A few reflections on my relatively naïve holistic understanding of today's Nepal

Arriving in Kathmandu, Nepal on September 15th, after my 11 days in Kalimpong, India, I took a taxi from the airport to the Fulbright office. On the way to the office we encountered an enormous traffic jam. The traffic is bad enough as it is in the city as a constant chaotic swarm of buses, vans, motorcycles, goats, pedestrians, bicycles, dogs, and cars, but this was different- we hadn’t gone anywhere in minutes and it was jammed up as far as I could see.

I asked the driver what the problem was and he said “baanda chha”- chha means ‘there is’ and baanda literally means ‘closed’. Baanda is one of the words used for one form of political strike / protest which is quite often now in the city. Over the past several years, and especially more recently, at any given time- from one day to the next without any notice at all- any part of the city or its entirety can be completely closed down to automobile traffic. By blocking specific and major intersections the city becomes closed. And many businesses will also close down in protest.

I asked the driver why there was a baanda today. He explained that recently the government had instated a curfew by which all shops, restaurants and bars had to be closed by 11pm. Tamel, considered the tourist district and party / club / bar / discotec center for Nepali Youth, is home to many businesses that would prefer to be open until the early morning hours. The workers of these businesses- waitresses, bar tenders, etc.- protested that day by closing down a few major intersections, what would happen to their jobs, their money, their livelihood with such a curfew which is to date heavily instated every night by a swarm of armed police who are not afraid to used their bats so I hear.

The taxicab driver explained that the government believes that a lot of crime emanates from these late-night alcohol serving establishments, and so the curfew. When I talked briefly with another Fulbrighter about the curfew, he also seemed to think it was a good idea. His notion came from the fact that he and his girlfriend didn’t like to see such westernization in Nepal- he still is searching for “the real Nepal” that he has not been able to find over the last two weeks in this bustling, rapidly modernizing yet simultaneously ancient city.

“The Real Nepal”- Buddhists and Everest and ancient ‘sustainable’ traditions. And where are the authentic Nepalis anyways? Why do they all watch TV and wear jeans and drive cars? “I came here to get away from all of that” I heard another westerner say. So what is “the real America”? Wallstreet and Hollywood, ritz and intellect, sex, power, whiteness and beauty? I don’t feel like a very ‘authentic’ American, although I fit the mold in many ways. Dreaming of authenticity is very dangerous and we must recognize our desires, try to trace their roots. Considering the circumstances, denying people ‘development’ can also be considered a form of oppression. To assume we should have access to observe or engage in an “authentic traditional” culture is another symptom of privilege with various roots and repercussions. But there is no denying the wisdom of ancient ways of life and the proliferation of western hegemony is definitely a source of their demise.

This issue of modernization is such a tricky one to be thinking about here in Nepal. After being here only 10 days I don’t feel especially educated about all of the recent history of the country, something I hope to change very quickly, but I can certainly say that right now I feel as though the situation is a tangled ball of yarn with dozens of different colored strings sprawling out from the congested center.

Kathmandu itself is the melting pot of Nepal. The Newari people are indigenous to the Kathmandu Valley and are the people who originally built the ancient cities and kingdoms of Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur- now the major cities in the valley. In the late 1700s the Kathmandu Valley was conquered (or “unified” as the euphemism goes) by the Gorkha Army and from there a Hindu Kingdom prevailed with overlapping caste systems in place (Newari and Hindu/Gorkha). Slowly people from all over the area began to settle in the Valley and today you find people of many different ethnic backgrounds residing in the Valley- Tamang, Rai, Tapa, Gurung, Sherpa, just to name a few. The ways in which these people were integrated into the hierarchical social order is fascinating and complex. Because they were neither priests (Brahmins), warriors (Chetris), merchants (Vishia), untouchables, nor Newaris they were jammed into the lower rungs of complexities oversimplified by the classical Hindu caste system theory. Modern Nepal still struggles with issues inclusiveness concerning the caste system, and class of course is another whole issue. Someone can be rich, but because they are of a low caste, be looked down upon. My foreign eyes are not tuned to notice the subtleties of caste discrimination and oppression but I am sure with time and education I will start seeing things more clearly. Even in the US one needs a certain focus in their vision to see the multiple ways in which race, economics, culture, and law interact and weave together as our grandly unequal and unjust social fabric.

