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The Nepal Digest Thursday 16 Feb 95: Falgun 4 2051 BkSm Volume 36 Issue 11
Today's Topics:
1. TAJA_KHABAR - News From Nepal
2. KURA_KANI
Education - Philosophy VC: Person and Position
Social - Re: Remembering ASCOL
Re: Medals for TND?
3. JAN_KARI
Nepali Restaurants
Nepal and Internet Hookup
Nepal Short Wave
4. SODH_PUCH
Anybody know about Thakalis?
Advice on Trekking, Please!
5. TITAR_BITAR
Entertainment - Movie Reviews
Music Reviews
6. KHOJ_KHABAR
Nischal Shrestha looking for Sanjay Shrestha
******************************************************************************
* TND Board of Staff *
* ------------------ *
* Editor/Co-ordinator: Rajpal J. Singh a10rjs1@mp.cs.niu.edu *
* SCN Liaison: Rajesh B. Shrestha rshresth@black.clarku.edu *
* Consultant Editor: Padam P. Sharma sharma@plains.nodak.edu *
* Discussion Moderator: Ashutosh Tiwari tiwari@husc.harvard.edu *
* TND Archives: Sohan Panta k945184@atlas.kingston.ac.uk *
* Book Reviews Columns: Pratyoush R. Onta ponta@sas.upenn.edu *
* News Correspondent Rajendra P Shrestha rajendra@dartmouth.edu *
* *
* +++++ Food For Thought +++++ *
* *
* "If you don't stand up for something, you will fall for anything" -Dr. MLK *
* "Democracy perishes among the silent crowd" - Sirdar Khalifa *
* *
******************************************************************************
**********************************************************************
Date: Mon, 13 Feb 1995 17:48:30 +0500
From: nshresth@capital.edu (Nischal Shrestha)
To: nepal@cs.niu.edu
Subject: Attention
Hi netters,
I am looking for Sanjay Shrestha, who graduated from West
Virginia, and also looking for Sadeep Shrestha, who graduated from Luther
College, Iowa.
Bye.
**********************************************************
Date: Mon, 13 Feb 1995 22:06:43 -0500 (EST)
From: Ashutosh Tiwari <tiwari@husc.harvard.edu>
Subject: As Oliver Twist says, "More!"
Pratyoush Onta's "Remembering ASCOL" was one of the finest, yet
subtle and witty, works of memoirs that I have read in a long time. I
was particularly struck by its simplicity, humanity and a sense of humor.
I urge Pratyoush that, time-allowing, he put his other
published-in-various-newspapers-in-Kathmandu satires, reviews, essays and
pieces of reflection here on the screen for the benefit of TND/SCN readers.
A good and informed piece of writing is something we can all take
joy in.
namaste
ashu
*********************************************************************
Date: TUE, 14 FEB 95 16:06:07 JST
From: Ashok Sayenju <194038@JPNIUJ00.BITNET>
Subject: News from Nepal
To: The Nepal Digest <nepal@cs.niu.edu>
Some recent news from Nepal:
1. New RNAC Chief
HMG has appointed Mr. Kalyan Dev Bhattarai as GM of RNAC for two years with
effect from February 2nd, 1995.
2. 22 Kgs. of Gold found in Thai Airlines Toilet:
A total of 22.32 kgs of unclaimed gold wrapped in black tape was found by t
he emplyees of the customs office Sunday in the rear of an aircraft belonging
to Thai International Airways. It is worth Rs. 16,265,432 in the local market,
it is learnt.
Source: The Kathmandu Post.
***********************************************************
Date: Sun, 12 Feb 1995 16:26:00 EST
To: a10rjs1@cs.niu.edu
From: DGURUNG@CLEMSON.EDU
Subject: a brief movie review
Dear netters:
I just came back from watching the "Jungle Book". The story is
adapted from the children's book and animated Disney video,
the Jungle Book. But in our opinion it is:
a. an excellent piece and fun to watch; and
b. an excellent mix of British rule in India, Indian culture and
the story.
In addition, it touches the human and natural values. Here is one
of the punch line: "The more I learn about men, the more like to
be an animal" says Mowgli.
