Received: from mp.cs.niu.edu (mp.cs.niu.edu [131.156.1.2]) by library.wustl.edu (8.6.9/8.6.9) with SMTP id MAA14098 for <huestis@library.wustl.edu>; Mon, 24 Oct 1994 12:52:54 -0500 Received: by mp.cs.niu.edu id AA01174 (5.67b/IDA-1.5 for nepal-dist); Mon, 24 Oct 1994 09:38:52 -0500 Received: by mp.cs.niu.edu id AA01170 (5.67b/IDA-1.5 for nepal-list); Mon, 24 Oct 1994 09:38:49 -0500 Date: Mon, 24 Oct 1994 09:38:49 -0500 Message-Id: <199410241438.AA01170@mp.cs.niu.edu> Reply-To: The Nepal Digest <NEPAL@cs.niu.edu> From: The Editor <nepal-request@cs.niu.edu> Sender: "Rajpal J. Singh" <A10RJS1@cs.niu.edu> Subject: The Nepal Digest - Oct 24, 1994 (21 Kartik 2051 BkSm) To: <NEPAL@cs.niu.edu> Content-Type: text Content-Length: 48126 Status: RO X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 42
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The Nepal Digest Monday 24 Oct 94: Kartik 21 2051 BkSm Volume 32 Issue 6
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* TND Board of Staff *
* ------------------ *
* Editor/Co-ordinator: Rajpal J. Singh a10rjs1@cs.niu.edu *
* SCN Correspondent: Rajesh B. Shrestha rshresth@black.clarku.edu *
* Editing Editor: Padam P. Sharma sharma@plains.nodak.edu *
* Discussion Moderator: Rajendra P. Shrestha rajendra.shrestha@dartmouth.edu*
* *
* Subscription/Deletion requests : NEPAL-REQUEST@CS.NIU.EDU *
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* Digest Contributions: NEPAL@CS.NIU.EDU *
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* Contributors need to supply Header for the article, email, and full name. *
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* Postings are divided into following categories that are listed in the *
* order below. Please provide category-type in the header of your e-mail. *
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* 1. Message from TND Editorial Board *
* 2. Letter to the Editor *
* 3. TAJA_KHABAR: Current News *
* 4. KATHA_KABITA: Literature *
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* 9. TITAR_BITAR: Miscellaneous *
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* The Nepal Digest(TND) is a publication of the Nepal Interest Group for *
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* **** COPYRIGHT NOTE **** *
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* +++++ Food For Thought +++++ *
* "If you don't stand up for something, you will fall for anything" - Anon. *
* "Democracy perishes among the silent crowd" - Sirdar_RJS_Khalifa *
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*****************************************************************************
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Date: Fri, 21 Oct 1994 14:18:27 +0200
To: nepal-request@cs.niu.edu
From: gurung@wasser.iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp ( Ai Bahadur Gurung )
Dear Editor,
I am working now as a researcher in the Musiake Lab., Univ. of
Tokyo, Japan after doing ME from the same lab.
The speciality of our lab is Hydrology and
Water Resources. I am reading the contribution of the TND very
often and I think this is the one of the good source of the
news for those who are out of the country. I wish this
will keep on publishing the authentic news.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely yours
Ai B. gurung
%%%%%Editor's Note: Welcom aboard! TND wishes you good luck. %%%%%
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From: S DAHAL <S.Dahal@bradford.ac.uk>
Subject: Comment and request
To: NEPAL@cs.niu.edu
Message-Id: <Pine.3.05.9410201758.C18494-a100000@discovery.brad.ac.uk>
Nepal Digest,
I am getting TND through my friend in spite of my two requests to
you before. Please incorporate my e-mail address to your address book for
future delivery. I hope I will get TND directly in future.
I went through the appeal of Mr.Tilak Shrestha to throw Girija
Prasad Koirala. It looks like a political appeal than a substansive
remarks. I would like to see more concrete views in TND rather than
proving a platform to make personal abuse and political publicity.
