leah's on the phone now; it starts early! nicole, her teacher, has the kids practicing their numbers by offering them the chance to do what they love to do best: chat with their friends. leah likes it so much she's whooshed past the three kids who she was supposed to call for her 'homework' and is now moving on to choying, one of her other buddies. i believe that this is a red letter day, as it's ms. leah's first official, individual, personally-made calls. she's a bit shy (not much actually...), but she's leaning against me as i type seeking bodily reassurance as she sallies forth in the world of disembodied poetics. now, isn't homework FuN??!!
i'm back from another day in the orifice, which was mainly out in meetings with our key colleagues and government counterparts. i had a couple of hours in my room before we also 'sallied forth' with lances in our hands to tilt at the windmills of our minds. in this case, we are still working to ensure that the clauses in the interim constitution (which is overdue to be promulgated by the seven party alliance & maoists as part of the initial phase of this peace deal). there are some serious questions regarding the independence of the NHRC (national human rights commission) as it is currently written in the legislation. according to the 'paris principles' that define the basic ground rules for such national institutions, they should be fully separated from the executive branch in order that they are not influenced by such political considerations in order to fulfill its mandate of protecting, defending & promoting the human rights of its citizens. there are other aspects of the new constitutional clauses, as well, that we are seeking support on, e.g. a broader & more diverse membership of the commissioners, greater powers et al.
in this sense, my new work is more political than being director of an ingo and more involved in the political transformation of the country, which, of course, is fascinating. there appears to be an effort to make truly historical changes in the composition and structure of the nation during the coming year. it's impossible to know how successful this will be, given the profoundly status quo nature of most politicians and the many unknowns about the maoists, including their sincerity to participate in a multi-party government, rather than a revolutionary one. peace agreements have been signed in the past week which is a positive sign, but also, in another sense, merely the starting gun (at least less threatening the actual guns they have been carrying for years...) for the new games to begin. how well these disparate parties learn or desire to work together will go a long way to determining how well this peace process goes in 2007...
as for the home front, ez has a cast on his left ankle/leg after tearing some ligaments around his ankle in a basketball practice on the w/end. it's rather a drag as he would have played some in the upcoming saisa (south asia international schools association) tournament at lincoln school this coming w/end. but, at least he's only in 9th grade and has some years ahead to play. josh is the starting center (at 6'3") so we'll still be there when the games begin.
and, shaku is out finalizing her new social activist organization, "namuna nepal" (model nepal) to advocate for greater proportional representation for the disadvantaged groups, particularly the 'janjati' ethnics and the dalits (former untouchables) of the country in the new political process. she has a great group of people w/ her and they are soon going public with their ambition... move over politicians, there's a new wind blowing...
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Saturday, November 25, 2006
Shakun's Childhood Quiz
I remember a childhood quiz:
There was a farmer who had to cross a bridge with three conflicting issues from his farm- a bundle of grass, a goat and a tiger. The bridge could only hold the weight of one and himself. In the challenge of delivering all three safely across the bridge, he would have to assure that one did not fail bait to the other. The issue for his survival as well as each of them depended not only in his insight but also his wide-angled intelligence. He had to deliver them across by taking them one by one. But if he did this, he would have to sacrifice one, as each served as the fodder for the other. If he carried the grass across and came back to get the goat he would find the goat missing. If he asked the tiger to follow first, on his return, he would find the jaws of the goat cuding away the grass. The only puzzle in the scenario was that the tiger had no taste for grass and the grass had no brains for either of them. In this, lay the answer for the farmer.
Nepali people will have to cross the bridge of democracy and deliver safely all Nepalese of caste/ ethnicities and women. The victory of the Maoists, to me, is like cow dung in cheese souffle. Their 2-3 days of cleaning campaign in Thamel is no different than their whim to wipe out clean, a community building or school in Myagdi. Should I or other, thinking and feeling Nepalese, consider the smile of a Hyena, signing a peace contract, an auspicious sign? A Hyena just does not know how to wipe out that clean smile off his face, even while preying and praying. Nepali denizens are constantly lured by cutting of ribbons, vermilion blessed foreheads, lighting diyas, handshakes, namastes, sweeping propaganda. and promises of reservations and so forth. All promises that bring us back to the colloquial "Mangal Man".
