| Username |
Post |
| Biswo |
Posted
on 07-Nov-03 02:09 PM
A few years ago, a local bully turned contractor went to the office of Synergy FM in Bharatpur. He wanted to give advertisement to the radio whose wave spans Chitwan region and periphery. Reportedly, the boss of the FM made him wait for more than thirty minutes. The contractor was so incensed that he returned back without giving the advertisement, and declared that he would open his own FM station soon, so that he wouldn't ever have to go to Synergy FM to give his advertisement. Hence Bharatpur quickly got a new FM, called Kalika FM.
The proprietor of Kalika FM is Vikram Pandey, who holds a reputation for ferocity, and temerity. He is also known as a man who became affluent so quickly that even young people still remember his difficult days.As his contract business took off,he became relatively more mature. He started dealing with people in a more reasonable way. He comes from the school of thought that money can buy everything, and that with the money he had he could be a politician too and so a few years ago he tried to test his luck in politics. In the last election, he dangled enough money to Nepali Congress leadership, and asked for the ticket. Somehow NC guys didn't give him the ticket. He then tried RPP which obliged. To the surprise of many, he secured about ten thousand votes, and was a runner up.
When I went to his constituency near Meghauli, I stopped at small teashops all of which invariably had a calendar with his picture. It seemed like people admired him. "He was a goondaa. But he is no more. He is a very nice person, helps us in everyway when we approach him." a local businessman told me."If the election were to be held today, he would win." declared another teacher in Chanauli.
It was hard for me to believe that a RPP candidate would ever win in Chitwan. In the first local election, only a few out of 600+ local officers were RPP. Being a cradle of democratic movement, Chitwan had no love for those associated with ex-panchayat system. And Chitwan's constituency #4 has very strong presence of the Maoists. Did Vikram's image of some kind of generous rich man attracted the mainly poor voters? I was intrigued and I wanted to meet Vikram to know how he defined himself.
When I mentioned this desire to a friend of mine, he talked to a person from Jyamire, who was the district level head of RPP aligned student wing. The student knew me, but it seemed I had already forgotten him. He called me, introduced himself and told me that he was very close to Vikram, and could set up an appointment. "He is a very busy person. Mostly lives in Kathmandu. His cellphone number is known to only a few. But just recently, we are told that he is accompanying minister Kamal Thapa to Bharatpur. So, rest assured, I will set up a meeting." I thanked him.
The day Kamal Thapa , a minister in Thapa government, came to Chitwan to inaugurate some district level convention of telecommunication office employees, I was somewhere near Bharatpur. A canard floated around that the police had to fire some bullets in order to clean the road for the minister. Since opposition parties had vowed that they wouldn't let any minister to come to the district, I knew some kind of confrontation was inevitable. The rumour that the police shot at the protestors turned out to be untrue, but they definitely had blocked the road by sleeping in the road. The minister went to some conference center, and used a cell phone to inaugurate the conference. Vikram Pandey was with him all the time. He was with the minister all the way from Kathmandu.
Being with a national leader is like making a statement in one's region and within one's party: it demonstrates to your cadres that you are close to the power center, that they can count on your help, and finally, yes, you will get ticket even in case the cadres don't issue one. It works like a strong statement, not only in RPP, but in all parties.
The student leader called me the next day. He said that even he had to wait until very late to meet with Vikram. "He is so busy" he said. He said Vikram had agreed to meet with me, but that he would be busy for some days with the minister's arrival and all other things.
Meanwhile, cable operators in Chitwan were facing a strange problem. There is enormous profit in cable operation in Nepal. A friend of mine operates cable in Tandi, and earns in almost six digit per month without any substantial investment. He has about 2,000 subscriber, who pay Rs175.00 per month, and he provides a low quality cable service in return that allows people to watch Hindi movies and soap opera all day.Chitwanese women love those soap opera, and Chitwanese men love Chitwanese women. So, men subscribe to those cables. Whenever a new entrant comes to the market, cable operators carve out the region, and agree not to sell cable lines in the region of another operators. In this way, they have formed a collusion that provides a sloppy service, and consumers are charged more than what would be a fair price.Vikram Pande reportedly saw the opportunity there, he wanted to provide cable service to the whole Chitwan. The Cable operators didn't like that. He had money, he could grab the whole market soon, he could provide better service and they all could lose money that they were earning with such comfort. The cable operators'clique then decided to upgrade some services, and unitedly oppose Vikram's new venture.
