Happy Dasain! It's a ten-day long family event. People try to get home. everything shuts down, the government takes a weeklong holiday. Kathmandu empties out. And yes, flying a kite from the roof ( ala the book Kite Runner) is a tradition.
There will be a bit of political news and some terrific video links today, but they'll go below the fold. People who read my books and who look at these diaries tell me they love the little cultural tidbits. (thank you!) so today I'll share something you may not have considered. It's going to meander a bit.... aja ghumgam ho!
The price of mutton is going up
Nepal is a Hindu country. Yes, there's a high number of Buddhists, and also a Muslim population, but it was the last Hindu Kingdom on the planet until 2008. The King was regarded as an incarnation of Vishnu, by the faithful. Many are vegetarians, but mutton is widely eaten during Dasain.
Yesterday I relayed the news that the price of mutton was going up.
Oct 8, 2015- Supply of goats in the Capital for the upcoming Dashain festival has steadily gone down due to the protracted unrest in the Tarai region and the fuel crisis caused by India’s unofficial trade embargo.
Sacrificing goat is an integral part of Dashain celebrations, a ten-day festival that begins in a week.
Spokesperson at the state owned Nepal Food Corporation (NFC) Shree Mani Raj Khanal stated that they will not be able to supply adequate number of goats to the Valley in time for the festival. “Around 45,000 goats are usually needed during Dashain. However, we will only be able to supply half the number due to the unrest in Tarai.” The Tarai belt and India are two major suppliers of goats.
Dasain
We are on the verge of Dasain, the biggest Hindu festival of the year, a ten-day extravaganza. Because of the blockade/non-blockade/stoppage/protests/andolan/bandh/whateveryou wannacallitbutcargoain'tgettingthrough, not every family that wants a goat will get one.
As respite, he said that the NFC is all set to bring around a thousand changras from Mustang to Kathmandu for the festival. “We are managing fuel to transport them from Mustang.
It is easier to bring in changras from there since we do not have any hassles on the way,” said Khanal . NFC officials also said they will be importing goats from easily accessible districts such as Dhading, Kavre and Bhaktapur.
That supply would however not even meet a third of the demand in the Valley.
Sacrificing goat to goddess Durga and enjoying a variety of meat items with family members and friends are major parts of Dashain festival.
Moreover, with this short supply of goats, its prices are likely to escalate. A live goat generally costs around Rs420-450 per kg. But this time around, traders say, it may cost over Rs600 per kg.
What is a rupee?
a rupee is currency ("nrs" for Nepali Rupee). Right now the exchange rate is about 104 rupees (nrs) to the US Dollar (USD).
what is a kilogram?
2.2 pounds. Hate to sound retro, but I always convert stuff to US system when figuring value.
so, 450 nrs per kg is about two USD per pound. For a live goat. An old goat is not so tasty, and generally the ones you get at the "fresh shop" are male. It's economical to harvest this year's crop of young male goats before winter, because winter fodder is more expensive. Most goats are not free-range goats.
The typical goat is 17 kg (37.4 pounds). Let's say you buy a goat on the hoof. 17 kg @450/kg = 7,650 nrs. ( or, about $ 82)When the price goes up, it's 17 kg @ 600 = 10,200 nrs (about $115).
Adding in wastage
Very little is wasted. But, if you figure that 24% is waste, then about 9 kg is not eaten (bones, skull, hooves). For the 27 kg that remains, the price of mutton works out to about 4 USD per kg; that's 2 USD per pound.
Price relative to wages
This is a month's wages for many typical Nepali workers. At the lowest end of the wage scale, some Nepali laborers only get 20 nrs per hour. Fortunately it would be shared as food portions between many members of a family. There is wastage - bones, hoofs, entrails, etc - we'll get into that later, but for now the main thing to know is, whoever buys the goat has to save up. For a minimum wage laborer, 2 USD per pound is - working an entire day for a pound of meat.
Tidbits about Mutton
Mutton (goat) is usually served in some kind of curry or stew. It's often chopped up into morsels using a special knife. They don't fillet the meat. There will be shards of bone, sometimes quite sharp, in the stew. Cutting it this way is actually prohibited by health regulations in USA, due to the incidence of swallowing a bone; in the emergency rooms of Nepal it's common for a patient to arrive with a bone shard in their esophagus. so - chew mindfully!
In rural areas they do not necessarily butcher mutton every day. They will often only do it on Tuesday and Saturday, to make sure they can sell 100% of the supply.
Mutton meat is lean. The butcher will remove the hair from the hide, but most often the stew will include little cubes where pieces of the hide are attached to the meat. These are like chewing on a large pencil eraser.
you can chew all day but it won't break up into smaller pieces.
Meat refrigeration is not widespread in Nepal
The system is not centralized. Any given neighborhood will have a "fresh shop." chickens and ducks also arrive live. They only kill what will be sold that day. In the mornings or late in the evenings, it's not unusual to come across a herd of goats strung together, being moved through the streets, even in Kathmandu.
The offal such as entrails, will be fed to the local dogs. There are always dogs hanging around any given fresh shop. Their coats are shiny.