Every decade since 1940s, Nepal has garnered mass movements, only to fall prey to consequential governments which take you no further than the delusions of a caste based representation of the very nature of what it is fighting against. It's like rolling the dice and getting the same number four times. The hierarchy of caste/class conflict continues with even more gusto and vengeance in the present context as there is the economic, global factor to reckon with, reinforcing power like fueling a tank.
King Pritivi Narayan's "char varna 36 jaat ko phulbari" (Garden of Dreams) could not see King Gyanandra through the April Andolan. The symbol of his forefather's "up you" finger of oneness, has converted his statue into a red, look-alike, veiled and devout Muslim (the color red is to honor the Maoist flavor of the day) in front of Singa Durbar.
The 7 parties professing democracy for Nepal can barely pronounce the fundamental rights and directive principles in their own backyard, Their fundamental concerns are- me, my and mine badis. They speak for the people but who are the people to them?
After the Andolan, when they blatantly elect three representatives in the election commission; all brahmins- Bhoj Raj Ghimiri, Usha Nepal (a brahmin woman) and Nil Khanta Upreti; is this their genuine understanding of one representing all, for proportional representation and democracy? This is only one example, the rest is an unchanged pattern of business as usual.
What about the Arms Management agreement? Is it peaceful to be stupid? Lock them up in high tech cantonements and hand over the keys to the Maoists while the UN gets to play the Pundit. This is the ceremony of confusion. It is like asking a man-eating tiger to shut his mouth with a lock and let him keep the keys, when a plump breakfast is being served. The UN is adorned a "Group Four" authority with chaukidar status, policing the cheese while the cats have free access to milk. Why not have a lock that does not need a key? Why does the Pundit not have the power to configure a code number that is it's own mantra?
When the likes of me hear Mr. Dahal, alias Prachanda, say that he is going to turn Nepal into Europe in another decade, I am just wondering what Andolan will gear up in the next ten years.
The Nepalese are facing the challenges of damning the devil you know and the devil you don't know, syndrome. As long as the government and the donors are not able to respond to Nepal's diverse citizenry through broad based inclusion, Nepal will remain a failed state while I remain a sardonic rat scurring the traffic in Kathmandu.
There was a farmer who had to cross a bridge with three conflicting issues from his farm- a bundle of grass, a goat and a tiger. The bridge could only hold the weight of one and himself. In the challenge of delivering all three safely across the bridge, he would have to assure that one did not fail bait to the other. The issue for his survival as well as each of them depended not only in his insight but also his wide-angled intelligence. He had to deliver them across by taking them one by one. But if he did this, he would have to sacrifice one, as each served as the fodder for the other. If he carried the grass across and came back to get the goat he would find the goat missing. If he asked the tiger to follow first, on his return, he would find the jaws of the goat cuding away the grass. The only puzzle in the scenario was that the tiger had no taste for grass and the grass had no brains for either of them. In this, lay the answer for the farmer.
Nepali people will have to cross the bridge of democracy and deliver safely all Nepalese of caste/ ethnicities and women. The victory of the Maoists, to me, is like cow dung in cheese souffle. Their 2-3 days of cleaning campaign in Thamel is no different than their whim to wipe out clean, a community building or school in Myagdi. Should I or other, thinking and feeling Nepalese, consider the smile of a Hyena, signing a peace contract, an auspicious sign? A Hyena just does not know how to wipe out that clean smile off his face, even while preying and praying. Nepali denizens are constantly lured by cutting of ribbons, vermilion blessed foreheads, lighting diyas, handshakes, namastes, sweeping propaganda. and promises of reservations and so forth. All promises that bring us back to the colloquial "Mangal Man".
Every decade since 1940s, Nepal has garnered mass movements, only to fall prey to consequential governments which take you no further than the delusions of a caste based representation of the very nature of what it is fighting against. It's like rolling the dice and getting the same number four times. The hierarchy of caste/class conflict continues with even more gusto and vengeance in the present context as there is the economic, global factor to reckon with, reinforcing power like fueling a tank.
