Only Tall Talkings Do Not Curb Corruption

By Sunil K.C.

This week Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala made, what looks like, a bold announcement to fight corruption. He said he would not keep any of his ministers even for one minute if found involved in corruption.

Only a couple of weeks back, the CPN-UML, the second largest party in the parliament, had also thundered at a mass meeting that it would take actions against corruption and the corrupt ones in their own way.

If one reckons the sound against corruption that has echoed in the political front, the fight against corruption should make a head way. But for the common masses, this hullabaloo in the political front, is nothing but rhetoric, which sounds fine but is actually meaningless. Because those who have talked the loudest against corruption have a tainted past with themselves being accused of corruption.

The people’s scepticism about such talking has been well founded. The last ten years has seen the politics of corruption at its worst form. In other words, corruption has been institutionalised. That mean bribery, kickbacks, cronyism and other forms of corrupt practices are not for money only, but for power, perk and posts.

The UML making accusations publicly against persons, who had held high posts in the government and others have failed to generate reactions from the government and the rule of law. Again, when the UML leaders themselves were accused of corruption they also remained quiet.

The swallowing of such bitter accusations rather silently and without being challenged before the people and the rules, only means accepting one’s wrong-doings. Had this happened anywhere else in the world, both the accusers and the accused would be answerable to the court of justice and there would be a moral integrity to quit the public life if found guilty.

There are even doubts about the good intentions of the political parties. The UML’s actions of making public the list of corrupt ones and its decision to take things in its own hands are being perceived more to gain political mileage than any real effort to combat corruption.

Even the Prime Minister’s pledge to sack his ministers immediately if found guilty of corruption, have specks of doubt. This can be taken as he may be willing to forget the past and start afresh in a clean way. Even that may be fine if he is really serious about what he said.

But the corrupt practices in the last ten years, which feeding on itself, has produced layers and layers, in the governments, political parties and the bureaucracy, which have clearly undermined the rule of law, strangled economic growth and hurt the poor the most severely. These can not be cleansed until the combat against corruption is started from the very root.

That require strengthening of the democratic institutions with sound rules and their strict implementation. Until that is done, only tall talkings do not help to control corruption.

Songs Of Milarepa

By Our Correspondent

Ahimsha (non-violence) and nirvana (salvation) are prominent themes of Buddhism. These two things were the part and parcel in the life of Lord Buddha who was the harbinger of peace in the world. One gets salvation after having an incessant mediation, abandoning all sorts of sources of pain such as greed, pleasure, anger, etc.

Lord Buddha had given up all the worldly pleasures to get nirvana.

To create an emotional atmosphere for sensitising the minds of the audience about precious things in life, Studio 7 is presenting “The 100,000 Songs of Milarepa” from 21 April at Naga Theater of Hotel Vajra.

Milarepa was a great Tibetan poet and yogi (saint) who always was deeply influenced by a vision of Marpa—his Guru. Milarepa was completely devoted to the vision and way of life adopted by Marpa.

The artistes of Studio 7 have given a dramatic form to the enchanting songs of Milarepa. Dramatised and directed by Sabine Lehmann, the drama is able to focus a glimpse of the spiritual depth, beauty and excellence of Milarepa’s poetic songs.

His poetry shows how he wandered across the bordering land between Tibet, an Autonomous Region of China and Nepal.

The dramatic presentation that is based on Milarepa’s real life story brings the audiences to a solitary place in the Himalayan region where he lives among cliffs and caves. He is often found meditating. He is always guided by the principles of his teacher — Marpa. He leads a life of a saint. He takes only light diet like nettles.

While roaming around the highland, Milarepa has encounters with demons, ghosts, Gods and beasts. Besides, he meets with men from different walks of life. The demons and ghosts try to attack on him many times.

But instead of involving in counter attacks, Milarepa enchants and comforts them with his songs of wisdom. He convinces them that life is a transitory phenomenon and everybody has to leave this world sooner or later.

While talking to them, Milarepa also says that there is nothing permanent in the world and everything is perishable. He compares a pot of clay with life. It is very difficult for him to enchant them. But his songs are so excellent and powerful that he becomes successful in enchanting all of them in the end. He gains complete knowledge, freedom and miraculous power as he does not deviate himself from the vision of his Guru.

Roles played by all the characters are praiseworthy. Their language is clear and understandable. Characters like Deepak Bajracharya (Mila), Shambhu Kumar Lama (Marpa), Sabine Lehmann (blue Dakini), Sahadev Poudel and Saroj Aryal (skelettons), Ramesh Maharjan and Macha Raja Maharjan (hungry ghosts) and Kiran Maharjan (snow lion), Stephanie May, Chimney Dolkar, Asha Mangrati and Bhushan P. Maharjan (pigeon Devas) and others have played proper roles in the drama.

