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May 7, 2007
loving, and leaving nepal
did all my travels teach me to be so fluent with change?
as soon as i heard we had empty days i took off on my own, traversing the fringe of kathmandu valley wildly, living on borrowed time. my thirsty nomadic soul drank up all the culture that nepal offered - sipping chiya in their tiny teahouses, riding on a bus rooftop weaving through fields of golden wheat, laughing with children who screamed for chocolate when they saw my foreign face, sharing dirt paths with goats and bulls, gasping at the dangerous manoeuvres of their notorious macrovans.
i am very impressed by how unperturbed my parents were with my solo gallivants, allowing their daughter to roam free - so long as i return by dusk, albeit a few shades darker - always bursting with stories to tell.
i tasted freedom most intensely sitting at the cobblestoned roads of bhaktapur, listening to the laments of some nepali folk song whilst eating their famed juju dhauking. the food, the music, the environment, the people, the language - everything was strange. how invigorating it was to be surrounded by all that is unfamiliar, how absolutely free, and at ease i was, how pliant my soul felt at that moment.
it is impossible not to fall devastatingly in love with nepal - their unrestrained love for clashing colours, the stunning himalayan range, the genuine openness of their people. the newari architecture preserved with such fierce pride, how rich they are with religious symbolism, the way the streets burst at its seams.
i have hunted for temples in the midday heat, came face to face with the ashes of death, played "guess the deity" game while staring at holy statues. i giddily walked into every shop that lined the streets of thamel chanting namaste namaste with delight, held tightly as their rikshi squeezed between potholed streets, slipped baksheesh into the palms of sadhus. i came to know of their everyday life through a new found friend, who spoke of their hardship, who patiently taught me their curly writings, who touched my heart deeply. i stood five feet below a living goddess and gazed at her countenance, lingered among tibetan refugees, and heard their stories.
i have done all these, yet as i departed from kathmandu - i felt that there was something more for me here. i left feeling slightly unsatiated, reluctant to let go of the bonds i have so recently formed with the people and the land - of which will remain close to my heart for all times.
my nepal experience was a deeply satisfying one. i am immensely grateful to have been there, for it gave me back who i am. and till i return, i bid this mystical country - dhanyabad, and namaste.
posted by nyx at May 7, 2007 7:15 AM
Comments
One small consolation about not being able to travel (due to lack of funds at this point) is reading about your travels :)
Posted by: priya at May 8, 2007 2:18 PM
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