The myth of Gurkha invincibility is belied by their graves in the battlefields of Gallipoli and Tobruk. The myth of fearlessness tends to deny the humanity of the Nepali soldier.
The days when the Khukuri defended one's own soil have long been past for Nepalis. Since early 1800s, the Khukuri has served in the battlefield for others. In fact, the very notion of "being true to one's salt" ("noon ko sidha") has elements, not of glory, but of submissiveness. The near- mercenary status of fighting another's war (with official sanction) is also not necessarily edifying. But most people seem to readily agree with Prince Charles (Colonel-in-Chief of the 2 Gorkha Rifle, now a part of the British army) that "the very name 'Gurkha' is a byword for courage and steadfastness."
The connection between the Gurkha myth and the Himalayan "Shangri-La" myth comes full circle when Sandro Tucci, a well-known international photographer, writes in the intro-duction to his glossy coffee-table book on the highland soldiers, "The Gurkhas are proud sons of a blessed land, where the mountains and the flowers, the rivers and the scents, all seem to talk an eternal language of beauty and peace."
All that is required to burst Tucci's Gorkhali bubble is to descend to the plains to observe how the "Gorkhas" are regarded by the plainsmen from Bombay to Baraelli to Buxar. Like the Englishman, the average plainsman believes that "Gorkha" is the name of a ferocious hill tribe. The myth might be the same, but it is put to a different use. In the plains, the mythical prowess of this proud martial race is pressed not into glorious military service, but into guarding godowns, escorting "saheb's" children to school, standing by the gate, or doing "raman" (rounds) in the hot, muggy night.