Received: from mp.cs.niu.edu (mp.cs.niu.edu [131.156.1.2]) by library.wustl.edu (8.8.5/8.8.5) with SMTP id UAA27199; Mon, 15 Jun 1998 20:12:23 -0500 (CDT) Received: by mp.cs.niu.edu id AA17255 (5.67b/IDA-1.5 for nepal-dist); Mon, 15 Jun 1998 18:12:11 -0500 Received: by mp.cs.niu.edu id AA17250 (5.67b/IDA-1.5 for nepal-list); Mon, 15 Jun 1998 18:12:10 -0500 Date: Mon, 15 Jun 1998 18:12:10 -0500 Message-Id: <199806152312.AA17250@mp.cs.niu.edu> Reply-To: The Nepal Digest <NEPAL@cs.niu.edu> From: The Editor <nepal-request@cs.niu.edu> Sender: "Rajpal J.P. Singh" <A10RJS1@cs.niu.edu> Subject: The Nepal Digest - June 16, 1998 (4 Ashadh 2055 BkSm) To: <NEPAL@cs.niu.edu> Content-Type: text Status: O X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 267
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The Nepal Digest Tues June 16, 1998: Ashadh 4 2055BS: Year7 Volume75 Issue1
Today's Topics (partial list):
Charity Dinner for a worthy cause
Future city Kathmandu: A fantasy/satire
Nepali News
Info on exchange rate
Ex gurkha in UK
Re: Remembering Parijat....
So who can go further in South Asia?
******************************************************************************
* TND (The Nepal Digest) Editorial Board *
* -------------------------------------- *
* *
* The Nepal Digest: General Information tnd@nepal.org *
* Chief Editor: Rajpal JP Singh a10rjs1@mp.cs.niu.edu *
* (Open Position) *
* Editorial Columnist: Pramod K. Mishra pkm@acpub.duke.edu *
* Sports Correspondent: Avinaya Rana avinayar@touro.edu *
* Co-ordinating Director - Australia Chapter (TND Foundation) *
* Dr. Krishna B. Hamal HamalK@dist.gov.au *
* Co-ordinating Director - Canada Chapter (TND Foundation) *
* Anil Shrestha SHRESTHA@CROP.UOGUELPH.CA *
* SCN Correspondent: Open Position *
* *
* TND Archives: http://library.wustl.edu/~listmgr/tnd/ *
* TND Foundation: http://www.nepal.org tnd@nepal.org *
* WebSlingers: Pradeep Bista,Naresh Kattel,Robin Rajbhandari *
* Rabi Tripathi, Prakash Bista tnd@nepal.org *
* *
* +++++ Food For Thought +++++ *
* *
* "Heros are the ones who give a bit of themselves to the community" *
* "Democracy perishes among the silent crowd" -Sirdar_Khalifa *
* *
******************************************************************************
******************************************************************
Date: June 15, 1998
To: The Nepal Digest <nepal@cs.niu.edu>
Forwarded by: RJ Singh <a10rjs1@cs.niu.edu>
Subject: Charity Dinner for a worthy cause
Dear Friend,
TND Foundation is initiating a charity dinner to help the Panthi
family when they come to New York for their treatment in July 1998.
The charity dinner will be hosted at the following address:
Whittier Cafe
1230 Amsterdam Ave
Teacher's College
Columbia University
New York, NY
Date: June 27, 1998 (Saturday)
Time: 6:30PM
Contact phone number: 914-421-9129 (Rajpal J. Singh)
212-678-3504 (Tara Niroula)
Email address: tnd@nepal.org (TND Foundation)
Charity dinner donation: $20 per person. Approximately 60% will cover
the cost and 40% will go towards helping the Panthi family. The amount
will be donated to them "On behalf of Nepali Community" when they arrive
to New York in July 1998.
If you can not attend the charity dinner, you can send your donation
(payable to RJ Singh - Panthi fund) to following address:
TND Foundation
P.O. Box 8206
White Plains, NY 10602
"A one hour Kura_Kani session (to be held once every two month on issues
relating to Nepalis and Nepal) will be held on the same day at the
same address at 5:00PM"
Regards,
TND Foundation
http://www.nepal.org
tnd@nepal.org
----------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sat, 23 May 1998 17:20:14 +0530
From: "F. A. H. ('Hutch') Dalrymple" <hutch@wlink.com.np>
To: The Nepal Digest
Subject: Sad departure - Panthi family appeal
AN APPEAL FOR HELP FROM NARAYAN PANTHI!
Rajan, my eldest son died, May 18, 1998. He was 24-years old. But, there
is still hope for my two other children, Gokul, 19, and Parbati, 21. Please
help us if you can! (please see attached photograph)
My family is besieged by a deadly, genetic disorder, a virulent form of
cancer called, Xeroderma Pigmentosum, made worse by exposure to the sun
(and other UV sources).
Most children can go outside and play in the sun. My children have to hide
indoors in the daytime and can only go out at night (after sundown).
The sun, giver of life to most, is the taker of life to my child.
We have searched far and wide for help, treatment, and a solution to this
situation... from Nepal to India and back, and finally, in America, we think
we have found one!
We, the Panthi family, have been accepted into a special ('Sundown') camp,
the Xeroderma Pigmentosum Society of Poughkeepsie, N.Y./U.S.A., operates
every summer.
But, that addresses only part of our problem. First, we have to finance a
great part of this expensive trip to the U.S. (in July) ourselves, plus meet
additional medical expenses.
We have determined that we need to raise nearly one-million rupees
(almost $16,000U.S.).
Fortunately, God has blessed us with friends, near and far: from Japan, to
Alaska in the U.S. and to the U.K..
We have raised almost three lahks/rupees to date:
The Swablambi Pariwar Sangh/Nepal has donated one lahk/rupees and is raising
more, the XP Society is donating one session of camp, plus $2,250U.S.,
Royal Nepal Airlines is donating three free tickets and three at
fifty-percent off between Kathmandu and London (still have to fund the
London to N.Y.C. portion of the trip), Nepali students in Japan have donated
20,000 yen (10,000 rupees), and friends in the U.K. have donated 40,000
rupees.
But, we still need to raise seven lahks/rupees more, or 700,000 rupees
($11,000U.S.).
Thus, we (my wife Janaki and me) ask for your help! Please consider this
appeal!
I have worked all my life to support my family. I owned a successful
business, a small hotel here in Kathmandu until my children were stricken
with this almost unknown illness (we have been to doctors and hospitals
from Kathmandu to the south of India).
Now, we live on the rent from our stores below, roughly 10,000 rupees per
month (roughly $125U.S.). I have had to devote all of my time and energy
to trying to find a solution to this disease that's devastating my family!
Now, our only hope now lies in America, where it is said they have the
facilities and possible treatment for such an unknown form of cancer,
Xeroderma Pigmentosum. Please, if you have access to a computer/Internet,
check out a WEB site: www.xps.org for information about this disease, and
the XP Society.
And we would also like to thank the following individuals, and organizations
that have been involved with helping us in some fashion over the past years.
