Art of flower arrangements

Spost

A small garden, wide spread lawns or from the shop at the corner, freshflowers add to the ambience of any home. Flowers have long held their imagination as an expression of varying emotions from love to friendship and occasions. Basanti Pradhan, a horticulturist by profession and consultant on gardens and floral displays at Hyatt Regency Kathmandu introduced participants to some of the nuances of flower arrangements.

A specialized field, floral decorations and arrangements can now be studied in depth at various institutes worldwide.At this session roses, anthuriums, lilies and green foliage were primarilyused to create different types of table top arrangements. Guests were encouraged to ask questions and to participate actively to gain further from the session.

DALITS OF NEPAL
Issues & Challenges

Nitya Nanda Timsina

The beginning of the revolution of the age of Information Technology (IT) and globalisation was impoverishing the Nepalese society. As the century proceeded, the awakening worked its way downward in Nepalese society.

The revolution in science and technology and education did not change the outward conduct of Nepalese. The hearts of the few literate and fortunate men in this country did not melt. The rich became just more ruthless and the poor could not defend his rights and interests. All this was happening at the same time the world was witnessing dazzling levels of property and knowledge revolution brought in by information technology.

Standing with her back to us, staring at that free world, lost in thought is a Dalit Nepali woman fenced like a sheep by a belief that a lower-class, poor, minor and a rural man is always inferior to a rich, cultured and an aristocrat in a city.

She is standing upright with the support of barbed wire, partially hiding away her innocent face and perhaps deeply contemplating: when will I be allowed to travel to the other end of the free world, which is blessed with equality, serenity, fraternity and human dignity?

The contrast is especially sharp: The poor Dalits washed their clothes, built their houses and mansions. But he floundered in an ocean of sweat doing a strenuous labour for his masters and ploughing the field for him only to be degraded by his masters. They are the Dalit. They play music, make ornaments, and decorate houses. They also build temples but are barred from entering them.

The venality of political life, the quality of heartlessness in the fortunate people and the paradoxical and all pervading spirit of the "live and not let live" type of situation in which these people have found themselves sounds heart breaking.

A privileged man might see the justice of a democratic way of life. An unprivileged man has a clear need to strive for it. For an average person in town or a rural folk, Kofi Annan, George W Bush, Tony Blair or the Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba are not very important. And for a hand stretching out to a bowl for keeping its soul and body together, they are the vile dusts.

Though most great leadership has come from ordinary people, some emerged from the rank of the common man but grown used to a quality of heartlessness upon acquiring richness and coarseness.

What is this democracy that has been much talked about today? Political freedom, free speech and a free press? But it is something more: Social equality-a way of life that all men are created equal, equal respect for and respect to poor as well as rich, equal opportunity for an education or a job, the chance to live in any neighbourhood and go where the next man may.

The Dalit woman in the picture has not all of those privileges. She cannot go where the next man may.

Says Dr Abhi Subedi in Dalits of Nepal: Issues and Challenges, a book recently released and edited by Prabodh M Devkota, "The dominance perpetrated by the creation of a culture that is based on the foundation of exploitation of the Dalits by relegating to them roles in performing arts that suit the interest of the high-caste people best, is an anachronism and therefore cannot be accepted in the 21st century."

But it is a curse that will change only with a fundamental change in attitude of the people.

Robert Kerr, a representative from American Embassy in a programme held in Kathmandu recently remarked that caste-based discriminations has prevented Nepal from becoming a merit-based society.

Democracy also means economic security - a good chance to succeed in the pursuit of happiness. Democrats believe that human nature is improved as man’s environment is perfected. When will this nature of human in Nepal change? And when will the bottled-bellied politician, madmen and lunatics, who are also the part of human society change themselves?

The book, which is a collection of write-ups from various writers in Nepal published by Feminist Dalit Organization (FEDO) has tried to explore some facts behind Dalits of Nepal.

Some of the writers include: Jit B Gurung, Krishna B Bhattachan, Bidhya Nath Koirala, Arun Gupto, Durga Sob and Mary M Cameron, whose explanations on Dalits have deeply moved me to write this article.

Eversince, I need not wonder who is that agent of Satan at work that divides man from a man, woman from a woman and a child from a child.

But, before long these social injustices will produce some great convulsions, may the lord help this country of this plague of heresies?

Heritage tour
Aayoo Guthi Sattal

By Razen Manandhar

A small traditional building at Patan Darbar Square may appear as insignificant as the other gigantic and matchless buildings. But a two-storey building drew people’s attention for two whole decades — not because of its beauty or archaeological value, but because it stood dilapidated amid the tug of war between the house’s pseudo-owners and the government. And the 400 years old heritage remains silent witness to decaying.

On the northern edge of the Durbar Square, next to the temple of Mani Ganesh, there is a small but charming traditional sattal (open rest house). It is called Aayoo Guthi Sattal. This building signifies a sister’s love to her brothers.

