Anke Stäcker

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Lost in translation

Mona Street, Allawah on Monday, 10 August 2020

I have never been to Allawah or even heard of it. But it has a train station. A strong, cold wind is blowing down Mona Street. The Allawah hotel is at the corner and the small strip of shops around there is protected from the wind and warm in the sunshine. The barber shop is closed, maybe just because it’s Monday. The Nepalese takeaway is closed because of a technical problem. “Inconvenience is highly solicited,” says a hand-written note on the glass door. I am trying to think what word they mixed it up with. There must be an expression in Nepalese used in this context and lost in translation.