Episode 067: Fixing A Hole

I Feel Deflated. So, we left this morning to head out of Kathmandu and towards the town of Pokara. We didn’t get very far before a flat tire necessitated the need to pull over.

I haven’t spent very much time outside of Thamel, the tourist district in Kathmandu. It’s very different in the rest of the city. No Westerners to be found and you can see typical daily life unfold here. Our driver pulled over on the road right next to a bunch of men sitting around, smoking. Apparently it was a service station because immediately a small gentleman ran up to the car and began to remove the flat tire.

I’ve seen a lot of things in my life, but I don’t quite know if I’ve seen anyone so completely focused on fixing anything as this guy was focused on repairing our flat. He sprang to action and worked as if he could do this sort of thing in his sleep.

Nepal is famous for it’s mountains and its spectacular views, but I think I’m more impressed with this country because of the little things like this man repairing our tire. It’s difficult to describe, but the work ethic here is just so intense yet laid back at the same time. Here was this one man obsessively working on the tire and all around him were other men just casually sitting around, watching. They weren’t telling him what to do or adding criticism to his job, but just interested in the activity. They were also interested in Scott and me and the fact that I was filming everything!

I was absolutely fascinated while watching the repair take place and all the while I couldn’t get that Beatles song out of my head, “Fixing A Hole”. I just love Kathmandu and Nepal and the song’s chorus seemed rather fitting:

“And it really doesn’t matter if I’m wrong I’m right…where I belong.”

Indeed.

Jon Miller

Total Running Time: 19:20