Without them we could not have made it!
BANK ACCOUNT FOR DONATIONS (IN NEPAL):
'Rajan and Gokul Panthi' #555555 'J'
Himalayan Bank, Thamel, Kathmandu
Namaste!
Narayan Panthi
Anamnagar, Kathmandu, Nepal
(+977+1) 227311
WON'T YOU JOIN THE FOLLOWING LIST:
Mr. C.M. Yogi/Hindu Vidyapeeth-Nepal
Mr. Lakshmon Pandey/Nepal Student Union
Mr. Robby Khanal
The Nepal Digest
Ms. Kay Wilson, Fairbanks, Alaska/U.S.A.
Mr. I.W. Strong/Penwood Inc., Denver, Colorado/U.S.A.
Ms. Uma Shrestha, Bay City, Michigan/U.S.A.
Mr. Shailesh N. Gongal, Cambridge, Massachusetts/U.S.A.
The XP Society, Poughkeepsie, N.Y./U.S.A.
Swablambi Pariwar Sangh (Independent Family Organization of Nepal)
Nepal Cancer Relief Society, Kathmandu
Royal Nepal Airlines, Kathmandu
Bir Hospital, Kathmandu
T.U. Teaching Hospital, Kathmandu
Anuradha Koirala/MAITI NEPAL
Matthew S. Friedman/USAID
Dr. Shyam Thapa/USAID
The American Society of Clinical Oncology, Chicago, Illinois/U.S.A.
The Swiss Cancer League, Bern/Switzerland
The International Union Against Cancer, Geneva/Switzerland
The B.P. Koirala/Lions Centre for Ophthalmic Studies, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu
Mr. Rajan Rayamajhi/Sangrilla Business Group, Kathmandu
Mr. F.A.H. ('Hutch') Dalrymple/writer-poet, Kathmandu
Mr. S.K. Gautam/Industrial Service Bureau, Kathmandu
Mr. Raj Kumar Basnyat/Diyalo Quarterly
Mr. Bijay Shivakotee/songwriter
Mr. Punya Prasad Regimi
Mr. Bindu Lal Shrestha/Peace Corp, Nepal
Mr. Munish Bhattarai
Mr. Ngima Gyalgen Lama/Kyusha University
Graham and Colleen Misbach/L.D.S. Charities
Mr. Mahesh Gautam
Mr. Santosh Sharma/Music Nepal
Mr. Kumar Basnyat/folksinger
Mr. Sandeep Singh Mahat/#1 table tennis player in Nepal
Rajesh and Anuja Agrawal/Creative Minds & Travelation
Bogdan Holeiciuc and Cristina Armengol-Dalmau, Kathmandu
Mr. Chandra Bhandari/former General Secretary, Nepal Students Union
Mr. Bijay Kumar Kidia/Kedia Organization
Melody Magazine
Dr. Bhakta Man Shrestra/cancer specialist
Mr. Himal Rajbhandari/Treasurer, Social Welfare Council, HMG, Nepal
Mrs. Kamal Panti/Assistant Minister of Women and Social Welfare, HMG, Nepal
Dr. Padam Prasad Paudyal, Salisbury, N.C./U.S.A.
Dr. Dinesh Kumar Dalbir, Oklahoma City, OK./U.S.A.
Dr. Sharad Kumar Sharma, N.Y.C./U.S.A.
Dr. Ram Saran Mahat
-------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun, 10 May 1998 11:32:57 +0530
From: "F. A. H. ('Hutch') Dalrymple" <hutch@wlink.com.np>
Reply-To: hutch@wlink.com.np
Subject: press release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 1 JUNE 1998
XP SOCIETY ACCEPTS PANTHI FAMILY IN JULY!
The Narayan Panthi family of Kathmandu has been accepted into 'Camp Sundown,'
by the XP Society of Poughkeepsie, N.Y./U.S.A.
The XP Society was started by Dan and Caren Mahar to help those (their daughter
Katie) stricken with Xeroderma Pigmentosum, a virulent form of incurable cancer
made worse by exposure to the sun (nee 'Camp Sundown' - a camp for children of
the disease where activities commence at sundown).
The Panthi family of Anamnagar has long been seeking help for their three
(out of four) children, Rajan, 24, Gokul, 21, and Parbati, 19, afflicted with
this genetic disorder.
The XP Society has accepted the Panthi family into session #3, 22-26 July in
Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
His Majesty's Government, the Minister of Tourism and Civil Aviation, Anand
Dhungana, has graciously offered three free tickets and three at fifty-percent
off via Royal Nepal Airlines to help defray travelling costs. This will get
the family to London and back.
The XP Society is contributing, besides the Camp facilities for 5/4 days and
nights, $2,225U.S. to help defray airline expenses from London to N.Y.C.
Other fund raising activities are in progress to help with travel and medical
expenses: a benefit concert in July which will help, not only the Panthi
family, but the Sushma Memorial Hospital.
Ram Krishna Dhakal and Bijay Shivakotee have agreed to perform (more on this
as it develops).
A bank account (555555'J') at the Himalayan Bank in Thamel has been set up for
those who would like to contribute to this humanitarian effort!
Please do... Donate rupees, or volunteer to help!
For more information contact:
F.A.H. ('Hutch') Dalrymple (English) 410319 (Lazimpat) or hutch@wlink.com.np
Rajan Rayamajhi (Nepali) 256701, 245780 (fax)
-----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 07 May 1998 11:23:31 +0530
From: "F. A. H. Dalrymple" <mailto:hutch@wlink.com.np>
To: editor Contributions <mailto:nepal@cs.niu.edu>
Subject: Rajan Panthi and Xeroderma Pigmentosum (horrible form of cancer)
Because I first discovered the plight of the Panthi family in The Nepal
Digest (when I was in the U.S.), I thought you'd like an update (three
'pieces' attached, plus a photograph).
I'm now in Kathmandu, dealing with helping the Panthi family firsthand.
We are raising money, both here in Nepal and the U.S. to send the
family, Rajan including, to the XP Society's 'Sundown Camp,' in
Poughkeepsie, N.Y. in July. Please help!
Check out their WEB site: www.xps.org (for more information on the
disease)
We are producing a benefit concert here in Kathmandu (in July), and also
urging, those who can, to make a donation (have a bank account both here
and in the U.S.), to please do so. God will bless you!
And if you need further information, please contact me:
F.A.H. ('Hutch') Dalrymple
mailto:hutch@wlink.com.np
Namaste! and thanks!
Bio article for Melody, by F.A.H. ('Hutch') Dalrymple - I ask only one thing
from you for this article... That you will
ublish this in both English and Nepali. And this might be a suggestion for
all you text... That way both cultures can
learn each other's. Make it a bi-lingual publication.
I pray that the pain I am feeling lessens Rajan Panthis'! I pray to God that
'he' (who knows maybe a 'she') will give m
Rajan Panthis' pain. That I might have it and he not. I pray than I will see
a little less that he can see more! I
pray that he can hear more, and that I will hear less. I pray that he can be
in the sun longer, and me less! I pray that
his face be restored and mine disfigured.
