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Where Mountain Meets Plain
The tarai is becoming indistinguishable from the plains as its environmental and cultural uniqueness is undermined. Traditionally, it was the place where transition from hill to plain took place.
Observers of the economic interaction between hill society and that of the plains tend to perceive the tarsi as supporting forms of socio-economic organisation which are representative of the plains. Insofar as the tarai has today almost ceased to exist, such a perception is not inexact. With an almost relentless momentum, the "plains" (more importantly, the kind of society and economy they support) have in many areas and in a series of waves advanced right up to the northern foothills. This phenomenon, however, is recent.