DHON CHOLECHA AND PEEDAGEET

Dhon Cholecha (29^th December 2014)

This is the first drama I have ever watched in the Shilpee Theater, Battisputali. There was a time for a cup of coffee before watching the play. It began at 4:45 pm sharp. The theater hall looked similar to other halls in Kathmandu. Once we entered inside, we could see a beautiful set –background of an old Newari house with a bardalee. Then the story unfolded.

The folk tale moved around a Newari family with a father, daughter, her stepmother and her daughter. The attitude of the stepmother towards her daughter was not that good because of which the latter suffered a lot. Her father and her half-sister were polite to her but were under the influence of her stepmother. In such scenario, her only friend was a she-goat whom she loved to be with and play with. As the title suggests, she is a wise goat. This goat is what the story moved around then.

Talking about other aspects in the drama, music and songs have been overused. Minimizing them would have made the drama much more beautiful. As it has been stated as a musical drama, use of songs might seem necessary. However, I agree to an audience who doubted if they related to the audience in any way. But I must say the main actor’s musical talent was terrific—soothing and melodious voice. Two musicians sitting next to the audience played well too.

The characters in the form of rat, goat and crow were amusing. Also, the setting of forests and sky looked beautiful. The clouds moving in the sky looked pleasing. The management of lights was good except for missing to hit at some cases. But the play had too many scenes within an hour. Audience might want to watch each scene for quite some time.

Nevertheless, trying to include different aspects of society to make it a play of all people rather than only a Newari folk drama is worth mentioning.

Peedageet (30^th December 2014)

This is a solo performance by Khagendra Lamicchane. He expresses his rural past to a bystander in a busy city area. He is a representative of typical Nepali affected by the civil war of Nepal. A victim of that decade, he struggles for his survival at present.

Clad in a simple outfit, with only a stick in his hand, the writer/director/actor is able to hold the breath of the audience many times in the show. The drama spellbinds the audience for 45 minutes through acting and emotional expression of a multitalented versatile Nepali actor. The play indeed sings a song of his grief.

POKHARA AND CHITWAN

23^rd October, 2014

This journey was my first one for many things. I was doing domestic travelling alone for the first time. It was a first-time experience of a tourist AC bus. I had never visited Pokhara or Chitwan before. This travel began at 7 am from Kantipath. The bus reached Pokhara through Naubise, Ghansipauwa and Malekhu. When the bus stopped for some time in Ghansipauwa, I tasted fried veg. momo. At around 12 pm, the bus stopped again for lunch in Malekhu. I had a full meal which was a buffet. A lot of crowd could be seen there. I liked the concept.

Before reaching the bus stop of Pokhara, lovely mountains welcomed tourists through the way. The sky was clear. At 3 pm, the bus stopped at Barahi Chowk near Hallanchowk in Lakeside. My hotel was nearby but as a newcomer, I was a bit naive to the place. I took a taxi, the fare of which I found a bit expensive than Kathmandu. It was Nrs. 150 for a walking distance of 10 minutes.

After having a quick shower followed by a cup of tea, I went out to explore. The first glimpse of Phewa Lake at just 2 minutes’ walk from the hotel was marvelous. The feeling was unexplainable. I felt heaven. Walked through the sidewalk and reached Tal Barahi. Grabbed a life jacket and went towards Barahi Temple situated inside the lake in a boat. The surrounding views looked lovely from the lake. There were about 10 people in the boat. Although slightly scared of the water, the experience was exciting.

I did the darshan and clicked pictures. The temple in the middle of the lake on an island is an amazing view. Returned back in a boat which remained close to the edge of the island. 

Roamed around the lakeside shops while returning in the evening. It resembled Thamel of Kathmandu. Lakeside was celebrating the festival of lights with the performance of songs and dances by locals. Girls were attired traditionally. Loud music vibrated the city. I captured in my camera every interesting bit possible and all the mandalas made for Laxmi puja. It was quite interesting to find each of the mandalas different from the next one. None looked same. Whole city seemed exhilarated. I bought a shoe there which was again costly as compared to Kathmandu. Returned to the hotel and had dinner at about 8 pm.

24^th October

Next morning was for morning walk at lakeside. The morning view looked cool and beautiful. The lake was absorbed in fog and mist. The hills were slightly visible through clouds. A woman was fishing in the lake. After enjoying these views, I returned and had breakfast. The festive mood had already begun and locals were dancing in front of the hotels. I was observing and enjoying but suddenly had to leave them to perform as the bus for sightseeing had approached. The bus ran through the city.

