I
met him on the bus that was on its way to Kathmandu from Pokhara. For
the last couple of hours my attention had been drawn by this tall, sturdy-figure
and by that narrow face framed in a handsome beard. I was very shy when
it comes to making new acquaintance with strangers. He seated himself
next to me, greeted me and started to talk. In this way, started the
marathon of words that never seemed to end. Initially he asked about
me. What I do and about my family. I kept on answering to his inquiries.
Then, without asked, he started telling about himself. He talked every
topic in the world one could think of from politics to movies, literature,
celebrities, girls and many more. At first, I was very much irritated
by his extravagant and continuous talking. But I soon became absorbed
in his endeavor. I cam to know that he had studied up to class 5 but
still I found him knowledgeable and intellectual.
Among other things, he talked about politics. He
was concerned about the situation of our country like all Nepalese. Not
only this, he was conscious of what is happening in the country and why.
He was of the opinion that this turmoil in our country is mainly because
of conflict between people who are well-off and who are not. The state
is not doing enough to stop this chaos. I thought to myself this is exactly
what Karl Marx had said. He emphasized that every youngster should be
conscious of what is happening in our country. The future of the nation
lies in the hands of youth and its high time we must do something about
it. The ceasefire and dialogue between Seven Party Alliance and Maoist
is the step towards the right direction and still, there is a long way
to go. As he was delivering these words it give shiver down my spine and
made me realize that I was just ignoring the things rather then making
an attempt to fight against it. The irritation that was prevalent at the
beginning decreased and had changed to admiration for this man. Whenever
I travel now a days I look to the person sitting next to me and my mind
immediately goes back to that man - my fellow traveler.
