Following is the transcript of an interview aired on Darjeeling’s XCTN TV channel where Wangdi Gyalpo and Mr. Sonam Bhote, author of the Bards’ Sketches, a book of poems were interviewed by TV host Gyanendra Aryal:
Greetings and welcome to all the viewers of XCTN from me, Gyanendra Aryal. Today XCTN channel is here with another new programme called ‘THE FACES’. All of you are aware of the fact that on 29th May 1953 Tenzin Norgay and Edmund Hilary scaled the highest peak in the world Mt. Everest. And after that, so many new records have been made on the summit of the Mt. Everest. Within 53 years after the first summit, so many records have been made on the peak of Mt. Everest. Like from blind to handicapped and from 70 years old to 15 years old have made their record by scaling the Mt. Everest. In addition to all these records, on 15th of May 2006 a new record has been made on top of the world, which is made by none other than two youths of our Darjeeling. The new record they have made is that, the collection of English poems composed by them which has been titled as Bards’ Sketches was launched on top of the world, Mt. Everest. This has made their book to be the first English poetry book launched on top of the world or History’s Highest Book Launch. And the poets are Mr. Wangdi Gyalpo and Mr. Sonam Bhote.
Mr. Wangdi Gyalpo studied in Central School for Tibetans, Darjeeling and after completing his +2, he studied in Darjeeling Government College as a student of English Literature. After some years he worked as an English Teacher in one of the reputed school of Kathamndu, named Galaxy Public School. And at present he is working in another reputed school in Kathamandu named Shuvatara International School, Lalitpur as Head of English Department. Along with this, Mr. Wangdi Gyalpo was selected as Author of the month (September) by Association of Young Journalists and Writers, New York in the year 2005.
And Mr. Sonam Bhote also studied in CST Darjeeling and after +2, he did basic and advance course in Mountaineering from Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, Darjeeling and received gold medal in Advance course.
Mr. Gyalpo and Mr. Bhote not only compose poems but they also write articles, essays, blogs and other genres of literature which are published worldwide.
And today we are here to have a brief talk with the world record holder poets. So let’s start our talk.
Aryal: So… Mr. Wangdi and Mr. Sonam let us start our brief talk. Our first question is… How did both of you meet for the first time?
Wangdi: To talk about, how we met, there is a long story. Actually I was born at Jorebunglow and I was brought up there only. He i.e. Mr. Sonam is my cousin brother. His and mine mothers are sisters. He was born in a place called Sandakphu. For his studies he came to our home and stayed with us and studied in the same school CST Darjeeling. He is not only my intimate friend but brother too. As such, we grew up together, we ate together, we slept together and we played together and along with it, we started composing poems.
Aryal: It means both of you did almost everything together since both of you were intimate?
Both: Yes.
Aryal: Let us proceed to our next question: Mr. Bhote, is it your first attempt or you have done it before?
Sonam: No, this was not my first attempt. Actually in 2005 I was in Everest Expedition with a Japanese group. We scaled up to 8500 meters but due to the lack of Oxygen supply, we were compelled to cancel our expedition.
Aryal: And yes, Mr. Bhote you scaled the top of the world on 15th of May 2006. How did you feel when you were on top of the world?
Sonam: You have asked a very good question. You see… when I was on top of the world, I had a mixed feeling. When I was heading towards the top of the world from the last camp, which is at the height of 8300 meters. I had an encounter with many dead bodies lying on the way. Some of them were fresh, and some years old. And on the way, we had to cross the dead body lying unclaimed. And due to it, the happiness which I was supposed to feel after fulfilling my dream to scale the top of the world and our dream to launch our book on top of the world was marred by all those ghastly sights. And yes, what I realized on top of the world was that if we work hard, nothing is impossible.
Aryal: And yes, Mr. Bhote, before this have you scaled any other peaks?
Sonam: Yes, I have scaled some other peaks in the past. During my training in H.M.I Darjeeling, I scaled two rocky peaks in Sikkim which were around 6000 meters. And in Nepal, in Khumbu Region, there is a peak named Amadablam which is considered as one of the most technical peaks of the world, its height is 6812 metres. I scaled it during autumn 2005 with British Team.
Aryal: Another question to you Mr. Bhote did you scale the Mt. Everest from the Nepal side or from the Tibet side ?
