an other year
TRANSCRIPT
#498 16 - 22 April 2010 16 pages Rs 30
ver a thousand years ago, the sageGorakhnath took umbrage at the goodpeople of the Kathmandu Valley
when his request for alms was ignored. Hegathered all the serpents of the Valley, keepersof rain, and sat on them. The ensuing droughtcaused much suffering, and King NarendraDev was compelled to call uponGorakhnath’s guru, Machhindranath. WhenMachhindranath appeared, Gorakhnath roseto greet him, releasing the serpents, andending the drought. Ever since, the god hasbeen honoured in Patan every year.
As this year’s Rato Machhindranathchariot is built plank by plank on the road toJawalakhel, well might we wonder what isholding the heavens up. Who is stifling thepeace process, and what will it take for thestakeholders to come to their senses and getto their feet? Last year, the chariot keeled overin Mangal Bajar, forcing devotees topainstakingly rebuild. For those dwindlingvoices still calling for the constitutionaldeadline to be met, this is a cautionary tale ifthere ever was one: do it properly, or beprepared to start all over again.
THE RED ONE: Patan’s Machhindranathgets his annual makeover
An other yearO
KIRAN PANDAY
16 - 22 APRIL 2010 #498
Publisher: Kunda Dixit | Editor: Rabi Thapa Design: Kiran Maharjan | Marketing: Sambhu Guragain, Subhash Kumar, Arjun Karki [email protected] | Subscription: Santosh Aryal [email protected]
Hattiban, Godavari Road, Lalitpur | GPO Box 7251 Kathmandu | Tel: 01-5250333/845 Fax: [email protected] | www.nepalitimes.com
Published by Himalmedia Pvt Ltd | www.himalmedia.com | Printed at Jagadamba Press 01-5250017-19
2|
Q. Will 2067 see a breakthrough in Nepalipolitics?
Weekly Internet Poll # 498
Q. How can we best meet the constitutionaldeadline?
Total votes: 2,472
Weekly Internet Poll # 499. To vote go to: www.nepalitimes.com
ON THE WEBwww.nepalitimes.com
PUBLISHER’S NOTE
The blogs
Nepali Kukurchows his wayacross Patan
nepalitimes.com/blogs
“I
A FIT LEADER?The parties messed up our country(‘Prachanda’s choice’, #497). Do wereally want a multiparty democracywhere the leaders are loyal to theirparties and not to the country?
Gautam Buddha
Prachanda does not have thepolitical or intellectual competence. Heis good at manipulatingtruths and deceiving indoctrinated semi-educated party cadres and cluelessinternational pundits. I am not thatoptimistic about Baburam Bhattaraieither but he may be the best short-termbet. His desires for a better Nepal atleast seem more genuine. But there areno leaders in Congress or UML who canstep up to the task.
Concerned Citizen
WONDERSTRUCKAll I can say is wow: Nepal never ceasesto amaze me (‘Annapurna air safari’,#497). Let’s save it for ourselves andposterity.
kabulekanchho
WE’RE THE PROBLEMHaving lived very close to Washington,DC for a long time I have seen so manyambassadors come and go (‘Diplomaticdisaster’, #497). I agree that Nepal has tosend representatives who have somecredibility and who are competent – notjust people who are politically connected.A sound foreign policy is indeed areflection of the healthy internaldemocratic milieu of any country. We haveto swallow the doctor’s bitter pill that the“challenge is within us, and not beyond ourborders”. Chetna Kunwar
USED OR EMPOWERED?Sadly, these young women are beingused, and they do not seem to realise theyare doing disservice to their communitiesby encouraging young girls to adoptsuperficial values and nakkal (‘TheMangols are coming!’, #497).
R Rai
A MATTER OF TRUSTVery perceptive analysis by Prashant Jha(‘India’s war’, #497). But I think he isunderestimating the impact of Indianforeign policy on Nepal’s Maoists.Thetragedy for us Nepalis (and conundrum forIndia) is that the alternatives to theMaoists are totally useless. I expect themto finally settle for a Maoist leader theycan trust. But will the Maoist hardlinerstrust India’s candidate?
Pradip Kumar
PATIENCE AND HOPE IN 2067Recent protests on the streets of Bishkek andBangkok are warnings to us here in Nepal about thedangers of democratic decay, the threats of reversaland backsliding.
The rise of the red shirts in Thailand culminated inhand-to-hand combat on Saturday that left 22 dead. InKyrgyzstan last week at least 100 people were gunneddown in an uprising that sidelined a hated regime. Inother resource-rich former Soviet Central Asian‘stans’, totalitarian Soviet communism has beenreplaced not by democracy, but by rapaciousoligarchs. Across the world, democracy is numericallyin retreat: there have been more setbacks to freedomthan progress.
Some would argue that it is the Thais who shouldlearn from us, not the other way around. The streetprotests that marked the beginning of our transitionfrom a monarchy to a republic were relatively non-violent. Things are behind schedule, we have a messy
political deadlock, but at least we are moving in theright direction.
Freedom is an absolute (one can’t be partly free) and aninalienable right. But ever since the Philippines in 1986, wehave seen that the restoration of democracy through peoplepower is not the end of a process, it is the beginning. If webecome complacent, the euphoria of democracy is soonreplaced with disillusionment and despair as the new rulersbegin to emulate the tyrants they replaced. Democracydoesn’t come with a warranty card, it has to be protectedthrough vigilance and accountability.
Elections are the process by which we choose the mosthonest, efficient managers to run a country for a givenperiod. But, as we saw in Kyrgyzstan, elections cannot bethe sole criteria for legitimacy. The Thai debacle, too,raises a question as old as Athenian democracy itself: howto protect the nation and people from those they haveelected? History is replete with examples of leaders who,once elected to office, proceeded to dismantle the veryinstitutions they used to get to power in order to indefinitelyextend their mandates.
Fortunately for us in Nepal, there seems to be anemerging consensus at the top level of the triumvirate that
lords over us that there is no alternative to a nationalgovernment during the constitution-drafting process. Theyare now putting the necessary legal provisions into placeto postpone the statute deadline till 28 November, andhopefully within a month we will have a new all-inclusivegovernment.
Inaugurating an international conference ondemocracy in Jakarta this week, Malaysian oppositionleader Anwar Ibrahim, who spent six years in solitaryconfinement, said there were two kinds of politicalleaders in Asia today: ones that grow old in their jobs andothers that grow old in jails. He paid tribute to the world’smost noted elected prisoner of conscience, Aung SanSuu Kyi.
In his keynote address, Anwar said he realised twothings while in detention: ”Democracy needs patience,and democracy needs hope. Despair is the enemyof democracy.”
Here’s to hoping we don’t run out of patience in 2067.
am alone now, my wifedied last night and mydaughter died this
morning. How I am going tosurvive?Why doesn’t this killerattack me?”
These words were uttered by avillager from Jajarkot, during thedeadly outbreak of diarrhoea inAugust of last year. By that time,over 300 people had died in 20districts in the mid and far-western regions of Nepal. Thisyear, as summer sets in and webegin to receive reports ofdiarrhoea cases again, we shouldconsider: how can we preventanother public health disaster?
Diarrhoea is one of the leadingcauses of morbidity and mortalityamong children under five inNepal, with 10,500 dying everyyear. Most of these deaths couldbe avoided through simple
measures like safe drinking water,sanitary latrines and properhygienic practices, includinghand-washing. But due to thelack of public awareness and lowgovernment priority, the hygieneand sanitation situation of themid and far western developmentregions is in a critical state.
Jajarkot is one of the poorestand remotest districts of Nepal.Access to drinking water is
estimated to be 49.4 per cent,though the quality of wateravailable needs to be furtherinvestigated. Access to sanitationis less than 22 per cent, comparedto the national average of46 per cent. Open defecation is acommon phenomenon and thelack of safe drinking water andhygienic practices make
communities more vulnerable. Itwas no surprise that Jajarkotbecame the epicentre of last year’sepidemic of diarrhoea andcholera, exacerbated by themonsoon that followed aprolonged drought.
Sanitation and hygienepromotion are the most cost-effective public healthinterventions. The simple act ofhand-washing with soap can
reduce the risk of diarrhoealdisease by up to 45 per cent.Though the importance of Water,Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)is recognised by the health sectorin Nepal, the curative aspects ofhealth promotion or technology-driven water and sanitationinterventions often overshadowbasic awareness and preventative
measures.Though outbreak response
activities succeeded incontrolling the diarrhoealepidemic to some degree lastyear, many more deaths couldhave been averted if preventiveactivities had been intensifiedimmediately after the outbreak.Key areas for futureinterventions include:
an early warning system withproper mapping and acontingency plan to focusimmediate attention onoutbreaksavailability of medical staffin duty stations with back-up resourcescoordination amonggovernment and non-government actorsimproving informationmanagement andcommunication channels,including through the use ofsecurity forcesfocus on logistics totransport oral rehydration
solutions and other drugs intime and in adequatequantitiessocial mobilisation usinglocal volunteers, healthworkers, political leaders andtheir cadres, and teachers forwater purification andpromotion of hygienicsanitation practices,including setting up healthcampsproviding better access tohealth care services: mostdeaths last year happened athome or on the way to healthinstitutions.
