Sorrows of walkers

Kathmandu is one of the most crowded city all over the world as we all should accept. People from all over the country have flooded into this small city due to several reasons. Eventually, you should struggle a lot if you walk in this city!

 

Let me tell you an incident happened lately to me. I was walking through the Maitidevi bridge on one fine evening. I was hit on my right eye by an umbrella carried by a women. It was not so sunny around at 6 in the evening. But still she was putting an umbrella high to block rays coming from the sun. And after poking me on the eye, she even did not say sorry. She did not care enough to look at me whether I am injured or not.

 

This kind of incidents happen every day for walkers inside this city. A lot more can happen than this. Herds of people block your way talking and playing on the pavements. Pavements are not the place to talk and play. But who will tell this to irresponsible citizens of Kathmandu? Even when you say to make a way, some people don’t care. And ‘you cannot fight every dog on your way if you want to go high!’ Sir Winston Churchill said correctly. You are late for your work and you cannot argue with worthless people on the pavement.

Another major problem exists for walkers in this time of monsoon. As we know, Kathmandu’s waste outlets are not well engineered. That means if little rain pours, every parts of the road are covered with mud and water. Car and bike will mercilessly drive without seeing that walkers may get hit my mud and water. They don’t feel responsible at all. You will end up getting your recently worn clothes full of mud and dirt.

There are so many benefits of walking as well. Public transport is not so reliable in Kathmandu. Let’s not talk about how crowded they are! Since Kathmandu is small city, you can reach any place on foot. Being fit and healthy is another benefit of walking. But you should never forget to wear mask while walking. Lot of construction works are ongoing inside different parts of the city. In fact they are always in higher number when it is the time for new fiscal year. So that they can finish their budget and pocket their shares of money safely!

I have also seen veteran journalist Narayan Wagle walking all over the city. Benefits of walking overshadow sorrows. Walking keeps you active and healthy as well. In this time of busy schedule, people tend to use transportation facility more. But walking is good. Let’s walk more!

(Published in The Himalayan Times on 13th June 2016)