Gangtok to Tadong on Wednesday - TSHERING EDEN

At around 12 noon on 16 July, Wednesday, as we approach Hospital Dara, a boy in his late teens or early twenties waves for the car to stop and politely requests us to support their cause. Unsure of what kind of support is being referred to, we head on. A little further down, near the traffic point at Titanic, a few more youth are waving at cars to stop. It is not a request anymore and only a tad short of an order. We still head on. Just before reaching Hotel Hungry Jack, a still larger group, this one made up of men, is shouting at cars to stop and blocking those on the move, thumping at bonnets and banging on windows. It is no longer a request or an order but a threat.
I get off the car and decide to walk down to my office at Tadong.
Meanwhile, the group of men has grown larger and is now hooting and banging on a taxi that is headed uphill. The traffic cop stands by listless. The van is allowed to pass and the group starts moving down. I catch up with this group and ask one of them, “Why are you doing this?” He says, “Tei ni abo”. Of course he is talking about the Monday lathicharge on college students down at Tadong.
I prod further, “What are you demanding?”
“Suspension.”
“Not termination?”
“Ah yes, yes, termination.”
College students protesting fee hike and later police action against the protest had demanded the termination/ suspension of the police head of the east district and the Sadar Thana in-charge.
Just short of the Lall Bazaar flyover, the group stops a private vehicle with two women in the back seat. They are let off after some heavy banging on all sides and sloganeering and cheering. I glance at the women, one of them is half smiling perhaps out of shock, terror and of not knowing what was happening. This generation of the Sikkimese has never experienced what was to come.
Few more join in as the group moves further down. A police vehicle comes down heading towards Deorali. It is also stopped and let off after the usual procedure. The group now has about 20-30 people in it. As we move past Café Coffee Day, I realise I will have to overtake this group to have any hope of finding a vehicle that would take me to Tadong. I also curse myself for forgetting my phone in a colleague’s car the day before. I could have taken such great photographs I think to myself.
After overtaking the group near Pani House, I turn back to see a white Scorpio with a VIP light coming downhill. It is stopped by the group and the banging and the hooting begins, and this time it is louder. The VIP vehicle wrests itself from the group and tears down the road. One from the group hurls a stone at the vehicle fleeing away but it is too late. A taxi coming uphill is stopped and asked to “chase” the VIP vehicle. The driver says “sure” and makes a u-turn.
Seconds later, I manage to find a ferry; there are two other women in this taxi which is only going till Daragaon according to the driver. One of the women has a 6-7 year old child with her. As we head towards our destination, this woman says she heard one student died on-the-spot in the Monday lathicharge. The driver dismisses it as a rumour and the other woman seconds it. This woman also criticizes the whole affair of the protest and the rumours and the inconvenience caused to the public. The other woman wants to know if she will get a vehicle from Tadong for Manipal. The driver replies that it is highly unlikely since that is the ground zero of the protest. The woman is worried because the child is unwell and they were headed to Manipal hospital. We tell her that walking is the only alternative. She asks the child “Can you walk?” The child says no.
The taxi stops at Convoy Ground and I start walking towards my office. I run into a retired government employee who is returning home after watching the situation further down the road. I voice my fears of violence erupting and inform him of the group heading towards Tadong. He says, “Yes they should destroy only government vehicles, not the private ones since they are bought with people’s hard earned money”.    
As I approach ground zero, the crowd of onlookers that the “protest” has attracted suddenly starts stampeding towards me. It turns out to be a false alarm and the crowd falls right back. On reaching office I am told I was lucky to have forgotten my phone because the crowd was attacking people who were taking photographs. Shortly after, the third and hopefully the final of the lathi-charges begins.