Sikkim students in Meerut

A hysterical level of stereotyping cannot be matched but in India. And especially if you are from the northeast studying or working in states outside, being stereotyped as Chinki, Chinese, momo or kancha et al becomes drudgery after a while.

Precisely that has been part of the lives of 10 engineering students from Sikkim studying in Meerut, a small town in Uttar Pradesh, near New Delhi.

For them, the beginning wasn’t any pleasant. They resisted the unwanted welcome. Yet over time, they grew thick skin and every time someone in the streets called names they turned a deaf ear. With the passage of time, they would be included in the circles of friends and soon become part and parcel of the thriving college fraternity.

Rupen Pradhan and Tshering Namgyal Lepcha were the first one to come down. They thought the Institute Dewan VS Institute of Engineering and Technology is located nearby Delhi. They were followed by Rupen Sharma, Pravesh, Amir, Dhani and Naren.

“We had a Career Seminar in Gangtok. There we heard about this institute. We thought it’s in Delhi as that is what they said to us. But arriving here we found it’s quite far from Delhi and a different world all together,” says Amir Bhandari.

“Actually we were prepared for it. That is what we wanted to see. This was the reason we came out of Sikkim,” asserts Tshering. He further adds that it wasn't that difficult for them to adjust here. “We all had an experience of hostel life. Our seniors in college are also very good to us. They all helped us to adjust here. Our relations with management are also very cordial. They too help us a lot.”

However, they were not ragged. They were just asked to introduce, says Dhani Raj Rai. “Our room is a meeting place of everyone in the hostel. Even our seniors visits our rooms. So that ways we get to know each other quite well.”

Despite all this the one major problem is of communication. Not many in Meerut know English. Not only their local friends but sometimes teachers too use Hindi words. “Language is one major problem for us. We fail to understand meaning of some Hindi words,” says Rupen.

But it’s just not language that is the cause of worry for these 10 students from Sikkim. The quality of education is way better in Sikkim than here. Tshering opines that in Sikkim when they were doing Diploma, they were getting a lot of practical knowledge. “Here they mainly stress on theory. So whatever they teach we have already studied in diploma,” he adds.

He further says that some of their friends are now working in Arcelor Mittal, Maruti and Harley Davidson. “At some point we feel that we would have got better jobs after diploma had we sat for interviews instead of coming out here.” None of them are much excited about the college placements. But the reason to cheer is that they will have the practical as well as the theoretical knowledge.

The boys miss football. “Out here everyone plays cricket. So even when we had inter college competition, football was missing from it,” says Dhani Raj Rai, student of Mechanical Engineering.
What else do they miss here? An answer that comes in unison is “momos’ or dumplings. The urge of eating Momo is such that Tshering says when he goes home he will sit whole day in a hotel or else cook at home and just eat, momo’s. But Naren, another student from Sikkim sees it as a good business opportunity. “Here no one sell Momo but I am sure everyone will cherish once they eat. We are planning to buy an oven and start selling here,” he jokes.

Despite these difficulties one can sense and feel a drastic change among these students. In Sikkim where most of the educated students eye for government jobs, they are thinking of generating jobs in their state. “I am not at all interested in working under someone. So I am planning to do something else. Probably I will do something of my own,” says Amir. Pravesh Chettri, a guitarist in group, echos the same view. “I don’t think I will go for the government job,” he quips.

Dhani and Rupen say that if they get a decent job in private sector they will surely go for it. This is a big transformation particularly for students from a state where Government jobs are considered to be a safe bet.

In midst of their monotonous life these students are realizing their true potentials. Jostling with difficulties they clinching towards success and gearing up for the challenges that are onset.

source : isikkim.com