Gurkha Cup 2016

This past week I've been in London and a friend of mine, Premila, invited me to join her at the annual Gurkha Cup day celebrations out in the town of Aldershot, a military town close to Guildford. The Gurkha Cup is an all-day soccer tournament that's been organized by the Tamu Dhee Association and held every year on the Sunday of the May Day bank holiday long weekend.



The event draws huge crowds. The vast majority of attendees are Gurkhas (both active and retired) and their families live around Aldershot, as well as in neighbouring towns such as Farnborough. Actress Joana Lumley was instrumental in fighting for the rights of retired Gurkha soldiers to settle in the UK, though this has not been without controversy.





During the half-time show for the final game of the day between QGS Red and B13, we got to see the military band in action, as well as a demonstration of prowess with the traditional khurkuri knife. We didn't actually stay to watch the final, but I did see that Kent FC beat Ilam FC to win the Veterans tournament.







We spent of the time stuffing ourselves with food, especially momos (dumplings) from the Momo Station stall. This looked like the most popular food stall at the fair - the queue never seemed to disappear the whole time we were there! Owner Amit, whom Premila knew, was kind enough to pose for a picture.



Check out the momos here!


Premila was also busy pointing out things like the fact that a disproportionate number of Gurkhas and their families come from the indigenous or janajati groups of Nepal, e.g. Gurung, Magar, Rai (FYI, when I'm in Nepal, many people think I'm Rai). For example, in the census data cited in a handbook chapter by David Gellner titled "Warriors, Workers, Traders, and Peasants: The Nepali/Gorkhali Diaspora since the Nineteenth Century", it is estimated that Gurungs make up 22.2% of the Nepali population living in the UK, whereas back in Nepal they only represent 2.4% of the total population. It is also important to note that although Gurkhas speak Nepali, Nepali is not necessarily their first language, nor the main language used at home.

As a reminder of this, a poster we spotted (see below) features the figures Paruhang and Sumnima, who are pretty important to Kirat groups, but not to the dominant groups of the Kathmandu valley. In fact, you're probably more likely to spot this type of poster at an overseas Gurkha event, than in the shops of Kathmandu!

It was a great learning experience going to the Gurkha Cup with Premila. She's doing a PhD at the London College of Fashion on Nepali youth fashion in Britain and she's pretty familiar with the Nepalese community in and around London (her mother is also from Nepal). She was also able to highlight some of the fashion trends she'd seen over the years across the board, especially the UK Nepali obsession with Korean fashion (similar to NE India's embracing of all things Korean), Scottish tartans and long cardigans that can be worn over traditional lungis.

To find out more about such trends, check out the awesome PhD proposal video she made!


NEPALI STYLE | PHD PROPOSAL from Premila van Ommen on Vimeo.


One thing we did note was the lack of posters around Aldershot advertising the event. On our way back to the train station, a man curiously asked us what was happening in town. Maybe it would help if the organisers put up more posters, especially close to the railway station, so that more local residents knew what was going on.

And on a final note, I'm heading back to the States in a few days, but if you're around London at the end of August and interested in Nepal, the next big Nepali event will be the Nepali Mela 2016 at Kempton Park!

Pokhara visit

It's been a few weeks since I was actually there, but thought I'd post some pretty pictures from my short visit to Pokhora.

One thing my friend mentioned, was that it rains more in Pokhora than it does in Kathmandu. And it was probably wasn't the best time to visit Pokhora, right in the middle of the monsoon. A few friends recommended paragliding there, but I think that's more a dry season activity.

It rained everyday we there, but one afternoon the clouds parted to give a few stunning views of Lake Fewa.







We also managed to rent a row boat and go on the lake for a swim.

Now, you don't want to swim along the lake's shores because of pollution, but in the middle of the lake, the water's pretty clean. Most locals will be able tell you where the paani is raamro for swimming.



