Nepal Summer 2007

In the summer of 2007, I returned to Nepal forthe first time since living there five years earlier. Below is an article that I wrote during my first week of the trip.


Nepal at a Crossroads.... again.
As I descended into the green valley surrounded by steep forested hillsides I looked through the tiny airplane window out into another world. At the edge of the valley still sit green terraced hillsides, now being joined but the onslaught of new buildings that have been popping up all over the once agricultural edges of Kathmandu. The sky was over-cast, the air humid and rain seemed to be ready to fall at any moment, as is typical at this time of year, during the monsoon months.

On the cab ride from the airport to my guest house I struggled through a typical first conversation with my cab driver who asked where I was from, how old I was, how many siblings I have, why I wasn't married yet, how much money I make, and when I was going to marry a Nepali woman. The parallel structure of this conversation to hundreds that I've had before helped ease me back into speaking Nepali again.

My first few days here were filled with the euphoric feeling of re-discovering a place that I had once called home, and have a special affinity for. I rode my rental bike through my old stomping grounds, the residential neighborhoods of Gairidhara, Siphal, Bhatbattini, Handigoan, and Baluwatar, rediscovering the hidden alleyways, small temples, and corner shops selling everyting from spices, to bulk grains to vegetables to liquor to stoves and appliances.

Kathmandu is a city of multiple, yet distinct worlds. Jutting out from the Royal Palace, Durbar Marg is a street cluttered with shops selling designer goods, Nike and Reebok stores, four and five star hotels, amid upscale bars and restaurants. Prices are equivalent to what we pay in the states. Here can be found the business men, politicians, and their families who have been running Nepal for a while now. A five minute walk from there, you can buy a full meal for 50 cents and sit with day laborers, drinking locally distilled alcohol (raksi) at the end of 12 back breaking hours of labor carrying bricks, that earned them two or three dollars. At Mike's breakfast another 10 minutes down the road, I sat next to two European men in expensive suits who, as a companion pointed out, had made the front page of the newspaper the previous day.

This extreme disparity of wealth, and concentration of Nepal's resources into the hands of a few sparked a "People's Revolution" here about ten years ago. The revolutionaries lead by a high caste intellectual who took the nom-de-guerre Prachanda, called themselves Maoists, and promised to lead a peasant revolution into the cities as Mao had done in China a half century earlier. After several years of low level war fare and resistance in small pockets throughout Nepal, the country broke out into a full scale civil war during the ending months of 2001-- ironically during the time I was here last. This war increased in intensity over the past several years and had cost thousands of lives on both sides, with innocent villagers caught in the crossfire.

During the war elections were suspended - due to a "lack of securtiy"- and Nepal's King Gyanendra consolidated power. Gyanendra's dictatorship, however, overstepped its boundaries last year as he disolved the interim government and jailed many of the leaders of Nepal's political parties. By this time the people had had enough of their leader's response to the war (sound familiar?). Nepalis responded just as they had ten years earlier when they demanded the king step down and form a democratic government. For over a week, people from all over the valley marched on the Royal Palace. There were clashes with police during these marches, and many died, but the indomitable spirit of the people prevailed, and eventually Gyanendra agreed to give up power, and free the political prisoners. Yet another interim government was formed. On the upside of all of this is that the Maoists agreed to stop the war in exchange for amnesty and a role in forming a new government.

So here we stand. Prachanda has emerged from his underground status and graces the front page of the newspapers daily. Former Prime Minister Koirala has again taken over leadership of the country and yesterday announced that elections are finally to be held on November 22nd. For now, the interim government is to decide how much representation each district will receive and how much proportional representation to give to under-represented groups like members of the lower castes and women.

The general feeling that I get from Nepalis is skepticism. They have yet to reap any benefits from democracy, and many and resigned that no matter who's in charge nothing will change. The maoists are in an excellent position at the moment having lay down their weapons and taken up the cause of making the government more modern and efficient.
One thing that almost all Nepalis seem to agree on is that they want to see their country develop. In the past five years Nepal has seem to have taken a step backwards. Many rural development projects were put on hold due to the war, and Kathmandu is well....

The population here has swelled. Rural fighting has forced many to the city for work and safety. Prosperity among the middle and upper class has lead to a ridiculous amount of motorcycles and taxis cramming the streets. This added to roads that haven't been improved at all, and traffic rules that are mere suggestions to be followed at one's own whimsy have given Kathmandu the crown for world's worst traffic. Coming back into the city from a day trip I was caught at the edge of town in a line of buses headed for a bus stop about a mile away. On this one way road, we moved about 30 feet in about an hour. It was so bad that we got out and walked, beating the bus by about an hour.

Despite all obstacles faced, Nepali people never seem to give up. From the women on the side of the Trisuli highway breaking rocks into gravel, to the porters carrying 60kg sacks of rice to remote villages, to the students who work tirelessly day in and day out, hoping to earn a degree that will bring a better future for themselves and their families. It is this perseverance that I most admire, and possibly the reason why I felt drawn back here. Putting the past aside one can only hope that in the future this quality is used by people working together, instead of against each other as was the case during the war.