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-<t
r r$.
;w
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wiih an ancient fabric {hai
embro"rdered
for her to chanse All
impossiblc
il appea.s
arourd mc I see inagcs ot anoftcl time
Kathmandut lemplatc is quite fixedl An
interestinghypolhesiswould be on how lo
found in Patan Patan is one of thc three
Ncwar kinsdomstha! now makeuPthe citv oI
Kathmandu.The oiher lwo watringkingdoms
that formed grcater Kathmandu Kantipur
(nowKathmandupropei and Bhasdoai(now
addressthc ideaof movinsa highlyvcncraled Bhalitapur)areaho closeto 2,000yearsold
it h.s been
shrinefrorr a roadshoulderwhereas
sbowthatpcoPlehavcmade
bcfoLcthe Archeologicaldigs
ther€allalons,a f€w hundredyears
conceptofthe motorcarwasevenconccived? thci! homein thc Himalayassince9,000years
ago. Kingdomsrosc and fcll. clansand tlibes
wagcdwar to conquerrvhatthe olhe6 have.
that
my
Hiltory is packedinio every shot
visual memoty is now takitrg in, conlinnitrg Frohthis landakoroseonemanNhochansed
the rigid tcmplale. With a populationclose thc world Froh the Sakyaclan, Siddharta
to lhree-qualtefsof a million, this anci€nt Cautama was boro into this worLdio btitrg
city hasthe highestconccotraiionof temples peacethroughhis tcachingsof Buddhism.In
aod nonastcries.I frnd myselfwonderinstoo 250 BC, Kins AshokabroughtBuddhismto
how Kaihmanduis goirg to step tonvardand Nepal.A stupaihat wasbuilt by hin sudves
into ihe now ofthe bravencw world?Proofo{
it swirlsatl aroundin the folm of haphazld
iraffrc;thc ebb and flow of
and utrnanageable
ihe crowdsin ihe 8dlli, the narrowalleythai
sepalatesold shophousesflre peoplein ihe
sdlli sced to novc in a herd.I couldnoi helP
thiil of Lcd ZepL;A Brick in ihe Waudtrring
the fewtimcsthai I walkcdthe galli
Ai everytumin Kathmanduore seesreligious
references.
Sweepyour eyeacrossthe skyline
a stup., a shrine llutteling prayeftags ali at
once competelo a(est your gazc Perhaps
hceding the advice on nor aliowing vour
guidc a free hand in shaPingyou. itinerary
in Kathnandu is a sound one, if tou do not
The cLi! of Kathnanduhad beeninhabiteda Naot ar oveiload of religiousiconognphv
few hundredyearsbefore Christ the oldest in the head at ihe end of dayl Buddhistand
dated bdLdingwhich are the r€daiN of the Hindu pilgins co.vcrgeto Nepal yead)',but
palace of the fi6t tulers the Kirats has been she has more to olfer than stuPas,temples
8 2 .
S! a A s r a
--.:r
and monasieries.NepaLis a DaturaLbeauty
ihat will win pageantshands down Gified
wiih natural beaury that fes other nations
have,there is so nuch that Nepal can share
with ihe wodd Yet it strusgles to brins in
more tban 400 000 touristsa year'In 2000
the ouhbers hit close to the magical 500
000, but sadly in the year that follows on
the first day oflune NepaLmarkedanother
unfortunaie day in her history the royal
nassacreof 2001.Resardedthe world over
as a nation of spiritualpeople,Nepalt 27
millionhaveseenmuchupheaval
Now she is undersoinsa politicaLoverhaul
that thleatens to end ihe 23g-year-old
monarchn Is Nepal leady to become a
lepublicrith a populationso dtuerseand
be
eachethnicsrouprightfullydemandingto
can
bind
the
king
ihink
only
heard?Royalisls
the peopletogether.Otherslike Manjushree
Thapathink othesise
Maohl.s insurgents once tagg€d wiih
adjeclivesand blamedto! placins
unsavoury
the nation in poor lisht now look set io
make a viable return. And thel aPPear
to be 'narchingtowardsfoming ihe n€xt
democraiic government.The immediate
qu€stionon many liPs especiallyof those
who watch from a distaoce and make
judg$eots aboui thc counlry and Peopleis
thisrwill Nepal everset h€ract tosether?
