Monday, November 14, 2011

Ye To Had Ho Gayee

This video clip has been making the rounds right now among some Nepalis.



Some people are rightly offended. But those same people were okay when artists like Santosh Pant made fun of the Madhesis on TV. This particular clip does not have it, but the program did.



And then there is this.



An American getting offended that Nepal's Kumari got stripped of her spiritual status because she visited the US is not insulting, I don't think it is. Really though, why would you strip Kumari's status just because she visited some country? And I don't think Colbert is acting offended, I think he is trying to act funny.

People have a right to burn flags. It is called free speech.

And this offended some Indians, take this.


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Sunday, November 06, 2011

Baburam Compared To Barack


Haaretz: The audacity of hope in Nepal
It is hard to think of two cultures more dissimilar than those of America and Nepal. The first glorifies an individual's ability to change in order to get ahead and overcome the many obstacles in his path. Therefore there is no story more beloved than a "Cinderella" tale: Against all the odds, thanks only to their abilities, a poor person breaks through and achieves amazing things. Nepalese culture, however, sanctifies the individual's ability to accept and come to terms with the way things are in a way that will not damage the purity of his soul. You're in distress? Don't fight it; learn to live with it. Change will come only in the inner realm of the soul.

While the Americans glorify deeds, the Nepalis believe in miracles. Acceptable behavior is also entirely different: If the American is extroverted, the Nepali is introverted. If the American extravagantly shares all his troubles and achievements, the Nepali hides them. In many senses, these two cultures operate in parallel universes.

"There, in the university's fine library, I encountered a small book about a person I had never heard of before," Bhattarai said, "and it shook up my life. This was the biography of Che Guevara, and after I read it I swore to do everything in my power to help my people live in real economic and social freedom."

The hopes attached to him compete only with those pinned on his colleague on the other side of the globe, United States President Barack Obama. It is with good reason he is called "the Nepali Obama" here. Like Obama, Bhattarai is a rare combination of a man of the book and a man of deeds. And like Obama, he too attributes importance to symbolic measures. When he was elected, he preferred to do without an official car and instead continued to travel in a locally made car, without air-conditioning.

...... the idea of a "first lady" is also foreign to Nepalese culture.

...... nearly 60 percent of Nepalese people live below the poverty line.

Traditional agriculture is still the main source of employment for more than 80 percent of the citizens and added to this is the difficulty in recruiting foreign investment because of the small size of the economy, the geographic remoteness, the absence of infrastructures within the country and the considerable exposure to natural disasters.
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Sunday, September 18, 2011

NRN Event At Thakali Kitchen


I happened by the NRN event at the Thakali Kitchen yesterday. I was out and about taking pictures when two people from out of town - Ratan Jha and Mukesh Singh - showed up on my camera's screen.

I show up for events. I don't join organizations. That has been my style. That was my style also when I was doing full time work for Nepal's democracy and Madhesi movements.

It was good to see people like Temba Sherpa do a major membership drive for the NRN organization in the city recently. Nepali organizations in the diaspora tend not to be mass based. And Nepalis in the city are light years away from even wanting - let alone achieving - voting rights in this city. That probably is my number one reason to not become a formal part of the NRN movement, and to stay put with my limited involvement at the city level in mainstream politics.

The NRN movement has fundamental deficiencies. The urge for "consensus" instead of going for democratic, competitive elections hinders progress. Getting along is more important than getting things done. And so you end up with an organizational culture of homesick people who pour enormous energies to put together events so they can meet each other in person. Nothing wrong with all that bonding, but if that ends up the primary purpose of the organization big things are not attempted.

Another major deficiency is the lack of use of social media. People should not have to travel nationally and globally to get active with the organization. This was not the first time Ratanji had suggested his ability to travel was his number one claim to a leadership position. It ought not be that way.

Everyone took turns to speak. I made the shortest of comments. I welcome all those who are here from outside the city, I said. And that is all I said.

The dinner was nice. I got to meet a relative who I did not even know was in New Jersey. I got to sit next to someone with whom I had an email exchange a year ago. I had never met her, never seen her picture.

The NRN movement lacks bigness of vision, and that comes from its lack of grassroots spread, and the stifling of basic democratic processes. There ought be vigorous debates and voting, not "consensus."
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Sunday, August 28, 2011

Baburam Bhattarai: Good News


May 29, 2011: Where To From Here?
March 20, 2005: Doing Business With Baburam Bhattarai

The guy is honest. He is smart. He is a communist, but he is not dogmatic. He is socially progressive. A few years back he compared the plight of the Madhesis in Nepal with the blacks in South Africa during the apartheid regime.

