subalterns

Lighting up a chillium

Arpan Shrestha — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 16:29:46 +0900

Sun Bathing Sadhus

Arpan Shrestha — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 16:29:34 +0900

Adorning

Arpan Shrestha — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 16:29:29 +0900

shivaratri-2010b

Arpan Shrestha — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 16:29:26 +0900

shivaratri-2010c

Arpan Shrestha — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 16:29:22 +0900

shivaratri-2010d

Arpan Shrestha — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 16:29:19 +0900

Lighting Up A Bonfire

Arpan Shrestha — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 16:29:11 +0900

Dhyani Sadhu

Arpan Shrestha — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 16:29:00 +0900

decay

Arpan Shrestha — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:11:59 +0900

At the heritage site of the Pashupatinath Complex in Kathmandu, Nepal which is one of the ancient of shrines, negligence and corruption continue.

Where I'm At

Arpan Shrestha — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:35:07 +0900

Water is a scarce commodity and in Nepal, even electricity.

Rugged as Rock

Arpan Shrestha — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:20:02 +0900

This is woman labor at Chobhar stone quarry, 9 km southwest of the capital city. Thapa, who became a stone quarry worker at the age of 39, doesn’t mind the work but it can be than daunting when one suffers from asthma, chronic backache and joints and muscle pain. And as if all that was not enough, her left eye has let her down completely.

Thapa’s daily routine at the quarry includes excavating the rocks, loading them onto trucks and crushing boulders into gravel with a hammer. The job is hazardous. Lack of minimal protective gear makes stone quarrying one of the worst forms of labor. More serious still are the dust particles which cause real injury to the lungs and eyes. The job also demands long hours every day.

“These days, I have trouble walking and even while eating I feel unsettled. Pain grips me hard. Walking in the cliffs poses a serious threat during the monsoon but I have to keep working despite all that,” she says, “It is because of all the dust that I have this respiratory problem. I used to work from 8 in the morning to 6 in the evening when I first started here.”

Inhaling dust with her every breath and braving all workrelated risks, Thapa involves herself in repetitive hammerings, jarring her bones and muscles. The trails are steep at some of the most scary cliffs at Chovar. But Thapa, whose sweat has helped make many patios in the capital, treads calmly on the dusty trail. The blue sky overhead is lost on her. She’s done it six days a week all those 20 years.

It wasn’t always like this though.

Transportation at 5416m

Arpan Shrestha — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:20:01 +0900

A mule train treading upwards the 5416 m Thorung-La Pass in the Annapurna Region.

A mule train is the only alternative to transport goods and people up and down the World's Highest Pass which is also the Manag-Mustang border.

Sustainability

Arpan Shrestha — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:19:58 +0900

In a state perplexed by a myriad of reasoneds and unreasoning setbacks, this confidence -–- gleaming out of their eyes -–- show their determination and belief for a call to their counterparts throughout the country and the concerned authorities concerned. It’s an eye opener toof how creating jobs, in it’s literal terms, can change people’s lives. of people.

Dropadi Bhattarai, 27, who is a fast food vendor at the Kohalpur Chowk in Banke, says, “The daily transaction in my eatery is around Rs. 1,500 to 2,000 (US$D 25) and that’s quite a good business around here for a small enterprise like mine.”

Not to mention the meager investment.

“This new-found income has changed my family’s lifestyle. It has, for sure, improved our lives,” adds Bhattarai, who cooks and serves a dozen of varitiesvarieties of snacks and tidbits by the side of the East-West Highway toon the west of the Kohalpur settlement.

A school dropout, Bhattarai knows when to make hay – while the sun shines. For her age and the social circumstances that she lives in, Bhattarai is a role model as she contributes to the family income, provides food and clothing and ensures education and health of her two children as well too.

“I want to expand my business,” says an aspirant Bhattarai now says who until last year worked in the fields and knew nothing about serving food or dealing with customers.

For herBhattarai and her family, the change arrived earlier this year when her husband Bhola Ram Bhattarai heard about the Fast Food Vendor Training conducted by the USAID-funded Education for Income Generation (EIG) project in Banke to promote self-employment amongst the excluded youth. USAID is a state agency of the United States of America that works for the international development of underdeveloped and developing nations.

The training, a 230- hours program, trained 20 young people –( 16 women, for4 men –) who met the EIG’s criteria for the excluded and who showed a willingness and interest to be an entrepreneurs and be a fast food vendors.

In Kohalpur Chowk – where Bhattarai’s eatery serves momo, chowmein, masala omelet, chapatti, and curry and sausages –, the road splits in four directions: – towards Mahendranagar, Butwal, Surkhet, and Nepalguanj. Here at the crossroads, with Kohalpur Bazaar just around the corner, it is clear that street-vendor business thrives and is here to stay.

yoga

Arpan Shrestha — Sat, 30 May 2009 17:39:33 +0900

Shivaratri – ‘the Night of Shiva’ - is observed on the fourteenth night of the dark fortnight of the lunar month of Falgun (February/March), the night Lord Shiva is said to have performed the dance of primordial creation, preservation and destruction - Tandava Nritya.

Therein lies the allegory of Shivaratri, which over ‘time’, ‘hinduization’ and ‘intrepretations’ have subdued the real essence of the spiritual ‘Shiva-Shakti’ (male-female principle) culture, traces of which can be found in every religion and civilization.

Shivaratri is Nepal’s best known mela (religious fair) and draws tens of thousands of pilgrims, and, more importantly, sadhus (holy men) to Pashupatinath (Lord of Animal Life) Temple in Kathmandu, one of the subcontinent’s four great Shiva shrines.

During Shivaratri, hundreds of sadhus come from all across the subcontinent to lounge beside their dhuni (bonfire) in the extensive Pashupatinath complex. They represent various sampradayas (sects) and play a major role in the spiritual and social life of South Asia.

Very little is known about their origin, but historians and anthropologists have thus far concluded they represent the world’s oldest spiritual paths in the history of mankind. They are part of an ascetic tradition, renouncing their worldly lives to follow the path of self-denial.

Demonstrating a core of inner strength, sadhus astound onlookers with their agility in various yoga postures, and smoke ganja (marijuana) to help gain spiritual attainment, which has been a sort of sacrament among Shaiviites (devotees of Shiva) for centuries. They take turns with the chillum and circle around the dhuni, making an akhara.

The scene continues until the great midnight as pilgrims join for their share of prasad.
Following social pressure, naga babas cover themselves up with a little clothing or a loin cloth. Naga Babas are the extremes of the Shaiviites (devotees of Shiva), and renounce everything materialistic to such an extent they don´t even wear clothes.

chillium

Arpan Shrestha — Sat, 30 May 2009 17:39:27 +0900

sect marks

Arpan Shrestha — Sat, 30 May 2009 17:38:36 +0900

lounge

Arpan Shrestha — Sat, 30 May 2009 17:38:31 +0900

dhuni

Arpan Shrestha — Sat, 30 May 2009 17:38:25 +0900

meditation

Arpan Shrestha — Sat, 30 May 2009 17:38:20 +0900