Happy on the road, he worries about the country

He is an average Nepali, a man who does not come under the very few "privileged class of people" of Nepali society. Meena Kaini of The Kathmandu Post talked with Lal Bahadur Tamang, 56, about his life, the lives of others as he sees it and the state of the country, which worries him profoundly.

He is a person who sees a string of luxurious cars pass through his roadside shop everyday and thinks that all those driving them must be ‘sansadharu’ (lawmakers) who got their Pajeros for ‘free’. He finds joy in knowing the variety of people that he encounters everyday at his vegetables stall and wonders why some people have it all and some do not have a thing. He has a lot of questions that come to his mind now and then but he makes it a point to not let them disturb him neither does he look for an answer to all those questions. He has a readymade answer to give to himself – "Karma ma nalekhikana aayepachhi yestai ho. Bhagya bhaneko yehi hola, kohi sanga sabai cheez chha, kohi sanga chhaina."

Tamang, who hails from the district of Nuwakot feeds his family – wife, one daughter and two sons – by selling vegetables at the roadside in one of the crowded streets of Kathmandu, Samakhushi. He came to Kathmandu with his family five years back leaving his brothers to take care of the very little land that he had. Tamang still shudders at the risk he took to abandon his village at once and come to Kathmandu with a family of seven people without a visible source of income.

Out of his five children he does not have to support two of the elder daughters anymore who have already been married off. And it is not just him who works to sell those vegetables that he buys early morning from Kalimati, his whole family is involved in selling them. "Both my daughters married on their own," he says. "Though I did not like their decision at first I had to accept who they married if they are happy. Both of them have children now."

His sons and the third daughter, youngest of all attend a government school in the day and help him during the evening when the vegetable shops are bustling with people. "My daughter works both at home and here with attention, whereas it is so difficult to keep my boys engaged in some work. They run to play every now and then," he says.

When asked how much he earns, he says with a smile, "khana launa jaso taso pugchha." (Just enough to eat and clothe ourselves.) The family income, however, is not just the earnings that he has from his tarkari pasal. His wife, Sannani Tamang goes to do the dishes and wash clothes at some of the houses. He is very happy for the fact that he is at least being honest with himself and not doing any naramro kaam (wrong works). Tamang laughs when saying that money is not worth anything more than for day-to-day survival. "Marera lane hoina kyare," he says.

It is not just his life that he is concerned about or often ponders about. The country and its state concern him very often. People’s War launched by the underground Maoist rebels, which has had the ministers and prime ministers concerned and engaged to resolve, scares and disturbs him at the same time. The escalating violence and deaths of hundreds of people saddens him deeply – "what is happening to this country?" he questions and he can neither answer this for himself nor has somebody to convince him. Being a Nepali citizen in the first place and a father, a breadwinner, he relates to the pains that all those people who lost their loved ones. As he puts it – "police bhaye pani Maobadi bhaye pani… aakhir sabai Nepali nai ta ho." (In the end, all those – police or Maoists who loose their lives are Nepalis.)

He worries about the country and so is a bit skeptical to believe that any change in the state of governance can bring positive changes. "Jun baad aaye pani uhi ho (it is going to be the same, no matter which ism comes," he says.

Limbus to send 64 volunteers for census

TEHRATHUM, April 15 (PR) - The Kirat Yakthum Chumlung has decided to send 64 volunteers for National Census of 2001 (1958 BS) to help enumerators and also generate awareness among the Limbu people to respond correctly to the questionnaires.

The volunteers will be sent to 32 VDCs of the district.

The Chumlung has urged all the Limbus to state their religion as ‘Kirat’ and language and family name as ‘Limbu’. The volunteers have been trained for the job and asked to generate awareness among the Limbu people.

The data about Limbus was not accurate since the Limbus used to state their religion and family name differently in the past. This is the outcome of joint initiative of Kirat Yakthum Chumlung, Kirat Rai Yayakhkha, Kirat Yakhkha Chhuma and Sunuwar Samaj Sewa to get the correct racial data in this year’s national census.

Limbus reside in 11 districts of the eastern development region.

Meanwhile, a 2-day training programme was organised for the volunteers. The trainee included former MP Tej Man Tumbahangphey, who underlined the need to collect correct data about the ethnic community of Limbu to avoid crisis of racial identification.

Swargadwari Guthi devoid of fund

Post Report

DEUKHURI (Lamahi), April 15 - The Swargadwari Guthi has not received in the past three years the puja expenditure which it had been receiving from the government for the last 45 years.

The government had been providing puja expenditure of Rs 6,000 per year through Dang Land Revenue Office.

Manager of the Sworgadwari Guthi Raghunandan Giri said he had repeatedly submitted application to the office but there was no response. The guthi has not received the puja expenditure for the years 2053, 2054 and 2055 BS.

Land Revenue Officer Krishna Prasad Gautam told The Kathmandu Post that he had not received the application in writing. He said nobody could spend the amount earmarked for religious activities.