Newarland

The
Monthly
By Newarland correspondant
Hundreds of sweet shops of
Kathmandu sensed a tough jostle
of earthquake this month, when
government officials cracked one
after another of the city's known shops
and discovered that they were in fact
selling flthy mixture of inedible and
adulterated items in sweet looking
packages.
The reality of dozens of trusted
shops for the elite and upper middle
class people and many more were
brought to the consumers, when the
Department of Food Technology and
Quality Control (DFTQC) conducted
investigations in those shops in the
month of September this year. The
shops were perhaps weavinging big
dream of earning millions of rupees
on the eve of the Hindu festival of
Dashain and Tihar.
Along with the DFTQC, Department
of Commerce (DoC), National Bureau
of Standard and Metrology (NBSM),
and District Administration Office
(DAO) are the key government
agencies responsible for monitoring
and inspection of food quality in the
market.
According to the government
offcials, nearly one-third of consumer
goods are substandard in Kathmandu.
That means that out of three, one shop
sells inedible foods and in each shop,
one in three items are not good for
eating. This is the horrible reality of
the glistening shops of the capital
city of Nepal, where live the most
educated people who are concerned
about their health and also are aware
of the consumers' rights.
Along with the growing population
of Kathmandu, the shops of sweets
and readymade foods started
mushrooming, especially in past one
decade or two. The shops spend big
chunk of their income on advertising,
attractive packaging and decorating
their shops with modern colours and
lightings.
Obvi ousl y, t hey draw t he
additional expenditure from the
consumers and the prices are sure to
rise day after day, or they have to
compromise in quality to make proft
of what they sell.
Si mi l ar l y, t he expandi ng
opportunities as well as rampant
corruption have brought a new class
of nouveau riche in the capital, who
do not care for price. They habitually
go to places which sell things in higher
prices. However, it is not necessary
that those "high standard" shops
also seriously consider quality and
consumers' health. In addition, as
the purchasing capacity of the city
dwellers rise, the numbers of such
shops increase; this is not unnatural.
When we feel nice to see series
of majestic shops along the business
areas of the city, what we tend
to forget is that the trend of food
adulteration is growing rapidly.
Government officials say that the
food adulteration in the capital has
grown three times in the last six years.
According to the DFTQC,
food adulteration rose to 23.7 per
cent in the fnancial year 2008-09,
from 7.4 per cent in 2003-04. And the
trend is going on, even faster every
year. Adulteration rate doubled to
15.1 per cent in 2004-05, compared
to the previous financial year. A
steady growth in the food adulteration
rate has been noticed in 2006-07
(17.3 per cent) and 2007-08 (25 per
cent), a government study shows.
As standards for hotel and
restaurants as well as food items
being produced and sold by them
are lacking, the investigation into the
hygiene level of such food items has
not been effective.
Cont. page 5
Year 1 Issue 1 vol 1 | September 2011 | Nepal Sambat 1131 | Bhadra 2068 Rs. 10.00
I t was saddeni ng t hat t he
Newars, the indigenous people of
the Kathmandu Valley, still did not
have a mouthpiece to speak out
their feelings in inter-communicable
language. We believe that lack
of communication between the
Newars and non-Newars is the
main cause behind mistrust between
the indigenous people and the
newcomers to this metropolitan city.
Keeping this in our mind, we
have come up to publication of a
monthly newspaper "Newarland".
This will voice the concern of the
Newars on local as well as national
issues. English will bridge the Newars
and non-Newars living in this holy
valley and maintain the harmony
that has been here long. It will make
the readers feel proud to live in this
valley, which has a history of 2000
years of civilization.
At the same time, we believe that
this publication will also be useful to
Newar young generation, who have
unfortunately abandoned their
mother language due to the present
language policy of the government.
This new publication will help them
remember their past and make them
feel proud to be Newars.
We s t r on gl y n eed you r
constructive criticism, suggestion and
contribution to make this publication
alive.
Happy Mohani
Congratulations !
for the released of
The Newarland monthly.
Publisher's Note
Adulterated Kathmandu
NEPALBHASA MANKA KHALA
Kathmandu, Nepal
Some Recent
Publications on Newar
Culture and Identity:
Brief Refections
Page 3
Page 5 Page 6
The Letter
Book Review Foreign Pen Short Story
Prof. Kamal P. Malla John Whelpton Chittadhar 'Hridaya'
Questions of identity :
Unifcation and
Sanskritisation
Events
The Newars of Sikkim celebrated
one of the major festivals of the
Kathmandu Valley, the Indrajatra
probably for the frst time this year, on
September 15.
The l ocal s carri ed decorated
panaquine with portrait of the Living
Goddess Kumari and made a procession
along the major street of Gangtok.
A cultral team from Kathmandu went
there to participate in the progamme.
They played traditional drums along
the procession.
The cul t ural progar mme was
managed by Ganesh Ram Lachhi, the
patron of Madhyapur Kala Parishad.
Team of Bakhan Daboo organized
symposium of Nepalbhasha short
stories and celebrated the 144th birth
anniversary of Mahakavi Siddhidas
Mahaju there on the occasion.