Sonam: I scaled it from North face of the Mt. Everest that is from Tibet side.
Aryal: By the way, how did you two get the idea of launching your book from Mt. Everest? Did somebody give you two the idea or both of you got it or anyone of you?
Wangdi: To talk about it, like brother have already mentioned it, that in 2005 he went for Everest Expedition and was compelled to retreat from the height of 8300 meters due to the lack of oxygen supply. After brother came down to Kathmandu, we heard through media that in the same year, i.e. 2005 a couple got married on top of the world. This made them come in the world record as the first couple to be married on top of the world. My brother told me that he wishes to thank the Managing Director of Arun Treks and Expedition by writing thanks on a banner from top of the world. We modified it a little bit. I told him that, the feeling of gratitude is always there in the deep bosom of our heart. You see I have been composing poems for the last 10 years and my brother have been composing it for almost 5 to 6 years. And we always wanted to publish our collection of poetry book in near future. When this dreams of ours strike us. At that time, I told him that if we publish our poetry book and launch it on top of the world. Our book will be the first book to be launched on top of the world. And it may make another record. Through that discussion of ours, we came up with this great idea. We wanted to do something new in the world which will distinguish us from rest of the world and here we are… we did it. Praise the lord.
Aryan: Just now, you told us about the record. What kind of record you two intend to make? Could you please provide us more information about it?
Wangdi: You asked a very good question. You see when we talk about record; there are many kinds of records in the world. Like records by doing stunts, Everest records etc…
The main intention of ours to launch our book on top of the Mt. Everest was to make world record. To talk about world record, first that comes is Guinness World Record. For the same we have even applied for Guinness World Record. And just yesterday only, we have received an acknowledgement from the Guinness World Record and they have dispatched us the forms, which includes Record Attempt form and Record Claim Form. Just few days back only we have approached the Limca Book of Record and from there also they have informed us that they will be mailing us soon asking for the documentation. As far as we know, we got good proof; we have got good press coverage. And we think that if Almighty’s blessing is with us then along with all the proof, press coverage and Almighty’s blessing we will again come back to Darjeeling not only with Limca Book of Records but also with Guinness World Records.
Aryan: It means both of you wish to return to Darjeeling with world record.
Wangdi: Of course.
Aryan: You have already told us about the Limca Book of Records and Guinness World Records. Mr. Bhote, Could you please tell us why you two wish to go for these two records?
Sonam: The main reason behind launching our book on Mt. Everest is just to get the Limca and Guinness World Record. You see, I have been working in this field for the last three years, and during this short span of my career in the mountaineering, what I have felt and seen is that, the Himalayan people like Sherpas, Tibetans, Nepalese and other tribes dwelling in the Himalayan regions are basically considered as High Altitude Porter. And through this endeavour of ours, we wanted to show to the world that, the Himalayan people also possess calibre in doing other works and they can also prosper in other areas of life as the other people of the world.
Aryal: It means you two wish to show to world that the people dwelling in the Himalayan regions can also do whatever other people in the world are doing. Like we South Asian are considered to be little backward as compared to other countries.
Sonam: You see… we can’t say that we are backward. The only problem with us is that we just sit thinking that we can’t do.
Aryal: How did you two get the inspiration to compose poems? Like we say, it is not difficult to compose poems.
Wangdi: To talk about source of inspiration, you see… if a person who is born in the cosy lap of queen of hills doesn’t appreciate the beauty and its natural gifts then who would… so nature was my first source of inspiration. And other one is… I would like to tell a brief story about a person. An ordinary man approached a senior and renowned poet and requested him; please teach me how to write poems. And in response to that, you know what the senior poet said: He told the ordinary man that, “Fall in love and you will become a poet’. Like in a same way, I also fell in love with someone when I was in Class XI. And it became my source of inspiration. Out here, I would like to tell you that, of course the love was a rejection one (Laughing) like people says, that ‘If God closes one door, God opens many’. Though it was some sorts of disappointment for me at that time, but He opened many door for me. Along with that pain and the natural endowment from the Nature became my source of inspiration for writing.
Aryal: What you mean to say is Darjeeling is known as queen of the hills. It is known through out the world for its beauty and tea. So, why shouldn’t a child from such place write poems?
