Meet Dr. Pranav Joshi

This man has changed my perspective, my goals, and me as a person. He is such an inspiration and I am SO incredibly grateful that I was able to spend a few days at his clinic. 

There are lots of dogs on the property. Often times the animals end up staying at the clinic to recover for an extended time...and then they don't leave or it's impossible to part with them. Here are some of the permanent residents below. You'll notice that they all have some issues, but they are happy, energetic dogs. 

I know what you're thinking--this dog has an incredible natural turnout. Well, it's not exactly natural.

Straight leg = normal

Amputee. He was the sweetest little guy!

I don't know the back story on this dog, but if I had to guess he was likely hit by a car or motorbike and received spinal cord injuries. He doesn't have use of his back legs. He just tucks them up under his chin and walks around on his two front legs. Watch for him in the video above. This guy is a fighter. He's also an attention hog. He would follow me around and paw at me until I leaned down to pet him. 

Surgery time

It occurred to me that not everyone has seen a dog uterus and ovaries. So, here you go. Dogs have a bicornuate uterus, compared to the simplex uterus of humans. What that means is that a dog's uterus is not a large single chamber, but rather split into uterine horns. It makes more sense when you realize that dogs are litter-bearers and humans are not, usually. The tan, bean-looking think in the foreground at about 8:00 is an ovary.

Manual tattooing. It's basically needles arranged into numbers that are pressed into the flesh and then filled with ink, see picture below.

Dr. Pranav had this hanging in his office, and when I have my own space you will see it hanging in mine too. 

 Dr. Pranav has taken it upon himself to spay and neuter the dogs around Bhaktapur. Nobody asked him to, and the government does not pay him. He uses the money he receives from his charity, Bhaktapur Animal Welfare Society and profit from his private practice, to fund his dog welfare work. Every Wednesday through Friday his team goes out and catches 5-7 dogs, sterilizes them, and releases them back to the area where they were picked up. He selflessly gives of his time, knowledge, materials, medications, etc to perform these surgeries. It is so inspiring to me! Through this endeavor he has built himself a reputation and a safer city. When we were walking around we bumped into at least 4 people that came up and talked to us and thanked Dr. Pranav for treating their dog. He's living proof that you can do well by doing good. The following pictures are ones I took while out walking around the outskirts of the city looking for some patients.

Anybody wanna take a guess at what this is? We just found it on the hillside while we were walking around. 

Here's some more of it. It isn't cultivated, it just grows wild. I'll put the answer at the end of this post. Vet friends: this was a plant in our Toxicology class

The vast majority of buildings are made of brick with a little bit of concrete, just like this one. It's not hard to imagine how a large earthquake could cause a lot of damage here.

Typical roadside shops with the living quarters above.

 Even though the houses are tightly packed together, people are still very connected to their food source. You can see the gardens that are commonly found on every property, even within the city.

Looking for dogs...

This is a dog that lived nearby the clinic. When I first saw it I thought it might be a wolf with his large size, solid black color and scruffy appearance. 

Now, I know some of you are asking, "Jess, how do you catch these dogs? Aren't they free-roaming? My little furbaby barely comes when called, so how do you get close enough to catch these dogs?" 

The answer my friends: tranquilizer darts and a blowgun

Pranav practicing. His aim and the power behind his shots is quite impressive; makes me glad I am not on the receiving end.

Pranav has a few different blowguns. He uses different ones depending on what animal he is darting and the distance the dart has to travel. This green one above he outfitted with a reel and fishing line. He kept losing darts as the dogs would run off and could either not be found, or the dart would fall out somewhere on the mad dash between being hit and sedation kicking in. So, now he attaches fishing line to the darts and after he hits the dog, he just reels the dart back in. Genius! 

This is a crowd that gathered after darting a dog. We picked up 5 dogs this morning, and only had to dart one. The rest could be easily caught and people went and caught some dogs for us once they knew what we were doing. Dog population control is very well-received by the people here. This is great free publicity and how Pranav has built his reputation.

So, the plant above, what are your guesses? 

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The plant is Cannabis sativa, aka marijuana.

Potter's Square

The center of Bhaktapur's ceramic industry. I heard about it from my guidebook and wanted to go so when I got off work early one afternoon I set out to find it. Turns out if was only about a 3 minute walk from the guesthouse. Sweet! I wandered around the square and saw potters hard at work, talked with students learning how to paint mandalas, and met a really nice young man, you'll see him in pictures below. He asked the questions I always get, "Where are you from and what are you doing here?" Turns out he is a major dog-lover and we spent the next couple hours together chatting and he showed me his shop, told me his story, and then gave me a quick pottery lesson. It was such a cool experience to have that connection with a person and to be able to have made pottery in Potter's Square. I'll just put a nice big check next to that on my bucket list.

Freshly made pottery drying in the hot sun

This picture has some interesting components to it. First, you'll see large wooden beams supporting this building. Bhaktapur was hit quite hard by last year's earthquake and numerous buildings were destroyed. Others that were damaged are supported by beams like this. Second, there are large straw mounds. These act as storehouses for building fires. You just walk around the mound pulling out straw and you're ready to build a fire to cook dinner.

Adding slits to freshly made pots. These are similar in concept to piggy banks.

Master at work

Pots, pots, and more pots

I found a school teaching the art of painting mandalas.

This little man was hanging outside the school and was quite interested in me. I took his picture and then showed it to him. Isn't he just adorable?

Students at work

Made with all-natural pigments

A completed mandala, made by a master 

Earthquake damage

Shop

Pots...

