Decolonizing Darjeeling

History and Identity in the Writings of Indra Bahadur Rai

Abstract

Darjeeling has been largely represented as a place where fine tea grows and where the mighty Kanchenjunga graces its presence as an attraction for tourists. Much has been written about its colonial formation and its tea, but discursive formation of the area has been rather unfair for the inhabitants who are lost in this narrative of ‘leisure’. This injustice is all the more magnified when one perceives the identity crisis and the politics of belonging that the people of Darjeeling have been subjected to since the days of empire, continuing up to present times under the nation state. Against this misrepresentation Darjeeling, as lived by its inhabitants, needs to be reimagined. The politics of belonging is a recurrent theme across South Asia and the anxieties over belonging that the people face in Darjeeling has to do a lot with the kind of knowledge that has so far been produced about the region. This article will attempt to decolonize that knowledge and reimagine Darjeeling from an insider's perspective. This will be done through the iconic literary figure of Indra Bahadur Rai and his writing. In the present study I will be primarily looking at his only novel Aaja Ramita Cha (There is A Spectacle Today) (1964), and his essay Pahad ra Khola (Mountains and Rivers).