For expats, Pokhora's a nice relaxing getaway from Kathmandu. I suppose if I was in Kathmandu long enough, I'd like to get away now and then. Although, compared to other places I've been in South Asia, Kathmandu still feel pretty relaxing to me!

Mongolian sweetheart

I'm used to certain labels like 'Asian', 'East Asian' or even 'Oriental' (when I'm in the UK) in contrast to 'South Asian'. But it was only when I first came to South Asia that I realised that I was actually Mongolian. In fact, 'Mongolians' are everywhere in East Asia. Chinese people are 'Mongolian'. Japanese people are 'Mongolian'. Tibetans are 'Mongolian'. Mongolians I can only assume, are also 'Mongolian'.

According to a friend in South Asia, 'Mongolians' are quite popular. One of the hosts on Indian Idol was a guy of Chinese origin, Chang Meiyang, who was born in India. The same friend even suggested I create an online profile and call myself 'Mongolian sweetheart' (hence the title of this post). As far as I can tell, what separates 'Mongolians' from 'Indian' people is the shape of their eyes (almond shaped) and their fair complexion. And given how many skin-lightening products there are here, there are many people in South Asia who want to look white.

But what fascinates me is the actual term 'Mongolian'. I'm no expert on the history of race theory, but it seems to correspond strongly with the idea of a 'Mongoloid race' which is now viewed as an obsolete racial classification label and really isn't mentioned anymore in popular discourse in the West. (There is also the historical use of the term 'Mongoloid' to designate people with Down's syndrome.) I'm also not sure if people here would use the term 'Mongolian' for Malay or Burmese people, i.e. people of darker complexion.

Of course one might argue that the term 'Mongolian' in South Asia is simply a substitute for 'East Asian' or 'Oriental'. What surprises me though is that many people who do identify as 'Mongolian' here do believe that their ancestors came from Mongolia. I was told that someone in Nagaland working on the genealogy of his tribe said that in order to get to the real origin of the tribe, they needed to go to Mongolia. Now, I'm not sure if he thought his ancestors came with the Mongol invasions of Burma or if they migrated south at an earlier stage.

For the moment, I suppose there's nothing much I can do but embrace the term. I do wonder how Mongolian neo-Nazis (yes, they do exist) would feel about Chinese people being called 'Mongolian'.

Learn Chinese in Nepal

As I mentioned in my last post, I've noticed a proliferation of Chinese signs in Nepal since my last visit here 2 years ago.

I've also noticed a number of Nepalis speaking Chinese. And there are a number of options to learn Chinese here - though from what I've been told it's usually taught by Nepalis who've worked and lived in China. Just look at this photo below:

 

While I do believe it's necessary to develop an identity in another language that you're learning (especially if you're trying to join a language community), I find it odd for a language school to say they'll give you an identity (assuming "Get your Identity by being touch with Us." means just that).

The Chinese could be translated as such:
"Hurry up!
Chinese classes have started.
Don't miss out on this chance.
Hurry up and join us."

Looking at the Chinese writing, one thing that suggests to me that it wasn't written by a native Chinese speaker is that the first character in the third line should be 别 ('don't), but the person has written the left hand side part of the character as 男, not 另.

Back in Nepal

It's been 2 years, but I'm back in Nepal! It also means I'm back to updating the blog.

This time I'm back at the height of the monsoon. It's been raining pretty much everyday since I arrived. I just spent the last 3 days with some friends in Pokhora, which I'm told is in a particularly rainy part of the country. Although we didn't manage to go paragliding, at the suggestion of some other friends, we did rent a rowboat and go on the lake for a swim.

One thing I've noticed in Nepal is the higher frequency of signs in Chinese, compared even to two years ago. Here are two signs I noticed on the main shopping street in Lakeside, Pokhora (where most tourists hang out).

The thing to note here, is that the Chinese reads, "我爱尼泊尔" which means "I love Nepal".
 

And this sign reads "我爱博卡拉" which means "I love Pokhora". As random as the quote in English right below it.
 

