Met Ishwor for an hour or two to finalise the order in Freak Street (the area of Kathmandu where the hippies used to hang out in the seventies!) and dined in a little restaurant in an old building that has been there since the hippy era. Ishwor is very recently married and I was happy to be introduced to his wife in the Durbar Square, she practised her English on me!
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| Ishwor's sister in the felt shop |
Spent the afternoon at Tri Netra where I helped the kids with their
homework as they have upcoming exams. Three of the blind students showed me how
they do their homework in Braille.
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| Bishwo and Maya with their Braille |
Mostly, the kids were all more interested in
my camera than studying and insisted on lining up for “one photo” (each). Sujan acted as creative director showing everyone
how to smile and angling the head of the blind children so they were perfectly
aimed at the camera. We ended with some songs, I gave an enthusiastic rendition
of John Denver’s “Leaving on a Jet Plane” and listened with joy to Kancha and
the kids demonstrating their talents.
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| Tiny Rohar styled by Sujan |
Next stop was Or2K to meet
my friend Gopal. This nepali-israeli restaurant is perfectly designed for
socialising with low tables very close together, and by the end of the evening
our group had grown to include Gopal’s friend Tashi, two Danish girls (Marie
and Amelie) and a German girl, Lisa. After hitting another bar we ended up
squirreling ourselves away in a rooftop terrace. Today we found out that 137
Nepalese (including some of my friends) got arrested last night for being out
in a bar after the new curfew time of midnight, and talk soon turned to
politics…. Nepal lived under civil war for over ten years, officially ending in
2006. It’s a very sensitive topic,
Nepal’s political situation is very changeable to this day, and it is always interesting
to discuss matters with the Nepalese themselves. I ended up in tears more than
once during the conversation, it is so hard to think of this beautiful country
and its amazing people being subjected to the horrors of the civil war.
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