More pots

Here's my awesome new friend I mentioned earlier. This is his shop behind us. He creates and sells and sleeps in this building. He used to live in the houses in the picture below, just to the right of his shop, but after the earthquake it was no longer safe to live there. He said the floors gave out and that the whole thing is unstable. He gave me a first hand account of that day and, wow, I was moved. The resiliency of these people is amazing. It's very obvious however, that tourism is not what it used to be. I heard this reiterated many times by the citizens and shop keepers throughout my stay in Bhaktapur. I saw maybe 3 or 4 other foreigners during my 3 day stay in the city. I hit the major landmarks, there should have definitely been more tourists. Tourism is how many of these people make a living. Consider the hardships they face of trying to rebuild after the earthquake when there is no money being made. It has been a year since the earthquake and things are still not back to how they used to be for many of these people. It's heartbreaking. 

After getting to know each other, he gave me a quick lesson on the wheel. I was terrible at it. He was so patient and we just laughed it off. 

"I don't know what I am doing...help me."

Messy, but fun!

Some of the vessels I made. By "made" I mean I attempted to form them and then he came in and turned my mess into something beautiful. He was very talented. In the video below you can see him at work. In case you can't understand what we are saying, I ask him how long he has been crafting pottery and he responds that he started when he was 9 years old and has been doing it for over 10 years now. He comes from a long line of potters, both his father and his grandfather also made a living by the craft. I spent a fair chunk of cash in his shop. If you get a souvenir made of clay, it came from here.

Bhaktapur

I always thought the notion of falling in love with a city was kind of silly, but now I get it. I have fallen in love with Bhaktapur! It is a World Heritage Site and the history contained within the city is astounding. Many of the temples date back to the 15th century. Everywhere you look in the city there is beautiful wood-working and pottery, shrines and temples, literally EVERYWHERE. The city is well-known for its collection of wood artisans, weavers, and potters. I was set up in a guesthouse that was right in the old city, close to Durbar Square and other famous sites. When it cooled off in the evening I would just take my camera and go walk around the streets. It is a beautiful city in its own way. Look at these pictures and hopefully you'll understand what I mean. 

Shrine

All brick and carved wood

The guesthouse where I stayed

View from the rooftop

Looking down at the quiet morning streets

5-story temple, a symbol of Bhaktapur

View from the rooftop

The guesthouse where I stayed shared a courtyard with the Til Mahadev Narayan temple. Which was cool...except that worshiping starts as early as 4:00am, and it isn't quiet. There are lots of bells that are continuously being rung. It's very loud and not conducive to sleep to say the least! I had ear plugs and was still woken up by the bells every morning. One morning I went down and walked around the courtyard and snapped these pictures of the temple.

I don't know what it is, but it's pretty.

Such incredible carving

Shrines

Again, don't know what it is, but it's cool

More shrines

Doors on the temple

Close-ups of the carvings

Doors of the guesthouse

This is my roommate. He was so courteous, quiet, and ate all the spiders.

Juju dhau or King Curd

A famous Bhaktapur culinary specialty. It is delicious!

"Juju dhau is a sweetened custard-like yogurt that comes from Bhaktapur, Nepal, and is an important component of all feasts and celebrations. Juju dhau literally means "king of yogurt" in the Newari language. While cow's milk is used to make regular yogurt, fresh buffalo milk is traditionally used for juju dhau, resulting in a richer taste and texture. To make juju dhau, the milk is boiled, sweetened, mixed with culture, and poured into decorative, natural red clay pots called maato ko kataaro. It is then placed in a warm area, on a bed of paddy husks (the papery covering of rice grains), covered with another kataaro on top, and wrapped in several thick cotton blankets to maintain a warm temperature while the yogurt sets. Because the clay pots are porous, the excess liquid from the yogurt slowly evaporate, leaving a delicious, thick, smooth, and creamy yogurt. It is then transported and sold in the market in the same clay pots. A visit to Bhaktapur is not complete without sampling a bowl of Juju dhau." Taken from: 

http://tasteofnepal.blogspot.com/2012/02/juju-dhau-king-of-yogurt-from-bhaktapur.html

The meat market. You can smell these shops from quite a ways down the street. I took this picture at 9am, and it was already 83 degrees F outside, just imagine how this open meat market might smell, you're probably right. Note the smart dogs that are hanging around. I don't buy meat here in Nepal, because the food safety instruction I had in my public health class all comes flooding back to me and I just can't do it...just, nope. I am very careful about what meats I eat when I go out and often time just choose to go for the vegetarian option knowing that this is likely where they purchased their meats. 

Buddhist monks

View of the city from the hillside

Just a big, gorgeous tree

Shrines to Lord Shiva, covered in flowers and tika

Another view from high up on the hill

Some classic Nepali cuisine prepared by Pranav's wife. There's various beans, pickled veggies, buffalo meat, and bean cakes. It was delicious, and also the most spicy food I have ever eaten in my entire life. No joke, I thought I was going to be sick my mouth was so hot. My eyes were watering and I was guzzling water, but I didn't find relief until I ate some juju dhau. Everyone had a good laugh at me. I told her it was delicious, because it was, but I wasn't able to finish it because it was so incredibly spicy.

Looking out my window of the guesthouse at the busy city streets below

Views during dinner on the rooftop cafe

A panoramic view from the roof of the guesthouse

One evening as I was walking home, I was stopped by this festival procession. I don't know what festival it was, but they are carrying around a gold cow and people come up to touch the cow as it passes by. The walked the city streets for the following 2 hours.

I love Bhaktapur!