They were three and they took me for a foreigner. They asked for money. I pretended that I did not understand what they said — as usual.
Glue sniffing is rampant among street kids in Kathmandu.
Hiding a polythene bag (of milk) filled with glue in a handkerchief, they were inhaling it– which is more popularly known as dendrite — on the running public bus this afternoon.
The smell was nauseating.
None of the passengers reacted, at least vocally. Or, even if they did, I did not hear. I tried to control my breath, and spit two or three times due to intolerable pungent smell. Gosh! What do they get from it?
One of the guys had a tube of glue and some money in his pocket, which he tried to hide after noticing that I was taking their photograph. When the conductor asked them for the bus fare, they paid without any defiance. (Street kids in Kathmandu are notorious for their anarchic style though.) Continue reading
