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"Do you know what nationalism is? It is the feeling that "My country, right or wrong", or the feeling that 'my country' has vast treasures [of spiritual knowledge etc.] and is therefore greater than any other nation. When we identify ourselves with a particular country and feel proud of it, we bring about nationalism in the world. Nationalism is a false god, but millions of people are very serious about it; they will go to war, destroy, kill or be killed int he name of their country, and this kind of seriousness is used and exploited by the politicians." (TTTp115 by JK)
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What do you do when you are confused? 1. Do you seek other’s opinions on the matter? Do you call a friend or a well-wisher for advice or counseling? 2. Do you start researching (say through google) more about things you are confused about? 3. Do you put aside the confusion and do something that is less stressful (such as watching TV, reading a light magazine, taking a nap, cleaning up the shelf)? Or perhaps, you will just choose randomly to settle the matter so you can get to other things you want to do. Or perhaps, you do something quite different to get away from the fact that you are confused. But whatever you do, you may have noticed that the confusion does not go away. It surfaces after some time. There is perhaps a merit is 'sitting with the confusion'. The above approaches take you 'away from the confusion'. What if you sat with the confusion, looking at it, not judging it, but observing its texture, its themes, its pulsations, its urging? Have you ever done that? What have you discovered? 0 Comments My Tribute to Mummm9/7/2012 0 Comments आमा (a poem by Krishna P). झिकेर मुटुको टुक्रा आँखाभित्र अटाउँछिन् भोकभोकै बसी आफू छाती चुस्न खटाउँछिन् । ... जिन्दगी बन्छ आमाले खाएको गाँसगाँसमा सिर्जनामूल हुन् आमा स्रष्टाको इतिहासमा । कोखबाट निकालेर यो धर्ती टेक्न लाउँछिन् तातेताते भनी मीठो तोते बोली सिकाउँछिन् । राखेर काखमा नानी कहिले गीत गाउँछिन् बालो सुतोस् भनी आमा हातले थुम्थुम्याउँछिन् । नानी उठ्छ भनी राति अल्पअल्प निदाउँने नानी रुन्छ भनी चाँडै अन्तबाट बिदा हुने । नानीकै साथमा खेल्छिन् काखकाखै नचाउँछिन् आमाले नै विधाताको सृष्टिलाई बचाउँछिन् । ‘को खा को खा’ भनी खाना नानीलाई खुवाउँछिन् बगाई दूधको धारा शिशुलाई नुहाउँछिन् । मातृवात्सल्य रित्तिन्न जस्तै दुःख भए पनि बचरा गुँड छोडेर टाढाटाढा गए पनि । आमाको रूप बिग्रन्छ सन्तान जन्मिएपछि सन्तान पर भै जान्छन् डोलीमा अन्मिएपछि । तैपनि हुन्छ यो सारा आमाका निम्ति गौरव आमा निःस्वार्थ देवी हुन् कसरी नभनूँ अब ! जिन्दगानी रहेसम्म आँखाले देख्न पाउलान् आफ्नो शक्ति भए मान्छे सेवामा जुट्न आउलान् । धर्तीमै छ सबै चीज खोजे मिल्छ घरीघरी तर जन्म दिने आमा पाइँदैन कसै गरी । 0 Comments Science - a progress?6/19/2012 0 Comments Do you think science always leads to progress? Thanks to science, we have bridges and towers, IT communication and global transportation, medicines and contraceptives, pesticides and high yield seeds. Science has made up better off in many ways. This much is clear. What I would like to explore is - has it made us worse off in some important ways? There are many areas that are not quite helped by scientific approach. By scientific approach, we think of control experiments, deductive causation and repetitive outcomes. For example, scientific approach lends little help when we are navigating life's events and relationships. Here, we do not use science, so we are not worse off because of science. This 'non scientific' domain lies out of science, neither helped nor hurt by science. But if we take something more scientific like ' weather' where we have benefited by science, what have we lost in by submitting to