Bhutan’s new strategy raises eyebrows

By Damakant Jayshi

KATHMANDU, April 8:It’s been months since the government began awaiting an invitation from Bhutan to hold another round of bilateral negotiations to resolve the vexed issue of refugee verification and repatriation. But while Shital Niwas mandarins keep waiting, and waiting and waiting, invitations have come, but not for them.

Rather, it’s been non-government leaders who have been rolled out the red-carpet welcome by the wily Dragon Kingdom. Only a few days ago, former Foreign Minister Chakra Prasad Bastola undertook a four-day visit of Thimpu at the invitation of the Bhutanese government. Come April 22, main opposition leader and general secretary of the CPN (UML) Madhav Kumar Nepal will lead a six-member delegation to Bhutan.

But official Nepal, that is the ministers and officials who run Nepal’s foreign policy, are still awaiting the long-delayed invitation to visit Thimpu for another round of talks. This has understandably raised the eyebrows here.

Nepal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) officials have started questioning Bhutan’s policy. While Bhutan does not have time got official-level talks, it seems to have ample time to host those Nepalis who have some leverage in the officialdom here.

But the officials also refuse to view these visits negatively, perhaps for fear of kicking up a political furore at home. In fact, an official who is closely associated with the refugee issue, says, "We are taking these visits as compliment to the official process. They might contribute to the resolving of the vexed issue." But he admitted that Bhutanese government’s intentions vis-à-vis the refugees "may not be entirely above board".

Bhutanese refugee leaders have not taken kindly to this exercise of the Druk government. "They are trying to sell their package. While they have no time for the official-level talks, they are trying to impress the influential Nepalis with their lavish hospitality," says R Basnet, President of Bhutan National Democratic Party (BNDP).

Rakesh Chhetri, another refugee leader and Executive Director of Centre for Protection of Minorities and Against Racism and Discrimination in Bhutan (CEMARD), dismisses the Bhutanese efforts as "image-building exercise" in order to counter the growing global criticism of Bhutan in putting obstacles in resolving the refugee problem.

In the meantime, Nepal and Bhutan have blamed each other for delaying the 12th round of Ministerial Joint Committee (MJC) meeting that is aimed at arriving at a solution to solve the vexed issue of repatriation of nearly 100,000 Bhutanese refugees now in the seven camps in eastern Nepal. The meeting that was to be held after the verification of over 12,000 refugees in Khudunabari camp was completed on December 14 last year. MoFA had proposed third week of January but Bhutan expressed its inability. Since then, the talks have not been held, dampening the spirits of the refugees.

At the heart of the problem is the two countries’ difference on the categorisation of the refugees. While Bhutan insists on the agreed four categories – Bhutanese who were forcibly evicted, non-Bhutanese, Bhutanese who willingly emigrated and Bhutanese with criminal records – Nepal has been stressing on the first two.

The refugees have long been saying that the "agreement" between Nepal and Bhutan in 1993 was aimed at denying a majority of the refugees their inalienable right to return to their homeland from where they were forced out in the early 90s "under ethnic cleansing campaign" of the Dragon Kingdom.

Foreign Ministry officials in Nepal maintain that Bhutan has to realise that such a large number of refugees cannot "willingly emigrate" at about the same time. The refugees too allege that they were compelled to sign documents declaring that they were willingly leaving Bhutan. A law passed by the Druk government bars the return of any citizen to the country once they emigrate.

Moreover, as far as the "criminals" are concerned, ministry officials are of the opinion that "criminals or not, they are still the citizens of Bhutan and should be allowed to go back and if necessary they can be tried according to the law of the land".

Since the two countries have not been able to "harmonise" their differences on the categorisation issue, the more-than-decade-long refugee imbroglio remains unresolved.

In recent years, the refugees have been insisting on the third party intervention, especially that of India and the US. "Without India’s active participation in the process, the refugee problem cannot be resolved," says Basnet of BNDP. But he adds, "But India may like to let the refugee problem linger due to its own strategic interests. Another reason is that they need the co-operation of Bhutan against the ULFA rebels who are based in Bhutan."

They also want the direct involvement of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR in the all the process involving the ultimate goal of refugee repatriation. The UNHCR looks after the camps in co-operation with the government of Nepal.

