It is one of the policemen on duty who calls out to 19-year-old Purna Tamang. He is “khairey” due to his blond hair. The patrolling team passes by in the Basantpur Durbar Square. Without paying much attention to the remark, Purna goes his own way.[break]
From young couples who hop into the Ratna Park Paun Bhandar, where Purna is currently employed, to passersby on the streets, Purna’s style doesn’t go unnoticed. He draws attention, appreciation, stares, and at times, even criticism for his stylistic looks.
A resident of Indra Chowk in the heart of Old Kathmandu, Purna sports faux-Mohawk. Gently hemmed along the sides and longer in the mid-section of his head, which extends further down, the longer part is dyed blonde. Hip-hop celebrities, both international and local, heavily influence his style. He dons baggy pants, a shirt quite big for him, but a comparatively tight jacket.
Purna represents the young generation of breed which is highly influenced by music channels and are immensely conscious of their image.
While for some of us, dressing up is an unnecessary hassle, or at least we pretend that it is, for Purna, his life revolves around it.
“It’s been four years since I’ve been sporting this particular look,” says Purna, who spends about 30% of his salary on clothes and accessories.
But his eye-catching hairstyle is the product of his own experimentation and his friends. “Whenever we get together, we try out different hairstyles on Purna,” says Prateek Shrestha, one of Purna’s friends.
“We can’t don bold and different hairstyles at our college,” adds Prateek, “But Purna’s case is different.”
Purna is a school dropout. It’ been four years since he quit his school. “I don’t know why but I don’t like studying.” He doesn’t specify any particular reason. He just bites his tongue and ends his answer there.
It wasn’t just the disliking which made him leave his school. He was involved in gang fights and frequently bunked school. “Gang fights against guys from another ‘tole’ (municipal ward) are common here,” says Purna, “Even if we dash against each other while walking on the road, the next day there’s a fight.”
Talking about the fights that occur between the gangs of boys of different tole-s, his cousin Pooja Darshandhari recites the story behind it.
“Boys of this tole have fights with the neighboring Lakhenani tole. We belong to Kilagal, and this is the place where the elephant that is worshipped during the Indra Jatra resides. And Lakhenani is the tole where the Lakhey dancers of the Jatra live. So there’s the clash of ego between these different toles.”
By now, the older generations of these two wards have made peace and often invite each other for ‘bhoj’ (feasts) in different festivals. But the young ones still have the residues of ego in them. Purna informs, however, that the frequencies of gang fights have decreased as there are frequent police patrols these days.
It was not the patrolling that discouraged this young lad to discontinue his gang fights. After he quit his school, for a year he was hooked on music channels from which he learnt hip-hop dance moves. This phase for him was the exploration and realization period.
He quit his friends’ circle that frequently involved in gang fights and abused substances. Instead, he preferred working at the Ratna Park Paun Bhandar which sells sweet-and-sour-and-hot pickles.
Despite entreaties from his family and friends, he hasn’t resumed his studies. Purna’s aunt Laxmi Darshandhari says, “We’ve asked him to begin his studies, but he doesn’t pay attention to us.” And so feels his friend Prateek.
Negating his aunt’s and friend’s statement, he adds, “I’ll resume my studies.” While the time and date is still in limbo, Purna is occupied with his work and dance practices.
Unlike his friend Prateek, who is currently pursuing his Bachelors in Business Administration, Purna is hopeful about his future. He says he aspires to be a hip-hop dance choreographer.
“I’m not so hopeful about my future in Nepal. Maybe after my Bachelors, I’ll be a bank manager,” Prateek says. “But I don’t know what Purna’ll do.”
Every night when the short hand of clock approaches nine, Purna and his present friends, about ten of them, gather at Indra Chowk. Then for about two hours, the night sees different dance moves of this young crew. They recently formed the group and are still to be christened.
He doesn’t know the specific names of the different moves of the break dances. But he surely has mastered quite a few moves. He immaculately does the one-handed freeze and knows popping and locking. “In our local lingo, we call it kankal (skeleton) step,” adds Purna.
“We’re preparing to audition for couple of music videos,” he informs. His voice and eyes full of confidence, he says he has approached a few people of music companies of the capital. And they have promised him their tentative audition dates.
While young urbanites are indulging themselves in the capital’s polished glitter and glamour, this teenager has moved beyond all that to achieve his dreams. He is much more than his small frame and hairdo.
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