How loud can you go?

By Dikshya Thakuri

Music is global. The rhythms, the styles, the ‘language’ of expression is the musician’s choice, be it forced through a necessary history of migration, or a simple love for the sounds created outside the borders of this country. There are bands out there playing popular global music (some lazily define it as western), some mostly doing cover versions usually around bars in Thamel and in star hotels, but for nearly all, music is their passion and music is why they play. So what about them? What are the problems? The downside? What’s the scene like here?

Abhaya Subba Weise, female vocalist of the "Red Skywalkers", currently doing numbers from Janice Joplin, ABBA to Santana, at the Hyatt’s Rox bar on weekends from 8.30pm, says that they don’t have problems with the local authorities. "We are a new band and old hands at music. The main problem here is getting a band together. It’s like a marriage and there’s always a chance of a divorce as well, because it’s difficult staying together." Some things change but some things never change.

Charu Rizal, PR manager at the Hyatt Regency, mentions that it is part of Hyatt’s policy to get bands into the Rox bar. "Security is tight now. To avoid people who just walk in and create problems, introducing membership cards is in our cards, which will, probably, be mostly free of cost and will be given to the regulars. The card holders will be able to take their guests along".

So, is there any diversity in their music? "We make it a point to learn 3 new songs every week". What about the crowd? Is it music that draws them to bars? "I think if it’s good music, everybody’s receptive and it’s part of the spirit". Music for me is not a career, it’s my passion. I love music. The music scene here is you have to make it happen, you have to create your environment and that’s what we’re trying to do. If you don’t go and get it done then the scene is bleak. Earlier I used to wait for people to approach me but now I’ve realized that I have to make things happen instead of waiting for things to happen".

But bands need to play constantly before a live audience to hone their skills and indeed to generate an atmosphere. Most of them head towards Thamel but you can only catch them on just the one day....... For the bands lucky enough to play at the city’s major hotels, it’s not such a problem but for many others it is. And they may not be able to play the kind of music they really want to play. (The authorities keep a check on that too.)

Yuvaraj Chhetri (people call him Vikku) from "Rusty Nails" formed in 1985, are currently playing at The Club in Bhatbhateni on Fridays and Hyatt on Wednesdays, thinks that playing music is not really happening. "In Thamel you have to stop playing at 10p.m and you can play only once a week, only on Fridays. The problem playing in The Club is the neighbours more than the cops", he confides. Sound system, Power amplification, microphone etc may not be up to date in all the places they play music and that too could be a hassle. Yuvaraj agrees that the pubs hire them because the music definitely draws in crowds.

Another person who has been in the music scene in Kathmandu for more than 2 decades is Dinesh Rai. Earlier he used to perform in Hotel Soaltee for a number of years. Now he sings in the Himallete Café in Thamel. According to him, the scene for bands here is getting better and there are more hotels to play in like Hyatt, and pubs in Thamel. The police, he says, are strict about loud music but there isn’t much problem when it comes to soft music. The bands reverberating their music across Thamel much to the chagrin of the neighbours, have forwarded a written request to the police to let them play because now they have permission until 10p.m but only on Fridays, that’s the latest buzz.

Then you have Cadenza, playing music in Kathmandu since 1994 playing with a mix of Funk and Reggae. Pravin Chhetri from the band, which has moved to Jazz numbers now, feels that music (in terms of a career) is not working because of the current political situation in the country. "There are problems concerning the cops, you can’t play late. You have to have instruments of your own while going around playing. But the major problems are the police and the Maoist insurgency in the country. Generally bands are allowed to play until 10p.m but sometimes, the cops just come in the middle of it all and take away equipments and drag (Nepalese) people out of the bars. There are only a couple of restaurants and bars where music is played until 12a.m", he emphasises.

And the guardians who keep their eye on the Thamel area under the direction of the Ward Police Office in Sorakhutte are quick to point that everything is under control — One of the police requesting anonymity for his own reasons casually mentions, "Nepalese don’t take alcohol, alcohol takes them and they end up creating problems after having a drink too many. We do not arrest them, we just get them out of clubs and pubs after 10 p.m".

