summary of kathmandu
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In this section, the essayist Vikram Seth portrays his visit to Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. He visited two sanctuaries there - one was the Pashupatinath sanctuary which is a journey for the Hindus and the other was the Baudhnath sanctuary which is a heavenly place for the Buddhists.
At the Pashupatinath sanctuary, passage was limited to Hindus. There was a ton of bedlam with ministers, visitors, travelers and creatures rushing the place. The heavenly waterway Bagmati which streams close to the sanctuary was being contaminated by washerwomen who were washing garments in it, youngsters who were showering in it and inhabitants who were tossing dry, wilted blossoms in it. Little places of worship distended on to the stone stage and it was said that when the stage would rise totally, at that point the goddess would develop out of it and end the Kaliyug. The scene at the Baudhnath sanctuary was inverse to that at the Pashupatinath sanctuary. It was an immense white hued vault encompassed by an external street. The place was peaceful and quiet. There was a Tibetan market outside the sanctuary where Tibetan displaced people were moving packs, articles of clothing and gems.
Kathmandu has an assortment of things to offer. It has religious holiness, it is a business center point and a traveler goal. There are shops moving postcards, collectibles, chocolates, imported beautifying agents, camera film rolls and utensils. An assortment of sounds could be heard in the avenues. The music blasting out of the radios, blaring of the vehicle horns, ringing of the bike chimes, moo hints of the bovines as they hindered the bikes going by and the shouting merchants moving their products. Vikram ate a marzipan bar, an old fashioned corn cooked on charcoal fire and decorated with lemon juice, salt and stew powder and drank coca cola to process it. He got some romantic tale funnies and a Reader's Digest as well.
On his way back to Delhi, he thought about passing by a gutsy course. It would be a transport or train venture till Patna, at that point a pontoon ride up the Ganga waterway till Allahabad. It would be trailed by a watercraft venture on the Yamuna waterway to Delhi. As he was worn out, he throwed the thought and took a non-stop departure from Kathmandu to New Delhi the following day.
Outside his inn, he saw a woodwind dealer. He held a shaft out of which numerous woodwinds flew out like the thistles on a porcupine's body. The man stood unobtrusively and would take out an alternate woodwind, play it for two or three minutes and supplant it with another. Every so often he would move one of them carelessly. He played the flute reflectively. He was not normal for different peddlers who shouted to move their products. The essayist got pulled in to the music of the flute. Woodwinds are played in numerous locales of the world and they shift in appearance, names and the music that they create. The sound of a woodwind takes after human voice as it is played by breathing out the expansiveness and its music likewise delays when an individual breathes in a broadness.
Vikram Seth describes his visit to the capital of Nepal, Kathmandu through this excerpt from his book ‘Heaven Lake’. During his trip, he visits two temples where notice stark differences between them. One temple was a pilgrimage for Hindus, the Pashupatinath temple.
After that, there was the Baudhnath temple which is for the Buddhists. He notices that they restricted the entry at the Pashupatinath temple to only Hindus. Thus, there was quite a chaos amongst the tourists, priests and the pilgrims. To top it all, people were polluting the River Bagmati by washing clothes in it, bathing in it and throwing away dry flowers in it.
After that, he went to Baudhnath temple. He saw that the scenario here was completely different from what he saw at the Pashupatinath temple. This Buddhist temple had a huge dome which is white in colour. The place was very calm and serene. Outside the temple, there was a Tibetan market and people were selling bags, clothes, ornaments and more.
He notices the numerous things Kathmandu offers from religious places to many tourist destinations. Moreover, it also has various shops of antiques, cameras, cosmetics, chocolates and more. Nonetheless, it is also a very noisy city from the car horns to the music and vendors. He enjoyed having a marzipan bar, corn, coca-cola in the city. After that, he also read love stories, comics and Reader’s Digest books.
On returning to Delhi, he thought of taking an adventurous route which comprises of a bus or train journey and then a boat ride, but he dropped the idea for that would have been too tiring. Thus, he booked a flight back. He saw an interesting flute seller outside his hotel. He had a pole with a lot of flutes on it and seemed like a porcupine body.
The flute seller kept playing his flutes and also did so in different tunes. But, what set him apart from the other flute sellers was that he played the flute thoughtfully. He did not scream to attract customers, he played it. This attracted the author and he wondered that flute is so common all over. Then, he compares it to the human voice and says how he is noticing even the little things now.