Small talk Big talk

I come from a society where people love to talk. Sorry let me use the correct term 'gossip'. They would kill for a good gossip and by 'they' I am not referring to a specific gender. Like I've mentioned a hundred times before, men love to gossip just as much. The only difference being they are discreet. Here's the thing I've learnt about small societies like the one back home. Society is a blanket during times of distress, for example the September earthquake when everyone was up on their toes, doing their bit to contribute to relief efforts. Another good example is funerals, for that is when you have an entire army of people you've said hello to or waved bye to at some point in your everyday life come around. Not just friends or relatives but friends of friends and relatives of relatives stream in to help in whatever way they can.

Since I studied in the most popular school of the state, I have literally grown up under the watchful eye of this society and know a substantial number of people, the who's who of the Gangtok gliteratti included. Yesterday I met an uncle who indulged me in a conversation regarding how lost he still felt at age fifty in Sikkim since he went to boarding school in the neighbouring West Bengal and for college to the country capital. I just gave the occasional nod between breaks while mentally laughing at myself because here I was wanting to be bereft of the same wishes he had. So this brings me to the downfall of our society. The most important lesson learnt is that,

• A good deed will be spoken of once or twice but a bad deed will keep you in the limelight forever.  Okay maybe there was a slight exaggeration there, make it years at a stretch.

The second most important lesson is somewhat contradictory to the first, nevertheless let me speak out,

•  No matter what you do, you will always be spoken about.

And finally, coming to my third point,

• It will always be someone close to you who'll feed the chit chat.

So the price one pays for being Sikkimese turns out to be a heavy one. For someone who has stayed abroad, I know that I might come across as a cynic tonight but fact of the matter is the positives still outweigh the negatives. I'd rather pay this price and enjoy my plate of hot momos than sit at starbucks and drink a solitary coffee. So bring on the jibber jabber and I shall deal with it sportingly. Cheers.