quqmm 3&1:David H. Holmberg
Bhim-Bahadur Tat?ang 8. March

 

 

 

 

AMERICA - NEPAL - AMERICA
am #1113!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Acknowledgements
mm; Preface
. I - Suryamzm Tamang and
Bitim Bahadur Tamang
. I 0 David and
?Tat March
3% RECOLLECTIONS OF OUR
TRAVEL TO AMERICA
I I Surya Man Tainang and
I WEE Bhim Bah-Adar Tamang
RECOLLECTIONS OF OUR
- LIFE IN NEPAL
Q3. I David H. and
QR mi S. March

 

 

 

 

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

So many people have been important in the
making of this book, e5pecialIy because of the
nature of this particular book, that it will be
difficult to thank even the most important.

For their hospitality and openness, we thank
all our hosts and friends both in America and in
Nepal, especially the family of Lal Bir Tamang,
Eric Holmberg, Jim and Jayne March, Laura
Holmberg, Mark Wagner and Anna 
Judy Leon and Kim Atkins, Katy Pearce.

Thanks to the Society for the Humanities at
Cornell University for an International
Collaborative Research Grant for the travel
expenses of Surya Man Tamang and Bltim
Bahadur Tamang to Ithaca, NY, in December
1992 January 1993.

Dev Ranjit deserves special thanks for his
translations of the English into Nepali. For their
help with translations from Nepali to English,
thanks also go to Banu Oja and Shambhu Oja.
We thank Dharma Ratna Shakya of Trisuli
Bazaar for his patience helping edit the Nepali
portions of the manuscript. Many colleagues,
friends and students, too, provided useful readings
and input, including Vinceanne Adams and Om
Gurimg. The basic costs of publication in Nepal
were borne by David l-lolrnberg and 
March. The actual production of this book was
made possible by the excellent staff at Jeevan
Support Printing Press, including Ramesh Waiba
and Mahosh Adhikari.

And, last but not least, we thank Bhim
Bahadur Tamang and his Jeevan Support Printing
Press for underwriting most of the production so
that we can use the profits from the sale of this
book to benefit disadvantaged children in the
communities of Rasuwa and northern Nuwakot.

David Holmberg
March

Bht'm Bahadttr Tamang
Surya Man Tantang



in. man? its! at ether an.






arena. towaanrsr.ahss?iraml

thms??mm
twa??mq?r?amnmamn?
'W?wrhmu?rt?l?l?s?kovv
M?n?im?rtmh?rmm
wmwm?m?t?l?dah


mrmas?rga??m?rmihe?

Wmane?am shalt





wither er. wilt?rt are. Inst I an



WW?.hr.?qdlaun??nha?





Ww?hfra?ranmat

Wmman??imn?w



 

KSM note: The usual Nepali expression is "like a (white) egret in a ?0ck of (black) crows' evokes a the
embarassment of studying out too notically; here. Surya Man added the ?ohc' whose name in Nepali
includes the word ?mute' or ?idiot', for which i have added the words sleepy and quick in keeping with our

personifications of those birds.

PREFACE

On December 1975 I met David H.
Holmberg quite by chance, at the police check
post at Kauli Thansing. We worked together
with open hearts for 18 months on research about
Tamang tradition and practices. When the work
was done, on August 2. l9l'87, he returned to his
own country.

Then, in Bhadau of 2044 13.8. Dr. David
l-lolmberg and Dr. March came back to
Kathmandu. They invited me to Kathmandu and
made arrangements at their own expense for the
roundtrip tickets and visas for me to come visit
America for six weeks, then they returned to
Their own country in Poush 2044 8.8. At the
same time, they also arranged for the visa for a
friend Bhim Bahadur Tamang to go with me.

Just like a sleepy owl in a crowd of quick
crows and egretsf I gathered whatever I saw that
pleased me from each days journey of my
wanderings in America into this little journal
(diary): now we place it before all of you. If, in
trying to tell the truth, some bitter facts also
emerge. we hope you all will forgive us.

I would like to thank Dr. March,
Associate Professm of Anthropology at Cornell
University, and Dr. David Holmberg, Associate
Professm and Chair of at Cornell
University, heartily, for helping translate my
diary into English and bringing it out in this
book. I would like to thank Mr. Dharma Raina
Shakya from Trisle Bamar, Nuwakot District for
his help in combing through the manuscript for
any mistakes in the publications of this book.

The comforts of the rich can be hidden and
concealed but not so the hardships of the poor; it
is my greatest wish to help the children of the
poor in their studies with whatever profits this
book may bring.

Surya Man Tamang
Ward No. 2, Manegaon

ll


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{tam-e that

WW, antral-did

This proposed book gathers together the
recollections of Drs. David H. Holmberg and
8. March from their daily life in Nepal.
They came from the United States of America to
study peoples" lives in Nepal beginning in l975.
From among the groups of peeple scattered
throughout this Nepal sovereign?s many districts
they studied and researched about Tamang life, its
patterns anti culture, etc.; this book takes form
around this collections of the quotidien. To help

make their research work more accurate,

Mr. Surya Man "l?amang and I went on our
journey to America and added our experiences to
this book.

I am sure that they w0uld like American
people to get to know Tamang people, in the
affectionate light of this collection of their daily
observations. My goal is to give educational
opportunities to impoverished children through
whatever pro?ts are realized by this book.

Finally, I would like to give my special
thanks to Dr. David Holrnberg and Dr. 
March for their kind supports to our journey to
America. Our acknowledgements are also due to
Mr. Shambhu tha, Banu tha, Dig Bahadur
Tamang, Ketty Pears, Jim and Jan March, Eric
Holmberg. Marc and Anna for their help at the
time of our American itinerary and Mr. Dev
Ranjit for translating the book into Nepali and
assistance in proof reading. Mr. Dharma Raina
Shakya for his help in preparing text based on
the notes made during our stay in America.

Bhim Bahadur 'l?amang

(Originally from Sahugaon,

Tupchc Village Development Committee,
Nuwakot District, Nepal; and

now residing in Naya Bayar. Kathmandu.





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PREFACE

This little book is part of the harvest of now
nearing twenty years of Tamang largesse. When
Surya Man (Ngliyema Karma Himdung) Tamang
met David llolmberg on the public bus to Trisuli
in l975, neither of them realized how entwined
their lives and work would become. Surya Man's
lamin runs a farm, made prosperous through
much hard work, in the middle hills of Nepal to
the north and west of the Kathmandu Valley.

David had lived as a graduate student of
anthropology and guest on the porch of Surya
Man's family farmhouse for almost a year when
joined him. We moved and worked then
in what we called our ?reconverted rural barn" 
the upstairs of their water buffalo shed- for
another year. When we left in 1977. we invited
Surya Man to come visit us in the States.

This invitation was made several times
sitting on a straw mats around the open hearth of
mud houses drinking good millet raksi and eating
hot snacks with village kin-friends. These times
and others, both formal and informal, infused
daily life with genuine hospitality. We learned
almost immediately upon our arrival in Tamang
villages that people were warm and generous, a
fact that was (and continues to be) reinforced over
and over again. This experience countered the
image created by many of our Nepalese friends
from other ethnic groups who had warned us
before we went that it was ?dangerous? to live
among Tamang. David especially will never
forget the companionship of villagers while
living there alone, and we are both forever
grateful for their kindness to us together.

It was while sitting around the hearth like
this that Surya Man and others would ask us to
tell them what it was like ?down below" in
?Amrika.? Try as we might everything sounded
exaggerated as we described huge cities, tall
buildings, and an agricultural system where labor
was largely mechanized and where one farmer
would cultivate as much land as there was in the
whole village.

 








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To describe the social system was even
harder. How could one explain the relations
between black and white which was on the one
hand something like caste but based on a logic of
race and a history of enslavement. In the warmth
of raksi, friendship. and the ?re, we would
usually say that Surya Man had to come visit us
some time. We encouraged him not to travel
alone, but to ?nd a companion, someone he felt
comfortable with, who had some international
travel experience, and who could speak English.

It took ten years, during which we had
various occasions again to work in Nepal. but
?nally in 1987, he proposed to travel with Bhim
Bahadur Tamang. Bhim's family comes from a
village near Surya Man's, but he now owns and
Operates a successful printing press in
Kathmandu for which he has travelled to
Bangkok and Houg Kong. In 1988. they stayed
with us in Ithaca for almost a month, during
which time they visited Niagara Falls, New York
City and Washington 0.0. then they went to
the San Francisco area of California.

Their visit was an interesting and enjoyable
turning of the tables. Surya Man carried a
notebook with him wherever he went. He jetted
notes down throughout the days and spent long
hours in both mornings and evenings writing.
He asked about everything and we tried to arrange
for them to see anything they asked about.
School taxes and public schools, freedom of the
press and our local newspaper. courts and jails,
income taxes and banking, libraries and
parks .. it was a long list, not always
?attering to one or the other?s sensibilities. but
the exchange was very informative. At one
moment, for example, looking into our tax,
mortgage, insurance, and other ongoing bill
obligations, as well as our basic costs for food
and living, Surya Man compared these expenses
with what he had imagined to be our fabulous
American salaries. He then remarked with some
surprise, ?It seems you end up with less cash on
hand titan I do after farming in Nepal.?


ra?rdmh? 
mem?tms?m.
spiral if? taint: WW

Whirn?rardaulqaiaraharanrqa
taco that tsoo that hath atria


Miwmmn?rt?am

Wammwamqnm
mmwamma?tam


a altar aura
War era qjiara?r aroma


mwma?e??mm
Maritimqgiamwma?ah?em








We am await inn war nah ain?t
WWarw?dr?han?
I mir Sara-rm ram anat?rr

an arm that ails?sear arr:


atrium mil 31am
Brahma aqua harm Elia I and Eh


vi

Surya Man and Bhim's trips to the United
States and the joint authorship of this text
expanded what was already a rich reserve of
corn men experience. David recalls that when we
were driving from Ithaca, New York to Niagara
Falls along the New York State Thruway, Surya
Man looking out the window said, ?This is just
like Rupchet and Singh La," a high pasture area
between 3,700 meters and 3,900 meters (12,136
feet to 12,?92 feet) on the way to the Ankhu
Khola. it was fascinating to hear the
associations and memories that worked in Surya
Man?s mind as we crossed the American
landscape and to realize that we had a reserve of
common experience upon which we could enrich
our relationship. Now, back in the villages where
we began working almost 20 years ago. when
people ask what it is like ?down below? in
?Amrika? Surya Man, more than we,
can recount what it is like in terms that make
much more sense than ours.

We did not see the notebooks from that trip,
however, until some years later. Then, when
Surya Man, and some others were discussing
possible development plans for the village, we
were asked about contributing the income from
our writing. We agreed wholeheartedly, but
explained that academic publishing is not often
lavishly enriching; we had already personally
contributed much more to village works than the
combined income from all our writings. We
suggested that a very different kind of book based
upon their more personal notebooks might be of
greater interest. Many travel monologues had
already been written about Nepal; we suggested
undertaking to produce a travel "dialogue:" tales
both of our early misadventures in Nepal and of
theirs in the United States. Thus began this book.

 


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Whmn??rwam?r?w

whats
earn a air heir 3W Wilma mil

ll?l?lislil?ll? $151 an: 

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{Hale {Will-at
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NM-OH

Surya Man and Bhim joined us again1 in the
winter of 1992?3 to compile. edit and begin
translation of our respective journals. The
process led to many discussions of each person's
goals in the book, of the accuracy of each's
observations, of each's understanding of the
other. It was ajoumey we should have embarked
upou long ago and one from which we learned a
great deal.2 We especially thank Surya Man and
Bhim for their patience and their friendship. And
we hope this little book offers its readers at least
some of the insights into cross-cultural and
interpersonal understandings that it gave to us.

David H. Holmberg
S. March
(Cornell University

lthaea, New York. USA)

This time with travel support from the Society for the Humanities at Cornell.


For a longer discussion of these issues, please see the ?Afterward? to this book.



Vii

I



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to nirvana:

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th?wn?mm
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mammanwmauqnmw
a?wmm?t?mn?t?anwwm


Spin: mamas?33% 
?mm?rm nf?rran?rnrv?s?tnri


 

RECOLLECTIONS OF
OUR TRAVEL TO AMERICA

Surya Man Tamang
Bhim Bahadur Tamang

FROM NEPAL TO AMERICAI
Leaving Nepal

On the 30th of Baisakh 2045 (May 12,
1988), we went to Tribhuvan International
Airport to take leave from all our families--
fathers, wives, sons and daughtersuin
order to make my journey to America. After all
the official procedures inside the airport were
?nished, we went to sit in the airplane and it
took off at 1:45 PM.

Looking down toward the ground out of the
window, little tiny houses could be seen. Flying
a bit higher still, the rivers and streams began to
look like tracings of thread. Later i got higher
even than the clouds. Then, instead of seeing

_clouds from the ground in the sky above, now

the clouds were below and could be seen from
above.

As we went farther and farther, whercsoever
we looked we saw the sea. In the very midst of
the sea, I see a small small island. Here and
there thick patches of fog appeared. Then,
myself, I couldn't even tell the sky from the land.
1 was perplexed.

Inside the plane, there was both food and
drink service. There were beverages (beer, liqu0r,
sodas. and such like). Some ate this; others ate
that. They gave you what you wanted to eat.
Myself, 1 ate something. At that moment, I
heard the pilot?s voice inside the airplane, "We
are nearing Thailand." I looked toward the
ground. Then I saw some things that were green;
some things, yellow. I thought to myself these
must be various crops. The plane landed at the
Bangkok airport.

The main body_of these texts is displayed in two parallel columns; each is a true translation of the Other. The footnotes,
however, are different in English and Nepali: in English, we note what a non-Nepalese reader might want to know; in
Nepal:, we try to clarify points that might be important for a Nepalese reader.

1 


 

 

MrJ-n'x.  

Widows

arm {smile
guns ?rst i solid mam mm 
ain?t R's? with
?mmwn?tms?hw?
?mamgoamasl?a?mn?nmt
arm rift? Para

sitar not atom urn agar no that
me?rm?ma?a?q?i








Wit
Wh?, 3mm Wares Was
W??m?mma?nm

ha stint? ninth? "t tern mi



memimow
Mair armor s? mare attain
Wamssmawwm
WWi?W?q??n?t

W??amq?rm?rw?m
Waywn?mww?w



in Nepali. a proverb: .t-hi'r-mu chm!? ?mng. km: Chaim 'jrln'f'ffa'

Thailand to Japan

The taxi took us both to the Manathan
Hotel. After taking down our passport numbers.
the hotel person gave us our room keys and took
us to our numbered room. Seeing that our hotel
was rather expensive. we went outside to eat in
another restaurant. Since Bhim Bahadttr had
already come here before. he ordered the food. The.
food came: it was like big grub or slug soup
with fried hook-and-roundw0rmsl I had to eat
things I'd never eaten before. With my eyes
closed. not letting anything touch the sides of
my throat. I swallowed. Bhim,? on the other
hand. said. how tasty this is." and ordered
some more for himself. After we'd finished
eating. the bill came and it seems that we two
had eaten lit} Thai baht's worth.

On the i3th of May. at 5:45 in the
morning. we left the hotel and went to the
Bangkok airport. The plane took off at 7:05
AM. Bangkok time. As we got up high. myself.
as i got above the clouds and looked out, I
thought: in the beginning, the tnost important
lama?teachers. sitting in divine 'planes.? went
back and forth above clouds just like these in the
realm of the gods. I remembered the words of the
lamas as they preached to us. showing us on
their sacred paintings. and saying that the gods
feasted upon all conceivable kinds of celestial
fruits up there. Therefore. too. myself. inside the
plane, it seemed I ate and drank all conceivable
kinds of things and listened to all sorts of music
and watched all kinds of images with dancing and
song.

Then. we were flying toward Japan's Tokyo
International Airport. It seemed 1 preferred to
look out the windows at the sky and the land to
see whatever I could with my own eyes rather
than watch the movies shown in the plane.

It seems the plane climbed higher and higher.
Looking at the blue above and the blue below.
distinguishing sky from sea became hard. Just as
we say. "On a dog's body, which is 'fur' and
which is 'pubic hair.?2 in the same way, it had
become difficult to tell sky and sea apart.

As with all proverbs. this is largely

tmtranslalable. but it titakes reference to the fact that. while the various kinds of hair on the human body are called in the
Nepali language by different ?unis (thus. hair on the head. facial hair. pnhit: hair. hair on the feet). on a dog's hotly. there is

only one kind -ft:r.

 

 


mam art?ed sham q?mi ?anti 21W
Wat'nfhahr?wwmarh
amnion can gaunt tart coma


insanitmanmrharnrarmi?rt

Wmaahramim start


ammwg?rnl?arat?anat??h
meantiammnawawaa
??li'nf?mquwfrt

ma?a-trim
mewadna?isfa?m






Malamme

Waggms?narmmqa:

Wits hem-fl moan

Walesaarergqutat?mm
M?m??m?mm
aghfra?rsmayardhin?mtmaah


Wt Wm?r?hm-?mn?g??i?r


Wlai?l??f?mml

I saw so many little tiny islands in the sea.
While I was looking. and looking. suddenly, I
heard the voice of the pilot. "We have arrived
near Tokyo." I looked toward the ground. 1 saw
patches of forest. houses, and fields planted in
green. The plane landed. It was 3 o?clock. Japan
time. Thus. imagining Ourselves in the gods'
heavens. we had travelled for five hours in the
sky.

We only had half an hour to change planes
in Tokyo. By mistake. we got'into the wrong
line. Asking others for help. we discovered it
wasn't the right line. Hurrying as fast as we
could go, we two arrived at the last possible
moment. If we had been even a single second
later. we would have missed the plane that day.

Arriving in the United States.

The plane took of and we heard the voice of the
pilot. "Our ?ight goes direct to Detroit." At that
time. Japan time. it was 3:30 in the daytime; I
fell asleep for a moment and when awoke. it
seems it was 10:45 on my watch. But opening
the shade and looking out the window. 1 saw the
early morning light. Then it seemed to me as if
i had just passed the night at the base of a cliff
by a river. The plane's humming noise was just
like the roaring of a river; my eyes were scratchy
from lack of sleep.

A little later, I asked one of the ether foreign
travellers, "What country might this be?" He
said, think it must be Canada.? I looked
outside the window: some places were blinding
white with snow: some places were foggy as if
full of cotton; in some places. i saw 108 lakes.
just like in the sacred Himalayan pilgrimage
places. There wasn?t a single house or shed.
There wasn't a sign of any kind of tree there
where the snow had overtaken everything. A
little while later, i came to see forest and a big
body of water. One foreigner said, "Beyond that
water. it's all America. A place called
Michigan." I thought i heard the pilot say.
"Now we only have millimeters to go until
we reach Detroit."

 

 

 

 

 -  . . .t  

toners mash WW so??t?t 


?mm?twa?mh?mm?soan
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W?o meant deft hitter
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"soil st. signal tar. artist?a q?rhrtait


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Wanna:




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W?i?mm?s?m?ws


snmarulmra'ma

mail 30.30 adults at. strand v:




 

The Detroit airport: "Welcome to
America"

Thus after 30-31 hours total and some 20-21
hours of {lying time3, on May 13th at 2:3tl PM,
we arrived at Detroit International Airport.
According to Our original plans, we should have
arrived at to PM, but because we didn't touch
down in Seattle and came instead straight to
Detroit, we arrived this quickly.

inside the Detroit airport, handling arrivals,
there was a woman agent who was as dark as the
fire blackened pots at home. We went to her.
After looking at our passports, she questioned us,
"Why have you come to America?" Withom
hesitation, Mr. Bhim answered truthfully, "We
have come for a visit at the invitation of Drs.
Holtnberg and March." And so saying, we
showed her the letter of invitation. She asked
another question, "Do you have a return ticket or
not?" We both showed her our return tickets.
Then she asked again, "How many months will
you be staying? Who will be paying your
expenses?" We said, "At most, we will stay 5 or
(1 weeks. -

While. we are here. all our expenses will be
paid by Drs. Holtnberg and March." Judging both
our papers and our character, she trusted as and
stamped the entrance permission and date in both
our passports. And, wishing us a good trip, she
said, "You two have a good stay in America."

So the two of us each took our hand
baggage and went towards the customs agents.
After checking our bags, he sent us off, saying,
You may go." After this, we asked about the
gate for Syracuse, got our boarding cards, and
went. We arrived in Syracuse at 5:30 PM, 5
hours before our scheduled arrival time.

Welcome to Ithaca, New York

So at 10:30 in the night, Dr. llolmberg and
Sharnhhu Oja, who came from our own
Nuwakot's Thansing Kauli, both came to get us
in the waiting room. Shaking hands, it was as if
our smaller hands got lost inside Dr. Hohnberg's
big ones. Mr. Oja greeted us with a Nepali
'namaste.?

Repeatedly, as we worked out Iht: times for these tr'ravcls, it become clear that Surya Man and lihlm counted travel time

only in temts of "time in the air," while i (KSM) tended to think of lime for the whole trajectory.

 

st. minis will?th ants git-art


Wt

stirrer-ran
lift??st ?n



mmwm??l?smr?rm
em in anal tie in we sang.



?lY hirh'vt ?rme



i new aft amid-hr that
Wamahu?tim?itmmt

fl??s?q?g?wm


Wmh?w?s?rws?ma?
Wmemnanwwgae




. .

 

Dr. Holmberg said, "Welcome to America,"
and we went out the gate to his car. He drove his
ear quickly the 80 miles (100 kilometers) to his
own house.

ITHACA
Our first days

When we got to the house, Dr. March
opened the door and welcomed us politely. She
greeted us and asked about everyone she knew and
all their friends in my house and in the village.
After going into the dining room, eating and
drinking a little something to make us sleepy.
we all enjoyed ourselves and laughed. Dr. March
said, "So, would you like to eat some Nepali rice
and lentils? Except that I don't know the way to
cook it," and so saying, finding fault in her own
skill, she made us laugh.

After eating and drinking, we went to bed.
That night, i wasn?t sleepy: but as soon as it was
morning, I fell sound asleep. Because whatever
day it was in Nepal, at this time it would have
been night there. Perhaps i feel asleep because.
although it was day here, it was night in Nepal.

On the 14th of May, we slept late and. after
going to the Post Of?ce to buy aerograms, David
stopped the car with us at Cass Park?. 1 got out:
airplanes circled in the sky like so many hawks;
the streets were ?lled with uncountable numbers
of cars racing like so many streams of ants.
Nevertheless, i didn't see a single persou walking

in the streets or on the sidewalks. Instead, I saw

husbands and wives driving, one by one, in their
own separate cars.

