Kathmandu, May 26 -- It is Friday. The date is November 10 and it's your birthday. It is the day you revealed something that changed my life, our lives.

"You had promised to tell me an important thing about yourself on your 16th birthday, do you remember?" I remind you as we sit on the edge of the cliff overlooking the great Pacific.

A long silence ensues and a distant unnoticed hum of the sea wafts through our ears. The melody is sad and melancholic.

"I have an incurable heart disease," you say hesitantly, "within a few years my heart will completely succumb to the wrath of this monster of a disease and I will perish from this world." You inhale a deep, gentle breath. And I watch you, silent and broken.

A shy breeze passes by, pushin...