By Sanjeev Satgainya
July 28/TKP-
Trained soldiers?
The would-be president (Chairman Prachanda) and others in command are inside an extensive security detail these days. The state of the state indeed has achieved what could be termed as the biggest one since the peace agreement was signed in November 2005.
The comrades, who fought the guerilla war for over a decade for the sake of the people as they claim, are now shivering due to fear psychosis that they are under threats from the very people. What a contrast? Not only have they their own security measures, the state also is quite benevolent to arrange extra-security for them. And to add on it, the security guards arranged by the state recently for the five Maoist ministers were rejected. The allegation: the security guards sent for their security were from the Bhairavnath battalion --one of the notorious in the recent past with allegedly having hand in killing and disappearance of many people -- and were trained for warfare and the CPN-M sensed a ploy against them.
Great, I wonder, where on earth, the soldiers are not trained for warfare? In Switzerland? No more jokes dear comrades.
Sitaula's lies
Home Minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula was not at all embarrassed to disown his statement that he had made in Kathmandu. That too, just before he set off for an Indian village to pay homage to his Dharma Guru. I bet he is one religious personalities in Nepali political circle.
It was now Minister Sitaula's turn to blame the press for misquoting him. A little while earlier, Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala had said that low comprehension level of English language had sparked controversy in the market. By now, it is proven that the home minister of this country is a complete failure. No more arguments, period.
Why the eight-party coalition continued with him as the minister for home affairs is also an open secret. But at a time when the agitating groups in terai should have been treated in a different manner in the run-up to the constituent assembly elections, Minister Sitaula in simple and plain words issued a warning in front of the media in the capital and the entire world heard him.
But when he contradicted himself in Biratnagar, he was equally calm and confident. Nonetheless, Home Minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula is not the first person in Nepal's political fraternity who speaks one thing on one day and another the very next day. We can just pray for the leaders, at least, to come clean.
Vacant varsities
Something else than politics! Oh, in Nepal nothing can be talked without politics. The Tribhuvan University, country's oldest university, recently celebrated its 48th anniversary. Of course, the vice-chancellor was not present for the celebration. Minister of Education and Sports Pradeep Nepal has managed to appoint the vice-chancellor. But it has been more than a year since the eight party alliance failed to fill the vacant posts of registrar and deans at all the state run universities.
It is believed that the reason behind the delay in the appointments of office-bearers in different universities in the country is disagreement on who-gets-what among the major parties. Several students have not been able to receive their provisional certificates, as the universities don't have office-bearers.
What must keep running smoothly in any country during any sort of circumstances is the educational institutions. In Nepal the politics has bitten the universities so badly that they have to run without the key officials.
Students are said to be the pillar of the nation, who have a major role in helping the country to prosper. At a time when are in the process of making a new Nepal, no one can still tell when the universities will have the office-bearers in place.
What if the backbone breaks?
The 'process' of making of a new Nepal is being widely termed as 'transitional period'. As if, anything is allowed, everything is allowed during this 'special phase'. Free press is the backbone of democracy, some say.
Some go on to claim that without the media, Nepal could not have achieved what it has today, in terms of democracy. True indeed!
But in the recent days, despite intervention in media houses, the government is equally at ease. It will be a futile attempt to wake the home minister to control lawlessness in the country.
The government has played the role of a silent onlooker, nothing more. It does not care whether distribution of newspapers is disrupted or a media house is threatened or forced to suspend printing of the newspapers. For god's sake.
July 30, 2007
For god’s sake
Truth is "Maoists" don't want CA polls not others
Updates to follow:
Civil servants halt work to protest CDO bashing; govt vows to punish culprits
Tale of yet another Maoist atrocity
July 29-
Communist Party of Nepal- Maoists (CPN-M) hasn’t really abandoned its “warfare tactics” as the Maoists leadership and responsible Maoists ministers in the eight-party government behave like "guerilla-fighters" every now and then in the Interim-Legislature Parliament. Surprisingly, however, the same Maoist leaders have been demanding that other disgruntled groups in Madhesh should be labeled as "terrorists" while they've turned blind eye to the atrocities and ‘criminal’ activities of its own Young Communist League cadres.
What seems the total mockery of the rule of law in the country, the Maoists cadres today barged into the District Administration Office in Charikot- dragged out the Dolkha Chief District Officer Uddhav Bahadur Thapa, thrashed him and forced him to apologize for filing a case against a Maoist leader, Bishal Khadka, under the Public Security Act for smearing black shoot on the face of former District Development Committee chairman Sundar Prakash Khadka a few days ago.
The Maoists- wing who have been dubbed by the prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala and other leaders as “Young Criminal League” and “Young Cruelest League” for its activities in defiance to the state law and authority has again lived up to its (ill-) fame.
Around 300 Maoist cadres, backed by their notorious youth front YCL cadres who had traveled from the capital on 25 motorcycles and a micro van and from other nearby villages in Charikot, took out a rally into the city at around 2 pm and terrorized people as they marched on their way to the district administration office.
The Maoists leaders were also not in the condition to command the disgruntled cadres who forced people to close down the market place as they tried to break into the district administration office.
Although the police personnel unsuccessfully tried to stop the Maoist cadres, they broke the police cordon, pelted stones and glass-bottles towards the security personnel and the DAO building and finally vandalized the building after dragging out the CDO Thapa from his office-room.
They misbehaved with Thapa, beat him and asked him to apologize and withdraw the criminal case filed against the local Maoists leader Khadka.
It is hard to believe but the Chief of the district administration of Dolkha received injury in his right eye from the punches that he received from the YCL cadres, while other DAO officers who were visibly frightened fled the area as soon as the Maoists cadres tried to break into the office compound.
Earlier in May also, the Maoists’ women wing cadres had beaten up Kailali CDO. Then too, the Maoists cadres vandalised the offices of CDO in Kanchanpur.
In the same month, they had also torched government offices in Dang.
On Sunday, however, the areas remain tensed and the main market places seemed tuned into battle ground between the Maoist cadres and policemen in Charikot.
After vandalizing the DAO building, the Maoists cadres rallied to other parts of the town. As they came upon the main market in Charikot, the angry mob couldn’t restraint themselves upon the sight of Rastriya Prajatantra Party office situated at the heart of Charikot bazaar.
They quenched their anger by vandalizing the RPP office- and the police had to use force to bring the situation under their control.
The police resorted to baton charge to disperse the crowd at Satdobato Chowk. The Maoists cadres retaliated by pelting stones at the policemen from the roof of nearby houses and the street corners.
After the situation didn’t improve till the evening, the police had to fire in the air and lobbed seven rounds of tear-gas shells to finally disperse and chase the Maoists cadres towards Charighyang from Satdobato Chowk.
Locals and other passer-bys faced grate difficulties and some of them also sustained injuries when the stones pelted at the policemen hit them instead. A number of school going children were stranded as main parts of the town was in total disarray and insecure. The students were visibly panicking and concerned about returning their homes through the streets that had at once turned so "dangerous".
According to the local administration, three Maoist cadres were found to be in possession weapons inside the van in which the Maoists cadres come to arrived in the town from the capital.
The local administration was forced to clamp curfew in a short notice of 10 minutes from 5:30 pm today to 5 am Monday in the district headquarters Charikot to prevent loss of properties and any untoward incident in the area.
Earlier, the local Maoists leader had rejected the proposal for all party talks to find a solution to the issue insisting that this is not a political matter, and that they won’t accept any political decision at any cost.
On Saturday, the Maoists leaders had announced that they would start the street-protests to put pressure on the administration to dismiss the case against the Maoists leader Khadka.
More updates to follow soon.
July 29, 2007
Why should Nora leave?
On Identity-crisis of Nepali women
Flood kill people. Men, women and children. I wrote the news. But I had no time to think why I’m writing that one 35-year-old woman also died in the flood. She was wife of somebody- I wrote- he had a name but his wife had none. Or she had had? Although, I’d to finish the news at an earliest- my mind was already pondering about a woman’s identity in villages of my country?
from Kathmandu Diary
Once having just finished writing a review on a drama, I said jokingly to one of the editors of a reputed daily, “My review is better than the drama...”
However, watching Putaliko Ghar (A Doll’s House) was an eye-opener, I’ve realized how foolish I could be. Now, I can’t even find right words to illustrate the misery of Nora Karki. I find it hard to understand Hemanta Karki’s psyche or tell you how Dr. Rana tried to laugh upon his coming death so helplessly, all on that night of Diwali.