My eyes turned toward the large lake called
Cayuga. On that lake. there were various kinds
of boats: some were driven by motors; some had
to be rowed; some were fishing boats; some were
racing to see who would be first. My little eyes
couldn't take in all the many kinds of barges,
boats, and water vessels that were floating in
great packs there. The beauty of that scene is still
gathered together unforgettably in my heart and
chest.

mqwm??qummu?cmm?l

i



 

 

 a. .t mm-



WIW
mthn?l?awahm?th?
git mil Tim  
mane are: saw not sit I new?
 in  Till  
 to am their on: 
 
 
streets  
Wmmorh?f??mh?q?z?t

I

A (:in park in Ithaca, NY. on the shores of Cayuga lake.

:3

Shopping and sightseeing

After that we wciit shopping a 1?ch Pig
store. We parked our cai near the'sto?rc and.
taking a pushcart-likC?tlting, went Taking
the things we needed off the shelves 
putting them in the basket, and 
When we had everything we needed: W9.-1t09.k
those things to the counter where they '?'dacd
them up. It seems that the total cost came 0111
00.3 bill by ti?coinputernfit didn?t seem
item was tnuEh'tlealing in Cash: everything Was

(30110 by Cheek". ?It seemed stranget?Was' there

money in-fthe bank or. kingo?person
was it? How much to trust. how to. measure
honesty? Perhaps it was also a mentally
developed, progressive country? We?weftt out of
?restore. put all lour things inthe car, and went
back to David?s house.  - ..    

During the day. getting into theircar, David
and took us to? Cornell University where
they teach-Even though-it seemed there were
only {most and -hills_farther iterate-east. of? the
city, there, .on the ridge,..was lil?lrtiltzl?lh?g?lly
established by Ezra Cornell. I saw his statue
inthe Quadrangle in lgront tof the

anthropology and "social studies, sciences.
many other 
eouitlhe studied;    - - 

day was .Sunday;:. 

their children, and we, our
food to a-?take in the'middle': of the
Finger Lakes and went-on a picnic-rt way
leek us- to afreally- h1g- store.
Neiihc?r of 'us'ha'rl brought more than a Single
change of clothes. So we wanted to buy a few
more clothes. Because. everything'eost so much,
saying we didn't see anything wewanted. we
bought nothing. In the end. saying how we
couldn't go without buying anything at all. I
boughtra dozen socks. Whatever else we might
have bought. whenever. we heard thepnce. ll. was
too much._ On the road again, told a proverb:
(in Tamang) gala ?goijen mite kangpala .rom-bo,
meaning? "no clothes covering the body; [but]
shoes on the feet." When David heard that

 


?whm?n?s?wn?hm?tn


rm. 
 
HEW  
_W_?ht?raetanhrnanannriwtq?o
iw??mq??mi?il??fl?m

Wm??mw?mh
union  hon What?ah

?ts-net.  mew-agar haze





 north

We?re-3r Warner?! Fre?r nit


 

proverb. he really laughed.5

On the-morning of 17th of May, after
that we wanted to see where we
would end up if we wentoutjust wandering and
Sightseeing, Bhim and l?wen't out by-?ourselives
'oii"loot. "On went into a clothes
store. Where wecath boughtra pair (tripartite We
paid at the checkoutcounter.the computer (19? we didn't know,
but they look something off thepa?n'ts with a
comptiier-like dedice' and gave It
seems that if the computer didnit?mark- the
clothes this way, we couldn't pass out the door.
if we'd gone?out, it seemsthat a red light woultl
tL?rrn on anti-an alarm would sound-n; *7 -: - .

We only understood-these things latent; If
to himself [littl?l?lq onewould see
and hid some little thing in his pocket to take it,
it seems that the cornputcr would know that
unmarked things were at the door and. catch him.

'tt see?ins that-machines dothe Work ol?gu?a?r?tls in a
developch -  
1A biifth'claylpai?ty  
On the_etierting of._ May 18th, we all sat
the liable in the (lihing'iOC?Jih 
hirth?da?DrthIreh had placed all the food?an'd
(trial-tout beer, whiskey
and all kinds ol_ ihings. There was a living
ci?eat'tire? We'd never seen that they called a
'lobster.? They-boiled them; alive and, taking
them out one by .oneuwith thongs,_ gave each of
us one. The head?lodked just like a grasshopper;
the. fingers looked just likelhose of-a crayfish;
the body looked just like the gruhs in rotten
wood. However was it to be eaten?! hesitated,
puzzled. Like the proverb (in Nepali) khaon
Liliane. kanccha bait [to anuwar; na khaon bhanc.
dirt Mimi Ito shikar?, meaning "If [we] say, 'L'et's
eat it.? it looks like my younger uncle; but it?
two] say, 'Don't let's eat it,? it's been the whole

day's hunt."

Because Surya Man had just bought himself socks when what he really needed was a change of clothing. This 'l'amartg
proverb refers to the tendency of people to buy themselves ?luxury items like watches or shoes whenever they got to
markets bigger than those to which they were accustomed, even thogh they might not have enough eluthes to Cover their
bodies.

This proverb concludes the story of a group of hunters who, having hunted all-day long to find a deer. killed a monkey.

Looking at the monkey, they couldn't eat it because its face resembled that 0

have wasted the entire day's hunting.

a person; but if they didn't eat it, they would

 

 

   







st. entire main giants? lift? a? 
ah an (that? and R's I
metwwse?m
1?51 wit snail arms? mam anon mathe-
Weammgr?rhh?mnsna?m
?rm-Wmn?hn?mt



hm?



WVWamtmmumar?ads?a
handfuls?

 


3?

If I acrexli Nepalese ropani.

Then Dr. March gave us utensils like those
used to split betel nuts. I took off one of the
large pinchers and tried to break it open. But the
cracker itself broke. Then when I tried'with
another I cracked it open. Taking the
meat out from inside with a hook, dipping it in
the sauce. doing like they taught me, thus I ate it.
It tasted good, but I only ate the two large
pinchers. I left the other eight legs and the
whole body behind there on my plate. All the
food was simply boiled and put out there. The
salt, pepper, and chili peppers were ground and
put out separately. The butter was put our
separately.

Whoever wanted however much of whatever
they wanted, they simply took as much as they
wanted and ate it. i saw most of them eating
everything plain. But we ate mixing the salt and
hot spices. Maybe it was because we'd eaten salty
and spicy things since we were children.

After we were done eating, Dr. David wrote
"Happy Birthday to You" in butter frosting on a
cake with 39 candles on it. Lighting all the
candles. David put the cake in front of 
wishing her all the best. Everybody watched as
Dr. March blew out all the candles with
a single breath. And then she divided the cake up
and gave everyone a piece. She Opened up all the
presents her family had given her. It seems her
mother had sent her earrings. We weren't among
the givers, but we were there for the eating. It
seems that it is their own custom to celebrate

this way.

Visiting some farms

On the 19th of May, Dr. March introduced
us to a farmer. His name was Mark Wagner. He
took us to his own fields. He gave us a tour of
his vineyards and apple orchards. Mr. Bhim
asked, "How many ropaniws of land do you
have?" Wagner answered, "Here we don?t
customarily measure in repeat?? but he said he
had Still acres. Then Bhirn asked, "Do you have
to plant these grapes every year, 

 

 




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W?mfa?mg?smt?ar
?nn?mwn?qarahmatat

ii


ii
ea
is
5.13%
ii

i"
iris

 

So Wagner answered, "Once planted, they?ll
last for many years. But every year we have to
cut them back." So then we asked how he could
pick so many grapes and where he would take
them to sell. And he answered by showing us
the machine he used to pick them: it seems that
the machine followed the wires of the vineyard,
along the vines, picking the grapes. while
another truck followed behind collecting them.

As soon as one truck was loaded, another
came to take its place. The filled truck then
delivered its load to the wine company. It seems
that there are 29 kinds of wine. We tasted them
all. But it seems that this wine can only be
given to those over 21 years of age. After this,
he took as to his mother's brother's pig farm.
First of all, in order to go insideplastic cover from head to toe. In a
developed country, it seems they even keep
animals in a distinguished fashion.

Perhaps it was because they fed them only
grain that the smell was so strong we could

scarcely breathe, so we came quickly outside. As

for the way the pigs were kept: it seems they
kept those that were about to be sold separately,
and those that were about to have piglets sepa?
rately. and the younger ones separately: thus, it
seems that they kept each and every different kind
separately.

Mr. Bhim asked the farmer how many pigs
he had all together. He said he had 1200 all
together. Then Mr. Bhim again asked, "How can
you get food and water to so many?" He told us
everything about how he fed and watered them:
here and there were big wooden troughs: for each
trough there was a pipeline: seeing the ground-up
food sent by a machine through the pipeline from
outside to each trough, we were surprised. But he
showed us proof. "In order to feed so many pigs,"
he said, have 2500 acres of land, divided into
different sections where we plant corn, barley,
wheat. Then we fed those grains to the pigs."
Then he showed us the machines he used to plow
the fields, and the ones for shifting the manure
and spreading it. Dissolving the pigs? excrement
in a tank of water, it seems they then spread it

?over their fields. That was how they spread the

manure. The corn-plantin machine he showed us
was pulled along behind a tracmr. It seems there
were 12 iron plows strung out in a row, some 3?
5 meters across.



 

 

9

 -,  . . . I, 



Wmm?mmtadmo?
WW?hnakra?r?WP-t?ht

momenta: Willi?vi arraignment

mango at? tat-1? ash
Wynn-airmana?nu?rt



Wmh?lmmg?aiar?na?n?t

wawm?gmmr?tw
ma?nmm?tn?it

 

At planting time, on top. of each plow, there
was a seed drum; at the same time that the plows
plowed, I saw that the maize seed was spread-
Then he also showed us the harvesting machine-
With this, the maize seed for the pigs went to
one side and the maize stalks went to the other.
The same way we pack up tobacco, they put up
the stalks in towering barns. It seems that cattle

farmers took the stalks to feed their stock. Then

he showed us the silos where he put the grain.

it seems they ?lled those silos by spilling
the grain into a hole in the top. And then, when
it came time to remove the grain, it seems that
as soon as they pushed an electric switch, the
load went into the truck without anyone having
to touch the grain. 

Everything seems to have been done by
machines. Even so, saying, "Lo, go, do the
work!" it doesn't seem that machines will do it
by themselves; even the machines have to be
directed by someone's hand. But one pers0n
seems to be able to do the work of one thousand.
That's how it is, I've heard: in America only 2
out of 100 people farm.8 .And so that day ended
pleasantly. I

The nextday, both David and had to
work at the university, so, after taking Mohan

and Maya to school, they told us, "Please help

yourselves to whatever you want to eat without
being shy," and left us. Even though we were
guests, it was more like the proverb, (in Nepali)
aphno hat jagannarhp, and as we were helping

ourselves to things and eating, 'Sharnbhu Oja

arrived.

He took us to it placed called Interlaken
where there v'vas Beth?s goat farm. After getting
the farmer's permission, we went in. We arrived
just as the goats were being fed dried grass. We
asked, "Why don?t you give the goats fresh
grasses?fl She said, "There are green grasses here
for only two months out of the year. If we give
them the green grasses during those two months,
they won?t eat hay during the other months.
They'll only want the fresh grasses."



8 In Nepal these proportions are almost reversed, with 96-98% of the population living as farmers. I . 
9 Referring to the proverb ending a longer story: there nus once a god?s image (a juggemalh) for whom great of Ian

- i -- by the pee
and foodstuffs had been set asrde. but, instead of the bed actually eattng the food, it was eaten 
ha: i nail: means that people rather than the god) themse .
imach In ?$3ch 10 say a Elforom those offered to the '5 image). Here they mean that unlike most

eat all the desirable foods they wante

caring for the
vet were able to

guests who, on the one hand, should properly he fed by their hosts but, who. on the other, were also expected to wait and
accept what was offered. they helped themselves to what they wanted.



to

 


Wma?u?la?vahl?rt?amtm?
WW?H?den

met?t-tm??mwm


mew?wamml?
W?lcowmgg.mggi


W?n?an?mmawmm
Wanna, an, no antral-W

WW












WW?mananmga?mrmh?m?rm
panama


Wanamnmvantaznnam
Ma??an?h

 

As before, we began again to ask questions:
"All together how many goats do you have?
Why are you keeping them?" She said, "All
together, there are 80 goats. They're all for
milking. I make cheese from their milk.
Goatmilk cheese sells for twice as much as
cheese from cows? milk.? We asked how she
could possibly milk so many nanny goats.
Saying, "This is how 1 milk them," she attached
a rubber pump to the nanny's teats and turned on
the machine. As soon as the machine was turned
on, it was the same as if a kid had banged it head
against its mother's udder and suckled itself. In
just a short while, she could easily milk all those
80 said that one nanny could give
about i gallon a day, 

On the way home, Mr. Shambhu showed us
Stewart Park, West Hill, and Pyramid Maltlo
That evening, we 'ate dinner at Sltambhu?s
apartment. There were yellow, red and white
drinks and whatever kinds of food anyone could
want including stews, tasty dishesand wild fowl
drumsticks, hoth barbecued and stewed. ln
additidn, it' seemsthat Shambhu Oja's wiferBanu
Oja, had also cooked Nepalese rice and, lentils.
Welen't forget for our whole lives; We ate'of
our own Nepalese me'mories.? Even though we
were abroad,'we had the experience of sitting and
eating as if with our own families.

More local sightseeing
.On the 22nd of May, after finishing our

morning meal, Dr. March took Mohan, Bhim

and me to see Taughannock Park. We stopped
the car at the park and walked all along the side
of the stream. _The stream wasn?t very big; it
was about the same size as the Salanku River
near our village. The streambed wasn't littered
with boulders though; it was as smooth as if it
had been plastered with cement11 and I saw it
full of playful fish just like those they keep up at
Balaju. The fish I saw swimming there were
aligned as if in a single body and we took a
picture there.


?,10 These are all localities: into around Ithaca. Pyramid is lthaca?s largest shopping mail.

1 1 Taugharmock Falls are out out of the shale of Upstate New York in a narrow amoethbottomed canyon.

 

 

11

wmmw?wmim
all? 





that
mq?qq?q??ml?mm
enaannsaarw?awdnniwdw?
gammaahannan?ll


?limiters 

 

we on to me waterfalls ballet?l
Taughannock Falls. The breeze was 0001; ho
to the left and right, the green forest Seemed to
decorate the stream. Just as a person would ?Wear
jewelry. so the forest was ornamented beautifully
by all sorts of trees.

On the way back home in the car, listening
to tapes of Nepalese folk songs and songs 0f
political activism and vigilance, the pleasure they
brought to our minds made the trip seem 8110rl
and we were soon home.

On the 23rd 0f May, we were, taken to see
the foreign language collections at the Cornell
library. Harihar Acharya accompanied us. They
say there are 14 more? books there. Which
book is on which floor, in which room. on
which numbered shelf: it seems that a computer
records it all. 

So that we could grasp it all, we asked, .Are
there any Tamang books? Let's see. Harrhar
typed into the computer: Are there any Tantang
books? The machine showed characters indicating
that there were. When we asked "Who was the
author? the characters Doreen Taylor and Kama
IBahadur Tamang" showed up. Mr. was
taken aback and said, "Oh, ho! Thats my very
own full older brorherl? and he laughed. We
pushed the button on the elevator and it took us

up to the 7th ?oor. Then we came back down by
foot. looking at each floor and room.

Finishing on; wanderings, we two returned
home. In our room we turned our attention to
watching a Nepali video ?Bhaltndo Akas . The
bell rang at the the door. A 50:year-or-so-old ma?l
was standing at the door holding a bouquet of la
kindsof colorful ?owers. He said, Please give
these to Dr. March," and so saying, he
left. We put that bouquet on the table.

A little while later, Dr. March 
Seeing those ?owers on the table, she said. Occi
what beautiful flowers," and smiling, approachh
the bouquet. There was a small letter With it. 
opened the letter and looked; her face darkened.

14 crore would be written in western notation. this would be 1,400,000.

12

 




Waitressea?wt?ann


sn?mmar?rmwt?aim?
mgzd?twm??t?t?f?am?'?,
WW,Wmmw-ssm


WW errant Wm sh go Pauli


memm?t?amgn
We}:



warm 


ikoo more Hittite an W?t with
Wanda:

anal aft after 6min other
matinqu




Wq?m??h?tl??jmiw

Wmhet'

mm Wet \ll'ET Hun Gill



Wq?wmiam?mmw
Wmmar?w?r

Then she said sadly, ?It's been exactly three
years today since my son was born." Then, with
tears in her eyes. she showed us photos from his
birth until his death. Some were of him sleeping;
some, cradled in their arms; some. as the doctors
tested him, including the clear official birth
footprints. it seems the baby only lived for six
months. then passed away. Still saddened.
said, ?From birth, he couldn't hear,
couldn't see, and couldn?t move arms or legs.?
Oh, God. after his creation, why did yen damage
him ?3

Then, setting aside their earlier troubles,
they found and brought in adoptive children from
Nepal, and. making thorn their son and daughter,
their house became bright again. Thus it is that a
house without children is like the silence of a
forest without birds.

May 25, 1988: They took us to shew us a
glass factory, called Corning, 30 miles away.
There was a collection of all the things made at
the factory from'iLs founding to the present. We
went to see the displayed collection.

There were all kinds of strange and different
glass and crysutl things displayed there. There
were some that didn't break even when twisted;
some that didn'tmelt even when put in very hot
fires; some into which electrical current Came by
itself; some that didn't break even if you hit them
as hard as you could with a hammer; some that
even a bullet couldn't pass through. We even got
to use and see all those different kinds of glass.
We saw things in the salesroom costing
anywhere from $1 to $10,000.

it seems there was everything from toys to
cookware. There are now 3500 workers at this
factory. they say. When i went to see where the
workers were beginning their jobs, they were
making their wares with even more case than the
potter makes clay pots. While we were looking-
around inside, we had no idea that it was raining
outside: we only realized it was raining when we
came out. We got into the car and returned to
Ithaca.

 

 

13




airman?sluo?tw?imm??


wwn?t??ti??wmtm

 
meWmIW-?to?
seenmman?t 

Niagara Falls

Today, the 26th of May, we got-into the Car
at just 7 in the morning to go 175 miles away to
see Niagara Falls with David, and
After we got there, I saw that the falls
weren't small at all. They say the river IS 130
meters wide. it seems that they are right 0? 
border between America and Canada. Whatever

"water comes over the top falls down in a heavy

fog. in order to see the misty falls caused by the
water that the river had brought down {rem the
high mountains, there was a lift propelled by a
machine to take YOU up and down? Paying $21,
we live went onto a boat and, each putting on the
raincoats they gave us, went to see the base of
the falls. There were many other travellers with
us. When we got to those mists, our whole
bodies were drenched with water. After the boat
turned around and took us back, we got off.

I saw Canada on the other side. In one place
there, there was a thing standing up tall just like
Bhimsen Thapa's tower in Kathmandu. On top
of this a three story building had been built; it
somehow rotated like a spinning wheel and
somehow cars attached themselves to the vertical
walls of that tower and ran up and down. Seeing
this, I remembered the lizards that run up and
down the walls at home. Asking, "What's that,"
Dr. March said, "That's a restaurant. Those cars
are powered by electricity. Travellers come and
go to see Niagara Falls in that restaurant for
pleasure." It seemed to me that if there were any
problem with the electricity. those cars would be
jusr like chicken eggs that had fallen from our
hand. Even so, we wanted to go see it, but we
didn't have the right visas.

Leaving there at 3:20 PM, we arrived back
at Davids-mother's place at 6:30 PM. .While the
food was cooking. we all took our poles and
went down with Mohan to fish. 0_f the?sh that
we caught with our poles, those'that were small
we let go- and only kept-three big-ones.? ?Saying
thevfood was-ready,-his mothergcalled us into the
house. It was. near. the lake. [.IWen went into the
kitchen. Thin: "she had" odoked chicken
drums'tieks; we ?nished therii off?, gnawi'n?gon
them like eoinany?jaekalss'At'IO in the?evemng
we got backltoDavid?s house and went-to 

1%

 

?nite-an
whate?enari?seenmqefan

mmdoert?ainnf?ahnefhehscot?


mommimn?e?a?m
Weanmnm?tnmh?wt?


I We: saga; 

WWI 

WWXK/ao?hsemh?m

Wehtwri?mea??

erl?n?tmi?r?t

ar?rhn?r



WWH?qu?lm
at trim in? W.U?rtt?n? 1 Hal truth-F


??hm??d?tira?rn?t?rdm?l

 





Brahmirt priest says, even if they don't understand it.

Washington, D.C.

Today, the 27th of May, Dr. David has made
arrangements for us to go to Washington.
Because Shambhu?s car was too small, David had
rented another One for $180. There were four
people from Shambhu?s family, us two. and one
other Nepalese named Rabindra Adhikari: so
altogether there were seven of us. We set Out
from David's house at 9 in the morning.
Although i was inside the car, it seems that my
gaze wandered constantly to the right and to the
left outside.

About 81 miles from Ithaca, a whole bunch
of cars were just tossed away in the forest. I even
saw people inside these cast away cars there.
And, when I asked Shambhu, he said, "This place
is named 'Scranton,? Maybe they are looking in
the cast away cars for an engine that is still
good." 1 ust then i remembered the garbage dumps
in Kathmandu where some people scrounge for
bottles, some for plastic, and some for little bits
of metal. Shambhu said, "Here it's the custOm
to throw away old cars and keep the old people.
no matter how sick, in nursing homes."

On the road. the car went at 55-60 miles per
hour. After we got to Wilkes Barre, the car
stepped and we went into a restaurant to eat.
Brother Shambhu asked, "What do you want to
eat with us?" After we first said, "You just order
for us," Bhim said, "I'll eat a hot dog and
something cold to drink."

There you had to pay for your food ?rst,
then you got a receipt, and then they would give
you the food ordered on the receipt. I saw some
people pack up the food they didn?t eat and,
putting it into their bags, take it away. But we
were able to estimate exactly how much would
fill. our stomachs and took just the right amount.

There, too. it seems that people picked up after

themselves the little'bitsbf'food and bless they
made. It seems, too. cleaning up any drops of
beverage or soup that spilled,.you must pick up
your own used. plastic plates and,  them
away. throw them intothe' garbage can yourself;
So it was {like the proverb] (in Nepali) jt'tSO juso
bahun baje use use walla? we did just exactly
whatever anyone said.

13 Literally, "Do this~and-this, says the old Brahmin; and so Iikc-thal-and-Iike-thai let it be," meaning that people do what the

 

 

15

 

a i . v. .



