"Time Change"

Time Change
An Autobiography

-By Hope Cooke

Publisher: Simon & Schuster (Feb 23, 1981)

ISBN: 0671412266

People did not and still do not know much about Sikkim. Fortunately, my good friend Zach knows enough to remember that it was once an independent country and Lepchas were the original inhabitants of the land. So, when my college library decided to get rid of unwanted books and magazines, Zach picked up a magazine, just for me.It was the March 1963 issue of the National Geographic Magazine with the story entitled, "Sikkim, Tiny Himalayan Kingdom in the Clouds."

Written by Desmond Doig, a British officer with the Gurkhas during World War II and the assistant editor of Calcutta’s The Statesman, the article was a colorful presentation of the then independent country bordered by Nepal, India, Bhutan, and Tibet.

Images of the region’s landscape, the flag, people groups and the royal family graced the 32-page spread meant solely for this piece. For anyone flipping through its pages, the picture of the crown prince and his American fiancée was bound to catch attention.

The picture was taken at the National Geographic headquarters in 1962 and the caption read, "Prince Thondup, a widower, met Hope Cooke at Darjeeling, India, in 1959."

Hope Cooke is indeed the name revered and abhorred, as she became the queen of Sikkim. Regrettably, she was also the last queen of Sikkim before the country was annexed by India in 1975 and the rest is history.

Fortunately, Cooke has lived to tell us of a personal story embedded with the historical change during that time in her autobiography "Time Change."

Starting the book as a reflection of a three-year-old in her grandparents’ apartment in New York, Cooke’s upscale upbringing in the Victorian atmosphere leads to an eventual transition in the palace of Sikkim and back to a bare apartment in New York as an immigrant to the United States.

Upon the death of her grandparents, Cooke’s journey to the East begins as she goes to live in Iran with her uncle who was serving as the U.S. ambassador there. Her spring vacation to India and the fascination for the country in due course brings her to the hills of Darjeeling where one afternoon, she is introduced to the Maharaj Kumar, or Crown Prince of Sikkim.

The relationship blossoms, Cooke is married to him in a very royal ceremony and the king’s death is preceded by the crown prince as the new Chogyal and Cooke as the Gyalmo of Sikkim.

One of her main responsibilities is mothering Chogyal’s three children, Wongchuk, Tenzing and Yanchgen from his first wife who had died several years ago and later the addition of her own children, Palden and Hope Leezum.

Her involvement in social affairs and befriending locals kept her busy as she very well balances her responsibilities. While attending socials at the India House, she was also encouraging local exports and introducing Sikkim to the rest of the world. Indians in New York did not favor these actions as they lobbied against Sikkim’s status in the international agenda and saw her as a threat.

"Some people would do anything to unseat Maharaj Kumar politically—and if he goes, so does Sikkim. I love Maharaj Kumar and Sikkim too much to jeopardize them. I can just see them using me as a wedge to help destroy his rule. It’s a squeeze from all sides; China might think I’m a U.S. presence and that my next step would be a strategic air base here. (The Bhutanese are so concerned not to upset China they won’t allow Peace Corps to work there.) India also has been hurtful, imperialist, to Sikkim in the past. Even now Indian army trucks rip around Gangtok as if they’re an occupying force, and if Maharaj Kumar ever complains, rumors go back to Delhi that he is anti-Indian. Although apparently Nehru was nice about the idea of our engagement when Maharaj Kumar went to see him in Delhi, fundamentally they won’t like this assertion of independence from Maharaj Kumar and could use it to hurt him."

But, Nehru, a Sikkim lover dies and his successor-cum-daughter Indira Gandhi proved otherwise to the friendship between India and Sikkim. Indian intelligence was at work with the help of some Sikkimese Nepalis and Kazi Lhendup and Kazini of Kalimpong to cause widespread disturbance in Sikkim.

Demostrators chanted, "Chogyal murdabad, Kazi ko jai, Indira Gandi ko jai, Bhutia Lepcha Khattam, Bharat ko Jai." (Death to the Chogyal, Long live Kazi, Long live Indira Gandhi, An end to Bhutia Lepchas. Long live India.")

The political unrest grew weary each day and Cooke finally decides to leave Sikkim with her kids to New York.

While readjusting to life in the United States, Cooke’s citizenship prospectus was denied even as a resident-alien status. So, all as she could now do was sit at her apartment with students from Sikkim and passively try to gain support.

Unfortunately, she writes that the "Little countries were powerless to help. Big ones, including America, too preoccupied to care." Even the delegates at the United Nations Human Rights Committee in Geneva are reported to have said, "We know what happened, but how can we oppose India?"

Meanwhile, "the Indian Army, under Government of India orders, attacked the palace and at gunpoint put the Chogyal and Tenzing, his son, under house arrest."

Soon enough, Chogyal was arrested and the Sikkimese were forced at bayonet point to raise the Indian flag.

The country was no more.

The Hindustan Times editor wrote, "Only the most blind or cynical will derive any satisfaction over the sorry progression of the Indian presence in Sikkim from that of friend to master."

But he was soon fired. Such was the end of Sikkim. But for Cooke, life is still strong. She is no more the Gyalmo of Sikkim but an author of a compelling life story that unearths episodes that were forgotten. Her fascinating description of the simple things in life and the ability to present a very royal story is intriguing.

This book is not just a personal autobiography but also a historical contribution to the past and present of Sikkim while unfolding the Sikkim royal family and the shameless revelation of Indian politics. There is a voice that has been successful in presenting the betrayal and injustice against Sikkim that acts as an example for the on-goings in politics and power plays today.

Cooke has also been very successful in silencing her critics who blame her as one of the factors for the demise of Sikkim. She was but a determined woman who loved Sikkim and was boldly walking through paths that no one in history will ever do so.

This article was originally published in The Kathmandu Post, August 30, 2004
http://www.kantipuronline.com/kolnews.php?&nid=16546