The art of
good conversation is not dead. One simply has to seek it out then let it in. I
have had two most delightful ones today already. One with my friend Bhim whilst
eating fresh mo mos and drinking Gorkha beer. On a terrace. In Kathmandu. We
chatted away as we ate and drank and watched the sun set behind the snow capped
Ganesh Himalay mountain. We talked about friends and family and children mostly
and we caught up on each other's news.
The view of
the Ganesh Himalay was very clear from our vantage. It is more than seven
kilometers high. Seven kilometers! Bhim told me this mountain had never - nor
would ever be allowed to be climbed. It was too holy. There are a number of
mountains in the Himalaya that are also too holy to climb. Getting to the top
has always been a western ambition. The mountain people of the Himalaya - from
Bhutan to Pakistan and every country in between - have never sought to climb to
the peaks of mountains. They don't see the point. I see what they mean.
It got cold
quickly on the terrace.
When the sun
went down.
The other
conversation was just now over some spiced tea - chai - with two monks.
Buddhist monks. This second conversation started in the lobby of the Hotel
Himalaya. Both were nice conversations. They were easy. Pleasant.
Enlightening. I learnt something and I shared opinions and ideas.
It was like
dancing with words.
I arrived in
Kathmandu this afternoon. A reminder to self never again to get a visa on
arrival. I have always before got one in advance in Singapore. It is easy
there. Hand over your passport and in two days you have the stamp. I ran out of
time for this trip and so I had to get one on arrival.
At the
Tribhuvan International Airport Visa-on-Arrival gate it was bedlam. It was a
bureaucratic ballet of mayhem and carnage. It was beautifully Nepalese. Two
lines were required and both were long and unruly. There was one to pay and only
foreign currency accepted. Then it was back to the end of another line to have
a stamp inserted. Then Stamped. Initialed. Stamped again. Then initialed.
It took hours.
I started
chatting to the two monks in the hotel Lobby after the dinner with Bhim and at the
Reception Area. I was asking for connection instructions to the hotel Wi-Fi and
so too were the monks. The television in the Lobby was repeating the news that
Pope Benedict the Sixteenth had resigned. This is a very big event in the
Catholic world and is something that hasn't happened for 600 years.
I initiated
the chat asking by what the monks thought of this announcement and the
discussion then continued over a pot of tea. At their invitation. The chat
continued and transformed into a conversation. A most pleasant one. In the
Lobby cafe. The monks seemed unsurprised at my suggestion that there was
political intrigue involved in the resignation of the Pope. They wisely
informed me that there are complex layers of politics in all religious
organizations.
Even Buddhist
monasteries.
We talked for
more than two hours about faith and history and architecture and youth. We
asked each other's opinions. We were Inquisitive. Genuine. We sought clarification
and we expressed surprise and delight. We agreed to disagree on some things. We
did all this Politely.
Gracefully.
Respectfully.
There was a
lot of clever wit and some verbal jousting. It was banter and I didn't swear.
Not even once. We drank several pots of tea these monks and I. We laughed a bit
at conspiracies and politics and we chatted about the monarchies of England and
Nepal. We talked about the wonder of Ancient Empires. There was a lot of humor.
It was great.
I enjoyed it a
lot.
Yes a good
conversation really is a lot like dancing with words.
We should all
do it more often.
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