Ramesh Lamsal

I firmly believe in the saying: A friend in need is a friend indeed. We all have a number of friends, but not all may come forth when you are going through hard times. And some others never counted as intimate prove to be steadfast.
A few years ago, one of my schoolmates, who then lived in Sindhuli, called me and said he was in urgent need of Rs. 200,000 and asked if I could help him out. Luckily, I had the money. I told him that I could lend him the amount, but since I was planning to build a house, I might need it at any time. He assured me that he would return the amount when I needed it. I dispatched the money the same day and felt satisfied that I could be of some help to a close friend. He visited Kathmandu from time to time and we met and had snacks and beers together, joined by a mutual friend. He said, “I am very thankful, Ramesh. I was really hard pressed on that day but you rescued me.”
He said he along with some others had invested in a local hospital but the party from whom they bought the facility had deceived them, etc. He also had, I assume still has, hardware business there which he said was quite lucrative.
Time passed by; I had to begin construction of the house. Naturally, I called him and asked for the money. He said he would arrange for it and get back to me, but he didn’t. I had to call him again; strangely, he didn’t receive my phone calls. I just gave up on him and continued with the construction. And months later, out of the blue, he called me. He said he was sorry for not being able to return the money on time. He said he was in Kathmandu. “Let’s meet at Maitidevi.”
That’s where we used to hang out. I thought he had come with the cash, but when we met and had momos and more, he returned only Rs. 50,000 and asked me to wait for another couple of weeks for the rest of the money. He also promised to ‘help’ in whatever way he could, later. I had no option but to acquiesce. But when we met the next time, he gave me another Rs. 50,000 and only after many more calls he remitted another 100,000 rupees.
My wife knew that I had lent Rs. 200,000 to some Sindhuli classmate, who she did not know personally, and inquired me from time to time if he had returned the amount. I boasted with her that he ran several businesses there and would surely help me in later phase of the house construction and its finishing. But that ‘help’ never materialised. Fortunately, my wife, who was stationed in Biratnagar for over two years on her job when all this happened, forgot about the matter and stopped asking me about it. Meanwhile, the mutual friend consoled me saying, “This is how you know who is a genuine friend and who is not.”
I met him on a couple of occasions afterwards with other schoolmates; one time, they even cut a cake to mark my birthday at a Baneshwor restaurant. He was the one who darted out of the restaurant and brought the cake. Through his Facebook posts and with updates from our mutual friend, I deduce that he has bought a house in Kathmandu and seems to have been well-settled. I wish him a happy and prosperous life.