On the occasion of the annual Tamagi ex-pat gathering in Farnborough outside of London on Saturday 27th of July, TMLC representatives had an opportunity to update participants on the current status of the museum project. Hem, Per, Basudha and Madhu had various roles on this.
While Hem informed about the current financial status and future plans, Per stressed the importance of local participation and anchoring of the project. Basudha and Madhu gave Power Point presentations as a general introduction to the project including an overview of information collected so far in collaboration with Sustainable Mountain Architecture (SMA), a non-profit consultancy based in Kathmandu.
During the event, more cash contributions were collected and portraits of Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi rendered by Nikita Gurung (21), the very talented eldest daughter of Narendra Gurung (Mathemai Para) and a third generation girl of Tamagi origin living in UK, were presented to the project. At present Nikita is working towards a pharmacy degree in UK.
Before the gathering, Hem conducted two separate video interviews with Lt. Ram Bahadur Gurung (85) and Subedar Karna Bahadur Gurung (84). Both of these elderly gentlemen are from Tamagi and are now part of the large Gurung community in UK. Since few written accounts exist, their unique recollections will be extremely valuable additions to the TMLC permanent historical archive. The interviews focused on early life events in Tamagi, their army service where they fought for the British Empire as well as other cultural and social values with which the younger generation is, presumably, unfamiliar. Similar interviews will be scheduled in the future.
Hem