31 30
Local Development: Grasses and People Tharu. With the eSlablishmena of t.he izationofthe autochthonous Inhabltanu in Royal Chitwan National Park. Nepal. Nllional Park and the prohibition or and prevent illesalencroachmenton the Oldfield, H.A.. 1880 Sketches from EnviroDmenla/ Conservalion 15: 113- iratins in the forest, the nu mber cat protected areas. Nepll. 2 Vols. (Reprint 1971) Delhi. or 118. tle declined drutically, In some villases by 80S. The animals starved to death. References Regmi, M.C. 1976. Landownership 10 Mishra. H.R. 1982. Balancing Human The rarmer now hct-a lack of duns and Conway. D. & Shrestha, N.R. 1985. Issues Nepal. Berkeley and Los Angeles: Uni Needs and Conservation on Nepal's of workins animals. Because of pro in Population Pressure. Land Seule versity of California Press. Royal Chitwan National Park. A mbio 6: blems in collectins firewood - it has to ment, and Development: The Case of 216-257. be stolen - more and more duni is used Nepal. Studies in Comparafive Internlj Regmi. M.C. 1978. Thatched Huts and u fuel , The increase in t.he populllion or lional Development 5 (2): 55-82. Stucco Palaces. Peasants and Landlords Mishra. H.R 1990. A Wild World that is wildlife has caused the Tharu to surrer in 19th Cenlury Nepal. New Delhi. no More. Himal Se pt./Oct.: 11 · 15 . loss 0( barvest and of Ilvestoclc for w hich Edds, D.R. 1986. The fuhes or Royal there Is no compensation. The reiular Chitawan National Park. journal 0/ Spillell, j.J. 1967. A Report on the Wild Muller-Boker. Ulrike 19 91a. Elhnobo collection of edible and medicinal Natural Hillory Museum (Kathmandu) life Surveys in Northern India and tanical Studies amoni the Citawan plants. of materials for makins houses 10 (1-'0: 1-12. Southern Nepal. Ja nuary - June 19 66. Tharus. journal of Ihe Nepal Research and household items,has become nearly journal of Bomb;,y Nalural Hislory Ce nter 9. In Press. lm possible (M uller -Boker, I 99 I a). Gee, E.P. 1959. Report on a Survey of the Society 63 (3): <192 -628. h is the Tharus in particular who Rhinoceros Area of Nepal. Ory~ 5 Muller-Boker, U. 199 1b . Knowledge and bave beensreatly affected by the loss of (March/April): 5 1-85, Stracey. P.D. 1957. On the St atus of the Eva luation of the Environ ment in Tradi access to land ntensively used in the Great Indian Rhinoceros (R. unicorni,) tional Societies of Nepal. Mountain past. In the race of their immediate Gu rung. H. 1981. Nepal: Dimensions 0/ in Nepal. journal of Bombay Natural ResearcbandDevelopment II (21: 101 - problems 0( survival, one can under Deve/opmenl. Kathmandu. Hillory Society 51: 763-766. 111. stand why tbey close their ears to arsu menU supportinsthe preservation of a Gurung. K.K. 1983. Heart of Ihe jungle: biotope and the protection of endan The Wildlife ofChinvan, Nepal. London. INTERVIEW iered wildHfc. For the Tharut the fOrtst is not only an important economic Haffner. W. 1979. Nepal Hi maJa ya. ReorientaUon at the Royal Nepal Academy: resource, it is also their form of econ Unrersuchungen zum verfika/en Land An interview with Vice-Chancellor Pro(. Isvar Banl omy, tbelr way of life and cultural iden schaflsaufbPanchayat system because of his demo Western ecolosists who see the forest fifties , because this would have cratic credentials, but last summer. and savannas as a livins space for wild Jefferies. M. " Mishra. H.R. 1991. Royal committed him to the School of Interna after the reSlocation of mull.i-party animahonlY,one inwhich the Tharus no Chilwan N;,rion;,1 Park. Wildlife Heri tional Studies (515) in New Delhi, which democracy, when Prof. lsvar Baraicame lonier have a place. lage of Nepal. The Mountaineers. had arransed for the scholarship. for a - as usual-lohis home country forvaca· The ecoloaically sensible decision Seattle , Auckland. fUrther five years · and he intended to tion.he WIS made Vice-Chancellor of the to protect and conserve vast areas of go back toNe pal. The pollticalchangeJ in Royal Nepal Academy. (The post of Citawan contradicts the infrastructural Kansakar. V.S.5. 1979. Effectiveness 0/ 1960, however. put an end to this plan, Chancellor has remained vacant since development and the opening of the Planned Reselllemenl Programme in so he went to London to get his Ph .D. the restructuring of the Academy). region to people from tbe ouuide. Tbe Nepal. 