A traveller wanders through the noisy, colourful streets of Kathmandu — temples, markets, beggars and street vendors — and in the middle of all that chaos a single flute’s music makes him stop and feel connected to all of humanity. This travelogue shows how the smallest, simplest thing can speak straight to the heart.
Author
Vikram Seth — the extract is taken from his travel book Heaven Lake: Travels through Sinkiang and Tibet.
Setting
Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal — its busy streets, two famous temples and crowded marketplaces.
Genre
A travelogue (travel writing) — a first-person account of places seen, sounds heard and feelings experienced.
Central image
The flute-seller’s music — a quiet, haunting sound that unites all people across time and place.
What is a travelogue?
A travelogue is a piece of writing in which a traveller describes the places he visits, the people he meets and the experiences he has on the journey. "Kathmandu" is an extract from Vikram Seth’s travel book in which he describes his stay in the Nepalese capital before flying home to Delhi. Because it is written in the first person ("I"), the reader sees, hears and smells the city exactly as the narrator does, which makes the description vivid and personal.
Visit to the Pashupatinath temple
The narrator visits two temples in Kathmandu. The first is Pashupatinath, a famous Hindu temple sacred to Lord Shiva. Outside it stands a sign declaring that only Hindus are allowed to enter. There is an atmosphere of total confusion and chaos. Priests, hawkers, devotees, tourists, animals and people are all crowded together. There is a great rush at the entrance, and a fight breaks out between two monkeys, who chase each other and one of which then jumps onto a Shivalinga (the stone symbol of Shiva). Cows wander freely and are washed for the festival.
The river Bagmati
The holy Bagmati river flows beside the temple. The narrator notices saffron-clad washerwomen at work and children bathing in it. A corpse is being cremated on its banks, since the river is considered sacred for death rituals. A small shrine half-protrudes from the stone platform on the riverbank. According to legend, when the whole shrine emerges from the ground, the goddess inside will escape and the evil period of the Kaliyug will end. This mixes the spiritual and the everyday in one scene.
Visit to the Baudhnath stupa
In sharp contrast, the narrator then visits the Baudhnath stupa, the great Buddhist shrine. Here there is stillness and calm. A felt sense of quietness surrounds the place. There is no crowd or noise. Its immense white dome is ringed by a road, and on its outer edge are small shops, many owned by Tibetan immigrants, selling Tibetan prints, antiques, jackets, carpets and brassware. This peaceful Buddhist shrine is described as a haven of quietness in the busy streets around it — the opposite of the noisy Pashupatinath.
The bustling streets and marketplace
The narrator then walks through the lively streets of Kathmandu, which he describes as vivid, mercenary and religious all at once. The streets are full of small shrines with fresh flowers, stray cows on the road, and shops selling everything — flutes, copper utensils, postcards, Western cosmetics, film rolls, chocolate, fizzy drinks and fruit. He enjoys the rich sights, sounds and smells: car horns, bicycle bells, radios blaring film songs, vendors’ cries, the squelching of vegetables underfoot, and a cow chewing on a discarded vegetable. He treats himself to marzipan, a bar of chocolate, a Coca-Cola and a comic book, and reads a love-comic there.
Thoughts of home and the way back
The narrator is fond of travel, yet at this point he feels a sudden, strong wish to be home. He decides to fly straight back to Delhi rather than take the longer, more adventurous land route through Patna, Allahabad, Banaras and the Nepal–India border. He admits he is too tired and lazy to make complicated arrangements, and there is a comforting directness about flying. This honest confession makes the narrator very relatable.
The flute-seller — the heart of the lesson
As he is about to leave, the narrator notices a flute-seller standing quietly with a pole on which fifty or sixty bansuris (flutes) are stuck, sprouting in all directions like the quills of a porcupine. Unlike the other loud vendors, he does not shout to advertise his wares. From time to time he simply plays a flute, choosing a casual tune. The narrator finds this music the most appealing sound of all that he hears in Kathmandu. He reflects that the flute exists in almost every culture of the world — the recorder, the Japanese shakuhachi, the deep bansuri of Hindustani music, the Chinese flutes, the South American reed pipes. Each has its own fingering and music, yet all flutes are made from human breath. To him, the flute is therefore the most universal and most particular of instruments — it belongs to everyone, yet each player makes it his own. The flute’s music feels alive because it comes directly from a person’s breath, and it makes the narrator feel deeply connected to all of humanity.
- Travelogue = a written account of a journey / travel experience.
- Stupa = a dome-shaped Buddhist shrine or monument.
- Shivalinga = a stone symbol representing Lord Shiva.
- Kaliyug = the present age of evil and decline in Hindu belief.
- Haven = a place of safety, calm and peace.
- Mercenary = working only for money; greedy for profit.
- Marzipan = a sweet paste made of sugar and almonds.
- Bansuri = the Indian (Hindustani) bamboo flute.
- Shakuhachi = a traditional Japanese flute.