The epidemiology ofdiarrhoea indicates that therewill be outbreaks this summerand monsoon too. If we are toprevent the loss of human lifethis year and in the future, it isimperative that we learn from ourrecent past.
Om Prasad Gautam is a publichealth professional withWaterAid Nepalomprasadgautam(at)wateraidnepal.org.np
Learning from JajarkotGUEST COLUMNOm Prasad Gautam
Last year’s diarrheaepidemic doesn’t have tobe a recurring nightmare
16 - 22 APRIL 2010 #498 OP-ED|3
PLAIN SPEAKINGPrashant Jha
T he government took theMRP decision withoutfollowing rules. It
defended it tooth and nail whenfaced with questions. Theninternal pressure from UML, aparliamentary directive, a courtorder, and fear of Maoist protestsforced it to retract.
In the process, it ended upbacking out of a state-to-statedeal with our most importantneighbour, coming across as anutterly unreliable internationalpartner. It was also furtherdiscredited within Nepal, andfaced accusations ranging fromcorruption and impropriety to‘selling the country’s security’.
In any other country, aftersuch a fiasco, the governmentwould have resigned. But thatwould be too much to expectfrom a bunch of losers with littleaccountability, and no moralfibre.
But the real story here isabout Indian diplomacy. It is anopen secret that Lainchaurhelped put this governmenttogether. The embassystrengthened the Nepal-Olicombine in UML, split the MJFwhen Upendra Yadav beganflirting with the Maoists,encouraged the NC, andpressurised TMDP to join thegovernment instead of backing itfrom outside.
Since then, even as thedomestic base for thisgovernment has got steadilyweaker, India’s backing for it hasbecome stronger.
There is internal dissent inNC and UML. TMDP knows thelonger it stays in government, themore credibility it loses in theTarai. And even the smallerparties have become dissatisfied.But no one is quite willing topull the rug from under thegovernment’s feet, for they fear itwould antagonise Delhi. And
who would want to be in India’sbad books?
India decided its interestswere at stake. It had the influenceto determine who would controlthe state apparatus, and exercisedit to shape the process andoutcome. This is perfectlyjustified in statecraft.
But despite such leverage,with a government of itschoosing in Nepal, why is it thatIndia cannot even retain agovernment contract that it feelsis important for its security?
Regimes that do not have astrong domestic popular base areperpetually insecure. They aredefensive, indecisive, andconstantly on the look-out toensure that no decision they takeis construed as ‘anti-national’.This is especially true when thatregime has, or is seen to have,strong external backing.
Apply this to the presentgovernment and you willunderstand why it cannot serveany of India’s tangible political,economic or security interests.
Madhav Nepal knows that hehas become PM with Indianbacking. He also knows if he takesa step which is remotely ‘pro-
Indian’, he will be seen to bepaying back debts. So he tells theIndians ‘political compulsions’deter him from delivering. Indiahas not been too demandingeither, since it does not want thegovernment to be discredited.Pawns have limited value, andMadhav Nepal is serving thatlimited purpose – to keep theMaoists out. Little else is
MRP masala
India shouldn’t feign surprise over thepoliticisation of the passport deal
expected from him.But if Indian diplomacy’s
core objective is to fulfill PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh’spriority of ensuring thatdomestic economic growth is notconstrained by a resource crunch,and the external climate isfavourable, then this approach isfutile.
By backing governments like
these and keeping the biggestpolitical party of the countryout of state power, India willnot get anything in Nepal.Hydropower projects will beblocked and new contracts willnot be signed, depriving Indiaof an additional source ofenergy. The state will becomeweaker and the situation willturn more anarchic, causinggreater security threats to India.The democratic system will bediscredited and the peaceprocess derailed, making India’sstated goal of having a stable,prosperous and democraticNepal even less likely.
The embassy’s statementregretting the MRP issue got‘politicised’ is a meaninglessstatement. Anything to do withIndia will assume politicaldimensions in a polarisedatmosphere where India isperceived not as an external butan internal actor.
The real lesson from theMRP saga is for India: if youprop up governments with nopopular base, they will not beable to serve your core interests.
As the end-game approacheshere, it is time for Delhi torethink its support for thisgovernment, and its broaderNepal policy.
16 - 22 APRIL 2010 #4984|NATION
FOURTH ESTATEC K Lal
The failure ofthe commentariat
THIS WEEK
SC dividedThe Supreme Court remains divided on whether PresidentRam Baran Yadav’s decision to reinstate then army chiefRookmangud Katawal last May was constitutional. A divisionbench of the SC consisting of Justices Damodar PrasadSharma and Rajendra Prasad Koirala was scheduled todeliver a final verdict on Tuesday but instead referred thecase to a full bench. Sharma said the case raised “seriouslegal questions” while Koirala said it had lost relevance, asKatawal has retired. They nonetheless agreed that thepresident does not have legal immunity, and furtherconstitutional interpretation is necessary to clarify the role ofthe president vis-à-vis the cabinet.
Tightening upThe new Governor of the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), YubarajKhatiwada, has moved quickly to tighten regulation of thefinancial sector. Banks have struggled of late with the liquiditycrunch, which its poor lending practices helped bring about.New NRB regulations aim to preserve foreign exchangereserves, and tame the haphazard growth of financialinstitutions. Under new regulations, promoters of new banksand financial institutions must deposit in cash – as opposed tomere bank guarantees – 45 per cent of their committedinvestment at a class A financial institution within 30 days oftheir letter of intent being granted. Additionally, investors areforbidden from holding significant equity stake in more thanone financial institution. NRB has also moved to cut the importof gold, which has cost foreign exchange reserves dearly overthe past six months.
India respondsThe government revoked its unpopular decision tocommission an Indian company to print Machine ReadablePassports on Sunday, and instructed the foreign ministry tobegin a fresh bidding process. Two days later, the Indiangovernment issued a statement expressing regret over thepoliticisation of the issue, saying the deal betokened the“friendly relations between the two countries.” A confidentialletter from Indian Ambassador Rakesh Sood to ForeignMinister Sujata Koirala came to light during a Public AccountsCommittee (PAC) hearing on Tuesday. The letter said the dealwould address “[shared] security concerns and be financiallyadvantageous to Nepal.” Deepak Upadhyay of PAC said theconfidential correspondence violated “diplomatic norms”.According to officials, Sood expressed his displeasure at thecancellation of the contract during a one-on-one meeting withPrime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal on Tuesday.
T
Independent commentators are arare and underutilised species inNepali journalism
repute with access to ‘usuallyreliable sources’, the Maoist Veepwould have been spared theembarrassment of owning up toprivileged access to confidentialdocuments in parliament. Thecontents of the letter would haveappeared under a byline in anewspaper and parliamentarianscould have reacted accordingly.But it seems sources in Nepal havemore trust in politicians than injournalists when it comes to leaks.
Columnists in Nepal have fewcontacts and even less influencemainly because most of us areinterlopers. Quite often, editorsand reporters write columns onsubjects of their interest.Specialists contribute technicalpieces for a general audience.Freelancers from corporations orNGOs who write for visibility andvoice. Academics, too, pontificatethrough the media. Predictably,politicians are most eager to becolumnists as it confers thelegitimacy of knowledge uponthem. Owners of media houseslove this cosy arrangement as itsaves them from the hassleof dealing with eccentriccolumnists they can’t afford tosupport.
Most newspapers add orremove columns as they go along.Such a lack of continuity is one ofthe reasons columnists fail todevelop contacts in the corridorsof power and those in authority donot feel the need to cultivatecommentators. It’s much morerewarding to keep reporters,editors and publishers in goodhumour. But clearly, whoeverleaked the confidential MRP letterto the Maoists didn’t have enoughfaith in the media fraternity as awhole to trust it with theexplosive nature of the document.
There is no reason fortelevision and radio channels toshy away from having in-housecommentators that keep an eye onthe big picture by distancingthemselves from the daily grind ofreporting. Publishers need toinvest in a corps of columnists tohave an edge in the marketplace ofnews interpretation. When almosteverybody is reporting the samething, it’s the point of view ofcommentators that separates thewheat from the chaff.
