Hurried Trip to Avoid a Bad Star
Analysis
-M. Lilla and C.
Bishop Barry
The extract “hurried trip to avoid a bad star” is from the
article “Karnali, roadless world of western Nepal” by M. Lilla and C. Bishop
Barry. It presents an exploration of the region which the authors did on foot for
15 adventurous months. The authors have talked about the issue in which the
people of Karnali region make a hurried trip to Nepalgunj for trade indicating
the various facts of the life in Karnali.
After Christmas, the authors joined the annual trek to view
how Karnali zone was economically linked to the lowland regions to the south.
The travelers carried baskets filled with medicinal herbs, hashish, hand-knit
sweaters and blankets to trade. This shows that the economy of the Karnali
region depended on the Himalayan herbs and cottage industries. On their way,
they met a Chhetri woman of about 30 in Hari lekh. She told them that her
husband might have moved to their village 15 years ago to find job. She
requested them to look for him and tell him to return. This reflects the
communication gap due to illiteracy and lack of infrastructures there. Similarly,
moving to other places for job resembles the remoteness of area and poverty.
In an oak and rhododendron forest at 9000 feet, they passed
a party of some men processing ‘silajit’, a medicinal tar-like deposit that
they were about to sell for pharmaceutical use. When they were asked why they
didn’t process silajit before leaving Sinja, they replied that they couldn’t
wait for they would have been under the influence of omen. This indicates the
superstitious character of people in Karnali. Similarly, the sights of
deforestation, a forceful act to feed the cattle clarify the dependence of
people on natural resources. Observing such facts, the writers reached Terai,
known as ‘bread-basket’ of Nepal. The life-style out there was much more
advanced than that in Karnali. The writers tell that they hadn’t seen a wheel
for nearly a year on the highland paths, which shows the backwardness of
Karnali.
In Terai, the traders from Karnali traded their materials
with cotton cloth, aluminum, ironware, spice and jewelry stalls. One of them
spent every rupee on distillery equipment with aim to make and sell liquor and
earn money. This barter system reflects poverty and lack of geomatic knowledge
in people of Karnali. Overall, the continuous movement of people in Karnali is
the only way to survive there because of the diverse nature and landscapes. It
is their only way of living.
The entire passage epitomizes the way of life in Karnali,
full of struggle and hardships. The authors have shown absence of distant
communication, compulsion of nature exploitation, illiteracy, lack of
transport, lack of government approach, no ecological awareness, dependent
economy, poverty, traditional and superstitious belief, obligation for constant
movement, etc. as the true face of life in Karnali, the roadless world of
western Nepal.
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