Shaktikhor is on Sulitar, a community radio run by people from the Chepang community – 'Own Radio FM 87.6 MHz'. The station manager is Shivakumari Chepang. Shivakumari is not only in charge of FM, she has also taken up the responsibility of narrating the folk tales of the community from elders.
What you should know
Bhirpakha is located in Shaktikhor gavis of Savik, which is located in the north-central region of Chitwan, along with some plains. This is the main market for shopping in the hilly side of Siddi. In other hilly areas, southern Choso of Kaul and the west side of Chandibhanjang and Dahakhani are also conducted in Shaktikhor. Chepang, a very marginalized tribal group, live in these hillocks.
is on Shaktikhor Sulitar, a community radio run by people from the Chepang community – 'Own Radio FM 87.6 MHz'. Mangalsingh Praja Chepang is the president of this radio and the station manager is Shivakumari Chepang. Shivakumari is not only in charge of FM, she has also taken up the responsibility of narrating folk tales of her community from elders.
Chepang language word 'Winrai' means folk story. Shiva Kumari has already met Gayasingh Praja Chepang of Siddhi Tin Dobhan Lalibang. I went to meet Gayasingh after he said he knew Vinrai. He said that his father and grandfather used to recite Vinrai and he also knows some. After that I asked him to tell me his prayers,' said Sivakumari.
narrated by Gayasingh was played in two parts on Vinrai FM. Gayasingh narrated a folk tale of a husband, son and stepmother. "Now I am looking for another Chepang baje," said Shivakumari, "to tell the outside world that folk tales were popular in their community." I believe that some original stories will come out while searching.'
Even though it is difficult to meet Vinrai, which covers the original topic of Chepang, Shivakumari says that she will continue to try. According to him, Winrai is an asset of the Chepang community. She wants it protected.
This FM was opened on 1 August 2078. In 2057, the 'Praja Ekta Utthan Samaj', which was opened by Chepang community members, operated the FM. Mangalsingh, president of the society, said that the FM was launched with the help of an organization in Lalitpur. The world that is immersed in information technology is now adopting AI. But having and listening to the radio is still a dream for many Chepangs, he says, "For many, all kinds of information and news from the world can be obtained immediately with one click on the mobile phone set, but many Chepangs still do not have a mobile phone in the hands of many Chepangs in the hills of our villages." Mangalsingh informed that
100 watt FM is heard not only in Shaktikhor and the surrounding hilly areas but also in the western hills of Makwanpur, eastern areas of Nawalpur and southern areas of Gorkha Dhading. According to him, the radio has been playing continuously for 17 hours from 6 am. Apart from Chepang language news at 5pm, there were not many Chepang-centric programs on the radio.
After seven days of training, we started working in radio. We focused more on technical issues rather than content and program production. "After Chepang's radio, we started thinking about whether we should add Chepang's program," Shivakumari said. The
started only in Vinrai Saun. There is another program about the Chepang caste. Various materials and books written about Chepang are narrated in it. Shiv Kumari, who came to Shaktikhor from Makwanpur Raksirang to study class 11, stopped here after Mangalsingh, who is related to Shiv Kumari, was about to start FM. Vinrai thinks that time can be used for a long time. I am looking for Vinrai not only from Shaktikhor and its surroundings but also outside Chitwan," she said.
Sandhya Khatri from outside the Chepang community is also working in FM, which is staffed by five employees. Chairman Mangalsingh says that many employees could not be hired due to lack of good sources of income. "We are trying to create a mobile application of FM and make it listenable all over the world through the Internet," he said, "We want to tell the story of Chepang not only to Chepang but also to others." Therefore, he is also planning to distribute radio sets to listen to FM. He said that there is a plan to distribute 50 radios that can be charged by solar, can hold batteries and can also be charged by electricity. "That radio will also be able to turn on lights in the dark," he said.
