DAY 1 :: Photo Kathmandu

DAY #1

I was in New Road when Sumeet Shakya dai informed about a photo event happening soon. He gave me the contact details of Sagar Chhettri. I called him at the moment and wished to volunteer for the event. He said to meet him tomorrow but I already had plans for the day and we decided to meet in Jhamsikhel the day after tomorrow!

I thought of calling Sagar dai before departing the house. He said to meet in Swotha Square, Patan rather than Jhamsikhel. I hitchhiked and reached Lagankhel and then reached Swotha Square after getting lost twice. It was quite embarrassing moment when I called Sagar dai telling him that I reached Swotha while he was just in front of me! We had had conversations only in mobile phones and it was the first time we met in person.

I met Rohan Thapa and Sarju there. Sagar dai lead us to our ‘working zone’. While we followed Sagar dai Rohan dai and Sriju were having conversation in Spanish. Rohan dai was professional photographer and Sriju was Spanish Chef by profession but loved photography and was doing his diploma in Nutririon. Before we reached DHAUGAL I had learnt to spell the Spanish alphabets.

In Dhaugal, we waited and waited until Narayan dai and Nayan Tara didi showed up. And then again, we waited and waited. I met Ronish and other guys here. It was interesting to know that where we were w-a-i-t-i-n-g was the practice room of KUTUMBA. The wall was full of appreciations and letter of thanks. Rohan dai left early.

After few hours of waiting, Frédéric Lecloux showed up. He is a French photographer and was the first foreign photographer of the event to arrive Nepal. After the photographs were ready we moved them to where it were to be exhibited. The tables had arrived and we move the tables too.

The team leader was Nirman dai with other team mates: Nidu, Ronish and few others whose name I have not remembered yet! We started marking the 100 ft wall at precise locations in order to hang the picture frames. Frédéric wanted no strings to be seen on the wall. We brain stormed to find an easy way, tried few tricks but none of those worked. So we had to do the longer way: measure the position of nail hanger in the picture frame, hammer the nail on the exact position in the wall, check if the picture frames are in the same level, exact gap and exact height between the picture frames and so on….

We started at 12:30 and the work was not completed yet till 5 pm. The documentation team captured us working in their cameras. We had a snack break in between. I, sirju and Nirman dai had yummy chowmein! At 5 pm, I left for I had to attend a family event!

The day was fun filled. I got to meet new people and learn from them. Nayan Tara didi is an amazing person and Frédéric speaks Nepali well enough! I hope the next day turns to be more exciting!