Evelyn and Junji Takahashi

For those of us who knew Junji and Evelyn Takahashi, here are some recent Facebook photos, to jog our memories. They are currently living in Japan and anticipate another overseas assignment soon. They have just completed one in Zambia. If you require her email address please let me know.

Guess Who ? Name These Ladies

Rupy's International School, Part 2

Photo: Eric's 10th birthday celebrations, 1992 at Rupy's International School.

And now, to the difficult times: in May 2001 at the height of the Maoist issue at Kathmandu, a group of students tried to burn Rupy Singh, as she was working in her office.Another attack happened in another private school,Elite’s Co-ed. Both schools have expressed their commitment to continue with their work despite the possibilities of having to face more problems in future.

The schools were attacked by the activists of All Nepal Free Students Union (Revolutionary) the student wing of the underground Maoist party on May 8th. The revolutionary wing has been demanding that the private schools reduce their ‘exorbitant’ fees and have been protesting against the ‘indianisation’ of the Nepalis education sector. Both the schools were being run by teachers of Indian origin who has been living in Nepal since last two decades.

Rupy Singh says that although she is shaken she is not deterred. "I feel pity on them. I’m not angry rather I pity them that they are into the hands of wrong teachers."

"As a teacher I felt very bad that the students misbehaved in such a brute manner. As students at least they should have some respect for the teachers," she added.

"If they want to take over the school, I would be glad to let them run it", says a visibly upset Nina Morada, the principal of Elite’s Co-ed. She says that the vandalizing of the school property is very irrational as it belongs more to the society rather than any individual.

The guardians of the students were the ones most concerned about the security of their children. A father of a class 2 student of Rupy’s school says, that he is seriously thinking about enrolling his child to another school. Another woman says that it was really scary when her 5 year old daughter came to her after school saying, "Mummy, you know they tried to burn our madam today". The guardians also raised concern over the ineffectiveness of the police. "What were the police doing after the incident in Elite’s took place at 8:30 in the morning, how could the same thing happen in Rupy’s (located closer in the city) at 11:30?" She questioned.

Both Singh and Morada had no clue when asked why they were made the targets. According to both the principal’s the ANNFSU students were in touch with them prior to this incident and they said they had very cordial relationship with them.

Morada who was familiar with some of the assailants said, "I just never thought that they would ever do that because they seemed so nice and gentle in their previous visits. They used to laugh and joke with me."

Both think that they have been the victims of the Maoist and other forces trying to accelerate anti Indian sentiment in Nepal. "This must have been done with intentions of spreading anti-Indian sentiment in the country," says Rita Thapa, of TEWA, an NGO working on women issues, relating the incident with the Hrithik episode.

The development of these incidents is being closely monitored by the Indian Embassy as well. Both the principal’s were summoned to the embassy to brief the events. The Embassy officials also visited both the schools today and observed the damages.

No one was injured in the incidents.

Eyewitnesses said groups of young students claiming themselves to be members of the All Nepal National Free Students Union (Revolutionary) stormed the premises of two schools.The first attack came at around 9:30 a.m. on the Elite Co-Ed School which lies at a relatively remote setting on the foothills of Mahabharat hills south of the capital city, while the second attack was launched two hours later, at 11:30. It was not immediately clear whether the same group of students was involved in the two separate raids.

The reason behind the sudden attacks was not clear either, but some guardians said that the rebel students had been issuing warnings to inter alia cut down the exorbitant fees charged by the schools. Eyewitnesses said about 40 students claiming themselves to be the members of ANNFSU(R) torched a van and bus while they broke into Elite's Co-Ed School at around 9:30 am Tuesday. The rebel students, who were brandishing Khukuris and iron- rods, also vandalized a car owned by a parent.

A visibly frightened Neena Morada, Principal of the Elite's Co-Ed School did not make any comment on the incident, but said the school will be closed for an indefinite period. An eyewitness said the Principal was dragged, poured lubricants and chased by the students soon after they broke into the school premises.

In Rupy’s International School at Bafal, the students have reduced part of the one-storey school building to ashes. A huge mob of students numbering between 100 to 150 forcefully stormed into the school premises at 11:20 am, and destroyed properties worth around Rs 200,000, which include computer and photocopy machine, school authorities said.

