Politics and Environment
1. King and
political crisis
Evening English language news for March 12th in 1996 (2053 according
to the Nepalese calendar) on Radio Nepal reporting on the roles of the
King and the latest political crisis: also on the return of Gurkha peace-keepers
from Lebanon. Background noise of family conversation in Ramja Thanti.
(5:35)
2. News on
Day 2 of crisis
English language news a day later reporting on the continuing disruption
to parliament. (3:55)
3. News on
Day 3
Illustrating the in-fighting between parties, including the Communists.
(2:10)
4. The King
and diplomacy.
From the news on 16/3/96. Recorded on the verandah at Ramja Thanti.
(3:47)
5. Weather
bulletin for mountaineers
For 14/3/96-- that is for a day in spring -- forecasting wind direction
and velocity and air temperature at selected elevations. (1:01)
6. Mountain
Stream
Nourished by melting snows in spring. (0:50)
7. Driving
on mountain roads [See Video
Extract 24]
Sounds recorded on an over-crowded bus negotiating a winding road (with
a precipitous drop to one side) down the range from Pokhara, when overtaking
was suicidal, while the driver fiddled with his radio. (2:38)
8. Bird calls
in nesting season
Sound of quail-like birds in the Midlands. (0:49)
9. Birds life
on the Terai
A collage of calls recorded one morning in the Two Thousand Lakes National
Park (with some interference from wind). (5:36)
10. Elephant
rides [See Video
Extract 33]
Sound of tourists being loaded on to the backs of elephants in Royal
Chitwan National Park, for a tiger and rhino safari. (2:21)
Family Life in a Village
11. Women’s
work at break of day
Sounds of early morning household chores. While her sister-in-law went
for water, Bhagabati swept out the kitchen, working by candle-light, and
laid the fire. Some of the water was mixed with red soil to make a slurry
which was used to coat the floor of the kitchen and the entranceway. Water
was also poured for tea. (4:48)
12. Washing
clothes at spring [See Video
Extract 10]
Bhagabati does the laundry at a spring in Ramja Thanti. (0:57)
13. Nearby
ducks
Sound of the ducks herded nearby, watched over by children. (1:20)
14. Churning
butter
Paras’ father churns milk into butter (for 15 minutes) in the kitchen
prior to its clarification to produce ghee. (2:52)
15. Grinding
millet
Sounds of young girl grinding millet outside her back door, using a
quern which she rotates by hand. (1:41)
16. Flour
mill
Sound of rice being polished at a small mill near Ramja Thanti. It
also grinds wheat and millet. (1.34)
17. At home
of an evening
Typical evening at Paras’ home in Ramja Thanti, when friends call round
to talk and/or listen to the radio -- with its news of the latest political
crisis, music and commercials. (3:23)
18. Family
discussion
Paras, his wife and his parents converse in the evening on their verandah,
with their radio in the background. (2:36)
19. Light-hearted
exchange
Paras, his family and friends enjoy each other’s company at the end
of long day. (1:37)
20. Radio
and community
People gather at the homes of those lucky enough to own a radio that
works -- to talk, listen to music, and respond to the latest news from
Kathmandu (in this case of the King). (2:24)
21. Children
and radio
Children listen to the commercial jingles, folk and pop, and clap in
time in time to the music (more or less!) (3:30)
22. Cleaning
pots and pans [See Video
Extract 10]
The daughters-in-law scour cooking pots clean with ash from the fire.
(1:09)
23. Cooking
curry
Preparing the vegetables, tending the fire, and cooking the evening
meal. (1:49)
24. Pigeons needing
training
Instead of waking the household as they were supposed to do these pigeons
were rudely awakened by the children so I could record them! (0:55)
25. Game of
Dandibiawo [See Video
Extract 13]
The volume fluctuates as the player moves around using one stick to
keep the other spinning freely. (1:22)
26. House
construction [See Video
Extract 06]
Mixing clay mortar and using it to bed stones in position with hammer
in Brahman village. (1:55)
27. Pit-sawing
[See Video Extract
19]
Pit sawing of tree trunk into planks in a Tharu village. (1:38)
Farm Work
28. Ploughing
and harrowing [See Video
Extract 02]
A neighbour using oxen to plough and then harrow, moving up and down
his field. The women walk behind with long-handled mallets breaking up
any lumps that remain. The oxen are then fed and watered while another
man continues to plough nearby. (2:05)
29. Milking
buffalo
Paras’ father milks his buffalo at first light. (2:34)
30. Threshing
mustard [See Video
Extract 04]
In our farmyard at Ramja Thanti: underfoot (by two sets of feet) and
two people with flails. (1:46)
31. Planting
corn [See Video
Extract 02]
Oxen pull plough up and down the field. One woman walking behind the
plough drops seed into the furrow. Another with a long-handled mallet breaks
up clods and and helps cover the seed. (0:57)
32. Grazing
goats [See Video
Extract 05]
Children take goats to graze after school. (0:55)
33. Winnowing
mustard [See Video
Extract 04]
In our yard at Ramja Thanti, with flat-bottomed baskets but no wind.
