MY LAST WEEK IN MAKAIBARI
Now the festival was over. People told me to
come back for the next Durga Puja or at least
stay until Devali, the next festival.
But my last week had come, the time to do what
I wanted to do before I had to leave and gradually the time to say good bye. I did a few
more drawings, but most of the time I spent
with friends.
Barshat, the girl who had been with me most
of the time during Durga Puja, became a good
friend while we sat together and talked.
I think and I hope that we'll stay in contact
for the rest of our life.
One day I asked her,
whether she wants to come with me for a walk
down into the plantation. She came and we spent
a wonderful morning walking in the nature.
We saw a lot of beauty and visited some tea
plucking ladies who remembered how I had plucked
with them a month ago.
When we finally returned we were really tired,
but happy.
One day two girls from a different
village, who Uli had got to know, took us to
Kurseong.
We went to Eagle's Craig, a memorial for the
Gurka fighters and a look out point.
From there you have a great view down to the
plains as well as to the Himalayan mountains.
We strolled around in Kurseong, holding hands,
getting snaps by a photographer and then we
went to watch a Nepali movie.
It was nice, I liked it although it was very
long and quite simple compared to what we are
used to in the West.
The day after that I wanted to go to meet Subu
in Kailapani(?), a village a bit farther away.
I had been introduced to him in the very
beginning of my stay and I was told that he is
musician, but I had not heard him play.
This visit turned out very nice. Subu and his
father Ruplal played some songs, then I played
some European songs on the violin and the guitar.
We also played together a Nepali song. Music
doesn't need a common language, it is international.
Subu's sister played some cassettes with Nepali
music and danced, I danced with her and her friend.
Ruplal also blessed me how it is done to family
members and good friends after the Durga Puja
and then I was invited for lunch. It was delicious.
Later on Subu and his brother took me for a round
to show me the village, which also was really nice.
I got to see a lot of things.
To the European eye it looked very simple, but
people seemed good and strong.
They hold together and have a living tradition.
Although they have such a tough life with a lot of
hard work they seem happier than people I observe
in Germany.