Starting with Bindhyabasini Temple, the sightseeing ended with Tal Barahi temple dropping us all in front of the Chowk. Bat’s cave, Mahendra cave and Gupteshwor cave were visited. Begnas Lake, Seti River, Devi’s Falls were other sights. Had lunch in a restaurant there (momo again). Caves were very adventurous. Once I hit my head badly on the opening of the cave. Seti River was so white I had never seen such rivers before. Begnas Lake had less number of visitors compared to Phewa. However, the beauty of both was similar. Devi’s falls covered a large area although the main location was quite small. After the sightseeing, enjoying a cup of coffee in a restaurant in front of the lakeside, I clicked the summit of Mt. Machhapucchre. I was glad that I could at least see a part of it in the cloudy evening. Enjoying the beauty of Pokhara and feeling blessed, I walked through the main road of lakeside shops and hotels. Returned back to the hotel for dinner.

25^th October

The last morning walk began in the dawn around lakeside where I walked for about 30 minutes up to the big park area called Basundhara. It was beyond Ratna Mandir. Bought a few pasties on the way a baker carried over his head, which could not be resisted because of its aroma. Returned back to the hotel for a breakfast. Chatted with the owner about the city. He dropped me to the Tourist bus station. All Pokhareli seemed people of politeness. I left pokhara and headed towards Chitwan.

Chitwan is 150 km away from Pokhara. The bus mostly had tourists; however, the speed seemed scary. On the way to Chitwan, I was fortunate to meet a Nepali litterateur sitting next to me. We had intellectual conversation throughout the travel and the way to my destination seemed shorter. I reached Sauraha Bus Park in the noon. Once I reached the hotel, a heavy lunch was served very soon. The schedule was fixed here for all days. The first thing to do was to visit a museum and an elephant center, both inside the national park at 4 pm. It was also called a short jungle walk. I was included in a group of 9 Chinese students throughout the stay here. At 6:30, a Tharu cultural program was shown in a hall nearby the hotel. The hall was crowded and I could see many foreigners enjoying the dances. I was fascinated by the dances too and felt guilty that I had not known the culture of my own country. Returned back and had dinner at 8 pm.

26^th October

After breakfast, we headed for canoeing and a long jungle walk. Canoeing was a mind-blowing experience. The feeling of feeling oneself light once I stayed in a canoe in a completely calm and peaceful misty morning is unexplainable. During canoeing, we could see many birds near the river area. After about an hour, we reached the place wherefrom we would start our walk in the forest. Walking through the dense forests with the hope of finding wild animals was a good experience. However, to our disappointment, we could see only a deer and a boar. No rhinos or elephants were seen. Took a canoe again to cross the river to reach the hotel. The lunch was ready by then and I roamed around Sauraha market after that. After coming back from there, I went to a natural museum situated at 30 minutes’ walking distance from the hotel. Resting for a while, I waited for the final program- riding over the elephant. The elephant ride in a community forest was scheduled at 4 pm for about an hour and a half. With a group of four in an elephant, we entered the forest. Here, we could see deer, monkey, boar, and owl. Had dinner in the evening.

27^th October

The final day was only set for heading towards Kathmandu after breakfast. Went outside the hotel in front of the river and observed the area. Was guided a bit by a local guide there and had a chance to watch animals through his binoculars. Then bid farewell to the place along with the Chinese tourists. Although left early, reached Kathmandu only at around 6 pm due to road construction. The journey had delayed by 4 hours. I was in Kathmandu but felt a bit lost as if in a new environment. Thus, my 5 days of domestic travel ended.

WAY TO PANAUTI

2^nd October, 2014

On the 8^th day of Dashain, we started from Koteshwor in a bus at 8 a.m. The bus was crowded and we were standing until we reached Sanga. We reached Banepa in an hour.

From there, we decided to head to Panauti on foot. So we walked through a narrow way towards Shiva temple. On the way was a swing (linge ping) where children were swinging themselves. We enjoyed it and clicked the pictures too. I don’t remember when I had last been on it. Leaving it, we carried on with the walk and reached the temple in a short while. Relaxed for some time.

Then walked down towards IT Park through paddy fields. The paddy had nearly ripened. However, greenery could be seen throughout. They looked awesome and mind blowing in the warm sunny weather. I could not resist myself from clicking them.

We reached the main road, the bus route, in about 15 minutes and again continued with our walking. Through the midday scorching heat, we reached Panauti Bus Park at around 11:30 a.m. the bazaar area looked similar to Kathmandu. However, we could not find a place for lunch. Suppressing our hunger, we decided to move further. There were several ways and we went through Namoboudha Road. Nice views could be seen from there.  One of them was a sight of Triveni, where three rivers met. In about 5 minutes’ time, we could reach Indreshwor temple and other temples. We had a homemade-lunch and fruits nearby the temple area. From there, we could see a hill (Sallaghari) right in front of us top of which stood Gorakhnath temple. So we planned to go there too.