Thanks,
SDahal
%%%%%Editor's Note: Subscription must be sent to nepal-request@mp.cs.nu.edu %%
%%%%% and not nepal@mp.cs.niu.edu. The 2nd e-mail is for %%%%%
%%%%% article contribution and subscription request could %%%%%
%%%%% be lost. If you do not get this issue, please send %%%%%
%%%%% a personal note to me at a10rjs1@mp.cs.niu.edu. %%%%%
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
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Date: Thu, 20 Oct 1994 11:04:38 EDT
To: The Nepal digest Editor <nepal-request@cs.niu.edu>
From: "Pramod K. Mishra" <pkm@acpub.duke.edu>
Subject: Women in Hinduism VII: Marriage and its Aftermath
Women in Hinduism VII: Marriage and its Aftermath
In the days of child marriages, when a woman was married
even before she survived her puberty, marriages occurred purely
as a means of satisfying the whims of two same-caste families and
their patriarchs, to gratify the desires of some dying
grandparent, and to enhance family prestige by establishing
marital bonds and thereby having worldful of relatives. In those
days, a Hindu marriage took place to enhance and save family
honor and to make the woman labor in the field and home and to
bear male children. And part of the fulfillment of this goal of
enhancing one's prestige, a Hindu made sure that the female child
in the family, the prime symbol of family honor (or dishonor), of
higher value than the elephant in the yard, of greater honor than
having any education, got married before she knew what it was to
be a woman. For if she knew what it was to have a woman's body
and human desires, she might make a choice and that mighty
choice, within or without the caste, would dishonor the clan,
smear black soot, so to speak, on the faces of her family and
clan, metaphorically cut their noses (a nose being the prime
symbol of honor, prestige, shame; all these virtues concentrated
in that valuable piece of cartilage on the face). How dare she
even dream of making choices regarding who she wanted to mate
with? Kulghatini (destroyer of the clan), Kuldrohini (rebel of
the clan), Kalankini (defiler of the family honor), Kulata (slut;
I'm afraid I don't seem to find an exact translation for this
word), Kulakshini (harbinger of calamities)!
Therefore, let's marry her before she knows what it is to be
a woman, before she grows enough sense to make choices, and,
worst of all, before she becomes wilful. Even now if you ask
many a Hindu woman about her marriage, she would tell you that
the only memory she has of her marriage is of playing with the
ornaments given to her on the occasion. The more I think about
it, Mr. Editor, the more astonished I become: how scared Hindu
men--God, fathers, husbands, brothers, sons--were of a woman's
womanhood! Only by imprisoning a Hindu woman's womanhood, by
regulating, controlling, stifling, destroying the growth of her
full personhood could Hindus sleep peacefully and conserve
prestige and honor! But what cost this honor? This prestige
came from showing the caste members (and there was often a
competition, folks) how inhuman you could be, to what extent your
cruelty could go, in order to fulfill caste and clan
expectations--whipping the recalcitrant woman with raw bamboo
switches, declaring her a lifelong pariah, a broken egg, staging
accidents, and, if nothing worked, plainly setting her afire.
The more cruel you were in inflicting agony, the farther you went
in wreaking inhumanity, the enhanced your and your family's
prestige became. Your caste would sing your glory.
Prestige and honor; honor and prestige. A Hindu lived for
them; he died for them. He declared his own sister or daughter a
broken egg for honor and prestige (in many instances he even
killed them), he went to school and college for prestige, he got
a job for prestige. The honor and prestige of clan and caste.
Not the satisfaction that came from his own achievement--doing a
clean job where he worked, acquiring envious education, being
honest to the core, opposing instances of injustice and tyranny--
no; but prestige and honor that came from declaring his son an
outcast, making his daughter an untouchable if he or she went
against the folk wishes of his caste. And damned proud he felt
having done all that.
And there was another word that went with prestige, honor,
caste. Samaaj, society. But this society functioned not as a
giving agency; if you went hungry, no one cared. No, they did
care--they would kick your ass and make you their field slave and
exploit you to your bone. Society or Samaaj worked as a
regulating agency, too, to cut you down if you showed any of your
human tendencies. A Hindu ignored the development of his own
personality, those of his family members, and devoted his own and
borrowed energies to acquiring prestige, laboring to earn honor,
and fulfilling the demands of samaaj.
Even now in many parts of India and, to a lesser extent,
Nepal, Fathers get scared if their daughter turns out to be
extraordinarily brilliant and begins to top the class and
outshine all the boys. In such cases, the father actively
discourages his daughter to pursue higher education. Do you know
why? These fathers argue that if such a brilliant daughter gets
higher degrees--doctor, engineer, PhD--it would be difficult to
find a matching groom for her (even though she does not become a
choice-maker). And even if a groom appears who has higher
education than the girl, the groom's parents demand outrageous
dowries. How can you invest money in your daughter's education
and at the same time, after she gets educated, give blood-sucking
dowry to get her safely married to a person who and his father
believes in "Man's destiny and woman's character"? An
atmosphere of great fear, giving the father sleepless nights,
occurs when he begins to be obsessed with the idea that the
daughter will remain unmarried, jeopardizing his prestige. He
begins to entertain the thought that in the absence of a suitable
caste boy, the daughter may find someone outside the caste and
marry.
What if the highly educated daughter married someone within
the caste who is not as educated as she is? Well, that can't be.
She would be unhappy, because she has been told from childhood
that man must be superior to the woman so she can be dominated.
She can't get the kick if she doesn't get kicked one way or
another. And since she does not get even to see or speak to, let
alone know and choose her life partner, she is right if she goes
for the safer variables--chooses her superior as a husband in
age, education, and money. Uneducated her body had to be fed,
clothed, and sheltered; educated, her soul needs to be fed,
clothed, and sheltered. Doesn't the scripture mean that?