Phokso
There is a Newar delicacy called "phokso" which is served around the time of Dasain, made of fried goat lung. Because of phokso, I learned more about the system for goat meat. In the classes I teach to nurses and doctors, I usually include an anatomy lab, dissecting a heart and lungs "en bloc." to get the supplies includes buying en bloc goat heart & lung assemblies from various fresh shops.
Nurses in Nepal do not generally get a hands-on anatomy class in nursing school. To visualize cardiac structures is an important skill in critical care. The anatomy lab of my classes is a highlight for many. I once had a person who viewed this photo ask if it was from a person. heck no! this is from a young goat!
Usually at least one class member would share how their family makes phokso from the lungs. For those of you who are curious, here is a step-by-step pictorial recipe!
Phokso, from the site linked below. I confess I have never actually tried it, but it is considered to be a traditional delicacy.
But I digress.
As the nation continues to suffer from shortage of basic daily food items as well, Khanal requested Valley citizens to opt for an alternate choice of meat this Dashain. “Since goat meat is nevertheless a luxury, we kindly urge people to go for an alternative,” said Khanal.
This time of the year, popular goat trading areas such as the Khasi bazaars in Kalanki, Bajbazaar, Bijulibazaar and Balaju Bypass would generally be abuzz with customers. However, with less than a week to go for the most cherished festival of the country, these areas wear a deserted look.
Jeevan Khatiwoda, coordinator at Kathmandu Chupaya Kharidbikri Pvt in Kalanki, predicts severe losses due to the shortage of goat supply this year. “Our business has gone down. Hotels and restaurants where goat meat would be supplied are already closed anyway. And people in the Valley are more concerned about basic needs such as food, cooking oil, rice and vegetables.”http://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2015-10-08/goat-supply-to-come-down.html">
I anxiously await a microeconomic critique from Paul Krugman. They say he reads DailyKOS. The GDP of Nepal is now predicted to be slower than they thought it would be, and inflation is predicted to end up at 9% for this year, according to a revision of the forecast from the
Asian Development Bank.
Because it's such a big holiday, the music industry of Nepal cranks out music videos each year. Here is one I liked. It shows the usual activities and family focus of dasain. You will hear this genre of music at full blast, on any bus you ride, throughout Nepal.
Al Jazeera English
Al Jazeera posted a video news report about the food shortages in Kathmandu, but it's on YouTube which is blocked in USA. these news reports are generally excellent, when I see that it's been reposted on Vimeo which does get through, I'll post the link.
Oh, and there's political news. step below the fold and we'll catch up on that too!
First, at the tail end of yesterday, there was news from Birgunj that some very different groups of people were assembling for a rally. I was worried that this would lead to violence.
Solidarity
Turns out that it was a unity/solidarity rally, and some reports said that 100,000 people attended. Here is the first video It's less than a minute long and it gives the flavor.
Here is the second, with English subtitles. The description on YouTube reads:
Published on Oct 10, 2015 Birgunj cherishes its diversity as people from all walks of life, including Pahadi communities come together to voice their dissents loudly. Thousands of people from different ethnicities gathered to demonstrate against the constitution and express their solidarity with the ongoing Madhesh Movement.
Birgunj has been a flashpoint. It seems to me as though the leaders of the Terai Andolan have meticulously worked to build solidarity. It will not be possible for the Kathmandu government to use the Army or Armed Police Force to subdue this. I'm sure that every person there knows that the success of their movement depends on the ability to control traffic from India to Kathmandu.
New Prime Minister of Nepal, K P Sharma Oli.
K P Sharma Oli, 38th Prime Minster of Nepal. Elected Oct 11th 2015. I don't usually post photos of politicians on this diary, nor do I relay the various opinions of personalities, though there are certainly plenty to go around. Everyone has already dissected his positions ad nauseum. Hey - Let's hope that he succeeds in putting the country back together after the earthquake and the protests!
This news actually consumed most of Twitter in Nepal. The new constitution required that Sushil Koirala vacate the office of Prime Minister and a new election held in parliament. The winner was K P Sharma Oli. Here is a summary of his political background.
KATHMANDU, Oct 11: Newly elected Prime Minister Oli has been involved in politics since 1966 after being influenced by Marxism-Leninism. Member of Communist Party of Nepal in Feb-1970, he became the member of area committee in 1970. He started and was involved in underground politics against autocratic party-less Panchayat System in 1970. He was arrested for the first time in 1970. - See more at: http://myrepublica.com/...
There are two facts I will share. First he is a kidney transplant recipient. second, as a Communist, he spent fourteen years of his life in prison in Nepal during the monarchy.
One of his first acts was to receive a congratulatory phone call from Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India.
Happy Dasain!
This will surely be a memorable Dasain in Nepal. The protests will continue, with just enough pressure released to allow the holiday to happen. It reminds me of The Charlie Brown Christmas Special - finding the truest deepest meaning of the holiday during stressful times.
Winter will come, I'll do a future diary on the day-to-day grind of winter in a country where nobody has central heat in their concrete house. The earthquake victims in the hills await any kind of aid. The people of Terai are united in their demand for equality and one-person-one-vote. Continued food shortages and inflation await.
6:02 AM PT: *************
UPDATE: Here is the link to the New York Times coverage of the new P.M. http://www.nytimes.com/... I thought it was good summary of the issues.