On Wheels to Terathum [This is not a travel diary or travel note]
Journey, realities and lessons
I still remember, last time, I was in Basantapur of Terathum years ago with my uncle, when I was around 10 years old. I was highly inspired and hypnotized by the scenic hills and artistic tall White Mountains as if they were painted in blue sky. The mesmerizing journey to Basantapur from Dhankuta was even more exciting. I was young, too young when I first visited the place, and a couple of cool holidays away from boring school and classrooms were like a time-spent in heaven. Therefore, Basantapur was a heaven-like place for me, and I had always wished I would visit this place by myself someday after I become a ‘big’ person.
I was having a few off days, so I and my colleague decided to visit Terathum with some other colleagues. It was a wonderful journey indeed. I was more than happy to visit my old time favorite place once again and extend the travel to Terathum.
This is not a travel note or a travel diary….the following paragraphs depicts my feelings, outcome of some shocking moments and a few realities faced. These are just my feelings and views.
Disciplined journey is in fact not a journey, but a mission accomplished
I beg pardon for composing my paragraphs with heading like that but here disciplined is written in a sense like time-point-destination fixed journey. Rolling in a box filled with AC air with a speed of 70km per hour, what were we doing, we were rushing towards our destination. We couldn’t feel the cool air outside, flowing down from Himalayas nor could we breathe in outside amidst a source of super-fresh oxygenated air. We don’t know how many rhododendron plants we missed to see and how about the angle from where high mountains and deep valleys could be seen from a single point. We were just cased inside a moving tank with glasses to see outside.
I realized this is not the journey; at least I do not call it so. Next time, I promise, I would be with my friends in a bike or at least in a rented vehicle and won’t miss a single sight of unique experience.
Sometime, we find ourselves absorbed in our daily business to such extent that we don’t have a time to see and appreciate beautiful rose smiling in a vase on our lunch table, we don’t enjoy the rhymes sung by kids in a neighborhood and even enjoy colorful rainbow up in the sky. We try to rectify the Past that is already gone, plan the Future which has yet not come and waste our present, thinking the past and planning the future. We thought we lived. We think we would live. We have never lived.
New Nepal in words – unchanged Nepal in reality
I had recently visited a few states in South India and I was highly amazed by the hospitality, attitude, warmth and positive-thinking of local people wherever I toured. Places like Ooty, Kodaikanal, Maysoore was indeed a good place but was far behind in comparison to places in Nepal as far as nature is concerned. But there were so many attributes that made those places far more scenic and enjoyable than places in Nepal. For instance in Ooty, among several tourists attraction, only one, a place called Cunnoor from where you could see high mountains (not snowy but a hilly-mountain) that could be seen amidst cool clouds and tea gardens, can be said a good natural place to see. Rest, all other attractions consist of gardens, lakes with boating facilities, museums and a few so called water-falls. These were all artificial. Far behind the places in Nepal.
However, the infra-structure was so well-developed and well-composed that even those artificial places looked like one of the best places in the world. You have money, you can get anything, star-rated hotels to tourists guides. And local people, they know that tourists are their ultimate source of income.
After around 10 years since I had last visited Basantapur, I got nothing new anywhere except one, news of YCL strike. No any improvement in quality of hotels, no parks built, no good roads, no added tourist attraction and no any change in people’s attitude.
I can read “New Nepal” in leader’s lecture, but in practicality, things are still different.
Are you an intellect? Join the political gossip
Every minds have power to speed up Nepal’s development and make it even powerful than India. Everyone knows inside stories of ongoing strikes, demonstration and almost all can easily guess the next move the government would take. Everyone can throw comments and all have only one complain…we are Nepalese. Everyone around us are intellect, if you are in a gossip particularly political gossip.
It’s easy to complain why a system is not working, harder to point out the fault in a system, but is very tough to amend and resume the operation of system. For instance, making remarks about batsmen’ errors and complaining the captain decision in a cricket match is easier than you yourself going there in the centre and facing the obstruction. Same is here, it’s very easy to throw comments and act like a genius, but what has your stupid genius thoughts have ever contributed in making a good system except posting comments.
If you are capable and educated enough then why don’t you dare to take the responsibility to build Nepal. Why not be part of politics and make things better. When your family gets the first child, what do you want him/her to be in future? A doctor, engineer or at least a banker. Why not a good politician??? You don’t want to contribute anything from your side, you waste your time in gossips and you expect them to do the best. If you want your leaders to be sincere, first you yourself try to be sincere to whatever your occupation or profession you are in.
Our country Nepal is ours, it’s not an animal, that our leaders- shepherds will look after them and we just expect extracting milk and profits. This country is our mother, whom we have to look after by ourselves with no any expectation of profit. If your mother is alive, you too would be alive. We are still infant, don’t think we are grown up.
We vote our favorite leaders send them to reserve those four hundred plus chairs and then we lay back, sleeping in the luxuries. Have we ever thought to warn our leaders, motivated them or even tried to contribute in the development or fulfillment of their duties. We all HOPE.
