Reflecting Back Nepalese way - A single story by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

People call this is an age of social media. We consume lots of information from these sources. The usefulness of these vast quantities of information might be questioned but if you know what to consume, you will always find some good stuff. This YouTube video published by TED
https://www.youtube.com/watch?=D9Ihs241zeg 
was shared by one of my friends in social media. This video was published ten years back, in 2009. It is still relevant in many ways for us and inspired me to write single stories about Nepal.

I was strolling in the streets of New York. A guy in his early thirties came to me and asked something in his language. I looked at him with a surprise! He questioned me, “Don’t you understand Hindi?” I replied him back, "I am from Nepal". Then, he started talking in English. My wife has a similar story to share. In her first day of college at the University of Otago, New Zealand, a student from India came to her and asked, “From which state of India, are you?" He didn't stop there and further started to make guesses – Kerala, Tamil Nadu or Odissa? She replied, “No! from Nepal” to stop him. These are the common experience of  Nepalese in the western world. Further, walking in the streets or in the supermarkets, or anywhere you are in public places, you are thought to be an Indian until they ask about the nationality. The other single story popular among western people about Nepalese is about 'snow'.

Everybody knows that Nepal is the land of mountains- with Mt. Everest, the top of the world. But what they don’t know is that the majority of the Nepalese do not experience snow as perceived by them. The first question asked when you reveal your identity as Nepalese is – You must have rich experience with snow? I have to explain every time “All Nepalese aren’t the Sherpas". I have only two experiences of snow, 2007 and 2014, in my entire life.
It was August 2007, the first year in master’s classes, an exciting discussion started in my core college mates – where should we go for the trekking? The discussion concluded with the most adventurous pick, Annapurna circuit trail, which goes through the highest pass in the earth at 5416 meters. The first thing that came to my mind was, Yes! Now I will feel the snow. I finally felt it. After five days (one day in the bus from Kathmandu to Besishar, and five days of walk), I touched the snow for the first time in my life at Thorang Phedi. It was the most wonderful experience for me. But we were not lucky to see the snowfall in that trek.

I had to wait for another 7 years to see live snowfall. It happened during my trip to Dadeldhura, a far-western district of Nepal. It was the same time, I experienced the road blockage due to snow. I could see the buses and cars sliding towards the side-drain. Even the slowest moving vehicle was unable to go forward. It was moving its tail towards the drain. I still have the vivid memory of every single moment of that time. I enjoyed that moment very much.

Now, you can imagine how hard it is to explain people, who will see every other parts of the world with a single story. Although there are abundant information and knowledge everywhere in this globalized world. But, people want to see everything from a single story. All brown colored people with dark hair are Indian; all Nepalese are Sherpas, If not Sherpas, they are Gurkhas. But, there are several other stories, which we need to ask before reaching to any conclusion about anything.