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स्वदेशको पारिवारिक भ्रमण जुलाई २०२२

 न्युयोर्कलाई कर्मभुमी बनाएर बस्दै आएको झन्डै पाँच दशक पार भयो। जीवनको अधिकांस हिस्सा प्रवासमा

बिते पनि बेला बखत जन्मभुमी नियमित रुपमा आउने जाने क्रम चलिरहेकै छ। सन २०१९ को अन्तिम तिर

कोविड महामारी फैलिनु केही महिना अघी श्रीमती राधिकाको साथ नेपाल र अष्ट्रेलिया पुगेको थिएँ।

त्यसको झन्डै १ बर्ष अघी माइली छोरीको विवाहमा नेपाल पुगेको थिएँ। सन २०२० को मार्च बाट कोविड

महामारीले विश्वब्यापी रुप लिए पछी करिब २ बर्ष कतैको यात्रा गर्न सकिएको थिएन। कोविड कालमा सबै

जसो देशहरुले बिदेशबाट आउने आगन्तुकहरुलाई कडा निती अबलम्बन गरेकोले पनि यात्रा सहज थिएन।

कोविडको खोप बने पछी महामारी मत्थर हुँदै गयो। त्यस पछी भने निश्चित स्वास्थ्य मापदण्ड लागु गरेर यात्रा

गर्न सकिने अवस्था आएको थियो।

यो पटक श्रीमती ज्यु, कान्छी छोरी जिना सहित नेपाल जाने यात्रा तय भयो। जस अनुसार जुलाई १६

तारिखको दिन कोरियन एअरबाट न्युयोर्कको जोन एफ केनेडी अन्तरराष्ट्रिय बिमानस्थलबाट उड्यौँ। दक्षिण

कोरियाको राजधानी सोलमा केही घण्टाको ट्रान्जिट पछी सिङ्गापुर अबतरित भयौँ। अर्थतन्त्रको हिसाबले

एसियाका चार साना देशहरु कोरिया, सिङ्गापुर, हङकङ र ताइबानलाई Asian Tigers &#39;एसियाली बाघहरु&#39;

भनेर चिनिन्छन। नाम अनुसार नै सिङ्गापुरले हरेक दृष्‍टिकोणबाट आफुलाई बाघ नै साबित गरेको

देखियो। बिकास, सुरक्षाको प्रत्याभुती, सुन्दर आधुनिक संरचना, भब्यता, सम्पन्नता र भरष्टाचारसुन्यता हरेक

नजरबाट विश्वकै उत्कृष्ट र उदाहरणीय देशको रुपमा आफुलाई स्थापित गरेको छ सिङ्गापुरले। संयोगबस

हामी त्यहाँ पुग्दा सिङ्गापुरको ५०औँ वार्षिकोत्सब मनाउने भब्य तयारी हुँदै थियो। पाँच दिनको सिङ्गापुर

बसाइ र घुमाइ आँफैमा अबिस्मरणीय रह्यो। सिङ्गापुरको भ्रमणको क्रममा बोटनिकल बगैँचा घुम्न गइयो

जहाँ थरिथरिका सुनगाभा प्रजातिका फूलहरू देखियो। उष्ण प्रदेशीय हावापानीमा पाइने बनस्पती मध्ये त्यहाँ

देखेको लज्जावती झार सबै भन्दा सम्झना लायक रह्यो।

सिङ्गापुर को ५ दिने घुमाइ पछी काठमाडौं पुगियो। काठमाडौंमा राधिकाको भदै र भदै बुहारीको पाहुना

बनेर बौद्ध टुसालमा अबस्थित उनिहरुको घरमा बस्यौँ। काठमाडौं पुगेको भोली पल्ट आमालाई भेट्न

ज्ञानेश्वर गयौँ।

जुलाई २५ तारिखको दिन स्वयम्भु बिजयश्वरी स्थित तामाङ मौलिक रेस्टुराँ कुताप धिम गयौँ। अहिलेका

अत्यन्त लोकप्रिय तामाङ सेलो गायक फुलकुमार बोम्जनले सुरु गरेको यो रेस्टुराँ परम्परागत तामाङ

परिकारको लागि प्रख्यात छ। यहाँँ पुग्दा कुनै मिनी सङ्ग्रहालय पुगेको झैँ लाग्यो। फुलकुमार आलेले डम्फु

बजाउँदै तामाङ सेलो गीत गाएर रमाइलो गर्नु भयो। त्यसबखत उहाँ साङ्गितिक कार्यक्रमको लागि

अष्ट्रेलिया जाने तयारीमा हुन्हुन्थ्यो।

जुलाई २७ तारिखको दिन बौद्धमार्गी हरुको पवित्र धार्मिक स्थल नमोबुद्ध गयौँ। संयोगबस सो यात्रामा

न्युयोर्क बस्नु हुने पुनम रुम्बा र डोमा मोक्तानसँग भेट भयो। नमोबुद्ध पहिलेको जस्तो थिएन। ठुला ठुला

गुम्बा, म्हाने र छ्योर्तेन जस्ता संरचनाहरुको निर्माणले नमोबुद्ध भब्य देखिन्छ। तामाङ जातीको घना आबादी

रहेको सो ठाउँबाट यो भब्य सरंचनाहरुले स्थानीय तामाङहरु भने बिस्थापित भएको देखियो। अवस्था

कतीसम्म टिठ लाग्दो सुनियो भने आफ्नै जग्गा तिब्बतीहरुलाई बेचेर बनेका गुम्बाहरुमा गेटपालेको काम माग्न

निम्न आर्थिक स्थिती भएका रैथाने तामाङहरु जान्थे भन्ने सम्म सुनियो।

त्यसको भोलिपल्ट चन्द्रागिरी डाँडा घुम्न गइयो। तर मौसमको खराबीले गर्दा केही दृश्य देख्न सकिएन। जसले

गर्दा अलिक खल्लो अनुभव भयो। त्यस पछी प्रसिद्ध धार्मिक स्थल मनकामना मन्दिर दर्शन गर्न गयौँ। झन्डै

तीन दशक अघी आँबु खैरेनीबाट घन्टौँ ठाडो उकालो चढेर मनकामना मन्दिर पुगेको थिएँ। यस पाली भने

कुरिन्टारबाट केबुलकारबाट केही मिनेटमा नै मनकामनाको डाँडामा पुगियो। आधुनिक प्रबिधीले ल्याएको

यो सहजता ठुलो आश्चर्यको बिषय त होइन तर ३० बर्ष अघीको घन्टौँको त्यो सकसपूर्ण उकालो चढाइ