Message from Nepalbhasha Manka
Khala was read out on the same
occasion.
New book released
Shuvarna Keshari felicitated
Interaction of Shakya Forum
Women's Literary Conference
Dharma Bir Shakya Honored
Two new book by
Shreelaxmi Shrestha-A
story book 'A cry in the
Wilderness' and a poetry
book 'Shanti ya shanti' has
recently been published.
The poet r y book,
published by Bhawana
Pithana contains 42 poems.
The story book published
by Vajra Pulication contains
16 stories. Shrestha now
lives in Netherlands.
Ne p a l b h a s h a K h a l a ,
Makawanpur felicitated story
writer Suvarna Keshari Chitrakar
on the occasion of its annual
general meeting.
Former chairman of Newa
Dey Daboo Laxman Rajbansi
addressed the function as the chief
guest on the occasion. Chitrakar is
former president of Nepalbhasha
Misa Khala and is now the vice-
chairman of Nepaa Rashtriya
Party.
An interaction on the importance
and use of Buddhist rituals and tradition
in our social life was organized jointly
by Shakya Youth Forum and The
Shakya Foundation Nepal.
Naresh Bir Shakya, the founder
member of the Foundation stessed
on need to preactice Newa rituals.
The programme was chaired by the
chairperson of the Foundation.
The progamme of women's literary
conference was postponed to 1131
Nalaswane charhe. Previously, the
programme was scheduled for 1131
Kaulathwa. The time and venue would
be the same.
Indrajatra in Sikkim
Dharma Bir Shakya, the
patrons of Ilohan Publicaions
was felicitated by Nepal Sun
Chai ndi Byabasayi Sangh
Kathmandu Branch.
He was felicitated for his
contribution in the process of
strengthening of the institution.
He is the founder chairperson
of the Sangh.
September
2011
A few weeks ago, a well-wisher
mailed me three recent Nepalese
publications on cultural history and
identity of the Newah community,
evidently for review. I propose to discuss
them in brief, leaving an elaborate
analysis for future. All three authors, like
most of us, are in search of the common
denominator called Newah identity or
culture. As all three authors are equally
noted scholars what they have to say
has considerable value for the social
sciences as well. A few comments are
given below as preliminary refections
on changing perceptions among us.
Among the three books, Surendra
Man Shresthas is a handy reference work
on Newar culture by a knowledgeable
writer. Earlier, he had collaborated with
Baladeva Juju on The Tantric Worship
and Deities of Nepal (NS1105) and
Kantipur (NS 1108), and he has also
published a monograph on Newar
domestic architecture a decade later
in 1998. Although the recent book
is entitled as the history of Newah
culture it is a reference book, a treasure
room of unexpected beliefs, hearsay,
superstitions, legends and tantric lore
of the Newars. Written in cozy style it
is, unfortunately, loose in structure and
argumentation. His easy-going style
makes us feel at home as if we were
listening to him in person, but uneasy at
his wayward approach. Some 98 short
write ups on cults, beliefs, superstitions,
rites of passage, feasts or festivals,
guthi, agama etc. are assembled at
one place in an order which is neither
thematic nor alphabetical. The compiler
believes that culture is a system
different from religion, and that each
author has his own way of looking at it.
He believes that (his) culture is living,
and not a dead culture, displayed in a
museum. (pp. gha-nga). The problems
with this publication begin here.
To begin with, one doesnt know
why or how the given topics are
selected. Some are merely quotes
from inscriptions and introduction to
other publications. Some deal with
prehistory, others with myths. Some
entries cover several pages, others are
only a paragraph long. The author
doesnt outline his approach to culture,
nor the aim of the compilation. The
history of Newah culture is a project
he took up at the behest of his friends,
and it is evidently a tall order for the
author. Had it a less pretentious title,
the book could have been used at least
as a general knowledge book, or as
a reference book on selected topics of
interest to the author or some readers,
for example, sitting for quiz contest.
Fascinating though the book is as a
source of scattered information, it is too
diffcult to search any topic. There is a
Table of Contents, but it is misleading
for searching. The Contents mentions
Samskriti va Dharma on p. 183, but
in the text it is in p. 182! The rites of
passage are briefy dealt with in pp.
131-176. Just as the sequence of topics is
arbitrary their treatment has hardly any
consistency of approach. The pieces have
more of the favor of personal essay
than of cultural history. With a little effort,
most of the pieces could have easily been
grouped into sub-headings and chapters.
For example, under the sub-heading of
puja topics such as cahrhe puja, dyah
pyakham puja, pancamakara puja,
nimantrana puja, jogi cakra puja etc.,
could have come. Similarly, agam chem,
agam, agamdyaya dikcha, istadevata,
dyahchem, degu dyah etc. could have
come in a group. At the end reading
it, the book leaves us wondering what
history is, if not confused what constitutes
Newah culture
An accomplished writer in fiction
and an educationist, Rajvamshi's book
avoids that mistake of treating each
topic in isolation. His book too serves
as an accessible and handy glossary
of 436 selected terms in use in our
social and cultural life, grouped under
13 subheadings, (e.g., rites of passage,
dress and ornaments, food and drinks,
utensils, means of carriage, localities,
feasts, the ritual roles of select castes,
and festivals). Although it is written
in Nepala bhasa and translated into
Nepali, a useful glossary in Nepali is
provided for each term. The publication
is also furnished with clear line-sketches
of objects.
