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

they required, such as salt or kerosene - things which were not
necessarily purchased at the market, but at one of the shops in the
town. They came because the bazaar was in progress and it was a chance
to meet friends and relatives, especially siblings who had married and
moved away from their natal homes. New acquaintances were struck up and
located in the complicated mental maps peop!e had of relationships. "So
you are Bishnu's younger brother?" "No, he is my uncle, my mother's
youngest brother, You know Roghu, he is my elder brother". "So you are
second born?'' "No, I am third born, second born went to India",
As mentioned above, many people attending the bazaar from Tamaphok
stayed the night afterwards and returned the next day, After the bazaar
the 'hotels' were full of people eating, drinking and enjoying
themselves. Basantapur was where we first heard the sound of people
dancing the 'rice dance' (dhgn ngc, chabak lakma). It was the middle of
the night when all else was quiet save for the occasional barking dog
and stray pedestrian walking along the streets of the town. The rice
dance sounded from a distance like an Islamic muezzin calling the
faithful to prayer. We never found out where it was coming from, Our
village sister and other Tamaphok young people stayed with a 'brother'
somewhere high up in the town when she came to the bazaar, and it was
here that rice dancing took place. We were never invited to witness the
rituals of the event in this setting, but we did see it at the
rohoTe~in. (Chapter Three), at weddings, and at the Ranke Bazaar, to be
described below.
While Basantapur was the most popular market to Tamaphok residents,
the closest was the Saturday market at Sansare Mude, on a hill top spur
leading from the Tinjure Danda ridge where four panchaya ts (Tamaphok,