"When I was in Padmodaya school, I was bit of a prankster and used to imitate teachers and friends and even animals. For the school’s silver jubilee celebration, they were looking for someone who could imitate a dog’s bark. Word spread that I could do it and I was selected for it." Hari Bansha Acharya pauses as he gives us one of his customary comic looks. "I even got a certificate for that." He adds that since that ground breaking moment he realised that such things could be done on stage.

Madan Krishna nods in agreement and idiosyncratically says "Whatever he (Hari Bansha) says is a fact" as he begins an interview with another reporter.

Thanks to the silver jubilee celebration of the Nepal Rastra Bank, these two much loved and much liked Nepali comedians were brought together. Originally they were both slated to perform separate acts but due to lack of time they were asked to perform a single programme together. For once such bad timing proved fortuitous. In Hari Bansha’s words "We fell in love there and then and after that our first commercial programme was Yamalog".

Their contemporary Santosh Pant says "Some are used to saying things about us but we are friends. Their work is more political, I concentrate on social issues. I don’t agree with the theory that those who see their programmes don’t watch mine."

They seem to have taken success well and realised the kind of necessity of giving something back to society. Both have charitable interests like giving a part of the money earned through holding shows to various organisations like Jaycees and Red Cross. They even give Maha sanchar scholarships to deserving students and those who are financially weak. |

So how did it all begin? It was 1974-1975 and Hari Bansha started performing caricatures, telling jokes on stage. The trend of performing in Gaijatra started in Kathmandu around 1975 and he participated in 1976 and continued performing in Gaijatra for four consecutive years walking away with gold medals overtime he participated. He became part of the Rasrang programme that used to be aired on Radio Nepal and branched off into doing private shows as well.

Born in Jitpur Pheri near Kathmandu, Madan Krishna remembers being raised in a great cultural and musical atmosphere. "There were Buddhists and Hindus. Shresthas were mainly Buddhists and the Manandhars were Hindus. I grew up in such a melting pot that I used to attend functions of both religions", he recollects. Right from the start, he says, he used to participate in dramas in school and performed songs.

Twelve years working for the Karmachari Sanchay Kosh (Employees provident fund), he realised his talent at a comedy competition where his performance was well appreciated, most notably by Satya Mohan Joshi, the then Member Secretary of the Royal Nepal Academy who encouraged him to participate in National level programmes.

A turning point came when he quit his job. "I was fed up of doing the daily routine of adding and subtracting and so I joined Krishi Sanchar Shakha getting 60 rupees less than what I used to get in the Karmachari Sanchaya Kosh," he says with characteristic solemnity. The training in radio presentation by BBC taught him about the target audience, the kind of language to communicate with and to speak clearly on the mike. The trainees started the Rasrang programme and the rest is history.

At a time when the audio cassette player was the only source of entertainment as Hari Bansha puts it "It used to be a symbol of prestige at that time", they started releasing audio cassettes replete with political satire and biting comedy that would make the listeners laugh till their stomachs burst. Such was the power and popularity they held with the Nepali masses that were hungry for some sort of entertainment when practically almost nothing other than radios and cassettes existed.

Their cassettes became prized possessions even in villages in Nepal, wherever a cassette player was available. Ultimately all this meant monetary gain. They quickly realised that they could make money out of this profession. Initially they would charge Rs 5000 per show but as time went by the shows became something like an auction as the people were even willing to pay them much more than what they had started out with.

The two comedians started making telefilms when Nepal Television slowly began to step in as a medium of entertainment. Apart from political satire, they concentrated more on films with a blend of comedy and social messages — Banpale, Kantipur, Raat to name a few.

Sharmila Malla, who has worked with them in Pandra Gaate, Raat etc remembers "It’s great working with both of them as they keep cracking jokes making everybody laugh and time just flies by." She adds that "Everybody agrees that they are good artists. I’m more than willing to work with them if they offer me any roles."

216777 was another telefilm that was aired on NTV. Hari Bansha adds with one of his characteristic comic looks, "It was the telephone number of our previous office and also the lottery number in the serial."

Again Madan Krishna nods in agreement and says "whatever he says, that’s it" as Hari Bansha retells the story of how the anchor Raja Ram Poudel made an announcement during the staging of the play Bigyapan directed by Harihar Sharma, that the duo "Maha" (standing for Madan and Hari), the acronym also suggesting sweet as honey, were all set to present a play and there was thunderous clapping from the audience and consequently their official name became "Maha" thanks to Raja Ram.

Sharma, now General Manager of Rastriya Nanch Ghar, agrees "Working with them in some of my comedies has been an experience. They are wonderful actors but every good actor cannot be as successful as them."

