M A I N   N E W S

‘I’ll fight back for my sister’s sake,
she’s watching me...’
Tribune Impact On her way to the future, Angmo makes herself a mighty promise
Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service

Skalzang Angmo with HRD Minister Kapil Sibal in New Delhi on Friday. Tribune photo: Mukesh Aggarwal

New Delhi, September 10
For nine-year-old Skalzang Angmo, whose world fell apart in the floods of Leh, today was quite an unusual day. It brought in its fold several firsts for the child: her journey away from home without elder sister Denchen (Denchen was swept away by the floods), air travel above the clouds, and a warm meeting in the Capital with Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal, who made time to greet Angmo in his office and wish her the very best for a bright future in Chandigarh.

“You are going to make your future in a city which is my hometown. That’s why it is such a special pleasure to have you here. Wish you the very best. Do well, we are with you,” Sibal assured Angmo, who arrived here today by the Air India flight from Leh. Escorted by Leh Navodaya Vidyalaya principal Manoj Kumar and Amarjit Kaur, a teacher from Navodaya Delhi, Angmo left for her Chandigarh school this evening, and will seek formal admission to Class VI tomorrow.

Back in the Capital, Angmo also received from Sibal a cheque of Rs 50,000 for her mother. The government had sanctioned this money in the last week of August after The Tribune highlighted the struggle of Angmo and her mother Stanzin Dolma, who lost her child, home and savings in the floods.

The Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti today even cleared the Rs 50,000 payment for Stanzin, who wants to start a new life in Leh. “Now that Angmo is in safe hands, and the money that was promised has come, I will set up a beauty parlour and start making a living,” Stanzin told this correspondent from Leh. She admitted it took a lot of convincing to get Angmo to gto Chandigarh alone as the child feared the floods would sweep away her mother also.

As for Angmo, she still carries in her eyes the memory of her sister, who was a class VIII student at Chandigarh JNV. Today when Sibal asked her if she had any questions or wanted anything, she was silent. Outside the minister’s office, however, she made a humble request: “Can I have a teddy bear? I can sleep with it now that Denchen is not there.”

Memories apart, the girl looks braced for the future as her escort Manoj Kumar today said: “This morning when we were flying over the clouds, she was very excited to see them and asked me if the airplane could ever make it back to ground from such heights. I told her it could; she was happy and reassured. We will make things easy for her.”

In Chandigarh, Navodaya Vidyalaya principal PK Sharma has already made arrangements for the child’s smooth entry into school. Ask Angmo how she would handle her new life alone and she replies in her frail voice: “I will fight it out for Denchen’s sake. I know she’s watching me. I will do her proud and be like the clouds...”

So she will be.