Wangdi: Yes…
Aryan: Another question to Mr. Sonam. You see Mr. Sonam, Mr. Wangdi is in the educational field and he did literature also. So it is quite obvious that he would write. But how come that you, started writing, since you are a mountaineer. A Mountaineer is basically engrossed in manual works and uses stick more than pen. Could you please put a light on to it?
Sonam: Actually you see… my parents were nomads who lived with animals in the Himalayas. So my childhood was spent between Himalayas. And due to which I have developed an intimacy with the nature. And when I am away from Himalayas, I miss it. And to fill this absence I compose poems. And what I think is… that the Himalayas, rivers, streams and Mountains are all poems. We realize it when we are far away from them. And I have felt it.
Aryal: Just now you told us that I am far away from my land. Could you tell us about the place?
Sonam: Actually my parents are from Gunsha, Taplejung, Nepal. And during their nomad’s life, when they reached a place called Sandakphu, I was born.
Aryal: It means you were born at Sandakphu.
Sonam: Yes.
Aryal: Another question to you two. Like you see in the book, there are 32 poems of Mr. Wangdi and 31 poems of Mr. Sonam. On what subject matters and on what theme are all those poems related?
Wangdi: To talk about the subject matter or the theme of my 32 poems. There are many kinds. Instead of taking one particular theme or the subject matter I have taken many themes. You can say Universal themes. Like there are love poems, tragic poems, poems about beggar, poverty, old age and also death. Like you see, when we talk about universal theme, we know it is for sure that death will come one day for each and every one of us. So in two of my poems I have talked about death. Among those two, in one I have highlighted the death. What do we understand about death? You see, death is still a mystery. Isn’t it? And in one of my poem, I have talked about a poor farmer. And the poem which I told you is about death. It is little bit different than the first one titled, Pity and Joy where I have made myself a dead and where my spirit is talking. So, there are many themes. And to talk about structure of the poem you see I did literature and I have writing for the last 10 years and I have included those poems also in the book which I had composed during my college days. Since I was doing literature and we did Shakespeare’s Sonnets. It influenced my writing a lot. So, some of my poems structure are in old types. Like we say in English Archaic words, which means old used words which are no longer in use, like Thou, thee and thy etc.
Aryal: Another question to you Mr. Gyalpo. You see… you have 32 poems in the book. Since you are a poet and you know those poems well. So, out of those poems which poem does you like the most?
Wangdi: To talk about the favourite. You see, whatever we compose we like all. And if I have to tell which one if my favourite then I must say there is a poem titled, ‘Ssshhh…” which means please keep quiet. What I have shown out there is… there is a poor farmer and he is expressing his grief in the darkness of the night. In the particular night, his wife has somehow made their children fall into slumber. Their condition is so worse that they can’t even provide food for their children. His wife has beguiled their children from ruminating about appetite and feeding them with water and lullaby. In such situation, he is sitting alone in the corner of the ramshackle hut and pouring out his grief and agony. While the poem proceeds I have created a situation where, the main character i.e. the poor farmer exclaims… ‘I don’t even have a penny to buy a cigarette’. His condition is so wretched that he can’t even provide food to his children. His wife, the mother of his children had somehow managed to quench their children’s huger through love, water and lullaby but in such a pathetic plight also instead of thinking about his children, he is wondering about such a petty thing like cigarette. You see Men have such type of nature. Men are egoist. Before they think about others, they think about themselves. You see, what I have tried to portray is…in such a miserable state also, instead of thinking about his offspring, he is just lost in the thought that, had he got one rupee, he would be smoking the cigarette. In our generation, it is popularly believed that, people smoke more when they are encircled by worries. This is what I have tired to portray.
Aryal: So, Mr. Sonam you have 31 poems in the book. Can you throw a light on what topics you have dealt with?
Sonam: There is a poem in the book titled, ‘Profile of a shoe.’ It is based on the real life of mine. When I went to Kathmandu to work after I completed by basic and advance course from Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, Darjeeling. Unfortunately, I had landed in Kathmandu in the wrong time. It was an off-season, you see. At that time, for around couple of months, I had to struggle and had to live with petty amount. At that time, I was running short of money and in such condition I couldn’t even afford to buy an ordinary shoe. I was continuously wearing the same old tattered shoe. Its condition was so worse that I couldn’t resist myself from composing a poem on it. And I transformed that tattered shoe into a poem. I did it with other purpose also, and that is… in near future, whenever I will read that poem, it will help me to reflect my past days.
