Yes I am from Sikkim & I am an Indian

Hello everyone. I am Tribeny Rai, 25-year-old female. I live in the middle of a jungle (you have to walk at least a kilometer from the road to get to my house). I plant vegetables, feed the cow, mop the floor and look after hen when I am not making films. And most importantly, I am from Sikkim (does this ring a bell?). No Sikkim doesn’t have it’s own currency, obviously because IT’S NOT A COUNTRY.

Sikkim is a small landlocked state in the north WEST  east India. The state is bordered by Nepal to the west, Tibet to the north and east & Bhutan to the east. It is the first state to achieve 100% sanitation and also the first fully organic state of India. In 2010, on the ‘World No Tobacco day’, Sikkim was declared a smoke free state. It is also one of the cleanest states in the country.

We here sing the national anthem with great vigor and wave the same Indian tricolor with so much happiness and pride, so here is the million-dollar question- WHAT MAKES US LESS INDIAN? I think it is probably because of the:

1) Mongoloid Morphology

2) Mongoloid Morphology
3) Mongoloid Morphology

           We have small eyes and we think it's beautiful (me and my sisters on the occasion of Dasani)

The word Chinky is synonymous to North East Indian population. It has become an identity category, so has momo and thukpa. No, we are not just good at MUSIC, SPORTS & FASHION. Even if we are, I think it’s good enough, don’t you think so?

Coming to the crux of the matter, if it’s tough being a woman in the world’s largest democracy, being a North East Indian woman in India is a nightmare. Because we have small eyes people tend to categorize us as women with not such high moral/ethics as compared to the rest. And eventually it all boils down to the way we dress up. For everybody’s information, I do not dress up to excite men, nobody dresses up to provoke, to be raped, molested or taunted. So if our sense of dress doesn’t comply with many hypocrites, does that give anybody the right to call us names? It is easy to tease and harass a woman here, but it is more convenient to harass/tease a North East Indian woman. I believe it’s mainly because we look like foreigners (Chinese to be more precise), hence we fail to emit the sisterly feeling, and men (many of them) consider it provoking and inviting them. My logic fails here.

Another rather disturbing and alarming issue is ‘prostitution’. No, prostitution is not rampant in our region.We wear western clothes and we are not “EASY GOING”. The English dictionary defines easy going as – relaxed and not easily upset or worried. Synonyms and related words are given as follows:

1) Cool as a cucumber

2) Be at peace with the world

3) Carefree

4) Comfort

5) Free flowing

6) Rested

7) Harmonious

8) Tolerant (the most dangerous word in the Indian dictionary)

If you have a northeastern friend, you will know that the above-mentioned attributes are absolutely correct. But if you blow a sly whistle, show cheap gestures, pass vulgar comments, stare at my breasts I am not going to be tolerant. I am going to be very angry, angry to an extent where I wouldn’t be satisfied by just using a pepper spray to cause tears, pain, temporary blindness to your eyes.

Every time I read an article about a northeastern girl being ill-treated in the cities, I try to console myself saying, it wasn’t me or my sister. Every time I hear about men or a family being ganged up and beaten in the cities, I silently hope and pray that such a thing should never happen to my family or someone I know. But I am done playing the silent observer. The mental and emotional abuse is consistent and relentless; anybody who goes through this can seldom regain courage or joy in life. So who exactly is responsible for the malaise? I do not know. They say inclusion of study material on North East India in CBSE syllabus will make students familiar with the region. And also conducting educational tours from the city colleges to the North Eastern states will change the scenario. Will it? I am not sure. So what will? You will. Those of you reading this right now can definitely make a difference.

This morning I read a Facebook post:

“ After which he started shouting and saying mean things to me... the conversation really heated up and a huge argument started after which he pointed out at my character and culture.

He titled us as 'ROAD SIDE CHARACTERLESS GIRLS WHO DON'T KNOW WHO THEIR FATHER IS. HE SAID HE REALLY KNOWS WHAT KIND OF CULTURE WE BELONG TO' and according to him 'WE WERE NOTHING BUT A BUNCH OF CHEAP NORTH-EASTERN GIRLS'

WHEN ALL I DID WAS CALLED HIM UNCLEJI WHILE SAYING SORRY'

There were about 40 people and just 2 of them came forward to support us when he was charging me... others were taking his side and watching the drama, and enjoying it...”

So friends what you can do is…if someday you happen to be among those 40 onlookers, witnessing such an incident, PLEASE INTERVENE. Suddenly don’t act like it is not your business. I am not saying we are always right but at least make an effort to enquire. Be brave and next time you see a woman (irrespective of caste, creed, religion) being ill-treated, step out and speak up. It is going to make a world of difference.

India is a very diverse country and like northeastern population many of other communities are also targeted for their appearance or for their failure to speak in local language. The least you can do after reading this is be extra polite and warm to my fellow friends or for that matter to any other person who feels threatened because of his appearance and language.

No, I am not apologetic about the way I dress up. I love my eyes and think they are beautiful. And most importantly, I am proud of who I am and where I come from. I think we should all be.