YAHA CHHA KHUSI

A few issues back, Nepal's weekly Himal Khabarpatrika ran a story that focused on the ways Nepalese found happiness in dire times. The satisfaction in small things gave them happiness that lasted longer than the ones obtained from amenities.

The evidence that the writers presented struck my mind and I became very proud of my nationality. Whenever we face difficult times, there seems to be some inevitable force that binds us to face the music with ease and share the unfathomable happiness with our family and peers. 

As the election was near, tensions had begun to rise and violence was slowly taking its place. But, even in those times, we found happiness in our senior cricket national team that was trying to imprint its mark in the record books by becoming the first ever team to reach the World Cup stage. 

It is not only the happiness that counts in shaping our unique identity to the world but the very amiability that we present in various facets of our life to the outside world that does as well. Sometimes, as I read the excerpts of foreigners admiring the social nature of ours, it feels great to be part of something that already exists in my DNA. I am not trying to be a jingoist but it is my responsibility to aware of the thing that we are taking for granted. 

Taking happiness in small things is what makes us tackle difficult circumstances easily.

I guess no one will find a place where a person feels a stranger as a friend. And no public places where we cannot get some help from others with ease. I even read in an article a long while back written by a foreigner where she mentioned how she was intrigued by the fact that customers exchanged friendly glances with the shopkeepers. The jovial relation, she claimed, was a sight rarely seen in her country. In fact, she even urged us to give respect to the culture that very few of the outsiders can experience in their lifetime and that we were fortunate to have it a million times in a week.

Returning back to where I was, we even find someone close to us to sort out our difficulties. I guess the large family size we live in has also made a big difference. The intricate relationships we have within our family and the names we have tried so hard to revere always keeps us within touching distance of our family. The westerns only have father, mother, son, daughter in-laws and cousins to call by. Moreover, they seem to take less care about the relationship that is few family generation away and don't have much trust. While in our country, the trust is as strong as ever and the names that we give to our family members like bua, aama, bhai, dai, bahini, didi, hajurbua, hajuraama, maama, maiju, bhanja, bhanji, phupaju, phupu, thulo bua, kaka, kaki, buhari, sasu, jijubua, jima and so on. We can feel safe when we visit someone distant of our family and even entrust them to take care of our children without any slight hesitation.

Family, it seems, is the most beautiful thing we can be proud of than the tourism sector. I believe that the hospitality we revere when we welcome the tourists is the greatest gift than the long trodden trails we have in our country. I know that the trails are the reasons we have these benign people, but I also know that they feel more than a tourist in our country when they are within our  They feel like a family. The little children who greet these strangers like their own family, the directions that senile folks give to them or the joy that a guide or a porter shares with them makes them feel more like a family. That is the happiness we all have and which defines us. The happiness we acquire from these small things is what separates us from the rest.

It's what I call joie dé vivré.

Tyasaile ta ma bhanchhu ki yaha chha khusi ra yasaima Nepali hunuko majja chha!