Aryal: It means…what we understand from your talks is that… Mr. Gyalpo’s poems are based on reality as well as imagination. We can say it is a blending of reality and imagination. Where as, Mr.Bhote your poem is basically based on reality.
Aryal: Let us proceed with our talks. Let us talk about your poetry book? Why did you keep your book titled Bards’ Sketches? What is the meaning of it?
Wangdi: Oh! You asked a very interesting question. You see… back there in Kathmandu also, people had a misconception about the title, instead of telling it as Bards’ Sketches… they pronounced it as Birds’ Sketches… few people even thought that we had made a spelling mistake. Now let me throw a light to the meaning of the title. You see… a bard means poet in a poetical way. Since, this book is the collection of our poems so it became Bards. And since, this is ours so it became possessive, so it became Bards’. And Sketches means our painting that we have painted with words. You see here (Showing the book cover) the cover is symbolic. You see here on the cover. There is a picture of a palette which is splashed with colours and with brush. Just as the artist portray their feelings and emotions on the canvas with the help of colours. In the same way, we the writers and poets portray our feelings and emotions on our canvas which is paper. Just as the artist does their work with the help of colours and words. In the same way, we the poets portray it with the help of words.
Aryal: Umm… you see you two have titled it as Bards’ Sketches. Whose idea was it or who named it? Is it you kept it or Mr. Bhote?
Wangdi: There is a short but sweet story about it. Actually we have kept around ten topics for the title. You see, when I was editing the poems of Mr. Bhote before the publication of our book. I had an encounter with the word Bard. He had given it as a title in one of his poem. Though I did literature, but my brother’s vocabulary is strong. He explained me that it means a poet. So I gave him the idea that why not we keep it as Bards’ Sketches? So, Bard came from Mr. Bhote and Sketches came from my side. So you see, in the title of the book also it is a joint venture. Everywhere in this book we did all the work together.
Aryal: It means the design is by you Mr. Wangdi?
Wangdi: Yes, you can say that to some extend because, the concept was mine. But the cover that you see out here is the final and refined product of my concept. At first it was very rough. Back there in Kathamandu, I have an elder brother, Mr. Tsewang Dorjee, who is also a veteran poet. He own a company named, Frame Digital Video Editing, Moktan Plaza, Boudha, Kathmandu, it was the team of Mr. Dorjee la, Mr. Tika and Mr. Mohan that gave my concept this refined shape. The shape and form that you are witnessing now is a new one. The old one was not as good as this one.
Aryal: What are the future plans of you two?
Sonam: What we have planned is… that we are going to launch the following two books of ours on top of the Mt. Everest and will do hat trick. You see so far, people have heard hat trick in soccer but very soon they will hear it in the mountaineering field too.
Aryal: So Mr. Bhote, you have just mentioned that you two are going to launch another two books of you two on top of the Mt. Everest. Could you please tell us what kind of books those two will be? Will those be a poetry collection only or other?
Sonam: The second book of ours will be a poetry collection only and third one will be the collections of our articles and essays.
Wangdi: Sorry to interrupt, I would like to add one more thing along with it. And that is… you see we are here in Darjeeling for the promotion of our book. And we are trying our best to sell as much as possible. What we two have decided is that we are going to donate the 50 % profit of our book to an association named Ex-CST Darjeeling Students’ Association, Kathmandu, through which we are going to organise a Literary Organisation. Through that organisation we are going to help the young and budding writers and poets to explore their talents. We will provide them the platform to display their talents. You see, we have met many people who give up writing just because they don’t proper support and moral encouragement. I still remember that just to publish one poem of mine in a local magazine I had to write continuously for around 10 months. You see… some will wait but everyone can’t. And you know… because of it, most of the great future writers and poets which are present in the young hearts and souls are getting immature death. And we don’t want it to be like this forever. So, through this organisation we are going to hunt for the young talented writers and poets and help them to flourish in the arena of literature. And I must tell you very frankly one thing and that is… you see a young and new writers don’t get a good publishers. You see… everyone is into the business and every publisher seek established and renowned writer and poets only. And in such circumstances, the only option that will be left for the young writer is… to go for self-publishing. And to go for self-publishing it is not so easy. It involve heavy amount, which an ordinary writer cannot afford. Even if a writer, manages the cost of publishing somehow but, what about marketing? It requires another huge amount. These days marketing costs more than publishing. Because of all this obstacles many good writers’ and poets’ works remains in the diary only and is buried with their bodies. So, if we succeed in selling many books. Then we will not only provide them the moral but also financial support. May be we can send talent ones for the creative writing courses provided by British Councils and may be we can help the young writers to publish their book and help them in the circulation of the book. I think this will make a huge difference and many young ones will be encouraged.
