Bandh in Pokhara

Unless you keep up with Nepali news, you may not be aware that Nepal is, and has been, governed under the Interim Constitution of Nepal, since January 15, 2007. No, you didn't read that wrong, the "interim" constitution has now been in affect for more than 8 years, after numerous deadlines to have a permanent constitution completed have come and gone. See how much you miss when you don't keep up with the news in Nepal? :)

The most recent deadline was January 22, 2015.

Why do I mention this in a blog post? Because in an effort to be heard, and hopefully get their agendas included in the constitution, many different groups resort to calling nationwide and area-specific bandhs (strikes) in the days and weeks leading up to the deadline.   

Wendy's in Pokhara?!
It's not a "real" Wendy's,
just some restaurant with a Wendy's sign,
but I'm going to have to go check this place out
one day when there's not a bandh!

During bandhs most businesses shut down and vehicular traffic is not allowed, except emergency vehicles, so it essentially brings the effected area to a standstill. Of course, the small shop owners who can't/ don't open during bandhs lose business and are most impacted, and those who do open risk retaliation (usually throwing rocks or even arson) from organizers, as do non-emergency vehicles that ignore the bandh.

Sam and I experienced several bandhs during our time in Kathmandu. It was usually pretty empty on the streets, although more and more people were starting to ignore the bandhs and would risk driving or opening their shops; however, we never witnessed any violence or demonstrations.

So a few weeks ago bandhs were called in Pokhara, and on the first day of the bandhs, Sam and I decided to go for a walk to check things out. We were in for a surprise, as it was nothing like the bandhs we experienced in Kathmandu.

Instead of empty streets, it was like a huge city-wide festival. It was a beautiful sunny, yet cool day and everyone was outside in the streets playing football (soccer), badminton, hackey sack, riding bicycles (which is allowed) and stopping to talk with friends... or make new friends with strangers! 

Normally dodging vehicles is par for the course when we go for walks, so with no vehicular traffic we were ready to enjoy a stress-free day of walking, not realizing that instead of dodging cars all day, we would be playing a continuous game of dodge ball (avoiding wild soccer balls) all day. I was pretty impressed with myself for not getting hit (I was never that good at dodge ball as a kid), but then Sam took things to a whole new level by not only not getting hit, but also managing to kick a ball or two back into the game!

We ran into 3 different groups of our friends while we were walking, and heard that a few restaurants were open down near Lakeside (since it is the tourists area) so that's where we headed. 

As we walked, a little girl came up to us asking for sweets, which we didn't have, but she was carrying a make-shift bat and ball, so I tossed the ball to her (a surprisingly good throw for me) and she tried to hit it. She missed, but from the huge smile she gave me and Sam, she looked like she had just hit the winning home-run in the World Series. I knew how she felt... between my extraordinary "pitch" and my success that day at dodge ball, I was feeling like quite the sports superstar myself!

Down at Lakeside, we ate lunch, walked around some and then walked back home... about 11 miles round trip. That's right, sports superstar and fitness queen all in one day... who says God doesn't do miracles these days?

On our way home, there were some teenage boys walking in front of us. One of the boys threw a piece of paper on the ground. As we passed the piece of paper, Sam picked it up and said, "You dropped something" just as the boy threw another piece of paper on the ground, which Sam also picked up and again commented. This time the boys turned around. I wasn't sure what to expect, but Sam just held up the papers and smiled at them. They looked uneasy for a moment, and then Sam asked them how they were doing. They kind of cast their eyes down, not sure what to say and meekly said they weren't good, he had embarrassed them, but Sam just started talking to them and soon we were all walking along talking as friends. 

Shortly after that, we saw a car pull out onto one of the main roads from a side street and a bunch of guys started yelling at the driver and chasing him off the road. At first Sam and I thought it might be bandh organizers trying to enforce the bandh, but we quickly realized it was just a group of guys playing football (soccer) who were upset that their game in the middle of the road was interrupted! Luckily the driver quickly pulled off the road and the game was able to continue without incident. 

Unfortunately, the same can't be said for the Maoists, the Constituent Assembly and a constitution for Nepal, but that's another story that is best left to the media to cover. Click here to read that article, "Brawl Disrupts Drafting of Constitution in Nepal" from the New York Times.