Lights! Diyos, shining faces but some burning hearts.
Nora’s lack of a definite identity is not a big issue while male dominant social hierarchy is existent in almost all the South Asian countries. Yes- several Noras could be living in our neighborhoods, in every house but only few, very few dare to rebel.
Since the beginning of our civilizations, we have perceived women as unperceivable, incomprehensive and obscure ‘item’. Why can’t a man understand what a woman is ? Is she really so mysterious ? No, the answer lies in ignorance, in men’s faults to even try to grasp or plunge into Nora's little explored world of dreams and expectations. Nora longed for this ‘miracle’- longed for her husband to at least try to explore those same territories inside her heart that he had never dared to tread upon.
A man happened to be a part of woman- and that is what we always tend to forget. Putaliko Ghar strikingly shows the male ego in Hemanta, and a strong desire for freedom and the identity-crisis in Nora. A hundred years of Ibsen’s death, 139th show of the same drama and the hoary theme of women’s liberation, their search for identity and true ‘love’- however, all this still holds relevance in many societies of the world.
Recalling how septuagenarian women in Europe kissed her and wiped her tears, Nisha Sharma Pokharel, the celebrated Nepali Nora said, “They hugged me, and kissed my cheeks.”
“We are with you, Nora - they say,” Nora said. Nora was showered with compassion?
“A drama that mirrors gender discrimination, suppression and loss of female identity should be played throughout the country”, I suggested.
“Yes. But due the lack of proper infrastructure and sponsors, we have not ventured out in the rural areas of Nepal,” she explained.
Hemanta, Nora’s husband is a man prototype. His concerns about his social relevance and dignity, his indifference towards his wife, a woman, and his lack of will to defend his own wife in the society- that is what a man is all about. While Dr. Rana counts his last days, it is hard to find any significant difference between the two stereotypes. Hemanta can’t fight the society in which he lives, and Dr. Rana his death.
Lina and Kedar become the determining forces in Nora’s life. When all her illusions vanished, she could see her own miserable she was in those broken shards of her imaginary, of the long-awaited ‘miracle’ and of all her conception and expectation from this society.
It is life. Nora waits for a vehicle that would finally take her to far unknown frontiers, unbeknownst to her own identity- to find her own identity. No, she’s not men’s doll anymore.
But I strongly feel, it is high time, Nora should change her ‘bold’ departure. What I feel today is need for several Noras to revolt from within the fake realities of one’s own houses. Nora needs not to leave her children, and her rightful house to do so. Nora can be very effective, if she could teach us how to know and endure struggle without going through the brunt of departure and distance.
Nora should know- modern-day Nora needn’t leave. This is Women's Century ! Or it’s too early even today?
Other Relevant links:
My Mother Bhagirathaa
Khagendra Sangraula has written on women’s identity in villages in Nepal in one of his more personal chapters of his book of essays, Aama ra Yamadootharu (Bhudipuran Prakashan, Bhadau 2059). Manjushree Thapa has translated a passage from the book.
excerpt-
“A person’s name is very much a private medium through which to contact the world, a medium through which to interact with the world. Each person is a distinct singularity of the social whole, as well as an autonomous power. Our name is the medium of the emanation of our particularity, of our autonomy. Yet my mother was nameless: nameless, and in a sense, without recognition. I realised this in a way that pierced my heart after she passed away at my house in Kathmandu.”
A must read-
http://www.nepalitimes.com/issue/134/Literature/4179
Watch
Kirk And Kerry
Though, I couldn’t- you can try to understand a woman- the relationship between a husband and wife from this award-winning short (28 minutes) movie.
free to download-
http://www.archive.org/details/KirkandKerry
"A clash of realities: should he stay or should he go ? An actual couple, Kirk Acevedo and Kerry Johnson perform (or perhaps manifest) the problems of being a couple. The story takes place between given lines and documented feelings, resulting in an oil and water mix of film and life."
July 27, 2007
Nobody Needs To Know- Inspiring, insightful...
“Nobody Needs To Know” intrigued me. Black and white. At one scene- I laughed- then I asked myself- Why am I laughing? It was so poignant- and I realized that I was trying to laugh at the dark humour- because it's difficult to understand at first and there is less joy in this Azazel Jacobs film.
Becoming Nobody- or Somebody?
Tricia Vessey plays Iris, “an actress who's fed up”. It shows a director and his auditions where he ask actresses in nightgowns to “die”. Die- but you just can’t die so easily- can you? But they're just told to die- a dozen actresses try but none of them get it right. When Iris is asked to do the act- she thinks for a moment- and then she says, “No, I can’t do it”.
I was thinking what it was- her “no” that left a mark on me- ditto like it “captured the imagination of the vague and frustrated director”.
“When she says she can't do it, she doesn't mean just the audition. She means acting, or maybe living. She withdraws, holes up in her room, gradually rips it to pieces, and has no interest in returning the calls of her agent or anyone else. Although she does leave her room occasionally to interact with her roommate, or be dragged off to a restaurant, or suffer through a punk show, or wander the streets and bump into acquaintances, her withdrawal is nearly total. She seems devoid of ambition and strangely at peace, free, teetering on an edge that her friends, despite appearances to the contrary, have never approached.
The movie's most interesting observation is how a few surface details can make someone appear to be a rebel and how desirable that appearance can be. Everyone Iris meets wants "something more real" or celebrates counter culture, but they're only posing. Iris's ripped and paint-splattered clothing held together by safety pins is mirrored in a model's designer fashions. The director, unable to locate Iris for the part in the movie, now instructs the auditioning actresses to refuse the audition ("I won't do it," they say, one after the other), trying in vain to reconstruct the arresting image of Iris's true rebellion. )” (1)
One of the themes of the film is fame and how (it) pursues those who run from it, and runs from those who pursue it. After an appalling audition Iris decides she probably does not want it after all, clashing with her roommate Mira, who will do anything to get there. At the same time in Manhattan- which plays a major role itself- a young man explores behind the camera and outside the frame. The director continues his search for the right actress. "And the camera battery dies," Jacobs concluded. (2)
I kept on wishing- hoping that Irish might respond or meet the director again. When a guy lured by Irish’s mystic charm meets her- I was expecting something to happen at last. But he runs away to pursue what Irish did no longer wish for.
Being Nobody- the idea didn’t seem so fascinating before. Now- it does.
Avant-garde- or art film making in South Asia are tales of Nobodys and their “poignant” stories. I doubt if theatre artists of my own country also falls in this category.
Another excerpt:
"[The actors] didn't get paid nearly what they should have been paid," Jacobs confesses. His budget for the three-year project was $65,000. This did not include the blow-up to 35mm for the festival.
Jacobs financed Nobody Needs to Know primarily by asking friends for cash, though Peggy Weix, one of the producers, also came up with money. Jacobs was candid: "I had this crazy idea, that they [should] all know they weren't going to make their money back," But he "promised them the best film [he] could possibly do." This approach was only partially successful. "Obviously I lost friends by asking them for money, as well." The film will be travelling the festival circuit this year, seeking a distributor. (3)
“Nobody Needs To Know” is free to download- being distributed under Creative Commons License. Please, visit their website to download the movie and other short films.
Links:
“Nobody Needs To Know” Website-
http://nobodyneedstoknow.com
A short trailer (40 seconds) (11 mb)
Click here to download
References also taken from-
1. Nobody Needs To Know, Errata (A must visit!)
2. DAILY TIGER, Rotterdam 1.23.03 - Jorn Rossing Jensen
3. Michelle Paster, THE FESTIVAL RAG 12-21-2003
Legal Downloads
Visit Legal Torrents to download works of various artists and musicians (and authors) licensed under Creative Commons that means the creator-approved files are legally downloadable and freely distributable as well.
July 24, 2007
My days with Morrie
All I have is a voice
To undo the folded lie,
The romantic lie in the brain
Of the sensual man-in-the-street
And the lie of Authority
Whose buildings grope the sky:
There is no such thing as the State
And no one exists alone;
Hunger allows no choice
To the citizen or the police;
We must love one another or die.
WH Auden, September 1, 1939
I was searching for some time for myself- knowing that I’ve been hesitant to accept the way life is and to surrender myself… everybody needs some time. When I watched “Tuesdays With Morrie” tonight, I realized that so far I’ve been on the right way- just needed to learn how to walk in right way now. I never feared falling in love- but to live up to the commitment s and responsibilities that follow seems tiring. “We must love each another or die…”
The book by Mitch Albom was released in 1999 as a movie. Well, I watched the movie- and I feel like I’ve just gone through one of the best lessons of my life. After I finished- I came upon this weird thought to share the movie with everyone. Yes- I know the book would have been an excellent option...
