6 - 12 SEPTEMBER 2013 #672
Mingmar
breadwinner of the family, and knows that every yarsa stalk is cash income. “I realise I have to help my parents somehow when they are alive because if they die when I am busy in my studies I would regret that,” he says with sadness in his eyes. “I decided to abandon my studies and help them as much as I can.” Even though Tsum has been declared a holy no-violence zone where animals cannot be killed, it doesn’t seem to apply to the
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caterpillars. In the evening a Tibetan-Chinese middleman, arrives to buy the day’s harvest. He can sell the yarsa for three times the price across the border in China. In this twomonth season, Mingmar hopes to earn up to Rs 3 million. Life in Transit, a 24 hours long video documenting Mingmar's life will be available online at www.globalives.org end of September.
ALL PICS: ANDREW MAHLSTEDT