Sun rose and set, days went by, seasons changed, and people grew old, but

Mugu has not changed a bit. It is as it always was. Gurgles of rivers, chirps of
birds, winding lanes, dense forests, abrupt slopes and throngs of slovenly
people is all what one experiences in Mugu. The pristinity of Mugu has been a
tourist attraction in since a long ago.
Karnali is among fourteen ones of !epal, and Mugu is, as the documentry
presents, the conscience of Karnalli. Though Mugu is free from adultery, are
local people content with what they have" #re they happy with the muddy
lanes or do they want blac$ topped wide highways" #re they happy with their
huts or do they want palaces" #re they happy to use twigs to subside pain or
do they want high%tech hospitals" #re they happy with boiled potatoes for
lunch or do they want &ve star hotels" #re the $ids happy to banter all day or
do they want to sit 'uietly and listen to the teachers"
The documentry (Mugu ) The conscience of Karnali( roams around the status
of development in Mugu. The &lm ma$ers *ourneyed the arduous road to
Mugu to &nd out about the district and $now if people there are happy with
what they have or do they want development. +ith several interviews with
local people and people in goverment posts, the documentry sums up the
opinion of people residing there about the current state of the place.
The documentry introduces $arnali as ) # tourist,s heaven, a tre$er,s paradise
and yet, a reident,s nightmare. This provides a preety well insight on how the
resident,s thin$ about their status of living, -oesn,t it"
.n their way, the &lm ma$ers as$ the loacal people about the time re'uired
to reach ghamgadi. /ach people they met say ,about two hours, , and yet
they only reached ghamgadi after wal$ing a whole day. This gives us the idea
about the terrian of mugu district. The locals are habituated to the steep,
tortuous roads, while the &lm ma$es struggled throughout their trip.
The &lm rightly 'uestions, (+ith so many natural resources, with so much
potential for development, with so many active !G.s and so much aid
pouring in, why is $arnali still an epitomy of under%development"(. 0ut then
the term ,development, is viewed from many di1erent perspectives. The
documentry 'uestions if development is the introduction of technology,
destruction of natural resources to bring about industrialiation, a move
towards individualiation, or to simply give people what they thin$ they need.
See$ing answers, the &lm ma$ers interview an old man from showa.
2esponding to 'uestions, the old man says he in engaged in agriculture,
ploughs &eld and carries loads % which according to him is ,hard life,. +hen
as$ed if what he does is enough to feed the family for an year, he says
,negative,. (It is only enough for about six months and I have to see$ other
ways of warning to sustain for the rest of the year(, he says. This
conversation indicates that people in Mugu are not happy with what they
have. 3ow could they be" 4or they have to wor$ the hardest and have to
settle for the lowest pay, not even enough to feed their families.
Through the interview, it is $nown that 5arsagumba is a ma*or economical
assest of Karnali. /veryone, in the season, search 5arsaumba to earn some
extra money. They sell the collected 5arsagumba directly to the 6hinese
traders. 3ad there been a way for the local people to sell what they,ve
collected in their own country, both the local residents and the country would
bene&t. 0ut, sadly that,s not the case and improtant resources of !epal are
being direclty exported to other countries.
The &lm shows that there are schools and health posts in Mugu, but the
places did not sign that they were functioning. Schools with no teachers or
students, health posts with no doctors are what people of Mugu are getting
and living with. +hen as$ed to a young boy for the reason he,d left going to
schools, he said (there are no teachers there(. This shows that even with the
desire and need of education, Mugu is illeterate. Government people who
have posting in Mugu did not seem to be there. So, it seems that the under%
development of Mugu is partly due to neglegence of authorities.
+ith several intervies and direct observations, the &lm ma$ers show how
ab*ect Mugu is. The &lm portrays Mugu as a place of potential and yet, as a
place not cared by authorities. 3ad the people in high ran$s been a little
more interested in developing places li$e Mugu and had the locals appealed
for their rights, Mugu would be a true paradise, both for visitors and the
residents.