Anti-terrorism Bill sent for Royal assent

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KATHMANDU, April 8:Speaker of the House of Representatives Taranath Ranabhat on Monday sent a Bill brought to replace the Terrorism and Disruptive Activities (control and punishment) Ordinance to the Royal Palace after the Lower House passed it with a majority.

Speaker Ranabhat declared the controversial Bill as passed after a majority of the lawmakers present in the House voted "Yea" for it.

On Sunday, the National Assembly, the Upper House, passed the Bill and sent it back to the Lower House with some suggestions. The Lower House passed the Bill on April 4. The Royal Ordinance was issued at the time of declaring the state of emergency in the country on November 26, 2001.

The Ordinance-turned-Bill is required to obtain the Royal assent by Tuesday, April 9, after which the Bill will take the form of Act. The Act will remain in effect for two years.

Among other things, the Bill authorises security forces to arrest people without warrant, and provisions a maximum penalty of life imprisonment with seizure of all property for those involved in terrorist and destructive activities.

The Bill proposes a special anti-terrorism court to deal with cases related to terrorism charges. As per the provisions in the Bill, a monitoring committee headed by a retired justice will look into the grievances of the general public.

Earlier in the day, the House also observed a minute’s silence in memory of the known and unknown martyrs of the 1990 Popular Movement that restored democratic polity in the country.

Democracy was restored in the country in the same day 12 years ago, and parliamentarians speaking in the House on Monday called for unified efforts to protect and nurture it.

Parties agree to push four anti-corruption Bills

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KATHMANDU, April 8:In a rare gesture towards forging a national consensus against corruption, all the political parties in parliament on Monday agreed to push through four separate anti-corruption Bills during the on-going parliamentary session.

Spurred on by what appeared to be an all-party support, the government quickly initiated procedures to pass the Bills—the Impeachment Bill, the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) second amendment Bill, the Corruption Control Bill and the Special Court Bill.

Among other things, the Bills propose procedures to bring motions to impeach corrupt heads of the constitutional bodies; empower Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), the constitutional anti-corruption body; hand down stringent action against corrupt officials and individuals; and set up a special court to deal with corruption-related cases.

A meeting of the Bill Consultations Committee, which was attended by representatives from all the political parties in parliament, on Monday afternoon, decided to put the Bills in parliament’s "pigeon hole". The parties have agreed to pass the Bills straight from parliament, and that they will not be discussed in the parliamentary committees.

Now that the Bills have been put in the "pigeon hole", they would be tabled for discussions in the House of Representatives on Wednesday. The short-cut process could require ten days to push the Bills.

The Impeachment Bill proposes to regulate the procedures to impeach high-ranking politicians, government officials or the heads of constitutional bodies, as provisioned in the Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal 1990.

An impeachment motion can be lodged against the heads of the constitutional bodies if they are found physically or mentally incapable to perform their duties, or have a bad moral character.

A probe committee, under the Parliament Secretariat, would investigate into the motion and, based on its recommendations, His Majesty the King could sack him or her.

The CIAA second amendment Bill proposes to empower the constitutional anti-corruption body, and grant it powers to confiscate the property disproportionate to income sources of just about everyone in the country.

Significantly, as was the case in the past, the CIAA would not be required to file lawsuits against those involved in the acts of corruption at the Appellate Court. If passed, the legislation would require the CIAA to lodge cases at the Special Court, the establishment of which has been proposed by a separate Bill.

The Corruption Control Bill proposes to formulate legal provisions to control corruption in the country. It proposes maximum penalty against those involved in various acts of corruption, especially the civil servants, and also plans to set up a National Attention Centre, under the Prime Minister’s Office, which would take preventive measures against corruption.

As the name suggests, the Special Court Bill proposes to set up a Special Court to look into special cases and deal with them in a swift and effective manner. Three members or judges would head the court, which should complete its hearings within six months.

EU condemns Maoist violence

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KATHMANDU, April 8:The European Union (EU) ambassadors on Monday expressed "profound shock and unequivocal condemnation" of the recent escalation of Maoist attacks against civilian infrastructure.

Issuing a statement in the capita today, the EU said "the attacks add to the pattern of Maoist violence against the people of Nepal that have included hostage taking, torture, execution and other acts of appalling brutality designed to terrorise the general public at large in support of their own political goals".

The EU interpreted the attacks as a deliberate attempt to undermine the development of Nepal and the economic livelihood of its ordinary people. It lashed out at the Maoists’ disregard for civilian life and deprive the people of food and water.

