Kasang

Vijaya Chalise



“The goods for the shop must be brought today. There are also a lot of visitors coming. I don’t know what to do,” Kasang’s mother shared her problem with her neighbor Baju.

“I know, I wonder how you will manage everything,” Baju said as she sat basking in the sun helping mother clean the vegetables.

Kasang’s mother ran a small lodge in Jharkot for guests visiting the temple of Muktinath. Jharkot village was very beautiful. Kasang’s father had gone to Pokhara to receive tourists. So Kasang and her mother were the only ones at home. Kasang’s brother studied in Pokhara as there was no college in Jomsom. It was very difficult for the mother to run the lodge all by herself. It took almost an hour every morning for her to reach Jomsom to buy goods for the lodge.

“I will go and fetch the goods, Mother. Just give me the list of things to be bought,” Kasang offered. She was a grade six student at a school in Jomsom. During holidays, she used to make her journey to and from Jomsom on a horse back to help her mother in purchasing goods.

“When will you go to school?” Mother asked.

“Have you forgotten; it’s Saturday today?” Kasang reminded her mother.

“Oh yes, be careful as you go and get the goods,” the mother said.

Kasang took the money and the list of items to be bought and made her way to Jomsom. She rode on a horse. The horse obeyed her orders as she loved him very much.

The downhill road that led to Jomsom was very steep. The pebbles on the path had the danger of getting stuck on the horseshoe. Moreover, the late evening would bring with it strong wind, along the Kali Gandaki gorge, that could even blow away a person. The dust from the road and the sand from the bank of the river could get into the eyes.

“Slow down, Phurke, go slow. You might slip and fall.” The horse would slow down its speed as though it understood Kasang. Kasang used to call her horse Phurke. The two walked along the Kali Gandaki River and reached Jomsom with a great difficulty.

“Grandpa, it’s ten o’clock already. It will be very hard walking after twelve. Please load my goods immediately,” Kasang said as she handed over her list of items to the shopkeeper.

“Oh it’s your turn to come today, Kasang. Okay, I will hurry.” Not only the shopkeeper but everybody who knew Kasang loved her for her good nature and sweet talks.

Kasang hurried back home with her things. After an hour of walk along the Kali Gandaki, the horse trailed up the hill from Kagbeni. There were many people walking up and down the slope to and from Muktinath.

“How brave of this girl to have attempted the climb on her own, just look at her,” the people said seeing Kasang travel alone.

On reaching the village of Khingar, a long way below Jharkot, Kasang came across a woman of around forty to forty five, lying on the ground. There were some people with her and they looked anxious. “What are we to do now? Maybe it’s due to the heights,” they said.

People walking past them would stop for a moment and pass by. Everybody was in a hurry and no one had time to stop to help. Not even the locals of the village came forward to help.

“What’s wrong grandpa? Fell sick?” Kasang got down from her horse and asked.

“Yes dear! Maybe it has got to do with the height. She got breathless and fell. There is no one to help. If she could be taken to the hotel up there, maybe there would be some hope,” the man sounded very disturbed.

“Don’t worry grandpa. There is nothing to fear. Maybe she got unconscious due to lack of air. Lots of people suffer from it,” Kasang said.

“What else can I do apart from worrying? There is neither a hospital nor any hope of getting help in this remote area,” the man continued to sound vexed.

“Don’t worry. Here, help her mount the horse. We will take her to the hotel and everything’s going to be fine.” The man was more than relieved to hear what Kasang had to say.

The two helped the woman mount the horse. Kasang led the way to her lodge and related the happenings to her mother. The mother hurriedly ground some herbs and gave it to the woman. “Here madam, drink some hot tea. You will be fine after getting some heat.”

The mother offered the woman some tea after she had taken the medicine. Sometime later, the woman slowly felt better. The medicine helped her get over the high altitude sickness while the heat from the tea and the furnace warmed her body. She was able to get better with the help of timely help from Kasang.

“I think I will survive now. You are God to me, child. I wonder what would have happened if you had not helped,” the woman said, pulling Kasang to her lap.

“Now do you understand that people too can be Gods? Those who help others in need are like Gods,” the man told the woman.

“That’s right. Kasang was God incarnate who helped me live.”

On hearing the woman, Kasang turned towards her mother and saw her face beaming with joy and pride.



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Translated by Anuradha