Nepal Votes for change

It’s been close to 20 days since I am in Nepal. As you might have already guessed, I loved this place. It’s been an absolute delight to be here. The tours, travels and visits apart, there is something very important that happened in Nepal during my stay here. Nepal has voted for a change. Nepal has voted to form its own constitution.

From what ever little I saw of Nepal, I can say that there are two major things that can drive Nepal as country (economically). One is, of course, Tourism. Another is Water power. Yes, Water power!!! A small trivia here - After Brazil, Nepal is the second country with the most water resources. You have all type of water resource here, river, like, stream - everything. I read somewhere - if somehow all this water resource is converted into energy, not a single person in Nepal will need Petrol/diesel. Everything can run on electricity.

But sadly for Nepal and its citizens, both these source of income have not been harnessed fully. For tourism to flourish fully, political stability is required. This is something that Nepal has not enjoyed for a long time. They have already been facing a lot of internal fighting and instability. Take my own case for example; in the last 20 days of my stay here, I saw five bomb blasts within a radius of 5 KMs from the place of my work and one bomb blast in a place of worship outside Katmandu valley. Even after this I see foreign tourists moving around and enjoying the place as if there are in paradise. Then just imagine, how tourism would be if there was no civil unrest and political stability in Nepal!!!

As far as harnessing water resource is concerned, it requires money. This is again something that, at present Nepal is not having in abundance. Most of the money that it has earned previously has either been either looted by anti-social elements or eaten by corrupt officials. In fact the situation is soo bad that there are only two roads of exit from Katmandu valley which is always congested. And the government does not have money to widen the road. There is only one rail line in the country. No expansion possible because the government has no money.

The common man of Nepal too seems to have become aware of these things. I think, they too now know that if situations are not changed very quickly, they will go into oblivion in the near future. Therefore Nepal has now decided for a change. Elections were held in Nepal on 10^th April, 2008. I was the witness to the campaigning phase, the election phase and also the counting phase. The enthusiasm that the general public showed was simply amazing to see. During the run up to election, at almost every corner of the place, you could see group of people discussing heatedly about the change that the country requires. Discussions about the pro’s ad Con’s of all the parties involved. During the counting phase, everybody was glued to the TV/radio/Newspaper. Everyone wanting to know the status of the pool.

The results are slowing pouring in. The Maoists seem to be heading for a landslide victory. As one of my local friend proudly said – “We will now write our own constitution”. With power now in the hands of Maoists people do feel that things might change for good. I pray that this becomes a correct prediction. I pray that peace and stability return to this small and beautiful country. Because this country deserves to be treated better :-)

The Royal Kingdoms, Patan Durbar and Religion....

Nepal is also known by two other alternate names. One is Mountain kingdom and another is the Royal kingdom. The first name is quite obvious. The reason for being called by the second name is both interesting as well as worth recounting here.

I know you might have already guessed it. Nepal is (was?) ruled by a system of monarchy. That is one of the reasons for it to be called as a Royal kingdom. But what many people do not know is that just a few years back, like today, Nepal was not ruled by a single king. Nepal in itself was divided into four different “kingdoms”. Katmandu, Patan, Basantnagar and Bhaktpur (I might be wrong in the historic details – No offence intended). From what I have heard, the king of Katmandu once climbed on the top on the highest mountain of his kingdom and looked towards other kingdom. He found the other kingdoms to be soo beautiful that he wanted it for himself. It is then that he attacked the other kingdoms. After facing defeats four times, he finally succeeded in conquering all the other three kingdoms. Thus came into existence the Royal Kingdom of Nepal. This stands even till today.

As is said aptly, once person’s victory means another persons defeat. The development and governance in the other three kingdoms came to a standstill after the victory of the king of Katmandu. The palaces of the other king were left unattended. This has come as a blessing in disguise for the tourists. These palaces have now become a “snapshot” into the past. They are beautiful and splendid even in apparent age. The seat of power in all these kingdoms used to be called as Durbars. This could be compared to our present day’s Rajpath in India. It consisted of the place, the temple of the main Deity, the court and the main market. I think it would just suffice if you have a look at the attached photograph. This is the marvelous – Patan Durbar square.

Just stepping into Patan Durbar square makes you feel as you are transported into another era. The buildings, the small roads and the temples give you a feeling that at any moment a king might come out of any of the doors. You have to experience it to feel it. It is very difficult to explain in words.