सम्झिँदा भने यो एउटा गज्जबको चमत्कार जस्तै अनुभुती भयो। मन्दिर वरपरको संरचना र सुबिधाहरु

अचम्म लाग्दो गरी फेरिएको पाइयो। सुबिधा सम्पन्न होटेल लज र रेस्टुराँहरु प्रसस्त खुलेको देखियो। काले

दाई र गोरे होटेलले आगन्तुकहरुलाई आकर्षित गर्न धाराप्रबाह फलाकेर गरेको अनौठो बिज्ञापनले चाँही

सबै भन्दा धेरै चकित बनायो।

मनकामना मन्दिरको दर्शन पछी फेरी केबुलकार बाट कुरिनटार ओर्लिएर त्यहाँबाट गोर्खाको सदरमुकाम

गोर्खा बजार तिर लाग्यौँ। तनहुँको आँबु खैरेनीबाट पृथ्वी राजमार्ग छोडेर उत्तर तर्फ करिव ४० मिनेटको

ड्राइभमा गोर्खा पुगिँदो रहेछ। पृथ्वी नारायण शाहले झन्डै २५० बर्ष अगाडि गोर्खा राज्यबाट नेपालको

एकिकरण अभियान सुरु गरेको मानिन्छ। गोर्खा भ्रमणको प्रमुख उद्देश्य नै पृथ्वी नारायण शाहको दरबार हेर्नु

थियो। अहिले सङ्ग्रहालयमा परिणत र संरक्षित दरबारको झ्याल ढोकामा कुँदिएका काष्ठकला अनुपम

देखियो। तोप, खुँडा, बन्दुक लगायतका युद्ध सामाग्रीहरु हेर्न लायक बस्तुहरु थिए। गोर्खा बजारको सबै

भन्दा अग्लो स्थानमा रहेको उक्त दरबार तत्कालिन समयमा दुस्मनको आक्रमण बाट बच्ने सबै भन्दा सुरक्षित

स्थान हुनुपर्छ। ऐतिहासिक गोर्खाको त्यस छोटो र स्मरणीय भ्रमण पछी हामी काठमाडौं तर्फ फर्कियौँ।

त्यसको भोली पल्ट काठमाडौंको महिला लायन्स क्लब भिजिट गर्ने कार्यक्रम बन्यो।

त्यस पछी तामाङ रेम्पोछे लोप्साङ् नाम्गेल रेम्पोछेसँग कपनमा अबस्थित उहाँकै निवासमा गएर भेट

गरेँ।लागि कुमार थोकर जिले अपोइन्ट्मेन्ट मिलाई दिनु भएको थियो।

केही बर्ष अघि बौद्धको तिनचुले आगलागीबाट जलेको गुम्बालाई पुनर्निर्माण गरेको आर्थिक सहयोग

गरेको थिएँ। जसको कदर स्वरूप खेन्पो सर्बजित गोरखाले सम्मानपत्र प्रदान गर्नु भयो।

चितवन-बन्दिपुर-पोखरा पर्यटकीय नेक्सस एक फन्को

चितवन राष्ट्रिय निकुन्ज घुम्ने योजना बन्यो। भदा बुहारी कर्मोले भ्रमणको चाँजोपाँजो मिलाउनु भयो। भब्य

सुबिधासम्पन्न होटेल पार्क सफारीमा दुई रात ३ दिनको बसाइमा रैथाने थारु गाउँ र थारु म्युजियम लगायत

हातीसार घुमायो जुन निकै अर्थपूर्ण र सम्झनायोग्य रह्यो। जीप सफारीबाट बाघ, गैँडा लगायत अन्य

बन्यजन्तुहरु देख्ने अपेक्षा राखे पनि केही मृगहरु बाहेक बाघ र गैँडा भने देख्न सकिएन।

माझिदाई पोखरा फेवा तालको.. लगायत अन्य थुप्रै चर्चित गीतहरुका गायक चितवन निवासी अहिलेका

चर्चित लोक गायक मिलन लामा, न्युयोर्कमा लामो समय बसेर फर्किएका नृत्य प्रशिक्षक धरमबिर लामा र

सोम माया लामासँगको भेटघाट र बातचित पनि चितवन यात्राको सम्झनु पर्ने पाटो बन्न पुग्यो।

चितवनको बसाइ बिट मारेर तनहुँँको पुरानो ब्यापारिक केन्द्र तथा टिपिकल पर्यटकीय गाउँ बन्दिपुर तर्फ

लाग्यौँ। बन्दिपुर भिलेज इन मा एक रात बितायौँ। चाइनाको ग्रेट वाल जस्तै देखिने पर्खाल, कलात्मक

ढुङ्गेधारा, मन्दिर र चिटिक्क परेको नेवारी गाउँ पर्यटकको मन लोभ्याउने बन्दिपुरको आकर्षण रहेछ।

बन्दिपुरको एक रातको बसाइ र घुमाइ पछी हाम्रो यात्रा पोखरा तर्फ अघी बढ्यो। पोखरा नेपालकै सबै भन्दा

सुन्दर पर्यटकीय शहर हो। पोखरा बिदेशी होस् स्वदेशी सबै खाले पर्यटकहरुको रोजाइमा पर्दछ जस्तो लाग्छ।

फेवा ताल किनारको गौरीघाटमा अबस्थित ३ तारे होटेल टेम्पल ट्री मा २ रातको बास भयो। बसाइ र यात्राको

सम्पूर्ण ब्यबस्थापन राधिकाको भदैनी बुहारी कर्मोले गर्नु भएको थियो। पोखरामा राधिकाको बहिनी शान्ती

र उनको छोरा सुनिल पनि सामेल भए। फेवा तालमा बोटिङ लगायत पोखराका अन्य पर्यटकीय स्थानहरु

घुमियो। त्यस मध्ये लेक हाउस भिजिट बिशेष रह्यो। पलेटी मारेर बसेर लाइभ न्युजिक, आकर्षक नाचको

साथमा स्वादिष्ट खाना त्यहाँको बिशेष अनुभब रह्यो।

केही समय अघी तामाङ सोसाइटी अफ नर्थ अमेरिकाका पूर्व अध्यक्ष लाक्यान लामाको आमाको निधन

भएको थियो। काठमाडौं फर्के पछी उहाँको शोकाकुल परिवारलाई भेट्न उहाँको घरमा गयौँ। बौद्ध नयाँ

बस्तीमा अबस्थित तामाङ गुम्बामा उहाँको आमाको घेवामा सहभागी भएँ।

नेपाली कांग्रेसका नेता तथा नुवाकोट जिल्लाका सांसद बहादुर सिंह लामा र नुवाकोट जिल्लाको किस्पाङ