Wea?r?a??wmw:

meuaemnamim?nn

it

yearn
m?nm?smheitnf?uwe?lhnan
"th "an
Nisan?l0n?n?n?tnh?rn??rnn??m


melt,th WW (hit - 
an. 

memn?q?mm?gurn?hq?
Wmma?rmm?mt

 stir- nit fht?tnm
nail. sitar? gene unsaa elm
what arna time. It

and martian?guest

?10 

l5

4 Literally, ?be! it come slowly. Let a sorrhe born.

A greeting or parting offering.

introduced the two of us to him.

We all went out of the restaurant and got
into the car. Brother Shambhu said, "Everybodyr
else seems to be going 60-75 miles per hour.
Let's us go quickly, too," But everybody said,
"Let's go slowly. It?s enough to get there com-
fortably. What?s the hurry?" Another proverb
Came into my mind, (in Nepali) dhilai hos chhoral
palms,? meaning: "Better late than never. As
long 215? i1'51 8 Son." But because Sister Banu was
there, that proverb stayed tied up in my throat.

At 4:18 o'clock, saying, "Lo, this is the
place called Washington," Brother Shambhu took
us to meet Mr. DP. Tamang and, carrying a
bottle of whiskey as sagun? in his hand,
in Tamang
society, when guests go visiting, they must carry
their own bedding; we two arrived with nothing
but our hungry mouths.

First DP. Tamang gave us some cold cokes
and then he asked (in Tamang), "What?s yOur
clan, Uncle?" answered, "Mine is Himdung; his
is Thokar." Then he asked me, "Which are
Inarriageable clans to you?" I said mine were
"Gongp0;" and Mr. Bhim's were, well, "Pakhren."

After it was my turn to ask questions, i said,
only know you as DP. Please let me know
y0ur full name." Then he said, "My name is Dig
Bahadur Tamang Ghising." The three of us sat
down to make small talk. Mr. Bhim told about
the troubles he'd had all his life, and said he now
runs a small printing press. As I told my story
of living as a farmer in the village upholding my
father's and grandfathers honor, the food was
cooked. So sitting there, we began to eat.
According to Tamang eastern, while we were all
relaxed drinking, we mixed sweet talk with our
drink and ate and enjoyed ourselves.

The following morning, a young Nepalese
woman came to the door. Seeing us, she said,
"Oh, ho.. Greetings, brothers. When did you
arrive?" it seems that all. Nepalese become just
like kin when they are in a. foreign country. Mr.
D.B. told her, "Little Sister Dolma, you take
these Older Brethers sightseeing. I will get the
food all ready."


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The National Cathedral

When Dolma took us out walking, we also
got to a church. Made entirely of ornamental
marble, the building of that church was begun 75
years ago, they said. The engineer responsible
for the design had died and they haven't been able
to finish the building even today. It seems they
are still building it. After we had seen all the
floors and rooms up to the 7th floor, we went to
stand near the church door, saying, let's take
some photographs.

The Nepalese Embassy, the White
House and the Washington
Monument

Going back to the apartment, we ate with
DB. and then all three of us got into his ear and
went sightseeing. Making small talk as we went
about Washington, D.C., we got to the Nepalese
Embassy and looked around in all four directions.
After this we went and took some photos in front
of the White House. We took the elevator the 555 feet tall George
Washington Monument.

It looked nice to us in all four directions; we
took photos. Feeling happy, we came down.
Unfortunately, it seems that the film in the
Camera wasn?t rolling: should we have been
ashamed, or were we cheated? Mr. DB. wound
the film in again and again we took a picture.

Museums

After this we went into a museum to see
airplanes from the beginning of their history to
the present displayed. Then, we saw all about
how the world turned and how rain fell. In a place
called a planetarium, we had to look up as if into
the sky; that moving picture lasted only 20
minutes. In the Smithsonian Museum. statues
clearly displayed the ?rst settlers to America and
its original inhabitants. i looked about pretty
happily: it was the first time in my life; maybe
it was my last time, too.

A night on the town

At about 10:30 in the evening, Dig Bahadur

took us to see a "Rodi ghar.16 Arriving at the

we saw some 50 or so men. They sat
in seats in circular rows.

16 Rodi Ghar or ?rodi houses? are places where (especially among Gumng peeple in western Nepal) young men and women

would gather to sing and dance. Here, it referes to a 

 

 

17

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7 Referring to the black stones with ammonite fossils in them worshipped in conjunaton wit

witness oaths.

We three also sat dewn. They char god $3.00
for beer that cost 75 cents at stores outsrde: we
each took one. Just as we were asking ourselves
what we were going to see, three completely
naked women of perhaps 17?18 yrs. old came out
to dance as music played and lights flashed.
The)l 11131 danced: nothing else happened.

A little while later, we went outside, where
we saw lots and lots of people. What did those
people who saw us coming out of there think?
Even if yon go into a bar and drink only milk,
when you come out they will say you had been
drinking liquor. If I say, "l'tn an honest man, a
ifaithful man," touch a sacred amnnonite,?r and
even if I swear a sacred oath, whowill believe
me?

Well, when anyone comes to,count up the
troublemakers. saying we're among them, we?ll
be counted too. This one will say so; others will
say so; everyone will say so; everyone will
know. It was late when we slipped quietly into

Mr. apartment and went to 

New and old friends

On the 29th of May, Dr. Ram Saran Mahat
also came to DB. Tamang's apartment. He
asked whether my father and mother were wellor
not. "They?re fine," I said. Shambhu's family
also arrived. Thirteen Nepalese were gathered
there. Brother Shambhu introduced us to
someone whose hair-and beard had all turned
white just like a brahmacharya;18 it was Kiran
Tewari. Shambhu asked us, "How old do you
think he is?" We couldn't guess his age. Later
?whcn he told us, was born in Lamjung, in
Asard 20(93'19 I counted the months out, and it
seems he was two months younger than I was!

18 That late stage of life when people are supposed to attend to spiritual, not familial or material, things.

1?9 tn the Bikram Sambad years used in of?cial Nepal.

18

 

Vishnu. Such stones are used to




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At 2 PM. we said goodbye to all our
Nepalese friends, saying we'd meet again in
Nepal, and waving our hands, we headed out from
Washington towards Ithaca. Brother Shambhu
concentrated on driving like a bull wearing
blinders and we drove quickly back. Stopping
nowhere even to pee. holding it all in. he
brought us back in seven and a half hours.

New York City

On the 30th of May, Dr. David Holmberg
and March arranged for vacation from
their office and, at 12:48 PM we got into the car
and set off. At 4:58 PM we arrived in a place
called New Jersey, 213 miles away from Ithaca.
We went to spend the night at the house of their
friends' named Judy Leon and Kim Atkins; their
house was surrounded on all four sides by woods.

On the-31m of May, early in the morning at

6:45 AM. leaving their own car there and getting

a ride in their friends' car as far as WOOdClift?
Lake, we got a bus for New York City. At 7:51
we arrived at the shore, and after going under the
river, on the other side, after some five minutes,
it seems we reached New York. First the bus
took us down and down, then it spiraled up and
up; I still remember it.

Manhattan

From there, in order to tour the entire city,
we got into another bus and in the heart of the
city, we got to the middlemost square.20 Going
from there, passing Times Square, we got to a
hotel, in which it is said there are 1800 rooms
and it costs $250 per person per night. Then we
went to another square where the tour guide on
our bus said there were 6000 factories making
clothing and employing 300,000 people. Within
this whole New Yerk area, it was said there are
also 60.000 unemployed people with nothing to
do but drink and do drugs. Then we got to
Chinatown. We got to worship Buddha in his
own temple. Dr. offered some oranges

?and apples: we offered some coins and bowed

down respectfully. We came out of the temple,
got back on the bus, and started up again. The
tour guide said there were 29,000 police in just
the New York area.

20 Using the expression Tot, meaning hamlet (in a village) or square (in a city}.

 

 

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The Statue of Liberty 
Continuing our tour, at 11:25 AM we too
a boat out into the middle of the sea and went {0
a small island where a statue stood. That statue
in the New York harbor is not just the tallest
statue in the world, but it stands there for
freedom as "Miss Liberty." 11 seems there were
lots of leurists who had come to see New York
and who climbed up inside the statue to the very
top. They say that there are two hydraulic lifts
and two staircases so that the sightseers can get
to the top of the statue. I saw that the outside of
the statue was made of sheets of copper_ me
time we went, however. because the statue was
in need of repair and some of the bolts loose or
lest, they didn?t let us go up.

Holding a bright yellow torch in the right
hand. the statue stands there reading from a book
held in the left: "Let all the eyes of the world be
open; that is my wish. i have no other 
except this.? Both feet of the statue were boond
by metal chains.

From this place. I saw two very very tall
buildings. I asked March, 
how tall are those buildings? Whats over there.
She said, "That?s the World Trade Center.  hey
are like that because of the chemical fertilizers
here. If you could put fertilizer like that on the
buildings in Nepal, they would be that big, 1.09,?
she said to make us all laugh! I said. No. its
not because of fertilizer. But perhaps it gets like

that after y0u put money from the World Bank
on them!" And we all laughed roundly.

The World Trade Center

After returning on the boat, we went to that
World Trade Center. We went into a building
that seems just as high, or even lugherl, than
Mount Everest. It was 110 stories tall. At the
door of the elevator. I was pleaseduto see the
Nepal flag and the words "Welcome in blepalt
letters. We went up to the 108th floor: ll. only
took a minute to go up in the elevator. looked
out in all four directions: there were only
buildings and sea: i didn't see any planth telds
or anything green anywhere.

20

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Underground beneath these 110 stories. it
seems there were three other floors. It seems that
two lines of trains ran there. From inside that
building, paying $4 each, going under the sea
itself, we left the city to return to New Jersey.

Going back to Ithaca

We got out at Hoboken and from there went
on by bus at 4:30 and arrived back at the friends'
house at 5:30.

Leaving New Jersey at 6 PM for Ithaca, we
arrived at David and house at 10:30.
My imagination scratched out a poem
effortlessly:

This strange country. this Strange dress, on
these strange streets:

City of the West--my heart?s desire-I've seen
in my life!

Leaving ithaca for ealifornia

June 1: This is Our last day: our plan was
to move from Ithaca, New York. to new pastures
in California tomorrow. After cooking another
.meal, we hurried up to see Cornell once more so
that we would remember it. Some official guides
gave out a long speel in English all about the
university. They asked if we had any questions.
Maybe oil can be pressed from stones, but from
my mouth no questions could be squeezed. There
were lots of questions to be asked. but all of
them stayed inside my mind like so much soot.
Just as the owl. unable to see in the daytime.
stares emptin out, so too I stared blankly at the

faces of the Speaking guides as if they were on
TV.

une 2: Early in the morning on this. Our
day for leaving Ithaca, Sister-in~law got the food
ready and was serving it out. At 8:30, David
Holmberg set the car going straight for Syracuse.
The time had come for sending the two of us off
just like brides after the wedding. We took our
leave from S. March. their son Mohan
and daughter Maya. Saying, "we'll meet again;
see you," we got into the car. Dr. David drove
us in the car the 80 miles away to the Syracuse
airport by 10:15. We got our boarding cards. We

shook hands with Dr. David and took our leave.

We went to the gate or the plane.

 

 



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21 This was a radio activated automatic garage door.

The ?ight to San Francisco

The plane took off at 10:45 and landed at the
Detroit airport at 11:58, There, instead of the
original schedule, we took off one hour late
because of the weather. They say the ?ight flow
across the very middle of America.

in some places, I saw houses and barns, and
?elds being worked. Then after that see
mountains without a single species of trees on
them, and little tiny lakes, Most of an, 1 saw
three times mere empty land than worked land--
only forest.
As we were nearing San Francisco, looking
toward the ground, I saw a bridge that was so
long it couldn?t be seen in a single eyeful and so
many houses and buildings they couldn?t be
We landed at the San Francisco airport
at 3:30 according to their time. Then, because it
was 6:30 New York time, such time differences
Still seemed Strange to me. Dr. March?s
father and mother had come to get us; theywere
waiting so close to the door that the pupils of
their eyes were practically stuck to It. Thus, after
almost six hours in the air, getting into Jim
.March?s car, we get to their house in Stanford,
some 30 miles away.
In california
The next morning, at 9 in the morning
California time, after feeding us breakfast, an
March took Bhim and me into the garage and we
got into the car. After we took the ear out of the
garage, Mr. Bhim said, "We have to close the
garage door." But Jim March shut the wooden
door of that two-car garage with nethmg but the
force of some signal sent from inside our car.21
it seemed very strange to both of us. Had we
seen a bit of magic? Then Mr. Bhim asked to
see again how it had been closed. Then he opened
and closed it again. Surprised, we laughed.
Touring the Peninsula
After this they took us up into the
mountains. San Francisco is a city surrounded
on all four sides by hills just like Kathmandu.
We went up to the top of the peaks. I saw every
kind of tree in that jungle except bamboo and
cane. After this, we went downhill and came to a
small city the name of which was Santa Cruz.

22

 

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22 A metaphorical number in Nepali, meaning ?lots and lots".
23 That is a roller coaster.

2?4 That is, typically, goats and cattle.

There there were twenty kinds? of
amusements; it seemed just like the "Fun
Festival" in Nepal. First we ate some pizza and
beer. Then, paying $1.75 and choosing among
those twenty kinds of amusements, we rode on
an electric train, in groups of ten people. At the
start of the train.23 they took you into a darkness
like your eyes were blindfolded. Then the uphill
climb began. Reaching the top. the downhill
hogan! We plummeted in a wild headlong
swoop! As if to make us lose consciousness, it
went round and around four times, then
straightened out. We wondered when the train
would stop. Then it stopped and we got out.
Both of us were laughing so hard we were crying
and wiping our tears.

After this, we went to see the animals of the

seaplace called Anno
Neuvo. There, coming out of the sea, we saw
some strange kinds of animals, sort of like ?sh,
but called "elephant seals." We saw so many
coming out of the sea onto that little island of
nothing but sand that we oeuldn't even count
them. Perhaps they had come to sun themselves.
Then they would shuffle back to the water where
it seems they found strength again. They would
go off, leaping with the currents.

At last we got back home. At the house, in
the name of stabled four-footed animals,24 there
was only one mottled cat: we didn?t see anything
else. People seem to show such affection for the
animals they keep.

San Francisco Bay and the
northern peninsula

At 9 AM on the morning of June 4111, Jim
March put our things in the car and took it out of
the garage. He took all four of us to the place
where his son lived. On the way, there were
hills and meadows all around, and as many
houses, too. We reached the main city of San

Francisco. Some of the buildings were built just

like those in New York City.

 

 

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The Golden Gate Bridge and San
Quentin

Then we reached the world famous Golden
Gate Bridge. I saw a signhoard that said that
bridge was 2 kilometers and 4 centimeters long.
After we got to the other side of the bridge, he
stopped the car and showed the view to us.

Long ago, if they had to punish someone
very severely, he showed us that there was a
place called a jail for the prisoners there in the
middle of the water that c0uidn't be reached
except by helicopter or boat. It was also said
that, in India, there was a Black Hole into which
they put their worst prisoners. Perhaps this one
was like that. But today this isn't a place for
imprisoning prisoners; instead, they?ve shut
down the jail and built a museum and park for
sightseers.

We went on and on, and got to his son?s--
James Christopher?s-house. Everyone met
everyone. Then we ate there. Leaving there at
2:30 PM, they took us to San Francisco. to
David's younger brother Erie Holmberg's
apartment. We said ?Bye Eye" to Jim and Jayne
March and parted from them.

San Francisco City

Eric said he was 37 years old but he is Still a
student and hasn't gotten married. He was allset
up to do all his own cooking. I helped him.
After the food was ready, the three of us ate meat,
bread, liquor and so forth. Then he showed us
our bedroom and went to sleep himself in another
room. The life of a student is a little bit hard.
But according to the custom there [in the 
they say everyone is equalusmall, big, rich,
poor.

June 5: Eric went to study at 7 in the
morning. Before he left he showed us where
everything was, saying, "Please eat these. Its
'very expensive outside. Don?t eat out. And so
saying, showing us everything, he left.

Then remembered what Dr. David
Holmberg and March said as we were
leaving Ithaca. "In my parents' house and at my
younger brother-in-law?s, don't be shy. Eat and
drink whatever you wantm?-qam??mmtm




 

 

24

Although they don't know how to cook
Nepalese food, please can your fill of whatever
you can of what they give you,". said Dr. 
March. worrying about us. Just as a mother
cares for her children, so she, too, cared for us.
She was like a mother? to us.

After making ourselves a snack, we went
out about 8 o'clock. Saying we might forget
where the place was. and looking around carefully
to memorize the marks of the place. we left. We
walked and walked until 11 o'clock. We went
seeing this and that, but didn't see a restaurant
anywhere. Finally, we found one. We were
hungry. Because we'd gotten even hungrier
walking, we went in. Mr. Bhim ordered the
food; it cost the two of as $9.45. After we'd
eaten, as we were coming out, it began to rain
hard. We didn't have an umbrella: going from
under one bridge to another overhanging roof.
covering our heads. we eventually reached Eric's
apartment around 5 PM. Eric arrived just
afterwards.

In a while. after we'd eaten, Eric took us to
visit at his friend's house. It was a little way
from the Golden Gate Bridge. There were quite a
few women there. Eric introduced us to his
friends. Eric's friend asked me, ?How many
children do you have?" Before I could answer,
Eric interrupted. "Don't ask how many children

he has. Ask him how many wives he has." Eric

knew because he had been to my house five
months earlier. Hearing Eric, those women
laughed heartily; then, I felt shy, too.

His friend said. ?Hey, you have two wives?
You don?t have to feel shy," and asked, "How
many children do you have?" I said, "Two sons,
three daughters, altogether five children." She
said, "You have a large family."

25 In Ne all, a dhm' arm, or in Tamang .robi am, is a 'mother:' in contrast to the one who gave birth, or perhaps the one who

hurt you, this 'mother' is the one who cared for you, cooked and fed, clothed, and generally raised you.

 

 

25



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June 6: Since Eric always had to go to
study at 7 in the morning, today he took us both
with him, left us off in San Francisco's China
town, and went himself off to study.- Saying he

.was afraid we?d get lost, Eric gave us his
telephone number and address and we went off.

As we wandered around the streets
everywhere, from place to place I saw women
casting aside their shyness even more *than the
men. On their bodies, in the name of clothing,1
saw them wearing Only strings. They went
around just like that, in the crowd, wearing only
loincloths and'covcring only the two nipples of
their breasts. Our proverb "the person who sees
is more shy than the one who shits"?6 doesn?t
mean anything to them. When we see them on
the street--hugging, kis?sing--should ?we call them
people or what should we call 

I thought, at the beginning of creation, the
wise animals beoame humans. Humans first ate
meat raw. Then they learned to roast and eat,
then to cook and eat.
development of cuisine came about. As for
clothing, at first, they say they covered their
embarrassment with the bark of trees. Slowly,
they learned to weave and learned how to wear
'cloth. As clOthing developed, too, Styles
emerged and they learned to wear them in turn.
Now has it come, once again, to giving up the
wearing of things? if so, then, will we again
reach the beginning and go around nakedl'i

After wandering around, the two of us only
got back to the apartment seven hours later.
Because we ran into a butcher's shop on our way
home, we got some meat and rice andcame back.
Then I. cooked the meal in thehlepalese way._ 
seems that the chili peppers were too much.
Tears wbre falling from Eric's eyes a?s??he said it
tasted good and we etc; It seems it-was the time
for his final examinations, so he said, "Your
{light is tomorrow. My friend Nancy will take
you to the airport. I hope you don't mind."

In this way, the -

26 Although people try to relieve themselves in privacy, in a country with few outhouses or bathrooms. one always risks 
seen. But, according to the revert), to stumble across (and see} someone IS more embarrassmg than to be the one so
interrupted. Or, in other wor s, the one who cannot resist watching is the one who should be embarraSsed. not the one who

must do what they must.



26

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Lent/Eng San Francisco 

June 7: Eric woke us up early and 
for breakfast, told his friend Nancy all about the
food, and then he said to" us, "You two have a
good journey. We?ll meet again." And so
saying, he left at 3? o'clock. At 10:30, after
Nancy had fed the two of us, we got into her nice
little red Toyota and she took hate the San
Francisco Airport. She left her car outside and
came with us to arrange things at the ticket
counter. When it came time to say goodbye,
according to the custom there [in the that
Nancy woman kissed me on the check and gave
me a hug. Bhim Bahadisr and closed his
eyes.

Then, abruptly, she wrapped herself around
Mr. Bhim and kissed him smack on the cheek,
too. He raised both his hands into the air as if he
would give up his life, and we laughed until the
tears rolled. down. Nancy laughed too. Ilaughed
too. Nancy waved bye-bye and took her leave.
Later when werejn the airplane, Mr. Bhim said,
"Since we don?t say goodbye with a kiss or a hog
in our society, I was embarrassed. I won't forget
those events for my whole life." And we began
to laugh again.

.Another plane ride

The plane took off from" San Francisco
Airport at 12:35 PM. Theair hostesses and
other employees gave us things to drink and eat,
whatever we wanted. 

They showed us case there were
any showed us Twhere the

things were; they showed us show to put-..them

ore-over your face,_lon ypur body. It makes your
body shudder to think of what might?happen. As
children. everyone always 'wants somuch?to fly
in planes, But if this. were to happen, saying
that youhave tornake your own body safe, as

long 'as'the? plane is in the You

wonder, "When will! ever touchdown on land
again?" As the proverb says, ?Even sweet. things
will taste bitterthem."

 

 

27

 

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For the whole ten hours, only water could
been seen outside the plane. When i was in
school, the teachers said, "The world is round.
Of the four quarters of the world, only one quarter
is land and three are water." That's what they
said; this must be what I see now. But i didn't
see the roundness of the world. As I was
thinking this, we arrived in Tokyo at 2:30 PM,
local time. Our plane took off from Tokyo at
5:48 PM and arrived in Hong Kong at 9:45 PM,
local time. Taking a taxi outside, we went to
Chungking Mansion to say in the Happy
Guesthouse. It cost $180 Hong Kong for a
night?s sleep.

Hong Kong

Waking up at 6:30 in the morning, we went
to Chimcha Shoe by the sea. Wandering all day,
we saw no empty spaces in any direction: in
every direction there were tall tall hills, tall tall
buildings. and even taller ones in the city itself;
all over the ground, filling it up, were cars;
underground was a train; above, in the sky flew
planes; and on the sea were boats. Everywhere
everyone is speaking Chinese. The British
Government has rented this small island
surrounded by water for a hundred years.
Wherever you wanted to make a telephone call,
within the Hong Kong area, it didn't cost
anything. We had Bekh Rama Sakya?s phone
number and called him. We met him even
though we had nothing to give him. He was my
Surya Man's] father's old friend. He was glad to
meet us since he lives so far away abroad.

He asked how my parents were. "When did
you arrive?" he asked. "We left home and have
been wandering for five weeks," i said. He took
?us arou'rid to buy a few small things.

