{"id":196,"date":"2022-11-09T10:30:13","date_gmt":"2022-11-09T10:30:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thecord.in\/?p=196"},"modified":"2024-05-15T15:15:43","modified_gmt":"2024-05-15T09:45:43","slug":"pipes-drums-band-kumudini-kalimpong-makes-nation-proud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thecord.in\/?p=196","title":{"rendered":"Kumudini Homes Bagpipes, First Indian Band to Shine at Basel"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Kumudini Homes<\/strong> students not only fulfilled their dream but also stunned everyone and made all Indians proud. The Basel Tattoo Festival<\/strong> is regarded as one of the largest military music festivals in the world. It is held in Switzerland. Except for the man who accompanied the children from Kumudini Homes to Basel Tattoo in July 2022, nobody had ever imagined that students from Kalimpong and Darjeeling Hills would participate in that event. No other band in India has ever accomplished what Mr Priyadarshi Lama,<\/strong> an assistant teacher at the aforementioned school and a pipe band instructor, and his students did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Swiss Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection, and Sports, which is in charge of organizing the Basel Tattoo, extended an invitation to Kumudini Homes. After the Edinburgh Tattoo in Scotland, the Basel Tattoo Festival is regarded as the second-largest military music festival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The town of Kalimpong in North Bengal has long been renowned for its spectacular Independence Day\u00a0celebrations, and this has been the case since British rule. On the 16th of August, a band display competition is held at Mela Ground every year. For these students, who are used to performing at Mela Ground each year, Basel Tattoo was a bigger stage, but they still had confidence and self-belief. Since Kumudini Homes didn\u2019t reflect any particular school or ethnicity but rather the country, they didn\u2019t just bring honour to the Kalimpong or Darjeeling hills but also the whole of India.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also read : How Kalimpong celebrates Independence Day?<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When they arrived in Switzerland, one of the students by the name of Alex said it was difficult for them to tell the difference between their dreams and reality. It was practically everyone\u2019s first trip abroad, so adjusting to the new surroundings immediately was challenging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many people from our nation travel abroad in pursuit of employment, education, or even just to visit, but the students from Kumudini Homes came to Europe so they could represent their nation with pride. The pressure to perform well when one is representing the nation upsurges, but they maintained a positive attitude during the momentous occasion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Success requires effort, and this is true for students as well. They have been practising for the festival since 2019, according to sources. A flight from India to Switzerland, which is located 7,164 kilometres away, takes twelve hours. On July 12, 2022<\/strong>, they arrived at their destination, but the voyage had not been simple for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They were scheduled to take a Spice Jet flight from Bagdogra to Mumbai, but it was abruptly cancelled, shattering their hopes. They were unable to board the flight from Mumbai that was meant to take them to Switzerland as a result. Although no one wanted to assist them, the students persisted. They used social media to spread the word about their flight cancellation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The video quickly went viral. People began criticising Spice Jet for being unprofessional, and the hashtag #boycottspicejet<\/strong> even became trendy. According to Rajesh Bhusal<\/strong>, the principal of Kumudini Homes, the flight was scheduled to leave Bagdogra at 4:30 PM but was postponed. When they requested assistance, the authorities accused SpiceJet, who in turn blamed the\u00a0Airport Authority of India.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The incident caught the attention of Raju Bista<\/strong>, MP from the Darjeeling Constituency. He quickly made the required arrangements and booked an Indigo flight to New Delhi. To wish the students well, he also went to the airport and met them. The team left Indira Gandhi International Airport on the next flight to\u00a0Doha, Qatar, where they then boarded another flight to Zurich, Switzerland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

I was informed of the difficulties faced by the 20 Students & 1 teacher from Kumudini Homes School,in Kalimpong Dist on their way to participate in the Basel Tattoo, a musical show in Switzerland, being stranded at @aaibagairport<\/a> due to the cancellation of their flight to Mumbai. pic.twitter.com\/GrH3TX6zDg<\/a><\/p>\u2014 Raju Bista (@RajuBistaBJP) July 10, 2022<\/a><\/blockquote>