गाउँपालिकाका अध्यक्ष छत्र लामाको साथमा होटेल हायातमा भएको डिनर पनि सम्झना योग्य रह्यो।

भक्तपुरको र्यालेमा अबस्थित आशापुरी महादेव मन्दिर दर्शन गर्न गयौँ। तामाङहरुको घना बस्ती रहेको सो

ठाउँमा राधिकाको परिवारले पाँच ओटा ढुङ्गेधारा निर्माण गरिदिएको छ। सो ढुङ्गेधाराको अबलोकन

गरियो।

पछील्लो समय नेपालमा साहसिक खेल बन्जी जम्प निकै लोकप्रिय देखिन्छ। मलाई उतिसारो चासो नभए

पनि जीना र भदैले बन्जी जम्प गर्ने निधो गरे। जसको लागि सिन्धुपाल्चोकको प्रशिद्ध भोटेकोशी बन्जी

जम्प गएर जिना र भदैले आफ्नो रहर पुरा गरे।

त्यसको भोली पल्ट काठमाडौंमा गुरु आचार्य ह्योल्मोपोको निम्तोमा बौद्धमा सपरिवार लन्च गर्यौँ।

लोकप्रिय सेलो गायक प्रेम लोप्चन र रोज मोक्तानसँग पनि दिनै पिच्छे जस्तो रमाइलो भेटघाट भयो।

न्युयोर्क स्थित भिजन क्लब इन्टरनेसनल मार्फत आर्यघाटमा बेवारीसे लास ब्यबस्थापन र दाहसँस्कारको

लागि केही आर्थिक सहायता हस्तान्तरण काम भयो।

विश्व किर्तिमानधारी हिमाल आरोही शम्भु तामाङको सम्मानमा तामाङ सोसाइटी अफ अमेरिका र तामाङ

रिमठिम पर्यटन सन्जालले संयुक्त रुपमा प्रकाशन गरेको &#39;शम्भु तामाङ स्मारिका&#39;को बिमोचन कार्यक्रममा

सहभागी हुने मौका जुर्यो। सो कार्यक्रममा तत्कालिन बागमती प्रदेश उपसभामुख राधिका तामाङ, तामाङ

रिम्ठिम पर्यटन सन्जालका अध्यक्ष अंबर बोम्जन, कोषाध्यक्ष रितु ग्याम्दान लगायत अन्य तामाङ पर्यटन

उद्द्यमी हरुसँग भेटघाट भयो। सो कार्यक्रम लगत्तै स्वर्गिय शम्भु तामाङको ४९औँ पुन्यतिथीमा उहाँको घरमा

आयोजना गरेको घेवामा साहभागि भएँ।

भर्खरै स्थापना भएको तामाङ राष्ट्रिय पुस्तकालयले आयोजना गरेको तामाङ ज्ञान महोत्सबको एउटा

सेसनमा उपस्थित भएर आफ्नो अनुभवहरु साझा गर्ने अबसर पाएँ। कार्यक्रमलाई प्रसिद्ध भाषाविद अमृत

योन्जनले सहजीकरण गर्नु भएको थियो। सो कार्यक्रममा रैथाने तामाङ अगुवा खड्गजित लामाले बौद्ध

वरपरका तत्कालीन समयको तामाङहरूको अबस्थाको बारेमा अनुभवहरू साझा गर्नु भयो। त्यस पछिको

सेसनमा लेखक प्रताप बल र भूतपूर्व राजदूत डा. गणेश योञ्जनले आफ्ना अनुभवहरू सुनाउनु भएको थियो।

सो कार्यक्रममा थुप्रै तामाङ विद्वान, अध्येयता, शोधकर्ता, तामाङ नेता तथा अगुवाहरुसँग पनि भेट गर्न पाएँ।

त्यसै गरी काठमाडौं बसाइकै क्रममा टिका शेर्पाको सकृयता र अनुवादमा निर्माण भएको बुद्धभजनको

अडियो बिमोचनमा उपस्थित हुने मौका जुर्यो।

पूर्व निर्धारित योजना अनुसार सेप्टेम्बर ४ तारिखको फिर्ती टिकट थियो। गर्नु पर्ने केही कामहरु नभ्याएकोले

बसाइलाई लम्ब्याउनु परेको थियो।

यस बिचमा सोलुखुम्बु घुम्न जाने योजना बन्यो। सोलुखुम्बुको सदरमुकाम फाप्लु राधिकाको काका वीर

बहादुर लामाको ससुराली गाउँ हो। यात्रामा काका, काकी र बुहारी सुश्मा पनि साथमा हुनुहुन्थ्यो। फाप्लुको

ज्वालामाइ मन्दिर दर्शन गर्यौँ जहाँ नुन र चिनी नखाइ दर्शन गर्न जानु पर्ने रहेछ। फाप्लुमा अबस्थित गुम्बा

दर्शन जाँदा त्यहाँका मुख्य रेम्पोछेले दर्शन भेट दिनु भएन। सोही घुमघाममा जुनबेँसीको थुप्तेन दोङ्गाक

छोलिङ गुम्बा दर्शन गर्न गयौँ। एउटा ढुङ्गामा जून र घामको प्रतिक भएकोले त्यस ठाउँको नाम जूनबेँसी

रहन गएको भन्ने किम्बदन्ती रहेछ।

फाप्लु को दुई रातको बसाइ पछी काठमाडौं फर्क्यौँ। फर्किने क्रममा साल्मे बजार नजिकै पहिरो गएकोले

लामो जाममा परियो। बाटोको पहिरो क्लियर भएर हिँड्दा निकै ढिलो भएको थियो। ओखलढुङ्गाको एउटा

नेवार होटेलमा खाना खायौँ। काठमाडौं आइपुग्दा निकै रात पर्‍यो। रातको कारण काकालाई गाडी ड्राइभ

गर्न निकै असहज भएको थियो र पनि सकुशल काठमाडौं आइपुग्यौँ।

अस्पताल र अन्य सार्वजनिक क्षेत्रको सेवामा निकै सुधार भएको महसुस भयो। मेरो प्रोस्टेटको समस्याको

चेक अप गर्नु थियो जसको लागि नर्भिक र हेम्स अस्पताल गएको थिएँ। पहिले घन्टौँ लाइन बसेर टिकेट

लिनु पर्ने अवस्था थियो। अहिले डिजिटल नम्बरिङ् सिस्टम लागु भएको रहेछ। जसले गर्दा सेवा चुस्त र