Once she is married and brought to "her" home, we Hindu men
and women know what happens. We can ask ourselves--those of us
who consider ourselves modern, educated, able to read, write, and
understand English; those who sing praises of pristine Hindu past
and lament how unfortunately Brahminism crept in, as though
ancient scriptures lacked this perfidy, free from Brahminism;
it's a classic disease of the apologists of orthodoxy and bigotry
to blame everything on the shoulder of what happened later and
praise the pristine ancient past: Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dwaper
Yuga, and, the worst, Kali Yuga; the deterioration of the Hindus,
scripture-ordained and so inevitable (it's like a destitute
grandson taking his guest around his village and telling him that
as far as their eyes can see, everything belonged to his
grandfather when he was alive)--we can ask ourselves putting
(using a bit of superstition here, folks!) our hands on our
hearts: when and how did our first contact with our spouse occur?
Did we treat our newly married wife as a human being? Try
to get to know her, understand her likes and respect her
dislikes, sympathize with her hopes and soothe her fears, fortify
her certainties and dispel her misgivings? What did we do in
order to understand her before any physical contact? Arranged
marriage of course did not give us opportunity to know our
spouse, but what happened after marriage? Our answers to these
questions should melt some fat from our eyes and make us realize
that the society needs to be changed, not by offering prayers to
Pashupati to change things for us, but by ourselves, condemning
those ills that dehumanize us and strengthening those that make
us--men, women, high caste, low caste--humans. Arranged marriage
is not bad because it is arranged marriage; it's bad because it
makes us pawns, objects, lumps of lustful flesh, killing the
human soul, at the service of the caste, the vicious the joint
family, and the sadist samaaj.
Lust and labor guide our action toward a woman after
marriage, even for many of us who consider ourselves educated.
We must not let the educated go free, for when the educated go
blind, no surgery can remove the cataract of ignorance from the
educated men's eyes. And I still maintain that Hindu fathers, by
obeying blindly what their religion says, what their religion-
sanctioned society and caste and clan tell them about a male
child and a female child, become, by default, without knowing,
the first and, I add here, most dangerous enemy of their
daughters. A woman raised even in complete ignorance and
discriminatory environment is likely to fight her oppressor if
she is grown-up. But what about a child? For a child her
parents possess more power than anyone in the world (parents are
the Almighty for children), and a child believes that what her
parents tell her is the self-evident truth. Whether we raise a
child to be a slave or a tyrant depends on us. And when we
discriminate our daughters in feeding, education, and other
opportunities for the growth of her personhood, they cannot
question, they can only obey. Such is our power as fathers. Now
if the world--the husbands, men, the male world of caste and
clan--take advantage of her lack of knowledge and ability to
depend on her own feet and if the world consequently enslaves
her, exploits her, and destroys her, then who is to blame? Who
becomes the most vicious enemy here? Who does the most enduring
damage to a woman, if not the father? We educated ones can ask
ourselves, given the chance, what do we want: a son or a
daughter?
So even after marriage, this helplessness continues. There
is a word in Nepali: Nimukha, tongueless (Remember the story of
Philomel?). Hinduism enjoins fathers to raise their daughters as
Nimukha. And after marriage, the husband can drink, play cards,
gamble, take a stick and walk four villages, and the wife would
cook, bear and raise children, work in the field and, most
important of all, bear the whole burden of the family's religion.
She is drugged by doses of religion, and when the mind is
drugged, the body does not feel the toil and torture it endures.
There is another reason why the husband develops secular
obsessions and the wife religious ones. It's bitter but we must
know it: loneliness. Some spouses within arranged marriages do
stumble upon feelings of friendship and understanding and lead a
happy life, but most cases produce searing loneliness. When
arranged marriage forces a woman to accept a man and a man to
marry a woman purely based on caste, clan, money, land, prestige,
loneliness is most often the inevitable result. It drives the
husband to the company of card players, to the assembly of
bottles, or to the bosom of other subterranean women. And for
the wife there is the ever-green religion to drug her mind to
suffering through theories of karma, reincarnation, and already
written, inerasable, fate. Such women grow bitter and
dictatorial, inhuman and jealous, and begin to exact callous
demands on the son and inflict cruelty and hard labor upon the
daughter-in-law. Mr. Editor, when the son begins to love his
wife accidentally in his first flush of lustful passion after
marriage, his jealous, bitter mother burns with envy, apprehends
the battle lost, and quibbles openly or else gossips around with
the neighbors: "My son has become shameless, and my daughter-in-
law is a slut; they talk the whole night!" There is a saying in
Maithili (I don't know if there is an equivalent in Nepali):
"Kohbar ke kania aa godi ke bachchaa jenaa raakhi tehne rahe (the
bride in her honeymoon and the baby in the cradle; mold them as
you may. If you don't, they slip your grip for good."
