Building Road to Maitighar

When I pass through Babarmahal-Maitighar route, I feel like ‘WOW! I am in the capital city’. Apart from that, there is nowhere else that makes me feel so, well, of course there are few other places and things but let’s not focus on that for now.

Getting back to Babarmahal, the wide roads, not-so-messy light poles (without the wires) at least at the side of the road, lights with solar panels, neatly planted trees on the sides, freshly painted dividers, clean and unbroken sidewalks, all of these make me feel that yes I am in the capital. The road from Maitighar to Baneshwor, even to Koteshwor Chowk clearly gives us the feeling of a capital city but just as I cross the Chowk towards the route to Balkumari, it is the worst road one could ever be on. And it has been like that for over four months now.

As far as I could remember, the Baneshwor-Maitighar route was built within few months and now that the SAARC Conference is all set to happen in Nepal, the roads have also received finishing touches. Unfortunately, the Koteshwor-Satdobato route, however, have not received much attention. The dusty fog always covers the way as soon as the day gives way to afternoon. I wonder how the drivers find their way and Oh, how can I ever forget the never ending, usually an hour long traffic jam on the route! How I wish Mr. Modi had put forward a wish to visit Patan through Koteshwor! I am sure this road would have been ready by now.

It’s incredible, the sort of motivation it takes our government to get to work. All those tax payers paying a part of their hard earned money for almost non-existent benefit they get in return, all those troubles we Nepali citizens face on daily basis, the number of complaints we make to the government, the support we could show to them if only they had asked, none of these could get them to work, none of these could get our government to repair roads or erect street lamps. One international conference and up and about they go. Feels like they had some magic wand they waved and suddenly they had money and labor force to start the construction and repair works. Unfortunately, the wand only worked in the route these delegates would probably take. I just wish they had put forward a desire to go on a tour of the entire city. Maybe then the roads of Kathmandu would have been transformed.

There is no saying about how our government works and no one can, I believe, predict what the government will be doing or what will motivate it to work. All I wish is maybe someday before I die, I shall see our government motivated to work for its citizens and for their benefits rather than to show it to the delegates of other countries. I understand that impression matters and to earn a place in the world, one should learn to give an impression, a good one at that. However, if you cannot earn the respect, love and trust of your own people, there is no point in trying to win it from others. As we say charity begins at home, I believe love, trust and respect should also begin from home. You see, change should come from within.

We can only wish that this construction and repair works do not end here and shall continue even after the conference is over. We wish the money that we received from our neighboring nation shall be put to proper use. Else, repairing roads of only one route or the couple of them while all other roads are covered with dust and pebbles is like buying a brooch when you don’t even own a suit?

My take on The Gurkha's Daughter

Recently completed a book, The Gurkha's Daughter, by Prajwal Parajuly. I will not consider it a bad book although it could not meet my expectations. The book, in fact, is a good read. It tells the story of the resident as well as non-resident Nepalese. Their social as well as psychological changes and issues are wonderfully presented in the book and the characters mostly belong to the hilly regions of Nepal as well as India. Although the stories are good, the book, however, could not meet my expectation.
I expected the book to be a novel (a lack of knowledge in my part before starting the book) rather than a short stories collection. I expected it to depict the plights and pains, happiness and pride of being a Gurkha's daughter. But after reading the book, I found that the title was taken from one of the short stories, which although presented the social context and condition of the family of a British Gurkha soldier in Nepal, could not exactly captivate me.
I wanted to read a book that would keep me interested for a long time but while reading The Gurkha's Daughter, I easily got distracted. Were it a novel depicting the story of a Gurkha's daughter, it might have garnered my attention for a long time. I had wanted to read it the moment I heard its title but as it is said, don't judge a book by its cover, in my case, judging a book by its title didn't go so well.
Parajuly's writing reminded me of Samrat Upadhyay, who is famous for his short story collections such as Arresting God in Kathmandu, The Royal Ghost and The Guru of Love (books that had already found way into my reading schedule). I found many similarities in the writings of these two authors.
The first similarity of course was the structure of their books, short stories collection. Another distinct similarity is their choice of subject matter or the social setting of their characters. Most of their characters were of course Nepali, while Upadhyay's characters were from Nepal only, Parajuly chose his characters from Nepal as well as India (all having their origin as Nepali). The social setting or the economic and social background of the characters are more or less similar, usually upper or lower middle class. It probably was their own socio-cultural setting and background which inspired them for the stories. Although their writings were found to be similar, they are equally distinguishable, too.
Parajuly's character's were mostly based in Darjeeling or hill areas while Upadhyay's characters are always found in Kathmandu. Also, Upadhyay's writings were found to be more focused on relationships while relationships aren't major focus of Parajuly.
Both their works made me think whether our society is actually like how they both present it. Of course, their stories give us reflection of what and how Nepalese society is like, I cannot find comfort in the fact the our society has gone towards that direction. Well, who am I to comment on such broader issues like society and culture when I do not have proper understanding of my own culture and society? Nevertheless, living in Nepal and observing my surroundings and people, things, culture, relationships, etc. I find it hard to relate to the characters of Upadhyay's writings. However, I have found people and stories that are closer to Parajuly's characters.
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, author of Spanish novel Don Quixote had wrote "there is no book so bad...that it does not have something good in it." Indeed, every book is good in itself as it has something new and different to offer than the other. We learn something from every book we read and there is no such thing as bad book. It is only the matter of our individual (and sometimes collective) choice and perception that we categorize a book as good or bad.
I do not consider any of the books mentioned above as bad books, they are, in fact, good in the sense they give us new perspectives of seeing the society we live in. I would definitely give an 'OK' if anyone asks me whether they should read them or not, however, I shall not suggest them to buy them to add to their collection unless they have read it on their own. Moreover, what I have learned from my experience is that selecting a book on the basis of its review is not healthy all the time as different people have different taste and your taste might be completely different from those reviewers. Nevertheless, to learn about new book and stories, it is always advisable to seek reviews, if not online than from someone who shares similar interests. Afterall, at the end of the day, it is always a pleasure to sit on your bed with a good book in hand.