To be more honest- would it be fair to talk about torrents and p2p here?
Meanwhile, I’ve started to read real books again- at least when I take a public means of transportation to my office every morning. That’s the way I finished “The Alchemist”- and that’s the way I’m finishing “Tilled Earth”.
I love good people here at cyberspace- and I’m ashamed of myself for downloading the latest book on Harry Potter. I just come across it- and I thought why should I feel so guilty? Perhaps, piracy or whatever you call it has helped people to understand and use Web 2.0. It has made life easier.
Well I’m not doing any serious comparisons here- or trying to defend myself. It’s theft, I know- but even Prometheus had to steal fire from the heaven to light the earth!
Read excerpt from the book “Tuesdays With Morrie” from here: link
July 19, 2007
New Nepal- and my childhood dreams
Talking about nationality and freedom
I’m trying to contact Jwala Singh- to ask him if he really thinks that the people of this country would support his two-nation dictum? I don’t even think that the idea of creating a free nation can be feasible. I doubt if you've read my very first write up on the topic (I’d like you to read this write up).
Yes- the idea of an independent Madhesh is very, very old. And every Madhesi in some point of their lives must have thought of it. But with time- I’ve learned to accept the fact that we, our land, our Madhesh is crucial for the existence of this entire country- Nepal. I’m proud to be a Madhesi unlike ever before because without Madhesh- my New Nepal would not come into existence. I don’t want a separate state- because today, any move in this direction will only invite disaster and more bloodshed.
Moreover, I do think that Jwala Singh will surely abandon the very demand once they are provided a face-saving landing- once this eight-party (Maoists) express willingness to respect the sentiment of Terai inhabitations and provide us with more, more and more "rights" (this want for more is ruining everything- either it be reputation of Maoists or Girija's stand on monarchy). Yes- if someday, I need to revolt then I can surely learn from the Maoists-led insurgency. But these adamant and proud pahades and their worshippers are going against the true sentiment of Madheshi people.
Even if they become successful in dismissing the Madhesi leaders and parties such as JTMM and MPRF- even if they solve all the problems by suppressing the people’s voices with the barrel of guns and eliminate the very roots of monarchy from the institution- I’ll surely raise my voice again, there are thousands of people like me who will raise their voices again- because freedom is such a dream that is worth dying for. I don’t think without addressing social and cultural issues- the Madhesh andolan or the andolan of indigenous communities can be solved.
As far as the demand of the Madhesi extremists groups are concerned- I made it clear it’s in hearts of everyone- but I don’t think that Newar, Tharu, Khumbuwaan, Limbuwaan or Madheshi communities would really want to (*or can) rebalkanize the territorial integrity of the country. United we stand- divide we fall is old but my favorite saying too.
Until the dialogues are initiated- and the very groups are brought to the table for talks- they will keep on making such demands, and I respect them for their courage- but like the Maoists’ cause is really “good” unlike their mannerisms- I believe that armed movements are thousand times weaker than a non-violent movement in all its might and purity of thoughts and actions. What we Nepalese know is only how to burn tyres, vandalize, call for strikes and bandhs or resort to killings and kidnappings- we don’t have courage to walk on the path of Gandhi and King (who do you think I’m referring to). But if this old generation fails to free the people of Nepal, from each corner of the country and from every community- I won't be surprised, even if that would make me a little sad. This old generation of Nepali politicians were brought up in the very society full of discrimination, contradictions and corruption- and the democracy was such a new thing- but now, we know the meaning of democracy, we know the demerits of corruption and the importance of communal harmony- we're living on the top mouth of volcano (symbolically, and earthquake geographically), however, the new generation of Nepali politicians would (let’s hope they do) know where to find the way and how to walk on the difficult lanes to a country where there is “unity within diverse communities” in real sense. It is high time that the suppressed feelings borne of discriminations and injustices get a "safe outlet" that would be utilized for the development of the country and to strengthen the ties among the estranged communities. Yes- YCL needs to be embraced and taught with "love" how to treat the very people they treat as scum and impotents as humans again.
First hold dialogues- then we would reach to a conclusion. If we start to assume that the Madheshi extremist would not leave their demands of an independent state even without initiating the diaoluges- then it is the very sign of the old authoritarianism and ignorance widespread like a disease in our old gentlemen- from head to toe of our major political parties. If we fail to bring them to the political mainstream- then the people will force them to join- because I don't think there is any other passage to "freedom".
Hold dialogues. Our Maoists friends should start holding dialogues with their ex-allies- it's really disheartening to see a party coming from such a long so-called "people's war" being "swept off" from the Madhesh today. If they don’t recognize JTMM as “people’s party” but as a terrorist- no wonder that this party and its cadres are having difficult days in the region. Even for them- it would be better to keep their "superiority complex" at home.
Dialogues, dialogues and dialogues- there is no other solutions to the problems we are facing today. But I'm surprised why these old people don't understand this simple fact- perhaps, Prachanda is too sure of becoming the president of the country within two years that he doesn't mind even if Madhesi youth raise arms, Pahades force others into their rallies in Madhesh, Limbuwaan and Khumbuwaan bring the entire region to halt or Newars in the capital don't let them stay in their houses. They surely have killed many innocent people during the last twelve years- and the tales of their injustices will surely resurface with time- I only remember someone saying me- "The lava- the strong emotions to avenge the death of their near to dear ones- the long suppressed desire to take on them one by one will surely burst up one day. When this volcano finally erupts- once these Maoists put down their guns- I can't even imagine where it will lead to our nation." I don't know if I remain a sceptic, be positively optimistic or a completely pessimist regarding the prospects of that new nation.
Surely my friend, insane am I.
Such is my plight.
...
Look at the strumpet-tongues dancing of shameless leadership
At the breaking of the backbones of the people's rights....
Nepal really hurts so much, perhaps, we're not worthy of happiness and prosperity. But even those who denied them to us for so long would be forced to listen to our voices today. I'm happy that my people have started to speak at last- and guns can no longer suppress them- those in the most powerful seats of the country can no longer ignore them- no one will do anything for us- we don't think that "they" will come and build a new country for us. We must do it ourselves.
Perhaps, I'm living in a false hope, but it has a healing effect on the wounds of my country that is getting worse within me...
An old post that I'm posting again here today-
Kathmandu Diary
march 12, '07- originally published here
Today- my countrymen are speaking- but their voices are not being heard. Those who used to carry guns- are all powerful now. Once I wrote about the similarity between Hitler, Gyanendra, and Prachanda two years ago- but my write up was rejected. Today- the things are pretty much the same.
Today- 'Kathmandu Speaks' has found a slogan- "Are you listening?" Here's a poem that I translated from Nepali which was written by late poet Gopal Prasad Rimal. I'd left poetry for a long time now- but this piece lends voice to what I feel today at the moment- to what the country feels at the moment.Pariwartan- Revolution
Gopal Prasad RimalThose who were pleading for their lives yesterday-
They are ready to die happily today.Their voices were void;
Their heart beats were silent.
Inhuman.
Only vague words sans any meaning.
Today-
their voices have found soul,
agony, agitation, asking, attraction.
Today-
Even their silence is loud and clear.
Those who were pleading for their lives yesterday-
They are ready to die happily today.
Yesterday-
Their hands were spread like beggars.
Their hands are now in shape of a bowl ready to spill;
they are now ready to sacrifice themselves for a dream.
They had known how to beg alone.
Desire to give was still not born-
helplessness, innocence, cowardice- their days have come to an end.
Today-
All are determined- they risk living.
Those who were pleading for their lives yesterday-
They are ready to die happily today.
Those who didn't have any friend to love
And not a single enemy to hate-
Ah! So poor they were.
Yesterday-
Their parsimony meant everything;
they defended themselves with shield of cowardice.
Today-
They have friends who can give their lives at one call.
They have enemies who want naught but their lives all.
Today- they have such wealth.
Today- those very chests are strong enough like a shield to defend.
Those who were pleading for their lives yesterday-
They are ready to die happily today.
Deadline for talks- or dead-end to talks?
Amidst escalating incidents of killings, kidnappings and extortions taking place in Terai, a ‘final’ call for talks to put an end to the state of anarchy through peaceful negotiations has came from the government on Sunday. However, the government’s deadline for agitating Terai groups to come at the table of talks has worsen the matter rather than bringing any of the agitating groups unleashing terror and violence in the region to the negotiating table.