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| Biswo |
Posted
on 07-Nov-03 02:10 PM
I,as a consumer, would support Vikram's effort to provide quality support to the consumers. His entry would benefit all, I knew. It struck me to know that the government was allowing all these cliques to be formed and operated in Nepal. So, I knew my talk with Vikram would be interesting.
So many ex-goondas I have seen in my life are in such a miserable situation in their later life. I have seen people who terrorized the whole district becoming tamed after they were 35, and starting small business, like selling bhaat(rice) in a small rundown restaurant, and preaching virtue to other small kids. In the world of this small time goondas, if they are feared, they are also constantly challenged. Once they are above thirty,one day they succumb to the challenge of a new goonda with more strength, because a goonda with no obvious organization to support his terror reign can fend off only so many challenges. Nale, Poorne, Shekhare, Janake etc were famous for their goondagardi. Now they are in oblivion. But somehow, Vikram is in the rise. He 'diversified' his portfolio. He earned respect from quite a few people. In a hope that he would one day be a minister, he is trying to be a moral force, a congenial person, and unlike other royalists, he hopes that there is at least one more election, where he could challenge all other reknowned and established 'hastis' of Chitwan, and get elected. Those who can get elected love to get elected.It is such a great experience. The triumph in election is an incredible joy, you know that when people had chance to elect someone they secretly chose you. You know that you are loved. You know that you are genuinely beloved.
At the end, I had to rush back to USA. I was unable to meet him. But I always thought he had enormous potential, and was, to use a term FBI often uses, a "man of interest".
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| dautari |
Posted
on 07-Nov-03 02:20 PM
Interesting ..
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| sweetP |
Posted
on 07-Nov-03 02:35 PM
I do not "know" Vikram Pande. I do not know how much "goonda" he was. But I have heard that he is a nice guy and that he came from a poor family and worked hard to get where he is today. He is well respected as far as I know, perhaps not by those who are jealous of his progress. Certainly, I do think he has a lot of potential to do something more for himself and some for the people of Chitwan or the whole of Nepal. I wish he didn't have to do chaplusi to those politicians. Probably he is using them to get there. But in the event that he does get there, let's hope that he will not be like one of them.
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| L-a-x |
Posted
on 07-Nov-03 03:07 PM
Bishwa,
Nice one....
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| SITARA |
Posted
on 07-Nov-03 03:43 PM
A narration of great interest, Biswo!
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| Bhunte |
Posted
on 07-Nov-03 03:54 PM
Biswo ji, tapai ta Chitawan ko raithane ho ki kaso--meghauli, chanauli, tandi sappai jannu bha raichha. Anyway, nice story! The story also hints creation of markets for goods/services, etc. and market potential in nepal...
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| Biswo |
Posted
on 07-Nov-03 04:04 PM
Sweetp,
I think your statements are somehow contradictory. You say you don't know him, but it seems you know quite a bit about him.
It is wrong to say he was born in a poor family. Unless you belong to Shah/Rana clan, there is no way you can consider his family a poor family.
To me, he is just a man of interest. He manipulated successfully the imperfection of our country/region. He recognized the extent to which he can go with his money. He is a man of contradiction: he seems nice, he seems ferocious, he seems generous, yet he can be pretty tough.
Lack of rule makes our country a playground of all sorts of people. He is one of those players.
Bhunte,
Yes, I am from Chitwan.
Sitara,Lax, Dautari: Thanks for reading and commenting on this. It is not very well written. I was just killing the ennui of Friday afternoon:-)
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| sparsha |
Posted
on 07-Nov-03 04:29 PM
"I was just killing the ennui of Friday afternoon:-) "
Biswoji, tapai pani kaat-maar ma?
posting of interest. enjoyed.
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| Gokul |
Posted
on 07-Nov-03 04:30 PM
Biswoji,
You are really a man of many interests!
