A Garden of Dreams

(Picture by: Sarah)

रमेश देशार
Ramesh Deshar
Chapagaun-3, Lalitpur, Nepal

New Nepal or Better Nepal?


Is there a measurement for how much is too much and how far is too far? Is there an ending point for the everyday mortifying situation of Nepal? The overall situation of Nepal is getting worse each and every second. When we compare with a physical anatomy of the human beings, there is always an ending point. And the finale point is death. No one can escape from it. It has never been possible to be an exception except in the fairy tales and fictions. However, the debasing situation in Nepal seems to have no ending point though. Contradictory rules here!! Will there be the cessation of all the misdemeanors in Nepal?
We all the Nepalese people waited and waited; the more we waited, the more we fell apart, far and far behind, so hard to get back. We are in a big mess. Every thing is out of track and dysfunctional. At present, the country suffered from every kind of disease and need to be prescribed every kind of medicine at the same time? How possible is it? What will be the impact of it? The country is so weak that it has no power to stonewall. And the worst thing is that the malicious vampires and leeches in the form of humans are still sucking the blood of the country knowing the fact that the country is already frail. For this reason, many of the Nepalese people already lost hope which is their last resort. Many people by now stopped to be hopeful in Nepal. Every single day is becoming longer and longer for them. The dazzling and sparkly faces of Nepalese people are decreasing bit by bit.
We have already seen our new Nepal by now. We don't want it to be newer anymore if same iniquitous things keep happening in the name of New Nepal. This is not what we want. We had a dream that our New Nepal would have love and respect for everyone. But we are behaving as enemies with each other in our New Nepal. We already lost our honesty, politeness and sincerity and developed hatred amongst all our brothers and sisters. We are hostile to each other. Just as a minor example- The way we treat and behave with the conductors and the way they treat passengers show how respectful we are. Are not we aggressive to each other in our New Nepal? In our New Nepal, nothing is certain; nobody knows when and which part of the country will have a strike or Banda? Why everyone repeats the same way to show dissatisfaction over some one with Banda, strike and demonstration creating havoc for many people? Why we Nepalese people never think about others? We curse when others initiate strike or Banda but we forget the discomfort and loss of many when we set off strike or Banda. Isn't there any other better way to show discontent?
Besides this, why we Nepalese people are one step ahead only in talking worthless issues? Don’t we think that we talk too much? We argue about everything including political situations blaming and pointing everyone for today’s New Nepal, claiming ourselves clean and descent. We should also remember that when we point out others with a finger to blame, rest of the fingers point towards us, too. We talk and talk and simultaneously, watch and watch but never realize that we are part of the whole nation and are responsible for every mayhem in our country. We, citizens are watching; blaming and fighting with each other and waiting political leaders to change the system of Nepal. As spectators, there is a difference in watching the movies in a theatre and watching dirty live games of the country. We can not just sit down watching the game being played by foul players; we should think that we are part of the game, too. We could only win this national game only when we all show our unity regardless of different caste, group, ethnicity, and religion. Why can't we have reconciliation among all the Nepalese people once again as we had during April Revolution for better Nepal? I would prefer to say better Nepal instead of New Nepal since our New Nepal has foul smell. (Go around Kathmandu valley, you will smell it.) If we really do not think and act for better Nepal, we would soon be close to Darfur in Sudan and Rwanda (genocide of Hutus and Tutsis).