The bottom line: I would recommend for a visit. Enjoy it.
Subject: Mount Everest:DIARY; TibetIAN PEACE March
CROSS POSTINGS FROM WTN
1) QOMOLANGMA DIARY
By Darla Hillard, author of Vanishing Tracks: Four Years Among
the Snow Leopards of Nepal (William Morrow, 1989) It would be
hard to find a place where our human connection to the land is
more apparent than in Tibet. The land itself is so distinctive,
with the highest point on earth rising out of a 16,000-foot
plateau, and, within a radius of less than fifty miles, plunging
nearly to sea level. The weather, too, plunges from a summer high
of 100xF to a winter low of -30, not counting the chill factor of
winds that have been known to blow a rider off his horse. Bound
to this environment of extremes, down through the centuries of
tumultuous history, the people have tilled the earth, tended
flocks, and traversed the land, trading goods as well as
information, keeping alive the myths and legends of their strong
and venerable culture. Other peoples have undertaken journeys of
hardship for the promise of a better life. The wagon trains that
crossed the American west must surely have carried extraordinarily
spirited and motivated people. But their journey was not a
beloved way of life, nor, as far as I can tell, did an exuberant
passion for living so define the character of their society.
The animals, too, are built for strength and endurance. Sleek,
low, densely furred, and sturdy, the snow leopard finds a home in
the mountainous borderlands. Wild asses and Tibetan gazelle
congregate on the open, windy plains. Through the ages these
animals have held their place in the scheme of things, sometimes
clashing with people over crops or livestock, sometimes being
hunted for their meat, pelts, organs and bones, but often side-by-
side in relative harmony with human beings and their herds of
sheep and shaggy yaks.
And yet the pressures of modernization and of burgeoning human
populations have put this delicately balanced environment at risk.
Rodney Jackson and I saw this for ourselves during a 1991 wildlife
survey of the Qomolangma (pronounce "Cho-mo-lungma") Nature
Preserve (QNP). The preserve was initiated by The Mountain
Institute of West Virginia in the mid-1980s as part of their
program to conserve the Mt. Everest ecosystem in Tibet and Nepal.
The QNP's nearly 38,000 square miles adjoin three parks in Nepal,
including the newly established Makalu-Barun National Park and
Conservation Area. Combined, they make up a cross-border
protected area of some 42,000 square miles.
Qomolangma Diary recounts the six-week survey, and our brief entry
into the rhythm of life in southern Tibet. The trip, far more
than a search for animals, provided me with answers to many of my
questions about the benefits of a nature preserve, for the people
who live within its boundaries, for the country at-large that
needs its resources, for the visitor from 12,000 miles away, and
for the overall health of planet earth.
A detailed Master Plan for QNP was approved in 1992, from which
The Mountain Institute has developed a framework of conservation
and socio-economic development programs and partnerships.
Focusing on indigenous needs and issues, the programs range from
restoration of monasteries and revival of hand papermaking to
creation of a sustainable medicinal herb industry, from
biodiversity conservation to training for young men and women in
practical skills as well as preserve management.
Big challenges lie ahead: even without the psychological impacts
of international concerns over China-Tibet politics, there would
still be daunting financial and technological obstacles facing
these ambitious programs.
Our survey of QNP was fieldwork at its most satisfying, one-on-one
with the people who live there, with the built-in chance to see
how their lives might be affected by the various programs. This,
for me, is the essence of the Qomolangma Diary. And if Tibet does
epitomize our human connection to the land, then what better
symbol of that connection than the highest mountain on earth, at
the heart of the Qomolangma Nature Preserve? Qomolangma Diary
(10,500 words, illustrated), and descriptive brochures, are
available for $5 each (to cover postage and handling, $7 ea.
outside U.S.) from: The Mountain Institute, P.O. Box 907,
Franklin, WV 26807, Phone: 304-358-2401, Fax: 304-358- 2400,
E-Mail: summit@igc.apc.org..
