| Biswo |
Posted
on 07-Oct-00 12:10 PM
I remember with wonder how gleeful I was
when it was decided that I would attend Ascol
for I.Sc.,one of several reasons to make me
such happy was the attraction of KTM itself.
My imagination of KTM was analogous to a
swine's imagination of a nymph,I always tried
to see KTM as a limpy beauty wearing all her
trousseau, waiting for her man to come and
wonder with utmost surprise.Because I was
surprised to see KTM when I first went there
while I was in primary school.The memory of
KTM, and the ghodejatra, and the intense
patience with which I waited among the
multitudes for a view of King Birendra who
was to come and grace the ceremony in
Tudikhel, all of this reposed in my memory
until I finished my highschool. I am still
undecided whether KTM remained as blip or as
fixture in my imagination, but KTM remained
,more of all, as a dream to me.
Kathmandu was not very accessible until
those days either.A trip from Chitwan to KTM
would consume a whole day,in contrast to the
present 4 hours.This is one of the most
obvious reason why I still can't concur to
those people who want to justify Panchayat
because Bahudal is doing nothing.Well, Panchayat had its opportunity, it squandered
that,so did the King and his cronies.
My first complaints against KTM was related
to the garbage.Never saw such a noisome heap
garbage in my life anywhere.In Lazimpat,there
was a heap in front of French Embassy, from
there,when you want go inside, there was a
heap in front of one of the most prominent
lawyers of our country.More amazing to me was
the unabashed/carefree approach with which
they were thrown out there.Generally, a lady
wrapped in some kind of vestment would bring
a plastic bag full of wastes and throw that
to the street with the full force from other
side of the street.Apparently,she didn't even
want to go near to the garbage.So much of
her hypocrisy!
My KTM sojourn was relatively short,I just
finished my ISc there and said goodbye to the
city.Never in my mind came that I should
relocate to KTM.Chitwan was such a nice
place, beautiful with wide roads, nice people
who were not as arrogant as the KTM people,
and Chitwan ,afterall, lacked nothing. We had
so many cinema theaters, so many colleges, so
many hospitals, such a good access to every
cities of the country. If you are in Chitwan,
you don't need to be in embargo like
situation in rainy season.No water problem.
No vehicle emission. A vast stretch of Royal
Chitwan National Park is there to recreate,
and a collection of around two hundred hotels
and restaurants to cater everything you can
get out there in KTM. There is no Asan Tole
or Chhetrapati where people throw garbages
from the window of their house.
I still don't miss KTM, nor do I miss Ascol.
I don't even miss the beautiful girls who
used to attend Biology classes in Ascol.
|