KIRAN PANDAY
he Indian Embassy inKathmandu has confirmedthe authenticity of the
letter Ambassador Rakesh Soodwrote to Deputy Prime MinisterSujata Koirala regarding theMachine Readable Passport (MRP)deal. A perfunctory press release
from the embassy regretted that aconfidential communication hadbeen publicised, but didn’t claimthat the letter had beenmisinterpreted.
The leaked letter reads as ifthe ambassador is issuing a fiat tohis underlings. It connects acommercial contract with thenational security concerns ofIndia and bilateral relations, andthen makes an offer that thegovernment of Nepal could hardlyrefuse. No wonder Madhav Nepaltrembled in the parliamentarycommittee hearing when theopaque deal was discussed.
Strangely, the hyperactiveNepali media got hint of thecontroversy only when Maoist
leader Narayan Kaji Shrestha readout the offending portions of theletter in parliament. The storyappeared in the press after thecontract had been cancelled. Inaddition to the limitations of themedia, this episode exposes themarginality of commentators andcolumnists in Nepal.
Verifiability is the sine quanon of news reports, the maximbeing ‘when in doubt, leave itout’. Despite the antiquity ofspeculative reporting and
instigative journalism in politics,editors and reporters try to keepaway from statements involvingdiplomatic circles that can’t beattributed to an identifiableauthority.
In journalism, there is a greyzone of unverifiable facts andbelievable fictions where thesources and imaginations ofcolumnists and commentators getfull play. But this is a minefieldwhere very few Nepali columnistsdare to tread. Only a few willstick their neck out to passjudgement on what can’t easily besubstantiated; most of us in thetrade are essentially dissectors ofpast events.
If there were a columnist of
16 - 22 APRIL 2010 #498 BUSINESS|5
STRICTLY BUSINESSAshutosh Tiwari
ast year, I asked a Nepaliindustrialist to come talkto a group of first-time
young entrepreneurs about howthey might scale up their smallbusinesses. The industrialistsaid that he wanted to talkabout leadership.
I explained that theseentrepreneurs had just startedout and would be moreinterested in learning the nutsand the bolts of running abusiness. But the industrialistwas not interested in sharingwhat he knew about how to runa business amidst uncertaintyin Nepal.
He was more interested inhaving a stage to strut on,dispensing what I thought wereplatitudes on leadership.Watching him interact with hisconfused audience, I couldn’thelp but think that talkingabout leadership in grand yetvague terms must have madehim feel like a corporate NelsonMandela.
Since then, I’ve becomemore aware of a plethora ofactivities touting ‘leadershipdevelopment’ in Nepal’scorporate and non-profitsectors. Typically, theseactivities fall into twocategories.
Fun and games: Sometrainers seem to sell the idea toheads of organisations thattaking staff out to some idylliclocation for a few days to makethem climb trees, play withropes, talk about theirchildhood, and sing aroundcampfires is likely to unlockthe staff’s latent leadershipabilities.
Staff members generallyenjoy these outings – not toacquire any specific leadershipskills, but to break themonotony of work for a fewdays. If the trainers marketedthese events as ‘fun and games’,nobody would buy them.Slapping on the phrase‘leadership development’ lendsthe requisite gravitas to what isessentially a three-day picnic.
Behavioural preaching:Successful leaders are supposedto have a catalogue of
behavioural traits, which theyroutinely employ to be, well,successful leaders. Such leadersare self-aware. They anticipatechange before anyone else. Theyask questions. They give credit toothers, and so on. To drive theirpoint home, trainers often sharetouching anecdotes from thelives of extreme outliers, rangingfrom religious gurus to Gandhi toMandela to Steve Jobs. Thepremise of ‘behavioral change’leadership trainers is that if onlywe somehow programmedourselves to adopt a set ofbehavioural traits, we all couldbe leaders.
What the trainers often forgetis that changing behaviour ishard for most of us. What’s more,translating what one knows inone’s mind about being a leaderinto what one does routinely tobe such a leader is a lot harder.
Leadership as a craft:See-sawing between the abovetwo, there is an option that mostorganisational heads appear notto exercise. That is, instead ofsending staff off to leadershipcamps, they could give increasingon-the-job accountability to staff
members, tolerate mistakes solong as there is collectivelearning from what went wrong,and let staff make certaindecisions for the organisationprovided they take theresponsibility for theconsequences.
Such an option framesleadership development as aniterative real-world event, whichis fraught with uncertainties andjudgment calls. Such a frameallows participants to adjust andmodify their learning in realtime to adapt to what theorganisational context is. Whenthey do such an adaptation, they
will start changing theirbehaviour to get the results thattheir organisations want. Viewedthis way, leadership becomes aseries of real-world actions thatone can practice, make mistakeswith, get right, and do again toimprove outcomes.
Minus the practice of thecraft of leadership, it would be amistake to continue to think ofleadership as something that canbe learnt through fun and games,and through lectures onbehavioural change.
Learning leadership
L
housands of Nepali students enroll in Indianeducational institutions every year as they provide
quality education at low cost. Kolkata’s OaktreeInternational School, too, is eyeing markets across theborder. “We expect students from Nepal as thousands ofstudents come to India for studies every year,” saysexecutive director Aditya Kumar.
During a symposium on International Education inMarch, Kolkata-based Educo Ventures announced thelaunch of the school, the first of its kind in East Bengal.
The co-educational school will take only 650 students
Cal’s International Baccalaureatefor the Middle Years Programme (grades VI to X) with amaximum of 15 students per class. Kumar says the schoolhas completed the paperwork for the Baccalaureate Diploma(Grades XI and XII).
The school opens its doors in August 2011, for whichadmissions start from August 2010. All-inclusive monthlyfees range from IRs 30,000 to 60,000, depending on boardingfacilities, which is much cheaper than IB schools abroad.The focus is on learner-centric, holistic education thatdevelops skills and creativity, and which serves as a base toenter a good university abroad.
T
Staff retreats andinspirational lectures willnot a leader make
○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
Swap overKIA Rio, one of the most sought-after Korean cars, isorganising an exchange offer. Customers can comeinto the KIA Rio showroom, KarmacharyaIntercontinental, Thapathali with an old car of any
brand and drive away with a new KIA Rio. Easy financing facilitiesare also available.
○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
Everest profitsThe Board of Directors of Everest Bank held a meeting April 2 toannounce an increase in Operating Profit by 30.72 per cent andAdvances by 30.04 per cent during the first eight months of thecurrent financial year. The results are yet to be audited. The Bankhas a total of 36 full operating branches and five extensioncounters.
○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
NEW Nokia N900The Nokia N900, Nokia’s latest mobilecomputer based on open source Maemo 5 software, is nowavailable in Nepal in the two Nokia stores at City Center (1st Floor,Shop No F-28) and Tamrakar Complex (2nd Floor, Shop No. 28) ata retail price of Rs 52,500.
○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
Real goalWith World Cup fever slowly gripping themasses, Real Juice’s campaign ‘Score theReal Goal’ is underway. This campaign willrun for three months and will feature a picturewith 11 different footballs numbered from 1 to11. To score a ‘Real’ goal, one has to identify
the Real Ball, type it in with ‘Real’ and SMS it to 5004. A KIAPicanto full option car is the bumper prize.
○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
Free TVHH Bajaj, authorised distributor and marketerof Bajaj Motorcycles, has introduced a NewYear scheme: ‘Bajaj Dil Khus, DimagKharab’. Under this scheme, every Bajaj Motorcycle customer willreceive a 21" Samsung colour television.
○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
England, a bottle awayCarlsberg has come up with a new promotion this summer, ‘Win aTrip to England’. You and a friend could win an all-expenses-paidtrip to watch a football match live in England. All you have to do isbuy a bottle of Carlsberg and keep the coupon that comes with it.www.carlsberg.com.np
○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
Free glucoseWith the onset of summer, your body surely is going to need somemore glucose. Wipro has announced a new offer for consumers ofGlucovita: purchase 500gm of Glucovita and get 100gm extra,absolutely free.
○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
Ninja!After generating an overwhelming response in India, Bajaj Autohas announced the launch of the much awaited Kawasaki Ninja250R in Nepal. It is widely acknowledged as the best 250ccmotorcycle in the world and is exclusively available at HH BajajProbiking Corner, Kathmandu.
○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
Banepa’s bankInfrastructure Development Bank Ltd. held its general assemblyrecently, electing 6 shareholding members to its organisingcommittee, including bank chairperson Khemnath Dallakoti. Theassembly agreed to provide shareholders with 10 per cent bonusshares as well as a 5 per cent cash bonus.