ब्यबस्थित भएको पाएँ।

यस बिच तामाङ सोसाइटी अफ अमेरिकाका पूर्व अध्यक्ष शान्त थोकर पनि नेपाल आइपुगेका रहेछन।

उहाँको आमाको साथ एक दिन खानपिन र भेटघाट भयो।

पत्रकार मानछिरिङ्ग तामाङ कुनै समय न्युयोर्क बसेर पत्रकारिता गर्दथे। त्यस बेला उनी सँग चिन्जान र

घनिष्ठता भएको थियो। केही समय अघी उनको बुवा बित्नु भएको थियो। स्वयम्भु स्थित मुस्ताङ गुम्बामा

उहाँको घेवामा सहभगी भएँ।

तामाङ सोसाइटी अफ अमेरिकाको पूर्व सल्लाहकार तथा सिन्धुपाल्चोक इन्द्रावती गाउँपालिकाका

तत्कालीन प्रमुख बंसलाल तामाङले होटेल टिबेट इन्टरनेसनलको रुफटपमा डिनर दिनुभयो। सो डिनरमा

युवा तामाङ पर्यटन ब्यबसायी रितु ग्याम्दान पनि थिइन।

तामाङ कलाकार संघका अध्यक्ष विश्व दोङ र चर्चित लोकप्रिय गायिका इन्दिरा गोले एक दिन मलाई भेट्न

आउनु भएको थियो। गायिका इन्दिरा क्यान्सरको बिरामी रहेछ। यता फर्किनु अघी एक पटक उनलाई भेट्ने

ठुलो इच्छा थियो। तर ब्यस्तताको कारण उनलाई भेट्न जान सकिएन। यो कुराले साह्रै अपसोच लागि रहेको

छ।

न्युयोर्कमा रहेर बिभिन्न सामाजिक गतिविधिमा सकृय युवा छिरिङ योन्जनको मामा र हजुरबासँग भेट गरियो।

उहाँहरूले लाजिम्पाटको एउटा भव्य रेष्टुरेण्टमा खानपिन गराउनु भयो।

रेडियो सगरमाथाको कार्यक्रम प्रस्तोता बुद्ध योन्जनले उनको कार्यक्रम तामाङ ग्योइकाइको लागि मेरो

अन्तर्वाता लिन आउनु भयो। लामो समयको प्रबास बसाइ र आफ्नो जिन्दगीको अनुभवहरु साझा गर्ने

अबसर पाउनु खुशीको कुरा रह्यो। त्यसै गरी सञ्चारकर्मी प्रितम गोले र सशस्त्र प्रहरीका इन्स्पेक्टर कीसमान

माम्बा सँग पनि भेटघाट गर्ने अबसर मिल्यो।

भर्खरै सम्पन्न स्थानीय निर्वाचनमा सबैलाई आश्चर्य चकित पार्दै स्वतन्त्र उम्मेदवार बालेन शाह काठमाडौंको

मेयर चुनिएको थियो। उनको सामु थुप्रै चुनौतीहरू देख्छु। त्यस बेला काठमाडौंको गल्ली र चोकमा फोहोरको

डङ्गुर थुप्रिएको थियो। डम्पिङ साइटको स्थानीयको अवरोध र राजनीतिक पार्टीहरूको असहयोगको कारण

फोहोर उठिरहेको थिएन। मलाई अचम्म र टिठ लागेको कुरा चाहिँ के थियो भने फोहोर उठाउने काम गर्ने

मान्छेहरू हातमा कुनै पन्जा नलगाइकन काम गरिरहेका थिए। फोहोरकै कारण होला काठमाडौंमा डेङ्गुको

महामारी फैलिएको थियो। भाग्यबस डेङ्गुको त्यस्तो प्रकोपमा पनि हामीलाई चाहिँ केही भएन। मलाई के

विश्वास छ भने नयाँ मेयर बालेन साह एउटा जोस र भिजन लिएर आएकाछन। सबैले उनलाई साथ दिए

पक्कै काठमाडौंमा केही फेरबदल ल्याउन सक्छन।

यो नेपाल बसाइको क्रममा थुप्रै आफन्तहरूसँग आत्मीय भेटघाट गर्ने अबसर जुट्यो। उहाँहरूको नाम यहाँ

छुट्न पुगेको छ। केही सञ्चारकर्मीहरू साथीहरूले अन्तरबार्ताको लागि अनुरोध गर्नुभएको थियो। समय

अभावको कारण सम्भव हुन सकेन। यसका लागि क्षमा प्रार्थी छु।

नेपालको करीव दुई महिनाको ब्यस्त बसाईलाई बिट मार्ने दिन आयो। अन्तत: सेप्टेम्बर २१ तारिख को दिन

टर्किस एयरलाइन्सबाट काठमाडौंबाट इस्तानबुल हुँदै न्युयोर्कको लागि हामी दम्पती उड्यौँ। काठमाडौंबाट

इस्तानबुलको उडानमा एउटा हाँस उठ्दो घटना भयो। बिमान परिचारिकाले खाना र बेभरेज सर्भ गर्दै आउँदा

मलाई के पिउने भनेर सोधिन। मैले एक ग्लास वाइन मागेँ। त्यतिबेला उनीसँग वाइन सकिएको रहेछ।

एकछिन पछि ल्याउँछु है भनेर उनी गइन्। त्यस पछि उनी मेरो छेउ बाट पटक पटक ओहोरदोहोर गरिरहिन्

तर मलाई वाइन ल्याएर दिइनन्। मलाई थाहा भो उनले बिर्सिन्। त्यस पछि भै गो त भनेर मैले पनि वास्ता

गरिन। फेरि अर्को राउन्ड ड्रिङ्क सर्भ गर्न तिनै परिचारिका के पिउने भनेर सोध्न आइन्। यस पटक पनि मैले

रेड वाइन नै अर्डर गरेँ। बल्ल उनले पहिले अर्डर गरेको वाइन ल्याउन बिर्सेको महसुस गरिन्। यसका

लज्जाबोध सहित असाध्यै विनम्र भएर पटक पटक माफी मागिरहिन्। त्यसको क्षतिपूर्ति होला उनले

नखोलेको तीन बोतल वाइन मलाई दिइन्। एक बोतल त मैले पिएँ। बाँकी दुई बोतल वाइन पिइसक्ने कुरै

भएन। इस्तानबुलमा जहाज अबतरण भएपछि त्यसलाई झोलामा राखेर बोकेको थिएँ। न्युयोर्कको लागि

चेक इन भएर सुरक्षा जाँच गर्ने बेला थाहा भयो कि ड्युटीफ्रीमा किनेको बाहेक अरू लिकर बोक्न नपाइनेरहेछ।

त्यस पछि त्यो बोतल वाइन त्यहीँ गार्बेज गरेर जहाजमा बोर्ड भएँ।

On the passing of Charles Henri—all these years later. 

