Date Line The Telegraph - Weekly (Nepal)

D A T E L I N E

Niraj Aryal

I am frustrated of deleting mails. They come in 500 to 600 a day. I can’t believe it!

What’s the reason, I always ponder.

Have I suddenly become so important or I am just deleting junk mails? I think the mail I just deleted might have some important message for me. I could not become a millionaire just deleting the last mail.

Receiving mails of becoming millionaire is ok but mails with subjects like "Important, Very Important, Financial Assistance, News, Information" and even "Viagra and enlarge your................?"

- Sorry, I don’t want!

But why I am receiving these mails that make no sense to me?

I think I am not weak and I am ok with what they want to enlarge. But, why me?

Or is it, everybody is receiving mails like these?

Nevertheless, going to the office and deleting mails have become my very prestigious job, at least it consumes time, which has no meaning in our government offices.

Now the real story begins:

One day (to be more precise, the day our third Bahadur P.M in a row was ousted), I received something really interesting. Not stuffs like Viagra and ………, even I feel bad at writing it.

This time it was not a mail in my inbox, which is always full (info: your inbox is out of limit. please delete unwanted mails).

This time it was coming of a SMS, in my recently bought mobile.

Toont……Toont!! (Recent phenomenon in our seminar circuits, the owner feels pride at listening it ringing)

The message what I got, i’ll write it out, for your kind perusal.

"Are you looking for a job?

Keep your CV ready,

PM’s post is vacant"

My silent response to this gesture was;

Yes, I am looking for a job and

I have my CV ready, but what…

PM’s post?

Would be a cool beginning to my career. Isn’t it interesting?

Again I thought, at this age? I am very young?

But I am qualified; I have a master’s degree.

I’ll become mad. Questions like these, coming and going! I have no answers. It’s not raining it’s pouring in my head.

Suddenly what I hear is a phone call. A friend of mine had called.

The next moment what happens is very sad.

The thing that shouldn’t have happened has unfortunately happened to me. "He said, he’s also received it."

Could you believe it?

I promise, for a few second I had thought I’d be occupying a post, supposedly highest in a democracy of this fortunate Kingdom, me as a prime minister.

The other day when the palace invited all for a type of walk-in-interview for the post of PM, firstly I thought I would go. But I did not go.

I have some bitter experiences in applying for jobs that takes you immediately from a footpath to the 4-WD cool wind in your hair type. That’s why I did not go.

As the Government-Maoist peace talks started last time, the International agencies poured in with job vacancies. Information Communication Technology Development, Governance, Corruption, all working or having degrees in those fields were invited. I was also the one to apply but never invited for an interview because I was told that advertising is just for the sake of advertising, everything is fixed from inside.

Deuba might have received a SMS like this? But he is the luckiest of us all. Good luck Deuba!

But question arises as how could he become a PM if he had not appeared in the walk-in-interview called by the palace in the time allocated.

Deuba's appointment has disappointed many. They had thought this time they would get the chance to serve the country. Sadly this did not happen.

Here, what I would like to suggest is that, there is no need to call for applications if the one already fixed from inside is to be appointed or recruited.

May be this job is also similar to the one, being advertised again and again by our international agencies located here in Kathmandu or more glaringly, the UN, and presented to the one already fixed from inside.

The author can be reached at: niraj_aryal@hotmail.com