Sonam Tshering Lepcha Picture by Kuheli Chakravorty

Kalimpong, Nov. 3: Multi-faceted Sonam Tshering Lepcha is playing a stellar role to put the dwindling Lepcha community, whose recent claim to fame has been the vanishing tribe of the Himalayas, on the world map. In spite of his advanced age – he is 76 years old – Sonam maintains a punishing schedule largely because of his varied interests.

He is a dancer, composer, dramatist, musician, curator of a museum and author of several Lepcha textbooks, which are taught at colleges in Sikkim, all rolled into one.

Recipient of the 1996 Sangeet Natak Academy award, Sonam is an accomplished player of traditional Lepcha musical instruments like the flute, dholok and strings. He also holds the rare distinction of being the first person from his community to be appointed as a folk artist for the AIR. Those were the glorious years of his eventful life when he had come in contact with musical greats like Asha Bhonsle, Salil Chowdhury, Aparesh and Bappi Lahiri

Besides music, he also revels in collecting memorabilia, especially the Lepcha artefacts. He has also found an innovative way to drive away the post-retirement blues. He has set up a museum at Bongbasti, which showcases the fascinating Lepcha culture. The local Lepcha gompha has played a pivotal role in fulfilling Sonam’s cherished dream.

The monastery donated land for the construction of the museum, which also houses a boys’ hostel on the ground floor.

Over the years, it has become a landmark and attracts many visitors, who are regaled by fascinating tales of obscure Lepcha culture by a patient Sonam, the museum’s curator. And, the guest register bears testimony to their appreciation for the Lepcha treasure-trove. The museum boasts of hundreds of musical instruments ranging from bompachyut, a barely four-inch long flute, to 500-year-old vessels and weapons. It also houses “secret” Lepcha scripts and various mechanical instruments that were used by the hill tribe, arguably the original inhabitants of the Darjeeling hills. “The tune of Lepcha music is like the flow of water,” he said. Though he has been conferred on five national and international wards, yet he is deeply pained by the lack of government support to keep the “glorious tradition alive”.