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.

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.

Where's the system??

Is there any system in our country?? We don't get a PM, the garbage isn't picked up, traffic jam never ends, results aren't published even after one year... Whats going on.. Where the hell is the system in our country??

Destroying nation??

Our nation is going down and is in the verge of destruction. What's going on here?? Even after the fifth round of election, PM is not selected. Parties are fighting among themselves for power, planes are crashing. Don't know what's wrong with the nation. The recent crash reflected the irresponsibility of the management and also technicians involved. Our country is going towards destruction rather than development.

Holidays!!

Holidays are what most of the people die for, be it a preschooler, college student or a job holder. Everyone wants a break for themselves from their work. Everyone are excited about their holidays and start making plans about how to spend it. Some do their house cores that are pending, some their office works while some just hang around with friend or sleep the whole time. Some could get really creative during their holidays.

Holidays after SLC or High School exams are the longest and most useful if used in proper way. We have plenty of time to take various classes on the subjects that interests us, can develop new hobbies or visit new places. It enables us to get knowledge and develop our skills.

However, it could get boring sometimes. Even one day off would make us lazy and bored. Especially during Bandhas and load shedding hours, when we could neither get out of house nor watch TV or do other works that needs electricity.

We could, then, read books, do some creative works like drawing, gardening, cooking, etc. There are lots of hobbies if we think of. So look out for it and get creative and make your holiday useful.

Are we really safe?

The way media person Jamim Shah was killed on broad daylight highlights the threats to our life and make us wonder if we are really safe. The mystery killer was found out only after a week or so after his murder. The case made me think if the police who is responsible for our protection also gets involved in killing then how safe we really are? If it is so easy for the people to kill and run away then what are we going to do about our life. its so uncertain, everything is so uncertain in this country. The killing are increasing in the name of ransom, revenge and other reasons. The reason for Jamim's murder, however, has not came to light. It is a matter of serious concern for all the people. Why don't people just live and let live?