Poet Madhav Prasad Ghimire honouring Hari Prasad Rimal with Balkrishna Sama Award on Tuesday.

Music always makes people tap their toes

By Shraddha Shrestha

KATHMANDU - At present pop music has the largest fan following among the Nepali masses. The craze for the so-called ‘pop bands’ have lured the youths to follow on their footsteps.

Long coloured hair and weird dress imitation by the youths trying to look similar to the pop stars explains it all. But this craze is not new; it has been existing here since the last 30 years.

The Pakhes, The Melody, Chimpang, The Muscut, The Diamonds, The Daffodil among others were popular Nepali bands in Kathmandu some 30 years ago. Long coloured hair and abnormal dress-up were their style as well.

The band members had a hard time as there were no good quality instruments available in Nepal. The bands managed to keep their banners flying high by entertaining all by playing on whatever instruments they could find. For them, stage shows were the only option as no other mode was available to show-off their talents.

The instruments were played a lot then and songs of the Beatles, Rolling Stones and Santana were popular. Typical Nepali devotional instruments and modern Nepali pop numbers were also included in their performance package. A little bit of twist here and turn there would be added to the final touch.

"We used to scale the walls to watch the bands perform" said B N Vaidhya, of Kamlachhi. Vividly remembering his past he says that those were the days when instrumental numbers, English or Nepali used to rule.

But, now after 30 years hardly anybody remembers the band or the band members. All of whom are now in different professions other than their beloved field of music.

Sanu Kaji Manandhar a member of Chimpang group says " As time passed and family responsibilities came upon the shoulders of the band members, they opted for steady career one after the other and finally there were none left in the band." Manandhar is currently running a grocery shop.

Despite all the hardships of life, music always has been a moment of peace for all the music band members. Now even after 30 long years music still counts a lot although their professional work comes first.

Every morning I practice singing and play on my musical instruments. If music had not been there in my life, then a better part of myself would not have existed, says Ramesh Shrestha, 53, of Daffodil band.

Thirty years ago it was a tough job to record a song for Radio Nepal. The lyrics had to be given a green signal by the board members before the song could be recorded.

"imitations of western music and songs ruled the stage,then, but the perfection was there. Whatever we used to sing used to be true in itself," says Shrestha.

No doubt, the material of the guitar strings have changed as well as the design of the instruments but the essence of the music produced by all the instruments remains the same as DO,RE,ME—. Of course, the present day lifestyle of the listeners has changed.

"In my opinion, music of our time was and still is very appealing and the lyrics touching; and will live forever. Whereas the present day style of music is, no doubt, very much entertaining to the present generation but short-lived," says Robert Sharma of Pakhes band.

Seminar to develop health strategies

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DHARAN, Feb 6 - A three-day international seminar on "Towards Unity for Health", began at the BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences (BPKIHS) with support from the World Health Organisation (WHO) Tuesday. The aim of the seminar is to draw up a health strategy for developing countries.

The seminar is attended by representatives from Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand and the WHO. The seminar will hold extensive discussions on community-based health curriculum, launched by the BPKIHS at its inception, so that a policy adopted by the teaching hospital can also be applied to other developing countries.

Speaking at the inaugural session, WHO country representative for health and education, Dr PT Jayabikramaraja, said that the WHO had envisaged a regional concept on health by integrating ten developing countries at policy level. Jayabikramaraja opined that BPKIHS’s unique expertise in the region will allow it to develop into a regional centre in the community health sector.

Talking to reporters, Vice-Chancellor of the BPKIHS, Shekhar Koirala, said that the community health programme and income generation programme should be introduced in communities at the same time.

At the end of the seminar, international representatives will visit the BPKIHS-launched community health and education programmes in Sunsari, Morang and Dhankuta districts. Vice-Chancellor Koirala added that the community health and education programme might be replicated in the participating countries, with monitoring responsibility falling to Nepal.

Police’s bikes stolen in Birgunj

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BIRGUNJ, Feb 6 - Thieves have started stealing police personnel’s motorbikes in this area.

Motorbike of head constable, Tank Karki, was stolen in broad daylight from his house on Monday.

Karki’s motorbike was stolen from his rented residence at Pani Tanki in Birgunj-10 whilst he was out walking, and was still missing Tuesday.

Meanwhile, police have arrested three members of a gang engaged in stealing another motorbike. Ramanand Mandal of Udayapur Ghurmi, Yogesh Shrestha of Birgunj-13 and Sanjay Chaudhari of Birgunj-10 stole the motorbike belonging to Bhulan Prasad Sarraf of Birgunj-10, with plate No B.R.006C 9373. Police arrested them under the pretext of purchasing the motorbike.

Riot police deployed

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DHANKUTA, Feb 6 - Riot police have been deployed for the first time in this district after Maoist insurgents stepped up their activities in some parts of this district over the past few days.

The 50-member riot police team, which arrived here on Friday, was sent to the Maoist-affected areas on Saturday, according to police sources.

The Maoist insurgents have increased their activities in different VDCs located about 32 miles north of the district headquarters, including Chanuwa, Dadagaon, Marekattahare and Leguwa VDCs and the VDCs adjoining the municipality, such as Bhirgaon and Teliya. They have also enhanced their activities in other VDCs, such as Khoku, Chhintang and Ankhisalla.

School buildings dilapidated

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JANAKPUR, Feb 6 - Many school buildings here in eastern Terai district of Dhanusha are in such a dilapidated state that teachers are forced to teach at the open fields outside.

Similarly,the two room building in Thathijhimka VDC-8, is also very old.

In the single room with battered six tables and three chairs, which students consider it to be as the school office, none of the furniture has been repaired so far.

Students are forced to attend classes in an open classroom under the huge tree situated south from the main building.

"There are total 150 students but only few attend classes...many come only when the exam is approaching," said Kishun Pasman, a class one student said.

Likewise, Manik Lal Pasman, Vice Chairman of Thathijhimka VDC, says, "There is no bright future of the students here because teachers hardly come here to teach in this remote village."

"It is high time the Government thought for the betterment of the students of the District," he said.