Dedicated to Nepal and the Nepalis

Praise be to Bahadur Shah Devendra Gautam Before writing comes the inertia. Why write at all? Write for whom? For a people awaiting the next flight to leave this country, forever if possible, in their eternal quest for the proverbial land?  Come on, who has the time and the energies for your ramblings? Who will read your pieces and think about them in a decadent society where ill-gotten wealth amassed through high treason and other unethical means gives you instant glory, where words do not count, where qualities like honesty, integrity and intellect find place in tributes only?  The forces you regularly target through your writings are super-powerful, unlike lesser mortals that constitute a majority in this country, so beware, beware of the blood-soaked pages of this country, for your own good, will you?  In an Afghanistan-like setting, these forces are way more powerful than the Loya Jirga, in a Colombia-like environment, they are more powerful than the cartels, in an e...

  Devendra Gautam The Buddha Purnima is over but peace and bliss is very much in the air in the studios of Nepal Art Galley (the venue of the exhibition titled Deities of Nepal-II) drowned in a stream of mellifluous music in the midst of a cacophonous concrete jungle. Next to a beautiful idol of Ganesh, the divine remover of obstacles, Tsering Phonjo Gurung`s monastery (medium: Canvas), adorned with colourful windows and prayer flags, appears to rise with the clouds, unlike the modern-day centers of faith that rise on the lap of Mother Nature, obscuring Nature herself, particularly one of her finest creations, the lush-green woods.  Close by, gently rises Priyanka Karn´s 'Patan Krishna Mandir' in Mithila style (medium: canvas), with ‘Hare Krishna’ in a yellow background, bringing a generous touch of Mithilanchal. Karn appears to bring Mithila finesse and fertility to the ruggedness of the mountains that the Shikhar (mountain-like) style seems to represent.  In a large can...

देवेन्द्र गौतम विभिन्न स्वार्थसमूहहरूका मुखपत्रहरूलाई र तिनका 'लाड्लाहरू'लाई अपाच्य लाग्न सक्छ मेरो विचार तरै पनि पोष्ट गर्ने धृष्टता गरेको छु है..... थप: मेरो लेखनीको आत्मपरकताप्रति केही 'बडेबडे' संपादकहरूको आपत्ति पटकपटक झेलेको छु। कम्तिमा पनि यो मंचमा I am entitled to my opinion, होइन र?   स्पष्ट पारूँ: कुनै प्रख्यात स्तम्भकार भएर आत्मपरक भएको होइन म। म अर्थात् अलिकति आगो, अलिकति पानी, अलिकति प्रकाश, थोरै आकाश, हावा र पृथ्वी मिलेर बनेको यो नश्वर देहले जे देख्छ, भोग्छ, त्यसलाई लोकसँग जोडेर लेख्ने हो, नाफा-घाटा जोड-घटाउ, भागा-गुणा गरेर लेख्ने होइन। आफ्ना आँसु, हाँसो, पीडा, सुस्केरा लोकसँग बाँड्दा दुख बाँडिन्छ। असारे झरीमा राएँ डोकामा खाँदिएको खर बोकेर भीरकुनाबाट चिप्लो बाटो घर फर्किँदै गर्दा, नाम्लाको बैरोले टाउको टट्टाउँदा पनि आमा किन म बबुरोसँग कुरा गर्दै हिँडन खोज्नुहुन्थ्यो बुझ्दैछु। बालुवाटारलाई दुख्छ कि, बार्दलीलाई दुख्छ कि, दिल्लीलाई दुख्छ कि, बेइजिंगलाई दुख्छ कि, वाशिंगटन, डिसीलाई दुख्छ कि, ब्रसेल्सलाई दुख्छ कि भनेर self-censorship गर्ने स्तम्भकारको कर्तव्य होइ...

