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Burning bright in Bardiya

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Burning bright in Bardiya Devendra Gautam A foggy mind is nothing like the foggy forest of Nagarjun — cool, refreshing, beautiful and full of diversity. It is not where columns of trees soar, birds sing, butterflies flutter, monkeys jump from branch to branch and other creatures go about their lives with the five elements — Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Ether — in a state of relative equilibrium even as the concrete jungle continues to advance like the Birnam Wood of Macbethian era.  Forget about visualising a story and prompting writing, a mind at war with itself, a mind that has  become a warzone featuring Iran-America, India-Pakistan, Thailand-Cambodia, Pakistan-Afghanistan, not to mention existential problems galore in a country in perpetual turmoil, cannot even think clearly.  Or is it the writer’s block? What is this creature that has come out of the woodwork, all of a sudden? Tyrannosaurus rex? Has the Ice Age returned or am I hallucinating? Mahadev, the lord of the...
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The fragrance within, the perils beyond

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  Devendra Gautam Where have we come from, and where are we headed, as an ancient country struggling to find its moorings as a young republic?  Before straining our eyes to peer into the future through the haze of an uncertain present, let’s try to look a bit into the past.  Scriptures tell us that Nepal has existed in all four eons — the Satyayug, Tretayug, Dwaparyug and the Kaliyug — under different names — the Satyavati, Tapobhubmi, Muktisopan and Nepalikapuri. They tell us that Devas, their adversaries and other divine beings descended on this sacred land for tapasya to absolve themselves of their sins and earn merit, along with different heavenly bodies.  At a certain period in Dwapar Yug, according to scriptures, the land full of precious jewels became a land of forests and fertile soil, as the looming Kaliyug began to show its true colours. Sounds more like fiction than history? Maybe, but then myths are a very important part of every ancient c...
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Snapped Connectivity, Great-Power Rivalry and Nepal’s Strategic Choices

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Devendra Gautam My phone’s broken, perhaps as a result of my fiddling with it. The computer snaps every now and then, and so does my thought process. Surprisingly, I see no foreign hand in life’s little inconveniences like these.  Flickers of old reports come to mind, and I muster enough courage to write once again in this great city of well-known intellectuals for whom finding space in the glittering pages of leading publications appears almost effortless.   Before proceeding further, I request the enlightened readership to keep in mind that I am writing pretty much the old way — mostly by remembering what I read, heard, watched. While this escapade from cyberspace feels great to me, I request the enlightened lot to highlight factual errors, if any, even if it requires some serious reading.  We are not known as a country of serious readers, and if this writeup spurs a bit of reading—and thinking—in a bid to find out factual errors, what more can I ask for? ...
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दु:खको बजार र सम्यकमार्ग

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देवेन्द्र गौतम  असार २०८३ का अन्तिम दिनहरू। स्वयम्भू महाचैत्यसम्म पुग्ने इच्छा जागेकोले एक रायेँ डोको (पश्चिम नेपालमा डोकाहरूमध्ये सबैभन्दा ठुलो डोकोलाई रायेँ डोको भनिन्छ) प्रश्न बोक्दै भगवानपाउ आइपुगेको छु, खलखली पसिना काढदै।  हिमालयक्षेत्र र प्रकारान्तरले  विश्वभरि नै बुद्धधर्म फैलाउन महत्वपूर्ण भूमिका खेलेका पद्मसंभव अर्थात् गुरू रिम्पोछेको भव्य मूर्ति छेवैमा विराजमान छ।  सडक पारीबाटै पद्मसंभवका आँखाको भाव पढ्न खोज्छु। झलक्क हेर्दा क्रोध छचल्किए जस्तो लागे पनि अलि गहिरिएर हेर्दा करूणा छचल्किएजस्तो लाग्छ। आफ्ना मनका भावहरू देखिने ऐना पो रहेछन् कि त हाम्रा मूर्तिहरू? आफूभित्रका नीच प्रवृत्तिहरू (baser instincts) माथि विजय प्राप्त गर्न त मारको प्रलोभनबाट अविचलित शाक्यमुनि बुद्धको भूमिस्पर्श मुद्रा नै उपयुक्त लाग्छ मलाइ। तपाइँहरूलाई नि? जे होस्, बुद्धवचनमा, बुद्धशिक्षामा केन्द्रित हुनु नै उचित होला अज्ञानवनमा थप भौँतारिनुभन्दा किनभने यो दुःखको अर्को कारण हुन सक्छ क्रोधका अलावा। शाक्यमुनि बुद्धले दुःखको कारण मात्र देखाउनुभएन, त्यसबाट मुक्त हुने बाटो पनि देखाउनुभयो। त्य...
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A quest for survival amid the Great Himalayan Game

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  Devendra Gautam Is the period of Long Peace, marked by the absence of major wars between great powers since the end of World War II (1945), nearing its end, under the cumulative strain of regional wars and renewed great-power rivalry? What’s on the horizon? Cold peace or hot wars? What do the latest developments in Iran, Lebanon, Syria and Palestine indicate? What do hurried preparations for India-China trade and movement of two peoples through the Lipulek Pass, which Nepal has been claiming to be part of her territory that extends from Kalapani to Limpiadhura citing the Treaty of Sugauli (1816) and other official documents like land tax payment receipts, indicate? All this, despite the recognition of a border dispute in the area and commitments from New Delhi to settle all border disputes with Nepal through diplomacy. What do the developments indicate? Another long, cold and protracted era of the Great Himalayan Game?   By treating Lipulek as a bilateral trade point, o...
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