I visited the Tribhuvan International Airport back in my hometown mostly to bid farewell to my friends who were leaving Nepal. I however always felt a pull every-time I went to drop anyone there. It felt like the airport is calling my name saying one day you will depart from here as well and your friends will come to drop you similarly. I mostly ignored the voice until me and my husband made a hard decision to pull ourselves out of our comfort zone and move out of the country.
It was June 20, evening 8 PM and I was already too tired of cooking and washing all day. My parents had come from Chitwan to see us off and there were guests (my husband’s friends) making visits to bid us farewell. I had no time to think of any emotions as I was rushing with household chores until the end…lol, a typical daughter in law in Nepali family. Well, I was praying dear to not shower rain in addition to our already existing troubles. My father in law had finally agreed to bid us farewell as well. He put tika on us with all teary eyes and we departed towards the airport. Our friends came to see us off and it was one of the most special feel to see those many people gathering around together (almost looked like a village). I am still thankful to Shikha, Malika, Sambriddha for showing up and it was a real surprise when Sony and Ashna appeared as well. We hugged our family and friends and finally entered the airport to kick start our journey. The struggle started there itself. Even before my head could settle down and I could feel the emotion of leaving my home country and loved ones, the airport staff started to fuss around with extra weight our laptops were putting on hand carry bag. After 1.5 hours of trying to put on clothes and reduce the weights, the staff finally disclosed his motive of bribing us with a $50 note and agreed to give us a boarding pass. Such a pathetic thing one had to experience in life!
After getting out boarding pass, the illegal thing we were forced to do kept hanging in my mind and I was badly disturbed throughout the procedure. I was so afraid and unsure what could happen if we were caught. With this constant pain in my mind, we cleared our security check and finally reached waiting rooms. Finally, I took a long breath and my mind settle down to soak in all the emotions I was to feel soon. The tears in my father in law’s eyes kept revolving in my head and I could hardly control my tears. I felt a warmth of love I received from my friends who came to bid me farewell and it made me emotional as well. I wiped a few tears that were rolling down my eyes and finally boarded the Thai Aeroplane.
Me and my husband, all on our own, all set for the new journey ahead!