- Quills = the sharp spines of a porcupine (compared to the flutes on the pole).
Compare the two temples described in ‘Kathmandu’. How does the contrast add to the picture of the city?
- Pashupatinath is a Hindu temple of Lord Shiva; only Hindus may enter.
- It is full of chaos — crowds, priests, hawkers, fighting monkeys, wandering cows and a cremation on the Bagmati river.
- Baudhnath is a Buddhist stupa with an immense white dome surrounded by Tibetan shops.
- It is calm, still and quiet — a haven of peace amid the busy streets.
Why does the narrator find the flute-seller’s music so special?
- Unlike the other loud vendors, the flute-seller does not shout to sell his flutes.
- He simply plays a tune now and then, which is the most appealing sound in the city.
- The flute is found in almost every culture and is played with human breath.
Central theme: the diversity and unity of human life. Kathmandu is a city of striking contrasts — chaos and calm, the sacred and the commercial — yet a single flute’s music shows that all people, across all cultures, are connected. Remember it as P–B–S–F: Pashupatinath (chaos), Baudhnath (calm), Streets & market (vivid & mercenary), Flute-seller (universal music = unity). The two temples = contrast; the flute = connection.
Do not mix up the two temples: Pashupatinath = Hindu and chaotic; Baudhnath = Buddhist and peaceful. The holy river is the Bagmati, not the Ganga. Spell the names correctly: Pashupatinath, Baudhnath, Bagmati, bansuri, Vikram Seth. Remember the flutes are compared to a porcupine’s quills, not a peacock’s feathers. Always end an answer about the flute by linking it to the theme of human connection / universality.
Q1. Describe the scene at the Pashupatinath temple as the narrator saw it.
Answer: At Pashupatinath, the Hindu temple of Lord Shiva, the narrator finds an atmosphere of confusion and chaos. A sign at the gate says that only Hindus may enter. There is a great rush of priests, hawkers, devotees, tourists and animals at the entrance. Two monkeys fight and chase each other, and one of them leaps onto a Shivalinga. Cows wander freely and are washed for a festival. Beside the temple flows the holy Bagmati river, where washerwomen work and children bathe, and a corpse is being cremated on its banks. A small shrine half-emerges from the riverside platform; legend says that when it fully rises, the goddess will escape and the evil age of Kaliyug will end. The whole scene mixes religion, daily life, noise and movement.
Q2. How is the Baudhnath stupa different from the Pashupatinath temple?
Answer: The Baudhnath stupa is a Buddhist shrine and is the complete opposite of Pashupatinath. While Pashupatinath is crowded and chaotic, Baudhnath is full of stillness, calm and quietness. There is no rush and no noise. Its immense white dome is surrounded by a road, and on the outer edge are small shops owned mostly by Tibetan immigrants, selling Tibetan prints, antiques, carpets, jackets and brassware. The narrator describes it as a haven of peace in the middle of the busy city. The contrast between the noisy Hindu temple and the peaceful Buddhist stupa shows the variety of life that Kathmandu holds.
Q3. “The streets of Kathmandu are vivid, mercenary and religious.” Explain with examples.
Answer: The streets of Kathmandu are vivid because they are full of colour, sound and life — car horns, bicycle bells, radios blaring film songs, the cries of vendors and the squelching of vegetables underfoot. They are mercenary (money-minded) because the shops sell everything to anyone — flutes, copper utensils, postcards, Western cosmetics, film rolls, chocolates, fizzy drinks and fruit. They are religious because small shrines stand on the roadside with fresh flowers, and sacred cows wander freely among the shoppers. In a single street, business, worship, food and noise all blend together, which is exactly what makes Kathmandu so lively and unforgettable.
Q4. What does the narrator say about the flute, and why does its music move him so deeply?
Answer: The narrator notices a flute-seller holding a pole stuck with fifty or sixty flutes that point outward like a porcupine’s quills. Unlike the loud vendors around him, the seller does not shout; he simply plays a tune now and then, and the narrator finds this the most appealing sound in the whole city. He reflects that the flute belongs to almost every culture — the recorder, the Japanese shakuhachi, the Indian bansuri, Chinese flutes and South American reed pipes. Though each has its own music, all of them are made to sound by human breath. This makes the flute the most universal yet most particular of instruments. Its music moves the narrator deeply because it comes straight from a human being’s breath and makes him feel a sense of oneness with all humanity, no matter where people live.
- ✅ ‘Kathmandu’ by Vikram Seth is a travelogue describing the capital of Nepal.
- ✅ Pashupatinath (Hindu) is crowded and chaotic; Baudhnath (Buddhist) is calm and peaceful.
- ✅ The holy Bagmati river, fighting monkeys, wandering cows and a cremation fill the temple scene.
- ✅ The lively streets are vivid, mercenary and religious, full of sights, sounds and smells.
- ✅ The quiet flute-seller’s music, made from human breath, makes the narrator feel connected to all of humanity — the theme of unity in diversity.
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