I am back in Kathmandu. I came here on the last day of February flying from Jumla to Nepalgunj and from there to Kathmandu. I was in Karnali for a month (February). I did travel the Karnali Highway (Jumla-Surkhet) twice this time. From Jumla to Surkhet and from Surkhet to Jumla. I also went to a village in Achham following young boys who were returning from India after working at a cricket stadium constructing site in Nainital.
I had traveled the highway (from Jumla to Surkhet) six months ago.
It’s now time for me to be away from the city of Kathmandu and go back to one of my favorite domains: the hills of Nepal. Being a workaholic ass in the city of Kathmandu means I must take break from regular life to refresh myself and inject fresh energy in the soul of Dinesh Wagle. Yes, that’s true. And the fresh air of Nepali hills (mountains for many) definitely helps me retain the energy!
I have been extremely busy in the past two weeks. Blogging was the primary (or caucus? ha ha ha) casualty. I was completely into journalism, my primary profession. Reporting, writing, managing and editing.
The assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto came as a shock and I found myself in our newsroom tracking the sad and dramatic development as it unfolded in Rawalpindi. Pakistani newspapers Dawn, the News, American papers NYT and Wash Post, wire services and the web sites of BBC and CNN. And Wikipedia too. All were my sources for the report that I prepared and was published on front, almost entire, page. The only other news report, also written by me, on the front page was about the until-then-top-secret-number of the Maoist combatants released by the United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN). The front page of Kantipur, the next day, had belonged to me, as one colleague at the business bureau put it. (धेरै…)
I experienced the magic while watching the sun rising
It was really challenging for me to wake up at 6:30 in the morning to observe the sunrise. I was determined. I set the alarm on my cell for 6 AM (Friday, December 21). The alarm inside me was also working and I was awake several times in the night. Finally, the cell’s alarm went off and I threw sirak off. After muting the phone, I came back to bed and stayed inside sirak for a few minutes. Then I woke up and in a few minutes I was ready to go at the top of the hotel, the tallest in Nagarkot, to get the better view. There were already a few people and we waited for a few minutes.
It was magical. I don’t remember witnessing a sunrise before with that much of focused attention. It happened for only a few seconds. Probably 20 to 30 seconds. I just kept my eyes focused at the colorful rays of light that were coming from behind the mountain on the east. (धेरै…)
A sudden trip to the hilltop that is famous for the views of sunrise.
So that is how my day started. I wasn’t prepared when my colleague at Kantipur Girish Giri asked me to join him on a motorcycle trip to Nagarkot in the afternoon while I was calmly browsing web and reading blogs. Plus, batteries in my camera had died, cell phone batteries were dying and there was this story about the screening, the actress and her mother to be written. And Girish’s plan to Nagarkot included a long bike ride in the chilly/windy evening. The only thing that didn’t discourage me of thinking the trip to the hilltop was the down jacket that I was wearing since the morning. That, I thought, will save me from the wind should I decide to take the one-hour-long ride. (धेरै…)
The mother of the actress wanted her daughter to be a professor in real life.
One thing that you can predict easily about a reporter’s daily routine is this: it’s unpredictable. You never know how a reporter’s day starts and ends. Forget about you, I am a reporter and I myself don’t know how my day starts and ends. A new assignment can call me anytime. For instance, I was invited to see a Nepali move early in the morning (I am talking about Thursday, 20 December): 8:30 at Kumari. I woke up at 6:30, a record in itself, and reached at the venue on time. But then it’s Nepali time for the organizers: the screening of “Huri Batas” (err, actually it’s “Aandhi Tufaan”, I keep on forgetting name of this movie) would start only at 9. Two girls were standing at the entrance of the theater apparently waiting for invitees. I learned from them that they were the actresses of the film. One was Richa Ghimrie and the other was… I forget her name at this moment. (धेरै…)