But there are stories from bar owners (who do not want to be named) and some people who admit that, at times, there have been incidents when bystanding Nepalese have been pushed into police vans and taken straight to the cell and, on occasions mistreated.

Pravin says, while playing in Shangrila (though it was only till 10p.m) they had no problems with the cops. Now they play mostly at Upstairs in Lazimpat every Wednesday (percussion) and Saturday (jazz) and pack up at 9.45 p.m to be on the safe side.

Talking about bands playing in Thamel, the Police source explains that they have stopped the bands from performing everyday because of the complaints from the neighbours. If it were soft music, it wouldn’t be much of a problem. Now the police allow the bands to take the mike only on Fridays that too only after they seek permission from the relevant authority.

Again on a wider scale, music as a career here, Dinesh feels, "Is not a good proposition unless you do recordings and go abroad for concerts but that too is only limited to Nepali music. Playing western music as a full time job here is very limited unless you play in hotels. But then the money used to be far too good in the beginning compared to now". So the money bit too seems to have hit a snag.

Pravin says, "People ask us why haven’t we done any Nepali music because Nepali is popular among the masses. We brought out a demo album called ‘Don’t mind if we do’ in 1996 which we produced ourselves and made about 500 copies. People liked it. Now we’re trying to bring out a debut album."

And because of the intimate surroundings of bars, the stage just a few steps away, there are times when the audience too, try to take matters into their hands. "Some of the people in the crowd want to take the mike and sing. I stopped it and in the bargain made a lot of enemies", Dinesh says laughing. "This kind of problem occurs especially when you play acoustic but the crowd generally don’t dare to sing if the band is playing electric instruments", he adds. "Music is something you can’t do without but you can’t live on it either. Not many places have much scope except Pokhara and Kathmandu".

The story is not only about the music scene and the problems that come along with it. Alcohol cannot be served after 10p.m officially. But there are rumours that pubs open after the specified time under police protection, which means that they have special deals with the police especially in Thamel. Those bars don’t have to worry too much about opening late and the bands playing. But if the deal is not satisfactory, or the police want it their way, then the raids begin and once they reach an understanding, everything cools down. So the whole thing is on and off, depending on the time and circumstances.

When asked about the rife rumours regarding the special deal between the police and the pub owners, a police personnel categorically denies this and says go and ask the pub owners what business is like. "We don’t and we’ve never had such deals at all. They can’t make money especially when business has been down for quite some time and there’s this talk about special deals", he retorts.

Pravin — "In the beginning few people were interested but now they are interested to come to bars for music and there are still those who consider it fashionable to come and listen to music in a bar so there is hype as well".

Dashain and Durga Puja: Kathmandu and Kolkata

By Damakant Jayshi

It’s shopping time again as the festive spirit rends the air. Dashain shopping is slowly gathering pace, with buyers crowding the shops in the evening. This reminds me of the scene I witnessed, year after year, in the twin towns of Howrah and Calcutta (now Kolkata) when the Durga Puja spirit comes to West Bengal.

Whether a Sunday or any other holiday, the shops remain open on all days until as late as 9.30 p.m. (a full two hours later than when most would usually down their shutters). The twin cities seem to be galvanised into one single mission - buy, buy and more buy.

But here, in Kathmandu, the same zeal for shopping is still not clearly visible as Dashain is more than a month away. If you happen to be in Kolkata right now, you will see an amazing sight. It is indeed a treat watching families devoting their time and energy to buy the best clothes, shoes and jewellery (who else but the ladies) for the festive Sharad (autumn) season. Come 6 o’clock and it’s difficult to walk on the pavements, with the hawkers and shoppers on the move, crowding them.

To add to the milieu, extra lighting arrangements are visible on the street corners as well as inside the shops.

It is not only the shops that witness a great boom in business, the restaurants and small eateries too do a brisk business with their own fast-selling quick snacks.

Kathmandu too witnesses the festival-related shopping spree, with both the Nepalis and Indian tourists thronging the shops to do bagfulls of shopping. So, there is not much difference in the shopping zeal of the people of the two cities, though the difference in scale is apparent.

Radhapriya Chakraborty, who has come from Howrah to spend Puja with her sister’s family in Gyaneshwor, feels the spark missing here, though she admits that there is still time for the shopping boom.