Portrait of Charles Henri Ford by Pavel Tchelitchew.

Unbelievably, today marks the 19^th anniversary of Charles’s passing at the age of 94. When I wrote about Ruth on the anniversary of her passing, I wondered how she would have fared in the pandemic, and I can’t help but wonder the same about Charles. I do think Ruth and Charles were both very lucky to have had long, exciting lives and to have made their escapes before this happened. Of course there were plenty of terrible diseases to contend with in their own lifetimes, but somehow they managed to live through them all and into their nineties.

In Charles’s youth he had a lot of the usual diseases that kids would get (and sometimes die of).  He spoke of mumps and fevers, and once one of his school roommates was diagnosed with malaria which was not contagious, luckily for Charles. He would write about a terrible bout with gonorrhea he had in the early 1930s and its long and painful treatment, well before antibiotics came along and simplified everything. He got all kinds of bugs and ailments, and he would describe them in letters, such as one he wrote to his friend and co-author Parker Tyler, in 1932:

“I woke up the morning after drinking beer by order of Dr. H. because he wanted to see if it would affect my prostate gland so he could better see if I’m over my own gonorrhea—with a violent headache sore left tonsil and fever 103 which rose that night to 105 the death temperature but back down to normal now the third day. I broke out in a light rash as to forehead and arms and it may have been chickenpox. The Dr. is coming again tomorrow.” 

Among his friends from the time there were a few early deaths from illnesses, things like Typhus or a strange fever caught while traveling. Charles travelled a lot in his young years, and it was really more luck than anything that kept him from catching something fatal. He was ten in 1918 and didn’t get the flu. If he were here now, I would ask him if he remembered much from that period, now that the United States has counted more deaths from Covid than there were during the 1918 flu pandemic. 

Being the social person that he was, I really don’t know how Charles would have fared having to keep away from people. No doubt he would have made good use of lockdown time. He would probably have a book or two worth of collages and poems to show for it. But it’s hard to say what he would have thought. I’ll probably always wonder what Charles would think in every new situation that comes up. I might not always be able to guess at his opinions, but he’d definitely have some, that much I know. Charles always had a good outlook, and he would always find things to be curious about and ways to satisfy his curiosities. His curiosity is one of his most inspiring qualities and even in these uncertain times, curiosity is worth a lot. Keep living, keep looking, there’s still a lot to see. If I could ask him his opinion about everything happening now and what best to do, he might say something like that.

Thinking of you, Charles. Wherever you are, I hope it’s sunny and exciting.

Portrait of Charles Henri Ford by Pavel Tchelitchew.

Charles Henri Ford
1908-2002-2021

Indra Tamang

September 27th, 2021

Copyright © Indra Tamang 2021, all rights reserved.

 On the Occasion of Ruth’s Birthday 2021

Ruth Ford with her first husband Peter van Eyck.
Photographed by Carl Van Vechten

One hundred and ten years ago on this day, July 7^th, 1911, Ruth Ford was born, and she lived for a very long time. For 35 of those years she was a big part of my life. All last year I thought of her very often during the worst of the pandemic. I wondered what she might have said about it, what it might have triggered in her memory, what would she have thought about how the government handled the whole situation, how many people she might have known who died from the bug. For the last several years of her life, Ruth hardly left the Dakota. Her life wouldn’t have been much different if she’d been present during the pandemic as a very old person. I wondered what she would she have thought of masks and social distancing?

In the first decades of my knowing her, Ruth was very social, so I think it would have been hard on her to feel isolated, and hard on a lot of her friends, as well. Especially the theatre people, who would have suffered from Broadway going dark, the way the actors today have suffered from the loss of their livelihood. Ruth and Charles were both very lucky with their health and their long lives. If either of them had memories about the 1918 flu, I don’t recall them ever mentioning anything about it. I know that Charles had some of the childhood illnesses of their days—like mumps—he wrote about mumps in one of his old diaries from boarding school. But I don’t remember Ruth ever talking about having had a serious illness herself, unless you count being old—Ruth sometimes seemed to consider her advanced age a sickness that she thought she might recover from. 

Ruth Ford at her apartment in Dakota.

Ruth went out rarely as an old lady, but she always liked to talk on the phone. Some of her favorite phone companions were theatre people.  She could talk for hours to Claibe Richardson, a composer who was also born in the South like Ruth, with whom she’d worked in the past. He had created the musical score for The Grass Harp, which Ruth had a role in when it ran on 45^th Street at the Martin Beck Theatre in 1971. It was a musical version of the Truman Capote novel, and Ruth sang in it. I would have liked to see her in that show, but I only got to see Ruth on the stage once, in her very last Broadway play. It was the staged version of Harold and Maude, where she played the part of Harold’s mother, in 1980. I really liked seeing her play that part. Her stage career was behind her after that, but she still had many more years of life ahead of her, and I think she enjoyed her life very much. 

And I can’t say I’m not glad that she managed to get out safe and sound well before the plague that came a decade after she left. 

A happy birthday to you, dear Ruth. You’re always on my mind, and I hope that wherever you are there is a celebration in your honor, and that you’re surrounded by all of your favorites.

Ruth Ford during her childhood

Ruth Ford

1911-2009

 Indra Tamang

 July 7th, 2021

Copyright © Indra Tamang 2021, all rights reserved.

On the Passing of Jim Haynes

 On the Passing of Jim Haynes

Jim Haynes outside of Edinburgh Theater, August 1992 . Photo by Crauford Tait

The first person from my past to leave the earth this year, that I know of, was Jim Haynes, who passed away on January 6^th, 2021 at the age of 87. Jim did many things in his life and the Guardian, in his obituary, described him very well as, “someone who made extraordinary things happen.” 

One of the many things he was known for was the Sunday dinners he gave in Paris, where he lived beginning in 1969. It is not an exaggeration to say that everyone was invited, because that was true. I went to many of those dinners with Charles Henri Ford whenever we were in Paris, and they were always crowded with people of all kinds. The invitations were spread by word of mouth among friends and their friends, and Jim knew many, many people. 

He was a Southerner like Charles, born in Louisiana, but in the 1950s he went to Edinburgh, where he founded the first paperback bookshop in the UK, co-founded the Traverse theatre, and organized the first Edinburgh international book festivals, where he featured such writers as Mary McCarthy and William Burroughs, among lots of others, some of whom I was lucky enough to get to know. 