(2:27)
34. Threshing
wheat [See Video
Extract 04]
With two flails, in the same yard. (2:43)
35. Harvesting
dhal [See Video
Extract 17]
Farm labourers harvesting dhal on the Terai, pulling the plant
out by the roots, and talking as they advance in line across the field.
36. Transplantation
of rice seedlings [See Video
Extract 18]
Women transplanting rice seedlings across a flooded field on the Terai
(with sound of farm machinery in background). (2:40)
37. Harrowing
of flooded field [See Video
Extract 18]
Wooden harrow pulled by oxen smoothing the surface of a flooded field
prior to the transplantation of rice seedlings-- which women can be heard
doing in the background. (1:57)
38. Water
released into rice field [See Video
Extract 18]
Sound of water flowing in main channel being released into a side channel
by the removal of an earth barrier, allowing it to drop to a lower level
and flood a rice field. (0:45)
39. Winnowing
of dhal [See Video
Extract 19]
In a light wind, in a Tharu villge. (1:32)
Family Life in Town
40. Rush hour
traffic [See Video
Extract 20]
Sound of rush hour traffic in the centre of Bharatpur. (2:37)
41. Soundscape
of family life [See Video
Extract 20]
Collage representative of family life in town of a late afternoon in
Bharatpur -- in one and a half rooms, and only a few metres from the highway.
While their mother prepares their evening meal in the space under the stairs,
with their radio in the background, the children play in the corridor,
their father arrives home, and traffic roars past on the highway. (5:44)
42. Children
doing their homework [See Video
Extract 20]
Bibek (age 10) and Binita (age 6) do their homework, reading aloud
from their school books (and committing the text to memory?) . Bibek’s
concerns government and Binita’s the nation’s flag. (1:37)
43. Children
play outside
Children play after school in the backyard of our house, only metres
from the highway between Kathmandu and India. (1:52)
44. Game of
carom [See Video
Extract 20]
Young men play carom (flicking flat counters across a board which has
corner pockets) at a local snack bar. (0:58)
45. Washing
clothes at backyard pump
Bhagabati does her laundry beside the (rather inefficient) pump in
her backyard. (1:51)
46. Pumping
Water [See Video
Extract 20]
Bhagabati pumps water for the house using the same pump in her backyard
after it had been repaired. ( 0:31)
47. Kerosene
stove
Bhagabati positions the stove, lights it, pumps it for pressure, produces
a suitable level of heat, and cooks upon it. (2:20)
48. Pressure
Cooker
Bhagabati prepares the evening meal using a kerosene stove and a pressure-cooker
(which releases steam from time to time). (2:11)
49. Women’s
Sewing Class [See Video
Extracts 20 and 33]
At the Chitwan Women’s Self-Help Group women from different castes
(notably Brahman) meet to learn how to sew clothes for their families.
On their arrival some women finish work on their projects: others chat
till the teacher begins the lesson. (2:27)
50. Closing
security screens
These ones, at the home of Bhagabati’s sister in Kathmandu, covered
windows as well as the doors. (0:42)
Trades and Industries
51. Cloth
merchant
Paras negotiating the purchase of cloth in Ramja Thanti for the tailor
to make into clothes for my teaching collection. (2:27)
52. Village
tailor [See Video
Extract 09]
This man had a workshop in the village and a treadle machine also.