When we got to the airport, looking at
everyone else, everyone had: a watch on their
wrist, a golden chain around their neck, a ring on
their finger. We didn't see anyone who wasnt
towing two or three big huge suitcases. People
from all over the world seem to go to Hong
Kong to sell their money. These days, there, I
saw great beauty and peace.

28

WW

mitt?hardeneme





M??ml



Emil Eh 6% edited khan



?dt?d?wmaw?t








?teammateme






m?nmh?mmi?e?m
Wm?t

 

Arriving home in nepal

At 8 o?clock on the morning of June l3th,
we left Hong Kong. Stopping at Bangkok, we
arrived in Nepal at 11 AM local time. For most
of that day the weather had been good. Coming
from Bangkok, as we got closc to Bengal and
Calcutta, maybe it was that the weather had
gotten bad, but the plane bounced around like a
car bumping over rocks on an unfinished road.
Sometimes going up, sometimes going down,
,b0uncing all the way, we arrived at Tribhuvan
International Airport. As if they'd been afraid in
the air, as soon as we touched down, everyone
applauded and we got out.

After getting out of the plane, we signed the
forms with customs information according to
Nepalese law and went inside. I waited there
watching how they examined other peepie's
baggage until they called my name. I saw that
the inspectors handled some gently sent them of 
with salutes. Some, they they only stroked.
Seme, they scraped and rubbed the way a
goldsmith tests the quality of gold.? And
some, they sifted and winnowed through like so
much uncooked rice. Actually, the law is
supposed to be the same for all.

Actually, all humankind?8 ought to treat
everyone the same. Everyone has the same pride.
Before the law, everyone should be equal. There
was one government official who had traveled
with us from Hong Kong. He had two great big
suitcases. Without even being looked at, they

.were marked with chalk and passed on through.2

began to sweat with anger just as if a
stepmother had shown partiality to her own son
over me. But what could do except mask my
anger? So i said to myself, it seems that
nepotism and favoritism can be found right here.
Then an agent took me into a darkened chamber;
they probably don?t even do that to murderers.
"Tell me what you?ve brought, or I'll know after
using this machine," he demanded.30 With this
harsh language, he even took off my hat and
shoes to look. But I had nothing. Finding
nothing to fault, they passed me.

27 Goldsmiths have true louchstones black stones against which they rub gold samples to determine their caratwquality.

 

 

 

29

 

.. .. 

 

Having travelled to see all the scientific
progress in a developed country, ours is Still like
a naked desert. it seems that the slogans of
development in the villages. in our country, are
only noise. It's not that development comes
humming from the sky. if the advice of the
enlightened were followed, they'd say that those
who live in a country must work for that
country. Coming back from our travels, we did
not bring back any gold, silver or great
valuables. We only carried back the singular
wish that Nepal, too, would become developed, if
not just like western eoountries, at least so that
every village would have the comforts of
education. transportation, electricity, commu-
nications water. These are the events of our
travels from western countries up until our return
to Tribhuvan International Airport in Our own
country.





amt anti Email?ea? it mis?t 
mew?twwanw


strata humeral WE arsf?rt, tram

'qeqrr?anql?ears?retn??anmm

WW eaten Paras ?rst?rim
ermi

The end.

 

 

28 Literally. "all the kin of human beings."
29 Upon entering Nepal. each bag would be marked with chalk if it passed the customs inspection.

3? It is impertarit to understand (but impossible to translate directly into linglish) that the agent in this passage u?sed fem-ts of

language properly reserved only for dogs and very low life.

30

 

David Bhim
Bahadur Tarnarig and
Surya Man Tamang at
the HohhbergsMarch
house in Ithaca NY,
3988.

32%: amt a: Err-:13?
arrest We mare-
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am: Persian

if? item

 

   
  
  
 
 
 
 
   

A picnic supper in Ithaca
with clockwise around
table) Maya (baby),
[aura I?lohhberg, Kath,
Anna Holmberg, Mark
Wagner, Bhim, Mohair 6r
Surya Mari,1988.
In? Win (earner
avatar? out an afar are)?
in?) war area: sin
WW, tier

Mohan catches part of
supper 0h Cayuga Lake
with Surya Mari, Bhim
and David.



 


?"h'mfmm ?'39 persona! collections arts urva Man Thumno (8 Rhim Hahn/fin- 

 

 

 

 

5

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than, Surya Mar: 8 Kath
at Camel} Ut'ttv., 1988.

is. ?t?tcm Ia 11hr, W77 2'
a?f $37? the
Wt

 

Bhim 8 Surya Man pose with the statue
of Cornell University ?3 first president,
Ithaca, 1988.

3C. Rat: Hr 2' 
WW 25%? @1372? 
WW mart

 

ur 1a Man wtrtes notes for
his journal at Cornet! Um?
versz'ty while Kath and
Bhim watch; 1988.

311377? 2mm 
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$27781? awn? 
EEK RE: I



 

 

 

Bhr'm and Surya Man try out
Mark '5 grape harvester while Kath
and Mark ?s dog watch, 1988.

1? mar? 313;? 
after weir 27% mar earth?
I alias? star?. ?t??cct

 

Bhirh, Surya Man, Mark and Kath in some of the vineyards on Mark?s farm, I988.



553?: Watt!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Surya Man, Mohaa, Kall: and Bhim above Niagara Falls, looking down, 1988.
sfer?. ?Hcc: 

 

Surya Man and Bhim on the "Maid of the Mist? boat, looking up at Niagara Falls, 1988.
356?. ?Km: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

gh?m, Dig Balzadar Tamaag and Surya Man in from of the While House, Washington,
. ., 1988.

Wmms?a? secs-arr

 

 

 

 

 



.

 

 

 

   
 
 
   

The World Trade Center, New
York City, 1988.

Rim? arm 28%? 
W3: SW. ?Rccr 

 

  
 
 

we: b'xrcx-E ?hymn-zen

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Surya Mart and Bhim on tour boat at New York City,- r'u the background is Manhattan and
the two tall towers of the Wortd Trade Center, 1988.

358. RC: 
aorta? Wt

 

 

   



Surya Matt and Bhim try to see
the top of the World Trade Center,

1988.
Wt?amawm
?t?icat

 

 

David, Bhim and rya Mart near the Statue of Liberty, New York City, 1988.
Warm)?  martian 55a. ?t??ccr

 

 

e'

 

 

 

 

David I-lolmberg and
Surya Man Tamang pose for

a photo in the village, 1976
@?ra (277339?? Wham) 
?lW? 

 

   

-: 4w.

 

The day of Great Dances at Chha Dance Drama festival, 1977,
int 

 

. 

 

 

 

 

 

David, Lal Bir 'I?amang and friends
drink millet raksi ai the Tsche 

dance drama festival, 1976. 
5565 Weill?a, 
Wilma av; mam raft an? W:

 

 

 

 

Khasa Lama and Hairong dance as Khamsung and Aiman Sin gh dance as
high mountain in the Ya Tscma dance. Hind Shiva ascetics in the Siddha Iogi dance.


3773mm? 

 

i



 

 

March poses for a photo in the
village,1976.
920$:

 

 

March! Peg Richardson, Laura l-iolmberg and David pose in front of the converted
water buffalo shed that was our home in the hills, 197 6.


Mimi

   

 

 

     

     

 

 

 

I 2

  asking la} Bir
  about village life.

  Wei mag?a
m? 

 1. (Back row, left to right) Lali i ii arms of Tsirlo, Kathrin 8 David; {front row, left to right)

Riuti on lap of Parrigi, Tali, Pharka, Kali on lap of Santa.



27W :29 rn?nf' 

 

 

 

(Left to right) Lendreag, Dip Baltadur, David, name unknown from Lapdang,
Puma Lama and Surya Man in the snow above Tipling at Mergang, 197 7.
arrange 31%: {determined-admin
shite-7a in: awe:

 

 

 

 

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WW:

 

RECOLLECTIONS OF
OUR LIFE IN NEPAL

David H. Holmberg

FIRST TRIP TO STUPA HILL.

December l'l, 1936:31 made my first
venture to Stupa Hill from Kathmandu in
December of 197?5 after having travelled
extensively in eastern Nepal in search of a site to
conduct anthropological research on the Tamang.
I decided to make a quick trip to the Trisuli area
to see what the prospects looked like for a place
to settle down for the next year and a half. I was
accompanied on this trip by Pemba Sherpa a
friend from Solu Khumbu who was also working
as March?s field assistant. On the bus to
Trisuli, we met Surya Man Tamang. I had been
Studying Tamang language in Kathmandu and
was sitting next to Surya Man on the bus. i
thought he might be Tamang so I haltineg tried
a few Tamang words on him. I said, "Do you
Speak Tamang language?? He said. "Yes." I
understood not a word he rattled of after that and
we switched to Nepali. i explained that was an
anthropologist and was contemplating doing
research in Tamang culture and society and was
looking for a village in which to live. He
invited me to visit his village which we did. it
was about a four hour walk from Trisuli Bazaar.

I made only one brief entry in my journal
about this initial visit and it concerns the portion
of the trip to Trisuli and nothing about Stupa
Hill or the neighboring villages we visited}

Journal Entry

On the way up to and down from Kaltani32
there are many Taniang houses. The house types
match Tamang houses to the Seuth of the
Rowaling Valley [to the east of Nepal] with their
red mud plaster and thatch roofs.

1? 

ELI

3? The portions of text in brackets were added later; the rest of the text comes from mynotebooks of this time.

32 Which sits on the northern ridge of hills which ring the Kathmandu Valley

 

31

 

- - valid-M iv HA ., 

 



Wham-<me




 

33 Bidur is the Center for Nuwakot District.

The bus ride to Kakani is about one and a
half hours and the ride to Trisuli is another four
and hall?. The road is paved most of the way
although all along it is being repaired or rebuilt.
The Trisuli-Bidur area houses a huge government
complex.33 The valley is flat and good fields are
in abundance34 Bahun, Chhetri, Musalman, and
Newar seem to thrive here. In Trisuli Bazaar,
proper, many Tamangs come through for various
reasons and are immediately identifiable by their
distinctive clothing. On the surrounding

hillsides, there are innumerable Tamang villages. 
The women all wear hand woven skirts and men 
still look like hill dwellers more than national 
I met Gerard Toffin, a French 7"

citizens.
anthropologist. who has been working in the
Ankhu Khola region moatly in a village called
Sertung. A French mold-disciplinary project has
been going there for a number of years. He
suggested that I consider working in Gatlang35
although he had never visited it. He has been

working on general ethnographic problems on

Tamang as well as historical material. He thinks
there may be historical material in Gatlang.

{On my first trip to Stupa Hill, I spent two
nights. It was the dry time of the year and I was
impressed by the beauty of the villages and the
hospitality of Surya Man Tamang and his
family. I found the rich woven materials - blue
and red cloth, bamboo baskets. corn husk and
straw mats - and cepper and blackened clay jugs
against the backdrop?tif'rcd mud houses or the dry
earth of then empty fields visually compelling.
in contrast to Tamang villages in the east where
many men leave to work elsewhere, the villages

here were not empty of men and families seemed 

complete, We spent one day wandering to
neighboring villages and returned the next day to
Kathmandu. Although i had not yet made up my
mind to live in Stupa Hill, Surya Man's
hospitality and my general attraction to the area
certainly was pulling me strongly in that
direction).

34 I was later to learn that theSc were unirrigated and thus not as productive as they potentially could be.

35 In the northern part of Rasuwa DiSlt'iCl

32

  -     

Wishes 

 



. 

   

. 

am? Wiw?e?wanhq?m

qunmadwwamanwma



 

{immanentamm

February 5, 1975.
Stupa Hill

[Between my first foray to Stupa Hill and
taking up actual residence, 1 took another trip to
a Tamang area in the east of Nepal. After this
trip I made up my mind to return to Stupa Hill
for research. I worked intensively on Tamang
language and prepared for my departure. Surya
Man came several times to Kathmandu to speak
with me and we drew up a design for a house
which we would construct in the village.]36

After a somewhat restless early morning, I
rose for the inevitable departure to Stupa Hill.
Last minute preparations were minimal and not
hectic. The bus was to leave at "?100 in the
morning but it did not get off until 7:45. After
Pemba Sherpa left Surya Man and me at the bus
stop, I felt a anxious about what the future in the
village would bring. There was no turning back
now! The bus ride was the usual drudgery what
with jam packed seats and cigarette smoke. We
arrived in Trisali at about 12:15. We went to
Dharma Rama's house. There we hassled our
loads for about an hour trying to negotiate with
porters. [Surya Man kept insiSting that we just
leave the boxes at his friend?s house in the bazaar
and send people from the village down to get
them. I was not going to let them out of my
sight and wanted to get them up to the village
with us.] We met Dharma Rama's oldest
daughter who teaches in high school in Trisuli
and has passed her BA in Education. Final
negotiations with the porters yielded an
agreement that they carry the loads for 9 rupees a
piece to Stupa Hill. it was too much by local
standards but better than the 15 rupees they
started at! Everything arrived though.

The sky was ominous as we left Trisuli.
The wind was blowing and it was dark. It had
looked like rain for the last two or three hours to
Stupa Hill which it ?nally did. [i remember
a {lock of white birds taking off from a
black rock set in ?eld as we made our way along
the side of the Trisuli Ganga River.] It was the
usual cold rain but because of the uphill it also
involved sweat. So you froze when you stopped.

Moving to

36 But which was never built. Instead, an existing water buffalo shed who modi?ed to provide a single

simple but private upstair room.

 

33

 

mmammamu
W?t?mh?mw?

a
3
a
i

3


mmwmuo?e?im?r

mmaammimm
merm?cw

At first I thought what an inauspicious
arrival black clouds and torrential rain. I had
nothing to eat all day either and my stomach was
aching for food. Things settled out when we got
to Surya Man's house. It was dry and even with
the HHS curiOus. staring children filled out by a
smaller group of adults who came to see the new

arrival, it was nice to be there. I finally was -

graciously of cred a delicious meal of do! blunt.37

After a discussion with local men about the past,.:
the present, and America, I went to sleep at about;

10:00. . .

lived on a balcony in Surya Man's house?
for the next three months until living quarters in 1
an adjacent building wereibuilt. I lived in this 
converted barn previously used to store fodder for 

the next 15 moms. i tried cooking for myself for
a while but everyone thought I was crazy eating
what appeared to them as unappetizing food. I
tended to make pots of thick soup in which I

would mix everything together including rice and;
vegetables. Villagers began to insist that I not;
eat alone and in a short while I ate regularly inf;
Surya Man's house where the food was always'f

 

excellent. When March joined me the;
following year we began cooking in our own."

 

house and because I now had a wife villagers-i

expected their hospitality to be returnedll

 

February 6, 1976: First full day in 
village I was awake at 5:30 to the serenade 
the village cocks. It was a day of see?sawing. Is;

the best place to do research or is it just over the;
next hill? 1 was missing friends and wonderedS

what it was going to be like living all alone her?;
for the next 18 months. I was treated to some,

bamboo plant. Although, there is one bunch 
this bamboo in the village, it tends to grow i7);
forests at higher altitudes It was a tea substitu 
made upfor me. No one in the village (hang
tea33 and the ubiquitOus tea stalls you ting;
throughout the hills are conspicuously absent 
western Tamang villages. Kids on the way 
school stopped by as well as many of Sury

local brew made from a sap?like secretion from 

W?n?m?m?nwm


@th?mh?l?an?rh?rrmq?



fate?n?tar?famdrrenaha?hw




WWrann?m?thm
wh?nmaha?ma?mmn?timm





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mesha?i?t?rrt

ma??mr?n??ahw??m
Wwwm?lh?hhmnim

?ww?lmawmi
wwn?e??t?rn?r?tm?w?mt



Mammals:me
nelmn?ante?hne?enmanmh?t
Wmimm?hm

armax??rnms?atam

Wt

After that was able to have a discussion
with Surya Man?s father about resident clans and
marriage rules. We were interrupted by a
distinguished visitor form a neighboring village.
The day had started out chilly and a bit cloudy
but it cleared up in the late morning. The sun
nus nice, but intense and tiring.

in the afternoon, I went with Surya Man to

- buy cigarettes from his. father's younger sister.

The women therewere making raksi?39 for a

,1 gm!? which was to begin that evening. Surya

Man and everyone else will have to go tomorrow
for the festivities. In the late afternoon, I
attempted to find out about the grat' but it is very
complex. I find it difficult to understand local
Nepali dialect and my Tamang is not good
enough to carry on conversations. In the evening
as seems to be the pattern around here, everyone
gathers to talk which is great. A shaman41 came
by in the evening. I am tired and can not write
anymore tonight. No brilliant diaries from me!

[The next two days of my stay in the village
was consumed by attending the gral or mortuary
rituals conducted at Surya Man's father?s sister?s
house. This ritual which is the most extensive
in Tamang life involves many people from many
clans. It also involves much dancing and
singing. Some by Buddhist lamas and some by
village singers. There is also a lot of feasting
including the drinking "of raksi or the local
whiskey made from millet. I can not think of a
better introduction to village social life and
customs. ?Several things stand out in my mind
about these few days. I realized that Tamang
culture was rich and complex and I had much to
learn. This was both inspiring and intimidating.
But more than anything, i remember I dropped an
old ballpoint pen (dampen).

 

 

-

Man's friends. We all sat around and talked unt 

 

 

WW I the [homing meal was 38 In most of Nepal. tea is usually very common either a sweet milk tea drunk in the lovti'lunds or the salted
 buttery version drunk in the mountains. But neither form of tea was available in Stupa Hill.
?gure} rim
39 Raksi is a locally distilled liquor that figures in most important social events.
it an?! mint mill MT 913% W111 I 40 Tamang mortuary feast.
37 lentsis and rice. one of the staple meals (along with millet and com mush) in [he commumly? ?il Tamang: bombo; Nepali: jhankhri

 

 

 

 

 

- 






ant R3, 3th


anr?nn?ta?agrta??,mrasah



Wmtdadrm?natw

ma?nmimmw




WWI

 

mewm

42 A friend who was visiting from Kathmandu:

Later that evening when I returned home. a l-
young man came to Surya Man's house dragging
a boy by the ear. The boy was carrying the pen
and the man was insisting that he return it to "me. 
The young man had thought the boy had stolen 
it. i explained that the pen was finished and I had 
thrown it away. The boy had not stolen it. I was 
impressed that everyone wanted to make sure that
nothing had been stolen and the stress on
honesty. As experience was to prove. people in
Stupa Hill were very honest and prided
themselves on not allowing theft of any sort.]

Trip to Ankhu Khola

March 23, In the morning, we made
final preparations for our trek north to Ankhu
Khola and Gatlang. Food supplies. clothes. and
everything else was packed into packs and

 

baskets. As usual nothing happened on time.
One of the two porters showed up at a reasonable
hoar; the other not until mid afternoon. Surya
Man's father's brether is the latest of all. Megh
Thapa?n and I set off before the others had even
gotten out of the house.

mm 

We finally get everyone together at the
small stupa at the top of the village. Lendreng
and Galden Lama were going to carry our extra
supplies and Surya-Man?s father?s brother was
along for the fun.

We walked fairly directly to the village of
Balche. Along the way all the maize crop has
been planted. It is amazing how the growing
season changes so often according to altitude and
the quality of the soil. When we arrived at
Balche we stayed at the village headman?s house.
He was off in Trisuli apparently trying to
politic his way into the district assembly. His
wife is quite ill and crashed Out.

36

 


Wham meningeal?



?d?q?t??tmm?qnn





Ellm?l?lta?tm?


Wmn?hn??mant

 



37

I talk briefly with the Peace Cerps volunteer
who is working at a government sheep farm that
is located above the village proper. The sheep
farm was established to replace a butter producing
operation controlled by the Rana regime until the
19503 and worked as a form of labor forced by
villagers. She has very little good to say about
the operation. The manager knows nothing
about sheep although he has some sort of degree
in animal nutrition. She says he ordered a bunch
of vitamin for the sheep. She says that vitamin
is the one thing that sheep never lack. The
farm is staffed with five people who apparently
do nothing except wait for the delivery of the
national newsmper (Gorklia Farm) which comes
by runner everyday from Trisuli. We sleep early.

March 24, 1977. We are up early to a
breakfast of khole - salt. onions and flour - an
excellent. warm meal. We start off for Singla - a
high point we must cross to descend into the
Ankhu River valley. Herding stations from
neighboring villages have already moved up into
the lower forests. Most of the herding stations
keep water buffalos and cows. Some herders
keep a few sheep as well. The herders moved up
about a week ago.

must move up as soon as the corn is
planted. This is because they can not keep the
animals in the dry fields any longer. There
seems to be a very different strategy than in
Stupa Hill which is much lower. There the
emphasis is on keeping fodder trees in the dry
?elds and keeping the animals at the house. In
these higher villages there are no trees at all
except in the sacred groves devoted to divinities
and people take animals to high pasteur. Also
the longer fallow period in the warmer villages
allows them to keep the animals in the fields
longer. This is the primary means of fertilizing
the fields. Everyone insists that there is very
little profit the maintenance of a herding station.

'People do it out of pure necessity and for

subsistence.

'lr 

 

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As we move up, we go through scrub forest
with some fields of wheat and barley. Then
through the scrub jungle, we reach a beautiful
thick forest with huge trees. This forest is about
an hours walk above Balche. We cross the
Salangku river which is now a small stream.
We encounter a group of Balche herders - long
haired and screaming, singing down the river.

We stopped to eat lunch at a small stream.
The water is all clear and fresh. We encounter
herding stations all along the Way. In the stream
barma bamboo is soaking unattended. Herders
often pursue side occapations of collecting
bamboo for weaving baskets. and producing roof
shingles. The gurpa - ritual specialist - who
comes to the festival of rshe chhu in Stupa Hill
came along the trail. He was looking for four
sheep he had lost the other day. He was with his
wife. They asked us if we had a calendar or book
in which he could ascertain where his lost sheep
had gone.

After lunch we head up through a large open
canyon where again there were many herding
stations. These herding stations were at roughly
9000 feet in elevation. This was as high as
people had gotten this time of year.

We reached Conga pass at 9610 ft. where we
took a rest. A lone Himalayan Langur sat
opposite as watching. As we left we encountered
fresh leopard droppings full of sheep for. There
are a lot of the trees out of which they make roof
shingles around and many have been felled. We
met five men who had just arrived for cutting and
splitting shingles.

After an incredibly steep climb up a semi?
cliff, we moved into another virgin canyon. Full
of a kind of juniper tree and rock pinnacles. The
trees hung off the cliffs like those in Chinese
paintings. After another steep climb up with all
of us exhausted, we reach Rupchet. at about
12,500 feet in elevation.

