Thoughts: Contradiction in Nepal

Thoughts: Contradiction in Nepal

Contradictions, a combination of statements, ideas, or features of a situation that are opposed to one another. Contradictions and ignorance is what is currently fuelling the population, government and the whole nation of Nepal. 

Asan, Kathmandu, 2015

 I like to say that everything written comes from my personal view and analysis, I’m not here to impress you as a reader or for you to agree with me. I’ve been meaning to write a report that looks deep into what the Nepali people are, is and are going to be. As I sit here at the office on a hot monsoon day waiting for something to happen, my manager fuels my procrastination with a video (TedTalks): This country isn't just carbon neutral — it's carbon negative | Tshering Tobgay.

Initial thought about the video is not the main reason for this article but moreover the impact it had on me. Throughout the video there are talks about sustainability, carbon neutrality, happiness. It makes me sad watching this video because of all the potential that we have fail to realise not only as Nepali but as human beings. I sit here not thinking of what I am going to do, but what I haven’t done. My nine months I have been here, in my own country, I have seen heard and experience a taste of what Nepal has to offer to me. The offering and the blessing I have received comes from gifts of tales and hardship, overfeeding by concerned family members and struggle to adapt to the concept of Nepali time. 

Ratmate, Dhading, 2015

I sit down overhearing concepts and frustration like “New Nepal”, “Green Nepal” and “Future of Nepal”. Numerous campaign has been raised and conducted, the recent I saw was of youths addressing the problem of pollution in the capital. Kathmandu is the third most polluted city in the world (Kantipur Post), how is this possible? Where are people going? A country that has one major highway and where 25.4% of the land area is covered with forest (FAO, 2005). 

Once you spend more than the tourist average in this country, you start to see a pattern, an unorganised chaos that is fuelled by resilience. I see people tutting and accepting when they get on a crowded microvan, I see people tutting and accepting when waiting for the line at any major banks, telecommunication or toilets. Constantly checking at the time as if it matters, constantly on the move. Everyone wants a life of convenience where input means fair and transparent output, where the state looks after the needs of people and where family and friends are key ingredient for the basis of a healthy life. No matter what theorist you apply and how much you have learnt, you cannot apply these approach in this country. However if you have a PhD in a subject your “wisdom” is considered trustworthy as someone who can save lives, the naivety is embarrassing. 

I see contradictions, I see a country that has a strong connection with the concept of “secular” religion but the liberalisation is halted by social and economic pressure. Nepali mind are always wondering “Should I contribute to society to ensure a better reincarnation or suffer because everyone is not leading by example?” Women and men wake up every morning and chant the name of numerous catalogue of deities in the Hindu or Buddhist religion before any other word is spoken. This ensures good luck and prosperous fortunes wherever you might be. Yet after this ritual they turn back to their old habits. Rubbish are thrown on the ground, behaviours that might be seen as primitive is conducted. This pattern of behaviour persists everyday but its ok, the name will be cleared by praying tomorrow or later tonight as if a parent was teasing its kid about Christmas. 

Out of many quoted, I have picked Mahatma Ghandi‘s quote “You must be the change you wish to see in the world”, one of many quotes which is blared out every morning on the open assembly fields where kids line up and are forced to listen to speeches and false promise, “You are the future of tomorrow”, “You must make your parent proud”, if your kids are in Nepal, you will learn be tolerant, you will suffer and you are to be a  product of a country that is built upon false hope and dreams. 

Darkha, Dhading, 2015

  Our national anthem, when translated portrays this contradictions: 

Woven from hundreds of flowers, we are one garland that's Nepali, Spread sovereign from Mechi to Mahakali. A playground for nature's wealth unending, Out of the sacrifice of our braves, a nation free and unyielding. A land of knowledge, of peace, the plains, hills and mountains tall. Indivisible, this beloved land of ours, our motherland Nepal. Of many races, languages, religions, and cultures of incredible sprawl, this progressive nation of ours, all hail Nepal.

The highlighted aspects are all contradictions. A free nation? We are controlled (not that we would admit to it) and reliant so much on India for our resources to survive, 66.6% of it and this is further perpetuated by unreasonable historic treaty. A land of peace? Royal massacre, Maoist insurgencies, our own MP causing an embarrassing brawl at the parliament. Hills and mountains tall, with the current rate of deforestation and energy consumption to support the increasing population this does not seem to hold for much longer. A progressive nation? You only have to look at the migration level to see the evidence unfold. As soon as the kids in their household reaches an age of 16-17 the household determines that they are to go abroad and it’s in the best decision of the family. We do not focus on what we are good at but rather focus on safe options conducted repetitively throughout the family. At a time when there was a humanitarian crisis, the joker that is the Prime Minister of this county (Mr. KP Oli) comforted the nation, meanwhile making a fool, by saying he will provide fuel line for each household in Nepal. Does he even know the geography of his own nation? Many of the politicians who are in this country are in power for not being successful in their field of ministry but rather being friends with Mr. Oli. They are underqualified (including Mr. Oli) but when questioned on such matters they will disregard the statement and make you feel guilty for not talking about the good development work they are doing in terms of progress or realistically- their ego.