After enjoying our lunch, we moved towards the hill. Although it seemed a bit tiring, we reached the temple in about 10 minutes. Perhaps of the stairs which were in good condition. The temple had a large area where other temples stood too. There was also a room locked from inside and a picture of Khade Baba outside the door. The locals told us he used to stand whole day and night only on one of his legs.  However, we could not have a sight of it. After looking at the surrounding views and enjoying their beauty from the top, we headed down and returned to the bus park. Had a short walk in all the directions. Came back and had a cup of tea in one of the local shops. The tea cost NRs. 10 and made from the milk of buffalo as per the shopkeeper. We enjoyed the tea, caught the bus and left Panauti at around 3 p.m.

It was a day worth spending during sunny autumn.

ONE DAY VIPASSANA

28^th September, 2014

I departed from home at 5:30 a.m and reached Jyoti Bhawan, Jamal in an hour. We all headed to Budanilkantha in a microbus and arrived there at 7 a.m. After reaching, we had a lovely breakfast.

I could see the majority from Newar community and some foreigners. Guru’s bhajans inside the premises in a loud speaker took me back to the last year. I was there for 12 days back then. The environment was the same, very peaceful –well facilitated along with water supply and solar energy.

After the breakfast, I checked the schedule. It began from 8 am. With an hour of anapana followed by an hour of meditation, vipassana was at 10 a.m. We had lunch at 11 am and rested until 12:30. As the bell rang, we went to the hall and continued our meditation till 4 pm with short breaks in between. Before departing, we relished the lovely meal again.

Food provided was mild, tasty and healthy. I wondered how they manage and was convinced that there are good people in this world who give donation for other’s benefit. It is a safe place. The facility of pick and drop makes it even safer.

I wished to stay there forever as the place is full of nature and is too peaceful. However, after having donated some amount, I had to return back home with a peaceful mind.

PALETI UTSAV (SEPTEMBER 11-13, 2014)

Day 1

I was very excited about the program. The announcement of the beginning of the ceremony was done by Kiran Krishna Shrestha (who on the 13^th of September announced the closing of the ceremony as well). Amrit Gurung followed him and spoke briefly.

Songs of Aavas were performed. Most of them were children’s songs. I had heard them since my childhood but never realized they were written or arranged by him. I liked the songs such as “Leka ka hami ketaketi kuhiro vitra school chha…”, “Hiu khola ko pani chhunai nahune leka ko viralo bato hidnai nahune…”, “Dhalkayera sharira nachyo ahaa mujur….”

About 5-5 male and female singers performed on his songs throughout the program. Musicians were seen in violins, tabla, percussion, flute, keyboard and guitars. Professor Abhi Subedi said few words on Cantata. Cantata is “a medium-length narrative piece of music for voices with instrumental accompaniment, typically with solos, chorus, and orchestra.” I was highly eager to know what it was. However, once it was performed, I kept on sleeping. On counting, I had slept more than five times during the entire 1-hour performance. I seem to be an unworthy audience. Very soon, the program ended.

Day 2

Dressed in a pink sari appeared a bright face singing through her melodious voice “Dali dalima…” She was very polite and asked our permission to sing each of her songs before she performed them. Her husband and musician Sheela Bahadur Moktan spoke in the beginning of the program.

She sang many songs. One of them was my favorite “Timro mayale malai doryai lyayo…” I heard that song after a long time. Even the media does not play them these days. I regret that I did not carry a camera to record it.

The show ended by her family joining her. Sheela Bahadur Moktan and his daughters gave her a company at the end of the show. The musician seemed a jolly person. All of them followed the same singing pattern. The daughters followed their mother’s way. With a national song “Geet mero Nepal ho…”, the program came to an end and made it a perfect family show.

Day 3

Getting the passes for the program being privileged, we reached the venue an hour before the show began. We grabbed the best seats of the hall and waited for the event to start. Emceed by Aavas, the program began with a melodious bhajan/bandana by Dipak Kharel. He sang many songs and spellbound the audience. Clapping before, during and after each and every song became the feature of the program. Aavas intruding during the program as an interviewer and the singer’s indirect denial to answer provided humor to the show. Kharel seemed very polite in his manners like Kunti, the performer of the previous day. His polite denials to the queries of Aavas were responses such as – “a very good question” and “a very intelligent question”. Audience burst out into laughter then and he need not say more. Aavas kept responding to those remarks with polite smiles and left the stage solely for the singer.

The show was great and the audience enjoyed throughout the program. How wonderful three consecutive evenings!!!