King Pritivi Narayan's "char varna 36 jaat ko phulbari" (Garden of Dreams) could not see King Gyanandra through the April Andolan. The symbol of his forefather's "up you" finger of oneness, has converted his statue into a red, look-alike, veiled and devout Muslim (the color red is to honor the Maoist flavor of the day) in front of Singa Durbar.
The 7 parties professing democracy for Nepal can barely pronounce the fundamental rights and directive principles in their own backyard, Their fundamental concerns are- me, my and mine badis. They speak for the people but who are the people to them?
After the Andolan, when they blatantly elect three representatives in the election commission; all brahmins- Bhoj Raj Ghimiri, Usha Nepal (a brahmin woman) and Nil Khanta Upreti; is this their genuine understanding of one representing all, for proportional representation and democracy? This is only one example, the rest is an unchanged pattern of business as usual.
What about the Arms Management agreement? Is it peaceful to be stupid? Lock them up in high tech cantonements and hand over the keys to the Maoists while the UN gets to play the Pundit. This is the ceremony of confusion. It is like asking a man-eating tiger to shut his mouth with a lock and let him keep the keys, when a plump breakfast is being served. The UN is adorned a "Group Four" authority with chaukidar status, policing the cheese while the cats have free access to milk. Why not have a lock that does not need a key? Why does the Pundit not have the power to configure a code number that is it's own mantra?
When the likes of me hear Mr. Dahal, alias Prachanda, say that he is going to turn Nepal into Europe in another decade, I am just wondering what Andolan will gear up in the next ten years.
The Nepalese are facing the challenges of damning the devil you know and the devil you don't know, syndrome. As long as the government and the donors are not able to respond to Nepal's diverse citizenry through broad based inclusion, Nepal will remain a failed state while I remain a sardonic rat scurring the traffic in Kathmandu.
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
History’s Dragon Awakes from a Deep Slumber
History’s Dragon Awakes from a Deep Slumber
The lights of the city begin to fill the darkened sky, while we wrap our minds around a table of ideas, questions and humor. The day passes as we seek lessons from our history and the work that fills our lives. Colleagues have come from Nepal’s five regions to meet amid the green hills of Godavari, a bit south of Kathmandu, where we won’t be disturbed during this weekend conference.
As we drove out this morning from Harihar Bhawan, the decaying 19th century Rana palace where we have our office, we passed buses of young Maoist supporters heading into Kathmandu for their celebrations of the recent peace agreement. They gathered at Ratna Park, posters of their hero, “Prachanda” – the ‘fierce one’ – plastered all over the city.
I wonder, sitting around this emerald table cloth, as the day slips by, a mid-November chill creeping down from the nearby ridges, are we on the cusp of a remarkable historical change in Nepal or merely another false dawn for the aspirations of the struggling people of this transformed ancient land?
Of course, there is much to celebrate w/ the promised end of a ten year conflict that has kept the country in a state of suspended animation for over a decade. The wearisome fear of night-time attacks in district centers and isolated incidents in the cities has waned. The wasteful destruction of the limited infrastructure of the country may be over. The constant pressure among the rural schools to send students to Maoist indoctrinations or close them to protest the handing of local management back to communities may, possibly, at last, be over.
There is cause for hope after the Maoists and Seven Parties signed their peace accords. Yet, equally, there is cause for concern given the politicians past history of failing the Nepali people and, too often, putting personal gain & prestige above realistic compromises and sensitivity to the suffering of others.
Or, is this merely, as is said, either ‘the beginning of the end’ or the ‘end of the beginning’? We wait and watch and seek for the echoes of experience to guide us on the path ahead.
Fortunately, the past is not necessarily a roadmap to the future. We can hope that the current context -- and even the individuals -- have changed enough that they, too, are weary of the anxieties and uncertainties that this internecine conflict has inflicted upon our darkened Himalayan landscape.
