SARBHANG

Orange season sees these Gelephu river banks spring to night-life

TENTED TOWNSHIP Busier than Gelephu at night, business is booming as is urban blight

17 December, 2009 - Quite and secluded most part of the year, the banks of Maokhola become a hive of activity come winter. It is already 9 pm and most of the Gelephu residents have retired to their bedrooms or TV rooms. On the left bank of the river, it seems like day has just broken.

The bank of the river, especially the left bank, is filled with makeshift huts, inhabited by temporary business people. With music blaring from portable music players, women are busy washing pots and pans. Not far from them, workers for the depots are packing their last boxes of oranges to be exported to Bangladesh the next day. By 10 pm, the huts are cramped with both workers, students on holidays and even civil servants from Gelephu.

The night is the time for the tired workers to relax with beer and rum. To some it is a gambling place and to others, a place to hang out. “It’s a nice place to hang out after a hectic day in office,” said a civil servant, who had come with his friends. Drinks are also much cheaper here than in Gelephu town.

The pleasant winter is an added advantage. There is no curfew or timings for bars to close. For three months, from November to January, it becomes the commercial hub for workers in the orange depots. It all started when a few huts catered to hungry and tired truck drivers and workers. As the orange business picked up, the small temporary settlement expanded and drew more people. Today, for three months, it is busier than Gelephu at night.

Business is lucrative, according to shopkeepers and bar owners. “I earn about Nu 1,500 to Nu 3,000 a night,” said a 25-year-old young businesswoman. They earn more during weekends when more people gather.

The temporary settlement, however, has also started experiencing problems.

Although rape or “night hunting” is not reported yet, two groups of students were seen fighting on the night of December 14. “We use bamboo fences by 11:30 pm, so that the people don’t come here and create nuisance,” said a depot owner, Gopilal.

Observers in Gelephu say that soon there will be many problems, as most of the workers in the depot were women, some as young as 16. “Most men go to the place to check out the girls and try their luck for sexual adventures,” said a businesswoman in Gelephu. “It’s the time of the year when young innocent girls gets exploited by civil servants and business people,” she said.

By Tashi Dema in Kuensel

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