Culture shock

'Are you a gay?' a guard standing outside the pub inquired.

'No', I responded. 'Why is this guy asking me this question?' With a weird feeling I told myself.

He tried to be polite, 'Sorry we cannot let you in. This evening, the pub is opened for gays and lesbians only.' I was shocked. I had never heard about gay pubs before. The same question was repeated to all my friends and all were barred from entering the pub.

Few years back, when I was about to head for London, one of my senior colleagues had suggested me to experience the pub culture there. So, one Friday evening, I along with a group of friends planned to visit a pub in Piccadilly. Surprisingly, our first attempt failed. We went from one pub to another. The guards inquired the same thing and we were not allowed to enter the place. Even after searching more than half dozen pubs we could not find any places that welcomed us. Later we learnt that all the bars and pubs in that particular place apportioned Friday evenings to gay and lesbian guests only. Back in Nepal where the government has legalized third gender still does not have any gay-friendly places.

Hungry and tired, finally, we landed up at Pizza Hut promising that we would visit a pub some other day. The food was good and the price was comparatively cheap. Back in Kathmandu, I wonder why Pizza Hut’s only outlet in Nepal has high priced menus, which are distinctively for 'haves' only.

The next day of the pub hunt, one of my friends, Charles shared us his interesting experience. Previous evening, he had visited one of the pubs with his male friend. He and his friend lied the guard that they were gays and entered the pub. Inside the pub, when Charles was engaged in talking with the bartender, someone bought a glass of beer to his friend. After finishing the beer the beer buyer proposed him to get a room nearby. He did not know that 'No drink is free'. Later Charles rescued him. We all laughed our heart out after listening about that funny incident.

Different places have different cultures and travelling makes it possible to meet new people and experience new cultures. On the top of that it is one of the best sources of learning and enriching knowledge. This is the beauty of travelling. Moreover, diversity in culture generally leads to shock amongst the travellers.Few years back, during my London visit, I too experienced few culture shocks.

I travelled in Tube (Tube is the general term used for train in London) to go from one place to another. While waiting for Tube in the station, every day there used to be numbers of smooching couples nearby. Quite disgusting and uncomfortable scenes for a girl grown up in Nepali culture! I wondered why people needed to demonstrate love in public. These days I have heard that kissing has been banned in train stations in some parts of the world as it causes delays and congestion.

Chilled beer in London’s chilled weather also amazed me. Every time someone needed a glass of water, he/she ordered chilled water. I was the only person seeking for warm soup and warm water.

When we say beggars, we sketch a picture of lean people with torn clothes, unwashed hair, dirty hands and legs. But the beggars I saw in London were totally different from my imagination. The beggars around London Bridge, London Eye, train stations and footpaths caught my eyes. Initially, I thought that they were statues, only to be amused later that they were beggars painted in different colors. I was astonished to see the beggars’ hard works to disguise themselves into interesting forms to attract some pennies from the pedestrians’ pocket. Some people played musical instruments and passers nearby dropped coins on the handkerchief spread on the floor. I felt that the beggars were financially poor but not poor in talent.

Besides, whenever I met somebody, I could simply address him/her with his/her name no matter how old he/she was. Here in Nepal if you addressed a person with his/her name then you could get angry stares. So, here we look at the people’s appearance and address them 'Dai', 'Bhai', 'Didi', 'Bahini' etc.

Likewise, whenever I lost my way, I asked for help with a policeman nearby. I never walked on the streets in the midnight in my own hometown but I felt safe walking on the streets late nights in London. In fact, we do not have nightlife in Kathmandu. Shops close down when the night falls. We can hardly find a public vehicle after 7 p.m. Our parents get worried if we do not reach home till seven in the evening. It is the culture that has been moving from generations.

When I returned back home I suffered reverse culture shock. Seeing huge piles of garbage in the middle of the streets my heart cried, 'Why is this town more Wastemandu than Kathmandu?'

http://www.parakhi.com/blogs/2012/01/13/culture-shock