So ethnicity, caste and class. There is one string of yarn.

The major issue in Nepal right now of course if development. Many people claim that people in the cities and in remote rural villages alike need more electricity, better education, better roads, better hospitals, better jobs, more economic power so that Nepal as a nation can prosper and become more powerful within the international community. For decades politicians have promised development programs, but nothing ever seems to happen with these policies. The people lost faith in their parliamentary / Monarchical bureaucracy which just seemed to gobble up money from home and abroad, keeping the rich and the poor poor but without the development and progress many people felt needed. For 15 some years a Maoist lead military force spread inspirational revolutionary rhetoric and anti Royal Army violence throughout the country. Thousands were killed, acres of land seized, hundreds of protests, strikes and other political maneuvers were taken, and eventually the King was ejected. Democratic elections took place about a year ago electing the Maoist to power. Today a constitution is being drafted and yet somehow the faith in government seems to be small. The recent national budget proposal calls for twice as much money as previous ones and includes monumentous goals like dam projects leading to electricity exports to India. Today the Nepal’s capital city loses power 36 hours per week. Many people don’t trust the Maoist either and expect more of the same from the new politicians, big ideas, little action.

So civil war, transition from monarchy to democracy, government, Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and development projects is another thread of yarn.

Education. In such a relatively economically poor, developing 3rd world country the education system is lacking. I have yet to see school in rural areas but I have heard they are usually little more than small shacks with small classrooms jamming in dozens of students for one teacher. In a town in the hills there is a 12 year old boy in the seventh grade who is at the top of his class. In the same grade are 15 and 16 year old kids. If this young boy was given a scholarship to study in a good school in Kathmandu he would be placed in the second grade. I recently met a women from Holland who is working with the Nepal Ministry of Education. Currently there is absolutely no teacher training necessary to become a government-school teacher. Graduating from high school is the only qualification. Of course there are certain text books and exams for certain grades. With this system people make up their own lessons and material that can be far from truth or actual reality; unified teacher training, pedagogy, and curriculum are far from sight. She said that they have created great models for putting such programs in place, but Brahmin men make all of the decisions at the end of the day she says. The bureaucracy seemed intolerable to her. From my experience the education system is also very traditional in the sense of not questioning the ‘guru’ who knows all, and memorization without true understanding is very common, especially for younger children. Another thing which shocked me is the Euro-American centrism that, from my limited experience talking with people here, seems to pervade the school system (not too surprising considering dominant forms of ‘development, progress and democracy- all hot topics in Nepal – arose from the West.

Education, another strand.

Media. Walking down the streets of Kathmandu today, media is everywhere. Advertisements mostly come from cosmetics (shampoo, etc) idolizing glowing fair skin as the symbol of beauty, alcohol companies boasting excitement, sex and prestige as the characteristics of these increasingly popular beverages considered entirely risqué to many less than a generation ago, motorcycles which “set millions of hearts aflame”, cell phones which seem to be just about everyone’s access to a personalized modern experience, and packaged food so that life can be fast.
Television of course is incredibly enchanting, addicting, and popular. Almost every Nepali family’s home I have been in boasts a TV on for several hours day and night. Here the glamour of the Western World is displayed in all of its undisputed fabulous glory and in comparison Nepal is oh so poor. Hindi and Nepali TV programs range from sitcoms, to music videos to the nightly news and often times have good local programming. I have spoke to many that say the aspirations and desires of the youth are planted by the media. A huge percentage of young Nepali men are abroad to make money.

