Meeting Nepalis is like bumping into Tesco trolleys: both happen to me a lot.
Despite my short and very undistinguished service I can not only pick out a Nepali in a crowd but am able to converse as to their jat, gaun, and whether they ‘purba/paschim bata aunu’ [clan, village and whether they come from east or west Nepal].
Bibury (where I live) has thousands of Chinese, Japanese and Indians these days but I have also stopped and chatted with a number of Nepali families in the village over the years.
Recently I was on the ferry to The Isle of Wight. There two Nepali families from Wolverhampton who have a restaurant there (and a dog, that was with them). I am not sure the men would have passed recruitment into the Brigade or how they got to the UK.
However my very first encounter was whilst poaching crayfish on the gravel-pit lakes near my home. I saw this yellow helmet approaching and he got smaller as he neared. “Nepali Ho ki Hoina?” I asked. The man slammed his feet together, saluted and said “Security Saheb”. Lakes By U at Fairford now employ round the clock security manned by ex-Gurkhas. Security is also a common answer elsewhere e.g. walking down Sloane Street or Bond Street and talking with the doormen.
On boarding the Oxford tube to London I noticed that the driver’s feet didn’t reach the pedals (a retired MTO notices things like that). There was a large sign saying ‘Do not talk to the driver when on the route.’ I had a wonderful conversation with him and subsequently two others, all ex-GTR.
Travelling to London on National Express one day two Gurungs from The Rapid Reaction Force in Gloucester were very good company.
Stuck in traffic in Swindon recently I got out to ask the driver of the local bus if there was an alternative route. Although he didn’t know of an alternative route the driver, from Pokhara, was keen to learn all about my knowledge of the language.
At Swindon A&E I have met a Gurung girl in Reception and noticed in Audiology the name Tamang on the door. Both girls/ladies were very engaging.
My grandchildren enjoy going to Wagamama in Cheltenham. When we first went there I asked the man taking our order which part of Nepal he came from and all of a sudden there were no fewer than five faces listening to our conversation from the other side of the kitchen counter. What fun we had! Much to the family’s embarrassment I am now treated like royalty when we go there.
Last year Anne and I went to Lisbon and around virtually every corner and on every train we bumped into Nepalis of whom there are about 50,000 in the country. Apparently Portugal is an easy entry point into the EU for them.
So Sirmooris: ‘Gurkhali’ on a CV doesn’t look quite so out of place nowadays. A little of it goes a long way in Europe!
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