Major cities in Nepal are mostly connected by roads. Nepal has no significant rail network because of Himalayan support, so hills everywhere.
Our major war was to travel from Kathmandu (Capital at center of a Country) to Kakarbhitta (A siliguri border to enter India), a distance of about 650 Km by bus. This was of course not a little distance; it is a journey of minimum 20 hours by road. Some days before, one of my friends suggested us to take a flight for this journey as this specific section has lots of problems like social agitations, accident effects, Chakka Jam etc. Being a middle class family, we mostly think on money and time, and how to get worth of it. A flight ticket was 4000 INR and a bus ticket was 400 INR. So now one can think what we had to choose. Also we had a spare day included in the trip. And a guy like me always wanted to see out side nature, people and environment through the bus window, which would not get by traveling in flight, that too in just 45 minutes in air. So, it was final decision to go by bus and everybody implicitly forgot about flight.
On 26 March, 2009, all four (I, Mom, Dad and Aunty) of us headed towards a central bus park of Kathmandu, where cleaner of the bus received us and showed us our first four seats, 2x2, one behind another to the left side of the bus. All luggages were then settled along with us. The scheduled departure of the bus was at 4 pm, but it departed at 5 pm due to some reasons. This one hour delay was not much looking to next 20 hours run, but later on, this little delay added extra hammers on my head, to know ‘The importance of the time’.
Ride started through crowded Kathmandu city, lots of pollution, cars, taxis, and buses. All it took more than 1 hour to leave actual political border of Kathmandu city. Then we started running on hills, a zigzag road, nice sunset, some shots through my camera, eating baked corns and groundnuts, time lapsed very fast and it was total black dark at around 7.30 pm.
Being an expert and experienced (?) driver, age 24, thin shoulder, Adidas T-shirt, he was riding like a super-bike. He was driving at pretty 70-80 km/h speed on sharp curves of hills. People like us, not having much journey on hills (Mumbai has no hills) before, were taking names of gods and praying at every turn (They don’t write – ‘Sharp turn ahead GO SLOW’). So, doing left and right, left and right on hills, clock hit 12 of midnight.
Suddenly driver stopped the bus, due to which most of the commuters got off the sleep and were seeing out side to know that why bus came to halt. We were at some village with no street lights ON because of load shedding (Nepal has load shedding of minimum 6 hours/day in whole country). I saw some 10-12 buses ahead of our bus, standing in a queue. It was difficult to understand what had happened. One would think some check post or traffic jam must be there.
After, say 30 minutes, more 15-20 busses got added in a queue. By the time our bus driver started the bus and he took it on wrong side of the road so as to face the whole queue of busses. I could see all the busses which were ahead of us and which were behind us. (Photos attached here may clear the picture). The clock hit 2 A.M. in this drama and without getting clear reason of traffic jam; we went to sleep for next 4-5 hours.
Next day, 27 March, 2009, 5.45 A.M., a sweet voice of cuckoo, notching sound of tractors going in farms helped me to wake up from a sleep. A sunrise as seen through windshield of bus was adding beauty in surroundings. Suddenly next moment it came to know, ‘My god, we were at the same place, a wheel had not even traced a distance of 1 foot..!!!’. So according to all passengers, this was really a serious matter. As in my life I never got trapped in jam for more than 2 hours, but here it was more than 6 hours. We asked some co-passengers about the reason but no one answered satisfactory. I enquired about the driver and came to know that, his house was nearby and he had gone for sleep some 4-5 hours before. So we were like hostages with no proper support from bus staff and passengers. Suddenly I heard a sound of shouting of people, they were telling each other loudly in their Nepali language, “Khulo, khulo” i.e. released, released. Means the jam was released. Passengers who were already on the road for time pass boarded their respective busses, also drivers started their buses. Our assistant driver started the bus and took little bit ahead from off the road towards the queue of buses and found some space to adjust our bus. So we were now actually in the queue like others. But to be unlucky after idling engine for 10-15 minutes, every driver stopped the engine and got out of the bus. Again after few minutes passengers got out of the bus. And all the drama got over for that moment and the previous scenario became as it was. Later we came to know this was purely a rumour.