16 - 22 APRIL 2010 #4986|NATION
788 people lost their livesin road accidents in the lastfive years. Of the 40,278
injured in the same period, at least14,175 suffered life-longdisabilities. Nepal has one of thehighest road fatality statistics inAsia in terms of total vehicle users.
“The main reasons are improperlicensing and poor maintenance ofroads and vehicles,” says BinodSingh of the Metropolitan TrafficPolice Division. A written examand a basic handling test are all thatis needed to obtain a license. Andeven this rudimentary test can bebypassed with a bribe.
“Amendments to the laws areurgent, the ability of a candidate todrive confidently on an actual roadshould be a key factor,” says Singh.“The laws we have now are 25 yearsold, and we will have to wait forthe new constitution.”
Under-secretary at the Office ofTransport Management Tej RajPande concurs: “A proper drivingtest would save lives but there isno space to carry them out.”
Syakar Company’s recentlyopened safety riding training centrein Lalitpur for two-wheelers could
An average of three people are killed everydayin road accidents across the country
PRAKRITI PATHAK
License to kill?
help with awareness and training.“People with licenses are
enrolled in beginners as well asdefensive classes, and our aim is togive riders the confidence to usetheir vehicles safely,” says MandipRegmi, Chief Riding Instructor atSyakar.
The government, too, is gettingin on the act. The Metropolitan
5
FOO CHEE CHANG
Vehicle No. in Bagmati Zone Accident rateMicrobus 2583 1 in 11Bus/minibus 10872 1 in 26Truck and mini-truck 12448 1 in 57Car, jeep, van 85524 1 in 106Tempos 5300 1 in 118Motorcycle 374447 1 in 370Tractor 1729 1 in 173
Traffic Police Division is givingdrivers a course in road rules,traffic signs, and passenger andpedestrian behaviour. But despiterequests to all members of theTransportation Association, onlyill-starred Swayambhu Yatayat,whose buses have been involvedin a number of fatal accidents, hassigned up.
The traffic police also plan toextend traffic safety educationprogrammes to college students,who comprise a significantportion of two-wheeler drivers. Adedicated FM radio with trafficinformation is planned.
But it doesn’t help that thereis no effective system in place topunish traffic offenders. Trafficpolice are only allowed to fineoffenders Rs 25-200. The VehicleManagement Office can fineoffenders between Rs 1000 and Rs5000, but a carefully placed bribeusually precludes cases getting tothat stage. More serious offencesare more likely to be left to mobrule and an informal, often illogicalsystem of compensation whereby‘big pays small’, whatever thecircumstances of the accident.
And then there are highwayaccidents, where other factors likedangerous, steep mountain roads,poor condition of vehicles andoverloading cause a major loss oflife.
The majority of those who losetheir lives in road accidents areaged 15-40. The loss of sucha productive demographicshould add urgency to roadsafety efforts.
16 - 22 APRIL 2010 #498LIFE TIMES 7
oung children and youths onmountain bikes of all shapes andsizes speed round a newly
constructed ‘pump track’ at GyanodayaResidential School, navigating bumps andramps, having a good time in general whileproud parents watch from the side.
This project, in collaboration with theschool and sponsored by Kumari Bank,Mountain Dew and retailer Evo Store, isspearheaded by Chain Inc. This is a newcollective of mountain bikers that seeks notonly to promote cycling, amongst youthsespecially, but also hopes to bringmountain bikes back from the trails to thecommute around the city.
“The country is so polluted andcongested. If we can instill an appreciationfor nature and create a culture of cyclinghere, there might still be hope for areversal,” says Chandra Ale, one of thefounding members of Chain Inc.
But the task to make cycling an integraland safe part of commuting is an uphillclimb here in Kathmandu. An exponentialproliferation of motor vehicles on the roadover the last 15 years shows no signs ofletting up. Nepalis are increasinglydependent on private vehicles to getaround, even on short-haul trips. Theconvenience is apparent, but it comes withthe heavy and growing costs of trafficcongestion and air pollution.
While poor air quality and theaccompanying risks of respiratory illnessare of concern to cyclists, wearing afacemask negates it to a certain extent. Thechief adversary of cyclists is the generalrecklessness of road users here,emboldened by the fact that there are fewtraffic mechanisms to check them. Evenwhen traffic offenders are caught, laxpenalties, such as a maximum Rs 200 fine,do little in the way of punishment anddeterrence.
For the past 25 years, Sonam Gurung, apioneering Nepali mountain biker andproprietor of Dawn Till Dusk MountainBiking, has been trying to lobby for bicyclelanes on the roads. Today, he is well awarethat with Kathmandu’s narrow roads,compounded by urban sprawl, it isunlikely that bicycle lanes will be createdunless there is serious pressure fromcommuters and road users on theDepartment of Roads. The cracked helmetsfrom the road accidents that Gurungexperienced now hang outside his shop asmakeshift flowerpots that speak a gravewarning to cyclists who visit.
The Department of Roads, for its part,says that at present there are no plans toinstall bicycle lanes. Dilli Niraula,superintending engineer at the department,explains, “The roads we have now are toonarrow. We are planning to createalternative routes around the valley bybridging the central zone to Ring Road.Once that goes through, we will considerbicycle lanes on Ring Road, which is muchwider and more suitable.”
Detractors might question the viabilityof cycling as a form of commuting given thedifficulties presented. Further, the cost of abranded mountain bike is comparable tothat of a scooter. Consider the advantageshowever. One can move through trafficfaster during rush hour and navigatenarrow lanes that motor vehicles have aharder time with. Cycles mean zeroemissions for the environmentallyconscious and fitness gains for the health-conscious. And from a financialstandpoint, one saves on fuel and theavailability of affordable Chinese-madebikes with multi-gear systems means youdon’t have to break the bank.
So the next time you find yourselfstuck in a traffic jam, or worse, in a fuelqueue, spare a thought for the happy cyclistwhizzing past you. If cycles won’t solve theValley’s traffic problems, they’re certainly aturn in the right direction.
The humble bicycle could wellturn Kathmandu’s traffic and airpollution woes around
Spin city
FOO CHEE CHANG
Y
FOO CHEE CHANG
8|LIFE TIMES
Email us with listings [email protected]. Listingsare free but inclusion is notguaranteed as space is limited.
re you already booked up thisweekend? If not, why don’t you
come and celebrate the fifth annualSundance Festival in the beautiful,lush surroundings of The LastResort near the Tibetan border?Established five years ago by SamVoolstra of The Last Resort andNirakar Yakthumba of Moksh, theSundance Festival is still the onlyovernight open-air live musicevent in Nepal.
“When you think about Nepal,you think about mountains and nota lot of people know that there isactually a great music scene here.By organising the Sundance MusicFestival we want to show touristsas well as Nepalis that this countryhas amazing talents,” saysVoolstra.
This year, the festival will onceagain feature bands from Nepalplaying with international guestmusicians. The band ‘Soul Trainand Blue Eyed Girls’, for example,
DINING
Yoga and Wellness Camp, For Zenand peace of mind, and an hour anda half long ayurvedic massage,head for the edge of ShivapuriNational Park. Whether you are anovice or long-time practitioner, itis an opportunity to meet like-minded people and practice Yoga,while feeling benign pity for theValley residents choking on thedust. Friday 23 April-Sunday 25April, Shivapuri Heights Cottage,9841371927 for prices andreservation
Fishing Expeditions and Day Trips,Tiger Mountain offers a chance tocatch the Golden Mahseer, one ofAsia’s most famous game fish, inBardiya National Park, whileexploring the beauty of theHimalayan foothills. Perfect for thistime of the year. Contact 4361500for prices and reservation
GETAWAYS
Italian Fiesta at Rox, Italian chef Alessandro will be cooking anItalian feast every evening featuring authentic cuisine from Italy’sdifferent regions for a limited time only. Until 1 May, dinner only,Rox restaurant, Hyatt, 4491234
OR2K, One of the few vegetarian restaurants in the Valley, theirMiddle Eastern platter is delicious and their cocktails robust.Mandala Street, Thamel, 4422097
Organic Café and Salad Bar, hearty breakfasts and healthy saladswhile you catch up with your reading or emails in the heart ofThamel. Chakshibari Road, Thamel 4215726
Café de Newa, won’t be surprised if there is a Newari mama inthe kitchen churning out chhoila, sukuti, kachila and bara at thisrestaurant amidst the bright lights of Thamel. Try Newari delicacieslike deep-fried buffalo tongue, brain and intestines.You will be blown away. Next to Kathmandu Guest House, openeveryday
Ghangri Café, a quiet place with comfortable sofas and a lovelycourtyard, perfect for those sunny afternoons. Although famous fortheir open sui mai, they offer a few other great dishes as well.Pulchowk (near the Suzuki showroom), 11am-10pm exceptTuesdays.
