A Collection Of Moments
I got to talk with some folks about the troubles in Tikapur and the Banda and the government in general and of course we all have an opinion but not a lot of people get to hear it or want to. For instance I’ll bet a lot of you didn’t know that when a wild elephant trashes a wall in your house they come and take pictures and write up a report and eventually send you meager money as compensation, say 500 Nepalese Rupiah, the equivalent to $ 5. I don’t know about you but that sounds really low. As a citizen of Nepal you want to obey the National Park rules but with the lack of support from the government people begin to realize how the system works and human life becomes as worthless as recycled plastic in a country where plastic is now forbidden but so is the cast system which is alive and well in the youth of Nepal.
India is the main supplier of goods whether imported from far away or manufactured locally come mostly through India and China is number two. Its rumored India has been slowly encroaching on the border commandeering land under a border that continuously migrates east such as the river that separated the two countries. Nepal has few rights on this river they share due to deals in Katmandu. The government isn’t a trickle down democracy after all and the western part of Nepal has been forgotten. I read an article in a public paper the other day about the possibility of moving the Bardia entrance from Thakadurwara to some other buildings that have been vandalized inside the park. The Thakadurwaraians were upset and went to a meeting to hear the National Park people say that the reporter had their facts wrong. I hope so because all these people would lose their livelihood and no one would ever come here again. On top of that the government would be building in the park which is hypocritical of a national park in the first place. Secondly, then Tiger Tops shoud be able to move back into Chitwan where the founder has a small village of buildings inside the park and should for all intensive purposes be able to move back in. This all goes against previous views but money has a way of rearing it’s ugly head and past laws become bygones and everybody loses except the politician’s children who now can go to school abroad and never look back and never recognize the cultural sacrifices that brought about their education.
Women and children are taken from their villages and travel through India where they become slaves or are sold into slavery of all forms. China and India both are guilty of taking, not only Nepali people but also Burmese, Bangladeshi, and any poor groups that migrate across borders without a state.
I sat at the top of a new dining hall having a chat and a beer with friends when someone somewhere up the road lets loose with a curdling scream that cuts through the humidity and the night. Then I hear a man over by the traditional Tharu village pulling on a rope with a knot on it’s tail that bashes into a piece of loose tin and is supposed to scare the deer, birds and other wild animals out of the corn and rice fields. Men are waging a peaceful yet forceful verbal battle against a boar elephant that came from within the paddocks but can’t get out due to the fence between him and the proper jungle across the river. The night grows dark as the dogs begin their evening bark and echo series that goes on without interruption until the wee hours of the morning.
Been here a month helping out a new construction dining hall at Wild Trak Adventure. Slow mornings and sweaty afternoons absolutely soaked through with sweat and calm. It’s been good for me to stop for a spell before heading back out into the open. I wake to children jumping and swimming in the irrigation channel behind my cabin. Their laughter is contagious and I walk on with a smile. Spotted Owlets live in the resort. When I got here there were four and at least two if not more have stuck around without a cage. They are wild and come and go as they please. They seem to enjoy the light in front of the cabin where they can more easily spot a pudgy toad or an over weight skink sprinting across the path where the owlets take advantage of the light and lack of cover. I can get within 6 feet of these owlets but never for long, still unsure.
There is an elephant stable down the road where I go to watch them return from the jungle with loads of grass and usually holding a large log with their trunk. Children come out of the woodwork and sit with me wanting me to take pictures of them and then see the pictures in the viewfinder. Some of them are very photogenic. After the elephants I usually walk over to Cool Corner at the entrance to the elephant stable, it’s a small restaurant/bar with Internet, cold beer and a Carum board. I have been covered in sweat for the month of humidity and sun. The monsoon season seems to be on the ebb and the nights have been cooling a little. It’s been nice for me not to be on the move for a short while but that is all coming to an end as my feet are beginning to itch and my 3rd book is at the cover stage to be released soon.
I hear tell here in Thakaduara that an article was written about the Mottled Owl that I had a small hand in searching for as a sound man. I’m trying to find it and put it on my fb page. If you’re interested in more go to fb, Cale Dixon and the Moguk Murders and connect. I drop blogs there too but if you really want to know then go to the blog. www.davidcdagley.blogspot.com.
