Houses from Waltham MA

Photo Walk to Brandeis University, Waltham MA

Shamesh Joshi was excited to go out with me along with his newly bought Nikon D5100 and here some pictures I have clicked during the photo walk two of us went next morning to Brandeis University.

Landscapes from Charlesbank Garden, Waltham

Peace and quiet landscape of Charles Bank Garden. To soothe my jetlag I walked around for couple hours with my Nikion. Here's few pictures.

Ahead of the Herd

Kesh Bahadur Gurung was nine when he was first taught to tend to sheep and goats. Now 55, the herder from Ghalegaun, Lamjung, still follows the same routine he learnt all those years ago. At his temporary base in the parcho, Gurung wakes up at the break of dawn, feeding the little ones before taking the 700-strong herd—belonging to Ghalegaun's community—to the nearby forest to graze.


Parcho, in the Gurung language, means 'highland', and these meadows, lying above the tree line, offer the perfect conditions for livestock to thrive in. During the monsoon, herders like Gurung move with their animals to these high-altitude pastures—upto 5000 metres—to live with other herders in temporary shelters or goths made of bamboo mats, stones and branches, leaving behind their families in the villages. The work is hard, and fraught with danger; just last week, Gurung lost 15 of his herd to an unprecedented leopard attack.


Sheep and goats, reared for wool and meat respectively, are a major source of income for locals of Ghaleghaun. The demand for wool is especially high, generally used to make soft radi mattresses. But the process of deriving these products has become difficult of late, with grasslands and forests receding, and newer generations flocking elsewhere. Gurung's own children, he says, show no interest in doing what he does.



Gurung's way of life, handed down for centuries, and moulded to Ghalegaun's distinctive environmental factors and cultural influences, is one that, like most traditional means of livelihood, is coming under increasing threat in recent times. But for now, at least, even though the practice may die with him, he continues to find comfort in the simple process of leading his herd to the parcho, and watching them graze.

Traditional Music and Youths

A group of youths from Bhawan Bahal preforming traditional music 'Dhimey' at Basantapur, Kathmandu on Tuesday 23 Oct 2012.

Monster Jam at Naagdhunga

A large number of vehicles were stranded along the Kalanki-Naubise road on Saturday 20 Oct 2012, due to the breakdown of two heavy trucks at the narrow Nagdhunga stretch. Traffic was disrupted for hours, as many buses were departing Kathmandu with Dashain travellers on board. “We had to declare a one-way to manage the departing and arriving vehicles. As the broken down trucks were heavily loaded, it was impossible to move them. We had to call mechanics to fix them on the spot,” said DSP Dhiraj Pratap Singh.

For hours, thousands of departing and arriving passengers were forced to wait at Nagdhunga. The queue of waiting vehicles had stretched up to the police checkpost in Thankot and Satungal. “It took a minimum of three hours for one vehicle to cross Nagdhunga. Many passengers suffered the entire day,” said Singh. Police had also sent vehicle pullers to remove the broken down trucks but even they failed due to the trucks’ heavy loads. Police also claimed that the bus pressure on this road is very high as many buses are travelling via this road. “We have deployed police to help smooth management on this road for the festival season” said Singh. (Text: The Kathmandu Post.)

Season of Harvest at Naagdhunga

On assignment I paddled up to Thankot Check post this morning. I know cycle is a wrong choice to go Thankot since it's Dashain time, our great festival and obviously people are flocking back to their villages which makes heavy flow of vehicles on the road making difficult to cycle along. Nevertheless, what I felt is it's only cycle that made today's assignment a success. After spending couple of hours at Thankot check post I paddled back through new route: Balamdu and purano Naikap, Kalanki and landscape is wonderful. I stopped by the field to take photos of local farmer busy harvesting their crop and even had a great time joining them. Here's some pictures.

Native Vegetable Seller of Kathmandu