In Nepal, perhaps, only party cadres qualify as human beings while the rest are deemed sheer beasts.
A major attribute of a beast is that it remains oblivious to its surroundings, including filth. Here too, after witnessing the rotting garbage strewn around the streets in Kathmandu and other towns, for days at a stretch, I do wonder whether we Nepalis too have been reduced to the state of a feral beast utterly oblivious of our surroundings. Many a house in this proclaimed metropolis stand grand signifying the physical wealth of its occupants but the ugly sight of the pet dogs from such houses answering nature’s call on public streets with unashamed owners holding on to the leashes substantiates their sheer callousness towards public hygiene. Worse still, during monsoon, every single alleyway gets even nastier when rain water smears the dog-waste across the streets, which every one of us is forced to partake when it gets stubbornly stuck to our footwear soles. How then do the dog-walkers, a majority seemingly wealthy, deserve to be called humans?
An average Nepali stands wretchedly unaware of his rights, again another attribute of a beast, especially when it comes to accepting the quality of services from utilities whether it is electricity, water supply or telephone. The reasoning foisted by the sole electric utility company, the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), is that demand has steadily outpaced supply and therefore the load-shedding. Every Nepali again appears to have accepted his fate-accompli of long dark nights without strongly questioning as to how demand increased without the NEA willingly connecting the additional load. A hypothetical question arises, say if India were to offer Rs 20 per unit of electricity. If making profits were the sole objective of the company, would we accept if NEA exported all its generated power to India, while plunging Nepal into total darkness? If not, then does the NEA have the right to connect additional load without augmenting its generation first? Presently, in the name of reduced load-shedding, a typical house gets a line voltage of 190 volts that significantly reduces the efficiency of the appliances connected? Who will accept responsibility for this fleecing of the consumers? The same rationale applies to the water supply utility, the Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Ltd., which continues to supply water once every four days, even during the peak of the monsoon season despite its tall claims. Meanwhile, Nepal Telecom continues to dole out mobile connections by the thousands without first improving the quality of its services to those already stuck with its connections!
The plight of the common man using the derelict public transport in Nepal, too, is in the same state. Why can’t the Government of Nepal formally declare the maximum passenger capacity (based on the number of factory-fitted seats available) of each vehicle engaged in the business, whether peak hour or not, and impose stringent penalties for violators? Is it because the government prefers to capitulate to the sheer capacity of intimidation of the transporters (by resorting to hooliganism) to impose their views?
Many a government has walked the corridors of Singha Durbar, the seat of state power, but how many have actually made a perceptible difference in the lives of the common people? Nepal has strangely joined a clique of states that rejoice in exporting unskilled manpower to overseas destinations well aware of the dangers that lurk in the locations. Not a single week passes by, without reports appearing in newspapers, of bodies of young men arriving in Nepal (sadly, of the lucky few, while others continue to rot abroad) having met unnatural deaths. Perhaps, the brave Nepalis’ lives are destined to end up as raw material in the development of the far-away economies! Is it not a crime to willingly push unaware young men into harm’s way, in the name of foreign employment promotion, while the political party in power continues to be engrossed in furthering the interests of it own party cadres by providing employment in every possible way? In short, perhaps, party cadres qualify as human beings and the rest are deemed sheer beasts.
The bureaucracy, often proclaimed as the permanent form of government, too seems full of beasts who were originally inducted to deliver services on behalf of the government and thus contribute to the society at large. But, ironically, like in most corrupt countries, most of the individuals so hired were not up to the mark, with little inclination for delivering services and actual capacity for contribution. Realizing these personal limitations and along with the politically-aided environment of impunity and favoritisms, they but naturally turned out to be liabilities, content aiding the corrupt politicians siphon money off the coffers, and in the process drawing their share of benefits and lining their nests with whatever feathers they can garner. After all, beasts do not care for anything but themselves.
Sadly, in these days of utter gloom where not a ray of hope shines through for this nation (let alone for a puny citizen-beast like myself), where sheer feral instincts prevail in every walk of life (with little regard for decency and humanity), who should I hold accountable for the plight of members of my lost generation, who bravely, albeit foolishly, have stayed back in Nepal throughout their youth, foolishly waiting for this incessant deluge of mindless political turmoil to end?
pilots_nepal@yahoo.com
Related story
Fantastic Beasts’ Mads Mikkelsen Thinks Johnny Depp Could Retur...
