Visions of Valdivia

By Subina Shrestha

Once again, it was the sea that did it.... The vast body of water that sparkled silver with the sun and danced with blue tassels, as it caressed the shore. And what did it more was the mountains, that stood still and green despite the salt water lashing it and smothering it every other minute of its existence.

It was in Valdivia, Chile that the sheer power of nature overwhelmed me - a power that managed both the water and land. And as usual, it did it -I lost my balance, felt mortal and immortal at the same time... invincible yet small and crushable ...I found and lost myself, fell in and out of love and lived and died numerous times.

Valdivia lies in the south of Chile, 15 km from the sea. The Valdivia River flows through the city and enters into the cold Pacific. Adjacent to the sea are the mountains and the combination of the two make magic in the area. It was last year, in December, in the Southern Summer, that I had gone to visit my friend Isabel and I had come back breathless.

It was the day that I arrived that Isabel suggested that we should drive - we started along the river that merged into the sea somewhere. In the beginning, the sea was calm and relaxed. The further we went, the scenery heightened - the fuchias, bright red stood on the rocks and shadows - bright and probably poisonous. The beauty of the flowers touched me and I just kept on looking, unable to describe, incapacitated... as if my thoughts and my speech had been stopped by the sheer presence of the conjunction of the sea and the mountains, the violence and the calmness, the blues and the greens for the further we would go, the plants became brighter, the mountains higher and the sea became wilder and ardent.

And what a colour the sea had - turquoise blue waves crashed onto the dark rocks that were infused with grays and browns of animals and plants that lived on them. Algae, sea weeds, which would be floating happily one moment would be lashed against the shore, ready for the locals to fold them into little packs, for eating or for shipping off to Japan to be converted into cosmetic products. Little animals floated along and the shore, washed by the sea every second glimmered with the tiny rocks perfectly rounded by the thousands of years of experience of violent waves.

It was in 1952 that Pedro de Valdivia founded the city. From the Spaniards to the Dutch and back to the Spanish, the city changed hands. The Spanish fortified the city and the forts of Corral, Niebla and Mancera were constructed. That was all the history that I could manage to retain. We sat on one of the cruise ships and sailed off, ready to touch the past.

Sailing through the water, going into the forts was like a dream. The forts stood tall on the island and while the wild flowers danced in the mid afternoon breeze, the locals enacted the Spanish concurring the island. Canyons targeting enemy ships stood empty as little children climbed on them, delighted and their laughter was carried by the wind to distant places. There were iron gates that opened into the sea and through the closed iron bars, I could feel the water inviting me to dive in and at times, perhaps sensing my hesitation, it challenged me and other times, coaxed me. It was almost tempting!

My mind reeled - such is the life of the sea, of the mountain and the cows that grazed on the base of the mountain, on the seaside...against the waterfall...pure sweet water against the expanse of the ocean. And such is the life of people, fishing for the fruits of the sea... gifts of gold and silver that the sea lavished on them... forever and ever, as long as they stretched out their hands. And forever, they would sit along the shores, with the animals, fruits of the sea, waiting for the customers to pass by. Their bright orange plastic roofs would not leak on the rainy days and if they did, it did not matter much. The sea had given them enough lashings, enough wet kisses while the men would go with the nets and hurl out the gifts the sea had to offer.

They stood, people of the mountains, proud and strong, people of the sea, wild and sensual ... their existence bound by two ends, the two opposite ends that always wanted to meet but never had met in such perfect unison anywhere else. It was here that the ice-cold water and the mountains decided to survive and nurture each other. The rivers decided to merge into the sea without a fuss and the lakes shimmered in the afternoon - a break away from the salt water.

No wonder people fall in love here. No wonder poets were born with passion and they lived with fury.... of the sea and the mountains... and no wonder there were hungry politicians and conquerors, who wanted the beauty of the place all for themselves, to breathe and to feed their souls. The sand and the pebbles squished around my feet and were washed always with the ice-cold water. The birds went around in circles, fascinated by the silver and humans stood dumbfounded... struck by their own mortality as words failed them... as it did me... and still does ... every time I fall and do not know how to stand up!

Running away, scared?

By Surendra Phuyal

THAMEL, July - An eerie silence. That’s what one should utter to describe the environment of Thamel, Kathmandu’s tourism district, these days. The narrow alleys, which would otherwise be crowded with tourists from America to Australia and Japan to Jamaica to Germany, are touristless—literally. The curio-gift and souvenir and Sarangee vendors can be seen yawning with no "guest" in sight, and most of the trekking and rafting and sightseeing operators have shut down their office shutters. The dozens of hotels and guesthouses and lodges mushrooming here, too, are without tourists this rainy season. Although the three months of the monsoon season—June, July and August— is considered an off-season, this year it’s a different case.