Recently, the Maoists have targeted food storage facilities, health posts, communications, hydro-electric power plants, rods, bridges and offices of the local government.

The ambassadors called for the immediate cessation of violence, lay down their arms and return to the negotiating table in order to join political mainstream to resolve Nepal’s political and economic problems.

Jail inmate fights for her child’s name

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SIRAHA, April 8:The mother of an infant boy born two and a half months ago in Siraha jail is battling to goad on the father of her illegitimate child to give him his family name.

The woman, Sita Karki, who had landed in jail in connection with a murder case one and a half years ago, was allegedly raped by a police constable, Pradip Shah, now nearly one year ago.

Although the woman claims she was raped by Shah when she had gone to his office requesting medical treatment in the night, the latter, however, has denied the charges.

"It is the watchman, Dinkar Yadav, who used to supply vegetables for the women inmates, who is the real father of the child," Shah has been attributed to have said.

In fact, Shah claims that policemen were not in a position to enter the cells during the week-long strike carried on by inmates in March last year and that the woman in question had conceived the baby during that week.

But this has been contended by the watchman who demands the jail authorities should conduct a medical test to ascertain the real father of the child.

Since the woman had filed an application at the district court seeking the services of the lawyer to fight for her cause so that the infant child gets the father’s family name, the lawyer who has been made available pledged to take the matter to a logical conclusion by fighting the case.

Earlier, the probe team which had investigated into the incident had ruled that there has been lapses on the part of the jail staff. The team had also recommended departmental action against the jailer.

Secretary Bista files suit against CIAA, resigns

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KATHMANDU, April 8:Secretary at the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare Rabi Bahadur Bista resigned from his post after filing a writ petition Monday at the Supreme Court against Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA).

According to his lawyer, Bista who challenged a nine month old decision of the anti-corruption constitutional body to fine him for his decision about wood transaction, has resigned from his post on condition that the resignation comes into force from April 18.

In the writ petition filed today Bista has asked to annul the CIAA decision, which compelled him to pay Rs. 128 thousand as compensation.

CIAA had then initiated an investigation responding to a complaint lodge there accusing Bista for passing order against contract. Bista was then was the secretary at the Ministry of Forest.

Illness in family: Check the medicines twice before paying

By Suvecha Pant

KATHMANDU, April 8: Have you ever been offered "cheaper drugs but with the same effect as the doctor’s prescribed medicines"? Many patients or their friends and relatives are increasingly being offered these lucrative deals by many pharmacies in the Kathmandu Valley. They insist the substitute drugs are as effective as the prescribed ones.

The owners of such shady stores give out alternative medicines to patients quite skilfully. They are able to easily manipulate and confuse the minds of uneducated and sometimes even educated patients by giving substitute medicines other than what the doctor has actually prescribed.

"If the sales man behind the counter says that this medicine is the same as the one prescribed by the doctor and at the same time cheaper, then there should be no problem," says Ram Bhandari, while buying medicine for his sick daughter.

In cases like the common cold and a headache, counter medicines (like dispirin, paracetamol, and cough medicine) can be given to patients. But, what is alarming is how easily these shops sell broad-spectrum antibiotics (Ciprofloxacin, Amoxycllin, Ofloxacin, among others) without a doctor’s prescription. Also, they give out alternative and wrong medicines to patients without a doctor’s consultation.

While waiting to buy an injection, surprisingly, within an hour, the owner of a clinic in Dillibazar, replaced several medicines with substitutes drugs to be given as alternative to the ones the doctor had prescribed.

Another factor of concern is the ill-trained staffs that provide services to the customers, where some of them have been found to be unable to even read a prescription. In many instances when a visiting customer is also illiterate, the medicine wrongly sold could drastically result in the death of a patient. The ironic and sad fact is that this clinic is one among the many found existing in Kathmandu today.

What do the doctors feel about such practices? Nepal Medical College Teaching Hospital (NMCTH), Professor Doctor Sanjib Dhungel says, "Once I had prescribed a patient the medicine Divol (medicine for treating antacid) and the pharmacist gave the man Doanil (medicine for diabetes). The next day the patient came back in a serious state."

"It was lucky that his family had brought the medicine that had been wrongly given so he could be quickly treated or he could have been extremely sick," adds Dhungel. "The pharmacies should employ better trained people so incidents like these may not be repeated."

