culture Nepa

756. In recent years Nepal’s economic and social wellbeing have been undermined by political insecurity. The king was assassinated and his replacement was nowhere near as popular. Governments were dismissed out of hand, and for a decade at least Maoist guerillas terrorised much of the country. Pictures of the king and queen once hung in temples as well as homes and businesses. (Inside gompa at Pisang in 1986)

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757. Peace came with the abolition of the monarchy and the formation of an elected coalition government. Nepal is now a “Federal Democratic Republic”: but political tensions and instability continue. And Gurkha regiments are active at home as well as abroad. (Barracks at Bharatpur)

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758. The caste system remains in force but migration and changes in life style associated with economic development have softened some of the boundaries between groups. Awareness of different value systems through exposure to  film and TV (and tourists!) have also weakened the hold of entrenched customs. (Outside movie theatre at Bharatpur)

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759. These women on the Terai (in a town which now has representatives of every ethnic group in Nepal) are learning to sew ...which is surprising in that some of them are Brahmans, and in the hill country from which they came, the making of clothes was a job for castes rated very much lower on the social scale.

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760. Agriculture accounts for only 40% of Nepal’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product) but employs 76% of its labour force. A further 18% are employed in services, and 6% in manufacturing and craft-based industries. Almost half the population of working age are unemployed or underemployed; and many Nepalese have moved to India, the Gulf States and Malaysia in search of work: and some much further afield. (Rickshaw driver and unemployed men in Kathmandu)

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761. Because of its mountainous terrain Nepal depends mostly on road transport, plus aviation for wealthier passengers. Railways are virtually non-existent -- just 50 kilometres of narrow gauge line close to the border with India. Even roads are hard to build, and expensive. In 1952 there were only 600 kms of motorable road in the entire country. With help from China they now have 17,000 kms: but more than 60% of this network is concentrated in the Terai. (Road workers loading truck near Pokhara. Drivers wishing to pass trucks are warned to sound their horns to avoid accidents.)

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762. Instead many communities still depend on ancient trails, along which goods are carried on donkeys or the backs of human porters carrying baskets (dokos) crammed with merchandise. Even heavy loads, like roofing iron, are moved by both men and women who climb great flights of steps cut in the rock long ago -- speeding past the exhausted trekkers who rest frequently! (Porters near Phalenkangu)

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763. Nepal is still one of the world’s poorest countries, and hunger, premature death, inadequate housing, and poor sanitation still characterise life in rural areas. Half the population live below the UN poverty line of $1.25 a day. In terms of GDP Nepal is ranked 115th of the world’s economies, and it depends heavily on foreign aid, and on the remittances of soldiers serving overseas and people who have gone abroad in search of employment.  (Children near Manang)

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764. Tourism, too, was a major source of foreign income in the past. It was undermined by political insecurity and Maoist attacks: but tourists are now returning, to trek in the high country.

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765. For the greater bulk of Nepal’s history, education was reserved for royalty and for those preparing for the priesthood. In 1950 less than 1% of school-age children attended primary school: but there are 26,000 schools in Nepal now. (Playground at Ramja Thanti)

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766. Adult literacy rates are improving, but there is a significant difference between rates for the sexes -- 62% for men and 35% for women. (Woman in prayer at Kali Mandir)

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767. Health conditions  have also improved, but Nepal still lags behind many other nations. Average life expectancy at birth is now 63, up from 26 years in 1955 but still far below Australia, Canada and the UK , all of which average 81 years. Almost 70% of Nepalese children are malnourished, one in five will die during the first few weeks of its life,  and the rate of under-five mortality is 55 deaths per 1,000 births -- compared with just 6 in Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom! (Child in village south of Tal)

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768. Malaria is less of a danger today on the Terai, but a range of intestinal complaints still exert a heavy toll on life in Nepal, and TB also.   The large size of families is itself an obstacle to improved health and the government encourages family planning. (In Bharatpur)

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769. Signs on billboards and walls here advocate a range of birth control techniques, including “the pill”, but with limited success.

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770. Prior to government provisions for land re-distribution in 1964, the farmlands of Nepal were owned by just 450 families ... who had received grants from the king or prime minister in times past in return for services rendered. The people  who actually worked the land were compelled to give 50% of their crop to their landlord as rent. (Home of minor aristocrat near Ramja)

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771. This meant that many farmers were incapable of feeding their families and were forced to supplement their farm income by seasonal employment elsewhere (or by a son or daughter working abroad). It also meant that tenant farmers had neither the incentive nor the capital to improve their land or crops. Gopal's sister (shown here) was now almost a widow, since her husband had long ago gone to India in search of work.

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772. From 1964 onwards individual farmers were supposed to own no more than 17 hectares in the Terai, 4.1 in the Midlands, and 2.7 in the Kathmandu Valley. Land was indeed re-distributed at that time: but many landowners by-passed the regulations by transferring property deeds to members of their family. (Mix of farm sizes on the Terai)

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773. With larger properties retained in this way by the fortunate few, plus the fact that only 10% of Nepal is arable anyway (and properties are frequently subdivided upon the owner's death) most farms are small and scarcely viable. Many are less than a hectare in size. As a result many farmers are in debt to moneylenders, and those who have lost their farms now work as labourers on the properties of new class of landowners. (Home of landowner near Bharatpur)

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774. The development of modern industries in Nepal, though still limited, has come at a price. In the absence of strict environmental controls, rivers have been poisoned by industrial waste and the air badly polluted. This is, of course, most obvious in the Kathmandu basin, where smoke and fumes from motor vehicles and factories producing cement and such like are trapped by the surrounding hills: but people living next to some industries on the Terai face similar health hazards. (On the outskirts of Kathmandu)

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775. Over-exploitation of the soil and destructive clearing of woodlands on steep slopes, for firewood and lumber as well as agriculture, has led to catastrophic soil erosion, landslides and the loss of much farmland. These trees will go to a sawmill but many others were felled so tourists could have warm water in the morning, for washing and for tea!)

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776. This is one of several camps on the Terai built to house families from the hill country whose fields were destroyed: but, as you can see, they continue to ravage the woodland for firewood. So the challenges facing those who would live in Nepal’s beautiful, but mountainous, terrain remain -- not least, how to feed a growing population.

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777. The addition of an extra half-million people every year has placed enormous pressures on Nepal’s fragile ecology, and crop yields and productivity are now declining. The rate of population growth is significantly greater than the rate at which food production can be increased.  Soils in many traditional farming areas have been neglected or over-worked: and  much of the additional land brought under the plough in the Midlands was clearly marginal in quality (otherwise it would have been cultivated long ago). (Baby and toddler near Bhulbhule)

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778.  Also much farmland that was hurriedly cleared of forest on the Terai (and worked with little thought given to its long-term conservation) is now showing signs of wear and tear. And in the absence of significant industrial development, given its isolation, the economy of Nepal is likely to limp along as before, sustained by foodstuffs and financial aid from abroad, plus the remittances of those who have found remunerative employment elsewhere.  Gopal flew to Europe after I left and now lives with his family in London. (Saying goodbye)