गास-बास-कपास सधैँ अनिश्चित पाइला-पाइलामा लात खान, अपमान सहन विवश तिमीले ज्यादै तुच्छ सम्झेको त्यो प्राणी गाउँबस्तीको सुरक्षामा दिनरात खटिन्छ, मानौँ शान्ति-सुरक्षा कायम गर्ने आकर्षक काम पाएको छ। तिमी क्षुद्र स्वार्थका लागि आगो बाल्छौ मान्छे-मान्छे लडाएर समाज भाँडछौ, देश बेच्छौ क्षुद्र सत्तास्वार्थ पूरा गर्छौ तर पनि तिमी महान ठानिन्छौ तिम्रा शालिक ठडिन्छन् चोक-चोकमा, पार्कपार्कमा, मोडमोडमा चामलका बोरादखि बाबुनानीका पुस्तकहरूमा तिमी नै तिमी देखिन्छौ मानौँ तिमी नै नश्वर लोकले कहिल्यै नदेखेको, नभेटेको इश्वर हौ। हुक्के, ढोके, बैठकेहरू, शाखा-सन्ततिहरूबाट टाढा रहेको बेला आत्ममुग्धताको जरोले छाडेको बेला, नितान्त एक्लै भएको बेला शयनकक्षको पूर्णकदको ऐनामा आफूलाई नियालेर हेर्नु हे ‘महानताका प्रतिमूर्ति! तिमी आफ्नो सक्कली स्वरूप देखेर आफैँ तर्सिनेछौ। - देवेन्द्र गौतम  

Devendra Gautam A 45-day-long electoral process has come crashing down on India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and brought the main opposition Indian National Congress back from the brink of its 240-year history, albeit feebly, thanks to generous support from the INDIA Alliance.  The BJP itself has fallen short of a majority by securing 240 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha, triggering calls from certain quarters for Prime MInister Narendra Modi’s resignation as the latter himself—or his ‘guarantee’—was the main agenda for this election. Nonetheless, the NDA bloc consisting of the BJP,  Chandrababu Naidu-led Telugu Desham Party (TDP) and the Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal (United), among other partners, has clinched 295 seats in the Lok Sabha, offering some respite to the BJP as the NDA has crossed the halfway mark of 272 seats required for a majority in the lower chamber of the bicameral parliament at the Centre. Still, there’s no guarantee that the 16-seat-strong TDP and the 1...

  A thick envelope of dust. The layer is so thick that the man behind the wheel, in all likelihood, is finding it quite difficult to find which is the road—a sliver cut through landslide-prone terrains—and which is not. Each vehicle passing through the artery leaves behind a cloud, making it very very difficult for every motorist to navigate the stretch and adding to the agonies of hapless passengers.  K garne? Little inconveniences like these are welcome in our march for progress and prosperity, right? Still, there’s a pattern to road construction and expansion works in Nepal.  Monstrous earth-moving equipment start attacking our fragile terrains in the holy name of road expansion, exposing stretches destabilized during the earlier phases to greater risks. Yours truly is not an authority figure in road works, but his observation is that a fresh phase of expansion/upgradation work begins not long after the completion of an earlier phase, causing further destabilization of...

 Devendra Gautam Growing up amid apple orchards and grain fields on the lap of Api, by the side of Humla Karnali and Humane Khola was fun, at least for a 'Gorkhali' kid of a senior government official. For the local people, all outsiders not from Karnali zone were 'Gorkhalis' back then and it was not unusual for the locals to dislike these outsiders.  Most probably, this dislike wells up from the bosom of the snowland from the times of re-unification of modern Nepal. Launched during the reign of King Prithvi Narayan Shah about 280 years ago, the campaign met an abrupt end after the Anglo-Nepal war of 1814-1816 that dismembered Nepal as it forced her to cede swathes of her territories. But the old wounds continue to fester as the state apathy toward genuine concerns of the zone turned province even after a switch to federalism from the unitary state system.   For outsiders, the Himalayan region offers a romantic view of life but for local communities, life is full of ...