April 28th was the day when I had to leave Kathmandu behind and move to Kohalpur. Yes it is Kohalpur and not Kolhapur. I admit that even Google gets confused between them. I wanted the date to get postponed or the flight to get cancelled, but I felt like I was in an inexorable condition. I had taken information about my going-to-be home for quite a long time "Kohalpur, Nepal" (I had to type this in Google to get it out of confusion with Kohlapur), about its geography, climate, culture, types of people, places and what not. I was petrified when I heard about the temperature outside once I landed in Nepalgunj. God damn! It was 37 degree Celsius. I was damn sure that this place would not be able to appeal me.
No No Kohalpur:
Food and restaurants: I don't know if I am the only person who felt that food in Kohalpur is disastrous. It might be because of the extreme temperature that I didn't feel like eating. Not just food but the names written in the menu were something to laugh about.
Things I hate most are lizards and all sort of reptiles. Those creepy things scare the hell out of me. Snakes??? I mean are you serious??? You guys must be thinking this crazy girl is writing about snakes in a wrong paragraph. Or some of you must be thinking "do people eat snakes there?" Nahh, not a correct guess. It was a spelling mistake. Those people had written "snakes" for "snacks". Mutton snakes and chicken snakes were the highlight of that restaurant. Coctel and Moctel were the most popular drinks. We (my friend and I) didn’t order those new dishes and drinks. Of course we didn't want to risk our health :P Highlight of the day was ice-cream. Yeah Yeah!!! You scream, I scream, we all scream for ice-cream. I clearly remember that we ordered amul ice-cream but it we were given Utsav ice-cream which was like just ice and no cream. It was like vanilla essence in ice and milk. The other day I planned to get new taste and entered a new restaurant. I went through the menu for minutes and finally ended up ordering chicken chowmein and fanta. First thing that got on my nerve was replacing fanta with mirinda. If you ask for money, will it work if I hand you monopoly money? Argghh, but I smiled and tried to abate my anger. There came chicken chowmein, fullest in the plate they served. I looked at it and got confused if I ordered egg chowmein or chicken chowmein. I could only see scrambled eggs on top of my supposed to be chicken chowmein. When I asked the waiter he said it is chicken chowmein. "Weird", I said it to myself and started eating. I found 2 pieces of chicken when I was about to finish eating. Then I was convinced that I ate chicken chowmein and not egg chowmein. WEIRD!!!
Climate and TEMPERATURE: As I had enough information about Kohalpur I knew it would be hot. I was aware of the fact that the temperature rises well above 40 degree for weeks. But, 47 degrees??? I was really not expecting that extreme sort of dry and dusty weather there. But the Kohalpurians never stopped convincing me that it was cooler than Nepalgunj. Nepalgunj was moreover like gallis of Kathmandu where there was no LOADSHEDDING. I could say it was the only thing that people liked about staying in an almost desert.
"Has it started raining?" was the first thing anyone would ask me over phone. I stayed calm and answered them in the beginning. Then I had to shout at them saying "No, it hasn't". I had seen few hindi movies where people prayed for rain, jumped out of houses in the start of monsoon and shout aloud with happiness for the arrival of rain. Now I know why those people get happy when it starts raining. Temperature which had elated and reached 47 degree lowered to 35 degrees. People were happy as they could start their "ropaai" but it was soooooo not happening for our program.
After it rained I had to encounter various types of reptiles and insects. I became a serial insect killer. No not a reptile killer yet. I hope I will never have to see those huge wall lizards, chameleons and snakes again. Most of the time I felt like I was in "Get me out of this jungle". Hell!!! That temperature was favorable for those scary creatures.
Weird accent/language: Being Newar and a permanent resident of Kathmandu is sometimes a problem. You can't find the correct Nepali word to communicate with people. Besides that, it is a tough time for you to listen to grammatically correct sentences each day.
We (Newar Kathmanduites) have a gender-friendly/no bias language which is of course grammatically incorrect, but easy to speak and understand. I had a hard time listening to those correct sentences and replying back in my "Kathmandu tone". For example,
We (Newar Kathmanduites) say, "Kata janchhas?" – To both male and female 2nd person.
They say, "Kata janchhas?" for a guy and "Kata janchhes?" for a female.
Many of them have asked me where I had come from after hearing me speak. When I said Kathmandu, I received various types of replies, comments and suggestions. Few showed pity towards me, few were confused why I landed in Terai from a place of opportunity 'Kathmandu' and few gave me suggestions to adapt in Kohalpur.
I became a very good listener because aunty (from where I stay) is a real talker. One fine day we were talking and I happened to tell her that I am leaving for Kathmandu. She asked me in surprise, "Kathmandu janchau chhori?" meaning "Daughter, so you are going to Kathmandu?"
And I replied, "Anta, janchu aunty" (meaning: Yeah! aunty, I am going)
Aunty replied," Anta kata janchau ta chhori?" (meaning: If not Kathmandu then where else will you go?)
Damn, 'anta' had always meant 'Yeah' for me but she thought 'somewhere else'.
