Gorkha - Pokhara - Ghandruk

Intro

I don't want to begin this travelogue in the way I began my previous one. [LAMJUNG YAATRA: JEEVAN KO HINDAAI; you can find it, if you wish, on http://pyakdiwa.blogspot.com/2010/08/blog-post.html] That was a different context and this is totally happened in different context with different purposes.

So, this was tour with my classmates.  It was a completely recreational tour; however the college had named it "academic"! In between, I want to call it a recreational-cum-academic tour.

Obvious- most youths are fond of travelling with friends. Some of my classmates were demanding to organize a tour program since our first year class began. When we began the third (last!) year of Bachelors level, the voices got more intensified. Consequently, much with pressures by students, the college decided to organize a four-day tour to us, from 12 to 15 March, 2011. The destinations were Gorkha, Ghandruk and Pokhara.

We were altogether twenty- 15 students, two teachers, a tour operator/guide and two transportation staffs. Though our class has currently 16 students, Neetu was not there due to some contemporary health problems. From college side, we had respected principal Chandra Dhakal and coordinator Khum Sharma. Tour operator Arjun Regmi was so funny and friendly that we treated him as a friend. And, two bus staffs were also equally contributing for success of our program.

Leaving Kathmandu - to Gorkha

And, we left Kathmandu… and crossed Dhading, Chitwan and Tanahun districts. At 12.15 am, we were at lower part of historical Gorkha Durbaar area. The teachers pointed toward the top of the hill and waved byes to us with Arjun Dai to visit Gorkha Durbaar. Hight of the hill was somehow challenging for some of us, but we all were curious to observe Durbaar of our nation-builder! So, though in dissimilar paces, all of us climbed up the hill. It took average of 45 minutes to reach Durbaar and Gorakhkali Mandir premises. From the top, the surrounding greeneries and residential places seemed much beautiful. Our friend could not miss this opportunity to capture themselves amid that natural beauty into their camera.

 On the way to Pokhara

It was already 2.30 pm when we were down at Gorkha Bazaar. Now, the bus turned back and followed the same path of 24km up to Aabukhaireni of Tanahun. Now, we turned west to reach the Lake City - Pokhara - which remains synonym of tourism for Nepali economy.

We stopped at Damauli to have few snacks. (The snacks were accompanied with some dissatisfaction! You'll know, go on….) Finally, at about 5.45 pm, we took off the bus and entered Hotel Khukuri, Lakeside, where we were to stay.

Coincidently it was Saturday - and it was fortunate for us. We just knew that Lakeside would celebrate street festivals on Saturdays of this year to mark Nepal Tourism Year, 2011. We too came out on streets. Most of the friends chose cycling to pass the evening. Few of us preferred enjoying internet at cyber and just strolling on the streets.  

On the way to Ghandruk

For the second day (13 March), our plan was to trek to Ghandruk, a Gurung community at some height of North Kaski. After breakfast we took the bus to reach Nayapul, from where we were set to walk on foot - uphill! After some friends prepared themselves with hats, sticks and dry foods; we began walking. We stopped at Birethanti at the bank of Modi River for the lunch. After lunch, we began to trudge up the hill at 11 am.

For the first hour, the route was quite easier. It was straight and quite wide. But as we crossed the Syauli Bazaar, you didn't have shortcuts or any options available - except to stamp up the stone-paved steps, with little residential and market area around. But, we had to pass loose-dense jungles where monkeys live. (Later, Khum sir used the reference of these monkeys to make his joke spicier! Though we didn't see any tiger there, believing a teen-aged muleteer, he made guff that evening that he saw a tiger. He presented me as a witness; I too stated that I saw it, though I had not. In reality, no one of us knew whether there was tiger or not, neither we tried to confirm it.)

At Ghandruk

At 3 pm, some fastest of us reached at our destination - Ghandruk.  However, our group was so scattered that it took almost two hours to get all of our friends there. When we were all together, we had little snacks. (Again it too had some aggressions. You'll know, go on…) The we spent the evening walking around the village which was famous for developing economy through tourism, at the same time preserving its natural and cultural heritage. Some friends even dressed in Gurung costumes and pictured it. Later, we gathered together at our hotel premises to enjoy songs and dances of our multitalented friends with Madal and claps.

