Audience stick to soul-searching movies

By Tashi Dolma Thinley

KATHMANDU, Oct 5 - The film My Migrant Soul traces the saga of a simple young man called Shahjahan Babu in Bangladesh, who is full of hope and energy to go abroad and earn some money for his mother, sister and her kids. Babu was in his ‘seventh heaven’ when two men "agents" arranged him a visa for Malaysia. He pays a hefty amount to these people who also promised him jobs in the hotel.

The spirited Babu leaves for Malaysia in search of a better life but Babu quickly found out that his status had been reduced to that of a slave, with long working hours, subsistence wage and no way out. In a posthumous account left behind for the world, Babu recounts his plight as a migrant worker. He works from 7 in the morning to 12 in the midnight in construction and heavy machinery works. He and his Bangladeshi friends are constantly in search of work, regardless of whether it is an easy one or not. To go back home or to the police posed impossible as they have no documents and had come under forged passports.

The story narrates his saga of hope striping off a poor man’s dream to earn a livelihood but he continues to struggle against that backdrop. Finally, he sends a recorded message sharing his hopes, disillusions and fears in an audiotape to his family. In a bid to return home, Babu dies in a concentration camp in Malaysia.

My Migrant Soul directed by Yasmin Kabir who is an independent filmmaker based in Bangladesh, grips audience in this one man’s dreams that crumble into despair. The director has done a great job in focussing on just one person but telling the story of thousands, silently. The film not only makes for a memorable cinematic experience but also captures the emotional element throughout the movie.

One of the films screened today was a different one that can take you to a long nice drive along the highway of India. This movie Sher-e-Punjab, is a story about truckers at the roadside dhaba at the National Highway No 8 which is one of the main thoroughfare that link Ahmedabad with the rest of India. Trucks ply day and night on the highway, carrying goods to and from places as far as Bombay, Bangalore and Punjab. Along the highway are cheap hotels called dhabas where these truckers halt, get refreshed and move on. Just before the city border is one hotel called Sher-e Punjab. Truckers, mostly Punjabis stop here, unload their goods in the nearby godowns, take a new load and set off again.

This film captures moments in the lives of three men and their dhaba and clears the famous myth of the grand lives of truckers. Directed by Rahul Das, a student at the National Institute of Design (NID), the film depicts not saga or turmoil but the truckers getting laid off, thus regretting their childhood dream of driving a truck.

She Wants To Talk To You is a recording of three 13-year-old Nepali girls on what it means to be a girl, marriage, friendship and God. Their views inspire three Nepali women living in the United States to reflect on their personal quest and struggle for freedom. This film which had a strong subject,however, failed to give the audience what they expected. The film neither portrayed their lives in America nor in Nepal but constantly goes back to their childhood to describe gender inequality.

Stress on women’s uplift

Post Report

LALITPUR, Oct 5- A press meet was organised Thursday to mark the end of the 11-day training on "Beijing Platform for Action-National Training of Trainers".

President of the Beyond Beijing Committee (BBC),Tula Rana said, "The present training is to be expanded to the villages of all the five development regions of Nepal.This is also in consistent with the objectives of the Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing,China,in September 1995."

"A manual was prepared with the aim of raising awareness about women’s rights and their empowerment as conceived by the Beijing workplan," Rana added.

A trainee representing Himalayan Grassroots Women’s Natural Resource Management Association (HIMAWANTI),Maya Devi Khanal said , " We have come to know from the training that our country has ratified many conventions for women’s rights, but these have not been implemented so far.

"Khanal further said, "the problems in villages are complex and have not been addressed yet." The training focused on women’s equality and their participation was emphasised in order to draw the attention of the government on the issue.

The programme was organised by the BBC, which is an independent national federation of major leading organisations on women’s rights and gender equality, working for the upliftment of women’s status since the time of the Beijing conference.

Renovation of Mahavishnu temple in limbo

By Razen Manandhar

KATHMANDU, Oct 5 - The renovation of 170-year-old temple of Mahavishnu at the World Heritage Site of Hanumandhoka Durbar Square is still uncertain of being complete even two years after the project was started by the government.

The three-storey pagoda temple of Mahavishnu, constructed by King Jagajjaya Malla in 1830 in the memory of his son Rajendra Malla, collapsed in the 1934 earthquake. The temple was somehow renovated afterwards temporarily and the gold-plated idol was stored in the Hanumandhoka Durbar complex for safety.

Even the ad-hoc temple was lying with fallen roofs for a couple of years in the monument zone, before the Department of Archaeology (DOA) launched the renovation project two years ago.

The recently published annual report of Auditor General has stated that almost the whole of the budget has been spent but the renovation is still incomplete.

"Out of the total budget of Rs 954,000, the construction team has spent Rs 942,000 up to now. Rs 139,000 was spent on digging the foundation, making doors, repairing old stones and fencing the construction area."

Till date, DOA has constructed only foundation steps, wooden pillars and four walls of the first floor in the last two years.

The locals said the construction work has been stopped for several months and building materials have remained scattered at the site for a long time.

The report adds that over half of the budget, Rs 592,000, has been spent on buying the building materials.

An official at the Department of Archaeology, asking for anonymity said that the construction of Mahavishnu temple reveals a long story of mismanagement and misappropriation of the government fund.