I was sure that many people wouldn't understand me if I spoke the way I usually speak. So, I changed my way of speaking (a little). J
When you are in Kohalpur, you have to get used to with few words which are pronounced differently. If you don't speak like them or make an I- don't-understand face, you will be making yourself an alien among them. So, here it goes…
Alarm becomes "alraam"
Three becomes "theeree"
Bag becomes "beg"
"A" is pronounced in the end of every word. For example,
- Source force becomes "soursa forsa"
- Photos becomes "Photaa"
- Fix becomes "Fiksa"
- Bank becomes "Banka"
- Field becomes "Fielda"
- Nepalgunj becomes Nepalganja, and the list goes on…
- Cycle becomes "saai-kill"
- Handle becomes "hen-dill"
- Puncture becomes "penchirr"
- Bandaa becomes "Bandi"
- Lauka becomes "Lauki"
- Pakoda becomes "Pakodi"
I went inside and asked the shopkeeper aunty, "Aunty yaha cheese paainchha?"
She said with confusion, "Kasto chiz chaahine hajurlai?"
I was like huh??? seriously??? And I said, "Dudh bata baneko chiz k cheese." (I could not describe it more. More I described, more confusing it got).
She said, "Khai chips ta suneko chhu but cheese bhanne chiz pahilo patak sundai chhu. Paaindaina yaha ta."
And I had to return empty hand without cheese/chiz L .
Effects of Kohalpur on me:
Darker skin: I knew this would happen. Come on guys, I survived 47 deg Celsius so a bit of dark skin is acceptable. When I asked others about the difference in my skin color, they refused to accept that my skin got darker. Only I knew how dark it had become. I could find patches in my feet, half of it was of light color and half of it was of dark color.
Rapid growing hair but a lot of hair fall: I always loved to see my hair grow fast. But Kohalpur would not let me be happy for this. It might be because of the water I had to use there. Hair got all frizzy and dry.
A lot of weight loss: This again might be because of the temperature. You don't feel like eating anything and you are sweating to the fullest. It felt like the fat inside the body was melting in the form of sweat: P So a lot of weight loss. But a good sauna bath lol.
Sad me: I felt like I had forgotten to laugh out loud no matter how many times I lol'ed in facebook. I felt victimized by the place itself. I tried really hard to get familiar with the place but it never showed pity towards me. God! so it was a sad me for those 3 months.
Yes Yes Kohalpur:
Town planning: Leaving besides the extremely hot temperature and dust, there was a nice town planning done. All the houses were similar looking and all of them had access to broad roads. A lesson Kathmandu should learn I must say. This place will definitely be a hot and happening town in future.
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| View from my varanda |
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| Add caption |
(Access to broad roads)
Greener Bangles and Darker Mehendi: I have never been much of accessories liker and I have always hated green bangles and mehendi girls put on their hands during Shrawan. That is just so over rated. "Do I look like raw and ripe mangoes???" is what I thought when I had 2 dozen bangles in my hands, Green and yellow bangles to be more precise. I didn't choose to accessorize my hands with those bangles. Oh come on, I was forced to. But then I pretty much liked the new look of my hands. Same happened with mehendi which my friend's sister put on my hands. I don't know after how many years I had colored my hands. Might be around 7 years……. It didn't last long but it was indeed a very new experience for me. Why don't you try doing something you have never done is what I have to say with a smile on my face :)
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| Its my hand, i swear :P |
Became a hairdresser: I admit that I have chopped my own hair when it got messier but I had never tried cutting/styling anyone's hair. My mother was the only subject of my experiment before this. Aunty's daughter (from the house where I stayed) wanted me to style her hair. She didn't agree with me when I said I don't know how to. After a long discussion she finally convinced me to chop off her hair. When I asked her what sort of haircut she wants, she replied, "Jasto bhayeni hunchha, hajurko jasto garidinus". The parlor where I go for haircut had definitely shown some effect on me. And I won't forget to thank Youtube for teaching me easier ways to chop someones hair. I didn't know I had learned to chop someone's hair and style it. I was scared and was continuously telling her that I can't. But she was willing for any sort of experiment. I took the scissors and started chopping off her hair from below. Then I did her bangs and completed her hairdo. To my surprise her hair looked more beautiful and it seemed like she loved that haircut. I was saying "Thank God!" to myself. Phewwww!!!
Cycles everywhere: I finally felt like I was out from the pollution Kathmandu had. There were no vehicles making sound in early morning and no smokes on the road when I walked. The place was quiet. The vehicle that was most used were the cycles. One person in one cycle, two in one cycle, three in one cycle. God!!! It seemed that cycle had taken over not just bikes but cars too. Of course it is a good way to work out, but it also takes a lot of effort to cycle in that heat. Hats off! To those people who cycled all day long even when the temperature exceeded 40 degrees.
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| Three in one cycle |
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| Brother and sister in same cycle |
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| Competition :D |
Friendly neighbors: I could see housewives of many homes gathering in a nearby place to gossip when sun was all willing to set. Everyone knew everyone… When I say everyone I mean it ;). In those 3 months, half of the people from town planning knew who I was and what I did. Similarly, all the kids knew each other which I say is a rare case in Kathmandu. All of them gathered at a junction and played cricket and football. The girls chatted and went for a walk together. The atmosphere was so lively and friendly.
My new friend Kashish: Kashish is a small girl with such a sweet smile on her face. She is my friend's niece. A day spent with her was the most memorable day of my stay in Kohalpur. Her innocent face and her stupid talks entertained me so much that I really didn't want to return to my room. Here are few pics and videos :D
Kashish singing :)
Good and Bad sides of my stay :))