science? With science in weather, we moved away from mystery of life that was reflected in weather. We moved away from being sensitive to weather, its messages and omens. We no longer looked to interpreting god's moods through ocean’s tides or the thunder's roar. In olden centuries when eclipses sent shivers down people's backbones, each day was like meeting a stranger, and the weather was his new face. Now, like machines, we move through efficient grooves of umbrellas and air-conditioners. We walk about as if we are in control! Our illusion of control over the weather is easily dashed by tsunamis, floods and hurricanes. Yet, we go back swiftly into forgetful illusion of control. Historical men groped in the dark. Science gave us light. (And too eager to see with certainty, we surrendered all the tools that served us to navigate life's uncertainties. We traded sensitivity, and awe. We shelved imagination, and humility. In tight spaces of modern security, we saw no longer the shared responsibility to life) Science gave us light And that, we traded our sight. Historical men groped in the dark. Modern men grope blind. For those facing life’s uncertainties and insecurities, science provides a poor crutch, and no compass! विद्यार्थीसँग कुराकानी -
विद्यार्थी : रिस भनेको के हो र मान्छे किन रिसाउँछन् ? कृष्णमूर्ति : यदि मैले तिम्रो चप्पल किल्चिएँ भने वा दुख्ने गरी निमोठे भने वा तिम्रो सामान खोसे भने के तिमी रिसाउँदैनौ ? किन रिसाउनु हुँदैन र ? तिमी किन भन्छौ कि रिस गलत कुरा हो ? कुनै कुराको वास्ता गर्नु भनेको के हो ? के यो बारे तिमीले सोचेका छौ ?
वास्ता गर्नु भनेको विचार पुर्याएर काम गर्नु हो । के तिमीले घरपालुवा जनावोरको जतनसाथ रेखदेख गर्छौ वा आफ्नो लुगा ध्यान पुर्याएर धुने र पट्याउने गर्छौ ? यदि कुकुर पालेमा काइँयोले त्यस्को रौं कोर्नु पर्छ , त्यसलाई खाना दिनुपर्छ , हिंडडुल गर्न लग्नुपर्छ , स्वास्थ्यको हेरचाह गर्नुपर्छ । बगैंचामा रुख विरुवा रोपेपछि त्यसको पनि रेखदेख गर्नु पर्छ , त्यसमा मलजल थप्नु पर्छ , पानी नपरे पानी हाल्नु पर्छ । यो सबै चिज जतनसाथ गर्न अरुहरुप्रति - अनि जनावर , रुखविरुवा , सरसामान सबै चीज प्रति - विचार पुर्याउनु पर्छ । तिमीले विचार पुर्याएर काम गर्दा वास्ता गर्न थाल्छौ । I believe in working in a team, with other people. Working with the right people leads to inspirational work. My spirit of cooperation is too lenient, and I end up often working with wrong people which leads to an abuse of my purest motives. And both the journey and the outcome suffer at the end.
To have the 'right' spirit of cooperation, I should be rigorous in choosing who to work with. Competence alone does not suffice, 'values-alignment' is needed too (and vice verse). Here's a pertinent quotation on cooperation by JK. " Reformers -political, social, and religious- will only cause more sorrow for man unless man understands the workings of his own mind... When you know how to co-operate because there is this inward revolution, then you will also know when not to cooperate, which is really very important, perhaps more important. We now cooperate with any person who offers a reform, a change, which only perpetuates conflict and misery, but if we can know what it is to have the spirit of cooperation... then there is a possibility of creating a new civilization, a totally different world." खुला इज्लासt was an hour long show, which I edited down to 15 minutes for youtube to address the problem of indifference.
Nepal's civil war, and the political falling out, can be viewed from the individualistic perspective. In that, I mean, the 'quality of individuals' that we are in Nepal. I outline the following salient points from the TV show:
Have you noticed often often one fails to do the right thing, be it to eat healthy, do exercise, be patient etc.?
