Where local women earned a place only in
casual folk dances during interludesBhikhodi, a multi-week festival in the
remote Himalayan hamlet
Where rituals and performances started
(mainly) in the night
After everyone finished daily chores
When everyone was free
When old and young, men and women
gathered in ChoptaThat night festival in Lata
When audience was unable to remain
awake
Mwair-Morin, Laata-Laati, and Khankar
Buddya bullied the selected spectators to
keep them awakeThat night festival in Lata
When audience was unable to remain
awake
Mwair-Morin and Laata-Laati forcefully
rubbed loads of phaphara flour on the
head of the selected
The masked characters mercilessly
sprinkled the flour in the eyes of the
selected
They cunningly dusted the flour in the eyes
of the selected
Creating a stir in the audienceSome successfully ran away and escaped
the spray of flour and the bullying
Others were caught and fooled for a while
They did not leave even the guests like meThat night festival in Lata
When audience was unable to remain
awake
The masked Khankar Buddya selected a
few and bullied them.
He threw heated dry sheep skin at the
selected spectators who fell into slumber.
He hit eyes of the selected with the skin.
He threw a burnt skin on my eyes that
involuntarily drooped for a while.
He was a storyteller of ancient versions of
the festival.
Ignoring the traditional role, the modern
representative used brute force.That night festival in Lata
Where rituals and practices had been
distorted over a period of time
Ancient healthy fun replaced with modern
bullying actsThat night festival in Lata
That dedicated almost 24 hours to the
festivities starting around 09:00 am
On that day, masked Narad was guided(^244)
Volume 4, Issue 1 | June 2019