Bhairahawa, Lumbini

 Made a little trip to Bhairahawa for work, then a sidestep to Lumbini. Some photos: 

Lotus.

Hotel Tiger Palace Resort.

Ugly but interesting

Dog! Not ugly, definitely not interested in me.

The light had gone by the time I stepped out, so I searched for high-contrast subjects. Naturally, they were up against the sky. Although the Tika School area is green, trees aren't proximal enough to casually photograph. So - electricity poles. These are the rusty iron kind, old ones, very likely older than me.  

Here, I had to shoot into the western sky instead the east, and that provided the proper contrast needed.

This pole is the more typical example of the Kathmandu mess. It sits at the junction of five different roads, and therefore bears the total legacy of all the cable TV and internet services that must have operated here since the mid-90s. A paleontology of this pole would probably reveal the parallel stories of locals getting richer (by selling land to much richer newcomers) and the TV/Internet economy booming, first as an illegal, unregulated network, and later as a syndicate between a handful of large companies. 

The one below is another pole at a crossroads into a cul-de-sac. As I was taking this photo, a kid of about six years jumped into a shop, called to his mom to wait for him, and uttered this wonderful phrase - 'Mommy, kehi kindinus!' Mom, buy me something. 

He seemed delirious to be at the shop, worried that his mother had already walked away, and unable to decide exactly what he wanted, chose instead to shout - buy me something! 

I enjoyed that moment very much. The stuff was of no significance, all that mattered was the fact of purchasing. That is also participating, calling oneself into presence. 

This is peekaboo through the camphor tree above the temple on the eponymous Deval Marg.

Color. 

 

Spring walk

The Tika Vidyashram alley is redolent with the scent of jasmine. And plum blossoms everywhere, honeysuckle bright, avocado trees flowering. It is quite pretty in the evenings.

And cats, and dogs.

 

 

Ten years ago today...

 ...was 8 March, 2014. 

Bikram paid for flex hangings, and a poster that was way too long and about 8 feet tall, with my head on it. Mohan and others from Newa de Cafe catered. A dog walked onto the amphitheater at Nepal Academy and Pranab declared it the chief guest of the event.

The Vanishing Act was launched. Rabi dai and Ujju spoke.

Since then, I have frequently been asked when my 'second' book will come. I don't know the answer to that. Technically, TVA was my third. Technically. 

 Since I made this collage sometime in 2020, I think, I have added two more covers:

Cover painted by Amshad sir, designed by Dishebh sir.

Another, designed by BookHill:

But I have finished translating two books already which have not yet been sent to print:

Maggie's book is being proofread, will to to print immediately after. Narayan dai's - not sure what or when Nepalaya will do or not do. 

 But that is not all, folks! I am going to be translating Khagendra Sangroula dai's short stories, shortly after I finish translating this book, which I have been working on:

But, that's not all, folks! I have also finished in-putting Ms. Iva Maharjan ji's proofs for Budhani, a Tharu folktale which I have 'refabulated', and which Indu Tharu ji has translated into her Tharu language. We're waiting on Dishebh sir to finish the cover for it.

In between, I also helped photo.circle translate a few of their books and exhibitions. I'm particularly fond of the translations of Amar Kanwar that I did. And there are these books:

I also wrote a screenplay. Here's the English version, and here's the Nepali. Sushrut Acharya is the cowriter, and Rachel Julia Moles helped with doctoring it. 

But that's not all, folks! I also translated a few short children's books for Anbika Giri, but I don't think they have been published yet:

I have been published in the Nepal issue of Pix - just a silly thing I scratched while drunk; in a magazine out of NYC whose name I have forgotten, in the Head of Zeus anthology House of Snow; in Kevin Bubriski badda's book; on Roads and Kingdoms, Mumbai Mirror and Al Jazeera. I translated Frederick Lecloux's book, I think it is called 'Everyday Epiphanies.' I know of at least two professors who have taught my short stories in their classes, and a few TAs as well. 

Et cetera. Yes, it is true that I haven't been able to finish my first long novel - I started in mid-September and worked until mid-November, tried in mid-February to finish it, and am moaning about it in mid-March. But, whatever, man! Scroll up. This is evidence that I haven't been sitting on my hands doing nothing.

Oh yes, I also edited the translations of four books, wrote a screenplay, helped out with quite a few student movies, etc. It doesn't feel like I have done much over the past decade, but I seem to have done not too badly. 

So, yeah, not too bad, Mr. Adhikari, not too bad at all. 

Spring has come to Kathmandu

 ... but also a new dusting of snow on the mountains. The morning air is dirty, but a swift breeze sweeps through around midday. It is a startling to realize that the sprawl of houses so close by to the east is actually Nagarkot. Usually, the air is so heavy with particulate matter that Nagarkot is invisible. 

Not accurate colors - shifted toward blue so that the sky is a deeper blue. 

Dharahara, Shivapuri, mountains

Chandragiri

This is a pigeon tail against the window :)