Manakamana (2013)

[bunniefuu]

Makes your ears pop, doesn't it?

My ears are popping.

I forgot to carry my bag.

The hills are gigantic.
God, what a beautiful sight.

The hills look beautiful.

Let it be. It's all right.

It's fun to go and worship at the temple.

I've looked forward to this.

Once in a while, one should go out, too.

People say I'm stupid because I'm deaf,
so why go anywhere?

Once in a while...

Look, that's the old trail.

- Over there?
- Yeah.

It took exactly three days to get here
when I walked from the village.

We've been on the cable car before.

Nine months ago.

Thanks to the Goddess' power.

May Manakamana Goddess protect us.

It would've been wonderful
if my husband had come along, too.

Sure would have.

But since he didn't...

He couldn't.

He couldn't. He's sick.

He went to fetch water yesterday
and twisted his ankle.

That's why he stayed home.

- He hurt himself while getting water?
- Yes.

Last time we were here
there were no houses.

Now, there are houses everywhere.

There weren't any last time.

Now everywhere you look
people have built houses.

Everything is so well-made.

Yes. They've started farming, too.

It's so nice now.

Isn't the Satrasaya bridge nearby?

- Sure is.
- I'm not sure. I keep forgetting.

The Satrasaya bridge?

Yeah, someone said it was here.

The whole hill is filled with Sal trees.

I think the Satrasaya bridge
is way over there.

I'm not sure if it's up here or down there.

What a beautiful Sal forest.

I know.

In spite of all the good and bad times,

when I think of the old days,
this generation looks down on us.

What to do?

When I remember the old days,

life nowadays seems all right.

Yes.

Back then,

it was a struggle to reach here.

There weren't any trees on these hills
back then, if I remember correctly.

Look, there's a trail there.

We have to look all around.

The cable cars move so fast
while coming down.

They move so fast from there.

This cable goes all around.

This is uphill, so the cable
cars will move faster downhill.

We've been through good and bad times...

It's difficult going up,
but easy coming down.

Two cable cars have already passed us.

Going uphill is hard.

Sure is.

To get over and past hills like these,

is a matter of fortune.

We've arrived.

We're here.

There, that one.

How many towers do we need to cross?

There, that's the last stop.

So what was that thing back on the hill?

We still have to go to the top.

It's that hill on the top.

- I thought it was this hill.
- No, it isn't.

Manakamana... My ears are popping.

Give us strength.

Gorkha Kalika...

Gorkha is the groom.

It takes a day to walk from there
to the Manakamana temple.

Over these hills.

Her...

Kalika...

First...

"Please, Gosain, give me something to eat.
I am hungry,"

begged Kalika.

- Wasn't that Kalika's mother?
- Yes, yes, Kalika's mother.

Gosain made her vow
to give him something in exchange later.

"If I have a son, he'll be your friend.
If it's a girl, she'll be your bride,"

vowed Kalika's mother.
And later gave birth to Kalika.

Yeah, that's the vow she took.

After she took the vow,
she gave birth to a daughter.

Years later, when Gosain returned,

he met Kalika
and asked her where her parents were.

"Mom went to collect fire wood.

"Dad went to a village gathering,"
she replied.

When she gave him an offering,
Gosain refused to take it.

He didn't take the offering.

When Kalika asked Gosain

why he refused the offering,

he said,
"I'll take it when your parents return."

When her parents returned,

she asked them,
"What kind of ascetic won't take offerings?

"He's been here all day.
Why is he here?"

So, Gosain reminded them of the vow.

"If I have a son, he'll be your friend.
If it's a girl, she'll be your bride."

When Kalika heard this, she fled.

Gosain started running after her.

She kept running away from him.

Finally, she could run no more
and decided to rest for some time.

Gosain tripped, fell and turned into a log.

We've reached.

We've reached. Let's get down.

...if they have to take, they will.

Look at the river.

It's huge!

During monsoon, I bet
it rises up to the car.

Look over here.

Let me click a snap, too.

What time did we get here?

- What time did we reach here?
- Who? We?

- Did we leave at 6:00?
- We left at 6:00.

There should have been an AC too
inside the cable car.

They must have landslides here.

It looks like the car
isn't even attached to the cable.

That's because it moves with the car.

Imagine if it slipped off.

Look at the forest.

My ears feel blocked up.

- Why is that?
- It happens.

The hills are huge.

I'm getting butterflies in my stomach.

It's like falling down one step.

Now my ears are fine.

- Have your ears UN-popped?
- No.

Mine have.

How many minutes does it take
to reach the top?

It takes 17 minutes to do a round trip,

so half of that.

Half of 17.

So that makes it eight point something.

It's 8.5, but let's say nine minutes.

Oh, there is a trail, too, that goes up.

- People used to walk earlier.
- There was no option but to walk earlier.

There's the trail.

What did you think? People grew wings
and flew when they reached here?

That's not what I meant.

It's like falling down one step.

The hills are amazing.

- Are you taking a video?
- No.

You have a show tonight, right?

Yeah, at Busy Bee.

I'm sick of playing at these pubs.

Your alarm is set this late?

No, it just means that it's 11:00.
Look here.

Look over here.

My ears keep popping.

They keep popping.

We should make a music video
in the cable car.

What do you think?

With our guitars.

