Breaking chains of tradition

By Razen Manandhar

Anamika Nepali loves her friends but can’t be friendly with their parents. She knows numerous parents from her locality who force their small daughters into prostitution, shutting off all doors to prosperity.

Fourteen year old Anamika from Jaynagar, Bardiya is closely related to the Badi community that prefers to practice prostitution. Though this community has left this traditional occupation to a large extent, there are still women who continue to live as cheap sex workers even wanting their daughters to follow them.

She has seen family members urging their 14 year old daughters into the sex trade. Many parents do not enroll their daughters into schools so as to enjoy their "earnings".

She argues flatly, "Why should the little children suffer just because their parents do not want to do any other work?"

Anamika now studies in the 8th standard and lives in a hostel provided by an NGO called SAFE Nepal at Nepalgunj a city in the midwestern district of Banke. She is the treasurer of Bal Chetana Samuha and is aware of the child rights activities going on throughout the country. By talking with the local children and guided by the facilitators of the group, she has built up a kind of self-confidence when arguing with any adult she meets over these issues.

"The elders come and teach us what we should do on these issues. But, I can bet, we know the issues more thoroughly than those guides, " she claims.

She blames the tradition, started by ‘mistake’ by their parents, as to why the children have been stigmatized by society. A few Badi children now in schools also suffer from social discrimination.

Anamika is too young to know what the government is sending to Geneva as a national report on the condition of child rights in Nepal. But unlike the activists, she speaks from the heart.

"Discussions with fellow children have put up lots of new ideas. We often argue over one issue in various angles with our club members. Sometime we come up with quite new ideas."

The situation faced by girls also troubles her young conscience. She wonders why only girls have to quit school just to take care of the younger siblings, the cattle and the farm.

She is determined to work for child rights when she grows up. "The world has realized how important the freedom of children is but only our parents have yet to understand it," she says.

Likewise, Bishal Rana Magar is another boy of the mid-western region who can challenge the adult facilitators in child rights issues. This 13 year old boy from Banke, though small, is candid enough to express his dissatisfaction about child rights and the adult activists.

The youngest son of a peasant family in Kaushila Nagar, Bishal never minds riding his bicycle to and from his school Tribhuwan High School at Kohalpur, 5.5 km away from
his home.

Three years ago, members of the Rural Development Service Board of Nepal visited his school and formed a children’s club, the Progressive Children’s Group. He presides over the group which has round 30 members.

"We often discuss various problems related to children that the elder people do not want to heed. We find out the problem, discuss it and even plan what we can do to stop elders from being cruel to us," he said.

Bishal is a poet too. He can also quickly compose rhymes. His favourite theme is the fate-stricken children.

He worries that thousands of children in the mid-west region who work in cities as domestic workers or dish washers in restaurants etc. are not allowed to go to school. "The children do not have rights even to be organized. We have no platform from where to express our voices, from where we can expect justice," he says.

Both Anamika and Bishal took part in the public hearing of the first periodic report on child rights in Nepal being sent by the government to Geneva. Around 60 children discussed the draft report.

Triumph over adversity: Jhamak Ghimire

By Mukul Dahal

She has a body that torments her; she has hands that do not function at all; legs that do not carry her anywhere. Hands keep dangling oafishly and she eats with her foot, reads and writes with her toes, shakes hands with her foot and performs the chores we do with our hands with her foot. No words come out from her saliva dripping mouth. Hers is a world of utter silence. What shows up ever on her lips is a jubilant chuckle; a sign of the triumph over her physical disabilities. She has broken loose from the walls of her house that imprison her and has observed, by the luminous spectrum of the light of books, the world as keenly and consciously as any able-bodied intellectual could.

Self literate and self educated Jhamak Ghimire was born as the first child of Krishna Bahadur and Asha Devi, of Kachide, Dhankuta district, in 2037 Vikram Era. It took years for her to sit up feebly and crawl painstakingly, which she still does. Her father’s recital of the Ramayana sparked a craving for reading and writing in her when she was seven. She would watch her father teaching her younger sister. This had an unmistakable impact upon her curious mind. Her momentous efforts afterwards enabled her to read and write in a period of a week. Her parents were filled with pride when they learned that their daughter had done it without their knowledge. It was beyond their imagination.

Jhamak’s works display a thoughtful observation of Nepalese life. What churns her consciousness most is the plight of the suffering mass, the injustice prevailing in society, the irresponsible deeds of the corrupt leaders and fate of the exploited Nepalese woman. She raises a voice of protest. She hurls a mute scream of rage at the boorishness of those who strip an innocent girl naked and then rape her. She is prodigiously prolific and in her power of expression she is far beyond her age.

This translation is a rendering of her poem ‘Chitkar Baata Janmieko Ahwaan’ collected in her work ‘Awasaan Pachhiko Aagaman’.

A Scream Echoing an Appeal

Yes sir, my raped breasts

have been paining already.

Taking rest

on the threshold of time once more

aching is my vanquished hope.

And thus the main square of flesh and blood

where blood-thirsty cannibals

and leech-greedy mouths

sting a venomous kiss

has crumbled away.

