This was years ago...A weary traveller, not from around these parts, sought shelter. It was getting dark, and he needed a place to spend the night,” says Tej Kumari Chitrakar. “I thought it would do no harm to let him sleep in our corridor. He was a Pardesi, after all...I couldn’t think of anything bad that could come from giving him one night’s shelter here.”

Tej Kumari has an animated sort of expression on her face. You sense that she really wants to tell this story. What she is about to confide in you amazes her, and she wishes for you to share in that wonder. “It was late at night when I heard frantic knocks and opened the door to find the Pardesi on the landing. ‘The Devatas will not let me sleep,’ he told me. ‘They have hit and prodded me all these hours, and will not let me rest’.”

You find yourself in an old settlement in Bhaktapur, in a home that’s not quite like all the others. It is the holy house of Ya-che Tole where Tej Kumari’s husband, Purna, moulds, paints and brings to life the 13 sanctified masks of the Nava Durga Naach each year.

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On the northern face of Rupakot hill, the highest point in Khotang, sits the village of Jalapa. Diktel, purportedly a ‘sugam’ city, lies on the other side five hours away. But Jalapa, with nearly 600 houses, has become the model village in the district.

In the early eighties, five SLC graduates from here—Jaiswor, Pratiman, Tanka, Ram Prasad and Kumar Rai—started a campaign to upgrade the lower secondary school in their village to a secondary school. Against the scepticism of the elders, these young men formed the Janahit Yuba Samaj, a club, something not encouraged during the then-Panchayat regime. Regardless, they banded together to raise awareness on the importance of having a high school and began gathering funds by playing deusi.

Their strategy was thus: Three of the employed club members would contribute two percent of their income to the fund while the others would donate two rupees per month. During rice planting season, villagers were encouraged to put a day’s wage towards the fund. Donations picked up so that in two years’ time, the villagers were even selling property to invest in the school. Still, the local administration refused permission for the upgrade—a mostly political call, based on the fact that the club members were supporters of the multiparty system. It wasn’t until they’d appealed to the Regional Education Directorate, Dhankuta, in 1983, that they were finally given permission.

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With the recent completion of the Chame-Besisahar road in Manang, a three-four day journey from Besisahar to Chame now only takes six hours. The 65km road linking Chame in Manang with Besisahar in Lamjung has made the lives of residents much easier, now that the transport and supply of goods has become faster. The road, which took 11 years to complete, was built by the Nepal Army.
With the new road, the price of daily essentials has decreased by around 30 percent. For instance, an LPG cylinder, which previously went for Rs 3,100, now costs Rs 2,300. One kg of pulses sell for Rs 140, the same quantity cost Rs 160 earlier. A packet of iodine-laced salt costs Rs 35 while it was Rs 45 earlier.
“With the construction of the road, the transport of goods has become cheaper, thus decreasing prices in the market,” said Anita Lama, former chairperson of the Chame Yuwa Samuha.

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Rupa Lake ,Rupa Tal is a freshwater lake in Nepal located in the south-east of Pokhara valley that includes Lekhnath municipality. It is the third biggest lake in Pokhara valley of Nepal and at an altitude of 600 m (1,969 ft) covering area about 1.35 km2 (0.5 sq mi) with an average water depth 3 m and maximum depth 6 m.The lake is elongated north to south and is fed by perennial streams. Its watershed area is 30 km², where The main inflow of water is from Talbesi stream, whereas Dhovan khola is the feeder stream with its outlet Tal khola at Sistani ghat. It supports a number of floral and faunal species. A total of 36 species of waterbirds have been recorded in the lake which represents about 19 percent of the total 193 wetland-dependent birds found in Nepal.

Rupa lake is the second main tourism attraction after Begnas Lake outside the Pokhara city. It provides enough space for boating experiences for national and international visitors. Cage culture as well as pen culture have been practiced in Rupa lake for fish farming. Farmers in the Kaski district of Nepal have formed the Rupa Lake Rehabilitation and Fisheries Cooperatives Limited to help protect the watershed.

 

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