Read the following essay ‘A Journey Back in Time!’ by Anand P. Shrestha and try to understand the meaning it conveys. The text is about a group of friends who went on a weekend trip to Bandipur, Nepal. Bandipur is an old town that feels like stepping back in time.
The friends enjoyed exploring the old buildings, temples, and scenery in the peaceful town. It shows how the town has maintained its historic charm and traditional way of life. This original text is followed by important questions and their answers that are helpful for the students of all levels.
{getToc} $title={Table of Contents}
A Journey Back in Time! [Original Text]
Just fed up with the hectic pace of life in the Kathmandu metropolis, a few of us old classmates got together and decided to go on a little trip to a little town called Bandipur. A friend of ours, a native of the place, had told us so much about the place that at last after much delaying we set out for the weekend to discover the place where none of us had been before - a place where old Nepal lives on. Bandipur! The very name for us seemed to spell magic! We were soon to learn that there is a great deal of truth in the belief that time stops in the town of Bandipur. That a tiny piece of Old Nepal still lives on in that cool, cobbled Newar settlement.
Our journey uphill to Bandipur, our destination branched off the Prithvi Rajmarg about two kilometres west of Dumre and which we reached by catching the local bus service. In less than an hour, we reached the medieval town. If we felt like a bit of adventure, we could have done the two plus hour steep climb up from Dumre. But with not much time on our hands, we decided otherwise and in about a three hour bus ride from noisy Kathmandu, we suddenly found ourselves almost a century back in time. We were in the medieval town of Bandipur!
History has it that Bandipur was part of the Magar kingdom of Tanahun ruled from nearby Palpa, Tansen the Headquarters. But Newar traders flooded in from Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Patan after the conquest of Kathmandu Valley by Prithvi Narayan Shah. The town in those days was an important stop on the Nepal-Tibet trade route until it was bypassed by the Prithvi Rajmarg below in the 1960s. Bandipur, like several other hill towns, faced several problems during the Maoist insurgency but things gradually reverted to normal, and peace and quiet pervades the place once more.
The town derives its name from BAN meaning forest, DI that means water in the Magar language and PUR meaning a place. So originally Bandipur must have been a forest area with plenty of water. The town, which is built along a high ridge above Dumre, occupies a vantage point and from the Tundikhel below one can view the most stunning panorama of Himalayan peaks from Dhaulagiri, Machhapuchhre, Langtang, Lirung, Manaslu, right down to Ganesh Himal.
The place was just as our friend told us. With its ancient cobbled streets and the medieval ambience displayed by old houses that exhibit glorious 18th century architecture, Bandipur continues to retain the timeless magic of the centuries. Later in the course of our short stay, we discovered that at the northeast end of the bazaar, was the main shopping strip. Nearby stands the ornate two-tiered Bindabasini Temple dedicated to Durga, the guardian deity of the town. Needless to say, we spent the weekend just lazing around and loitering around the town or making short trips to nearby temples, viewpoints and some mysterious caves.
Bandipur is probably the only example of a town that is truly a living museum of Newar culture. Its winding lanes are lined with tall Newar houses and people here seem to live, as they must have done years before. It is somewhat hard to believe that a town tucked away somewhere up in the hills and barely three hours away from Kathmandu has by default managed to escape the ravages of modern day development.
Thanks to the help from Himalayan Encounters and enterprising locals, dilapidated buildings have been given a face-lift and now come alive once more transformed as cafes and lodges. Some notable ones are Bandipur Guest House, Old Bandipur Inn, Bandipur Mountain Resort, Piya Lodge, Raksha Hotel and Lodge, Pradhan Family Guest House etc. Ancient temples and civic buildings almost in ruins now throb with new life and vitality and currently buzz with human activity.
These timely and thoughtful measures have enabled life in Bandipur to go on as ever clean and pollution free. While we were there we saw no sign whatsoever of two or four wheelers in the main town area. A living community, the locals are seen doing their daily chores, the tinkling of bells as women do their early temple rounds, noisy school children and campus students thronging the main thoroughfare of the town and villagers, farmers and traders going about their business.
Today the form of business in Bandipur has changed from the traditional variety. It is a tourism related business today. Those locals that migrated down to Dumre, Narayanghat and to Kathmandu in search of greener pastures still come back to the place once in a while to get away from it all. As our friend from Bandipur put it, “Yes I still have my house in Bandipur and will not sell it as long as I live. My children can do what they like with it after I am gone but as long as I am around I will in no way put an end to the umbilical cord that binds me to the place of my birth.”
“Though I have a thriving business in Kathmandu,” he continued, “I still go there to our old ancestral house with my family to celebrate Dashain, Tihar and other festivals. My younger brother runs a lodge there and is doing well too and has maintained the place very well. I don’t know how to put it but when I am up there in Bandipur, after a couple of months in this Kathmandu hellhole, an indescribable feeling of happiness overcomes my being and I am completely at peace. When I am there I realize how much I miss the place. It is my life, my very identity.”
