KATHMANDU, MAY 29

Ah, pine forest! Who would not enjoy a walk, or a pause, in the woods of these redolent trees, feasting one's eyes and relishing the fragrance that so sweetly delights one's olfactory receptors! Some believe the air slipping through pine trees is good for health.

Likewise, walking on the crunchy, needle-shaped leaves of the pine, listening to the euphonious rustle, is certainly a walker's delight. So, even if the pine needles hurt, for instance, when a damsel's rosy cheeks graze them unawares, she may still appreciate the tingling sensations.

People in the countryside have the tradition of collecting the pine sap - called sallako khoto in Nepali - to use it as natural gum.

'Sticker tikas' were not necessarily self-adhesive in the past. Women used to apply sallako khoto on the blank side of the coloured 'ornament' before sticking it between their eyebrows.

The aforementioned damsel with her rosy cheeks would probably do it too, were she cognizant of the aromatic solution freely available on pine trunks. Kindly try out another freebie: pine sap is an absolutely organic chewing gum, too!

If a pine forest is nearby, a place or village in Nepal is often named after the forest itself, and it's called 'Salleri', from Sallo, a pine tree. Salleri of Solu, along a trekking route to Mt. Everest, is perhaps the most famous of all Salleris. But there may be a Salleri in Dolakha, in Dailekh, in Khotang or in Tehrathum, too. Chances are there is at least one Salleri in every district, which implies a good portion of green cover in Nepal consists of these coniferous trees.

Talking about pine trees, omitting a mention of diyalo – tiny pieces of pinewood laden with its resin and easily combustible - is unjust. While numerous micro-hydropower plants now help to illuminate most of Nepal, tiny diyalos used to play a lion's share of the role in dispelling the darkness in households until barely a couple of decades ago.

Then, grandmas used to cook dinner in the dimmed diyalo lights, and students used to burn the midnight diyalo, instead of oil.

Two 'stakeholders' may refrain from singing the praises of the pine trees, though: the carpenter and the understory. The former whines - even though the golden furniture looks amazing - it's a softwood, gets easily damaged and draws customers' flak; the latter feels permanently grumpy and suffocated under the thick and spongy layer of rot-resistant needles: it's impossible for it to grow beneath.

Next time you spot or come across a pine tree forest, hopefully, you will pine for a brisk walk through it, a long pause in it, or even relish an organic chewing gum freely available on the trunks. Enjoy!

A version of this article appears in the print on May 30, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.