A nine-man team led by Raute chief Ain Bahadur Shahi has met the chief district officer (CDO), local development officer (LDO),executive officer of Baglung Municipality and others on Saturday asking for money to buy goats, food and clothes for Dashain. “We have to sacrifice around 25-30 goats. Rice and clothes are also needed,” Ain Bahadur said.[break]
The Rautes who had collected around Rs 100,000 from Pokhara last week have come to Baglung after visiting Salyan. “The officers in Pokhara were generous. We see Baglung is a nice place and we hope the people have a heart to match,” he added.
Crowds gathered upon hearing that a team of nine Rautes with two women had arrived and locals were busy getting snapped with them throughout the day.
“We had seen them on television but it was exciting to see them in the flesh. I was curious to see how persons living in jungle look like,” former central member of the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FNCCI) Saha Dev Rajbhandari.
The nomadic Rautes, who have historically been content in jungles, have started to come to cities from time to time to collect money. The new generation of Rautes, who have survived for generations on edible roots, has now been attracted to modernity.
A few youths even managed to find time to savor liquor behind the chief´s back. “We learnt to sip a few glasses while going to villages. So we drink whenever we get opportunity but we don´t drink a lot,” Jaya Bahadur Shahi said. The Raute tradition doesn´t permit drinking but even the chief is aware that the youths get a sip behind his back.
Around 300 Rautes live in the forests of mid- and far-west regions and have been earning their livelihoods by making wooden wares. But they have been facing difficulty in recent times due to ban in cutting trees.
The government has been providing a monthly allowance of Rs 1,000 for each Raute and has even offered to make arrangements for permanent housing but the nomads have refused to settle at one place.
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