I've lived my life, Rajan Panthi is dying at age 24!
And the next time you're feeling sorry for yourself, go see Rajan Panthi here
in Kathmandu! He is all alone in a room a
ove his parent's house. He waits to die in the dark. Bring him hope, talk to
him, give him your strength... If you can
do nothing less, like donate rupees. There is an account set up in Gokul
Panthi's name at the Himalayan Bank! So, if
you have more money than time (think yourself very important) contribute
rupees. You will be blessed!
The reason we are having this benefit music/humor concert is to raise money
for this family and the Sushma Memorial Hospital.
This publication is a proud sponsor of the event! So, support this
publication, Melody too! Buy from their adverisers!
Become an advertiser!
HE WAITS IN THE DARK TO DIE!
Rajan Panthi lies in his bed in Kathmandu, shrouded by death, waiting to die!
His face horribly disfigured, he is blind,
the Xeroderma Pigmentosum 'eating' away his flesh! The sun, usually a life
giver, his enemy, the darkness his 'friend.
How can we understand such agony? Karma? Fate? Is it the inexplicable
deadly mixture of genes? Evolution?
There is no cure! Rajan Panthi waits for the darkness to swallow his body
whole, for his mind to be made whole again!
"Out of the night that covers me,
As black as pitch,
>From pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be,
For my unconquerable soul!"1
I hold his hand! I squeeze it! I ask God for a miracle (I believe in and
have seen miracles!)
This kid is only 24-years old, his life a living hell from two years on!
What goes through his mind?
Not the usual things a 24-year old young man might dream about... There are
no thoughts of career. There are no thoughts
of getting married (to a beautiful girl), no thoughts of having children, not
thoughts of getting a job, of recogniting,
of security, of old age... Of a life lived, even!
He wants only that his body to be used so that medical science can find some
solution to this disease, so that no one might
have to suffer as he has!
How lucky we are to be healthy! How lucky we are to think we have a future!
Rajan Panthi waits in the dark to die,
sentenced to death from birth, by chance! How cruel fate can be!
How lucky are we to live a life!
He waits in the dark to die!
I ask God for a miracle everyday now! Or, at least some explanation...
Rajan Panthi lies in pain in the dark alone (for near death we are all
ultimately 'alone').
Below, one level, at the Panthi house, his parents, Narajan and Janaki, live
with hope... How else could they survive,
wo of their other children, Gokul, and Parbati have the same dreaded
death sentence hanging over them.
The expressions on their faces tell the story... These two children have
tried to commit suicide a couple of times!
Parbati, in her white dress, knows she will never have a man interested in
her disfigured face, Gokul, in his Nike baseball
cap, knows the same fate awaits him as upstairs, where...
He waits in the dark to die! He waits for death with no eyes, the look of a
leper!
I pray for a miracle! I ask God for a miracle!
How lucky we are to have a life, to walk in the sun, to enjoy a bird's song,
a lover, a restaurant meal, a job, a future
To see, to hear!
Oh, how lucky we are!
He waits in the darkness to die!
Like a building storm it comes!
First, it begins to rain... Yet, rain brings life! I want to bring him music,
life, hope! I want my friend, another
Rajan, who is healthy and attractive with a bright future, to read to him from
Sogyal Rinpoche's, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying!
I think of making a video... No, I cannot exploit this man's agony!
He waits in the dark to die!
How lucky we are!
Oh God, I ask, what can I do for this boy turned into an 'Elephant Man?'
The thunder answers through the valley!
"I speak to you through the thunder and lightening, be still, know I am God!"
Across the way, through an opened door, a bottle of Champagne sits in an ice
bucket. A man and a woman embrace!
Below there is laughter, a group of people having a party.
I kill a mosquito that buzzed in my ear last night!
He waits in the darkness to die!
How lucky some creatures are...
It is Saturday, a holiday in Nepal.
I see a rainbow! Has God answered my prayers?
"I speak to you through the mysterious rainbow. Be still know that I am God!"
Why Rajan Panthi? Why not me? Why not you?
How lucky we are to have lived a life with hope!
He waits in the dark to die!
You can see the pain on their faces, the Panthi family!
How lucky we are not to be in pain!
We think we suffer, and have problems.... Next time you start feeling
sorry for yourself, go visit Rajan Panthi (or someone like him)!
Be thankful for what you have, whatever that is. Be thankful you don't have,
three out of four of your children suffering
from this version of hell (in front of you everyday). Be thankful you can
see, or hear, or can sit in the sun!
Oh, how lucky we are!
He waits in the dark to die!
POSTSCRIPT:
Some people have an amazing capacity to avoid; ignore, or otherwise
rationalize how not to get involved, or how not to
contribute to relieving the plight of their fellow human beings. I
see it demonstrated everyday, and I hear the plausibl
explanations. In some ways, these people are lucky, because I cannot do
the same! I cannot ignore, any longer, another's
pain, another's need. Maybe it's my age, maybe it's what I've been through
in my life...? But, I know that, "There,
but for the grace of God, go I..."
F.A.H. Dalrymple
Kathmandu, Nepal
24 April 1998
1 Gerard Mandley
AN APPEAL TO HELP!
Take a good look at the photograph of the three Panthi children, Rajan aged,
24, and his sister and younger brother, 21
and 19 respectively... They have all been diagnosed as 'terminal' from
the voracious, disfiguring cancer, Xeroderma Prigm
ntosa! That's three children in the Panthi family, and all dying of cancer!
But, let me have Rajan Panthi, the oldest tell their story...
I am Rajan Panthi, a twenty-four year old resident of Anam Nagar, Kathmandu,
Nepal. I have a serious, debilitating
cancer called Xeroderma Prigmentosa, and am nearing the end! One of my eyes
has been removed and my other eye is so badly sollen
that I am now blind! My whole body is badly infected and is completely
covered with sores that ooze a puss. Black scars can be seen to cover my body.
My whole body aches with severe pain, sometimes its almost unbearable.
I have to remain isolated in a room. But, despite all of this I am still alive!
With the little money that my father earns from his small shop, we have made
it this far...
My youngest sister 21, and my younger brother, 19, both are also suffering
from the same disease. They are also disfigured and are suffering.
I have been from different hospital to hospital, both inside and outside of
Nepal, but with little in the way of positive results. A large amount of
of money has been spent at several types of treatment, but there is no sign
of improvement or recovery.
I'm sure too that the three of us have become an unbearable burden on my
parents. The stress has caused them to become ill themselves.
I am under the impression that there is a recent invention and/or discoveries
in the field of science and medicine that
may help people like us...?
I, from the bottom of my heart, want to stop financially burdening my parents.
My last desire is that this will all be
or nothing, that an institution will take on the responsibility a solution to
this horrible disease. I solemnly pray that
no other single human being will have to suffer from such a deadly disease.
