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The Boat Man

"From early childhood, my true love was for the boats. I started working in a hotel from the early age of 10 as father didn't have money to send me to school. Tourists would come in an go and as a...

Published01 January 2016
Reading Time 1 mins
Author Stories of Nepal
Location Nepal
The Boat Man

"From early childhood, my true love was for the boats. I started working in a hotel from the early age of 10 as father didn't have money to send me to school. Tourists would come in an go and as a...

"From early childhood, my true love was for the boats. I started working in a hotel from the early age of 10 as father didn't have money to send me to school. Tourists would come in an go and as a child I would wonder about their fair skin and towering height and the language they spoke. And I said, 'Namaste' and 'Thank you'. Amused, they would give me tips. Every time I got, I would hang out with them. Sometimes they would take me boating and I would ask to paddle. I knew that one day I would own a boat. Back then that was my only dream, a child's dream. After many years and struggles, I became a cook and saved enough money to buy a boat. I would rent the boat to the King when his family came to Ratna Mandir. And he too would give me tips. And boating became my life. Today I own 8 boats that I rent out. And sometimes, I sit here, smoke and think of my childhood, those tourists, and all the boats I have." (Govinda Bahadur Bhujel, Baidam. Pokhara)
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