However, there is a marked difference about the festival itself - Dashain in the capital city of Nepal and Durga Puja in the capital city of West Bengal, although these two are arguably the greatest religious festivals in both places. While the spirit of Dashain makes Kathmandu almost deserted with most people going back to their native places, the Puja spirit draws thousands and thousands of people from all parts of the state and the country to Kolkata.

Awe-inspiring and dazzling sarbojonin (community) pandals are made by the very best artists to house the beautiful set of five images - Goddesses Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati and Gods Ganesh and Kartikeya - made by the best hands of the Kumhartoli, the bastion of image-makers. Throughout the four nights of Saptami, Ashtami, Navami and Dashami (Dashain here), the pandals are visited by hundreds of thousands of people. Most of them do not return home until the wee hours of the dawn.

In contrast, the high point of Dashain in Kathmandu is the chance to receive tika from Their Majesties. People from all parts of the country queue in front of the palace gate to be blessed with the Dashain tika from the Royal Family. The custom has it that it is the King first who receives tika and then the whole Kingdom follows suit.

While Kathmandu certainly loses people during the Dashain festival, other parts of the country are flooded with people returning home for the yearly reunion. Nepalis working and studying in India, the UK and Hong Kong, among others, make the journey back home. The high point all over the Kingdom is the goat sacrifice, especially on Ashtami. Besides this, village communities gather for a communal puja in the local temples.

There are of course, a few community Durga Pujas in Kathmandu too, especially by the Bengalis living here, the notable one among them being at the Rotary Club at Thapathali and Gyaneshwor. This trend of community puja is increasing among the Marwaris of Kathmandu too.

Chakraborty’s sister says that although the Bengalis take the lead in community pujas here, both Nepalis and people of Indian origin take part in the festival. She says, artists from Siliguri make the pandals and all the materials for the images are brought from West Bengal. Even purohits are brought from there to give the Puja a native touch.

Bhaskar Dutta, librarian at the DAV, Sushil Kedia Vishwa Bharati School in Jawalakhel, acknowledges that while there is indeed difference between Dashain and Durga Puja, the two have a common thread in that both are periods of reunion for families. Be it Kathmandu or Kolkata, the festive mood is at its highest during this period.

Ghodaghodi tal: facing a murky future

By Birodh Pandey and Pradeep Khanal

Located in the Far Western region of Nepal in Kailai district lies an ecologically significant wetland- Tal. Unlike the wetland of east Koshi Tappu, little attention has been given to this wetland, which in every way has parallel attributes to Koshi Tappu and is a proposed Ramsar site.

The size of the wetland is around 10sq km and its elevation ranges from 195m-207m above mean sea level. The wetland covers three VDCs of the Kailali district. The surrounding area of the wetland consists of forests, scrubs, human settlements and agricultural fields. Ghodaghodi Tal is collectively composed of nine different lakes, namely, Ghodaghodi, Ojhuwa, Purbi Ojhuwa, Chaitya, Baishawa, Sunpokhari, Nakhrodi, Budhi Nakhrodi and Ramphal all of various sizes separated by marsh land. As a whole the wetland is categorized as a fresh Water Lake associated with marshes that encompass various rivers, swamps, marshes, reservoirs, ponds, flood plains and paddy fields. Of the nine-sister lakes, Ghodaghodi, which lies adjacent to the East West Highway, is the largest and a concrete dam regulates its outlet.

There are various interesting mythological beliefs about the name of the lake. Ghodaghodi literally means male and female horse. Popular cosmic belief says a hermit crushed Lord Shiva and Parvati into a horse. The pair circled around the lake and hence the name Ghodaghodi. The other belief is that the indigenous Chaudhari people living around the vicinity of the lake made various animal artifacts but by and large they made the horse and hence its worship. This act may have led to the naming of the lake Ghodaghodi. The next story is that the lake was too large in ancient times and was impossible for a single horse to make a circle in one day and hence the name was proposed.

Wetlands are among the most threatened ecosystems of the world and are not an exception to Nepal. As population pressure, internal migration, and need for agricultural land intensifies, wetlands get threatened.

