Photo Essays
2 MIN READ
Because the national strategy for tackling the virus has been all over the place, people remain scared and confused, but they have decided to get on with their lives anyway
When I was younger, I would always look forward to the changes autumn would usher in. Every year around late September, I’d start taking in the sights that signaled the coming of Dashain. The first thing I’d notice was the shortening days--the natural light getting dimmer, earlier and earlier, each evening. Darkness would start descending at around 7:45, then 7:30, then 7, and so on, as the shortening days got rapidly shorter. Starting a few years ago, by the first week of October, I’d find myself--a budding photographer--observing the darkness swallowing the gallis of Kathmandu by around 6. I’d also observe how the crowds in this city’s shopping districts would congeal into thicker and thicker masses as autumn wore on.
In this unfortunate year of the Covid pandemic, however, I was hoping against hope that I would not be witness to at least that last recurring pattern--of thickening crowds. I’d read enough media reports to know that my hope was misplaced. But last week, I decided to see for myself, and capture through my lens, the pre-Dashain activities in the larger Ason-Indrachowk-New Road area.
When I got to the shopping districts, I was immediately dismayed upon seeing shoppers readily cramming into already packed restaurants, families--overflowing bags in hand--flitting from shop to shop, and people milling around malls.
But later, as I pondered over what I had seen and as I thought about what some of the shoppers had told me, I could only conclude the following: The people are scared and confused, but because the national strategy for tackling the virus has been all over the place, they’ve decided to get on with their lives. Also, because our leaders and decision-makers have not been able to present to the public a coherent plan of action, we’re resorting, almost unconsciously, to finding hope and catharsis any which way we can--in these darkening days of autumn--by preparing for the upcoming festivals.
:::::
Deewash Shrestha Deewash Shrestha is a student of Media Studies and a freelancer He can be reached via email: deewash.shrestha@yahoo.com
Features
5 min read
As millions stay safely home, frontliners like Lapcha rush through the Valley’s empty streets, risking their own lives to save those infected with Covid-19.
COVID19
3 min read
Many Nepalis are despairing at the Nepal-India border after being denied entry to their own country
COVID19
Explainers
6 min read
Many frontline workers are neither being paid the promised risk allowances nor their salaries
COVID19
Interviews
5 min read
A Nepali doctor speaks about tending to Covid patients in a New York hospital
Explainers
7 min read
By shoring up all power at the centre, NCP head honchos are choking the life out of the country’s still-nascent federal units
COVID19
Features
10 min read
To get on the path to sustained economic recovery, Nepal will need to develop trade mechanisms that have been re-calibrated to meet the needs of the changed global context
Features
3 min read
The Record is back with its mini-series of artists and the projects they worked on during the lockdown and the pandemic.
COVID19
News
3 min read
A daily summary of Covid19 related developments that matter