The book begins with an Introduction
to Newah identity where the author
argues that Newah identity is related
to Newah philosophy (p.3). The unique
nature of Newah philosophy began to
erode with the arrival of Hinduism and
its formal cults". "The unique features" of
Newar social and cultural practice are
precisely what he sets out to catalogue
and gloss in the book. Evidently, the
author thinks of these "terms" as "the
identity marks", or fnger-prints of the
Newars, if you like. How far Newah
ideology, their social and cultural systems
are infuenced by Hinduism is a complex
subject deserving detailed investigation
on its own. We wish the terms were more
inclusive, at least less selective.
Unfortunately, the cultural fnger-
prints are neither unique nor shared
by all castes, nor practiced at all
Newar settlements within the Valley,
its periphery, much less outside the
Kathmandu Valley. Inspired by the Hindu/
Baudha puranas or tantras, the Newars
are said to be intoxicated with jatras,
feasts and festivals; they are known for
their madness for gods and god lings, but
those worshipped as key deities differ
from locality to locality, from caste to
caste, from settlement to settlement. They
have no common pantheon, nor a single
omnipotent God, much less a controlling
church. There are too many varieties of
dispensers of salvation from life here,
with no certitude of the life hereafter.
Their priests range from
orthodox Vedic Brahmins to
heterodox Saiva Kapalikas,
from esoteric Buddhist tantrics
to monks and nuns living and
practicing pristine monastic
Buddhism. As they worship a
diversity of cults some social
scientists hesitate to identify
the Newars as adherents
of any formal/organized
rel i gi on. They have no
common scriptures, nor any
shared religious institution or
authority, certainly no Golden
Temple, no Potala Palace,
nor any Vatican, or Mecca.
The Pradhans of Thamel
are Buddhist; whereas the
Shilpakars are Uray by
caste, but they are Visnavas
by religion. The Newars
of Khona dont celebrate
Mohani. The inhabitants of
Tokha as well as the Kumhas
of Thimi dont have Mhapuja.
Not all castes have Degu
puja nor do all castes have
a tantric agama. More than
one-third of the community dont even
speak a common languagebelieved
to be the sole binding link among the
Newars. Although 85 percent Newars
call themselves Hindu, even among the
followers of the Mother Goddess/Ajima
cults, some worship seven, others eight
or nine, while the Shresthas in Lalitpur
worship Ten Mahavidyas ! The Ugratara
of Buddhists is a Mahavidya to Hindus.
The same cult of Bungadyah is Lokanatha,
Matsendranatha, Avaloketisvara to
some-an androgyny, a siddha who was
at once a Kaula, a saiva Natha and a
Buddhist savior for others. So in isolation
or collectively, the selective terms might
not be the absolute markers of Newar
cultural identity.
In the past centuries, the communities
which migrated out of the Kathmandu
Valley preserved their cultural memory
by erecting the temples of Nasah dyah,
Gane dyah, Bhin dyah, or by observing
Gai jatra, Lakhe nach or Hanuman Nach
in their new settlements. Those who
left Nepal to work or live overseas still
observe Ihi or Kayeta puja in Maryland,
Jhoh bhoye in Texas, or group Mha Puja
in London! Small but dedicated groups
still are working to preserve language,
script, religion and culture to the best
of their ability in not too hospitable
countries.
Some Recent Publications on Newar
Culture and Identity: Brief Refections
Reviews
By Prof. Kamal P. Malla
September
2011
The world worships stones,
carved into different shapes
as saviours of mankind. They
visualise all manifestations of
gods in the stones but the world
fnds it hard to accept a living
person, with equal respect and
love, as a god or goddess - this
is human nature. They cannot
accept anyone being celebrated
in the same way a piece of stone
may be. But Nepal might be
the only country where a naive,
little girl is worshipped as a
goddess. The girl is believed to
represent the family goddess
of the royal Taleju dynasty as
a living incarnation with power
to secure the throne s and the
peoples prosperity. She is known
as Kumari, the virgin one.
History has not yet traced the
origins of the Kumari tradition.
So far the chronicles argue, it
started as early as in the time of
a twelve-century ruler Gunkam
Dev, to whom the credit of making
this Kathmandu city goes. A
chronicle, narrated by Daniel
Wright in 1966 says that he
instituted Indra Jatra festival by
erecting the images of Kumaris.
Further, Mary Slusser writes in
her book Nepal Mandala that
manuscripts written in 1280 and
1285 AD describe the method
of choosing, ornamenting and
worshipping Kumari.
