Dinesh Wagle's Commentaries

Latest stories – पछिल्ला टिप्पणीहरू

  • When You Meet Wine and Women of France Together

    Continued from previous blog: Chinese Wife of the French Ambassador

    Dinesh Wagle in the wine party organized hosted by the French ambassador in Kathmandu in his residence to taste the Beaujolais Nouveau Pic by Girish Giri

    I was wandering around looking for people to talk to. I see this celebrated TV personality and former editor standing whom I had quoted in the beginning this story about the life in Thamel. “I read your story,” he says. [And says it was nice.] Then he charges me of removing one word-also- from the quote that I had attributed to him in the story. “But I had said you might ‘also’ meet celebrities,” he says. “Where is the ‘also’? Don’t put your words into my mouth.”

    “It’s good to visit Thamel once in a week,” a famous TV personality and former editor had told me this a few years ago. “You might encounter celebrities from around the world.”

    I should have written, he says, “…also encounter celebrities….”

    “Well, I don’t really remember you saying “pani” or “too” but if that’s what you had said, then I admit my mistake,” I say. “I try to put exact quotes as far as possible.”

    “Okay,” he says, “I am going now. Pani, pani, don’t forget pani!” (धेरै…)

  • Meet the Chinese Wife of the French Ambassador

    Continued from previous blog: Wine Party: The Dutch Guy With Helvetas

    [Here is my article in Kantipur daily about the Beaujolais Day wine party: फ्रेन्च वाइन कूटनीति]

    Behind every handsome ambassador is his beautiful wife: Gilles-Henry Garault, French ambassador in Nepal and his Chinese wife Shen Miao in the wine party on Beaujolais Day in Kathmandu. Pic by Bikas Rauniar

    I am still looking some other people to talk to. Someone tells me that the ambassador’s wife is a Chinese and they communicate in German as the lady doesn’t know French and the man can’t speak Chinese. So I want to confirm this from the lady herself. “Excuse me ma’am,” I went to her and introduce myself as a reporter with a Nepali newspaper. “Can I talk to you for a few minutes?”

    Sure, why not?

    Yes, that’s true that the lingua franca in the family is German. “First we talked in German,” she says. “Later I tried in English. He can’t speak Chinese, I can’t speak French.” They are learning each other’s language but the lady says that the busy schedule of the ambassador is keeping him from improving quickly. “Sometime I teach him but he is busy,” she beams. (धेरै…)

  • फ्रेन्च वाइन कूटनीति

    दिनेश वाग्ले
    वाग्ले स्ट्रिट जर्नन
    यो लेख आज शनिवारको कान्तिपुर दैनिकमा प्रकाशित छ । यसै वाइन पार्टी’bout थप ब्लग अंग्रेजीमा:
    Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivé!: French Ambassador’s Wine Party in Kathmandu

    ‘लेडिज एन्ड जेन्टलम्यान, सेनोरास ए सेनोरेस, म्याडामेज एट मोसुँर, यो साँझ आज हामी त्यो वाइनको उद्घाटन गर्दैछौं, जो विश्वभरि पिइनेछ’, समारोह सञ्चालकले सबैको ध्यान खिच्दै भने- ‘दस, नौ, आठ….तीन, दुई, एक बुजु । लौ यहाँ छ, बुजोले नोभो ।’ त्यसपछि सबैले यो वर्षको बुजोले चियर्स गरे । अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय समाचार संस्था ‘एजेन्स फ्रान्स प्रेस’ (एएफपी) को एउटा रिपोर्टबाट लिइएको यो वर्णन सानो फ्रेन्च सहर बोजुमा मध्यरात आयोजित बुजोले वाइनको बिर्को खोल्ने समारोहको हो । प्रत्येक वर्ष नोभेम्बरको तेस्रो बिहीबार विश्वभरि त्यस्तै समारोहमा बुजोलेका बिर्काहरू खोलिन्छन् र पारखीले त्यो ताजा रेड वाइनको स्वाद लिन्छन् । जापानको एनएचके टीभीले प्रत्यक्ष प्रसारण गरेको बोजु सहरको जस्तो भव्य नभए पनि नेपालका लागि फ्रेन्च राजदूतले विशालनगरस्थित आफ्नो निवासमा बिहीबार बेलुकी आयोजना गरेको बुजोले चाख्ने समारोह पनि कम मादक थिएन । महिला तथा सज्जनवृन्द, सेनोरास ए सेनोरेस, म्याडामेज एट मोसुँर चाख्नुस् बुजोले । लामो कपाल, अग्लो शरीर र कसिलो ज्यान भएका फ्रेन्च कूटनीतिज्ञ आफ्नी सुन्दर चिनियाँ पत्नीलाई बायाँ राखेर अतिथि स्वागत गरिरहेका थिए । साँझ छिप्पिँदै गर्दा सबैका हातमा बुजोलेका ग्लासहरू थामिइसकेका थिए, बगैंचामा स्थापित अस्थायी अगेनाहरूबाट आइरहेको न्यानोलाई सम्भवतः बुजोलेको तापले बिर्साइरहेको थियो । कुराकानीबाट फुर्सद पाएकाहरू छेवैमा सानो स्टेजमाथि बसेका सूरसुधा सदृश्यहरूले निकालेको इन्स्ट्रुमेन्टल धुनमा खुट्टा थपथपाउँदै या टाउको हल्लाइरहेका थिए ।