Nepal will not Allow Tibetan Peace March
----------------------------------------
Kyodo News Agency KATHMANDU (Feb. 10, 1995) -- Nepal will not
allow through its territory a peace march planned for March 10 by
Tibetan exiles and Buddhist monks living in India, a Nepalese Home
Ministry spokesman said Friday.
The march, organized to protest "continued Chinese rule" of Tibet,
is scheduled to start from New Delhi and enter Nepal en route to
Lhasa in Tibet.
Nepal, which accepts Tibet to be an inalienable part of China, is
firm in its policy of not allowing actions on its soil aimed
against any other country, the spokesman said.
**********************************************************************
Date: Tue, 14 Feb 1995 12:53:06 -0500
From: rshresth@black.clarku.edu (RaJesh B. Shrestha)
To: nepal@cs.niu.edu
Subject: Nepali Restaurants
Cross-posted from SCN:
---------------------
Eric Nedervold (enedervo@adobe.com) wrote:
: In article <3h5eiu$hh@hydra.unm.edu> bohara@unm.edu (Alok Bohara ECONOMICS)
: writes:
: >There are two restaurants in Boulder, Colorado, and there is one
: >called Kathmandu West in Silicon Valley. I have tried all three
: >and they are good. Kathmandu West is pretty fancy too.
: There is also one outside of Berkeley, CA (Albany?) that is quite good,
: though a little pricey; the name escapes me right now. And Krishna
: and Vishnu Pradhan own Himalchuli in Madison, WI, on State Street, a
: few blocks from the State Capitol. If, as you leave the restaurant,
: you look up the street and squint a lot, the white dome of the Capitol
: looks somewhat like Swayambhunath. (Except that the traffic goes around
: it in the incorrect direction.) (Alright, you have to squint a *lot*.)
: Will a restaurant list be added to the FAQ?
: --Eric
Krishna and Bishnu Pradhan together with their son owns a second
restaurant in Madison now called "Chautari". This one is even closer
to the university.
Jeetendra
******************************************************************
Date: Tue, 14 Feb 1995 12:54:01 -0500
To: nepal@cs.niu.edu
I am an anthroplogist at Cambridge University conducting research on
Thakali language and ethnicity. I am interested to know if anyone else has
any ideas and opinions on the topic.
Mark Turin
Queens' College
Cambridge University
CB3 9ET
U.K.
e-mail : mt10003@hermes.cam.ac.uk
******************************************************
From: rshresth@black.clarku.edu (RaJesh B. Shrestha)
To: nepal@cs.niu.edu
From: rajendra@coos.dartmouth.edu (Rajendra P. Shrestha)
There have been changes in the internet hookup that Mercantile used to
use. Nepal now has its own internet domain,and it is now hooked up
through Australia. I'm now sure whether Ronast is still using the old
ERNET link though. Here's a message I got from someone at the
Australian site that administers Mercantile's internet link.
From: Andy Linton <asjl@connect.com.au>
There is now a delegated top level domain for Nepal, NP and
Meercantile Office Systems in Kathmandu are the first members.Their
domain name is now:
mos.com.np
THis is still a UUCP connection via us (connect.com.au in AUustrlalia)
and an IP connection will happen very soon.
Regards,
andy
**************************************************************
Date: Tue, 14 Feb 1995 12:58:15 -0500
From: rshresth@black.clarku.edu (RaJesh B. Shrestha)
To: nepal@cs.niu.edu
Subject: Short-wave net
Cross-posted from SCN:
---------------------
Bishwa Shrestha <bishwa@rodeo.uwyo.edu> wrote:
>
> Hello,
> I would like to exchange the information regarding the short-wave
> radio reception through this net. Please send your comments regarding my
> idea. For example, it is possible to listen to BBC's Hindi Service at
> 7:30 MDT in 11920 kHz.
> I think this kind of information would benefit the short-wave
> listeners in our group. Just a suggestion.
> Thank you for your interest.
>
> Sincerely,
> Bishwa Shrestha
> BISHWA@UWYO.EDU
Hi!
Your idea sounds interesting. When do you actually begin to do the
job. Does it need any software to listen to BBC through net and can
any computer may use this facility? Today I read in a paper that
a British boy has developed a software that makes telephone calls
across the network possible but presently runs only on Macintoshes.
