Evening ambling
walking in Kathmandu never gets old
On Friday, I’d arranged to meet a friend at a music event in Thamel. I’m not much of a leave-the-house-late-in-winter person, so as it started to get colder and darker, I knew I had to be on my way well before our 7:30 meet up time or I wouldn’t want to venture out at all. So a pre-meetup walk it was.
While in a small mart on the delightfully jagged and eponymous Satghumti (seven corners), on the edge of Thamel, a man popped in as I was paying at the counter by the door, spoke briefly to the owner seated there, and grabbed a pair of black flip-flops off the shelf. This generally happens when something’s been requested by a customer that a shop might not have, but know their neighbour does. Why say no when it can quickly become a yes?
Turning to a slightly bewildered young tourist who had followed him and was standing just outside the shop, he offered them with a flourish.
“Here you are!”
The young man turned them over in his hands. “But what size are they?”
“They are your size!”
“Can I try them on?”
He could, and sat down on the step to do so.
And you know, they were his size.
“Okay, I’ll take them.”
The sharp salesman did not miss a beat: “Is there anything else you need for your trek?”
**
Walking on with a smile, I took a cut through Mandala Street, Thamel’s only walking street, as it is quick to remind you. Ahead of me I saw an artist I know in apparently deep conversation, so I said hello as I passed and prepared to keep walking. He turned in delight; it was the opening day of his exhibition, which had been mentioned to me some time earlier and then duly forgotten.
The bottles and plates were empty but the art was there, and I did a loop of the small space while meeting the other participating artists.
There were a lot of thank-you-for-comings, but really, what are the odds of that timing?
Sometimes the story just writes itself.
**
At the meeting place a few minutes later, I ordered a beer, wondering why I hadn’t heard from my friend yet, only to hear her voice a few minutes later asking the staff if they’d seen me. Turns out my phone had popped out of service again, a recent quirk that is no longer solveable by simply turning it on and off again. It’s now at the shop, all very recent photos along with it, so for today please enjoy the above (it’s contractual 😉), Marv living his best alley cat life!