Namaste

I walked to work the other day in (almost) complete silence, as there was a day long nationwide strike. No motorbikes honking and sometimes touching me as they brush past. No cars and tempos and busses jammed up against each other, crazily stopping and starting, weaving in and out from under one another. No exhaust fumes. No dust kicked up from the traffic.

Just people. Walking, selling vegetables, bartering, visiting the temples, and standing by burning tires and blockades in the middle of the road telling stories to one another.

As I walked through the old bazaar area of town, the old Newar trade area, winding through narrow alleyways flanked by temples every block or so, I felt like I could have been walking ... seeing the same exact thing.... 500 years ago.

A group of perhaps 15 young Nepali men marched by me with flags at one point. I had to quickly look to make sure they were peaceful. Otherwise, I’ve learned to just quietly and quickly step out of the way.

They took no notice of me at all. An older man had also been watching them, I saw. Not for his safety, but because of their flag. As I approached him, I watched him react, a quick flash of anger crossing his face, as he bent down to pick up a brick.

My intuition told me I was completely fine, so when he raised the brick...almost as if wondering exactly what to do with it...and he looked my way....I quickly smiled at him. It was my first impulse. And something I’ve learned in my time here. In the face of potential conflict...smile.

What then transpired was the most quick and clear transition from anger to palpable calm and peace I have ever witnessed. Once he noticed me and my nervous smile, he immediately looked me in the eye, set down the brick, gracefully put his hands together in a prayer position, and smiled the hugest smile I’ve seen in a long time.

The movements were almost like a compact dance routine, a whole story of a nation poised between conflict and peace, looking forward and back at the same time. It all took place within a 10 second time period.

I smiled back at him, put my hands together in Namaste, and kept walking to work.