The next morning, after a cup of tea, we spent time observing the mountains (Himalayas) from a closer distance. Mountains, including Annapurna and Machhapuchhre/Fishtail are seen as if they are some meters away from us. At the time of sunshine, we took many photographs amid background of those Himalayas. Then some of us visited Gurung Museum there. After breakfast, we moved to step down - back to Birethanti, Nayapul and then Pokhara.

The costly journey

The way to Ghandruk and Ghandruk were so costly. At Syauli Bazaar, Red Bull Rs 90, Glucose Powder Rs 50, Mineral Water Rs 45 and so on. It was on the way - some two hours on foot down from Ghandruk. It is because all the materials were taken there by mules. There was no any sign of transportation except that. You can just imagine how much costly the materials would be there at exact Ghandruk.

That cost was only for Nepalis. Foreigners had to pay more than us for everything.

The day of bad luck!

As the way during getting up, we were scattered when we were on the way to down. But, I was in the first group in moving up, while in the last one to get down. At Kinche, on the way, we- me, Josina, Dawa, Gaurav and Ved - stopped to have tea. We were at verandah of the shop. Josina was at another side, whereas Dawa, Gaurav and Ved asked me to take a snap. They became ready to pose depending themselves on wooden railings of the verandah. Before I was about to click, the railings suddenly uprooted. Oh God!! All of them bravely controlled themselves! Thanks God, nothing happened!!

Down, we saw Sujan, Radha and Anita playing in Modi River and taking photographs. As Josina desired, and we didn't have any hurry; we too went on the bank and began photo sessions. They from water were asking to join them. Suddenly, Sujan happened to cut his foot with stone or lead there. The environment suddenly took u-turn, and everyone was quite nervous and emotional. Thanks to Dawa, who had means for first aid. Then, Gaurav, Dawa and Kiran one after another carried him to reach Birethanti - from where you can get taxi and motorway. Then, he was taken to Nayapul by taxi and given further treatments there.

Later, Dawa connected the two events to prove the day to be the day of bad luck. I too felt so.

Due to so and so reasons, we spent about equal time to come down as to go up.  After lunch at Nayapul we headed off to Pokhara at 2.30 pm. Bad luck was still following us- the bus stopped as some of its parts didn't function properly. Witihn half an hour, the bus staffs maintained the but to move. And we reached Hotel Khukuri, Pokhara at 4.45 pm.

The remaining evening was spent tasting some of the food stations and gift shops in search of souvenirs to bring home back.

At Pokhara

The fourth morning - only morning! - was for Pokhara. After a cup of tea, we were in haste to visit "the heart of the Lake City" - Phewa Lake. At about 7.15 am, we entered into a boat to cross the lake to reach Taal Barahi Temple, which remains on island of the lake. We devoted our faith to the holy Goddess and begged for her kind blessings. Obviously, we didn't return without taking some photos.

Getting back to beach, now our next destination was Davis Fall (Paatale Chhango). Our visit to this place went so fast that didn't last for more than half an hour. Nevertheless, we didn't have to do anything there except amazing ourselves on mystery of nature to create such a beautiful (but equally dangerous!) place.

Cave experience

Our bags were already packed off and we already had breakfast. But yet, we had to visit few tourist spots there. Due to lack of time, we had to choose only one among many attractions available. Finally between Mahendra Cave and Bat Cave, we chose the latter - Bat Cave (Chamere Gufa). On the way there, we visited famous Bindyabaasini temple too. 

Ultimately, our choice was proved to be right as later they said the Bat Cave is more adventurous than the Mahendra. Passing through cave was the first experience for all of us except Arjun Dai. [Our teachers had not gone there. Josina and Radha too were not there, as they were accompanying Sujan at bus!] The cave inside was completely dark; we needed to take torch with us. We felt water dropping everywhere.  The way was easier, except the darkness, until we reached to the last point. But at last, we had to cross so narrow and somehow quite vertical way of some ten meters to find the way out. We couldn't - probably - step up those steps and return to the entrance point; if Arjun Dai was not there to suggest where to stamp our steps and how to bend our body.

Sorry to say that I don't have any photographs (as my other friends have) of coming out of the cave because I was the first person of my group to get that success ands no one was outside to capture me into their camera. Finally, all of us got success and felt much brave that "we did the adventure!" [Probably, Gaurav can best act these words with his famous I-did-it-gesture!]

