Nepal is going through one of the most important phases in its history - that of making a new constitution. For many, public consultation and inclusion will be critical factors leading to the ultimate legitimacy of the process and the credibility of the final outcome.
Attached, find a short five minute film on the UNDP civil society outreach of the Support to Participatory Constitution Building in Nepal Project.
Made by the award-winning documentary film director, Tsering Richtar.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiQdhKdrGQw
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Davis Ravis Tamang and Catherine Lama
I'm trundling away on the key board listening to Roy Harper singing 'I'll See You Again' and before that (about five times...) Ricki Lee Jones' 'Company'.
Beautiful, really beautiful, voices.
Of course, if Ms. Leah Lou was here I'd be fighting her for the key board -- but she's off at her dear Icelandic friend Anna's today across town and, no doubt, happy as a clam. While Shaku is doing her annual pre-Xmas Ganesh's Trunk sale with her Ya-Ya Sisterhood at Chez Caroline. I hope they have a big crowd and that the sales are going well. They all deserve it, these female artists and entrepreneuresses of Kathmandu. We're meeting Utpal and Caroline for dinner there after the sale ends this evening.
Yesterday, Saturday, the annual Pam & Charles Kathmandu Thanksgiving shifted from Bansbari to Bhatbatini. With P&C now living in America, their 24 year old backyard tradition shifted gently to Lucy's front yard. She's taken on the tradition of inviting all the 'too long in exile' Kathmandu crowd over to celebrate the American feast. It's a big pot luck w/ a wondrous meal on the table, sitting in her yard on carpets and pillows.
Shakun and i were there from 3 to 10 pm with about 70 folks, some of whom we see on occasion, many of whom we only see a couple times a year. Of course, I cud have stayed longer, except Shakun was at my elbow saying 'we have a daughter at home!' for about an hour before we actually departed. Of course, the malt wine, the tasty baclava helped extend the evening. Plus, Hugh Fisher, a lovely guitarist from Montreal who played some exquisite Neil Young, Paul Simon and his own songs serenaded the later, darkened hours around the fires in the yard. Quite precious, actually...
We're all thankful for Lucy's generosity, openness and kindness in hosting this self-selected kathmandu 'elite'. Maybe b/c the crowd was slightly less, the garden more enclosed and/or Hugh's exquisite live guitar, the evening was a true and memorable delight. Magical, even, especially to see the tradition transposed to a new location with no less of the spirit and joy enhanced. Lucy has become one of Kathmandu's dear and gracious earth mothers. We are all fortunate to have had her among us for these years and for the years to come.
Just a few minutes ago Gita didi (well, bhaini actually...) brought me lunch upstairs (two sausages, sauteed vegetables and mashed potatos...). Her meals are always cooked in affection and ooze her gentle caring ways. Gita also asked me why we never had the chocolate mousse that she'd made for us the other day, when Davis and Catherine were here. I said that we'd (and Laxmi...) had forgotten, so no one had had any.
Gita laughed, of course, since she always laughs. Then she said how happy she was that our dear Berkeley friends, Davis and Catherine, had come back again to stay w/ us in Kathmandu, after Catherine fell and dislocated her shoulder below the Annapurna. Gita said how much she really likes them. She said Davis and Catherine are both 'sojo', the Nepali expression for someone who is simple and sincere; just like us Tamangs, Gita said.
I think that may have just been the highest form of compliment that a foreigner can get from a Tamang in the local 'bhasa'.
Well-deserved, if I may say so!
Beautiful, really beautiful, voices.
Of course, if Ms. Leah Lou was here I'd be fighting her for the key board -- but she's off at her dear Icelandic friend Anna's today across town and, no doubt, happy as a clam. While Shaku is doing her annual pre-Xmas Ganesh's Trunk sale with her Ya-Ya Sisterhood at Chez Caroline. I hope they have a big crowd and that the sales are going well. They all deserve it, these female artists and entrepreneuresses of Kathmandu. We're meeting Utpal and Caroline for dinner there after the sale ends this evening.
Yesterday, Saturday, the annual Pam & Charles Kathmandu Thanksgiving shifted from Bansbari to Bhatbatini. With P&C now living in America, their 24 year old backyard tradition shifted gently to Lucy's front yard. She's taken on the tradition of inviting all the 'too long in exile' Kathmandu crowd over to celebrate the American feast. It's a big pot luck w/ a wondrous meal on the table, sitting in her yard on carpets and pillows.