Casa de Cass, out-of-Kathmandu dining in cosy surrounds withattentive service, what more could you ask for? A martini, ofcourse. Hariharbhawan, 5010100
Roadhouse Café, serves pizzas cooked toperfection in wood-fired ovens. Health-conscious diners have an alternativein the caesar salad, garnishedwith the freshest ofingredients. Bringa magazine topass the time asyou ait. Jhamel,5521755 Comfort Zone,expansiverestobar that needsto be full to come into itsown. A decent range of cocktails and barbequed meats should keepyou glued to the massive screen at one end. Comfort Zone (rooftopof Bank of Kathmandu), Thamel
Momotarou, nestled inconspicuously amongst the street shops ofThamel, this restaurant serves Japanese food that is top value formoney. Extravagant taste yet humble in presentation. Thamel,Bhagawatisthan (near Bhagawati Temple), 4417670
Hankook Sarang, serves up the incredible tastes of Korea,including superlative steamed rice to anchor meals fit forkings. Thamel, near Roadhouse Café
Sundance Festival 2010Here comes the sun:
fuses musicians from Nepal,Scotland, France and India, andwill certainly get the crowds ontothe dance floor with their 70’s-stylemusic.
DJ Raju will play his loops withlive musicians, joining other bandslike Electro Foundation, TriveniClassical, Alt+F4 and Velvet Valor.
“As a new addition to thefestival, we would like to make thelink between music and visual artperformance,” says Voolstra,referring to ‘The Blue Room’ – anact combining painting with musicand the sounds of Tibetan chanting.
Tickets are 2,500 Rs per personand include food, campingaccommodation, use of the saunaand plunge pool and transport toand from the festival. They areavailable at the Last Resort Officein Mandala Street, Thamel and atMoksh in Pulchowk.Billi Bierling
A
16 - 22 APRIL 2010 #498|9
Bahini: The life of my sistersA photo essay about theeducation of under-privileged girls in Nepal bytwo Singaporeanphotographers, Debby Ngand Edwin Koo. You mighthave seen Koo’sphotographs in Nepali Timesand Himal Southasia before.Opens Saturday 17 April,National Art Council, BabarMahal
Roles of the Indian Film Heroine, film festival thatlooks at the changing ethos of Indian film heroinesfrom Satyajit Ray’s Devi to Sanjay Leela Bhansali’sMichelle in Black. Also features talks from cinema-watchers, including actress-turned-director-turned-activist Nandita Das. Runs until 18 April at NepalTourism Board, Exhibition Road, call 4412715 fortickets
Saturday’s Farmer’sMarket, weekly market
starting inKantipaththisweekend,promises to
be differentfrom all other
farmers’markets in
EVENTS
Spicy Salsa, put on your high heels andruffles for a night of Salsa, organised everymonth at Tamas. If you’ve got two left feet, thefolks from Salsa Dance Academy may teachyou a few moves. Friday 16 April,6.30pm, Tamas Spa Lounge, Thamel,4257658
E.quals The boys are going toLondon to participate in theglobal battle of bands, andthe big names in theNepali metal and rockmusic scene – 1974 ADCobweb, Albatross, Alt F4, along with E.quals – are putting up afundraising concert to help them get there. Expect chaos all night long.Wednesday 21 April, House of Music, Thamel
Chandra Surya Musical Program, Ani Choying Dolma, Kunti Moktan,and others will be performing at a fundraiser for a Ramechhap school byBetter World Family Nepal. It will be more than a concert, with foodstalls and games and even a documentary screening. Saturday 17April, City Hall, Pradarsani Marg, call 4810163 for tickets
Monkey Temple, this beginning-of-the-century band entered theunderground music scene around the same time as Xmarica andAlbatross. And they are also reuniting for a performance. Friday 16April, House of Music, Thamel
Open mic nights with Ciney Gurung, she is one of the few female artistsperforming live in Kathmandu every week. Ladies get a free cocktailand the rest get a free platter of cheese if they order a bottle of wine.Drink up, and enjoy. Wednesdays at Bourbon Room, Darbar Marg,4441703
MUSIC
town with lasagne, pies and Mediterranean treatsalong with organic fruits and vegetables. EverySaturday, 9am to noon, 1905 Restaurant, Kantipath
Chaitya & Silent Flow, works of Kailash Shresthaand Sushma Shakya created during their one-yearresidency sponsored by the Australian HimalayanFoundation. Runs until 21 April, Siddhartha ArtGallery, 4218048
Khariko Ghero (The Caucasian Chalk Circle), aBerlolt Brecht play adapted into Nepali about apeasant girl and her adopted son. Directed by MaxWebster and Mia Theil Have at Rimal Theatre,Gurukul runs, until 1 May, 5.30pm, except Mondays,4466956
Movie screening:Antaheen(The endlesswait), collage oflife of uppermiddle-classBengalis inKolkata, shownthrough a seriesof intertwinedvignettes,starring RahulBose andArpana Sen.Saturday 17April, GAA Hall,Thamel
16 - 22 APRIL 2010 #49810|HAPPENINGS
KIRAN PANDAY
KIRAN PANDAY
THE FIERCE ONE: A priest and children watch over a mask of Durgaduring Navadurga in Bhaktapur last week.
MIN RATNA BAJRACHARYA
WEEKEND WEATHERby NGAMINDRA DAHAL
KATHMANDU
FRI SAT S U N
32-14 30-13 34-15
A long westerly jet stream has blown high cloudstowards us from the west, a sign that spring isfirmly upon us. Satellite pictures show it pumpingmoisture in pulses. The thundery showers onMonday evening alone brought downtemperatures by four degrees and the snowline to3500 m. For the weekend, expect sunny intervalsand brief afternoon showers in the hills. A perfecttime to travel around hilly towns.
TEST OF FAITH: Hundreds look on as Bhairab's chariot is pulled to markthe beginning of Bisket Jatra on Saturday in Bhaktapur.
RED-FACED: Colour-smeared devotees on the occasion of Sindhur Jatrain Thimi on Thursday.
NANAK'S FAITHFUL: Sikh women celebrate Baisakhi Parva onWednesday at Guru Nanak Satsang, Kupondole.
KIRAN PANDAY
p16 - 22 APRIL 2010 #498 NATION|11
umari or Jai Nepal wasthe question. We finallysettled for Jai Nepal
because it was closer to Thameland we could go grab a few beersafter the movie. Since I’d arrivedhome for my summer vacationmy cousins had been ravingabout the movie theatres –“bahira ko bhanda kehi kamchaina,” (no less than any placeoutside). They had tickets for thepremiere of a Hindi film, aBollywood flick.
When they came to pick meup, my cousins were dressed intheir best, which made mereconsider my rather shabbyjeans. It was just as well. Thecrowd outside the hall looked
almost as glamorous as a gaggle ofmovie stars. My cousins bumpedinto colleagues and friends andtraded talk about stocks andfinance. Cell phones buzzed andalong with namastes andhandshakes, people greeted eachother with cheek-kisses andelongated “hiiiiiiii”s. Had Iarrived in New Nepal against thebackdrop of an opulentBollywood film?
Once we took our seats and thetrailers began in Dolby sound, mycousins worked hard to make mecomfortable. “Want morepopcorn?” they asked. “How abouta burger?” I thanked them andsaid I was fine. The movie wasshot in America, Europe, andIndia with characters who slippedeffortlessly between East andWest. At every opportunity mycousins leaned toward me towhisper that crores had beenlavished on a single song. To be
honest, I knew all of that. I am,like them, a Hindi film buff, but Ipretended ignorance and keptmy reserve. The movie was ablockbuster hit and no oneleft the hall until the lastcredit rolled.
We drove to the newly openedKFC, and on the way, my cousinsargued over who was better:
Bollywooding in Nepal
K
New Nepalisn’t here
yet, butBollywood
does a goodjob of
fooling us
Katrina or Priyanka. “Bollywoodrocks” someone said and overfried chicken and Pepsi, chitchatover Hindi film stars and theiraffairs continued. “Let’s hitThamel,” a cousin suggested.