Even in these chilly days, we drink Coca Cola (Okay, to be exact, I drank a glass of Fanta, another offering from the one of the greatest symbols of American culture, this afternoon in a program co-sponsored by Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu). We get to watch the events in the United States as and when they unfold, mostly live, as it happened a while ago with the fire in the west wing of the White House. Now they are talking about the election campaign-the topic of this blog- on CNN, an American network, as I am typing these lines on MS Word, one of the key products of an American software giant. Nine out of 13 tabs on the Firefox, competitor of Microsoft’s IE but still an American thing (Internet itself is an American thing, isn’t it?), display American websites. A paper lies on the floor on my left side that’s known around the world as the New York Times (these particular pages come as a weekly pullout along with an Indian paper called Asian Age). (धेरै…)
दिनेश वाग्ले
वाग्ले स्ट्रिट जर्नन
यो लेख आज शनिवारको कान्तिपुर दैनिकमा प्रकाशित छ । पत्रिकाकै पेजमा हेर्ने भए यहाँ क्लिक गरेहुन्छ ।
काठमाडौं- लिफ्टबाट निस्केर म तीव्रगतिमा अगाडि हुत्तिइरहेको थिएँ एकजना सहकर्मीले मुसुक्क मुस्काउँदै दाहिने हात अगाडि फैलाए । देब्रे हात गोजीमा थियो, दाहिनेमा मोबाइल तर उनीसँग हात नमिलाई, हेन्डसेक या गुड नगरी अघि बढ्नु उनलाई इन्कार गर्नचाहेको जस्तो हुने पक्का थियो । त्यसैले म झ्याप्प रोकीएँ, भुईंको मार्बलमा खुट्टा झन्डै चिप्लिनेगरी, देब्रे हात निकालें, त्यसमा फोन थमाएँ र समय धेरै नभएकाले एउटा कृत्रिम हासो तत्कालै निकालेर उनको हात समाएँ ।
‘हेल्लो’ मैले भनें । ‘हेल्लो’ उनले पनि भने । चाहेको होइन, तर उनका हात महसुस नगरी रहनै सकिन । तातो । अलि कस्तो-कस्तो । हल्का खस्रोजस्तो । मेरोभन्दा केही ठूलो र मोटो । उनलाई मेरो हात चिसो लाग्यो होला, किनकि म भर्खरै किबोर्डमा टाइप गरेर झरेको थिएँ । सायद हामीले त्यो कर्मका लागि तीन सेकेन्डजति बितायौं होला, तर हुनेजति भइसकेको थियो, लिफ्ट माथि गइसकेको थियो, उनले बेकारमा त्यहा उभिनुपर्ने भयो । कतै हानिएको मेरो गतिमा अवरोध आयो । लाग्यो- किन उनलाई हात फैलाउनुपरेको होला – आँखैमा हेरेर हासेकै थियौं, हेल्लो भनेकै थियौं र त्यतिले हामीबीच एकखाले ‘व्यावसायिक अभिवादन’ भएकै थियो । के गर्नु संसार त्यस्तो ठान्दैन- नमस्तेलाई गुडबाई, हात मिलाई र्सवाधिक चल्तीको नेपाली अभिवादन भइरहेको छ ।
Anjila Mul, 22, and Sujita Amatya, 22, who got Bachelors in Science (Environmental Science) degree from Biswo Niketan College a few days ago, had gone to the “exhibition” hoping to get recruited as volunteer or explore opportunities in volunteering. “The focus is in the UN of course,” said Anjila, left, “because that’s world wide.”
[Here is what I reported in today’s Kantipur about the event]
I was in Basantapur (Kathmandu Durbar Square) yesterday to report about an event organized on the occasion of International Volunteer Day. Many young people from Kathmandu and other parts of Nepal had gathered there responding to advertisements that were published in some newspapers (including Kantipur where I work) that day. The advertisements that featured a statement issued by the UN General Secretary General on the occasion asked the readers to come to Basantapur. “If you want to become a volunteer, visit our exhibition at Basantapur on 5th December at 11:30,” said the adverts. Those who invited the readers were the UN Volunteers, JICA (Japan), KOICA (Korea), MS Nepal (Danish) and other organizations. Majority of the visitors were young and many of them had gone there hoping to get recruited as volunteer or get their CVs seen by the UN Volunteers officials. I met two girls and many other boys who said their main intention was to get enrolled into UNV. (धेरै…)
दिनेश वाग्ले
वाग्ले स्ट्रिट जर्नल
यो लेख पहिलोपटक आजको कान्तिपुरमा प्रकाशित भएको हो । पत्रिकाकै पेजमा हेर्ने भए यहाँ क्लिक गरेहुन्छ ।
काठमाडौं- ‘यस्तै हो पत्रकारको काम ?’ केही बेरअघिसम्म मेरा प्रश्नको जबाफ दिइरहेकी अधबैंसे महिला हल्का झर्किन्- ‘चिन्नु न जान्नुका मान्छेसँग कुरा गर्दै हिँड्ने ?’
पाठ्यपुस्तकमा पत्रकारिताको ठ्याक्कै त्यस्तो परिभाषा दिइँदैन तर चिनेकै मान्छे पर्खिइँदो हो त यो लेख तयार हुने थिएन । ‘त्यति मात्रै पक्कै होइन,’ बालाजु-रत्नपार्क माइक्रोमा हिँडेकी नेपाल टेलिकम त्रिपुरेश्वर (टेलेक्स) की कर्मचारीलाई मैले भनें- ‘तर आज मेरो कामै त्यही भएको छ ।’ मुख्य सहरलाई घेर्ने २७ किलोमिटरको चक्रपथमा डेढ फन्को लगाएर थुप्रै ‘चिन्नु न जान्नुका मान्छे’ को कथा सुनेपछि म फर्किंदो थिएँ ।
निश्चयै, यो कुनै पहाडी जिल्लाको सानो गाउँ होइन जहाँ एउटा बासिन्दालाई टोलका सबैको नाम, नातागोता थाहा होस् । थुप्रै विकासोन्मुख मुलुकहरू (विशेष गरी चीन र भारत) मा जस्तै नेपालमा पनि गाउँबाट सहर ओइरिनेहरूको संख्या बढ्दो छ जसले गर्दा काठमाडौंमा आपसमा अपरिचितहरू दिनहुँ बढिरहेका छन् । अबका ४३ वर्षा एउटा भारतीय सहरमा प्रतिमिनेट ३१ गाउँले आउने प्रक्षेपण अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय ब्यांक ‘गोल्डम्यान साच्स’ ले गरेको छ । त्यस्तो आगमनकै कारण यो वर्षपहिलोपटक पृथ्वीको सहरी जनसंख्या गाउँमा बस्नेको भन्दा बढी भएको छ । (धेरै…)