Literacy And Livelihoods For 445 Women In Nepal

I'm coming out of hiatus to blog about something that involves the Language Development Centre in Kathmandu. As some of you know, I visited the centre last year to find out more about their work and to also get ideas about developing minority language education / literacy programmes in Nepal and NE India. Lauren and I are also hoping to work with them in the near future to assist in running workshops to develop literacy materials for a minority language spoken in Nepal.

They have had great success with the adult literacy programmes and multilingual education in schools. (For those of you who think that children should just learn in the majority language of the country / English, imagine if you only spoke English at home and had to go a school where Mandarin was the language of instruction for everything, and you didn't have much exposure to Mandarin outside school.) Through such education programmes, they've also helped to liberate girls who would've otherwise been sold into slavery, taught mothers what to do when their babies get sick and have diarrhoea and given people the necessary literacy skills to do tasks that most of us take for granted.

The following is an email from a friend who's doing work for the centre:

------------------------------

Dear Aussie linguist friends,


I want to let you know about a fundraising initiative that Language Development Center Nepal is doing. I hope you'll take a look, since this can make a big difference for helping LDC become self-sufficient without SIL or other religious support. And let your friends who are interested in supporting language diversity know - often it's hard to know what to do to support endangered languages, other than doing linguistic work yourself, but this is one such way.


Language Development Center Nepal, is working to get a permanent spot on Global Giving, a website where people (like you!) can donate to support LDC's work in literacy and improved livelihoods: http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/literacy-and-livelihoods-for-445-women-in-nepal/


We have been selected by the GlobalGiving Foundation to participate in its Open Challenge, a fundraising opportunity for nonprofit organizations working around the world. In order to succeed in GlobalGiving’s Open Challenge, LDC must raise $4,000 from 50 donors by April 30th. If we meet this threshold, we will be given a permanent spot on GlobalGiving’s website, where we have the potential to benefit from corporate relationships, exposure to a new donor network, and access to dozens of online fundraising tools. In addition, we could earn as much as $3,000 in financial prizes for raising the most money.


Not only will I personally be thrilled if we raise money and get a permanent spot on GlobalGiving, it will make a big difference in the lives of people who really could use some help - but in a way that respects their dignity and allows them to create lasting change in their own lives. I know money is tight, but since we need to get donations from at least 50 individuals to get a permanent spot on the website, just $10 makes a big difference. Please take a moment to check it out at: http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/literacy-and-livelihoods-for-445-women-in-nepal/.


Also, we need your help spreading the word. Please share this with your friends and family, including through facebook - there's a prize from Global Giving for the project that gets the most facebook shares.


Thanks for thinking about this! I know everyone wants your money, but I will personally vouch for this being an awesome organization doing great work!


Best,


Miranda

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So please visit the site.
Share it on Facebook.
Tweet about it.
And donate what you can.

Farewell Nepal

After 6 wonderful weeks here in Nepal, thanks to Lauren and Sara, and especially to our Nepali friends L. and S., it's time to say goodbye. My Nepali isn't fantastic, but a few more months of classes and it should become passable. At least I'm quite proficient when talking about my family.

I think learning Nepali will prove to more useful than I thought, especially given the large number of Nepalis in NE India (though I might eventually have to learn Assamese and Nagamese). Tomorrow though, I'm going to have to try and squeeze in a little Hindi for my one night in Delhi - I'm still not sure about my accommodation because the hotel hasn't got back to me to confirm my booking. If they don't show up, I'll just get a pre-paid taxi and head to Paharganj myself.

I'm looking forward to getting back to Nagaland on Thursday. There's a Sumi Ahuna harvest festival on the weekend called which I would like to attend (apparently it's become the 'main' Sumi festival of the year, superseding the Tuluni festival which takes place in July.) The annual Hornbill Festival in Kohima is also coming in December where representatives from all the tribes of Nagaland come to the capital to perform traditional dances and other things - I'm not really sure how I feel about this one, because from what I've heard it's mostly for the benefit of tourists.