Rupy’s International School Principal Shanta Sharan said the gang "ruthlessly destroyed everything without saying why they were doing it". They broke into the principal’s office, smashed the window-panes, poured kerosene and torched the furniture. "They were threatening and intimidating everyone," she added.

According to the school authorities, about 20 students were watching television in the school’s library when the rebels torched an adjacent building had a narrow escape.

A staff member of the school said the same group was seen near the Rupy’s International School last Friday. The group had dispersed chanting pro Maoist slogans, he added. Commenting on the incident, a top educationists said that the incident was an outcome of lax security, and warned that this would serve to drain away billions of rupees to foreign countries.

Home Ministry officials said searches were on to nab the culprits involved in the attacks.

(From various issues of Nepal Post)

CAN YOU GUESS WHO THIS FILIPINA IS?

Here are some clues:
She starred in a role in the film Apocalypse Now as the consort of Marlon Brando's character. She was a frequent visitor to Kathmandu during our "time" there.
Respond to this Guess by clicking on COMMENTS below and type in your answer. See you soon!
This is her Facebook description about herself:

Actress,metteur en scène,artistic director of my Théâtre du Quart d'Heure, still buying and selling jewelry and hawking them here and there,famous Flea Market Queen,,slave to my family who forgot that slavery has been abolished 200 years ago!

Rupy's International School, Part 1

Photo: Jan Salter, Rupinder Singh, Ching van der Veen, Darshan Singh.

Flashback, 1982: I remember well, The Children’s Castle. It was on the same side of the road leading to Tika Box, where I frequented to buy expired or surplus Italian Dressing and English biscuits which were donated by the Kathmandu PX: the manager at that time was a Brit, who did not exactly purchase items that were popular with the Americans residing there. The USAID office, an old Rana palace called Rabi Bhavan, was at the end of the road. Lincoln School, and the current Nepal Academy for Hotel and Tourism Management, are also on this road. I guess Tika Box used to be a chowkidar post for the palace.

Ching van der Veen invited a number of us to celebrate the opening of the international pre-school, of which she was the Principal. Max Levy, husband of Pamela Levy, the Deputy Resident Representative for Administration at UNDP, spent some time there doing their accounts and sports program on a volunteer basis. Mrs. Jane Niwa, was Chairman of the Board at the school during her husband’s term as UNDP Resident Representive. (By the way, Jane now teaches at an international school in Kuala Lumpur while Toshi has retired. I learned about this from Peter van Laere, who is currently head of Administration at ESCAP Bangkok, and was Special Assistant to Toshi when he was assigned in New York).

The school prospered. In 1996, Rupinder Singh, the Founder Director, re-opened it as Rupy’s International School, and included Primary Level, and eventually Lower Secondary Level. In 1998, the school moved to the present location in Baphal, Tahachal. It is situated on eight ropanis of land (one acre) offering a large space for Pre-school and Primary play area, a parking area and a football field.
In November 2009, the school celebrated its 27th anniversary held at Nepal Academy Hall on November 29 was inaugurated by Nepali movie star Rajesh Hamal.The students prepared a program which included Nepali medley dances, Maruni and folk dances performance attired in daura surwal, and playing maadal, flute and sarangi while some 15 girls dressed in guniyo cholo. Orchestral numbers were performed like Phoolko aakhama phoolai sansara, and Simsime panima.

How did this successful international school start, in Kathmandu? Here is the story:

There are over about 80 Sikh families reside in Kathmandu, many of them in Kupondol, close to the Gurudwara Temple. Sikh followers wear what are called “the five Ks”—kanga, kachchha, kada, kirpan, kesh—and were committed to believe in one god and the oneness of all humanity, forgetting differences among men and women. “It is this belief that has made it possible for Sikhs all over to adapt easily to new environs and to spread all over,” says Rupy Singh, a pioneer of pre-school education in Nepal.

Before the family bought a part interest in the new Modern Indian School in Kathmandu in 1978, the Sikh community was devoted almost exclusively to the transport business. In fact, no other community had any significant part in this sector, and an entire generation of Nepalis learnt to drive trucks and buses, and to clean and maintain vehicles under Sikhs.

