Resilience

The earthquake that struck the country last month not only shocked the country but surprised as well. Surprised in the sense that we got to see that side of ordinary people, which we probably won;t have witnessed had this calamity not struck upon us. We might have seen it in sporadic manner but not on this scale. Resilience!

There are people still out there sleeping outdoors in tents, most of them afraid about aftershocks that keep coming till date. Some because they don;t have any other options. For a while, there were no inequality in our society. Everyone rich-poor were taking shelter in tents, sleeping under the star scattered sky. For a while it looked like the inequality in our society crumbled along with those buildings. But still there were different kinds of people and their worries. Everyone thought, based on what they went through, God was most unfair to them... He was harsh!

There are people whose houses are intact but reluctant to go back because either its too big or they saw it trembling during the quake and have lost faith. People worried that there are hair like lines on the wall. Some worried because there are big holes on their walls and have to rebuild. Also people who have lost their houses completely and many who have lost some or all of their family. These are the one whom we expect to be upset. But to the surprise of the world, when the media went to them they were back to work, smiling and trying to start their life again. Maybe it would have been harder for them to do so if they were the only one struck by this nightmare, but they can relate themselves with a lot of people around. Their life ain;t easy, but with that courage they will get through it. I must admit, I never expected my countrymen to be this resilient. Take a bow.

But our politicians? Their cadres are selling relief materials and making money. Thank God those people who needed it most helped each other rather than waiting for government... else they would have been dead by now. And for our 'representatives', I have nothing good to say about them.

To end with, I would like to share a humbling experience of a Kiwi news reporter Mike McRoberts, who met an elderly woman who lost everything in the earthquake but still didn;t fail to offer him a lunch.

Respect to all the people like her who remind us of where we came from. Nepal in good old days! 

Post script: To all the people who think or ask if I regret coming back home or think me to be stupid, just imagine being somewhere else when your family/country is going through this nightmare! Is there anything worse than that. And then, when you can appreciate foreign volunteers coming here to help your fellow countrymen, how can you even criticize (if not appreciate) someone who decides to come home.

Republic Day

Yes Saddam was a dictator, and so was Gaddafi. But I bet if you ask the people out there whether they feel better off now or before, sadly they would say under those tyrants. Why? For decades the people there had no rights/freedom to much extent (at least better than Saudi Arabia though, I guess), and there were any oppositions. But when the change arrived they got more rights than they expected and all at the same time. It went through their head, I guess. And all the opposing forces of before started to work for their vested interests and gain power. Sects, prevailed.

I don;t say that was good. Just look at Assad. Half of Syria is occupied by ISIS, and they are ever expanding. Is there any credible force that can takeover Assad once he is gone? None. Once he is gone, ISIS would probably run over Damascus within days. As of now I guess ISIS is a greater threat than Assad, but wait he is a tyrant and no one wants to work with him besides Russia and China and the likes. I say, be flexible and work with him for now. Give and take. The day ISIS prevails, Middle East might burn longer than the oil-reserves they have!

Why I am talking about dictators and democracy? Nepalese Constitution Assembly decide to get rid of the Monarchy this day years ago, thought it will solve everything. Same thing happened, we made our own mistake rather than learning from others. Our politicians? Even Syrians would love to be ruled by Assad rather than our politicians once they see their true colours.

Seven years, seven Prime Ministers and over million excuses later I still believe we got the wrong deal this day in 2008. It is among one of many public holidays that does not make sense anymore. You celebrate achievements not blunders, right? 

Its hard to tell the difference between a democracy and a republic when you have same bunch of politicians ruling under different systems. Its officially a Republic Day but there are people who remember it to mourn the loss of Monarchy rather than birth of a Republic.

Down with the Republic (system)! Hail Motherland. Jai Desh, Jai Naresh!