Is this something relate to that? Go Ahead.
Suresh
*****************************************************
From: rshresth@black.clarku.edu (RaJesh B. Shrestha)
To: nepal@cs.niu.edu
From: rajendra@coos.dartmouth.edu (Rajendra P. Shrestha)
Bishwa Shrestha <bishwa@rodeo.uwyo.edu> writes:
> I am sorry but I have no idea about the development of a software
>that makes telephone calls across the net It does seem interesting though.
Here's something from the British newspaper The Telegraph (6 Feb.)
that answers this.
Net offers international calls at local prices
By Ken Creffield
COMPUTER owners will soon be able to make national and international
phone calls on the Internet at local charges - or for nothing if they
have leased Internet line.
The savings for dial-up callers are as much as 97p in the pound
compared with BT's most expensive "charge band 13" destinations such
as China and Afghanistan.
A five-minute daytime Internet phone call to China (normal BT cost
6.72) would cost only 20p. With a single Internet leased line,
several hundred employees would have telephone access-and calls would
be free apart from the cost of the line.
Callers will need only a computer with an audio system, an Internet
account they can reach with a local call, and the software-known as
Internet Phone. Internet Phone is being launched in the US next Monday
at $49 for a single user. The price in Britain is not known, but the
developer, VocalTec, based in Israel, is taking international orders.
You have to have, at minimum, a dial-up SLIP/PPP Internet account from
a provider such as Demon Internet, Easynet, CityScape or Pipex. Costs
run from about 150 a year for a solo dial-up account to 11,500
for a leased line operating 24 hours a day.
All you need is PPP/SLIP, and a soundcard
The computer has to be switched on and connected to the system
throughout the period during which you expect to receive and make
calls. The person or organisation at the other end has to have similar
hardware and software and be on the Internet with a SLIP/PPP account.
It needs a computer with a sound system, which need not cost over
1,000, and a modem with a minimum speed of 14,400 baud, which
costs upwards of 100. Adding a sound system to an existing
computer could cost from 65 to around 200 for standard
packages, while VocalTec's package consisting of a voice compression
card and hands-free phone, will cost $249.
The connection is in half-duplex-the "over and out" coastguard mode,
which means you have to wait until the other person has finished
speaking before getting your turn. However, there is an on-screen
over-ride if you really do need to cut in.
The software has an option allowing voice messages to be left on a
computer's hard disk. The compression card is said to improve audio
quality and reduce bandwidth consumption. The next version of Internet
Phone is expected to allow full duplex-both able to speak at once.
Bernie Breton, an electron optics researcher at Cambridge University
engineering department, is one of the people who tested a
pre-production version-and he is impressed.
'The quality of reception depends on the amount of network activity'
He said: "I've found the Internet Phone useful because with one quick
call you can sort out problems that would otherwise require a
time-consuming letter."
The department has three computers with the Internet Phone installed,
one using VocalTec's hardware and the others with the universally
available Soundblaster.
"The quality of reception depends on the amount of network
activity. In theory, you might lose part of a word now and again and
get a stuttering effect. That has not happened on any of my calls,"
said Prof Breton.
**********************************************************************
Date: Tue, 14 Feb 1995 13:10:23 -0500
To: nepal@cs.niu.edu
Subject: Medals for Rajendra and Rajpal? Yes and No!!
From: atuladhar@gramps.clarku.edu
Medals for Rajendra and Rajpal
==============================
I fully support the idea of recognizing Rajendra and Rajpal's
consistent, self-less, voluntary service to all Nepalese and
Nepal in diaspora.
Yes, we do recognize and thank them and they continue to rise in our
esteem.
But Gorkha Dakshin Bahu First Class for them?
a Big NO!
Why, do I think they do not deserve it?
Yes.
Why?
Because, Gorkha Dakhsin Bahu or "Godawa" is a prize for people who served the
king's interest over the country's, for his relatives and the relatives of
relatives of relatives with access to the Palace
"GODAWA" IS THE kiss of death or shame in post-Panchayat Nepal, any Nepal
loving nepalese should reject it as Marlon Brandon rejected the Oscars.
