There is an old saying that is widely used in the Terai after the winter is over, ‘but Govinda is above Narayan’, meaning Govinda below, Narayan above. This ahan (saying) is especially characteristic in the Terai, in the winter, in the Gujumujja poor settlement of Parale Jhupra.

There are huts of arm’s length and breadth, with bamboo poles and straw hanging from the walls of the fence. There are two ways for the poor to survive in these huts. One way is to collect leaf litter, discarded jhutra clothes and plastic ‘ghoor’ brought from Ghato.Where old people, children and women all over the settlement feel warm by spreading their hands between the smoke of ‘Ghoor’. Sleep with your knees bent by spreading straw on the lower floor, and a mat on the floor (above the body). That is, straw is bite, straw is circus.That is why the poor people use the phrase ‘but Govinda, Upar Narayan’ as a way to avoid winter. Ramraji Sada Musahar, 60, of Sakari Musahari in Bhangaha Municipality-3 of Mahottari said, “There is straw to spend the night. Ghoor when it is light.”The problem of food supply has also increased as Ramji is not able to go to work due to the increasing cold. Like Ram Raji, Bhangaha-8 thinks that Suthari Bantar of Anharwan Basti of Dharmapur will be brought by the cold winter this time. “We don’t eat, we don’t sleep, we don’t sleep, we don’t sleep, we don’t sleep, we don’t sleep, we don’t sleep, we don’t sleep, we don’t sleep, we don’t sleep, we don’t sleep, we don’t sleep, we don’t sleep, we don’t sleep, we don’t sleep, we don’t sleep, we don’t sleep, we don’t sleep, we don’t sleep, we don’t sleep.” (We don’t have anyone to look after the poor, I don’t think we can survive this winter).

The old man of the poor slum says that the leader who gives various assurances during the election will not be seen in the slum until the next election. In the past, Mushar, who never complained to anyone about his poverty, deprivation and backwardness, has now started saying that no one understands him.”Hernos Hazur, Tesur Sal (Parar) Dhurmus Suntali and a Babaji (saint, Buddhist monk) came and gave me food, blankets and some clothes for a few days,” says Siankidevi Bantar, 40, of Bantar Basti in Bhangaha-4. No one has come back because they are sitting. ”In the settlements of Musahar, Bantar, Dom, Halkhor, Mestar, Khatbe, Chamar and Dusadh castes, there is general poverty. Of these, Mushar and Bantar settlements are easily identified as Gujumujja (Jhurumutta) settlements of Parale Jhupra. Sociologist Shivaraj Dahal, a resident of Bhangaha Municipality-3, Mahottari, says that anyone who reaches an unfamiliar place even after hearing about Musahar and Bantar can easily see the huts of Musahar and Bantar.There are Musahar castes in all 15 local levels including 10 municipalities and five village municipalities of Mahottari district. Of these, Bhangaha, Gaushala, Bardibas and Loharpatti municipalities have more Musahars than others. They are also very backward in terms of social, political, economic and educational indicators.

Sociologist Dahal says that the customs and customs of both the castes look the same. A new hope arises when the children reach adolescence in Musahar, which is only a hut in the name of wealth. Musahar, a resident of Timkiya Basti in the municipality, says that bringing food to the children after they grow up will help them in earning a living.”Even the straw that is used for winter tricks can be brought from the house of the girahat (the owner calls the farmer who cultivates it Mushar girahat or the owner) and grazes cows and goats,” says Palta, pointing to his 13-14-year-old son Somna. Nani is our treasure. ” The custom of naming children in Musahar and Bantar is also similar. No priest needed, no caretaker! Son Revia, daughter Aiti born on Sunday. Similarly, all the seven bars have similar names, Somna-Somani, Mangala-Mangali, Budhana-Budhani, Bipana-Bipani, Shukana-Shukani and Shanichara-Shanichari etc.Apart from these, Bantha, Bhutta, Kaila, Nengra etc. are common names in Mushar and Bantar settlements. Even in the name, the name is distorted to match the children of the slums. Instead of Rohit, the name of the son of these dalits is ‘Rohita’. The daughter’s name is similarly feminine. Although Musahar district has all the local levels, monkeys are found only in Bhangaha urban area. Sanjeev Kumar Sah, the mayor of Bhangaha, admits that when Mushar and Bantar are counted as one place in his urban area, they occupy a prominent place in the records of different caste communities.The latest census of 2068 BS shows that the population of Musahar is 23,364 and that of Bantar is 2,794. Experts at the statistics office in Mahottari estimate that the number has increased to 40,000 in a decade since then.Even if the names of the children of these communities are written in the name of the school enrollment campaign every year, they cannot survive due to poverty and deprivation. Outbreaks of cold wave have been occurring in the district every year. But whether it is a people’s representative body or a service-providing state body, no one seems to have prepared for the disaster, says a common intellectual here.

Ram Bahadur Bhujel of Bhangaha-5, who has retired from the post of Joint Secretary to the Government of Nepal, says, “No one has ever prepared for a disaster.” I don’t think they have done it. ” Bhujel further said that the number of deaths and chronic diseases due to cold is increasing every year due to the inability of service providers to be accountable.However, the local level representatives say that efforts are being made to increase the access of the Musahar and Bantar communities to various opportunities by saying ‘but Govinda, Upar Narayan’ in winter. “Yes, the Musahar and Bantar communities are lagging behind in all areas,” said Sah, the mayor of Bhangaha.Musahar admits that sustaining the school for the children of the Bantar community is really challenging. However, Sah said that relief programs would be launched on the initiative of various organizations when the cold wave spreads in the winter season.

“This is an annual problem. The towns and villages have to prepare before the onset of winter,” said Suresh Prasad Singh, chief of the district coordination committee. “It seems that no attention has been paid to it. Everyone is requested to work with a concrete plan by defining it as regular work.” Similarly, the district administration office should also increase the preparatory activities from the meeting of the disaster relief committee, said the intellectual.