Dedicated to Nepal and the Nepalis

धेरै समयपछि फेरि कविताजस्तो लाग्ने केहि लेख्ने धृष्टता गरियो, सरस्वती माताको कृपाले । बाल-दार्शनिकलाई धन्यवाद । परेलीमा अल्झिरहेको निद्रा झार्दै उही दैनिक मुसे दौडमा सहभागी हुन हतारहतार गर्दै फेरि एकपटक घरबाट निस्कनै लाग्दा सानो थानेदारझैँ लाग्ने तिमीसति जम्काभेट हुन्छ बुट्टे झ्यालको पर्दा उघार्दै क्षितिजमा बालसूर्य उदाएझैँ उदाउँछौ जब तिमी तब म मेरो बाल्यकाल बिर्सन्छु आमाको सारीको फेर समात्दै गाउँबेसी हुँदै कालीकिनार पुग्छु जब तिमी अर्थात् बाल–दार्शनिक समय टक्क अडिएको बेला, मेरो अन्तरात्मा हल्लिने गरी सोध्छौः हजूरको घर कहाँ हो अंकल भनी मलाइ ज्ञान प्राप्त भइहाल्छ परदेशी हुँ, धेरै टाढा जानु पो छ त दिनभरि तिम्रो गंभीर प्रश्नले लखेटिरहन्छ निरूत्तर म भागिरहन्छु, भागिरहन्छु, भागिरहन्छु देवेन्द्र गौतम

Okay, the event’s a little old but still worth bringing up for its rich symbolism. By the time yours truly got into the jampacked stadium, the battle royale was already over, and the crowd was going euphoric with Nepal clinching a victory against an up-and-coming footballing nation in the neighbourhood. You see, there come in the not-so-eventful life of yours truly some important engagements that coincide with other equally important events. The fiddler high above had perhaps set the date of the battle royale with this important event to make an otherwise mundane life a little bit more interesting. The fiddler high above had perhaps set the date of the battle royale with this important event to make an otherwise mundane life a little bit more interesting Looking back, getting a ticket to the football finale was akin to winning a Mahabharata of sorts. It meant having faith in the online ticketing system that was down most of the time and trying desperately with fellow footba...

For a few days, yours truly had been searching for the topic to write something or anything about – you see, this scribbler is not some great writer, who can write a masterpiece in a jiffy, in a manner that a magician brings out all sorts of objects as per the demand from the audience. So much is happening here, there, everywhere in this land of milk and honey and you are searching for a topic to write about, as if it were a needle in the haystack!  You may say – your views obviously depend on where you are coming from – so much is happening here, there, everywhere in this land of milk and honey and you are searching for a topic to write about, as if it were a needle in the haystack! If your heart beats for the opposition camp, you may list great things that your party is doing, of course, for the country and the people, inside and outside the Parliament. Things like protest for the sake of Limpiadhura, Lipulek, Kalapani, Susta and several other encroached upon/invaded ter...

Outside a temple at the Patan Durbar Square, there are sculptures of kings astride giant elephants trampling upon humans, perhaps the enemies of the ‘state’. These images vividly come to my mind, especially when I’m biking along chock-a-bloc arteries of Kathmandu. Perhaps this has got something to do with my near-death experience on the road in May 2008. It’s five o’clock and I’ve got to bike my way to the office. The roads dread me, but I have no choice. Once while driving under the influence of thoughts (I drive at the speed through which thoughts travel in my cranium, so I’m especially vulnerable to traffic accidents on merciless roads of Kathmandu) along the Ring Road at Bagdol, I came under the wheels of a goods carrier and had a close shave. Not all people are that fortunate. It was then that I had this bizarre realisation (or illusion) of some creatures from high above watching over me, not to mention the merciful driver, who could have easily rolled over me and called i...

गोविन्दजी! १) तपाइँको पसिना मिसिएको नदीको पानी कति मीठो ! पसिना त यति मीठो छ भने तपाइँको रगत कति मीठो होला हगि गोविन्दजी ! २) खेतबारीमा पसिना बगाउँदा नबिर्सनुहोला खोलाको पानीमा तपाइँको पसिना जति बगे बगोस् रगत चाहिँ एक थोपा पनि नबगोस् है अलिकति रगतमात्रै पानीमा मिसिएपनि सार्क झैँ घातक महामानवहरू शिकारी कुकुरसँगै तपाइँको शिकार गर्न घरदैलोमै ओइरिनेछन् किनभने उनीहरू आफूलाई अजर–अमर पार्ने धुनमा लागेका छन् । ३) मलाइ शंका लाग्छ गोविन्दजी कतै तपाइँजस्ता परिश्रमीहरूको रगत पिएरैै हाम्रा महामानवहरू रक्तबीज झैँ अजम्बरी र अपराजित भएका त हैनन्? जुकाझैँ टाँसिएर कतै तपाइँहरूलाई सिध्याउँदै त छैनन् ? देशभरि छरिएका रक्तबीजहरूले तपाइँको शरीरलाई पनि गाँजेका होलान् शरीरभरि सर्पदंशका चिन्हहरूछोडेका होलान् एकचोटि नियालेर हेर्नुहोला है गोविन्दजी! ४) जीवन यति कहालीलाग्दो छ मृत्यु कति कहालीलाग्दो होला हगि गोविन्दजी ! ५) तपाइँ खेत, बारी र कान्लाहरूमा सिर्जना उमार्नुहुन्छ आफ्नो पसिना फुलेको देखेर दङ्ग पर्नुहुन्छ म शब्दहरूको खेती गर्छु तर चट्टानजस्ता मस्तिष्कहरूमा बिचार उ...

Don't worry, fellow Nepalis, for the country is safe in the hands of crooks. Yours truly thinks most of you guys, regardless of the very many stations of life that you may be in, worry a lot about this country, if the vibes he gets at every imaginable platform — social media, conversations in public places, social gatherings, the Press, among others — are anything to go by. Despite your worries, this parcel of land spread in 1,47,181 sq km (at least on paper), this slice of the Asian pancake sliced repeatedly to feed colonial-imperial ambitions seems to be going to the dogs and this causes you further worry.  At a time of yet another crisis in the life of this country, when the state seems to have failed yet again to take decisive steps for ensuring the inviolability of its borders and asserting national sovereignty, you may seek solace in the fact that our ancestors too used to worry a lot about this fatherland ( pitribhoomi ), this motherland ( matribhoomi ), this land...

The year was 1972 and what a year it was! It was history in the making.   The global champion of capitalism, the United States, crossed the Himalayan barrier to shake hands with a communist China leaving behind past irritants like the Korean War and the Vietnam War and establishing a bilateral relationship that would emerge as the most important international relationship over the years . This new chapter in the diplomatic relationship between the two amazingly different countries, which marked the end of over two-decade-long halt in  the ties, was a Richard Nixon-Henry Kissinger master stroke targeted at weakening China's ties with the then Soviet Union in the interest of the United States. This relationship proved quite resilient even during trying times like the Tiananmen Square massacre (1989), the handover handover  of Hong Kong (July 1, 1997) to mainland China, constant friction over Taiwan, the collapse of communism in East Europe and the fragmentation o...