Tag Archives: people

Bajrabarahi and Chitlang Valleys [बज्रवाराही र चित्लाङ]

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हालै मैले काठमान्डू उपत्यकाभन्दा पश्चिमको क्षेत्रका केही भागको यात्रा गरेँ । सहर छाडेर म ककनीबाट बाहिर निस्केको थिएँ, नुवाकोटको बट्टारमा रात विताउन । त्यसपछि म टिस्टुङ देउराली हुँदै मकवानपुर जिल्लाको नबिथोलिएको र विमल बज्रवाराही उपत्यका पुगेँ । चन्द्रागिरि र दामन डाँडाहरूको बीचमा फैलिएको यो बस्तीमा जान मलाई धेरै अघिदेखि मन थियो । बज्रवाराहीबाट एउटा सानो थुम्को चढेर चित्लाङ पुगेको म बडादसैँको विहान लालबहादुर श्रेष्ठको घरमा बिउँझिएँ । चन्द्रागिरिको पश्चिमी काखमा रहेको यो सानो र शान्त अावादीमा म यसपाली तेस्रोपटक पुगेको थिएँ । I recently travelled to the region west of Kathmandu Valley. I exited the city via Kakani to overnight in Battar of Nuwakot jilla. Next, I went to the pristine valley of Bajrabarahi via Tistung Deurali in Makwanpur district. I had always wanted to visit this area tucked between Chandragiri and Daman hills. From Bajrabarahi, I crossed over to Chitlang village to wake up in the morning of Dashain Day in the house of Lal Bahadur Shrestha. This was my third trip to the beautiful hamlet nestled at the western base of Chandagiri.

 

Surya Bahadur Gopali on his way back home in the Gahate neighbourhood of Bajrabarahi valley after making a leisurely trip to the bazaar.

Surya Bahadur Gopali was on his way back home in the Gahate neighbourhood of Bajrabarahi valley after making a leisurely trip to the bazaar.
बज्रबाराही उपत्यकाको गहते बस्तीका सूर्यबहादर गोपाली खुट्टा तन्काउन बजारसम्म पुगेर घर फर्किदै थिए ।

 

Gopali people live in the Kunchhal neighbourhood of Bajrabarahi valley. Fields and houses.

Gopali people live in the Kunchhal neighbourhood of Bajrabarahi valley. A recent Nepal magazine report by Sitaram Baral noted it’s the largest Gopali settlement in Nepal. I was struck by the varieties of colours seen in this image.

बज्रबाराहीको कुन्छाल टोलमा गोपालीहरू बस्छन् । नेपाल खबरपत्रिकामा सिताराम बरालको हालैको एउटा रूचिपूर्ण रिपोर्ट अनुसार यो नेपालमै सबैभन्दा धेरै गोपालीहरू बस्ने गाउँ हो । यो तस्बिरमा देखिएका रङहरूले मलाई मोहित तुल्याए ।

 

Harimaya Gopali of Bajrabarahi said her house suffered a minor damage in the April 2015 earthquakes.

Harimaya Gopali of Bajrabarahi said her house suffered a minor damage in the April 2015 earthquakes. Her relative’s house across the road partially collapsed. She said she makes a monthly trip to Kathmandu to sell things that are produced in the village. Those corns are kept that way because there’s not enough space inside the house to store them.

अप्रिल २०१५ का भैचालाहरूले अाफ्नो घरलाई सामान्य क्षति पुगेको बज्रबाराहीकी हरिमाया गोपालीले बताइन् । सामुन्ने सडकको अर्कोपट्टी रहेको उनका अाफन्तको घर अांशिक भत्कियो । गाउँमा उत्पादित सामानहरू बेच्न महिनामा एकचोटी जस्तो काठमान्डू जानेगरेको उनले बताइन् । घरभित्र भन्डार गरेर राख्ने पर्याप्त ठाउँ नभएकैले मकै त्यसरी झुन्ड्याएर राखिएको हो । अहँ, पानीले भिज्दैन ।

 

यो फोटो निबन्ध तल निरन्तर छ । तपाईँलाई इमेलमै पछिल्लो ब्लग, लेख र तस्बिर पठाउँदा म खुसी हुनेछु । बाकसमा आफ्नो इमेल ठेगाना हाल्नु होला । अनि अाफ्नो इमेल इन्बक्समा अाएको लिंक थिचेर कन्फर्म गर्नु होला । यो लेख इमेल इन्बक्समै पढिरहुन भएको छ भने केही गर्न पर्दैन । धन्यवाद :

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Man flies kite in Narayanhitti, Chitlang village

A man flew kite in the Narayanhitti neighbourhood of Chitlang village. Chandragiri hill separates Chitlang with Kathmandu.