How many times would they have to fail, and for what reasons, for us to conclude that they are 'incapable' to change? Think of all those resolutions one takes in birthdays and new years...and promised me make to our friends, family and ourselves, on self-improvements? From sleeping habits to eating habits, from talking to listening, from obsessing to procrastinating, perhaps we are less capable of change than we'd like to think we are! If we are INCAPABLE, then we could stop trying to change...and use our energy to adjust to this new realization that we are incapable. Are we capable of THAT? नयाँ संविधानले के हाँसिल गरेको छ ? मधेशमा ४३ जना मरे र १००० भन्दा बढी घाइते छन् | काठमाडौँको जीवनमा ठहराव आएको छ | थुप्रै समूहले संविधानले उनीहरुको आधारभूत मानव मर्यादालाई वास्ता नगरेको महसुस गरेका छन् | कुनै पनि दस्तावेजले हरेकलाई चाहेजस्तो खुसी त दिन सकिदैन | एउटा अचम्मको कुरा के छ भने, कसैलाई प्रशन्न तुल्याउन नसकेको यो संबिधानलाई राजनीतिज्ञ हरुले पारित गरी छोडेका छन् |
नेपालको अघिल्लो पुस्तालाई भने संविधान भनेको छेपारो को रंग जस्तो लाग्न थालेको छ, जसको कुनै भर हुँदैन, त्यसैले धेरै चिन्ता लिईराख्नु जरुरी छैन | नेपालको यो पुरानो पुस्ताले गएको ६ दशकमा ६ वटा संबिधान देखिसकेको छ | सरकारमा भएको शक्ति ले एउटा संबिधान बनाउछ र केही समयमा सरकारमा नयाँ शक्तिको उदय संगै त्यो संबिधानलाई एक दसकको छोटो समयमै मिल्काईन्छ, यो कुरा को साक्षी छन् नेपालका पुराना पुस्ता | सस्ता चिनियाँ इलेक्ट्रोनिक्स उपकरण जस्तै, पुरानै संबिधानलाई मर्मत गर्नु भन्दा नयाँ संबिधान बनाउन सजिलो लाग्छ हाम्रा राजनीतिज्ञ हरुलाई | सानो समायोजनले हल हुने कुरालाई राजनीतिज्ञहरुले युक्तिसंगत रुपमा मूल्य हिन साबित गर्दिन्छन् | साथ-साथै पाका नागरिकहरुले बृहत राजनितिक उथल-पुथल जस्तै कट्टर राजतन्त्र देखी संबैधानिक राजतन्त्र देखी जनयुद्ध देखी दरबार हत्या काण्ड देखी गणतन्त्र देखी संघिय राजनिति देखी भूकम्पको वोरी-परी भएको राजनितिले ल्याएको राजनितिक परिवर्तन आदी सबै देखेका छन् | यथार्थमा पुराना मान्छेहरु त्यस्ता मान्छे संग वाक्क छन् जो संबिधानलाई ज्यादै गम्भीर रुपमा लिनछन् | उनीहरुले संविधान बिरोधि दंगा होस् वा संविधान समर्थक समारोह, दुवैलाई एकै नजरले हेर्छन् | उनीहरु अन्योलमा छन् कि किन मनिसहरु धेरै परिवोर्तनको चाहना गर्दछन् | उनीहरुको अनुभवले देखेको छ कि ५० बर्षको परिवर्तनको प्रतिज्ञाले सिमान्तकृत/ हराईरहेको मानिसहरुलाई कुनै मद्दत गर्न सकेको छैन | र उनीहरुले आफ्नु चीनालाई संबिधानलाई भन्दा धेरै महत्व दिईनै रहनेछन् | तर युवा हरुको बारेमा के त! के तिनीहरु एतिहासिक कोशेढुंगाको रुपमा परिवोर्तनलाई स्वागत गर्दैनन् ? युवाहरु निश्चित रुपमा परिवोर्तनको चाहना राख्दछन् | उनीहरु आफ्नु देशलाई परिवोर्तन गर्न चाहन्छन् | उनीहरु विदेश, अमेरिका जान चाहन्छन् | उनीहरुलाई लज्जाबोध भइरहेकोछ| के संबिधान एउटा अनावश्यक कागजको खोस्टो हो? अधिकांश नेपालका युवाहरुले उनीहरुको लामो वयस्क जीवन (विगत ८ वर्ष) सांचिकै संबिधान बिना नै बाँचेका छन् | युवाहरुको दिमाग खल्बलिरहेको छ किन भने उनिहरू कोहीपनि मानसिक रुपमा ठिक मनिसले यो खेस्रा संबिधान पढेर समय खेर किन फाल्छ भन्ने सोचछन् | मननीयकुरा यो छ कि उनीहरुले यो संबिधान राजनितिज्ञ, अधिकारबिध र विकाश नियोगहरुलाई उपभोग गर्न छोडदेका छन् | पक्कै पनि, पण्डितहरुले भनेजस्तै, यो संविधान खासगरी आदिवासी समाबवेशी खालको छ | त्यसअर्थ, विभिन्न आदिवासी नेपाली समुदायहरुले संविधानको उत्सव हुनुपर्ने | तर कुन समुदायले यसको स्वागत गरीरहेको छ? मधेसीहरु एति उदाश छन् कि उनीहरु दंगा- फसाद गरी राजधानीलाई नकाबंधी गरीरहेका छन् | थारूहरु तंग भएर आफ्नु