When we were up there we fully understood that feeling of belongingness to the place. No doubt, Bandipur does have that magnetic pull. It is indeed a magical town and we were attracted to it immediately. The place is something out of this world. It was like travelling back in time back to old Nepal of a century ago. Since tourism is now the mainstay of Bandipur, almost every house is either a café, a pub or a hotel. As our friend had told us earlier, the local school children speak good English as it is necessary for family business purposes and moreover, to interact with tourists.”
To our surprise, even small, clean, humble Magar HOMESTAY dwellings with just two rooms and four clean beds do good business. Exploring the place one morning, we entered one such place near the town area and out of sheer curiosity, asked to make us some breakfast. Not knowing what to order we asked the Magar lady to make us what she made best. Meanwhile we looked around the spotlessly clean place and saw a little refrigerator in a corner, a shelf stacked with biscuits, instant noodles, trekker’s food, cornflakes, different types of beer, varieties of canned food, tea, coffee etc.
Within minutes the lady of the house put before us cheese omelettes, two slices of bread each and finger chips. Later we washed it down with glasses of excellent milk coffee. It was perfect and far beyond our expectations. The next morning we visited the place again. The lady greeted us with a knowing smile and this time without our saying made us pancakes with Bandipur honey and again milk coffee to go with it. We unanimously agreed that it tasted absolutely divine! Maybe the local spices and extra ingredients of love and affection that went into it made it all the more memorable.
The next evening we unwillingly caught the bus to dusty, dirty, crowded, polluted and impersonal - 21st century Kathmandu to face life once more. The teeming metropolis soon made us realize what we had been missing. The hangover of Bandipur, however, has remained so strong that we have decided on another trip to Bandipur in the near future. But this time, on a longer and weeklong trip to the place!
- Anand P. Shrestha
Word Meaning related to the text A Journey Back in Time
1. outdated, of or relating to the Middle Ages: M.....
2. wandering from place to place without any purpose: L.....
3. the character and atmosphere of a place: A......
4. an unpleasant place; a place of extreme misery: H......
5. an active revolt or uprising: I......
6. highly decorated: O.......
7. beat with a strong, regular rhythm; survive: T......
8. paved with cobbles: C......
9. prosperous and growing; flourishing: T
10. with the agreement of all people involved: U.....
11. the destructive effects of something: R.......
Word Meaning Answer
Look up the meanings of the following words in your dictionary.
amenities, exquisite, etiquette, accommodation, mainstay, antique
Answer
Identify the content words in the following sentences.
Example: A BROWN FOX JUMPS over the LAZY DOG QUICKLY.
a. The cat sat lazily on the dirty mat.
b. She gives performances on the stage beautifully.
c. Don’t count your chickens before they are hatched.
d. I came I saw I conquered.
e. It is my life, my very identity.
Answer the following questions [A Journey Back in Time]
a. Why did the author and his classmates decide to visit Bandipur?
b. What is special about Bandipur?
c. How has the business changed in Bandipur today?
d. Why do the local people who have migrated to Kathmandu visit Bandipur time and again?
e. How do the local people learn to speak English in Bandipur?
f. What does the author mean when he says that ‘time stops in the town of Bandipur’?
Questions and their answers
Writing Question
Write a letter to a business organization overseas describing the prospects of the tourism industry in your local place. Consider the following points in the letter.
• Propose to venture in tourism business.
• Persuade the organization head to visit the place once.
• Clearly dig out the specialties and potentialities of the place.
• Explain its archaeological and historical importance.
Writing answer Answer
Dear Sir/Madam,
I am writing to share with you the immense tourism potential in my hometown of Kathmandu, Nepal and to propose that your organization consider opening a tourism business here.
Kathmandu has very old temples, palaces, and squares that teach about Nepal's history. For example, there is the old king's palace with carved towers in a style called pagoda. And Durbar Squares have stone statues and wood carvings everywhere. My favorite is the Monkey Temple on a hill above the city where monkeys play.
In addition to historic places, Kathmandu has pretty views. Just one hour away are green mountains and pine forest hiking trails. Visitors enjoy our nice weather, kind people, and cheap prices too. All these things bring tourists from abroad.
I think your company can start a business here related to tourism. Since many tourists already come, you can build a hotel for them to stay at. Or offer bus trips to our famous places. Also, with the mountains near, you can lead treks and climbs. A tourism company here would do quite well I believe.
I invite you to come and see everything Kathmandu has that visitors love. I can show you nice areas to start tour activities or build hotels too. After your visit, tell me if you would like to set up a tourism branch or office here. I can help you meet local people to join your new company too.
I hope this convinces you there is big potential for tourism companies in Kathmandu. Please visit and think about this business idea that I explained in this letter. And let me know if you have any other questions!
Thank you,
[Your name]
[Contact information]