about me
Khamree gun ka, This is Denmit Lepcha and I hail from Dzongu in Sikkim.
I am again encountering the most fearful question of the meaning of my name. I don’t know what Denmit means, I believe it has some buddhist connotations but I’m not really sure, and ‘mit’ I say come from Rongmit or a Lepcha girl.
I value my ethnicity the most, coming from a tribe that has been dwindling it’s identity every generation, being given this privilege of education and exposure, I feel the need to give back to my society as being a Lepcha is what defines me and the only thing I want to be defined by.
“Even though there is beauty in oral folklore, the main disadvantage of it is that it is oral. Hence I feel like these oral folktales should be preserved in some other form like documentaries, photography, writing and many more. If they need to be preserved orally then it should be encouraged very early among school going children.”
What is storytelling to me?
? One thing that made a lot of sense to me what what Dr Reep Pandi said about Oral traditions, I felt contented when she said that there is no right or wrong way to tell your oral narratives as oral traditions are always changing and evolving, but we also need to ask questions all the time and write our story in a way that makes the most senses to us.
What is sacred to me?
Sacredness is not religion, sacredness should come from within, it should be that voice that guides you towards what is scary yet right. Sacredness is our conscience and consciousness.
Hence I am sharing this picture of myself indulging in the blues and the purity of the Rongyong river. Nature has always been the best healer for me.
“ᰗᰩᰵᰝᰧᰳᰜᰳᰶ ᰣᰦᰛᰬ ᰠᰩᰵᰃᰤᰩ ᰕᰃᰨᰰᰍᰬ, ᰗᰩᰵᰝᰧᰳᰜᰳᰶ ᰜᰧᰰᰓᰫᰌᰨ ᰊᰌᰨ ᰍᰩᰵᰓᰬᰭ ᰜᰩᰮᰍᰪᰀᰦ ᰜᰦᰳᰃᰦᰳᰡᰧᰶᰓᰫ ᰃᰪᰮ. ᰗᰩᰵᰝᰧᰳᰜᰳᰶᰌᰨ ᰣᰦᰉᰧᰮᰶᰣᰶ ᰅᰫᰰᰃᰦᰳ ᰠᰛᰬᰍᰪᰰ ᰊᰌᰨᰮ ᰣᰦᰛᰨᰮᰛᰬᰡᰫᰎᰫ ᰚᰴᰠᰦ ᰜᰩᰮᰕᰤᰫᰀᰦ ᰜᰩᰮᰜᰩᰰᰡᰧᰶᰓᰫ ᰃᰪᰮ. ᰗᰩᰵᰝᰧᰳᰜᰳᰶᰌᰨ ᰀᰦᰚᰫᰠᰦ ᰠᰦᰭᰣᰤᰩᰵ ᰍᰪᰵᰚᰴ ᰣᰪᰰ ᰠᰦᰭᰕᰤᰫᰵ ᰘᰨᰜᰳᰶᰀᰦᰳ ᰃᰪᰮ. ᰣᰦᰓᰧᰶᰃᰨ ᰀᰠᰪ ᰕᰪᰕᰧᰶ ᰣᰦᰛᰬ ᰃᰪᰰᰠᰦ ᰀᰪᰮᰌᰪᰰᰀᰦ ᰐᰪᰌᰧᰵᰶ ᰕ ᰠᰓᰦ ᰀᰦᰌᰨᰛᰤᰬᰮ ᰛᰪᰵᰃᰤᰩᰵ ᰣᰪᰵᰀᰤᰨᰵ ᰣᰦᰛᰬᰠᰦ ᰑᰧᰵᰶᰜᰳᰶ ᰣᰪᰰ ᰗᰩᰵᰜᰳᰶ ᰌᰤᰬᰱ ᰋᰤᰪᰛᰧᰳᰶ ᰢᰦᰮ ᰕ. ᰠᰓᰦ ᰣᰧᰳᰶᰌᰤᰬ ᰣᰦᰛᰬᰌᰨ ᰀᰠᰪᰊᰰᰶᰀᰦ ᰃᰪᰰᰜᰤᰬᰰ ᰎᰩᰰᰓᰫᰀᰦᰳ ᰅᰫᰰᰓᰪ ᰌᰧᰵᰶᰋᰨᰓᰫ ᰉᰧᰶᰢᰪᰵ ᰕ.”
Finding my sacred place
I am a terrible artist but this is my small attempt to put down in paper, the existence of my sacred place. The place I had imagined and held very close to my heart was in the middle of the forest beside a stream gurgling by and pretty pink delicate lotus was what I sat on,(a symbol of spirituality) it had a lot of greens and blues, a cold and pleasant air was caressing my face as I sat admiring the beauty and abundance of nature, with my feet touching the pebbles in the cold water, and as I plunged deep into the waters I could see the life beneath it, colourful fishes. My ears hearing the birds chirp their song, the waves hit the bank, the sound of the wilderness, I could smell the fresh air and damp soil. The sun was just beginning to rise, no matter what time of the day it is, in my sacred place, the sun is always beginning to rise. The place was a paradise for me, peaceful, mysterious, bountiful, pure.
The first day my sacred place was just the lotus I was sitting on, I saw the petals, the colours, the fine pollen, but the second day I started to see, the elements around the lotus, the water it was surrounded by, the fishes and the pebbles in the water, the birds, the sun. And it just reminded me of Anom Minket saying that our sacred place is a big one and I have a feeling that it will take another day, another session of earth and wave breath with ourselves to discover more of that sacred place.
I as a Lepcha
Being a Lepcha means being vulnerable as a tribal girl belonging to a vanishing tribe in the midst of civilisation but being Lepcha also means being unique and a protected child of mother nature. Coming from a space of feeling lost and not being able to be recognised as a Lepcha, I feel the need to know myself better in order to educate the rest of the people around me. Being educated, I sense a very big responsibility towards my community of giving back and staying with them in times of a major crisis where our lands are being sold to gigantic projects. I feel like it’s time to start early and come forward for a change and preach what the lepcha philosophy begins with, i.e. sustainable living with nature.