E-Kantipur

JAN 28 -

It was without a second thought that I accepted the offer from Hum sir to join a team that was gearing to visit Sikles, a traditional Gurung community perched amid the hills of the Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP). I’d heard about the scenic charm of the village, even read a book titled Sikles Ko Thito, chronicling the life and times of Chandra Gurung, a charismatic leader from the village, who had perished along with 24 pioneer conservationists in the tragic chopper crash in Ghunsa in Taplejung district in 2006. According to the book, written by Manjushree Thapa, the sight of the village—located

in the surrounds of Lamjung Himal and Annapurna—is one that enthralls any visitors to the area. 

It was a privilege for me to visit the village on the occasion of the 62nd birth anniversary of the late Gurung, to be among his family and villagers to mark his life, and alongside, celebrate the Sikles version of the Maghe Sankranti Mela.

Our group comprised of a team of environmental graduates, members of the Chandra Gurung Conservation Fund, teachers from Ullens School in Kathmandu, and we travelled in a tourist bus from Kathmandu to Pokhara. We started for Sikles the following morning, a five-hour drive on the off-road, passing alongside views of snow-clad peaks and quaint villages of Parche VDC. When we arrived, there was a group of women waiting to greet us at the entrance, hands laden with garlands and white tika, the sound of traditional instruments like the Dhampus, Madal and Panche baja swelling out behind them.

Among the novel experiences that Sikles has to offer is the option of a homestay. Six of us were able to spend the first night in a house owned by Chandra Gurung himself. Gurung belonged to a mukhiya (village head) family, but you couldn’t tell that from the building, which was just as plain as the rest of the houses in the village. This

absence of a sense of hierarchy in the

village was, for me, a pleasant surprise. We whiled away the hours taking part in the Sankranti proceedings. The next day, we had plans to mark Gurung’s birth anniversary at his home. It was amazing to see how fondly the locals remembered him. Clearly, Gurung had a loyal following here, and for good reason—he had been instrumental in spreading the village’s name far and wide, and convincing visitors to come and experience the social and cultural lives of the Gurung community. He had also helped established the only micro-hydropower project in the village, one that continues to provide a 24-hour power supply to villagers. Birth anniversary proceedings were accompanied by a screening of short films by Basanta Thapa, coordinator of the Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival.

Yam Bahadur Gurung, conservation officer at ACAP, shared with us his perception of a shift of priorities among younger generations of the Gurung

community, who seem more inclined towards joining the British or Indian armies and other jobs overseas. He talked about how unhappy it made him to see these youngsters investing their money in meaningless purchases like electronics and branded goods, and not towards sustainable initiatives that could raise the socio-economic standards of Gurung communities. “The remittance is not put to good use,” he said. He also remarked on how families involved in traditional sheepherding have been suffering a decline of interest, and considering this is one of the community’s traditional means of living, it also represents a decline in the preservation of their history.

According to Man Bahadur Gurung, Chhiba—the head of the Parche VDC—even though at least one member of each of the 371 total households in the village is now overseas, their families continue to live here, in much the same way as they always did. This is a positive sign, he says and something he hopes will not change anytime soon.

There is a feeling of collective harmony among residents of Sikles, connected geographically and culturally as they are biologically—almost like a self-sustaining organism. But they are equally genial in their treatment of

outsiders, making one want to come back again. For me, I felt more at home here than I had any other place; compared to, say, the time I had gone to the Khumbu region in 2008 and felt like a complete outsider. When travelling in Nepal, there are often instances of what Alok Tumbahangphey pointed out in a Nepali Times article last year, in talking about the attitude of the manager of a hotel in Namchhe, who said, “We have rooms for foreigners but none for Nepalis.” In Sikles though, it doesn’t seem to matter who you are or where you come from, you’re always going to be ushered in with a smile. 

Posted on: 2012-01-28 09:16

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