deep

Winter doesn’t feel like winter to a local of Jumla Sampati Rawat, 70, anymore. Jumla’s weather has become hotter over the years, he says. “Neither is the monsoon as bothering as before, actually there is no downpour during the monsoon too,” he notes. What looks equally interesting to this septuagenarian is the different lifestyle of Jumla residents. “They have become dependent in everything. It wasn’t so in our times,” Rawat remarks. According to Rawat, people in Jumla used to celebrate ‘Juhare’ instead of ‘Dashain’. These days, locals have almost forgotten to celebrate Juhare, as they celebrate Dashain, he said. “I will tell you another very interesting thing, a bit sad fact actually. In the past, while returning from Kalapahad our people would carry home malaria on return. Many would fall sick and some would die. So only few risked their life go to Kalapahad,” he reminisced. Jumla was a wonderful place in the past; its scenic beauty was mesmerizing. This is no more the same in Rawat’s observation. Snow would be seen in the mountains for months, and green pastures around would offer a great view. As climate patterns changed with time, Rawat no more finds the natural beauty of his place as captivating as before. “Next thing I remember is, we never heard of Tihar. We would not celebrate the festival here,” he reports. “These days, Bhaitika is celebrated across the district,” he said. Rawat also claimed that the Teej celebration is also imported to the district. Women in Jumla these days celebrate the festival by singing and dancing during the Teej. Rawat remembers that people were very active and hard working in the past. They would grow crops, vegetables and rear livestock. This would make them mostly independent in terms of food grains and finance. Similarly, they used to weave clothes of sheep wool.