| Paakhe |
Posted
on 24-May-02 09:47 AM
Yesterday, I looked at the photo archives of Sajha.com. There were photos of Ason tol, Swayambhunath, old bus, puppets, a homeless old man writing something sitting on footpath, and many others things. Then I woke up. No, not from sleep, but from reverie of stereotypical beauty of Nepal.
Since last five months, that means after about seven months of coming to US, as anyone else, I had started thinking about bettering the situation in Nepal. Unlike plan to make a complete change in the system, my plan was to build a good public library network, first in my home district, then with the help of other people, in other districts also. With education comes the betterment of life, that was what I thought. I still believe in that. People at least should be made able to grasp the reality of the situation. With those photos in sajha.com archives, I realized that there also are other pressing problems hounding the nation.
All these five months, I was thinking about the romantic beauty of Nepalese people.
'Nepal kasto lagyo?', one person asks.
'Dherai ramro.', a 'kuire' tourist replies - with a readymade and expected answer.
That tourist either might actually have liked Nepal or might have conjured up that answer. In either case touring through an area doesnot suffice to grasp the reality. One only sees an abstracted view by doing that. That was my situation. I only saw the beauty of snow-capped mountain, undulating rivers, and simplicity of our people. By the magnetism of this abstracted beauty, I was making my mind to return as soon as I finish here. I forgot that there is always a rough-terrain hidden beneath a smooth surface. Just like 'Brownian motion' in still air. Through, those photos I was back to Nepal once again.
I cleaned the grime from my view of reality. Now I am with a clearer perspective. I am now asking myself, can I still travel in an over-congested city bus or am I already addicted by car? Can I live without a microwave? And many other things... I had wondered why people who comes to US do not want return, and also felt mild dislike towards them. US is addictive. As one of my friends puts it: 'Life in US is hedonistic'. I have to alternative but to concur with him now.
In conclusion, with clearer view I see clearer picture now but still I am sure I am unable to grasp the true picture. Because realities are different everywhere. As soon as one moves from one domain of reality to another, s/he loses grasp of former reality as s/he is trying to grasp the new situation.
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