Nepal Visit - A character arriving in a place unlike anywhere they’ve ever been

Yes it was to attend the admission test that Juneja travelled to Nepal from Dubai. Juneja was keen to pursue his higher studies and was informed that Nepal is an ideal destination to get scholarship after completion of M Phil from an Institute in Nepal which comes under the Pokhara University.

What surprised Juneja was the climate in Katmandu. It was a very pleasant climate, it was cool, and, no wonder the Katmandu airport, in Nepal did not have air conditioning.

The climate was to the liking of Juneja and it added to his interest in continuing his education in Nepal. The next thing that Juneja had to close out on was the matter of food. He made enquiries and was pleasantly informed that it was readily available and therefore need not be a cause of worry at all.

The language that was primarily used was Nepali as well as Hindi and majority of people understood and good number of them especially at the Institute and the University also spoke in English and because of which communication issues were settled then and there.

As the idea of staying in Nepal permanently was not visualized and as it was only for a short period of one to two years, the political and social conditions in Nepal did not appear to have any bearing on Juneja and his activities.

Juneja’s immediate requirement was of lodging for a couple of days and that was basically to appear at the admission test and to get the results the next day and if found successful pay off the admission fees and assure a seat for himself at the Institute of M Phil.

Juneja fortunately got a lodge for his stay not far away from the Katmandu Airport but had to hire a cab to reach the Institute. He reached the location on time after a little bit of search and help from residents of that neighbourhood.

Within the next few minutes he met the Registrar of the Institute, who welcomed Juneja and expressed his happiness to Juneja’s interest in doing M Phil from their Institute.

Without any further ado Juneja was ushered into a room on the first floor of the triple storied building and joined a dozen or a little more, students who were also there to appear for the same test. The test lasted for about an hour and Juneja came out and met the Registrar to find out when he will know the outcome of the test and other formalities.

Juneja was promptly intimated by the smart looking Registrar that by the next day he will be notified via email or he may also find out over phone. This information was sufficient for Juneja to take the next course of action. The next step was to go back to the lodge and inform the reception that he needs to extend his stay for another two days. Juneja accordingly left the institute and came out and did a bit of window shopping in the streets close to the institute and had his lunch and returned back to his lodge and ordered for a cup of tea and took a nap after a day’s exercise including the test. After waking up around 8 p.m. in the evening Juneja assayed for dinner, which was a vegetarian meal comprising of half a dozen chapatis, lentil soup, ladies finger curry and curd. He also informed the waiter not to forget a hot glass of milk with almonds added to it. The waiter was very decent and skillful at his work and as requested arranged for the same in good time.

Juneja went to sleep around 9 pm and woke up next day early in the morning at 6 am and went out for a walk and was thrilled to see the Pashupati Nath temple close to his lodge. He made it a point not to miss a visit to the renowned Shiva temple with great historical significance. Juneja in fact allocated next day morning for the visit.

By the time Juneja returned from the walk it was 8 am. He brushed his teeth and took his bath in the next hour and called the reception to arrange breakfast for himself and earmarked the dish he would prefer for breakfast.

After ensuring that breakfast will be served in time, he called up the Institute to find out the result of the test. The Assistant Registrar had picked up the telephone and gestured one of his staff to check the list of candidates successful in the admission test and report back to him if Juneja was one of the candidate. Within a few minutes the staff relayed to the Assistant Registrar the Juneja was successful and he can come to the Institute and pay the initial fees and take provisional admission and come back for classes after about a fortnight when the classes will start.

Now that Juneja was done with his admission formalities by afternoon of that day he thought of visiting a shopping mall and see if there is anything he could purchase and go for a film show to while away the remaining time of the day.

Juneja bought a Kurta and watched a Hindi movie “Mars Mission” and came out of the hall after having enjoyed the film. Juneja then took a cab and reached his lodge at 9 pm and ordered for dinner and in the next few minutes he finished his dinner and went to sleep.

The next morning as planned Juneja visited the Pashupathi Nath temple. At the temple premises he saw a crowd of monkeys hanging around which was a rare sight to see but vanished when sun was shining and temperature started soaring.

Juneja bought the offering to lord Shiva and thereafter bought little items which was part of souvenir that Juneja wanted to carry for his relatives back home in India as well as his present place of work in Dubai.

Without much difficulty thereafter he left the temple after taking a few snaps at the temple premises and returned to the lodge. Juneja boarded the evening flight to Dubai after settling the dues of the lodge. A successful trip thus came to a close with a bright future ahead.