An extraordinary flight

n their annual ritual, birds from colder regions have started arriving in Nepal, making our land more colorful with their varied plumages. It’s well known that birds travel to warmer climates in winter and back to cooler climates in summer. The lack of important resources like food and shelter drive them to warmth in winter, while the competition for the same motivates them to go back to cooler regions in summer. Nepal hosts about 150 species of migratory birds during winter, and about 60 in summer. The birds that come in summer lay eggs and raise their young in Nepal, while the opposite is true for birds that visit in winter.
 

Every year, migratory birds traverse almost the same routes. Whether their behavior is genetically motivated or if there are some conscious decisions behind it are subjects of study for ornithologists. Migratory birds use a variety of ways to navigate, many of which aren’t fully understood yet.

A lot of their behavior is genetic: birds kept in captivity are known to show restlessness, overfeed, and generally move towards the right direction when it’s time to migrate. Birds are also supposed to have an internal compass that helps them detect directions according to the Earth’s magnetic compass.

At the same time, birds have also have been known to learn migration: they use landmarks like hills, rives, etc, or the night skies, to navigate, which indicate intelligent processing of information. Birds that migrate by night navigate with the help of stars and moon.

Jyotindra Thakuri, Conservation Officer at Bird Conservation Nepal, informs that the birds’ orientation is disturbed by atmospheric elements like clouds, and ducks that migrate by night are known to stop on cloudy or foggy nights.

Conversely, birds that migrate by day navigation do so with the help of sunlight and landmarks. Some diurnal immigrants to Nepal include step eagles, peregrine falcons, and demoiselle cranes. These birds are known to memorize landmarks like hills, rivers, etc. When landmarks change due to natural processes, like erosion, etc, or human processes like construction of new cities, it confuses birds.

Migratory birds show other indicators of learning migration. While a novice migratory bird may get lost, experienced birds can judge things like directions and wind drift better. They pass on their skills to younger ones, proving that learned knowledge isn’t just the domain of human beings.

Some birds also get lost and turn up miles away from their destination, proving that migration is’'t entirely an intuitive process. Jyotindra informs that Nepal has recorded some vagrant birds, like the rare Black-Necked Crane, which normally migrates to Tibet, India and Bhutan. And at other times, birds just forget to migrate back to their homeland in summer after they have spent the winter in Nepal. Surprisingly, their body adapts to the climate of the Nepali summer, which is warmer than the summers of their homeland.

The amount of stopovers a bird makes varies according to the species. Bigger birds like bar-headed goose can cross the entire journey from Siberia in two days, stopping only twice on the way. Smaller birds and ducks stop many times on the way and take a month or more on the journey.

The European widgeon is among birds that fly the farthest to reach Nepal, coming to Nepal from the remote parts of Western Europe. Birds gain the energy for these remarkable flights through voracious feeding before their flight. Birds that don’t stop over especially require considerable stores of energy. They eat so much before flights that the extra fat they put on may even double their weight. By the time they arrive at their destination, they will have lost most of their extra fat.

Lack of food and energy isn’t the only thing that these voyagers have to contend with. Their flight is also fraught with dangers to their life.

“Birds of prey like golden eagles and falcons routinely attack smaller ones like demoiselles,” says Jyotindra, “and reaching their homeland safely is uncertain for these little birds.”

The concept of “homeland” for these migratory birds is vague, because wintering birds stay in Nepal for half the year, from October to April. Nepal is as much their home as their summering ground in Northern Asia or Europe. And yet, many of these birds, like Siberian ducks, are named after northern regions like Siberia or Mongolia. “They are named after areas where they were first spotted and recorded,” informs Jyotindra.

Some varieties of the Lesser Cuckoo, which come over to Nepal from Africa to lay their eggs and raise their young, are identified as African for the same reason—when it could be reasoned that Nepal is more their home because here is where they raise their young. Nepal is the Lesser Cuckoo’s summering ground, just like Siberia is for the birds that come to Nepal in winter. 

Migratory birds in Nepal mostly head towards the wetlands, though some of them also like to live in forests and farmlands. Wherever they go, the birds have important ecological functions to fill in the cycle of nature.

“Birds are an indicator of environmental health,” says Jyotindra. “The presence of migratory birds indicates that our environment contains the resources required to sustain them.”