In Paris he operated a little publishing enterprise called Handshake Editions, and it was through his press that Charles and I published two volumes of a book project we did together called Handshake From Heaven. 

The books were spiral-bound, using Xerox and photocopies, and one volume included work by Charles, myself, and by another Nepalese artist named Reepak Shakya. The other one was work by just Charles and me. I was doing a lot of street photography then, and I put a lot of it into those books. 

I always enjoyed Jim Haynes’s Sunday dinners when we went. He would provide the food, and everyone who came knew to bring wine. In a lot of ways those evenings reminded me of the early days in SoHo, in New York, when Charles and I would go to all the gallery openings. Those were big social events as much as anything, and there would always be food. Something else I remember about Jim Haynes was that when Charles and I both needed to see a dentist in Paris, he told us that when it came to dentists he preferred women to men, because women’s hands felt so much softer than a man’s did, tinkering around in your mouth. He recommended someone, and after going to her to for my dental work, I agreed with Jim completely. 

I’m glad to have spent so many entertaining hours in your company, Jim. Bon Voyage and bon appetite wherever you end up.

Jim Haynes 

1933-2021

- Indra Tamang

  February 10th, 2021

Copyright © Indra Tamang 2021, all rights reserved.

Thinking of Charles Henri Ford on His Birthday, February 10th 2021

 Thinking of Charles Henri Ford on His Birthday, February 10^th 2021

Charles Henri Ford by Cecil Beaton, 1930s.

It was 113 years ago today that Charles was born, in 1908. When I first met him in Kathmandu he was already past sixty years old, which to me, being eighteen or nineteen at the time, seemed very old. Now I’m past the age that he was then, so I can imagine that he still felt quite energetic then, because I still do. Charles was the youngest 63-year-old in the world when I met him in the dining room of the Panorama Hotel. He was very bright and curious. I remember waiting on him at breakfast time and he would always order porridge, which we made huge pots of in the hotel kitchen. When I eventually went to work for Charles after he’d rented a big house in a nice part of Kathmandu, I could not have imagined myself older than he was, and certainly not older and living on the other side of the world. 

The year 2020 that we just left behind has to be one of the strangest that I have lived, and I think everyone I know feels the same way. I would have liked to know what opinions Charles might have expressed about everything as it happened, the crazy politics included. My youngest daughter Zina got to vote for a US president for her first time in the last election, and it felt very good to vote together. Oddly enough Charles never voted. I don’t think he ever registered to vote. And I wonder if he would have, had he been here to witness the last few years. 

I remember a day, in 1984, when Charles and I had a visit in Paris, in Charles’s apartment on the Île Saint-Louis,  from Judith Malina and Julian Beck from the Living Theatre. Ira Cohen came that day too. Charles had been good friends with Judith and Julian since the 1960s, and usually we would see them after going to one of their plays in New York. That day in Paris they spent an entire afternoon talking and reminiscing about the antics of the Living Theatre, the experimental aspect of which Charles very much liked. He also respected Judith for all that she wrote as a diarist and poet. A lot of her work was political in nature, and in her own unique way she was a tireless political activist, but she was one who did not believe in voting. In the case of Judith Malina, I think her refusal to vote was more of a political statement than Charles’s was. In a simple way of putting it, Charles was not political, and Judith Malina was. She put all of her beliefs into her work with the Living Theatre, staging protests and happenings, and into her writing, such as the title poem of her book Love and Politics, with an introduction by Ira Cohen, which begins with the verse:

While off the isle of Cyprus in a boat,

I saw the head of Aphrodite afloat,

And I told her I’m an Anarchist and do not vote.

She answered, “That’s all right.”

Charles Henri Ford with Ira Cohen, Julian Beck & Judith Malina at Charles' apartment in Paris.
 Photo by Indra Tamang, 1984

I wish I’d thought to record the conversation they all had that day. I’m sure that if I had and then put it into a little book there would be lots of people who would want to read it. What I remember most about that afternoon was Judith smoking. Because that was something Charles never, ever allowed in his apartments. Not in Paris, or at the Dakota. But that day he allowed Judith to smoke, which was a truly selfless gesture of respect on his part, and I don’t remember him ever making such an exception for anyone else. 

I photographed them during that visit, all of them sitting together, with Charles in the foreground and the other three in a row behind him. It’s always struck me that somehow, in a way, Ira, Julian, and Judith all looked alike, like three crows perched on a fence. There was something about their style—their dress and manner—it was a fashion and way of being that was very specific to them. 

It’s odd to think that they’ve all gone on to whatever comes next, Julian, Ira, Judith, and Charles. They were all quite a lot older than me, and now I know very well what it feels like to be the oldest one in the room. But if I’m lucky enough to be anything like Charles Henri Ford, I still have decades of life ahead of me, and I fully intend to aim for that. Happy Birthday, dear Charles. You’re missed but never forgotten, and never too far away.

- Indra Tamang

  February 10th, 2021

Copyright © Indra Tamang 2021, all rights reserved.

A Note on the Anniversary of Ruth’s Passing

Portrait from Play It As It Lays, 1972

Eleven years ago today Ruth Ford passed away in her bedroom at the Dakota. I’ve been thinking about her a lot lately, and about how lucky she really was. She was lucky in almost every way, and she was lucky in the period of time she got to live in. But the time she died, most of her good friends had already gone on ahead. In March of this year, one of Ruth’s good friends who was still here, and still writing plays, succumbed to the Covid-19 virus. That was Terrence McNally. He had been one of her most regular guests at the Dakota, and was someone she liked and respected very much. 

I remember going to a book signing he gave years ago in Montauk. He was surrounded by his friends and admirers, and I like to think that he found himself surrounded that way again after he died.  In the summers of the 1990s we would often be out there, Charles, me, and sometimes Ruth. Charles would always rent a house not far from the beach. We used to visit Peter Beard at his big house out there, from where we could see the Montauk lighthouse. He was another very interesting person who died within the last year, and has gone on to wherever they all went. 

I like to think that Ruth and her colorful group of friends are re-united in some other place to continue all that they loved doing. They were the people who made beautiful things, the entertainers, the poets. I wonder if she’s gotten to see William Faulkner again, and the youngest of his three brothers, Dean, who she dated for a while. Dean Falkner (he spelled it without the added letter ‘u’ that William put there) died a very long time ago, very young, in a small plane crash. He was a pilot, and the plane had been a gift from William, who felt very guilty for having given it to him.

