In Chhekam village, the only name that the villagers remember, from the hustle and bustle of bringing in wheat, potatoes, and potatoes to building houses, carrying wood, or breaking stones, is ‘Bandipur’. ‘Oi Bandi, Bande, Bandipur’, ‘Bandipur’ is the favorite name of everyone from children to the elderly. Some, not knowing the meaning of Bandipur, also say ‘Oi Kantipur’.

‘My name has become Bandipur, sometimes I even forget my real name. If someone asks me what it is, I go and say Bandipur,’ said Suman Thapa Magar, who has been missing in Chumbhaly for the past 10 years. He says that his home is Bandipur Rural Municipality-8, Jalbhanjyang, Tanahun district, and he has been anonymous in the village across the Himalayas of Gorkha for 14-15 years. He has been living in Chhekam village of Chumanubri rural municipality-7 for some years and has been in Chumbhaly for 10 years. Before that, he had lived in Chumanubri-3 film village for about five years.

The way out

Forty-six-year-old Suman Thapa came to work as a labourer in Arughat Bazaar in Gorkha in 2068-69. ‘I came to work for a contractor named Tufan, and worked for 138 days in Soti,’ Suman said, recalling the past 15 years ago. ‘After the work was completed, the contractor ran away without paying any money, and since then, my luck has been ruined and I am still in a state of misery.’

Suman had planned to return to Bandipur after completing his work in Soti. That plan has not been fulfilled till date. He is stuck in Bhotkhola as he has not been able to collect his wages for fifteen years. ‘How can I go home empty-handed?’ he asks.

He walked for three days from Soti to work on the film after not getting the money he earned from his work. Before the 2072 BS Gorkha earthquake, he used to work on a health post there. He could not return to Bandipur from the film either, because he did not receive the wages he had worked for there either.

Suman had come to work on the film with a man named Namgyal Dorje from Jonggaun. ‘I came to Sirdibas after not getting money in Soti. Here too, I did not get the money I had worked for with a contractor named Uttam Bhatt. Namgyal Dorje also did not pay,’ Suman said. Suman, who could not go home after not getting the wages he had worked for, kept getting into trouble again and again because of the contractors. He kept getting stuck in the Chumbhalya, moving higher and higher in the pain of not getting wages.

The path back to the lost home while climbing uphill

Life sometimes does not let a person choose a path . While trying to settle one incomplete account, Suman got stuck in another incomplete account . He went uphill in search of money, but as he climbed uphill, the path back home became more and more obscure . Suman became a person trapped in a cycle of not getting money rather than a person who was looking for money .

A contractor named Namgyal Dorje took Suman to Soti, saying, 'I will give it to Soti', and left him with only 500 rupees . Suman fell into trouble for the second time in Soti . Since it was not possible to go to Bandipur with 500 rupees, he returned to the film . Immediately after that, the 2072 earthquake struck . After the earthquake, he worked on the film with another contractor named Tshiring Pasang . Pasang also did not pay him . Instead, they brought him to Chhekampar in Chumbhaly, saying that he would give him the money he had worked for in Kathmandu.

‘They brought him here saying that he would go to Kathmandu, but I did not even get the money I had worked for. After doing so much work, they brought him here (Chhekampar) and left him with only three thousand,’ Suman said with a deep sigh, ‘It was impossible to survive in a remote village without money, so I started doing whatever work I could get in the village. I barely had enough to eat, but everyone was fighting for money. It is the custom of contractors to work until they die but not to give money. I decided to go home after getting money. It has been fifteen years, but I have not received any money, nor have I been able to go home.’

Suman worked as a casual laborer in Soti and Film for about five years. He did not receive any remuneration. He has been working as a wage laborer in most houses in Chhekam village for the past 10 years. Some for 28 months, some for 30 months, and some for a year, but even there he is suffering from not getting the same remuneration. Everyone makes him work only for rice. ‘Now you can’t shout ‘Give me your money’ here, you either speak or die,’ he said, showing his broken hand. ‘If you don’t work, ask for money, this is what happens.’ Suman’s hand has been broken for a month now. He said that a man named Chhering Paljor from Chhekam broke his hand.

A month ago, Suman had reached Chhering Paljor’s Cheke Lake in Chhekam as an assistant. Suman said that when the moneylenders went to the lake to pick Yarsagumba, he took them as porters. Elaborating on the incident, he said, ‘We had to work hungry all day long. They used to pick insects, while we, the porters, used to pick pine cones. We had to carry their burdens and look after the sheep. We and another brother returned to the village because we were very sad. Tshiring Paljor came to the village without asking and beat us until our hands were broken.’

A porter who had come to work from Barpak was beaten up when he asked for wages. He, who suffered a serious back injury, could not bear it and returned home. Suman, however, could not return. For him, the issue of moneylenders breaking his hands and feet had become a common occurrence. The police at the Chekampar post were eyewitnesses when Tshiring Paljor broke Suman’s hands. Neither the police brought him justice, nor did the locals. He said that everyone is watching as a mute spectator.

Bandipur is not alone

Not only Bandipur, other Rongwas who have come here with the desire to earn money also have the same fate. They have come to work in Bhotkhola from different places and have also been anonymous for years. Many Sumans have been working as ploughmen and shepherds with the bankers of Lek. Suman's two brothers are Dhane Nepali and Arbin Magar. They also came to Chhekampar from the lower regions for employment. Dhan Bahadur Nepali and Arbin Magar had come to Chumbhali only a few years ago. They said that they had come to Chumbhali for employment while wandering. The common problem of all of them is not getting the wages for their work. The pain of not getting the wages for their work has tormented them all.

Suman was not treated in the hospital after breaking his hand. He was treated by the lama of the local Chhekam monastery. He said that the lama had given him herbs and medicine. His broken hand has not yet healed. Suman currently lives in a small hut of a local Dhawangdi lama in Chhekam village. He used to work all day and earn a living in the evening and morning, but he regrets losing a lot of work due to his broken hand. When he goes to work in the village, he eats there, and when he is not working, he cooks himself. ‘What else do you get here, even if you eat potatoes, even if you don’t eat potatoes,’ Suman joked. When he gets a job, he works for a daily wage of a thousand rupees, but even after working, most of them are reluctant to pay him. He says that in Chhekam village alone, he has to collect lakhs of rupees in wages.