Settle Them South

As per the government estimate about 5,00,000 houses were either completely destroyed or were left unsuitable to be used as shelter anymore during the last earthquake. We know that the houses in our hills or say the terraces are not well constructed. Made usually by using local bricks, rocks, timber and mud they don;t stand a chance to resist quakes of any big magnitude, and that is what happened last month. These settlements are prone even during the monsoon landslides. Recent landslide in Kali Gandaki river near Beni, Myagdi was just a reminder how landslide in our rivers could cause havoc in our settlements on river banks that run from north to south.

There has been suggestions either for organized settlements in hills or resettling them in the Terai plains. Organized settlement is a good idea, but most of the people who were living on the terraces on the edges of hills didn;t choose to live there because they wanted to. They needed land to cultivate and make their ends meet, else who would prefer to live in those hinterlands without any road, electricity or water nearby. Some of the towns in the hills can be established based on that which won;t  leave our hills empty. But accommodating all of them there might not be feasible.

And for the rest, the people could be located in fertile plains of Terai. First, people would have safe refuge. Second, they can earn their living working on whatever piece of land they get or somewhere else. Third and most importantly, there has been growing unrest in Terai with some pro-India leaders voicing for separation. In that case, if we are able to resettle these people from hills to Terai, we can increase the harmony among the population and counter any separatist view from within. I read somewhere that during such natural calamity in 2011 B.S., peoples from Lamjung, Tanahun, etc were settled in Chitwan. Then why not settle them this time in Terai plains between Morang to Nawalparasi that helps preserve both national integrity and safety to our citizen.

I know there would be opposition from some political sections, but its time to look ahead to the future. And I guess it's the right time.

Let's settle them south.

Let's Make A Quake

It's been exactly one month since the big-one hit the western hills in Gorkha. For a lot of people life will never ever be the same, even though they wish to. Since then we have had over 250 aftershocks. People are getting used to it but every time life starts to get normal, another scary one strikes. So, there are still people out there living outdoors, some because they don't have home to go, and some just because they are too scared.

When I think about the quake I wonder how many things we have survived in this lifetime. Political change of 1990, Maoist insurgency, landslides, floods, strikes - bandhs, storms, rain, hails... and what not? Two Constitution Assemble Assembly elections and still we ended up with the same bunch of idiots we call our politicians... our 'representatives'?

Isn't it a shame that we feel lucky about surviving these calamities, most of which we didn;t have control over, but still feel helpless when it comes to politicians. If we can survive those calamities then we surely can survive without these fools! It should be them who should be afraid of us rather than other way around.

Yes, we do need a quake, but a political one! Remember when you cast vote next time, make sure you are setting a good precedence for the next generation. And if you feel the candidates are not qualified enough, use your right to 'boycott'.

Post Script: I know the aftershocks are diminishing, but still somewhere inside I feel there will be one last 'big-one' coming pretty soon. Hope not!

Quake-athon

Two ducks walking down a path on a beautiful summer day. One duck looks at the other and says "quack." The other duck says "Damn I was just gonna say that!!" 

I guess a lot of Nepalese can relate to those ducks, the only difference, for us its 'quake' rather than 'quack'.

Just over 2 weeks ago we had a massive earthquake of 7.8 rector scale that took over 8,000 lives, destroyed over 250,000 houses, demolished entire villages and changed the lives of millions forever, for bad. Just when people thought the life was heading to normalcy, another quake of 7.3 rattled the north-eastern hills of Kathmandu this afternoon. And the aftershocks followed. On the first one, we had more than 150 aftershocks of over 4.0 magnitude. On this one, I don;t know how many there will be, but we expect a LOT! So, far as per the news Sidhupalchok and Dolakha are the major affected areas, but 'luckily' the casualty is less this time around. I feel sorry for the folks of Sindhupalchok who were worst hit on the first one as well. 

For change, the PM Sushil Koirala addressed the nation today after the quake. No offences but am I the only one who needs a subtitle whenever the PM is on the idiot box? But then I think, whats the point, he is a politician and no politician say what they actually intend to. No need to worry what he said. 

