The Great Gorkha Freedom fighters of India
1/Helen Lepcha Helen Lepcha alias Sabitri Devi (born 1902) was one of the most prominent freedom fighters from the hills of Darjeeling. Originally a resident of Kurseong, Dist. Darjeeling, she traced her lineage to Sikkim, which honours her as their very own. Around 1917, when a Bengali man has come to propagate Gandhi’s Charkha Movement, Helen, a fresh school-dropout, resonated deeply with his speech. She was so inspired that she took off to Calcutta in 1918, to get enrolled in the Charkha school of the granddaughter of Pt. Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar. A skilled learner, she soon got the opportunity to be a representative of the school in the National level Khadi and Charkha Exhibition in Muzzafarpur in Bihar. AS HISTORY SHOWS, MANY MEN FROM THIS NORTHERN TERRAIN HAVE FOUGHT VALIANTLY, ESPECIALLY FOR THE INDEPENDENCE OF THE NATION-STATE THEY WERE DESPERATE TO BELONG TO. BUT IT NEVER QUITE ACKNOWLEDGES THE BRAVERY OF THE MARTIAL HILL WOMEN, WHO TRIED TO MAKE GIANT GESTURES NO...