Now, we didn't have any time - back to Kathmandu. 

Bus fun

From Kathmandu to Pokhara on the first day, no one, but we back-seaters were quite excited to sing and dance. The driver Dai would play varieties of songs - from "Campus padhna aaune, …. haammle aankha judhaune" type of Dohoris to "Kyaa daami bho" and item numbers of "Munni…". We would like some of them, and some used to be irritating to us. We passed the way with "average" fun - average dances and average songs.

For me personally, seeking fun in bus was a type of compulsion. Don't mind friends, but I felt alone and monotonous when you people spent whole hours talking to your seat-partner and only him/her. Probably, I am not of the nature to enjoy hours with a single friend, or I couldn't find such friends there. I had to - without any option - clap my hands and join the chorus.

The same happened when we were back to Pokhara from Nayapul. But this time, I felt quite easier with our versatile Radha. Seemingly to make injured Sujan feel well, he performed numerous jokes, caricatures and comedies.

At least me, and I guess all of us, were not known of the fact that Radha was so multitalented until we saw him on our journey back to Kathmandu. As usual, the songs were varied - but our Radha was not there to say "yes" or "no". Everything was "yes" for him this time - a big "YES" with spellbinding body movements and gestures. Thanks to his dances, I didn't get any chance to feel bored during whole six hours.   Anisha, Kiran and Anita too supported him frequently.

The negative side

I didn't want to write this part. But, now I feel that, it would be incomplete if I don't include this part. If you wish, you can skip reading it.

Remember that I have asked you to wait in the context of "little snacks" two times? …  Right from planning, small size of our class was the greatest problem for us to manage the package in a cost-effective way. The same factor disturbed us during the whole program. On the first day, on the way to Pokhara from Gorkha, we had felt too appetite, but our teachers and the tour operator were not ready to feed us. The said - no any schedules to have foods in between. You know why? - Not enough budgets.  Finally, they provided some stuffs- but not enough!

On the second day at Ghandruk, the same situation repeated. The principal was not with us, another teacher was silent and the tour operator spoke of same problem intensifying anger with hunger of some of our friends. It is shame to say - for both college administration and us - but, we have to say that most of us were not satisfied with food timing part of this tour program. If the budget and size factors were solely responsible for this problem, we could solve it discussing among us before the program begins. But, so sad…!

Our main destination happened to be Ghandruk- and we spent most time walking on foot. It is natural that no one has same walking pace. As the guiding seniors - who were supposed to take the "guardian role" - didn't tried, we were apparent scattered. This might have made some friends feel quite neglected from the college administration. Personally, I have asked Khum sir more than five times to wait for all and walk together with much fun. But each time he answered, "Tension liney kaa nahi, diney kaa hey yaaro! Let it be!"  So sad again…!

Now I am quite obsessed with the idea that if Khum sir had considered my idea at time, Sujan would not get the accident. Even after the accident, they did not care too much.

From students' side too, there were some problems. The first was some of us came to anger so fast when we had appetites. Shame to say again - some of us even called to Kathmandu to report the problem which we could solve ourselves there! We were badly affected by "groupism" dynamics- there were at least two groups within our team who would not accept easily to company another for anything. The last night some of us were quite late to arrive at hotel, which was obviously irresponsible.

But the college administration should always have been more responsible than us. And, they can not point out our weaknesses in order to hide theirs. No more to say…

After all, it was success!

However we did, we did it. In addition to get fun, observe and learnt about nature and culture, this gave us opportunity to get closer to each other and with the teachers. The teachers might have got similar benefits.

The journey was full of pleasures and pains, laughter and angers, and teasing and rivalry. After all, they all contributed together to make it a success. As we were repeatedly singing in bus on the way to Pokhara from Kathmandu, it was a "Kyaa daami bho" experience.

The four days spent together with college friends will be in our memory - as an unforgettable event happened amid youthful spirit.

22 March, 2011

Widening the way for …

She was only seven years old when she started the job, which she is still doing. But, the time has been changed so significant that it turned her to a trade union leader from a helpless domestic child labour.

Born in 1985 November in Jhapa, eastern Terai of Nepal, Sonu Danuwar is now president of Nepal Independent Domestic Workers' Union (NIDWU), the first trade union of domestic workers in South Asia. She has struggled a lot to get rights for herself and for all people working as domestic helps like her. She was little girl when she began to raise voices against labour exploitation of child workers.  She is still on the same path, but the path has been wider and easier.

