‘Write about what you think, see and feel while you are travelling from your home to college early in the morning’. Is this is a “standard” topic for an assignment for the student in the final year doing their bachelors? Are we so short of topics for an assignment? Well honestly this was the first thought that came streaming up into my mind. The tragedy is that the assignment carries marks and will accumulate to my grades so with no other choice to make I start my assignment.
My college days run from Saturday to Wednesday and occasionally on other days. In other words, I have five college days to attend in a week. Today is 19th September 2011, a day after the shocking and shaking earthquake of 6.8 rector scale that cosmopolitan Kathmandu experienced. I woke up at 5:30 am and hurried to the bathroom. Unfortunately the taps ran out of water as we had load shedding last night. The timing for the water supply and load shedding seems to coincide most of the time so this is not very new to me. I take a mug of water, wash my face as well as manage gargle the paste off my mouth. Giving up the idea to take a shower I change and leave for my college. The clock strikes quarter past six; I am already late. The college starts from 6:45 am and it takes 45 minutes for me to reach my college in very popular public bus “Nepal Yatayat”. I let go of two buses as they are too pack to travel. Yet I can see many people cling to the door and head towards their destination. I question myself, why am I so conscious about the safety or is it that those people are too brave who can forego their safety to reach their destination on time? Or is it the after shock effect of earthquake on me? Now it is really late and finally I get on to a bus and manage to get a seat.
The bus moves from Baneshwor to Anamnagar, New Plaza, Putali sadak, Jai Nepal, Naag pokhari, Naksal, Tangal ganesh , Bhatbhateni and finally my college at Baluwatar. During this journey from Baneshwor to Baluwatar I come across the variety that this capital city has to offer. I witness the structural transformation that the place has acquired in past three years. Every morning on my way to college, I see hundreds of youth like me who are studying at different colleges. It reminds me of human resource class lectures. I notice the consultancy offices for abroad studies and start to think about my further studies. Should I continue my master’s degree here or seek for abroad studies? Most people suggest trying at least once for pursuing master’s degree abroad. Suddenly, the driver applies the brakes as it was about to hit a motorbike which overtook the bus from wrong side. ‘These motor bikers have no consideration for traffic rules or seriousness towards their life’, I hear the driver shout. The bus gathers its speed and I go back to enjoy the ride. I see very captivating film posters on display at Jai Nepal cinema hall and make up my mind to manage time to come and watch the movie some time soon. Tall shopping malls and apartment housing are becoming quite popular these days in Kathmandu and so are the giant hoarding boards. Due to yesterday’s experience of 6.8 rector scale earthquake, I could not help but wonder is it safe to come out on road if such incidents repeat. I notice the maze of wires hanging helplessly, poles at the road side which no longer have the strength to hold any more mass on to them, the massive use of huge see through glasses and the walls built to mark the boundary. Observing all these, I silently come to the conclusion that more safe outlet would be the basement or the ground floor rather than road. By then the bus reached near Naag pokhari. I really like this place. The multipurpose use of this place is something to admire as we can find people out for jogging, small tea shops running business and youth doing their regular workouts. I remember that the pond was recently emptied for maintenance and the water was changed. This place certainly has socio-economic value to serve different people. But one cannot ignore the narrow lane road which is made even congested by the ill managed deposition of the construction materials. I do not know whether the system allows this nor do I care much. The road section near Naxal police headquarter lacks proper drainage and the pedestrians have difficulty walking on the road. If any vehicle passes by there is high chance of getting shower of the muddy water from the road. There is quite open field on this one way lane. It is slowly turning into a dumping site. If I had the authority, then I would manage this place into a park instead of letting the land lose. This would enhance the aesthetic value of the surrounding as well. The conductor announces Bhatbhateni and bus comes to halt. Devotees from different corners are seen paying homage to Bhatbhateni temple. Just across the temple lies the most well known shopping market of Nepal named after Bhatbhateni itself and a park for the community built from its sponsorship. Anyone can say that this place is much better than most of the places around Kathmandu. Past Bhatbhateni, comes the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China. The great walls surrounding this embassy remind me of the Great Wall of China itself. The security system and the standard of fencing done around the campus of the embassy signify the level of effort they have made to ensure safety. So many of our planners, diplomats and leaders go on foreign visits annually. The former kings, royalties and many well to do families have been abroad since long on different purposes. They have seen the development process of the developed nations. They should have suggested for the urban planning of the city long before but I can feel its absence. At least, even Junga Bahadur had come up with idea of building places and other historical structures and Muluki Ain after his visit to England. Why is it that the latter ones could not come up with any better planning concepts for the urban area and its settlement system?
Few buildings ahead of Chinese embassy comes my college. I search for change to pay for the bus ride. The bus stops just in front of my college gate where a teacher is already standing to alert the late comers. I hastily run towards my classroom and the thought of earthquake and security run along with me. Before entering the classroom a silent voice speaks in my mind, Is your classroom safe? I take my seat turning deaf ears to those voices.
