When stupidity is a national character....
Bhumika Ghimire
April 12, 2006
Ok this is not something original, if I had known the author I would have gladly quoted him or her, "there is no cure for stupidity". You need proof, please look at events in Nepal.
The royal family has for long been using the national fund for its own pleasure, with no regard for the economic crises facing the nation or the fact that people in Dolpa and Rukum are starving. Whom am I kidding; even people in the capital are starving. Just look around the city, the street kids, the slum dwellers. Still our national conscious would never allow us to think even for once that we should have a form of government where the King is not above all or at least the King should accept that we the people are not his slaves or property he inherited. After the Ranas left we had a good chance of starting new, without monarchy, without the rotten system of slaving people and keeping them hostage with ancient ideas of caste and class. But no. We are so loyal, we are so loving. We went rushing back to King Tribhuvan and started the same cycle of being slaves once again, that was a good move because we were promised "democracy" right?
Democracy or whatever we were promised quickly disappeard when Mahendra became King. He started the campaign to undo whatever his little father had done. So little bit of democracy, liberty all disappeared. Still we stayed loyal to this "institution". Yes there were protests, people were killed, people were jailed but everything died down. And we spin the wheel once again. When he passed away, his son King Birendra tried to differ from his father. Tried to do something for the country. But not a whole lot. Because remember, for the royals we were and we are still an inheritance. The inheritance they were free to use the way they like, the way they please.
Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if along with Prince Dhirendra, King Birendra had punished Price Gynendra for all his misdeeds. If he has forced both of his brothers to leave the country and live like regular people? Something to think about.
Anyway, that did not happen and now we are here fighting for democracy once again. It has been like a national pastime in Nepal. One in two or three decades we fight for democracy, and then we bring to power people whom we know are no good. We let them loot the nation for a while and then the cycle beging onec again.For how long? For long are we going to go on like this? Nobody asks. If you ask you will be a traitor. So you keep quite.
What bothers me most, more than this cycle of slavery and run for democracy is that we as nation have never been able to have a free conscience? We think the King is God so we cannot question his decisions. Isn't this way the "country loving" political leaders never questions the frivolous spending of the Royal Family? Why the past prime ministers did participated in royal family functions knowing that the money spent there could have saved lives of hundreds of kids dying from malaria or flu or save them starvation. I am not questioning the present ministers because I know their soul and conscience were on sale and was bought by the highest bidder.
We still carry on the ancient decorum of Manu which separates us from our own people on the basis of caste and birth. I am still a "Brahmin" and you still carry on your caste tag proudly. Yes, you. It’s you and me who are still dragging this corpse of discrimination. We still feel that anything Nepali is inferior, so when Samrat Upadhaya writes a novel we won't read. But if it comes from Stephen King or some other American or British we will read it. We don't have confidence in ourselves, no wonder no one cares about us.
We as society have no culture to respect talent, contribution or service. Sorry Mr. Devkota, but if you were born in US or France of even in India you would have at least escaped the humiliation of selling your creations for peanuts. We had no respect for Bhupi or Katuwal. We let Lamichane die a lonely death; we let Bhakta Raj just cry in silence and not a word was said when Tara Devi was kicked out of Radio Nepal. I feel like shooting myself when someone new kid on the block comes up and says "there is no respect for my talent in Nepal". Hey I got news for you, please read the history before you decide your career.
Being stupid, not using the brain god gave us is like a national Nepali character. And sadly there is no cure for this disease. The cycle for democratic struggle has begun once again; I just hope that one day we will have a struggle to gain some brain.
Copyright:Bhumika Ghimire,2006
The royal family has for long been using the national fund for its own pleasure, with no regard for the economic crises facing the nation or the fact that people in Dolpa and Rukum are starving. Whom am I kidding; even people in the capital are starving. Just look around the city, the street kids, the slum dwellers. Still our national conscious would never allow us to think even for once that we should have a form of government where the King is not above all or at least the King should accept that we the people are not his slaves or property he inherited. After the Ranas left we had a good chance of starting new, without monarchy, without the rotten system of slaving people and keeping them hostage with ancient ideas of caste and class. But no. We are so loyal, we are so loving. We went rushing back to King Tribhuvan and started the same cycle of being slaves once again, that was a good move because we were promised "democracy" right?
Democracy or whatever we were promised quickly disappeard when Mahendra became King. He started the campaign to undo whatever his little father had done. So little bit of democracy, liberty all disappeared. Still we stayed loyal to this "institution". Yes there were protests, people were killed, people were jailed but everything died down. And we spin the wheel once again. When he passed away, his son King Birendra tried to differ from his father. Tried to do something for the country. But not a whole lot. Because remember, for the royals we were and we are still an inheritance. The inheritance they were free to use the way they like, the way they please.
Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if along with Prince Dhirendra, King Birendra had punished Price Gynendra for all his misdeeds. If he has forced both of his brothers to leave the country and live like regular people? Something to think about.
Anyway, that did not happen and now we are here fighting for democracy once again. It has been like a national pastime in Nepal. One in two or three decades we fight for democracy, and then we bring to power people whom we know are no good. We let them loot the nation for a while and then the cycle beging onec again.For how long? For long are we going to go on like this? Nobody asks. If you ask you will be a traitor. So you keep quite.
What bothers me most, more than this cycle of slavery and run for democracy is that we as nation have never been able to have a free conscience? We think the King is God so we cannot question his decisions. Isn't this way the "country loving" political leaders never questions the frivolous spending of the Royal Family? Why the past prime ministers did participated in royal family functions knowing that the money spent there could have saved lives of hundreds of kids dying from malaria or flu or save them starvation. I am not questioning the present ministers because I know their soul and conscience were on sale and was bought by the highest bidder.
We still carry on the ancient decorum of Manu which separates us from our own people on the basis of caste and birth. I am still a "Brahmin" and you still carry on your caste tag proudly. Yes, you. It’s you and me who are still dragging this corpse of discrimination. We still feel that anything Nepali is inferior, so when Samrat Upadhaya writes a novel we won't read. But if it comes from Stephen King or some other American or British we will read it. We don't have confidence in ourselves, no wonder no one cares about us.
We as society have no culture to respect talent, contribution or service. Sorry Mr. Devkota, but if you were born in US or France of even in India you would have at least escaped the humiliation of selling your creations for peanuts. We had no respect for Bhupi or Katuwal. We let Lamichane die a lonely death; we let Bhakta Raj just cry in silence and not a word was said when Tara Devi was kicked out of Radio Nepal. I feel like shooting myself when someone new kid on the block comes up and says "there is no respect for my talent in Nepal". Hey I got news for you, please read the history before you decide your career.
Being stupid, not using the brain god gave us is like a national Nepali character. And sadly there is no cure for this disease. The cycle for democratic struggle has begun once again; I just hope that one day we will have a struggle to gain some brain.
Copyright:Bhumika Ghimire,2006
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