Meeting Krishna (continued)

The Nepalese people are an amazing mix of modern and ancient.  Everyone has a cell phone, but the electricity gets turned off a few hours a day due to an energy shortage.  They are all about their families and the technology keeps them more connected.  

Many of the people live in mixed-use apartments, a step away from the road. Some buildings include an open-fronted room where there might be a store or even goats, chickens or a cow. There is the living room with a stove and, in some cases, a bed. Some apartments have multiple floors belonging to one family, like Azay’s home, and some have a different family on each floor.

The second boy we visited, Roshan, was shy and sweet and getting to him was a little harder than the first visit.  The way to his home was like climbing some of the rougher trails at Mesa Verde National Park! How can they ever use a wheelchair or even leave their homes is beyond my comprehension.

Roshan is seventeen and lives in an upper room in his family home. His family showed me his drawings and paintings. Very beautiful.

Then I met the third boy, Krishna.

In the Bhagavad Gita, a sacred text that stands as an allegory for the higher struggles of humankind, Krishna is a guru. 

Our Krishna could have been a guru sitting in front of a hut, beside an open fire and I a pilgrim trekking to get there after a long and arduous journey.

I got so excited seeing him that I accidentally stepped on the rice that was scattered in piles on the ground in front of the hut. An old woman was working the rice. I apologized but, really, how can someone not be miffed when you step on their rice?

Krishna is 21. From what I gather through Sunil, his mom lost track of his medical paperwork after an earthquake. He doesn’t leave the house except to sit on the porch.

His sister is a delightful girl who is going to college and obviously cares for her brother.

Nepal is a strange mixed culture. There is the juxtaposition of modern technology like cell phones and poverty. The people live surrounded by some of the most breathtaking scenery I have ever seen and yet here they appreciate it as much for it's usefulness as for the sacredness of the landscape.

And Krishna?  I am indebted to him and the other boys for shining their light on my heart. 

Questions still stand.  What is their diagnosis?  What can be done if anything to help them? I have no answers and my visits on the second day did nothing to clear anything up. But it did do everything to strengthen my admiration for these boys and what they are doing with their lives.