बासस्थान फर्कदैछन् | जनजाती हरू उपेक्षित महसुस गरिरहेका छन् | काठमाडौँका नेवारहरु येहाँको बढ्दो जनघनत्तो संग अप्रसन्ना छन् र बाहिरीयाहरुलाई येहाँ बाट धपाउन चाहन्छन् | छेत्री- सैनिक जाति, आफ्नु योद्धा राजा गुमाएकोमा अपमानित महसुस गर्छन्| ब्राह्मणहरु हिन्दू राज्य गुमाएको शोकमा छन् | संभवत यो प्रगतिशिल संविधान हो लिंगीय समानताको लागी किनभने यसले तेस्रो लिंगीलाई पहिचान दिएको छ | तर येही संबिधानबाट महिलाहरु द्वश्रो दर्जाको नागरिक भएका छन् जसले आफ्ना बच्चालाई नागरिकता सम्म दिन सक्दैनन्, उनीहरु त्यति खुशी छैनन् | संभवत यो संविधान धार्मिक स्वोतन्त्रता खोज्नेहरुको लागी हो | तथापी, धेरैजसो धर्म निरपेक्षतावादीहरु गैर हिन्दू धार्मीहरु छन् जो यो सनातन धर्मलाई संरक्षण गर्ने संविधानलाई आफ्नु मान्दैनन | संभवत यो संविधान बिकासको साझेदारी र सांस्कृतिको उत्थानको लागी हो | तर ब्यापारिक समुदाय र निजी क्षेत्रका व्यवसाहीहरुलाई यो विकेन्द्रीकृत संविधान आफ्नु होइन भन्ने लाग्छ | अन्त्यमा, अभियानकर्ता पत्रकारहरुको बिचारमा, यो संबिधान पहाडिया बाहुन लोग्ने-मान्छे हरु द्वारा चाहिँ स्वगतित हुनु पर्ने हो | तर यो पनि एक काल्पनिक समूह देखिन्छ | को हुन् त यी पहाडिया बाहुन लोग्ने-मान्छे हरु ? धेरै जसो ब्राह्मणहरु हिन्दू रास्ट्रको पक्षमा छन् र उनीहरुलाई यो धर्म निरपेछ संविधान आफ्नु हो जस्तो लाग्दैन | साथै प्राय पहाडी भूभागमा बस्ने ब्राह्मण पुरुषहरुका आमाहरु छन् र उनीहरुको आमा लाई खुशी पर्न नसकेको यो संविधानको पक्षमा उनीहरु छैनन् | साथै धेरै जसो पहाडियाहरू (सबै जात र लिंगका) गरिब छन्, शक्तिको पहुच बाहिर छन्, तराईबासी जस्तै | त्येसैले यो सम्विधान पहाडिया बाहुन लोग्ने-मान्छे हरुको लागी हो भन्नु उचित छैन | के अब हामी यो निस्कर्समा पुग्न सक्छौ कि यो संविधान बाट ती मात्र खुसी छन् जसले यो संविधान बनाए? यो संविधान यसरी लेखियो कि यसले ती लेखेन्दासहरुलाई कुलिन वर्गको रुपमा स्थापित गरोस | यो नै नयाँ संविधान को मुख्य बिशेषता हो जहाँ संघीय राजतन्त्र लाई कुलिन राजनितिज्ञले प्रतिस्थापन गरेको छ | यहाँ कुलिन राजनितिज्ञहरुको चासो शक्तिको साझेदारी गरी त्यसलाई आफ्नु हितमा प्रयोग गर्नु हो | उनीहरुक छुट्टै-छुट्टै मान्यता छन्, जसलाई बंडनुको सट्टा ढाक-छोप गरेर राख्दैछन् | उनीहरु यी भिन्नतालाई अन्देखा गर्छन् र शक्तिको लागी एकत्रित हुन्छन् | उदाहरणको लागी एउटा कुलिन समानत नास्तिक छ त अर्को चाहिँ हिन्दू-कर्मकाण्डी | उनीहरु धर्म निरपेछता र हिन्दू सनातन धर्मको प्रतिस्पर्धा गर्नुको साटो “धर्म निरपेक्षता” शिर्षक दिएर हिन्दू सनातन धर्मको ब्यक्ख्या गर्दछन् | त्येस्तै एउटा कुलीन सामन्त महिलालाई शक्तिशाली बनाउन चाहन्छ भने अर्को घरेलु पाल्तु | त्येसैले प्रस्ट नागरिकताको प्रतिस्पर्धा गर्नुको साटो ‘बाबु वा आमा’ को सट्टामा ‘बाबु र आमा’ लाई नागरिकताको आधार बनाईदिएका छन् | किन उनीहरु सबै धुलो कार्पेट मुनि घुसाउछन् | उनीहरु धुलो जम्मा पर्दैछन्, हामीले केहि जिज्ञासा राखेमा हाम्रो आखाँमा त्येही धुलो फुख्नको लागी | यी द्विविधा र भ्रमका बादलहरु, तुलनात्मक रुपमा नसुल्झाईए, त्यसले राजनितिक विवादको मल-जल गरी नै रहनेछ र नेपाली जनताहरु विगतमा जस्तै एक-अपसमा लाडीनै रहनेछन् कहिले धर्मको नाममा, कहिले भू-भागको नाममा, कहिले जातको नाममा, कहिले लिंगको नाममा र त्येस्तै अरू जे छन् हामी संग तिनकै नाममा | यसैबीच कुलिन सामन्तहरुले भने हिलोमा माछा मारीनै रहनेछन् | उनीहरु एक होइन सात सरकारमा बसेर प्रशासकहरु संग मिली कानुन बनाऊछन् र हामीलाई सासन गर्छन् | हामीसंग कर उठाई सुरक्षा बलसँग गठबन्धन किनछन् (दुवै पूर्व माओवादी र पूर्व राजकिय जो अहिले प्रहरी र सेनामा कार्यरत छन्) | र यसैबीच, हामी मधेशमा प्रताडित हुन्छौ, पहाडमा छेकिन्छौ | किन उनीहरु सबै धुलो कार्पेट मुनि