In the past years too, Thamel’s streets would wear a gloomy look during the monsoon season. "But the inflow of tourists would pick up with the onset of autumn in September," says Manish Rai, a tourist guide who has lived and worked in Thamel for the past decade. "This time we are not quite sure. The tourists seem to be running away from Nepal..." Thanks largely to political instability, frequent hotel strikes and hadtals and bandhs. Like Spring, Autumn is considered as the best season to visit Nepal and embark on such adrenaline-pumping adventure activities as trekking, rafting and even mountaineering expeditions.

Situated about a kilometre north of Kathmandu Durbar Square, the World Heritage Site which is also the home of the Kumari, the living goddess of Nepal, Thamel used to be a fertile vegetable farm worked on by the city’s traditional farmers. And that was once upon a time. But the opening up of the country to the outside world in the 1950s paved the way for urbanization and subsequent modernization of Thamel. Before Thamel actually came into existence, the narrow alleyways of Jhonche would serve tourists (or the hippies of the 1960s) with lodging, fooding and shopping facilities.

However, the paradigm changed with the increase in tourist arrival, and hence Thamel and its multi-colours and cultures. So much so that, today, how burgeoning, or worsening, Nepal’s tourism industry is can be gauged from the movement of tourists or businesses in and around Thamel.

But it is not that Thamel—and Kathmandu and Pokhara and Chitwan—is absolutely touristless this rainy season. Despite the on-going people’s war, hadtals and bandhs and hotel strikes and the unfortunate June 1 Royal Palace Incident, tourists are there in Thamel—and elsewhere. "On average we have at least one tourist in each hotel," says Roshan Khatri, who runs a guesthouse and a rafting-cum-trekking-cum-travel agency. "But they are either city tourists or those en route to Tibet. None of them are visiting the rural areas of Nepal (trekking) due to the on-going unrest and other reasons."

But the tourism entrepreneurs and workers say they have not quite given up hope. With one and half months to go for the new tourist season which starts September 1, they are comparing the present slump with the lull before the storm, or to put it positively, with a silverlining. Despite the chaos confronting Nepal’s tourism industry—such as the armed uprising of the underground rebels, hotel strikes, hadtals and bandhs—hopes are high in Thamel, Lakeside (Pokhara), Khumbu and Chitwan, and among those living on tourism. They seem to be keeping their fingers crossed.

They are optimistic about their future despite the fact that tourism business and trade—Nepal’s major foreign currency spinner that fetches 15 per cent of the country’s total foreign currency earnings and makes a four per cent contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP)—nosedived recently. For instance, in June, tourist arrival declined by up to 56 per cent (10,238) —72 per cent (4,101) among the Indian and 30.36 (6,137) per cent among the third country tourists, according to government data.

Entrepreneurs and officials said, "like every sector of the socio-economic pattern of Nepal, tourism and tourist arrival as such" was highly affected by the tragic June 1 Royal Palace Incident. Immigration data collected from Tribhuvan International Airport suggested that the arrival pattern slowly picked up as normalcy returned to the country after the mourning period was over. According to NTB (Nepal Tourism Board), the arrival figure in June was also affected by the high number of cancellations faced due to the three-day strike called by the left parties in late May (27 to 29).

"Since the trends of arrival has progressed significantly in the second half of June, NTB hopes the trend will continue in the days ahead as life has already returned to normal," it said in a statement last week. "This means that there is still room for improvement and hope," says an NTB official. "Nothing has gone wrong as yet, and Nepal can still bring in tourists and start reviving her nearly-hurt economy." The prospects for tourism flourishing and thriving once again in one of the world’s last remaining Shan-grilas are still there. But, for that Nepal needs peace, stability and, of course, worldwide publicity and sufficient tourism infrastructures.

Setbacks for Nepal’s tourism

*CPN(M)’s People’s War launched since 1996

*Christmas Eve hijacking of IC814 - December 1999

*Anti-Hrithik Roshan Demos - February 2001

*Royal Palace incident - 2001 JUNE

*Series of strikes, hadtals and bandhs

Bidhan Shrestha: singing for art's sake

By Pragya Rajouria

A young man sat engrossed in his thoughts as I entered the room. My mind had conjured up a different image of him so it didn’t occur to me that the person in the blue check shirt could b  the same. He looked relaxed and at ease, and did not appear shy. Having heard so much about his shyness I had actually expected him to be behind some kind of veil.

