| Bikas |
Posted
on 01-Apr-02 07:23 PM
Was going through my folders earlier today, and found something I had written back in 1995 as part of my "To the Point" column (it was published in the Kathmandu Post on September 15, 1995). I thought I'd share this decidedly tongue-in-cheek piece; the possbility of the SLC exams being affected made me nostalgic!
I believe this piece was inspired by conversations I had with Arnico at his Bagena Batikaa.
Bikas
Waiting for Another Bandh
I am so sick of gheraos and birodh pradarshans; there seems to be one every other day. I mean, what are these sissy things? What happened to those good old-fashioned bandhs, especially those that used to shut down the whole country so frequently in the past? Many commentators have decried such events; just recently, a few businessmen were whining on national TV about how ruinous bandhs are to the economy. Come on, I tell them, get real. I can see where these businessmen might be mistaken. I mean, I used to think that way, too. That is, until recently, when a good friend of mine opened my eyes. Now that I have finally seen the light, I believe that it's my duty to lead others to that realization as well.
What's so bad about bandhs? There is certainly nothing wrong with it environmentally. Since I usually ride a bicycle around town, I am happiest on the day of a bandh. Have you been to the Ring Road recently? Even before six in the morning, buses and trucks ply the road, spewing out smoke and stirring up dirt. Just imagine what could happen if those vehicles were not allowed to run. No smoke. No dust. A bicyclist could ride safely, without wearing any of those grotesque masks. Pedestrians could walk happily, without using handkerchiefs to cover their faces. And what about hundreds of lung diseases that could then be prevented? A healthy population is a happy population. An externality problem - to put this issue in economic terms - solved!
Bandhs could also be a means to ensure that the whole population is physically fit. Just ask all those people who have to walk to their offices. On the day of the most recent bandh, the road going from Baneshwar to Dillibazar was filled with people, all merrily chatting away and ambling down to their places of work. Something was in the air, and that something certainly did not look unhealthy. As that philosopher with an impossible last name said, what does not kill you makes you stronger. And save for those precious few who prefer to replace calories burnt while walking by drinking bottles of beer, others do come out stronger.
Bandhs should be welcomed not only for their contribution to national health but also for their aesthetics. Instead of walking, a few people get to ride bikes to their offices, but - hey - that's exercise too. The beauty of those wheels in motion is a beauty worth beholding. But there's nothing more pleasant than watching bellies flail as people try to carry their weights on contraptions they mooched off their kids.
Well . . . if you still need more reasons to be convinced, read on. As a rule, a few days before the day of a bandh, prices of essential commodities shoot up. Sidewalk vendors get an opportunity to maximize their incomes. There you have it, an argument based on economic equality. Bandhs provide employment, too. After all, where else could unskilled and uneducated people get paid good money just to walk around? Communists, are you with me now? There's also the efficiency argument. Sitting in less-than-busy offices, drinking Sunkosi chiya all day, and talking the day away, workers get to recharge their overtaxed brains. What better way could there be to increase productivity? I can feel those whiny businessmen nodding their heads with glee.
I look at bandhs with a sense of nostalgia. I consider myself to be one of the earliest members of the bandh-generation. In 1989, while the political cauldron simmered, we lived in dread about the possibility of our SLC exams being postponed. Fortunately [or was it unfortunately, I forget], they were not. But we did have to wait eight months for the results, all the time thoroughly enjoying the bholi-bholi lifestyle that we led. I can still see that feeling in the eyes of my cousins, as they waste the day of a bandh watching TV and playing with their siblings. Even in a plain cost-benefit calculus, bandhs make sense.
What should happen, then? How about a weekly bandh? The government could set aside a day of the week when bandhs would take place. And political parties would be allowed to claim that day for a certain cause. After all, parties are dime-a-dozen, and causes are not all that hard to find either. In a place where people can vow to kill or be killed for rights to vandalize a certain wall, issues for confrontation should be plentiful.
I had to take my hat off to the last bandh, the one organized by the previous government. How much more sensible can one get? No buses (read: no pollution), not even of the Sajha variety. And none of those pesky motorbikes, either. The new government should also consider continuing this policy; after all, good ideas definitely should not be discarded, no matter who originated them. Let's all hope that the display of camaraderie seen on TV last week between the present Prime Minister and the former Deputy Prime Minister does not throw spanner in the works. Hopefully, those handshakes were nothing more than political niceties. Duty calls. Where have you gone, Yogesh Bhattarai, a nation turns its weary eyes to you . . .
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