Monthly Archives: March 2011

Our Poverty [and dry food to Japan]

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Have a look at the following tweet by Steve Herman, a journalist for VOA, based in  Seoul, Korea.

Very interesting and true, isn’t it? Japan’s Kyodo News agency reports about Nepal’s dry food offer:

Nepal plans to send dry food, particularly biscuits, to Japan to help the quake and tsunami-hit nation deal with dwindling food stocks, a Foreign Ministry official said Wednesday.

”We came to know from a Japanese Embassy official in Kathmandu about food shortages in Japan,” Rudra Nepal told Kyodo News.

”We are holding discussions to send dry food, including biscuits and other packaged items, to Japan,” the official said.

”Though the Japanese embassy official did not make a formal request, we want to do what we can to help Japan, a long-time friend of Nepal, deal with the aftermath of the disaster,” he added.

Nepal, he said, has already decided to send 5,000 blankets to Japan, which are being procured from South Korea by Nepali Embassy officials in Japan.

Meanwhile, Nepal has put on hold its decision to send a 15-member team of security personnel to aid rescue and recovery efforts in Nepal after being informed by Japanese officials that most foreign rescue teams are already returning from Japan, he said.

==Kyodo. Read a related report in eKantipur

I quietly thank Japan every time I walk on the Tinkune-Jadibuti section of the Tinkune-Suryabinayak six lane road (which I do at least twice a day) for building such a nice road in Kathmandu. Now their international aid agency Jica is helping Traffic police set up traffic signals on the road. I can see people are finding it very difficult to get themselves acquainted with the rules.

So quake and tsunami hit Japan. We prayed for Japan on Twitter. Some of us will easily agree with the view that even the quake hit areas of Japan, including those near to the problematic nuclear power plant, are far far better than the average condition of Nepal. Many of us will not think for a second to accept an opportunity to trade our life here with that of the remotest/least developed parts of Japan. That’s because of the stark difference, as Steve points out in his tweet, between the annual per capita income of Nepal (US $450) and that of Japan (US $33,000).

Phew! The difference makes me tired. But I appreciate our government’s effort to send biscuits to Japan. (I hear that they will be bought in Korea like the blankets Nepal is sending to Japan). A small Thank You to Japan for building nice roads and infrastructures in Nepal.

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A car with two license plates. Spotted in Kathmandu

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All the way from Jharkhand (JH), India to Kathmandu…with two identities…perhaps suitable for a society that is being engulfed by the rise of identity based politics. Spotted in downtown Kathmandu last week.

Na A Chai 3093- means the vehicle entered Nepal via an entry point in Narayani zone in Chairta month. :: JH 06C 1122- means that the car is registered in Jharkhanda, India.
It was on the day of Holi festival that I spotted this Scorpio in downtown Kathmandu.

No Sin Was Committed While Taking This Photo #Guhyeshwari

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guheshwari temple no photo notice

Are you sure you are not sinning by photographing the temple? Why do you commit a sin? Photography (still, mobile, video) is strictly prohibited in the Goddess Guhyeshwari's temple complex. Strong action will be taken if you photograph temple after reading this notice. Let us all abide by the temple rule. Thank you. -Shree Guhyeshwari Temple Management Committee.

I got very angry when I saw this notice pasted on the walls of Guhyeshwari temple complex today afternoon. My blood is still boiling- six hours after I first saw this. I felt like giving a tight slap- saale ko galai ma- on the cheek of this guy who ordered for this to be pasted here. The kind of slap that leaves imprints of all five fingers clearly visible on the cheek and the person receiving this falls instantly on ground. And then a few kicks on.. you name the body parts. And throw him on the nearby Bagmati river.

Photography could be barred at certain places. Fine, though I don’t see any reason to do that at temples complexes. What harm will be caused to the God if someone photographs Him? Still, I have no problems if some temples restrict photography. BUT I have problem with the tone and language of this particular notice. It associates SIN with photography. A classic example of playing the “paap lagchha” card (babu, teso garnu hunna, paap lagchha), playing with the religious sentiment of people, exploiting the ‘superstitious instincts’ of many illiterate people of Nepali society. Instead of giving convincing reasons, scientific argument for barring photography in the temple the notice associates the act of photographing in the temple complex an act of SIN. Who the hell is this person or the committee to decide that photographing the temple or the deity is a sin?

Another insane thing one can see at Hindu temples is a notice that says: “Entry for Hindus only.” Why do we restrict people from other faith from entering temples? Will they eat our deities? Utter nonsense. A Shillong-based Nepali-speaking writer and an ex-Indian army officer once told me: “How do we tell people of other faiths about Hinduism when we bar them from entering our temples? Who wants to learn about Hinduism when they can’t even see the Hindu God and Goddesses?”

P.S.: I am not concerned about spreading Hinduism or interested in converting people of other faiths into Hinduism.I am against Hindu fundamentalism. And I also strongly protest any efforts of converting poor Hindus of Nepal into other religions. BUT I don’t agree with such foolish notice that associate photography in temple premises with sin.

Links:
1. Burning Effigies [in the Name of Lord Shiva]
2. Politics of Religion and Conversion

Khojuwa: kathmandu searching dog

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image

As seen on the wall of a restaurant- Picasso- in Patan. The full name goes like this: Picasso- Artist de la Cusine.

Albatross the band will start playing live music momentarily. They have set up their instruments outside. U’ll have to buy a prepaid Rs. 500 coupon at the entrance gate to enter a spacious dining room to eat food of your choice. Well, there is not much to choose from, says my restaurant critic friend Deepak Adhikari looking at the menu that, according to an waiter, has been trimmed for the day.”This is a new menu for me too,” says the waiter.”Today is the first day of our new Friday event.”

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