Shakun and i were there from 3 to 10 pm with about 70 folks, some of whom we see on occasion, many of whom we only see a couple times a year. Of course, I cud have stayed longer, except Shakun was at my elbow saying 'we have a daughter at home!' for about an hour before we actually departed. Of course, the malt wine, the tasty baclava helped extend the evening. Plus, Hugh Fisher, a lovely guitarist from Montreal who played some exquisite Neil Young, Paul Simon and his own songs serenaded the later, darkened hours around the fires in the yard. Quite precious, actually...
We're all thankful for Lucy's generosity, openness and kindness in hosting this self-selected kathmandu 'elite'. Maybe b/c the crowd was slightly less, the garden more enclosed and/or Hugh's exquisite live guitar, the evening was a true and memorable delight. Magical, even, especially to see the tradition transposed to a new location with no less of the spirit and joy enhanced. Lucy has become one of Kathmandu's dear and gracious earth mothers. We are all fortunate to have had her among us for these years and for the years to come.
Just a few minutes ago Gita didi (well, bhaini actually...) brought me lunch upstairs (two sausages, sauteed vegetables and mashed potatos...). Her meals are always cooked in affection and ooze her gentle caring ways. Gita also asked me why we never had the chocolate mousse that she'd made for us the other day, when Davis and Catherine were here. I said that we'd (and Laxmi...) had forgotten, so no one had had any.
Gita laughed, of course, since she always laughs. Then she said how happy she was that our dear Berkeley friends, Davis and Catherine, had come back again to stay w/ us in Kathmandu, after Catherine fell and dislocated her shoulder below the Annapurna. Gita said how much she really likes them. She said Davis and Catherine are both 'sojo', the Nepali expression for someone who is simple and sincere; just like us Tamangs, Gita said.
I think that may have just been the highest form of compliment that a foreigner can get from a Tamang in the local 'bhasa'.
Well-deserved, if I may say so!
Thursday, November 18, 2010
himalayan birches from humla
i finally found those beautiful white bark himalayan birches (boj patra) i've been seeking for a few decades in nepal!!
i was in remote simikot, humla (far, far northwestern nepal) for the first time the other day. i'd gone up by charter flight from nepalganj w/ professors khanal and hachhethu, surendra, renu, neha and aruna, for our second to last undp-sponsored 'federalism dialogues' in the proposed jadan province.
of course, since i've been desperately seeking one of those gorgeous birch trees for our yard (botanical garden...), it was on my mind to ask about them when i got there. i'd read that they come from the high 'lekh' of these isolated mountains. i've never actually seen one in kathmandu. although birches are known to grow pretty much everywhere, both in a wide range of climates, as well as all around the world.
so, within a half hour of getting off the plane and strolling up to the lodge, i asked if anyone knew about them up there. neither my friends nor the local community folk seemed to immediately know what i was asking about -- until someone brought a huge pile of white birch bark from their home! i felt like i could have been back in summer camp in the adirondacks, not the high himalaya...
a few days later, a villager did me the kind (justly rewarded) favor of climbing some 3-4 hours up the ridge to bring down a six tender saplings from the distant ridge-top forest. they have a radiant, shimmering copper colored bark at this young age w/ distinctive white spots (mumps??). quite cute, if you ask me...
so, when we were leaving that dirt runway on the ridge-side in simikot, towering snow-capped mountains all around us, my only concern was not letting the airline take that precious muddy bag from me while checking in. white gold, i guess. of course, my 'friends', neha, renu and aruna were laughing at me. neha even teasingly telling me that the airlines wouldn't let such plants on the plane!
ha!
but i still didn't trust anyone that my petite birch saplings wouldn't disappear en route back to k'du. even though everyone else was more concerned about bringing their ruddy, fresh apples back from humla to eat, i could only see the beauty of these long-sought birch tree youngsters and, like ones' own children, felt immensely protective of mine. i wasn't concerned about what i was going to eat when i was back in k'du, but could only imagine the beauty of these petite saplings when they matured in our backyard with the lush shivapuri ridge as a backdrop.
maybe it's true, as they say that 'we are what we eat' -- but for me, i think it's actually more 'i am what i plant'...
although later that evening, on the commercial flight from n'ganj to k'du, after getting through the less than rigorous nepali airport security, the yeti airlines stewardess put her hand up and wouldn't let me carry the dripping wet sack on the plane. i explained, that these were 'mero ek dum maya-lagyko birwa!' -- but the tough-minded, but polite, stewardess forced me to hand them over to the ground crew, promising me, tough and sweetly, that i'd get them back as soon as i got off the yeti plane in kathmandu.
