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Nepalis strike against hartal with their feet

Josy Joseph in Kathmandu

They took a deep breath, stretched a little, and walked. And walked. And walked.

Residents of this Himalayan valley beat the hell out of the two-day hartal (general strike) and its proponents as they walked several kilometres to reach their destinations, almost forgetting that automobiles are a reality on Kathmandu's streets.

They went to their offices, visited relatives, or just went around to locate a liquor shop. But they walked. There was no way of stopping the tough mountain people, known for their bahaduri, the world's most feared soldiers.

The two-day hartal began on the morning of January 1, with fears of a possible outbreak of violence looming after what happened last week in the wake of the rumoured comments of Hindi film star Hrithik Roshan.

In the morning of the first day of the New Year almost no private vehicle dared to venture out and the nine-party opposition conglomerate of Communist parties was declaring victory. Diplomats were escorted into embassies by armed police. And the VVIPs of Nepal were driven to their offices with full protection. But for the ordinary citizen, it seemed to be a drag, a dull New Year's day, forced to spend time at home.

What, observers speculated, heightened the chances of people remaining indoors was last week's violence in which five persons were killed in Kathmandu and two in the plains.

As the sun rose higher, the streets of Kathmandu were empty, except for the rare cycle rickshaw powered by the men who never got a chance to bargain in life. The bandh seemed to them a god-sent opportunity to make a killing.

But all apprehensions vanished as office-goers trooped out of their homes and began walking briskly to their places of work. The streets were soon full of hundreds of men and women walking briskly. Petite women, short but physically fit men. All walking.

They walked several kilometres to reach their offices. And by noon, government offices registered good attendance. "Government offices have been functioning normally yesterday and today," a spokesman for the home ministry said on Tuesday.

Gautam Thapa, a front-office manager at Hotel Ambassador, says most of his staff are "from Kritipur area of the city", more than 5km away. "They all walked to the hotel yesterday, and today too they came on foot," he said.

It was not just the unavoidable need to attend to their offices that made the mountain people walk. "I am going to a friend's house, I got bored sitting at home," said Gopi Krishna, a college student. He was walking from his house at Maharajganj to Thamel, almost 6km away.

For those weak hearts who could not dare a few kilometres of walking, the only way out was the cycle rickshaws, which had a free run, especially with the foreign tourists. Those tough foreign tourists, on their way to long mountain treks, were ready to walk long distances. But for ordinary mortals, especially middle-class families from India, the only way out was to take a rickshaw.

Unusually tall rickshaws, peddled by petite Nepali locals, were costlier than taxis. For a distance of about 3 km, which would cost Nepali Rs 30 in a taxi, the rickshaws were charging more than Rs 100.

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