Nepalese Calgarian restaurateur says love and co-operation can help with a crisis like COVID-19

May is Asian Heritage Month and to celebrate, CBC Calgary is featuring Calgarians and what it means to be Asian Canadian in 2021. This First Person piece was written by Narayan Dahal, who owns and operates Pathway Burgers & Momos, a Nepalese restaurant in Calgary. For more information about CBC's First Person stories, please see the FAQ.

As a restaurateur, the only images that dance around my eyes are the shuttered doors, the quiet dining tables, the upturned chairs hugging them, and the disappearing patrons. While social distancing and lockdowns were imposed to "stop the spike" and "bend the curve," I felt a stab in my back. However, I could not go against the government's policies backed up by science.

At times, I grew hopeless and frustrated when the business went down; I could not sleep properly and was haunted by the tales of other business owners closing down their businesses permanently.

Nonetheless, while I saw the government stepping up to the plate, trying to help the small business owners as well, the light at the end of the tunnel was palpable. People complying with the safety rules, and regulations, rolling out of the vaccines by the government, and the citizenry hurrying and scurrying to get the jabs to quell the nasty virus, and the government's plans of opening up the businesses in near future make me very optimistic that the world won't be captive of the virus forever.

It's the love and co-operation at the time of crisis that we come together with the sentiment of 'inter subjectivity,' which ultimately helps sort out the racial issues propped up by some biases.- Narayan Dahal

Hopefully, the patrons will once again make my restaurant a stomping ground. The sight of happy families seated across the dining tables savouring their delightful Nepalese dishes would not be limited to my imagination. We know at the moment everything is up in the air, yet if the situation improves and normalcy returns, I shall stick to my plans of running my business for some more years. I am excited to see the topsy-turvydom vanish soon.

Pandemic did not come alone. The fear of race-based harassment loomed larger and lurked around at the beginning of the outbreak majorly because the news showed people of Asian origins targeted elsewhere.

I was fortunate enough never to become a victim. I am grateful to Calgarians who know how to live together as a social fabric when time becomes more challenging and rough. We are fortunate to live and thrive in such a good community, where empathy and sympathy become the main mantra at the time of adversity. Besides, diversity in Calgary has helped us understand each other properly. I feel that Calgarians know better that it's the virus they have to fight against, not the people of specific origin.

In a nutshell, due to the pandemic, I did not personally have to go through an identity crisis, I was fortunate to get heaps of support regardless of my origin. However, at times I felt lost in the land of cultures and suddenly I found myself seeking for my existential meaning. One truth I have realized is that "staying woke, and staying angry" doesn't solve the existing problems. It's the love and co-operation at the time of crisis that we come together with the sentiment of 'inter subjectivity,' which ultimately helps sort out the racial issues propped up by some biases.

Pandemic, without a doubt, has upended everything: family, friends, marriages,and small businesses. Of course, my restaurant was hard hit, and as I mentioned earlier, at times I thought I was down in the dumps. To make matters worse, my elder brother tested COVID-19 positive last year in December, which made me suddenly rethink about the purpose of my life and business and all existential values of a human life. I could not concentrate properly on my work and pay proper attention to my patrons. Only when my brother started recovering and recuperating from the deadly virus, I regained my faith and hope in life.

Life is all about moving forward no matter what hurdles and hassles seem to challenge it. I remembered Alan Paton's words from Cry, the Beloved Country. "Tragedy is not that the things are broken, tragedy is that they are not mended yet." 

We will mend the broken things and overcome the tragedy.

As a new immigrant, I did not know so many things about Canadian cultures. I was very naive about the workplace environment. It was my first day at my new job. Even though my boss had his name tag pinned to his shirt, I was used to referring to my managers as "sir/madam" in Nepal. Very innocently, I addressed him as "sir" a few times. To my surprise, he was visibly upset with me when I called him "sir," which I thought was a polite way of addressing a boss. He requested me to call him by his name. This instance really elevated my confidence in this country. Now I am a proud owner of my own business, where I am able to bring authentic Nepalese products to Calgary.

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