 


mammaliaan






strandiiner

Mammnmaamttm:









mmaanatnannmaarw






 

There is a large stone shelter there. This
apparently is for travellers. it is evident and was
even more so later that there is an on going
process of creating grazing land in this area.
Rupchet itself was slowly cleared of trees. In the
vicinity they are still cutting.

That evening we were forced to melt snow
for water. Two men searching for a kind of
medicinal plant known at dangjyu in Tamang and
patam chal in Nepali (Nelumbitim Speciosum).
This root is very yellow and 2 to 3 inches in
diameter. it is cut into pieces and dried. It is
very difficult to find. They take the roots they
find to Trisuli Bazaar to a Chhetri contractor who
sells the roots in India. The selling price in
Trisuli Bazaar is 10?11 rupees a cream.? But
everyone stresses that the root is extremely
difficult to procure. One must search in very high
crags in the cliffs.

We had a very comfortable night in the hut
inspite of strange spirits etc. making noises
outside! We built two fires in the shelter. The
one in front of the door was quite large. The
purpose of this fire I was told was to keep out
unwanted animals and ghosts. Ghosts are of
considerable concern. At every meal we leave a
small portion of the meal on a small stone. This
I am told is for the ghosts who may have come
from men killed by falling trees, tigers and the
like. This offering is called .t?hyor - which they
say means "eat and go!"

March 25, 19?? We were interrupted in our
sleep all night by Our cornpanions restoking the
fire and smoking. in the morning, everyone
related their dreams and experiences of the night.
heard some being calling?howling
outside in the night. His interpretation was that
some sort of ghost (Taunting: shyingo) was
accustomed to spending the night there.
However, because we were there with our fires, it
was unable to enter the shelter.

 43 A Nepalese measure of weight equalling roughly 5 pounds

 

 

39



 

 

 


railwameme






Surya Man in his dream had met a man
outside the shelter who was all black. He shook
hands with the man but could not speak to him,
only to the woman with whom he was. The
man said he was in the same class with Surya
Man. Surya Man asked why they had come and
the response was that they had had to come.

We waited around until it warmed up a bit
and the chill burned of before we left. The two

'men who had stayed with us said that the main

trail was full of snow and it was best to go
straight over Single which is 13,285 feet in
elevation according to the map I have. The
names on the map do not correspond (guess
what!) to local knowledge. It was a very steep
climb up. The country was very precipitous and
as you near the top there is nothing but grass.
There are hunters caves nestled in the cliffs.
There are as well some small shelters for sheep.
This high grazing country is exclusively for
sheep. There is some snow still resting in the
crags and shadows. Finally, we reach the peak of
Single where we rest. There is a beautiful stupa
there. This is apparently the site of a Shamanic
festival on full moon of the Nepalese month of
Badau. From here. we had an excellent view of
the Ganesh Himal. It is - as it has been since we
started in the morning hazy. It is also quite
cold so we head down. Along a ridge sit a line of
Small stupas.

We head across a long stretch of old snow -
'cveryone insists onphotos being taken in the
snow. We pass numerous foundations of summer
herding shelters all for sheep. These are
identifiable because they are very small. The
sheep all stay out except for the extremely
young, siqk. and old. These small shelters tend to
be clustered together. We had considerable
trouble finding the proper trail. None of us has
been over this trail.

We are forced to stop as Galden Lama heads
off in search of the correct trail. After we got
going again, we descended into large open
pasturage where there are the foundations of at
least lO-lS herding shelters. Villagers apparently
keep buffalos and cows here.

.WWIWWI

 the
f??nanar?ramn?mwm


 

umawmenmmqa

i
3

a
i

a



@mmn?n?m?Wglair



I 

There are literally hundreds of shelters
scattered around these pasteurs. In fact. in certain
respects they constitute small temporary villages
at once people herd and exploit forest resources.
trees or the trees that shingles are made
from are in great abundance and conStitutes the
main roofing material thr0ughout the region.
These areas are no less hOSpitable than the Solu
region to the east and permanent settlements
would clearly be possible and may well
eventually be established.

As we move down through one of these
large areas we pass through an ecological disaster
zone of fallen trees and landslides. Panglep trees
and others have been felled all over the place to
open up more pasteur. One area reminded me in
a minor way of the clear cutting in the American
west. This particular area was very fragile.
There wasjust a slight cover of soil on bed rock.
There had been a large stand of trees here.
however. as people out Panglep for shingles and
other trees to open pasture. the whole forest fell.
Landslides gouged the hillside everywhere.

We had more trouble with the trail and
bushwhacked our way down through dense jungle
to another pasteur. There we met some people
from the village of Sertung who have been
searching for a certain kind of fungus which after
a process of beating. drying, and grinding is
eaten. They set us on the right trail and with 'a
bit more difficulty we made it down to the upper
fields of startling; 

On the way, we pass by active herding
stations. Outside one we found a snared bird.
The herders add this to their soup at night I am
told. Our party thinks this is pretty erude.
People living in the herding shelters are much
more into gathering and hunting than in villages.
As we move through high fields which extend for
about an hour up and out of the village and are
exclusively in barley, we talk with people on the
trail who say they take the Singla trail toTrisali
during the summer.

 

 

41

 



adm?us?duajnn??n? ?rmer





Wdewh?mmw

Whhnamahahw?mw
?(Elli-Mil :11th Indra we nah







 

This is a two and a half day trail as Opposed
to the lower which is three days with a load. We
kept talking to people on the way. This is a
strategy formed into a high art by Surya Man's
youngest father's brother of locating a place to
stay. As we linger on Our way into town he
makes inquiries about the best place to stay.

Sertung is a more clustered village than
Stupa liill - this is true of all the higher Tarnang
villages in the region. Clans tend to be clustered
in particular neighborhoods. The house style is
basically consistent in most of the higher
villages as it is in the lower villages. Only one
tin roof is visible in Sertung that of a returning
Gurkha soldier (lalrori).44 Some houses have
slate roofs. There is an active Buddhist temple. a
health post. and a school.

One of the most intriguing aspects of the
village is the fact that there is a separate and
enclosed Newar compound in the middle which
has been there for five or six generations. They
were invited by the local Tamang to trade in
cloth and other market goods. They also have a
large stable of water buffalo. The fodder is cut
by villagers who do so daily for a few cigarettes
or bird-3.45 They have a sewing machine. There
were four households resident there. They
generally marry in Patan and certainly have an
urban demeanor. All the Newar men have
watches and wear western style dress.

We arrange to spend the night at the house
of the grandson of Kama Tasi. a man who was
known for his wealth. He was also the ritual
brother"16 of Surya Man's great great uncle
Birman. Many of the older men in Sertung
remember Surya Man's great great uncle. The
youngest grandson of Kama Tasi lives in a house
that Kama Tasi built 60?70 years ago. The
house is large and well-built. it is now occupied
by three or four families. Kama 'l?asi brought
carpenters from Kathmandu for the construction.
They were paid 50 paisa a day. The mason was
also brought from Kathmandu.



drama:

44 Called laborr' after the Indian city. Lahore. where Gorkha recruits were enlisted.

45 The lowest grade of local "cigarette".
46 in Nepali: milk; Tamang: long.

42

 




has dale Tll'x?i't?l shirt I are
Wamm?mamm
hm?dld?m?aha?mm



Wmm'mtm


?a??mn?tanmm



Walters
Wami?ran?n?l

halt?star Brennan 
arm-radar whirl nrhathr mama
hal-qufsmwanrma
sister all Hill: mill Farah



a?rnnj "(an alas I wrath 

Wmm?tm?mm





malarial-retransmitth
m,m$dnmsermedara
slaw and dnm?rh sham alarm rim
swimweame


mmt?mhm?rmwm

Want-hand:

 

The connections between Stupa Hill and
Scrtung extend to mutual aid in times of famine.
Our Stupa Hill friends remember when people
from Kama 'l?asi?s house and others from Senung
came to procure maize to tide them over during a
famine that had resulted from the failure of their
crops. Others l'rolu Stupa. llill have carried grain
to Scrtung to relieve {amine over the years.

in the evening one of Kama Tasi's
descendants talks a bit of the history of Sertung.
lie relates the history golden prayer flag and
the settlement of the Mhamba clan. He also
recounted a bit of the old history of the Ghale
"kings" who were said to originate from "over
there" to the southwest. He said the local Ghale
kings did not fall until the time of Prithvi
Narayan Shah but am not Ster how reliable this
account is.

The women of Sertung wear shyama
(traditional woven skirts) but generally of the
older style with blue-purple bands on the top of
the usual red stripe. The colorful gya or cloth
worn over the sh0ulders which are worn by all
women in Stupa Hill area are not seen here.

In fact, i saw no upright looms for weaving
this kind of cloth in the village. Women wear
mOStly bazaar cloth on the too and everyone has
shirts. I only saw one gya in Stupa Hill style. If
they wear home spun cloth on the top it is white


tend to wear traditional thick cloth
buku or over cloth and this is most often bought
in the bazaar. The of cloth worn across
the middle were also bazaar cloth. Young boys,
officials. and lahori-s wear conglomerates of
western dress much like in Stupa Hall. No
colorful turbans as common in Stupa Hill were
evident. People may have better hand spun
clothes which they save for festivals. There is of
course much more wool woven here than in
lower villages. Everything seems to be done on
the back Strap loom.



 

43

 

 

4 m. must. 

 



Wmim?n?sg?mwm




ulnar Bell harem will I was





mannmaherhrq:


me similar whim Wm serrate
me?mwmi
Wammn?mwm




WWatdtWaF-?wm
WW??e?n?mu?

gilealarzqr?no?thW?PsmErth





witmtamwmn?rm



"tn-l



One can see the main peaks of the Ganesh
Himal from Sertung and they apparently are
called Lapsang Karpo. Below these peaks is a
pilgrimage spot (Sangcm Dolmo??) where people
congregate for a festival on the full moon of
Badau.

March 26. l9?7. We woke in the morning
with the plan to spend the morning in Scrtung
and after eating to move on to the Timling area.
We tried to make arrangements to talk to a son of
Kama Tasi, however, the official government
measurement of land holdings had reached the
village and anyone of any stature had to be
present while fields were measured and recorded.
We did learn that Gerard Toflin, an anthropolo~
gist from France, had spent three or four months
in Scrtung and lived in the village meeting hall.

We also learned a bit about an apparently
significant impact on the local economy not so
much on Sertung but on Timling farther up the
valley. There is a mine in the a high area called
Lari above Timling. According to Megh 'l?hapa,
the Birla family of India with major mining and
quarrying activities in India are major players in
this venture.

The company in Nepal is known as the
Nepal Metal Co.. Another major partner in this
operation is reputedly the King's father's sister's
husband - again according to Megh who is a
prince of India now resident in Nepal. He is the
Nepali partner in the company. Other Indian
companies are part of the venture as well as a
Canadian company of Quebec.

Many people in Timling (everyone. one
man told us) work in the mines for three months
out of the year. Wages vary according to the
amount and skill of work. Some of the men
who Operate machinery do quite well. Women
will apparently work for 3 or 4 rupees a day and
have to provide their own food.

After lunch, we head off for Timling. As
we- leave the village, everyone young and .old -
call out my village nickname, "Urtsa Lamaf: the
yellow lama. The word of my name had spread
quickly.

 

 


IW















 
hulk, WW name and I it are?




tit were wit stilt
Wrmn?lain?n?wm



Grummanme
WarmW?WIn?m




timer whit ll hrq- 1r are



hunterng atflirnr that are gaunt


We had a steep walk down to the Ankhu
river and headed up a steep trail to Timling.
There is a clustered Blacksmith settlement
perched on the end of the promontory on which
Timling is located. All the country as we move
deeper into the valley is extremely precipitous.
We walked quickly through Timling with the
idea of working our way up to the Pansang pass.
We learned as we went through the village that a
house had burned the night before killing a
mother and child. The husband-father was in
Trisuli and had not yet returned.

We continued up from Timling to Lapdung
where we tried to ?nd someone who would guide
.us over the Pangsang pass. We found a young
man who seemed happy to accompany us for 10
rupees. Ghale clans as opposed to Tamang clans
claim ascendence here as in Timiing and Sertung.
An old Ghale man insists that they are not
Tamang and that Tamang are inferior. All
marriages. though. occur with Tamang. This old
man managed to talk me out of a pack of
cigarettes.

Just after midday we head up the mountain
with the idea of making it to a place called
Merkang. It is a steep and dif?cult climb up.
There were many occupied herding shelters on the
way up and we met another person who knew
Surya Man's great, great uncle.

There were beautiful foreSts but the weather
looked threatening. We stopped at Merkang
where we spent the night in a stone shelter.
There was no water nearby but the rhododendron
?owers were fantastic.

Snow began to fall. I was the only one
with real experience in the snow - in fact for once
since I had been in Nepal I felt in my element! 
but everyone else was quite scared about trying to
make it over the pass. It did not help when our
Lapdung guide recounted the death of two herders
last fall when they got caught in a storm that
dumped 4 feet of snow.

 

45

Kahlil?n . .

 




WWIWWIW
mem?e?ahuim




erhmimr?x avatar?virme

Marauder??th

?ss?seeidthaanhtam?nm?r

mamaammtahmaqam



ante??Willi
memd ale
Wmutm?mmtemq?ra
rmmemw?a?m?h

mev?ti?l?hw
wmmi?m?tam?lam?qa?








merger


We had lunch at the river at the base of the
cliff and climbed steeply up to the village of
Khuri. The houses in the village were clustered
closely together and the somewhat quarrelsome
and unpleasant occurrences in Jharlang and the
evening in Burang faded into the past. We drank
Tamang ji? or millet beer and drank curds and
whey and pushed on. We spent the night at
Thampa with an old lady who served foul rakst?.
She told us they had huge gm! or death rites there
in which the altars were supported by 15 freshly
cut saplings. i got bad dysentery that night.

March 29, 1977. This was a long hard day.
The heat was unbearable and my dysentery was
bad. I almost passed out on numerous occasions.
We passed through Kimtang which has a water
system that does not work. It was a government
project when the village was part of Rasuwa
district - it is now in Nuwakot. The piping was
all metal but no water went into the tank. The
water source is also a iatrine.

Kimtang has a lot of tin roofs. lahori-s. and
even two or three stores- There is also a police
station where we told a friendly Tamang
policeman about the grief we had been given in
Jharlang.

From Kimtang we went to Bumtang where
we stopped at a friends hut where he was making
pong?s or wooden vessels for holding raksi,
butter, curds or what have you. Those who make
these wooden vessels in the Stupa Hill area have
been hassled by people from the Forestry
Department even though the trees are cultivated
and privately owned. Peeple in 'Stupa Hill and
neighboring villages were angry about this. The
friend in Bumtang said that he had had no such
trouble.

We walked hard and fast from Bumtang to
Stupa Hill accompanied by some beautiful young
women. We got back to Stupa Hill exhausted.

 

were that 
W?hwreerm?im?l?a?zemi?t










untried



Wm?n??mwh?thm
mamim?r??t?s?t?tta??rm?m
stithn?rtqeahmaanhm?nun?r?


W?hn?s?wmat?n?w?r

wmn?mmn?h?hq?s?



Surya Man's youngest father?s brother had
already put together the story of our adventures
and he entertained all our relatives and friends
with tales of our exploits long into the night.

{The funniest story, however. came from
Lendreng who in absolute seriousness told the
story of his shoes. Before leaving on the trip. I
had given Lendreng 50 rupees to buy some
strong Chinese sneakers - the best shoes to be
found in Trisuli Bazaar for hiking through the
hills. To save some money. Lendreng had
bought the cheapest plastic Indian shoes he could
?nd. For the whole trip Lendreng carried his
shoes and walked barefoot - that is until we
reached the snow above Lapdung. At that point
Lendreng had taken out his Indian plastic shoes
to protect his feet from the cold and freezing
snow. These shoes though as one could well
imagine became extremely hard in the low
temperatures. They cut like knives into his feet
and proved to be absolutely useless - this was
one of the reasons we could not make an attempt
to cross Pangsang pass. Later on in the trip
when we got into the extremely hot areas of the
lower valley. Lendreng tried his shoes again only

to discover that due to the high temperature, they

turned very soft and were also useless. We all
found his straight faced recounting of his
adventures with his shoes hilarious]

 

49

 .. .. .. 

 

ma?a ire. mn?
ma slat 31721
new st, tith 

wmmq?mi?rh?m
wa?nw?wwmm
mwm?mmtl?md?f?

meh?mq?t








marina unit: under arms








 

March

EN ROUTE T0 STUPA HILL

December 16. 1976.43 Today?s is the usual
bus ride from Kathmandu to Trisuliuthe one
Surya Man calls "just like a piece of bread." It
no longer seems so funny that I misunderstood
him the firSt time: I now knew enough to know
that he was trying to make light of the fact that
this road takes some 90 km to traverse what are a
mere 20 km as the crow ?les, but had initially
thought he was referring to the ?flat breads. or
perhaps even the (our!) proverbial "piece of
cake." Now. of course, I knew only too well
that he meant a piece of set bread: the village
treat of a deep-fried bread that twisted and curled
like a donut trying to become a pretzel."

The only novelty on the ride this time was
the Peace Corps Volunteer, Janice Stendahl,
retuming to the sheep farm in Balji. She'd been
on a sheep-buying trip in Kathmandu. She is
beginning to be discouraged at her placement. At
first glance, hers seems like the perfect
placement. She comes from a sheeparanching
family in Eastern Washington and has a master's
in something having to do with sheep from
Pullman. But she is very lonely and feels isolated
even from the Tamang community there. She is
living at the?deveIOpment sheep. farm itself and
speaks only Nepali so far. Moreover, the
lowlander4 assigned by the government to be
her assistant sounds like he is far more trouble
than help.

Trisali Bazaar

The bus ief Kathmandu at 7:30 AM and
arrived in Trisuli Bazaar at 11:45. Both Urtsa
Rang and Surya Man came down to meet me.

?l W: 

48 These selections come with only minor editing, directly from my personal journals of this date. They were
written after I had finished the Sherpa part of my work and had joined David Holmberg. in the Tamang
community where he had already been working for some time.

49 Lowlander Tamang differentiate the people living around them in many ways. such as by clan. caste. ethnic
group, wealth. but here the distinction is between those who live high up in the hills (1n local Tamang
torpa and Nepali pahart'ya or. here. highlander vs. 'lowlander' on Tantang marpa.

 

 

Winn ant
iile RN 1 ?Wilt?? mar




rust an ?tted:




anti arisen? air has are new at "ind
tad" minimal nit?rim harm nil


that?


(low landers) slap.
W: WW, GIT-IT
miner: entail 
Wing: 

 

We ate the morning rice meal at Dharma
Rama's house in Trisuli. Dharma Ratna and his
wife remain very special pcotilc. He is
to all the local Tamang and has been
instrumental in two major activities in the
region: promoting education and supporting
Buddhism. Surya Man had lived with him during
his efforts to complete high school in Trisuli.
'l?oday they are planning to entertain the family
planning doctors for dinner, so even our midday
meal included yet moreNewarSO specialties based
on boiled meat skin gelatinv-two kinds; I'm
actually gaining a taste for the stuff. sort of.

We left Trisuli for the village. Arrived 5:30
PM. Our lantern was borrowed almost
immediately by Surya Man's Younger Uncle?s
family. They had to work late to get ready for
the eldest son's eldest son?s first hair-cutting
tomorrow. The feast would include stacks of set
breads. jugs of liquor, and mountains of rice for
the many guests.

STUPAHILL
"Back-to?the-Village" Developments

December 28, 1976. The muchuanticipated
"Return-to-the-Viliage" meeting is to happen
today. The "Return~to~the-Village" program is
part of governmental plans for local
development, for which the phrase of the
moment issued by HMG roughly translates as:
Ask not what your g0vernment can do for you,
but rather what you can do for yourself.

At about noon. so dozen garlanded
lowlanders strolled into the courtyard. They had
the whole uniform: national caps. shoes. and
buttons.

?3 

I 50 Newars are renouned for their role in the great trade routes of South Central Asian for the market towns 

cities they build on those routes. for their fine metal and wood work. and for their feasts. A Nepali proverb
says: Brahmins are ruined by (the costs of} their weddings: Ranas are ruined by their comfortablefexcessive

life style; Newars are ruined by their feasts.

 

51

-. Yul-3t



new anaemia 

?Tim:
?rni?leeanien.m?rm?tame?
~zr?s?ean13ajr?nnmn


Wm?harnnm?,
~anrhr?rarmenrsrahmm

11d.


anmmi




memfnn?rm


Wmmn?imwm
WW:
mam-a I were aimed WW and

annan?rithnTaafaahm??q?mira

memmim


Witter


W?h?rm?r?wmwm




Mahdi I airtime amen awn ma
WW


 

 

?aws: W. -

the use of local languages in the primary schools.

52

The poinsettia flower garlands look
particularly ridiculous. At the afternoon-long
meeting. the presiding official (most notable for
his bright red hightop sneakers) pointed out that
since the people of America have stood on the
moon (they say). therefore (isn't it obvious) the
people of this village should:

build trails
build outbouscs
send their children to school

stop spending so much money on Tamang
customary practice like funerals

learn Nepali language and stop speaking
Tamang. and

- obviate the backward practices of caste
pollution and untouchability by washing
their pets and pans thoroughly twice a day

Then followed a parade of local speakers.
Almost all stammered for only more
than the "2 words" they'd been invited to say. All
were men and most spoke about not being
accustomed to public speaking and about: better
trails. outhouses, sending children to school, etc.

Next a woman spoke. Her speech varied
dramatically from the men?s. There was nothing
about trails or outhouses. Insread. she talked
about how much trouble she'd endured. and still
kept on at her ?small farm." It was as if she
were responding to a completely different
meeting. Everyone complained about her speech.
They apparently thought she should have talked
about more positive things.

A slide show in Stupahill

The-main event of the day as far as David
and I are concerned is in the evening. We have
made a deal with a young extension workerifrom
Tupehe to bring a battery-powered slide projector
up to the village. So the Stupahill Cinema
?opens for business: attendance was markedly
better than at the afternoon's meeting. And the
show begins.

5] Note that one of the important changes of the Nepal Constitution of l990 is to allow (rather than forbid) 3

 





me?memial?mn?m

Wmmim?am Par-aim:
Para Pct-mil W,

an Pan anti-eerie mm 
when sitar hair, (3) marina


?marred prim? n?r aroma 117:1


Wmmn?hmmaa?qase}

mmen??nr?rh?ov?r?
I all 
qu?hd?n?mm





WWMWIMWW

Wmm?n?r??am?


