Artworks on ‘profound’ and ‘profane’

By a Post Reporter

KATHMANDU, March 23 - In two diagonally opposite plains, from Goddess and Gods to the symbols of Satan, from soft illustrations of the profound to the bold presentation profane, prepared by two artists - from the West and the East.

This coming together of contradictions is starting from tomorrow when Belgian artist Alann De Vuyst and Nepali artist Ram Aqbal Sah will start their exhibitions at the Siddartha Art Gallery. Sah, whose works consist of a series of paintings of Devis and Devas stand starkingly different from De Vuyst wild representations of sexuality.

Sah is a self-taught artist, an Osho follower. His works thus follow religious flow. Oil paintings of Durga to Saraswoti, from Shiva to Buddha.... all the way to landscapes. Sah’s works are heavily ruled by the popular images of the Hindu Gods. "They follow the philosophy of Hinduism," says he.

De Vuyst’s works are political statements against the current sexual suppression. The title of his work, Tribal Connection are a series of paintings that depict myths and symbols from tribes from around the world. The artist himself was adopted by an Amazon tribe in Brazil in 1989.

The paintings are male-centred as the phallic symbol dominates his work. "It is because I can only represent what I know," says the artist. There are paintings portraying the phallus being devoured. "Sexuality is being devoured here," says he.

The two artists whose works are poles apart produce effects that are as diverse. De Vuyst’s paintings are cathartic - you either like it or hate it or perhaps be totally shocked by them. Sah’s works are the kind akin to the Nepali mind - paintings that you could go through without wondering about the meanings or the purpose.

Both the exhibitions will go on till April 1.

Employees remain unpaid

By a Post Reporter

BIRATNAGAR, March 23 - Employees of Biratnagar Town Development Committee have not received their salary and allowance for the last 27 months.

Employees of the committee Mani Kumar Pokhrel, Prakash Shrestha and Ganga Shrestha told The Kathmandu Post that they have neither received their salary and allowance nor have they been removed from service.

The employees who were appointed 10 years ago on permanent basis say they attend the office every day and stay in office during the office hour. They say that they do not get the opportunity to work at home and yet they do not receive their salary in office.

The committee sends a total budget of 50 thousand rupees annually since the last two years including 20 thousand rupees for office expenses and 30 thousand rupees under development heads. It does not send money for salary of employees, according to the employees.

Secretary of the Town Development Committee Suresh Upadhyaya, however, says the committee has not carried out any activity over the last two years, nor has it sent any budget or salary of employees.

Call to shun anarchy

By a Post Reporter

KATHMANDU, March 23 - Nepal Jaycees today vowed to protest all kinds of anti-democratic activities and discourage individuals and organizations involved in such practices.

At a press conference organised here today, the non-profit organization requested all the individuals, organizations and political parties to refrain from anti-democratic practices.

"We request all the people, from both political and non-political sectors, to work to deter the anti-democratic activities aimed at obstructing the developmental activities in the country," said Phul Kumar Lalwani, president of Nepal Jaycees.

Nepal Jaycees raises funds from communities and its members and is,among others, involved in youth’s leadership development activities. The Jaycees has also been running adult and parental literacy classes in the capital.

Teenage marriage worries parents

By Harihar Singh Rathour

JAJARKOT, March 23 - Local guardians are worried about the future of their children because there is an increasing trend of school students falling in love and marrying too young.

Bimala Bhadel, 12, of Bhagawati Tol in Khalanga-1 married her neighbour Gopal Malla, 15, who left school before completing class eight. She was studying in class six. Their neighbours and colleagues were not surprised because they knew she had started sending him love letters since the time she was in class five.

A primary school teacher of Khalanga-2 was forced to marry as she was pregnant before marriage. Her only daughter also followed her footprints and married her friend at school at the age of 13.

Similarly, an oppressed-class girl studying in class five ran away from home and was hiding in the house of maternal uncle of the boy she wanted to marry. Her mother came to discover her whereabouts on the third day after her frantic search and took her back home beating her.

There are, in this district headquarters, more than three dozens of schoolboys and girls who have married in this way as they were studying in school, said Kiran Shah, coordinator of Women’s Society Centre.

"Such incidents of marriage are common occurrences for district people and nobody cares. There is no other way than to accept them after they are found to have done what they should not have done," Jajarkot District Bar Association President Krishna Shah told The Kathmandu Post. He expressed the view that Social Behaviour Reforms Act should be activated.

Students fall in love at school due to attraction for opposite sex and they do not take note of their age or considerations for their future due to their blind love and too early age. About half a dozen end up marrying in the schools of the district headquarters alone every year, teachers of Khalanga higher secondary school admit.

Abir Malla, father of Gopal Malla says lack of control on them both at home and at school is the main reason of this situation.

Bimala’s father puts all the blame squarely on social environment and the desire for imitation.

When the students marry, they leave school in the middle of their studies and even if they don’t, they cannot make progress in their studies, said Chhetra Bahadur Shrestha, a teacher who has been in this profession for 33 years.

Local people do not have the basic knowledge about the fact that it is not good to marry, get pregnant and give birth before they are mature, say assistant health workers."They don’t even think of using temporary contraceptives and this results in the birth of not well-developed babies, he adds.

A girl of Bhagawati Tol said the dreams of such girls, who had woven beautiful dreams during their marriage, are generally shattered as they cannot adjust themselves in the new families.

Moreover, child marriages also take place in the village because of the need for manpower.

Although marriage of girls and boys before they are 16 and 18 years old respectively is punishable by law, they are not punished because it is difficult to gather evidence, District Judge Kedar Prasad Pyakurel said and suggested the need for generating public awareness about this social evil and its negative impact on health to stop these social evils.

Educational meet planned

KATHMANDU, March 23 (PR) - A two-day national convention on educational challenges is slated to kick-off in the capital this Saturday.

"There are so many challenges in the education system today...Even students are not specifically trained to fulfil the present job demands. We will try to find a solution at the meet," said Dev Bahadur Poudel, General Secretary of Academic Students Council (ASC), the organizers of the convention, at a press meet today.

According to ASC, educationists from across the border have been invited to address around 150 students from various parts of the country who will participate in the convention.

Signature campaign for cow

BIRTAMOD, March 23 (PR) - The Cow Welfare Association, Jhapa has launched a signature campaign this week to protect the cow, the national animal of Nepal and prevent its smuggling outside the country.

According to Bhim Prasad Bhattarai, a member of the association, more than 11 thousand Hindus from within Nepal and abroad have already put their signature in the paper. Bhattarai said more than 200 thousand signatures of people who revere cow will be collected by the middle of May and it will be submitted to His Majesty’s Government. Many famous Hindu Gurus including Jagatguru Ramanujacharya and Kamalanayanacharya who had come to attend the "1008 Shreemadbhagawat Saptaha Gyan Mahayagya" held at Mai river (Kankai) of Jhapa in the first week of the month of Chaitra are also reported to have endorsed the campaign giving their signatures.