The dream house of your filthy thought

is ravaged and misshapen.

Yes, villains,

your theatre of lust

is being dismantled by

the flood of tears

gushed forth from

my smouldering eyes.

This episode of torment and violence

that you began with me

will see a lethal end

in yourself.

In the clearing of

the thorny forest of time

it was you, who reincarnated

the vile savagery.

It should be you,

who will put an end to it....

Yes, sir, my raped breasts

are festering with pain already.

(Translated by Mukul Dahal)

Lessons in jazz

Spost

Hey, where’s the best jazz being played in town? A well worn question in a well worn out city. So, listen up, here’s the lowdown...

Where else can you go on a Saturday night to hear live jazz with a bottle of wine at only Rs 400 than to Upstairs in Lazimpat. For many of you who don’t know already or have been careless when trying to look for the alternative then Cadenza can be caught on a Saturday making music.

Always packed. Always with a good blend of expats and the local crowd, the band, with Navin Chhetri on drums and vocals, Pravin Chhetri on guitar, Jigme Sherpa on guitar and Chi Thapa on bass guitar runs through standard classics and more funky rhythms. Funky Monkey, soon to come out in their forthcoming album, is a case in point. There’s also a great contrast when Vidya gets behind the mike and sings her way through the standards.

Although small and easily ignored from the outside, nothing fancy about the front facade of the place, set above a shop, the place buzzes with atmosphere as the band plays at one end within touching distance of the crowd. Here the old saying, appearances can be deceptive, holds true. Snacks are there aplenty, with tasty momos, allo dum and all sorts of other stomach fillers available. Make sure you pay first at the bar though.

Just an L shaped room, the prices are extremely reasonable and the atmosphere is enhanced with photos of jazz greats lining the walls and jazz music from the stereo system. It’s the kind of place where you can come for a quiet drink, away from the noisy crowd, or a place to quench your thirst for live jazz on a Saturday.

( Saturdays, when the band plays, there’s a Rs 200 entry fee)

Buffet near bouddha

Spost

Usually people in the city who hop around star hotels for lunch and dinner or cocktail parties with buffet served, say that a la carte orders are much better than buffets. It’s the same wherever you go. But some of the hotels that serve buffets in restaurants at a fixed price are good. The kind of lavish buffet served at the Café at the Hyatt Regency Kathmandu is surprisingly very good. They serve different menus for the weekdays and the weekends.

Amid an outside façade that could be straight out of a Nepali Arabian Nights tale, the buffet is sure not to disappoint. You can get a breakfast buffet at the price of Rs 700 which includes Cold Cuts (Smoked Salmon, Parma Ham, Copa Ham, Smoked Chicken, Milano Salami, Smoked Fish), Salad (Vegetables, Fruit Platter, Fruits Compotes), Low fat Yogurts, Freshly squeezed Seasonal juices, Cereals, Cereal Condiments (Milk, nuts, raisins etc), all to savour with great pleasure.

A number of near and dear ones, locals, from the Bouddha area make it a must to go for the much talked about buffet lunch. You can start with a Spirally Pasta with Mushroom, Pita Bread and Hammos, Morzarella Cheese With Tomatoes and many more that decorate the tables inside the cafe. You can either sit in the Cafe or outside near the blue and crystal clear pool and enjoy the food. For the main course you can relish the flavours of Chicken Breast With Mushroom Cream Sauce, Cream of Aparagus Soup, Fish Amritsari, Tandoori Lamb Chop. For Desserts, try the Strawberry Mousse Cake or the Pineapple Marzipan Gateaux. You can have all this and much more for a buffet dinner for Rs 925. There are different menus as well. For Rs 850, you get a regular buffet lunch and a weekend brunch on Saturdays is Rs 950 which includes swimming and a free welcome drink.

What is lunch, brunch or dinner without sipping on cool drinks? Try out cocktails made with imported liquors for Rs 415, Spirits like Gin, Vodka, Tequila (imported) for Rs 255 and domestic for Rs 160. Imported cans of Beer can be had for Rs 245, Domestic for Rs 200, Bottle Lager beer for Rs 245, Red Wine (by the glass) Shiraz Cabernet for Rs 360. There's also the regular menu and one for the kids too.

Carrying the future on the back

By Nitya Nanda Timsina

Agood start in school is important for success, but a satchel full of books does not always guarantee it. For young people who make up one sixth of the world's population, education is an investment in the future. Research shows from birth to two years of age, most emotional and intellectual patterns are established. By age four, a child’s adult intelligence has been formed.

Before the sun rises, these school children have their breakfasts, brush their teeth and rush off to school.

Vikki Gautam, stares, tired and drowsy as he ambles to his school with a bag half his size and a tumbler hung low in his right hand. This cute kid with big, shiny eyes has no smile on his lips as he moves forward with great difficulty, overwhelmed by the load of junk on
his back.

