Post News Network
Rourkela, Dec 22: Come winter, several families from Nepal arrive in the steel city to sell products that are available only in the Himalayan country.
More than 20 families from a tiny village called Nagbuda of Jumla district in the Himalayan country descend on the city with their merchandise in November, ahead of a harsh winter that makes it difficult to ply their trade back home. The migrants make the steel city their home for the remainder of the winter, and return only after March once the snow has lifted in the Himalayas. This is a tradition that has been going on for several years now.
The bulk of their merchandise comprises kitchen ingredients such as hing and coriander, and an assortment of items such as ‘rudraksh’, ‘shilajit’, ‘nazar battu’ (masks or bracelets believed to ward off evil spirits) and a variety of beads. The families hawk their wares in the city and also occasionally in other places such as Bhubaneswar and Talcher.
The hawkers cover most parts of the city: Bandhamunda, Chhend Colony, Basanti Colony and Fertiliser Colony to name a few. On days when business is dull, they go up to Kuanrmunda, Biramitrapur and Rajganjpur hoping to find more customers.
The migrant hawkers have now become an annual fixture in the city, and their popularity is rising each passing year. Their arrival is looked forward to by almost all sections of the city’s residents – from slum-dwellers to people living in upscale areas.
The hawkers take a house on rent on top of a hill at Gopabandhupali after they reach the steel city. They then divide areas of operation among themselves and ply their wares for about 12 hours daily. They earn anywhere between Rs 30,000 to Rs 40,000 during their four-month stay here, said Man Bahadur, one of the migrants, adding they have reduced the scale of their business this year due to stringent checking launched on the border.
“We have brought only 15 to 20 kg of hilly coriander, hing, saffron and kamraj herbs this year in the wake of increased checks at the international border,” Bahadur said.
“We come here to avoid heavy snowfall back home and to eke out a living by selling our local products which are in great demand here,” another hawker Ram Bahadur said. The other members are Jung Bahadur, Deb Bahadur, Shanti Buha, Bhim Bahadur, Dil Bahadur and Singh Bahadur.