Mr. Editor, we love to worship a woman if she is as harmless
as goddess Durga, who is made of mud and paint and straw and
bamboo frame--and who does not move nor speak. But if she were
made of flesh and blood and everything else, we would have been
the first to fear and hate her body and marry her off to make her
work in the field and home and bear hordes of sons long before
she slew the buffalo demon Mahishasur.
Happy Bijayadashami!
**********************************************************************
Date: Thu, 20 Oct 1994 16:36:44 EDT
From: pramod@UFCC.UFL.EDU
To: nepal@cs.niu.edu
Subject: scan
Have any of you bumped into me somewhere,somehow in the past?I am pramod
Dhakal (vanasthali 84',Ascol 84-87,Manila 88-92).I have a toll free
number (just don't bother that 1-800)simply dial 1-(904)375-5304.Even if
you don't care,let's pretend.
****************************************************************
Date: Thu, 20 Oct 1994 20:52:18 -0400 (EDT)
From: Bhanu Neupane u <neup2011@mach1.wlu.ca>
Subject: Kudos, Thanks and Query!
To: The Nepal Digest <NEPAL@cs.niu.edu>
Dear Editor!
A. Kudos to the tireless job you are doing to keep TND alive. I want to
volunteer myself, if any need arises. I won't be able to promise the
best, yet I can assure you that, I am a fast learner.
B. Through TND, I would like to extend my thanks to Robin for updating me
on american freedom of speech. I however, wanted to convey some other
message concealed within the larger frame of purple underwear (I believe,
I did not use the moarse code). I was pissed off by the way, I was treated
on the phone by somebody at the Royal Nepal Embassy. I basically wanted to
say to Nepalis living in the states to be considerate and logical in
dealing with the problems of fellow Nepali in distress. It was rather, a
plea for developing some humane touch in dealing with a fellow Nepali and was
nothing personal. (May be a year of stay in US is far too little in delving
into all the facets of american culture).
I too enjoy David letterman and his sarcastic comments on Bill and
Hillary. I watch this show because Married with children follows it. Yet,
to me the "gentle satirical approach" of Haribansa and Madankrishna remains
unbeaten.
C. Thanks are also due to Kishan, Bimal and Sagun for telling me all about
the passport stuff. I rather decided to sent the passposrt back to
Nepal by a courier (Yes! I blew 55 bucks, rather than over-doing this
"Chakadi" stuff to embassy people. May lord pashupati provide
sadbuddhi to these people) Thanks again for helping me out.
D. The help of Mr. shrestha in guiding me to Wisconsin Library for
Nepali Movie has worked out. I will be receiving the cassette in a week
or two. Thanks.
E. I recently (last sunday on 16th) ran the Detroit Marathon and
could finish it (of course, without any standing). A fellow marathoner died of
over-exertion, gosh! it could have been me. I wanted to know, if anybody
else form TND community took part in the marathon? As in the list of
participating countries, Nepal was already entered and there were two
signatures.
Bhanu
Canada
%%%%%Editor's Note: Thank you for your offer. TND needs a location %%%%%
%%%%% where back issues could be provided to users who %%%%%
%%%%% join late or simply deleted/lost their previous %%%%%
%%%%% post. If you can provide last 10 back issues %%%%%
%%%%% through ftp, it would be helpful. If not, if %%%%%
%%%%% you could keep last 10 issues in your e-mail and %%%%%
%%%%% send it to members who request it. That would %%%%%
%%%%% be helpful. If you think you can support this %%%%%
%%%%% we can list your e-mail address on TND. %%%%%
%%%%% Thank you again. %%%%%
%%%%% %%%%%
%%%%% Rajesh Shrestha provides back issues for users %%%%%
%%%%% who have access to WWW browser such as Mosaic, %%%%%
%%%%% lynx, for Cello. Most of our members are basic %%%%%
%%%%% email users who do not have full access to nifty %%%%%
%%%%% Internet Tools. %%%%%
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Date: Thu, 20 Oct 1994 21:44:08 -0400 (EDT)
From: Nirmal Ghimirez <NGH42799Q236@DAFFY.MILLERSV.EDU>
To: nepal@cs.niu.edu
Subject: Entry to all in Pashupatinath
I have been curious and have been wondering by this question for quite a long
time. After my enquiry I have not yet found any clue of this. Why is Pashupati
temple not open to non Hindus? I have not seen any scripture where it is
mentioned nor, do I find any logic behind not letting the non-hindus go in.For
god any disciple is a disciple no matter who he or she is. Lord Krishna has
mentioned this in Gita as well. Rationally thinking does it make sense that a
temple such as Pashupati is only limited to Hindus. Hinduism is the oldest and
the most open religion of all, could this religion ever creat such a barrier.
