Fair Trade

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Wandering with no specific destination, I ducked my head to enter a small Momo/Chai tent in an alleyway. This little Nepali restaurant serves mostly locals who can't afford to eat at the more upscale tourist restaurants which abound in Thamel. I sat with three young men who are traditional Nepali musicians. They invited me to come to their live performance later in the evening at a cafe around the corner. I was excited to hear their music which they play on handcarved instruments, and to watch the tradional dancers. I was immediately thinking about doing an outdoor music video with them. My assumption was that they would be happy to trade a few hours of music playing for the exchange of music video DVD's. I learned the hard way that in their case, it wouldn't be a fair trade. I met them the next morning to do some shooting and while drinking some chai they asked how much I could pay them. I politely backed out and told them they would be better off doing their normal routine of playing in the streets. Money is a valuable commodity here and they expected to be paid at least 1,000 ruppees (a little less than $15) each to appear in a video. I completely understand. My thinking of a trade was based on my experiences in the Yucatan when I did a month long trade of musical videos with Flamenco Musicians from Mexico City. In this case, these musicians really do struggle to put food on their tables. It made me realize how vulnerable life is here in Nepal. Maybe, one day when I find my producers who provide the suitcases of cash, I will return and pay them a fare trade of dollars for their musical talent. For now, I have to find young musicians who will be happy to trade for some media publicity.

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