Nothing is ever straightforward in life...

as usual, nothing in nepal is straight forward and, possibly, becomes even less straight all the time.  

local politics is a mess w/ the vague and awkward sense of things falling further apart or, as yeats said about ireland a century back, 'some rough beast slouches toward' kathmandu -- if nothing rights itself in the coming month(s).  

there is an odd sense of foreboding in the air as the maoists and other parliamentary parties diverge further day by day.  but, this is the land of the midnight miracle, so we roll along, hoping against the daily reality that the center will hold and the peace process gets back on track before it goes completely off-track...

while i spent time in the garden today on the first day of a three day maoist national 'bandh' (strike), moving rocks by wheelbarrow that i'd piled up over the past year to another spot in order to slope the corner where they'd been resting, as well helping laxmi (our newest gardener/gita relative/straight from the village 'gaonle') transplant some audacious orange-colored bouginvillea to a distant back corner, where a neighbor has built his home, to provide security and beauty in one fell swoop of a lovely south american (trans)plant -- like some of us, to the powerful draw of these impressive himalaya.  

'tomorrow', as they say, 'is another day'.  

since i only have ten days left in my current contract til the end of january, i'm not working officially much the next four weeks, i have plenty of time for other pursuits and pleasures -- besides the new constitution and nepali politics.   finish a few books, stroll the garden, some writing and seeing friends before shaku, leah and i go to bangkok and koh samui on the 28th.  

this week, i'm also the advisor-in-chief for ezi's multiple college applications, due mostly the first or fifteenth of january.  he's ensconced at claudia's writing these essays while josh has braved the winter storm to meet his gang in new york before they all fly out to see narayan in vancouver and ez goes down to spend a week at mom's in florida w/ claudia's son, daniel, and finish his college applications.

did i mention that ez has been invited for an interview at deep springs college?  his three part essay to apply for the next round of he process was truly wonderful, insightful and full of passion.  deep springs is definitely an outside type of education (i'd never heard of it before ez sent me looking it up on the web...), but possibly perfect for ezi's unique ambitions and sense of the utopian ideal.  altho, naturally, impossible to really get in (14 out of 250 applicants, or something like that).  so, just getting to the second stage where 40 young men are invited out to the high altitude academic monastery for interviews is quite an achievement in itself.  it'll be a fascinating experience to travel on his own somewhere near death valley in southern california.  then, it's up to the g-ds to see where ezi will eventually end up next year...

nothing is certain in this life: not politics in nepal or the future direction of our childrens' lives (much less our own...).

A FB Recherche with Housemates of 30+ Years Time Past

Below is a lengthy FB thread that caught me unaware when house-mates from 1978 found me on FB and wanted to hear what had happened in the 30+ years in between.  Enjoy reading as the last days of 2009 wane while the new moon rises over the Kathmandu Valley below (and Joni Mitchell enlivens the iMac...). 

Larry Kraftowitz

Keith, your story sounds like the most unusual "bio" of anyone's. Would love to hear lots of details -- please spare no length.

 

Keith D. Leslie

Hmm... vas 2 say? Doctor, lawyer, Indian Chief... I took a side trip to Aja ('when all your dime dancing is through, I'll come to you...' Steely Dan), fell into the amplitude of time (and space, I suppose...), got caught up by the world around us (although less visible within the USA...), crossed the Himalaya (a bit lost at times...), disappeared... into Mother India (a gift and a surprise...), found work on the Cambodian border when the energy finally waned (courtesy Save the Children...), offered a job in Nepal for six weeks (that turned into 26 years and counting...), fell in love (bound my feet and heart, as they say...), had two sons and a daughter ('who call me pa... that's must be what it's all about..." Bob Dylan). I guess, like the rest of you, I just found my own elephant to ride. Simple, really. You open one door, then another, then another and pretty soon you're checking your hairline, reflecting on adored photo albums and rediscovering lost roommates on FB. Glife, as my son, Ezi, says...

Neil Stoloff

Excellent bio, Keith! Are follow-up questions permitted? (If not, don't answer...)

 

Keith D. Leslie

'If not, don't answer'; if yes, what am I supposed to do?

 

Neil Stoloff

Do what you did -- answer a question with a question... But answer me these: Before Cambodia, you had the energy not to work? What about India was a gift and what was a surprise?  What do you do in Nepal? What about the world around us is less visible in the USA than elsewhere?  (Isn't it all one world and do we not all have eyes? Is it possible your world is less visible from here, and our world is less visible from there?)  Careful: I often find that each answer raises two new questions....

 

Larry Kraftowitz

Keith, your tale is a gripping a masterpiece of compression (and Zen-Speak, whatever that means). We all (and Leo Tolstoy, too) could take lessons from you in conciseness. 

Keith D. Leslie

Work: meaning paid employment in an orifice at 9 am. I guess not. Call it a 3 year Masters course in Meandering Thoughtfulness by the (very) Open University. Reading, writing, meeting and moving take a lot of energy. Fortunately I was w/ my friend, Scott, so our bond sustained us through much of the rigor and demands of travel. 

