THE YAKHA: CULTURE, ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT IN ...

shared amongst the group at the end of the day, Small ~oys also went
round playing tar6 nanne, but with makeshift bows and arrows (often made
out of bamboo and decorated with marigolds) rather than guns, The
householder had to set up a leaf target for them and gave a coin prize
to the winner. This was the only time I saw bows and arrows being used:
the rest of the year pellet bows were the norm around the village,
That evening marked the start of the festivities at the rohoTe~in, .
This was a wooden four seat ferris-wheel situated in Tamaphok at a large
cautar6 not far from a dh6r6 called Chamboo. The wheel was put togetner
once a year by local youths for the period between the end of Dasai- and
the end of TihBr, the wooden pieces used being stored at the house of
the ward chairman the rest of the time. Every evening after dgl-bhBt
groups of young people (and some older peop!e, primarily men) came by
the light of torches, hurricane lamps or simply the moon, to amuse
themselves at this centrai location. The young women were generally
well decked out with tartan shawls and jewellery; the young men would
wear either western or Nepali dress, depending on their style. Once at
the rohoTepin,, the parties which had come together would tend to break
up into single-sex groups. Women might sit with their friends between
the roots and under the spreading boughs of an enormous bar tree, from
where they could watch the antics on the creaking rohoTepin.. This was
propelled anticlockwise by young men who took it in turns to catch nold
of the swinging seats as they reached their lowest point and shove them
on their way. Young men were more likely to remain standing in groups
talking to their friends, eyeing the young women, or joining the hordes
surrounding one of three lively dice games run by boys well known in the
community, These involved pieces of cloth divided into six squares