People I've met

So far I have mainly focused on the places I have been in Kathmandu, while it’s the people I have met along the way that have truly made my experience here. I’ve already mentioned my Turkish photographic fiend, with whom I shared a brief two day photography “workshop”, snapshotting our way around the city in a whirlwind tour, our subjects everyone from holy men to homeless men, cheeky monkeys to cheeky children, and of course, everything else in between. We enjoyed the views and the wildlife at the Monkey temple, got spiritual with some Sadus at the holy site Pashupatinath, chattered with monks at Kopan and soaked up the Buddhist culture in Boudhanath, managing to sneak in a few beers and some live Nepali music along the way.

 Harking back to my first day in Kathmandu, when I arrived bleary-eyed from a sleepless overnight flight, I met someone else who has continued to make my time in Nepal a pleasure and an education. I was lost in the rain in search of my lodging when a kindly Nepali woman named Manisha took me under her wing. She invited me in for tea and to shelter from the rain, promising to help me find my hostel when the rain ceased. Manisha turned out to be intelligent, kind and generous, with a passion for social change and the arts. A writer by trade already with a few novels in her repertoire she has fingers in many pies in the Kathmandu arts and social activism scene. Alongside researching and planning her next novel she is busy writing articles for newspapers, applying for jobs as a playwright, and working with a disability organisation. The life of a disabled person in Nepal is tough. Lacking the resources they need and stigmatised by a society that largely still sees disability as a penance for sins committed in previous lives, it is extremely difficult for the less able to become economically independent and exercise their rights.

Among other things, Manisha’s organisation provides home-visit teachers to disabled children around Kathmandu and Bakhtapur. They are currently filming a documentary to highlight the important role this scheme plays in the lives of these children and their families. I was lucky enough to be invited along to their office where they are in the editing process. As a budding videographer myself this was a fantastic opportunity and I learned some top tips for my own filming and editing projects. One of the men involved in the project has his own story to tell. He has in fact just released this story as a feature film, directed by himself and with a number of awards under its belt already. It has also been nominated for an Oscar! After losing the use of both legs at only 17, refusing to be beaten by his misfortune, he has forged a great career in film, and finally completed his life story project after 7 years of planning and dreaming. The film is beautiful and funny and poignant and bittersweet – I can’t wait to watch the full version when it’s released in England!

Through Manisha I have seen sides of Kathmandu and Nepali life that I would never have experienced alone. Invited into her home, and the lives of her friends and family over the last few weeks, I have felt the full effect of the Nepali generosity and warm-heartedness. Only last Saturday I was a guest at a Teej celebration with 25 female Nepali writers, where there was feasting and dancing and plenty of impassioned debate. (Or at least that’s what I imagine it was, considering my Nepali is not yet good enough to follow the conversations!) I was welcomed with open arms and fascination.  

With Manisha I have also eaten my first home-cooked Nepali meal. It as eaten with my hands in true Nepali style, and in the dark in Kathmandu style (there are intermittent blackouts thanks  to insufficient electricity to supply the whole city). I have ridden on the back of a scooter, dodging pot-holes, overtaking groaning buses and circumnavigating chaotic traffic jams. 

I have wandered the red cobbled streets of Bakhtapur, sucking on Kulfi (frozen milk solids with dried fruit and nuts inside), sampling curd (another delicious milk-based snack), bargaining with street-hawkers, and eating traditional Newari food, (in a place I wouldn’t have known existed if not for Manisha and friends). 

I have sampled the theatrical world of Kathmandu, watching a Nepali version of Hedda Gabler, directed by another of Manisha’s friends. Already a subtle and complex play it was all the more indecipherable in Nepali. But the acting was fantastic! I have been introduced to the best local (and therefore cheap!) restaurants in my area and to so many little titbits of knowledge about the culture, society and history of Nepal that I have come to understand and love this addictive and inspiring place all the more. And I haven’t even begun to talk about Women-LEAD! I think I will save that for the next instalment…