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

friend of his. This annual military pageant "for the benefit of service
charities and the encouragement of skill-at-arms" (to quote from the
1991 Official Programme) had 16 items in the programme. Our host (who
had been working at the Tournament for a week) turned to me during the
interval and said he thought he had understood everything except for
part of the display by the massed bands of the Cavalry and the Royal
Tank Regiment when two people in fancy dress had been led on sitting in
a horse-drawn cart, This had been a skit on the British TV show
'Steptoe and Son', My difficulties in explaining the significance of
this were probably no greater than those faced by the Yakha in answering
many of the questions I had about their culture during fieldwork!
Experiences and reminiscences tell us much about the impact of going
abroad on what returning Gurkhas and their families subsequently do in
the village. Some writers have suggested that returning 1Bhure become
actively involved as leaders in their villages. To look at returnees to
Tamaphok is probably a biased sample since some Gurkha lahure had not
returned, instead taking advantage of their savings by buying property
in the Tarai or Kathmandu. However, of those that had come back, while
the pradhan pg-c was an ex-Gurkha, none of the other ex-Gurkhas held any
sort of high office. Their pensions and savings generally guaranteed
them a reasonable lifestyle and, in some cases, a significant economic
influence in the community, but apart from this their position was no
different from any other returning migrants, They usually had a
sophisticated knowledge of British drinks, and often brought out
postcards to show us; pictures included the royal family, the stables
and riding school at Windsor Castle, and a high-wire act. These were
then put back in their box. It was as if, like many anthropologists,