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Views On News

International events draw a larger audience in Nepal, a survey finds

BY AKSHAY SHARMA

"Do people in Kathmandu watch Nepal Television?" asked Keshav Poudel from Bara, southeast of Kathmandu. Indeed! In a survey conducted by BA Publications in Kathmandu that interviewed 1,248 people last year, most were more interested and familiar with news happening outside Nepal.

When we asked Bhesh Raj Bajracharya, 27, how up-to-the-minute he kept himself about happenings inside the country, he said, "Well, the first priority I give is to the wellbeing of myself. I manage to skip through the headlines of newspapers as I have to rush every morning to work. And when I come back, I mostly watch foreign TV channels."

Youth : Search for an identity

"This may be because they every their friends who have reached to some height that they do not have," explains Surendra Shahi of BA Publications. "Some of this generation have been unmotivated because they get frustrated," explains Surendra Shahi of BA Publications. "Some were sent abroad for higher education because their parents wanted them to pursue the goals of their own. The middle class seem truly motivated but they are entangled in their own problems."

"I do not know what my future holds for me," 19-year-old Bijen Shrestha worries. "I donít know where my life is headed -- to Armageddon or Paradise. I would rather watch MTV than watch some boring Nepal TV programs or Hindi movies."

Most of the people in Kathmandu belonging to Bijenís generation share his views. They seem interested in what the Internet has to offer. As one expert puts it , "Itís the MTV generation attitude thatís causing this feeling in this age group."

The Civil Code of Nepal defines a youth to be an adult at the age of 16 and allows to vote at 18. The Public Service Commission allows candidates from the 16-35 age group to apply for a government post.

"I donít usually buy newspapers," says 23-year-old Kalpana Rai of Bhaisepati, Lalitpur. "But I manage to get a look at some of the stale news. I really prefer to read Hindi film magazines and watch Hindi movies on television."

In Nepal, Hindi movies are more popular than local productions. Some people just seem to drool over Hindi movies.

But the youth are changing by the day. They seem to survive in a world of their own. And, as Padma Lal Devkota said, "Knowingly or unknowingly, society is transforming in a way nobody had been expecting. Nepalís society is in a transition period due to illiteracy."

"This is due to the lack of communication between the movers and shakers of the country compared to the population of the country," the BA Publicationís report suggests.

"Most of the big attractive newspaper headlines seem totally irrelevant to the context of their contents. I even spotted some headlines that didnít match the articles," Rashmi Shakya, who works at Sripadi Trading House. "Some seem so confusing that it makes your head spin."

The confusion image gripping the youth in urban and rural areas raises a big question for the nation. "Are they to be exploited as anarchists, political activists and other organization which pose a threat to the future of the country?" asks Asim Pradhan. He said political issues seem meager compared to social issues in Nepal.

"I do read newspapers," says Rajan Sakya, 22, who lives in Nardevi, Kathmandu. "I prefer The Kathmandu Post for my daily news, but unfortunately I only go through very few stories. Perhaps itís something deep inside that commands me skip others. Or maybe it is a habit of an uneducated person. But it seems to me to be a clever choice because the newspapers seem biased."