frozen smile...
so, when i finally got out of the plane an hour later, i nearly jumped down the outside stairs in the dark asking where my sack of saplings were. fortunately, they immediately appeared out of the cargo bin and the dirty sack was more than gladly handed back to me. i guess it's true that beauty (or love of nature...) is in the eyes of the beholder...
these little mountain creatures are now safely in bags of homegrown soil in our backyard nursery in budhanilkantha. i watered them down immediately when we got home about 9 pm the other night. then, in the morning, asked tek to put them in soil while i was at work. when i got home i found them resting comfortably out back by our compost, like kids at play, capturing the last rays of the day.
even though they obviously are most at home in those high himalayan altitudes, i hope they thrive out here on the rim of the valley. after all, since most everything else grows in k'du, maybe, these elegant himalayan birches will find this a suitable environment, too...
the way the rest of us of a variety of human species have...
drop by sometime, if you have the time, to meet these youngsters,
if you'd like!
i was in remote simikot, humla (far, far northwestern nepal) for the first time the other day. i'd gone up by charter flight from nepalganj w/ professors khanal and hachhethu, surendra, renu, neha and aruna, for our second to last undp-sponsored 'federalism dialogues' in the proposed jadan province.
of course, since i've been desperately seeking one of those gorgeous birch trees for our yard (botanical garden...), it was on my mind to ask about them when i got there. i'd read that they come from the high 'lekh' of these isolated mountains. i've never actually seen one in kathmandu. although birches are known to grow pretty much everywhere, both in a wide range of climates, as well as all around the world.
so, within a half hour of getting off the plane and strolling up to the lodge, i asked if anyone knew about them up there. neither my friends nor the local community folk seemed to immediately know what i was asking about -- until someone brought a huge pile of white birch bark from their home! i felt like i could have been back in summer camp in the adirondacks, not the high himalaya...
a few days later, a villager did me the kind (justly rewarded) favor of climbing some 3-4 hours up the ridge to bring down a six tender saplings from the distant ridge-top forest. they have a radiant, shimmering copper colored bark at this young age w/ distinctive white spots (mumps??). quite cute, if you ask me...
so, when we were leaving that dirt runway on the ridge-side in simikot, towering snow-capped mountains all around us, my only concern was not letting the airline take that precious muddy bag from me while checking in. white gold, i guess. of course, my 'friends', neha, renu and aruna were laughing at me. neha even teasingly telling me that the airlines wouldn't let such plants on the plane!
ha!
but i still didn't trust anyone that my petite birch saplings wouldn't disappear en route back to k'du. even though everyone else was more concerned about bringing their ruddy, fresh apples back from humla to eat, i could only see the beauty of these long-sought birch tree youngsters and, like ones' own children, felt immensely protective of mine. i wasn't concerned about what i was going to eat when i was back in k'du, but could only imagine the beauty of these petite saplings when they matured in our backyard with the lush shivapuri ridge as a backdrop.
maybe it's true, as they say that 'we are what we eat' -- but for me, i think it's actually more 'i am what i plant'...
although later that evening, on the commercial flight from n'ganj to k'du, after getting through the less than rigorous nepali airport security, the yeti airlines stewardess put her hand up and wouldn't let me carry the dripping wet sack on the plane. i explained, that these were 'mero ek dum maya-lagyko birwa!' -- but the tough-minded, but polite, stewardess forced me to hand them over to the ground crew, promising me, tough and sweetly, that i'd get them back as soon as i got off the yeti plane in kathmandu.
frozen smile...
so, when i finally got out of the plane an hour later, i nearly jumped down the outside stairs in the dark asking where my sack of saplings were. fortunately, they immediately appeared out of the cargo bin and the dirty sack was more than gladly handed back to me. i guess it's true that beauty (or love of nature...) is in the eyes of the beholder...
these little mountain creatures are now safely in bags of homegrown soil in our backyard nursery in budhanilkantha. i watered them down immediately when we got home about 9 pm the other night. then, in the morning, asked tek to put them in soil while i was at work. when i got home i found them resting comfortably out back by our compost, like kids at play, capturing the last rays of the day.
even though they obviously are most at home in those high himalayan altitudes, i hope they thrive out here on the rim of the valley. after all, since most everything else grows in k'du, maybe, these elegant himalayan birches will find this a suitable environment, too...
the way the rest of us of a variety of human species have...
drop by sometime, if you have the time, to meet these youngsters,
if you'd like!
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