Himalayan Times (1952)

Two 3jimnlnttnn (limes April 27, 1952

KALIMPONG

D. I MACDONALD, a. a, (hons.)

[In this article, Mr. D. 1. Macdonald, a loading journalist of KalimI>ong, portrays the
salient features of our town, and we hope it will attract the attention of the people for whcm
it is meant. Kalimpong has its own importance anti Mr. Macdonald, with his rich experience
and knowledge ot the locality and its surroundings, has rightly pointed out that if proper care is

not taken, Kalimpong will lose its attraction as a liill-

Kalimpong, at the end of an
hiinalayan trail, lias been on the world
map for the last two years thanks to
the journalists including correspondents
from USA and Britain, who operated
from Kalimpong during the invasion of
Tibet and again when ihe Dalai Lama
left his capital for Yatung.

In Kalimpong during those hectic
weeks, when some reporters accepted
"rumours" as “news’, there was an
influx of Tibetan missions to New Delhi,
Peking, and UNO, with head-quarters
here. It was common in those days
to see a Foreign S-cretary of the Tibetan
Government, resplendent in blue silk
robes, and wearing a turquoise pendent
in his ear, walking down the main street
and charming Lhasa ladies in rainbow
coloured aprons, on shopping expeditions
to buy lip-stick and face-cream. But those
exciting times are now over andKalimpong
has settled down to its original status
as an Indo-T'ibet trade mart and a hill-
station, for Tibet's noble families have
returned to Lhasa, their fears allayed
by the Sino-Tibetan treaty which made
Tibet a de facto part of China.

Kalimpong as a going concern is
built on Indo-Tibet trade. I rade is in
wool, musk, bristles, furs, while from
here returning caravans to Tibet carry
textiles, Chinese tea, aluminium, copper,
and iron ware, cigarettes, confectionery,
and recently thousands of spades and

-station and its importance as a trade centre. Editor]

picks for the * grow more food"
campaign launched by the Chinese in
Tibet. The trade has slumped and the
red-light flashes for Kalimpong. Should
the caravans from Tibet fail to come
down here in their usual numbers what
of the entiro 10th mile area where shops
are stocked to the ceilings with merchan-
dise to catch the eve of the Tibetan
trader? Apart from large business houses
engaged in the wool trade of which
the profits may or may not remain in
Kalimpong, what of the many inns
catering for muleteers and Tibetan
traders, and the local people who supply
fodder and grain for thousauds of mules,
and the hundreds of workers with their
dependents engaged in the wool-godowns
in sorting and bailing Tibet wool? If
Kalimpong is to flourish economically,
Indo-Tibet trade must be sound.

Then there is the position of
Kalimpong as a hill-station. It is one,
undoubtedly, but without the large and
prosperous clinetele of other hill-stations,
and the reasons are clear. First and
foremost is the question of communication
which in the past two years has been
the despair of the public. If the road
from Siliguri to Kalimpong is open during
the rains for twentyfnur hours contvnuosly
in any week, this is unusual. Then
accomodation is limited to a few good
hotels, visitors have to be refused

(Cdtnn nr'd on fiuue g)