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Kathmandu Friday April 06, 2001 Chaitra 24, 2057.
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Democracy,
Characters and Kathmandu
By Meena Kaini
KATHMANDU, One of the achievements of
democracy is: we are getting two day holidays at least for a year and have started a new
trend to celebrate weekends like we never did before. And add the regular bandhs to that.
Bandhs, during these post-democratic years do not any more need a rational or convincing
reason behind them to be successful.
And with Nepal bandh called by the
underground Maoists for Friday tomorrow our weekend starts today itself. Call it
achievement or failure of democracy. Who are we to complain? The fact is, we are getting
extended holidays. Moreover, when did the running out time matter to us?
A VIP of the country or those from outside
makes a trip to our "beautiful country of mountains" and there we are helplessly
waiting for them to reach their destinations safely before we advance our steps to reach
our destinations. The roads are blocked as if we, the citizens have nothing important to
do or our time never mattered. But neither are we offended nor do we get angry treating at
most of the offices. It is just another festival A very valid reason to get to work late
and tell those who question, no matter how obvious the answer.
The size of the little allyes around the
cities have been the same though the population has been steadily increasing every day.
The quality of population in the streets, the increasing number of cheap Indian vehicles,
hazy evenings due the ever increasing pollution and the black stinking rivers makes it
easier for us to compare our once beautiful city to our southern neighbouring towns of
Mujjaffarpur or Patna from India’s notorious state of Bihar rather than Kyoto.
Modernisation of the cities and our lack of
civic sense does seem to quite match. Democracy has given us the right to do anything, not
just the "right thing".
We do not need a spot to sit down and talk.
Any road or middle of the road does that for us. Our vehicles can stop at the middle of
the road to load or unload passengers. And there are drivers who pause at the middle of
the road for a chat, which instantly creates a jam. We do not need or even look for a
place to spit. Go anywhere and there we are trying to take out all the cough jammed in our
throats and clean it at once be it in the bus or cinema hall or anywhere.
We give a hand to those speeding vehicles
that screech to stop and let us cross the roads. And if those inside the vehicles honk
their horns, we give them the furious stares.
Maybe, the change of democracy, urbanisation
and modernisation have been too fast for us to catch up. Maybe, we have not still come out
of our rural behaviour and mindset. Maybe, we never think that when we fight to get our
rights fully utilised, we can be violating the rights of others.
All this maybe because, our demands for
rights and democracy has materialised more out of the political movements.
This could probably be the reason why we are
still self-conscious to exercise the rights that have been accomplished by the moments of
days, weeks and months.
After days of protests, rallies and traffic
jams, the student’s finally got some portion of their demands fulfilled. In the
pre-democracy years it was a practice to give discounts to students using the public
transport. And suddenly after democracy, it was gone.
However, seems like it will take some time
before our students get used to this new system and take out their identification cards
with some pride.
It was only today I noticed an almost
embarrassed student while he took out his ID Card to show the bus conductor and get the
newly attained "discount". To his utter discomfort, the people around him were
amused and giving those jocular smiles.
Only one word discribes the state of the
country, it people, population, democracy, democratic practices or mis-practices is -
chaos.
Disorganisation in the streets,
disorientation of the constructions and disenchantment amongst people - are not just the
first impressions of those tourists but an experience for those who survive it all -
everyday.
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