Looking here and there and after refreshing with tooth brush, it was feeling something strong and mind was ready to handle everything ahead. The clock hit 8 A.M. By the time first information arrived that, the villagers had stopped the traffic of both sides and sat on the road. At that time, blood pressure increased for about 20-30 points. The alert suggestion of my friend was true, i.e. about going by flight. Any how there was no any option besides sitting in the bus. How one could take another decision at that moment, being new to the country, so we decided better to sit there only and wait for jam to get released. Next was tea time (a must), I went to nearby hotel and brought tea for all three of my parents. By the time villagers had started their day to day life and the village was now really looking like a typical busy village. The clock hit 10 A.M. I saw vehicles’ queue and that was out of sight, that I could count some 100-120 heavy vehicles in the line. Passengers of all buses were now wandering here and there just like they were in their own province. Somebody was finding hotel, somebody was finding toilet (of course all were going in fields and farms, I too), somebody was finding phone booth to call their relatives and to inform them about INDEFINITE delay etc. Again the same thing, “Khulo, khulo”, again exactly same drama happened which I explained above. Of course, this single rumour used to bring happiness on our faces, which we called a ray of hopes. The same rumour came for around 4-5 times till the jam got released.
Since last day of journey, I wanted to speak to one IRISH man sitting on back seat. He then himself (…being irritated) asked me, “What has actually happened?” I answered what I had known, since then our discussion started and it ended at Darjeeling after 2 more days. (As he followed the same route as like ours, and accompanied us). By the time clock hit 12 noon. As we were waiting, the proper news came as – The old aged man from the same village was run over by some truck and the man died on the spot last night. The same truck was passing by that village, and villagers stopped that truck at around 11.45 pm last night. They brought that deformed DEAD BODY and put it on the middle of the road and sat around it to show anger and ultimately to stop the traffic on both the sides.
Again rumour came – “Khulo, Khulo !!”, but this time the response by passengers was not at that level, as everybody knew that this was purely a rumour. So, passenger didn’t bother about it and everybody continued their time pass. The clock hit 2 pm. We, being hungry got some road side food like roasted corns, grapes, cucumber, chana-masala etc. By the time, we got one strange news, that relatives of that dead body, i.e. his two adult daughters along with some closest villagers were demanding for 15 lack Nepali Rupees (9.5 Lacks INR) as a compensation for the death. Also they wanted the driver to be hanged-off till death. For this, the owner of truck should have to be there. But the owner was in Kathmandu, 7-8 hours of road journey. The good thing was the owner was already contacted and he had started his journey towards that village, Nijgarh.
Yes, Nijgarh, we got to know this village name after reading on the board of school entrance. Then that IRISH man and I decided to wander nearby, and we then spent around an hour in the village. I was feeling so awkward because every villager was staring towards both of us. And they were laughing looking at this foreigner, as he was also trapped in that bad situation. Like him some 50-100 foreigners were also got trapped in that jam, as we were watching them walking on the road, with anxious minds and frowns on foreheads.
Passengers from all the busses had found their own ways of passing time. Some groups were playing cards sitting on the road between two buses; some groups were sitting on the roofs of their respective buses. A marriage party in one bus was enjoying by singing songs, some passengers were leaning and resting on the roadside grass, some were resting below the trees and some with stagnant minds were sitting on their own seats and they were intermittently changing their angles of waists.
