Arjun Karki ‘Seema’
When I was a kid, my father used to take me to see his farm. During the winter, there were enough chunks of tree in the field. He had asked Samal Dai and Kumar Pradhan uncle to splinter these chunks. We had carried water in a steel kettle. Two of them were vigorously wielding the axe from two sides. But that log showed no sign of splitting.
Father was teaching
them to turn the log around and swing the axe accordingly. After drinking water,
they started to swing the axe as told by father. Soon after the log split into
small pieces of firewood. Now I remember my father’s words- Boys, you should
wield the axe to chop the firewood only after looking at its condition.
In reality, the story
and saying of that day are still echoing in my mind today. Taking the right
approach is not only important while chopping firewood but it is a prerequisite
element in every part of our life.
Every aspect of our
society needs to be dealt in a right manner. The manner of doing things in this
country seems to be at fault today, but if we want to utilize our potential in
the right manner, I request and call everyone to unite.
This sector too suffers
from the lack of right approach. So, I want to share my experiences and suggest
that tourism is the combination of nature and culture.
On 24th July, 1977, Yasoda
Biswokarma of Tiriun, ward no. 9 of Bahundangi village panchayat was brutally
killed by a wild elephant. There have been 27 casualties of wild elephant in
this area. 13 wild elephants have been killed, and there is no record of
injuries and property damage caused by the wild elephants.
Prosperity is in our
backyard but we have not changed our attitude. We did not try to understand the
splendor of nature. We could not change our beliefs and culture and understand
that problem is necessity. We could not accept the eternal fact that solution
is life. Due to our failure to take the right approach, the society has not
changed for better. The group of 200 animals arriving from the Kolabari jungle
of India enter the Nepali border through the wide plains of Mechi. They come to
feed on the crops and they require neither any visa nor any passport. Things
like border, ethnicity, gender, religion, party and country mean nothing to
them. They only know about feeding themselves. But we never tried to understand
their problem. We were only focused on our damage of life and property.
As a result, our problems and life standard remain the same even after 50 years. Is it not the lack of right approach that my brother Samal and Kumar uncle could not chop the firewood and we have not been able to utilize the potential of our nature and culture?
So, it is inevitable
that we slowly lead the elephant and nature towards our culture and customs.
The use of drums, stick, mallet, spear and electricity to frighten, wound and
kill the wild animals has only created conflict between human beings and
animals. Some of us did not want to change our way of thinking, while others
have been forced not to.
Our Nepali society and
tradition and culture is connected to nature. The indigenous groups worship
trees and bamboos. Similarly, other ethnic groups too worship trees like holy
fig, wood apple and golden fig. Religious tourists also visit these sites.
Tourists mostly prefer natural sceneries. Sagarmatha, Rara lake, Fewa lake,
mountain ranges, hills, Terai, forests, flowers, butterflies, birds and animals
are some of the major attractions.
Similarly, we also
worship water springs, large trees, unique places and structures formed
naturally and turn them into tourist spots. We enthusiastically celebrate our
every cultural festival. Different businesses are supported when we travel from
one place to another during Dashain. Thus, our cultural festivals also
contribute the tourism industry.
Therefore, we must keep
the water springs and rivers around our village clean and we must also protect
them. We should safely direct the wild animals entering our village towards
their habitat without unnecessarily frightening them. We should preserve
butterflies and birds. Similarly, our every action should unite and preserve
our culture. If we can achieve this then our future generations should not have
to be enslaved to work in 50-degree Celsius heat in a foreign country.
The tourism I see is in
nature and culture. Let us be united in its promotion and protection.
Prosperity does not come by itself. We humans achieve prosperity through the
strength of our actions. At last, best wishes for the upcoming festivals to
everyone.
