Father´s Woes
Manisha Aryal´s article on Himalayan herbs belittles Nepali professionals and perpetu¬ates the inferiority complex that we Nepalis have. Aryal has covered many aspects of the Nepali herbal trade and goes into great pains to collect opinions from many Indian business people and one Indian scientist. I appreciate this effort. But there is very little of Nepal in the article. Talking to token businessmen, customs people and Govern¬ment administrators does not provide the complete picture.
This phenomenon of treating high quality professionals with little respect is pervasive of our society; we would much rather take advice from a foreigner and trust his technical knowledge. Wake-up folks! There are Nepali professionals who are just as eompetent and well trained as many professionals. And there are many Nepali botanists and field scientists who know the Nepali herbal arena well.
One such world-class professional who should have been consulted but was not (even though Himal was alerted twice upon its own request) is Dr. Narayan P. Manandhar, who has worked as an ethno-botanist for almost 30 years for the Nepali Government. He happens to be my father and a very competent fellow scientist.
As a lone researcher and field scientist. Dr. Manandhar persevered even when his own superiors were against his scientific work. Time after time, he would be transferred to outlying areas, much to the distress of a family in which both parents were professionals and had three sons to look after. After Dr. Manandhar published some of his work in the GorkhapaSra and The Rising Nepal dailies, his superiors threatened to sack him. Succumbing to this threat, Dr. Manandhar stopped all publica¬tion, but continued to provide vital field information to novice foreign scientists upon his superiors´ commands. The department looked on while these novice botanists published glossy booKs that were scientifically third-rate.
As the love for his field grew, he travelled extensively around Nepal to collect botanical data, directly from the villagers. His method was not with the tape-recorder, or by dangling a five or ten rupee note in front of the villagers as many foreign scientists do. It was by befriending the villagers, living with them for days or weeks on end, solving their problems, and only then asking them about their herbal medicine practices. When Dr. Manandhar defiantly started publishing papers and books, botanists all around the world started realising the wealth of infoitnation provided by his work. In 1980, he took the initiative to start the ethnobotanic study division in his department. By 1983. he had travelled to all 75 districts on foot.
I have great respect for Dr. Manandhar not only as my father but also as a scientist. Although I am not a botanist, I´m convinced about his
many botanists
around the world
write to me to get his
books, papers or
address. I have also
spoken with editors
of reputable journals*
such as Economic
Botany (New York´
Botanical Garden)
that have published his articles. For those of
you who are degree-conscious, Dr.
Manandhar is a PhD from the University of
Science and Medicine in Grenbole, France.
At a time when scientists in Nepal do not
get any recognition by other Nepalis,
magazines like Hirnal ought to reverse the
trend, not perpetuate it.
Sanjay Manandhar Boston, United States
Generalised Thinking Unjustified
The box item "The Government Cannot Promote Herbs" by Manisha Aryal in Himal´s herbal issue was interesting and thought-provoking. But I wonder how Aryal came to the conclusion that "the ethnobotanic studies conducted at the herbarium are limited to collecting plants and sticking them in paper".
I am unable to comment on the other divisions of the Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation, but her statement on National Herbarium and Plant Laboratories is baseless and sensational. Had Aryal visited or called anyone at the Herbarium, she would have found that it was established in 1960 for taxonomical studies, whereas the ethnobotanic study started in 1980, at the initiative of a botanist working there.
Ethnobotany does not have a long history even in other developing countries, and in Nepal it is still at its initial stages. Yet contributions that have been made should not be undermined by ignorant generalisations. More than 50 books, articles and reports have already been published from the ethnobotanic section, and many interested Nepali and foreign individuals have received free information service concerning various aspects of economic plants of the country. There is no other branch of botany that has made such a contribution in Nepal.
Although the collection of plants, preparation of herbarium, and sticking them in paper appears to be an unimportant task to Aryal, it happens to be a vital part of ethnobotany. Once the plant, is stuck on paper, it acts as a reference book in a library ¦—with ´live´ examples of plants for scientists to refer to.
In our system, where scientists are required to operate under an amazing maze of bureau-
cracy, sometimes it is
difficult for a scientist to
do much with his or her
research. The findings of ethnobotanic studies and their utilisation depend upon the higher authorities and the planning personnel.
More rigorous, mature and painstaking effort is anticipated in the future from Himal, especially the confirmation of facts gathered through second and third party sources. Command of the English language is not the only criterion to print such generalisations.
Narayan P Manandhar National Herbarium and Plant Laboratories Godavari, Kathmandu