I get frustrated when there isn’t enough power (electricity) to do my work and I get suspicious if there is too much power. I don’t know where my water source is coming from and at days have to wait for water to be supplied accordingly and rationally. We export the water we are meant to consume as a nation to India, and buy it back from them at a higher price. We are being exploited and humiliated yet we see our self as the dominant “Mai Hum” (I am the one). 

There is a great story of when Alexander meets a naked wise man of India (Gymnosophist). Alexander asked “What are you doing?” he replied “I’m experiencing nothingness”. Wise man also asked Alexander and he replied “I’m conquering the world”, they both laughed thinking each other as fools. Alexander thinking “Why is he doing nothing, and the wise old man thinking “Why is he conquering everything?” In this story the Hindu concept of religion is ingrained, there is a belief that you are always going to come back to this earth, and therefore there is a sense of comfort knowing there’s a second chance. In life we perceive that if things are going well, you are Alexander, if you’re doing wrong then you are the naked wise man. Once you grasp the concept of mythology you get to understand the concept of behaviour across culture. If you live in a culture where you only live once you will see an obsession with buying re-logic, standardisation, linear pattern in design. But if you see a culture based on infinite life, you see comfort with fuzzy logic, where everything is sort of relative, mostly.

What does this story mean? My interpretation of this that Nepal is the Gymnosophist or the naked philosopher, we are placed in a nation where natural biodiversity overwhelms us with happiness and the soothing sound of birds numbs us from the little pain and frustration we feel in this fast moving world. However we are always aspiring to be Alexander or in some cases forced, the conqueror of this world, while this is not a bad mind-set it’s not the true mind-set, I believe. Instead of realising compassion we are forced to believe that the western fast pace is the way to achieve greatness. So why it is that such flocks of tourist visit Nepal for a month to surrender their senses or be lost in true reality? Many Nepali has never ventured beyond Kathmandu, depressingly true. I have heard stories of people wanting to go abroad (money motive aside or “education”) to see snow, to experience beaches…etc. Which we might be geographically challenged in terms of providing you beaches to sunbathe, have you even or experienced the beauty that Gokyo Lake? Felt the beauty behind the madness of menacing icefalls and awed at snow-capped mountains and persisted in walking where time comes almost to a standstill. Wait did you hear that Switzerland does it better? Who did you hear this from?

Chola- Pass, 2016

Annapurna Base Camp, 2016

Gokyo Lake, 2016

Gokyo Lake 2016

  Returning migrants, migration is a big problem in this country. Many of us lament the fact so many Nepali youth are compelled to leave the country. As discussed earlier, the concept of going abroad is seen as a gateway or almost an escape for many youth and many young people. The main reason becomes financial on the long term, the length of their stay is also prolonged by the economic trap presented to them in the west. Some people find the escape hard and even impossible, once you find comfort in the new system you cannot find the escape route. The struggle of living abroad is unbearable for some people. When you are presented with new infrastructure, new culture and new language you get overwhelmed. Many people become depressed and at time constantly pressured from family members back home. When you go abroad you are not independent, you are never alone- there is a new fear of “back home”. You are always being judged by society, these variables range from your neighbour to the distant aunty in the foothills of the Himalayas whom you only met once. I am not a migration expert but I am aware because I have been and stayed with Nepali people in Dubai or London who work in such brutal and harsh condition placed to them in their new host country. What shames me is even though people are aware of such conditions there is still resilience and persistence of earning that dollar or pound. People work unaccounted hours to near death, crying and suffering. They are aware of the suffering but what can they do? The government back home where they were born provides little or no incentives, training and opportunities to them at all. It’s usually the elitist that benefits from avoiding these hardship. On the other side of the coin, Remittance accounts for almost one-third of Nepal’s GNI. Nearly half of Nepal’s youth seeking gainful employment, currently find jobs in foreign lands. Remittance kept our rural economy afloat during the decade of Maoist conflict. Families receiving remittance tend to send their children, including girls, to better schools; avail to better healthcare; upgrade their housing and habitats, it open new doors for ideas and innovation. On the long term, large-scale migration is not passing phenomenon nut is likely to be a dominant feature of Nepali economy for at least another decade or more. There needs to be a proactive, migration friendly recommendation in discussion of youth employment and productivity. A system of data collection should be encouraged after a strong framework is implement by the government. As Dor Bahadur Bista coined the term “Afno Manche” (not what you know but who you know), according to the new constitution there should be a fair and equal opportunity for all.