2 Vols. (Tribhuvan Universi ty). from SOAS and eventUall y stayed in When he wrote his doctoral thesis Tharus Ire the victims of a twotold Kathmandu: CEDA . Delhi, where he taught south Asian poli on The Life and Writings of Prilhv; Na dispossession. On ly a conservation lics and the history of modern Nepal at raran Shah in London under the su per management which involves the needs K.inloch. A.A. 1885. Large Game the 515 (jawaharJal Nehru University) vision of the late T.W. Clark. he used the of the local population. providinsthem Shooling in Tibel. Ihe Himalayas. and for what came to be 3<1 years. For a long archiVes of the India Orrice Library and with effective support. can counter the NorlherD India. Calcutta. time he had been in l.he bad books of the became · as he recounted • ~ th e first srowlnS impoverishment and criminal- Sbarma. U.R. 1988. National Parks and 32 33 person in t he world who has seen all the 'The first thing I had lodo here was Slaged. We included two languages this agricultural seasons etc. A sked whether volumes of the Hodgson papers from - how dowe say? - spring cleaning." This year. other than Nepali - Newari and these sonss will also be recorded and cover to cover· and the first Nepali of implied stock - taking of previous com Maithili, Nell year we will include two published later, Pro£. Baral affirmed course." Besides being a distinguished mitments and liabilities. For elample , other languages. So in this way all the that this is intended. Summins up he scholar in the rields of history and polit bills for the printins of books had to be languages wilJ be given a chance as best continued: "So we are trying our best at ical science, Isvar Baral is well-known paid, which n o lonser reflected the as possible." new things which previously had nOt as an authority on Nepali li terature (for policy of the Academy. The case of the For this drama festival, which was been taken up, As you asked earlier , enmple as ediLOr of ·]hyilbata'", employees had to be taken up, as there scheduled for 26th September, already certainly 1 thousht there would be very '" Himalcu!i', '"Sayapati", '"Mohan Koi~i had been "anomalies" in their appoint · more than 150 scr ipts of non- proCes e::rciting things for me, 10 make innova laka Kavita'", etc.) - and as a writer, He is ment, stasnation in their salaries and sional drama sroups, literary orsanisa tions and to depart from the norm , the also a linguist, well versed in the Sansk academic sradins, etc. And thirdly, the tions etc. have been submitted. The best normal activities, and to contribute rit language and literature, and speaks financial situation had to be reviewed: presentations will be awarded prizes. something to the cultural environment fluently Hindi, Maithili, Bengali and as the sovernmenl no longer provided a Another change concerns the of the country. So I thought an opportu Bhojpuri, developmental fund of two million and "research fellowships" awarded by the nity had been given to me," Asked for the reasons for taking up the increment of salaries took up one Academy, Previously. these fellowships The "opening up" of the Royal his present post, Prof. Baral replied that million. The Academy faced a decrease were mostly given for creative writing, Academy' s activities la a wider field of it was his long-standing interest in of three million rupees in its budget. to essayists, poets, novelists. But now, interests also creates a bigger ground history on the one hand, and literature We then turned 10 the question of true to their name, they will be strictly for possible coll aboration with foreign on the other, that made the job attrac resuuCluring the academic activities. siven for scientific and methodologi scholars and institutions. When we tive to him. He went on to elplain that What kind of shift had taken place in the cally sound research only. came to that point towards Ihe end of the Royal Academy is meant primarily orientation of the Academy' s projects? This does not mean, however, that our talk Pror. Baral stressed the neces for the development of five branches of "We made certain innovations. creative writing will no longer be sity to keep each other informed and knowledge: language, literature, culture First we included studies regarding promoted. The Vice-Chancellor emp ha ~ initiate "m utual cooperation and an (which includes history), art (painting, different languages in the country, not sized that the Academy will continue to elchange of ideas:' music and drama), and philosophy, only Nepali. Previously, only NepaJi was support the publication of creative writ But later on he pointed out that at being encouraged, only stUdies and ing, ... "but they must be of a standard. (Interview