JORHAT, Nov 3: The nip in the air, foggy mornings and descent of migratory birds– all signify the ushering in of winter here. But this cannot be complete without the arrival of the Indo-Tibetan refugees laden with an assortment of woollen garments all the way from the lower ridges of the Himalayas in Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal.
Tsering Nima has been coming here every year for the last 31 years.
Installed in the Rani Parbatiya Hotel on the AT Road as always the group of 12 families have this time set-up their stalls at the permanent Indo-Tibetan Refugee Woollen Market near the Head Post Office here.
Tsering Nima, a second generation Tibetan refugee has been coming here for the last 31 years. His father like hundreds of other Tibetans had fled Tibet along with the Dalai Lama in fear of Chinese atrocity and had been settled in Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh by the Indian Government. These Indo-Tibetan refugees are now spread out in various pockets of the lower Himalayan ranges in the country’s North.
“I used to make the annual trek with my uncle but he is dead now”, Tsering Nima said.
“We live near Dehradun and every year we buy sweaters, jackets, shawls, gloves, socks, caps and mufflers from the hosiers of Punjab and Delhi and fan out to different parts of the country including the Northeast”, Tsering Nima said.
So what has changed in Jorhat since he first started coming here.
“The population has increased immensely and the number of buses. In the beginning, we used to come from Guwahati by bus as the trains service was poor and this section was not broad gauge. At that time, there were only five to six buses but today buses to Guwahati roll out from the ASTC bus stand every half an hour, he said.
Tsering Nima also recalled of the innumerable changes of venue from where they were allowed to market their goods.
“From inside the premises and by the vicinity of the SBI, atop drains covered with bamboo mats to the premises of the Normal School and now this market, I think we have changed places five times”, he said.
Recession also hit the Indo-Tibetans trade last year. All the chains that go into making the sweaters and jackets are from China. A detergent used to soften jacket fabric can be bought from China at about Rs 200 but this costs Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,000 in the European market. Further, some natural dyes are also imported from that country. Last year, however, Chinese industry became so taken up with hosting the Olympics that there was no time for exporting these items to India. The result was shortage of sweaters and jackets for the Indian market.
“We had to wind up by January 9 last year as there was not enough stuff or variety although the demand was there. Prices also went up because of the scarcity”, Nima informed.
While the second generation Tibetans continue to ply their trade in the old ways this is too tough for the present educated generation.
“All our children are studying and find it difficult to rough it out like we do”, Nima said.
“None of my three sons have come but I have brought along my daughter”, he said.
So will the Indo-Tibetan market more popularly known as the Bhutia market wind up after this generation dies out?
“I don’t think so. Many of us have large business houses and all the children will not be holding jobs. So those among us who continue the business will keep on coming”, he said.
One more thing that has changed for the Indo-Tibetans is that they have decided to go with the fixed price tag.
“We no longer go for bargaining as in some places the haggling has resulted in big quarrels. So to put and end to this practice our union has asked every one to quote reasonable prices and not allow bargaining”, Nima stated. About Jorhat, he says that the people here are polite– just like the people of Himachal Pradesh.
That is why he has constantly visited this place ever since he came into this business. So too has Tsering Dolma who has come here for an even longer period of 34 years. THE SENTINEL
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