Over the years the duo has been holding shows abroad, mainly in places where there is a large Nepali audience. Hari Bansha says " Holding shows abroad means a lot of expense from air tickets to hotels. The maximum number of people we get is in New York which runs to about 1000 to 1200. Sometimes only 200 to 300 turn up. And against the estimation of some people we earn as much as we earn holding shows here, the only difference being dollars as against Rupees. The charm of seeing the world is what attracts us."

According to Hari Bansha, comedians were few and far between before democracy and now people feel free to directly point fingers, sometimes leading to the loss of subtlety but he insists their shows still remain unadulterated. "Our programme is an artistic presentation and is totally different from speeches and direct verbal accusations," he insists. On NTV he says, "There is still censorship at NTV over political sketches and we cannot live upto the expectations of the viewers".

It takes a day to even months to come up with their sketches and scripts that could be drawn while sleeping, talking with others, things glimpsed in the streets. Infact they emphasise that anything could turn out to be a source of inspiration. But they do not always turn out to be great. "We always work together on our scripts," says Hari Bansha, "no one else is present in the same room."

In a country like Nepal, where any medium that works is vital to the dissemination of information their telefilm "Oho" led 140000 viewers to get a leprosy test and 14000 tested positive. In another case, through one of their serials that raised awareness of tuberculosis and that free medication is available, an increased number of tuberculosis inflow in hospitals was noted.

Both also have a passion for singing songs, infact Madan Krishna started his career singing in Newari and has acted in Newari plays and a film. On the other hand, the passion for singing in Hari Bansha, has really taken off in the last four years. He has famously composed the lyrics and music to the hits Sajha bus and Chanchele.

Last year, a man of Kirtipur had raped a 12-year working girl, Rita, at his house. When the girl sought sympathy from his wife, she was severely beaten up and was forced to go to the streets.

A similar fate drove another 11 years old girl, Kali to the streets. Kali was working as a domestic maid in a house. The master used to rape her frequently. Afterwards, she took refuge in CWIN - a non government organization working for child rights.

Shanti, Rita and Kali are domestic maid sufferers of which one died and other two were driven to the streets.

Most of such ghastly incidents are kept under wraps. There are many silent sufferers. Only a negligible number of cases are said to have been reported since the word ‘sex’ itself is a taboo in our society. Experts say that even the parents of the victim try to hide the incident from the eyes of society fearing public humiliation.

These children have no choice but to work as domestic workers. Some of them are from broken families or the physical violence in the family forces them to fend for themselves. Poverty is another reason that has been driving them out to look for a job. There are some who get lured towards the city that is supposedly full of glamour.

On reaching the city, they end up working as domestic workers. Hence, they are making the life of the city dwellers very facile in this fast changing world. The dwellers especially want to employ girl children because they are caring, polite, innocent and easy going. However, a report of CWIN says - "Most of the masters never treat them humanely."

"City dwellers ranging from policy makers and first class officers to middle class people keep domestic workers," says Gobinda Khatri of CWIN Helpline. "Girls are given preference". Khatri claims that a majority of the girl domestic workers are sexually abused in one form or the other.

According to a survey recently conducted in the valley by CWIN, 45 percent of the total number of domestic workers are girls.

President of CWIN Gauri Pradhan estimates that there are at least 10,000 girl domestic workers in Kathmandu of which more than 50 percent are sexually abused. "Only a negligible number of such cases are reported," he says.

There is no age bar and ethical constraints in relation to sexual violence against girl children. "A 76-year old tried to rape a 14-year working girl," Pradhan adds.

Majority of the girls who are sexually abused at their working houses are kicked out should they complain to their close ones or are likely to complain to police or elsewhere. They could land up on the street and ultimately into the sex business. According to Khatri, a 14-year girl from Syangja working as a domestic worker in a house was driven to the streets after her boss frequently raped her. What else could she do but indulge in the sex business which still is her profession

Our society too does not have kind words for the victim. If others use offensive and abusive words against her, she may feel embarrassed and develop an inferiority complex. "When a raped girl is to recall her murky past, or somebody blames her, she feels raped and victimised for the second time," says Pradhan.

A girl domestic worker is more prone to be sexually victimised than a boy. A male member of the family may get attracted to the growing girl maid. And the sexual harassment could possibly take place.

"There is no reported sexual abuse for male domestic workers except some assaults," Pradhan says. He questions whether the victimised fellow is to be rehabilitated or the victimising society.

One should guarantee, at least, the right to life and education while keeping a domestic worker. The state is to be blamed if it continues to remain a reluctant ‘silent eye-witness’.

(Names of the victims have been changed to protect their identity.)