Wetlands cover 5.5% of the total land area of Nepal and are the most productive ecosystems. Ghodaghodi Tal is an important prime habitat for migrating and resident birds. Around 140 species of different birds are sighted around this wetland, some birds migrating from as far away as Siberia and Mongolia during the winter season. Over 10 different species of fish, 3-5 species of reptiles, 11 species of mammals, 3 different species of amphibious toads and frogs and, one of the celebrated animals of Nepal, the Marsh Magar find a home in Ghodaghodi Tal. The area also supports a high diversity of flora numbering 248 species. IUCN has classified the Ghodaghodi Tal into Lacustine, Palustrine and Riverrine systems. It is an obvious fact that Ghodaghodi Tal has helped maintain the microclimate of the region and importantly flood mitigation and replenishment of ground water.

Ghodaghodi Tal fulfills the habitat requirements for many unique species of waterfowl during all phases of growth. Besides its ecological importance, Ghodaghodi Tal has high socio-economic and cultural value. Rural people in several ways use the water body, like fishing, extraction of plant materials, and recreational purposes. Since the surrounding area is highly productive, it provides good opportunities for farming and grazing livestock. Thus the local people find their basic needs like fodder, fuel wood, wild fruits and vegetables, grazing land, and water from the wetland for their livelihood and to maintain their households. Besides, the Shiva temple in the adjoining area of Ghodaghodi Tal signifies the cultural value of the lake.

Ghodaghodi Tal is an integral part of the life of the people living around its periphery who find their basic needs in the wetland. Unfortunately, though people have a ritual relationship with the wetland, they fail to recognize their dependency on the wetland and consequently invite ecological problems. The two major factors responsible for the wetland degradation are anthropogenic and natural. With regard to anthropogenic factors, migration was seen as the biggest problem. Population pressure has intensified within the last decade as people have migrated here in large numbers from Surkhet, Dailekh, Baitadi, Asham, Myagdi and Gulmi in search of better opportunities. Grazing by animals, picking wild mushrooms, firewood collection, fishing and logging are done in a haphazard manner. No regulatory measures have been adopted. The greed for higher productivity has led to the encroachment of the marshy area of the wetland. This act has a direct impact upon the aquatic and terrestrial dwellers. Leaching of chemical fertilizers, insecticides into the water body will invite serious threats to the existence of the lake.

The next problem is nature induced or due to natural factors. Various degrees of landslides occur periodically in the most fragile Churiya hills. Unfortunately the Churiya region happens to be the catchment area of the wetland and consequently the silt is drained into the wetland decreasing its size and productivity each year. The soil in the surrounding area is sandy and loosely arranged. This means heavy silt deposits in the water body during the monsoon. Encroachment of Cititium species into the waterlogged area of the wetland is the next problem. These species grow in clumps and accelerate the process of eutrophication in the wetland. Heavy organic matter production inside the lake due to the decomposition of aquatic plants has elaborated the problem of Biological oxygen demand and dissolved oxygen. According to the locals there has been a remarkable decrease in the fish population within the last decade. The concrete reason is the siltation problem accompanied by the higher biological oxygen demand due to higher decomposition. The potential danger is eutrophication of the lake due to over organic production and siltation.

Enforcing aspirant conservation measures is hard as the poverty-stricken people around the wetland question their survival. People around the wetland have seen, observed and played in the wetland for their livelihood. A complex relationship of people with the biophysical aspects of the lake exists. To achieve a common ground the government must explore a core of sustainable utilization of resources understanding the philosophy of life of the people living in the vicinity of this wetland. Very limited investigations have been carried out about the Ghodaghodi Tal. However IUCN and the British Embassy have taken keen interest in the development of this wetland. At the local level, the District Forest Office has started the fencing off of the Ghodaghodi Tal area. But isolating the wetland from the existing community will only invite illegal encroachment. A sustainable use of resources should be addressed to impose effective conservation, after all people are the masters of their resources and have customary rights to the resources at their disposal. Although it has been proposed, the government has yet to designate the area as a Ramsar site.

If the present trend of negligence continues, Ghodaghodi Tal will become history, that too in a short span. The wonderful gift of nature will only exist inside the pages of books. We have no legislative provisions for the conservation of wetlands, although Nepal has agreed upon various conventions aiming at integrating the conservation in a global context.

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