Entertainment
India diaries
The end of October was the beginning of our most anticipated trip to Lucknow.Ranjan Sapkota
The end of October was the beginning of our most anticipated trip to Lucknow. The objective of our trip was to participate in the International EXSPO (Excellence in Sports) organised by the City Montessori School (CMS) in Lucknow. With a very ambitious aim of triumphing gold, our team of six athletes along with two coaches, headed for India. When we crossed the border, a sense of immense relief went through our veins. Crossing the border safely became our very first objective because of the troublesome environment created by the ‘unofficial’ trade block imposed by India. As we crossed the border with ease, the two coaches accompanying us, who soldered the responsibility of our safety, were much relaxed.
By the time we reached Lucknow, after about 22 hours of travel, we were all tired. We represented Nepal and our own school in the tournament. The night before the events, our coach had promised us he would take us to Delhi and Agra if we won maximum gold medals. The task was hard but we were determined to give our best. After all, nobody wants to let their chance of visiting Delhi and the Taj Mahal slip away. As the tournament kicked off, we started to make the hard task look very easy: Our team of six athletes bagged five golds in the under-18 category.
Then we took off for Agra on a train. The experience of travelling on train for the first time was fascinating. Right after we reached Agra, we were trapped by dirtily dressed brokers. Their job, we found out, was to take people to different hotels and take commission from the hotel owners for their service. Even though we kept saying ‘No’ to them several times, they kept on walking along with us. They were making attempts on holding our hand and luggage.
Our plan was to keep the luggage in the hotel and go to Agra for some site-seeing. In the reception of the hotel, we faced the most irritating moment in our journey: the receptionist told us that Nepal is a state of India. How angry would you get when you heard such comments? While filling a form, he said something that no Nepali would ever want to hear. He told us to write Indian as our nationality. Our coach got furious and questioned him angrily, many
times, “Why should I write Indian? I am a proud Nepali.” After a while, a man staying in the line alerted the receptionist about Nepal being a independent country. Leaving it all behind, we went set off for Taj Mahal. The famous monument was really enthralling and an astonishing creation, I would say.
The next destination for us was Delhi. Delhi didn’t favour the eight of us. Brokers roamed all around. The people of Delhi were good but the brokers behaved madly. We
experienced something that lacked humanity. After roaming around for some time, we went to the bus station. There we encountered this: When a passenger who had already paid for the ticket asked the conductor about the time bus was leaving, the conductor replied in a very angry and rude manner humiliating the passenger. But to those who haven’t paid the ticket price, they seem to beg them. Believing them was our mistake as they falsely promised us to take to Banbassa and stopped at Rudrapur—almost 210 kms far from Banbassa. We reached Banbassa by another bus.
The beginning of November marked the end of our India tour.
With all these experiences, I feel more mature and confident than I was before the tour. Travelling around gives us new insight to the world and life.
Sapkota is currently pursuing A-levels at Budhanilkantha school