Like nost young ninds nurturedon a di€t
meanlto feedihe tlee sPirii,minewas also
prooeto wild inaginings Dustyand un.eal,
imaginedsnatchdsof vkual mernorywere
resurccied before I made the trip Some
eventook on new lusrre,I mustadmii
Asiheplaneprepa'edioland,tlreKaihnandu
of my youthfuL inasination rvas rcaffirmed
It felt Like the plaoc hung nomcntarily i!
the air, when o! my left a vision of cloud
hugginshills caughimy eye.Romaoceand
adventuie were aLiveand kicking, aheit only
s P A A s r A' 8 3
So. n aftc. larding u hbhuqD Inienational
Ail?ott,
lhe
pictftes
ihat
had
langdshing in mv mind si..c
bccn
nv vouth
beganto dissipatc.Thc oncs ir mrm1trd had
sno\ peak€dnountainskisscd blth. clouds.
swepifg elle]s doiled \rtl
a glorious riot
ot colouls and balhe.l n rollins g.een and
b l a c L r h b l u ea sf a r a s l h e e r e s . o u l dd i s . c r n .
But {'hat I sa\' \rs toiallr difleeril.Enough
has beetr sdid aLroul!ssunptions haring thc
seedslor big lrisldkes
The Ncpal of my youthful in,agin,ngsMs a
HimaLaran Shangr -1..rNhcfe one .ould lnd
ih. ans\cn to maN oi lle! rddles t $ds
al$ goo.l for trckking ard n,ounta,neerirg
It stillls As onc vcnt highc, onc rould gel
. l o s c Li o t h c . l o u d s l v h . r c d r c s p i ' i l c o u k l
so.r lo lhc iesilng phcc ofsouls t had Lrcen
r,)ld For rvhrt Edm,nd HilliN h.rd hcen
,rishicd
rhc 5hc,fa dd
uLli.c1!
dnJ
. r c n , s sb c a u t i l u l i r c s . r n d ' . r l l . r s . m o u r L . i n
d{cllcLs hcmits rf.l sagcsro,Ll.l 11r.. \\'!11
l , r i l c i l o n L o b s . r f sl l . r D f . , , n l w h o l e d m \
m i . d v i t h i r c o L i c s o l t h c t h , n c y ca n J r s l t r r ]
L!.!.llrr
l l c . . 1 f l c l o l , c l i c v cl h . , t f c o D l c
rr rcighborrirrj lll,cl r.! d do it Surclv
N c p r L l st h . r l v c o r r h c h i L l sn , u . l r m
lll,cl
N c p a L .N . d i l l
A.d Krlhm.nd! .f m! jorth rrs r .lty of
L d , ca r d r c i . c l h c . r n r c i l s . l I . o n j u r . . l u p
ihdt im.ge in my nind. llo\ling \llvcs in
lhc hills siill souDd [n\t\
h nry mind:\ .ar
Jusi ovc.30 leds rgo lirerrlure penncd br
lelents hlvnrg a}dns-srtuated inriqinati.n
had helprd to draN rhc picturc. In it .nly
r fel{ motorized v€hi.les ft,stl!
laidback
t\fo+vheelcd eisl ridcrs chuggcd along ocar
emp!
stre€ts o.casionall\r a Pctcr l:ondr
look-alike astide a Harl.! \'ould eppcar rfl
strctchcd mv inag,naiion a little Dore
\ov
ln.ll
sceiig ihe .apiiai .ii!
Kathmandu
its glory 1tr 2006, wilh Nads and
bunps and all I t.iedto shakc offthc daze.
Coudess s.ores oltrfo-wlreclcrs and agood
nlmber of .ars .onpete to stakc claim on
the liniied square m€tres availablcahcad of
84. sr^As,r ,,,
.-
th. n llv.$ur.
N. go nlr srn.\,hcL. rr.
r f r g r c r ( h f i l r L ( \ ) S o n c o n . n r n p . r r c di h c
n r o l t n . r . l c s . n t h r s t i ' . . 1 so l K . l i n r . r d u | ( r
\il t),Lsh.(l
s , , , i . s i n . , s , r . , \ l r l rr , ! s r i l
lr\ r. fnsccn l.rt. i r. grJ h esril)c I i
r r s f r o s u r N !r . r * i r I
s ( i n . \ i 1 l ( ! ) l , sl , l , c I
f. ro !r,rr. {iu!
