By Binod Shrestha
I’ve tried my best to use as simple English as possible.
Critiques and comments are welcomed.
Having heard incomplete stories about my family visiting a doctor for almost half the day and that too, sometimes not even coming for the whole night left me with curiosity. I decided to know more about it and enquired with my youngest niece who wasn’t even 10 years old at that time. She told me that she was forced to go there and weird things would happen there. I got furious for forcing such a little girl to go there against her will. Well, it’s not an uncommon thing in Nepal where parents force their kids to do things against their will. She hesitated to talk in the beginning but with my assurance that she’d not be yelled at by her mom, I got to know little more details that were crucial in the upcoming days. She told they would talk with souls and that scared me a bit. Souls? Well, you don’t do that to such young kids, at least think of the effect it’d have in their minds was what I was telling my family members as I got pissed off more each time I heard that they went to see the doctor.
My parents are old and I thought everyone was there to support them and learn the new process of treatment. I expected nothing more than that as I found no reason for them to go to the doctor since the only two patients would be my parents who had a long history of visiting doctors. So, I managed some time and courage to ask my sister who happens to be my niece’s mom. She told me that I’d to be there in order to know more information and why everyone was going there. It created some curiosity but still I wasn’t convinced that she should take her young daughter in such a place as it’d affect her psychology which I wasn’t going to allow. I told my sister to not take her against her will and things went as we expected to.
Having finished my Masters in Sydney, I’d initially not planned to go home unless I received Permanent Residency (PR) which would probably be in the next 3-6 months if all went smoothly. I’d it all planned, get PR and head home during Dashain for a break. But things didn’t go as planned. Well, it rarely happens as I plan. My visa was about to expire and things weren’t looking good for me. I was kind of stressed and then my dad wasn’t well. When your parents are unwell and you’re far away from them, you wish you were there with them. Finally, the most unwanted thing of all came at the door knocking real hard. Relationship getting broken was the last thing I could’ve thought of. I’ve had enough and with some courage, I decided to tackle all these one by one. I applied for Temporary Resident (TR) visa and came to know that my dad was getting well. Broken relationships didn’t give me headaches anymore. But I’d stressed so much in the last few weeks that I could no longer stay in Sydney and decided to go Nepal as soon as I received my TR visa.
The day I received it, I booked my flight scheduled for Nepal in two weeks to enjoy 6-weeks holiday which I’d planned a bit. I landed in Kathmandu and reached Pokhara the very evening as it was all managed properly. It was May 1, 2014 when I was back home after a couple of years studying and living in Sydney, Australia. Everyone gathered and we’d a family dinner. Well, it was kind of feast as I’ve a large family. After dinner, my sister told me few things and I’d have to go tomorrow for the class. She told me to go there for few days and if I didn’t want to go, I’d not be compelled. Well, it looked a very easy thing for me. Go there, learn whatever you need and find out the truth. Expose the man behind it as I believed he was using the less-educated people for his benefits. That’s what a lot of dhongi babas do in Nepal. So, the next day I go there in my shorts in Aussie style even though I was asked to dress in pants and be well dressed. Come on, I am on a holiday was all in my mind.