The yearly arrival of birds in Nepal proves that it is a haven not just for human beings but also for these feathered beauties. It’s that time of the year again when we enjoy lively visitors from distant lands. And this year, we won’t just enjoy their beauty but also respect the hardships that they go through to reach our Himalayan land.

Some facts about migrating birds:

·         The speed of migrating birds varies from 30 km/hr for small birds, like hummingbirds, to 100 km/hr for larger ones, like geese.

·         Bigger birds can fly as far as 800 kilometers without stopping. This enables birds like the Bar-Headed Goose to complete the entire journey in 2-3 days.

·         Birds may fly as low as 500 meters and as high as 9,000 meters above ground.

·         Many migratory birds spend a large part of their lives flying. The Arctic Tern flies to the Antarctic region in winter and flies back to the Arctic region in summer to lay eggs and raise its young. It spends up to eight months in flight, crossing the Earth twice every year.

The Ritual of Lights at Pashupati

Every evening at the Pashupatinath Temple, people gather on the other side of the ghats. The entire place lights up with diyos. It’s the time for arati that’s been held every day for the past eight years.

The arati ritual consists of two parts: music and light. With three musicians playing a flute, a harmonium and a table each, the music starts with an invocation to Lord Shiva, the reigning deity at the temple of Pashupatinath.

The prayer to Lord Shiva is found in our classics, and is followed by a prayer to Bagmati, a Sanskrit lyric composed by Swami Khemraj Keshav Sharan more than two decades ago. Next is a prayer to the Panchayan deities: Shiva, Vishnu, Durga, Surya, and Ganesh.

There is also a short worship of Goddess Saraswati, and an arati song in Nepali, also by Khemraj Keshav Sharan, that’s very popular with the devotees.

Perhaps the next segment is the most popular: devotees seem to be in anticipation of it. The tempo rises to the beats of the rousing Tandav Stotra, supposed to be written by Ravan, an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva. As soon as the music starts, several people start dancing on the sidelines. There are children in the group, women and also young men, and all of them dance with abandon.

When this segment is over and the calmer music starts, the dancers leave. But many people still listen to the Panchakshar Stotra: a hymn where the first letter of each line comes from Namah Shivaya (the first line starts with Na, the second with Ma, and so on).

By the time the Rudrashtakam starts, the crowd has thinned, but most of the people who remain sing along, as they have been doing from the very beginning.

The Rudrashtakam is a hymn beginning from the eight (ashta) letters of Rudra, one of the many names that Lord Shiva goes by with. Finally, the music ends with a call to many famous gods in Nepal, including Baba Muktinath, etc. Flowers are then offered to Bagmati and Prasad is distributed to devotees.

The arati, on the other hand, is a spectacle worth watching. Three priests line up on the bank of Bagmati from where the Pashupatinath Temple is in their direct line of vision.

“First, we start with incense,” informs Pundit Bheem Bhattarai who has been part of the arati ritual since its inception eight years ago. Next, they worship the Lord with coal incense which burns with vegetable oil and many different woods.

The major attraction of the ritual comes next, where three large structures with fifty-four diyo (small oil-lamp) each are raised to the Lord. “It’s well known in Hindu culture that gods like light, and that’s what we offer when we offer them an arati,” says Bheem.

In perfectly synchronized motions, the priests first dip the lights four times on the bottom, then circle it seven times on the top.

“It’s a standard ritual that we train in before we practice it,” says Bheem. “The motions at the bottom symbolize the worship of the Lord’s feet, and those on the top are for his head.”

Each of the items of worship is rotated in this manner. But the beauty of the motions is particularly evident with the diyos, their grandness is spectacular to watch on a dark night.

The arati made of camphor (kapoor) in a big vessel accompanies the Tandav music. After this, the priests worship the Lord with a piece of cloth, a fan made of peacock feathers, and the tail of a yak.

“These items offer coolness,” says Bheem. “Lord Shiva must be hot and tired after the Tandav dance, and the coolness will comfort him.”

Finally, the ceremony ends with the ring of bells and blowing of conch shells.

Durga Prasad Khatiwada, a musician who plays the flute to accompany the arati every day, informs that the music of bells and conch shells is dear to gods.

