When kings were kings and Kathmandu was pristine

OCT 11

RAMESHWOR WAGLE

Thanks to Dashain fever, which is at a high in Kathmandu, the festive milieu is keeping everyone on their toes and has once again turned the entire New Road area into cacophonous mess.

The holiday mood has already begun in most places, and the number of people visiting New Road for Dashain shopping has increased by leaps and bounds.

However, cobblers like me have not stopped working and while rest of the city is engaged in celebration, people can find us either stitching or polishing shoes. Sitting beneath the famous Pipalbot at New Road with my other colleagues and looking at all the joyous faces I become nostalgic sometimes. As Dashain is just round the corner and I have planned to holiday from Fulpati day. While I have no dreams left for myself, I feel it is my duty to fulfill the needs of my family. However, even their demands have increased these days. Two of my sons spent Rs.5000 shopping for Dashain. As both my sons and wife do not eat meat, I won’t have to spend much money for meat. I have estimated a budget of Rs 12,000 to 15,000 for this year’s Dashain. My wife has not demanded anything so far, but I have planned to buy something for her in Tihar.

Some 48 years ago, at the age of 12, when I was had taken to this profession, things were different in Kathmandu and so was people’s way of celebrating Dashain. Kathmandu used to be a beautiful city with greenery all around. Areas including present-day Tundikhel, Bhrikutimandap and others around New Road were all jungles where jackals and foxes used to howl.

Only a few shops and hotels were located around Pipalbot. Basantapur locality was the busiest tourist destination inside the city and rickshaw was the most frequently used vehicle for transportation. While the rich people took rickshaws, those who could not afford rickshaws used to walk.

The way people celebrated Dashain was totally different. Lakheys used to rule the streets on all ten days of Dashain. All drunk, I also used to roam around on the streets the whole night with friends. More than anything else, things were much cheaper. After taking up this profession, I had taken a room on rent at New Road for just Rs 15 a month. Two rupees were enough to sustain life for four days and a plate of meat cost just 60 paisa. As I had no family to look after, all the money I used to earn I would spend on little luxuries. More often than not, we used to visit cinema halls and I still remember a few films that I watched in Nepal’s first cinema hall Janasewa and another, Ranjana hall. Five rupees were more than enough for a five-day trip to Birgunj. Sometimes, I feel that had I sincerely saved money I would have been able to build a house near New Road. Five rupees, at that time, was equivalent to Rs. 5000 these days.

Now, even Rs 500 a day which I earn sometimes are insufficient. I earn Rs 10,000 to 15,000 a month these days, but it is still not enough to cope with the price of vegetables and food grainsin the market. Sometimes, I even feel like crying. Unlike these days, people used to be good back then. Politicians who used to gather at Pipalbot for meeting would speak nicely to us. Even the Ranas were good. Though they seemed stony-hearted from the outside, they were generous in reality. They respected our profession, and used to give us far more than the general rate for mending their shoes.

Speaking of the good people during those good old days, one can never forget the late King Mahendra. He used to walk through New Road at night in ordinary clothes along with his servants and help the needy. He used to silently put blankets over those sleeping on the streets.

Now, things have changed a lot. With the increasing mess throughout the city people have also become rude and mean.

(As told by Wagle to Ankit Adhikari and Babu Ram Kharel)


Published in The Kathmandu Post -- October 12