A road to a village

“Gaun Aayeko Bato (A road to a village)” is a story following the advent of a roadway to a remote village in the eastern hill of Nepal. It presents the social changes brought by this infrastructural development, particularly in the lives of Maila Rai, a bamboo weaver, and his family. The movie begins with the worship of the bus that has reached the village for the first time followed by the inauguration of the “Lahure Store.” With it begins the marketization of the village, whose primary victim is Bindre, Maila Rai’s son.

‘Gaun Aayeko Bato’ depicts the unbidden invasion of consumerism and capitalism into the remote corners of the country tailing along with roads and buses. The notions of consumerism and capitalism climb the shoulders of their sister idea of development bolstered by the neoliberal projects. Maila Rai sacrificed his land and labor to pave the roadway to the village. However, as the materialist goods enter the village in those buses, his skills are rendered useless. His bamboo crafts are soon replaced by industrial goods produced in an assembly line, forcing him to seek out alternative means of production. Moreover, overlooking the conflicting timeframe of the events in the movie, coca-cola and noodles can be viewed as the representatives of consumer culture. Bindre’s demands for these items as bribes to attend his school highlights how smoothly consumer culture worms its way into the lives of people.

In addition, as depicted in the movie, infrastructure development is just one facet of capitalist and industrial colonization. Our lives and societal norms are inflicted by technological colonization in addition to industrial and capitalist colonization. As we navigate our way into the new terrain dominated by technology, the technological assimilation into the cultural and social framework is a challenge faced by today’s society. And not even the remotest villages have remained unaltered by this paradigm shift. Living among machines and accepting them as a part of our social fabric was the inescapable reality of the late twentieth century. In a similar vein, the twenty-first century is remodeling itself to accommodate Artificial Intelligence as a part of social structure. Although Maila Rai’s village is far from the introduction of Artificial Intelligence and is just getting in touch with the twentieth century’s innovations like television and smartphones, the pathway cannot be much different for it.

The movie seems to consolidate neoliberalism and brings to the fore its effects on social hierarchy and the rise of defeatist mentality in the people belonging to the lower social standing. At times, Maila Rai is overcome with grief for not being able to provide a respectable life for his family resulting from his unwillingness to be a part of the labor migration leaving his beloved wife and his son behind. As is true of many people in this country, labor migration to the gulf countries stands as the necessary evil harnessed to bring prosperity and wealth to the household, and along with it social recognition. However, be it intentional or resulting from a no-choice situation, workforce migration consolidates the pessimistic attitude of the people who fail to follow that path.

“Gaun Aayeko Bato” is a story of transition, its conflicts and challenges, as the old order and model of our societies are disintegrating and new realities are being constructed. There’s a dichotomy between the indigenous modes of survival and the nationalist ideas of development. The modern notion of development doesn’t provide the necessary space to the indigenous skills and ways of life. While their skills undergo redundancy, the nation fails to tackle this situation. Social policies can mitigate it through retraining and redeployment. The need of the authority to rethink about the future of work and to include indigenous knowledge systems into the developmental framework can be learned from the movie. We have moved past the agricultural revolution, industrial revolution and the corporate revolution. The next revolution will be technological. Yet, similar to the past revolutions, the technological revolution will entail a social revolution, and we should be prepared for this transition.

Nonetheless, the resistance exhibited by Maila Rai against the forces of slavery is highly commendable. Rai discards the illegal way of making money suggested and supported by the capitalist people and follows his skills, although resulting in a failure. This act of resistance is true of many indigenous communities in different parts of the world. Social resistance as such question the existing power structures, mobilizes public opinion, brings attention to the social injustices and systemic problems, and fosters a sense of solidarity, thereby pressuring the policy makers to address the concerns raised by resistance movements.

However, the movie falls short in exposing the social dynamics of the village. As most of the plot revolves around the family dynamics of Maila Rai’s family, the role of society at large isn’t given enough space in the movie. The family often seems detached from the society, particularly in the events following the devastating fate of Bindre’s life, which obviously was a bit overstretched for dramatic effect. This detachment makes the story come off as fragmented. Moreover, despite having the elements required to turn it into a triumphant movie, it is forced to be a tragic one. The financial aspect of the production and the likeliness of the audience to savor the emotionally tragic storyline could be the determining factor.

All things considered, “Gaun Aayeko Bato” is a good watch. It can contribute to the ongoing discussions regarding the notion of development, social resistance, the future of work, technological assimilation, and many such ideas, while simultaneously initiating new discussions pertinent to our social construction. Also, the outstanding acting of Dayahang Rai as Maila Rai, Pashupati Rai as Maili Rai, and Prasan Rai as Bindre Rai is an icing on a cake.