Prakash Banjara
As soon as the minister's village was mentioned, he was open-minded. What would that village look like? The village of the minister who walks around saying that he will develop other villages and the country will surely be developed, the roads will be wide and wide. Social development may have been the same. Hi, maybe even the Minister, it must be normal to think so.
This time, Pankitkar also had the opportunity to visit the village of Rajan Rai, the Social Development Minister of Province No. 1, and was provided by the Province 1 Sports Development Board.
The opportunity to reach Kepilasgadhi village municipality of Khotang district, where the district level taekwondo competition of Province 1 was scheduled, had aroused curiosity. There were colorful fantasies along the way. The desire to visit Halesi Mahadev, a religious tourist destination on the way, was also hidden in some corner of my mind.
Prem Prasad Bastola, managing editor of the state portal, woke up at 4 in the morning. I got up from bed and prepared my bag and clothes. I had to take leave from home after receiving another phone call from Itahari. The rain was pouring down. This is also the month of sowing and reaping. The journey to the mountains, the thunder of the night was cold in my mind. However, Mrs. had no choice but to wave goodbye. She left with a heavy heart.
Small BP vehicles were parked at BP Chowk in Itahari. Some had taekwondo players saying some were just for referees. Kumar Guru, who was given the responsibility of managing the vehicle, was saying, "Let's all sit together or not."
We were driving in front of the Gorkha Department Store on Dharan Road when we met Shailesh Kumar Bisht, a board member of the State 1 Sports Development Board. As there is a long way to go, all the players, coaches, referees and officials should go together.
We had to be put in another car. Representing the media, we met with officials from the Taekwondo Association of the two provinces.
Another Scorpio was ready behind our car. Ritesh Shrestha, another board member of the State Sports Development Board, Meenkumar Magar, a sports fan, Binod Pandey, the deputy subba of the board and Pawan Shrestha, the personal secretary to Rajan Rai, the social development minister of the state. Treasurer of the association Madhav Poudel, members Ajit Thakur, Ishwar Shahi, Yuvraj Kafle and Sudip Parajuli were also present.
Our journey started from Itahari at 6 in the morning and passed through Chatara, Rampur and stopped for lunch at Varshedanda in Udaipur. The minister's car was also stopped for lunch there. After lunch, we started running in front of the minister's car.
As this was the first time on a long trek up the hill, I did not have much knowledge of the route. Along the way, some political, some sports gossip and some entertaining gossip helped to shorten the journey. The journey to Katari via Chatara, Beltar and Gaighat was very enjoyable.
The road is very beautiful. That achievement of the Madhes movement was also the subject of our discussion. It was decided to reach Ghurmi for food by crossing both the plains of Madhes and the path of the mountain cat. After cutting, the ditches up to Ghurmi were very tight. Our team from Khotang passed through Sunsari, Udaipur.
There is a problem with Scorpio's tires with Sunkoshi Tarna. We continued our journey by planning to wait in Halesi. The road after crossing the bridge on the border of Okhaldhunga and Khotang districts is very difficult. It was raining in the rainy season and the stones in the gravel were washed away.
It took a long time to travel 35 kilometers on the hilly highway. I was returning to Halesi Mahadevasthan 20 years later. Halesi Mahadevthan, which was once full of natural beauty, is now full of hotels and lodges.
According to legend, a dharamshala was being built on the top of a rocky hill full of demons who were said to be chasing Mahadev. There was a debate among us as to why it was built by destroying the heritage. Taking advantage of the short time, we went to the temple to visit Halesi Mahadev.
A team of central representatives from Kathmandu visited the taekwondo competition. While we were staying at the temple premises for a while, Scorpio followed us. Yuvraj Kafle, a member of the media team and a member of the State Taekwondo Association, Ishwar Jung Shah, the Vice President of the State Taekwondo Association, Madhav Poudel, the Secretary, and Ajit Thakur Halesi, the Treasurer, started our journey again. We had to reach Baksila on the next day to prepare for the competition to be held on the 3rd and 4th of June.