11$me




Wmmq? ?nal Err
i new 


ma?w mammal:
Wmm?mn??ahmm
fireman

Our deal had been this: he would bring the
prOjCClor up if we would provide the batteries and
if he could so some development slides first. So,
first came four development film strips. They
were incomprehensible pieces apparently about
the value of film strips for rural development.
The images came in threes: first were
pictures of sickly animals. people or crops, (2)
then came the same picture of an extension agent
with a film strip projector. (3) finally were the
pictures of robust animals. people and crops.
villagers-mot unreasonably--observed. "These
pictures show how, if you have a slide projector.
you will have development."

Then it was David's turn to show his slides
of last year's Tsche Chhu DanceDrama. At least
no one had any problem identifying who, what,
when. and presumably why was going on in his
shots. The main problem seemed to be keeping
peeple from getting so excited they ran up 'to the
screen-blocking the projection--and deciding how
long to display each slide-~the conversations
about each one never showed any signs of
stOpping.

The lowlanders who had come up for the
afternoon meeting did not come watch the slides.
In spite of all their talk about how, with properly
cleaned pots, the usual rules about intercaste
cooking and eating could be overcome. they
cooked and ate by themselves.

()ne Day's Flow Of Things

Thursday December 30, 19W. him that I'm
quite sure how it could or should be presented.
yet I think that there is something interesting in
the simple accumulation of a single day's
passers-by and activities of Surya Man?s
COurtyard. So I have decided today to keep a
simple log. In the early morning beginning just
beforcdawn:

people go out from each house presumably
to attend to their morning toilet in nearby
fields

 

53

 


Wmm?mwao?t?zan


Whalme

qu?raaq?rmfu?l
WWI

arena-alias
WWEETNWWI


timid??

WW1





summit Harm?s arm new


W:


WWIWW with:
memarmm?r
Waterwa?m?n??q?





WWanwrw
Inhaler:


WWI


WI

 

the four houses above us and Surya Man?s
send people down the hill the 20 minute
walk to fetch water

By the breakfast snack at dawn:
even the late-risers are up and all eat a little

an old woman arrives with a bundle of corn
stalks. fodder for the cattle stabled at the
house

those animals are fed and watered and their
stables cleaned

a daughter-in-law from one of the upper
houses passes on her way to get water

Surya Man?s mother goes down the hill to
thresh grain and fetch back straw with some
workers to whom she has already fed a bowl
of millet beer

Biba goes out with the family's 15 or so
goats

Morning:

Bijay's Mother arrives with fodder leaves for
the cattle and water buffalo and nurses her
baby daughter. Her son is very ill with
measles and a high fever. but everyone says
"No treatment is possible until the rash
breaks out! "52

an old man and woman come to talk with
Surya Man?s father

Surya Man?s father sits and separates some
kind of seed for chutney making

the son of one of the regular Gurung. day
laborers hangs around until sent off with

- grain (his father's pay)

the bombo passes on his way back up the
hill from a curing ritual

This was one of these harder prescriptions encountered in field work: several children had died in this
measles epidemic; local practice dictated that no medicine could he given until after the spots broke out.
This meant that parents were torn between my assertion that fever reducing medicme was more important

before the spots erupted and their own dictates to the contrary. Like most parents everywhere. they 

their children and wanted to care for them in the best way they knew; my advice must have sounded cruel.

We compromised: no medicine. but they agreed to a number of the other fever reducing techniques 

suggested.

54

.

 

earn;



Wilma?til

- 






will

an shim aroma was uh
WE?le

mule:

- trauma atmra?h 
Wt



aim:


WWMI


n?lwn?rlmt





a?tajna?ahs?mru?narianatumhua



w?rh?tajnqi?rdmn?rnm?imi







Wamra?v?ra?rm?am?m

minmumm?m



Almost noon:
a large meal is being cooked down the bill for
those working with Surya Man?s mother,
also a more modest one for those here

a messenger arrives to tell about a ritual
being done fora new house down the hill
Afternoon:
Bibs returns with the goats then watches to
keep the chickens from eating the grain that
is spread not on a mat to dry

-- the water buffalo is taken out to graze briefly

a woman from a neighboring village brings
taro stalks and a gya-overcloth

the headman from another neighboring
village dropped in. followed a little later by
another man rom there

the troops go out from all the houses to fetch
more water from the spring down the hill

Later afternoon:

workers return home with Surya Man's

mother

Bijay's mother prepares a meal for everyone

Evening:

everyone is sitting on Surya Man's veranda

talking and smoking local tobacco in the

water pipe

disputants from up the hill bring their

complaints (about a land partition)

a lama goes home up the hill from the new

house ritual below today

i



Even as i tried to record all this. I realize
how much escaped my attention. And how hard
it is to interpret what is happening without
knowing the cast of characters better.53 So
much time seems to be spent waiting and finding
out how to meet whom where and when.
information travels indirect routes along with
everyone on every errand but rarely applies
clearly to the particular work at hand.



 

53 Note. too. though that I was willing to write about them without asking as easily could have. exactly who
they were. Surya Man's or Bhim?s account. although also written from the beginning of their stay. is never
vaque about the people in it.

 

55

It

all



il


{l


 

mesa-{warm

Pilgrimage to Guptiswar Cave-54

cm (ing I January 11, 197?. On the first day of the Moving with the 
'33 i mar pilgrimage, people rose early. Departure was 51719 M17 EFT Gram?Emil When the procession got underway again, it
t: Wl scheduled for 8 AM. Needless to say. however. I q? I was already getting dark, but no one seemed

Eli'er 9% Will Ema a? ?l with the numbers of emle who had to etrea'd - . aunte nivh tall. The drums beataconstant

marmmeth


mammal





gnnl?m?rl

WW germ ?rst I gen?rs
Wilmwm?im?m





mm Emma?! rim are HFtn?l
memmwomao

?at,s?dr,gmmqe?rtenqnsiarm?nf?


that was impossible. Everyone had to make up
their loads and fancy themselves up. Finally our
circus got underway at 11:30. The Stupahill
troops connected with the Cool Waters
contingent at Earth?s Hole.

Surya Man's mother went into her sister?s
daughter?s house and was joined there by that
sister?s other daughter. They were not at all
interested in the benubo-s'55 dancing and
commotion outside; instead. they sat and talked
for two hours.

Ritual work

The two bombos and two lama-s55 from
Cool Waters did their ritual thing, called (as I
knew from some of David?s earlier work) karsyol
chhoppa,? in the central hamlet of Earth's Hole.
Each has brought his usual ritual equipment.
When they set up for work, there are two baskets
full of their stuff.

The lamas are dressed in less than their most
Spectacular attire, but the bombos have come out
in full regalia. They are wearing their white
skirts and elaborate red, yellow, green, orange,
and white turbans with a peacock feather fan
upright in front, with strands of bells, beads, and
other accoutrements crossing their chests.

wast, two on an war nth?ml





along our-trail. If there is one
memory I will keep of this joumey, it is of that
drum ta-ta-ta-durnm; ta-ta-ta-dummt ta-
ta-ta-dumm. Whenever the procession crossed
the top of a ridge. the bombos danced and the
lamas blow on their thighbone trumpets. 

January 12, The second day unfolded
much like the first. As far as I am concerned, it
has three main features: first, all the visiting
done by everyone (but especially the women);
second, the dancing and drumming done by
request ?at houses along the way: and third, the
elements (if-camping out including the picnic-
style meals and 
Rice picnic time. 

By a bit before noontime, the procession, has
halted in a large field: . it's ricepicnic time!, I
like most of the food I'ye?1 offered since
coming to Nepaltand I?ve found somejof, it really
coming to the Tainahg villagefl?orihe,
is directly?associated, having?not only  td'e'at
almost inconceivable volumes of rice, but'ha'vi'n'g
to do it in the "tamingl?? I am sure people
think I am either terribly rude or terribly? sick,
but my esophagus seems ,to develop an odd
constriction, or perhaps it isn't yet loosened up

mm? Rm-t Accompanying them are four drums and an ?it?rt Rift ER 3r enough for the day, but the rice sometimes
"Emmi" 3mm amg?d' enthusiastic and seemingly endless number of mm- ma- at (IQ simply refuses to go down my throat in
9% 3?  I drummcm HEW era R13 I conyincing enough quantities.

 

Eating is always an embarrassing moment
or me, not only because I have to endure endless

2* 
?l 


ii 54 Surya Man's mother invited me to join her on this pilgrimage 8.: was grateful for the chance to get to know

3 comments like,"She eats like a bird," but also
because i doubt I will ever master the art of
eating gracefully with my right hand only.

 

 

'j )80 1c without havin to do tend so entirel 1: ton David. itiswar is a sacred cave near Dhadin in

I 

5] central Nepalamboos are one of the 3 malor Western Tanning ritual specrahsts They are usually called Shamans These are the Initial offer: 5 w' - - .
English yltankri in Nepali. Bamboo are the most dramatic personages tn the Tanning religious field; they begi? as be! out ust ally on a mnowmg tray) before almost any religions work can

 wear colorful shirts. full skirts and elaborate lit-addresses (see Holmberg's Order in Paradox for a more 58 

 detailed study.) Local Tiarnang eat two major meals a day, once at about 9-10 AM after the first round of morning chores and

ter dark. . 

 56 Lama 'are another of the important religions for Tamang; their specraltty is the Tibetan a?dior com pomdgc (at t)lt01ligthai;ty Tamartg 'aetuaflly ~eat a mullet

El, Buddhist {'10 question eaten rtee

yet . 1s the more customary greeting than How are you 

 

 

 

 

l??'a?ig'k?inSurya Man's Middle Mother is a very
cheerful teacher, as she eats soupy lentils and rice
with her hand, without any grains sticking to her
fingers afterwards, without any drips running
down her elbows. and with all the food ending up
in her mouth. Needless to say, I can do none of
the above well.

Camping out

After another afternoon of some travel and
mostly visiting, we make the final leg to the
camping place in the dark. I shoald recognize the
pattern by now: visit until dark, then someone
suddenly says, "Let's go!" and we all stumble-
racc through the night to yet another village.

I also now understand why people in
Stupahill were so eager to have be bring my
sleeping bag along. i didn?t understand it at first:
it didn?t really seem that cold; a blanket. I
thought, would do. And besides, I was, as was
so often the case. self?conscious about my
relative material wealth. But as we set up tonight
in the fields nearby a vacant house, i understood.
They intended for about half -a'-dozen of us to
squeere under it together! Let me never again be
confused about requests that I bring my
equipment along. But let me also have more
patience when they turn into demands that test
the limits of my personal space.

January 13, The last cold damp night
left most everyone shaking with the chill of the
morning-until the morning's heated liquor had
time to work.

Today's rice picnic was staged on a ridge
above Dhadinguwith a fantastic view from
Annapurna South to Everest. Then a pleasant
trail winding through a pine forest over a pass
and down into Dhading. There are moments of
such beauty and peace. I wonder at them? and feel
so rejuvenated and cleansed that vow never
again to be frustrated by the demands and
situations i don't understand. Of course, it never
quite works. My time in Nepal has very few
middling moments: like the landscape itself, it
swings from great heights to precipitous lows.



 

 

WW




mev?{l?rn?wm?ar

W?sll?t?mmelmrm
meant-tat-





mm?aenmwamq:

a washrwa artist??sir I


n?ertf?c?rttmart?ns?a?n




mmz??a?



a: 
Waterman:me
man ?rm if! mar flight? stunt
sisal
Wmn?ntw?n?n?nt

Whauhrhm?rhr?hrn?nslm



 

ii 

luptiswar Cave

The god?s place is a cave on a cliff just
outside of the market and administrative town of
Dhading. As the bombos passed over the last
ridge. so that they were only one last stretch
from the cave. they Suddenly became, as 
said. "crazy." They had to be forcibly restrained
as they were ?caught up in the god's wind and
were no longer aware of cliffs or other dangers on
the trail."

The cave that was our destination is the seat
of the Guptiswar Mahadev, or ?Grcat God of
Guptiswar.? it?s hard to tell how much of the
magnificence of the place people attribute to the
natural wonder of a cave filled with stalactites and
stalagmites and how much to the supernatural
wonders of a divine presence. Perhaps it is only I
who differentiates the two.

in any case, the cave itself is a rough oval
about 50 feet at its widest. As a natural wonder,
it is no Carlsbad Caverns. But, then again, i
must remember that that stalagmite is the Great
God, another is Hanuman the Great Monkey God
companion to Ram, and throughout the cave are
others representing all the blessings divinity can
bestow. Everyone was much impressed by all
these wonders; clearly, as they said, "Bhagwan
made them." 

Magh Sakranti - The New Year

January 14, 1977'. Today is the first day of
Magh and the New Year according to one of the
calendars important to Tamang. Everyone did
one more round of blessingseeking, receiving a
butter blessing mark on the forehead from the
bombers. Then everyone began a long round of
respectful bowings down. or dok?s. bending low,
palms pressed together in the usual greeting
namasrc.59 one woman passed around the (l?m
told) traditional Magh First cooked taro tuber.

Today was an extra long day: we passed the
camping spot where we?d stayed upon arrival and
went on to Bhanjyang Town, walking a full one
and a half hours in the dark.



(those who owe the greatest respect bow lst.)

59 Respect is shown both in the depth of a how {the deeper the more respectful) in the older of bowing.

 

59

.v 


(?'?ff?fr?sftt'em -  ., - - 

1a". 

.  .

w" 4-5 3 xi}. .- glitz";

.., 

 

. . .



manhunt
1mm Mathews
fhn?rn?rgn

rips,? shell {gr 
the 
shunt   new has?: at


 hung at flair I 






Wm'??i?ld?e?r's?lwwm?


ninjas??tin 

 



6]

'move altout'quietly as you'd expect at home.

Everyone stumbled and went at a snail's
pace: almost no one had shoes; no one had a
?ashlight; and there was no moon. I think they're
completely crazy. I was so tired I was afraid I'd
only have something impolite to say if anyone
tried to talk to me, so I sang to myself the entire

way both to forestall conversation and to fortify

myself, especially. "We;sltall Overcome" and
"Jacob's ladder.? the olderlpeop?lc just
dropped and cl asleep wherever they [added upon
arrival. The younger fools heat away 
drums and made as if the party were neverending.
I find it hard to write at all tonight. The big
excitement of the day was throwing puja powder
on each other. The younger members of the
party got into powdering each other with such
zeal that they spent the day with totally red?
smeared faces. hair and clothes.

I had been forewarned that one of the appeals
to young men and women of pilgrimage was the
opportunity to court. Certainly. some of the
young people-seem to be quite busy making
themselves attractive and are quite attentive
towards eaCh other. ?The young'wc?tmen; in
particular, have come out in all their-?nery: new
beautifully woven lush
red er burgundy velvet blouses, brilliantly ?woven
plaid or burku-overclothes,60 andfminutely
crocheted scarves. Occasionally. I spot couples
holding hands singing as they walk down the

.trail. But, in mostl?observable

courtship takes the form of collective
reugthusing. Pursuit and paint scenes run
yelling up and down the trail. through field and

.forest.._.until all the powder was quite used up.

Heading home in between visits
January 15. 197?. My father's birthday:
Happy Birthday. Dad. Rose as usual well before
dawn. The first person awake Scents to regard it
as his of her right to roust'everyone else with

exceptionally loud talking instead of trying; to
. . 1

i? In?dn?mn?m?mm?mt


6? These were the traditional Tantang women's clothing in the region.

Tamang Villagers wake each other up. not with gentle voices. but by virtually shouting the name of the
sleeping person right in their ear. The explanation was given was that this was to make some that none of

the person's mine 'souls' failed to reassemble after their rights wandering. But I still never got used to it.

 

60 .


mammh?mmlan?s?r?w
I maid-apt itTa?rah





we net flan can I an


Wmm??ant

Mannheimme


wmman?m?s?tmm?mm


n?arnsre sin haze-n aria raga
mnemamtammau






hma?n?rt






?nhth?lnu?tnru?hmqt

Wins I mfh?t raw



After the usual snacks, liquor. tea and
dancing, the fair was again off on the trail. Once
again today, it was paint?your-buddy time:
everyone is beginning to look a bit rumpled and
encrusted with all the various dirts of the trail as
well as the red, yellow, blue and green powders.

Clearly, the pilgrims have made it back onto
home territory. Visiting stops are getting more
and more frequent. More and more houses are
putting out the jug of water with greens and
flowers to ask the bombos to stop. I've lost
track of everyone I?ve visited with Surya Man?s
mother. But I'll never forgot the newest entree

for my Tamang Taste Treats Cookbook: roasted

chickens' claws.

January 16. 197?. We were very slow in
getting off today. I can tell that visiting is going
to dominate the day. I doubt that we'll get home
before dark, although there is not more than
seven hours of trail between here and home.

As suspected, the first stop was fewer than
five minutes away. Then we were called up to the
lama's son?s house, and then to the lama's house.
The lamas demonstrated their singing and
chanting skills. They are very impressive with
their ability to sound like more sound.

From there to the elder of the lama's house
to eat. Then to another house just below. The
bombos have gone to do another road show
karsol. Then we are called to eat at the house
where the ?rst karsyol was. Again!

January 17. 1977. We didn't get home at all
last night. The pilgrimage has turned into
something of a walking drinking party. And.
yesterday, at least. there was more drinking than

'walking.

We went to at least three houses for'snacks.
then onto ;thc:trail?in spite of further invitations.
The bomhos were still finishing off their various
ritual obligations, but most of the Women and
many of the men went onto a slope just outside
of the village and waited. Many fell asleep.

Our company then danced and drummed its
way to Cool Waters to escort the bombos and
lamas home. Finally our Stupahill contingent
made it home after midnight. 

 

 

61

 

   

1651.4. .



th??m?u?l?







Wahhmn?fh?lmn?mh?

mmww?wm







 

TSCHE CHHU: THE GREAT
DANCE DRAMA 

Getting ready for the Dance Drama
Festival

February 25, 1970. The grain pounder on
the lower ?oor of our house is going from 3 AM
until midnight, with short breaks only during the
main working hours of the day. Everyone is
trying to get their work done before Monday
since after the start of the Tsche Chliu Dance
Dramas there can be no more work. No:
washing, husking grains, picking lice,,combing
hair, wearing leather to the dancing grounds,
smoking cigarettes near or. under the offering
stand in the dancing Failure to
comply will (we are told) result in fines.

Visiting Cool Waters Village

Saturday February 26, 197?. I went to Cool
Waters Village today. Visiting house to house is
sometimes a crash course in Tamang suffering.
One woman has been sick for several months.
I?d seen her first at a funeral in her village; i
thought then that the odds were near even that the
next funeral there might well behers. She was
first married into Stupahill, but when that
husband died; she remarried in Cool Waters. She
has had a baby almost annually since then, and
now has five children with another on the way.
They have almost-ho land, so had supported
themselves by her weaving. Now that she is too
ill to weave, they are reduced to even less than
their starting nothing. 

Visited anOther house with a similar
economic situation: bleak but feasible through
the woman's weaving efforts. There, too, extra
touches 6f hardship made thescen?e seem almost
impossibly dead-end: the couple's eldest son
died; the surviving daughter is so simple minded
she is what a blunter pen would call an idiot.

.r 



WW Emir

Wimmwmamamm

Hammersme
main

Wildlali 


new esteem? with: unit get 1 one
mw?tan??m?hmm?


?wmrm?mwim
rife ?rm I van nits elm





shatter slain smart ma
Wagering-rainiqanm?emas
summer'me



The Great Dance Drama

Wednesday, March 1, The third day
of the Tsche Chhu Dance Drama began, as has
each day, with the incredible basso singing of the
Gurpa singers at sunrise. The main dance of the
day is called the Baisya Chemo. or TNewar
woman's dance.? 

it is, i am told, the dance of three queens,
two kings and one obscene yogi- who makes off
with one of the queens. The yogi mostly
occupies himself making blatantly obscene
sexual pantomimes. He goes around with a
banana-stalk ?penis:' stroking it, holding it erect
between his legs. and being pulled after it in
mock sexual spasms. He plays with the crowd,
sending the young women running off screaming
as he tries to touch them with his ?penis,' calling
out Obscenities all the while.

Public dancing and singing continues until 2
AM. The energy of everyone through the night
is daunting. As is their singing: have heard
groups of young people sing their favorite Sat
Khole song for hours without repeating a
verse.63 'They tease and encourage one another
to keep at it almost until the latest dancers of one
day meet the earliest risers of the next. 

Thursday March 2. l9'i7.  After the Gurpas?
morning singing, from midday to evening isa
carnival?like collection of dances and skits. This
is the Great?Dance Dayof this whole festival and
it has attracted a huge, crowd from all over the

"region. These Dance Dramas are notperformed

in every village every year, but instead on 'a
three-year-on three?year-off rotation because of
the social, political and material toll they extract
from the host community.

Today's feStivities, however, make it all
seem quite worth it. in the various acts of the
drama are dismayed all the pivotal ?gures in the
Tamang social, political. connomic and religious
universe.

 

cl .. .

3" 
n?g? s?rt

This festival was so elaborate that it required the collective efforts of the entire village even so. cauid
only be performed for 3 yrs. after which there was a 3 yrs. break. It lasted for a days. during which all other
work stopped everyone focussed (in roughly equal measure) upon the religious. historical, social 
political aspects of the festival.

 

63 In Western Tamang communities, this kind of competitive song singing is extremely popular and a major
part of courtship and youth.

 

 








Wmmartiwn?



"WW??le?lW

matmw?mmw

Wermearm

W?i??mn?mm?
W-m??mmn?m?ma?sm

memahmi
Wailqu
m?whnsemnanmem
saithi?rhsemn?twne?demw
mmamamammtn




Ema
trqegen?mdaardamm 


mill-Qataahahnler?n?q?mm



mtmn?ammn??r
a?W-Wmm?mi

First of all are the dances of the ?kings and
queens" more or less like yesterday.64 Then
come two characters dressed like "true" yogi-s
devoted to Shiva. They are smeared with mud,
wearing only an animal-skin loincloth, with
various imitation beads, begging bowl and other
bogus ritual accoutrements hanging from their
body. Most of all they wear a fantastic wig of
ragged unkempt "hair."

Another dance dramatiration involves three
"Newar merchants." Newar are the mercantile city
builders and people of the bazaar towns
throughout Nepal. But in this dance drama they
stand for the moneylenders with whom village
Tamang have ambivalent relations. They are
dressed basically in white, including their
turbans, but with black sportcoats, Sunglasses
and pointed-teed plastic shoes. Everything about
them reeks of a middle class freed from manual
labor. Three of these characters stand together
under joined umbrellas singing mock Newar
songs.

Off in another part of the scene are two
baidya, or scribes from Kathmandu. They wander
from one cluster of Spectators to another reading
out their proclamations. These are mostly
obscene declarations, but patterned after the style
of petty government officials, including the
recent meeting types: "Clean
up your trails! Clean up your language! These
rules apply for all the following villages {and
they list them] where we hope to clean up on all
the most beautiful girls! 

