Poverty doesn’t bother Indian media

Are there too many Tigers in India?

A star speaks his mind. The practitioners of the ‘politics of intimidation’ can’t believe he said so. The star won’t apologize. Neither will the paper tiger. The war is declared. The media harps twenty-four seven about ‘My Name is Khan’ (MNIK). One talk show after the other, tweets, debates, so many people yapping on and on about it. The commotion is understandable. An intolerant political goon against the Badshah. Everyone has a right to have an opinion. That’s understandable too. The politics of intimidation must end. One must stand up for what one believes in.  No second thoughts about the aforementioned statements either. But what is the entire controversy about? The freedom of speech, isn’t it?

A person after s/he is fed, sheltered and clothed knows the importance of the freedom of expression. How much would the freedom to express matter to the one who is hungry? How much air time/print space do the violence ridden states of Bihar, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal and Jharkhand receive in the Indian media each day? How much time do the vibrant Indian media have for such people who know not of the Right to Life itself? How much appeal does a reality which does not involve sex, power and the celebrity hold for it?

State & Rural Development

At around 12 o’clock midday on the 18th of August when Mr. Nepal (who surprisingly is the nation’s Premier as well) along with the jumbo team had just taken off from TIA airport in Kathmandu, at least one thousand students if not more were appearing for the 240 minutes long ‘State & Rural Development’ TU exam all over the country. Apart from the noticeable fact that both TIA (Tribhuvan International Airport) and TU (Tribhuvan University) derive their names from Late King Tribhuvan, the events seem to be mutually exclusive. But what I intend to write is not about their inter-relation. It’s just the irony surrounding the event I wish to express..

Ethnicity Debate in Nepal

See the devil on the doorstep now (my oh my)
Telling everybody oh just how to live their lives
Sliding down the information highway
Buying in just like a bunch of fools
Time is ticking and we can’t go back (my oh my)

Newa-Rajya Strike in Pictures

He who Seeks Newa Rajya

And She who doesn't

Democracy is…

After a prolonged absence from the blogoshpere I have finally come across something sensible to blog about. A Facebook ‘contact’ had this video uploaded in his page and after watching it I thought I might as well contribute something by advertising it here . ( Ahem!) Not ‘Only’ because it is ‘from Nepal’ but because it is ‘Good’ stuff from Nepal. Well, this is Tsering Choden’s entry from KTM, Nepal for the Democracy Video Challenge. The list of the finalists is here. And if you go through the credits of the Video you’ll see a lot of names you’re familiar with ( If you are a Hits FM listener). Tsering Choden herself is an RJ at HITS FM. I still listen to her on “Namaste Kathmandu”( The breakfast show you can almost eat!) Yanik used to run a program called ‘The Peace Train’ ( I think a new RJ does the show now). Bipra runs Nepali and English shows alike. Srijan is the Audio guy with a real good voice ( I remember talking to him on the phone a long time back…when I was younger and used to call the station as an enthusiastic listener!).There was a time when Pravat used to run a lot of shows on Hits FM. I don’t hear him these days. But the video in question isn’t about who they are it is ‘what’ they have come out with.

If you are a Kathmanduite who is ‘still’ in KTM as opposed to the millions who aren’t physically present here but spread out all over the ‘web world’ in ‘Nepali youths Do something’ kind of FBgroups ( Sorry, I loathe them!) and wake up every morning to read the news of ‘frequent’ strikes by ‘Okharpauwa’ landfill site people, never-ending ‘Points of Agreement’ between this group and that group including Kathmandu Metropolitan City and Okharpauwa Sangarsha Samiti ( or whatever),leave for work every morning past the stinking garbage, stopped midway on your way to work because ‘Congress/Ma-ley/ Ye-maley/ Maobadi/Yekikrit Maobadi’ ( choose one) is ‘Sangharsharat’ (protesting), forced to leave home two hours for your exams because the city is ‘tanabgrasta’ and yet get stranded in the middle of nowhere among ‘ Maobadis rallying for Nagarik Sarwochata (People’s Supremacy!) and have the term ‘indiscriminate firing’ come to your mind while making your path through the Red Sea, come home to ‘Load-shedding’ and still wake up every morning hoping for a better day then you like me will thoroughly enjoy the video.

To you who know me not

As this nation grapples from the shocking revelations of the man who was to usher its people to a new era, nationality, diplomacy, political strategy, lokantra, ganatantra seem fake, trivial and meaningless to me. I’ve lost interest in it, and all ‘interest’ I garnered for the issues not only seem ‘ridiculous’ but rather a ‘feigned interest’ to me now. I did engage in conversations when the issue came up but I’ve had enough of it now. It’s like a bunch of people out there, in some corner of Kathmandu, speeding around with their motorcade supposedly deciding the fate of this nation, my fate, your fate, our fate but they don’t know me. They don’t know you or anyone of ‘us’ either. They’ll never care to. For their ‘need’ for us ended the moment ‘we’ voted for them. We, the ‘aware’ citizens of the nation made a well thought decision of choosing them. So they have their ‘day’ now. Every dog has its day. It’s their day today. When having to choose from a bunch of thugs one is most likely to opt a ‘new’ player who has never got the chance to prove his ‘unworthiness’ I suppose. But when the game is played only among ‘thugs’, one should never underestimate any new entrée. Lesson learnt. A change of team is required. All the old players, each and every one of them should be overthrown. For all of you had your chance and you lost it. You simply LOST IT. Thank you everyone! And special thanks to you Mr. Ferocious, for you were the last straw to break the camel’s back. You were the heaven-sent devil angel whole sole duty was to throw us from ‘frying pan’ into the ‘fire’.

Intellectual Poverty

There is a distinct pattern to the workshops, public discussion and lecture series that take place in Kathmandu. Firstly there is the speaker or pundit or whatever name they are called by. They are supposed to have mastered the issue in question. In most situations the experts live up to their name. And in a rare case scenario the ‘expert’ clearly demonstrates a lack of understanding to the extent that they ‘boldly’ or ‘shamelessly’ allow someone else in the audience to take control of the discussion. Then there is an audience which is diverse and has come to attend the discussions for various reasons. Some come there with the sole purpose of listening to the speakers with no strings attached. They are there to learn whatever they can. Another kind are cynics. It doesn’t matter if their knowledge of the issue is nil: they are there to criticize and will not leave unless they have done so. The third type of attendees are the flamboyant ones. They are there to show off what they know. If the speaker utters a single word which they know of, their response will not stop until they’ve finished narrating the entire history of that term. The weapons they use will be jargons and sentences quoted verbatim from a book or else theories that the person in question knows by heart.

Constituent Assembly Polls in Nepal: I Voted Did You?

A new day awaits Nepal, like this sunrise on the Day of the Elections ( seen from the Araniko Highway)

After an hour of standing in the line at The Election Center in Mahadevsthan, Koteshwor “Ga” I voted the first time in my life. My number was :773. I left home at ten-minutes to six clad in my ” म परिवर्तन चाहन्छु, ( I want Change) and I am not Alone” T-shirt deliberately. The t-shirt seemed to be made for occasions just like this. Now, that I Have Voted! I feel absolutely great. A friend of mine was quick enough to congratulate me for the feat. I did the same to her as well. We are both Proud First Time Voters of this nation! I would like to extend a congratulations to all the First time Voters who are reading this blog as well. Yahoo! We did it!

People waiting for their turn to vote in Koteshwor