| Username |
Post |
| ashu |
Posted
on 15-May-01 07:32 AM
Thanks to an ex-president of GBNC -- Mahendra "HONDA" Sakya -- the
Godavari Alumni Association (GAA) is on its way to become a
more dynamic organization. The huge building in Thamel already
sports a new look -- with fresh paitning and well-cleaned
property, though some of us members have begun to loudly
wonder whether that building or a part of it could be transformed into some money-spinning units so that GAA never
runs out of money to pay for its activities.
Possible ideas include establishing or building a state-of-the-art Cultural Center at the GAA so that film-shows, plays, photo and art exhibitions, lectures and workshops could take place -- earning money for the GAA and raising its prestige and
profile in the community. We'll see how these ideas evolve.
One good thing about Honda is that he is smart, articulate
and is not afraid to be criticized for his ideas. Plus, he
gives space to dissent and disagreements so that BETTER ideas
can emerge.
The GAA is organizing an annual general meeting on May 19th,
2001 at a bowling club in Kathmandu. Bowling, by the way --
Robert Putnam's book "Bowling alone" notwithstanding --
has become THE social sport of choice among Kathmandu's
beautiful young things.
On another note, GAA's parent -- St. Xavier's School --
is celebrating 50th Anniversary all this year, till
the end of June 2001. So far, there have been melas,
a party at the 'backfield', talk programs at the GAA
and so on.
Two things I have been urging my fellow-STX graduates
are:
a) Resist the urge to hang out ONLY with the fellow
classmates. This sort of 'cliquism' is comforting, of course;
but it does not lead to emotional or intellectual or
social growth.
One reason why there seems to be much breast-beating among
St. Xavier's grads as to why or how their school has failed to produce 'public leaders of stature' is easy to understand.
I mean, these people are so hopelessly 'cliquish' and so full
of themselves that they don't understand that rest of the
world doesn't give them a damn. And you don't become leaders
by hanging out ONLY with people you've known since you were
6 years old.
b) Share the resources.
The school will be better off if it allows nightly literacy
classes to be run on its premises. Similarly, the GAA
should open itself to non-voting memberships to many
other non-Graduates too.
It's only by being INCLUSIVE that the school can expose its students and graduates about tolerance, diversity of ideas and people and alternative paths to personal and professional
sucess. Most STX grads are so fixed in their ways and are
so rigid about their ideas that the whole notion of 'supple mind' does not work for them. No wonder then, the school, despite
having produced students who have gone to excel at world-class universities, have not produced any influential thinker/leader and so on, and it's UNLIKELY to produce such people in the next 10 to 15 years.
Then again, I remain grateful to STX for it was the school
that taught me to not take things uncritically and
to keep on challenging everything so that better ideas
emerge.
oohi
ashu
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| akhilesh |
Posted
on 15-May-01 06:14 PM
I couldn't agree with Ashu more on the Xavier's clique. I have some great friends (I went Laboratory Ma Bi, Kirtipur) from Xavier's, or St. Mary's for that matter. I get/got along famously with them because like me, many of them, loved reading English books. And I hated them because they belonged to GAA and I didn't. I think the elitist complex runs deep among all Xaverians and Marians. But isn't it the same with people who went to Yale, Harvard, Princeton....??
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| akhilesh |
Posted
on 15-May-01 06:16 PM
correction: last sentence. I think the elitist complex runs deep among many Xavierians.
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| ashu |
Posted
on 15-May-01 11:29 PM
>I think the
>elitist complex runs deep among all
>Xaverians and Marians.
No, not everyone is like that, though, like Jessica Rabbit,
most just seem to be drawn that way :-)
There are plenty of nice, down-to-earth men and
women who went to those schools.
>But isn't it the same
>with people who went to Yale, Harvard,
>Princeton....??
A number of Harvard Nepalis I meet in
Kathmandu seem big on ego, short on
intellect and unable to look at the
large picture of Nepali societies.
(They hardly write/publish anything, or
are no where in Kathmandu's cultural/artistic/
literary and intellectual scenes!)
I am convinced that many of them
developed this 'complex' not in Cambridge,
Mass (which, by the way, is a big
ego-buster!), but in Kathmandu and anong
other fellow Nepalis who are quick to be
impressed with credentials than with
demonstrated, long-term competence.
(I am sure you recall the Nepal experiences of Dr.
Ambica Adhikari -- the celebrated poster-boy
of Nepalis in Canada and America).
The again, all that is good, because such
people present a challenging opportunity
to slowly but surely democratize The Harvard
Club of Nepal so that:
a) More and more Nepalis of all backgrounds
can be encouraged to apply to various
schools at Harvard.
b) The Club gives a humane, friendly image
of the university where the supremacy of
ideas matter more than the quirks of
personalities.
One hopes, and one learns -- being
persistent and tenacious.
oohi
ashu
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| sally |
Posted
on 16-May-01 11:45 AM
Someone (Akhilesh?) noted, speaking of the elitist complex:
"isn't it the same with people who went to Yale, Harvard, Princeton....??"
It may well be. And probably a disproportionate number of the jobs at "top" places in the US (from corporations and goverment agencies to universities and newspapers) are occupied by folks who got where they are not on brains alone, but on brains (let's hope) plus the Old Boy and Old Girl Network.