There are several Kumaris in the
Kathmandu Valley. Theoretically,
each Bihar or the monastery
should have one but many of
them today have discontinued
this tradition mostly due to lack
of patronage. Kumaris can be
found in Kwa Bahal, Kilagal,
Tokha (Kathmandu), Sulimha-
tol, Hakhaa Bahal, Bungamati
(Patan), as well as Chaturvarna
Mahavihar (Bhaktapur) among
others.
Above all, the Kumari at
Hanuman Dhoka hol ds the
principal position for she is given
an artistic house - Rajlakxmi
Kul Vi hara - wi th el egant
woodcarvings and beautiful wall
paintings. Her chariot procession
during the festival of Indra Jatra
is celebrated where the presence
of the ruling monarch is a must.
He receives tika from her on his
forehead and carries her divine
sword to "recharge" the power of
ruling for the next year.
The kings used to watch the
festival from the stone paved
platform in front of the Kumari
House and follow the procession
in a horse chariot.
T h e pr i me Ku mar i i s
selected from eighteen Viharas
of Kathmandu. The girl must
be born from "pure" Shakya
families and free of blemishes.
She is supposed to possess 32
"special signs" showing her
divine nature. It is said that the
candidate children are taken
to a special dark room for a
strenuous test, in which the little
children has to sit in front of
giant buffalo heads in puddles
of blood where images of
different unearthly creatures
come and go in the oil lamp-
lit chamber. The one, who can
sustain the ghastly atmosphere
bravely, is selected. However,
Juju Bhai Shakya, the husband of
the Kumaris caretaker husband
rules out any such criteria.
The Kumari can play all day
within her quarters but she is
not allowed to go out of her
residence except during special
festivals. The rule is that she
should not even get the slightest
of injuries. Any sort of bleeding,
including menstruation would
disqualify her from being a
goddess.
There are numerous stories
behind the origin of the tradition
of worshipping Kumari. One
says that an ancient king, Pratap
Malla, used to play dice in his
secret chamber with Goddess
Taleju, the royal goddess and
also seek advice in ruling the
country. One night, perverted
lust shadowed his mind and
immediately the omniscient
goddess vanished from his sight.
Taleju, however, advised him in
the dream that the king might
select a Buddhist girl in whose
body the Hindu goddess could
dwell. The king followed the
advice and received the power
to rule from the goddess through
the girl.
Jaya Prakash Malla, the last
king of the Malla dynasty, was
warned by the Kumari that his
time of tenure would end soon
and was asked to provide her
with a permanent residence. He
had the beautiful Kumari House
built in just six months and also
started the tradition of chariot
procession along with two living
attendant gods Ganesh and
Bhairav - this gave him an extra
12 years on the throne.
As the girl reaches 12, or
sustains any injury, she is sent to her
home after a special ceremonial
pooja. She starts her family life
normally - studying, marrying
and conducting a career as well
afterwards. Still, by kins and
friends, she is generally called by
the name of Kumari, rather than
her own name.
The tradition has continued,
no political change or natural
calamity has ever affected the
unbroken chain. However, the set
traditions are being modified
along with time.
Kumari and Indrajatra
Newarland
The rule is that
she should not
even get the
slightest of
injuries. Any sort
of bleeding,
including
menstruation
would disqualify
her from being
a goddess.
September
2011
There ws fnally the complex
case of the Newars of the
Kathmandu Valley, who after
1769 seem definitely to have
accepted the new rules: they
were described by a British
visitor in 1793 as 'tolerable
reconciled to the chains imposed
upon them by their conquerors'.
The predominant feeling seems
to have been simply relief that
the log war was over and Newar
traders, who had even before
Prithvi Narayan's time begun to
settle on small scale in the hills,
now spread out in greater number.
In the Valley itself there is no
evidence of any attempted revolt.
When the Newar mir munishi
(foreign secretary) Lakshmi Dal
told the British residency just after
Jang's 1846 seizure of power
that the Newars would rise at
his command, the British rightly
assumed that he was merely
acting as an agent provocaterur,
testing on Jang's behalf whether
the residency's professions of non-
intervention were genuine.
At the same time, however,
there remained a strong gulf
between Gorkhali and Newar.
One prominent Newar bhardar,
Tribhuwan Pradhan, was among
appointed to government posts
or receiving lucrative contract,
but either. Prithvi Narayan Shah
himself is said to have praised
the charms of Newar women,
and his son had an infuential
Newar mistress as well as an
interest in the tantrism which
was an important feature of
Newar religion, but regular
marriage between Parbatiyas
and Newars was not permitted.
The Parbatiyas seem to have
been practicalarly disdainful of
the banre, the Vajracharyas and
Shakyas: Kirkpatrik records a
conversation with a 'Rajpoot' (i.e.
Thakuri or perhaps Chetri), who
was eager to point that none of
his caste ever visited the Buddhist
temple of Swayambhu hills. This
attitude served, of course, to
strengthen Newar identity rather
than encourage full identifcation
with the state. The Newars did,
however, have a strong sense
of belonging to the Kathmandu
valley and, as kings of the Valley,
the Sah dynasty could expect a
degree of loyality.
Unifcation and
Sanskritisation
Newarland
Questions of identity :
Adulterated ...
