The daily gatherings of elderly herders, most of them in their fifties, in a forest near the Maoist camp at Kamaljhoda, might seem like a meeting of village elders called to settle family disputes. But it isn´t. These people come here every day to graze their cattle.
“I come to attend to the cattle,” said Birdhwaj Phango, 56, of Chulachuli-1, Ilam, who has been bringing his cows to this spot for the past 30 years. “Nobody in the family is willing to take over this work,” added Phango, who owns 14 cows and buffaloes.
These herders numbering about 250 come to the forest around the Maoist camp every day, carrying an umbrella and a stick. The forest that spreads from Maikhola to Ratuwakhola is perfect for grazing.
These elders have the first of their two daily meals very early in the morning, untie their cattle by 7 a.m. and bring them straight to this forest. They remain here the whole day and return home at 5 p.m., their faces drawn with hunger and exhaustion.
“My children go to school, the wife looks after the kitchen,” said Phango, who has six children.
Most of the herders carry cigarettes, lighters and chewing tobacco, but no food for their stomachs during the long, tiring day.
On occasional days, they head to the nearest teashop for a cuppa.
Punya Prasad Niraula, 51, of Sanokercha, Topgachi-7 is another cattle herder whose children are unwilling to take over his calling.
“My daughter is a B.A.,” he said. “She says she is educated and so won´t become a herder,” he added. Niraula thinks today´s youths are lazy and the parents are bearing the brunt.
During the herding hours, they kill time recalling the past.
Their happiest moments are when a cow calves while grazing.
“Our happiness knows no bounds when we are able to carry home a newly-born calf,” said Tula Ram Adhikari, 72, of Maidhar.
Some of the herders say they have no choice but to keep on cattle-herding into their old age as their sons and daughters-in-law do not care for them.
“No one gets to eat without working,” said Janga Bahadur Kari, of Jhiljhile. “Son doesn´t care, daughter-in-law orders me to take the cattle out.”
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