 red chillies and cornhusks by f harvey anderson courtyards are selfcontained little worlds where all of life from birth to death occurs four walls and a pantiled grass laden roof underneath the eaves red chillies hang like pendantshaped earrings the school boys in their blue shirts and overlong trousers girls with ponytails in their hair water bottles slung over their shoulders smiling they all march off in file into patan durbar square the start of a brand new day crosslegged didis beat rice on ratan mats complaining of the cost of garlic how could the price go up so quickly sitting on benches around the edge of the courtyard topi headed men slurp scalding hot chiya out of shotshaped glasses after years of chiya and inactivity the tips of their fingers are hard and calloused immune to the heat mankaji tinkered with his bike before going off to sell eggs every morning his chain comes off his bike and every morning he puts it back on again how he longed for a hero honda oh how his life would be so much easier today it was meena s turn to go and collect the water from the local standpipe well it always seemed to be her turn green snottynosed undressed babies crawl amongst the napping hounds vying for their tailwagging attention moodily the scruffy mongrels get up stretch and find a quieter corner well how could they bark all night if they didn t get their daily eight hours of sleep in the evenings teenagers flirt and boast by the light of their mobile phones praying that the power cut will not end too soon the courtyard never really sleeps lit by oil lamps butter candles and lowwatt bulbs with the hiss of pressure cookers their safety valves building up to an earsplitting crescendo the grating clanking of metalonmetal steel mortar and pestle grinding fresh herbs and spices televisions flicker behind the screencovered windows endless bollywood movies play rats lean out precariously trying to grab at the cornhusks draped between the arches slowblinking owls stand guard nightly and it is rumoured that raj has never left the confines since the royal massacre issue 2 f harvey anderson encapsulates beautifully the permalink submitted by rampantyak not verified on february 26 2013 1259 encapsulates beautifully the vibrancy colour and unique beauty of daily life in kathmandu despite its difficulties great piece reply thank you so much for your permalink submitted by fergus anderson not verified on february 27 2013 1353 thank you so much for your comments please inform your friends of the puffin review i am sure they will get enjoyment from it and it is so wonderful that they have started this forum for novice writers like myself yours fergus reply discriptive enjoyable hope permalink submitted by mike linda not verified on february 26 2013 1315 discriptive enjoyable hope it leads to further recognition reply red chillies and cornhusks permalink submitted by fergus anderson not verified on february 27 2013 1356 dear mike and linda thank you so much for leaving a comment and all the encouragement you have given me enjoy africa and i hope to hear from you again soon fergus reply congratulations permalink submitted by corinne mustafa not verified on february 26 2013 1642 i have no beem to kathmandy so i have no experience however this could easily describe life in bangladesh where the courtyards are on the roofs of multi storied flat buildings i loved this harvey some of your ways of description are down right poetic for example underneath the eaves red chillies hang like pendantshaped earrings ilove how you scripted the old men and their chia and the part abour the dogs who use their day time sleep to give them energy to bark all night i am thrilled for you my friend reply red chillies and cornhusks permalink submitted by fergus anderson not verified on february 27 2013 1408 dear corinne the best of friends are made on a cruise of the sundarbans i will be writing some more on bangladesh shortly it helps so much to keep the memories alive fergus reply thank you for taking me home  permalink submitted by jon titley not verified on february 26 2013 1825 namaste i lived in kathmandu from from 19911997 this really took me home the images are so real that i can almost smell and hear it as if i was there a very beautiful country with the most generous smiley people surviving in a place that deserves so much more than the politicians and corruption callously offer it mr anderson you have a unique and poetic way of bringing home into my life again and for that i thank you you plainly have a deep and meaningful love for the place as we all do that have been privileged to be touched by it and it s people i look forward to reading more of your very descriptive writing you have a talent that i trust will be nurtured and enjoyed in years to come namaste reply red chillies and cornhusks permalink submitted by fergus anderson not verified on february 27 2013 1413 dear jon it is so easy for me to stand in the garden all day and just admire the mountains thank you for not wavering in your encouragement and support of me yours fergie reply renewed passion permalink submitted by double a not verified on february 26 2013 2258 lovely piece hope this inspires everyone to broaden our horizons whenever possible fantastic window into another culture and country the writing shows a great passion and empathy for the country good luck mr anderson wheever this journey takes u tashi delek reply red chillies and cornhusks permalink submitted by fergus anderson not verified on february 27 2013 1418 dear aa i am glad you got so much enjoyment out of my piece one day last october i was missing nepal so much i thought i would take my mind back to a place i love so dearly and this is the result i hope you will continue on my journey with me namaskar fergus reply passionately written well done  permalink submitted by aaron dickson not verified on march 3 2013 1908 the passion in your writing is fantastic and truly comes from the heart hope to read more soon good luck mr fergus harvey anderson aaron reply red chillies and cornhusks permalink submitted by fergus anderson not verified on march 11 2013 507 dear aaron thank you for your support you can read more of my writings at  http wwwoffexploringcom fergusanderson i hope you enjoy them as much as i did writing them yours fergus reply red chillies and cornhusks permalink submitted by george hart not verified on march 7 2013 2359 so few words such a detailed picture painted well done fergus george reply red chillies and cornhusks permalink submitted by fergus anderson not verified on march 11 2013 516 dear george many thanks for your comments with best regards fergus reply 