Lying on the laps of Mount Kumbhakarna and Ganesh Himal, and surrounded by numerous hills, it is “the place” where heaven meets the earth. Every individual has a story to share once he is here, and I have mine.[break]
It had been sometime since I last visited home. But a family occasion recently gave me an excuse to be there. Now, for a supporter of globalization like me, the transformation that my village went through in the last two years was more than satisfactory.
With motor roads everywhere, transportation has been easier and cheaper. The solar lights have been replaced by electricity supplied via high voltage transformers.
Fire woods have been obsolete with cooking gas around, and umbrella-shaped dishes donned the roofs of all the houses. Apart from a hospital, all other facilities were available, like those in the city. The development made me smile!
The very night I reached my village, I had a dream and I dreamt that my village appeared as a woman and wept before me.
As she mumbled, she said, “I was far better before. With invasion of motor roads, I’ve lost my serenity. Can you hear the chirping of birds or the sound of flowing river as before? They chopped down all the trees and sold them as logs. The water resources have all dried up. Do I still look green and beautiful as before? The population has been intolerable. Do you think I can feed them all? Development has brought enmity among the villagers. Do you think the village is as united as before?”
I was left speechless. She continued, “You support globalization and you’re happy with the developments. But have you ever considered its negative impacts?”
The very next morning, I went around and I saw that the village had actually lost its charms. Only women and children were there, and whenever I approached them, they stared at me in suspicious ways.
I could hear people talking about the hooligans and marijuana consumers in the village. The greenery was gone and I was welcomed with a long queue of pots waiting near the traditional water tap.
The disgusting sound of tractors could be heard every half an hour, and I could only watch the number of logs being traded out of my village.
Post-conflict, many villages have gone through transformations like these ones. And the doubt is whether development has been scrutinized from socio-economic, geo-political and environmental aspects. Development has to be carried out in accordance with nature, or else it can be a disaster!
Adhikari is a Research Assistant at the School of Biotechnology of White House Institute of Science and Technology located in Khumaltar, Patan.
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