Luck and Timing
on Adventures in Nepal (Nepal), 22/Apr/2011 03:52, 34 days ago
_uacct = "UA-3483228-1";urchinTracker();We had our annual volunteer conference a bit over a week ago. 45 volunteers in Nepal and the VSO office staff all congregated in Nagarkot to update ourselves about development in Nepal, share experiences and learning, and to have some fun.I was one on a team helping to organize and facilitate at the conference - at ton of fun. As I was helping with the opening session, I wanted to start off the 4 days together with a poem, but hadn't had any time to look for anything.30 minutes before we started I did a hectic google search. What kind of poem might be fitting? And came across the poem below. It is perfect, I love it. A poem written by a Newari writer that uses nature imagery to talk about human nature. Newars are one of the indigenous groups of Nepal....they have been living on this land for a long, long time.The photos above are from a trip to Bhaktapur, a Newari city that uses tourist fees to protect the cultural heritage and traditions and to keep up the city. When you visit Bhaktapur, it feels like you have a window into how people have been living consistently for 500 years or more. Save for little clues every once in awhile (like an advertisement above a shop) that reminds you of this other world we are more familiar with.Elijah and I visited Bhakapur as our last day together before he left to go back home to Uganda. As we sat in a cafe drinking hot chocolate, ducking from the torrential rain that means the monsoon is on its way, we watched women walk across the main square gathering water from the well. Bucket by bucket. Catching up on the latest gossip. Others rested at their local shop under the eaves, patiently watching the rain and waiting.We also happened to come on a day when they celebrate one of two main annual festivals. The whole city was alive and vibrant as men and boys pulled chariots through the city and everyone came to observe. It felt like such an honor to witness this ceremony and practice of bringing people together, calling in the rain, celebrating the new year. What lucky timing...The Restless Urge For Equalityby Purna Bahadur VaidyaBefore moving water rounds itselfand rises ever so slightlywith an eye to sorting out where the land slopeswhere depth liesEncountered, the world gives it flow, direction, speedAs always water's intention is to fill and raiseWhere boundaries create you&mewhere between yours&mine walls rise --it revoltsGathering strength it flows,and wherever it flowsas day follows day walls collapse,boundaries are dismissedIn the absence of boundaries and wallswe see wider land --where water calmly, naturally, moves onThis struggle tells methat the character of the land is unevenTempered by the speed of the flowmy own innate desireis the equality I seek