Positive Energy (Stephan, Poland)

¨I landed Kathmandu in the evening. It was really beautiful. I could see the beautiful city with lots of lights like thousands of burning candle in the valley. Thamel was superb. The nightlife was awesome; perfect lights, lots of music, peaceful environment, handsome young boys and girls, and lot going on. However, when I stepped out of my hotel the next day I was turned down. So much crowd and noise. The most stressful things are the horns from the cars, motorcycles and rickshaws. Every step I took forward, there was honking. It was very irritating and stressful.¨, shared Stephan (Polish name Szczepan) a professional carpenter.

Stephan currently works in Scotland where he shares an apartment with his good friend Michael. He moved to Scotland when he lost his job in Poland. The manager cut down jobs due to economic crisis. And sadly, Stephan was one of them who had to leave the job. But his friend helped him to get a satisfactory job in the recycle factory.

In the factory, he makes sure every little wastes are separated correctly before they are sent for further processing. It has been 5 years in the factory. However, he is on search for a new job where he can speak more Polish than English. He shared that his English is very poor and it is very difficult to work in the English speaking environment.

¨I love Nagarkot very much. It is very peaceful and beautiful. I love the view from my hotel. The morning I got on my balcony I could see the mountain ranges above the mighty hills. It was such an amazing view. It was like I was in paradise or the land of my dream. If I come back here, I want to travel to Nagarkot and enjoy the beauty all by myself. I love the mountains, the hills, the food, the air and most importantly the peacefulness that it has for me.¨, said Stephan with much happiness and smiles.

Stephan learnt English in Scotland. He did not know a single word when he landed in Scotland. He only studied Russian and Polish. He learnt Russian since grade one. He does not like to go to the army either. However, he had to. And when he returned from his 2 years of service, he had no taste for education. And that is how he got involved in the carpenter field. But three people had to go and he was one of them.

Stephan loves travelling. He always get a tattoo when he travels. During his visit to Nepal, he got a Mandala tattoo from artist Kamal Dulal (Ink´s Inc. Tattoo). He said that mandala defines our life cycle; our system, our culture, our thoughts, our sight and in all our life. He also stated that it is an exercise to our eyes and mind if we try to study the patterns and lines in the mandala.

However, the tattoo on his back is the most important one. It was designed by a friend (Peter). It has several faces and the brain being eaten by the demons. There is also a tree. The face on the bottom was inked using the needle made from the guitar string. It was the most painful tattoo he ever got. He stated that it was an amazing experience. The tattoo defines human negativity. The demon eats all the negatives that one have in their mind. The eyes are being eaten too that represents all the bad things we see too are also taken away by the demons, too. In this way, all our negativity are taken away completely leaving us in emptiness and we can fill the empty space with new positive thoughts and energy. He stated that we have lots of negativity in us and we must give all our negatives away to the demons and seed positive energy in us to live a better and happy life.

The bicycle tattoo along with the tribal design represents his team work attitude. He believes that in team we can achieve miracle. The rose on his foot is a gift from Barcelona, Spain. And the compass defines his passion for travel.

Though our conversation was halted often. But we were successful to share our ideas and thoughts. Like he said, his English is poor. It was. However, I made sure I got every little detail I could get. The meaning behind the skull tattoo (Negative eater) was cleared more when he showed me the photo and explained every single detail. I really enjoyed meeting him because even though he could speak little English he made sure that I get everything and understand every word he spoke. It was such a pleasant time. I really appreciate his energy and knowledge passed on to me.

¨Human have negatives in mind and eye. And Humans must throw away all the negatives. And fill the empty space with positive thoughts and energy.¨