घुसाउछन् ? उनीहरु धुलो जम्मा पर्दैछन्, हामीले केहि जिज्ञासा राखेमा हाम्रो आखाँमा त्येही धुलो फुख्नको लागी | र यही सन्दर्भमा, जनतासँग संविधान प्रति कस्तो प्रतिक्रिया दिने भन्ने विकल्प छ | केही मानीषले संविधानलाई राष्ट्रवादी भावले भरिएर यस्तो निष्ठाले साथ दिएका छन् कि मतभेदको आवाज उठाउनु भनेको राजद्रोह गर्नु जस्तो देखिन्छ | अरुले भने यो संविधान लाई यसरी अस्विकार गरेका छन् कि मानौ बिगत २ दसक देखीको सङ्घर्षको केहि मूल्य नै छैन | हामीले यी दुवै थरीका भावनालाई छोडी अहिले को परिस्थितिलाई राजनीतिज्ञहरुले अफ्नु लागी बनाएका यो संविधानलाई जनताको संविधान बनाउने मौकाको रुपमा लिनुपर्छ | यसका लागी हामीले आफुहरु बीचमा निम्न बुँदामा सहमति गर्नुपर्छ | राजनीतिज्ञहरुले धेरै गरे, अब यो हामीले सहमति गर्ने समय हो |
सरंशामा, हामीले यी कुलीन सामन्तहरु बाट शक्ति खोसी राख्नु पर्दैन | हामी नागरिकहरुले हाम्रो उर्जा यही संविधानलाई संसोधन गर्नमा लगाउनु पर्छ जसले जनतालाई सशक्त बनाओस, सामन्तहरुलाई होइन | यदि हामीले लगातार एक अर्कालाई हिंसाद्वारा, असहयोग र उदासीनताद्वारा कमजोर बनाउदै लग्यौ भने, हामी येसरी नै काठमाडौँका सामन्तहरुको बन्धि भएर, भारतद्वारा हेपिएर, विकास नियोगहरुको भरौटे भएर रहनेछौ | We in Nepal today are injured people. Some through bodily damage, many through the loss of loved ones, and many more through the loss of property; and we continue to struggle with the fear of ongoing aftershocks. We have lost much. But not all. And to heal, we must get in touch with that portion of our lives that is not yet broken. What is not broken? 1. Solidarity in our community and 2. Relief response from well wishers.
Some ideas to consider
Kehi Garoun has been promoting volunteering for 9 years. It is ironic that now, during the aftermath of the earthquakes, we are suggesting that you probably should NOT volunteer IF you fall into any of the categories below:
There are valid reasons to volunteer, and they are pretty obvious in a way. You SHOULD volunteer if you fall into the either of the two categories below:
We are a charity organization working in Nepal where 7000+ people lost their lives to the April 25th earthquakes. Yet, we say don't give aid. Why?
We are running a fund-raising campaign. Yet, we say don't give aid. Why? Why not aid? Reason 1: Aid crowds out Individual Enterprise. We live in a rented house. The landlord is a 70 year old man, an ex-bureaucrat, who is in better health than I am. The earthquakes demolished the boundary walls of our building. On the second day after the quakes, he started rebuilding the walls. What do you think would have happened if he had seen young volunteers in blue caps and yellow jackets going around building walls for free in our neighbourhood? He would have waited his turn for the free service. His 'individual enterprise' and his spirit of self-initiative would have given way to the hope that the volunteers would come around to build his wall. Aid discourages self-initiative. Reason 2: Aid symbolically defeats incentive to resume daily life. My wife and I have a toddler, who recently started drinking fresh cow's milk. A lady in our neighbourhood owns two cows and she brings fresh cow's milk to our doorstep every morning. The morning after the earthquake, shocked and tired as we were, we were further worried that we would not have cow's milk for the baby. But the