If you\u2019re asked, What is the densest material on earth, what would be your answer? Most having an inclination towards Science would be tempted to say: Chengdeite (a naturally occurring mineral, a combination of iridium and iron.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s exactly where yours truly doesn\u2019t like to go with those who believe in science and science only. If you were to trust me \u2013 and there\u2019s no reason other than me being a journalist, why you should not \u2013 the densest material on Planet Earth has to be the microbuses of Kathmandu. These vehicles, which appear more like vans than buses, generally contain the entire universe within themselves. You have to take a ride in one of them to really get a feel of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s a lifeline for Kathmandu if you prefer public transport to personal one (or if you can\u2019t afford one!) Yet you feel that your life is sucked out when you travel in it. The sheer number of people who can be contained in one microbus is amazing. Like a black hole, it consumes almost anything that comes in its vicinity. A vehicle with fitted seats for 12-13 can almost include hundreds. And in nine out of 10 trips, you\u2019re likely to find your fellow neighbor\u2019s hand in your pockets. A polite inquiry into the cause of such generosity would get you an equally polite answer, like, \u201cAh! It\u2019s yours? I thought I was scratching my \u2026 (unmentionables).\u201d True manifestation of the Biblical verse: \u2018Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Admittedly, the statistical analysis in the above lines isn\u2019t open to challenge (for the fear it can be proven wrong). At the same time, a Kathmandu tour on this vehicle is so delightful; you would start looking for opportunities to retroactively boycotting all your previous commute in safer and more glamorous automobiles in countries beyond the Nepali boundary.
The people in these microyatra (short trip) add to the charm of travel. Though short, you learn the lesson no school has ever taught you. Yours truly, in a recent such opportunity, had a lesson of a lifetime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The microbus, carrying some 30-40 people \u2013 give or take a dozen \u2013 was on its way to Budhanilkantha, the heavenly place where Lord Bishnu has been found sleeping on serpents (due to lack of government subsidy on mattresses). It would be important here to mention that traffic rules (unwritten, to my knowledge) don\u2019t permit these microbuses to keep their doors open, no matter how many people are micro-residing in it. As a matter of fact, the microbus staff \u2013 who is normally spotted with half his body out of the window \u2013 failed to keep the door closed. It\u2019s debatable whether he was being merciful to the people clinging on to the vehicle or was taking pleasure in observing the effect of dust on his passengers. The open door prompted a man in blue \u2013 fondly called a traffic cop \u2013 to order the motor to stop. It came to halt with a screech (not that it was speeding, but the screech sound emanated due to loose parts of the automobile). The traffic police, driven by the call of duty, demanded the driver to produce his driving license. And that created a ruckus within the swollen vehicle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The passengers, who were complaining about the behavior of driver and his ally just a moment earlier, started complaining about the traffic police. The noise of \u2018police are corrupt,\u2019 \u2018why can\u2019t you let us live in peace?\u2019 and \u2018why is he wasting our precious time?\u2019 gained such tempo that the capped man lost his nerve. He stopped arguing with the driver and respectfully returned his license and meekly said, \u201cSorry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The bus moved, as the passengers congratulated each other on rescuing the \u2018victims.\u2019 And the conductor started shouting at the passengers for not sitting properly, hurling obscenities. A kilometer or so later, the microbus was hurled into a fuel station, to get its fill. The driver and the his ally, already cooled off after lambasting those who were in the bus, started chatting with the tank-fillers. It took them a good 15 minutes to get their \u2018fill\u2019 of fuel and chat before they were ready to move.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The passengers did not complain of \u2018wasting precious time.\u2019 Yours truly kept wondering about where this \u2018microyatra\u2019 would end!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
PS: This write-up appeared in the weekend edition of Republica, The Week, on 21 March, 2014<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
If you\u2019re asked, What is the densest material on earth, what would be your answer? Most having an inclination towards Science would be tempted to say: Chengdeite (a naturally occurring mineral, a combination of iridium and iron.) That\u2019s exactly where yours truly doesn\u2019t like to go with those who believe in science and science only. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[188],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/somesh.com.np\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/somesh.com.np\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/somesh.com.np\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/somesh.com.np\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/somesh.com.np\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=495"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/somesh.com.np\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":496,"href":"https:\/\/somesh.com.np\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495\/revisions\/496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/somesh.com.np\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/somesh.com.np\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/somesh.com.np\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}