I had WhatsApped Subhash, the CEO of the college, the other day to ask if it might be possible for him to show me around the site of the new sports arena that is being built here, and yesterday received a message saying he would pick me up at 7.30 this morning. And true to his word, he was there on the dot of time; clearly as a businessman he cannot afford to live his life in Nepali time. For once, the screen in BreadBox was not switched to some Nepali pop station, but was showing the news: dreadful floods in Kathmandu, dozens killed. There are still those who are in denial about climate change, despite the freak weather conditions in the USA, Britain, Nepal… Not freak anymore, of course; the new normal.
The site was not far out from town, but at present is still a few fields, one of them a football pitch, with a lively game going on, despite (or, I suppose, because of) the early hour. A scratch game, adults, with a variety of shirts. I asked Subhash how they knew who was on which team, and he explained that they knew each other very well. It had been the same when I was a schoolboy, playing every lunchtime in the playground; despite the fact we all wore school uniform, there was never any doubt as to who was on what team.
I had clearly been misinformed as to the time-scale for the project, since there was not a sign of any digging, but Subhash showed me the artists’ impressions of how it would look. All very impressive, but then you would hardly expect otherwise, such projections not being known for their lack of vision. We chatted a little about Ben Duckett, the England opener that I had taught, albeit very briefly, at Stowe. I have been in touch with Stowe about the possibility of them putting to their gap year students the possibility of spending some time in Dhangadhi, capitalising on using their cricket skills while making it a part of their own grand tour. Stowe seem excited about it as an enticing option (as indeed it is.) While SPA are equally excited about the possibility of attracting some young volunteers.
Subhash then drove me (a car! Not a motorbike!) to a smaller, but actual, building site closer to town. This was the site of a cricket practice facility, apparently, which already had some nets, though was otherwise a muddy field; drainage does seem to be a serious issue that has to be dealt with everywhere here. And the building being erected? BreadBox 3.
He took me to BreadBox 2 for coffee and a chicken sandwich – both excellent – and then I was driven back home… BreadBox 1. It had been a good morning with a charming, intelligent man. I had taken the opportunity to ask him about the slogan – “Dhangadhi, City of Cricket”, seen on billboards, T-shirts (I was wearing one), mugs. It had indeed, as I had suspected, been his own invention, but had now been officially adopted (a marketing man’s dream.)