milk arrived just as usual. The lady, praise the lord, had gone about her daily business, despite her share of difficulties. What's more, our house-help arrived at 8am sharp, even though her own house had collapsed in the earthquake and her family was living outside in a makeshift tent. These two ladies were my heroes, not because they were there to help me, but because they showed great resilience in picking up their lives so quickly after the catastrophe. Would they have come if their neighbourhood was teeming with relief-aid agents and hand-out delivery trucks? Aid makes a 'symbolic' imprint on human psychology that the crisis is 'too large for us to surmount on our own', and that the crisis is still ongoing. This discourages people from picking up the broken pieces and rebuilding their lives. To be fair, there are exceptions to every rule. In the case being made against Aid, there are two exceptions: 1. Short-term-Relief or Humanitarian Aid is useful when urgent needs clearly overwhelm/disrupt market supply. Relief, however, should be strictly time-bound (transparency and procedural documentation is too onerous here, and should not be demanded as it slows relief work). Relief should happen for 2-4 weeks, and then be come to an end. After the Haiti earthquakes, food was subsidized for so long that it all but killed the food-market, and the subsidy was eventually lifted. People get used to easy-solutions. People are tempted by free hand-outs. Aid is sticky, and like band-aid, it should be pulled out quickly. 2. Longer-term-Reconstruction (usually multi-lateral) Aid should be totally transparent and should be based on SMART goals. T in SMART stands for time-bound. Hence, this aid should also expire with a clear time-line. These aid amounts are large, and tempt even ordinarily law-abiding officials. Hence, procedural documentation and transparency are a must. If one can meet these criteria (for example, in Kehi Garoun's case, we would), aid is fine. But unfortunately, aid usually does not follow the above criteria. Most aid that comes during a catastrophe is emotionally charged, and aimed for short-term relief. It stays underused, gets lumped together with longer-term projects, falls through the cracks and eventually disappears. So, we stick to the rule 'Trade, not Aid'. Why Trade? A close friend of ours and her toddler were planning to visit us next month from another country. We were looking forward to our kids meeting for the first time, and meeting her after a long time. After the earthquakes, she cancelled her trip, saying she did not want to burden the already stretched situation both in our home as well as in our country. We were bummed. Her visit would have boosted our morale. And for the ailing economy, where tourism is a mainstay, this was a regrettable loss of economic activity. Economic activity is a healing balm...it solves problems. Let me give an example. Two days ago, we ran out of drinking water and food. We asked our neighbours, and they too did not have much to spare. So, we did what grief-stricken people usually do - we went shopping! The first store was run by a mother-daughter team. When I asked for bottled water, the teenage-daughter started to go to the back of the store until her mother sharply responded, 'we don't have any water.' The daughter was confused for a micro-second and then understood that the mother wanted to hoard. 