Visiting Nepal

Hunt for Yarchagumba

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IT WAS SCHOOL TIME; teacher were present, but the classrooms and playgrounds were all vacant. “Where are the students?” we asked the headmaster.
“They are all gone,” he answered surprising us.

“Where?” asked one of our friends.

The question was followed by a silence. Our ignorance about the ground reality of the Dolpo region probably caught them by surprise. We were members of a shooting crew, making a documentary on the education situation of the Trans Himalayan region of Nepal. The sheer size and sophistication of our equipments we attracting the villagers, some of whom were teacher from Adarsa High School, in Juphal, a five minutes walk downhill from the bumpy airport of Dolpo.

“Well they have gone to the Patan (mountain pastures) to collect Jiban Buti (which literally means ‘life saving drup”), “ said Kirsna Bahadur Bhandari, a teacher of that school. “Jiban Buti, popularly known as Yarchagumba is the lifeline of Dolpo; all men and women with sharp eyesights, and strong enough to survive in the mountain pastures for several days go to the mountains to collect Yarchagumba,” he said . He further said that the collection played a vital role in the lives of Dolpo inhabitants, most of whom were utterly dependent on the income from Yarchagumba for the rest of the year. The school children had, in fact, taken unofficial holidays in search of this Himalayan gold, then dawned upon us.

The importance of Yarchagumba was further revealed when we met 16 years-01d Bhupendra Budha. On foot for 16 days along the banks of the Bheri River, he had journeyed from Musikot in Rukum district to reach Juphal. “I still need to walk two more days to reach the mountain pasture,” he told us, ‘but I running out of money.” His penurious state stirred sympathetic sentiments, and therefore, much to his delight, we offered him  a job as a poter. A first timer in the job, both as a porter and a Yarchagumba collector, Bhupendra later told us. “Last year my friends were able to take home NRs 40,000 (around 550 USD) each . This year we hope to collect more, NRs, 50,000 at least.” When inquired about his plans after the money is secured, he replied, ‘I will marry the girl I love and settle down in life.”

Another interesting encounter we had was with Janalal KC, an enthusiastic man in his early twenties. Leader of a group of fourteen young people from Pahada, Dolpo, KC and his team were camping  on the banks of Suligadh River, which flows from the famous Phoksundo Lake. “We spent Rs 3,000 for the tens, NRs 5,000 on food, but we expect to earn NRs. 25,000 each “ he said.
However, not all Dolpalis share the same enthusiasm . 57-years-old Durgadevi Budha of Parila village says she has enough responsibilities already, raising her grand children and the family cattle and could not be bothered with the Yarchagumba hunt. Abandoned by her two sons, she now looks after four young children and herd of 20 sheeps all by herself. Most elders in the village have  a similar story. For one and half months during the summer they are all compelled to survive with the children and cattle. “All children above eight and adults below forty go to the mountain pastures to collect Yarchagumba.” she adds.

With each bit of information coming our way, we soon realized that during the month of May and June, thousands of villagers (the number is seen to have an escalating trend) from remote areas risks their lives and head to the high mountain pastures for the collection of Yarchagumba. “They risk their life to collect Yarchagumba, without proper food and clothing, or with any protection against high altitude sickness, “said a staff of World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

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