Myagdi. They are wearing a yellow plastic that hardly seeps water over a thick orange jacket. He has a stick in his hand that never goes away and a dog at his side. A little further from him, a herd of 500 goats and sheep are grazing nearby.
62-year-old Melcha Tamang from Dhading climbed towards the mountains with Changa and a flock of sheep last May. A few days ago, he was found near Damodarkund in Mustang while he was returning home after grazing sheep and goats near Tibet. “It’s been 18 years since I’ve been walking as a shepherd, I’ve been going to many cities and many foreign countries”, he said, “I’m having fun in this Bhirpakha.”
Tamang’s daily routine is spent taking care of sheep and goats from early morning till late at night. Lo-Ghekar Damodarkund Rural Municipality-4 Yara and Ghara village farmers’ sheep grazing on their way back after reaching a height of 6000 meters.
“Daughters went to foreign countries and cities in search of work. I am happy in Mustang, because I don’t study, it’s a pity to do it wherever I go, this is fine with me”, said Tamang, “I enjoy the sight of Mustang more than the desert of foreign countries.”
Tamang gets an annual salary of 150,000 rupees apart from food and clothing for being a shepherd. This income has to support his wife and two children in Dhading Jharlang. When the shepherd goes, it is not decided where to stay. Sometimes you don’t even have time to eat. Sometimes it is forced to spend the night in a shed and sometimes under a rock.
He is not the only shepherd who goes up to the mountains in the dry season. 58-year-old Nawang Gurung from Lo-Ghekar Damodarkund Rural Municipality-4 Yara has also been shepherding for three years. After working in Saudi Arabia for seven years, he is working as a shepherd.
“He had to become a shepherd of sheep and goats due to being forced to take care of the children and run the household”, he said, “We have to struggle to make ends meet wherever we go without hurting the poor.”
After the heat has increased, the process of bringing down the sheep, goats, cattle and cattle that have been taken to the lake to feed the lush grass grown in the cold climate of the Himalayan region has already started. In the last week of May, the shepherds who came to the lake are moving their mobile sheds and moving their animals to the valley.
Many people from Myagdi, Baglung, Dhading, Rukum, Rolpa come to live as shepherds in Changra Goth of Mustang like Melcha and Nawang found in Damodarkund. Farmers do not live in the sheds themselves because of the suffering and risk. According to Tasi Gurung of Yara, four to five houses have a shepherd who pays one of them a salary.
“Changra farming has helped to supply fresh and tasty meat to the city market during festivals like Dasain and Tihar”, he said, “Some people have also got employment as changra herders.”
It is not easy to be a shepherd, who has to run after the flock of sheep for grazing. If you go to the lake with a shed in the dry season, you have to stay without contact with your family and relatives for three months. You have to spend the night with your students in a shed covered by beggars without rain or cold. Moreover, the fear of wild animals is the same. There was no such thing as holidays and vacations. For the protection of shepherds who are swaying while listening to songs on mobiles and radios, dogs are also present.
Sheep rearing is the main source of income for the residents of Baragung Mukti Kshetra, Lo-Ghekar Damodarkund and Lomanthang Rural Municipality. The farmers of Ullo Mustang are currently busy plowing grass for the sheep they bring near the village in winter. Since they cannot go to the pasture when there is snow, they feed the cows with dried and silage grass.
According to the Veterinary Hospital and Animal Services Expert Center Mustang, 48,000 chickens are reared in 65 large farms across the district. According to the Center’s data, about six thousand changras worth Rs 230 million were exported for Dasain Tihar last year.
Pasang Dendup Gurung of Lo-Ghekar Damodarkund Rural Municipality-4 Yara said that it is difficult to save the sheep from snow leopards, wolves and wild dogs. Gurung, who rears 150 chickens, sells around 40 chickens annually. He said that this is the main source of household expenses. He said that wild animals kill more than 20 sheep in one farm in a year.
Three to four year old Changra are sent to the market for meat. The demand for sheep and goats reared in the Himalayas is in the city market during Dasain.