I do not think the self-less image of Rajpal and Rajendra needs to sullied
with a blessing from the King or for that matter Establishment which is King
expanded to include the govt in power whether that be of Congress or
Communist.
By the way has Dilli Choudhary got a "GODAWA"? May his reputation never be
sullied by the blessings of the oppressing class and may he never have to
stand with his oppressors.
Just my "dui-paisa" opinion,
Amulya Tuladhar
Clark University
******************************************************************
Date: Tue, 14 Feb 1995 13:10:52 -0500
To: nepal@cs.niu.edu
Subject: Philosophizing and Analyzing VC: Person & Position
From: atuladhar@gramps.clarku.edu
[NOTE: The first 2-3 screen pages are long on philosophy which some
may skip to get to the juicy details of Mathema's structural connections that
contributed to his "success".
Amulya Tuladhar
TU VC: a Humanist vs. Structural Entreprise?
=============================================
How anybody performs seems to be the net result his personal humanist efforts
and the resources and constrainst defining his/her position in the structural
scheme of things. This argument seems to undergird discussions of what makes
a successful Vice-Chancellor of TU, or for that matter, the successful Prime
Minister, the VC of National Planning Commission, or even a Dilip Bahadur
Choudhary.
Arguing along the humanist school of thought is Ashu ans several others who
see the succes of certain individuals such as former VC Mathema, or Reebok
Human Rights winner Dilip Choudhary as the edification of personal attributes
of determination, intellect, courage, integrity etc. Rarely do we see in these
types of arguments any inclination to acknowledge structural elements such as
caste or class location, discursive location is history and geography,
situations in various axes of power from gender, world and regional economies.
There is a tendency to wrap such arguments in the alchemist moth ball of
"screwed-up made for foreigner" fatalism of Dor Bahadur Bista, or the
"universally defeated" notion of structural Marxism, or the "cultural
imperialism of Western feminism" which has no legitimacy criticising how Hindu
Women are in a hunky dory state of incremental liberation.
It is not surprising that these criticisms often orginate from individuals who
themselves have the benefit of structural privileges of caste, class, gender,
and educational pedigress such as St.X or BKs and IVY leagues of US or Western
University.
It makes larger political sense to front-play Horation Alger type of
rags-to-riches story of some heroic individual who battled all odds to succeed
without calling for revolutions or massive social change. This way, the masses
are left to chase the chimera of some seductive,role-model, success without
channeling their energies into combined, cooperative social action. What great
change did conservative snivel Clarence Thomas achieve vs Malcom X in the
american context. Sure great "individual" success while the blacks continue to
decline in American society. In India, something akin to affirmative action,
the so-called "Reservation of Scheduled Castes and Tribes" in the Constitution
has allowed social and economic elites *within* the oppressed classes and
social groups to accces to government and state largess at the expense of
further degradation of their social groups. It is an extraordinarily efficient
way of emasculating the leadership of a revolutionary groups that Marx failed
to anticipate, to the derision of Fukuyama who are vaunting the end of
Humanist history with the market triumphalism of Western democracy.
Humanist philosophy has a pretty seductive face and track record of human
emancipation but the duality it propagtes in its unquestioned philosophic
assumptions of privileging human welfare over other welfare (namely ecocentric
Gaian and Buddhisht alternatives of according value to all things both living
and dead) quickly serves as a socio-political framework for privilgeing whites
above blacks and colored, certain classes/castes over others, certain sexes
over others etc.
Humanist philosophy serves the interest of privileged castes/classes/ or
social group. it is this group which have build not only substantial material
resources of land and other factors of production that they can also generate
very insidious technologies of power including science and technology,
cultural discourse, and social values and norms. The reproduction of status
quo in society is a testament to not only Marx's interest in material factors
of production such as land and factories or capital but also the production of
history, rituals, religion, language. It is these cultural, social, political
pathways of power reproduction that has drawn the attention of neo-marxist,
postmodern theorists, post-structuralist, and critical school of thought.