Tribeni, 2015

 So how does this relate to the Bhutan video I mentioned earlier and a catalyst for such tangent of thoughts. Bhutan’s ministry believes in the concept of going carbon neutral or carbon negative. Bhutan believes in cultural identity, I believe that many Nepali people especially youths who are pressured, oppressed or repressed from their true desires, I believe society is to blame for this. If there’s wasn’t a stigma and pressure from parents over your future careers there could be some progression and freewill, there would be diversity in people and jobs. New doors might open to the children who desire to be something more than doctor, nurse or pilot.  Society should be motivating and encouraging to the community and proposer without the need for something in return. We live so short lives and even those are lived under the umbrella of resilience and the concept of blind acceptance.  

 So I guess now you want the answer, I’m not a policy maker nor a development worker. I’m just curious in life and enjoys being critical at times where people might be reluctant to. I cannot promise anything for you – youths need to be the age of 45 to qualify as Prime Minister Level at a country where the constitution benefit the aging population of the parliament. I adhere and agree with strong points made by Kul Chandra Gautam on his latest book: Lost in transition.

What we need is a more proactive strategy that acknowledges and seeks to rectify the centuries- old caste and gender discrimination by empowering the deprived groups, and harnessing their knowledge, skills and artisanship for community, regional and national development. For this, we need to develop programmes that are specifically targeted to promote gender, social and geographical inclusion, but which avoid segregation, ethnocentric or culture of undue entitlement and dependency. 

Nepal’s uniqueness, comparative advantage, the top three are probably its natural beauty (a great attraction for tourism); its geographical location (with potential access to the market of two billion people in the world’s two largest fast-growing economies); and its abundant water resource (with potential to generate over 84,000 MW of clean energy, of which around 42,000 MW is considered economically feasible. Beside electricity, Nepal’s water resources offer tremendous potential for irrigation, fisheries development and water transport, not to mention safe drinking water).

Nepal’s public as well as private transport system is currently totally dependent on motor vehicles plying meandering roads and trails that heavily pollute our beautiful but fragile environment. Nepal currently imports petroleum product worth US$1 billion per year- accounting for the single biggest trade item of our trade deficit. We should encourage electric vehicle for private use. We should displace the widespread use of firewood by electricity for cooking, heating and lighting purpose. Poor women who spend many hours every day fetching firewood and water from long distances would be liberated from this drudgery. Switching away from firewood would protect millions of people, especially women and children, from the scourge of indoor air pollution, which is a major cause of respiratory infections. While it may sound unrealistic to dream about electrically operated transport system given the current electricity deficit in the country, Nepal certainly has the potential, and we must make a national commitment to clean energy future for the country. 

Mustang, 2016

 While preserving our cultural heritage sites, we must embark on modern urban development planning, anticipating the doubling tripling or quintupling of population in major urban centres in the next few decades. Our urban planning for the future must foresee the need for environment- friendly mass transit system, public parks, playgrounds footpaths and sewage and waste- management facilities, along with modern health and education institutions.

Nepal earned a very modest US$ 350 million from tourism in 2012, with an average tourist spending only $36 per day – one of the lowest in the world. The top tourist sending counties of Nepal were: India, 165,000, China 71,000, Sri Lanka 71,000, USA 50,000 and the UK 40,000. In the past two decades, Nepal organised several tourism years: Visit Nepal 1998, Nepal Destination Year 2003, Nepal Tourism Year 2011, Visit Lumbini Year 2012- all with very modest success and even some embarrassment. There is a great potential to attract many more tourist, especially from the increasingly prosperous Asian countries, who actually spend more money than Western backpackers. The number of outbound tourist form China now exceeds 80 million per year. If we could attract one percent of them to Nepal that lone would account for 80,000. But we must guard against Nepal becoming just a low- budget tourist destination for neighbouring countries, and carefully develop high value tourism as well, with quality tourism products catering to high spending tourist for which there are plenty of attraction in Nepal.  To attract more tourist, Nepal must be a peaceful, well governed and hospitable country, not only in slogans but in practical reality. 

 

Lumbini, 2016

While I sit here in my living room, anticipating load shedding to take over my life I contemplate looking at the night stars that illuminates the Nepalese sky, I think of hope and I think of beauty. Then darkness takes over my zone as the light pollution subsides, the stars intensifies as if it wants to tell me a message about what I should do. I think of the school kids, reading from their neatly covered text book and silently persevering through copying a friend’s homework. There is a strong smell of incense stick and a bell being rung nearby. I go back inside with an imagination that was fuelled with the frustration of the day- another interesting day in Kathmandu. 

As a British NRN will say "good-day".