Home Minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula "annoyingly" set an ultimatum of 15 days for all disgruntled and agitating groups responsible for creating a state of terror and crisis in the region to come to the negotiating table with clear demands. However, it seems he has not learned much from more than a decade long Maoists-led civil war and the recent Gaur incident.
The language of ‘threat’ used by Minister Sitaula is unlikely to bring the equally “adamant” groups of Janatantrik Terai Mukti Morcha outfits led by Jwala Singh, Jay Krishna Goit and Bisfot Singh among others at the table. The various agitating groups along with all three factions of JTMM led by Jwala Singh, Jay rishna Goit as well Bisfot, Madhesi Mukti Tigers among others have already come down heavily against the home minister's 'deadline'.
But CPN-Maoists- a party which has come to the political mainstream after leading more than a decade-long similar kind of armed movement- has denounced the calls by the government to hold dialogues with the various agitating groups active in Terai.
CP Gajurel, a Maoist leader, speaking at reporter’s Club on Saturday said that the government’s call for the talks was futile.
Stating that “there’s no point in talking with those who wants to split the country”, Gajurel insisted that the “separatist-extremists forces should be labeled as terrorists”.
Demanding tough actions against the disgruntled groups leading armed movement in Terai, Gajurel said that the Maoists party is very doubtful over the success of dialogues in resolving the Terai crisis.
“When they openly claim that they would come to the negotiating table only to divide the country,” Gajurel said, “There is no point in holding talks with them.”
Maoists have repeatedly expressed their disliking of the various Madhesi groups from the beginning. However, this very ‘adamant’ attitude of the party and underestimation of Madhesi groups’ “strength” could be blamed to lead to the Gaur tragedy as the showcase of “who is king” in the region.
Gajurel, reiterating the Maoists stance, said that the various agitating outfits active in Terai should be banned and crushed with force.
At a time when the peaceful Madhesi andolan was garnering popular support in Terai, the Gaur carnage had tarnished the image of Madhesi People Right’s Forum. However, Upendra Yadav has said that the JTMM has taken the responsibility of the killings. Home Minister has been criticized for the failure of the administration to protect lives of innocent people during the Gaur incident. It has been widely speculated that Home Minister Sitaula sees the Madhesi groups through Maoists eyes, and the recent "ultimatum" is also one of the products of this influence.
However, ever since both MPRF and Maoist-wing Madhesi Rastriya Mukti Morcha (MRMM) have been struggling to get foothold in the region. The Maoist-wing in the Madhesh has been facing serious crisis within its own party as differences between different the Madhesi leaders became severe in recent times. Besides, the MRMM cadres have been unable to carry on the party works in the region as they have been target of both JTMM cadres and MPRF activists.
Reacting to the Home Minister’s call, Upendra Yadav, the MPRF head, welcomed the Home Minister’s call for dialogues but also warned that the government should not use the language of “threat”.
The Peace and Reconstruction Ministry which has been assigned the task of bring agitating Madhesi groups to the table has been able to bring only the MPRF and few other small groups to the negotiating table till date.
The major outfits like three separate factions of JTMM have not come to talks.
"The latest call by minister Sitaula is a “positive” step," Yadav was quoted as saying.
The Terai andolan has already taken a form of ethnic crisis- dividing those living in Madhesh region as Pahade and Madhesi.
Reports of Pahades being threatened by different Madhesi outfits and Madhesis being displaced from Pahade-dominated areas have become frequent. And to worsen the matter, soon after the home minister's deadline came, the Jwala Singh-led JTMM issued a press statement saying that his combatants are ready to fight back the state security agencies- and made a "request" to all the Pahade people living in the region to leave Terai in a week.
At current circumstances, the Home Minister’s 15-day ultimatum can’t bring the two estranged communities together again unless it begins to use serious and flexible approach to solve the problem. The government should not only make a verbal call to the groups to come to talks, but at the same time it has to fulfill the task of creating the environment for talks and show its commitment for peaceful resolution as well.
Those groups that are trying to divide the country lack popular support for sure. But as the Maoists’ attitude and labeling of MRPF as “by product” and “waste” of their own movement in the beginning led Madhesi people to unite under the banner of Madhesi Janaadhikar Forum (MPRF)- if the government use the same kind of language and threatens the Madhesi outfits of military and other stern actions if they don’t come to talks in “15-days”, then it would be yet another ‘major’ mistake.
There is unemployment, illiteracy and a feeling of being “a second class citizens” among the masses in Terai; the exploitation and utter discrimination faced by people belonging to Madhesi community can only help such outfits like JTMM recruit more combatants as “freedom fighters”. One must not forget the same tactics used by the Maoists to come into political mainstream could be taken up by mushrooming smaller and bigger groups with their personal and political interests in the country.
In this light, Home Minister Sitaula's call seems just a void calling lacking serious commitment to find a long term solution to the Terai crisis and can enrage and incite the armed groups to retaliate and engage in more violent activities to put ‘pressure’ on the government and worsen the state of law and order in the region so that the CA elections could never take place. By language of ‘threat’ and use of force, the seven-party failed to stop bloodshed and destruction perpetuated by the Maoists in the country. Now, the eight-party and the Maoists especially, should take lessons from their own mistakes and experiences to tackle with the Madhesi groups.
The government should call the agitating groups to the table- but setting a “deadline” to find solution to such a crisis that has potential to divide the entire population of the country is its serious mistake. The Madhesi andolan is not an instant reaction- it took more than two-and-half centuries of exploitation and suffering to take form of the andolan. The feeling of “superiority complex” led to Gaur killings- and the eight-party authoritarianism could only lead to further Gaur-like tragedies. The sooner the eight-party understands it- and approaches the Madhesi groups accordingly- better the chances of peaceful settlement are. If it doesn’t, then the Madhesi movement can put our national unity, territorial integrity and communal harmony at stake.
July 18, 2007
President's call to his countrymen
Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam's Speech in Hyderabad
from a forwarded mail
I was in the newsroom listening to the Nepali translation of this speech in one of the most energetic voices inside Kantipur- and I was completely spellbound by what Mr Kalam told his countrymen. I sought the digital version, and I'm posting it here for you to read as well. Yes- it suits our Nepali context very well."I have three visions for India. In 3000 years of our history, people from all over the world have come and invaded us, captured our lands, conquered our minds. From Alexander onwards. The Greeks, the Turks, the Moguls, the Portuguese, the British, the French, the Dutch, all of them came and looted us, took over what was ours. Yet we have not done this to any other nation. We have not conquered anyone. We have not grabbed their land, their culture, their history and tried to enforce our way of life on them. Why? Because we respect the freedom of others. That is why my first vision is that of freedom. I believe that India got its first vision of this in 1857, when we started the war of independence. It is this freedom that we must protect and nurture and build on. If we are not free, no one will respect us.
This is for those who want to make "New Nepal" not a talk of dreams but of their reality.
Think.
My second vision for India is development. For fifty years we have been a developing nation. It is time we see ourselves as a developed nation. We are among top 5 nations of the world in terms of GDP. We have 10 percent growth rate in most areas. Our poverty levels are falling. Our achievements are being globally recognized today. Yet we lack the self-confidence to see ourselves as a developed nation, self- reliant and self-assured. Isn't this incorrect?
I have a third vision- India must stand up to the world. Because I believe that, unless India stands up to the world, no one will respect us. Only strength respects strength. We must be strong not only as a military power but also as an economic power. Both must go hand-in-hand. My good fortune was to have worked with three great minds. Dr. Vikram Sarabhai of the Dept. of space, Professor Satish Dhawan, who succeeded him and Dr.Brahm Prakash, father of nuclear material. I was lucky to have worked with all three of them closely and consider this the great opportunity of my life.
I see four milestones in my career:
Twenty years I spent in ISRO. I was given the opportunity to be the project director for India's first satellite launch vehicle, SLV3. The one that launched Rohini. These years played a very important role in my life of Scientist. After my ISRO years, I joined DRDO and got a chance to be the part of India's guided missile program. It was my second bliss when Agni met its mission requirements in 1994. The Dept. of Atomic Energy and DRDO had this tremendous partnership in the recent nuclear tests, on May 11 and 13. This was the third bliss. The joy of participating with my team in these nuclear tests and proving to the world that India can make it, that we are no longer a developing nation but one of them. It made me feel very proud as an Indian. The fact that we have now developed for Agni a re-entry structure, for which we have developed this new material. A Very light material called carbon-carbon. One day an orthopedic surgeon from Nizam Institute of Medical Sciences visited my laboratory. He lifted the material and found it so light that he took me to his hospital and showed me his patients.
