Namaste

Today I met Prashanna Pradhan son of Babu Raja Pradhan. Prashanna joined the industry in 2008 while he was in eighth grade. Professionally, he began in 2010 right after high school. He was trained by Sir Babu Raja Pradhan. At the moment he operates Thamel Babu´s Studio. The studio was very popular and so it is today. The legend still continues. The studio was established around 1991 A.D.

In this section we will discuss about Prashanna and his passion for the art. He inked the ¨NAMASTE¨ design himself. It is dedicated to his mom and dad. It is a symbolic figure that represents his high respect to his mom and dad equally.

¨Why not portraits? Why especially Namaste? ¨, I asked him.

He replied, ¨To me, my mom and dad are the greatest gift I have ever received. There have always been there for me at good times and at worst times. There is not a single moment where I have regretted having them in my life. Everyday, they fill my day with lots of love and affection. Even when I returned from school exhausted..or from football games they always made me feel special and worthy…….¨

¨………..this tattoo reminds me of my duty towards my parents. I do not have anything that I can give to them but my high gratitude to them for all the troubles they have taken to bring me into this world and raised me into a man for good.¨

We drank tea brought in by a young boy from the shop next door. The boy was in his early teens. Soon, young Mrs. Pradhan entered the studio. The room turned completely silence until we all laughed out. We have no idea behind it. We just laughed and smiled at each other. Young Mrs. Pradhan did not stay in longer. After she left the room again I asked him, ¨Who is she?¨

He did not say a word for a while. He cleared his throat. He smiled but this time it was a different one. He blushed in a playful way.

¨She is my…….wife.¨, he said in short. I became more curious in their love story. I questioned him again, ¨How did you meet her? I mean is it love or arrange marriage?¨

Prashanna with Bebika

¨Well….its quite compli…cated….We are not married legally yet. But we will be on 28th January 2017…….¨, he stopped. He thought for a while. And continued, ¨We met first in my brother´s marriage. The marriage took place, 10 or 11 days before the earthquake. I did not know her. She stared me and watched me at the wedding. I was lost in my own world.That day I returned home unrecognized……¨

¨..After a week or 2 I saw her on the other side of the road. It clicked my mind. But I could not remember where I saw her. I tried hard to remember. But there was no luck. That day went without a word…¨

¨The next morning I received her friend request in facebook. I was surprised how she found me. I check her profile and then I accepted her request. There was not a word that day too. However, the next morning I received a message - Hi, Do you remember me? I was shocked and flattered at the same time. She was fast..real fast… (laughing)…I messaged her back saying I remembered her from the wedding and sent a photo from my Ipad…..¨

There was a short break. At this time I was more curious than anything else. My mind was blocked for everything except this thing (The Love Story). Our silence broke out and he began, ¨….later that day she had plans to visit Bhaktapur with her little brother. I asked her if I can drop her and she said ¨Yes¨. I was like…yes boy..go drop her off…(laughing)….before we said goodbye we had already exchanged our numbers. Later that night we chatted and chatted in Viber. I have no idea how long we chatted, only viber knows. At the time, we only met once a day as she was giving her final tests. …….¨

Prashanna at Thamel´s Babu Studio

¨I taught her Accounts. But she failed.¨, he laughed out loud. I laughed with him. We found it very funny and hilarious. And he continued again.

¨Time passed and now we are nearly married.¨, he stopped there. It was sweet, wasn´t it? We stopped here. I did not know what to say and ask. So I said to him, ¨Thank you for sharing your story to me, honestly.¨ And, I headed to roots bar where I write my daily stories.

Findings:

Namaste or Namaskar is derived from two Sanskrit word ¨Namas meaning bowing¨ and ¨ti meaning to you¨. It´s usually spoken with a slight bow and hands pressed together, palms touching and giners pointing upwards and thumbs close to the chest. It means ¨I bow to the divine in you¨.