झ्याम्म झ्याम्म पानी पर्यो मन यसै अतासीयो ।

झ्याम्म झ्याम्म पानी पर्यो मन यसै अतासीयो ।
डाँडामाथि चौतारीमा पीपल त्यसै बतासीयो ।।
दुरसम्म मेरा आँखा तिमीलाइ नै हेरिरहे ।
पलपल गोधुलिले प्रर्कितिलाइ चुमीरहयो ।।
आकाशमा कालो बादल मडारीदै घुमीरहयो ।
मेरो मन पानीसँगै भिजीभिजी झुमीरहयो ।।

आशा मेरो तिमी आउँने डाँडामाथि आकाशियो ।
पर्खिएन मधान्यले चौतारीमा बसिरहे ।।
अन्धकारले मलाइ घेर्यो रातभरी फसीरहे ।
मेरो मन पानीसँगै भिजीभिजी झुमीरहयो ।।
आशा मेरो तिमी आउँने अझ गाढा आकाशियो ।।
झ्याम्म झ्याम्म पानी पर्यो मन यसै अतासीयो ।
डाँडामाथि चौतारीमा पीपल त्यसै बतासीयो ।।

तिम्रो प्रितका प्यालाहरु मेरो मनलाइ डसीरहे ।
अन्धकारले मलाइ घेर्यो रातभरी फसीरहे ।।
छपछप छपछप तिमी आयौ पाइतालाको आवाज सुने ।
अन्धकारमै तिमीसँगै प्रिती साट्ने आशा बुने ।।
सुवास छर्यौ टाढाबाटै मेरो मनलाइ मात लाग्यो ।
अन्धकारको अत्यास त तिम्लाइ देखी टाढा भाग्यो ।।
झ्याम्म झ्याम्म पानी पर्यो मन यसै अतासीयो ।
डाँडामाथि चौतारीमा पीपल त्यसै बतासीयो ।।

अग्गालोमा तिमीलाइ राखे मायाप्रिती आकाशियो ।
पलपल गोधुलिले प्रर्कितिलाइ चुमीरहयो ।।

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This article is published in Kathmandu Post on 24 August 2009.

Amrit Bhandari

“Hello, Babu, do you teach computer at your institute?” Bisworaj Pokharel from Kirtipur Municipality-13 was asking a computer institute owner in Kirtipur. The owner nodded indicating that they offered basic computer courses. Bisworaj inquired about the time and fee with the owner and expressed his desire to join. Most of the staff at the institute burst into laughter. The owner inquired if the old man was mistaken. Hadn’t he instead been trying to admit his son or grandchildren? Bisworaj said, “I want to learn computer myself.” But still, no one in the institute believed a 65-year-old man could learn anything, let alone computer. The owner said, “No, no, I don’t believe you! You are here to admit your son, aren’t you?”

Bisworaj was completely baffled. However, in the end, he somehow managed to get himself admitted for a computer course. The callous remarks of the institute owner had pained him no end. He had felt humiliated. He later said, “I thought about my humiliation seriously. What a sorrow! A so-called civilised place like Kathmandu laughs at old people who want to do something. If you have courage and determination, age really does not matter.” A few days later Bisworaj changed his mind and decided he would not, after all, go to the institute. He had already paid half the course fee. “Where people laugh at my enthusiasm to learn and have no respect for me, why should I go there? I would forgo computer literacy rather than compromise my honour.”

I later learned that he wanted to learn computer because his sons and daughters were abroad. He has computer at home. But it remains dysfunctional. He wanted to learn computer “so that I could email my children. I have internet service at my home.”

We make much noise about equality and freedom in modern Nepal. But a society which cannot honour its elderly, someone rightly said, cannot boast of any achievement. Like the old man in this story, many people his age are discouraged and humiliated when they try to learn something new. Other old folks are looked down upon as feeble and good for nothing fellows.

What more do the elderly have save a little self-respect? Is it too much to ask for the elderly that the young generation recognise their contribution and offer them due recognition? After toiling all their lives for their family and society, it hurts when at the fag end their contributions are forgotten and they are looked upon as burdens. Everyone has to get old one day. This is no rocket science! The way we treat our elders today, so will our children treat us when we get old.

Case of topi

Amrit Bhandari

This article is published in Kathmandu Post on 1 September 2009. You can view at http://www.kantipuronline.com/kolnews.php?&nid=212518

One of my friends working in an INGO is always suited and with a tie around in his neck. However, it is the Nepali cap on his head which stands out. A couple of weeks ago, I was taking to him about how the topi added to his personality. Turns out, his attachment with his headgear is not just a matter of dressing elegantly.

Last November, my friend was to return to Nepal from the U.S. En route, he had to fly from Little Rock, Colorado to Los Angeles, California. He completed the journey safely but at his arrival in LA, he learned that he had swapped his air-ticket for a connecting flight with his friend’s. There was no one he knew of in LA; and he didn’t carry phone numbers of his friends.

My friend was getting restless. He was told he had to wait for another day to get a new ticket. My friend sat in a corner, dejected, helpless. There may be many Nepalis living in LA, but how could he find them? Luckily, a few guys from Chitwan were in the airport to see off one of their friends. Spotting one of their countrymen — thanks to my friend’s distinct topi — in apparent distress, they inquired about his problem. They then took him to their LA apartment where he stayed for three days. They also pitched in for his ticket.

What more, at bed time, they sang folk songs to help relieve his tension. “It felt as if I was in Nepal,” he says. With his engaging personality, my friend does not take time to make friends. After waiting three days waiting for ticket, the day came to fly. All the friends waved him goodbye with tearful eyes. “I too was emotional with their hospitality. It was then that I developed new love for my cap,” he says.

The more we are westernised, the more we tend to assimilate the cultures of others, all the while forgetting our own. Furthermore, it’s the habit of quite a few Nepalis to forget everything back home when they land in developed countries. There are some Nepalis living abroad who would not give a fellow Nepali second glance. Getting farther and farther away from their roots, their growing (and misplaced) megalomania will only bring them more suffering. Those who prosper are the ones who carry the pleasure of being Nepalis wherever they go. The hand of support the LA Nepalis extended to my friend in trouble should be a lesson to all other Nepalis. This is again not a call to reach out to people of the same colour and ethnicity, but to embrace the diverse Nepali culture wherever one goes.