I like to think of Ruth getting to see her mother, Gertrude Cato, as much as she might like, and of course, I love to think of Ruth and Charles the way I saw them so often here in this life. Charles never liked to carry luggage. He was the lightest traveler I ever knew. Whenever we’d go to Paris, or to Crete, from New York, he would carry the tiniest little bag, and I only had a carry-on bag as well. He would pester Ruth to travel lightly, too. Once when she came to visit in Crete, she came out of the taxi with a very small bag in her hand. Charles was delighted and exclaimed that she’d done it, she’d finally managed to travel with almost nothing, and made it just fine. But Ruth laughed and said, “This is just my makeup bag, Honey,” and the rest of course, was still in the taxi. 

When she left the last time, on this day in 2009, Ruth didn’t take a single thing with her. I know, because I was there beside her, and I know that she left everything behind. I can imagine Charles greeting her on the other side, saying, “See? You made it just fine, without a single bag!” All she had with her was 98 years’ worth of experiences, and it’s lucky that those can all fit so neatly into our spirits. 

Still thinking of you, Ruth. 

112th Birthday of Charles Henri Ford

112th Birthday of Charles Henri Ford

Portrait of Charles Henri Ford in Poppy Field by Pavel Tchelitchew (1933).

Among the curious happenings sharing the date of February 10^th was the opening of the collaborative opera by Charles’s good friend Gertrude Stein and Virgil Thomson in New York. Four Saints in Three Acts premiered in New York City on February 10^th, 1934. The opera starred an entirely black cast and was directed by the notable black choral conductor Eva Jessye. 

A book was written about all that went into bringing that production to the New York stage called Prepare for Saints: Gertrude Stein, Virgil Thomson, and the Mainstreaming of American Modernism, by Steven Watson. In the index, you’ll find Charles Henri Ford along with many other famous names. Charles lives in the indexes of many books because he was someone who always knew everyone who was busy doing anything interesting and new, and he was usually somehow part of all of those things. 

I think that anyone who is too young to remember, but curious about some of Charles's achievements, will find this video (made by Steve Zehentner) interesting. This was a talk given by Steven Watson about Charles and his life on the occasion of Charles’s memorial, after he passed away in 2002. Charles’s life was spoken of in a lot of details on that day, and every year since, Charles has only been missed more and the interest in him has only increased.

Charles, I’m still getting letters from writers and scholars asking for permission to quote you, and to reproduce your poetry and artworks in books and articles. Since you’ve left, I have not met anyone who I can say is more interesting than you. Happy birthday to you, Charles. I hope there’s a daring new opera being produced just for you, wherever you are. 

Steven Watson at the Charles Henri Ford Memorial from Steve Zehentner on Vimeo.

- Indra Tamang

  February 10th, 2020

copyright © Indra Tamang 2018, all rights reserved.

ON LEAVING THE DAKOTA

ON LEAVING THE DAKOTA

View from The Dakota, Room 103 on 9th floor overlooking the Central Park. Photo by Indra Tamang.

Anyone reading my blog knows the story that made news when Ruth Ford died. I inherited her apartment and the smaller one upstairs where I lived for a very long time with Charles Henri Ford. Ruth’s apartment was sold, but I kept the smaller one, 103, on the 9^th floor. I was no longer living in it, I have a nice house in Queens, but I kept it as an office, and a place to house the many boxes and file cabinets full of art, papers, photos, and memorabilia from Charles and Ruth, and my own artwork as well. Because renting it out is not allowed, eventually the expense of keeping it no longer made sense. So I made the decision to sell it, but not without mixed feelings. There is relief in not having the added worry and responsibility of keeping it, but also sadness at saying farewell to this venerable building after so long. There is no place on earth more familiar to me than the Dakota.

This month marks forty-five years since I first came to New York, to live in 103. It was November 1974 when I came. While I don’t remember the exact date, I know that I left Kathmandu with Charles on September 9^th and we went first to Crete for a month, then to Paris, and then on to New York. Forty-five years of memories lie between that November day and this one. How shall I begin? 

In my early days at The Dakota with Charles and Ruth. Photo by Dotson Radar.

All of my memories are of a very privileged existence, of living at a very privileged address thanks to Charles and Ruth. Apartment 103 was small compared to Ruth’s apartment, but Charles and I were able to share it comfortably enough. Charles started introducing me to people immediately, inside and outside the Dakota. He knew everybody, the way he did in Paris. Thanks to the Dakota itself, I got to know many interesting neighbors over the years, who shared the same hallways, staircases and elevators. John and Yoko were among the first people I met. I remember John carrying the baby, Sean, and I remember watching the Thanksgiving Parade from the rooftop of the Dakota with them and a group of other neighbors. There was Rex Reed, Leonard Bernstein, Lauren Bacall, and Roberta Flack. I once shared a taxi with Roberta Flack, when she dropped me at the spot uptown where I’d parked my car. I used to talk to Connie Chung in the elevator.

When I first came, in 1974, Ruth was still hosting her famous salons. She was involved “romantically” with the writer Dotson Rader, who was much younger than she was, and they were considered such a hot item that People magazine devoted a whole article to them. Dotson Rader is the person who took me down to the cellar of the Dakota and showed me how to use the coin-op washing machine. It cost one quarter and one dime. He also gave me advice on how to grow taller—because he felt I was not tall enough—and his advice was that I should drink milk every day and do a little jumping-jack exercise, which he demonstrated, and I’ve never forgotten the sight of him doing that.

In the 1970s and ‘80s, all the galleries were mostly downtown in SoHo before the art scene moved to Chelsea. Charles and I would take the number 5 bus that went all the way down to Houston Street, and go to all the openings. Sometimes after the galleries, we would walk all the way back to the Dakota. There was a Woolworth’s on Amsterdam Avenue then, where I bought a little flowered autograph book which closes with a zipper. I still have it. It is filled with signatures, notes, and doodles from all kinds of characters, and it always delights anyone I show it to. Salvador Dali signed it for me when Charles took me to visit him at the St. Regis Hotel early on. I had no idea who Salvador Dali was at the time, but his long and elaborately arranged mustache reminded me of a tea seller I used to see on the walking trail between Kathmandu and the village where I grew up. I think I had a fairly unique point of view in those early years, which was that I met a lot of very famous people while having no idea how famous they were, and therefore I didn’t have any preconceived notions. I now feel lucky to have started with that blank slate. Salvador Dali liked to host teas just like Charles did. Every Sunday Charles hosted a tea and invited friends to 103. In New York, Charles was a destination for many people the way that his old friend Paul Bowles was in Tangier.