Many busy parents who want a place in the sun for their kids have before them a Herculean task - to dress them, feed them breakfast, load their bags with books, pencils, erasers, a water bottle and a bag of lunch and then see them off at the school-bus park. "It sometimes takes at least two hours for a mother to do this job," says Punam Sharma who has put her son in a Nursery.

Parents do not worry so much about their homework or the brawl they pick up with friends in school but worry rather about their school bags often overweight and far too heavy for them
to carry.

Of course, each school is unique, like our fingerprints. Some schools are so small while some are as large as a university. There are also "Morning Schools" in the words of Nain Singh Dhami, District Education Officer (DEO) of Bhaktapur. In such schools, you can hardly see students after nine in the morning.

One might wander through the rank and file of all the schools. Some have just three five-grader students in a class like Nazareth primary school in Lalitpur while there are as many as 60 students in a class in Little Angels’ School.

Parents attempting to prepare their kids for school face not only distractions at home brought about by television and video games but also face an uphill task filling their school bags with loads of books no matter if the books are used page-for-page or lie gathering dust in the classrooms.

The worst time is when the monsoon drenches the students. And in the remote villages, one of the eye-catching events at this time of year is the sight of students manoeuvring through the corn fields. In winter it is again a different story.

Students are seen in the morning just hanging about the roadside until their school bus delivers them to school. Most schools hire buses, some schools have their own while others use vehicles which look neither like a bus nor a car but simply something with four wheels. But still the kids never fail to smile.

Captivated by  sundar bazaar

By Neelima Shrestha

Atrip to Sundar Bazaar (Lamjung) can be so wonderful that you may want it to be the only memory to take to the grave. I was fortunate to be able to make a trip to a part of Nepal, which has not yet become a backpacker's paradise, helping to keep it as fresh as mother nature left it on the day of creation. An experience so startling could go in vain if one did not share it with like-minded people.

Going to Sundar Bazaar is an experience in itself. The modern means of transportation might have taken some fun away from the ride but taking a bus would none the less help you enjoy nature’s grandeur en route. Earlier, Nepali Doko (basket) and a Bhariya (porter) would be the only means of getting to the place.

The route to Lamjung is similar to that of Pokhara except for the fact that it deviates from Dumre, where you turn towards Turture, from where you get to the Bazaar after a 40-45 minutes walk. If you are not fond of walking, you can take a ride on a jeep or similar vehicle (but only if you have one, no vehicle is available on hire!).

Taking the dusty trail, one discovers that Nepal has such a wonderful climate and scenery. Words fall short when you try to describe the scenery and the feelings that come with it- clear blue sky, green and yellow wheat fields on both sides- greenery everywhere. Dark green hills and snow clad mountains- something that one would trade in city life for. The weather generally remains crystal clear.

The beauty of the mountains is just indescribable. Some miles down the trail one sees a river rattling through the hills. I had never seen such a wonderful view - hills, mountains, blue sky, river all surrounding me. The view put me in total bliss and my heart was pounding with excitement and regalement. Can you imagine how beautiful it all was? It was just like beholding heaven on earth. The majestic beauty makes the journey to Sundar Bazaar awesome.

The "Atithi Griha" (guesthouse) of Lamjung Agriculture Campus, my haven for three nights and four days, lies just by the entrance to the Bazaar. Reaching the campus premises makes one wonder: Why is the government not doing anything to promote and maintain the campus? The campus area, which is enormous with different blocks for different departments, girls’ hostel, a separate block for staff, a dispensary, an animal house, a piggery and a variety of plants with medicinal values. If it had only been appropriately promoted and maintained, there would have been more agriculture graduates in our country, one with eighty-percent of the population engaged in the agricultural sector.

Then, speechless, tongue-tied and paralysed, the dusk sets in. Another marvellous sight. In the clear and pollution free sky, bright and twinkling stars lie scattered throughout the night sky appearing like diamonds. A sight city dwellers like me can only dream of.

If you think that watching the stars is all, wait a minute. A beam of light from behind the hills is ready to capture your sight and before you can think of anything else you see the queen of night "the moon" which shows up gradually, bit by bit. It was like beholding a white glittering full moon just above the hills in a dark sky covered with stars. I was mesmerized, enraptured and as pleased as a child could be. A day could not have been more perfect and before the sereneness of the night engulfed me, I praised God for his astounding creation and thanked him earnestly for the godsend day.

Morning in Sundar Bazaar is as enchanting as the night. The radiant eastern sun mounting leisurely from behind the hills spreads its luminosity lavishly on the surroundings. The splendour of the morning sun makes the whole environment- especially the snow on the mountain and the dew drops on the trees- sparkle. The air, fresh and crisp makes the day start just perfectly. Content is what you feel, after the experience. Just enough to make you realize that nature makes us feel the power of some invisible hand at whose mercy we spend our days and nights.

Among the hills and the mountains— you might too find true happiness and peace, just as I luckily did.

A trip there is just as invigorating as any course of meditation. A must for nature lovers and a fresh encounter with mother earth for the non-trekkers, the trip is without doubt tranquil. And if you happen to go there, just don’t forget your camera— you need to make your friends envy your experience, don’t you?

MAIN