It will make me personally happy and grateful for any assistance from
individuals or institutions. I am willing to donate my body for
investigation, so maybe my sister and brother might be saved.
Thanks a lot for your compassionate consideration.
Rajan Panthi
Kathmandu, Nepal (011+977+1+227311)
Thus, anything you can donate will be gratefully accepted, as we are planning a benefit concert here in Kathmandu.
Anything... As small as $1U.S. dollar... Anything, as it all goes to
producing this concert which we hope will raise a substa
tial amount of money for the Panthi family, as well as, call attention to
this type of dreadful cancer.
Contact F.A.H. Dalrymple in Kathmandu as how you may contribute, and/or
otherwise help
011+977+1+410319 or via the Internet
mailto:hutch@wlink.com.np
P.S. There is a XP Society in the U.S. available at: www.xps.org to learn more about this form of cancer
******************************************************************
From: Edward Wallis Carter <edwardiv@grove.ufl.edu>
Date: Sat, 23 May 1998 21:57:51 -0400 (EDT)
To: The Nepal Digest <NEPAL@cs.niu.edu>
Subject: Re: The Nepal Digest - May 23, 1998 (9 Jestha 2055 BkSm)
Um, by the way. In rebutal to Christian be antisemites. Pontious Pilot was
a ROMAN and gave the order to put Jesus to death, no matter how he placed
the responcibility. The guilt is taught to be that of all mankind NOT
Jews. Rome and Jerusalem can point fingers all they want. Many Cristians
are not Catholic and we don't automatically hate Catholics. Now as for
their belief that they are
chosen above all the rest of us... well. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph were all
Jews as were the deciples. It is impossible to learn much from the bible
without studying the society they were in and the place they were from.
That becomes a part of you. How can you then turn and hate yourself?
On another point.
If there is a search for extraterrestrials, like CETI in Nepal... would it
be YETI?
**************************************************************
Date: Sun, 24 May 1998 11:05:19 -0700 (PDT)
From: Ankeey Rima <ankeey@yahoo.com>
Subject: Religion
To: NEPAL@cs.niu.edu
Readers of the Nepal Digest:
I want to divest some of my time now to know why some people seem to
invest so much time in arguing about the religion. Is it because you
want to make whole world a giant homogenous culture by proselytizing
natives in many parts of the world. What is the funbdamental benefit
by such activities is it that your respective religion tells you to do
that or is it just that you feel that god has said to do so (mere a
fundamentalist ideology) or you feel you are close to god.
Why people from one part of the world has to conquer the other parts
to convert and change the dynamics of the human to create a fiasco in
the human psychology. Is it necessarily bad that one may not believe
in the other religion for personal reason be condemned. I have gone to
about 70-80 different kind of Churches and fathers have condemned
other religion especially Shinto, Buddhism and Hinduism in many
different tones. However, I am not interested in why did they do that.
And I am not putting this as an agenda for discussion as it is seen in
the Nepal Digest for a quite a few times some sort of religious
wrestling. And that is exactly what I donot want to do.
My second thought what is the fundamental underpinnings of conversion.
My take at this issue is that if we change the farbric of any native
culture and civilization, we will face the major catastrophe in future
due to the lack of religious diversity. So if we keep on converting
all the human mind, it is exactly like changing the dynamics of
natural ecosystem, once we replace individuals' mind from any
particular domain of belief we subvert the system and keep on mind
Giaia Hypothesis (Greek Philosophy of Natural System)operates
homogeniously under the each patches. The organisms at edges of
pathces may react, which in natural system may be fatal on extreme
situation can be extinct. Therefore altering the mind from religious
perspective is also a process of extirpation of the altered one.
Hence, analogical to the natural system it is self destructive and
from political standpoint it is like Dictatorship and ethically wrong.
Aankeey Rima
******************************************************************
Date: Mon, 25 May 1998 02:39:11 -0400 (EDT)
To: The Nepal Digest <NEPAL@cs.niu.edu>
From: antares@technologist.com (A Armstrong)
Subject: Women's travel warning, Nepal.
I've followed info on women's safety and Nepal.
I hope this warning is sufficiently factual for you to be able
to post it, in the hope that it helps!
Sexual Abuse Of Tourists In Nepal.
This warning appeared in the Nepalese press.
In a country like Nepal, which is dependent on tourism, it gives
cause for serious concern when sexual offences against Western
tourists are committed by men within the travel industry itself. Mr
Ang Zangbu Sherpa, the owner of Highland Sherpa Trekking and
Mountaineering Pvt. Ltd., has been committing such offences for many
years with the collusion of his office manager, Sunil Karki.
Ang Zangbu Sherpa, who comes from Junbesi in the Okhaldunga
district, married a British girl, Diana Penny, and set up a trekking
business. Clients from Britain, the U.S.A., New Zealand and other
countries have enabled him to become wealthy through tourism. He
also organises the Everest Marathon.
The government of Nepal apparently makes no attempt to prevent Ang
Zangbu Sherpa's crimes against women. However, his guilt is
substantiated by firm evidence.
Published in "Prakash", Kathmandu, Nepal.
The address of Highland Sherpa is:- P.O. Box 3597, Jyatha, Thamel,
Kathmandu, Nepal. The Everest Marathon is jointly organised by this
company and Bufo Ventures UK, which specialises in individual
tailor-made journeys to Nepal and is a general sales agent for
Highland Sherpa. Clients stay at the Mustang Holiday Inn, Jyatha. It
belongs to the son-in-law of the King of Bhutan.
The guilt of Ang Zangbu Sherpa and Sunil Karki was brought to the
attention of the Home Minister and papers relating to their guilt
exist in the office of the Nepalese Prime Minister. Recently rape
and sexual harassment and sexual exploitation of tourists in Nepal
has had some publicity on the Internet. In spite of smooth promises
from the Ministry of Tourism, the only apparent sign of change is
that Ang Zangbu Sherpa is using an alternative name; A. Salaka.
[Possibly Sunil Karki also has another name.]
I do hope publishing this info does some good as travel advice for
women's safety! It's more concerned with human rights than the
travel advisories from the Department of State or the American
Embassy in Kathmandu.
Alex Armstrong
aldebaran@white-star.com
antares@technologist.com
"Our greatest duty in this life is to help others. And please, if
you can't help them, could you at least not hurt them?" -- The Dalai
Lama
******************************************************************
Date: Wed, 27 May 1998 22:37:22 -0400 (EDT)
Forwarded by: Ashutosh Tiwari <tiwari@fas.harvard.edu>
To: nepal@cs.niu.edu
Subject: GAA (fwd)
Request from the Godavari Alumni Association (GAA) in Kathmandu
Attn: All GAA members, all graduates of St Xavier's School, all with
interesting suggestions regarding what a Nepali alumni association should
do in the next decade.
The new Executive Committee of GAA for 2055-56 B.S. (with Rajudev Acharya
as President and Mahendra 'Honda' Shakya as Senior Vice President), in an
effort to revive the once vibrant alumni organization, has appointed a GAA
Consultative Meeting Task Force under the leadership of ex-President Jyoti
Man Sherchan.
