He is the unknown soldier who patrols Indian borders. He painstakingly plucks the tea we drink, two leaves and a bud at a time. His is a stoic mountain dweller, who can lift any load and climb the steepest mountain. Yet, the Gorkha is more than the sum of these stereotypes. Recently, Rajeema Khati, a resident of Mirik near Darjeeling, narrated to me the situation on the ground at the epicentre of the Gorkhaland agitation. “It’s been 50 days since most of the people earned their last rupee; 50 days since our children went to school or college,” she said.
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