The people manning pharmacies lack qualifications and the experiences required to retail such sensitive products like medicines. An owner of a medicine shop is only trained for three weeks prior to opening a medical centre.

This is quite worrisome for the public. Educated people can differentiate between brands that are of good standards but customers that are illiterate will be vulnerable to the clever traps laid by these pharmacies.

The reason for issuing substitute medicines is divided into two categories: non-availability and the high commission kickbacks they receive from drug companies. The pharmacies generally stock in huge quantities of such medicines for over-the-counter-sales.

A worrying factor is that such medicines are generally of low quality than the ones that are prescribed for by the doctors. Sometimes such medicines do not work leaving the doctors in a bad perspective in the patients’ eyes.

"Doctors should urge patients to only use the medicines they have prescribed and if they are not available they should return to the doctors for an alternative medicine," says assistant professor of Nepal Medical College (NMC), Dr. Krishna Chandra Devkota.

"This growing problem of pharmacies playing the middle-man doctor’s role must be stopped," adds lecturer of NMC, Dr. Kamal Gurung.

The doctors say they expect the concerned bodies to give immediate attention to this unscrupulous practice that could endanger patients’ lives. They want immediate steps be taken by the authorities to control the mushrooming of these "killer pharmacies".

Proposed oxygen plant ignites controversy

By Yuvraj Acharya

KATHMANDU, April 8:The Ministry of Health is on the verge of deciding in favour of a large plant to produce oxygen for the capital’s three government-run hospitals.

The proposal for such a plant on an industrial scale was submitted some time ago by the directors of Bir Hospital, Kanti Children’s Hospital and Maternity Hospital. "The proposal has been accepted by the Ministry, though there are certain issues that need to be sorted out," a Ministry official told The Kathmandu Post.

According to Dr. Bimala Lakhe, director of Maternity Hospital, chiefs of the three hospitals recommended the setting up of a joint plant with a view to ease supply of cheap oxygen to the hospitals. The proposed plant, which could cost around Rs. 30 million, produces liquid oxygen through cryogenic process, and is supplied to the hospitals in cylinders.

Dr. Lakhe further said that the production of the proposed plant contains 99.5 percent oxygen and could fulfil the total demand of the hospitals.

A high level official at Bir Hospital claimed that if three hospitals jointly operated the plant the production cost of the oxygen could be lessened by 50 percent. The Ministry has already given the task of a feasibility study for such a large oxygen plant to Nepal Engineering College.

However, some controversies remain – chiefly those of costs and by-product marketing. Critics point out that an industrial size oxygen plant does not necessarily bring the cost down. Compared with site-based plants (plants inside individual hospitals), cost of industrially produced oxygen could be as much as five times high, they say. Moreover, critics also argue that by-products of the oxygen manufacturing process, chiefly nitrogen gas, is hard to sell and dispose of.

The Birendra Military Hospital, TU Teaching Hospital and Kanti Children Hospital already have their own oxygen plants but they are facing serious problems of refilling oxygen in n the cylinders. Compressing the oxygen is highly power consuming process and very costly," said a bio- medical engineer working in this field for a decade.

"The establishment of an industrial type of plant is more than five times costly than the site plant," argues a bio-medical engineer who wished to remain anonymous. " And if we cannot explore a market for by-product of the plant, the oxygen price can rise to more than five times."

In contrast, argue critics, site-based plants could be set up quickly and at a mere cost of Rs 8 million. And what’s more, they can also meet the requirements of the three hospitals, they claim.

Another controversy also lurks beneath the surface. According to knowledgeable sources in the Health Ministry, the administration of the three hospitals decided to propose such a big plant on the recommendation of a chemist, who it is claimed, has no idea about the economic aspects of oxygen manufacturing and sales. Sources allege that the chemist recommended such a plant to help sell equipment of some companies.

But controversies notwithstanding, work on the large plant is progressing. The proposal was put forth by the three hospitals for setting up the oxygen plant at Kanti Hospital.

Elders for crusade against corruption

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KATHMANDU, April 8:Members of the National Assembly cutting across party lines on Monday collectively stressed the need for joint efforts to root out corruption from the society.

They also demanded to initiate strong actions against the corrupt people "as the corruption in public life is the root cause of the present political crisis, violence and terrorism.

" If we root out corruption, the terror dogging the nation for years will come to an end," said Ganga Dutta Joshi, a Nepali Congress (NC) member of National Assembly while speaking during "special hour".

