Weeping for peace in Nepal

Kathmandu, Nepal, October 06 — I am walking alone on this foreign road. It is raining lightly after a heavy shower. In the far distance, I can see cars' headlights. On this lonely and calm road, I am walking silently.

"Nights are generally fearful and dangerous. If possible, no one should walk during the night," he used to say. Earlier, I did not care about my father's words, but now I realize their importance.

In order to lead a disciplined life, sometimes the suggestions of elders play a vital role. "You have a letter from home," Navina my roommate handed over a damp letter and went to take a hot bath. I opened the letter. It was from my old friend. It was raining outside and a slow breeze came in through the windows. I opened the letter and read:

"Everything is okay, but the way we live is perilous. I think there is no meaning for sympathy for Nepal's situation and Nepal's bad and worthless leaders." My mind ordered me to stop at the second paragraph of the letter. It was raining heavily outside. Night had fallen. I kept the letter under my pillow and managed to fall asleep.

"It is already morning. Won't you get up?" Navina's harsh voice woke me up. The sun had already risen high into the sky. The flowers blooming in earthen pots gave me a kind of pleasure and mental peace. However, peace inside the mind and that outside in the environment are two very different situations.

I can see the road. It does not lose its way, like the heart. This might be the prime feature of a road and the difference between the heart and the road. Vehicles and crowds make the road busy. The road never hesitates. How happy people would be if the heart remained inflexible, like the road.

I stop to watch the crowd and children on this particular stretch of road. The streets are busy and the people on the street are even busier. Nobody has time to think about others. Indeed, it is good to be busy, but what upsets me is that I find myself alone among the crowds of people on this road.

Yet again, I am watching people walking on the road while I sit on the bench outside my apartment. Like the people, my hands are busy. It is not cold outside, but I am shivering. I feel fear in my heart. A fear that is causeless and unknown, yet it makes me shiver.

I again opened my friend's letter. "We are in sorrow," she writes. I immediately began to compose an e-mail. "I expect peace in the world. I want peace everywhere, only peace. All people should have the chance to live in peace and harmony."

"Kamu, everything and everyone seems as if they are weeping for peace. I can't remember a moment when mothers waited for their young sons to return home from work and wives accepted their own widowhood at any time. How they are weeping, beating their hearts." My friend's letter made me feel sympathetic.

"We have the right to live as freely as the flowers live in the forest and add beauty to pride," I wrote in a symbolic way to my friend.

People are in a rush. They seem eager to meet their family members after a long day of tiresome work at their offices. Every human being needs another to lead a life. At present, I am not thinking about life and death. I think about life and love. Life is a long journey, a never-ending journey. I intend to compose a poem on love.

At present, I take a vow that my journey must make a new turn. I am in a hurry to fly, like a white pigeon. I am in a hurry to return back to Nepal and work for peace, love and companionship.