Nepali Education System

Nepali education system goes beyond my head and I am sure many people agree with me.

Nepali education system mostly focuses on the theoretical part and that too, not just for higher level but also for the preschool level. I agree that we need to have theoretical knowledge along with practical skills but what I don’t understand is the reason for torturing the young mind that are just beginning to evolve.

My question is to those authorities who are responsible for approving and also designing the course structure for preschool (pre-primary) education system. Why should the children be tortured in the name of providing education? Getting an education is a matter of choice, well, maybe not for those kids but mostly it is a matter of choice rather than compulsion. What is compulsory is to be literate and at least have knowledge of the basics.

As Einstein had wonderfully said, “Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school.”

Education is not about going to school every day carrying bulky books and ten kilogram bags. It’s about learning skills and gaining knowledge which would help you in future. Einstein was a genius and there is no doubt about that. In fact, his brilliance still remains unchallenged. But did he become such a genius by going to school every day and reading bulky books and doing series of exercises on notebooks? The answer is NO! He was curious and his genius lies in this interest in learning more about anything and everything he saw.

The highest level of education can be received with interest and curiosity. One must be interested and curious about things and only then could they be able to learn more. There is no use making someone repeat few pages of the books every day for a year and evaluating their talents on the basis of what they write on a piece of paper. Some people are brilliant in speaking while they suck at writing and some people express themselves well with their writings while they suck at speaking with others.

Everyone has a different talent and their talents could not be judged by one method alone. You cannot call a fish dumb because he cannot climb a tree and you cannot call a monkey genius because he flies from tree to tree with excellence. These are the kinds of talents they are born with and both of these are totally different from one another. Same goes with the children. Not all of them have same talent and so, not all of them could be judged in the same way.

But that alone is not the point. The point is, they should also be able to hone their skills and talents. Why is it that a child who scores 90% in board exams but sucks in sports or any other activities considered a genius and a child who is excellent in all extracurricular activities but scores only 40% in board exams considered a failure? Why do we tend to run so much after the numbers? Be it percentage, marks or ranks? The only thing people find worth appreciating is the number and not the skill or talent a child have.

I have seen parents putting pressure on their children for excelling in exams and the children haven’t even completed their primary level education, yet. They have their whole life to carry the burden of exams and scores and marks and percentage. Why not let them enjoy their childhood as a normal child? Of course you should make them understand the value of education and excelling since childhood but not at the cost of their childhood. They will never get it back!

If your child does not fall in top five category in class, don’t panic. Your child is doing fine. It is NOT compulsion to top the monthly tests all the time. Give them a break. Make them study an hour for whole year, not five hours a day for a whole week before exams. Prepare them from the very start. It will teach them the value of time and also help them excel the exams (that you value the most) and also live their childhood as a normal child should live. 

The democratic version of the Rana reign

Recently, I have had a lot of time for myself and I spent most of this time doing one thing that I enjoy the most - reading novels!