I believe that it never made such statements. Maybe someone at some time taking
the advantage or due to circumstances made this rule. Maybe to preserve it
sometimes.But that time is gone we should follow and believe in the openess of
this great religion.People, any people of anytype should be allowed to enter in
as long as they follow the rules and regulations of the temple and respect the
temple. Please don't misunderstand me, by saying rules I mean to say rules like
not wearing leathers, not carrying cameras etc. Any human being whether an
atheist,Hindu or non Hindu maybe should be allowed in. For many want to see the
beauty of that place many want to learn the culture and history of it. When I
told some people about this they got enraged and said why Pashupati? Reading in
books and being in that place makes a difference, so reading about
Pashupatinath and visiting the temple is two different experience. So, Why are
we giving this disadvantage to the non-hindus. I don't know what the rules in
other religions are, nor do I want to compare. For I believe that all
religions have the same purpose. Thinking very broadly and with an open mind I
wish Pashupatinath would be open for all. As I told you before,I am stillin
enquiry about this. I would like to hear the opinions of many. I would like to
know the answer of this, or if I am thinking wrong be frank to logically and
rationally criticise me.Thanks . Nirmal
********************************************************************
Date: Fri, 21 Oct 1994 12:17:49 EDT
To: A10RJS1@cs.niu.edu
From: eknath@math.cornell.edu (Eknath Belbase - Math Grad)
Subject: TND
This is with reference to the post on the aspects and culture of homosexuality
in Nepal.
Someone wrote:"I have often wondered if homosexuality is a capitalist disease u
nique to the west." [it was part of a message with quotes so I am
unsure who it ought to be attributed to]
If this was not a typo [ie substitute homophobia for homosexuality]
then the statement itself goes a long way towards answering the
question: by calling it a disease...
If the writer meant homophobia, I would not agree either - with the
statement that this does not exist in Nepal.
"but I have never heard of mature women, both married or unmarried
horisng around or indulging in sex with other adult women. Either th4e
sancitons must be extraordinarily stiff or the phenomenon just does nto
exist., I am inclined to believe the latter because if it were the former at
least we would hear of locker room gossip and snid remarks which are forms of "
or you are not hearing this locker-room gossip because you are not allowed
into those locker rooms where such discussions go on.
It goes on all right, both men and women, married usually, adults, engage
in homosexual relations. It may be rarer there - my guess is it is,
particularly rare among women. But it is hard to get information about the
frequency, being a man in a society where there is little
discussion of topics like that between members of the opposite sex.
**********************************************************************
Date: Fri, 21 Oct 94 13:38:56
From: David Hill <DHILL@tellus.com>
To: The Nepal Digest <nepal@cs.niu.edu>
Subject: 9.T-B, Grindlay's Bank Nepal
I am looking for the phone and fax number of the Nepal Grindlays Bank,
Lakeside Pokhara Office. Any assistance appreciated.
I would also like to say hello/namaste to any friends reading the TND. I
conducted research on rural energy use in Lahachowk Village, north of
Pokhara from fall 1991 to Spring 1992. I now work for an energy and
environmental consulting firm in Boston Ma.. The TND is a great resource
for staying in touch with Nepal. If any readers live in the Boston area,
send me an e-mail and we can get together for a meal sometime, my Nepali
is rusting from non-use and I would love to slow down that unfortunate
process. Thnx.
*********************************************************************
Date: Fri, 21 Oct 1994 17:00:30 -0400 (EDT)
From: Nirmal Ghimirez <NGH42799Q236@DAFFY.MILLERSV.EDU>
To: nepal@cs.niu.edu
Subject: mail address
Could I get the e - mail adddress of Mr.mishra
%%%%%Editor's Note: His e-mail address should be on this list. %%%%%
%%%%% He is one of the contributors for this issue. %%%%%
%%%%% Would anybody like to volunteer for %%%%%
%%%%% "Looking for email address" section? %%%%%
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Date: Fri, 21 Oct 1994 22:32:20 -0400 (EDT)
From: William Pusateri <pusateri@oberon.pps.pgh.pa.us>
Subject: Re: The Nepal Digest - Oct 20, 1994 (17 Kartik 2051 BkSm)
To: The Nepal Digest <NEPAL@cs.niu.edu>
May I suggest you shorten the opening pages of TND to one or two.
One must pass 6 opening pages each time one wishes to get to the heart of
TND.
The TIBET Pages get along fine with just 2 opening pages.
Also I would like to see more personal stories in TND.
What ever happened to the man who was severly beaten as he drove friends
to the airport. Has he recovered? Has he returned to Nepal?
How does he feel about the experience now?
