Bandh!

So again, much, much more about the mountains a little later. For now, what I returned to when I came down out of the mountains. Last Wednesday we returned to civilization, i.e., television, and heard that Nepal was in it's fourth day of a nation-wide general strike or bandh. This story will give you a flavor for what was going on. The Maoists thankfully called off the bandh Friday evening, and I was able to travel down to Hetauda, where Tiffany is living and volunteering.

First off, a couple questions about this whole bandh thing and the Maoists, in general. I know there is a whole history behind this that I should read more about, but my basic understanding is that the Maoists either are or were until recently a part of the government. Somehow, though, they still maintain a militia? They have cadres or professional revolutionaries--what on earth could that possibly mean? They do things like call nation-wide general strikes where all stores and offices are forced and nearly all transportation is stopped, including for example food stuffs into Kathmandu, with the threat of violence. Frankly, the whole thing is just very confusing to me. And it's right here under my nose. Literally.

So yesterday morning I was sitting at the nice hotel the trekking company had us in for two nights after we got back from our trek--we got back Friday, and so were scheduled to be in this hotel Friday and Saturday nights. So anyway, Saturday morning, I'm having my breakfast, reading the local paper and see that the night before--Friday night--the Maoists had just up and called off the bandh out of the blue. Here I thought I was going to be stuck in Kathmandu for a week unable to see Tiffany just 60 km to the south--I fly to Switzerland this coming Friday. So I call Tiffany, confirm that the bandh has been called off, run a couple errands, say goodbye to my trekking buddies, and catch a taxi to the Tata Sumo stop. The taxi ride seemed normal enough at first. But then we reached a more major street, and there was this huge protest/march all of the sudden--Maoists. They were waving their red flags, chanting call and response slogans. They had sticks in their hands and grim looks on their faces. Once again, I appreciated that this is serious business, no joke. I can become focused sometimes on how inconvenient this is for me. But this is a national emergency. For an entire country. Big deal.

Oh, and here is the poster that can be seen all over the place--even up in the mountains--advertising the May 1st Labor Day festivities... or something. You can see Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin, and Mao up in the corner. There is another sticker on top, though, indicating that 2011 is meant to be the Nepali national year of tourism, i.e., no strikes. Irony can be pretty ironic sometimes.

But I made it to the Tata Sumo place. Eventually, all 13 of us piled into the nine-seater. The four and a half hour journey took more like five and a half because of a torrential downpour that caused a flash flood that backed up traffic for a bit...

But really, the jeep ride was great. It was an opportunity to hang out with ordinary, every day Nepalis. Older folks, children, business men. To meditate on comfort, something we can be so attached to, but how important is it, really? To meditate on happiness. What do we really need to be happy? What do I really need to be happy? One day before too long this trip will end. I won't be sitting in an internet cafe, listening to women speaking in Nepali, sweating even though the fan is going. I'll be in Grand Central Bakery on Hawthorne having coffee cake and a coffee reading the Economist. But will I be truly happy? Is that what I really want? Clearly, this whole bandh business--and being in Nepal, in general--has me thinking deep thoughts. Such is life sometimes, eh?

And there were fireflies as I walked to Tiffany's place in the dark last night. And the muezzin boy recited the day's final call to prayer from Hetauda's only mosque, near Tiffany's place. And the frogs were going crazy.

Oh, and Tiffany had some interesting things to say in recent days, as well, for what it's worth...