I also realise that to some of you it may seem that all I do is attend festivals, and you would be right. It just so happens that October and November are festival-heavy months here in Nepal - Dashain and Tihar being the main national festivals for the year. They are Hindu festivals, but most Buddists also observe them to some extent. On the other hand, Mani Rimdu up in Solukhumbu is a Buddhist festival and is more important to the Sherpas and Tibetans.

Alright, time for bed. I've had a fantastic time in Nepal, made some great contacts and might have a potential language project or two to get involved with if I wanted to - I still envisage my PhD project will look at multiple language projects, not just one. And I don't think this will be my last time here.

By the way, 2011 is Visit Nepal Tourism Year - visas to enter the country next year are going to be free! (I'm not sure how the country is going to cope with a surge in tourist numbers though...)

भाई टिका (Bhai Tika)

Yesterday was Bhai Tika day, the last day of Tihar,when each bhai 'younger brother' receives tika from their sister(s). I was given the honour of being S.'s adopted little brother, so I got to receive tika, among other things.

Quite a bit of preparation is required to give this tika, which is not like the red dots that the mad saddhus (holy men / crazy ascetics) dish out to tourists on the streets.



The set-up requires a carpet (for the brother to sit on), along with a whole lot of other stuff in front of it. To the best of my knowledge, starting at the back on the left, there's white powder on the floor making a half-face, a guava, a pomelo, a butter candle, a small jar of water, a bowl of curd, a small plant (not sure if it's barley) stuck in a bit of cow dung, a bell, and a pot with some water and marigolds (with stalks). In front of these from the left are a plate of grain, a large plate of marigold petals, more white powder making another face (and a sun I suppose), and a plate of oil. (I'm not sure what the significance of most of these items are - something to do a bit of research on later.)

The sister starts off the ceremony by walking around the brother three times, sprinkling water on the floor and door. She then repeats this with oil. She then rubs some of the oil in his hair, around his ears, and in his ear. I was reminded of this oil afterwards when I used my mobile. She then places red-stained grain on his head, shoulders, elbows, palms, knees and feet - basically the joints and extremities. This is then repeated using marigold petals.



After this, a multi-coloured tika is applied to the forehead.



A purple malla is placed around the neck, followed by a topi (Nepali hat) on the head. The sister then feeds the brother some curd (not putting that picture up) and presents him with a huge plate of food - I had a mountain of fruit and deep-fried shel roti (see Lauren's post on this) with nuts, dried fruit and sweets, which I'm still working through today.

The brother then places tika on the sister's forehead and gives her a present (like a little envelope containing some money). He then gets to finish the curd he was given previously, and food is served! (I was quite hungry by that point because I'd thought that we'd be having breakfast first. Apparently, no food is to be consumed prior to receiving tika so all we got was a cup of milk coffee to tide us over till lunch.)



Lauren, Sara and me - after Lauren and Sara got to give L. tika.
(Thanks go to Lauren and Sara for most of the photos. Many thanks to L. and S. for the priviledge of getting tika on Bhai Tika day,)

More Rangoli

Here are some pretty examples of rangoli spotted outside shops here in Kathmandu.







Note the trail of toilet paper inside the shop. Much more sensible than getting clay paint all over the carpet.

I would've put up a few more pictures, but I've somehow managed to almost hit my monthly Flickr upload limit in one week.

Rangoli and Lakshmi Puja

So two days ago, right after Kukur Puja (where the dogs were dressed with mallas around their necks and had tika placed on their foreheads), it was Lakshmi Puja, where households welcome the Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth into their homes.

Part of the preparation for this was by painting a rangoli, a kind of floor painting, just outside the threshold to one's house or shop. Using a kind of clay mixed with water, a path was then painted from that first rangoli into the building, usually to the puja room (the room reserved for worship). It just so happened that our friends L. and S. live on the 4th floor of their building, so there were a few more obstacles to overcome, in addition to all the little kids clamouring to see what we foreigners were up to.