%%%%%Editor's Note: Thank you for your suggestion. Introductory %%%%%
%%%%% pages are very important. The pages outlines %%%%%
%%%%% subscription address, contribution address %%%%%
%%%%% and most importantly the format and topics for %%%%%
%%%%% contribution. If you have any specific ideas %%%%%
%%%%% and specific lines which you think is not %%%%%
%%%%% serving a purpose, please let me know. %%%%%
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*********************************************************************
>From Shailesh Ram Bhandari (sbhandar@garnet.acns.fsu.edu)
Florida State University, Department of Economics
Tallahassee, Florida 32306
NETA
Nepal ka neta haru lai achamma ko
rog lageko chha,
khaana pani khaa-e-ka chhan
daana pani khaa-e-ka chhan,
teti le pani napugera
kursi nai khaane
vog lageko chha.
***********************************************************************
Date: Sun, 23 Oct 94 23:28:23+050
From: jdana@ronast.ernet.in
To: nepal@cs.niu.edu
Subject: Homosexuality in Nepal
I cannot claim any sort of expertise on the subject but can
offer certain anecdotal comments regarding homosexual
activity in Nepal that I've gathered over several years of
living here. So, for what it's worth...
An American homosexual friend of mine here in Kathmandu has
had a couple of Nepali boyfriends and tells me that there is
a great deal of activity among men. He claims that his lovers
have told him that perhaps 80% of Nepali men have had some
sort of homosexual experience by the time they reach age 18.
Given the cultural restrictions in Nepal which prohibit
heterosexual contact prior to marraige, this is perhaps not
so unusual (I believe this phenomenon is evidenced in many
Muslim cultures as well). I suppose one could question
whether this is actually "homosexuality" in any sort of
meaningful sense, or rather just adolescent experimentation
and making the best of a difficult situation. However,
homosexual activity among adult males does not seem to be
altogether uncommon.
On the other hand, I would venture a guess that homosexual
activity among adult women in Nepal is extremely rare. My
wife has asked some of her closest Nepali friends about it
and the mere CONCEPT just blew their minds! None of them had
ever known or heard of a lesbian Nepali woman and some
refused to believe that lesbianism existed ANYWHERE!
But, like I say, my information is anecdotal.
*******************************************************************
Date: Sun, 23 Oct 1994 17:42:36 -0800
To: nepal@cs.niu.edu
From: greerm@ucs.orst.edu (Marsha Greer)
Subject: TITAR_BITAR:MISC
Hi. I am a doctoral candidate in Public Health and I will be going to
Nepal as part of a scholar exchange project. My counterpart (yet unnamed)
will be a member of MANUSHI. I am trying to learn what that organization
is. Can anyone help? Thanks in advance if you can.
Marsha Greer
greerm@ucs.orst.edu
*******************************************************************
Date: 24 Oct 94 00:12:29 EDT
From: Rajendra.P.Shrestha@Dartmouth.EDU (Rajendra P. Shrestha)
Subject: Some News
To: nepal@cs.niu.edu
SOURCE: DPA
HEADLINE: black flags, stones for Prime Minister Koirala in east Nepal
DATELINE: Kathmandu, Oct 20
BODY:
The caretaker Nepalese Prime Minister, Girija Prasad Koirala, had
to face black flags and stones from protestors as he began his party's
election campaign in east Nepal, reports said Thursday.
Newspapers here reported that the prime minister, who had gone to
the eastern Nepalese town of Dharan to lay the cornerstone for an
Indian-aided project, was told by the Nepalese Election Commission not
to indulge in "activities that would affect the outcome of the
November 15 polls".
But Koirala began pep talks to his demoralised Nepali Congress
Party workers, saying the party would win enough seats in the
205-member House of Representatives to form the government on its own.
The opposition parties, including the main ones, the United
Marxist-Leninists and the National Democratic Party, have been
alleging that the prime minister and other ministers were misusing
government resources for election purposes.
Black flags in protest were displayed, according to reports, near
the project site by the opposition parties.
The official news agency, RSS, also reported that a section of the
opposition parties indulged in pelting the prime minister's vehicles
with stones at Itahari, a major road junction near Dharan.
RSS also reported Thursday that the vehicle of the transport
minister, Khum Bahadur Khadka, alleged in newspapers to be one of the
most corrupt of Koirala's ministers, was pelted with stones in his
constituency in Dang, 350 kilometres southwest of here.
Opposition to the Nepali Congress candidates is coming not only
from the opposition parties but more importantly from "rebel"
congressmen who have put up cadidates against the "official"
candidates of the party.
