UJJWALA MAHARJAN
“Il dolce far niente” – Italian for “The sweetness of doing nothing.”
My friend/sister/colleague loves this mantra and I love the expression that takes over her face every time she enunciates these words – a smile of contentment and the look of having spoken something wise.
Last weekend, she and I and some other friends were at The Last Resort savoring every bit of the blissful sweetness. Lying down on the comfortable mats and cushions at the bar lounge, eyes closed, thinking about nothing in particular – no story ideas, no interview appointments, no chores, no errands to run – just letting our minds roam into all corners of the universe, unrestrained.
One moment you are listening to yourself breathe and the other moment you are trying to recall a conversation you and your friend had a long time back; then you are playing a song in your head over and over again and the next you have slipped into a balmy sleep.
Lying down and soaking up the sun in the lazy afternoons and feeling your body and mind unwind is one of the best feeling in the world. After some untracked minutes of the soothing siesta, I decided to take a walk – my other favorite thing in the world. Walking barefoot with the cool stone slabs and soft soil beneath your feet, listening to the wind and feasting on the greenery and beautiful full blooms – a stroke of nature like that definitely rejuvenates your dull soul.
Back at the lounge again, as I watched my friends lost behind those serene closed eyelids, their bodies curved and rested on the mats like feathers landing from wandering flights, it hit me how wonderful a thing is rest.
And so I gave in again and drifted besides those warm bodies shifting to make room for me. Il dolce far niente – I smiled as I closed my eyes and breathed in the pleasure of doing nothing.
Ujjwala tweets @UjjwalaMaharjan
My assistant: My Daddy Dearest
CILLA KHATRY
He calls me brat, and rightly so. Brat in my dictionary stands for Brilliant Rich and Talented but that’s another story altogether. It all started from the day I could talk. He didn’t like me calling him “hajur” and insisted that I use “timi” while talking to him. He became a friend instantly and a friend I started depending on for every little thing in life.
When I was little, he used to buy me lunch and take me to school and then bring me strawberry pastries from a bakery near his clinic after work. If he forgot one day, he would bring me something extra the next day to compensate for it. Today, he still does all the little things I could do myself but am too lazy to take on. From fixing my wristwatch straps, broken rings to washing my scooter and refueling my car, he does it all.
Sometimes I wonder if he silently gets mad at me but can’t say anything because I am, after all, the only daughter he has got, and therefore, the love of his life. But then a creature of habit, I never change and so I leave him little notes with instructions on what needs to be done. And let me tell you, they have never been requests. More like orders that have to be fulfilled.
Today, as I left another note on his desk before leaving for work, I started questioning myself as to when he went from being a parent to being an assistant. Maybe I started taking the parental affection for granted or maybe I have just been pampered too much. Way too much.
But I know what I have asked him to do (which is to fix yet another broken ring, in case you are curious) will be done by the time I get home.
My excuse is that I work a lot and have too many things on my plate but I also know for a fact that he works a lot harder than I do. When I think of “Dr Subarna Khatry,” what comes to my mind is a man who will move the heavens and earth for me and that is precisely why he has become my most trusted assistant today.
It is not that I don’t love or respect him or that I have been spoiled beyond repair. Just that he is the one person I know who will never let me down. He is the person I draw my strength from as I carry on with my hectic schedules. But as he runs about fulfilling my wishes, I think he has forgotten that. Someday I will find a way to remind him but that does not mean I will stop ordering him around because the fact that he is my pillar of strength does not change the other fact that he has become, like it or not, my assistant.
Cilla tweets @cillakhatry
Adjust garau na ta !
ASMITA MANANDHAR
During a conversation with a German friend who is an undergraduate student at a Nepali university, she said that the greatest curse and boon in the Nepali system is adjustment. I usually get my ears pointed when my expat friend’s comment about Nepal because I have figured out that it is their way of indirectly commenting about you.
Well, my expression must have implied clearly—“Explain.” So she went into details about her own experiences. She hated it when she missed the parties and studied throughout the night for an exam the next morning, to know that it has been postponed because other students were busy partying the night before. But at the same time, she was allowed to complete a course from another department in her convenience.
Her remarks sparked a twitch in my head. My mind brought back all the adjustments I had been witnessing or that we were obliged to make. From school students having to adjust with limited or no library or laboratories and sportspersons adjusting with not-so-good trainings or equipments, Nepali people have mastered the skills of adjustment. The delays in process in government offices, the state of fuel scarcity, everything. And now our politicians have decided to test the people’s adjustment mastery by fiddling with the Constitution drafting process for the umpteenth time.
With all these meanderings in my head, I was waiting for a microbus to get back home. In the evening rush, I could find no vehicle with empty seats. There, how can one forget, the adjustment with poor service of public transportation. Just then, a microbus stopped in front of me; no seats again. But the driver pointed to a small vacant space as other passengers were made to shift to the sides. I still wasn’t so sure. Then the driver insisted, “Baini, adjust garnu na! (Sister, adjust somehow).” As I tried fitting myself into the small space, to my surprise, I fit perfectly in, or let’s say, I adjusted perfectly!
Asmita tweets @framesandlaces
A friend in need, indeed!!
NISTHA RAYAMAJHI
Time and again, my sister tells me that when I was born, our parents always used to tell her, “Wait till she grows up, because later you guys will be the best of friends.” At that point of time, my sister, who was a child herself, did not really understand the real meaning of what they were trying to say. As the years passed, we could not agree more with what our parents had once told us.
I have always looked up to my sister, be it for suggestions or if I just needed company. There are times when we fight for even the silliest of things and try hard to make up for it later. Eventually, even the serious fights that we have turn out to be hilarious. The thing is we cannot do without talking to each other. The fun part is when exchanging stuffs, we bargain only to swap things under a condition and then break the laws in the absence of each other. Those who have a sister would know what I am talking about.
Though she is my elder sister, there are times when people have even commented on us being twins. Then we do hear remarks as, ‘Oh! You don’t look the same at all.’ Besides the looks department, our interests are somewhat similar, too. There are even times when we think about the same thing at the same time, and just by exchanging a look we understand what we are thinking. It is amazing how well we click.
The best part, however, is getting to share anything and everything without being judged. Yes, you get that benefit if you have a sibling, and for me it is even much better because I have a sister. And I know that she is someone whom I can count on, no matter what. She is my best friend, my mentor, my well wisher, my guardian and everything that I can think of.
My sister says that we cannot live with each other nor can we live without each other. But we definitely complement each other. My mom now tells me “Later in life, your sister will be like your mother.” And I really can so relate to what she is trying to say.
Nistha tweets @Nisthaz
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