The officials admit that it
is going on unchecked due
to weak market regulatory
mechanism. The government do
have legal provision, mechanism
and staff to regulate the food
standard. But the l ack of
adequate manpower and other
resources, necessary equipment,
motivation as well as tendency
of some of the staffers to go for
personal beneft have hindered
the offce from doing its duty on
the regular basis, they say.
The investigation this year
found that the sweet shops were
using unhygienic places and
utensils, contaminated water
to make the sweets. And they
were also found re-using old
and date expired food, which
were returned from the market.
When some media footage of
the kitchens of some renowned
shops were brought on the air,
the consumers could not sleep
at night because many of them
were their trusted brands.
Food i t ems produced
traditionally by uneducated
people in small scale is one
thing but what is alarming is that
intended adulteration is turning
out to be a huge problem in
expensive and fast growing
consumer goods produced locally
and by chains of food shops.
Nepali market is flooded
with branded products with
substandard packaging and
storage. Packed food are
believed for their brand names
but one of the trusted brand of
juice made a record among its
consumers when it was found that
the factory was storing thousand
of packed juice with future dates
of manufacturing, so that it could
be marketed even months after
the production. Finding inedible
precipitations in those juices were
a common saying, which could not
be concealed by advertisements
featuring noted actors actresses.
Even a high-level diplomat
was dramatically involved in
advocating the factory, which
was playing games with the
lives of thousands of consumers
every day.
An investigation round up of
the government offcials last year
found that fve out of 22 bottled
water brands had contamination
of harmful bacteria, and of the
29 samples of edible oil and
ghee examined, 10 were found
to be adulterated.
However, the health of
around four million people
living in the capital valley is
dependent on 44 years old
legal provision. The Food Act
1967 has provision for slapping
a fne of Rs 1,000 to Rs 5,000
orand a jail term for six
months to a year for producing
substandard foods. Likewise,
if the food item is found to
be unhygienic, the maker is
slapped a fne of Rs, 5,000 to
Rs 10,000 andor jailed for
a maximum of two years. This
is too insuffcient to bring the
rampant racket of adulterers
behind the bars.
Whi l e, ac c or di ng t o
Consumer Prot ect i on Act ,
companies manufacturing and
selling substandard edible
commodities are either fined
Rs 100,000 or are jailed for 5
years, depending on the nature
of the cases. But the process
of the second is too lengthy to
see the justice of the consumers
guaranteed.
On the top of it, even when
the government officials get
the adulterers "red-handed",
there is little chance that the
wrongdoers are prosecuted
and penalised as per the legal
provision. After media hue and
cry for several days, the people
will forget the issue and the
owners start doing business as
susual. This is what has been
happening most of the cases.
The government officials
have admitted to the media
that they don't have special
plan to step up monitoring and
inspection of eateries and their
products this year and due to
lack of technical guidelines,
enforcement of precise standard
for eateries and quality of their
foods has been diffcult.
If the government has to
prove its sincerity, and the
businessmen want to prove
their quality, the cosumers too
have to play role in this issue,
pressurising the government to
see the adulterer behind the
bars will make change and keep
the healthy city free from evil
practices.
From book "A History of Nepal", by John Whelpton
(p.59-60), published by Cambridge University Press,
reprinted 2008.
FoREIgN PEN
September
2011
The hous e of Shanka
Sunder, the business man, was
humming with activity that
day. Many young men came
and went l eadi ng behi nd
their parting presents, while
numerous women filed past
the room carrying baskets
full of boiled eggs, dried fsh
and wine, traditionally sent
by friends and relatives as
tokens of good luck to a person
leaving on a long journey to
Lhasa in Tibet. The gifts were
received and identified by
recording the names of each
sender on pieces of paper and
placed in appropriate baskets.
As even i n g f el l t h e
as t r o l o ge r ar r i ve d t o
deter mi ne the auspi ci ous
time for departure.When he
announced that 11.20 at night
would be the favorable time,
preparations for the farewell
ritual got underway. A metal
bowl and a pot of curd were
placed on a heap of rice
grains, while the lady of the
house, Mrs. Latan Laxmi, wiping
tears from her eyes, assembled
the other puja items, the holy oil
lamp, vermillion tika powder,
incense, fowers, boiled eggs,
dried fsh and wine.
The father and his son,
Shasi Sundar, in the meanwhile
spent some time in arranging
business accounts, while their
employees were busy packing
the goods to be taken on
the long horse-back journey
to Tibet. Everyone seemed
anxious to have everything
ready before departure time.
Shashi Sundar moved about
from room to room restlessly,
now sitting silently before his
father and then hurrying to his
room to talk to his wife Kumud
Kumari. It was not impatience
that he felt, but an emotional
confusion in having to leave his
home and family for the frst
time in his life. The thought of
his wife's sorrowful face and
their newly born son promised
to make his leave-taking a
painful one, but he struggled
to maintain his manly sprit. Just
then the family priest arrived,
enquired about the appointed
time and settled down to a
quiet conversation with Shashi's
father.
During all these activities
Kumud Kumari sat alone in
her room lost in her thoughts.
