Life is full of luck, like getting dealt a good hand, or simply by being in the right place at the right time. Some people get luck handed to them, a second chance, a save. It can happen heroically, or by a simple coincidence. Here's what life surprised me by once.
I was on a trek alone to the Everest region once during mid- september 2016. I was feeling tired after a stern trek for seven hours to this this place (Machermo) on the steep hills facing the mountains. The whole thing was difficult. I was a lady and I was all by myself. I had a 'Its okay' feeling however. Solemn walks and treks always fascinate me. I was having all the best views in the world one could get. I was seeing the Everest breathing the clouds that enveloped the cluster of houses in the ridge while I warmed myself up inside the dining. Around me, there were a few strangers and they were not from Nepal. Being a Nepalese, I was feeling a sleek loneliness due to the lack of Nepalipan in that place. I decided to fling off this loneliness and talked to the lady owner for a while. She was a warm lady. She had offered me a sleep, charging facility and wifi for the night, free of cost. She was talking to me, awed having known that I was a Nepalese woman travelling alone on a mountain trek. I was however unsettled by the belief this modern day society holds about women travelling alone. But I am a woman who loves peace and at times, is conscious enough to calculate risks and returns.I decided to read for a while.
I had read a few lines from "Karodau Kasturi" while a male voice interrupted. " Hi! where are you from?". I felt provoked because his voice was so sonorous that it woke up the dead. And I was concentrating just for a while.
He looked glaringly all over me while I halted over his eyes. They were not curious and they presumed. He looked like a Nepali guy but his voice was manufactured with a plastic sense of Englishmanship. "Are you travelling alone?", He asked. This time he was so meek and his voice lowered a lot. When I was about to answer his washed-out conversation approach by a "why do you ask?", he sat down next to me. " So how are you today? Its a sexy weather huh". He said in an affected English tone as he scanned loosely around. He stopped at me and gave this wink and cracked a pushy smile. He then turned towards a bunch of Chinese in the other table and gave this charitable gesture of HELLO. I was watching all this without anything to speak. It was inordinary. I was surprised by this approach of a forged Nepali who makes himself a camouflage through regular indulgence with strayed foreigners and gifts himself this PEACEFUL attitude. He was probably a guide who was so oversure of how he excited strangers. Maybe he was high on something.
"I am Toni. I was born Nepali. You know I am from Darjelling. Where are you from?" Now that he had sat on my table, and had a few questions, although naive, I thought it was alright to wind up with an answer. " Nice to know, I am from Kathmandu". I couldn't oversee the stranger's activities on my table and It would be nicer to be hospitable to that guest. I finally thought and asked him if he liked Nepal. " You know I was born in the Annapurna and have treked all the big mountains. And I speak eight languages. English, Nepali, Chinese, Russian,..." I thought to myself what a bombast he was. "...and I got my title Toni there." He bounced and boasted of all he was. I was not even listening. He paused for a while, breathed a long sigh, looked around and said again, " Nice weather huh!". He prosecuted a weary smile enameled with some joy. I knew he just wanted to be there. I couldn't know why. I smiled back. He looked at me with a known conjecture. He rubbed his hands while he looked at them. "Are you alone tonight? I, I, I mean are you travelling alone? I thought you were alone and so I wanted to talk." He tried to figure out. I was cautious now while I cooked up about his reason for breaking in on my table all of a sudden. " Not actually, I have my friends coming tomorrow. I am waiting for them." He then took no time to show his true cast and reveal his intentions. " Oh, good good. You know", he asked hastily. " Do you wanna hang around tonight? I, I, I mean ha- have fun?" I knew that people lived in this earth with a dick in their heads. I looked at this dickhead. I thought with all my intentions to teach him a good lesson for hitting on a lone traveler. I looked around. There on the corner were two guys looking at us with all curiosity. When I looked at them, they turned away. One of them was a foreigner. My heart trembled. I thought that it was not a good idea to get involved in this. I was surrounded now by a thirsty bunch who would never give away to horn me in. I decided to device a plan that would take these guys away from me. I took my phone and looked at my call log. The first number rang one of my friends in Kathmandu. He is a good friend of mine, a guy with a full fledged physique and a powerful dominance over his peers. He runs a squad of guys who deal in tenders and sophisticated deals. I don't know why I called him. He picked up the phone. I asked him an invented question for which I didn't know how he would respond. I needed to get these guys off of me now. " Where did you reach Mangal?" I was thinking to make it sound like he was on the way and I was about to meet him in next few hours, while he answered," How did you find out? It was meant to be a surprise. We four, Sapana, Bibek, Prakash and Swami are coming. We are just a few mins down from Machermo. wait for us!!" This voice crafted my cold sweat into a triumph which I never imagined.
I looked at this man like a wailing siren....