By Narayan Prasad Mishra  All human beings have the exact nature and feelings though different in colour, complexion, size according to the geographical climate and environment. But they have various languages and cultures, faith and beliefs, food and taste. Although there is no caste system in most parts of Europe and America, we still see the caste system in most parts of Asia, mainly in India, Nepal, even though its law prohibited it. Because of that, we have arranged marriage system within the same caste and creed, not the love marriage system as in European countries. In Europe and America, young boys and girls could easily, pleasantly fall in love with each other with any caste or creed and enjoy your company with joy and happiness openly and freely. That is the way you select your lifelong partner in those countries. If anyone among boys and girls was slow and unable in this process, the parents worried about that.

The writer with his spouse late Shanti Mishra

Whereas in our country, marriage outside your caste (intercaste)is not only unliked and unaccepted by society, social customs and traditions also prohibit it. So, it is almost like a crime to indulge in it among most people. In these circumstances, one could easily imagine how difficult, challenging, fearful the love affairs would be in this part of the world if it did not work well. I witnessed an actual incident of a love affair which is scary to hear. The story is - I had a very close friend and was a health worker. He was a Newar boy and fell in love with a Brahmin girl when working as a Health Assistant in a remote district in the 1960s. The girl's family came to know about it. That was unbearable for them. So they threatened the boy and girl to separate immediately, otherwise, their life would be at risk. At the same time, they arranged the marriage of the girl, their daughter, with a Bhraman boy. In these circumstances, the boy and girl were in dismay about what to do. They made a hazardous dramatic secrete plan to escape the next day of the wedding without the family's suspicion. The girl married, went to the bridegroom's house, stayed without a honeymoon with a pretending period, and returned to the parent's home the next day. The parents and family were happy that their daughter got married without a problem and could avoid the unfortunate misfortune of intercaste marriage. The Newar boy, my friend, and the girl escaped from that place at midnight while all others were in fast sleep. They had good luck that they could arrive at Bhaktapur safely walking many days, night and day. They said the chaser would kill them if they could meet while escaping. They were like Layla and Majnu, the legendary love couple of an old Arabian origin story. My friend passed away four years ago. His wife, the courageous love lady, the Brahmin woman, lives with her sons and daughters in Bhaktapur. I experienced the many other bitter incidents of love affairs of its kind in my life. I remember an incident, a professor of Bhaktapur died from shock after hearing that his son fell in love with an untouchable girl and did not want to break the relationship despite their pressure. Not only the intercaste love marriage sometimes even the love marriage within the same caste is not liked and accepted. So one cannot say what could be the result of love affairs in our country. It may end with tragedy. It may go well and generously. I started my working career at 17 in the government office on May 1, 1960. I joined Tribhuvan University's administrative job on March 1, 1965, five years after my working career, where I happened to be with Ms Shanti Shrestha, the Chief Librarian of the Tribhuvan University Library. Though the section of the Library at Tripureshor was well and good, the Library as a whole with the Lal Durbar Library was not in good shape with many unseen manufactured problems that needed to be urgently fixed. At that time, I was a young boy of 21. I found Shanti a very efficient, dedicated, gregarious, communicative young lady with a good heart determined to develop that institution by all means. She was devoted to it. She was a lady of self-esteem in a male-dominated society and stood firm with any strong man side to side. No one could dare to dominate her. That is what she was called an iron lady. I was very much impressed by her love of this Library and her devotion to its development. At the same time, I realized that her staff subordinates were not to her dedication and commitment. Instead of being her helping hands, most of them were problem creators behind the scenes. Even they made the system themself to come to the office and go as they wished and the same thing about the duty to work when they wanted. That was the established system there. It seemed no one gave any attention and showed any concern to it since the establishment of the Lal Durbar Library located almost like in a suburban area where people hardly went. No one was supposed to supervise them in the absence of the Library Chief. I had five years of working experience in three different offices - General Post Office, Gorkhapatra Chhapakhana, and the Department of Publicity before I entered this institution. So. I could quickly realize the Library's problems and find solutions to fix them as she wished. Besides, I had a habit and conduct of taking my job as my duty for the nation's service with pure honesty and sincerity, for which I was noticeably appreciated and admired by my former bosses with the double promotion within five years.