- Didn't Edge... Axe Band do that?
- Yeah, Axe Band.

Way across the hills

You know, we made history here once.

What do you mean?

- We brought drums up here.
- Who did?

Rajesh and my band.

There was a music concert here.

- They played here?
- Yeah, they did a concert here.

Oh, there are villagers too up here.

What did they say?

Who knows.
All they do is talk nonsense, those fools.

It got itself entangled.

It was sucking on your chest earlier.

I'm getting goose bumps.

There are really good houses up here.

Yeah. It would be nice to sketch this.

sh*t! Should've taken a snap.

Look behind us. The hills are beautiful.

- There are lots of flower pots down here.
- What?

There are lots of flower pots here.

You shouldn't think like that.

- The Nepali greenery.
- The Nepali greenery.

Greenery of Nepal.

- Is it the season for corn?
- Yes.

We should write a song about corn fields.

Regarding this issue...

Let's grow out the cat's hair.

Like a rock-star.

Let's sacrifice it at the temple.

It's exactly like falling down one step.

My ears keep popping and UN-popping.

It's like the village in that TV show.

In Meri Bassai Pariwar.

- Did it scratch you?
- Yes.

- What? Cats?
- Yes.

Cat is my favorite animal.

I like bunnies.

Bunnies? Little girls like bunnies.

Bunnies are nice animals.

Whoa! Look up.

Oh, my God! Amazing!

- This thing can go this straight up?
- Of course.

We're going straight up.

- This rope isn't joined anywhere.
- I know.

- But isn't this a cable?
- Yeah, it is.

We wouldn't know even if it's attached.
The cable moves with the cars.

Yeah, I know. But we looked down earlier
and didn't see anything.

Sal forest. Look, Sal forest.

The sweet wind in the Sal trees
stirs my heart

In other countries, there's snow
on hills like these and people go skiing.

- It should snow here, right?
- No, it doesn't.

Abroad, they ski on hills like this.

One thing is for sure, though,
this hill is really steep.

My ears are popping again.

Look at that village. This village
looks different from the other.

"A fella from the neighboring village

"eloped with one of our girls."

With pleasure.

And got married.

There are concrete houses up here.

On a hill like this?

We're here! There's the temple.

- My ears finally UN-popped.
- Mine, too.

What a lovely souvenir

of the Manakamana temple.

Beautiful hills and trees.

The corn is so nice here.

It's so nice.

- What?
- Hold this for a moment.

Now you can eat it.

Hills and trees everywhere, so delightful.

It's melting.

It's dripping all over my clothes.

You are like a child,
still learning how to eat.

You at least have a plastic bag.

It fell.

Let it drip on the floor.

Not here. Let it fall over there.

Give me power.

We didn't get to drink milk as children.

That's why we don't know how to eat this.

Give me that plastic bag.

No!

We'll rinse it when we get to the bottom.

You're like a child,
so it's fine for you to eat like a child.

But I'm a grown woman.

There's a big market over there.

This cable car was financed
and built by one person, I hear.

- One person?
- Yes, one person.

One person did it.

It feels like
we're in an airplane, descending. Right?

Look at the Sal forest.

Covered with Sal trees.

Are they called "salla" or "sallo"?

Is it "salla" or "sallo"?

It's like that Indian song
that was on the radio today.

Hills covered with Sal trees.

Hills teeming with Sal trees.

One of my cousin's sisters lives in this area,
but I'm not exactly sure where her house is.

The hills are huge here.

Never been here before.

It's our first time, right?

I came here

- Long time ago.
- ...a long time ago.

I haven't been here
since they built the cable car.

You walked?

Yeah, I walked.

We went to Ghyampesal.

From here?

Isn't that where Bharat's in-laws live?

Bharat's sister's in-law's house.

Ambika's sister's in-laws.

Ambika's sister's?

The youngest or the second sister?

The third sister, I think.

The third sister.

Oh, it's the third sister's?

Some of their in-laws
were from Chitwan, but they're dead now.

It's the third sister.

If it's the third sister's then
I don't think Bharat has been here, right?

He has.

We had to climb across hills like these.

You must have come in a vehicle?

Back then, there were no vehicles or roads.

Ghyampesal is over that hill.

Way over there.

There's a road now at least.

- A road?
- Look.

Maybe they'll put in a bridge now.

I think they brought the bulldozer
up from the powerhouse.

Let's start tuning.

I wanted our youngest daughter
to come instead of me.

- Our daughter?
- Yes, our youngest daughter.

I knew about it.

But only the one who is invited
should visit the temple.

I told her to go in my place.

But she said, "You go yourself, Mom.

"You need to take the opportunity
to see the Goddess."

I've been wanting to come here
for a long time.

Now that wish has been fulfilled.

Now I have to see other places
that I have always desired to visit.

The corn is nice here.

They plant it close together.

Looks like they've planted
around the same time as we did.

Corn does well in these hilly areas.

We're near the houses.

In my parents' village,
they have slate roofs like this.

They have tin roofs as well now.

Only a few have tin roofs there.
It's slate, mostly.

Some still have thatched roofs.

Things only started changing recently.

The road.

What do they call this river?

This river?

Isn't it the Seti?

It's the Trishuli.

It's Trishuli.

You say you've been to Kathmandu,
but you don't know this river.

I forgot.

I forgot.