Oh…Here it is my village Gunji… Even after a long gap of 17 years….every thing seems stand still…waiting for me…! Is it real or just a dream of my childhood memories… Every thing seemed to have been waiting for me so long….I thought I am 43 year now …. With all my habits and thoughts and beliefs changed…..I find no change in my village, not even its single inch…. The same typical smell of firewood smoke… the same old narrow pathways with RASAA and LANGEE... Same old primary school and the narrow pathway along the outskirts of the fields with blooming BAE/PALTI… leading to my school … same old playground….(of course it’s size including that of the school building and the whole of village for that matter, seems to have shrinked a lot)… but, there is something I find changed…. Is it it’s people… my villagers… my friends? No…no…! but there’s something I am not comfortable with… people don’t gather on a single round of high pitched voice call by LAREBAA…people now don’t waste time for the common cause…everybody seems to mind his own business… a sense of service and duty towards our villagers doesn’t seem to be a part of our character now…may be, the government’s liberalization policy has its real effect on us all… or, may be, as a visitor to my own village, I am expecting much more from my villagers as I was as a child…but, what is my contribution to my village….? What is my contribution to cherish my own childhood dreams…. I think I should really think doing something for my village… something to prevent it from becoming another GumiKang (if I remember the word correctly)…! But I really don’t know what way I can contribute to my village and my society… really nothing on my mind… something’s there in my mind…but what? …something about basic amenities?…. Better roads/pathways?... Water supply system? … electricity?... communication facilities? …. can I contribute on those things? .. is it really needed?...or is it the expectation of my villagers from me?....its confusing….! I am tensed….! Ok… Let me go there every year and find out something that I can contribute…! Can any one guide me please?....

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..just got back from dharchula...the place is live with events..events..events... be that a marriage or SAE THOMO ceramony...u dont get time to sit with all of your relatives and old friends..! ..got good opportunity to be close to our cultural activities after a long time...specially enjoyed the night long poetic discussions between two rung BAIRAAGEEs through CHHIRAA BAIRAA...in my BHANJAA's marriage...the discussion started with welcoming the DAAMIs...subsequently became critic (both started calling DOKSHEE and CHHAA-KHAE-DEDAE DOLYAARI etc.to each other)in a humorous way...the discussion finally led to searching the relations between the two BAIRAAGEEs (even a proposal of becoming SAMDHIs had come up)...but, by the time it was 5am in the morning it came out that they actually had a relation of SHYANG-KAA and SHIREE and the verbal bout ended with a promise to meet again not as a strengers but as SHYANG-KAA and SHIREE...a begining of a new relations... ...amongst an humorous and interesting rung poetic jargons and criptic rung phrases...the entire MAHAFIL witnessed the revivel of an age old relation which was lost in the rat race of modern way of life...I really felt proud of my culture...! (i was told that in olden days, appart from sharing of knowledge...minor disputes and marriage proposals used to be exchanged in a similar MAHAFILS in RUMBAANG-CHIM...) ...but one thing which is of great concern is the increasing number of incidents of voilance during marriage ceramonies...(recently one rung boy knifed other rung boy, who i was told is recovered now...but the boy who had committed the crime is absconding...!) ...the bad news is, such incidents are taking place during every marriage ceramonies...the root of the problem is that, guys at dharchula have no facilities to pass their time...there is no good library no good play ground...the only time pass is left is CHYAKTI...! ...the CHYAKTI...specially, the MAANGDAE (Rum/wiskey etc.)is a new problem...the general appreciation is that if there is no MAANGDAE...the ceramony is considered incomplete or dry...! we have to discontinue with the stuff...the reason is...most of the younger ones (specially the first timers) get attracted to its taste (taking this as an accepted part of our culture)...and finally get addicted...moreover, not all family can afford to serve cartons of MAANGDAE...! we have to be really sereous with this issue (i.e. use of MAANGDAE as SOKUNU CHYAKTI...) ...the local (CHYAKTI) also has to be controlled...this is the area we shd seriously think upon... ...on these lines...one suggestion is that we form a cooparative for CHYAKTI production...the advantages are... 1..ppl get quality CHYAKTI... 2..no direct selling...selling only through the cooparative's licenced bars and outlets... 3..barren/un-used lands of chaudaas velley can be used by the cooraratives for growing apples for quality RUNG-WINE... 4..a new business opportunity for bottling plants and packaging industry... 5..resulting increased business opportunities to the trasporters... 6..better price to the individual wine producers... 7..the last but not the least...control over the quality and quantity of the RUNG-WINE in the area... 8..your suggestions please...! ...peace db

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