The most dramatic ersonae are Colonel
Sahib and his henchmen. 5 Mounted on a bam-

boo basket covered With cloth to become. a

"horse" and wearing a military uniform, he

_charges around the village ordering people out of

his way. His officers strut around, pushing peeple
out of his way, and especially chasing young
women and plastering them with handfuls of ash.


Wr?m?m?mwm



New tr} our our more an
Wmmin?rr?ns?rt?h??


I Wider git? ?r lira?(?r
WW 
manawaanatamtarw
new am an} I 
Wangqim?mrg?g-TWWI
??ring



was Page em as
mmtmamtqn??rrw
mmgsa?nrq?mw


I?n?ajrts?t? mien new? game

ma?a?r
Washgarr?t


Wmsonww
than it? at area mains-a a, in:

The Colonel Sahib never stayed in one place
for more than a few seconds and always wanted a
new path cleared for him wherever the most
people had gathered: order you out of my
way." he would shout, "What's going on here?
Bring all your most beautiful women to my
quarters immediately. That?s an order! Yoor
women must be me!"

And then there was the Nepalese equivalent
of a travelling salesman: with a bamboo pole
across his Shoulders, low-hanging shallow
baskets pendant from each end like the platforms
on either side of old-fashioned scales. lie
wandered around squatting in front of various
clumps of people to sell his wares?dime piles of
shit, sticks, straw and stones. The main currency
in his exchanges was more of the same: "Do
you have any tobacco?" one would ask. "Yes, the
best," he would answer, indicating some cow
dung. "I'll take two rupees' worth," they'd say,
offering a pair of round stones. The mock
merchant would take the stones, glare at them,
then throw them on the ground angrily: 100
rupee note! I can?t change that! Don?t yen have
any smaller change?!"

And finally, there is an itinerant minstrel~?
complete with the traditional two-stringed bowed
iristrtitiietit?~specializing in--vvhat 
songs.

All these acts wander around in a vague
procession which mostly resembles the
conglomeration of exhibits at a country fair.
Except that here the exhibits as well as the
spectators mill about. Which is, perhaps, what
country fairs were more like before they were
quite so rationalized.

BACK TO WORK

Sunday March 20. 1977.

The weather is getting very warm again, but
there is still a small coolish breeze. Fires break

 

 

Eli? 




out There was a small one in Stupahill
last night, but no one seemed to get too
concemetl.

These royal dancers are said to re?enact actual in local Tamang history.

 

Representing the non-local overlords appointed from Kathmandu and empowered to extract grain. labour
taxes, and other local products. This system of administration has been amply described in other writings
(see eSpecially Stiller's The Silent Cry on MC. Regmis Land Tenure) but the portrayal in these dances
offers a local perspective on the abuses common in such a system.

i




 

 

 

64 65

 . .

wirwi??vh ts?wintnh-wr,  ..  .. . - ..  

 



?a?mq?ra?t?t
Mmm??amfm


me?m?i?t

Warm

mwa?rhmd?aiww

mil



Wanmn?rti

Ward them: was






swimmim"w"tm)

mmi?nmwmaam
?sherman: -
admirer

mh?ri?t?mfem?n-mwt?ah



Inch-dais


WWI

 

with
nan
sari?

The corn planting is finished. Some
vegetables are coming in: radish and mustard
greens, green garlic. The compost heap outside
both water buffalo stables was shoveled and
turned over today. A seven-day old infant down
the hill died.

The woman shaman's tale

Friday, April 22, 1977. Tula Ram has been
most generous in his help with our work. Today
he told a wonderfully complex story about the
death and haunting of a woman shaman. The
woman was distantly related to him and became a
shaman because her father, who was also a
shaman, had no sons, so his Shamanic tutelary
(ente descended to afflict her.66 Although she
had never drummed in a Shamanic sounding, she
did many other forms of Shamanic work.

She married another shaman reportedly
"from lndia." The expression, however, is often
geographically very imprecise. The usual cardinal
directions apply more to Buddhist iconography

(as in "The Buddha of the North") than to

everyday life. In most people's talk, there are
two main directions--"uphill" and 
one minor Anything that is
"down" from the village must be either "Nepal"
(the Kathmandu Valley) or "Dosh" (India). Thus,
we Americans are generally assumed to be from
"Delhi-Bombay"--the farthest down points in
their up-an?d-down universe.

in any case. the two apparently had a serious
fight in which the husband cursed his wife.
saying she would die on (or by?) a certain date.
Exact or net with respect to the date, the shaman
wife did indeed fall ill and die in her elder sister's
house. 

After her death, this woman shaman became
a powerful syultum and attached herself to her
elder sister's daughter. This daughter 'then
developed an epilepsy-like predilection for falling
suddenly comatose. People said she woold
collapse without warning, frothing at the mouth,
and twitching in the extremities.

66 "Lento". ?Teen? are 2 types of spirit helpers essential to becoming a shaman hire.
(in Tamang) are the spirit forces that attack a shaman?s close kin {similar to Dartgre in Nepali).

 

66

. . . 



m?nganmunlan?issttamna:
Written-Wan r) stimulant
in! an an an wit



?m?ufnnhim?wrdiqnt






Frill

 

with divisive effects.

69 Western Tamang say that each human body houses multiple ?souls' or his

She nevertheless found a husband: a young
Tamang man who had been partially converted to
Christianity; he said that he had been promised
that Christians (and, presumably, their wives?)
would not be attacked by any of the various
indigenous ghosts and spirits.68

This turned out not to be the case and she
continued to have attacks. She could not do
much work at all since the attacks came
completely without warning: if, for example,
she were cutting fodder in a tree or on a clif she
would fall; if carrying water, the copper water jug
would get damaged, and so on. One day, while
her husband was out. she was cooking, had an
attack. and fell into the fire, burning herself very
seriously. She has recovered from the bums, but
her husband has left her and her mother?in-law
will no longer live with her: the elder woman is
afraid that the younger woman will die and syultu
seek a new living hostess. This is supposed to
be a story showing why women shamans are so
dangerous and do not often exist.

A blacksmith caste woman was apparently
beaten on accusations that she had been involved
in the death of the infant down the hill.

A witch's work?

Bad windstorm last night, rain,?hail and little
sleep as we piled all our bedciothes over our field
notes to protect them and huddled. in the window
frames to get out of the rain ourselves. 

Further news on the beating of the
bitickSInidt'woman: the baby born down the hill
apparently wasted away from birth, because,
people say, the mother could not nurse due to
inverted nipples. But when they called the bombo
in, he diagnosed a "witch from the eastern
direction." The father assumed it was the
blacksmith woman, who has a reputation as a
witch. He has since had to pay (10 rupees) for
the medicine for her bruises. l-ler pleas of non-
knowledge, too, are accepted since the witch-soul
(one only among her nine, gotten from someone
she has lived close with) can operate without the
host body being aware.69

An increasing member of Tamang are experiencing active christian proselylizaliou, often

- seven in children and nine ir?

adults. These can travel operate without willful knowledge on part of host as, eg. in a dream.

 

67





.. 

ll;

r?

 

. .

7t]

tint,th

Walsh?l??seetn?atdnt?
art Win??ahwz?zatt?

at

thmmatm?



Hamiltonian?vaname

Manda Edam tfrilnr shaft ulna
WWQIWWEW

WWa?m



an??rmsa?ratmmna?tman
(enema
W?mlt?wmn?
mmtm?mw?wnm

Wtwa?rmhi?tmmn?

with:



Wad?smn?i?fhsn?ams?n?





mah?smalbsziomea?nmrm?


 

King, Corn and Development

saturtlay April 16, I977. The corn is
essentially all planted. In the riverside fields. it
has already sprouted and the weeding work will
soon begin.

Diarrhea is rampant in the village. There is
nothing like the warm weather to bring out the
worst in the water. 

Actually. the weather is mercifully cool.
Compared to my memories of this time last year,
this spring seems delightful. The far hills have a
delicate gold-green overlain on the rain?softened

browns. The fields are all freshly plowed and the

turned rich-brown is bordered with the new green
grasses on the ridges between the terraces.

The birds are fantastic. They are appearing
in numbers and varieties unprecedented. Most
beautiful, though, are the mornings and
evenings. it?s been raining almost every
night so the evening is a windy (sometimes too
much so) cloud-building prelude with all the
anticipation and drama of pre~storm turbulence.
But the mornings have been clear, with only the
sweet freshness of the breeze as a cool reminder
of the night?s rainfall. It's bone~deep warm in the
midday sun, but the breeze has stayed cool and
the nights still require a blanket. Altogether most
agreeable.

Sunday April 17, 1977. Work begins earlier
every day these days. The lengthening days mean
that the morning activities begin by 4 AM. The
rice pounding level?? is our unfailing measure of
the days; People USually beat their grains before
or after the main day's labor. Thus, these days it
means that the pounder is going under our? mud
sanctuary from about 4 AM until 6:30 or 7 AM
in the morning, and then again at night from
about 8 PM until about 10 PM.

Called a fang (in Tamang) or DHiki (in Nepali} this is a large beam mounted on a pivot: at one end is a

pestle which husks the grain; one or two people push down on the others end with their feet.

 

 

68




mmwmamwm



emanatinamaqamaanaa
anneal

an ant enema am?
mmwm?mms?mt
Wmmw?m?a?m
?mwmammt
WW
WM-Wmmw






?W?twm?rm
an: {sin (militia 1 an ate-via:


whatso? snags, FR 81W il?t Path
Wat

Agricultural work

Sunday April 24. Wheat cutting is in
full swing. The corn is all planted and
sprouting. The corn looks to be something of a
catastrophe in some of the region this year. The
villages up the Salanku River have already lost
much of their crob to some bug which eats down
the middle of the young Stalk, eating its future
growth right up. The village on the other side of
the Salanku River has also reportedly been hit.
People here are watching their sprouts very
closely. So far there seems to be no darmge. but
it is too early to tell since people in the
microclimes here can plant so much later than in
the higher villages. Up there. too, they have no
possibility of planting again. In one of the
upper villages. some of the people who were hit
have tried to sow again; everyone says it is a
very long shOt.

But here, no one is attempting to do
anything (like spraying?) even in the fields that
haven?t been hit. although everyone is very
worried and regards the plight of some of the
families who have lost 60% of their crop as very
pitiful. They tell the Story of another year of
com failure: live or six years ago.

Then the King went by helicopter to visit
the then-new development sheep farm in the
village up the mountain. Surya Man's father
(Lal Bir) was among the group of local
politicians who were supposed to'go greet King
Birendra. To show him the state of their corn-?
that year some bug ate the almost-ripe ears in the
husks--L.al Bir put a few stalks with damaged ears
under his coat. intending to show the King what
had happened to their corn since all their efforts
to obtain pesticide had failed (presumably due to
official inaction).

The King's guards, however, initially
suspecting something more dangerous, grabbed
Lal Bir and took the corn away from him.
throwing it on the ground. Apparently the scene
was observed by the King: the King asked Lal
Bir why he had brought corn; Lal Bir showed
him. A few days later, as they tell the Story.
porters arrived with the pesticide. It was. of
course, too late.

 

69

 

 

1X?iaa':   

 .. :i
. 

 

 

 

Shannan




ma?wm?mm?wm

Wmmtird??miairahmadl
Wwimemim
mma?ru?r?whm?mm
61W We ?rs new I
straw and Milan hint-ro? aim
start:

with It's?rt: gear EllilTlT





this? all; Gear that 
minwmwuanamiam
Ether art snare than: 
Wt

mmd?i??rr

mma?ittupia?af?rmww,

mes?rm?n?w
wmwaamiqnaangam

ma?rwm?i??wm?a?t


thq??n??twm
shenarhtawa?tnaihigzmda?


 

7]

These groups are called nang in Tamarig or Purina in Nepali. Among western Tamang nang groups are

LIFE GOES ON

Sunday, May 8: Janice, the Peace Cums
Volunteer working on the sheep farm in Balji
came to visit yesterday. She seems quite sick of
her diet. She's about where we were a year ago
in terms of getting contacts working to help her
find other food supplies in the village. But she's
wearing a syama-sltirt now and obviously getting
into the life there more. She?s moved from the
g0vernnient farm administrative buildings to live
in the village of Balji itself which has one great
benefit in that it has gotten her out from under
the exclusive in?uence of the gOvernment sheep
farm official and given her a wider array of
potential friends in the community.

Janice went back to Balji carrying all the
spare food we haduflour, potatoes and eggs--in a
sack. It must have been a heavy bundle to carry
slung across head and shoulders. but I hope she
enjoys it.

Wednesday, May 11: Great teams? of 843
people out hoeing the corn. They move along at
quite a rate when they're all going at it. The
groups are composed mos?tly of women,
especially daughters and daughters?in?Iaw.

People go to Kathmandu

Sunday, May 15: Surya Man?s father, his
mother, his younger uncle and aunt all went of 
to Kathmandu amidst great excitement.
Especially when Surya Man's mother declared her
intention to go! At first it was a great secret
from his father. She was (she said) going to
sneak out either before or after him.

Then he found out and, for a while, raved on
about how she was NOT going, how there was
no needhad many
arguments: that she had to stay here and work,
that there would be no one in the house, that she
was being frivolous and lazy, that she had no
work in Kathmandu.

formed by members of households who work as a single large group in each other's ?elds in rotation.




mwmeesanaartm
thatqu hm: new ?fl?mi 
WW
Wa?tt





szaowmtu?fs?i?t
WWMt?m?mi
mmwaenqnmi



Ylfil?alltil??.?i?tw Wm





w?mnqirta?tnja?admhw?rain?r

Parrish? 
sftm'rfz?g

mmimnwmaarm



 

 

7O

1'2 This is Nepali of?cial dress for men.

The younger aunt, however, was firmly on
Surya Man?s mother's side, saying that now was
precisely the time in their lives when they
SHOULD go, that her husband would never try
to tell HER what she could and could not do. and
so on in an equal number of counterarguments.

This morning, then, Surya Man's mother
rose earlier than usual and made snacks for the
trip. Surya Man?s father never stopped
complaining about her plans, although when she
left just before he did, she left carrying his things
in her bundle, too!

His departure also deserves some deseriptiom
he wore: a polyester t~shirt, another shirt, two
pairs of a sweater, a suiteoat, his
national cap, and his wool scarf! All this in the
hottest weather we've had yet!

Monday. May 16, 1977: Great relief in
some rain last night. Surya Man's wife comes
rather strikingly into her own when the parents?
in-law are gone. She slept in?-until 5:30 AM,
that is! Her voice is now heard calling people and
joking in ways that are never heard when they are
there.

A Land DiSpute

Saturday, May 21, Sad story in Cool
Waters. It started some time ago when a
Brahmin wanted to sell some land. Tula Ram
was interested, but only if the asking price of
3000NRs could be brought down to ZSOONRs.
He tried to get other villagers, including one
other older woman who was also interested in the
land, to not allow this Brahmin to get away with
Such a high price by quoting even lower offering
prices. The old woman, however, wanted the
land badly enough that she agreed to pay the
3000. And she paid it. Then the Brahmin
decided he wanted another 1000. He told Tula
Ram that if he agreed to say that HE was willing
to pay up to 4000. the two of them could split
the old woman?s additional 1000 when she paid
it. Tula Ram refused and said that the Brahmin
should transfer title to the old woman right away
or give her back her 3000 rupees.

 

71

 - .

 

 




Wm



tits-?Li

W?sm?arq?mm
Wm?h??tn?hm?ma?g

mmatm??wm
Praia can Wind heart Iii?en
aiwm?ma?dn?n?ra



WW

salami
WWq??d?rmai?

W?mmwm?mi

swanv?a?on?a?mmlatfa?dm



?nal


I 3W aim Fran?3t




 

3?3 it is extremely difficult to get permission to do research in Nepal. At the time of this work. the application
andfor renewal process could take 2 weeks to a month, after which a visa would typically only be awarded
for 3 months. Relations were generally quite cortliall. especially with colleagues at the Universuy. but the

visa process was often confusing.

Tuesday, May 24: The land dispute in Cool
Waters is still healing. The Brahmin has
apparently made out a title transfer to the old
woman, but not for the amount of land as was in
their initial verbal agreement. He says he will
not turn over the rest because the selling price is
now 4000NR3. She, of course, could not read
the title transaction so only discovered the
discrepancy when she brought it to show to
Surya Man's father.

Monday, May 30: David and Surya Man
left today to go to Kathmandu. David has to
renew our visas for the additional 2-3 weeks we
plan to stay in the village. He's been working
extraordinarily hard to prepare a report for the
university. I hope the renewal proceeds simply
so he doesn?t spend all his remaining time in
Kathmandu instead of finishing his work here.313

LAST DAYS

Thursday June 2: My mother's birthday:
Happy birthday, Morn.

The pattern of green has shifted in the fields.
The corn is now hip to chest-high. Before, when
the fields were being plowed and the rains had
started to turn everything else green, the fields
had been a dark rich brown and only the ridges
between them had been green. Now, the fields

are a dark corn-green and the ridges have become

packed light brown foot trails. It's exactly
reversed: before, it was brown outlined in green;
now it is green outlined in brown.

Other things have changed, too. Wasteland
stands out much more dramatically new, as do
trails. Before, everything had the same barren
dried lodk. Now, the paths and useless patches
of mudslide or waterless slope stand out, looking
starkly vacant. The sun, too, has moved from its
winter rising and setting spots some 40 degrees
(on the com pass).

 

72


unnr?nnzi?wh?thmaiiar





manila?drier:

Inde







that is him not I
Wm?mim?rmm
Wmm?rahmm??
s?io?ttimra?imams?smaf?amm?n
with

 

And, of course. the days are much longer.
.Too long, really, with the heat. But at least the
day length is cooperating with our upcoming
departure. I feel the pressures of finishing work
in order to leave acutely these days. Unless there
is electricity (which there isn't here), anthro?
pologists should always plan leaving when the
days are the longest: there is so much work to do.

A death in the village

Thursday June 9: Youngest Aunt?s father~
in-law died in the night. The village gathered at
their house and the brought the body out of the
house to begin the procession up the hill for his
cremation.

The corpse was wrapped entirely in white
cloth and was carried, sitting upright, in a litter.
The daughters and granddaughters followed in
obvious grief. Their hair was untied and loose,
and they were weeping and carrying broken
potsherds with coals and incense in them. They
sang penetrating wailing songs of grief: "Oh,
father! Take me with you, my own father!"74

The group gathered on top of the highest
hill behind Stupahill. The lainas conducted their
recitational worship directly in the face of the
grief and work of the kin. The lamas
reading and the women's wailing were a stark,
but interwoven. contrast as the women sang
wailing "Om mani padrne hum" choruses to
punctuate the lamas' chanting.

The weather was properly eerie. It had been
very hot as we walked up, but then began to rain
at the height of the worship. The sun, however,
continued to shine. creating a strange glistening
effect on everything, even the lighting of the
funeral pyrc. The daughters' grief was obviously
quite acute as a son placed a coal in the father's
mouth. As rice and coins were of fered, and those
whose sorrow overwhelmed them supported, the
was lit. The lamas finished their work and
each of the daughters and granddaughters was led
away by hand by another woman as the group
began to move back down the hill. Only a few
close~kinsmen remained to oversee the pyrc.

74 These songs. called (serial or Isiba are uniquely associated with death.

 

73

ii"


13.5
-2 
3-
 


lit--

at 
. ?new

 

 

. .- 

 


Wrms?sn?nir remit 11g 1 ml
memmim



Tit?381331 




alama?tha?m?rm?nm?n?n?r
Ma?atrrd?rdq?mn?rt

sale (I Will who and set


mammte?samwwm




WWl?e?e?Wq?
Wit?rt:



mmwimammanaan
Wmle?e?mat??nm
W?mn?n?s?m?d?am



amn?s?aanha?h?t satanic:th
Tm ??TllW



ata?n?mwv?rf?am?ww?l?
satin Bl??'ff warm firm elite 
Wmmn?wm?mw
arthrinrsvaeranwami?m?dh


?rmnqen?mn?rdn:

74

On the way down. everyone stopped first at
a small spring to wash and then at the house of
the dead man. There, they purified themselves
further in incense smoke. Only then did people
head to their own homes.

LEAVING THE VILLAGE

Saturday. June 11: David has gone to
Kathmandu to make the final official
arrangements for our departure. Time feels very
short; work feels very demanding. The heat does
not help.

Bedbugs have kept David (and hence also
me) awake much of the night. Our efforts to
control them with alternate doses of kerosene and
boiling water seem to have little effect. With
David gone I do not have to feel guilty sleeping
the in the only hammock; it's too hot to sleep
anywhere else.

Surya Man came home late in the evening.
He had waited below to avoid the walk up the
hillside in the hottest times of the day. But
apparently, David is not coming back quite yet.

Wednesday. June 15: Things are getting
quite complicated trying to finish up in the
village without David. He should be back any
day. But we should be leaving almost as soon as
he comes up. Surya Man had plenty of tales of
the final arrangements David was making in
Kathmandu. Long stories about how David was
disposing of each item of furniture we had in our
two rented rooms there. including prices.
potential buyers and bidders. I doubt that Surya
Man's and David's versions of events there would
resemble'each other much since l?m sure David is
more concerned about making final arrangements
with colleagues at the university than about what
to do with the one bed. two tables, six Cushions,
four Curtains, and whatever else we had fer
furnishings in Kathmandu. Still, it makes clear
tome: we are leaving.

Met David as he was returning on the trail
to Stupa Hill. It's less titan a month left.






Elli?: GET QYI a: 31% Eli ?Tlwhere budges haven't gel or can't be built.

Thursday, June 23: We continued the
distribution of various of our small household
stuff to friends in the village.

We're trying to give things away?~fr0m
empty tins and bottles to extra bits of clothing
and gifts we'd brought in. We owe so many
peeple debts for their hospitality here. But. still,
we're trying to give things in small ways, rather
than have a big tamasha at the end. Who knows
what's the right way to do this?

Friday, June 24: Today is the hottest yet. I
keep saying that; and the days keep getting
hotter. But it cannot get much worse than this.
Even sitting with wet cloths, sweat.

Saturday. June 25: The bedbugs are quite
nearly out of control. Even i'm getting bitten
now. No matter how many times a night we get
up for search and destroy missions and no matter
how many maneuvers we undertake with
kerosene. boiling water and insecticides. they
seem to outwit us constantly. Rice field
preparation is well underway in the river bottom
paddies that were not planted with corn.

The cable car over the river?5 is still not up

yet. although the river is too high to ford most

of the time these days. We will only be able to
leave when they have installed this car across the
river again this year. As i think about leaving,
about returning to America, about riding on
planes and getting back to electricity and running
water and cars and all, it?s humbling to remember
that this conveyance across the river here only
got metal cables about five years ago. Before
that the "car" was supported by a simple forked
stick which slid hack and forth across the fiber
ropes.