“The logic of ringing bells in a temple early in the morning is to wake up the gods with a sound they like to hear,” says Durga. Since Durga is one of the founding members of the Shri Pashupatinath evam Ganga Arati Sewa Samiti, he had acquired information about this ritual. The current general secretary of the committee, he shares that the idea to start this ritual came from such rituals conducted in India.

“As a student at Benaras Hindu University, I and other friends had seen such worship of the River Ganga in India,” he remembers. “And we thought, why don’t we do the same in Nepal? After all, the holy River Bagmati is also a form of Ganga.”

Eight years ago, when they started out as a formal organization, they weren’t encouraged. A lot of people believed they wouldn’t be able to do it every day, all the year round.

“It was suggested that we do it just once a month,” says Durga. But eight years later, the ritual flourishes and continues to attract devotees by the droves.

The ritual is run on funds generated by sponsors: anyone who wishes to sponsor an arati for their birthday, wedding, or other occasion can do so. In this case, the arati begins with a sankalpa where the priest conducts a pooja with milk for the sponsor. It ends with a Pushpanjali from the sponsor’s hands. On the days when there are no sponsors, the members of the committee sponsor the arati themselves.

Durga informs that the committee plans to continue the increasingly popular ritual for as long as possible, with the help of a trust fund they are planning.

 “The arati is a bhakti marga, one of the ways devotees use to please god and reach god,” says Bheem. But as usual, religion plays more than one function. Not everyone who comes to watch the arati does so to reach god.

Mahesh Sharma, 35, works at Tribhuvan University and has been coming to the arati regularly for the past few years.

“It gives me a sense of peace by coming here,” he relates. “And I’ll come as long as the Lord wills it.”

Mahesh is of the opinion that engaging in this spiritual activity prevents him from vices, including gambling, addictions, etc.

Many others, including Bheem, are of the opinion that the ritual provides a path for youngsters that distracts them from vices. It is also a platform for youngsters to express their energy by dancing, and a way to socialize and meet people. Many come just to enjoy the visual spectacle and take in the pleasant evening ambience.

Besides, the roles of public rituals in a city’s cultural life are many. The arati ritual has now become a part of the city’s cultural life, so much so that many youngsters assume it has always been there. In fact, as said before, the daily rituals began only about eight years ago.

“The ritual is about respecting and increasing the glory of the River Bagmati and Pashupatinath Temple,” says Durga. “It enhances not just the beauty of the temple but adds to the fame of the entire city.”

The arati at Pashupatinath is held at 6:30 pm during summer and 5:30 pm in winter.

Chronicler of sufferings

Three pairs of hands, each colored a different color. Legs knee deep in gold. There is no question that these pictures are beautiful. But once you find what they are about, the pictures are also very disturbing. The exhibition of photographs by Lisa Kristine is centered on the subject of slavery, and behind their perfect compositions, they tell stories of pain, coercion, and torture. The red, blue and black hands belong to silk dyers, and the legs belong to gold miners, all of them forced to work for minimal pay without options to leave. There are more provocative images in her gallery: two young boys carrying slabs of stone like adults, men and women coated in dust at brick kilns. Sewa Bhattarai talked to Lisa about the superhuman courage it takes to be a witness to sufferings day after day. Lisa, in her own words:

On her interest in photography

When I was eleven, my aunt and uncle gifted me a camera. It became a tool for me to express myself and relate to people. Then I took pictures of friends and families. But if I look back, it’s very similar to what I do now. I was always interested in something super authentic, not the happy face necessarily, but a sense of infinity in somebody’s gaze, or just something touching about them.

On traveling

I live in San Francisco in California, and I have two children. I’ve been travelling since I was eighteen, and have traveled constantly for the last thirty years, photographing people of different indigenous cultures. The rhythm of being on the road is a rhythm that has always been. There comes a grace with it, as you do it frequently. I’ve never been to one country that I wouldn’t return to.

For the project on slavery, I travelled to India, Nepal and Ghana. I’ve been to Nepal 6-8 times, the first time was in the eighties. I travelled around, took photographs of wonderful astonishing human beings. I’m not so drawn to cities, but I love Kathmandu.

On Modern-day Slavery

In 2009, I met a few supporters of the organization Free the Slaves. Though I knew that trafficking existed in sex trade, I had no idea that at that time there were more than 27 million people enslaved.