Clearly, Nepal had begun the process of shedding a mottled and lengthy skin when I arrived in this once sacred Valley a quarter century ago. The final hoary breaths of a once palatial Gorkha history were drawing to an astonishing close. The creaky door of history was shutting, at last, on a formal, musty, feudal past.
Whatever their crimes, give the Maoists credit for analyzing their country’s fading moment in history and hastening a weakened and discredited system over a fin de 20th siecle mountain cliff. They may have used brutal, revolutionary means in their quest to overturn the forms of a decaying history -- but they understood that with enough pressure (cookers…), they could ensure its eventual self-destruction.
Tonight, we sit around the table discussing the structure of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) at a time when the high tide of the peace process carries the human rights violations of the nation's leaders furtively into the shadowed corners of the room.
Even as the “PEACE IN NEPAL” documents preach the values and aspirations of human rights, the reality is that the desire to find acceptable forms of a manageable peace mean that the painful facts of past human rights abuses -- possibly only temporarily -- are obscured by the hopeful headlines announcing an end to this sad war.
As night settles around us here out on the edge of the Valley, it’s easy to wonder what these national leaders, the men in whom we must place our faith, are thinking. Are they pleased with themselves? Is there a trace of self-righteousness in having come so close, at last, to their political ambitions? Or, perchance, is there equally a sense of loss of so many other's lives, of villagers who have lived in fear for so long or the women who became youthful widows and the children who have missed years of school they will never see again?
Do these large political men reflect like the rest of us? Do they wonder about the impact of their own words and actions over these past ten years? In the quiet of their minds are they able to acknowledge some of their own guilt or responsibility for the lifelong suffering of others?
Or, are these men of history for whom there is no past -- only their idealized future they see on the distant horizon. Having achieved rehabilitation and resurrection among the heights of Kathmandu political culture, are they busy scheming to gain even more power for themselves in the months ahead. Or, is this initial step towards collaboration and compromise a sincere promise of further accommodation and responsibility in the future?
Tonight, do they look out their windows and see the same darkness that I see? It’s quite black outside. Only the fragile, flickering lights of the city below -- like a valley of butter lamps, small ‘battis’ at the feet of the eternal Himalaya. Like the prayers of millions of simple souls who will never have a seat around the peace talks table. People who ‘endure’ -- in Faulkner’s famous phrase. Nepalis who walk to work or sit in crowded micros, who struggle to feed their families and dream of modest successes by which to measure their worlds.
People for whom prayer is still a form of communication.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The lights of the city begin to fill the darkened sky, while we wrap our minds around a table of ideas, questions and humor. The day passes as we seek lessons from our history and the work that fills our lives. Colleagues have come from Nepal’s five regions to meet amid the green hills of Godavari, a bit south of Kathmandu, where we won’t be disturbed during this weekend conference.
As we drove out this morning from Harihar Bhawan, the decaying 19th century Rana palace where we have our office, we passed buses of young Maoist supporters heading into Kathmandu for their celebrations of the recent peace agreement. They gathered at Ratna Park, posters of their hero, “Prachanda” – the ‘fierce one’ – plastered all over the city.
I wonder, sitting around this emerald table cloth, as the day slips by, a mid-November chill creeping down from the nearby ridges, are we on the cusp of a remarkable historical change in Nepal or merely another false dawn for the aspirations of the struggling people of this transformed ancient land?
Of course, there is much to celebrate w/ the promised end of a ten year conflict that has kept the country in a state of suspended animation for over a decade. The wearisome fear of night-time attacks in district centers and isolated incidents in the cities has waned. The wasteful destruction of the limited infrastructure of the country may be over. The constant pressure among the rural schools to send students to Maoist indoctrinations or close them to protest the handing of local management back to communities may, possibly, at last, be over.
There is cause for hope after the Maoists and Seven Parties signed their peace accords. Yet, equally, there is cause for concern given the politicians past history of failing the Nepali people and, too often, putting personal gain & prestige above realistic compromises and sensitivity to the suffering of others.
Or, is this merely, as is said, either ‘the beginning of the end’ or the ‘end of the beginning’? We wait and watch and seek for the echoes of experience to guide us on the path ahead.
