Rampur (Palpa), 29th Bhadra (14 Sep): It is the routine of Jumla’s ‘Kafle Ba’ i.e. Shiva Kafle, who carry cloths on their backs and enter the village for business as soon as the morning dawns. While going up and down in the village, even though the life is tired due to the weight of the clothes, the face is always smiling.
Sinja from Kanka Sundari Rural Municipality-8 of Humla has been doing cloth business in and around Rampur for almost a decade and a half. Every day, dressed in a Dhaka hat, Istkotak, he goes to the village carrying a radipakhi on his back and a carpet. It is his daily routine to trade in the village settlements by carrying radipakhi, carpets, sweaters produced in Jumla.
The nomadic trade has not yet left Kafle, whose age has exceeded five decades. He says that he did the nomadic business not out of desire but out of compulsion. Now he takes room rent in Rampur of Palpa and goes to this place for business. In the beginning, he traded Radipakhi in the markets of Alamudha, Naintal, Bageshwar, Garhwal, Himachal, Pithragad, Champao, Didihat and other markets in India for about five years.
After returning to Nepal, he has made Pokhara, Parvatko Kushma, Butwal, Tansen a business center. He came to Rampur while doing business in Tansen. Business in Tansen started to decrease a little, one of Tansen’s father said that since Rampur is a rural area, there is less business, there is good business in the villages there, “I came to Rampur in 2068 and started business with that hope, I am still continuing here”, he said.
It is his experience that business in Rampur was good in the beginning, but in recent years, the business has decreased. It is his experience that the increase in commercial shops in Rampur has affected the nomadic trade. He is of the opinion that there has been a decrease in business due to the recent fairs held in the villages. His main business is Radipakhi. But now there is a lot of trade in carpets and weaves.
It is his experience that when the traders who come to the village sometimes cheat the locals, the trust in nomadic traders like them has decreased. He has experienced that in the early days, when he went to the village, he had to face fear and threats, but now that is not the case.
He says, “Everyone treats me like a member of their own family, I know them well, I am doing business as usual, I haven’t cheated two money yet, I have got everyone’s love and support, I feel safe living here, there is no fear or threat from anyone, that’s why I don’t want to go anywhere else.” Compared to that, I have been staying in Rampur for a long time.”
He says that he used to earn up to 20,000 rupees a day, but now the business has decreased and he earns a maximum of 4,000 rupees a day. He said that he has no big dreams, simple food, and is living happily because he has reached the lawn. Radipakhi goods are purchased from Jumla and other goods are purchased from Kathmandu and traded.
He goes to Jumla every four to four months to get Radipakhi and he reaches Kathmandu once a month. He said that since Radipakhi is used especially during puja, customers choose Radipakhi over market goods. It is believed that since Radipakhi is made of sheep’s wool, it is perfect for worship. Kafle has a wife, a daughter and two sons in his family. Their upbringing and education expenses are on Kafle’s shoulders. He says that the income of one person’s nomadic business has been enough to support the family until now. The eldest son has completed his graduation studies and is currently preparing for the Public Service Commission. Younger son is studying Korean language for foreign employment after passing SEE. He said that his daughter is studying in class 11 in the village school. “Now, as the children are growing up, the family’s expenses are increasing, it is difficult to meet the household expenses with a small amount of money, the business is decreasing compared to before, it is difficult to make a living with the earnings of one person, I am forced to go to the village carrying cloths such as radipakhi, carpets”, he said.
He is continuing this profession which has been going on since the time of Baubaja. Today, the old people who do business like this are leaving. Kafle, who have been practicing the profession of their father till today, are not willing to hand over this profession to their descendants. He complains that he could not study even though he wanted to study due to the poor financial condition of his family. Kafle, who has studied up to class 10, has worked in the village with the dream of creating a bright future for his children despite suffering. Now he does business in the villages of Purvkhola, Rambha, Bagnaskali Rural Municipality, Chapakot Municipality of Syangja, Malunga, Mirmi, Byarghari, Waling, Chinnebas, Galyang, apart from Rampur.