Like everyone else, I had assumed this was taken care of in the 1800s. Ten years ago when the NGOs opened up trying to raise money to fight slavery, nobody believed them and nobody gave them money. But the definition of slavery is of people exploited and lied to, forced to do something against their will, not being paid, put under threat of violence, and given no choice to walk away. And there are still millions who fit this description.

That just hit me like a freight train. I couldn’t sleep, couldn’t eat. I flew down to LA to meet with the organization, and said I was going to help them.

 

On the emotional impact of her work

All my work impacts me emotionally. Once, in a brick kiln in India, with the temperature more than 54 degrees, I saw many old men and women carrying a disturbing amount of bricks. They were so covered in dust it was like they had a cloak of clay. Their eyes were just mechanical, like they were turned off, in this meditative state. I remember bursting out crying.

The abolitionist I was with shook me and said: ‘Lisa, you can’t do that here. It isn’t safe for you or them.’ I quickly realized that it was highly inappropriate. I decided in that instant that I would be there for the purpose I was called upon, which is to be a witness. I would count on those abolitionists and organizations to free them; because if I had interfered, it would’ve caused many problems.

When I go home and I’m in the studio and am editing, that’s when I get the big emotional responses, and I cry a lot. When I’m out in the field, I know that I’m doing something to raise awareness in order that it can stop. If I ignored it, or decided that it was too heavy of a burden emotionally, I think I would have a breakdown. The subject had impacted me in such a way that it became my calling. I don’t even know if it was a choice. Doing it helps me sleep at night.

On the dangers of the project

Every time I’m documenting slavery, I’m in a dangerous situation. The abolitionists on the ground did the preparations, arranged my visits. The abolitionists work for NGOs that help people out from slavery, and they work undercover. They would only bring me in when the managers were gone, and we had to leave immediately. Almost the entire body of this work was made in increments of ten-fifteen minutes, because I only had so much time.

On the relationship with the subject

Photographing people at these private and intense moments was certainly not easy. The abolitionists I work with knew the people I photographed. I wasn’t going in solely as a stranger. But if people didn’t want to be photographed, I wouldn’t photograph them. I also respect their privacy, and try to make photographs with an element of them being anonymous. I have many images that I wouldn’t show.

On the audience of art

The most important thing about making an image is doing it utterly completely for my heart. I never make an image for the public. On the other hand, I did the entire body of work on slavery for the public, for everyone on this planet. But when I was making the images, I wasn’t thinking how would the audience respond to this particular image? My work is about connecting with another human being. In regards to slavery, I’m seeing the dignity in somebody, no matter how dire the circumstance. By virtue of that, when viewers look at the image, they will be moved, viscerally. And they will raise their hands and say, ‘I want to help.’

On fighting slavery

Slavery is a huge atrocity that’s hidden. When you and I drive by a brick kiln, our assumption is that they are paid workers. And that’s why it exists. Because we don’t have that awareness. When we realize that something so horrible is happening, we won’t stand for it. For me, seeing is believing, which is why I do what I do, so that others may see what I see and be aware.

An exhibition of Lisa Kristine’s photographs, “Enslaved” was held at Siddhartha Art Gallery from November 19-25.

Passion for fashion

With one lady dressed in a bright gold coat, another in a crop top and sharp blazer, and another one sporting golden chandelier earrings, they are easily the most fashionable group at the table. Perfectly turned out in the most happening accessories—one of them wears a braid hanging out of a topknot that ends in a laccha, another wears colored mascara, and another wears patterned lenses— they are the fashion bloggers of Nepal.

Though it’s still nascent, the fashion blogging scene, which consists of women posting about outfits, styles, accessories, and makeup, is quite happening in Nepal. 

“I just had so many clothes lying around in my closet,” says Shreya Rai, one of the bloggers, “that I just decided one day to put them to good use, and started blogging.”

Most bloggers started out like that, because they had a lot of clothes at their disposal, loved fashion and loved taking photos of themselves.

For Sanna Gurung, blogging and posting doesn’t even feel like work, because dressing up and taking photos is something she loves to do anytime.

Though it may seem like fashion blogging is an expensive proposition, bloggers point out that if you love fashion, you’re always shipping anyway, so they aren’t going out of the way. 

However, the bloggers do agree that fashion blogging is a lot of hard work. You have to dress up, you have to have a location, and then you have to take the photographs, and all that before you actually publish the post on your blog.