This year. however, our departure will be in
style. There are iron cables and a sturdy, if
modest. platform. With friends and drama,
perched on the platform, pulled across the river,
then. we will begin our voyage back to America.

75 A small platform suspended from a cable and pulledmanually over the river. these ?cable cars" are found

 

75

 
slain."-



..- t. 3..  ., ..   

 

     

 

3W

Padsn?anlmn?smihm
ammamwm


mewmmamap
s?wf?enda?qr


?ddlill?l$ Fi? ?j?i?ia?il Rial 


a?gnmi?dhr?amflimaw



I ashlar wash? 3W
mm?n?ll


chit, zit mama 7: usher?


dian??uflzuws?aia?ara

Wanna firth 1 WW when





 

3

adversely affecting Tamang.

a 



AFTER WORD

The process through which this manuscript
was actually produced deserves some discussion,
especially for those interested in new
ethnographic dialogues. Let us record a sketch
map of our route and the decisions affecting each
of our turnings.

The initial issues we discussed after deciding
to write something collaborative based on our
separate, and previously private personal
journals, revolved around the final general shape
of the book. We decided it had to he inexpensive
enough to be affordable by Nepalis as well as
Americans. The first edition would he published
by Bhim's Jeevan Support Press. He would
provide the labor at no cost; we would underwrite
other costs. Profits would be dedicated to
educating deserving and premising children from
the village region.

We also decided to undertake a bilingual
publication. Again, the initial idea was to make
the hook accessible both in Nepal and in the
US. The choice of Nepali (not Tarnang) is, like
the choice of the print medium overall, a gesture
of some nationalist significance. Until the recent
rewriting of the Constitution, the only language
in the schools, the courts, the newspapers. the
radio, or new television, was Nepali. Tamang
people have labored hard, literally and
figuratively,3 to find a place for themselves in
the country called Nepal; often they have found
themselves disadvantaged and excluded by
religi0us, social, political, or economic precept,
practice or prejudice.

Sec Hoirnberg?s (1989) Order in Paradox: myth, ritual and exchange among Nepal?s Tamang (lthaea. NY:
Cornell University Press) for a discussion of Tamang labor obligations. See Hofer's The caste
hierarchy and the state in Nepal: a study of the Mut'uki Air: of 1854 Austria: Universitatsverlag
Wagner) for a discussion of the Hindu religious and social structures that underwrote state legal precepts


Wm



76



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{f





 

 

. 

 



Iii??n, {rat?an: dam?a funnel

that 7: aisle an un?t: harsh humans




min?nfhn?ramamism?ae?nm

amnmeme

mmammianwmm


shamans? 



I






















Surya Man was one of the first 'l?amang
from the Rasuwa-Nuwakot region to attempt a
secondary education, learning to read and write in
a monolingual Nepali school setting. Unlike
many 'l?arnang, even today, he is literate,
meaning in Nepali; like most Tamang, even after
the liberalization of national language policies,
when he writes, he writes in Nepali. Moreover,
Tamang, in its many dialects has not devCIOped a
standard literary form even though Tamang from
many regions are now working on developing
such a written language. A Tamang village just
a few hours walk away from another will have a
different dialect. Tamang are quick to pick up
new dialects after residing for a while ina new
place but when Tamang from distant regions
meet, they often?still communicate in Nepali.

We leave speculate
on what the implications of this will be in the
future. For the present, we decided that those
Tamang who were literate would generally ?nd
reading Nepali preferable and that the choice of
Nepali would also open this publication up to
others in Nepal.

These choices set our approximate page -

limit, which in turn meant that substantial
portions of our original journals would go
unused. How to select which portions to
include? Here, our paths diverged in interesting
ways so that, as we moved back and forth, each
suggesting different editorial strategies, 3 number
of additional questions emerged.

Some of these arise from predictable
differences in the technologies of our respective
backgrounds. Thus arises Surya Man and Bhim's
enthusiasm for garage doors that can be opened
without hands and inability to eat rice
gracefully with her hands. These are the cheerful
sources of potential (self) parody in our
interactions. To retain this sense of discovery

m? ?rm q?t oand novelty, we decided not to alter the passages




from our journals (and to make it clear when we
added later thoughts) even though we were each
sometimes justifiably chagrined by our earlier
naivete. 

77

?b?lh?mmqu?l
sra?rtf?t?me?t?thm?mwhiq?nnt



 

44:.

Other differences in Our approaches suggest
somewhat deeper differences in our respective
senses of what is important to remember. When
Surya Man and Bhim did the initial cut on their
journal, they stripped it down to what we found
to be a dry listing of peculiar details. It included
lots of numbers: exact flight numbers, flying
times, times of arrival and departure, time zone
differences, distances, speeds of travel, heights
and weights, dates, prices. of everything purchased
or every purchase contemplated. And lots of
names: for every place and person encountered,
each name checked and double checked for
completeness, correctness and spelling, with no
encounter left unnamed. It seemed to us that
many of what had we found to be the beautiful
descriptions and subtle reflections were reduced to
lusterless facts and figures.

This puzzle had confronted before in
some of the life history work - she has been
doing.4 In their narratives, Tamang wornen
would record with painstaking detail the prices of
things acquired as part of their personal property.
along with the exact time of the acquisition, and
perhaps other details like the number of days it
took to carry some of it from one place to
another. Thus, for examples, a 60+ year old
women told how she had woven thread wonh an
exactly remembered amount in an exactly
remembered year into a speci?c piece of cloth she
sold for an exactly remembered amount of grain
which could be carried number of days south
to Kathmandu and sold for this much or carried
number of days nerth to Kyirong and sold
for that much, It might take her half an hour to
recount all these details.

In the case of the women's stories and
perhaps Surya Man's and Bhim's telling, it seems
likely that a number of things are going on. We
start from the premise: that it is worth ?guring
out why they talked about these things precisely
because they did and especially since they did so
without any encouragement (and, in fact, with
seine discouragement) from their interlocutors.
Remembering prices, dates, and places is
undoubtedly a vital farmer's skill.

See March (forthcoming) Words and Worlds ofTamang women. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.


78

 

 

 

 

 

 


armamm?ra?rat?tamwd?tm

annrn?mnr?aiairal

(swarming??me

WW?Wd??lh?am,



WW?w-Wn?fe?w

a?hrnm?qqn,mh,maiqunqh?anq


mamahanmiqunmri?nn

dazed shad?rind errant that new


demmhmi?eat?w
mammara?ratmq?rjmarfhmel




Wmmn?tmmn?rz?nq?
th,m,m,mrm
W'Wq??rdsamtw
mammal

 

they would be eneounted on the way (see below).

The margin of their existence can be mea-
sured out in small variations in these statistics:
this grain here is worth twice that grain there;
produce sold this month is worth half what it
will bring four months later; and so forth.

Moreover, whether travelling to trade rice for
salt in Tibet or travelling to edit a book
manuscript in Ithaca, NY, it is useful to know
where to find the best places to stay, or eat, or
buy things. it is not only that there are no
Tamang Guides to Tibet?; to consult, but, as
well, in a context where such things as price and
quality are far from fixed, it is vital to have a
reliable sense of the field before you make a
move. Typically, this involves asking everyone
you can trust who went before you what their
experience was, then asking everyone you
interact with along the way, then asking
everyone in the locale when you get there. Thus,
to buy potatoes on a trip through some place,
first you find out what the last person you know
says they paid there (when and from whom), then
you ask passersby all along the trail, then you
ask several potential sellers in the place itself.

There is probably, as well, another more
abstract reason for dedicating memory to these
details. When Surya Man and Bhim calculated an
exact flying, taking into account the various time
zone changes, they were not just recording the
length of time it takes to get from point A to
point B. It is, of course, a matter of some
concern when walking in the Himalayas to know
how far it might be to the next place where one
can find lodging, and to know that it will or will
not be possible to get there before nightfall.

But we are now asking you to notice not
just the fact that people reCOrd places, times,
dates, distances or prices, but to attend to how
they do it. Weights and measures, coinage, times
and place names are, of course, also quite specific
artifacts of specific states and civilizations.

Although there are ritual recitations (like the Gumbo Jyabi Hwai} which recount place names in the order

79


Wmm?mammnm

anhn were manna man all
(Wanna)th Riemann




Wthn?wsh?hswma?mar


me?mm?z?rmr



mama. ?wrn?gni?h
attithreirhrert martinis-sides:


Wt?n?du?rwv?rww

an I strati?ed hand 6mm awn
W?wmd?m?n
??rw?rfl?w?n?mtwr?m





in it anaemic dam?rs 
Wms?m?em:


en?mwmw


math 
WW 
slits-?ash merit

mar haw (til


 

When 'l?amang wornen, in their life histories
told to talked about how old they were,
they had not only to count their years, but they
had to count them either in the Tibetan cycles of
twelve animal years (Year of the Dog, of the
Ram, etc.), or the calendar years of the Shah
monarchy of Nepal (Vikrarn Sambat).

Similarly, prices are framed in the coinage
of some specific where. Times of the day,
likewise. can be measured in the agricultural
?before morning meal" or ?afternoon's work
session:" or it can be parsed out in ghaDr?, the
Nepali word that now means "watch" or ?clock?
but once referred to the 24 minutes it took a
pierced waterjug to sink and sound a waterclock
gong. Spaces anti distances come in their (the
amount of land a pair of oxen can plow before
morning meal) and koshs (the proverbial distance
a person can walk before a wet cloth dries in their
hand), or in the ropam's of Nepali cadastral
surveys and national land records, in kilometer?
(squared or not), or miles and 

When Surya Man and Bhim speak of miles
per hour, or dollars and cents, or Eastern Standard
Time, their awareness of currencies and
international time zones situates them in another
newly cosmopolitan frame of reference as much
as it reminds us when they arrived in Bangkok,
Japan, Detroit, or San Francisco. Like the very
recital of those place names, how they
are named (including all the whens, whereas, how
fars, and how muches) also places the teller in a
newer larger world. They, quite properly, wanted
this larger vision includedweven if we thought it
was just facts and ?gures.

The listings of place names in sequence out
from your home base and back is an essential
feature as well of Tamang geographic
consciousness. In the largely oral universe of
Tamang and without the aid of maps, guide
books and the like, information about geographic
space has always been communicated orally in
the form of sequential lists of place names.

Each system does more than just count or measure; it situates the teller in a different universc.



80

 

 

 

ll


.fJ




wagia'  ding?? g; .. .- .  .I-U 

 jr?ei?rik?gr?

 

.   


mmatamml
Namath ens may
Wm?ahm?rn?ahal?l

Emma?l?lamw

armament


WWIMWW-


human afar ?lial smear and

81

Long lists of place names and trail descriptions
were crucial to undertaking trips to Tibet to trade
grain for salt. These place names, further, trigger
Speci?c remembrances about places: the location
of places to stay, where water is available, what
divinities inhabit a particular locale, where
especially dangerous spirits lurk, and which kin
or ?ctive kin inhabit a particular village.

Many of these place listings are formalized
in song and ritual incantations. Villagers
regularly sing songs counting the dozens of
temples in villages on the trail between their
home village and the monastic centers of Tibet.
At the start of every ritual, specialists chant out
place names radiating out from village trails and
purify these places with incense. We found these
oral traditions astounding and they were a
reminder to us of the limits of the literate worlds
we inhabit and the richness of the nonliterate
world of many Tamang.

Geographic space for people in the hills of
Nepal is a world of trails which extend out from
villages and link villages to a more
encompassing universe. Places do not simply
exist in abstract space but are linked to each other
along trails. in the time of the grandfathers of
Bhim and Surya Man, the known limits of
geographic space were for most people, Kyirong
in Tibet, where they would trade rice for salt, and
Kathmandu, where they would travel either for
trade or in fulfillment of forced labor obligations.
Beyond these known limits were the great
?below? where, at the time of our stay in Surya
Man's village, people located places they had
heard of but never seen: "Dosh" or India,
Bombay, Delhi, ?Belayat? er England, Japan, and
?Amrika?.

While living in Surya Man's village, we
would of ten be asked, "By what trail do you reach
Amrika?" Our occasional response based on
our acceptance of the theory that the earth is
round and our assumption that such knowledge
was superior - was that if you walk leng enough
on any trail in any direction you would reach
America.




marmqaraanrarawat?
Mau?agnanr?smma?s?


W?wim?amam

Wmu?rm-a?n??tm




mwmm,a?artw?m








was? {Hawaii WI
her \r?l Gait shah ?nish

W??hanm?ml?sata?m

i

For most villagers, such a statement was
utterly incomprehensible and brought blank
stares. Even after many hours of explicatiou
where village friends would accept in the abStract
that the earth was round and Amrika lay on one
side and Nepal on the other, they were not
willing to accept that any trail c0uld reach
Amrika and insisted that Amrika was down
below. At first you might assume that people in
the village do not know or appreciate elementary
geography a mistake we made. We came later
to appreciate that Tamang villagers are right
when they say Amrika is down below because
the trail to get to Amrika, takes one down below.
First you go down the hill from the village, then
take a bus down to Kathmandu and then you fly
down in an airplane from Kathmandu to Bangkok
or Hong Kong, and then to Japan and then across
a huge body of water and finally reach Amn'ka.

Trails, moreover, always show the way back
to a local place and a local society. Trails not
Only describe the way to a destination, they
always connect you back to localities, which are
for villagers, the centers of their universes and
the places to which they always return.
Pilgrimages were, and remain, for many villagers
another context in which they move out from
specific localities and link themselves and the
places they come from into larger social and
sacred spaces.

It is difficult for Americans who have
become so used to moving from cosmopolitan
place to cosmopolitan place and whose towns and
cities now all contain the familiar landmarks of
fast food restaurants, public schools, and
shopping malls linked by interstate highways to
appreciate the kind of ties to local lands and kin
that underwrite Tamang senses of well-being.
For them, even at the extremes of a journey. the
thread of the trail, no matter how long, ties one
back to a specific village and set of kin and
weaves one into social and spatial webs. These
linkages orient Tamang villagers spatially and
in fundamental ways.

82

 

 

 

(ILminimalistiasii?rm?ndian
?ttm?rn?rhner?rqaarap?r
'Wmanwmseemm




mwmta?m?a?ln?w



Wrm?n?em?f?m?t




Harlan

Not surprisingly, many of Surya Man's and
Bhim's questions about our selections asked for
more of just these details about the places,
events, and things we had recorded. And
especially about the people. When 
wrote about visiting ?a poor woman" in ?a
neighbouring village", they wanted to know
which poor woman, which village, which house.
Who?s daughter was she? Whose daughtenin-
law? Whose wife? Whose mother? For 
especially in her early journal entries. she didn't
know these people with that specificity. But
even after she did, in her writings. they Still often
remained ?gures for a more general type - ?a poor
woman", ?a jealous husband", "an honest child",
and so forth. Instead of people whose lives had
been entwined with ours since before any of us
were hem, they were at first mostly characters in
a Tamang play we were watching.

But fer Surya Man and Bhim, the world
could not be populated with general types. It
was taken for granted that each knew all, and
their fathers and mothers, their sons and
daughters, their comings and goings, their
accomplishments and fancies .. So much so
that, after Bhim and Surya Man came out from
that Washington D.C. where women
danced naked on a stage, it did not seem possible
that no one would recognize them or care who
they were or where they had been. What would
have been to us a big city street full of nameless
strangers, who could have cared not all what we
had been doing, is in Surya Man's and Bhim?s
writing still a village full of people who see,
knew, care, and name - in censerieus detail.
Where our writings and perceptions start from a
presumed anonymity and work, but only ever get
part of the way there, toward some kind of more
personal knowing, Surya Man's and Bhim's are
rooted in face-to-face multiply named and known
intimacy. Theirs can scarcely conceive of a
social interactien in which some sert of
connection cannot be traced. Thus, we think that
the concern to have precise identities for every
?character? appearing in our pages bespeaks a
more substantial difference in the realities we
inhabitmq?mtn?il?emam
Wmen?mm?a?nm?rw
momma?atheiheaamnaaihn?rt

soil gene can strainer sell

WWIWWIWW
re?mms?ra?a?wan?n


miter nelson earn sitar are Gl?i Ina

non WW ?an lion 1 gram star
Wanam?n?aiam?rerhramre
Wanamzntin?ma we


Another such difference can be found in our
respective passages aboat divinity. We were
deeply moved by Surya Man?s description of
looking out the airplane window as they flew
toward America. The parallels to the lamas'
teachings and paintings suggest that he would
not have been surprised if he had seen the gods
and goddesses themselves in those clouds. Or,
rather, that, although he was not looking for any
physical forms, presaically squatting and sharing
a cigarette as they rested on a cloud platform,
divinity was there. Looking out an airplane
window, you just might encounter it.

In our much more secular world, the divine
is not something you bump into. When 
wrote in her 1976 journal about the pilgrimage
she accompanied to the sacred cave of Guptiswar,
she was moved; there were, for her too, spiritual
moments. But for most westerners the divine is
a metaphysical idea. It (he? she?) can not be
physically there in the stalagmites and
stalactites themselves for us, without by that
very tangibility, being less than divine. We are
as predisposed to transcendental experiences as
most Americans, but our world is not inhabited
by nonhuman presences in the same casual,
everyday way. as if God could come to lunch and
leave fingerprints on the chalice as palpably as
David describes leaving lunch on a stone along a
forest trail to feed those who were killed by
felling trees near there.

Throughout the production of this book -
our travel dialogue - each of us has. first, written
independently of the ether, then, read and
commented upon each other?s writings and
selections, then, through repeated iterations
reached various compromises about what should
be included. The final text here includes
approximately half of what had originally been
produced Surya Man's and Bhim's ?rst visit
to the States. Since both of us lived for much
longer in Stupa Hill, our selections represent a
smaller percentage of our journals. It was also
possible for us to attempt to select passages from
our 'I?amang notes that, in one way or another,
complemented their American observations.

84

 

 



.- . . -.
.- ?c.1335 maze-.- 42-.-

gar airlift WW I


 

 

mammwmalqm

was war we
Werh?mfc?mww


?meantime:

Elisa? WWI Fellini 3n-



th?wnginmri?nanhdw
awn nan writ, air new war unlit

salami an war nan ea [hm

??m?wmwm?m?

mini an I ah Elaine?cl units 1: 


tit gran: man a I ever
mmnaiammwma




Tana-n alert stunt ell-rail meat
snag? Writ Wig?en "an Helen





Winergas?nnwi mean

aar? anti


Wm,m,mharn?naam

wand:

infant

85

Thus, David chose to include his account of
the journey into the Ankhu Khola in part because
it had the relatively more linear texture of a travel
narrative. And looked to find at least
sorne passages in her journals that dealt with
topics v- food, dress, family hOSpitality "like"
those she had read in their tales of us.

In most cases. as we confronted our
respective concerns during the editorial process.
each of us made an initial selectionw often quite
brief about which the others of us made
suggestions - usually to put back something that
had been edited out. So, when Surya Man and
Bhim first presented a possible edition that was
pared down almost entirely to times, dates 
places, asked that more of the original
re?ective material not be edited out. Similarly,
when she first included only part of a day?s
activities, or only one day of the Guptiswar
pilgrimage, they requested that more of the
details about people and places be reinstated.

Thus, this work and as we write this, too.
we look forward to Surya Man?s and Bhim?s reply
has been a rewarding journey into our mutual
understandings. It has led us to enjoy anew each
other's foibles both cultural and personal. Life is
sweeter when we can laugh with Surya Man and
Bhim at trying to eat rice and lentils
with her hands, and with them trying to open
garage doors with an electronic device, or with
them laughing at David as he tried to cook
unfamiliar foods for himself in the village.

It recommits us, yet again, to anthropology
and to redefining the processes of cross-cultural
communication and understanding. Insofar as a
desire to move away from one?sided ethnography-
whether as a vestige of colonial dominion or as
self-indulgent voyeurism underlies at last some
of our contemporary critics, all our work Should
involve more of these back and - forth processes
of writing, exchanging, reading, replying and
rewriting.




in: e?r, Emilia ma

uni
ans dean

The value of such dialogues is, of course. at
least partly ethical because of the respect and debt
anthropologiests owe their hosts. it is also
increasingly not just polite, but politic as ethnic
communities and nations become increasingly
politicized.

This is not to suggest that joint authorship
solves the problems of con?icting interests or
defuses charges of ethnOgraphic privilege. As a
process, however, the iterative conversation
produced along with this book has potentially
both delimited some of our differencesiimore
clearly and initiated a framework for recording, if
not resolving, them more equitably. What
began, for us as a partial return on the many
obligations we had incurred because of their
generosity became something even more
interesting. Work on this little book has taught
us very useful new tools for underStanding, and
renewed our appreciation for, the energy, beauty,
and integrity of Surya Man's and Bhim's worlds.
This, then, is the most recent of what we hope
will continue to be many such pleasurable
exchanges and collaborations.

David Holmberg
March

86

 

 

 

 

yaw-ma;-

    

 . .. . ..  

ar?ann?aa

mn?md??wmr?r
WW?rtm?t?rmm?q?




meirm?mntn?ra?rs?

Wmdm'wa?r?m?m


$53 misfit Fri-fl ?13% 316?
amm?mawd em Irdi 3W anneal
W?m?mm?m
wmq?a?hw?mwu?mr

mm?wu??a?ana?m



wWahWah?n?
unmawwmgahmm?m?



m?m?mmn?ta??s?wr

melt Marma?zw?arw?
Wagszle

(glutamate
Wang-(mar

THE LAST WORD

Aetually, to those who enjoyed the sweeter
parts of this back-and-forth book, we now tell
how it was produced. From the journeys made
during our roundabout travels, we made the above
collection of sentences. First, of our own free
minds, we each wrote down a collection daily
things. I had not thought of writing them up in
the form of a book then. I had simply gone
about jotting these things down where all I
went, how with whom did I eat wander, the
things I saw - so that I would remember them.
That was all.

Some years later, carrying the many tales of
our village children's hardships in our hearts,
together we all decided to bring out both our
sides of the story in the form of a joint book
Setting the price so that our friends in Nepal and
America or any country could buy it, we decided
to put all the profit exclusively for the educatiou
0f impoverished children in the area.

Those of you who buy this book might say.
?If only one person spits, it will dry up, but the
spit of many makes a river;" and so we hope you
will look fondly both upon this proverb and Our
work. Getting this book ready wasn't as easy as
carrying loads, lifting things, hoeing or
ploughing. Although it took the toil of many
people let it not be necessary to thank everyone
again. All that is left is, on behalf of the poor
children, to thank you friends who bought and
read this book.

Surya Man Tamang
Bhim Bahadur Tamang

87