There were these little girls and boys with heavy metallic calipers weighing over three Kg. each, dragging their feet around. He said to me: Please remove the pain of my patients. In three weeks, we made these floor reaction Orthosis 300-gram calipers and took them to the orthopedic center. The children didn't believe their eyes. From dragging around a three kg. Load on their legs, they could now move around! Their parents had tears in their eyes. That was my fourth bliss! Why is the media here so negative? Why are we in India so embarrassed to recognize our own strengths, our achievements? We are such a great nation. We have so many amazing success stories but we refuse to acknowledge them.
Why?
We are the first in milk production.
We are number one in Remote sensing satellites.
We are the second largest producer of wheat.
We are the second largest producer of rice.
Look at Dr. Sudarshan; he has transferred the tribal village into a self-sustaining, self driving unit. There are millions of such achievements but our media is only obsessed in the bad news and failures and disasters.
I was in Tel Aviv once and I was reading the Israeli newspaper. It was the day after a lot of attacks and bombardments and deaths had taken place. The Hamas had struck. But the front page of the newspaper had the picture of a Jewish gentleman who in five years had transformed his desert land into an orchid and a granary. It was this inspiring picture that everyone woke up to. The gory details of killings, bombardments, deaths, were inside in the newspaper, buried among other news. In India we only read about death, sickness, terrorism, crime. Why are we so negative?
Another question: Why are we, as a nation so obsessed with foreign things? We want foreign TVs, we want foreign shirts. We want foreign technology. Why this obsession with everything imported. Do we not realize that self-respect comes with self-reliance?
I was in Hyderabad giving this lecture, when a 14 year old girl asked me for my autograph. I asked her what her goal in life is. She replied: I want to live in a developed India. For her, you and I will have to build this developed India. You must proclaim. India is not an under-developed nation; it is a highly developed nation. Do you have 10 minutes? Allow me to come back with a vengeance. Got 10 minutes for your country? If yes, then read;
Otherwise, choice is yours.
You say that our government is inefficient.
You say that our laws are too old.
You say that the municipality does not pick up the garbage.
You say that the phones don't work; the railways are a joke, The airline is the worst in the world, mails never reach their destination.
You say that our country has been fed to the dogs and is the absolute pits.
You say, say and say.
What do you do about it? Take a person on his way to Singapore. Give him a name - Yours. Give him a face - yours. You walk out of the airport and you are at your International best. In Singapore you don't throw cigarette butts on the roads or eat in the stores. YOU are as proud of their Underground Links as they are. You pay $5 (approx. Rs.60) to drive through Orchard Road (equivalent of Mahim Causeway or Peddler Road) between 5 PM and 8 PM.
You comeback to the parking lot to punch your parking ticket if you have over stayed in a restaurant or a shopping mall irrespective of your status identity. In Singapore you don't say anything, Do you?
You wouldn't dare to eat in public during Ramadan, in Dubai.
You would not dare to go out without your head covered in Jeddah.
You would not dare to buy an employee of the telephone exchange in London at 10 pounds (Rs.650) a month to, "see to it that my STD and ISD calls are billed to someone else."
You would not dare to speed beyond 55 mph (88 km/h) in Washington and then tell the traffic cop, "Jaanta hai sala main kaun hoon (Do you know who I am?). I am so and so's son. Take your two bucks and get lost."
You wouldn't chuck an empty coconut shell anywhere other than the garbage pail on the beaches in Australia and New Zealand.
Why don't you spit paan on the streets of Tokyo?
Why don't you use examination jockeys or buy fake certificates in Boston?
We are still talking of the same you.
You who can respect and conform to a foreign system in other countries but cannot in your own. You who will throw papers and cigarettes on the road the moment you touch Indian ground. If you can be an involved and appreciative citizen in an alien country, why cannot you be the same here in India?
Once in an interview, the famous Ex-municipal commissioner of Bombay, Mr.Tinaikar, had a point to make. "Rich people's dogs are walked on the streets to leave their affluent droppings all over the place," he said. "And then the same people turn around to criticize and blame the authorities for inefficiency and dirty pavements. What do they expect the officers to do? Go down with a broom every time their dog feels the pressure in his bowels?
In America every dog owner has to clean up after his pet has done the job. Same in Japan. Will the Indian citizen do that here?" He's right. We go to the polls to choose a government and after that forfeit all responsibility. We sit back wanting to be pampered and expect the government to do everything for us whilst our contribution is totally negative. We expect the government to clean up but we are not going to stop chucking garbage all over the place nor are we going to stop to pick up a stray piece of paper and throw it in the bin. We expect the railways to provide clean bathrooms but we are not going to learn the proper use of bathrooms.
We want Indian Airlines and Air India to provide the best of food and toiletries but we are not going to stop pilfering at the least opportunity. This applies even to the staff who is known not to pass on the service to the public. When it comes to burning social issues Like those related to women, dowry, girl child and others, we make loud drawing room protestations and continue to do the reverse at home. Our excuse? "It's the whole system which has to change, how will it matter if I alone forgo my sons' rights to a dowry." So Who's going to change the system?
What does a system consist of? Very conveniently for us it consists of our neighbors, other households, other cities, other communities and the government. But definitely not me and you. When it comes to us actually making a positive contribution to the system we lock ourselves along with our families into a safe cocoon and look into the distance at countries far away and wait for a Mr. Clean to come along & work miracles for us with a majestic sweep of his hand or we leave the country and run away. Like lazy cowards hounded by our fears we run to America to bask in their glory and praise their system. When New York becomes insecure we run to England. When England experiences unemployment, we take the next flight out to the Gulf. When the Gulf is war struck, we demand to be rescued and brought home by the Indian government. Everybody is out to abuse and rape the country. Nobody thinks of feeding the system. Our conscience is mortgaged to money. Dear Indians, The article is highly thought inductive, calls for a great deal of introspection and pricks one's conscience too....I am echoing J.F.Kennedy's words to his fellow Americans to relate to Indians.....
"Ask what we can do for India and do what has to be done to make India what America and other western countries are today."
July 16, 2007
Suerly, my friend, insane am I
This is one of my favorite poems- and the only poem that I can relate myself to in this country...
If you want the interpretation, read below.
Paagal- The Lunatic
poem by Laxmi Prasad Devkota
1.
Surely, my friend, insane am I
Such is my plight.
2.
I visualize sound.
I hear the visible.
And fragrance I taste.
And the ethereal is palpable to me.
Those things I touch-
Whose existence the world denies,
Of whose shape the world is unaware.
I see a flower in the stone-
When wavelet-softened pebbles on the water's edge,
In the moonlight,
While the enchantress of heaven is smiling unto me.
They exfloiating, mollifying,
Glistening and palpitating,
Rise before my eyes like tongueless thing insane.
Like flowers,
A variety of moonbirds,
I commune with them as they do with me,
In such a language, friend,
As is never written, nor ever printed, nor ever spoken,
Unintelligible, ineffable all.
Their language laps the moonlit Ganges shore,
Ripple by ripple,
Surely, my friend, am I insane,
Such is my plight.
3.
Clever and eloquent you are!
Your formulas are ever running correct.
But in my calculations one minus one is always one.
You work with your senses five,
With the sixth I operate.
Brains you have, my friend,
But the heart is mine,
To you a rose is but a rose,
It embodies Helen and Padmini for me.
You are strong prose,
But I am Liquid poetry.
You freeze, I melt,
You decant when I go muddy.
When I am muddled, you are clear.
And just the other way about.
You have a world of solids,
Mine is one of vapour.
Yours is thick and mine is thin.
You take a stone for a hard reality.
I seek to catch a dream.
Just as you try to grab that cold sweet, minted coin's reality.
Mine is a badge of thorns,
But yours is one of gold and adamant,
You call the mountains mute,
But orators do I call them,
Surely my friend, a vein is loose in my brain.
I am insane,
Such is my plight.
4..
In the frigid winter month,
I basked in the first white heat of the astral light.
They called me crazy.
Back from the burning-ghat,
Blank-eyed I sat for seven days,
They cast their eyes on me and called me one possessed.
