New start in the new normal

Cynthya Limbu Subba, 27, had to sail from the United States for one-and-half-months to reach Darjeeling in June amid the Covid-19 pandemic that handed her a furlough.

Mandip Subba, 29, a sailor, was also forced to anchor at Tianjin, China, because of the lockdown and finally reached hometown Darjeeling in July.

“I had to do something back at home,” said Cynthya. Six months back she experimented by selling her branded clothes. “The initiative started doing well,” said Cynthya and she is now running her own start-up Sister’s Wardrobe, Darjeeling.

 

Mandip is also on his way to fulfil his dream project TIB-SIB (Tibetan-Siberian) food outlet. “I wanted to experiment with American, South African and Cantonese food but Covid played spoilsport,” said Mandip.

The pandemic forced many young professionals to “think different” and the new dreams were given wings by Decibel, an organiser of events, and Vik-Run Foundation, through the Gundri Bazaar.

Gundri Bazaar is the name of Darjeeling’s old market which no longer exists now.

Decibel and Vik-Run Foundation, however, decided to set up a swanky Gundri Bazaar at Chowrasta — a three-day starting Thursday.

“Many livelihoods were affected in bigger cities forcing young people to return home. We thought of providing a platform for them through Gundri Bazaar,” said Manish Lama, founder of Decibel.

 

Nearly 40 stalls have been put up at Chowrasta and the event was jointly inaugurated by Darjeeling SP Santosh Nimbalkar and Bishop Stephen Lepcha on Thursday.

“Most stalls have been put up by people who returned home to begin their own start-ups. We plan to take this Gundri Bazaar platform to different places in the region,” said Vikram Rai, founder Vik-Run Foundation.

So Kabya Lama, 25, a photo-journalist in Mumbai is now the owner of Kurseong Fresh and is selling mushrooms with much success. “For Gundri Bazaar we have also introduced packed organic products like turmeric from the famous Bungkulung area of Mirik,” said Kabya.

Aaron Edwards, a graphic designer working from home, is helping his wife Manisha Rai, 25, set up The Localists that sells organic aroma discs (room fresheners), body butter and lip balm online.

Siddharth Bhitrikoty, 36, could also muster courage to quit his job as a bank manager in Bangalore and focus on his NGO, Manusatva, which initially started as a virtual community helping people.

 

 https://www.telegraphindia.com