(
l
r
.
ol
in,iscr .f li,rihr)r..lu rlur 1r. bc. )
P r r r ( . d r n t o D \ n r i o r l s. r . r c r $ , r ! r . l l i h
I t i r s L i . r \ 1 1 )l \ ' i n i f d o u t o l r . . L r . t i 1
d i s D i s s i r gi t r n d h l r o . o t l c t o r f r i l l n r 1 0
lnt up l. oncs tr.s.ripli!'n or cxpc.tlti.nr.
llur lirrhmr..lu
h.N scen rnu.b i.d
is nol
r c F r l s r r t . nv c . i N c p r l
T h c r c L sn n L c hN e p i l
rr.d ro do 11she rerll
\ants ro srvcep rh.
\!rLd oif iis lirt
An.l Krth,n..d!
relle.rs
NhatNcprlprodiises
l'erLips like thc ol; N.nrin
who m
bc
sc.,ed!\ishing loranothcr H.li. I too nurs. a
hope n, rctLrn ro re dllof Nepal. Hopciirllr
brth.n thc Nlaois$ or Nho€rrr dcs the lan.l
rouLd h,!c done nLd\ Lo gire visit.rs io this
bcaurihtl colnin'a
i\ore rhidifg reason io
hope JLN| like a N.pal, $ould. For Ncprl.
hope s nuch needcd
ot
SFrAs,i
. il5
t
l
t
''1
)
\l$-;
j
$dr
.
1,,
o
g s sentiment immortalized
i.heirblcath. Soon,followinga consriruiion willbe puiledto look lor Himalaya!rcsideDl
lholds, in someways That clection,wc hopeeve04hinswilltall in ptace celcbriqrMt Everest.Wc are
nor so lucky.
prosre$cdtor the lastso many again.At pr€$ iime, dkturbing newstihers I t i s
s t i l l t h a t! l i n eo [ t h c y c a r w h e nd u s ra n d
s 'ray seemlike a la'nentationto mosr throushihis landlockednationsayinsthaiall mist iimi! visibiliry.
r! is it Leally?
Thiswitd suspecisfor some 'nal not be w€lland undcLscoring
insktenc€
hsh reasoN,no progressis a good ihing ol somcihal changewouldnotnecc$arilybe Many have
made lheir way herc rrekkins
ny outsideswho i.avelto ihis country for the betterfor this country.
the hippy trail, seeking answes, looking
in nany placeslife still go€son in ihe way
for adventurc expedenciossphitualiryand
that bcarsflashe!ofwhar may haveinspircd This \wiier sensesttrat we ai€ cnrering a naiuially just
indulging in thc beau!), of
Kiplins.Afier allNepalis likc a Land Divine landscape
likc noneothcrasihe planernakes sonders l-houghblessedwith abundancc
lockcdin tihe She hasso much ro offcr to a lapid desccntfor Kathmandui'liibhuvan of Mothcr
NaiL&.Ncpal languishes
among
thc hungry tourisi out to iasie a differeni IniernatiooalAirpo'l. We know rhar we afc ihe qorldt podresi
countries Mdny of its
.xperien.e;andceriainlyihosewho comero cntering a valley.Snow-cappcdmounrains populationlile in grindingporeny
and face
sampleher rich historyand uniquc culrure hold daily comnunion with the cloudsthat livesof unceftainty
AIier ycas oi tumoil
willwalk awayhappy And almostajlofthose greet us oo both sides.I learn later rhat locak wished io! peace
to reign againand
vho hayhavewishedihatiheywcrepowerful approac|irg Kaihmandu frcm thc air is haveNepal
cnter ihe era of bloon. Great
enoughto reach Mt. Everestspeak would an exerciseto be caried out wiih .rreme
po$ibilitiesaboundas it! a myriadtreasure
ha1€ to be content jusi brushing against caution. There is liitle room for edor, chesi waiting
to be unveiled.It definitely
her ski.t in the lower reachesN_everhelessespecially
in badweather
has all the riglt elementsespeciatlywith
satisfaciion
is still guaranteed.
its huge numbe. of UNESCO heritage
Valleys plateaus,gorges,raging riles and sitesand nature\ mosi beautifulblessings.
Schoolsaredividedastordeihershe shoutd peal<s
caressed
by dancinsclouds
atefeatures Most desiinationsheie encourageone io
changeandultinatelyclain herrightofplace apl€ng'ir this landand theseseeh liLe ihet go on a retreat
io lose oreself in order ro
ontheintemaiionalstage.Thisvritertogerher have been takeo out of a mysticalworld nnd it back
and provokea senseof spiritual
with 27 million other Nepalis ale holding Eventhough it is a greatdistanceawa).many
s p!asri
. 89