Indeed it does serve to further the cause of social emancipation to
problematise these so-called, universally socially accepeted values and norms
that that surreptiously furthered to consolidate and reproduce inequitable
relations of power.
All of this may sound as much philosophical babble that has nothing to the
real world of Nepal. let me try to explain this in the case of former VC
Mathema.
I had the fortune to meet Mathema 2 days before he was nominated VC and 2 days
before he resigned and worked with him intimately in the tumultous 1.5 years
of leadership change as the President of the Forestry Faculty. In this positin
I was in a position to witness close hands how rhetoric articulates with raw
machinations of power, how congress and communist idelogies serve as a front
for even deeper regional categoies such as "Pahades" and "madhesia", how even
within these categories and without other axes of power intersect based on
economic class, social castes, educational pedigree, disciplinary battles
between foresters and agriculturalist, and superimposed on top of that the
international and the regional bureucratic tugs of yale University the USAID
contractor for forestry schools and other NGOS. The picture was and is
complex and I had the opportunity to see the limits of Mathema's personal
humanist powers and struggles.
I concur with many of the odes to Mr. Mathema: He is unquestionably earnest
and committed to educational reforms as he sees it. Others see him as just an
economic reformer in trying to balance TU's books. He listens to all
viewpoints and never stooped to the level of derogating those he did not share
political values, he did plead with the leftist professors to stay and towards
the end many did serve in influential posts; However, the decision of the
leftist professors to abandon their posts seems to be a political decision
made by the party on a national scale politics so one could hardly fault VC or
the teachers entirely for the lack of cooperation in the mbeginning while both
the VC and the leftist professors who did cooperate with him do deserve credit
for working together individually later.
VC Mathema is articulate and forthright in his vision and was willing to call
a spade a spade. He rebuked his own choice of Dean in my presence and promised
to get rid of him at a politically opportune moment and this he did. He
genuinely wanted to bring all parties together and was criticised by the
Sadbhavan for neglecting Nepalese of Terai orgin in his first round of
appointment; this he acknowledged as his oversight and did make amends in this
next time round.
VC Mathema strictly avoided any "ghus" in terms of both overt and covert goods
or services thathe would feel obliged to pay back and hinder his freedom of
his actions. Once at his house, a hopeful campus chief to be made a pitch for
why he served the post and he was listened to sympathetically and politely but
was soundly rebuked when he tried to leave behind a bag of apples as "Kosheli"
as the "shubh" sign.
VC Mathema said to me personally that he was not asked to resign by the UML
but felt that UML wanted a change of leadership. Similarly he said, the one
credit he gives Girija is that he never once interfered, especially when his
deputey, {Pro-Chancellor Govind Joshi of both Tu and Kathmandu University, was
tryihg to strongarm the VC to accept Manipal to be affiliated with TU. If that
is not interference, i missed the nuance. I also know of many instances where
transfer decisions of certain faculty and staff with access to members of
theCongress high command in Baluwater, Chettrapati, or Bakhundol were
influenced bu outside sources of power. Once reason, why he was able to
withstand the student unrest of the communist students and teachers when fees
were raised and when cafetaria subsidy was reduced was because the Girija govt
and the West capitalist interest stood steadfastly behind him in police force
and World BAnk support. His personal bravery alone was not enough.
Over and beyond his personal attributes which I would be first to accept as
extraordinarily apt for the position, I would also go further to wager that
his structural resources were also substantially suitable for the job. There
are several of those, some rumoured, some true, all part of the perception of
his power.
One he is the grandson of Dharma Bhakta Mathema, a martyr who taught Tribhuwan
how to wrestle not only physical musclemen (something he failed miserably
because Tribhuwan died as an alcoholic invalid in Switzerland) but also
political muscleman the Ranas, Babar and mohan, smuggling messages of the
congress leaders in his underwear, correction, "languthi". It is strange that
Nepal's democracy kissed Dharma Bhakta's crotch before it opened the eyes of
Tribhuvan. So the credentials of the Mathema family to the cause of Nepal's
liberation was beyond dispute. it was tis umbrella of the cause of larger
nepal that enabled the communists of Nepal to reach out to him and vice
versa.From a psychoanalytic point of Eric Berne, one of the proponents of the
script theory of life, this family history of bravery and sacrifice fore the
country was liberating role model for Kedar to follow.
