This year again, the greatest festivals of Dashain and Tihar are at our doorsteps. People who have been living in a rented room in this concrete jungle should be excited about taking a pleasant break from this hectic city. As festivals are closely associated with our culture, we can’t refrain ourselves from celebrating them to the fullest, can we?

But one thing that annoys me is the time that I have to spend or bear on the journey from Kathmandu to my local home, during which I have to encounter various nasty stuffs. I have to surrender myself to miserable things that I genuinely dislike. We all know that the syndicate system is still prevalent in different forms in this country, contrary to the government’s claim that it has already abolished it, and we passengers have to face and accept the choices provided by the vehicle owners.

For instance, during the journey, we have to eat wherever they decide to take a break, which is usually in front of an isolated eatery.

Here is a painful story thatI would like to share through this media platform. I set outon a journey from Jhapa to Kathmandu in a publicmicrobus. After a few hours of the journey, the driver of the microbus stopped for lunch outside an eatery, which was visibly filthy. I, therefore, requested the bus driver if he could take us to another place because this one was dirty and unhygienic. Before I could finish speaking, the driver blurted out, “Either you eat here or you travel on an empty stomach all the way.”

Left without an option, I entered the eatery and ordered some rotis and curry, thinking that this would be better than rice. While I was munching the roti, I found a dead cockroach in the bowl of curry. Seeing that, I vomited instantly and complained to the owner, who, instead of apologising, verbally abused me and told me to leave instantly.

Is not selling unhygienic food a crime? Is not forcing someone to eat anything unhygienic a crime? Yes, it is, but who cares as all are busy here making money, and it matters little whether it is legal or ethical. And what about those government agencies assigned to monitor these things? The only thing that is stable in this country is anarchy. As a result, the citizens are unhappy. Through this small piece of writing I want to drag the attention of the concerned authorities to an issue directly related to our health.