Writes: Bhushan Rai
I was attending a wedding today, where I met these two gentlemen - Janak Samal and Bhakta Bahadur Rai. They were preparing the traditional Rai snack Wachipa. I went to see how Wachipa is prepared and got talking to these two fine gentlemen, who had this incredible story to tell
The year 1968 was a witness to the greatest natural calamity across the Darjeeling hills, insistent rain and massive landslides had caused havoc across the Darjeeling Hills, the landslide situation was so had that for decades after that a very difficult, confrontational person would be referred to as “68 ko pairo le lanu na skyeko - the one who even landslides of 1968 left behind.”
In particular the whole Mangpu region was very badly hit. Three days of heavy rains resulted in terrible landslides everywhere. Lives were lost. Cattle n orange orchards disappeared. Thatch houses damaged. People were literally on the roads.
Financial aids were hard to come by in those days.
So a theater group that was active back then decided to host a Drama TUHURI at Saraswati High School in Mungpu and they thought that inviting Aruna Lama n Saran Pradhan to perform would bring in the glamour and the much needed crowd, as the collection from the ticket sales from this program was intended to buy blankets and utensils for the effected people.
Janak Samal and Mhakta Bahadur Mama were assigned the task of meeting and convincing the great singer Aruna Lama as these two gentlemen used to work as Paani Wala near the quarter where Aruna Lama had lived while she was in Mungpu.
Imagine, the only connection they had to Aruna Lama was the fact that they used to work near her quarter once. With this vague attachment these two men left for Darjeeling, and through connections they got to meet her.
When they met her, they put a kasaa (bronze) ko plate in front of her with a bottle of kodo ko rakshi and ath-ana (8 paise) worth of supari (beetle nut) on a banana leaf and put forward their request.
And as history is witness, these things two legends, Aruna Lama and Saran Pradhan came to Mungpu and performed to a jubilant crowd after the drama TUHURI was over.
The director of this play were my bara Dip Lal Rai and my friend Saroj Thapa ko dad B L Thapa.
The age without mobile phone and Internet had its own beauty.
“Ek bottle rakshi and 50 paisa ko Supari ma ajoo ko din ma Manchay ley daraa pani dekhawdaina… these days if you make a request with kodo ko raksi and 50 paise worth of supari, people wouldn’t even bother showing you’re their teeth, let alone honouring such a big request” is what they said at the end.
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TheDC editorial note: We are most grateful to Mr. Bhushan Rai for sharing such an amazing story - THANK YOU!! This is what 'Darjeeling Spirit' is all about
Source: The Darjeeling Chronicle
I was attending a wedding today, where I met these two gentlemen - Janak Samal and Bhakta Bahadur Rai. They were preparing the traditional Rai snack Wachipa. I went to see how Wachipa is prepared and got talking to these two fine gentlemen, who had this incredible story to tell
The year 1968 was a witness to the greatest natural calamity across the Darjeeling hills, insistent rain and massive landslides had caused havoc across the Darjeeling Hills, the landslide situation was so had that for decades after that a very difficult, confrontational person would be referred to as “68 ko pairo le lanu na skyeko - the one who even landslides of 1968 left behind.”
In particular the whole Mangpu region was very badly hit. Three days of heavy rains resulted in terrible landslides everywhere. Lives were lost. Cattle n orange orchards disappeared. Thatch houses damaged. People were literally on the roads.
Financial aids were hard to come by in those days.
So a theater group that was active back then decided to host a Drama TUHURI at Saraswati High School in Mungpu and they thought that inviting Aruna Lama n Saran Pradhan to perform would bring in the glamour and the much needed crowd, as the collection from the ticket sales from this program was intended to buy blankets and utensils for the effected people.
Janak Samal and Mhakta Bahadur Mama were assigned the task of meeting and convincing the great singer Aruna Lama as these two gentlemen used to work as Paani Wala near the quarter where Aruna Lama had lived while she was in Mungpu.
Imagine, the only connection they had to Aruna Lama was the fact that they used to work near her quarter once. With this vague attachment these two men left for Darjeeling, and through connections they got to meet her.
When they met her, they put a kasaa (bronze) ko plate in front of her with a bottle of kodo ko rakshi and ath-ana (8 paise) worth of supari (beetle nut) on a banana leaf and put forward their request.
And as history is witness, these things two legends, Aruna Lama and Saran Pradhan came to Mungpu and performed to a jubilant crowd after the drama TUHURI was over.
The director of this play were my bara Dip Lal Rai and my friend Saroj Thapa ko dad B L Thapa.
The age without mobile phone and Internet had its own beauty.
“Ek bottle rakshi and 50 paisa ko Supari ma ajoo ko din ma Manchay ley daraa pani dekhawdaina… these days if you make a request with kodo ko raksi and 50 paise worth of supari, people wouldn’t even bother showing you’re their teeth, let alone honouring such a big request” is what they said at the end.
.............................................................................
TheDC editorial note: We are most grateful to Mr. Bhushan Rai for sharing such an amazing story - THANK YOU!! This is what 'Darjeeling Spirit' is all about
Source: The Darjeeling Chronicle
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