Sanothimi

Friday, the sixth day of the week, arrived. Almost every Friday and Saturday of the year, I used to go to my maternal home, Sanothimi in Bhaktapur.

I first visited Kathmandu when I was three years old. I can't remember anything, but I've filled my photo album with lovely photos of myself with my mum and dad. Still, when I want to see pictures of cute children, I go through the same photo album and look at my own pictures.


After visiting Kathmandu, I returned to Salyan, my birthplace. Exactly a year later, I moved to Kathmandu to study. Several memories remain vivid in my mind from this point forward. Daddy had admitted me to Birat Boarding School. We rented two rooms. Three of us used to live there: daddy, uncle, and 'Cute Baby' myself. My mother's job was in Salyan, so we only saw her during Dashain (one of Nepal's largest festivals).

I felt like my childhood had flown by so quickly. I used to eat, play, pretend to read, and cry over small things. I made some school friends. I no longer remember anyone's name from Birat Boarding School. We moved to mid Baneshwor, near Daddy's office, after one and half years of studying there. I enrolled in U.K.G. Opps, how hard it was to make new friends again. But I did make some friends. Narayan Pandey, Jugulal, Santosh Khadka, Bikram Tamang, Sujata Khadka, Sabina Lama, Ashok Shrestha, and Sanjib Shrestha, etc. Facebook has made it simple to connect with so many people.

There was a scarcity of water in mid Baneshwor, where we lived. In the late 90s and early 2000s, Daddy and uncle would go to the stone stream in front of Ratnarajya School at mid-night just to bring water. Water scarcity was so severe that I recall sleeping with the color on the day of Holi (the festival of colors) without taking a bath.

I, the 'cute baby' who went to Ratna Rajya school, used to wear a faint blue shirt, dark blue pants, and a tie. I had developed my own formula for shining black leather shoes. I used to use pure mustard oil that we brought from our hometown. Even today, daddy and uncle are probably unaware of this. My black shoes used to be extremely shiny, and the mustard oil ran out so quickly. I'd like to tell them about it through this short story. I was a child, and I had no idea mustard oil was so expensive. I apologize.

My school uniform used to get dirty within a few days. Also the lack of water for cleaning them forced me to leave Baneshwor. I had to visit my maternal home, 'Sanothimi'. On Fridays, either my father or my uncle would take me to Sanothimi. My cousin Bhawana also lived close to my maternal home. There were plenty of children my age playing around.

                                                                                
                                                                                Me with my sister, Bhawana

"Cute Baby" was about to turn six years old. One Friday, I prepared clothes for a trip to my maternal home. Daddy took me away. However, this time in a different way. According to the circumstances, Daddy would only take me up to the Baneshwor bus stop. Then I should go alone this time. I was scared, but I dared to do it.

We arrived at the Baneshwor bus stop after walking 15 minutes from my room in mid-Baneshwor. Bus number 9 (Mercedes Benz) was supposed to go to Sanothimi (though I had no idea it was a Mercedes Benz at the time). Daddy instructed the co-driver to drop me at the Sanothimi bus stop. I waved my hand to Daddy with courage.

I recall the seat in front of me on the bus being empty after a few minutes as we drove away. I didn't dare to sit there because I assumed I'd have to pay more for the bus ticket if I sat in that empty seat. As a result, I chose to simply stand behind the driver, holding an iron pole. Finally, Sanothimi arrived, and the bus came to a stop. I also paid one rupee because I wasn't seated and began walking towards my maternal home.

It took me about 20 minutes to walk to my maternal home from the bus stop. After I arrived, I informed my grandmother that I had come alone this time. It was a lot of fun. I felt I had done an excellent job.

Daddy arrived approximately 5 minutes later. I was surprised. He congratulated me as soon as we met. And from that point forward, he granted permission to visit Sanothimi alone. I shook my head and replied yes.

The thing was that I had no idea about the Mercedes Benz design (bus number 9). Daddy used the front door for me, and he got on the same bus through the back door. How could I possibly know that? He stepped out of the bus and followed me for 20 minutes. To be honest, I did an excellent job in obtaining the license to reach Sanothimi. He congratulated me repeatedly.

That journey gave me more self-confidence. After that, it became easier when I went to my maternal home every Friday. Then, when I was 12, I had the opportunity to travel alone from Kathmandu to Salyan for the first time, which was a three-day journey on a night bus at the time. Those trips provided me with valuable insights into the preparations, planning, and timetables required before traveling.

So far, I've had the opportunity to visit 64 of Nepal's 77 districts. All these trips were successful because of that single trip to 'Sanothimi'.

Thank you very much to my dad, uncle, maternal home, and, most importantly, 'Sanothimi'.

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