Saturday, November 29, 2008

I was sitting in my room this afternoon when I faintly heard what I thought to be live music. Like a child holding his breath listening for the patter or reindeer hoofs on the roof, I held my breath and listened to see if my ears were playing tricks on me. They weren't. I heard it. "Baby, here I am, I'm a man on the scene." A tune by Otis Redding, made popular by The Grateful Dead and The Black Crowes. I had to investigate. Here is the story of what followed. As I've said before, if you keep your eyes open, you'll see some very interesting things here in Kathmandu, even the down-right bizarre.

DISCLAIMER: SOME OF THE FOLLOWING PICTURES ARE NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART, SQUEAMISH, OR MEMBERS OF PETA.

I began my trek down the alley and out to the street. There was live music at the Jawlakhel Grounds by where I live. This is an open field where there are normally soccer matches. Today it was set up as a festival with live music. They placed tarps all around the fence so you could not see in. I decided to look around. I ended up taking over 150 pictures. Here are a few of them.


Wish I knew what kind of tree this is.


Krishna and one of his wives. He had over a thousand of 'em.


Bath, anyone?


As you can see, there were many people at the festival. There were vendors, games, and all the usual fixin's of a festival. And valet parking to boot.


I'm not sure what this came from, but I can assure you it was not from a cow. We have the Hindus to thank for the expression "Holy Cow!"


Hmmm...sounds like something from a Dr. Suess book:

They attended the banquet, all of the Yaks.
They ate so much, they emptied the sacks!
What shall we do? cried each and every one.
Lets dance! Lets dance! until the night is done.

(Can't you see the blue and yellow yaks dancing?)


The bumper sticker reads: This car is blessed.


Ganesh.


Krishna. This guy is everywhere.


Yes, this is a common sight around here. The use the head for soup and Pickled Goat Brains. Pickled Pigs Feet suddenly sounds delicious.


Saturday is a "holiday" for everyone. There are people everywhere every Saturday.


Perhaps they can't all read English like I thought. The owner of the store saw me take the picture. I shrugged and smiled at him and he laughed and shrugged back.


Newari architecture. They were the original tribe in the Kathmandu Valley. Some of their buildings are 300 years old or more.


A child's smile always makes for a great picture.


Can you see me? If you can't, click on the picture.


Buddhist prayer wheels. They spin them to send prayers up. Up where, I'm not sure.


They asked for me to take their photo. They really enjoy being able to see it after I take it.


The mullet is alive in Nepal!

My throat was getting dry (dust and diesel fumes), so I decided to treat myself to a Fanta and Peanut M&M's. They were delicious. I also bought a Snickers, but was saving it for later.



Finally after a few hours of walking I returned to the festival. The band announced they were going to play one more song. It was a Nepali band, but when they struck the first note of the song, I recognized it instantly. Pink Floyd. And then came the words, "If you don't eat your meat, how can you have any pudding?" I guess most of them won't get their pudding since most Hindus are vegetarians. I stayed to watch and listen. They were jammin' on Pink Floyd when they ever so slightly transitioned. I recognized (as any good American would) the next tune as well. Eye of the Tiger. A Pink Floyd purist in America would never allow this. Transitioning into Eye of the Tiger from Another Brick in the Wall Part 2? But a Pink Floyd purist in Nepal will make some allowances.
Ticket prices were 100 nepali rupees ($1.25). Too rich for my blood. I watched with the commoners, sneaking peaks from behind the fence where they had pulled the tarp down.



I moved to the back of the fence to get a better view where there weren't any people. As I watched and listened, I put my snickers bar in my pocket and threw the rest of my trash away. A little boy suddenly appeared speaking Nepali. He kept pointing to my pocket. At first I thought he wanted money. Then I realized he wanted my Snickers. I pulled it out of my pocket and gave it to him. He took it and ran. Then he stopped, turned and said "dhanyabad" (thank you). He smiled and was gone.