What makes us stand out as a Nepali in any foreign land? The distinction starts right from the home, as no one but Nepalis cram their suitcases so full that they are almost double the weight limits. [break]
After several rounds of tossing and shaking by customs officer, out come the biscuits, and all other would-be-confiscates. Those will be given back to the family, waiting behind just for this contingency.
After the blur of farewells, the moment the plane taxies along the runway, it is time for tears, as anyone who has left home would know. For me, a vegetarian, the feeling was soon intensified when I got scolded by the air hostess for not informing her that I was vegetarian.
By the time she finally brought me some fruits, for which she had to rummage through some drawers for a few minutes, I was too sleepy to eat it. I was licking my lips in dream, thinking of the wonderful fruits. But my dreams were rudely interrupted when the air hostess snatched away my plates instead, insisting that since we were landing already, she had to take it away.
I suffered a similar fate of “looks that can kill” from every other air hostess, except in Qatar airlines, that, thankfully, has a vegetarian menu. Unlike one airline, which I was compelled to fly by, that served several dishes of gooey green things, all similarly sweet and quite undistinguishable from each other, Qatar had proper food that caters to Nepali tastes better, like rice, vegetables, pancakes, sandwiches and ice creams! I never really found out what the green gooey lumps were called, and my carnivorous friend could not tell one item from another either; so there goes the Nepali hope of avoiding beef!
Qatar distinguished itself for other reasons too. At Qatar airport you can be sure that every person who looks familiar is a Nepali. You can just go and talk in Nepali to any person at a shop counter, and chances are that they will understand. “Don’t forget to have a close look at the sheikh types and tell me what they look like!” my sister had said to me before I left.
But, strangely, or perhaps it was strange only to me, there were no sheikh types hanging around in the airport, only foreign types: people from Africa and different parts of Asia, definitely not native Arabs. And among them were a lot of Nepalis; by far the friendliest Nepali people I have met abroad.
Nepalis in the US run the whole gamut, right from being very friendly and protective to being indifferent, downright rude or even refusing to acknowledge you as a Nepali. Not so in Qatar, where every Nepali at the airport counter greets you with a smile, and gives you friendly advice in Nepali, and asks whether you are going to Nepal or coming from there.
At other airports, where Nepali people are not all over the place, if you see a group of very fashionably dressed youngsters lie sprawling on the floor, you can be sure that they are Nepali students. Ditto with groups of girls dressed in kurta suruwal or trousers and simple tees with a care worn look. You can be sure they are Nepali women looking for work in the Middle East. The care worn look similarly identifies Nepali men looking for work, who form groups easily too.
And often, if you look close enough, it’s easy to spot other groups too. The Indians are the ones who travel in large families, and dress in saris and kurtas.
And after all the sorting of people, when you finally reach the US of A, you realize that the whole effort to distinguish people can be frustrating because it is entirely impossible to distinguish one from the other. Because here you have people from all over the world, all claiming to be American. And most confusing of all are the people who look 100% Nepali but turn out to be Mexicans.
As a Nepali, I was surprised when I took my luggage and turned to leave, nobody questioned me and asked to see my ticket or luggage. Surprisingly, it made me homesick, and wanting to have a security guard confirm that my luggage was mine and I was not stealing somebody else’s.
Well, at least then I knew why Nepali people long for home, for both the rough and smooth of it wherever they are. And at the end of the day, that is what makes us a Nepali in foreign lands!
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