विदाइ र खूब पढ्नु है…

When Diki left for Bengaluru three years ago to study nursing, her parents stood at the Bagdogra airport gate for a long time after her flight had already boarded, unable to leave, as if standing there a little longer would somehow keep her closer. Her father, a retired forest department employee, had spent almost every rupee of his savings on her admission fees, hostel deposit, and the first year's expenses. He never told Diki this. He simply said, "Padhai ma dhyan deu, baaki hami herchau" — Focus on your studies, we'll manage the rest.

What Diki did not fully understand at the time was how much "managing the rest" actually cost her parents. Her father took on a small loan in the second year, something he only mentioned to Diki much later, long after it had already been repaid.

This story repeats itself in nearly every town across Sikkim, Darjeeling, and Kalimpong. Children leave for Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, sometimes even further, abroad, chasing higher education and better opportunities. More awareness of opportunities, and genuine ambition have pushed more young people to seek education and careers beyond the hills. It reflects growing aspiration and capability among the region's youth.

But this ambition comes with real, often underestimated, costs. Tuition fees, hostel or rental costs, flights or long train journeys home, daily living expenses in cities—all of this adds up quickly, and quietly stretches family finances thinner than expected. Parents send them off proudly, quietly absorbing the costs.

Unlike a sudden emergency, the cost of a child's higher education is usually foreseeable years in advance. A family with a ten-year-old child today can reasonably expect significant education expenses within the next eight to ten years. This long runway is valuable, because it allows for gradual, steady saving instead of last-minute borrowing under pressure.

Many families, understandably focused on daily expenses, postpone this planning until admission season arrives, and then face the same scramble Diki's father quietly went through: loans, sold assets, borrowed goodwill from relatives.

Every parent who has stood at that airport gate, watching a child disappear into a departure lounge toward a bigger life, understands a particular kind of pride mixed with quiet worry. The cost of leaving home is never only counted in rupees.