Now that 103 is almost entirely emptied and its contents safely stored near my house in Queens, I’ve decided to sit and try to write down the names of every notable person I met in that little apartment, even though it is almost impossible. What I have managed to remember amounts to a feast of name-dropping. But that is part of what makes 103, and the entire Dakota, so fascinating. The Dakota is a vault of history. It’s the reason people want to visit the Dakota, even just to look at it from across the street. I’m going to list here all the names that my memory has allowed, in no particular order, and hope I haven’t forgotten too many. To those that I do forget, my apologies—there will be other blog post opportunities for me to remember!

There was Andy Warhol and Paul Morrissey, the film director Christopher Miles, there was Bob Kingdom, a funny man who impersonated Truman Capote (although I don’t recall meeting Capote himself) and there was Robert Mapplethorpe and Patti Smith. The singer Asha Puthli would come over to visit from the San Remo. Penny Arcade was another regular, Nina Hagen came, and Quentin Crisp. Carolee Schneeman and Caterine Milinaire were there, and Gregory Corso, Bob Moore, Richard Bernstein, Ching Ho Cheng and Tally Brown. Lincoln Kirstein visited, so did Ray Johnson. I remember Marisol, Richard Howard, William Burroughs, Lizzy Mercier Descloux, Philip Johnson, Lynne Tillman, David Leddick, Paul Grillo, Ulla Dydo, Valery Oisteanu, Charles Plymell, Allen Frame, Jane and Richard Ross. Pierre Le-Tan, Felice Picano, Rane Arroyo, and Ronnie Burk all sat here having tea, and so did Paul Cummings, Lil Picard, John Wilcock, Tom Weigel, David Bourdon, Larry Sawyer, Chi Chi Valenti, Steve Luttrell, Martin Miles, and Shiv Mirabito. Ira Cohen was one of the most frequent visitors, and he was also one of Charles’s friends who I knew the longest, since the early days in Kathmandu. 

Andy Warhol and Brook Shields at Studio 54. Photo by Indra Tamang.

Tennessee Williams was another regular, but Tennessee was never satisfied with the tea. At a party Charles threw for Leonora Carrington, Tennessee insisted that surely there must be something stronger than tea, and I think I came up with a little vodka that was hiding in the back of the freezer. It was at that party that Tennessee and Norman Mailer ended a feud they were having right before my eyes. I don’t know what the subject of their disagreement was, but I remember one of them saying, “Are we speaking?” And the answer was, “yes.” I remember Taylor Mead, and Bill Levy, publisher of Ins&Outs Press who was visiting from Amsterdam and actually brought Miss Holland with him. I don’t remember her name, but she was very nice, very pretty, and very tall. 

Henry Geldzhaler was a good friend who often came to have lunch with Charles, which I would prepare and serve. Eduard Roditi came whenever he visited from Paris, I think Paul Cadmus came, and Ned Rorem was another one who visited often. Mary McCarthy came for tea during the time she was teaching at Bard College. She was someone we visited a lot in Paris at her beautiful apartment. Kimon Friar would come to visit, the man who translated all the modern Greek literature into English.

The longer I sit thinking, the more people I keep remembering. Leee Black Childers, Arthur Tress David Diamond, Fabrice Couillerot, Donald Windham, William Eggleston, Richard Kostelanetz, Divine, Holly Woodlawn, Jayne County, and Cherry Vanilla, they all used to sit at the table around Charles, and I use to serve tea to everyone. Someone Charles liked very much was Ted Joans, who would come down to the Dakota from Harlem and bring sweet potato pie. After Charles passed, Steve Dalanchinsky wrote a tribute to him in the Brooklyn Rail, published in 2003. He wrote about Ted refusing to bring him up to visit Charles at the Dakota. Ted was worried that Steve would be rude. But Steve admired Charles and everything he did with the View magazine, and at least he saw Charles out and about. Quite a lot of the people I’ve mentioned here have passed away, most recently Steve Dalachinsky himself. And I think that Charles would have liked for Steve to visit.

The only person I can think of who was specifically not invited to the Dakota was Sylvia Miles. I used to see her out and about all the time, for years. She was always nice to me, but she had a reputation for not always being very pleasant. And because of some kind of disagreement she had with Ruth, Sylvia was persona non grata at the gates of the Dakota.

I have a memory of Mariel Hemingway being there. I remember the librettist, Gian Carlo Menotti coming, and David Amram, and I remember a certain friend of Ruth’s, a very dignified man named Desmond Guinness who had a castle in Ireland. I made tea for Desmond Guinness, and then of course, I put him into my camera. I photographed countless people over the years at the Dakota. 

The Dakota, as seen from the Central Park. 1894. Photo: Museum of the City of New York

In 2002, after Charles passed, I saw Yoko out in front of the building and she stopped to give me some words of encouragement, which I will always remember. And I will never forget the night, years before, when I was awakened by a lot of noise from downstairs,. I remember hearing the news on the radio the next morning that John Lennon had been shot right down in the driveway. Years passed, and I watched Sean grow up and become much taller than me. In later years, I would see Lauren Bacall walking her cute little dog every day. The dog was a white-blonde, just like she was. They were perfectly matched, and she always said hello.  

I am sure that I have missed some names, but all the names I mentioned here is a proof that Charles and Ruth had such a great influence, such cultural reach. Since their passing, I’ve hosted historians, researchers, museum and art gallery curators from all over, at the table where Charles sat for his teas. I’ve seen that the interest in Charles and Ruth is just as keen as ever, that their influence has not lessened because of they are no longer with us, or in the Dakota. So much of my own life was lived in this building full of stories. It will always be a part of me, just as Charles and Ruth will be too. I will continue to keep the flame of their legacies lighted. I’ll just be doing it from a different address. 

Charles and Ruth at The Dakota, Room 103. Christmas 1999. Photo by Indra Tamang.

It’s true that all things must come to an end, but I don’t think we ever feel it’s gravity until the end is upon us. When it really hits, it can be very painful, but we have to learn let go and cherish all the memories. So it’s with much sadness that I let go of the Dakota, but the time has come to do it, and with luck, I have a lot of good life left yet to live. When Charles was the same age as I am now, he still had decades of life ahead of him, the same with Ruth.

Standing in 103 today, I notice that the ceiling is much higher than I ever realized. Against one empty wall is a large painting, a portrait that Harold Stevenson made of Dotson Rader long ago, which he had given to Ruth as a gift. Dotson looks very young in the painting, which he was at the time Richard painted. When the moving truck came, I kept it aside to give it to Dotson. I think he’ll be glad to have it. 

In front of The Dakota. 2010. Photo by AP.

- Indra Tamang. 

  The Dakota, Room 103, November 2019

copyright © Indra Tamang 2019,  all rights reserved.