The way he makes us feel... - Arati Gurung A Friday evening is no longer the way it once used to be, everyone is in a rush to get home or to stop conversation and watch TV. A colleague I was working with on a project left before I got to meet him. His message read, ‘have to reach home early- will get it done on Sunday.’ There was a big smiley at the bottom of the note, I smiled too, I knew what he meant. Our friends had invited us over to their place for dinner but it was canceled at the last minute because their television broke down. They’re going out to a relatives place instead. The last day of the week, there was no way we were eating in. Tonight we needed to be served - not serving. Keeping in mind that we had to be home by 9, we chose to eat at a local restaurant rather than go all the way to town. We decided to have chowmein rather than our favorite roast chicken, because the latter takes time in preparation. Five minutes after sitting down, we were amazed to have our order served. The captain came sailing by and we complimented him on the fast service, the old man looked at his watch and merely smiled. We decided we could afford to stay a bit longer and so asked for some wine. A couple of sips later, the waiters began packing up. The empty chairs went up and the young waiters were out and about collecting the bills. Feeling awkward we requested for our bill. When we asked if this was the usual closing time, he said it wasn’t, ‘today is Friday sir’, he said coyly, his boyish grin charming us all. We exchanged knowing smiles. Having paan after dinner is a luxury, because that’s what our dad treats us to after special dinners hosted at home. ‘paan is not something you have everyday’, daddy says,’ it wont be special if it’s not treated specially’. Being served is special, and not complete without a paan to top it off. When reaching the paan dokaan, our friendly dai from the madhesh is packing in the last piece of his tiny table. Upon seeing us approach he apologetically smiles. ‘9:15? Is it already?’ we ask, he gives us a broad grin that brightens up his little space of a shop and we end up having paan parag instead. Walking back home in the dim lighted alley that is complemented with warm lights pouring out through the curtains of homes on the way – we muse at the things we get to hear. The television is on full blast in some while in others, children call out to their parents to hurry. It’s an invisible bond – this feeling we get every Friday evening. The smiles are understood, the rush is mutually experienced and the excitement is clear. Saying music has power feels wrong – to me music has magic. It has the magic to bring everyone together, irrespective of cast, creed or color. Thanks to technology, at 9:15 every Friday evening, we get to watch a music program that has brought Nepali people together in a way like no other. At a time when the country is facing issues on color, creed and history among its very own people, the love of being a Nepali unites us every time a young man from Darjeeling sings his heart out to millions who watch him every week. He may be singing in a different language than ours, on TV he maybe speaking a tongue different to ours but his participation has us proud. Prashant Tamang makes us feel good about who we are; what he and his voice reflects is what we as Nepalese relate to.Simple, innocent and clean hearted Nepalese who’s every wish is to have nothing of hatred and violence. As I make myself comfortable to get ready to watch the show, I silently pray for Prashant to do his magic again, so that he’ll stay another week and another. Selfish as it may appear I can’t imagine him off the show, because as long as he is on TV, there’s a warmth and understanding in the smiles we share whenever the topic arises and if you take the time to notice, you’ll realize that a smile that genuine is almost extinct because there are no longer any such reasons for it to come around. Prashant Tamang is that reason, the reason why everyone sees one another as a Nepali – nothing more and nothing less. http://www.enasha.com/article.php?id=1164