That disappointment is echoed by Prashant Tamang. "I feel a lot of sorrow for not being able to meet with my family. I meeting them today for the first time since my win," says the current Indian Idol.
"I feel sad that I have not been able to go back to my gaon."
"I want to go to my house. I want to go everywhere. I want to go all over and say thanks to everyone but there is all this work and albums to do. I need to find some time."
Rediff.com caught up with the singer in Gangtok, Sikkim, where he had come to perform a thank you concert for all his Sikkimese fans. He has been on the road since 5 am -- he gave a few concerts in Nepal before arriving here -- but cheerfully meets the fans non-stop.
Apparently his handlers questioned the wisdom of him doing a glorious homecoming tour. A racist remark by a Delhi-based radio jockey about Gorkhas saw 5,000 people take to the streets in Siliguri, which sparked off violence between Nepalis and non-Nepalis. The army had to be called in. With the call for a separate Gorkhaland state once again finding momentum in West Bengal, Darjeeling and its surroundings is less peaceful these days.
Here in Sikkim, Prashant is surrounded by family, above. Hordes of uncles, aunts, cousins, grannies, just in from Darjeeling, all dressed in their Sunday best, float ecstatically around the boy who has brought the Tamang clan unimaginable prestige. The Tamangs are incidentally a prominent ethnic group from Nepal who follow Tibetan Buddhism although they observe some Hindu rituals. Prashant's relatives are a simple, friendly bunch.
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