Down for the count

A naga-baba* smoking a chillum on Shivaratri. Photo © by Morten Svenningsen 6. March 2008.

*If you’re not familiar with the term: a naked Hindu ascetic who have renounced the world - and the use of clothes.

The last 24 hours I’ve been through a cycle of dizziness, constipation, cramps, vomiting, diarrhea and now just headache and exhaustion. Thank God it seems to be over. It all started a few hours after I took the above photos while visiting the pilgrimage site where 178 Baba’s are smoking their fat, marihuana-stuffed chillums. And of course, nobody believes me when I say : I did NOT have a puff from the pipe!

Lately I’ve finally had some days with some more time on my hands, so I’ve started to make some improvements on my web-site. I’ve found a really cool way to make galleries, so looking forward to finishing that up.

For now though, it’s been put on hold, since Sabina’s brother is getting married. I only knew Sabina half a year before we got married and I thought that was rather quick, but this guy... He flew in from Europe Tuesday night, met the girl first time Wednesday morning, got officially engaged Thursday and they now have 2 days to organize everything, hand-deliver invitation cards to well over 100 people, organize the food and music, buy gifts, rings and all the other ceremonial paraphernalia, have tailor-made suits ordered and delivered etc. etc. Wedding takes place Sunday morning at 9.30, that apparently being an astrological optimum timing. Why the rush? Nobody gets married in the month of “Chait” (which starts next week). Everybody knows that here. That would be like celebrating Christmas in July or something.

Well, I’ve gotten used to lot’s of things here in Nepal, so this is not really anything special for me. But it does make me think a bit. Not sure what the point is, just a little illustration of that whole east-west thing, everything is so different that I’ve never been able to pin-point exactly what it is I love about living in Nepal. Chaos is such a negative word...

By the way: The Tarai shut-down is now over so we have normal supply of goods in Kathmandu again (=still shortage, just not so acute). And the traffic jams are also back!