Learning about life

The moment I landed I knew Nepal was not like other places I'd been. There was a different vibe, a mixture of serenity and resiliency and it drew me in. I was with my dear friend Karine. It was the second anniversary of the tragic death of her husband Will, and I hadn’t seen her in 2 years. I was living in Banff and she in Paris. We found ourselves in the midst of the Nepali New Year celebrations in Bhaktapur, where there was a chariot festival going on (hilarious to watch by the way).
We were interested in traditional “Thanka” paintings and we went into a shop/gallery. There wasn’t much there and so we turned to leave when a young woman asked if we would like to see the artists at work. We looked at each other and said, “sure!”. She led us upstairs where we found ourselves among many stunning works and 2 painters. I still wonder why none of those were on display downstairs. The studio was tiny, and when we walked in one of the artists put down his brush and introduced himself. His name was Madhu Krishna Chitrakar. Chitra, he explained, means painter, and Kar means karma, so it was his karma to be a painter, as the last 5 or 6 generations of his family.

He invited us to sit down and started speaking to us about what he knew to be important in life. He shared a particular story about a trip he took to Germany. He noticed that everything there happens so fast, everything was so urgent, that the first word he learned in german was “slow” and the second thing he learned to say was “everything is fine” in order to get people to calm down. He spoke gently and peacefully, looking directly at us as he taught us the meanings of the different Thankas, there were so many… and he spoke about what life is about to him. His wife brought us eggs and tea and a wild rice wine that should have been illegal, I could barely sniff it, let alone drink it. I really have no idea how long we sat with him, entranced, but it was dark when we left. We were both silent as we walked back to our guest house. We didn’t know what had just happened, or why, but it was moving. Captivating. He emanated a energy of wisdom and calm that enveloped us. He just knew what we needed. It was sacred.

We returned in the morning and spent more time with him and we each ended up going home with one of his paintings, with a special inscription painted into each one. That Thanka has hung over my bed ever since, bringing me back to that place again and again.