The Nepali Congress, which had 113 seats in the dissolved House of
Representatives, is being predicted to secure not more than 70 seats,
far short of the needed majority to form the government, in the coming
elections. dpa eg
---------------------------------------------------------------------
SOURCE: UPI
HEADLINE: UML asks for postponement of Arun-3 decision
DATELINE: KATMANDU, Oct.20
BODY:
The Nepal Communist Party, in a letter to World Bank
President Lewis Preston, has asked the bank to defer a decision on
Nepal's largest development project, the Arun-III $770 million
hydroelectric dam. The bank's board is to discuss its financing of
the project at a Nov. 3 meeting. The letter said a decision on the
project can only be taken by a new government after the November
polls. The communists, who form the main opposition in the Himalayan
kingdom has circulated the letter to government agencies, embassies
and donors worldwide. ''As there is a lot of controversy about the
project inside and outside Nepal, we do not think that such an action
by the caretaker government is appreciable,'' the letter said. The
party implied that only a new government was capable of taking a
decision of the project, which the party alleged the Koirala
government was trying to push through hastily. The election will be a
three-cornered contest between Koirala's Nepali Congress Party, the
communists and the Rashtriya Prajatantra Party formed by loyalists of
the former regime ousted in a popular movement in 1990.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
SOURCE: Xinhua
HEADLINE: nepali doctors threaten to quit their work
DATELINE: kathmandu, october 20; ITEM NO: 1020069
BODY:
nepal medical association will call on all its member doctors in
the country to quit their work from october 23 to protest the
government's negative attitude towards the medical professionals.
president of the association bhojraj joshi said that they reached the
conclusion to quit after they failed to get any positive assurance
from the government about the august 15 decision of the public service
commission which said "the post graduate diplomas and their
equivalents, except for the qualifications recognized by the tribhuvan
university as masters' degree, will be treated as trainings while
making evaluation for the in-service promotion." the provision is a
snag hampering the career of about four hundred doctors who have
obtained master's degree under one to two year post graduate diploma
courses, said the association at a press conference. the association
expressed the hope that the public service commission should withdraw
its decision clearing the path for the promotion of the doctors
employed with the government. the association also demanded that the
affiliation of medical colleges with universities not having the
faculty of medical science be canceled. it emphasized the need to
amend the medical education act and the medical council act so as to
help to better organize the medical education within the country in
the future. the association has about 1,800 members and most of them
are employed in the government hospitals.
********************************************************************
Date: Mon, 24 Oct 1994 16:09:32 +0700 (GMT+0700)
From: Punya Prasad Regmi <regmi@emailhost.ait.ac.th>
Subject: MID POLL OPINION AT AIT
To: The Nepal Digest <NEPAL@cs.niu.edu>
Opinion Poll (Mid-term Election 1994 - Nepal)
The peace, justice and overall growth and development of the
country are obviously very common concerns of all Nepalese no
matter whoever and wherever they are. It may not be an appropriate
idea of blaming one of many socio-political and geo-physical
factors for giving birth of the economic, socio-cultural and
political crisis in the country.
With reference to Mid-term Election 1994, we have collected some
opinion poll administering attached questionnaire to the sampled
AITians. All the respondents have agreed that even after the
restoration of democracy in 1990 the nation is still in severe
crisis. According to the survey findings, the Nepali Congress
(ruling party) was responsible for all those crisis by 56.44
percent, United Marxist Leninist Party (main opposition party) by
20.43 percent, other opposition parties by 6.00 percent, monarchy
by 5.53, bureaucracy by 5.00 percent, and others by 6.6 percent.
More interestingly, two respondents came out with different
perceptions one blaming to the socioeconomic conditions of the
people and another to the nepotism for the crisis in Nepal.
Regarding the parliamentary seats likely to be won by various
political parties, no one party has been found able to secure the
absolute majority. Although, highest seats (88) to be won are
guessed for the Nepali Congress (NC). Likewise, among the remaining
seats 68 were guessed for United Marxist Leninist Party (UML), 20
for Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP), 7 for Samyukta Janamorcha, 6
for Nepal Sadbhawana Party (NSP), 8 for independent, 4 for Masal,
3 for Majdur Kisan Party and 1 for Ramraja's Party.
As far as the free and fair election is concerned, sampled
population believed that there is a very less chance of free and
fair election. Based on their responses, the chance of being free
and fair election is only 46.3 percent.
According to the survey finding, no party is found to be able to
secure absolute majority. It means that the next government will
certainly be of coalition type. However, the majority of
respondents (63 percent) thought the government of a single party
is suitable to our context. While 30 percent favored for a
coalition government. Interestingly remaining 7 percent respondents
thought that military type of government is necessary for Nepal.
Majority of the respondents (45.8 percent) have given idea of the
possible coalition between Nepali congress Party and Rastriya
Prajatantra Part to form the government. The idea of respondents
for all possible combinations are shown in Table 1.
