The Chepang community inhabiting the rugged ridges of the Mahabharat mountain range in Chitwan are upbeat about the upcoming Dashain festival.

Despite being one of the most impoverished people in the country, the Chepang families here are not letting their financial trouble dampen the festival spirit. 

 Most Chepang men can be seen at Shaktikhor Bazar these days shopping for the big festival. Most of them were buying everyday groceries like salt, cooking oil, spice and rice, which for them are occasional treats.

The diet of most Chepang families, who survived on wild roots and tubers throughout their hermetic existence, has not undergone much change after all these years. But for Dashain, they go out of their usual way and feast on rice and curry for a change. 

At Shaktikhor Bazar, many Chepang men were also buying clothes for themselves and their family members besides food items.

Those who did not have enough money were buying goods on credit from the shops they visited regularly. They looked solemn as they convinced the shopowners to clear the dues at the earliest. 

Most Chepangs earn livelihood through labour work, livestock farming and trading traditional bamboo baskets and wooden crockery. 

Laxman Chepang, chairperson of Nepal Chepang Association, said his community was planning to observe the festivals by feasting on delicious meals and wearing new clothes. 

Former Lawmaker Gobinda Chepang said Dashain for his community is the festival of big family reunion, particularly between parents and their daughters married off to far-flung areas. 

The occasion warrants eating toothsome meal and dressing tidy, he added.There are around 70,000 Chepang people in the country.

Most of them live in Chitwan, Makawanpur, Gorkha, Dhading, Lamjung and Tanahun. (RSS/PR)