Muni lives in a house of generous proportions close to and on the flight path to Kathmandu Airport in the middle of a paddy field. So narrow is the access to the home that he has to leave his motorbike some distance away. Muni has been responsible for assembling the various components of the lighting system and sending them to the small airstrip of Lamidanda – no mean undertaking, as the approaching Dashain holiday meant full flights with no room for freight. When we arrive the conversation is tentative, we finally raise the issue of finances asking how much more we owe him but learn that final costs have not been calculated.
The cab driver is meanwhile sweating it out on the narrow
track several paddy fields away. The usual heated discussion regarding
payment takes place between him and Netra when we finally return. We notice
this seems to be an obligatory process, without either side being totally
concerned with the outcome.
First Day Kathmandu
We breakfast on the roof of our lodge in Lainchour, a
higher point of the city which would boast magnificent views given a clear
day which is rare given the level of pollution. Vague shapes of surrounding
hills and a nearer, slightly clearer view of the jungle of buildings comprising
part of the city is all we can see. However, immediately opposite
the lodge the narrow, rutted road widens to form a square in the middle
of which has been erected a traditional Dashain swing. Four
enormously tall bamboo poles are set in a square and bent and lashed together
at the top. This is obviously a great attraction for the neighbourhood
children. A vivid picture now printed indelibly in the memory is
of an older girl describing a huge arc, her bright aquamarine sari streaming
behind her. This set against a background of hundreds of white towels
and sheets from the local laundry hung to dry from bushes, rooftops, and
every level in between on the surrounding buildings.