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- Mar 5, 1999
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I have volunteered to do a chapter on the kamis of Nepal for Howard Wallace's effort to get a book together on khukuris and I am going to do a practice session here.
The reason I'm doing this chapter for Howard is out of respect and high regard for the kamis and because I think I know more about them than probably anybody in the United States or perhaps the entire world. I do not say this to boast but simply as a matter of fact. I have lived in Nepal, have been closely associated with the kamis, and have even worked with them. I know them and they know me.
I am amused that they are considered sudra -- untouchables, the lowest caste in the Hindu social heirachy. These are the men who made the weapons for the warrior caste and without them the Chetri and even the Brahims would be nothing. In Japan they would be reverred and here they would be making top dollar instead of the dollar or so per hour we are able to pay them. If I were a kami I would revolt but they accept their lot in life as simply karma and perhaps they are right and I am wrong.
I know this will sound like Will Rogers but I never met a kami I didn't like. They pound hot steel all day long, are ostrasized socially, get dirty and tired, and yet they conduct their lives with a cheerfullness that I envy. I admire their skill and I admire their ability to accept their lot in life with such a degree of joy. In truth, they are better men than me.
I very much like what they do. They take something that has been cast aside as worthless, an old rusty leaf spring from a Mercedes-Benz, and they convert it into an incredibly beautiful and near indestructible weapon or tool -- your choice. They breathe spirit into the thing on which they work and give a new life to that which was considered dead. As a Buddhist who accepts the theory of reincarnation I see what they do as a reflection of a truth of the universe. They are small masters of the universe.
I enjoy the relationship that I have developed with the kamis. They are not sure what to make of me but I think that I am more sure as to what to make of them. They consider me to be of near the same caste -- an untouchable like them -- but I am a rich queery and that seems to put them in awe of me. When I hug them they sometimes get a little nervous but when I drink with them I am equal. It is a very interesting situation. Some will not enter the house where I stay in Nepal but if I insist that we go to a bar and have a Khukuri rum or two -- or 20 -- they will come and we will sit together and try to solve the problems of the world with me speaking my fractured and sometimes funny and even embarrassing Nepali. Others will come into my home and drink some good Golden Eagle with me.
I am in awe of the skill they demonstrate. They take this old rusty spring and can turn it into a world class katana! How do they do it? I watch, observe, ask questions, and when I try I get a crooked piece of metal.
They are born into their caste. It is their karma to do this work. I have been born into something else. They cannot do what I do and I cannot do what they do. But what all of us can do is respect the skill and talent that we were given and use what we have to try to better our lots.
How is this for an opener?
I am open to suggestions as to what might be of interest to readers of Howard's book. I also want to say that I admire Howard greatly for doing what I am not motivated or able to do.
------------------
Blessings from the computer shack in Reno.
Uncle Bill
Himalayan Imports Website
Khukuri FAQ
Himalayan Imports Archives (33,000 + posts)
[This message has been edited by Bill Martino (edited 01-12-2001).]
The reason I'm doing this chapter for Howard is out of respect and high regard for the kamis and because I think I know more about them than probably anybody in the United States or perhaps the entire world. I do not say this to boast but simply as a matter of fact. I have lived in Nepal, have been closely associated with the kamis, and have even worked with them. I know them and they know me.
I am amused that they are considered sudra -- untouchables, the lowest caste in the Hindu social heirachy. These are the men who made the weapons for the warrior caste and without them the Chetri and even the Brahims would be nothing. In Japan they would be reverred and here they would be making top dollar instead of the dollar or so per hour we are able to pay them. If I were a kami I would revolt but they accept their lot in life as simply karma and perhaps they are right and I am wrong.
I know this will sound like Will Rogers but I never met a kami I didn't like. They pound hot steel all day long, are ostrasized socially, get dirty and tired, and yet they conduct their lives with a cheerfullness that I envy. I admire their skill and I admire their ability to accept their lot in life with such a degree of joy. In truth, they are better men than me.
I very much like what they do. They take something that has been cast aside as worthless, an old rusty leaf spring from a Mercedes-Benz, and they convert it into an incredibly beautiful and near indestructible weapon or tool -- your choice. They breathe spirit into the thing on which they work and give a new life to that which was considered dead. As a Buddhist who accepts the theory of reincarnation I see what they do as a reflection of a truth of the universe. They are small masters of the universe.
I enjoy the relationship that I have developed with the kamis. They are not sure what to make of me but I think that I am more sure as to what to make of them. They consider me to be of near the same caste -- an untouchable like them -- but I am a rich queery and that seems to put them in awe of me. When I hug them they sometimes get a little nervous but when I drink with them I am equal. It is a very interesting situation. Some will not enter the house where I stay in Nepal but if I insist that we go to a bar and have a Khukuri rum or two -- or 20 -- they will come and we will sit together and try to solve the problems of the world with me speaking my fractured and sometimes funny and even embarrassing Nepali. Others will come into my home and drink some good Golden Eagle with me.
I am in awe of the skill they demonstrate. They take this old rusty spring and can turn it into a world class katana! How do they do it? I watch, observe, ask questions, and when I try I get a crooked piece of metal.
They are born into their caste. It is their karma to do this work. I have been born into something else. They cannot do what I do and I cannot do what they do. But what all of us can do is respect the skill and talent that we were given and use what we have to try to better our lots.
How is this for an opener?
I am open to suggestions as to what might be of interest to readers of Howard's book. I also want to say that I admire Howard greatly for doing what I am not motivated or able to do.
------------------
Blessings from the computer shack in Reno.
Uncle Bill
Himalayan Imports Website
Khukuri FAQ
Himalayan Imports Archives (33,000 + posts)
[This message has been edited by Bill Martino (edited 01-12-2001).]