Ahh, Mother India... the unknown, the ancient monuments, the simple poverty, the luxurious colors, the vast religious landscape, the cruel poverty, the magnificent Himalaya, simple vegetarian meals, the masses, the seekers, Ganesh and Hanuman, Bodh Gaya and Ajanta.

For 20+ years I was the Nepal, then Asia, then Himalayan director for Save the Children. Then for 1.5 years the Sr. Advisor in the National Human Rights Commission. Now team leader for the Civil Society component of the UNDP Constitution building project.

What is visible and what is not seen? Good question! I departed the States b/c I couldn't believe what Walter Cronkite told me was out there. Not that he meant ill, he just could only perceive from Manhattan and news clips. I vanted ze whole enchilada. I vanted to get outside the world I knew, our Judeo-Xian universe (as Jung did...) and sit in silence across centuries, if not millennia. A wise person can do it sitting lotus legged in their apartment. I wasn't that wise. I needed space and time to create that possibility. 

Maybe the best we can do w/o travel (which is the mind...) is to watch Al Jazeera news. If we're stuck to CNN or Fox, then DEFINITELY we see through a very limited American worldview. Often, depending on what you read, it's a wonderful and wordly worldview, but it is often narrow and limited and solipsistic.

Yes, the rest of the world can be the same. That's the point. It's good to have eyes on both sides of one's head to look both ways in this world. Otherwise you can be blindsided...

Of course in the "whole sight or all else is desolation" department ('Daniel Martin' by John Fowles), the Vorld Iz Von! But back here on the conventional, human, slightly misaligned but often adorable plane (Bob Thurman, dharma hero and father of Uma: 'don't deprecate the conventional!'), the world is complex, disjointed, multi-facetd, fascinating and not exactly Oneness personified. 

That state of mind is for the mystics among us.

Actually, mystics, misfits and missionaries -- that's who they say live for long periods away from their natal culture... 

Or some combination of the three, I suppose... ;-)

 

Jill Storey

Keith, I remember you as having a unique mind and heart, both of which have clearly blossomed in remarkable ways over the last 30 years. I have other ex-pat friends who talk about the different worldview it gives them, but none as eloquently as you. I am very happy for you that you found -- made, actually -- such a fulfilling life.

 

Larry Kraftowitz

Keith, your writing has a lyrical, even whimsical quality to it -- almost a musicality, if you will -- that is very easy on the ears. The words are meaningful yet dance lightly across the page. They really are poetry. Please keep writing.

 

Neil Stoloff

Beautiful thread. Keith, I admire your desire to "get outside the world you knew," and your courage in acting on it.

Brian Steinbach

Keith, I just got around to reading your stuff. Would love to hear more about Nepal and what you do there. I've followed the politics there a bit through the Economist but as good as they sometimes can be know that is only part of the story. (I also have a poster/calendar for the mid-70's a friend brought back in 1980 from a hashish shop in Kathmandu but that is a different story.)

 

Keith D. Leslie

Brian, I missed a few threads, but noticed your interest in my work. Since I'm there now, I won't take long, but just suffice to say that I'm leading the UNDP Civil Society team for their constitution building project. Nepal is trying to draft a new constitution that will bridge the Maoist demand for state restructuring and social inclusion while not upsetting the status quo ante apple cart of the mainstream political parties. Given the fascinating diversity of Nepali society w/ over 100 ethnic groups including nearly 40% of the country, there's alot of civil (and uncivil...) society to bring in the tent. This builds on the work I've done over the years with marginalized communities in Nepal, both ethnic and Dalit (ex-untouchables in the caste system). The process is a bit shakey right now given the growing rifts b/n the Maoists and parlimentary parties. Major issues that are not yet resolved. Always fascinating if not a bit frustrating. My life shifted from the halls of Capitol Hill to the hills of the Himalaya...

 

 

Leah's Hannah Montana Diary after a KFC Meal

just a morning vignette before i run off to work: 

leah bought a hannah montana diary yesterday evening.  we had taken her to the newly opened KFC on durbar marg to celebrate her orange team's decisive, triumphant win at the lincoln school kickball championships last week.  as ms. leah was co-captain (with preeya), she was more than happy with her team's achievement during the elementary school's annual 'kaliedescope' adventure.  she was adorably shyly proud when she told us.  as only an eight year girl can be...

so, against our better judgement, we promised her a KFC treat (and to our own chagrin...).  she'd seen it on the street.  (it's impossible to miss...)  we patiently stood in line for a half hour yesterday after work w/ all the jostling and queuing that is ever so patently south asian.  as expected, there was that unsettling aftertaste with this food.  leah said she didn't particularly like the chicken (good!), but in true leslie-chan fashion loved the french fries!

