Iih – The lone foot traveller from Nepal

S Balakrishnan
Contd from previous issue
I made sure, like the publicity-hungry politicians, to have a snap of that moment, knowing very well that the piece of ponnadai is a useless cloth piece, only adding up to his luggage. But tradition is tradition, no ? It is the same with khada also. For dinner we treated him with mini idlis soaked in special ‘idli sambhar’, plain idlis with chutney and ‘gun powder’ (a ‘spicy’ powder of red chilli, urad dhal, etc.; hence the British named it gun powder!), and chapathi & kuruma, in case he missed the ‘rotis’ in Sri Lanka. He relished the mini idlis soaked in ‘idli sambhar’ and the chutney. It was a memorable dinner for us the hosts, as it was on the terrace with the Buddha Poornima moon watching us host Iih from the Land of Buddha! I wanted to surprise him with my Nepali language knowledge that I had picked up in Sikkim but in the excitement I forgot to utter even a word. How stupid of me ! Iih had given international recognition to my wife’s culinary expertise! Of course, 30% of that credit goes to me, her kitchen assistant.
Iih was limping with swelled feet but his next target was Bangladesh, another SAARC Nation. He hopes to touch the Indian metropolitan cities this time; from Chennai he would proceed to Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Kolkata from where he would enter sonar Bangladesh. He felt it would be unfair not to visit the cities if he were to get a wholesome idea about India, because he had not touched the cities in his Kargil-Kanyakumari foot travel, earlier. As he had already covered India on foot, now he would give rest to his sore feet.  
What ? K to K journey! ? We got quite excited. ‘Only 30% of my travel was through National Highways; the rest was through inner roads’, Iih went on. ‘I carry only just a backpack with a load of mere 5 kgs or even less, not even drinking water’, he amazed us, recalling Indian Railways’ advice ‘Less luggage, more comfort’. ‘Except for rare occasions, the quality of drinking water has not been an issue. Plus, my gut bacteria probably evolved to accommodate as I walked on’, was Iih’s reply to my concern about drinking water. Rural India was very friendly and sharing. While in North India he had the hospitality of Gurudwaras (both lodging & boarding), no such facility in South India, he lamented. Instagram friends and their friends help him in L&B, wherever possible. While he roamed around Nepal with just a pair of slippers, which mistake now he regrets, he now puts on proper walking shoes to ease the stress on his feet; he changes the pair once in 1 ½ months or so. Any mugging on the way? I asked a nasty question. (Un)fortunately not so far, he smiled. Luckily the Covid pandemic also did not hamper his health and travel plans. He is conscious to avoid any branding even on his backpack. Indeed a rare breed in this commercial world!   
Ever since our daughter (Iih’s insta friend) announced his arrival, I was dying to know more about his queer name rather than about his travel passion & personality. I have not come across such a strange name as Iih among Nepalis. No such name among Tibetans/Bhutias either; then, could he be of Chinese origin, I wondered. Our daughter warned me not to be so nosy but I could not bear the suspense; so I indirectly asked him if Iih was his nickname/pet name. Yes, my friends call me so, he ended the mystery and I was relieved. My next question was to know the meaning of Iih. ‘It is inherently meaningless, just a universal vowel sound without caste or creed associations’, the  soft-spoken Iih resolved the mystery. Great, indeed !
As a parent of two youngsters I could not help wondering about the state of mind of Iih’s parents living in Kathmandu. Don’t they bother you to find a decent job with fat salary, marry and settle down in life? I asked him. ‘Oh, well, they were pestering me but now they are fed up and have given me up as a hopeless case’, he burst into laughter. He hoped his younger brother might meet their worldly aspirations while he followed his heavenly walking. ‘I talk to them once a week while on move’, he casually told me; I could not help empathizing with Iih’s parents. But Iih had been so since his school days; a school drop-out, he took to travel at the age of 16 itself. He has brought out a compilation of his travel experiences in Nepal and is planning one on K-to-K travel.
He is also a social activist; he led a successful protest for better management of Covid crisis by the Nepal Government and even went on fast for 12+23 days in all.
Iih’s poor legs were begging for rest but the lone foot soldier would not rest. The old man that I am, I felt so envious of the travel-lust Iih; yet I wished him deep from my heart “safe and happy journeys ahead!” ‘People like Iih are born, not made’, I philosophized, cozily curling up in my armchair like a lazy kitten, reminiscing about my own footloose travels during my happy bachelorhood days, 35 years ago. Sigh!
You can follow Iih on his Instagram page https://instagram.com/iihgram-igshid+YmMyMTA2M2Y= that has interesting factual stories along with striking images. One interesting encounter of Iih was with a Nepali man who had married a Tamil lady and settled down here; he has two sons – one carries his Tamil mother’s gene and the other, his Nepali father’s.