The lamp beside her fickered
for want of oil but she was
hardly aware of her immediate
surroundings. A cross current
of distressing thoughts were
passing through her mind. Her
mother-in-law appeared to her
as foolish woman, her husband
a layman without feeling-totally
unconcerned of his wife and
child. Why do people run after
money at the cost of domestic
happiness? What is the value
of money if this disrupted their
married life? Men are cruel-
they do not understand the
inner feelings of a woman. Her
patience and tolerance are
too often taken for granted.
She heaved a deep sigh and
looked at her sleeping child. Her
emotions seemed to overfow at
the sight of the child, for drops
of tears rolled down her face.
'Oh, what is to become of
this child! Why must he leave
us in this world of isolation?
How long must I endure this
torture of separation?' Her
heart echoed these words over
and over again, and embracing
the sleeping child she wept
bitterly. At that moment Shashi
entered the room and said in
a frm voice: 'Look, you are still
weeping. You are disrespecting
this auspicious occasion by
behaving in this way. Why do
you make it diffcult for me? I
shall possibly be away for two
years-no longer than that, I
promise you. So why must you
weep this way? You should be
happy and wish me well in my
business venture, but instead
you obstruct me with your tears.
You may need some money
while I am away. Keep this
with you. "Saying this Shashi
dropped a small bag full of
silver coins on her lap, looked
back at her once more and
left the room. This seemed to
add fuel to the fre, for Kumud
Kumari burst into tears again,
this time sobbing loudly. "What
does he mean by saying that I
am obstructing him by weeping?
Does he really expect me to be
happy, smiling to see him leave?
Only two years, says he, but
two years is a long time. This
money I suppose is the price
of my love. Why can't a man
really understand a woman's
heart? so ran her desperate
thoughts. She looked down
at the bag of money again,
snatched it and put it away in
one corner. She sighed heavily
and started to sob again. The
lamp, as if unable to witness her
sorrow any longer, fickered out,
leaving the room in darkness.
* * * *
Shortly later, the farewell
ritual commenced when the
other men to accompany Shashi
to Lhasa arrived after taking
leave from their homes. The
family priest chanted prayers
invoking the gods to bless
Shashi Sunder for his safe
journey. The offerings of egg,
fish, flowers and curd were
made, while the gifts from
friends and relatives were
emptied one by one and a few
coins dropped into each basket.
Then the priest took the names
of all the known deities sacred
to the family and symbolic coin
offerings were made to each.
In conclusion, every member
of the family starting from
the eldest to the youngest
approached Shashi to bid him
farewell. Each of these coins
were put into Shashi's red cap
as tokes of good luck.
Then came the turn of Kumud
Kumari but try as she might she
could not advance towards her
husband. She stood there like a
statue, with her hand covering
her mouth to suppress the
irrepressible sobs which choked
her throat, and her eyes were
red and swollen with tears. her
mother-in-law sternly rebuked
her for weeping and led her
forward. She stretched out her
hands without looking at her
husband, and two coins were
dropped into her palms. The
feel of the coins seemed to
pierce her heart for strangely
enough she, at that moment,
was reminded of the exchange
of gifts on the day of their
marriage. She bowed her head
to touch her husband's feet,
after which she was withdrawn
from m the scene to relieve the
emotional tension of the fnal
leave-taking.
T h e as t r ol oger t h en
appeared and reciting Tantric
incantations, sprinkled holy
water in all directions. Shashi
Sundar then descended the
st ai rs, accept i ng fur t her
offerings on each foor,
Cont. page 7
The Letter
Chittadhar "Hridaya" (1906-1982) was not only a pioneer among the modern writers in Newari language but a major
force in the literary movement during his lifetime. He was the founder of Nepal Bhasa Parishad, a literary society, and of
the magazine Nepal.
For his democratic leaning and writings in Newari language, he suffered imprisonment on the early 1940's for a number
of years. While in jail, he wrote an epic about the life of the historical Buddha. sugat saurav. He has tp his credit nearly three
dozens publication on Nepal Bhasa, including Thaybhu, Thona jimi woyeta Hay, Yoga sudha, Khupu Bakhan, Min manah
pau, Jighu Sahitya, Nepal Bhasa sahityaya jatah, yakamiya cha, Nepal Sanskrit. The present story from Khupu Bakhan
(1947) frst appeared in an English version by Tej R. Kanskar in Nepal Bhasa short stories (1977). He was awarded the title
'Kavi keshari' by late king Mahendra.
Literature
Short Story
September
2011
The Letter ...
and left the house through the
main door where he dropped
coins into the two water-flled
pitches placed on either side. As
he walked away without looking
back at the house the image of
his weeping wife embracing
the child, passed over his mind's
eye recurringly. It was only then
that he felt the full impact of the
separation.
* * * *
One evening Kumud Kumari
with her two year old son on her
lap was refecting on her past-
her memory carrying her back
to the days of her childhood, a
few simple incidents in her life
and finally to her marriage.
She had looked forward to new
and happy life after marriage,
but the hope she once had no
longer held out any promise.