Fortunately, the past is not necessarily a roadmap to the future. We can hope that the current context -- and even the individuals -- have changed enough that they, too, are weary of the anxieties and uncertainties that this internecine conflict has inflicted upon our darkened Himalayan landscape.
Clearly, Nepal had begun the process of shedding a mottled and lengthy skin when I arrived in this once sacred Valley a quarter century ago. The final hoary breaths of a once palatial Gorkha history were drawing to an astonishing close. The creaky door of history was shutting, at last, on a formal, musty, feudal past.
Whatever their crimes, give the Maoists credit for analyzing their country’s fading moment in history and hastening a weakened and discredited system over a fin de 20th siecle mountain cliff. They may have used brutal, revolutionary means in their quest to overturn the forms of a decaying history -- but they understood that with enough pressure (cookers…), they could ensure its eventual self-destruction.
Tonight, we sit around the table discussing the structure of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) at a time when the high tide of the peace process carries the human rights violations of the nation's leaders furtively into the shadowed corners of the room.
Even as the “PEACE IN NEPAL” documents preach the values and aspirations of human rights, the reality is that the desire to find acceptable forms of a manageable peace mean that the painful facts of past human rights abuses -- possibly only temporarily -- are obscured by the hopeful headlines announcing an end to this sad war.
As night settles around us here out on the edge of the Valley, it’s easy to wonder what these national leaders, the men in whom we must place our faith, are thinking. Are they pleased with themselves? Is there a trace of self-righteousness in having come so close, at last, to their political ambitions? Or, perchance, is there equally a sense of loss of so many other's lives, of villagers who have lived in fear for so long or the women who became youthful widows and the children who have missed years of school they will never see again?
Do these large political men reflect like the rest of us? Do they wonder about the impact of their own words and actions over these past ten years? In the quiet of their minds are they able to acknowledge some of their own guilt or responsibility for the lifelong suffering of others?
Or, are these men of history for whom there is no past -- only their idealized future they see on the distant horizon. Having achieved rehabilitation and resurrection among the heights of Kathmandu political culture, are they busy scheming to gain even more power for themselves in the months ahead. Or, is this initial step towards collaboration and compromise a sincere promise of further accommodation and responsibility in the future?
Tonight, do they look out their windows and see the same darkness that I see? It’s quite black outside. Only the fragile, flickering lights of the city below -- like a valley of butter lamps, small ‘battis’ at the feet of the eternal Himalaya. Like the prayers of millions of simple souls who will never have a seat around the peace talks table. People who ‘endure’ -- in Faulkner’s famous phrase. Nepalis who walk to work or sit in crowded micros, who struggle to feed their families and dream of modest successes by which to measure their worlds.
People for whom prayer is still a form of communication.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Sunday Evening in Kathmandu
Friends & Family,
Well, as an unrepentant Luddite in the Himalaya, I created one blogspot a week ago (with Ez's help...) and then, promptly, forgot exactly what I'd done...
So, while Joshua is watching his beloved Liverpool battle the favored Arsenal in their home turf, and Ez, his adored Man United having already seen off Blackburn last night, having gone to bed, I'm taking second chance at starting a new Lesliechand family blog.
Of course, there's much to reflect upon, both within the family & w/in the daily life of Nepal -- but I'll save that for later this week, once Josh assures me that this website is up with the family site that he & Ez created last month.
So, while Shakun and Ms. Leah sleep, I'll say, 'goodnight'. xoxo, K.
Well, as an unrepentant Luddite in the Himalaya, I created one blogspot a week ago (with Ez's help...) and then, promptly, forgot exactly what I'd done...
So, while Joshua is watching his beloved Liverpool battle the favored Arsenal in their home turf, and Ez, his adored Man United having already seen off Blackburn last night, having gone to bed, I'm taking second chance at starting a new Lesliechand family blog.
Of course, there's much to reflect upon, both within the family & w/in the daily life of Nepal -- but I'll save that for later this week, once Josh assures me that this website is up with the family site that he & Ez created last month.
So, while Shakun and Ms. Leah sleep, I'll say, 'goodnight'. xoxo, K.
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