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| Katunje gao |
First of July, 1981.
[Found in a diary after opening at a random page a day after meeting Ed Brown in Glasgow.]
Amazingly, Ed arrives [in Kathmandu]. Having had no word from him about his arrival, he appeared on the doorstep. He took a plane to Delhi and a taxi to the train station where he took a train to Patna, one of the dirtiest, noisiest, saddest cities not only in northern India but in the whole of the country. He said, "I stayed the night, freaked and blown." From Patna, I guess, he then took a plane to Gaucher in K'du. We have a zillion things to talk about.
Already, a vulture-like Ram Bahadur Thapa (TBT) is hovering about trying to capture phrases and sense in what's being said. A feeling that I'll need to protect Ed from the vicissitudes of life in Katunji Gao.
In one way, Ed is a pioneer: but on the other hand, he's a bit reckless like me. Splitting from Sarah, he looks cut-up about it. But I didn't let him go too far into the telling of it as there's time for things to settle.
It's now 5.55 am and my students have not yet arrived, neither has the bus, so they may be coming on foot...
Ed is taking a long time to become acclimatised to the different weather, culture and his own crisis...his coming to Nepal is not hard to understand. Sarah was giving Ed a rough time, goading as a woman sometimes does when a man doesn't change his behaviour enough or is too slow to change. She has some obssession about anti-abortion and medieval Welsh or English whereas Ed likes the peace of good dope, a guitar and good food...
Seventh of August and Ed has flown. And I'm all alone.
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| View towards Thimi |