Aryal: It means that whatever profit you two will make out of the sale of the book, you two are going to donate 50% of it to the above stated association.
Both: Yes.
Aryal: You two have got very good motives, so we pray and hope that you two will be successful in your endeavour.
Wangdi: Thank you very much.
Aryal: Now, allow me to ask you two the last question. And the question is… Since you two studied in Darjeeling and have made such a new record. So what message would you two would like to give it to the young generation of Darjeeling?
Wangdi: To talk about giving a message, I only would like to say that… most of us are aware of the fact that, since Darjeeling being a small place, there is limited scope for the young generations from the career point of view. So, today or tomorrow most of the young generation have to migrate to different parts of India and abroad to establish themselves. To all those who are out of Darjeeling and to those who are going to go out of Darjeeling, please remember one thing that, wherever you go and wherever you are, you are representing Darjeeling. It’s not that we are the only one who has achieved a lot. There are many people from Darjeeling who had made Darjeeling proud. To take an example, long time back I read in the newspaper that a girl from Darjeeling whose name is Adwitti Subba. She succeeded in getting queen of poetry award in Washington D.C. And that became a great source of hope for me. I thought if a girl can win queen of poetry award, who was born in the same place where I was, who ate the same food as I did, and who was inspired by the same marvellous nature of queen of hills, then why can’t I also do something like that. And doing that, today I have reached up to this level. And if my endeavour turns out to be a source of even a one people of Darjeeling, then I will consider that this life of mine has become successful. One thing I would especially like to tell the youngsters of Darjeeling and that is… wherever you go, whether in different states or different countries and whatever you do, always remember that you all are going to represent our Darjeeling. So, please for God’s sake, make our small place proud of having you and don’t do anything that will bring a bad name to our place. I also wish to tell something to the parents specially and that is…I don’t why in our hilly areas, people don’t give more emphasis in creative fields. May be because illiteracy level is high or I don’t know why. To give you an example, I would like to narrate a small incident that happened when I was a child. On one occasion, I was drawing a picture and all of a sudden my Dad turned up and scolded me badly. He told me that they i.e. my father and mother are working so hard so that I can study. And here you are sketching. Is that for what we are working? That day I was so demoralised that from that day onwards I completely stopped doing drawing. And now, I can’t even draw a flower. What I feel is… had my Dad encouraged me at that time then, today I would be with you, not only as a poet but also as an artist. I have from most of the people that, the persons like, poets’, writers’ and artists’ life will be filled with sorrow. And I want to tell it to the parents that it is absolutely wrong.
Aryal: What you have to say Mr. Sonam?
Sonam: I just want to be brief. ‘Don’t wait for the miracles’, be the miracles. There is another proverb which goes like this, ‘The bottom is always crowded and there is always space at the top.’ So go for it, success is waiting for you to kiss your feet.
Aryal: Well you see, Mr. Gyalpo and Mr. Bhote had told that wherever we the people of Darjeelng go, we represent Darjeeling and we should not do any things which will fetch a bad reputation for Darjeeling. I really do agree with it. So let’s join hands in hands and work together. To take a good example, let us look at Mr. Gyalpo and Mr. Bhote, they went to Kathmandu and made a new record on top of the Mt. Everest, but you see how they are going to be known. Definitely they are and they will be known as two youths from Darjeeling. Finally before we conclude this talk, I, Gyanendra on behalf of XCTN channel would like to thank both of you for sparing your precious time and talking with us.
Wangdi: Before we leave I on behalf of both of us we would like to thank the XCTN Channel family for providing us an opportunity to talk with our brothers and sisters of Darjeeling and we would like to apology if any word or words or ours have hurt your sentiments and feelings. Thank you all and God bless us all.