Shocked by the first streak of frost on a fair lady's tresses,
For a length of three days my sockets filled and rolled;
For the Buddha, the enlightened one, touched me in the depths,
And they called me one distraught.
When I danced to the bursting notes of the harbinger of the spring,
They called me one gone crazy.
One moonless night, all dead and still,
Annihilation choked my soul,
And up I jumped upon my feet,
And the fools of the world put me in the stocks.
I sang with the tempest one day,
And the wise-acres of the world despatched me down to Ranchi.
And once when at full stretch I lay upon my bed,
As one but dead,
A friend of mine pinched me so sharp.
And said, "Oh mad man,
Is thy flesh now dead?"
Year by year such things did occur,
And still, my friend, I am Insane,
Such is my plight.
5.
I have called the Nawab's wine all blood,
And the courtesans all corpses,
And the king a pauper.
I have denounced Alexander the Great.
And I have deprecated the so-called high-souled ones.
And the insignificant individual I have raised,
Up and ascending arch of praises,
Into the seventh heaven.
Your highly learned men are my big fools.
Your heaven is my hell,
Your gold, my iron.
Friend, your piety, my sin.
Where you feel yourself clever,
There, there,
I find you stupid innocent.
Your progression is regression to me.
Such is the upsetting of values, friend,
Your universe to me is but a hair.
Surely, my friend,
I am absoutlely moon-struck,
Moon-struck indeed,
Such is my plight.
6.
I find the blind the peopless pioneers.
The cave-penancer do I find a runaway, the detester of humanity.
And those who climb the platform of lies do I declare to be but dancers dark.
And I declare the defeated ones the splendid laurelled victors.
Advancement is retreat.
May be I am a squint,
Or that I am a crack, friend,
Just but a crack.
7.
Look at the strumpet-tongues adancing of shameless leadership!
At the breaking of the backbones of the people's rights!
When a sparrow-headed bold prints of black lies on papers,
Challenge the hero in me called Reason,
With conspiracy false,
Then redden hot my cheeks, my friend,
And their colour is up.
When the unsophisticated folk quaff off black poison with their ears
Taking it for ambrosia,
And that before my eyes, my friend,
Then every hair rises on end,
Like the serpent tresses of the Gorgons,
Every one so irritated!
When I see the tiger pouncing upon the innocent deer,
Or the big fish after the smaller ones,
Then even into my corroded bones, my friend,
The terrible strength of the soul of Dadhichi- the sage,
Enters and seeks utterance.
I like a clouded day crashing down to earth in the thunderbolt,
When man regards a man as no man,
Then gnash my teeth and grind my jaws, set with the two and thirty teeth,
Like Bhimsen's teeth, the terror-striking hero's.
And then,
Rolling round my fury-reddeded eyeballs,
With an inscrutable sweep,
I look at this inhuman human world
Like a tongue of fire,
The machine parts of my frame jump out of their places,
Disordered and disturbed!
My breath swells into a storm,
Distorted is my face,
My brain is in a blaze,
Like a wild, wild conflagration.
I am infuriated like a forest fire,
Frenzied, my friend,
As one who would devour the world immense,
Surely, my friend,
I am the moonbird of the beautiful,
The Iconoclast of ugliness!
The tenderly cruel!
The bird that steals the celestial fire!
The child of the tempest!
I am the wild eruption of a volcano insane!
Terror personified!
Surely, my friend,
I am a whirl-brain, whirl-brain,
And sure, such is my plight!
Devkota’s 'The Lunatic' : A revolution within
By Basanta Lohani
from The Kathmandu Post, May 06, 2001
Devkota’s monologue, "The Lunatic," is an exposure of the prevailing social contradictions of the time. The poet has juxtaposed the lunatic plane onto normal social realities in a way that expresses defiance against the ruling elites for their monstrous exploitation of the common people. The dichotomous relationship he so skilfully contrives between the normal and the lunatic plane serves him well to challenge the feudal establishment. Bal Krishna Sama has rightly commented that Devkota was born thrice, once with Munamadan, a second time with Shakuntal, and a third time with "The Lunatic."
In general, the burden of early literary work is basically theological. One obvious reason for that may be to identity human beings as the creation of God. I do not intend to go any further in this direction other than mentioning that this genuine human endeavour to understand oneself degenerated into the hands of some people in the banalities of priesthood, and the philosophical aspect of religion gave way to ceremonial regimentation forming structures of exploitation. The is how religion was used to sustain a social psyche where the ruling class could exploit the ruled as an accepted form of social and political life. As human awareness increased, literary works began to challenge this phenomenon. The French Revolution is a case in point. It is a watershed in the history of the world because it was a revolt against the clergy- sustained hierarchical exploitation. Thinkers, philosophers and poets took the lead in building opinion that culminated in that revolution. In this process, poets have transcended to a different plane forming yet another process of enlightenment. And, I consider Devkota does this in the persona of the lunatic and heralds the shift in Nepali literature from devotionalism to modernism.
This poem flows all along in a gradient made of confession and thus picks up the momentum so subtly that one hardly notices the process of enlightenment that the poet has been going through. This is the first poem written in a confessional mode in Nepali literature. The tremendous strength of the poem lies in the poet’s assertion that he is a lunatic and rises to the higher regions while explaining the more real than the real world. While climbing on to each successively higher region, the poet experiences layers of emotion like anger, romanticism, rebellion, all leading him closer and closer to a stage of enlightenment as he replicates the steps of Siddhartha on his way to Buddhahood. The poet’s autobiographical experiences by a miraculous poetic process transcend the human limitations of the flesh and trace the voyage to Nirvana. As the poet says, "Buddha, the enlightened one touched me in the depths."
Devkota’s tirades ooze out from an unconscious mind to defy what individuals always become conscious about. "The Lunatic" with its profuse symbolic implications and metaphors defies the existing social psyche. This psyche inhibits change but gets sustained because of the nourishment it secures from the pseudo intellectuals, pretenders and reactionaries through their supportive opinion building exercises where they can thrive as economic parasites. It is here that the poet disparages with devastating effect the self appointed guardians of virtues and righteous behaviour, a feudal continuity of a highly authoritarian pattern of thought and practice.
The first stanza contains merely two lines to bifurcate the human plane into the lunatic and the normal dimensions so that the poet can camouflage himself for a hard-hitting frontal attack on the wide disparities of an accepted social order. To this end, the poet has created a lunatic who remains blissful in his own world that is free from all inhibitions, man- made barriers, hypocrisies, greed, worldly wisdom. Devkota’s poetic craftsmanship achieves magnificence when the lunatic introduces his lunacy to his normal friend in unequivocal naivete.
Surely, my friend, insane am I
Such is my plight.
Here, the lunatic is fully aware of his lunacy as much as he is aware of his normal friend’s expediency and practical wisdom.
From the second stanza onwards, the poet moves on to building up the kingdom of his lunatic who is completely divorced from the normal realities but is fully aware when it comes to relating himself to his normal friend.
In the moonlight,
While the enchantress of heaven is
smiling unto me.
They exfoliating, mollifying,
Glistening and palpitating,
Rise before my eyes like tongueless
things insane,
Like flowers,
A variety of moonbirds,
I commune with them as they do with
me,
In this process, he experiences various facets of life. This very awareness of life with its wings fluttering towards infinite wilderness through pain and ecstasy is not in conformity with the prevailing behavioural rhythm and, thus, a threat to the established social values.
Shocked by the first streak of frost
on a fair lady’s tresses,
For a length of three days my sockets
filled and rolled.
For the Buddha, the enlightened one,
touched me in the depths,
And they called me one distraught.
When I danced to the bursting notes
of the harbinger of the spring,
They called me one gone crazy.
While climbing up to magnificent poetic heights befitting the stature of a great poet, Devkota compares the normal world to that of the lunatic’s world, alluring those struggling for the status quo to the blissful world of the insane. The poet has used this lunatic persona in yet another poem where he discloses his identity to a beautiful prostitute as one "into the higher region gone astray" so as to make her understand the reality of her real world and profession. This persona in the poetry "To a Beautiful Prostitute" though has a different contextual thrust and the poet it uses only at the end to unravel the mystery of the volte face in his behaviour. So this lunatic persona is the poet’s poetic genius primarily used in a crusade for putting across a forceful message.
To you a rose is but a rose,
It embodies Helen and Padmini for me.
You are strong prose,
But I am liquid poetry.
You freeze, I melt,
You decant when I go muddy.
When I am muddled, you are clear.
And just the other way about.
You have a world of solids,
Mine is one of vapour
Yours is thick and mine is thin.
