understand the social structure of not just the country but the entire world,” he said.
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Organised by the state government and Teamwork Arts at the historical site of Norbugang, the SALF, which started on Saturday, will see discussions on wide-ranging topics, including climate change, wildlife conservation, history, culture and ethnicity, poetry, architecture, folklore, mental health and writings from the northeast.
The three-day festival will see the participation of authors Chuden Kabimo, Ankush Saikia, Hoihnu Hauzel, Anand Neelakantan and Anuja Chauhan, among others.
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