Cat-Man-Do

In my last post, I was talking about home sweet home. And by that of course I meant the first and only city where I landed before I could leave for my home town. As soon as I exited the gates of the airport I was surrounded by more than ten cab drivers, each of them firing questions at me about where my destination was, where I came from and if I wanted to take a cab. Since I knew that saying US would lead into more crowds, I told them I came from Doha. I also informed them that I did not need a cab as I was being picked up by a relative. Then after, the drivers started to offer me their cell phones so that I could call him and ask where he was. I was growing impatient by this and shouted at them saying I did not need ten of them to call one person. So everyone except one guy left me alone. As frustrated as I was, I realized later the desperation of these jobless drivers in a country where political conflict destroyed everything and is still going on.

By the time I reached the house of my uncle, I was too tired to do anything. The 30 hour long journey sucked all my energy. I took a long shower, rested for a while and after dinner I slept until 9.30 AM next morning, which is considered really late as everyone wakes up around 5 AM in Nepal. I had light lunch and went to see my sister Puja who goes to Pentagon High School in Tinkune, Kathmandu. It was then I noticed how Kathmandu had changed drastically during the last 5 years that I had left. Sadly though, the change was only negative. The road was extremely dusty and filled with black smokes coming out of both public and private vehicles. It would have been a good idea to carry a handkerchief with me and also an umbrella. The heat had grown so much that one could not stand in the sun for an hour. The Kathmandu I remembered used to be a lot cooler and cleaner. Now, there were more houses, squeezed together and of course more pollution.

It was strange seeing Puja in formal shirt and nicely ironed navy trousers, as she always wore traditional Kurta Surwal at home and during non school hours. She had so much to share that out of the four hours that we spent together; she talked for more than three hours. At least that relieved me of having to share my same old American stories of non spicy bland food and what not. Then I met few friends from school in Kathmandu that were typical example of stereotypical Nepali society. I am saying this because they used to be among top students and most of them are now into medical studies just as the society predicts one would be, given one is extremely good in academics. The rest they say should be engaged in art and commerce fields. Again, a friend of mine who used to fail in school is studying commerce and doing very well in it.

All of us went to Thamel, the most popular tourist spot and youngster hang out area. I kept wondering where the impoverished was and conflict victimized Nepal when I saw how my friends spent a thousand rupees in no time. A thousand rupees is a week’s salary for an average Nepali citizen.

I love Kathmandu, pronounced as cat-man-do by foreigners. Though I come from a village I grew up there since I went to Budhanilkantha school, which was away from the crowds of central Kathmandu. There I met people from all over Nepal and we shared our cultural differences. That was my first step to globalization, where I learnt to embrace the differences and appreciate them.