The CPN- UML member of National Assembly, Kashi Nath Adhikari, suggested the government to take "strong decisions" to bail out the country from the current morass. Urwa Dutt Panta, also of same party, told the government not to backtrack from the commitments made and initiate move to affect constitutional amendment.

Kedar Neupane of the CPN-UML expressed disenchantment at the directives issued under article 115 (7) of the constitution. " It has paralyzed the functioning of political parties", Neupane said, telling the Prime Minister to clarify whether it has been issued as passed by the cabinet council or not.

Dialogue, the best way to resolve Maoist problem

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KATHMANDU, April 8:Constitution experts, politicians and intellectuals today said the underline cause of the present problem faced by the country is due to the defective political practices and they strongly urged to opt for dialogue to resolve the Maoist problem.

Speaking during an interaction programme organised to mark 12th anniversary of the restoration of democracy, the speakers also heavily came down against the elected governments for creating grounds for the expansion of the Maoists across the country.

"Due to the lack of political will and commitments, the image of democracy was smeared," said Nilambar Acharya, a member of the Constitution Drafting Committee of the present Constitution. "In that place, the Maoists and the anti-democratic forces were able to spread their tentacles."

Acharya also ruled out the need of the constituent assembly, as demanded by the Maoists and some small left parties, to give outlet to the existing problems. He also said the best tool to resolve the Maoist problem was not the army mobilisation but the dialogue. "But the army mobilisation is a medium to bring the Maoists back to the dialogue table," he said.

Lower House lawmaker of the ruling Nepali Congress, Hom Nath Dahal, said the mainstream political parties have used parliament as a tool to fulfil their needs. "They (politicians) have made parliament as a mere rubber stamp," Dahal said. "They make the decisions either at Teku (central office of the ruling party) or at Balkhu (central office of the main opposition CPN-UML) and use Parliament to legitimate their selfish needs."

Dahal also said such practices of the politicians have helped the Maoists spread tentacles. He also asked the government not to be apprehensive about the Maoist demand of constituent assembly. "But it should be discussed in Parliament and in the civil society," he said.

The interaction programme on "Twelve Years of Mass Movement: Achievements and Challenges" was organised by the Foundation for Parliamentary Studies and Development.

Speaking on the occasion, intellectual Prof. Dr. Mohan Man Sainju said the dominant but defective politics was the main cause behind the downfall of the social and economic development. "If the same situation continues, the country will undergo serious economic bankruptcy after 6-8 months," Dr Sainju warned. "There should be political solution for this."

He also asked the political forces to go for the constituent assembly if that resolves the problems.

"Everything was messed up during last 12 years of democratic practices due to the malpractice of the defective political actors," said Kapil Shrestha, member of the National Human Rights Commission. ""So still we have not been able to make our own identity."

Addressing the function, former Speaker Daman Nath Dhungana said the multiparty democratic system was the best suit in the context of Nepal. He also said there is no alternative of the dialogue to solve the Maoist problem.

President of the Nepal Bar Association, Sindhu Nath Pyakurel, who is also been actively involved in bringing the Maoists in the dialogue table, said now the ball for dialogue with the Maoists is in the Prime Minister’s court.

Former Foreign Minister, Shailendra Kumar Upadhyay, said the present problems and challenges are the outcomes of neglecting the Constitution. "The government should not have surpassed the demand of constituent assembly," he said. "The government had to go to the civil society to carry out debate on it before it was too late."

Upadhyay also asked the government to resolve the Maoist problem at the political level by bringing them to the dialogue table.

Lady in red entertains audience with ‘Chtoe’

By Tashi Dolma Thinley

KATHMANDU, April 8:If it was meant to be a musical entertainment, it was a soul-searching peaceful music and if it was meant to illuminate religious Tibetan chants, it might just give you a wrong impression of Tibetan prayers. This was at a concert organised and performed solely by a Tibetan nun - Ani Choying Drolma, at the third annual fund raising event of the Nuns Welfare Foundation of Nepal.

Yesterday’s musical performance of Ani Choying at the Patan Museum was backed by popular Nepalis band 1974 AD creating a fusion of spiritual melody and soft rock. Ani Choying displayed her melodious voice and singing talent, on which Tibetan religious chants added to the grace.