held on 19th August, 1991l first he had had reservations: '" I was not books in Nepali were being published. Thus, if somebody wants 10 publish an very enthusiastic in accepting this jOb, And all the activities were rela ted to the anthology of poems, for example, it has primarily because I have leH a few Nepali language. We modified thai, and to be seen what par ticular contribution Current and Projected Language Pro things in complete, writings: I have a our activities now are related to other these poems are soing to make to the jects of the Royal Nepal Academy p lan of publishing about 15 books, 7 are languages also:' development of Nepali poetry." in the last stage of completion. My plan Pro!. Baral then went on to elplain Apart from such shirts in the Limbu was to retire early from Jawaharlal the newly started projeclS on four emphasis new projeclS will also be I. Study on Limbu Language, Literature Nehru University and devote the rest of languases (other than Nepali): Limbu, intrOduced. In the beginning of and Culture: The major objective of this life to full time writing. Now I don' t get Mailhili, Bhojpuri and Newari (for February 1992 a Festival of the People project is to collect materials on Limbu the time. So this is a great loss to me, that details see below). Later on, he (Jokotsava) is going to be held. which is oral tradition and publish them in de· is why I was not very enthusiastic. But continued,other languages, such as Ma · meant for the presentation of folk songs, vanagarTscript with Nepali translitera secondly there was the challenge - the gar, Tamang, and Guruns, wiiJ be "sonss of the tribal people of different tion, Several books ar e in preparation: challenge to strengthen the foundations included in the programme. languages, not modern songs, only such I) short introduction to the Limbu of democracy in the country through the A similar shift of emphasis has songs which are part and parcel of the language and literature (this is already activities of the Royal Academy." taken place in other activities, like the cU lturallifeof the people." The plan is to completed and is to be published in This challenge was the central performance of dramas. sroup these presentations according to 19 92: 2) collection of folk songs and theme of our talk. When I asked h im '" Every year a drama festival was different genres, such as heroic ballads tales: 3) collection of proverbs and about the major changes in the set-up of held here in which only Nepali dramas (like those of the Gaine), songs pertinent idioms (fieldwork for this will start in the Academy, Prof. Baralfirst elplained were stased for a week or so.Sothis time 10 women (like those sung on Tij), or 1991- 1992: 4) studies on the mund some administrative problems he faced: dramas in other languages also will be relatins to certain religious festivals, or hum (one r itual ten. sung by a phe- " dlngm3 Cor the bendit oC a preanant standard Maithili. but a lso van ant RESEARCH REPORTS motber and her npected child , has dialects (like those close to the border been recorded and edited by Vairaai with Bhojpuri speakers) will be Group Pro!ecta a set oC maps displaying the basic Kabila and is presently in press). included. as Iona as diHerent words are geoaraphical features of the districts. 2. Limbu-Nepali-Enalish Dictionary: in usage. (If the diHerence is only In Gulmi " Arlba-t:banci inler- Twelve junior researchers spent This is a reedition or the dictionary spellina. the standard spellina will be disciplinary PrOleam me between 6 and 18 months in field wbich was oriainaUy compiled by I.S. aiven). Since late 1911:5 the Centre National de la surveys and provided the bulk or infor Chemjona and published by the Chief editor: Prof. Dr . Haridev a Mlshra Recherche Scientifique and the Institut mation on the area. In addition. they Academy (1961/62). Tbe new edition Commiuee: Pro!. Ramawuar Yadav. National de la Rechercbe Alronomique used these materials for their doctoral will be revised a.nd enlaraed. Dr. A..N. Chaudhari, Dr. Bal {rishna jha have been conductini inter-discipli degrees in Ecology (L. Redaud. C. Chier editor: Vairaai hbila 2. Nepali-Mait.hili Dictionary. ThiS nary research in two districts of mid Michaudl. Social Anthropoloay (M Commillee: Dr. Subhadra Subba. Dr. dictionary is desilned Cor Nepal! western Nepal: Gulmi and Arlha Lecomte-Tilouine, P. Ramirez) a.nd Navet "isor Rai. Bikram Inawaba speakers who want to learn the !Chanci. The program me was under Asronomy. Water-management and Ne"ari