The main responsibility of this Task Force is to find out the
needs and the interests of the GAA members as well as define the
organizational goals and priorities for the next decade. The outcome of the
Consultative Meeting shall act as guidelines for the current Executive
Committee in formulating its course of action and activities.
In its first meeting held on 4th May, the Task Force decided that the
Consultative Meeting will be held in mid-Fall 1998. A series of meetings
with different St X batches and others have been planned. If you have any
ideas or suggestions that the Task Force might include in its background
notes for the Meeting, please send them directly to:
Suman R. Y. Tuladhar
Secretary
GAA Consultative Meeting Task Force
jyoti@met.mos.com.np
Date: Fri, 29 May 1998 08:59:03 -0400 (EDT)
To: nepal@cs.niu.edu
Subject: Future city Kathmandu: A fantasy/satire
>From Biresh Shah in Kathmandu:
As you know I have tried to write
informed articles on the development of Kathmandu in the past. I finally
got a little tired of it. So I decided to write a piece on the future of
the city, call it a farce or fantasy, but I did enjoy writing it.
I am including it for your consumption;
Biresh
in Kathmandu
KATHMANDU- THE CITY OF THE FUTURE ?
by Biresh Shah
To the approaching extra terrestrial visitor , as it beams its satellite
vision on earth , Kathmandu must seem a pretty indecipherable phenomenon.
Closer to ground, on any given day pedestrians, car drivers, motorcycle
riders and a host of other characters are regularly locked in a strange
dance around the craters in the narrow tentacles of the city that we call
streets.
The sight would certainly force Henri Matisse, were he alive
today, to take another look at his world famous painting on the subject.
As Kathmandu developed historically from being a conglomeration of small
towns set in a primarily lush agricultural landscape to a metropolis
stretching literally from one end of the valley to the other in a
continuous urban sprawl, we are continuously bombarded with endless tirades
on its absolute lack of planning , on its choking systems, on the
destruction of its widely acclaimed visual character, on the phenomenal
levels of pollution in the air/on the streets/ in the rivers etc.
On any given day, as we circumvent the city, piles of garbage are rotting
bringing all kinds of unfriendly organisms at our doorstep; traffic jam
crops where and when you least expect it; the once sparkling river system
has become a giant open gutter; life on the street is a nightmare for
everybody irrespective of the fact you are in a car or on your feet.
Besides there is the chronic shortage of water, electricity, drains etc.;
services vital to survive in a large city. The city , to a lot of us,
begins to sound like a complete nightmare.
Are we then completely incapable of planning our city? Are we complete
ignorant foolswhen it comes to foreseeing the disaster we are heading for?
Seems highly
unlikely, when we consider the fact that the valley of Kathmandu was the
setting for the development of one of the most sophisticated urban forms of
medieval times.
In hindsight, I feel, urbanism in Kathmandu is gearing up for a much more
distant future than contemporary projections on urban planning can possibly
foresee. Kathmandu is waiting for the next threshold of energy consumption
and technological breakthrough to arrive.
Cities around the world , especially in the rapidly developing economies of
Asia, are organizing their form around the Holy word^WINFRASTRUCTURE.
As more and more vehicles get added to the street to cater to vastly
increased demands for mobility in a city of increasing distances being
continually created by the ever-growing sprawl, discussions and rhetoric on
infrastructure acquire the dimension of religion.
Infrastructure in
Kathmandu city could never be developed as needed for various reasons. The
seeming reluctance or inability to address this crucial issue of creating
urban infrastructure in Kathmandu, seems to point to two scenarios. Either
we are totally ignorant and incompetent when it comes to building cities;
or we may have a Secret Vision of the future Kathmandu which no other city
in the world has managed to evolve; as cities around the world desperately
try to update infrastructure to be at par in the Global community.
On the other hand, it can be fairly speculated that when the current
concept of urban infrastructure built around physical movement of people,
vehicles, water, garbage over huge distances reaches its threshold to give
way to a radically different concept of space and time, contemporary
obsession with infrastructure will become out of date. For most of the
world's great cities, the gigantic infrastructure will become a nightmare
to manage. Since we will have virtually non-existent infrastructure,
Kathmandu will be well-placed to organize a living for the future.
So how will it happen? Let us speculate a few scenarios a few decades from
hence.
In twenty five years or so the fossil fuel is expected to dry up. If we
look at any modern city today, a major part of the urban space is occupied
by a grid of vehicular thoroughfares of all sizes and shapes. The drying up
of fossil fuel may project nightmarish scenarios for other cities; not for
Kathmandu. The narrow and presently unmanageable lanes, which constitute
majority of our public domain, will become quaint lovely neighborhood
gardens cum paths, where children and elderly can spend quality time.
The
major roads which constantly remind us of disgusting traffic jams and toxic
fumes shall become linear urban parks, promising a sickness free living.
Television arrived in Kathmandu more than three decades after it started in
the west.
Internet and e-mail however, started almost parallel in time. The
speed at which technology is being constantly developed and put up for
consumption is truly phenomenal these days. Not surprising then, that in
the future from the interior alleys of Baneswor to the Hanuman Dhoka Durbar
square, it will be matter of seconds to travel on the teletransporters,
ala Star Trek " Zap me to Basantpur, Scottie."
The city will also stop growing, since physical distances will not be an
issue anymore. Since ancient times, cities have grown due to a demand for
more people to get closer spatially. As every room in the house acquires a
hi-tech communication console, day to day activities like School and office
going, medical visits, banking, shopping shall be minimized.
Air, naturally without the vehicles, will be clear and pure. Solar energy
will power the systems in the buildings. Water can be directly tapped from
the atmosphere and sent back into it after use thus eliminating the
necessity of conduits, giant and small,
criss-crossing the city. And since there will be no giant conduits spewing
obnoxious fluid into it, the River System shall sparkle once again.
The use of biotechnological pills for replenishing the appetite of people
will make the use of sewers and other sanitation infrastructure redundant.
So a Haku Choela pill followed by a Chicken tikka pill with the evening
drinks should suffice, while a range of pills could provide the desired
variety for dinner according to the economic status of the consumer. In
that regard it will not be any different from today except that we have to
cook everything now.
So what will happen to all those restaurants in
Thamel? They could certainly take cue from Cafi Ke'ilu in trendy Shenkin
Street of Tel Aviv, where an entire menu of gourmet dishes is served as
make believe food for a hefty price.
And what of the highly acclaimed visual character of the traditional
architecture of the city developed over centuries, which is being rapidly
mutilated by the surge of short-sighted consumption of built space? In the
virtual world, visual character of the city can be virtually the way we
want it in our own environment. Its actual physical character will not be
significant.
However, if one decides to go for a walk, special vision
glasses shall do the needful, by converting all the building facades into
traditional Newari Architecture or European Baroque or Japanese tatami or
Corbusian concrete or a mixture if all of these, as desired by the viewer.
So what will make it happen ? Let us consider a few facts of life.