Table 1: Respondents' View of Possible Combination of Political
Parties for the Coalition Government
______________________________________________
Possible Combinations Respondents (%)
_____________________________________________
NC + RPP 45.8
NC + UML 4.2
NC + NSP 4.2
NC + RPP + NSP + INDEPENDENT 12.5
UML + INDEPENDENT 4.2
NC + NSP + INDEPENDENT 8.3
NC + UML + RPP 4.2
ALL COMMUNIST PARTIES 4.2
NC + ANY OTHER 4.2
RJP + NC + UML (ANY TWO) 4.2
Majority (48 percent) of the respondents said that no one is
really a popular leaders in Nepal. Only 20 percent and 12 percent
of respondents mentioned that Girija Prasad Koirala and Ganesh Man
Sing, respectively as the popular leader (Table 2).
Table 2: Percent of Respondents for Voting a Present Popular
Political Leader in Nepal
________________ ___________________
Popular Leader Respondents (%)
_________________ ____________________
None 48
Girija Prasad Koirala 20
Ganesh Man Singh 12
Baburam Bhattarai 8
Monmohan Adhikari 4
Ram Chandra poudel 4
Bal Bahadur Rai 4
_______________________________________________________________
Total 100
________________________________________________________________
Regarding the next prieminister of Nepal, vast majority (70.8)
percent have given the name of Girija Prasd Koirala. Whereas 16.7
percent of the respondents couldn't guess even. The rest of the
percentage of respondents such as 8.3 and 4.2 have given the name
of Monmohan Adhikari and Shailaja Acharay, respectively.
OPINION POLL (MID-TERM ELECTION 1994 - NEPAL)
Respondent's Sex: Male [ ] Female [ ]
Dear Respondent,
Could you please answer the following questions and deliver the
completed one to me as soon as possible. Your cooperation will be
highly appreciated. You can give it either in office (HSD, Room No.
E117) or in my quarter (ST7-17) or mail to AIT Mail # 453.
Sincerely yours,
Punya Prasad Regmi
Q. 1. Even after the restoration of democracy in 1990, the
nation is still in crisis. Do you agree?
Yes [ ] No [ ]
If yes, what share of responsibility goes to each of
followings?
---------------------------------------------------------
Political Parties and Others Share of Responsibility (%)
---------------------------------------------------------
Ruling Party (NC)
Main Opposition Party (UML)
Other Opposition Parties
Monarchy
Bureaucracy
Others (specify)
Total 100
Q. 2. To what extent do you think the election will be "Free
and Fair" ?
100% 75% 50% 25% 0%
Q. 3. What form of government you think is appropriate?
One Party [ ]
Coalition [ ]
Q. 4. Please indicate the no. of parliamentary seats likely to
be won by following political parties
Political Party No. of Seats
Nepali Congress
Nepal Communist Party (UML)
Rastriya Prajatantra Party
Sanyuktta Janmorcha
Nepal Sadbhawana Party
Independent
Others (specify)
Total 205
Q. 5. If one single party fails to get majority to form the
government then which parties will join together to form
the coalition government ? Please, specify the name of
parties.
Q. 6. Among the present political leaders, whom do you think
the most popular one? Name:
..............................
Q. 7. Who will be the next prieminister of Nepal? Name:
..................................
Q. 8. Please, tick off where did you get your high school
education?
Rural School [ ]
School in District Headquarter [ ]
School in Kathmandu Valley [ ]
Q. 9. Could you please, tick off your academic background?
Engineering [ ]
Science [ ]
Social Science [ ]
Others [ ]
Thank you.
********************************************************************
Date: Mon, 24 Oct 1994 20:12:57 +0700 (GMT+0700)
From: "Sanjay K. Nepal" <sanjay@emailhost.ait.ac.th>
Subject: Info on IGU
To: The Nepal Digest <Nepal@cs.niu.edu>
Hi!
Could someone kindly provide info on the International Geographical Union
(IGU) and its several Commissions? Your help is appreciated.
Thanks!
Sanjay
*************************************************************************
Date: Sat, 22 Oct 1994 15:13:48 PDT
To: nepal-request@cs.niu.edu
From: Ram Sharma <rams@u.washington.edu>
Subject: Thanks for the good work
Dear Rajpal ji and Friends !!!!!!! NAMASKAR !!!!!!!!
This week finally I decieded to have an E-mail account. I
read some of your work, Its wonderful. All the time, some of my Nepali
friends, used to tell me about the modern technology but I was very
naive in computer technology. But, It is a great way to keep in touch.
I am studying to be a Physician Assistant, which is not a doctor or a
nurse but in between these two level. I am going to finish my course work
in July of 1995 and then one year of hospital rotation. As far as I know
this is the best profession in the field of health care. University of
Washington is considered a good school in many programs but for PA it is
the best in US. I was very fortunate to be in this program. I like
Seattle very much. It is a great place. There is a big Nepali community
here in Seattle. We try to see every body at least two times a year. New
year and Dassi. Everybody seems to very bussy in there work and studies.
Please keep up your wonderful Job. I am really proud of all nepalies on
their great work. KEEP UP.
%%%%%Editor's Note: Welcom aboard and Good luck ! %%%%%
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