At around 4 pm, after lots of requests to my parents, I got permission to see that dead body and to see what all drama was happening there at the main site. So, I walked around 300 meters towards dead body, and My God..!! what the scene it was, not for mild hearted people, the whole body was covered with white cloth which was totally stained with blood. Some 2-3 old aged villagers were guarding that body, lightening essence sticks intermittently, sprinkling some scented liquid on the body to stop rotten odour. That body was surrounded by big stones. I went little bit ahead towards a local police station where mob of approximately 100 villagers was defending army and police. Also some 500 villagers and passengers were enjoying a war between two parties. It was really a bad situation as at any moment there was a possibility of agitation by villagers. So everybody was thinking of settlement of that drama. I got inside the mob and was curiously looking towards police station entrance, that something would happen and all that get solved. In the mean time, a villager asked me something, which I couldn’t understand. I saw backward towards him and just nodded and turned the head again to front side. To be frank, I didn’t want to show that I was a foreigner and not from his country. I got the chance and moved back to my bus. Till that the clock was showing 5.30 P.M. My parents were already messed up with that scenario and were not in condition to listen what I saw there. I again sat on my sit and started a talk with the IRISH man, and explained him what I saw.
We were thirsty, and needed some mineral water. I went to shops and asked for water, to be horrifying thing, all the water from all the shops was over and what ever was remained, shop keepers were selling it at double price. But I even couldn’t get that. But the happy thing was that my mother had good talk with a local villager woman in that whole day. So, we asked that woman to get some water, and then she provided some two bottles of water which was sufficient till next day. An interesting thing that woman told my mother was, the jam, agitation, demands, is so common in that area, the villager even stop the traffic with small reasons like ‘a dispute between wife and husband’. We were thinking that, Nepal is a democratic country now, but still people living there have no control and they don’t follow common rules and regulations, even law and order is not strict. The news arrived that the owner of the truck had reached there at 6 pm, and we then waited for further news.
In the discussion on these subjects, finally clock hit 7.30 pm. The sun almost set down, and then we heard a truly final “Khulo, khulo”, and at this time it was truly true. Fresh news came that the compensation money was finalized on 12 lacks Nepali rupees, such a big amount, that too for the old dead man. So, what I have mentioned in the start of this article, about women. Now see, these only two women, daughters of that old dead man, did all this work. Finally villagers were ready to release the jam. They took that dead body off the road and announced the OFFICIAL release. We all just released our breaths which were stuck from last night. I could see faces of all passengers with a true happiness, and tension free minds and positive strengths.
Our driver overtook all the buses and trucks standing ahead and finally managed to go almost at the first place where the dead body was kept. It took further 2 hours to get released gradually from the traffic jam. Yes, the army which was quiet throughout that drama was now showing their power in handling traffic as the villagers took back the agitation. I remember, I counted around 1500 buses, trucks in the queue facing us (going in opposite direction of us) extending literally around 15-20 km ahead. So, one can understand how severe this situation was. I can’t imagine what would have been the situation of passengers whose buses stopped 15-20 km away from the village that too on the road in the fields where there were no shops, hotels etc. We were lucky enough that we got trapped in the village itself. The importance of TIME I mentioned was really serious. If we had departed on right time from Kathmandu, we would have not got trapped in the jam, because when we reached in that village, only 10-15 buses were there ahead of us, so it seemed that the traffic was stopped some minutes before. Anyways, everything is written in the book of destiny which we can’t change.
Later I came to know that this road was National Highway No.1, called as Mahendra Rajmarg. So, just think only 100 people could stop the traffic of national highway for 20 hours, so one can understand how much the ordinary people’s strength is there in Nepal. In India we can’t stop the traffic on any road even for more than 10 minutes, that too harsh law and order will sentence us quickly. Anyways Nepal will need more time to make its constitution strict about law and order.
Finally we reached Kakarbhitta next day at 5.30 A.M. on 28 March, 2009, after delay of total 20 hours, the delay, which I will never forget in future. Further I reached Darjeeling, Sikkim and then returned to Mumbai with the echoes of “Khulo khulo…!!!”
- Sagar Eknath Patil
Email: sagarepatil@gmail.com
Website: www.sagarweb.com
