Siliguri, May 7: Mungpoo residents and schoolchildren of Siliguri will organise a walk to protest against the theft of Rabindranath Tagore’s Nobel medallion.
The event, organised by the Modella Caretaker Centre and School (MCCS), and the Association for Conservation of Tourism (ACT), is part of Rabindra Jayanti celebrations, which will be held at Mungpoo on May 22.
“We could not organise the programme on Gurudev's birthday, because of the election. So we have planned a two-day event in Mungpoo,” said Raj Basu, the vice-president of ACT.
He said the effort was to preserve Rabindra Bhawan, the place where Tagore stayed, and the dying cinchona plantation through community-based tourism.
“Cinchona plantations in Mungpoo and surrounding areas are going through a very bad patch. Thousands of workers have been rendered jobless and those remaining are living in uncertainty. Keeping these sad facts in mind, we initiated community tourism here in 1991,” Basu said.
“We have, for the first time, started a vocational course on travel and tourism at the senior secondary level. We have come together with ACT to inform students about sustainable development in tourism, with particular emphasis on Mungpoo, which not only houses Tagore’s legacy, but also a sad tale of cinchona workers. These can be looked after through community tourism,” said Abhaya Bose, the MCCS principal.
The work of tracing Mungpoo’s history, identifying sightseeing places, trek routes and possible places where home-stay concepts can be introduced, has also been initiated.
Tagore, who first came to the Darjeeling hills in October 1882, is said to have made 10 trips to Darjeeling, four to Mungpoo, an equal number to Kalimpong. He also visited Kurseong and Tindharia.
The Nobel laureate is said to have written around 12 poems during his stay in Mungpoo.
In 1938, between May 25 and June 5, he had first put up at the Surel Bungalow, previously known as Sunset Bungalow.
He shifted to the government residence of then Quiniologist, Manmohan Sen, and his wife Maitreyi Devi after June 5.
The residence has been converted into Rabindra Bhavan, the first museum to be established in his memory. It has grown into an important tourist destination over the years.