Having the photographs taken is the hardest part, the bloggers agree. “Sometimes my friends are like, why are we taking so many photos of you? Let’s not do it today,” says Pravina Adhikari who is lucky to have a supportive sister, Sabina, take her photographs.

“If one friends refuses me, I ask another, and then another,” says Sunu Rai. “If not, I’ll ask my sister. If not, my mother, and if not, father. And if not even that works, I get a tripod and take the photo myself,” she finished.

And then they have to contend with the things that everyone says about their seemingly narcissistic passion. “Show off” is the word heard most often, while people also come up with “nakkali” and its synonyms.

The comments that men face are even more discouraging, which is the reason men’s fashion blogging never really took off in Nepal, though a few have tried.

The women’s strategy to deal with such comments is to hear it from one ear and blow it out the other.

“It’s about looking beautiful, and looking good increases your confidence,” says Shweta Gurung. For Sunu, it’s about showcasing her originality, and without her fashion statement she doesn’t have a unique identity. And Sanna believes fashion cannot be dismissed lightly, because it’s a talent. “It is a talent to know what goes with what, to figure out what works best for every person. And us fashion bloggers are able to spot trends before they become trends in the mainstream,” she explains. 

For some of them, fashion is more than just passion. Sanna doesn’t blog any more but has an online store called modishlyrad.com where she sells clothes and accessories. Shweta Gurung used to be a VJ at Channel Nepal where her show was related to fashion. Dolkar Lhamo worked as a stylist for Navyata magazine.

And Khusbu Gauchan has made a career out of fashion, where she gets sent outfits by fashion labels. Once her blog became popular, she was approached by fashion labels themselves. All Khusbu needs to do is wear the outfits they send, and post it on her blog. She is paid US$15 for every post and extra for the clicks and sign-ins on her site. And if she isn’t able to post the outfit within a week of receiving it, she can still keep the outfit.

Many people learn about new trends from bloggers, and imitate these trends. Celebrities are also trendsetters in that way, but celebrity fashion is often high-end and not affordable for the general public.

“Bloggers are like a bridge between celebrities and normal people,” says Nitika Thapa, a designer and aspiring blogger. “Celebrities wear clothes, but bloggers explain them, which makes it easy for normal people to relate to and wear.”

And today, in the day of Instagram, bloggers have as much reach among fashion-conscious youngsters as celebrities. That makes them  as powerful and influential in the world of fashion as celebrities.

No wonder celebrity bloggers are courted by big names in other countries. 

“There are many opportunities for popular fashion bloggers abroad,” says Sanna. “Their outfits are free, and they get many other things, like trip to cities.” She shares that ‘meet and greet’ programs are organized for popular bloggers, where admirers come to mingle with bloggers, take pictures, and share advice.

But in Nepal, there’s a peculiar lack of enthusiasm among readers to interact with popular fashion bloggers.

“I’m sure a lot of people know my style and admire it,” says Sanna who gets 100-200 hits a day on her page. “But people are just not willing to acknowledge it in public.” Khusbu also agrees that though she gets a lot of traffic from Nepal on her blog, she gets very little interaction from Nepali users as compared to foreign ones, which means that though Nepalis are looking at her site, they aren’t commenting.

Dolkar attributes this phenomenon to the general lack of celebrity culture in Nepal. Besides, the Nepali fashion market itself is so small that getting sponsored by Nepali fashion labels is a distant dream for now.

Still, Dolkar believes the fashion blogging scene in Nepal is improving. “When we started out three years ago, there were less than fifteen fashion bloggers on the scene,” she remembers. But now they have a good sized community where they share ideas and communicate about fashion. Shreya, who took a break from blogging for a while, came back because people kept telling her they missed her posts. “It is encouraging to know that your work is actually helping someone. That’s what keeps me going and makes me believe there’s scope for fashion blogging in Nepal,” she shares her experience.

Sanna also has plans for her online store while Khusbu hasn’t thought of an alternative career other than the one she has now. Sunu, meanwhile, is studying art and fashion in the UK, and plans to design for a career. All of them believe in doing something they love for their career, and cannot think of doing something that doesn’t revolve around fashion. It makes one believe that if one has the passion and dedication, making a career in fashion is definitely possible, and perhaps the day isn’t far when Nepali fashion bloggers also can be sustained by the Nepali market itself.