Last year, Studio 7 had presented a life story of the youthful Mila and his firm determination to undo the sad load of ‘black deeds’ he had collected.

The drama will be staged in the evening on every Friday, Saturday and Sunday till May 7 at Hotel Vajra.

Jottings: Idle And Otherwise

BY MRJ

Having tensely watched mobile phone users here speaking while driving through heavy traffic, this Kathmandu denizen wonders why the dangerous practice is not yet banned by traffic police who are presently engaged, rightly I say, in checking vehicle drivers for alcohol consumption at night.

HEALTH HAZARD? While we’ll probably have to witnessed several avoidable accidents and possibly even deaths before the authorities begin to wake up on that score, it was educative to read an item centered around the possibility that mobile phone users may be risking their health by doing so.

Such a possibility is apparently starting to generate almost as much hysteria as the cellphone itself in a world of half a billion users worldwide and with the new religion of Internet-mobile just around the corner.

Anyway, scientists have for years been investigating suggestions that the radiation emitted by mobile phones, base stations and masts could trigger “a whole medical dictionary of aliments, from dizziness to gene damage, nosebleeds to nausea, Alzheimer’s to brain tumours.”

Though there is no conclusive evidence yet of such health hazards for mobile phone users, Dr. Alan Preece of Bristol University, who has conducted extensive research into the subject, says: “One thing I wouldn’t do is to have a half-hour conversation on a mobile phone because you are exposing a small area of the brain intensively and producing flood flows. With an antenna two centimetres from the head, 50-60 phone’s energy goes into the head.”

Despite assurances that going for hands-free earpieces that puts a respectable distance between the mobile microwaves and the human brain eliminates such risks, there is a clamour from politicians and pressure groups in the UK for a coordinated probe into the hazards of mobile telephony and a government-appointed task force is in fact currently gathering evidence for a definitive report on the health risks posed by the cellphone.

Since the jury is still out, all we can do is await more definitive verdict on the subject. In the meantime, I do believe it would be an excellent idea for public-minded individuals —including our MPs — to undertake a public campaign to make it illegal to mobile phone and drive at the same time.

WORKPLACE NAPPING: Remember the old saying about not being caught napping at work? Well, soon, that bit of advice may not be of any use, going by a story in The Los Angeles Times which suggests that napping at work may actually be good for all concerned.

But, first some vital facts: John F. Kennedy, Winston Churchill, Napoleon, Brahms, Salvador Dali, Da Vinci and Thomas Edison all napped at work — and did just fine.

According to Professor William Anthony of Boston University who has authored two books on the subject — The Art of Napping and The Art of Napping at Work — people can benefit from a short afternoon nap for two reasons: because the body’s natural sleep cycles call for it; and because we just don’t get enough sleep.

Anthony, for one, believes that the workplace nap is good for both the employee and the employer. “There are all sorts of problems related to lack of sleep at work. But for some reason we see productivity and napping as being at opposite ends of the spectrum when actually it goes hand and hand.”

In a 1997 poll in America found that on less than eight hours of sleep, people reported their concentration was only 70 percent normal, they accomplished only 76 percent of their capacity, and the quality of their work dropped by 20 percent.

Another US survey showed that only 35 percent of adults get the recommended eight hours of sleep a night.

Anthony say that “many employers think someone naps because they have stayed up late, or have unhealthy habits rather than they are napping because it is good for them.”

Some American companies, still in the minority, are now waking up to the realisation that when employees snooze, employers don’t necessarily lose. The director of one such company has this to say: “We aren’t going to turn off the phones or shut down the machinery so people can take naps en masse. Napping will be a self-regulated by peer pressure.”

According to the US National Sleep Foundation, while older people get a bad nap rap, more 18-to-29-year-olds (41 percent), than 30-to-64-year-olds (35 percent), admit to napping at least once during the workweek.

So, maybe it isn’t so surprising that, as a group, upstart high-tech companies run by young people — 35 and under — tend to be more nap-friendly. Anthony says these companies are often of the view that their people tend to work long hours and that if they need to recharge, so be it.

If Anthony has his way, naps would be company-sanctioned and considered no different than coffee, cigarette or lunch breaks.

That, of course, is in America.

In places like here, where most people do not really work hard enough or where the work load is very light due to overstaffing, one really sees no need for a nap break.

But — who knows — with the passage of time — and in certain areas where employees do have to work hard and long — the idea may catch on, specially if by then it becomes the norm in the US.