| Username |
Post |
| ashu |
Posted
on 20-Apr-01 02:30 PM
Hi everyone,
In Kathmandu, I get invited by a number
of NG0s, INGOs, colleges and schools to
give presentations on Kamaiya. Usually,
what I do is talk for about 30 minutes
and spend another 30 minutes answering
questions. Most questions I get are
polite, nice and altogether painless.
The other day, taking time off from work,
I went to Rato Bangala school at Patan Dhoka
to give a presentation to the kids doing
A-Levels. These are about 50 or so
16- 18-year-old boys and girls -- usually
drawn from (given Rato Bangala's fee structures)
Kathmandu's upper-class.
Five minutes into my presentation, kids
started raising their hands, asking questions
in English. And their questions were very sharp.
I spent the rest of the time simply answering
their questions -- one after another. I enjoyed
answering their questions, and, all in all, came
away really impresssed with those kids: really
smart, thoughtful sharp kids. And very
articulate too.
Anyway, the fact that 16-18 year Nepali
high school boys and girls are asking searching,
sharp and thoughtful questions WITHOUT appearing
disrespectful gives me a lot of hope about
the future.
Manesh Shrestha, a Rato Bangala teacher who
has visited Boston in 1998, later told me that
the kids had been equally tough with questions
when Ralph Frank, the US Ambassador to Nepal,
had earlier come to the school to give a lecture.
At times, when I am just tired of meeting stupid
Nepalis who seem to know all the answers to
Nepal's problems, it is very refreshing to
interact with bright 16-18-year-old Nepali boys
and girls who could ask blunt, sharp and
critical questions -- whether to me or to
the US Amabassador.
I hope Harvard admits some of these kids next
year.
oohi
ashu
|
| sally |
Posted
on 20-Apr-01 03:30 PM
I also hope Rato Bangala admits some kids who aren't upper-class.
Maybe it does.
From what I know about Rato Bangala, it's an impressive school. I've seen its school magazine, and have a friend who taught there for a while. I hope the people who are running it recognize that diversity is part of an excellent education, especially in a country like Nepal, where lack of understanding between caste, class, and status groups can easily become a flashpoint for social unrest.
Ashu, it would interesting to know what questions the kids asked!
|
| Trailokya |
Posted
on 20-Apr-01 05:08 PM
ashu dai,
where is this school at?
Would love to learn more about this school.
Trailokya
|
| ashu |
Posted
on 21-Apr-01 07:38 AM
Hi Sally and Trailokya,
RBS is located at Patan Dhoka. It has the reputation for
being the most expensive school in Nepal.
It was started in the mid-90s, I think, by Shanta Dixit,
Kanak's wife. Shanta herself is a graduate of Kathmandu's
St. Mary's School, and is a Columbia University 'cube'
(BA, MA and PhD in public health.)
Sally, I do not know the details, but I would think that the
RBS kids are as diverse as possible: economicaly, socially
and so on.
Of the questions that came up, two were:
1) Why do we hear relatively little about women and children ex-kamaiyas in the news?
2) Where does 'work' stop and 'exploitation' begin in a Kamaiya
system?
From 16-18 year-old Nepali urban high school kids, those are
pretty conceptually challenging questions.
Or, at least I thought so.
oohi
ashu
|
