For many of us Basantapur may be juxtaposed with a rich tapestry of artefacts that reminisces the medieval splendour of Nepal. But just an evening at this World Heritage Site would be enough to make you feel that your perception is just not holistic.

In case you happen to be just about making your way into the New Road Gate, your arrival will be feted by the vibrancy, and the hubbub of the heart of Kathmandu. Enter Durbar Square area, and you’ll find yourself flanked by street vendors with their trinket stands anticipating yet another lucrative customer.

As the daylight gradually wanes, you’ll sense that the rush hour just began. Thanks to the hasty homecoming of worker bees, influx of twilight shoppers and an unusually large flock of teenagers traipsing around, you will not be able to figure out how the streets got crammed without you even noticing it.

Dusk creeps in and the venue which had a majority of bystanders, souvenir sellers and sporadic groups of rubbernecking tourists a little earlier, suddenly will change its guise into a busy quarter. Bouncy music coming out of the nearby music shop will mingle

with the sickly plaint of the honking vehicles and the hullabaloo of the elusive pedestrians.

The whole atmosphere then suddenly gets electric. Meanwhile, if your tongue yearns for something succulent you can tickle your taste buds with panoply of yummies served by several movable stands spotted almost everywhere in the area.

Getting fashionable is the order of the day here. But bewitching you first will be chic young girls dressed up to the nines and guys expressing their own grunge style statements.

Later, the huge courtyard opposite the neoclassical King’s Palace teems with hundreds of clannish youngsters gathered in groups, some sipping a cup of hot tea, some puffing away their idleness and all invariably conferring over a common topic under the beautiful moonlit evening. Don’t get surprised in case you bump into the shady corners of Basantapur and find yourself in a tangle — and witness romance unfolding between two smitten lovebirds. Thus the great saga unfolds every day...