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| sweetP |
Posted
on 07-Nov-03 06:00 PM
Biswo,
When I said I don't "know" him (note the double quotes), that means that I don't know him on a personal level. I have heard about him.
Also, just so you know, not all Rana/Shah kids are born in a rich family. Since you are a great writer, my humble suggestion to you is to stop generalizing Rana/Shahs.
As I said before, I have not heard how much "goonda" he was. But from what I have heard, he is a person of tactics.
Good luck to him, and hope he stays on the right track.
Bye the way, he is also a strong believer in God.
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| Bhunte |
Posted
on 07-Nov-03 06:12 PM
Usually poor people work hard, and their progress is intolerable to some in our society. They often become a gossip, or joke. Hope, Vikas or Tandi guy may be one among them.....
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| sweetP |
Posted
on 07-Nov-03 06:25 PM
Bhunte, who is Vikas or Tandi guy that you mentioned?
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| Biswo |
Posted
on 07-Nov-03 06:26 PM
Sparshaji,
Bloodless kaatmaar ta tolerate garnu paryo ni.
Gokulji:
Tks. That's what I think about you.
SweetPji,
I didn't note the double quotes, or I guess I didn't understand it properly. Anyway, I did mention Rana/Shah because they "are" the richest clan in Nepal. Now do I know whether all of them are not rich? Of course I know. I was merely trying to point out that in Nepal, Shah/Rana clan don't particularly regard others to be rich. And as a bonus, let me impart with you a nice historical moment when Ranas also had their day of privation.
Ratna Man was a nice guy. During Chandra Shamsher/Bhim Shamsher reign, he helped a Rana who was having tough time to raise his family of 120 people. So many wives, so many kids, so many keeps. He was really poor those days. And Bhim Shamsher didn't particularly like him either, so he was not provided the infinite financial opportunities that other Ranas normally had. This Rana , known to us as Juddha Shamsher, would later return this favour by making Ratna Man a badaakaaji, and a man responsible to take care of minting. Taking care of minting was so lucrative that Badaa Kaaji Ratna Man would later be regarded as one of the richest persons in Kathmandu. For those who don't know about this, his progeny includes Ganesh Man Singh, Gunja Man Singh, Kamal Man Singh, Bimal Man Singh and so many others who are still considered very rich.
Bhunte,
No, I am not jealous or anything. I found him a man of interest. I was very disinterested while writing this piece. I think he was hardworking, but hardworking alone takes you only so far in Nepal: we know this. Any investigative journalist out there?
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| rbaral |
Posted
on 07-Nov-03 06:26 PM
Thoroughly enjoyed Biswo's writing.
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| Biswo |
Posted
on 07-Nov-03 06:30 PM
Rbaralji,
Thanks for your comment. You are, I have noticed, one of my consistent readers. I hope your time is worth spent here.:-)
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| Chordaku420 |
Posted
on 07-Nov-03 06:39 PM
I also happen to enjoy reading Bishwo's comments. Keep it up bro....
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| Bhunte |
Posted
on 07-Nov-03 06:42 PM
SweetP, Tandi guy is Biswo's friend who enjoys monoply (??) in providing cable service in Tandi municipality. He is potential competitor of Vikram Pandey as well in cable operation there. So Tandi guy and Vikram may have some price war which is good for cable consumers there...eheheh
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| Bhunte |
Posted
on 07-Nov-03 06:46 PM
Pls read as " Vikram Pande is potential competitor of Tandi guy.... "
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| sweetP |
Posted
on 07-Nov-03 06:46 PM
Bhunte seems to know some details about a lot of people of sajha. I wonder how you do that. I have to say this but please no hard feelings -- Your "...eheheh" at the end of the post almost irritates me. :)
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| Bhunte |
Posted
on 07-Nov-03 06:48 PM
sweetP, you can imagine ....ehehe is some kind of hot chilli powder or sugar in your discretion.
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| Chordaku420 |
Posted
on 07-Nov-03 07:08 PM
Forget about the party for now, At least he is much better than Ghusya like Govinde, Kursani Maila, Girija and all.
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