God Defiled

Walk down the street. Keep walking, walk further and past the first familiar place you know. Down the road  that is bustling with the modern progress of automobile that is more than thirty years old. Those cars and buses that are obsolete. Smell that smog in the air, taste the dust in the air. Feel the grittiness in your mouth as you walk. Walk further down the streets of Kathmandu. Find a nice river.

Which one?

Oh I don't know. Just find one that which seems to be flowing.

Grab a chair, a stool or just hop on to a ledge and just sit there and watch.

See all the people in the streets. In the cars and buses. The three wheeler running in the traffic spitting people out ever few stops and devouring another from it's rear end.

Keep watching. Look carefully. Now start counting. Nepali or in English or if you are like me count in Nepali till the forties and then switch to English just because you can't remember how to say the next number anymore.    

Don't start yet. I haven't even told you what to count.

Ok, let's start now. Look at everyone who goes by and count those to pay homage to the river by touching their heart and forehead with their hand. Maybe you won't find too many in Kathmandu, but you will find them. So keep counting and look for them.

Now move along and go to a temple. Look for signs that says "No shoes allowed inside." or "Only Hindus allowed inside." It won't be hard, you know the temple must remain pure. The statue of the god, or the stone where the god resides must remain pure, undefiled.

Try to break the sign. Walk in with a sign that says you are not a Hindu or walk in with your shoes on. Will you be stopped? Will you be yelled at or pushed away?

What would happen if you decided to pee at the doorstep. Not even on the statue, just the doorstep. What will happen?

Now wonder what about that river? Showered by human excrement every second of the day.