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"Kathmandu" is a lesson taken from Vikram Seth's travelogue titled From Heaven Lake: Travels Through Sinkiang and Tibet (\(1983\)). The lesson briefly describes Seth's visit to Kathmandu in Nepal.
Vikram Seth visits two of the significant temples in Kathmandu: Pashupatinath Temple and Baudhnath stupa. He draws a comparison between the two, stating how bustling and noisy was Pashupatinath, while Baudhnath had a sense of stillness around it. Seth says that Pashupatinath had an atmosphere of "febrile confusion" while Baudhnath was "a haven of quietness". He also observes the local life at Kathmandu, calling it a "vivid, mercenary, and religious" city.
After some contemplation, Seth decides to fly to Delhi the next day. He was both exhausted and homesick. Later the same day, he notices a flute seller standing at the square near his hotel. The seller picks one of his flutes and plays it; the music gets him musing over the "universality and commonality" of flutes and human culture. However, as the music and his thoughts kept travelling, he wondered how everything seemed quite different then. Though he was familiar with flute music, he had never invested time or thought on it before.
Vikram Seth visits two of the significant temples in Kathmandu: Pashupatinath Temple and Baudhnath stupa. He draws a comparison between the two, stating how bustling and noisy was Pashupatinath, while Baudhnath had a sense of stillness around it. Seth says that Pashupatinath had an atmosphere of "febrile confusion" while Baudhnath was "a haven of quietness". He also observes the local life at Kathmandu, calling it a "vivid, mercenary, and religious" city.
After some contemplation, Seth decides to fly to Delhi the next day. He was both exhausted and homesick. Later the same day, he notices a flute seller standing at the square near his hotel. The seller picks one of his flutes and plays it; the music gets him musing over the "universality and commonality" of flutes and human culture. However, as the music and his thoughts kept travelling, he wondered how everything seemed quite different then. Though he was familiar with flute music, he had never invested time or thought on it before.
He concludes the lesson by suggesting that his long journey from China to his home in India transformed him, enabling him to look at things differently.
Kathmandu, Nepal
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