Technology seems to have this tendency of pilfering these days without any
regard to a real economic strength of the place, as is abundantly evident
in Kathmandu. Money for latest techie gizmos always seems to be available.
At the rate we are going, every third house will have a Ph.D. from a third
rate western university and every tenth from a top university. Since this
huge pool of highly educated manpower cannot be utilized in Nepal,
Kathmandu will be the home to the greatest per capita concentration of
Global consultants. The remittances to the city can be enormous, without
much economic activity actually taking place in the city itself.
Finally, how does this futuristic city fit in with rest of the country? In
the words of the redoubtable Lee Kwan Yu, cities of future will become
increasingly more independent economic and political entities connected in
a unique way in the Global community of cities. They will have very little
to do with existing geo-political conditions.
The rest of the country can
go back to its pastoral reverie, as Kathmandu emerges as a bright shining
star on the nightsky known as the Global village. But won't such a blissful
existence in the city encourage migration from the countryside? Not really,
the simple answer is there won't be any highways and buses to catch in the
evening from Kakarbhitta for Gongabu. Meanwhile the Kathmandu citizen is
trotting the globe in his/her quasi-plasmodic state, before he/she can be
re-energized into human form or its hologram in Battery Park in NewYork,
the Maidan in Calcutta, the Bund in Shanghai, or the Potsdam Paltz in
Berlin to start doing all those things he or she could never do in Nepal.
So the Future of Kathmandu seems very bright, if we can brave it for the
next fifty years as it is.
******************************************************************
Date: May 28, 1998
To: the Nepal digest <nepal@cs.niu.edu>
Subject: Nepali News
Source: The Kathmandu Post (acknowledged)
Heritier serves Jumlis with smokeless stoves
By a Post Reporter
KATHMANDU, May 28 - Realising the risk of catching diseases caused by smoke, Marc Heritier, a
32-year-old Swiss national, distributed 90 smokeless stoves to the people in Jumla.
"By using these smokeless stoves, consumption of large amount of firewood can be minimized and
environmental disasters can be prevented as well. At the same time, people would be refrained from
threats of catching chest diseases, eye diseases and respiratory diseases caused by smoke," said
Heritier at a press conference here today.
Each stove did cost him Rs 2,265. Including trasportation fare it went up to Rs 3,950 per stove.
For Heritier, Nepal is not only a tourist destination but a spiritual destination, too. He gets satisfaction in
serving the people in villages who are deprived of basic facilities. He has been actively involved in doing
services for the people living under poverty line in this Himalayan Kingdom for the last three and a half
years.
Earlier, he had offered financial assistance entirely from his own income in the construction of two
school buildings and drinking water projects in Kabhre and Ramechhap district.
In bouts of conversation, Heritier said, "Since I am not associated with any INGOs, I am made to pay
for trekking permit each time I make a trip to these areas and my air fare is tripple the amount of what a
Nepali passenger pays. If they had charged me for a normal fare then I would have used that money for
projects meant for these poverty-stricken people. It is a great waste. Only the love and gratitude from
people revitalises me to carry on serving people. But if people are for hearts, the government support is
meant for my wallet."
"This is very frustrating as Nepali government has frequently denied recognition to me even though I
have been involved in the service of poor people here," he lamented.
President Narayanan accorded warm welcome
By a Post Reporter
KATHMANDU, May 28 - Cool breeze and warm welcome greeted Indian
President K.R. Narayanan on his arrival here today on a three-day state visit to Nepal.
President Narayanan and his wife Usha were welcomed at the Tribhuvan International Airport by His
Majesty King Birendra and Her Majesty Queen Aishwarya. Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala,
Deputy PM Shailaja Acharya, ministers, diplomats and bureaucrats stood in line to greet the visitors.
"I am feeling wonderful to be in Kathmandu. This is a very memorable visit for me to this closest and
great neighbour of ours," the Indian President told reporters as His Majesty King Birendra stood by his
side.
This was his first visit to Nepal since he took the office last year. He said he was here in 1969 as an
official of the foreign office. "Everything is changed here since then," he said.
A 21-gun salute and a guard of honur was presented for the visitors while pancha kanyas (five little
girls clad in red dress) offered bouquets to a traditional welcome.
"I am here on a goodwill visit ... goodwill involves all kinds of relations," he said.
Prime Minister Koirala, talking to reporters later, said there was no agenda for talks between the
visiting President and the host side. "We could hold discussions on any issue," he added.
On the recent nuclear tests by India, Koirala said that Nepal wants complete disarmament and was
concerned that the tests could spark an arms race in the region.
While President Narayanan was talking to reporters at the airport, an Indian television
cameraman pushed Prime Minister Koirala with his hands to get a shot. Koirala
reacted with a look and mumbled back in Hindi.
------------------------
Tax: Should not the PM set example?
By Ameet Dhakal
KATHMANDU, May 28 - "When your head is held high, world will look upon you". This was the
magic slogan that appealed to the average Indian citizen that led to the success of last years Voluntary
Disclosure of Income Scheme (VDIS) and consequent clearence of income tax liabilities in India.
To replicate the Indian success in Nepal, His Majestys Government announced its own VDIS through
last years budget speech.
VDIS requires that people declare and clear their tax liabilities voluntarily. Upon such declaration, Tax
Department will not enquire further about a tax payers liabilities preceding last three years, unless it is a
serious case of tax evasion.
However, to the frustration of the Department of Tax, response to VDIS so far remains largely
insignificant. Latest figures show that tax clearance under VDIS has netted barely a few million rupees
out of the expected Rs 100 million at the least. And this, depsite two extensions of the deadline.
Only some salary earners and professionals like doctors and lawayers have come to inquire about
VDIS but the targeted affluent class hasnt bothered to comply, says Vidhayadhar Mallik, Director
General with the Tax Department.
Thats little surprise. Consider these two cases: First, Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, no less, has
failed to clear his land and housing tax liabilities for the last 15 years and that too, despite the 17 (note
the frustrating number seventeen) inquiry letters from the local tax office. Second, former Prime
Minister and CPN-UML President Man Mohan Adhikari has also failed to clear his house and land tax
liabilities, despite eleven inquiry letters.
If seventeen and eleven inquiry letters failed to draw the attention of these two-post-democracy
prime ministers, imagine what VDIS effect is on other politicians who are known to be corrupt.
Finance Minister Dr Ram Saran Mahat has repeatedly vowed in public that he would enforce law upon
those who fail to comply with the new concession for tax clearence. Now, should common people clear
their tax liabilities when their own prime minister is not clearing his? Whats wrong, if they follow their
PM?
Revenue Leakage Control Act says that anyone guilty of tax evasions will be liable for two years of
imprisonment and hundered percent penalty on the evaded tax.
If the Finance Minister - who is trying hard to project himself as a crusader against corruption - strictly
abides by his public commitments, he could be in serious trouble. Under the cabinet system he can
resign but cannot take action against the cabinet leader.
At this point, a pertinent question would be, is the present government serious about clearence of tax
liabilities ?
