RUNNING THE GAUNTLET (PDF-1798)

Taken at India and Nepal

THE STRIKE: RUNNING THE GAUNTLET [Here is a story from one of our trips to Tibet and India that is good for a chuckle or two. In 1997 I took my family to meet the Karmapa, a reincarnate lama who (like the Dalai Lama) is the head of an entire lineage. The young Karmapa was the poster child for the movie “The Golden Child.” This story has to do with trying to get out of India and back into Nepal.] Coming back from India into Nepal, we had a problem. The day we were to fly back to Kathmandu from Bhadrapur in Nepal there was scheduled another of the Nepalese nationwide strike days protesting the advent of VAT taxation. In fact this time they were striking for two consecutive days and the first day was declared to be what they called “very serious.” “Very serious” means they throw rocks at you. In order not to have our vehicle stoned we had to somehow get from India into Nepal early enough in the morning so that the strikers were not yet up and about. So far, OK.