    gilles henry garault the french ambassador in Nepal

    वाइन पार्टीमा फ्रेन्च राजदूत र उनकी पत्नी तस्बिर विकास रौनियार (धेरै…)

  • French Ambassador’s Wine Party: The Dutch Guy With Helvetas

    Continued from previous blog: Beaujolais Day in Nepal: Wine Talk With a French Teacher

    How about this bearded man? I am not sure about his nationality but that’s fine. He must be a European. Yes, he is: a Dutch, married to a Swiss and working for a Swiss agency in Kathmandu. “How old are you?” I ask him. By his facial expression, I conclude that that wasn’t the question he wanted to hear this evening though he had happily agreed to participate in the interview for the Nepali edition of the Kathmandu Post. “You guess,” he files the usual reply. I certainly do not want to disappoint him. He is a nice guy, I like his beard. They are white like of some Hindu rishi. He has spent 25 years in Africa before coming here in Nepal to work at Helvetas. I calculate and come up with this modest number: 45? “No, I am sixty,” Jon Roukema says, and smiles. “Not that old,” I assure him. He lives in Chovar, “a very beautiful place with friendly neighborhood”. (धेरै…)

  • Beaujolais Day in Nepal: Wine Talk With a French Teacher

    Continued from previous blog: Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivé!: French Ambassador’s Wine Party in Kathmandu

    I am basically an introvert (except on the web of course), and I find it quite difficult to sustain with phony smiles and extra courteous talks in many social gatherings. But then there is another person in me who is a reporter (journalist, you know, newspaper guy? I work for a newspaper and am trying to write something out of this gathering this evening. Would you like to talk to me for a few minutes? Hell yes, why not? Kantipur? What’s that? Oh, I read Kathmandu Post. That comes on my desk every morning. Oh.. yea? Then just keep this in your mind that Kantipur is the Nepali edition of the Kathmandu Post -which is not entirely correct but then what the hell, you are already drinking wine and I have already finished first glass in my life.) Yes, many a times, a reporter has to start conversations to make a story out of an occasion. Some people get frightened by just hearing the word journalist and run away, some try to avoid very politely some talk a little bit hesitantly and some become really glad that a reporter is talking to them. These people make me really happy. (धेरै…)

  • Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivé!: French Ambassador’s Wine Party in Kathmandu

    Beaujolais Day

    The New Beaujolais has arrived!: Chief Election Commissioner Bhojraj Pokharel and the French Ambassador Gilles-Henry Garault in the “Beaujolais Day” party. Pic by Bikas Rauniar

    15 November: I am not a wine connoisseur but the nearest thing that fascinates me after beautiful girls is a glass of wine. Did you believe that? Fine, don’t believe because I am just making that up (Or, believe at your own risk, what can I do?) as I am writing a blog about WINE and women. While I am typing these lines my status line on the IM says “2 glasses of WINE and I am DRUNK!!!!” One of my contacts on the IM screaming: “Just Stay Sane.” And the chattier creature thinks that it’s difficult to believe that I am drunk. (I am here in office waiting for the vehicle that will take me home at 11 PM along with night desk staffs at the paper. I don’t have motorbike or car so I have to rely on office vehicle to go home in late night.) Anyway, let me come to the point because I am sane enough to come to the point: It is 10:45 PM, I am just back to office from a wine party in the residence of the French Ambassador in Kathmandu hosted by ambassador Gilles-Henry Garault and Alliance Francaise. (धेरै…)

  • Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivé!: French Ambassador’s Wine Party in Kathmandu

    Beaujolais Day

    The New Beaujolais has arrived!: Chief Election Commissioner Bhojraj Pokharel and the French Ambassador Gilles-Henry Garault in the “Beaujolais Day” party. Pic by Bikas Rauniar

    15 November: I am not a wine connoisseur but the nearest thing that fascinates me after beautiful girls is a glass of wine. Did you believe that? Fine, don’t believe because I am just making that up (Or, believe at your own risk, what can I do?) as I am writing a blog about WINE and women. While I am typing these lines my status line on the IM says “2 glasses of WINE and I am DRUNK!!!!” One of my contacts on the IM screaming: “Just Stay Sane.” And the chattier creature thinks that it’s difficult to believe that I am drunk. (I am here in office waiting for the vehicle that will take me home at 11 PM along with night desk staffs at the paper. I don’t have motorbike or car so I have to rely on office vehicle to go home in late night.) Anyway, let me come to the point because I am sane enough to come to the point: It is 10:45 PM, I am just back to office from a wine party in the residence of the French Ambassador in Kathmandu hosted by ambassador Gilles-Henry Garault and Alliance Francaise. (धेरै…)

  • Jab We Met Imtiaz Ali, Bollywood Experience Became So Cool

    Yet another blog on a Bollywood flick. This time I am excited.

    Eye on Bollywood: Amidst all the hypes that are surrounding Om Shanti Om and Saawaria, if you haven’t watched this cool movie called Jab We Met, you have missed something very good. When I watched this movie directed by Imtiaz Ali I felt really glad that I watched it. I hadn’t enjoyed a movie like that in months. Initially, I had dismissed this film as a “just another small offering from Bollywood with relatively small stars like Kareena Kapoor and Shahid Kapoor.” I didn’t know the director of the film and the name, the cocktail of Hindi and English, was unattractive. But, as they say, seeing is believing! I now believe in the talent of Imtiaz Ali, the man who directed and wrote Jab We Met. I have decided to watch his next film if me makes one. [The performance of Kareena and Shahid is laudable. I have never liked Kareena or her acting but after watching her as Geet in this film, I must say she can do the job.] (धेरै…)

  • Tihar Journal: Bhaitika and Yawning

    The Day of Bhaitika: “Dinesh wake up,” someone screamed at my door, knocking. “It’s already 10. The sait for tika is at 10:30.” Oh, why can’t the sait be sometime at 2 PM, I thought, and, after thinking about the possibility for about 10 minutes, woke up. I had promised yesterday to myself that I would wash my hair today. Not that I am willing to do that very often but the dandruffs demand otherwise. There is this effective shampoo with me that when I wash my hair with it, dandruffs are gone for at least a week. It’s really useful for me. When you start a war, you want to finish it right through the end, right? That’s what I did. I went on for full fledged bathing which made me feel lighter. I am clean, ready for bhaitika. (धेरै…)

  • Om Shanti Om: No Shah Rukh No

    Eye on Bollywood: My first choice for the day was Saawaria by Sanjay Leela Bhansali but ended up with Om Shanti Om (second in the list, by Farah Khan). I definitely do not regret watching it but there is no question that I will remember it for long: it’s just another masaladar Hindi film.

    This is not a review of the Om Shanti Om but my personal impression. I am disappointed for I spent Rs. 100 (and other expenses like coffee and bus fare to the theater) for the movie, spent almost three hours of my time on the day of Laxmi Pooja (for the film) when people sing and dance beautiful bhailos. I had thought the film would be dealing with something very new, fresh drama. Only thing I loved about the movie was: the smile of Deepika Padukone, the lady who plays opposite to Shah Rukh Khan. She is too beautiful (or presented as such) and at times that becomes the problem. Even when she is supposed to show anger and be angry, she can’t. She just looks like a sweet little doll. (धेरै…)