Toerke

During an evening stroll through Kathmandu’s tourist trap, aka the Hell of Thamel, one is often lured into opening the wallet for the purchase of the utterly essential tigerbalms, pashmina sjawls, opium derivates and accessories that the white man simply shouldn’t miss out on. Fortunately, one tends to build a certain immunity to the sometimes aggressive sales techniques so that you can return to your hotel cell with an almost intact wallet.

During one of those evening strolls I was pleasantly surprised by an invitation to a free (?) concert. “Seeing is believing”, I thought and followed the young man to the room of the Gandharba Culture and Art Organization. The gandharbas are a caste ( in the officially casteless Nepali society). They are the singers, musicians and instrument builders. And yes, you can attend their free rehearsals and concerts. Because a certain Patrick Maton has already created a webpage for them, I will not get into this further. I’d say, check out Gandhardba Culture and Art Organization and, when in Kathmandu , pay them a visit. They sell – in a totally non-aggressive manner – their lovely Nepali folk music CD.