If so, it should lead with setting an example. And that can only be done by making it compulsory for the
PM, ministers and other high level government officials to clear their tax liabilities within a few weeks.
Otherwise, better pull down the curtain and close the VDIS drama since the government has no moral
ground to take action against tax evaders. Only officials who do not have tax liabilities can crack down
upon the private corporate sector, which is, perhaps, the largest tax evader.
Compare the contribution of public setor and private corporate sector to government exchequer State
Owned Enterprises (SOEs), with over 80 percent of sick industries, contribute about 25 percent of the
total revenue while the giant private corporate sector contributes only 5 percent to the government
revenue.
If we compare the ratio of their contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and revenue of these
two sectors, it brings into light an alarming situation, argues a government official.
Nepal with only around 30 per cent of direct tax contribution in the total revenue against 70 per cent of
similar contribution in the developed countries, has one of the lowest direct tax mobilization. Similarly,
total contribution of tax revenue in GDP, which is around 10 per cent, is also one of the lowest in the
world.
******************************************************************
Date: Tue, 26 May 1998 14:29:55 -0400
From: Surendra Adhikari <adhikar@uakron.edu>
To: tnd@nepal.org
Subject: Info on exchange rate
Dear TND
I need info on US$-N Rs exchange rate: current one and for one year
back, any corresponding day or date is okay. I'm sorry if I did not
make much effort to find the info. If you don't mind, would you please
let me know where I can find this info without much hassle. Sorry for
this unusual request. Thanks.
Surendra
*********************************************************************
Date: Tue, 26 May 1998 06:25:25 -0400 (EDT)
From: kathmandu@iname.com
To: tnd@nepal.org
Subject: Misuse of Royal Nepalese Embassy, London's name
Dear Sir,
I was very disappointed to read the last 2 issues of The Nepal Digest (18 May 1998 & 23 May 1998) to see the way in which email address for official purposes have been abused by staff at the Royal Nepalese Embassy, London for personal means for LT Col. Indra B Karki in tracking his lost friend (18 May 1998) and Aravindra B Karki for arranging a sponsorship for his further education (23 May 1998). From the gist of those emails, Aravindra B Karki is the son of Col. Indra B Karki who has a post at the Royal Nepalese Embassy. That on its own is not sufficient to abuse the Name of the Royal Nepalese Embassy for such personal advantages. Whatever Col. Indra B Karki might be trying to do for his son is in some ways justified as a desperate father trying to create a better future for his son, but it is not enough justification to be using the Royal Nepalese Embassy for such a purpose. It does not help to create a better image of Nepal when a email is being passed around begging for fi!
!
nancial aid with the Royal Nepalese Embassy name attached to it. Many foreigners who have had no knowledge of Nepal would on the very first instance assume that Royal Nepalese Embassy is begging for charity. It is small silly things such as this that should be avoided by embassies as these sort of things are what foreigners will judge us by. Is our embassies so low that it lets people use its name so cheaply for their own interests and damage the good name of Nepal and its ROYAL NEPALESE EMBASSY ? Seeing the way things work here in the USA, my answer would be NO ! But there are some who need to realise this and stop and think of the good name of Nepal first. I sincerely hope that Royal Nepalese Embassy, London does not allow such cheap use of its name, but also for others to think twice before using the name of our embassies for other purposes than its official work.
Thank-you
************************************************************
Date: Tue, 24 May 1988 21:57:59 +0100
From: Nicola King <nicolaking@easynet.co.uk>
To: tnd@nepal.org
Subject: Ex gurkha in UK
Thankyou for your E mail. Would it be possible for you to send me some information on GAESO as I have now come to a brick wall. At the moment I know that the Tax Gurkhas use to pay is not paid to the tax office. Many Gurkhas would have been entitled to tax rebates but as the tax office do not receive there tax deductions. They cannot claim tax rebates. If a Buenos man deducted tax from his employees and did not record the deductions or forward them to the tax office they would be arrested. The British army are exempt from this.
There resettlement money is there own money the army pay nothing.
I would appreciate any info you could give me, as this Gurkha was born in UK.
***************************************************************
Date: Fri, 29 May 1998 12:19:22 -0700
To: The Nepal Digest <NEPAL@cs.niu.edu>
From: Mahesh Maskey <mmaskey@bu.edu>
Subject: Re: Remembering Parijat....
REMEMBERING PARIJAT: PARIJAT'S "AADHI AAKASH"
Once again the spring has come, flowers suffusing memories of Parijat in
the ambience. With songs, memoirs and thoughts on Parijat's works, Parijat
Smriti Kendra rememberd her in 9th of May this year. Ramesh Bikal gave the
welcome speech and Sukanya presided the occasion. "Parijat Sangarshshil
puraskar 2054" was presented to 70 yrs old Nanimaiya Nakarmi for her
contribution in anti-Rana movement and the indomitable spirit she has shown
since then. Suresh Kiran Manandhar a poet from Nepal Bhasa literature was
awarded the "yuba puraskar". In his speech Mall K. sundar said that this
event of a Nepal Bhasa poet being awarded such puraskar should be
acknowledged as a historical event. A special hightlight of the occasion
was the presentation of songs on Parijat by Rayan and Ramesh jointly.
Another important event in Parijat's memory is the publication of all the
works of Parijat in 6 volumes. This praiseworthy achievement was made by
Sikkim in the initiative of Pawan Chamling "Kiran". Volume one has 4 novels
including Shirish ko phool. Volume two has 5 novels inculding "Anidopahad
sangai". Volume three has 5 collection of stories including "Aadim Desh".
Volume four has 3 collection of memoirs inculding "Dhupi, salla ra
laliguransko phedma". Volume five has 3 collection of poetry including
"Aakanchhya". Volume six has other important essays and interviews of
Parijat. In every volume the preface is written by Pawan Chamling "Kiran".
To the readers of TND I present the preface of volume six.
Pawan Chamling "Kiran", the present Chief Minister of Sikkim, here
compares Parijat's thoughts on the question of women's liberation those of
two major figures of the feminist movement of the West, Simone de Beauvoir
and Betty Friedan. Considering the depth of philosophical issues he covers
in such a little space I consider his achievement remarkable, hence my
effort to
present his words to the readership of TND. An additional factor for
presenting
Chamling's thought was also my own pleasant surprise to find a succcessful
politician with literary talents who has a fair grasp of the different
viewpoints in women's liberation movement, or perhaps more correctly, to
find an acclaimed writer aware of women's liberation issues who is equally
successful in meeting the responsibilities of a politician. The following
is a translation of the text of the preface of Volume 6, Collected Works of
Parijat, published by Nirman Publication, Sikkim and reproduced in JanEkata
Saptahik (Jan. 19, 1998/ Magh 6 Monday 2054).
mahesh maskey
Parijat's "Aadhi Aakash"
- Pawan Chamling "Kiran"
"Village girls are for everybody..."
"Patali does her hair in two braids,
and lies to us ...."
"Saili and Maili have eloped,
leaving home and village so empty...."
