It's been some while since we heard from Vinaya, a friend from Nepal. We agonized with him as he described the desperation of trying to find and reunite his family after the terrifying Kathmandu earthquake in Nepal, then held our breath after the huge aftershock that followed. We cheered as the family found refuge on his farm, away from harm.
Since then, things have stabilized. Now Vinaya has time to contemplate his life and that of his fellow citizens as he works on the farm. |
Morning
It rained all through the night; however, sun is bright this morning. I can sniff the aroma of wet earth.
Green hills are covered with mist. I can feel the mountain breeze on my skin. Green rice field is stretched across the land around my my farmhouse. I can see the fruits of my toil ripening. Birds are twittering, cows are mooing, leaves are rustling. I hear soothing sounds. |
I don’t worry about article deadlines and writing projects. I don’t care about how much money I will be earning this month. I look at my corn field. The harvest is good. I’m happy. I'm content. I’m in a state of bliss.
The day
The year 2006 marked the new beginning in Nepal, when 10 years of bloody Communist War ended and a 238-year-old ruling dynasty was overthrown.
According to the Peace Agreement, Nepal will write its new constitution by the elected Constituent Assembly, become a republic, and the Unitarian State will become a federal State.
The peace process that was started in 2006 is almost going to conclude. Constituent Assembly has brought out the draft Constitution of Republic of Nepal and proposed federal states. People of Nepal should have been happy, however, delineation of federal territory made many communities unhappy.
According to Nepal census 2011, there are 92 racial communities in Nepal. Some of the communities wanted a federal state based on their ethnicity, race and the region. In the state where they were in a majority, they wanted exclusive rights. When the government flatly denied this demand, a violent demonstration ensued.
The violent mob killed six policemen including one senior superintendent of police and two inspectors of police. While controlling the crowd, a few demonstrators were also killed.
Every day demonstrations are getting fiercer. Because of general strike, education institutions, businesses, transportation, marketplace, service based institutions everything have shut down. Nepal is almost at standstill since one month.
I hate authoritarianism and negate all kinds of extremism. During the ten years of Communist war (1996-2006), 15 thousand people died. Nobody wants to return to that era of bloody conflict, however, this situation in the country is becoming volatile. In a month long general strike, more than a dozen people have died.
I’ve been sitting idle in my farm house for a couple of weeks. Everywhere my works are pending, from land revenue office, to agriculture department, veterinary service center and bank. I have not been able to visit the marketplace and town. I feel smothered.
Evening
Evening is so peaceful in the village. The villagers have organized a religious event. Every day hundreds of people gather to worship the deities and listen to the sermons. The event is also some sort of religious entertainment where people sing and dance to devotional songs.