All through the March Protests (The Julus Andolan) I was very good: I stayed away from trouble (except a few times), and any time I saw smoke I veered away. Today however, I was determined to make it all the way around the ring road no matter what. So I found myself wheeling through not one, but seven protests in total. All in different stages of protests: at some they were just wheeling out the tires to set them alight, at others they had good, thick pillars of smoke and were chanting. Still at others they had build barricades with busses and were already beginning to confront the Riot Police.Of course, it wasn't the protesters that got me in the end. It was the number one security concern of all VSO vols: traffic. I was flying down a hill, quite happy, listening to my iPod when the taxi in front of me happened to spot a fare on the side of the road. So of couse he stopped. Right in the middle of the road.
I never had a chance.
Notice anything funny about my bike in the photo? I went face first into the arse of the taxi and did a cartoon-like "smooshed up against the window" bit. The taxi driver got out, checked his bumper for damage and then got his fare into the car and drove away.
What can you do? Fortunately, the rest of the crowd that had gathered was helpful enough. A very nice man led me down an alleyway, then into an alley off the alleyway and I found myself at a cycle shop. I instantly made friends with everyone there, so much that one of them insisted on holding my hand while the cycle guy bent my bike back into shape (if you've ever been outside the West, you know this is actually pretty common). Then one of the other bike boys hopped on my bike, tested the bars, and disappeared.
While I stood around wondering what the f**k had just happened to my bike I met various people's sisters and wives. The VSO Country Director, called me up on Ciara's cell to tell me there were protests going on around the British Embassy and that we should stay put. I thanked her very much and told her I would pass the message along.
Finally the boy came back with my bike and a massive blob of welded metal on the part where the bar had bent over. Fantastic! The whole thing cost 125 rupees, about two dollars CAD.
I kept thinking I should've taken a photo or something of the cabbie, but at the time I was too busy checking to make sure all my bits and bobs were still attached and functional. In all fairness I should be thankful he didn't back over me. You laugh? Well, it would be comic if it wasn't so tragic but that's what these protestors are protesting about.
Here's the actual story in the Himalayan Times (and for some reason they insist on using the term 'mishap' whenever they run a story of people dying on the roads):
Traffic disrupted over mishap death
Locals today disrupted vehicular movement on the Bhaktapur-Kathmandu road section this morning to protest against the killing of a pedestrian by a Kathmandu-bound mini-bus at Jadibuti.
Irate locals torched the mini-bus, nadalised seven mini-buses and halted traffic.
Police said the minibus(Ba 1 Kha 3624) hit pedestrian Rajaram Dahal, 27, of Kathmandu Metropolitan City-35, at 6:35 am. Dahal was lightly injured when the mini-bus first hit him but the driver of the bus "reversed the bus and crushed him to death on the spot," one Rajan Pandit, of Jadibuti, said. Police arrested mini-bus driver Jay Prajapati, 23, of Madhyapur Thimi municipality from the spot.
This is the second time in a week that a bus driver has hit someone, then reversed to finish the job. Why? Because if you injure someone, you have to pay their medical bills for the rest of your life. If you kill them, then you only go to jail for a few years. Life is cheap. And in Nepal, the rule of law is a joke.
(just a little ammendment: some protests were about the minibus killing, but the majority were over the recent taxes on petrol prices)