So, in 2032, when as an Assistant Dean/Campus Chief of the Kiripur Campus,
when the Panche govt sacked a whole slew of multiparty activist professors and
the students protested, he refused to bring the police in the campus to
suppress as so many former Anchaladhish/VC or yore and Dean/Campus Chief who
wanted to be Zonal commisioners did. In the process, the police did enter
anyway and legend has it that he got a good clubbing on the head. If he had
stayed on, it would e impossible to erase the charge that he was complicit in
the police suppression. So he resigned and took a job in theWorld Bank.
Great, he was brave and when the push came to shove he demonstrated his
committment to anti-monoparty cause but would he have quit if he did not have
a degree from England and some assurance that he can survive in the Kathmandu
or world job market.
Similarly would he quit, if his family was not indepedently rich and
comfortable,( his dad earned a comfortable pay in US embassy Nepal) and all of
his relatives were very educated and well places thanks to their historic
access to richness.
And how were they rich? Because they had a long history of service to the
palace like the Bharadhars that afforded Dharma Bhakta his access to Tribhuvan
and martyrdom. As a Newar Bhardari (caste/class/kin) relationship, Mathema was
supposed to have the support of Ganesh Man. Indeed where mutual recriminations
were going between high level appointments between Ganesh Man and Girija
through their respective mouthpieces, the weekly "Punarjagran" and "Suruchi",
Mathema's appointment did not receive much abbrobrium from the Ganesh Man camp
A little further down the line, VC Mathema received some mild slaps in the
Ganeshman supporting "punarjagaran". The explanation for this was that after
Dharma Bhakta's generation there was some interfamily jealousy and family
conflict between two Royal newar families and that , hear this, Mathema was
actually a round-about cousin of Girija,! It is said that one of Mathema's
cousin sisters married one of the Koirala men related to Girija so Mathema's
appointment did fit in Girija's grand strategy of appointment of his kith and
kin over congressis.
How much is true, I do not know. What I do know is that such legends forms a
constitutive social construct of power of Mathema: he was said to have accss
and support of both Ganesh Man and Girija and given their family service to
the King, the Royals, and given their family service to the country, some
communist at large. This perception of power did give him some real political
leeway over and beyond his personal charm and contributed to part of his
success. I seriously doubt whether a candidate X with all the personall
attributes Ashu or Bohara ascripted to a future VC were found , minus the
structural advantages of Mathema, would be successful.
In fact this is were my doubts of Dr. Joshi is. He does seem to have some
pretty high pedigree within the UML over and beyond his personal capacities
and this is borne by his nomination to fight the Professors' Union, his choice
for leadership of Professors union during 1989-91, and his nomination for
Patan mayor and now his nomination for VC and that would be an asset, not a
liability if the UML govt is in power. How he uses this asset remains to be
seen. Already locking the top leadership of TU to Newar-Brahmin, a historic
tradition no doubt, would raise screams of the "Madhesi" brothers who are
quite numerous and quite senior and some quite qualified both politically and
administratively, of being neglected by the "Pahade" politics of the UML.
Dr. Joshi does not carry the poltical baggage of being a "jutho" of the
Panchayat regime because Dr. kamal Prakash Malla, a distinguished academician,
linguist and scholar who served as a Rector under the Panchayat regime. Dr.
mMalla has shown himself to be an independent scholar and definitely not
pro-Pancha but until Nepal learns to live with the Panche bhoot we will miss
the services of some of the really top notch intellectuals such as kamal
Prakash Malla or say Dr. Harkha Bahadur Gurung or Bhesh Bahadur Thapa. But
then others may know better of their political sins or personal foibles that I
may know of. For instance, one "negative" cited against Dr. Kamal Prakash
Malla is that he is so scholarly and intellectual that he is almost arrogant
and haughtly against lesser mortals, both congressi, communist, or panche and
he is proud of his early lineage to Malla kings that even with his yeoman
service to the cause of Newari language and culture, many Newari activist who
know him are turned off by him. Congeniality and personal accessibility are
not his reputed forte.