To me, there's an important difference, though. In the US, you don't have to be a lawyer at a top DC firm, or a writer at the New Yorker, or a prof at Harvard, to have a satisfying, pleasant, respected, and even high-status career. There are multiple centers of excellence.
I suspect that centralization of power in KTM lies behind many of the big issues facing Nepal. People "have" to be in KTM, they "have" to send their kids to the top school, etc, etc. I'm sure a lot of people feel driven to make these choices even when they'd rather not, and I certainly can't blame them. I'd probably make the same choice myself, under the circumstances facing most Nepalis. But sadly, we see the result in urban sprawl, pollution, intensification of an elitist complex, a disconnect between rural and urban people with a resulting feeling of discrimination, and so on.
Wouldn't it be wonderful if universities, businesses, and other centers of employment were to locate intentionally in places like Pokhara, Butwal, and so on, and really build up those towns in appealing ways? I'd be curious to hear any insights on whether that is happening to any degree these days. It's been a few years since I've been to Nepal.
Regards,
Sally
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| Gandhi |
Posted
on 16-May-01 03:11 PM
Sally:
Of course your points are valid in making regional centers of excellence for a balanced development of a country. I do not know many things in other sectors, but in education, there have been some efforts. Nepal, in her history of education, relied on a single university system, making every one come to the capital for a higher degree and then finally settled in there as opportunities were so limited outside the valley. However, the situation is changing with five universities already functional in different part of the country and few more universities, including one in Agriculture and Forestry, are in the process. I hope opening of universities in regional level, under the auspicious of the University Grants Commissions helps in balanced approach in education.
Gandhi
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| namita kiran-thuene |
Posted
on 16-May-01 03:46 PM
The Awed and Awful
“One reason why there seems to be much breast-beating among St. Savier’s grads as to why or how their school has failed to produce ‘public leaders of stature’ is easy to understand….”
Case in Point – Just by going to so called “English School” one doesn’t become a thinker or a “leader of Stature”, or a good writer. Look at King Birendra! I guess he also went to Eaton or Oxford, or all of three. The acclaimed writer R.K. Naryan (who died 4 days ago, rest his soul) was home schooled. Did Socrates go to a St. Xavier’s?
This obsession of “good schools” is not only among the people who went there (isn’t that funny?) it is seeped out in mass population. I work for a cancer institute, which is affiliated, with Harvard University. So, whenever I give my email I see their eye sparkles and after a few seconds they ask me “do you really go to HARVARD?” My answer is “neither did I go to Harvard, or Yale, or Columbia or Stanford.” Now I disappointed you with my lack of Ivy League credential will you allow me to impress you with how much I have traveled and my culinary expertise? No, the second part of the sentence is just a joke. Notice, how (it is especially true with Harvard goers) they tell you they went to Harvard after 10 mins if not seconds of your first meeting with this person. Even our ex governor Weld could not resist mentioning about Harvard when he would talk about literature. These people just won’t say “my professor of this and that” but they will say “my professor while I was in Harvard of this or that.”
It goes both ways. Look, how Akhilesh (he and I went to the same school, together from 7th grade to the 10th) was resentful because he “hated them because they belonged GAA” and he did not. It is people’s nature to belong, to fit in. I don’t blame Akhilesh for wanting to be just like them because he was young and maybe did not know he could have started a club of his own where the literature lover could come and meet. One would see this kind of paralysis runs deep, even in adult hood. It is easy to envy and get angry and be awed for no good reason. Forgetting you can make the change.
“Robert Putnam’s book ‘Bowling alone’ notwithstanding –has become THE social sport of choice among Kathmandu’s beautiful young things…”
- isn’t this ironic the book which was more about social alienation than people being together but the sports, Bowling, it seems is becoming the social adhesive in Nepal! (if I believe what he says :))
well, that’s it for today.
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| ashu |
Posted
on 16-May-01 11:37 PM
Sally wrote:
>Wouldn't it be wonderful if universities,
>businesses, and other centers of employment
>were to locate intentionally in places like
>Pokhara, Butwal, and so on, and really build
>up those towns in appealing ways?
The Notre Dame School in Bandipur is a case
in point.
It was a first-rate English-medium school -- with
rigorous curriculum and beautiful architecture -- run
by dedicated Japanese nuns. The school offered
scholarships to underprivileged students, and
heavily subsidized tuition to other students.
And the graduates of NDS could hold their own with
graduates of any other comparable Kathmandu schools.
The school was an inspiring example of how
a center of excellence could be located OUTSIDE
of Kathmandu. In fact, in 1997, when I was last
in Bandipur, so proud Bandipuarys were of that
school that there were even talks about making
the whole of Bandipur a town with a focus on
education -- with more high schools, colleges and
so on. That would have been so great, sort of like
the Boston of Nepal. :-)
But recently, thanks to the violent efforts of our
comrades-in-arms -- aka the Maoists who have more
in common with the Talibans than with the rest of us
Nepalis -- the Notre Dame School in Bandipur closed
its doors forever.
The NDS students -- from whatI hear -- will now
either have to join schools in Kathmandu/India or
be drop-outs forever.
oohi
ashu
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| sally |
Posted
on 17-May-01 11:13 AM
I'm sure I could look this up, but could anyone tell me where Bandipur is (anchal), and what the specific reasons were behind the closing? Was it targeted by Maoists, or was it more a matter of parents not wanting to send their kids to that particular area, or what? I think I vaguely heard something about it, but nothing in detail.
Thanks,
Sally
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