The best thing I like in Patan durbar square is the “Museum behind the golden gate”. The golden gate here refers to the gate the place of the king of patan. This beautiful palace has now been converted into a museum dedicated to Hindu and Buddhist religion. I must say for a person trying to understand more about Hinduism and Buddhism it is a treasure trove. With the help of some splendid idols and clearly written comments, it takes you logically into the depths of religion. For example, one might have thought why image worship? And if we worship, why are the idols of Hindu and Buddhist Gods so inhuman (three heads, 6 hands, vertical eyes and what not)? Well the idol is a way to help the seeker visualize god. It is to help him focus his energy and concentration on something material which helps him to take a divine path. It is like the photo of your Mom/Dad/Husband/Wife/Girlfriend/Boyfriend that you keep close to your heart when you are away from them. And as far as the inhuman nature of these Idols goes, they are so because, after all God is super human. For example from a point of what God does he is - provider, destroyer, enabler, Judge, Father of the universe, and much much more. How can such a person have only two hands, a head and a pair of eyes like a “normal” human??? These Idols are just a proof of man’s struggle to understand God better. There is much much more I learned behind the golden door. But I know I am already sounding like a pundit straight out of a religious book, so I will stop here.

A stone throw away from Patan durbar square is the kumbakeshwar temple (Shiva temple) and the Golden Pagoda. Both are so wonderful, majestic and mystic that I don’t even have words to express. I felt strange warmth in both these places. There are some things words cannot express. You have to feel it to know it. These places are amongst them.

I have also visited Pashupatinath temple, Nagarkod and Dundikel. More about it in my next blogs :-)

My first "International" tour - Nepal

It’s been a looong time since I have written anything. Looking back, I am really amazed. When I was leaving India to go to Nepal, I thought that I will write one blog each day. Today almost 7 days have passed and I have not even written a single blog entry about Nepal!!!!!

I was just wondering what took me soo long to write my first International blog. The simple answer was I was totally "awed" by this place. Even though this place is so near to India and you can see Indian influence in almost everything, yet I found the place to be very beautiful. I found everything about this place captivating - climate, culture, chaos, girls - everything. Now that I am out of this initial awe...I plan to write something about this country in general and my visit here in particular.

The first thing that I found when I landed here was that foreign countries are not that foreign after all. It's just the geographic boundary that segregates countries, otherwise we are all one. The moment I landed in Katmandu I feel in love with the climate. You know, Katmandu is a valley. By valley I mean that this place is surrounded by hills from all the four direction and the city is right in the center of these hills. The view that you have when the flight is about to land is unforgettable. Seeing out of the window, you feel that you can reach out and touch the pine trees on top of the hills. It was mesmerizing...I am sure it will be etched in my memory for a loong long time.

One more unique thing about Katmandu, which comes from the fact that it is a valley, is that - the climate is not same in entire Katmandu. It is quite possible that at any given point of time, it might be cold in one part of the city, raining at another place and chilly at yet another place. This is something that I had never even thought of before as being possible. Also, I love to peek out of my hotel window when ever I wake up. The dew, freshness and wonderful clouds on top of the hills fills me with soo much energy that, sometimes I feel I should just not leave this place.

One more things that I liked about this place is its people. They are very kind hearted, soft spoken and fashionable. You can say they are a near perfect blend of east and west culture. The guy serving you in the hotel, generally in denims and hip T shirts, bows down to you and asks with the best of manners - "How can I help you sir"? It is amazing. You look out in the streets and you see a Cool, hip and extremely fashionable crowd. Initially I made the mistake of thinking that maybe these people are haughty. Talk to them and you will immediately know that they have not forgotten their roots, culture and manners. One more special thing was that all number plates of vehicle were in Nepali language. Something very different from India, where most of the vehicles have English number plates. Have a look at the news paper; the date will not be as per the Julian calendar, but as per the Hindu calendar. Have a look at the resume of a Neplai person and chances are that you will find his DOB as per Hindu calendar. Now that is what I call preserving your culture.

I also visited some places in Nepal. Namely - Patan durbar square, Dhulikel, Nagarkot and Bhaktpur and Pashupatinath temple. Each place is soo beautiful that it deserves a separate Blog entry. And with me staying here for another week and planning few more visits here and there - I can’t wait to sit in front of my lappy and type my head out. Till then..... Wait to be awed :-)