Frozen at Muguthang

A NOW! fileFoto of a Dokpa and his yaks in North Sikkim

Snow might have imperiled the Dokpas and their yaks now, but their way of life has been on the brink for a while…

Muguthang in Spring [foto: Karchoong Diyali]

Muguthang this winter [foto: Hill Media Network]

Dokpas, the yak herders, are hardy folk. They need to be, living as they do beyond the tree-line in the cold desert of North Sikkim. They live in near isolation and are a dwindling tribe who rarely call out for help, knowing full well that when a situation is too difficult even for them, assistance from those who do not know their life is a bit too much to expect. So, when they send out an SOS, it demands attention because they are clearly flagging a dire emergency. And they have sounded an SOS now. 

Even though they number only a handful, in fact because they are so few, Sikkim should pay heed and deliver what is actually very little that they are seeking. 

For the immediate future, the Dokpas [of Muguthang in North Sikkim] want fodder to be airdropped for their yaks, next, they want telecom connectivity, and for the long term, they want one of their more educated younger ones to be trained as a paramedic and posted among them with at least some basic medical supplies. 

Why they are making these demands will be explained in more detail in the following paragraphs, but what cannot be ignored is that the demands are very basic and can be met through the corporate social responsibility kitty of even a mid-sized company. Some proactive engagement from the administration [which was on welcome display in the latest instance] and more civil society concern [still awaited] should power through the political engagement required to iron out the situational kinks which could obstacle delivery of even these simple demands.

Dongkhung Nima, patriarch of Lhoen Drokpas, passes away

ANNA BALIKCI DENJONGPA
GANGTOK, 19 Feb: Today, Sunday, was the funeral of Dongkhung Nima (born Wood Rat year 1924-5), the grand old patriarch of the Lhoen Drokpas [the “Southern Yak-herders”], the Tibetan yak herders who have grazed their yaks on the Sikkim side of the border with Tibet in North Sikkim for generations. At 88 years of age, he was the oldest of the Lhoen Drokpas in Sikkim. The Lhoen Drokpas are a group of 12 families who graze their sheep and yak in the Tsho Lhamo-Guru Dongmar area in winter and in the Lasher-Phalung area in summer, six months on each side.
Dongkhung Nima spent his life in the cold desert of the Tso Lhamo-Guru Dongmar region above Lachen, weathering severe winter conditions at altitudes above 5000 meters while, until recently, taking care of his 700 sheep and 300 yak.
His was one of the harshest lifestyles known to mankind. In the old days, he used to trade up to Gyantse before the border closed in 1962. Most of the Drokpas still living in the region are his sons, daughters, nephews or are somewhat related to him. Dongkhung Nima will be remembered as the grand old man of Dongkhung, who, even in mid-winter, sickness and old age, consistently refused to leave the vast and magnificent expanses of his home, the cold desert of Tso Lhamo.
May his soul rest in peace.