My recent read Satprayas left me thinking and making comparisons between the Rana rule and present Republic rule in the country. This book by Diamond Sumsher Rana, as most of his other works, tells the story of the Rana reign in Nepal. It mostly revolves around Dev Sumsher Rana, the reformist and probably the only democratic Rana ruler in the country whose democratic and people-oriented ideologies didn't let him stay on power for more than few months. 

Dev continuously tries to work for the betterment of the common people and development of the country which is not liked by the selfish Rana rulers who are more interested in their own personal development and entertainment. Long before he becomes the Prime Minister of Nepal, he approaches the then PMs with the proposals of starting development works in the country. The proposals are postponed with false assurances by the rulers, which Dev happens to believe. When he comes to power, he starts to work seriously on his dream projects, of opening schools, educating the common people, starting hydro power plants in the country, etc. His brothers, naturally doesn't like it and take over the power from him. 

This reminded me how such things still happen in our country. Whoever wants to do good are only given false hopes and assurances by others. Power and wealth are still being misused by those in power to support their personal development rather than the national development.

The book is considered as a historic novel so naturally, many things written there are true. I learned many things from it which made me think and compare the two political eras of our country. Here are some comparisons that I have made:

1.     The Rana rulers claimed to be powerful and strong. They were tyrant. But no matter how strong they presented themselves to be, they were in constant fear. They did not have to fear the common people like the politicians (if they do) have to now, but their own brothers. They are known for killing and overthrowing each other for power. Killing of their own kin was what brought them to power in the first place and it didn't quite stop. Well, even if the killing did, the mistrust remained. They did not trust each other and even a slight misunderstanding between one another lead them into plotting and taking over the control for themselves. This practice still exists in our political world. The leaders don't trust each other and if someone (outside of their political party) is in power, they start plotting to overthrow them and take the power for themselves. No wonder, we don't have a stable political leadership in the country.

2.     The Rana rulers lived extravagantly. They loved to show that they had enormous amounts of wealth (which of course wasn't theirs but belonged to the people of Nepal). They raised the taxes if their Dukutis were running low on wealth. They took people's money and spend them for their personal interest and entertainment. Looking at how our top leaders and country heads live and travel, we can rest assure that the practice of using people's money for personal benefit still exists. The only difference now is that the people are educated enough to know that their hard earned money is being wasted but yet, they do not seem to complain. The taxes still continues to rise. I wonder how poor our late Kings must have been because even after nationalizing all their wealth, our government has not been able to cover the loans and are in deep debt which results as price hike that only seems to affect the common people and not the ones riding the expensive air-conditioned vehicles around the clean roads of the capital.

3.     The newly appointed Shree 3 Maharaj (The title given to the Prime Minister then) would transfer all the national treasure into his palace. Few lakhs (One lakh of that time was more or less equivalent to one crore of today) were given to the second and third-in-command like Mukhtiyars and Hajuria. I fear the practice still exists, although not openly and not in the same way (you need to show some respect to those guys at Income Tax office, don't you?). The Prime Ministers and other Ministers in power still likes to live the same way and spend millions on their unnecessary travels to the foreign countries (apart from Sushil Koirala of course). I don't understand why discussions on state matters require the PMs and Ministers visit foreign country with their family (PLEASE let me know if this is necessary as my understanding of politics is limited). 

4.     Many development projects are still 'under construction' or limited to papers just like it was more than a hundred years ago. We are given assurances and hopes but not results. We only hear promises but do not see the actions. Dev Sumsher dreamed of starting hydro power plants in Karnali and Koshi, which to date, has not been completed (I wonder if it has been started at all).

There are many practices today which would remind us of the Rana reign if only we had enough time to sit, think and compare. We barely get enough time to spend with our family let alone compare the political eras. Our everyday struggle to provide a better life for our family does not give us any time to think about our country. We let everything happen around us without frowning and which is why the political leaders have so much control over our lives. They could easily turn our lives upside down if they want because we have forgotten how much power we have over them. We let them rule us when they are there only to serve us. If only we had enough time to think and take some action.

Well, I did have enough time to think after I left my job and waited for my college to begin. There was nothing else to do, thanks to the hours of load-shedding, which made me grab a book and then think about these issues over and over again.

The conclusion I came to often terrifies me. We abolished the Rana rule decades ago but did we actually do it? Are those days really over? Because from what I can see and feel, the system still exists. I fear that the Republican system in the country is only the modified, refined and so-called 'democratic' version of the Rana rule.

