Ram And Rama
I met now 30 year old Ram in 2015 when Nancy and I first returned to India. She had known him from several previous visits. He’s a young man from the local village of Bhattu who was working at that time as a kind of general manager of the Stupa Guest House restaurant. It’s Sonu, whom I’ve referred to in a previous post as one of the cooks here who is Ram’s sister-in-law. We connected with him over the next 2 or 3 trips to Sherabling since he was, and is, a personable young man and was helpful to us and friendly and interested. And, of course, his English was pretty good then and has gotten better.
Since that time there was some kind of falling out between Ram and Tsering and Nima, and he left their employ to find other work. He’s now settled into employment in Bir with his brother-in-law’s architecture office there, and handles the non-technical aspects of the business’s requirements, such as licenses, permits, meetings with officials, etc. He’s happy there, and the job has the advantage of being stable and of a permanent nature, making him, I’m sure, a more desirable candidate for marriage.
And, he’s become engaged to 22 year old Rama, a local girl from the nearby village of Sansal. His father and her father, who has land in the valley and farms various grains, have approved of the marriage (patriarchy is alive and well in rural India, and in India in general for that matter), and they both agree that they are friends and compatible, able to accommodate each other’s wishes, and want to marry. One of her father’s stipulations is that Ram first build a small 2 room house on his (Ram’s) family’s property in Bhattu. He is now in the process of saving money to do that, and figures the marriage might take place later in 2023. They’d like to have one, or maybe two children, and a girl or a boy is ok with them.
After our meeting Ram wrote to Nancy and said he had very much wanted us to meet Rama, and was happy that it could be arranged what with his work schedule and our immanent departure. We found her to be quite demure (well, she doesn’t speak English, but apparently understands some) and seemingly sweet natured (who knows what fire may burn beneath that quiet, shy surface?!). She seemed happy to meet us also, or maybe it was Ram who said she had been.
May all blessings surround them in their new lives together.
Mind is the real key
Everything is so precious
build bridges; give love
