Between the Plateau and Plains

Dikki Doka, Trader

Dikki Doka from Nyenol, a remote village towards the Kora La border in Mustang district leads quite a multi-faceted life. She grows wheat, buckwheat and vegetables from summer to autumn for her own use, and heads off to Banaras in India with her husband to sell sweaters and warm clothes in the winter. This is her source of livelihood, passed on from generations, and the only source of income. Her husband works as a carpenter in the village, but the income is not steady.

Life in her village was difficult even before the lockdown. She was saving up to repair her house and had paid for material and labor hired from another village but the pandemic put everything on hold. Her daughter who was studying in Dharamshala in India had to come back home and lost a year of school. They felt quite cut off last year as information about the coronavirus was few and far between. Dikki also could not travel to India, and without any sales, she is worried about repaying her suppliers with whom she purchases on credit.

Dikki hopes she can recuperate her losses in the coming winter. With the travel ban lifted, her daughter who wants to study further to be a nurse, is finally back in Dharamshala. Dikki wants to see her educated and independent.