Because I wanted that way

I knew all the hotels would be closed by 12.30 am; I knew no bus would leave for Lumbini at mid night.  I knew how the highway road would be like in a summer night of Terai. And I knew I was acting rather insane.  

I started from dang at 8 P.M. in a bus that headed for Kathmandu. By a simple calculation, I would have reached Kathmandu at around 9 AM the next day. But, my plans were different, something that a person in sane state of mind would not have ever planned. I got off from bus in transformational hub- Butwal -at 11.45 pm. Some hotel- people approached me asking if I was interested in living in hotel for that night. I, however, denied the offer and got along. I caught the bus, which later turned out to be the last one for that day, from Butwal for Bhairahawa, the entry point for Lumbini.

The junction

I completed the formality of searching the hotels in Bhairahawa, just to make sure that observing people, there were not many though, did not think me as a vagrant person. However, I knew for sure that all the hotels would be closed in that time of the night in Bhairahawa, for Bhairahawa, unlike Butwal, was dormant place in night.  THE NIGHT then started in exact way I wanted it to be for me.

There were two policemen on their duty at the Bhairahawa junction, the junction for the ways leading to Lumbini-Taulihawa, Sunauli and  Butwal. I did not talk much to them. They were pretty much engaged in lecherous talks of their own. I hovered around for some time, under the impression that I would not be harmed by any other creatures as I was near some policeman. How long would I loiter around though? Loitering around would not last for all night; I needed to something durable to pass the whole night. For the fact that I felt sleepy and I had no other options, I thus decided to sleep in a street, the kind of experience I was longing to witness.

A dump site was nearby, so was the drainage canal. I tried to sleep with my bag as a pillow, but the the buzzing sound of mosquito intervened my intention to sleep. I nevertheless managed to sleep for half an hour, before I could no longer stand the exasperating sound of mosquito.

Clock had just ticked 1 am. I then started to look for hotels, this time in desperation more than in a formality. I then began to realize, but rather momentarily, that   I had chosen the wrong way to spend the night. I was left with no options, but to wait for the first bus that would leave for Lumbini. From the information I got, the first bus leaving for Lumbini would arrive at around 5 am.

 I would fall asleep, but not longer than 15 minutes. This cycle continued until 3 am. However, I felt sleepy and dizzy as the dawn was at sight. At around 4 am, I could not stand being at the Bhairahawa junction anymore. So, I headed towards the road leading to Lumbini.  At the time I had started my journey, I could see some people in their morning walk. I walked 4 km towards Lumbini, before I finally got into a bus heading towards Taulihawa through Lumbini. I luckily got the seat and slept in my bus seat. I was so sleep deprived that I reached up to Taulihawa without noticing that Lumbini, my ultimate destination for this all, had passed some 21 km back.

And this all happened, because I wanted these things to be the way they happened.