Increasingly, younger Nepali Sikhs like Rupy and Darshan’s children, are opting out of the transportation business and heading west for MBAs, PhDs and IT training. (To be continued in Part 2)

Part III of Lhasa Apsos

Photo: Rakshi's doppelganger.
Once a month usually on Saturday mornings were bath times: they used special pet shampoo from Germany, and when that ran out I bought Lux beauty soap for them, advertised heavily by Bollywood actresses. Maheshwori and Gyano were the didis who pampered them with their baths, towel rubdown, lots of combing and brushing and hairclips in place. David would call the Lhasas the "Cosmo Girls" when they were all preened up and soft to the touch. Because of the double undercoat, brushing was quite an operation, and quite painful I suppose. So once a year in the summertime, the fur would be clipped and would soon grow quickly. Khukri, while living in Germany, had to be anesthesized before being brushed.

In the mornings, soon after they are let out from the Doggie Hotel, they would come to bed with us and play: Paisa, in her two tone bark, would slip on the floor while trying to climb up, and the others would already be in place in the duvet. When MoMo the Siamese joined the household, he would also accompany the Lhasas into the morning bed venture.

The Bhandarys, our landlords who occupied two of the four houses in the compound, had a large dog named Capo, and joined the pack in their "jollifications" at the compound. They also had a smaller one, Clever, who was truly shrewd and knew exactly when to go for the food bowls, but to be chased away by Gyano: but was promptly returned when Gyano turned her back.

On Tihar, Dashain and other festival days, they were accorded proper respect (male dogs only): Gorkha was placed on a table covered with a special cloth, garlanded, offered Grade AAA buff meat, special cookies, gulab jamun, marigold petals, incense smoke around his face: alas this was not enough to conquer the parvo virus. The others would merrily join in the celebrations, and would get the same colored powder as the rest of the adults and children in the compound. We had a thriving double-petal Filipino sampaguita bush, courtesy of Alice and Ed Perdon, and each morning the plentiful blossoms were put into good use for the pujas: pets included.

And the lovely rainy days!! (which surely the rain in the Valley turned to snow in the Himalayas) We had large picture windows running alongside the living room and bedroom: In the mornings they would romp around in the rain, then shake off their shaggy muddy coats at the windows (which would have been freshly washed by Gyano) and walk alongside from the bedroom to the living room windows. Then they would get the towel treatment, paws cleaned, and allowed to come inside and would sit by the fire. But MoMo would station himself next to the kerosene heater from Mercantile: often the top would have a tin teapot warming.

Rakshi was easily David's fave: she was slimmer and more agile than the rest, and had black and white coloring while the others had an overall grayish - black tone. With tufts of hair near the eyes and nose giving her a puppy-forever look. She had the most shrill bark and had a smallish face and delicate bones, like a bird's. She responded most to David's voice and was most alert when we sat outside at the lawn and keeping to his side all that time while we took our South Indian coffee and Geneva chocolates.

When Pema was brought home from the spanking-new Patan Hospital, my mother, who was visiting, advised that she should be exposed to sunlight about thirty minutes a day. The first time I took Pema in her swaddles, the doggies came over, sniffing her all over, and stayed with us for those minutes that she was taken outdoors. Then the swaddles started coming off so her skin could take in the sunlight: the doggies were always around for this, always circling and sniffing her from head to toe. It was soon time to bathe her head in mustard oil, to stimulate hair growth: the doggies did the most of their sniffing around this area.

I do not recall Ching' and Marlin's Lhasa name, but had the opposite of an overbite, (underbite?) again a mark of pedigree Lhasas. And was larger than the ones we had. The Perdons too had Lhasas, in addition to their outdoor guard dogs: which were later given to (now late) Father Watrin when they left Kathmandu. Dr. Dioscoro Umali, FAO Representative for Asia and the Pacific, was taken by these Lhasas: a special order by Ching and Alice, was placed for two puppies to be sent to his office in Bangkok, and they were subsequently shipped to Los Banos after their tour of duty. And I heard from third parties, that when one of the Lhasas died, years later, Mrs. Umali was inconsolable. Lhasas do that to humans.