You take a stone for hard reality,
I seek to catch a dream,
The poet is all out in his pervasive defiance challenging all those who were lording it over society for their enjoyment of authority, wealth, women and wine. He becomes mad at their pretentious behaviour. He, thus, calls the king a pauper and denounces Alexander, the Great and the so-called hermit as a cowardly escapist.
I have called the Nawab’s wine all
blood.
And the courtesans all corpses.
And the king a pauper.
I have denounced Alexander the
Great.
And I have deprecated the so-called
high-souled ones.
The poet’s greatness transcends further when he glorifies someone that society perceives as a nonentity. Here the poet seems to steal the happiness of being in the state of social oblivion.
And the insignificant individual I
have raised,
Up an ascending arch of praises,
Into the seventh heaven.
A slight digression here would be useful for a better understanding of the poetic craftsmanship.
Purely from a well -defined legal boundary, lunacy is related to competence, a state of the individual when he is incapable of exercising free will to enter into a contractual relationship. In a feudal setting, the very human existence embodies a social contract to live in conformity with the will of those in authority. It, thus, becomes a vehicle for augmenting the welfare of those few at the cost of many. This mechanism is loaded in such a way that the social psyche is conditioned to approve it as the right and normal way. This is where Rousseau came in to challenge the divine right, precipitating into the French Revolution. The lunatic outbursts emerging out from a purely transcending psychological plane, in such settings, could be a manifestation of defiance.
The effect may not be seen immediately. In the beginning, it may just carve a non-noticeable niche in the social psyche but such muddy outpouring can produce enough ripples in people’s consciousness to arrive at a changing social equilibrium over a period of time.
The poet in his beautiful exercise of comic hyperbole has, by the end, built a storehouse of energy, lunatic energy, in lambasting the bizarre setting of corruption, greed, callousness and betrayal.
The child of the tempest!
I am the wild eruption of a volcano
insane!
Terror personified!
Lunatic energy is that layer of human emotion that is capable of transformation into higher energy of a very powerful human expression. It is so because the strength of suppressing this energy ebbs away as the mind gets rid of its obsession with an accepted, imposed or evolved social order of exploitation. Where political leaders channelled this collective emotion for the collective good, countries have progressed and have seen greater welfare than where it is primarily used for increasing the welfare of the political leadership that cannot extend much beyond itself. This is the human history of tension, continuous revolt, upheavals, wars and ceaseless challenges finding its way into feudal communities, regimentation, fascism, dictatorship, guided democracy, mutilated democracy and liberal democracy depending upon time, constellation of forces and structural peculiarities of a country or region involved.
Primarily, "The Lunatic" is a revolt against Nepal’s post upheaval setting of the 1950s: the uneasy transition, the mockery of democracy, the extent of human degeneration in the name of upholding new values and righteousness, misinformation by leaders and newspapers alike, ruthless exploitation of people’s rights and economic plunder. In totality, a "functional anarchy."
Look at the strumpet-tongues
advancing of shameless leadership!
At the breaking of the backbones of
the people’s rights!
When the sparrow-headed bold
prints of black lies on the papers,
Challenge the hero in me called
Reason,
With conspiracy false,
Then redden hot my cheeks, my
friend,
And their colour is up.
when the unsophisticated folk quaff
off black poison with their ears
Taking it for ambrosia,
And that before my eyes, my friend,
Then every hair rises on end,
Like the serpent-tresses of the
Gorgons,
All this seems to make the poet mad while carrying on in a disoriented type of sensibility. The situation then seems to be similar to what we are experiencing now in a changed endemic social crisis precipitated by a mutilated democracy harbouring greed, corruption and betrayal. This poem perhaps accentuates the political revolution within the poet himself for far-reaching social changes. The political change of 1951 was decapitated to uphold the dignity and the aspirations it carried.
When I see the tiger pouncing upon
the innocent deer,
Or the big fish after the smaller ones,
Then even into my corroded bones,
my friend,
The terrible strength of the soul of
Dadhichi—the sage,
Enters and seeks utterance.
The form of human alienation that the poet is able to manifest through lyrical interludes is superb and, as such, underscores the political undercurrent of his thinking. He celebrates Rousseau’s ‘ Common Man’ like perhaps in continuity with the Age of Enlightenment profusely reflected in the 18th century literary extravaganza.
To him, every human being is equal. And, the moment man refuses to recognize a human being as a human being, then the anger in him builds up massive pressure to form a lunatic energy devastating given realities into an unknown realm. To this end, the poet uses abundantly the time-honoured metaphors and classical allusions.
When man regards a man as no man,
Then gnash my teeth and grind my
jaws, set with the two and thirty teeth,
Like Bhimsen’s teeth, the terror-
striking hero’s,
And then,
Rolling round my fury-red-headed
eyeballs,
With an inscrutable sweep,
I look at this inhuman human world
Like a tongue of fire.
The lyrical output increases with successive increase in the intensity of this emotion and reaches a point when the poet is almost violently tearing apart what exists for a new social order.
My breath swells into a storm,
Distorted is my face,
My brain is in a blaze, Like a wild
conflagration.
I am infuriated like a forest fire,
Frenzied, my friend,
The dichotomous relationship that the poet has established between the lunatic and the normal for the purpose of total defiance seems to be something like conscious and unconscious classification of the same mind where the conscious mind works as a two-way transmission of the emotional thrust finally launched through the unconscious mind. The massive energy needed to level up disparities can be had only when a collective emotion changes into lunatic energy for the specific purpose of launching the upthrust, disarming human rationality bordering onto timidity. A battle is won only when you first win it inside you.
The conflagration, thus, would reduce the existing citadel of exploitation by the few against the welfare of many into rubble so that a robust infrastructure of a new social order could be built. But he shows no intention to go further in an effort of theorizing the process and the type of change involved like the way Karl Marx did. True to a great poet, he limits himself to the lunatic energy which, in itself, is a revolution. This is more so because the poet rejects the tradition, both social in terms of setting and classical in terms of writing, and, thus, derives his spontaneity emanating from romanticism to express the deep emotions of a rebellious outcast, who has the clear eyed vision to see life steadily and whole.
(Based on a paper presented at the 13th Annual Conference of Literary Association of Nepal held recently in Kathmandu)
Live fast, die young
on a trail...
from loose sheets of my notebooks
poem by me, self-portrait by Picasso entitled "Facing Death".
A young mountaineer
hungry for fame
reaches summit easily
suddenly
the same paths
opens to death
the journey back
slopes to a village
seems
difficult
and
impossible
everything in my life is happening so fast- i fear i might end up destroying myself...
Girl is a flower
trysts ...
from loose sheets of my notebooks
poem by me, artist link
A girl
girl is a flower
in a season
it buds
Slowly, it blooms
in your heart
then
it withers
A zilch
In black and white
A bunch of withered memories
A bouquet of shattered dreams
A shower
Girl is just like a seasonal flower...
July 15, 2007
Women's Cricket: Nepal sails to ACC Cup semifinal
Nepal has secured its place in the semifinals of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) cup women’s cricket tournament, humbling Hong Kong by seven wickets in the match played at Joharbaru in Malaysia Sunday.
After losing the toss, Hong Kong went to the pitch to bat first, and lost all its wickets for a dismal 31 runs in 23.5 overs.
Nepal met the easy target in the same 23.5 overs, but losing just three wickets.
Beating Hong Kong its last match of the league phase, Nepal has advanced into the group of last four teams as the winner of Group A.
With this victory, Nepal has also accumulated 10 points.
However, Hong Kong has already secured a place in the semifinals.
Nepal’s Madhu Thapa scored 11 runs while Manisha Rawal contributed 10 runs.
Nira Rajopadhyay was declared Women of the Match.
Playing its debut international match, Nepali team had defeated Thailand on Thursday, but went on to share points after with host Malaysia on Saturday following a tie.
Nepal will take on the runner up of Group B on coming Tuesday.
The final match will be played on July 18.
Source: ekantipur,photographThe national women's cricket squad:
Nary Thapa (captain), Nitu Thapa (vice-captain), Mamata Thapa, Manisha Rawal, Binu Buda Magar, Keshari Chaudhary, Trishna Singh, Sita Rana, Nira Rajopadhyay, Saraswoti Lamgade, Susmita Chaudhary, Madhu Thapa, Maya Rawat and Ritu Kanaujiya.
We are surely proud of of these players who have proved that if women are provided with opportunities then even they can be as competent as men. Wish them Good Luck!