Media, another pervasive strand.

Tradition. Hindu and Buddhist dharma are firmly rooted as the pillars of this society. The culture, the language, the daily practices, dress, religious ceremony and philosophies all interwoven as one. The balance that is kept by people entering the middle and upper classes between tradition and modernity is quite unique, many might consider themselves ‘suitably modern’.
Here in the city, it seems that a good proportion of people have their own gardens, they grow various vegetables seasonally to supplement having to buy. Just a couple blocks away from my apartment in the middle of the city is a rice patty in someone’s front yard. Squash vines are common ornaments to nearly every house, climbing on roofs, trees and power lines. The further one gets away the more agricultural land there is. In just a twenty minute bus ride I can be in the hills where the rice patties extend for acres and corn, potatoes, radish and mustard greens grow lusciously as a combination of food for the house and food to be sold for income. In this setting many families have their own cow or water buffalo to provide manure (fertilizer) and dairy for consumption or sale. It is not uncommon to see a 70 year old women or a 8 year old girl carrying a large bamboo basket overflowing with grass and shrubs- a portion of their cow’s daily feed- all of its weight strapped onto their head and draped on their back which leans forward up the steep hills and paved or dirt roads. Others carry loads of brick, dirt or absolutely anything you can imagine in these load carrying baskets.
Just an hour bus ride (10 miles) I can be in a completely rural setting. From the top of tall hills ones sees terraced hillsides interlaced with subtropical forest and green valleys as the foreground to the Himalayan mountains. These terraced hills have provided the sustenance of life to god-knows how many generations who lived in with these hills. Of course things have never been perfect, but the country-side can be very idyllic for someone passionate about healthy food, healthy environments and healthy people. The entire food chain is visible here as well as the incredible agro-ecosystem which people have induced for life. Eating a meals of rice, lentils, vegetables, fruits, wild plants, herbs and spices, fresh dairy and meat products- all from your direct vicinity is quite remarkable to me, not only to think about it, but to feel its pleasure and its nourishment.
But of course these traditions are suitably slipping away. In many villages young men are endangered- they have left to make money. Speaking to young men about these issues, it seems many would rather have money, ride a motorcycle and have the freedom to stay out at a bar past 11pm than to live in the footsteps of their forefathers. As my other Fulbright Fellow friend, studying democratization in Nepal, said yesterday “who wants to live in a mud shack after you have seen modernity?” In many cases, as a byproduct of overpopulation and socially unjust land distribution, the food that can be grown on a family’s land is not enough, as such they have to make money. So you can work for a dollar a day doing manual labor, or 4,000 rupees (65ruppees=$1, so about $60) a month in an office if you are lucky, or be 1 of 11 getting 3,000 rupees/month collecting eggs from a factory of 15,000 chicken (as I recently saw). But the young men will tell you that none of this is enough for the lives that they want.
Once, where rice could not be grown, millet, wheat, buckwheat and drought resistant rice where grown. Today corn, potatoes and other veggies fill the terraced fields that also now taste cheaply produced chemical fertilizers which give higher yield but devitalize and deplete the soil in the long term. A cash oriented system slowly replaces the old value system and as a result people no longer eat the old foods that used to fill their bellies in such good ways, one older Nepali man told me. The same old man, when I asked him why he thought so many young men leave their homes, families, and friends for work and money abroad, said that so many of them watch the television and it shows them the life of wealth- a fabricated illusion. But they think this illusion is a reality, he says, and so they leave to try to make it so. The grass is always greener on the other side.

Agriculture, development, desires, the changing food system, illusions and reality- another long, long yarn of thread.
Of course there are too many threads to be sorted but I am trying to get a holistic understanding of the situation before I choose one area to concentrate on. So far to me the notion of desire is very intriguing to me. It is tragic that so many young men leave the country now for work, and in my next entry, I will tell a story of a recent interaction I had with some young men not too much older than myself.