म बज्रबाराहीबाट चित्लाङ् छिर्दा नारायणहिटी टोलमा यी व्यक्तिलाई चंगा उडाइरहेको अवस्थामा भेट्टाएँ । चित्लाङलाई चन्द्रागिरीले काठमान्डूबाट छुट्याउँछ ।

 

Fying kite in Chitlang

Flying kite in Chitlang

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Men play Sahanai

Panche baaja पञ्चे बाजा

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Two men blowing Narsinghas

Men blow Narsinghas in Dhampus village, Nepal. According to this page (http://bit.ly/2ak5iWj), the name Narsingha means “buffalo horn,” but the instrument is much larger than the horn of a buffalo. The same page states: The Narsingha is a long curved natural horn with a conical bore, which varies widely in size, shape and usage in ensembles throughout Nepal.

A wedding ceremony? An auspicious occasion? Someone very important, a thulo manchhe, coming in the village? Play the panche baja (the five -musical- instruments). That’s still the case in many Nepali villages. These photos are from Dhampus village, north of Pokhara that offers beautiful views of the Annapurna range. When I was there last year around this time, the mountains were hidden in the clouds. Mesmerizing dhoon of panche baja played to welcome some thulo manchhes I was traveling with compensated the lack of great mountain views. I again saw panche baja played in a village in Lamjung earlier this year when to welcome a thulo manchhe.

Men play damaha drums

Men play Damaha drums

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Jaleshwar, Mahottari

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Holy dip: A man sought respite from the heat by taking bath in the pond at the back of the Jaleshwar Mahadev Temple.

Holy dip: A man sought respite from heat by taking bath in pond at the back of the Jaleshwar Mahadev Temple.

24 June 2013: Journalists have the best office building in Jaleshwar, headquarters of Mahottari district. Mahottari chapter of the Federation of Nepali Journalists constructed their office building on land provided by the district administration office last year. President Yadav inaugurated the building. Rest of the office buildings in this town look utterly depressing (the Municipality Office building should top that unenviable list).

This is my first trip to Jaleshwar (Mahottari). I went to a nearby village (Khaira). There I found a man who had run away from Nepal Police service just before the conflict ended. Afterward he tried his luck in foreign employment but the work he was offered in Malaysia turned out to be different than what his agent had described in Kathmandu. He came back quickly. His brother went. Now he is trying to go as well. May be after Dasain, he said. There was a photo of his father, a Nepal Police ASI who died a few years back while in service, hanging on the wall of a makeshift shop that he maintained near his house.

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Rukhmuni Ranta Park: Revised Impression of Speakers’ Corner at Hyde Park

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Hyde Park Speakers' Corner discussions

The man in the middle had brought a list that he said police had prepared and contained many ethnic groups/nationalities including Nepali of the world. He argued that those on the upper part (white Europeans) received favorable treatment from police than those that are at the lower part of the list. James (not seen) believed the man was wrong. About 10 minutes later I saw the man on left chatting with James and, at one point, he tried to include me into their conversation about international banking asking what I felt about it.

So the Speakers’ Corner hasn’t been deserted after all. After I posted an entry on the place portraying it as an empty place James (call him Sir James or James Chambuwan 😉 ) suggested me to go there on a Sunday afternoon. That’s what I did and, lo and behold, there was another James, slightly taller than the one who suggested me to go there, I must admit, talking animatedly about various crises in the world but mainly focusing his lecture to European affairs. A few middle-aged men surrounded him as he continuously spoke, leaving little chance for others to interrupt, moving both hands and his whole body furiously and occasionally jumping a few inches from the ground (or may be just raising is both ankles) to make a particularly important point. Some of his listeners were trying their best to interrupt him, correct him and to counter and add their own views to what he was saying.

James the Speaker of the Imperial College, London (a student of Chemistry who plans to go into finance and politics- finance more likely than politics, he admitted- in future and thinks it’s good to be grounded in pure science while making career in one of the aforementioned areas) was one of about seven speakers who were Continue reading →

From the hills [Baglung Bazaar]

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baglung kalika temple dashain festival

Devotees lined up to get Darshan of goddess Kalika at the Kalika Devi temple near Baglung Bazaar on the 7th day of Dashain (2 October 2011)

Long and mostly tiresome bus journeys.From THE valley to the almost plain to the lap of the giant hills where I always love to be in. This moment is on the 30th hours of the journey that has already seen many faces- many of them happy some sad and filled with frustration. A few of them had no expression at all. Or, it could be equally true that I was unable to read them or I failed to capture their facial expressions properly. But I could hear them. So many different ways of saying things. Quite a few new words though not dramatically different from what I was used to with.Some talks and chitchat were amazingly interesting and revealing. They exposed the mental status of the persons involved in those conversations. They also told who those persons were WITH regard to-this is very important- the complex social, economical and political structure that is the Nepali society. The trail wasn’t new to me as it was not the first time I had traveled on that part of the trail. But as soon as the sun set I ventured into the area where I had never been before. The hills are all too familiar because wherever one goes in Nepal at this altitude it’s all the same. You definitely don’t need fans which brings me to the tweets I posted a while ago.

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