Outside KFC, a woman, withher head draped in a sari,approached us carrying a nakedchild. My cousin grabbed my arm
NEPALI PANRanjan Adiga
sfd ;fgf] 7"nf] eGg]
x'“b}g . kl;gfsf] s'g}
/ª / hft klg
x'“b}g . sfd u/]/
vfg nhfpg' klg
x'“b}g . rf]/]/, 9f“6]/,
5n]/, n'6]/ vfg
kf] nhfpg'k5{ . hf]
hxf“ /x]/ h'g sfd
u5{ pm To;}df
/dfpg'k5{ uf}/a
ug'{k5{ / ;dlk{t
eP/ ug'{k5{ .
sfd g} zlQm xf],
elQm xf] /
d'lQm xf] . sfdsf]
OHht u/f}+, kl;gfsf]
;Ddfg u/f}+ .
g]kfn ;/sf/;"rgf tyf ;~rf/ dGqfno
;"rgf ljefu
and led me to the car. “Dhat!Bloody Indians – always begging.They’ve ruined our city,” shesaid. Everyone agreed. In typicalKatrina Kaif style, my cousinthen put on her dark glasses andoff we went, speeding towardsThamel, cranking up the latestColdplay and Bollywoodsongs.
ANUP PRAKASH
16 - 22 APRIL 2010 #49812|INTERVIEW
y now, most of us will have heard ofPrabal Gurung. He stands out as aNepali who’s done real good, and
done so from his base at the epicentre ofthe world of fashion, New York. What’s asremarkable as the fact of his success is thetiming. While the global recession has seenuber-trendy fashion houses like ChristianLacroix falter and fall, the house of PrabalGurung is making waves. CertainlyMichelle Obama and American Vogueeditor Anna Wintour think so.
When Entrepreneurs for Nepal met atDwarika’s Hotel a fortnight ago, a roomfulof youth sat rapt as Prabal sketched out thejourney that had ushered him intointernational celebrity. Then the questionsrained down, all the way from ‘When can Ihope to buy a Prabal Gurung handbag inKathmandu’ to ‘How do you manage theglobal positioning of your brand?’ In suchsore times as these, it was a celebration notonly of Prabal, but of what a Nepali successcan mean, backed by a desire to find outhow to get there.
I’ve my own set of questions when Imeet the 36-year-old designer in VesperCafé a few days later, but I quickly realisehow clear Prabal is about who he is, andhow easily he articulates the substance ofwhat he believes in.
He’s keen to point out, first off, thathe’s no overnight sensation. ‘I’ve paid mydues,’ he says, simply. ‘Of course it’s beena pleasant surprise how quickly all the
RABI THAPA
good things have happened in the last year.But I made sure I invested the time to learnevery aspect of my craft, from the designingto the business end. I’ve spent a decadeworking in every part of this industry,planning to get where I am. And I’m notdone yet,” he adds, with emphasis. “Thisis just the beginning.”
But how, I wonder, did you dare tolaunch your collection in the middle of arecession?
“It felt right, it was instinctive,” Prabalreplies, and the conviction with which hesays it makes it seem absolutely normalthat the First Lady of America shouldfancy a Prabal Gurung dress. “I was ready.Of course,” he says, almost as an aside, “Ifit hadn’t gone well I would have blamed iton the recession!”
Our iced teas arrive, and after aconsidered sip, Prabal chides thephotographer for not having one (“You’remissing out, dude”). I ask him how it is tobe back this time around.
“Great. I try to come back once a year, tobe with family, to recharge. Sitting andwaiting for you guys, with the birdschirping, even the noise of the cars,everything moves at a certain pace here,” hesmiles. “It has been different this time.What I’ve noticed is how people aregenuinely happy for me. Not many peoplecelebrate other people’s success inKathmandu, maybe it makes them feelsmaller. But the younger generation isdifferent…it’s very encouraging.”
Perhaps they see what’s possible forthem? He agrees, and I ask him what he’dsay to all those Nepalis, home and abroad,who may consider investing in Nepal.
“Do your homework, believe inyourself, and just go for it.”
Certain such phrases take on the formof mantras. It seems almost too easy, Ithink. But they do sum up what Prabal isabout, and the passion with which heexplains himself (“I’m extremely lucky tobe working in a field I love”) soondissipates cynicism.
It’s not as if he doesn’t know howdifficult doing business is in Nepal. Hisown attempts to enlist garment factories inNepal for his collection initially ran intodifficulties with on-time delivery. “Butevery city has its challenges.”
Doesn’t Nepal have more challengesthan most?
Looking ever so slightly shamefaced,Prabal confesses he relies on family tokeep up with the merry-go-round ofNepali politics. But he is ambiguous aboutthe relevance of democracy in a largelyilliterate country. “Democracy isn’t
freedom at any cost,” he says. On thesubject of ethnicity, he is very clear. “I seemyself as a human being first. The house Igrew up in – a Gurung father and Ranamother – was a melting pot. I know it’s notthe same for many people here, but I dohope that those minorities seeking a voicedon’t repeat the patterns of what they arefighting against, and don’t limitthemselves to expressing themselvesthrough ethnicity.”
These seem sound sentiments. But I’mkeen to see how Prabal balances the realityof Nepal with the unreality of modelsearning $10,000 an hour in New York. Isn’tfashion frivolous, and irrelevant to Nepal?
“Of course it’s frivolous!” he bursts out.“In a sense it’s all about surfaces. Butfashion and the arts are not irrelevant toNepal. The arts make you more sensitive,more tolerant to differences. And face it,the fashion industry is a multi-billiondollar industry. If Nepal can’t competewith mass market garment producers likeChina and India, it can produce 100 piecesrather than 1000 pieces and charge 10 timesmore.”
It won’t happen overnight, and neitherdid Prabal. “I’m extremely patient, and I’m
very demanding. As long as people don’tstrive for excellence, as long as they arehappy with mediocrity, it won’t happen.People need to put in the work, be original,and look beyond borders, and I thinkNepali youth are beginning to do that.”
It’s only when he tries to convey to mehow it’s possible that he isn’t totallycarried away by his success that hestruggles, for the first time, to find theright words. “I’m just not,” he insists, “Ihave so much more to do.” It may seemhard to believe, but through all the hype,Prabal sees himself as “an ordinary guy inan extraordinary situation”. Heroine harule layera ta ho ni! he says self-deprecatingly, and falls back on hisfamily, and his mother. “If you mether, you’d know exactly what I mean.She’s always been like, what’s next?”
It’s hard to say what’s next forPrabal beyond the next collection.He knows better than anyone elsehow fickle the world of fashioncan be. But he is living proof thateven in the extraordinary worldof fashion, the ordinary virtuesof hard work, supplementedby no little talent, can prevail.He’s set to be a big fish in avery big pond. And foranyone who has seen PrabalGurung dance Nepali jhyaureto booming house music, hisstars hitched to his own
chariot, his success will come as nosurprise, and is impossible to resent.
Do your homeworkPrabal Gurung’s superlative year comes as no
surprise to the man himself
B
THAT DRESS: Michelle Obamamakes Prabal Gurung’s day
AHMAD ISKANDAR
16 - 22 APRIL 2010 #498 NATION|13
WASHINGTON, DC – China andIndia are both racing aheadeconomically. But the manner inwhich they are growing isdramatically different. WhereasChina is a formidable exporter ofmanufactured goods, India hasacquired a global reputation forexporting modern services.Indeed, India has leapfrogged overthe manufacturing sector, goingstraight from agriculture intoservices.
The differences in the twocountries’ growth patterns arestriking, and raise significantquestions for developmenteconomists. Can service be asdynamic as manufacturing? Canlatecomers to development takeadvantage of the increasingglobalisation of the service sector?Can services be a driver ofsustained growth, job creation,and poverty reduction?
Some facts are worthexamining. The relative size of theservice sector in India, given thecountry’s state of development, ismuch bigger than it is in China.Despite being a low-incomeregion, India and other SouthAsian countries have adopted thegrowth patterns of middle- tohigh-income countries. Theirgrowth patterns more closelyresemble those of Ireland andIsrael than those of China andMalaysia.
India’s growth pattern isremarkable because it contradictsa seemingly iron law ofdevelopment that has held truefor almost 200 years, since thestart of the Industrial Revolution.According to this ‘law’ – which isnow conventional wisdom –industrialisation is the only routeto rapid economic developmentfor developing countries.
As a result of globalisation,the pace of development can beexplosive. But the potential forexplosive growth has usuallybeen seen only in themanufacturing sector. This is nolonger the case. There is evidencethat countries with high growthin services also tend to have high
overall economic growth;conversely, countries with highoverall economic growth havehigh services growth.
To be sure, the causalconnection remains uncertain:after all, there is also a positiverelationship – widely accepted indevelopment economics –between manufacturing growthand overall growth. But what hasbeen overlooked is that the effectof services growth on aggregateeconomic growth appears to be asstrong, if not stronger, than theeffect of manufacturing growth onoverall growth.
Moreover, the trend over timeto a higher service-sector share inthe economy suggests that higherreal growth in services has notbeen offset by price declines.There is no outbreak of the
so-called ‘Dutch disease’ – that is,the price of services do not fallwith an increase in the supply.