Although women are traditionally in charge of rangoli painting, S. allowed me to help out. Lauren, Sara and I then took turns to do the painting.


Sara painting up the stairs - large circles were also painted at certain points along the path, especially when the path turned or when it branched out to another family's apartment.


And as if the path wasn't enough to entice Lakshmi to enter the house, footprints were also painted onto the path - the white prints were made from some mixture of flour and water, while the red 'toe prints' were made by applying red powder using one's five fingers. After taking over from S., Sara had the more difficult task of applying the white flour mixture, while I followed from behind adding the little toe prints.



Once the footprints had been applied, an offering was placed at the entrance to the building.



Going back up to the apartment, Sara had the job of scattering marigold petals on the path, while I followed behind with incense and candles which needed to be lit as offerings at every large circle along the path between the entrance and the puja room.



The whole affair took about 2 hours to complete, after which the clay we used to paint the floor was mixed with the white flour mixture (?) and some grains, and applied to our foreheads as tika.

I am so glad I decided to stay in Nepal for Tihar and not fly out early to India for Diwali (which was one possible option). Not so sure my stomach agrees right now, given the amount of shel roti I've consumed, but that's for another post.

Wildlife of Khumbu

So while the brochures talk about musk deer, himalayan tahrs, wild yaks and the elusive snow leopard, the reality is that the most wildlife visitors to the Khumbu region are going to see are birds. Not that I'm complaining, since I've loved birdwatching from back when I lived in Singapore and I've trained my eyes to spot small things flitting through trees and bushes.

I only wish I had a book to help identify the birds I did see. A digital SLR with a big-ass lens would've been nice too...

Some small passerines (not terribly exciting for most)




Pheasants (the males are the colourful ones)




And raptors / birds of prey. This falcon was hovering directly over a single spot. Quite impressive given the winds looked pretty strong.


I originally hought this raptor was an eagle, but looking at its head, it could've been a vulture...


My favourite shot of the raptor with Everest, Lhotse and Ama Dablam in the background


Yup, a big-ass lens would've been nice.

Dog's Day

Before I keep posting about my recent trip to Solukhumbu to see Mt Everest, I should say that we're into the 3rd / 4th day of Tihar here in Nepal. I say 3rd / 4th because the days of Tihar don't necessarily equate with solar days - yesterday afternoon it was Lakshmi Puja, which falls on the 3rd day when people pray to Lakshmi the goddess of wealth to come visit their homes and people smash sweet things on pictures of her face and paint their floors (but more on this later).

Yesterday morning however, it was Kukur Puja, the day when dogs are worshipped and given cute little mallas (garlands, usually marigold) to wear around their cute little necks. They also get red tika on their cute little foreheads.



Dogs seem to be worshipped on this day for a number of reasons, mostly related to their role in people's afterlifes. Some say they are messengers of the god of death, some say they guard the entrance to the underworld (think Cerberus), some say they guide the souls of the dead.





Whatever the reason, it's a great day to take photos of the otherwise confused little canines who get treated like dirt the other 364 years of the year!





That's it for now. I'm off to eat more shel roti!

Lukla to Khumjung (II)

From Phakding, my porter Pemba and I climbed up to Namche Bazaar, where I spent the night to recover and acclimatise. I was half expecting to wake up in the middle of the night gasping for air, which some of my friends had warned me about. However, all I remember was waking up throughout the night and feeling really weak in the morning. It felt just like a bad flu, without nose-related symptoms - I did recall waking up in the middle of the night and realising that for the first time in weeks, my nostrils were clear!

Note that many travellers actually spend two nights in Namche, but I was trying to get to Khumjung as quickly as possible to see Sara at her field site before she headed off to Gokyo. At the time however, I really thought it was a flu bug, and the next morning I pushed on up the steep steps towards Khumjung.

Namche Bazaar from above


The terrifying steps leading up (or down) from Namche.