The road to Diktel is very good after cutting Halesi. We were overtaken by several other players. When we reached Hurlung via Nunthala, we were told to turn left. He was waiting for us in Scorpio Hurlung, which overtook us from Halesi.
It was very difficult to cross the river from Hurlung to Jalpa. While looking at the road, it didn't look like the car was jumping, but sometimes the cars were jumping and jumping at the speed like a frog. Years of development have also hit there. It is said that the road was made muddy by cutting back from Hurlung. With great difficulty we descended. When I came to the village and asked, it was projected that it would take another two and a half hours to reach the destination.
The District Sports Development Committee, Khotang, which coordinated the competition in Jalpa, has deployed volunteers. The volunteers gave us a contact number to help us reach our destination and assured us that we would be there soon.
Our downhill journey reached Tapkhola and turned uphill. Due to the twinkling of night, it was very difficult to find the way to Dobato. When we got down and looked at the wheel of the car, when we called the organizer and asked where to go now. The road up the hill was getting harder and harder.
We arrived in Baxilla at about 9 o'clock, a little later than we had planned. As it is a hilly district, even though it is connected to the central transmission line, there is a problem of power outage. The place known as Baksila VDC before the country went to federalism became Kepilasgadhi village municipality after federalism. As soon as we entered the Baxilla market, the friends in charge of the coordination were waiting to welcome us. Chairman of the District Sports Development Committee Suman Rai was also seen in the crowd.
Hotels were arranged on a district-wise basis to accommodate the guests. As we are with the organizing team, our team has been arranged to stay at Muna Hotel and Maiya Hotel below the market. The team from Kathmandu stayed at Bandana Tamang's hotel. Bandana is a Maoist fighter who has participated in the people's war and embarked on a long political journey.
Tamang, who is currently in charge of the CPN-Maoist's Kepilasgadhi village municipality, seemed to be a fearless and courageous woman leader. We two media persons stayed at the house of her sister Saraswati Tamang. Both Bandana and Saraswati, who have been living in the capital for a long time, have just started their business in Baksila. The hotels in Baksila were not very well organized as there were not many guests, but the kind of reception and hospitality of the village was very sweet.
Maiya Sunuwar has become the deputy chief candidate of Kepilasgadhi village municipality this time. Maiya, who won the election despite losing the election, is now thinking of running a hotel business in a systematic manner. In a short conversation with us, Maya shared her experience that elections in remote areas have become more expensive.
The taekwondo competition held on 3rd and 4th of Asar became very interesting. Players from 14 districts across the state showed their game. Minister Rajan Rai participated in the inauguration program. Rajan Rai, who has been given the responsibility of the Ministry of Social Development in the state government, is an MP elected from the CPN-UML.
However, the minister did not comment on the issue. At the inaugural function of the competition, Taekwondo founder Deepraj Gurung remembered Rajkumar Rai who introduced Taekwondo, while Laxman Rai, vice-president of the District Taekwondo Association Khotang, was happy to see players from all over the state gather in his village.
Umesh Rai, a social engineer in Kepilasgadhi, says that Baksila is very beautiful and rich in religion and culture. Kepilasgadhi is known for its religious and cultural diversity.
It is no exaggeration to say that Kepilasgadhi, then made up of 7 VDCs, is an excellent example of natural beauty. Meetings with Chief Administrative Officer of Kepilasgadhi Village Municipality Ajambar Rai, in-charge of CPN-Maoist Center Kepilasgadhi Rasmi Rasaili, Outgoing Chairman of District Sports Development Committee Khotang Maitiraj Rai, Taekwondo player Gold Medalist Gyan Bahadur Shrestha and others will refresh the memory of the Minister.
The whole of Kepilasgadhi and Khotang, including Sister Samiksha Tamang, who remembers our stay in Kepilasgadhi with sweet food, has many memories from the Terai. In order to make sports alive, such competitions should be held in districts again. The more competitions there are, the more the players and fans will be encouraged. Hanshraj Wagle, member secretary of the National Sports Council, State Sports Development Board, State No. 1, also wanted to share what he understood from the players. Many thanks to Taekwondo, the State Sports Development Board and all concerned for providing such an opportunity in the end. Sweet memories of Baksila too.
