We asked the couple if life was tough for them. ‘Well, we get on fine. There are the lands to farm and there are our cows. We have to go down for everything though. When the weather’s bad, it’s a problem. So, we horde all that we can for the winter. One can’t complain about the place one has made home you see’.
While we pondered on that last thought, the man went on, ‘You people must’ve travelled a lot! I haven’t travelled much, but my family is scattered all over. My sister is in Amsterdam and my brother is in Belgium.’
‘My parents named me Phuntsok, meaning peace in Tibetan. In Tibet, there’s anything but peace now. We came here a long time back. I did my B. Com. and then found out that studies are of no use to me here. And by then I’d met my beautiful wife. So we came here and settled down. Now we have 3 citizenships – Nepal, India and Tibet. Isn’t it amazing that while our kitchen is in Nepal, our bedroom is in India?’
Phuntsok also told us about rhododendron wine known as Kuraska Raksi in Nepali. ‘It’s different from what you people get back home. Try it out’, he suggested with a mischievous smile. When we teased him into telling us how he got his beautiful wife, he recounted a story passionately.
‘The custom in these parts is that the groom has to lift an 80 kg stone at the bride’s place in order to stake claim for her hand on the day of marriage. Thankfully I was spared the pain and embarrassment. Elopement has its own rewards. I wonder if I’d have ever got married if the path to marriage had passed through the stone-lifting torture for me. Everybody in our family has eloped and married, my brother, my sister, everyone. So in a way, I just followed the family tradition. People talked about it for sometime but reconciliation didn’t take very long.'
We bid the warm couple goodbye after having had a heavy breakfast. Later we realized we didn't know the name of the lady. But then, we were too tired to turn back.