India has a higher share ofservices, and more rapid service-sector growth, than China,although the latter is richer andhas grown faster over time. Thisindicates that services are notsimply responding to domesticdemand (which would be higherin China), but also to exportopportunities.
India’s growth experiencesuggests that a global servicerevolution – rapid growth andpoverty reduction led by services– is now possible. In India, theservice sector has not only ledoverall economic growth, but isalso characterised by higherlabour productivity than in theindustrial sector. Indeed,productivity growth in India’sservice sector matchesproductivity growth in China’smanufacturing sector, therebyreducing poverty by enablingwages to rise.
Service-led growth issustainable, because globalisation
of services, which account formore than 70 per cent of globaloutput, is still in its infancy.Moreover, the long-held view thatservices are non-transportable,non-tradable, and non-scalable nolonger holds for a host of modernimpersonal services, which cannow be produced and exported atlow cost. Developing countries canthus sustain service-led growth,given the huge room they have forcatch-up and convergence.
India’s experience offers hopeto other development latecomers.The process of globalisation in thelate twentieth century led to asharp divergence of incomesbetween those who industrialisedand broke into global markets andthe ‘bottom billion’ in some 60countries where incomes stagnatedfor twenty years. It seemed as if
the ‘bottom billion’ would have towait their turn for development,until giant industrialisers likeChina became rich anduncompetitive in labour-intensivemanufacturing.
The globalisation of services,however, provides alternativeopportunities for developingcountries to find niches, beyondmanufacturing, where they canspecialise, scale up, and achieveexplosive growth, just like theindustrialisers. As the servicesproduced and traded across theworld expand with globalisation,the possibilities for all countriesto develop based on theircomparative advantage expand.That comparative advantage canjust as easily be in services as inmanufacturing or agriculture.
The promise of the servicerevolution is that countries do nothave to wait to get on the path torapid development. There is a newway ahead.
Ejaz Ghani is an EconomicAdviser on South Asia at theWorld Bank.
The servicerevolution
EJAZ GHANI
India’s service revolutionsuggests a new way aheadfor development latecomers
HIMAL KHABRPATRIKAN e w Y e a r 2 0 6 7 B u m p e r I s s u e
SPECIAL REPORTI AM A NEPALI
Essays on what it means to be Nepali by SuryaBahadur Thapa, Upendra Mahato,
Vijay Lama, CK LalReports on the symbols of national unity
INVESTIGATIVE REPORTDivided families
How the shift to overseas migrant labour istearing Nepali families apart
POLITICAL UPDATEPanic over May 28
The Maoist gameplan
CONSTITUTION SUPPLEMENTProf Dhrub Kumar on Links between the peace
process, integration and rehabilitationHari Roka on time running out
Hong Kong Roundtable on the Constitution andFederalism
LAST PAGESwedish lawmaker Birgitta Dahl on the hope she
saw in rural Nepal
16 - 22 APRIL 2010 #49814|FROM THE NEPALI PRESS
Hari Bahadur Thapa/Gopal Khanal/Ganga BC inKantipur, 10 April
There are as many opinions as there are leaders. Leaderswithin parties have different strategies instead of aninstitutional policy. The indecision of parties, whichincreasingly seem like federations of factions, has held thecountry hostage.
“The political parties never got institutionalised, thishas resulted in the current disorder within the parties,” saysKrishna Khanal, political science professor at TU. He thinksthe leaders have not realised yet that a political party is aninstitution, and that the culture of elevating the individualrather than the party is predominant.
UML policy is to be open to any alternative for a nationalconsensus. Party chairman Jhala Nath Khanal interprets itas ‘ready to explore an alternative to the current governmentif there is a need for a national consensus’.
Vice Chair Bamdev Gautam says, “Madhav Kumar Nepalshould resign and form a national unity government underMaoist leadership.”
KP Oli has a different perspective, “Open for consensusmeans the Maoists are welcome to join this government.”
PM Nepal has similar view to that of Oli, “If the Maoistsjoin this government, it becomes a national unitygovernment.”
There is no uniformity in the interpretation of the Maoiststance either: peace process and constitution writing or apeople’s revolt. Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal anddeputy chairs Mohan Baidhya and Baburam Bhattarai havedifferences on major issues.
The Maoists started collecting signatures to table a no-confidence motion against the government, but this waspostponed for no obvious reason. The party centralcommittee had already named Dahal to lead the governmentbut the standing committee meeting suggested leaving thepost open for alternatives.
According to Bhattarai, concluding the peace process andconstitution-writing is the official party line. There is aneed for a national unity government to complete the task.“People will resist conspiracy against this process, you cancall it a people’s uprising or a revolt,” he says.
If this is what the official party line is, then why do theyissue different statements? “Speaking against the party lineshows they lack moral integrity,” says political analystShyam Shrestha.
While the Maoists and UML quarrel over the constitutionand government, the NC is bickering over party leadership.
Sher Bahadur Deuba, Sushil Koirala and Ram ChandraPoudel may have different personalities, but they have asingle political aim. They are fighting for primacy withinthe Nepali Congress.
During party unification in 2007, Deuba was ranked aboveSushil Koirala (and below Krishna P Bhattarai and the lateGirija Prasad Koirala). But as acting NC president, SushilKoirala was ranked above Deuba on Thursday (in the orderin which the names appeared in the minutes). Deuba wasenraged and stormed out of the meeting. But in a meetingthe day after, Deuba was ranked above Koirala, to the chagrinof the latter. “The ranking was done during the party’sunification, and this will be effective until thenext convention,” explains party general secretaryBimalendra Nidhi.
Federationsof factions
Letter from jailLetter written by Chandra Kumar Rai fromBangkok’s Bangkwang Jail, where he has spent thepast 17 years.
Himal Khabarpatrika, 14-28 April
Dear Kunda SirWarm greetings from the cold floor of a Bangkok jail.What can I say? Ten years ago when you came tovisit us in this jail and report on the situation ofinnocent Nepalis at Bangkwang you brought ourplight to the notice of everyone. Today, I am writingto you to once more take our story to my Nepalibrothers and sisters.
You know what each and every one of us hasbeen through. I am not a smuggler, I never was. Icarried the dreams of my father, mother, sisters andbrothers to seek my fortune and was passingthrough Bangkok. But I was arrested at the airport bypolice when I couldn’t offer them US dollarsunderhand. I was sentenced to life imprisonmentand have now spent 17 years here. In that time mygrandparents from both sides, my aunts and uncles,have all died. My father died five months ago and
my mother sits in the corner of our house and waitsfor me to come home. I want to see her one last timebefore she dies, but it is just a dream. My heart iswracked by storms, my mind is in turmoil. There isno one to pour out my soul to, that is why I amwriting to you.
I am victimised here, and I am stigmatised backhome among my neighbours and relatives. TheNepal Embassy in Bangkok finally lobbied with theprison administration to allow us to call home. Butthere is no trace of the application we made 12 yearsago for a ‘royal pardon’, the embassy hasn’t repliedto us. My father even sent a ticket for me to go backto Nepal if I got a pardon, that ticket disappeared
long ago. When asked, the embassyreplies: “We’re not here to helpprisoners.”
While in prison, I have made a lot offoreign friends. I only studied till Grade10 in Nepal, but here I have beenstudying the bible through acorrespondence course and have earnedadvanced diplomas from the US andAustralia. I want to pursue the study oftheology. I have also started painting andmy drawing of Machapuchhre wasexhibited inside the prison. Before I die,I want to see the real mountains onelast time.
I want to urge our Nepali brothers and sisters tohelp their fellow-Nepalis when they are in pain orin trouble. And I would like to request the NepalGovernment to bring us innocent Nepalis homefrom the jails here in Thailand.
I am sorry if I have inconvenienced you.
Chandra Kumar [email protected]
Bangkwang, Thailand
16 - 22 APRIL 2010 #498 CONSTITUTION 2010|15
What do you think about the proposed14 provinces?
Bhupendra Chemjong(president, Federation ofIndigenous People): Theproposed 14 provinces are thesolution. It was drafted aftermuch homework on the part ofthe political parties anddeliberated in the committee. Itcan address the concerns of allthe communities. Demarcation
was done on the basis of the availability of resources.There is no need for further discussion.
Kamal Poudel (intellectual):We are sandwiched between twopowerful countries. Therefore, itis not a good idea to have somany provinces in view ofnationality and sovereignty.There are plenty of examples ofhow a small mistake duringpolitical transition can sparkcommunal conflict and
ultimately country’s break up. The politicalparties are trying to woo their voters and did not showseriousness while dealing with the ethnic issue. Thismight be counterproductive.