As a musical entertainer, Ani Choying has showmanship, the spiritual grip with the audience highly revered by the westerners as the "lady in the red robe". The show was seldom technical and elaborately modern unlike the usual prayers held in monasteries and nunneries. And yesterday, Ani jammed with the popular Nepalese band - 1974 AD and flutist Manose Singh.

It is but no doubt that the small audience would have liked what she was doing, "if" they had just come for some scintillating and soulful music, and what they say -that has a meaning to "soothe the nerves and relax the mind".

Ani’s theme of the concert was "Chtoe" which literally means, "to cut" the ego that clings to a human’s mind. She sang to a melodious tune, the prayers from the religious Tibetan scripts. "The song is a part of a Buddhist practice to cut through one’s ego, to tame the mind," Ani said.

And her singing talent was smoothly displayed and well appreciated when she sang the Christian gospel "Amazing Grace" in English and then sang in the same tune, the seven- line teaching of Guru Rinpoche (Tibetan high priest).

The show was in a frame, a fusion of traditional and modern, religious and worldly. It had a religious script to sing from, a Tibetan nun, a Nepalis rock band and modern electrical instruments. Audiences seem to have taken awhile to taste the strange concoction of modern rock music with the traditional Tibetan religious chants.

"The reason I am presenting the spiritual chants with a fusion is because of the need to cater to what westerners like," Ani said. She believes that medium for spirituality and religion can be anything, be it rock music or a chant and a medium of meditation, a cushioned chair or a roller coaster ride. But then many of the westerners there have not come to seek spirituality or to meditate in such depth with music, all they have come for is soulful music, as plainly as it can be.

31-year old Ani Choying today continues to perform such shows around the world to gather funds for a school she has started for several nuns in Nepal. While such concerts and performances to raise funds continue, she must stop for a while to draw a line somewhere to tell her audiences - her concerts plain musical entertainment or a display of original religious Tibetan Chants?

‘Exhibition of paintings’ on show

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KATHMANDU, April 8:German Ambassador to Nepal Rudiger Lemp inaugurated the "Exhibition of Paintings" by German artist Dagmer Mathes amidst a function here today at Siddhartha Art Gallery, Babar Mahal.

In the paintings displayed in the exhibition Mathes has mainly presented the stupas, rivers, rocks and the country side of Nepal. "Nature is the main source of inspiration for my paintings, which helps provide me with ample creation and highly diverse compositions", he said.

Her paintings like Stupa in Do Tarap, Stupa in Tsarang, Mustang Stupa show her attraction toward the Himalayan art hidden in remote places like Dolpo, Mustang and Nubri.

Mathes during her visit to those places with her husband from 1994 to 2000 came across those Tibetan stupas that attracted her the most and she photographed them, which are now in form of paintings.

"The title of each painting reveals the places where she has travelled," said Sangeeta Thapa of the Gallery. "And the lokta paper reveals the majesty and mystery of a barren rocky landscape

Dagmer has been staying in Nepal for the past seven years and this is her second solo exhibition in Kathmandu. The paintings are the output of artist’s long and ardous trek in the mountainous hinterlands of Nepal. The exhibition will remain open till 20th April.

Surabhi’s ‘Exit’ at Viceroy Hall

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KATHMANDU, April 8:

"You hold it loose, you stare at it
You are lost your every bit
You bring it close you hold it well
You light it up
And then you smell
The flavours of loneliness"

Twenty years old artist Surabhi Khetan has converted this poem into a painting ‘Flavours of Loneliness’, which tells a story of a chain smoker who is alone and enjoys smoking but every time he smokes he feels lonely.

Surabhi in her solo exhibition, recently on display at the Viceroy hall in hotel Yak and Yeti consists different paintings comprehended from poetry. "I do paintings, write poetry and paint it down and sometimes convert the painting into poetry," said Surabhi.

In a week-long exhibition entitled "Exit" the young artist has portrayed the reality of everyday life, which human beings pass through. In a painting ‘Blackmail’ Surabhi has shown a white hand holding a black mail - the corruption that occurs in every office.

Surabhi, who is also a student of Fashion Designing, started her career from doodles. "I prepared these paintings in three months period," she said.

When asked why she entitled her exhibition ‘Exit’ Surabhi said," Coming and going is a process of every visitor. When a visitor exits then at that time he/she will be entering because at that time communication begins through painting."

Altogether thirty six oil paintings of Surabhi are recently on display in the exhibition that will remain open till April 14.