Reverse Culutre Shock

Reverse Culture Shock

Published in The Kathmandu Post

Ramesh Deshar
http://kantipuronline.com/kolnews.php?&nid=120410
One can expect that life in Nepal and America is completely different and is therefore, incomparable. So, when I came back to Nepal two months ago, after completing my graduation from the US, I was scared that I would get reverse culture shock in my homeland. Nevertheless, I did not experience any remarkable culture shock as I had expected before. Instead, to my dismay, I found strange kinds of changes with the people I met and talked after my return home.
The first change I noticed among our young generation is that no one is satisfied with what they are doing at present. Everyone is expecting miracles to shower in their lives with great pessimism and faint hopes. Almost all the youths want to get out of this country in one way or the other, may be being students or overseas employees. No matter what they do in foreign countries, they just want to be in the land of opportunities inhabited by the rich. After hearing such remarks, it feels like every nook and corner of the village echo with frustration and uncertainty.
For many, our country is no more a right place to live anymore and therefore, people do not hesitate to connote it with a cursed land. The idea that stepping into foreign nation is the only panacea for those living in a cursed-land with cursed lives has engulfed the mind of present generation of our country. That may be one of the reasons why many of my friends had curious questions to ask me after my return from the land of opportunities. I could easily read in their faces that they have high expectations from me as if I have landed from heaven to earth and that I possess some magical powers. After a brief greeeting, almost everyone put forward the same questions to me.
‘When did you come back?’
‘When are you going back?’
‘How long will you be staying here in Nepal?’
‘How will you adjust here?’
Besides, I was also assured by many that there will not be shortage of jobs with handsome salaries and beautiful girls. When my friends came to know that I am not going back to US, they have something different to say.
‘If I were you, I would not be returning Nepal and do not even care being illegal there in the US.’
‘Why didn't you try to stay there forever?’
‘You are stupid to dare to come back Nepal.’
‘What will you do here in this war-ravaged country?’
Given above are some of the questions I have been answering and the bitter remarks thatI have been hearing since I came back to Nepal. These reactions from my relatives and friends make me feel that I did something wrong by returning to my own country. Such remarks penetrate right through my heart and give me acute pain. Consequently, this has given rise to some questions that always haunt my mind, ‘Is Nepal really a wasteland?’ ‘Did I really do a mistake in coming back to my own motherland from a foreign country?’ People crack jokes about me when they hear that I came back to Nepal even though it is my motherland.
There is another group of people that I have met who only want to have some sort of knowledge about money. They shot questions of this type:
‘Is it easy to earn money in the US?’
"How much does a normal person earn?’
And then finally, their query ends with, ‘How much did you earn?’ I would not be hesitating to tell what I earned during my stay in the US for two and half years if at least they try to believe me. I don't want to answer these questions anymore because none of my friends believe me when I tell them I did not earn money except a university degree and experiences within these two and a half years. I know that I am a big liar in the eyes of the people who question me when I tell them that I did not work and earn money in the U.S.
The most shocking thing is that I have not met any person, either educated and uneducated, who at least would say that it was not a wrong decision to return to my country and that one day it will pay me back. I know I would also be thinking in the same stereotypical way if I have not had first hand experience of being in a foreign land.
Nonetheless, I expect to meet some one who at least would warmly welcome me for my decision to come back to Nepal and would inspire me to do something. Otherwise I would be asking myself, "Did I really do a mistake coming back to Nepal?" I am looking forward to reading the book named "The Art of Coming Home" by Craig Storti.

A for Awareness

A for awareness
Published in Kathmandu Post By Shreeya Shakya
Every morning as I savor a glass of juice to get started for the day ahead tuning into the many radio stations, it infuriates me early in the morning whenever I hear some patriotic song about building the 'New Nepal' and people talking about justice and peace who still keep their guns at close distance and those talking about equal opportunities and fairness when they are still the ones who are misusing what is bestowed on them.
Everybody knows the talk of the town. The rather quixotic 'new' Nepal, the elections in suspended animation, the long queues everywhere and for everything and the massive exodus! The people's revolution had promised a bright future for Nepal and today as it is evident, we are still in square one. Almost all of us blame the politicians and policy makers for lagging utterly in making amendments and progress. For me, that is half truth. It is true that the people in ranks are not doing justice to the assigned responsibilities. We, the general public, are always cornered just because those people have failed to deliver and all we are left with is the feeling of despair and frustration. But we also need to look to the left and to the right and judge whether we are ready to embrace the new Nepal or more aptly are we ready to build the 'new' Nepal hand in hand with the government? I say NO. Of the so many things that haven't changed after the revolution, our attitude is one of them. This is one of the reasons why it infuriates me whenever I hear patriotic songs every morning emphasizing on the elusive 'new' Nepal.
Singing songs is not enough, debating the national anthem in blogs is not enough and criticizing the government blithely avoiding our immediate responsibilities is not correct. What is seriously lacking in Nepal is awareness among the general public. As long as we have educated people crossing the road right under the overhead bridges, new Nepal is not possible. As long as we have educated people eating 'chatpates' , 'pani puris' along the road side right in front of heaps of garbage and as long as we have educated people walking on the road leaving pavements empty, new Nepal is not possible.
Dreaming of an immediate new Nepal where literacy rate is barely 50% is a utopian dream. Awareness comes from education and sense of responsibility and we can only hope that, in years or probably decades to come when our literacy rate improves, a true new Nepal takes shape. To build up a new Nepal, we now should teach our kids that 'A is for Awareness' and not 'A is for Apple'. It's been way too long 'A' has been for 'Apple' and those educated people who are acting ignorant are the ones who mugged up Apple and thought 'A' could be nothing except for 'Apple'. Before building the 'new' Nepal, we should first build ourselves. Before jumping into action and running into the streets (something we have cultivated in leaps and bounds after the revolution), we should first be aware of what should be done and what is right. Then only can we be hopeful of building 'our new' Nepal and not just a 'new' Nepal.
Another factor which is crippling our nation is the fact that so many educated people from whom we can expect some sense of awareness are either leaving the country. But I have sat with some people who want to stay here and explore possibilities and provide opportunities. I have also shared the same space with hundreds of youth who stood up with respect and love for the country and sang along the song Jungi Nishan Hamro in chorus. I have seen touch of awareness among these people and am hopeful it spreads wide. It'll take time for it to grow and till then we just have to be patient. Maybe when I'm 40, I shall get to see 'A is for Awareness' etched in everybody's mind and next thing then looming in the horizon would be 'A is for Action'.