Saturday, December 14, 2013

Hurried Trip to Avoid a Bad Star

-M. Lilla and C. Bishop Barry

This essay is written by two American geographers, M. Lilla and C. Bishop Barry, who spent 15 months in the Karnali region. It was published in the National Geographic in 1971.

The essay explains how Karnali is economically linked with the lowland regions to the south, or Nepalgunj. The people of the hilly areas of Karnali bring local products like medicinal herbs, hashish, hand-knit sweaters, and blankets to sell in Nepalgunj. They buy other necessary items like clothes, aluminum and iron wares, spices, jewelry, sweets, etc.
           
This essay also describes other problems of the hill people. They met a Chhetri woman who was left by her husband. Her husband had left the village 15 years before in search of a job in Nepalgunj. Now, she wanted her husband back.
           
In a forest at 9,000 feet, they met some people processing silajit. They were going to sell it in Nepalgunj. They could not process silajit at home because they had left home hurriedly to avoid a bad star.
           
The writers found some women cutting the green branches of saal trees to feed their animals. The trees were almost bare, but the villagers did not know about the bad effects of deforestation. They had to feed their animals.
           
When the writers arrived in Nepalgunj, they saw, smelt, and heard many things that they had not in the hills. They also watched the hill people buying different items. They bought cotton cloth, aluminum, ironware, spice, and jewelry items. One of their porters bought distillery equipment. He wanted to earn a lot of money preparing liquor in Jumla.
           
The geographers returned to Jumla to finish their project. They learned a lot about the hill people. Their land produces very little amount of crops which is hardly enough to feed themselves. So, they need other activities besides farming to survive. Therefore, the hill people are always ready for the dangerous and unsafe journey.

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