(2:24)
53. Blacksmith’s
Workshop [See Video
Extract 09]
Edited extracts illustrating different stages in the finishing of a
steel blade. It is softened by heating in a “blast furnace” (with a mechanical
blower providing the blast of air). It is then worked with a hammer and
a file, reheated and hardened by quenching with cold water; and reworked
... several times.(2:24)
54. Blacksmith’s
son
His son finishes off a sickle, using a hammer, a file and mechanical
bellows to heat the steel. Saturday is his day off from school. (3:27)
55. Carpenter
[See Video
Extract 09]
Using an adze to shape a wooden plough-share. (0:58)
56. Textile
mill [See Video
Extract 25]
Mill in Bharatpur turning cotton yarn into towels and face cloths.
(1:04)
57. Sawmill
[See Video Extract
25]
Also in Bharatpur. Processing hardwoods. (1:36)
58. Potter
[See Video Extract
25]
He dumps a lump of clay at the centre of a large wheel (formed from
a truck’s tyre) and rotates it with a broom handle to set it spinning rapidly
as he worked the clay into pots. (0:59)
Schooling
59. Mathematics
lesson [See Video
Extract 11]
Maths lesson (algebra) underway at the school in Ramja Thanti. In the
background sounds of the class next door. (2:26)
60. Language
class
Instruction at Ramja Thanti, in which throughout the lesson children
learned by recitation and memorization. (2:14)
61. Interview
with headmaster
Extract from interview with the head teacher at Ramja Thanti, in which
he details the programs offered. (1:30)
62. School
choir [See Video
Extract 12]
Extracts from 3 songs which accompanied dances at a special assembly.
In the first, traditional boy meets traditional girl. In the second he
says: “Why tell me you are a traditional girl when you dress the way you
do?” The third is a tongue-in-cheek thanksgiving for “development” and
is hammed up by a now adult former student. (6:28)
63. Distribution
of boiled sweets
After the assembly and the concert, teachers distributed to 600 students
the sweets I had provided -- most from Australia but some bought locally
to ensure there was enough to go round. (1:32)
64. Game of
“Cat and Mouse” [See Video
Extract 13]
Recreational period in the yard of a small primary school distant from
Ramja Thanti. Some interference from wind. (1:44)
65. Game of
“Kapardi” [See Video
Extract 13]
A form of tag in which students, allowed a single breath and chanting
a warning sound, invaded the territory of the opposition till they had
no air left in their lungs. Interference from wind and carpenter working
in background. (2:11)
66. Grade
3 class song
Grade 3 students at a small primary school sing their class song. (1:23)
67. In-service
teacher training [See Video
Extract 21]
Training day at Bharatpur for secondary level English language teachers.
(1:58)
68. Student
prepares for exam
Bibek (aged 10), with help from his father Paras, rehearses some of
the answers for tomorrow’s three-hour-long Social Studies test. (3:04)
69. Secondary
Social Studies [See Video
Extract 21]
Paras’ brother Bhim teaching a lesson on Albert Schweitzer at a private
English language school near Bharatpur. (1:29)
Forms of Music and Dance
70. Wedding
Music : 1 [See Video
Extract 7]
Continuous sequence of pieces from a dance cycle that lasted most of
the day: illustrating the shortness of the intervals between dances and
the corresponding demands placed on performers. With drums and horns --long
and short. (4:58)
71. Wedding
Music : 2
Another sequence that morning; illustrating variations in instrumentation
and rhythm. (2:28)
72. Wedding
Music : 3
Sequence illustrating the importance of the vocal component in what
appears to be a cycle of songs/dances prescribed for such an occasion.
(2:04)
73. Wedding
Music : 4
Faster piece, introduced by a dancer who has performed most of the
day and is clearly short of breath. (0:57)
74. Wedding
Music : 5
Late in the day, when the dancers make one last effort and are cheered
accordingly. (0:56)
75. Folk music
broadcast
Collage of 3 folk songs broadcast by Radio Nepal on 19/3/96.
