Dr Durga Prasad Bhandari was already sweating, thanks to his "incredible" passion for Tharu dance, while poet Manjul was still busy attuning steps with young Tharu lads under the faint light of the moon at Hermitage Resort at Sauraha, Chitwan.

Thapa pensively stood by merry-go-round dancers, and after a while, pig indeed flew.

 "This is my once in a lifetime memory," he blurted tripping inside the whirlpool of the dancers. And the French lady, who was tangoing nearby grinned ear to ear nodding in consent.

"Rang Yatra 2065," the three day literary tour organized by Rang Nepal from June 20 to June 23 to promote the domestic tourism, indeed was once in a lifetime memory to all twenty-three participating writers. The trip started from Kathmandu traveling all the way to Chitwan, Bandipur and Pokhara.

"There are many things we do not know about our country," Santa Tamang, guide and coordinator of the cultural show at Sauraha remarked pointing to ethnic Tharu dances. "These dances are not just concerned with body movements only but they also have certain spiritual value. Demon dance, for instance, was performed to shoo away the troubling spirits and animals during the harvesting seasons."

It was remarkable to notice how the community had preserved their culture, which is on the verge of extinction. Pointing to the sweltering dancers, bathed in the crisp monsoon breeze, he added, "To preserve and prosper this culture, we've been promoting dancers."

Tharu Sanskritik Kendra, which was established in 2056 BS by the ethnic Tharus, has been working rigorously to preserve its culture by performing the cultural programs at various parts of Chitwan. "They plan to build a museum through the collected money," informed Tamang. The crew generally includes twelve to twenty members. Each crew is paid about one thousand five hundred rupees per show.

Among many other things we do not know about our country, one could be the ice-cream of Bandipur. The villagers have been locally producing ice-cream, which is sold at half the average price and is twice much tasty, as Manjul commented.

"We've been producing milk which is more than enough for the village, therefore, we use the remaining milk to produce ice-cream," said Karuna Shrestha, the local villager. "I think it is very interesting job, as it generates remarkable amount of income."

Besides the informative aspects, the tour was also fruitful in a sense that it helped the younger generation to interact with the senior writers. "I thought I knew most of the writers of Nepal but after traveling with these budding talents, I realized I've been missing a large chunk of creative people," said Shree Om Rodan, Editor of Madhuparka, a literary magazine.

"The main purpose of the travel was to promote the local tourist destinations and encourage the local tourists to travel through the country. We're planning to publish an anthology of travelogues of all participating writers, thus highlighting the socio-cultural, political and religious significance of the place," informed Nirmal Thapa, event manager and also founding member of Rang Nepal. 

Shree Om Rodan (Madhuparka), Roshan Thapa Nirav (Short story writer), Manjul, Dr Bhandari represented the old generation while the budding poets like Sashi Sigdel, Bibhor Baral, Saprem Archana, Abises Kharel, Buddhi Syangden, Diwa Rai among others, constituted the younger generation. As Diwa commented, the tour was a creative fusion of old and new generation.

"I've traveled through various countries, but I realized the new generation Nepali writers are creative enough to compete with global market. However, they are not being able to come to the frontiers because they don't have platforms to expose themselves. Therefore, these sorts of programs should be organized frequently," advised Manjul.

Rang Nepal, plans to continue the program in coming years as well. The program was sponsored by Emery Nepal, Nepal's first domestic tour operator and Nepal Tourism Board (NTB).

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