DAY 6 :: Photo Kathmandu

DAY #6

5 November, 2015

As soon as I reached Swotha, I met Sagar dai. He asked me if I was free and took me to Chyaasal. He described me about the place and said me to look after it the whole day. After he left, I looked around. ‘Change of Course’ by Prasit Sthapit. The photo story was about Susta and how the people there had identity issues. The Narayani River has changed it s course in past few years and the Susta village has been on the other side of the river. The Indians claim that the land o n the other side of the river is a part if India.

There was another photo exhibition just above. It was about ‘Patis in Patan’. There are 8 Patis in Chyaasal. Among them, this particular Pati was for women only. The exhibition featured the story of women living nearby. It also had photo stories of four different women including one of 87 and other of 91 yrs old.

After being updated, I was ready to explain all these to the visitors. There were men playing cards in a nearby Pati. There was also a Hiti, stone-tap. I explained about the story of the photo to them and also handed them the leaflet that Sagar dai had handed to me. It had a poem written by a Susta resident explaining the problems that they have to face.

Many visitors came throughout the day and I would be there explaining the story of Susta to them. They would be thankful to me for explaining it to them. I also suggested them to go to other places in Patan where the Photo Kathmandu has been exhibiting photos.

Photo presentation was scheduled to happen in Chyaasal at 6:30 in the evening. Few dais came earlier and set up the screen and sound system for the presentation. In a Pati there, elderly men were playing a local song last night. The organizers called them today as well to play the music and sing their song while the presentation would be on. The locals, visitors and organizers formed a huge crowd of around three hundred people. The presentation started and the captions were translated into Newari and Nepali. Sagar dai’s work was also there. It was being late and if I missed the last bus I would have to walk an hour to reach home. After I saw Sagar dai’s photo, I left.

Today I got an opportunity to see the local Newar life. Men playing cards in Pati, women fetching water from Hiti, paddy being dried in the Sun, kids playing in groups. I have been in the city for more than 5 years but it was the first time that I witnessed the local life from this angle. I missed the last bus and walked an hour to reach home, safely yet exhausted!