There’s this house close to mine, where I’m sure the residents have nothing better to do than literally perch on their roof/balcony and openly spy on what’s happening in the area… all day.

Not only is it annoying, I find it terrible sad. It’s sad that these people have no other purpose and it’s sad how much it makes us nervous. Kind of like even if you haven’t done anything wrong, you get the slightest bit nervous about passing cops.

Quite often my mom reminds me not to wear my boxers outside the house (as in, on the stairs leading to the roof, or our garden), and she’s usually in favor of me wearing  a scarf or a sweater to hide my womanly chest, all because of what the neighbors will say.

I don’t think this is something that is exclusive to Nepal, but it’s definitely something that is exaggerated here.  We’re always worried about appearances and what others will say.  I wish it was possible to live without having to come under the scrutiny of people who don’t actually know much about me except where I live, but the truth is, there is good reason to be careful because people talk.

Talk is a dangerous thing. Just today my sister was discussing a common person that we need to make a mental note of not telling things to because the grapevine extends to half the Valley and before you know it, the wrong people get the news only it sounds worse than what you actually said but too much damage has been done.

I’ve never been able to understand why people are so stuck on pretenses. Everyone knows that everyone has problems. Whether a family suffers from an abusive member, an alcoholic, a financial drain, are down on their luck, it’s usually a safe bet that trouble is aplenty – so why do we try so hard to act like we’re perfect?

And when we find out that something is amiss in a household (which is probably the case everywhere), we’re so intrusive! I haven’t been able to come up with a good theory as to why we’re so incredible caught up in other people’s business. Maybe it’s a competitive comparison thing. Anyways, the point is, I’ve realized that I really love how communal our society and culture is but I don’t like how this trespasses into being unnecessarily nosy.

Saani has no real goals and aspirations but she sees opportunity in everything and goes with the flow. This is probably because she loves exploring and discovering. She writes for fun but for the same reason she also cooks, reads, and spends a lot of time on random websites that offer a chance to learn all sorts of tid-bits on life.


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