afterwards we stopped at the bluebird department store for her to buy a holiday season gift for a classmate (the under 500 rupees rule) and, not surprisingly, ms. leah came out with her own HM diary with the friend's gift.  

the beautiful thing is that leah really, really wants to write!  we came home and did her math (a bit problemmatic...), then memorized some of her spelling (actually, not so bad...), but the whole time she wanted to take breaks to write in her diary and, of course, discuss w/ me where she should hide the key (as it's a locking book).  

hiding the key was rather important, given all those peering eyes who want to know the intimate secrets of leah's third grade class.  imagine that!  (they'll never find out on this blog, that's for sure!)  so, she came up with a suitable location (the little jewelry box grammy gave her... shhhhh!!!), and then huddled on her bed to write away to her heart's content, occasionally looking up to ask me to help her spell a word or two -- but, mostly, scribbling away on her own about her deepest secret pleasures.  

leah did look up at one point and asked, "daddy, why is everything made in china?"  she'd read on the side of the case that the diary had been made in china, even though the cover was splattered with hannah montana photos.  but she was back her scribbling almost before i had time to think of an appropriate adult answer.

for it was a father's joy to watch little ms. leah rose as she covered nearly two full pages of her new diary all on her own.  of course, she did worry a bit that she wouldn't be able to read it when she's older since she knows that she can't spell correctly yet -- but, after thinking about it for a moment, not longer, she figured she wouldn't worry too much about that right now as she had so, so, so much more to say...

this morning, on a chilly wednesday, that's the word from the eastern front here in budhanilkantha, where winter has set in.  i've graduated, too.  now i'm wearing long grey gym pants out to the morning bus stop with leah instead of my usual revealing, decorative boxers.  

even lyle noticed this morning when he said a bit ironically and teasingly as he gave me one of his famous out-of- the-side of his eyes glances i sat down by him near the street corner tea shop, 'a little colder now, keith, eh?'

memories of events is the past recalled

ahhh, eduardo, dave, lee and scott...

i still just get a thrill writing your names and knowing that we know each other so fondly 30 years on.

it's a gift.

for me, as you can imagine, there is another set of complex emotions as i was out in the backyard this afternoon trimming bamboo and strolling the garden below shivapuri w/ bans and nigalo (small bans) from different places in nepal and oregon.  nepal isn't just a beloved memory for me, it became my life.  whatever that black magic didi in larjung put in my b'fast never quite got out of my system.  the ephipany i felt in tuckhe turned into shakun, a wife, ten years later.  
 

the complex political journey that has been nepal since the cute authoritarianism of raja birendra through the murder of his whole family to our maoist colleagues filling the streets on thursday/friday has been my life.  ex-king gynendra's grand daughter is even in leah's class (and one of her close friends...).  
 
20 years with save the children and now another 3 with the un.  a home.  a garden.  three kids.  a modicum of nepali bhasa by which to flit and wing around the country in a language i would never have imagined being so comfortable speaking.  who'd uv thunk it?
 
yes, nepal for me is that last trudge up tharong-la in the freezing morning, followed by the long exhilirating walk down to mutkinath, the leisurely stroll along the kali gandaki, the forests of gandrung, the site of pokhara after six weeks round the annapurna, then, once again, the travelers and pies in kathmandu that lingering autumn, my first in the himalaya, the unworldy iconography, the friendships, the breaking of barriers, the going beyond beyond, the dreams, fearlessness and simple joyful experiences that were enhanced by such luck, innocence and openness.  
 
after all these years, these few decades, alas, nepal is more even than a home, a wife, my children raised here, the many friends and the nest that i've created (even sitting here tonight...).

yet, it all cycles back to that maha-circumambulation around the annapurna in the fall of 1979, thirty years ago this week, with all of you.  

it's time to crack open the leather-bound journals tomorrow and put the dvd i just had burned of all of my photos of those days in the window-sized iMac in front of me. 

reflection is the gift of the passage of time, it seems...
 
tomorrow i've planned to walk over shivapuri ridge w/ some friends.  it's a good 5 hour hike up 2,500' and back down to our garden.  you've sent my imagination off now, to sleep, perchance to dream of the younger us and the many joys and, just as sweet, memories of joys that we've created together.
 

Josh's Ode to His Nepal

Don't worry Nepal cause i am coming home
i don't know why
could it possibly be an ineffable feeling
that constantly places a tear into my vulnerable eye.
i really don't know
maybe its your effortless beauty
hidden by the disparity
creating undeniable poverty.
Or could it be
something else?
a feeling felt
underneath my left breast,
that make it possible at night
(with the knowledge of You)
to put my head to a comfortable rest.
Because my Dear
only the ocean's separating us
cause me to fear,
that my idolatrous feelings toward you will disappear.
Yet,
the memories and roots
cause me to realize
i love you,
and
hopefully, i will be looking at You when i die.
The last sight in my eye.

Joshua S. Leslie

December 2009

Washington, D.C.