The Nepali word calākh1
, in English ‘clever, astute’, could be used as a
compliment to praise someone else’s ability to think quickly. Nowadays,
however, it is rare to hear the word being used in such a positive manner
in the Kathmandu Valley. Instead, since calākh can also be translated
with the English word ‘cunning’, it is typically used to refer to those who
cunningly deceive others for their own benefit. This negative connotation
of the word calākh is frequently used by those who belong to the lower
castes to accuse the natures of the two major groups of the high castes in
the Nepalese caste system, the Brahman, colloquially called the Bahun2
,
and the Chettri. According to folk narratives and stories, especially those
among Janajatis, the indigenous people of the lower caste (e.g. Caplan
1970, Holmberg 1989, Tachibana 2009), these groups have traditionally
been considered as cunning in various areas across Nepal. Today, it is the
negative connotation of the word calākh that is most frequently used to
refer to and accuse their character in the Kathmandu Valley. While some
ethnographers, such as Parish (1996) and Tachibana (2009), have made
reference to the word in their respective works, they have not paid much
attention to its negative meaning. Thus, in this article, I shall consider the
accusation of calākh