On the way up, I saw a few people skydiving from of a small aircraft. The same aircraft landed soon right above the steps we were climbing.





I was later told that there's only a small window of opportunity to skydive from one of the highest dropzones in the world - the highest is if you jump out of a helicopter at Gorak Shep according to the Everest Skydive website. They only do jumps for a week or two in October and May every year.

We soon reached Syangboche (though I wasn't feeling great and needed to stop every few minutes), where one of the world's highest airstrips -if not the highest- is located. According to the website, guests at the nearby Everest View Hotel can fly directly to Syangboche, so they don't need to make the trek from Lukla. Other websites however suggest that this is no longer the case, as too many people would suffer from altitude sickness and the supplementary oxygen provided in the hotel's rooms didn't help much.







In any case, after leaving the landing strip, we climbed a small ridge, and once over that ridge found ourselves in Khumjung. By this time, I was absolutely exhausted and felt like crap. I don't remember much from then, apart from having a cup of milk tea, taking a photo with Pemba, my porter / guide, and downing a bowl of garlic soup before crashing in bed till dinnertime some six hours later.

Me with Pemba


Next time, I would probably spend an extra night in Namche. But at least I started feeling better my second day in Khumjung.

Lukla to Khumjung (I)

After landing in Lukla, it then took me three days to get to Khumjung, the village where Sara was doing her PhD fieldwork. Even though I landed at 7am, and had a porter, I could've made it to Khumjung by nightfall on foot. Of course, there's the issue of altitude sickness / acute mountain sickness (AMS) - the risk of it developing into something much worse than a headache and nausea was enough reason to take it slow.

Day 1 was pretty easy going. I got in early on the first Agni Air flight at 7. Found a young porter named Pemba (he said he was 17, though that changed to 16 on the third day) from Lukla. I had a quick morning tea in Lukla, before setting off for Phakding. We could've easily made it to Monjo, which is much closer to Namche and Khumjung, but Pemba reckoned it would be cheaper in Phakding and he seemed happier to spend the night there because he had friends and family in Phakding.

(A note on pronunciation, aspirated 'ph' in Nepali is in free variation with 'f', so 'phakding' can be pronounced either as 'puck-ding' or 'fuck-ding'.)

On the way to Phakding


The village of Phakding


Where I stayed in Phakding - neither the Yeti Cyber Cafe nor the 'Herman' Bakery Cafe were open though.


By 10am, we had arrived in Phakding, which meant I had a lot of time to kill. Thankfully, there were a few short walks / climbs around to do. I decided to cross over a bridge few tourists heading up to Namche would've crossed, since it only led to a few villages on the other side of the Dudh Koshi (literally 'Milk River').

The Dudh Koshi


The bridge was a little more rusty than the other bridges on the main path.


Most suspension bridges on the main path between Lukla and Namche looked like this.


On my walk past the small village of Sano Gumela (incidentally sano means 'small' in Nepali), I met an old Sherpa lady and a young Tamang girl carrying a basket, with the strap around her forehead, as is the fashion across much of the region. The girl was quite shy, but the old lady was quite happy to share her thoughts on a number of things. Sadly, much of what she said was lost on me. She did say in Nepali that she was going to the nearby monastery. I tried asking her if children were still speaking Sherpa at home in her village, but I'm really not sure what the response was. I think she did say that there were many non-Sherpa people in the village, including the young Tamang girl who was with us.

She was quite a fearsome woman, stopping every so often to pick up a large rock in the middle of the path and throw it to one side. Yet, when a train of dzopkyo (a yak-cow hybrid found at lower altitudes) came up the narrow path, bells aringing, it was so funny to see her running back in my direction like a little girl, getting us to find higher ground so that the train could pass us.

The old Sherpa woman, who kindly posed for a photo after she saw me stopping to take pictures of the landscape.


Suffice to say, it was an interesting little side trip I had around Phakding, though the next time I go up, I'd probably want to stay at Monjo - the next morning's climb was pretty hard...