July 13, 2007
Death does move human hearts
July 10, 2007
Welcome to Kathmandu Speaks 2.0
Seriously, meant to entertain.
On a new journey…
Today, “Kathmandu Speaks- Are you listening?” feels “Change is good.”
Yeas, call it ‘Kathmandu Speaks:3.0’.
Did you like the fresh sprout? The picture is from “Blowjob”.
forgot kathmandu, everything.
a new experiment, avant garde? a prodigy? not yet!
last updated: October 19, 2:25 am
The new Kathmandu Speaks Budhha avatar is from lens culture.
Saturday, May 03, '08
A cursory glance into its history:
Kathmandu Speaks“A dream, a project- I started Kathmandu Speaks in early 2006. But it was just in its infancy- it was just an idea.
Are you listening?
Today- it has a form, a bright future.”
Thank you, today “Kathmandu Speaks- Are you listening?” is still here because of you.
from – About Kathmandu Speaks, March 2007
I always complained that we never speak. We just listened to the big talks of our small politicians. We just remained silent. That whenever we used to speak- we used to speak in worship of our Gods! We used to speak asking for favour, to beg. We used to speak- what we didn't work.
Today- my countrymen are speaking- but their voices are not being heard. Those who used to carry guns are only listened. Two years ago I’d written the similarity between Hitler, Gyanendra, and Prachanda in a write up- but it was rejected by the editors then. Today, things are pretty much the same. (Then I didn’t know Girija will live for so long.)
Today- 'Kathmandu Speaks' has found a slogan- "Are you listening?"
Here's a poem that I translated from Nepali which was written by late poet Gopal Prasad Rimal. I'd left poetry for a long time now- but this is unmistakably a voice that I couldn’t suppress anymore.
Pariwartan- Revolution
Gopal Prasad Rimal
Those who were pleading for their lives yesterday-
They are ready to die happily today.
Their voices were void;
Their heart beats were silent.
Inhuman.
Only vague words sans any meaning.
Today-
their voices have found soul,
agony, agitation, asking, attraction.
Today-
Even their silence is loud and clear.
Those who were pleading for their lives yesterday-
They are ready to die happily today.
Yesterday-
Their hands were spread like beggars.
Their hands are now in shape of a bowl ready to spill;
they are now ready to sacrifice themselves for a dream.
They had known how to beg alone.
Desire to give was still not born-
helplessness, innocence, cowardice- their days have come to an end.
Today-
All are determined- they risk living.
Those who were pleading for their lives yesterday-
They are ready to die happily today.
Those who didn't have any friend to love
And not a single enemy to hate-
Ah! S0 poor they were.
Yesterday-
Their parsimony meant everthing;
they defended themselves with shield of cowardice.
Today-
They have friends who can give their lives at one call.
They have enemies who want naught but their lives all.
Today- they have such wealth.
Today- those very chests are strong enough like a shield to defend.
Those who were pleading for their lives yesterday-
They are ready to die happily today.
July 9, 2007
Yes- I've a dream...
... not of a 'golden dawn'
Bhai- how many years have you spent as a khalashi ?" I asked a boy inside a microbus, which I had taken to go to office.
"Three. Why?"
Next day, I took a tempo. And, I couldn't stop myself from talking to the likes of him again. Trying to feel their sentiments- trying to know their 'achievements' at such a tender age.
I asked myself time and again what could I do for them. I have a job- I don't find time to do anything else. One Saturday in a week is not enough for oneself. But these are just 'pretexts'. I know I can do many things- and I've started. Started from the easy and very engaging task of listening.
One told me about his home. Another told me about an incident he encountered the other day. Yet another told me how a traffic personnel caught him- and he spent a night in some prison. Boys come up with different stories. And, I enjoy them.
I've learnt to accept what I cannot change. At least- I've started dealing with what troubles me a lot. 'New Nepal'seems a distant dream. No one is doing anything- if they were doing anything then why do I see new faces every other week or so. Why don't I find a Raj Kumar in school uniform somewhere? I've not met those people who are actually doing something for the Nepali children- but I've heard of them time and again. But it's a difficult task to try to 'reform' these children.
It's equally difficult to change their attitude and behaviors. At Jamal, these children beg for money- or 'earn' by helping other tempo drivers. At Thamel, they earn sympathy of foreigners in the form of biscuits or other things. After the foreigner is gone- they sell the same stuffs to the shopkeeper at half the actual price. At New Road, I've encountered many children who seem busy sniffing 'Dendrite' from plastic bags. At Kalimati, I've seen them collecting plastics from garbage.
Such sights make me helpless. I don't want a 'New Nepal'- I just want a home for these children. I give a damn to monarchy or republic or anything- I just want a system where politicians would have human hearts. I don't feel proud for being a Nepali citizen. And I do not believe that I should keep quiet when I expect these politicians to return something to their people. I ask myself what my country (these politicians) has given us- and I see answers in our poverty and humiliation.
After all, my faith in our political system has undergone massive erosion- I've found a false hope, perhaps, in my own self and younger generation. I've become a child again- dreaming about a peaceful and prosperous country. Wow, I can't stop myself from sheer imagination of that country called Nepal. I didn't like politics- but I want to be a politician one day.
I want to show the world- what a Nepali can do for his own people. I'm not going to be a Buddha- I'm not going to be a Gyanendra, I want to rise above from the ugly heights of Girija and Prachanda.
Instead of a 'minor king' at Narayanhiti- I want my country to have several little princes and princesses in every homes, playing at street corners and courtyards. Instead of cleaning lakes and arresting corrupt politicians for fame- I want to mobilize people to rebuild ruins of schools and bridges that have been bombed. I want to unite people from Madhesh to Mountain- and rebuild this war-torn country.
I don't want to shy away from my past- I don't want to fill hearts of my people with hatred for anyone. I say love- love everyone.
I'm just 19- and I don't want to grow up. I don't want to lose these dreams that I've cherished for my country. If I live- and if I become a politician one day- I tell you politics will never be a dirty game.
As published in The Kathmandu Post (link in pdf)
July 7, 2007
Kathmandu Speaks on The Motorcycle Diaries
Warning: Not for casual reader
If you been reading me- you would have certainly felt the 'transition' that's going on within me long before the April Uprising, long before the Madhesi andolan, long before, Gaur Carnage, long before this 'transitional phase' of our country.
Watched The Motorcycle Diaries today (Taxi Driver last night- and began to wonder about Virginia Tech)- and I wonder if that's the way? Should I carry guns and walk the same lanes these YCL have just come from? Should I kill people for peace, justice and freedom? I don't know.
No- there must be other way. I believe so- I don't want to be next Prachanda who has become just another politician in our political history. Yes- "Che's iconic status was assured because he failed. His story was one of defeat and isolation, and that's why it is so seductive. Had he lived, the myth of Che would have long since died." Does that mean that Prachanda's death- and the failure of the Maoists movement would have made him my hero?
I read Sherchan a long time ago- and he said, “Those of you who became martyrs after death,/you should have lived to see how hard it is just to live." And martyrdom is worthless.
Tell you a joke- I can't die for my woman. Why simply because she would marry another guy when I'm dead. Death can bring inspiration- but it takes living men to bring about 'real' changes.
Nepal is a sick country- and I can feel how sick our people are. But it's not our time- not right time for me as well. But boy- I'm suffering from this thing called "adolescent revolutionary romanticism." I'm reading The Republic and many more. I hope I don't end up in Tapoban or sth like that.
Who wants to be sad? Who doesn't want to make oneself happy?
As things unfold- I'm taking the most important lessons of my life today- we're living in the most important days of our time and of our country.
Last thing I know- you might not agree- these old people have lost their youthfulness- they can't see beyond the tip of their noses. Prachanda knows the importance of monarchy- without that he wouldn't exist. And Girija knows the importance of Maoists- without them whom would you prove themselves better?
And I exist- because somewhere some old men said to me, “I’m free." They laugh at my childish talks- why I'm serious, my friend.
But sometimes dreams are the only thing that keeps you going- see around thousands of helpless people living and being fed upon the false dreams of a New Nepal that might never arrive- almost like the illusive golden dawn.
Yes- I love my Hope Fairy. Sshhh! Let me sleep, and get lost in my dream. I don't dream of a New Nepal- I dream of healthy and happy people around me everywhere. See- I told you I'm a sick person- some day when I become old- I'd better go through these pages of my diaries. And see what I became- and I always wanted to be.
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