Day 3 of nationwide strike

Today the calm here in Hetauda is starting to feel very unnatural.

The first day of the strike felt so peaceful to me. It was a Sunday – a day I normally associate with a day at home, a day of rest and spending time with friends. So, for me, it was natural to stay at home all day cooking, cleaning, and visiting with the one other VSO volunteer here in Hetauda, Elijah. I enjoyed that there was no traffic on the streets at all. Just kids playing, and a few people singing here and there as they did the laundry, chanting as they did puja (prayers).

And I enjoyed that the Maoist protests were accompanied by song and dance.

The peace that I experience on the streets here now, however, 3 days into the indefinite strike, has a different feeling. It is contained by violence. The violence of control, and the increasing worry that people’s basic needs will not be met. Or met at a great cost.

The farmers today in Chittwan, my neighboring district, dumped millions of rupees worth of vegetables into the streets, allowing them to sit and rot. They are not able to sell any of their fruits and vegetables, due to not being able to transport them. This is in a nation that is one of (economically only) one poorest in the world.

Meanwhile, the only vegetables in Kathmandu right now are near-rotten. And very few. Most vegetable shops aren’t open any more, even though shops selling “essential” items have been allowed to open between 6:00 and 8:00 pm every day.
Many of the Maoist cadres have become sick with diarrhea. No joke in a country where diarrhea kills hundreds of people every year (usually children). The doctors report that the diarrhea has been caused by the lack of clean drinking water and an increase in temperatures.

Some Maoists are leaving for home. They are walking….however long it takes.

There has been some violence today. A dairy in one district was smashed and beaten , despite the fact that it was supposed to be allowed to remain open, since it sells milk. A man who works for the television station was beaten. It’s supposed to get worse tomorrow.

Brian is now coming down from the peak of the mountain. I have no way of getting in touch with him, but imagine that he knows what is going on from his guides and local villagers. If everything went according to plan, he should have reached the summit a couple of days ago, and is to return to Kathmandu on Friday. He will return to a different city than he left at the beginning of his trip.

I hope the strike has ended by then and that he can travel freely. I am worried that if the strike lasts, I will not be able to see him before he has to leave the country. I try not to dwell on this possibility for long, however.

I want to post this while I am able, so will end this here. But before I go, I make a request: send thoughts of peace and well being for the people of Nepal. In whatever way you feel comfortable. Especially the farmers, the dairy workers, the journalists, the teachers, the children, the mothers, the workers, and the youth…