I guess I have belaboured this point more than I wanted. I wish to make clear
that I do not intend to offend any one, least of Ashu or bohara or maskey.
amulya
clark university
suehasr is mrn
***********************************************************************
Date: Tue, 14 Feb 1995 13:14:46 -0500
To: nepal@cs.niu.edu
Subject: Advice for trekking, please
From: strauss@minerva.cis.yale.edu
I am trying to plan a trip to trek in Nepal, and would like a rich
cultural experience as well.
1. Are July-Sept. good seasons for this?
2. What are some good organizations to contact or books or journals
to read to help me plan my trip?
I would be going with friends, all experienced outdoors travellers,
none speaking the local language. We're not looking for technical
climbing, nor expensive guided tours; rather, a do-it-yourself trek
emphasizing cultural contact as well as scenery.
Thank you for any help you have to offer; please respond to me
by email at strauss@minerva.cis.yale.edu
**********************************************************************
Date: Tue, 14 Feb 1995 13:41:04 +0500
From: nshresth@capital.edu (Nischal Shrestha)
To: nepal@cs.niu.edu
Subject: MUSIC; THE UNIVERSAL SOUL
"MUSIC";THE UNIVERSAL SOUL"
As most of us know that music, which is a greek word, rules the
world. It is a non living thing that rules the world. It has a strong
effect on people. Music exists in all nations and among all people and
has existed as far back in time as we know about people, and their
cultures. But what is music? Why is it powerful? When did it start?
Well, the answers to such questions varies with people, because
all the people are not the same as the five fingers in a hand are not the
same. Music is a universal phenomenon. It is very broad.
Music is sound that is pleasing to ear. It is also the sound and
silence organized in time. This statement is objective to some extent,
and includes all kinds of music from any place at any time. But music
can't be defined without considering the subjective field, which includes
taste, judgement, and personal reaction. Music is sound that you want to
hear as music. It means any sound you hear, like waterfall, birds making
sound, ocean waves are music. They might be defined under objective
field, but is pleasurable, thus called music.
Music is a means of expression. It is an expressive language, as
it can communicate feelings and images and generate aesthetic responses.
One can express joy, sorrow, pain, love, excitement, through music.
Music affects our moods of entertaining, relaxing, uplifting, soothing.
Whenever I feel stressed or frustrated, I pick up a guitar and play some
tunes, which will relax me or I listen to music, which is also able to
move the mind, heart, and body in a wide variety of ways. It stimulates
responses ranging from excitement to boredom, from love to hate. Music
is a psychological phenomenon also. Music affects and change people's
feeling and attitudes. There are courses like music theorapy, offered in
most of the universities, and colleges. This helps the disadvantaged
people. Most of the students who obtains a degree in music theorapy
works in mental hospitals, public schools, and in private sectors. Music
can be used to help people of all ages improve their self-esteem, find
joy in self-expression, etc. Not only that; music make people feel good,
that is why the departmental stores and other small stores have music
piped in. It also distract from pain or other unpleasant association, as
in a dentist's chair. Music also generates excitement, as in a soccer
game.
Music opens the mind and annihilate the brain's barrier. It
makes the unconscious mind prevail. It brings the idea from many
different cultures, and from different walks of life, which will broaden
the knowledge.
It is also true that music never remains the same. It is not
stagnant. Music moves from one moment to the next like the motion
pictures does. Music moves through time. Music changes as the society
changes, and also the people's taste and choice changes. There are other
reasons also about " why music changes?" It changes, because of new
technology and refined instruments that are used in music, and other
sound producing sources. The creation of music also gets changed.
Sometimes the artist wants to innovate new ideas and also he wants to
broaden his knowledge, and he stretches the possibilities in performance
skills; in this way also the music changes.
Any way, everyone should respect the music, nomatter what kind is
that. Even one doesn't like a certain style of music, one can value its
creative process, know its cultural and social context, and ultimately,
grow from it.
NISCHAL
Metal Cross.
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