"I"ll Call You in Kathmandu"-Elizabeth Hawley

Kosi Compound was built by Indians who resided there in the 'fifties while doing work on the Kosi River. It is located in Dilli Bazaar, not so far from Alice and Ed Perdon’s residence. There were a number of two-storey houses, the front large one became the Tax Office, while the one on the left as you come in through the gate with the brass plaque that reads “Himalayan Trust Fund” is Elizabeth Hawley’s residence on the upper floor, and the Fund’s rooms, residential and offices, on the ground floor. She was the person on the spot on behalf of Sir Edmund Hillary's Himalayan Trust Fund.

A blue VW is usually parked next to the house, the trusty car of Ms Hawley. The grounds were always abuzz with sherpa baskets, construction material, cartons of medical supplies, and people coming and going, backpacks filled to the brim. We occupied the house just behind the Tax Office, and is named Shanti Niketan, “Peace House”, our residence for ten years in Kathmandu. We had the lower floor with two bedrooms, while VK Shrestha, RNAC pilot and his family, had the upper floor. The Bhandary brothers and their families, Prabhu and Rajan, our landlords, occupied the other two houses. Within the compound, a number of dogs could be seen scampering about at any time. However, the Hawley Lhasa Apso was always let out with a leash by its Ayah, always immaculately brushed.

The most celebrated mountaineer who was an occasional visitor was Sir Edmund Hillary, and could be seen supervising the porters or counting boxes or rolls of wire or bags of cement, for transport to the Trust-supported Khunjung School and Khunde Hospital at Namche Bazaar, or briefing medical volunteers from Australia or New Zealand who would spend time at the school or hospital. The nearest airport there would be at Lukla, where an RNAC pilot friend of ours had supplied us with pine to use as a Christmas tree one winter.

While we were in Seattle last summer, I stumbled across a reference to Elizabeth Hawley’s bio, called “I’ll Call You in Kathmandu”. We wasted no time to go to Barnes and Noble to obtain a copy but we were told it was out of print. A couple of days later I came across the address of its publisher in downtown Seattle which specializes in mountaineering topics, and they were able to mail us a copy.

Here are some excerpts of reviews:
One of the most important figures in Himalayan climbing may be someone who has never been to Everest Base Camp, and is not a climber. In 1960, a young American woman, Elizabeth Hawley, moved to Nepal as a reporter for Time, Inc. Initially sending home political dispatches from the kingdom, it wasn’t long before Hawley’s pen found its niche: mountaineering in the world’s highest places. She quickly became part of the Kathmandu scene, socializing regularly with an eclectic group of adventurers, climbers, royalty, politicians and entrepreneurs. Hawley is still in Kathmandu today and has been the unofficial chronicler of every detail of every expedition mounted from Nepal in the Himalaya from more than four decades.

She was born in 1923 in Chicago and has made her fame as the chronicle of Himalayan expeditions. She is respected by the international mountaineering community because of her complete and accurate records, despite their being unofficial.

What would motivate this single American woman, the product of a Midwest upbringing, to travel solo during this era to one of the most remote and enigmatic places on the globe? How did she command the respect of climbers from around the world (some of whom report fear of her sharp tongue and rigorous interview style)? How did she remain an authoritative figure for 40 years during the most intense climbing of this region—the “Golden Era of Himalayan Climbing”? What changes did she see take place in mountaineering and in the political landscape of this region?

Although the intensely private Ms. Hawley is an enigma even to those who know her well, I’ll Call you in Kathmandu reveals Hawley as a complex personality, with a rich personal life.
Climbers who want to be recognized for climbing Everest subject themselves to interviews with her. Her archives have been compiled into two reference works: The Himalayan Database and The Himalaya By the Numbers.

In 2008, a newly climbed peak was named after her. Peak Hawley (6,182m/20,282') in the Dhaulagiri Group by the French climber Francois Damilano.
( Photo found in: http://www.climbing.com/news/hotflashes/newly_climbed_peak_named_for_elizabeth_hawley/)