Maithili lansuage. It will be based on taken under ageneralCultural Coopera Asro-economy (j. Assie. O. Aubriol. J.P. History oC Newari Literature (in Nepali). dictionaries which are already tion Agreement between the Nepalese Fontenelle. C. Knepfler. P. de Verdieres. This will be th e first comprehensive published and therefore will not and French governments. Further, the j. Anddeu. N. Sibelet. F. Segala). Fur history of Newari writina coverins the involve field-work. Laler it will be CN RS team was affiliated to the Royal thermore seven post-doctoral and various periods and ienres in the lisht supplemented by a gram mar in Nepali. Nepal Academy. The research was senior scholars undertook studies in oC chanaina POlitical contests. The Chief editor: Prof. Dr. Isvar Bar al supposed to help in the preparation of particular fields: J. Smadja (human volume oC approsimately 700-800 Committee: Dr . Yogendra Yadav. Ram B. an EEC development project scheduled atoaraphy I. G. Kraussk.opCr (stUd y of the pages is planned to be published in tapadi. Dr. Ra jendra Vimal in the same area. The decision to choose Kumhal potter-fishermen), C. Panter about three years. 3. Representative Collection of Malthili these two particular districts was taken Brick. (tabour relations). Y. Houdard and Chief editor: Krishna Chandra Sinah Writings. An anthology will be by HMG. j. Bonnemaire (agriculture). J.P. Derron Pradhan prepared in two volumes,one focusing For the CNRS and INR A. this project taines (land use) and G. Torrin {Oasainl. Com millee: Narmadesvar Prasad on prose, the other on poetry. The was their second inter-disciplinary C. Jest e.ttensively toured t.he districts Pradnan, Dr . Jauk Man Vaidya, Lashi coiiection is intended 10 represenllhe endeavour in Nepal, following a joint and monitored the work of junior nath Tamol. Madhav Lal "armacharya. whole history of Maitbili litenlUre programme conducted in 19111-113 in researchers. R.R. Subedi of T.U. History Nepall Crom earliest times up to the present Salme village. Nuwakot District. DepL collected available manuscripts Dictionary or Literary Terms (in Nepali) and will inClude various literary However, Gulmi and Ariha-Khanci was and historical data. The compilation or this dictionary is - genres (also short-stories, essays. the first undertakinlat a relionallevel. Gulmi and Argba-tbanci (600 000 amona ot.her tbinas - intended to Cacili literary criticism, narrative poetry The Salme and Gulmi program mes were inhbts., 2500 kmll are situated in the tate the understandina of and commu etc'! Use will also be made or manu both conducted under the GRECO-Hima heavy populated middle hills (1100 - nication with the western tradition of scripts kept by tbe National Archives. laya. an inter-disciplinary structure 2000 m) to the west of the tali Ga ndak i. literary blstory and criticism. The text will be presented with an involving nu merous French researchers inhibited mlinly by Nepali-speakinl Cb ieC editor: Krlsbna Cbandra Sinsh introduction about the authors (u far working on the Himalayas. HindUS: Bahun. Chetri. Thakuri. bmi, Pradhan as possible). A glossary of obsolete Till now. some 30 persons have Sarki. Damai. Gai ne. Tibeto-Burmese M altbili terms is 10 be attached. contributed to the Gu lm i-Argha-Khanci groups, Magar and Gurung. represent I. Maithili-Nepali Dictionary. The plan is Chief editors: Dr. Dhireswar jha (Prose. programme. for various lengths of time. less than 151 of the total population, to first publish a concise dictionary with Parameswar Pr as ad Singh (Poetry) Sil major fields of study were covered: and they generall y use Nepali as their about 3:5 .000 entries. Later this will be Bbojpuri geography. ecology. agronomy. rural mother tonRue. Before 1804. the area enlarged up to 60.000 words or more. Grammar of Bhojpuri. FOr t.his project a economy. history and social anthro was divided into sit Thakuri principali Three collectors will be deputed to committee has been formed with pology. Moreover. specialists in remote ties. (ounded in the early 16th century three different areas in Nepal: one in Prof.lsvar Baral as president and sensing helped in the collection of dau. and more or less under the suzerainety MahOllari and Sarlahi, the second in Dhanush Chandra Gauum. jagdis h and the Topographical Sur vey Depart of neighbouring Patpa. janakpur. the third will be in Siraha and Sbarma, Uma Shankar Dvivedi and Dr. ment (HM G) issued a ~ Baseline survey ~. Saptari (up to Rajbiraj). Thus. not only Dhruba Chandra Gautam as members.
