Nepal has almost become a country of migrants, as it sends about 1,500 youths every day to foreign countries, primarily the Gulf and Malaysia, while a small number of them reach Europe and East Asia in search of jobs. The country has long been failing to create employment opportunities for the labour force of about 450,000 that enters the market every year. According to a rough estimate, not more than 50,000 jobs are created in Nepal in a year. This has forced the youth to seek alternative job options, while many are motivated by the comparatively 'lucrative' income made by their relatives or peers in the Gulf, Malaysia, Australia, and elsewhere. It is unlikely to find a household that doesn't have at least one member in a foreign country. The country has allowed its citizens to work in about 112 countries across the globe, while it is estimated that Nepali people have reached as many as 172 countries in search of jobs.
But back in 1995, the scene was starkly different. Nepalis' prime job destinations were India and the UK. A few have reached other developed countries, but the Gulf nations were not open to Nepalis seeking jobs. Aspirations were also not as high as they are now. But a frustrated youth, along with some unknown colleagues, embarks on a plane with a visa to reach Thailand, but Malaysia is his final destination. After reaching Bangkok, the capital city of Thailand, they pay US$400 to a Burmese agent, asking him to take them beyond the Malaysian border. After reaching the southern Thai city of Satun, they were asked to relieve themselves of their belongings, except for 3–4 kilos of goods, including clothes, rice, and cans of fish, and sleep behind the boot of a pickup. In the night, they took a boat to cross a lake, but as the security patrol approached them, it took a U-turn and touched an unknown land with thick forest while another boat capsized in front of them.
The group of youths kept moving into the forest in the unknown land with just a torch emitting a faint light and passed the night in a tree house made with a couple of wooden planks, fighting with mosquitoes and leeches and fearing poisonous snakes and wild animals. "We tried to sleep in fear, without talking, holding our urine, having no courage to get down the tent, fearing Yamraj, the god of death," BN Joshi tells a harrowing tale of his misadventure in the forests of Malaysia in his book 'Shramatan: A Nepalese Migrant Worker's Memoir', recently translated to English from Nepali.
As their stay in the forest extended while waiting for other groups to join them, as the agents informed them, their rice and canned fish got finished, and now they have to remain on an empty stomach amidst the snakes and insects. There were 12 migrants from various countries, including Nepal and India, and two agents.
At last, they were arrested by the Malaysian authorities. They were sent to jail. After their release from prison, another harrowing journey begins through the same jungle. They again stay there in vain hope of finding another route to enter Malaysia, deceiving the immigration and police. But what they found was pain, despair, and trouble.
"One after another incident occurred. The torchlight came upon us. Disaster awaited us like a cruel god, while the sky wept lightly. Our feet smelled of wet soil, and the destination seemed distant. We were thirsty, bruised, and wounded. But to whom would we show our pain?
Tribulation got the better of me, but I remembered my country, and hundreds of unemployed youths danced before me. And then I remembered our corrupt politicians."
Joshi minutely recounts the hardships that he experienced in the jungle of Malaysia with his friends. At times, he expresses his ire at the politicians back home. Once, one of his friends remained naked for hours as the boat they found at the seashore went out of order. An old man rescues them and takes them to a nearby village. Even after reaching Thailand, they remain empty-stomached and pass an entire day in a train just drinking water. They sleep on the pavement of the road and wake up to find they are soaked in water as a tanker waters roadside plants and gardens.
It is a story of a dream, a journey, love, and a misadventure. It is also a journey through the jungles and deserts of nightmares, filled with frustration, agony, and helplessness.
Meanwhile, Joshi amuses the readers with his brief yet magnificent love for Somkit, a sister-in-law of his friend, in Thailand. They spent some of the best moments of their lives together. But the love was painful, as both of them knew the fate of their affair.
This consciousness on the part of both lovers troubles the readers. Many of them wish the author would take Somkit with him to Nepal.
In another section of the book, the author describes his journey to Qatar and the Philippines. He was outright returned home from the Philippines, which cost him more than Rs. 150,000 for nothing. The book will remain a record of the plight of Nepali migrant workers for a long time. Even after more than 25 years, Nepalis are facing the same situation in the forests of Africa, South America, and Central America to enter the United States of America, Canada, and other first-world countries in Europe. The book is a slap in the face of the political leaders and policymakers in Nepal, as they have long failed to create a sustainable policy and programme to hold youth back home or support them when in trouble while they are in foreign land.
Had the author not mentioned that the book was a memoir, most of the readers would have mistaken it for a novel. Joshi had finely crafted his memories into a fictional narrative that continuously holds the readers' attention as the story of struggle and survival unfolds. Most of the story is narrated with the help of dialogue among his friends and between him and Somkit. Those who are not familiar with the plight of Nepali migrant workers who reach foreign countries illegally might find it like a fairy tale.
However, the translation has failed to maintain the standard of the book. Innumerable grammatical mistakes tease your taste for reading. It's the story that evokes the emotions of the readers, but the language of the book in many places has largely failed to give proper feelings to the happenings. At times, you might feel that a certain section was translated by Google. The book is not properly copyedited. Likewise, the names and locations mentioned in the book are difficult to identify for foreign readers. All the places should have been connected with the capital cities of the country or any other landmarks familiar to foreigners so that they would understand the story better.
Published in The Rising Nepal daily's Friday Supplement on 21 July 2023.
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