Nirmal checked the time on his watch. Half past mid-day. Why did time seem to go so slowly today? He leaned against the front desk of his small hotel. The reception area was small but cozy. It was pleasant when customers came to sit downstairs and wanted to have a chat with him. Otherwise time just seemed to go so slowly.
Nimal looked at the photo of his farther, which was hanging on the wall behind the front desk. His father had bought the building in the centre of Kathmandu and started up a hotel many years ago. He had thoroughly enjoyed running the hotel. In fact, he had been there 18 hours a day for the last 30 years of his life. Evert single day. In the end, he had even died in the hotel, of a heart attack.
Nirmal decided to ask Carlos to look after the desk while he went next door to the coffee shop to get some tea. He needed something refreshing to drink, otherwise he would fall asleep.
‘Hey Carlos, can you please keep an eye on the desk while I pop desk door for a few minutes?’ He asked as he popped his head in the room next door where Carlos was clearing out the remainders of the breakfast that a tourist group had had their an hour ago.
‘Sure. Bring back some tea for me as well’, Carlos shouted back cheerfully.
Nirmal walked out into the heat. His good friend Bim ran the coffee shop next door.
‘Namaste’, Nirmal said as he stepped in. ‘What’s going on today?’
Bim was sitting on a stool and watching the last bit of a cricket match on TV. ‘Bangladesh is winning! Yay, beat India, beat India!’
Nirmal smiled. Almost everyone in Nepal was against India and Indians. The magnificent country next door was always a threat and Nepali people felt their presence. Their own tiny and poor country was nothing in comparison to their grand neighbour.
‘Can I have to milky teas to go, some sugar cake and today’s newspaper, please? Bill it to the hotel.’
Bim stood up reluctantly and started putting the order together. ‘Any news about Ms Joshi?’ Bim gave Nirmal a sly smile.
Nirmal blushed a little. ‘No, nothing really. I have been talking to her and we have seen each other, but it is hard... there is all this gossip as soon as we are seen out in the public together. You know? That puts pressure on the whole thing. Plus the fact that I come from a poor area in rural Chitwan, where as she is from a city family close to Kathmandu. None of our families would approve. They want to fix out marriages within our local communities.’
Bim put his arm around Nirmal’s shoulder. ‘Man, you’ll be fine. Just believe in love. Go for it if you really think that you want and can make a life together.’
Nirmal took his order and starting walking towards the door. ‘Thanks, Bim. I’ll see what to do.’
Indeed, he would need to see what to do. There were significant cultural clashes between the values his family held and those of the family of Suntali. Nirmal has no idea if these could be over come. He had no idea what his mother would say or think if he told her that he was not moving back to Chitwan to live with her and to look after the family land. Likewise, Suntali would not in a million years move to Chitwan with him. She was too sued to being close to Kathmandu and close to her family. She had already told Nirmal that the only way forward would be if he agrees to stay in Kathmandu area.
Nirmal stopped by the hotel entrance to sink in the last bits of sun before heading in. There was a group of English tourists in the reception.
Carlos was all smiles. ‘Look we got our new group here. They are staying for two weeks.They want to go trekking and explore Nepal properly. I will take them to Nirnajali’s trekking agency to plan their tour.’
‘This is what I love about my job and Kathmandu’, Nirmal thought as he sat back at the front desk and sipped his tea. ‘I love the new family that I have built here and that consists of my friends.’
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For anyone going to Kathmandu and looking for a nice little hotel to stay in, Visit Nepal is a good choice:
http://www.visitnepal.com/hotelthamel/
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