Her husband had been away
for almost two years now and
there was yet no indication of
his returning in the near future.
Her growing apprehension of a
prolonged separation distressed
her to the point of divorcing
her from the normal realities
of life. Her active imagination
staged a tug-of-war on her
mind, her dream of an ideal
future conficting with illusions of
despair and frustration. When
her husband comes back she
will not welcome him with open
arms now will she allow her son
to go to him. She will resent him
until he feels fully sorry for the
mental anguish he had caused
her. But such a plan is soon
transformed into meaningless
fantasy, the practical and real
seemed elude her. Finally,
tired out by her brooding
melancholia she fell asleep
with her child still sucking at her
breast. Towards the morning
her sleep was disturbed by a
strange dream. She dreamt
that she was walking along
a narrow road with her child
in her arms when suddenly a
herd of ferce looking buffaloes
chased her. Looking back over
her shoulder she fed for her
life and instantly arrived on the
bank of a swiftly fowing river.
She ran on desperately along
the river bank, and then up a
steep hill where, their life and
instantly arrived on the bank
of swiftly fowing river. She ran
on desperately along the river
bank, and then up a steep hill
where, to her horror, she found
herself on the edge of a dark
abyss, and unable to stop,
she plunged headlong into its
yawing depth. But before she
struck the bottom, she woke up
with a start, her face covered
with cold sweat and her heart
beating wildly.
* * * *
That evening Sanka Sundar
after his meal sat in his room
writing a lette. Her wife, sitting
next to him with grandson on her
lap said, "You should, I think ask
hem to return to Nepal without
much delay. I have had many
bad dreams lately and I am not
very happy about this.'
At this moment Kumud, after
washing the dishes came down
to place a jug of drinking water
in the room and overheard her
mother-in-law's remark. She
immediately remembered her
terrifying dream that morning
and stood there in amazement
listening to her mother-in-law
speak those strange words.
Before Kumud could leave
the room, the family priest
accompanied by an employee
of another business man in Tibet,
entered the room without any
warning.
Shankha Sunder although
surprised by this unexpected
visit welcomed them and asked
them to sit down, while his wife
stood up with her grandson
and Kumud moved away to
one corner. The visitors sat
next to Shankha Sunder but
did not venture to speak; both
kept silent as if debating a
dilemma in their minds. The
suspense they created aroused
deep suspicions in the minds of
Shankha Sunder and his wife.
They could not comprehend the
purpose of their visit. The priest
fnally broke the silence as he
spoke in a soft vice, "I see no
point in further delaying the
matter. The way of the world
is inevitable, we must accept
our fate."
Kumud heard those like
a woman i n del i ri um; her
head began to swig and her
face turned white as a sheet.
Although she failed to grasp
any meaning in those vague
words, her loudly beating
heart signaled a premonition
of something terrible. At this
instant, the companion of the
priest put his hand into his
pocket and slowly produced a
letter tied with white string - the
symbol of tragic news, the news
of death.
September
2011
Valley
The earthquake of September 18
not only moved the earth of Kathmandu
bus also rocked hearts of millions of
people living here. The magnitude of
6.8 was enough to create panic to the
people whohave been threatened of
possibility of major earthquake for
many years.
Five persons were killed and other
44 were injured as the quake rocked
eastern and central Nepal. The panic
moved across the country and of
course, across the capital city from
the Constituent Assembly to slums
simultaneously.
The biggest irony of the earthquake
was the falling of the wall of the British
Embassy. Dozens of non- government
organizations were now and then giving
lectures, TV interviews and publishing
articles in newspapers that the age-old
houses of core city are the main threat
to the people living here. But when it
really came, it was proved that the
constructions of the rich, elegant and
intelligent embassy had to wear the
crown of being the most vulnerable to
the earthquake. The building might be
strong enough for its staffers. They even
might have safe places in the building
to take shelter during the quake. But,
they do not care for the common people
where the embassy is located.
Unfortunately, three innocent people
have to lose their lives due to the
earthquake. Sajan Shrestha, 36, and his
daughter Anisha Shrestha, 8, originally
from Gorkha district as well as Bir
Bahadur Majhi, 19, were crushed to
death by the ill-feted wall.
Urbanization of Kathmandu has
welcomed constructions of thousands
of houses each year in this capital
city. Most of them are educated,
well-to-do people who are aware of
natural casualties like earthquake.
The Kathmandu Metropolitan City
(KMC) also is doing its best to make
people aware of the threaths of the
casualties by such natural calamities.
Still, constructions of illegal and ill-
designed houses are going on. Greed
of some corrupt offcials in the KMC has
caused thousands of people to live in
perpetual fear.
Around 100 mega buildings with
over 10 stories are being constructed in
the capital, and around 50,000 people
are living in those houses. We all know
that the base of the valley is a lake
and the surface is made of fne soil
sediment. In this case, one can always
raise question of durability of the mega
constructions. People, mostly newcomers
to the capital city are participating in
rat- races to possess the most luxurious
and beautiful apartments but what will
happen if similar, or slightly bigger
strike of earthquake hits Kathmandu
again? The dangers of open electricity
wire, lack of emergency exit, extra
food, and drinking water will pose
the bigger threats. And we don't have
necessary mechanism to rescue the
people who will be victimized by the
modern concepts of urbanization. We
cannot expect them to be better than
the wall of the British Embassy.