The third song serves as the station’s theme tune and ends with a time
signal. Programs are sometimes received clearly at Ramja Thanti, sometimes
with a degree of distortion. (6:52)
76. Second
folk music collage
A second bracket of three traditional Himalayan songs. (7:56)
77. Pop music
: 1
Romantic piece (male solo) broadcast on 14/496. (2:35)
78. Pop music:
2
Radio disc jockey introduces a piece that clearly bridges cultures
and musical traditions. (3:19)
79. Rock music
requests
The conclusion of a pop music requests program on Radio Nepal -- “When
love and hate collide”. (5:16)
80. Nepalese
“Rock” star
Extracts from “Kiss Me” by AASHA, a singer who rose to fame in the
1990s. (3:49)
Religion and Ritual
81. Priest
lifting a curse
Brahman priest lifting the curse believed to have been laid by a local
soothsayer on the store of a man in Ramja Thanti. (4:23)
82. Wedding
: 1 [See Video
Extract 7]
Crowd sounds at close of gift-giving and start of wedding ceremony
(including my friend’s answer to my question why the bride was less
than radiant). (2:20)
83. Wedding
: 2
Sanskrit chanting of Brahman priest early in the ceremony, notwithstanding
the noise of people shouting close by and dancing in the distance. (3:40)
84. Wedding
: 3 [See Video
Extract 8]
Sanskrit chanting somewhat later in the ceremony at the time gifts
were made to the groom, and his present to his bride (a luggage case full
of clothes and jewelry) was handed over with due ceremony. (5:47)
85. Wedding
: 4
After the ceremony the procession (approaching and passing my tape
recorder) climbs the hill behind the house of the bride -- who (from her
tears) is clearly distressed at having to leave her own village and move
to that of a man she hardly knows (her parents having arranged the marriage).
86. Naming
ceremony of baby :1
Sanskrit chanting of Brahman priest preparing offerings for the naming
of a new-born baby; with the sound of a radio in background and that of
the child’s family preparing a celebratory meal. (3:18)
87. Naming
ceremony of baby : 2
Priest chants during the actual ceremony, just prior to the baby’s
exit from the house and while he consults his star chart to determine an
appropriate first name -- accompanied by the crackling of a small ceremonial
fire and the burning of incense. (5:27)
88. Wayside
shrine
Paras rings the bells at a wayside shrine. (0:55)
89. Chant
of widows at Devghat [See Video
Extract 28]
Brief extract from chant of elderly widows (and priest) at a temple
in Devghat -- in praise of the god Ram. (3:40)
90. Hindu
temple bell
Priest rings the bell at this temple. (1:02)
91. Chant
in praise of Krishna
Chant (with rattle and small cymbals) at a different temple in Devghat.
(2:40)
92. Priests
in training [See Video
Extract 28]
Brahman boys, training to be priests, read and chant in Sanskrit the
texts of Hindu holy books at Devghat. Briefest of extracts! (2:39)
93. Kasara
and Bikram Baba [See Video
Extract 30]
Sound of pilgrims/devotees processing around the shrine at the tree
where the image of Bikram Baba was unearthed. (2:38)
94. Countering
evil spirits
Soothsayer-cum-shaman sounds his horn and chants outside our house
in Bharatpur under cover of darkness to free its occupants (for a small
fee) from the power of evil spirits on the eve of Little Dasain. Sound
of highway in background. (2:35)
95. Worship
at Kalika Mandir [See Video
Clip 29]
A constant stream of devotees climbs the hill to worship at the temple.
When they leave they ring the bell. Also sounds of chicken sacrificed and
music broadcast over loud speakers. (3:42)
96. Prayer
wheels [See Video
Extract 32]
Prayer wheels being spun by pilgrims alongside the stupa at Swayambhunath.
(0:54)
97. Buddhist
temple bell
Sound of bell at Swayambhunath. (0:32)
98. Devotees
at Swayambhunath [See Video
Extract 32]
Sound of crowd lined up inside the temple precinct. (2:51)
99. Cremation
at Pashupatinath [See Video
Extract 31]
Distant hum of pilgrims and tourists visiting Pashupatinath, of families
preparing bodies for cremation, and of mourners grieving. A widow
and her daughters mourn the loss of a husband and father, as his body is
moved to the funeral pyre. (3:30)
100. Personal
devotions : 1 [See Video
Extract 15]
An elderly Brahman gentleman fulfills his morning devotions squatting
on the path in front of our house in Ramja Thanti. Brief extract only.
(3:21)
101. Personal
devotions : 2
Bhagabati worships at the shrine in her little kitchen under the stairs
in our house in Bharatpur. (2:37)
102. Personal
Devotions : 3
End of prayer offered by Bhagabati’s brother-in-law in the room reserved
for daily puja at their house in Kathmandu (before he leaves for work in
the morning) with his wife in the background waiting her turn. (2:28)
103: Personal
Devotions : 4 [See Video
Extract 27]
His wife re-arranges the sacred objects in their private shrine which
she then uses in offering daily puja. Extract only. (3:38)
