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| Kathmandu, Saturday January 18, 2003 Magh 04, 2059. |
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Landmarks !
I have heard and read a lot about the heaps of
garbage and cultural heritages in the Kathmandu Valley, but wondered if these allegations
were authentic enough to satisfy a normal citizen’s mind until I had a greater
opportunity to face the reality.
I was virtually lost in Bhatbhateni and was
trying to locate ‘the Bhatbhateni Supermarket’. Having failed to do so myself, I
had to seek help. I asked a gentleman, gentle enough to reply me in English: "You
take this road until you find a path going left. Take it until you reach a garbage heap.
Don’t stop, continue for next few yards and you’ll find attempt. Turn left and
there you are." I believed I understood then, only to be confused at the first step,
where, as said by the gentleman, I found a garbage heap and a small temple next to it but
could not locate the supermarket. No option, I again asked a passerby. To my dismay, he
too told me the same thing exactly as said by the gentleman. I was more confused. I raised
my doubt. He smiled, rather chuckled cunningly and said: "Well, it’s the smaller
heap here; you’ll find a larger one and a bigger temple. Go ahead." At last I
found it, a larger heap promised, in fact the largest I have ever seen and an old temple
next to it. There, the supermarket was a few yards away. Well, the easiest reference to
locate a place in Kathmandu are temples and garbage heaps next to them. Devotees thronging
the temple seldom care, or for that matter the municipality. What if we contribute fifty
percent of our offerings to the temples towards cleaning up the mess? Certainly, "the
hands that help are holier than the lips that pray."
Bhola Subedi
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