Originally, this sattal belonged to a Shrestha community of Patan. A legend states that once a sister visited her brothers during Bhai tika, a day when a sister adores her brother like a god just to find that her brothers had already died. She plunged in sorrow and built a sattal near the royal palace, using all the money she had. She also set up a small guthi (trust) to observe the annual rites of Bhai tika there. Perhaps, the trust was developed like a social organisation that wished for longer life of all the brethren of the whole world. Therefore, the trust was named Aayoo (life-span) Guthi.

However, as the guthi members narrate, around 30-40 years ago, they let a poor person from Kapali clan to take care of the rest house. But the man turned the rest house to his individual property in the 1980 survey, and even distributed it among his sons. Moreover, the sons also fought for many years to get hold of the house, taking the case to the court too. They even allegedly destroyed historical evidences from the ancient building. In the course of time, the building decayed day by day due to its leaking roof but none came forward to restore it.

So, the part of Patan Durbar square, where most of the high dignitaries visit, stood with a disgrace. Despite the voice repeatedly raised to clean the debris, the court and the municipal authority showed reluctance even to clean the area. By 1998, there was only the half of the ground floor remaining and green grass growing everywhere.

It was as early as in 1992 when Kathmandu Valley Preservation Trust (KVPT), an international non-government organisation, applied to the government to preserve the sattal. It estimated that the conservation would cost Rs 1.1 million then. It was not allowed to do so even though it had enough money for that. But the government neither conserved it by itself, nor handed over the right to the Trust.

After nine years, the Department of Archaeology finally allowed KVPT to restore it, when most of the ancient roof tiles, wooden beams, windows and pillars were stolen or rotten. It started renovation on Janaury 2001 with financial assistance from international and national companies, and has recently completed too. But when it actually worked, the expense was around Rs 2.7 million.

Now what stands there is a small but beautiful house of red bricks and mud-mortar. It is not like the lavishly decorated Dyo-chhen houses or royal palace. The simple but aesthetically high sounding house can represent the architecture of common people’s residences. (It has two floors and a low, inclined roof). It has a varandah-like dalan in the ground floor with a latticed window and the small door to both sides. The dalan is made of excessively carved pairs of wooden pillars. A set of three carved windows and a couple of wooden figures of Ganesh, Bhairav and others decorate the first floor facade. Struts are small and simple, with figures of various gods and goddesses on them. The second floor depicts the traditional roof though it does not contain any proper use in modern day. The roof is made of small-size terracota tiles.

Much attention is paid to make the building traditional not only in appearance but also in material and technique too. The floor is made of mud and so the walls are plastered with.

Hopefully, this building will provide a model for the conservationists, also in the terms of the indigineous techniuqe of house building of the Newars.

KVPT has a plan to utilize the restored building. Rohit Ranjitkar, an architect of KVPT said that the trust wants to constitute a tourist information centre there that would be useful for both foreign tourists and heritage loving young students. He added that the space could be provided for any heritage-related exhibition and talk programme. Thus, this small restored house can relate a long story of heritage conservation and a success stroy as well.

The Inspiring Artiste

By Sudha

Whether it is crest-fallen dove soaked in drizzle or the farmer boy next door or a crow on the palm tree in her garden, they all stir up her artistic instincts and make their way into the canvasses. In one or two brushstrokes, they find expressions in her paintings.

Sharada Chitrakar, a seniormost woman artist unravels the beauty of life and nature in her paintings currently displayed at the Art Council.

There were118 paintings in her solo exhibition most of which were done in water colour. Some of her collections date back to 1952.

A daughter of the reknowned artist, late Tej Bahadur Chitrakar, Sharada was deeply interested in the artworks.

Greatly encouraged by her father, she developed her childhood hobby into a life-long vocation.

This was something uncommon in her time when no Chitrakar woman dared to learn their inherited family skill.

" Many Chitrakar women then worked with their husbands only as assistants - helping in preparing colours for them. However, they did not learn the skills in artworks.But I did since my childhood," she says.

Soon after finishing her school, she joined the fine arts campus , (present Lalit Kala Campus).

She became the first lady illustrator in the Janak Education Material Centre and freelance cover designer for the Ratna Pustak Bhandar and at the same time, she carried on her vocation in artworks.

Despite lots of hassles after her marriage with Charter Accountant husband, Sharada skillfully managed her time for her old passion.

"Whenever I was free and alone, I immediately used to take up the opportunity to do my artworks. Whatever struck me in a flick of moment, I always tried to get them in forms in my canvasses," recalls a mother of two grown up sons.

This she did, no matter where she was.

Recounting the fallen chariot of the Machchendranath, she describes how it found expression in her painting.

" I heard the day before that the chariot of the Machchendranath had fallen to the ground, the next day I went to the site to get them in my canvass. With my two young sons playing around, I drew the scene on the spot," adds a mother of two.

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