It had taken me three long months to track down Bidhan Shrestha and convince him to talk to me. Thus the first question I asked him was why he shies away from media and publicity of any kind. Bidhan had a very clear-cut answer. He said that he wanted to be known by his songs rather than other things. "People say that in my line of work it is essential to go for promotional stuff but I do not agree. A singer’s first job is to put his best into his songs. He should concentrate on how he can sing better than on ways of making himself well known. Singing is an art and I sing for ‘art’s sake’ rather than for other things. It gives me a lot of encouragement and makes me happy when people say that they like my work. I can’t put into words the self-satisfaction and delight I get from singing," says Bidhan in his soft yet determined voice.

For him, singing has remained a singular passion since boyhood. "I was too shy to sing in front of school mates in school. My family heard me singing and my father noticed that I could sing. Then he took me for a recording. The first song that I remember singing along with guitar tunes is ‘Mero yaad ajhai aayuncha’ by Om Bikram Bista’, remembers Bidhan. After finishing his certificate course he decided to concentrate more on music and became Ambar Gurung’s pupil. Bimal Rai gave him classical guitar lessons. "I studied music with Amber Gurung for five years. It is crucial for every singer to learn classical music. Once you’ve learnt classical music/singing, it is very easy to make the transition to other genres of singing. I feel that my music should please the ears. I want to depict the realities of life in my songs."

Bushan Dahal, a leading music video director who has worked with Bidhan in a couple of video songs says that it is very difficult to make Bidhan feel comfortable in front of the camera. "This person with a unique voice is not camera savvy. As for his voice, it is one of a kind. His vocal dexterity is remarkable. Most of his hit songs are patriotic accompanied by the tunes of madal, flute and our other local instruments. He is very particular about the lyrics he sings. Bidhan won’t just go for popular tunes and numbers for the sake of popularity.

Credit to Bidhan’s success goes to his father Bijay Shrestha as well. He is a very good lyricist and his lyrics combined with Bidhan’s talent have helped him climb the ladder of success," comments Dahal.

Most of the lyrics that Bidhan has sung were written by his father two, three decades back when he was a young man himself. The songs communicate the pathos of love and patriotism. Bidhan’s melodies speak about our cultural diversity and the lands we have lost in treaties in unforgettable tunes. His songs transport one to a different realm where one can actually see with the mind’s eye what he is talking about. With Bidhan, patriotic songs have gained a new dimension. They have lost their somberness but their messages have been intensified. Numbers like Buhari Jhar, Soalteeni, Gyan Bahadur Chhoro, Kalapanima and Jatra Hadi Gaaunma helped him create a niche for himself. These everlasting songs are loved by the public for their lyrics as well as the voice which has given them life, exactly the way Bidhan wants it to be.

"I still have a long way to go and lots to learn," says Bidhan who sang ‘Jalan chati ko’ nearly ten years back when he was just 16. His fans say that his voice has matured tremendously over a decade. Smita, one of his fans, says, "You can see how he has matured by listening to ‘Jalan chaati ko’ and ‘Birsu Bhanera chot’. I used to feel that his voice suited only the tragic songs and ‘madal’ but after listening to ‘Gyan Bahadur choro’ I am convinced that Bidhan can sing songs for every mood."

Bidhan feels that singers/artists have benefited tremendously with the coming of private channels and FM stations. "There are many talented singers these days," says Bidhan whose idol is Narayan Gopal. "I see him as the perfect artist. As for my contemporaries, many have a good voice. Each of them has their own particular style and specialty. This has put the listeners at a benefit. They have a larger choice in terms of songs and artist they want to listen to. And the music market has also widened these days," he adds.

Bidhan’s eyes light up whenever he talks about music and singing. This charming young man with the most expressive of eyes is content to work at his own pace. He writes lyrics, composes music and sketches during his pastime. He has released four albums so far and Wave Music Company will release his fifth album before Dashain. People of all age groups can communicate with one or the other of his popular numbers. "This is also one of his specialties," says an FM DJ who gets many requests from listeners for his songs. "Bidhan stands apart from his contemporaries in various aspects. Like all true artists, he is dedicated to his art. He feels for the songs he sings and breathes life into them. With his slow but resolute steps he will reach the top one day," predicts Yubakar, editor of Wave magazine.

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