Meet this American who believes getting bored in Nepal is impossible as every Nepali is an artist

 

Maura Moynihan seems a person on a mission to try out every art form there is. She is a painter, writer, poet, standup comic, screenwriter, singer and songwriter. She has worked with Andy Warhol, spent time with celebrities like The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, The Who and Jane Fonda. She has also worked in slums in India. She recently came to Nepal to exhibit her paintings.

In a long conversation, she told Kapil Bisht about how she wound up in the artistic sphere and managed to do the things she has done, about her love affair with Asia, and why she feels at home in Nepal.

When did you first come to Nepal?

I was very lucky. My father was named the US Ambassador to India when I was fifteen. When we arrived in India and I got off the plane, I felt I had come home. Because Delhi gets very hot in summer, we came to Kathmandu in June 1973. Kathmandu in those days was indescribably, blindingly beautiful. Yes, it has changed. So have Delhi and Bangkok and New York. But I still see the old Nepal when I walk around Kathmandu, because the culture here is so strong and old. It is one of the most remarkable civilisations in the world. It is a link to the old Vedic civilisation of India. It has elements of Tibetan Buddhism. And now there is an international community that has been here since the ‘60s.

The story “Masterji” in your short-story collection Yoga Hotel has a character called Sam, who can’t find a place for herself in America and only wants to live in India. You have admitted that Sam resembles you a lot. Have you struggled to find a place for yourself in America? What is it about India that feels like home?

I have had three great loves in life: India, Nepal and Thailand. And I have been so fortunate that my love affairs have been with countries and not people. You feel like you’re breaking up at the airport, but we always get back together when I come back.

Discovering Buddhism at an early age saved my life. That is what brought me to Nepal. And still does. I had visited Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh and travelled extensively in Asia by the time I graduated high school. The first thing that hit me when I got off the plane in the States was: I can’t live here! This country is totally insane. They don’t worship the cow; they worship the hamburger. They don’t have the Mahabharata or Ramayana; they have Star Wars. I was like, get me back to a real civilisation!

America has a lot to offer to many people. I have many friends from Asia who have gone there and gotten excellent educations, but I always feel more at home in a Hindu or Buddhist world. It could be something from my past life. Also, I love the arts, culture, philosophy, the mythology and the rituals. And I never, ever get bored in Asia. How could you get bored in Nepal? It’s not possible. Every day there is a sacred function taking place in the Valley.

Nepalis have a very strong sense of identity and very strong cultural and family ties. That is something we lack in the West. The post-industrial society has sadly led to the collapse of the family structure.