Shopping, Monkeys and Meetings

(0800 Friday 4/9/10)

Namaste.

Finally the team is all together again! Poor Ellen and Jason spent 9 hours yesterday doing what should have taken two. Their Jet Airways flight was delayed leaving Delhi, as ours was, and they did not arrive here in Kathmandu until after 3pm! Accordingly, they were tired and grungy by the time they stepped out of the car at the hotel, but both of them were chipper and upbeat, much more so than I would have been. I have to hand it to them, they are graceful under fire.

The rest of us had spent the morning walking around the Thamel district of Kathmandu, window-shopping, people watching, and buying trinkets. This area can be a bit overwhelming to those who have not experienced it before – very narrow streets with cars, motorbikes, bicycles and pedestrians, all moving at a pace faster than what seems safe. It is unwise to walk to abreast on these streets, so we wound our way through single file, so as to avoid getting an arm or an elbow clipped off by a passing motor vehicle. We bought a few things here and there, and very much enjoyed people-watching and soaking up the culture and atmosphere.

We stopped by the shop of a friend of Jason’s and mine, Bishal Singhania, whose shop is called The Dreaming Room. It is an enchanting gallery tucked into a cubby off the streets of Thamel, full of Thangkas, Pashminas and statues. Jason and I got to know Bikki (Konal’s nickname) 6 months ago when we were here in Kathmandu and stopped in his shop to look at a large oil painting of Buddha, that had caught Jason’s eye while walking past. The painting captured both of our hearts, and we eventually purchased it, along with a Mandala Thangka painting. Bikki spent over an hour with us, explaining the history of the Thangkas, how they are made by Tibetan monks, and how the design, pattern and figures within them have special meaning. The precision with which these paintings are executed is really remarkable. Bikki was very knowledgeable about all of the art within his shop, and really made the experience of purchasing the beautiful pieces that much more meaningful to us. Later in our visit, while I was working in the hospital, Bikki took Jason to see the orphanage that he and his father run, and meet his 15 young girls of various ages, who, because of the generosity and hard work of Bikki and his father, have a comfortable home, clothes, and food, go to school, and learn skills. They were just the most precious family! We plan to all visit them at some point in the coming weeks.

So yesterday we all stopped by to see Bikki at his gallery, and he served us tea, and took Amanda, Pete and Melissa through the fascinating explanation of the Thangka paintings that he had told Jason and me last year. I think Amanda had here eye on a gorgeous red, black and gold Tibetan Prayer Circle painting. Bikki has some incredibly beautiful new pieces, and I know I will be spending some money in his shop this time around as well! We said our goodbyes to Bikki with the promise to call him later in the day, once Jason arrived, so that he could take us to one of the local temples, Swayambhunath, also called Monkey Temple. More about that in a sec. Here’s a link or two about Thangkas and Mandalas, and the info for Bikki's gallery, if you are ever in the area:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thangka
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandala

The Dreaming Room – Gallery of Pashminas, Thangkas and Statues
Bishal Singhania
M. 9851062245
J.P. Road, Thamel, Kathmandu, Nepal
Phone +977-1-4212274 (R), 4239056 (S)
konals@yahoo.com

When we returned to the hotel, we sat down for some lunch, and Ellen and Jason arrived, thankfully! It is a great feeling to have everyone back together. We filled the two of them in on events, and we all had a lovely lunch. The two of them still had some zest in them, so we decided to take Bikki up on his offer to be our personal guide to the Monkey Temple, and we all hopped in a cab and traveled about 15 minutes up a large hill above Kathmandu to the large Stupa, one of the most recognizable Stupas in all of Nepal. You will see it on many postcards and the front of Lonely Planet tour books. Its true name is Swayambhunath, but there are many monkeys that live up there in the heights, and they wander around the tourists and locals as though squirrels in Central Park, hence the nickname Monkey Temple. (Also because foreigners like me can never remember nor pronounce the true name. Shameful.) It was late in the afternoon, and as we toured the beautiful structure, the sun dipped and it became dusk, and a magical feeling came over the entire area, really enveloping us in the spirituality of the things that Bikki was teaching us. The Stupa itself is a large structure in the Buddhist religion, signifying the eyes of Buddha looking in all directions, and the 13 rings are the 13 steps to Nirvana. There are two additional obelisk-like structures on either side, representing Buddha’s two followers. Intermixed between the various Buddhist structures are Hindu temples, many of them, each for a different Hindu god or goddess. The lotus flower on the ground in front of the temples awaits the god to stand there when they arrive, and we stepped purposefully around them, careful not to tread on the place of the gods. People of both religions are praying here, intermingling and tolerant, as a shining example of the peaceful and accepting nature of both of these religions, and of the culture of Nepal.

As we left the impressive structure as darkness fell, we descended the 365 stone steps on the south side of the Stupa, one for each day of the year. I’m really glad we didn’t decide to enter that way…!

A quick taxi ride and we’re back to the Tibet Guest House. The evening was taken up by a meeting with Dr. Ramesh Maharjan, who is the Founder and Director of NADEM (see blog #1), and the General Secretary of the Conference we will be hosting next weekend. We discussed final details about conference logistics, the schedule, where we are on lectures, registration, certificates, journal layout, etc., the exhausting part of putting on a conference. I am happy at the progress we have all made, I think we are well on our way to making this very successful. Ramesh and I also discussed more thoughts about the future of Emergency Medicine here in Nepal, and I wish you could all see the excitement and passion on his face when he speaks of this conference, of the possibility of beginning training programs here for EM, and at the thought of the new Christiana Care International Emergency Medicine Fellowship starting next year and working with NADEM for this common goal. It is very inspiring.

Off to bed. I think there was food first, I don’t remember, way tired again. Like I said, good to be a complete clan at last.

Namaste!

Sue/Team