My entry as a cricket fan!

I had never been a cricket fan. Not once in my life had I ever watched a cricket match, let alone understand it. (The ones I went to during my school days don’t count as we were forced to go there by our school!) I still don’t understand it except for the basics that even a child would know (wickets down, fours and sixes, you know it). However, for the first time in my life, I had watched a CRICKET match with such an interest and excitement.

I was there, in front of the screen cheering for my country, praying for winning wickets and that grand victory that our team would get against Afghanistan. History is written today, indeed. It was the first time that Nepal beat Afghanistan. And it was the first time I had watched a cricket match with such excitement. Our boys proved that they can beat anyone when they make up their mind.

I feel sad that I couldn’t see them batting but their fielding was mind blowing. The excitement, the fear, the happiness, the stopping of heart at the opponent’s flying balls, the sigh of relief when run wasn’t given, the shouting when the wickets went down, the mixed feelings of joy, fear, pride, all rushing through my veins. How could I have been away from it for this long? Why hadn’t I ever experienced it before?

Well, I know the answer – our team had not played like this before! They hadn’t played World T20 before. They had not had such victory before! Nepali Cricket Team is what brought me into the world of Cricket. If it weren’t for Nepali Team, I might never have watched a cricket match! And I thank them for introducing me to this whole new world. The excitement and pride that I am feeling cannot be expressed in words. I don’t know what’s going on with me but I feel butterflies on my tummy. As silly as it may sound, I am actually feeling that!

So proud of Nepali Cricket Team! I wish for many more victories to come your way.

PS: If they can play this well without proper training and facilities, I can’t help but feel sorry for all those teams they could defeat if they are provided with similar training! Wishing for many more victories to come to their way! They deserve it all!

If only I was brave enough!

It was a lazy Saturday morning when I first saw her. A small beautiful thing, she touched my heart as soon as I saw her. She was not extraordinarily gorgeous but was beautiful indeed and surely very, very hungry as she ate a plate full of rice without stopping. Seeing her eat and lap up the water I gave her was a pleasure. I felt maybe I had found a small playmate for myself at this age, after all. However, my pleasure and happiness, like everything else, didn't last long.
Every morning before I went to office, I would feed her and every evening, when I returned back, she could come to our gate to receive me with curiosity and happiness. I could feel her excitement as she would come to me running hoping I would treat her with something different today. However, there wasn't much to give to her except different varieties of biscuits. It was a pleasure seeing her live such a carefree life. Eat, play and sleep. That was all she did and that was all she was required to do. She seemed happy and I was happy for her. I used to call her Chotu, until I realized her sex. So, I had just changed her name to Choti. Everything was fine for a week or so, until she did something that upset my landlady.

According to my landlady, she climbed up to her puja room on the third floor and messed it up. So this cold winter morning, my Choti had finished her meal and was comfortably sleeping under the warmth of the sun when the landlady came with a thick stick and starting beating her. Poor Choti cried so hard that made me jump. I heard her cry close to my room so I went towards my room to try to see her from there. But I couldn't see her. All I could hear was her cry for help, probably pleading me to come out and save her. When I finally got the courage to save her, I went outside. Only to see that the landlady was still waiting close to the open gate with a big stick on her hand to chase Choti out of there. As soon as the lady saw me, she started complaining about what Choti did. Her daughter-in-law added to it but all this time when they were complaining to me, my mind was thinking about Choti and how she must have felt. I went to see her and found her hiding in a corner where the landlady, probably fearing that Choti might attack, did not seem to go.
As soon as Choti saw me standing at the entrance, she started wagging her tail, as if to saw she was pleased to see me and that she trusted me to protect her. I signaled and she came running to me. She started to get all over my feet as if she was on the safest place on earth. I, however, did not know how to save her. I could not muster up the courage to fight for her. She was, after all, unpredictable and I could not assure our landlady that she would not cause any mess in any of her rooms anymore. With a heavy heart, I lifted her up and put her on the other side of the wall. She kept looking at me and all I could do was stare back at her with sad eyes and tousle her short furry body. I whispered her to run away and find a safe place somewhere. She was shivering in cold and I could not even provide her warmth. What right did I have to keep a pet if I couldn't even protect her?
As if sensing my sadness and understanding my word, my Choti ran away from me, the house and the landlady, who had now come closer to where Choti was. She went towards the back gate of the house and looked at me. At that moment, I felt I heard my heart break into pieces as I saw my Choti looking at me with sad eyes. I felt she was saying her final goodbye to me and then, just as she had come, she went away.