Touched to the quick by such lines from songs that are played by Radio
Nepal, Parijat writes - " Giving birth to me in a thicket of Titepati while
hauling earth, returning home carrying me in a fold of your shawl, my
suffering one! Mother, the urban rogues who roam around singing such
songs broadcast by the dignity of the nation, Radio Nepal, have more
than once raped your dignity". By including in this volume the
collection of essays "Adhi Akash", in which the famed writer Parijat, so
conscious of women's honour, focussed on the question of women's
liberation, we are placing those writings before the womenfolk of this
region who are bearing cruel tyranny. It is essential for us all to deeply
understand that because the question of women's liberation is not a matter
of concern
for women only, but joined to the vital question of liberation of all
levels of oppressed people, the essays collected in this section are just
as important for men who are partisans of liberty and equality.
Parijat has expressed how news from any part of the world, of tyranny
against women of any social and economic group inflicted just because they
were women used to agonize her as if her heart was being sawed in two.
It will be fitting to insert here a fact that we have understood: upon
hearing such caustic news of violence against and oppression of women she
did not merely become immersed in mourning songs. On the contrary, she
spat fire upon such oppressors and perpetrators of violence.
Parijat's partisanship for women is based on women's liberation and thus
on the philosophy and principles of liberation of all labouring people.
There is no anti-male sentiment within her intense anger toward those
who consider women only as objects and slaves, as is found in some
feminist writers. With great vivaciousness, she says, "Women have to fight
their own war of liberation themselves. However women's war is not
against men but against a cruel system that renders concessions to men."
Parijat was initially influenced by existentialism, but the essays
collected here are free from the influence of the Western existentialists
or the Eastern Voidism of Aswaghosh or Nagarjun which are asssociated with
Vajrayana.
To understand Parijat's fundamental difference from the Western feminist
movement, it is very helpful to directly compare her thoughts with those
expressed in the "The Second Sex" of Simone de Beauvoir, which is
considered practically the foundation stone of the Western feminist
movement. de Beauvoir has explained history in accordance with the
existentialist perspective of her mentor and intimate friend Jean- Paul
Sartre. In relation to the rise of private property she writes: "For it
to appear, there must have been at first an inclination in the subject to
think of himself and the separateness of his existence". Parijat's
disagreements with this view, which smacks of an outlook that affirms the
primacy of consciousness, are expressed throughout these essays.
Putting forward the thesis that in the course of class struggle the
proletariat will keep on changing itself as well and its existence as a
class will also come to an end, de Beauvoir has argued that the goal of
proletarian class struggle is its own disappearance as a class. But the
goal of the women's movement cannot be disappearance of the female sex.
After this de Beauvoir continued to add arguments in order to show women's
liberation and the liberation of society's other oppressed classes to be
independent. Parijat, who holds to the opposite principle, states with
great clarity: "...Women cannot fight alone, we must fight in solidarity
with all the exploited men of the country, incorporating our own program
into that of struggle-based transformational political groups."
In the West most feminist writers, bringing gender differences to the
forefront, have laboured to show how women are portrayed as an erotic
object for men. In her book de Beauvoir has discussed how in the Soviet
Union the government was compelled to urge women to adorn themselves, to
attract males by becoming sexually appealing. Futhermore, many female
writers have demanded protection of the right to exhibit beauty through
adornment and the wearing of various kinds of beautiful-looking cosmetics,
jewellery and dresses, taking this to be a natural tendency of women. The
following lines make clear her disagreement with this line of thinking:
In reality means of ornamentation are handcuffs and chains for women.
These always leave us in a state of mental and physical stress. Not able
to walk freely nor eat with ease, nor relax in the sun, nor wipe away our
sweat, not able to brave the wind nor to face rain droplets, what kind of
tight life is this?"
Parijat is immensely influenced by the thoughts of the late anthropologist
and renowned feminist writer Evelyn Reed who has said that in studying
primitive human society and also in contemporary times the existence of sex
competition has not been observed in the women while, in contrast, in men
such competition and jealousy is observed to be strongly entrenched, and
therefore primitive society could have only been organized through the
leadership of women.
It is because of unclarity of perspective that even Betty Friedan, who
was able to make clear with such incomparable talent the situation and
status of women in American society in her much discussed book "The
Feminine Mystique", has not been able to make clear the real further
duty for women's liberation. In her well known aggressive style she
writes: "It also is time to stop giving lip service to the idea that there
are no battles left to be fought for women in America.... In almost every
professional field, in business and in the arts and sciences, women are
still treated as second class citizens." But after this, with regard to
what movement for women's liberation is to be organized, what kind and how,
Friedan is limited to the following opinion: " It would be a great
service to tell girls who plan to work in society to expect this subtle
uncomfortable discrimination, tell them not to be quiet and hope it will
go away, but fight it. A girl should not expect special privileges because
of her sex, but neither should she adjust to prejudice and discrimination."
In Parijat, considered her life-philosophy as the philosophy of seeing,
understanding and transforming the world, one does not find confusion
regarding women's liberation as is found in other feminist writers. Whether
we agree or disagree with Parijat, we have to concede that the thoughts of
Parijat are in themselves not contradictory or unsystematic. This
collection presented here is unequivocal proof of her commitment toward
oppressed people, and more specifically toward women.
Instead of advising each to make their own career alone, she makes a
clear call to bring on the hurricane of struggle by joining mountains
and lowlands together and to fight by becoming one with the productive
forces. She speaks this way on behalf of her own outlook:
"Women are not the advertisements of beauty that capitalist and feudalist
society have been making them out to be. Those who want to spread the
sentiment of liberation have to do battle with the horrors of the
landslide and the flood, the highland fogs have to be merged with the hot
air. Tear and sweat soaked rhododendron and the sakhuwa-flowers have to be
swapped. Those who want liberation must be able to spread their circle of
hands in solidarity. They must make common cause with the productive forces.
Extracting it from the symbols of beauty and sex, the honour of women has
to be hooked upon the canvas of struggle."
Translation by: Mahesh Maskey and Mary DesChene
******************************************************************
From: himalmag@mos.com.np
To: Nepal@cs.niu.edu
Date: Fri, 30 May 1998 01:27:58 +0000
Subject: So who can go further in South Asia?
Hi!
For a graphic view on the nuke envy in South Asia, you may want to
visit the Himal web site (www.himalmag.com), first page.
Thanks!
Kanak in Kathmandu
****************************************************************
Date: Fri, 05 Jun 1998 10:30:29 EDT
To: <nepal-request@cs.niu.edu>
From: "Rabin Shrestha" <rshrestha@csm.astate.edu>
Subject: Please post this add on TND
Looking for someone in Little Rock/Arkansas area
-------------------------------------------------------------
I will soon be relocating myself in Little Rock,Arkansas, area for my =
job purpose. So, I would like to know some Nepali around there. If any =
of you live there or know who lives there please send me an e-mail. =20
My e-mail address is rshrestha@csm.astate.edu
Regards,
Rabin Srhestha
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