Shivapuri National Park was waiting for us. It was a perfect plan to start the year, a hike to chisapani from Sundarijal. Our team was pumped up from weeks before. We were all excited to be on an adventure, the forest, wildlife, nature! wow! As the big day was dawning upon us we got all excited and ready for the awesome plan execution.
We rest on a big rock at Sundarijal before we begin the uphill hike
We reached there had fun, hitched hiked along with a crazy pickup driver in his old tattered Toyota. On the way to the destination we had our ride’s ignition shut off twice and we went downhill but escaped unscathed and unharmed. It was an adventure of its own accord and is a story worth telling, but it is not why we write this blog post.
Shivapuri National Park
Shivapuri National park is not only important for its ecological value and for being one of the major sources of water for the capital Kathmandu but it also for its religious and historical importance. Skanda Purana, the largest mahapurana, of the eighteen sacred religious texts of Hindus has reference to Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park in its Himavat Khanda section under the title Nepal-Mahatmya. It has the source of Bagmati river, the holiest river of all, that sprouted from Lord Shiva’s joy. It is now called Shivapuri Nagarjun National park after Nagarjun also got added to it.
Red rhododendron on the way to chisapani from sundarijal, Shivapuri National Park
Friends of the National Park
As we were returning from the trip, we took a different route. A trail in-between the forests.
Walking towards the forest trail into the jungle
As we had just crossed a major site in the park, the watershed area, we thought it would be really uncool to just leave our waste there. The white bag you see is full of waste.
Team members resting at the watershed area
We got aware of the waste, thus we started looking around. On the way back in the trail, were wrappers all around. We have been on adventures around the city in different events. This one was a bit different. The nature around us, the birds that we saw and the air that we were breathing brought in different thoughts.
Sugam pointing at a wrapper thrown in the jungle
Then again, the bag we were carrying got full the halfway through.. there were wrappers lying around at inaccessible places and we were helpless. That brings us to writing this blog post. We think that someone will surely read this and if not make efforts to clean the park, will at least think before throwing that wrapper around.
We emptied our bag in a doko that we found and were again back on the track. Again the bag got full, you won’t believe the sheer amount of plastic that was around. Also, some spots made us feel helpless..
What next?
A mountain of bottles at Shivapuri
It was really sad to see this condition of the National Park, one that should be residing in our hearts. We need to treasure these sanctuaries for the coming generations, these are what we leave behind, a better world. Although it really won’t make a big difference, us carrying the garbage, trying to manage it.
Then again, it will make a small difference of course. People saw us picking the filth, that must have had the impact on them. We met locals who were happy that we were doing so. Some kids we met on the way helped us, and they also fed us an amazing amount of berries (आइसेलु). We sure did make an impact that day.
The cause
We think the root of the problem has to do with our mentality.. we say “फोहर फाल्ने” or Throw the garbage.. it’s not “फोहर व्यवस्थापन” or waste management. This needs to be our culture, as it has always been.
Nepalese have known to be sensitive to humans. We have always revered all creatures, respected even stones and stuck to our culture. We need to rejuvenate that, we need to find ourselves amongst this chaotic world and make us what we always were and always have been.
Conclusion
Hence here it is, Gurkhatech Friends of the National Park! This has brought about a culture of responsiveness and situational awareness amongst us. Last time we were at Pashupati, our members were picking paper cups thrown on the street and putting them in the garbage bin. A member today marked a manhole with the missing lid on the road to make it easy for other people to see. In fact, our action that day did make a difference. It was not for nature that we did those things, it was for us. We have had an internal transformation, and we thank Shivapuri National Park for that.
Do let us know in the comments what you think, and how you think these kinds of problems can be solved. Thank you for coming up here to read this, please know that you are awesome! 🙂