"The temple is a living example of how renovation works of the historical monument gets obstructed due to department staff themselves."

He said the construction project started on daily wage basis but as the construction was not carried out satisfactorily, the ministry decided to let the construction proceed through a contractor.

But allowing a contractor to construct the temple of archaeological importance only worsened the situation.

"Amid the ongoing debates, the contractor piled up building materials. Obviously, it was the part of the job that could give him thick commission," he said.

However, the Deputy Chief of World Heritage Section at DOA Chandra Prakash Tripathi denies the possibility of corruption in the renovation of the temple.

"The renovation of the temple started in time but delayed in the middle due to internal problems. I hope it will be complete by June of 2002," he said.

He said they would "manage" if the budget becomes insufficient to complete the project.

The project chief, Bhim Nepal is in Japan to participate at an international seminar.

Historian Dr Chunda Bajracharya said the construction of such an ancient monument must not be delayed.

"The renovation work gets difficult when the project is delayed because the possibility of losing the fragile ancient building materials increases, making the task even more difficult. The more new materials you use, the less significant the monument will become," she said.

She said if the project is delayed, the construction cost would also rise. She blames the government saying no government staff is really sincere in preserving the monument, which the entire world admires.

Post-monsoon rain affects life in Eastern Region

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MAHOTTARI, Oct 5 - Post-monsoon cloudbursts for the last few days has disrupted life in the central Terai and mountain region, according to reports received here.

The cloud in the sky has prevented farmers from harvesting their paddy crop and poor families have not been able to repair their houses due to the continued rains. The farmers of this region could not plant paddy, a major crop, due to low precipitation during the first week of August. But the rainfall is creating problem for harvesting the already ripened crop.

The district agriculture office estimated that farmers would have difficulties in harvesting the paddy that ripens during the first week of October. Agro experts said that the post-monsoon rain was not suitable for the crop that is already ripe.

The office said farmers planted the paddy that becomes mature for harvesting during the first week of October on around 15 hundred bighas of land. "But the post-monsoon rain has caused a great loss to the standing crop," officials said.

A farmer from Bharatpur said his already ripe paddy has gone into waste due to the moisture in the field. "I will have to borrow loans to celebrate the fast approaching Durga Pooja," Nathuni Sah said.

Meanwhile, another report from Gaighat, Udayapur stated that floods in the major rivers triggered by the untimely rainfall have obstructed transport service in many places. Hundreds of travellers were stranded along the roads due to the flash floods in the Trijuga river. All business transactions, government offices and schools remained closed due to the cloudburst even after the end of this year’s monsoon. The people who were returning to their home for Dasain and Tihar festivals are facing hardship because of the rains.

In Nepal, monsoon normally remains active only for four months beginning from the first week of June and the third week of September. But this year, monsoon continued for one more month.

Similarly, the 65 km long transport service from Katari, a major commercial centre of Udayapur, to the hill district of Okhaldhunga has been blocked for the last three days as a result of flash floods and landslide in several places. The Katari-Okhaldhunga road is a country road that is operated only during the dry season.

Suspected Maoists destroy empty police post

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NAWALPARASI, Oct 5 - A group of suspected Maoist rebels destroyed an empty police post located at remote Bulingtar Village Development Committee, police here said Friday.

Deputy superintendent of police at Kawasoti, Kamal Bhandari, said Maoist rebels were responsible for the destruction of the posts. The Maoists, however, have not claimed responsibility for the act.

Police said that around a dozen suspected Maoists demolished the two small police offices. All the policemen stationed at the post were called backed to the district headquarters of Parasi for fear of Maoist attacks about four months ago.

Locals distributed the demolished materials such as stone and wood for their use. Locals said the corrugated sheets of the building were still scattered around the premises of the destroyed posts. One of the police posts was built by the Home Ministry and the next one by the VDC itself.

The police outpost was set up at the VDC to maintain internal security in all 17 hill VDCs of the district. Another area police station located at neighbouring Dhauwadi VDC was also shifted to a safer area after the rebels looted all firearms and ammunition killing one police sub-inspector last year.

Nepal, India officials to inspect border pillars

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NAWALPARASI, Oct 5 - Officials from Nepal and India are to jointly inspect border pillars laying between Nawalparasi district of Nepal and the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.

A joint meeting of a technical committee on the Nepal-India border held on Thursday decided to conduct a joint inspection of the border area and repair the pillars that are about to ruin.

A joint statement exchanged between the two sides after the meet also stated that there were no border pillars at Susta area, a Nepali territory sharing its border with the Indian state of Bihar. Susta region is located to the other side of the Narayani river, which has washed away all border pillars at Susta area.

The Susta area used to be a separate Village Development Committee until some 20 years ago. But the area has been merged into the Tribeni VDC after the river washed away almost all the land and border pillars. The entire VDC has now reduced to a ward.

Both the sides have also agreed to repair the pillar No. 2, 5, 7, 11 and 12 of the area as soon as possible. During the meeting, the Nepali side raised its concern with its Indian counterpart over the construction of a house built on the no-man’s land near Jhulanipur VDC.

Chief District Officer Bishnu Raj Kusum, who led the Nepali team, said that both the sides had agreed to cooperate with each other for the control of trans-border crimes and other illegal activities. The Indian side was led by Maharajgunj district magistrate R J Singh.