When the government offcials are
making fun of century-old four-storey
houses in Asson, they are turning their
blind eyes to the newly constructed
houses along the narrow alleys of
Baneshwar, Kalanki, Chabahil and
Koteshwar.
This is the time of do or die. Either
the government, or the KMC be sincere
to put an end to illegal constructions
and emphasize safety measures, or
we have to be ready for casualties of
thousands of people in the next round
of major casualty.
Earthquake Rocks Kathmandu
What necessi tates a countrys
governance system to restructure
may vary depending on individual
cases. Many developing countries
after civil war or ethnic confict tend
to seek changes against the existing
governance systems. But taking up cases
of Cambodia and South Africa for
examples, both countries after decades
old conficts that led to civil war have
managed to settle the problems with
the existing system of governance by
rectifying the past ills and errors. Nepal,
needing the change of governance
system and after Maoist insurgency
and military atrocities, held election for
Constitutional Assembly (CA) in April
2007, has so far seen three governments
collapsed without concluding the peace
process and drafting of the New
Constitution, despite the people elected
them for those two important purposes.
The recent UNCP(Maoist) - Madheshi
Front alliance government led by Dr.
Baburam Bhattarai remains to see
how it will comply its commitment to
the logical conclusion of the peace
process and the drafting of the New
Constitution. PM Bhattarais three week
old government was greeted by an
unprecedentedly huge tremor before
he left for New York to attend the UN
conference. Thanks to the truthfulness of
the peace loving people of this land,
the 6.8 rector scale tremor brought less
death and destruction than one similar
size of tremor that occurred with a
magnitude of 6.7, struck in the western
state of Gujarat, India in 2001, killing
more than 20,000 people.
PM Bhattarai can manipulate the
tremor for better for worse. If he was
only image building for the past three
weeks, he may be spending time visiting
the victims and touring the damaged in
Kathmandu and elsewhere no sooner he
comes back from New York. But, if he is
genuine on the need of solving centuries
old grievances of the people of this holy
native land of diverse nationalities, we
can expect him assigning several of
his subordinates to take good care of
victims and damages Sundays tremor
has caused, and he will be initiating
to fnd solutions to peace process and
drafting the New Constitution within the
next month well beforehand his three
months term ends in November.
In bringing peace process into
a logical conclusion, he has to solve
di sputes over Maoi st combatant
integration with national army and,
over nations restructuring under a
federation. He can not back down
the commitment to federalism but can
rectify the present state restructuring
committees wrong decision of unfairly
demarcated sizes of future federal
states. In considering the sizes of 14
states allocated by a group of three big
party leaders for a New Nepal, even an
elementary school boy or girl will ask
why these pieces are different so much
so the sizes are unfairly demarcated.
But the Committee concerned has not
heeded calls for rectifcation of the
wrong demarcation of the states in
the new federation. The most affected
people by this unfair and discriminatory
demarcation are the Newar people,
whose whole indigenous and historic
state of Nepal Mandala was squeezed
into just three districts of Kathmandu,
Lalitpur, Bhaktapur, and some tiny
areas of adjoining districts despite it is
black and white clear that the historic
Nepal Mandala covers a region of
at least twelve districts of todays
Kabhre, Dolakha, Rasuwa, Dhading,
Nuwakot, Ramechhap, Sindhuli, Sindhu-
palchok, and Makawanpur in addition
to Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur.
Unfairly demarcated 14 states must
not be a Hobsons choice. Every fair
minded one believes that Bhattarai
administration can rectify this.
A Fair Society
A humble desire of a people of
any country is primarily a peaceful
and prosperous life, which is possible
only in a fair society, a society where
everybody is treated equally, given
chances of access to basic needs such
as water, food, shelter, education, work
and security, for which they do not
have to struggle to procure, whereby
harmony among people is developed
and peace prevails. So desire the
Nepalese, too. Governments in the past
have proved that they did not represent
the people of Nepal, hence willfully
ignored the desire of the Nepalese.
Baburam administration should be able
to prove that his government represents
the people of Nepal, not just UCPN
(Maoist) and UMF just because they
have formed a coalition government,
and he will be honoring his commitment
to the people. If not, he will only
be confirming the allegation of his
governments own spokesman and the
coalition partner Jayaprakash Prasad
Gupta that Baburam is simply busy in
personal image building.
- Suwarn Vajracharya is Advisor
of Nepal Federation of Indigenous
Nationalities (NEFIN) Japan
Views
Restructuring Nepal from
Newar Prospective
Suwarn Vajracharya
VIEWS & IDEA
Editor/Publisher: Naresh Bir Shakya | Assistant Editor: Rajendra Manandhar| P.O. Box: 1967 | Phone: 4220730 |e-mail: elohanpublication@yahoo.com | Printed at : Print Sky, Kathmandu
September
2011
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