Bhutan calling?

Sept. 24: Every Thursday, Lahati Narzary sets off early to Hatisar and begins arranging the vegetable stack in his makeshift shack. After all, once the border gate opens, there will be little time to set the shop right.

Shopping for daily commodities in a neighbouring country may not sound like the most convenient option, but for residents of the little Bhutan town of Gelephu, the weekly market across the border at Hatisar is a godsend.

Row after row of makeshift shops selling every conceivable fruit, vegetable and meat materialise along the border on Thursdays, as do hundreds of people haggling in scraps of Bhutanese and Assamese.

“They (the Bhutanese) are our main customers. They come down every Thursday to buy their week’s grocery and vegetables,” said Lahati, a resident of Kumguri village.

And nobody is complaining, least of all the traders.

“Little development and few opportunities make life is really difficult on the Indian side of the border but the weekly market and the steady flow of customers from Gelephu has infused new life into this part of the district. Business is flourishing like never before. Almost 90 per cent of the customers at the Thursday weekly market are from Bhutan,” said R. Basumatary, a social worker.

But business was not always as flourishing.

Operation All Clear in December 2003 to flush out Northeast militants from Bhutan forced the closure of the border gate for a while.

The gate was closed for a second time following a grenade blast in Gelephu the following year.

It was reopened after a meeting between leaders from both sides of the border. The Indo-Bhutan Friendship Association, of course, played a crucial role in the development.

The friendship has been beneficial and the state government is only too eager to sustain it.

“Hatisar-Datgiri is fast developing into a trade centre for the people of the two countries,” said panchayat and rural development and transport minister Chandan Brahma, who was elected from this constituency. “We now need to sustain the development and continue the harmonious trade.”

India’s ambassador to Bhutan, Sudhir Vyas, who visited the border area in November last year, stressed on “movement of people” to maintain the camaraderie.

If trade is flourishing, can barter of culture be far behind?