'Great lesson to teach her daughter! That's her punishment enough', I consoled myself. In the next store, the shop keeper gave us six bottles of water, no fuss! That was a balm to our worry. We ended up buying much more than water, and that was a balm to his worry, perhaps. Later in the trip, as we were out of bread, we tried a few stores but in vain. Regular deliveries had not been made for three days and we made peace with that. But then we recalled that there was a new bakery in our neighbourhood. The owner was an excitable self-starter. Not only was his store open, he told us he would bake us fresh bread and that we should come back in an hour. We did, to two large loaves, freshly off the oven. Our problem was solved. Trade, or rather, economic transaction, makes each party better off (or else, why would they do it?). And that is what we need, whether or not we have earthquakes. In conclusion, some advice: To fellow-survivors: Please just buy the damn food/water from the stores. If you don't have the money, borrow from friends. Don't wait for aid. If you don't have shops, come to the market place where there are shops. Of course, if you are injured and can't travel, you may have to ask your friends/families. I am not prescribing this to anyone in extremely dire circumstances (lone survivor of a family who is in the ICU for example) ...but I am pretty sure, most people are not in such dire circumstances. And to them, I have one last suggestion - please go back to your daily lives, to your work, to your schools. The government's announcement to stay out of your houses kept you exiled from your safe homes for 72 hours needlessly; please don't let other experts or your own fears keep you from your productive lives any longer. Get back to the rhythm of your life! To well-wishers here and abroad: Please see if we are able to 'buy' or 'borrow' before you forward alms to us. And do please help us find business deals, locate people who want to buy Nepali architectural artefacts from broken buildings that we can sell, or sell make-shift furniture that I need to buy. If you are so inclined, find that movie-director who needs a real set to shoot his next Armageddon movie or that CEO of the firm that sells cholera-curing pills and mobile toilets who is scouting for their next big market. What ever you do, don't tell us to leave Nepal and join our relatives abroad. Just the opposite, ask the relatives to come visit us, and when they do, to bring us chocolates and wine....for wine, my friends, is all gone, thanks to the earthquakes! So, please, give us trade, not aid (except, wine, of course)! So you wish to help people who have suffered through a catastrophe?
KG's response to the earthquake is two fold:
May 05, 2015: In reference to point "1. Short Term Coordination" above, please note that KG is no longer involved with co-ordination of relief efforts/ resources. |
AbouT
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November 2015
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