Nanda Changshu (secretary, Kirant YakthungChumlung): As long as provinces ensure the rights ofmarginalised and backward communities, it should befine. Administrative expense is not an issue. Leaders arehoarding money and abusing their power but when itcomes to creating provinces why should expenses becomethe issue?
Indra Laksham (secretary,Kirant National ReligionLiterature UpliftmentAssociation): The ethnicmovement, as well as thecreation of federal states, willnot wreck existing socialharmony. Instead, one caste,language and religion has beenreigning over multiple
ethnicities, which are now striving for their ownidentities. Interactions should consider the complexitiesof state restructuring and address them.
Bhakta Dura (advisor,Dura Society): Ethnicprovinces were demanded toaddress the problems of ethniccommunities. The othercommunities need not fear it.All 59 scheduled ethniccommunities should getautonomous provinces. Themost important thing is how to
Hong Kong speaks out
bring the backward communities to the policy-making level and empower them. How can givingrights cause conflict? The oppressed have not gotanything. Who brought up the issue ofdisintegration? The oppressed want change, not theoppressors. Those who have access to the state donot want change. The demand for ethnic provinceshas been raised not to deprive anyone of their rightsbut to give equal rights to all.
Bhim Thapa Magar(former generalsecretary, MagarAssociation): It is saidpolitical prerogatives willbe in place for a certaintime. Is the liberation ofethnic communitiespossible within the giventime frame? This might
please certain ethnic communities but it mightinvite conflict within ethnic communities. There isa conflict between ethnic and non-ethniccommunities now and one day there will be conflictbetween ethnic sub-castes. What if ethnic sub-castesdemand separate provinces? Do we suppress them?Federalism is ideally for devolution of power,meaning for development. But here it does not seemto be for development but for the self-servingpurposes of certain castes. A majority of ethniccommunities of the proposed provinces live outsidethe provinces. Nobody has ever said anything as tohow they benefit from their provinces.
Rita Gurung (deputysecretary, TamuTyohyul): I am supposedto line up for Tamuwanprovince. However, othercommunity membersshould also be treatedequally. Withoutthis kind ofhumanitarianism, I don’t
want my own Tamuwan province.
Abichandra Ingnam (general secretary,Limbuwan National Liberation Front): If acommunity with majority population runs theprovince with representatives of all communities,there won’t be conflict. Limbus favour co-existence.The country will prosper under a federalsystem.
How can we improve the draft?Bhupendra Chemjong: Those who do not getprovinces of their own should be given sub-provinces within the region to uplift them. We haveno grudges against the oppression of the past. Wehave to dispel the illusion that ethnic provincesdisintegrate the country, they will integrate itinstead.
Bhakta Dura: All ethnic and non-ethniccommunities should be equally represented fromthe proposed provinces. This will pre-emptpossible conflict. No one should be afraid of suchprovinces.
Bhim Thapa Magar: Tansen has been proposed as thecapital of Magarat. People from Rukum will have to travelall the way there for administrative work. This is moreimpractical than in the past. How does itbenefit people? Magars are ranked as the third largestpopulation but they are being cornered within aunderdeveloped region with scarce resources. Provinceswith industries, resources, transportation facilities,educational institutions and the infrastructure oftourism will be inhabited by clever people. Magars arebeing taken for a ride in the name of ethnic provinces.What is the point of a Magarat province that does notbenefit Magars?
Durga Gurung (vicepresident, Association ofNon-resident Nepalis): I amfrom Pokhara, which is inTamuwan province. Somethinglike the price of potatoes couldcreate conflict. Why willGurungs supply potatoes toprovinces they are not on goodterms with? Tamus should
understand this. The leaders who drew up the draft havenot considered these facts.
Rajendra Thapa(enterpreneur): The fivedevelopment regions drawnfrom north to south during thePanchayat regime were notdrawn haphazardly. Verticaldemarcation can resolve thecurrent debate on provinces. Forinstance, if we take Magarat andTamuwan, rice can be cultivated
in the plains of Lumbini while tourism can be developedin the mountains and universities and industries can bedeveloped in the mid-hills.
Hem Limbu (chair, Federation of Nepalis): Theproposed 14 provinces are based on ethnicity, region andlanguages. It would be better if we could reach aconsensus. The major political parties are responsible forforging a consensus on creating provinces.
JN Gyawali (chair, NepalChamber of Commerce):Creating provinces is notenough. The most importantthing is if the provinces willget enough revenue to runthese provinces. We havemade a mistake by notconsidering this.
More than 85 per cent of Nepalisliving in Hong Kong are fromindigenous Nepali communities.During a Himal Debate organisedthere by Everest weekly andhongkongnepali.com, sponsored bythe Magar Association, participantsexpressed dissatisfaction with theproposed 14 province model forfederalism. Not only did theyconsider the ethnicity-based model,based on ethnicity, incomplete, theywere also concerned it would inviteconflict in the long run. Excerpts:
ISSN
181
4-26
13
CDO Regd No 194/056/57 Lalitpur, Central Region Postal Regd. No 09/066/67
ww
w.n
epal
itim
es.c
om
16 - 22 APRIL 2010 #49816|BACK SIDE
I f any of you missed the newyear revelry this week, don’tworry, the 2067 calendar has
10 more new years and losars.And in the spirit of New Nepalwe are going to celebrate them allwith national holidays. Therewill be three months off thisyear, not counting Saturdaysand Bundays, which makesNepal the country with thehighest per capita publicholidays in the world.
Among the many other thingsthat makes Nepal unique in theworld are our hand-writtenpassports: one of only sixcountries left. The donkey’sassport is running out of pagesagain, and it’s a comfortingthought that, like the nationalflag, we will continue to preserveour national identity and uniqueselling point as the world’s mostbackside country.
On a similar note, it is good tosee that Kathmandu Aerodromehas been spruced up andstreamlined ahead of Visit NepalYear. The security line in front ofthe x-rays no longer snakes pastthe immigration desks, it onlystretches up to the aroma-filledurinal and arsenal. This is a vast
All fall downimprovement and cuts thewaiting time from two hoursto just 1 hr 45min.
The reason for the shorterqueue is that we no longerhave to remove our shoes andbelts. Informed sources toldthe mule’s mole that the shoerule was waived because thesmell of socks in advancedstages of decay was sooverpowering that somepolicemen fainted, creating asecurity risk. And the reasonwe can keep our belts on isbecause several malepassengers a day droppedtheir trousers as they walkedpast the metal detectors,giving new meaning to thephrase ‘strip-search’.
Other long overduemeasures have been taken tobeef up tourism in this ex-Hindu kingdom: the CivilAviation Authoritarians haveblackenedall the windows between thearrival and departurecorridors. Apparently thishas been done ahead of VisitNepal Year so that arrivingtourists can’t see dear departingtourists looking like they can’twait to get thehell out of here.
What do MKN, MRP, MJF andMaobaddies have in common? Itseems Makunay worked a deal towithdraw the MRP deal in returnfor the Baddies calling off theBund. But the MJF got cold feetand Bijay the G suddenly saw
himself as a prospectivepremier. Don’t underestimateMad Nepal’s ability to wheeland deal, though, because itwas he who leaked the Indianembassy letter to make Suziethe fall gal. The FM is nowsulking and not taking callsfrom anyone. The Soodsayersays India will still bag theMRP dealanyway for the simple reasonthat the new ToR for therebid will stipulate the newpassports have to be deliveredby June, a criteria no othersupplier can match.
How come no one talks aboutthe late lamented HLPManymore? Remember, this wasthe StratosphericMechanism designed to endinfighting, but it died withGPK because they cudn’t finda successor and the bodyhasn’t even been able to meetbecause the three parties keepdisagreeing on the agreementto find an agreement.
Two mechanics from the HLPM,JNK and PKD, have been trying todo their own sweet bilateral dealand obviate the need for athreesome. Comrade Fierce had
nearly convinced Jhallu Babuthat he could lead thegovernment and the Baddieswould join. At a dinner atPistachio Palace the othernight, even Comrade Sita warmedup to the idea after initiallyhaving misgivings that hubbyboy wouldn’t be supremo. ButJNK now seems to have changedhis mind after the Chairmanrefused to give it to him inwriting, just asking him to “takemy word for it”. After beingroughed up in Rukum by theRed Guard for saying there wasno alternative to the present govt,JNK has decided not to be a rebelrouser anymore. That now leavesonly Bum Dev, the Baddie deep-penetration agent within theUML.
The Ass’ quote of the week isfrom none other thanKamred Prabhakar, the voice ofthe people. Janata Janardansaid: “Yes, we signed anagreement not to declare bunds.But thisbund wasnecessary toprotect thepeace process,so it is good fortourism.”ass(at)nepalitimes.com