I love Bhaktapur

2/11/2010 in Leisurely Activities | 1 comment

One of my favorite activities while on holidays is roaming in and around the Bhaktapur Durbar Square – a UNESCO heritage site in my home district.

Being rich in art and artifacts, the mediaeval palace and its surroundings offer me something new every time I spent time there. Sometime, I discover an art I have never noticed, other times, I walk through a new alley and most of the time the square offers me a different kind of tranquility despite never being deserted.

I love sitting on a corner watching people’s activities: tourists taking photographs, children playing around, elders sitting together chatting and smiling and people moving. I feel almost like watching a favorite program on a muted television.

Bhaktapur Durbar Square is different than Kathmandu or Patan Durbar Square, for it seems lazily peaceful; for it offers glimpses into lives of people still to be touched much by modernity. It looks more a community backyard than a touristic attraction.

Last Saturday I was there for a peaceful evening just strolling around with my beloved wife and taking a few photographs and the most interesting piece I discovered, that I had never noticed before, was a statue just beside the famous 55-windowed-palace.

It’s a woman walking with a dog and dragging a child [distinctly a boy]. Here it is:

More about Bhaktapur: Nepal Tourism Board, Wikipedia & Virtual Tour to Bhaktapur Durbar Square.

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Troublesome gunture

2/7/2010 in Sadly! | 4 comments

Gunture n. 1. gun culture. 2. use of guns in society.

Today, Jamim Shah, a media entrepreneur, was shot dead in his car at Lazimpat, Kathmandu. Shah, the owner of Channel Nepal – the first satellite television channel of the country and also of a cable television network, once was publisher of two national dailies.

Every murder is cold blooded; but after hearing the news of Shah’s murder, I felt worse than a murder. Not only because he was a media entrepreneur but because it was an addition to a series where guns are used in a way unprecedented in our history.

A few days ago, fellow blogger KP Dhungana wrote an entry (Nepali link): Tomorrow’s headlines could be like these. He listed five hypothetical headlines:

  • Husband shot at wife for [tasteless] curry
  • Neighbors shot at each others on issue of waste, seven injured, three serious
  • Pistol found in tiffin box of 12-year-old
  • Guns used after motorcycles collide
  • Bus assistance shot at demanding passenger

It was more of a satire. But also was an indication to the future. The gunture is not new in developed countries – more so in USA. But we were not much used to such news. We called ourselves peaceful and the gunture was rare.

Thanks to the Maoists’ People’s War and the rise of armed groups in Terai along with the lack of impunity, the gunture is on the rise in Nepali society.

The murder of Shah may not be a perfect example of gunture but the murder of eight-year-old schoolboy Santosh Karki in Gothatar was. Innocent Karki became victim of gunture when gun was used in a minor conflict.

Nobody can deny the fact that the armed conflicts and impunity are chief motivating factors behind gunture that one day in future could endanger more innocent lives. Events like blind firing in crowded places could happen in future because not much concerns are shown in the psychological management of those who have fought or/and killed or/and seen killings of people during the Maoists’ armed revolt.

Impunity also should end; political parties should be concerned if their stand for political benefits is paving way for crimes in future.

Gunture is not going to be good for any of us!

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