Fate

On my daily walk into the office, at a number of points I see goats tied up outside a shuttered shop, munching on some leaves and twigs that has been left for them. Their days are numbered. When then shutters are opened, the man brings out a big knife and one by one they are butchered. And yet, the goats still stand there and eat. Do they not know or have they just accepted their fate?

I was given a book here called Brick Lane, by Monica Ali. It's a story about a Bangladeshi girl who marries a man much older than her and moves to the UK to live. The relevance here is that her mother always taught her to accept her fate, and she carries on through her own life not fighting against anything, going along with the flow of the river of time, always remembering to accept her fate.

As for me, I have a bit of a problem with fate. For one thing, how do I know what my fate is? Is my fate what easily lies in my path, or is it the harder thing that I strive to achieve - trying my best to not succumb to the easy things in life? Maybe fate knows me quite well, and so the things I try to do that I'm not scared of doing because they're harder are actually my destiny, not the things that lie in my path - apparently easily obtainable.

Why all this talk with fate? Well, they always say, God has a plan for us. He knows what he wants us to do, and will reveal it when it is time. And now, as I think about future things, I wish I knew what was going to happen. Or at least had some idea. It would make my life a lot easier. And yet, I don't want to know what's in store - that's the most amazing thing about life that you never know what's around the corner. So there's a thing...

Moving swiftly on.

I went to my second Nepali wedding last weekend. It was that of Bidro - from Ukaalo ra Oraalo here. This wedding was something a bit unique in terms of Nepali culture. It was not only a love marriage, but across Nepali cultures - Bidro from the Hindu Bahuun caste and his now wife is a Newari. No-one quite knew what to expect. So, I donned my suit - even that drowned me due to my underweight situation - and went along.

The wedding day itself was quite quiet for me. We arrived at Bidro's room in Lalitpur and after talking for 3 hours with different members of his family and friends, went to the bride's house. She comes from a rich family, who had a huge house in Thamel. At the bride's house where the wedding took place, we were offered everything - food, beer, even trays full of cigarettes. Most of the wedding ceremony I missed. It took place in a room at the top of the house, and every time I tried to have a peek inside, the place was chock-a-block. So, what made this a bit of a unique wedding I'll never know. And having only attended one previously, I wouldn't have had much to compare against.

The groom and me

At the end, the bride and groom emerged from the room, everything complete. They were led down to the road where we made the most enormous traffic jam - 2 cars and 2 minibuses stopped in a single track street. And with that it was all over.

Work in my office is getting more involved, with some new pits and pieces happening. And it's almost time to think about coming home. Fate, destiny and lack of money are all starting to play their course...

SAM