Her father sent her to work in a man's home at Dhulabaari when she was seven years old. The man had dealt with her father to appoint her as babysitter. "But I had to do everything there from dishes to clothes", she remembers. Though she had tried few times to escape from brutal beatings from the man, she would be forced to continue the job from her father and family.

After some months of her father's death, she left the work place and returned to home. But the poor economic condition didn't allow her to be there. Soon, an unknown person from Kathmandu took her to the capital. He placed her to his sister's house to support for domestic works.

After two years in 1998, she found a women class near her workplace and asked if she could join it. But, the lady there named Mamta Pandey took her into another type of class - Non Formal Education (NFE) for domestic child workers, organized by CWISH, a NGO working for domestic child workers. This very meet to Mamta Pandey was probably the most important incident in her life so far, which led her to movements for labour. She regularly attended the NFE classes and admitted to the nearby school after three years.

The NFE had already bid farewell to her. But, she with some other NFE-students continued to gather together weekly purposively "to enjoy" sharing pains and pleasures.  "This very RAMAILO SHUKRABAAR (Good Friday) later turned into Gharelu Baal Shramik Manch (Domestic Child Workers' Forum - DCWF), as we got training on child club management", she remembers the past. 

Yes, there were many obstacles for her to join the Ramailo Shukrabaar and DCWF. It was really difficult to manage time between her domestic works and gatherings and clubs. "I pretended, before the employers, to continue the NFE classes for the six months after its closure", she reveals the secret of her struggle. When the employers came to know her activities about forums and labour rights, they asked her not to go to anywhere. But she had a strong desire to protect herself and her friends. Her other friends also confronted many problems. "The employers used to increase the works if they knew that we have meeting or any function for the day. Moreover, our school teachers would suspect that child club will ruin the study." She used to try her best to convince them, "Once I took my employer AAMA to CWISH and showed what I am doing for. After that AAMA has been quite supportive for me". She suggests the workers themselves to convince their employers about their rights and responsibilities. "While asking for the rights, we should be equally cautious not to ignore our duties", she says. Her experience has taught that some promotional activities like inviting the employers on the club functions, publicly acknowledging their support for living of child workers, and publishing their interviews on the wall magazines and magazines of child clubs help them to cope with the obstacles from employers.    

After some years, they formed Gharelu Shramik Manch (Domestic Workers' Forum - DWF) to further struggle for decency and rights of domestic workers.

In 2006, General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions (GeFONT) in cooperation with CWISH and Committee for Asian Women (CAW) conducted six-month training on unionization and leadership for domestic workers connected to CWISH. It was with the purpose to form a trade union of domestic workers.  After the training, she had developed passion to "do something more". Consequently, the Nepal independent Domestic Workers' Union (NIDWU) got its existence in February, 2007 under the leadership of Danuwar.

And, what has she got after crossing these high walls? "For me, it gave me frequent chance to foreign visits", expresses happily recollecting the countries which she visited. "I have become international leader for domestic workers", she says. Now, Sonu is chairperson of Asian Domestic Workers' Network (ADWN) and joint-vice-chairperson of International Domestic Workers' Network (IDWN). But, is not great in correspondence with what her "class" has got. Now, there is no concrete law which defines domestic work as "work". "But, if some friend receives tortures and exploitations, we are there to fight for him/her", Danuwar ensures. For her, the greatest achievement is ILO's plan to issue Convention on Domestic Work. According to her, the convention will be issued in 2012.

She is still a domestic worker, with responsibilities from dishes to clothes. But, she has additional duties to serve the interest of all her friends. And, she believes she can make it well. "…because I have determination to work regularly. Regularity is what that made success for me."  Yes, there were many like her who were working as domestic helps, and there were many who attended the NFE classes. But, they couldn't continue the struggle. But, Sonu is still on the way.

Yet she feels that "many things are yet to do." She has a dream that every domestic worker will get identity, decency and all facilities that other professionals get as workers, including fixed leave and wages.   But when? "Wait until we get the ILO convention. After that there will be tangible and apparent changes. If you can't see the changes, we will make it", the confident leader tries to convince all workers hoping for good.  Best wishes, Sonu!