A lot of people will be staying outside tonight. I hope it won;t rain to make the things worse. I don;t know how long this 'quake-athon' will last, but hope it ends soon. Sooner the better. But for now our days are Shaking Sunday, Moving Monday, Tremor Tuesday, Wobbling Wednesday, Trembling Thursday, Frightening Friday, Silent Saturday.

Stay strong people!

The Broken Roof

The day was gloomy, with the black clouds hovering all day long. And yes it is a Sunday. It did take long, but late evening it finally turned into Gloomy Sunday. There was lightening, thunderbolts, whispering wind, heavy rainfall and maybe a little bit of hail as well. I can hear the sound of every thundering cloud and a glimpse of the city after every flashing lightening. I feel happy that I am home. Safe.

But then I wonder what would had happened if the tremor had hit us on a day like this? Or if it hits now since we are still getting the aftershocks. Then my thought goes out to the people out there who are yet to receive the relief. Yes, its been over 2 weeks and there are still people out there who are yet to see the face of relief. I won;t blame the government, we all know what they are up to ... I never had any expectations from these bunch of fools, never had, never will.

Nepal did receive relief materials like dry foods, tents, medicines, etc from friends around the world. Some less, some more but we did. But government. They slept too long and when they woke up, 'our' politicians were fighting to distribute the relief materials among their cadres and in their constituencies.

I turn on the idiot box and see people who have walked for four hours to get the relief. What they got? Couple of packs of noodles. That's it. They say their village is completely devastated, most of them have lost their family members, and they were there in hope of getting tents and some food. But they have to walk back home empty hand. Almost.

When you talk to the government ministers they will say they have distributed thousands of tents for people and so and so. But on the spot, there would be hardly 10-20 people who actually got it, and majority of them people with political affiliations/connections. There are bunches of incidents where those tents (good quality ones from China, US and Western world) have landed to houses of politicians, high ranking bureaucrats and the likes who have their house intact and have no right to claim it whatsoever. You can see in social media where tents donated by Red Cross has been used as canopy for car parking in private houses and all that. Isn't it a shame that there are people who are desperately in need of tents and there are these people who are hoarding it? It;s utter disgrace! It should be kind of War Crime. I mean what people with moral integrity will do this? Hope their family is proud of them. 

Oh! It's Mother's Day today. I feel sorry for mothers whose children are doing this. I don;t blame them, their children didn;t deserve to be born on first place. I can only say one thing to people doing this, 'Hope you get to feel what people needing those relief are feeling personally. Hope the next quake knocks your house down! Hopefully soon!.'

Sorry, but it hurts when there are people who are doing everything possible to help their countrymen and then there are these bunch of self-centered humans(?) who make you feel that the dictionary is yet to coin word to describe their inhumanity. Disgrace, total disgrace.

Pray for those people in need and do help them whichever way possible. 

Together we can.

His Judgement Cometh And That Right Soon

Finally, after 13 years the hit and run case against Bollywood superstar #SalmanKhan got a verdict. He was convicted of killing a homeless man and sentenced to 5 years in prison. With his unmatched popularity among masses, its normal for people to get upset with the verdict. Yes, he has done a lot to other needy people though his charity organization #BeingHuman, but that does not mean he should be considered for less severe punishment for what he has done in the past.

The law should rule supreme and if anyone is guilty, s/he should be punished based on that, not more not less. Even I am a huge fan of Salman and I do believe he is a man with 'golden heart', but with that said wouldn't it be injustice to deprive the man who was killed to deny fair trail and justice? Isn;t law supposed to treat everyone equal?

Since 'our' government is officially pro-impunity,I guess the wait for us in Nepal is going to be a bit longer to see those people who committed heinous crimes during the Maoist insurgency behind bars. Most of them were 'cleansed' for political reasons, and the voiceless people were denied justice. I hope and am sure the justice will surely come to them.

But as of now all we can do is wait. Wait for the day when the law of this land treats everyone equal and gets people on the wrong side of it behind bars. 

Nepalese Nightmare - The Story So Far