What we do is, we protest, establish road blocks, present un-wanted demands and harm ourselves.
Human—Nepalese human—first ever species that destroys their own property built out of their own lifetime income when they feel their demands are unfulfilled. We are acting like a child….when will we wake up????
Try to improve things or at least don’t try to make it worse.
Laws are written for my staff…..not for an officer…..
Seventy percent of my time in the tour was occupied by people talking about Karina Begam, a state minister who recently had manhandled a Chief District Officer in Parsa district on charge of sending old car to carry her instead of a brand-new car purchased out of tax paid by Nepalese who work more than ten hours- blood and sweat car, I rename it.
A minister slaps a police official, CDO of a district in Federal Democratic NEPAL and no any punishment still. Police in Parsa has arrest warrant and the minister is talking live in a private entertainment channel, and Kathmandu police says-they have not received any formal instruction from Parsa yet.
I guess we are also a citizen of twenty-first century where I write a word, and in milliseconds my friend in southern hemisphere reads and responds. Kathmandu police says no any correspondence received. Are there no any computers in Police Department, no any fax machines and no any planes to transport their so-called legal correspondence to Kathmandu? Hilarious.
And what is this minister saying in an interview in this channel, I have done right thing slapping that CDO because he was wrong, he didn’t fulfill his duty.
A new lesson taught to Nepalese…..there is no need of law, administration and constitution in Nepal….anyone does anything that you feel wrong---thrash him….the best judgement.
Don’t worry….no one will arrest you…cause you are lucky enough to be a citizen of this great country Nepal.
But someone please answer me, what would have happened to me, if I had slapped Karina Begam with charges like she has not fulfilled her duties.
You are wrong, I am always right….
I saw a boss…and his staff. I don’t want to mention their names but would certainly need to explain their special features. Boss—as the word stands-he is the one to control his staff. Staff-as the world says-the one who does thing based on the instruction received from the Boss. And what if sometime a staff does something without any instruction from the Boss? No matter whatever be the type of work performed, good or bad, by the staff…..boss is never satisfied, he would always say- hey man! That’s not the way to do things, you are wrong..look this is the way…I’m always right.
Bring my bags---okay……pay the bills----okay….In a different place under the same circumstance, the staff once decided to do same tasks with anticipation that he certainly would have to do them. Thinking that his boss would be impressed of his proactive works performed, he brings down the bags….Boss- why did u bring that bags??? Not necessary (until my instruction)….stupid.
After a while, Boss orders to bring down the bags…..okay.
Staff respects his Boss….Boss has the misconception that the respectful staff is actually his slave.
Staff states a statement; Boss always doesn’t agree with the statement unless the Boss changes some grammatical composition, adding-removing some extra words to make the meaning sound true. Boss utters a meaningless phrase; staff has to applaud the most meaningful sentence ever created.
It’s very easy to see fault on other’s doing, how about seeing yourself on the mirror BOSS?
Deadliest shock
I always respected him as a person who is of my father’s age. He was always generous to me and was respected not only by me but everyone greeted him with appreciated salutations. He stands among a few educated with good family background and all.
The only quality that I hate is double-natured quality.
Above sentences might have made it clear how that person was to the world outside.
Now, this.
Deadliest shock…….
“I fix up with school-college going girls. I prefer young girls due to a scientific fact (so called a fact) that says you would remain young if you have sex with girls half of your age. Someone asked, how do you arrange a girl of that age? Answer- It’s easy. There are so many poor girls going to college, whose needs are unfulfilled. They have some requirements that require money and where could they bring this money from. We have to address their needs, pertain that that we gonna help them with some extended shopping, some lunch or may be some inspiring phone calls. Then after, everything slowly comes on the track……that’s the way. We shouldn’t force them; they have to come to us out of their necessity. Literally he used a here for all these procedures ---- “trap” “
Those were the words uttered out of the same person who I respected being a person of my father’s age. Further,
“Yes, the one between the age 16-18 are the best one. I bet you would like it when she(someone who he had fixed up with) walks wearing jeans.”
Shocked and surprised I try to calculate his age, his daughter’s age (that was most probably more then 20) and his sons’ age. I see in his eyes, what bad vision he always had carried.
To talk bad about someone might be considered normal, but what about doing things like those that also with someone who he can call a daughter.
Now this is not the only one educated, highly respected so called big person in our society, he himself says, he has many friends who are involved in activities like these, who take advantages of girls from remote places coming to towns to have education.
What’s the administration doing out here? Or may be everyone knows everything, but all are involved and they prefer silence. They all want this helping business to continue as everyone is satisfied. Why should they hamper this equilibrium?
“He dials a phone number, someone named “Pak….” is on the line. She is his recent fix up. ---Come sometime, we would have fun…..and don’t you know any other girls like you – for my friends here?”
I am still shocked.
Is he wrong, or am I the one who has not seen the real world yet. If that’s the world, I hate it.
Finally, out of shell…..
Finally came out of my shell.
Sometime we have to show people where they stand otherwise they will have this misconception about themselves that they are genius to judge others.
Let’s wake up!!!!
