SUMMIT, RAVI, AND RUBIN

I ran into Summit today. He was one of the three guys who I met last year when they were our guides at a local tourist spot. They went on to become friends and to help me with some of the other groups that came to do humanitarian work. Overall they are great guys, but lacked vision and drive in their lives. I guess it is not hard to understand since opportunities here for education and success are somewhat limited by the level of poverty and problems with the government. They spent most nights at the bar until it closed at 2am,they had a cheap room they would rent by the night that was close to the bar. They would arise late the next day and head over to Durbar Square to guide tourist through the old palace in hopes of getting a few hundred rupees in tips, and then it was back to the bars.

Summit informed me that he had not spoken with Ravi or RubIn in nearly 6 months, which seemed odd since they were nearly inseparable last year. Summit and I decided that it would be good to get the four of us together for dinner one night and said he would try to get a hold of Ravi and Rubin.

Later that night I received a call from Summit saying that he had contacted Ravi's sister and was able to finally track Ravi down. We were scheduled to meet for dinner later in the evening.

As I sat across the table from Ravi later that evening, he told me about how his last 6 months had been spent in drug rehab. He had decided to check himself in a few months after I left last year. I have to admit i knew that there a lot of partying going on, but I knew nothing of the hard drugs that Rubin and Ravi were using. He grew very somber as he talked of the problems it had created with his family and his friends, how he had cheated and stole(even from me) to get the money for the drugs. He had decided one day that enough was enough and he checked himself into the drug rehab center. He went on to tell me of the endless nights laying on his cot withering in pain as he suffered through withdrawls, and the days spend cleaning bathrooms and hallways with a toothbrush. The cleaning, he said, was to break him and teach him humility. I normally would not share such personal information in such an impersonal forum, but I do because Ravi said it was okay for me to do so, and because it seems it will have a good ending. He was on his first outing from the rehab center to have dinner with Summit and me.

We were not able to get a hold of Rubin by phone, so we were going to try going to his house to see if he might be there. He lives quite a ways from Thamel(where I am staying) and it was getting late, but we decided to go anyway. He was there and we sat and talked for about an hour. The three guys seemed pretty happy to be back together and shared stories about the past year. Turns out that RubIn was in Rehab too, although his was of a different sort. His parents had not allowed him to leave the house when they found out he had been using drugs, and it had been 6 months(talk about being grounded...and he is like 25 years old). He had some of the same experiences as Ravi. Long, painful nights, and boring days spent cleaning around the house. In the end both had been drug free for over 6 months. As frustrated as I was about the situation, being lied to and stolen from, I was happy that they had worked their way through it.

It was very late now and finding a taxi back to Thamel was going to be difficult. Rubin's mother was concerned that i was going out so late and insisted that I stay the night with them. I was opposed to the idea, but no amount of protest on my part seemed would change her mind. I was shown to a small room with a bed that was about the width of a double bed, but much shorter. I didn't even have to test it first to know that my legs would be hanging off the end. I climbed onto the bed fully clothed as i saw there was only one small blanket to cover myself with. I laid there trying to get comfortable and noticed that if the bed was about three inches shorter I would be able to sleep with my knees bent and my feel firmly planted on the floor. Suddenly Rubin walked in the room and laid on the bed. It took me only a second to figure out that I was on his bed and, like happens here often out of necessity, we would be co-sharing the bed. It was only a few minutes later that his brother walked into the room and also joined us on the bed. I wrapped my coat tightly around myself, knowing that there was no chance of getting any part of the blanket on what would be a very cold night, and prepared for one of the longest nights of my life.