For the first time I am feeling like the peace process in Nepal might finally pick up pace. This alliance between the Maoists and the Madhesi parties also makes sense politically on the ground. The Maoists rule the hills and the western Terai, the Madhesi parties hold sway over the rest of the Terai. The Maoists compete with the Congress and the UML in their strongholds, the Madhesi parties compete with the Congress and the UML, but primarily the Congress in their strongholds. This Maoist-Madhesi alliance might prove relevant also after the parliamentary elections after the new constitution. The Congress and the UML are the parties of the 1990 constitution. The Maoists and the Madhesis are the parties of the constituent assembly. The Congress and the UML disliked the idea of a constituent assembly for as long as they possibly could. They both came to the idea of federalism kicking and screaming.

This prime minister and this alliance could see a full four year term after the next parliamentary elections. But first the work on the constitution.

The Madhesi parties' primarily tussle continues to be with the Nepali Congress. It is not with each other.

NepalNews

Bhattarai elected new Prime Minister of Nepal: Bhattarai received 340 votes while Poudel received 235 votes. .... In addition to his party UCPN (Maoist) which has 237 lawmakers in the 595-member Constituent Assembly, United Democratic Madhesi Front with 65 lawmakers and few fringe parties had also supported Bhattarai. ..... Bhattarai was born in a village called Belbas in Khoplang VDC of Gorkha District on May 26, 1954. He was born in a low - middle class peasant family .... He scored the highest marks among total examinees in SLC examination conducted in 1970 and topped the I.Sc board again in Amrit Science Campus, Kathmandu.

SC trashes petition challenging legality of CA tenure extension
Baburam Bhattarai’s profile: Bhattarai was elected from Gurkha-2 in the CA elections held in 2008 with the 80 percent of votes cast in his constituency
Peace, constitution and relief to people are top priorities, Bhattarai says after getting elected as PM
Dahal heaps praise on Bhattarai: "A-one candidate". .... Dahal also said that his party was in favour of consensus to take the peace process and constitution-drafting even as the government is formed on the basis of majority. ..... Speaking in the House before Dahal, Bhattarai said he was not in favour of majority government personally.

Madhesi Front declares support to Bhattarai; UML goes with NC: five UDMF leaders ..... both sides agreed to negotiate to determine the ranks of Maoist combatants going for integration and to reduce the number for integration up to 7000 from the proposed 8000. .... They also agreed to make the public services inclusive and start inclusion of Madhesis in Nepal Army by fixing a certain number.

Republica

Small cabinet to be sworn in Monday: an agreement has been reached to give 11 ministries to the United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF). The new cabinet is also likely to get four deputy prime ministers. .... Bijaya Kumar Gachchhadar from the MPRF-Democratic, Upendra Yadav from MPRF-Nepal, JP Gupta MPRF-Republican and one from the Maoist party are the strong contenders for the deputy prime minister. .... The Maoist party is likely to send its Vice-chairman Narayankaji Shrestha into the cabinet as the deputy prime minister .... there is a tussle between Upendra Yadav and Bijaya Kumar Gachchhadar over who gets to become senior in the cabinet. Yadav may send another party leader into the cabinet if he doesn´t get a position senior to Gachchhadar in the cabinet.

Madhesi alliance to decide its vote Sunday: the Madhesi leaders proposed to the Maoist leadership that a directorate under the Nepal Army should be formed to accommodate 6,000 personnel each from the security agencies, the Maoist combatants and the Madhesi community. That means the directorate will have 18,000 personnel. ..... the alliance has proposed that such a directorate should be mandated to work in the field of development and industry. They have clearly stated in their proposal that such a force will not have any mandate for border security and any combat role. The Maoists, in their proposal made public Thursday, sought to give a general military mandate to such a directorate. ...... Madhesi leaders Jitendra Dev, Laxman Lal Karna and Hrideyesh Tripathi prepared the amended proposal. .... the Madhesi parties have also sought from the Maoist party an agreement on sharing constitutional appointments and other governmental appointments.

Maoists, Madhesis ink four-point deal: no citizen will be deprived of their land ownership, besides agreeing on giving "special" relief for those affected by the Maoist insurgency, Madhes movement and Janjati movement...... "All the court cases against those involved in the Maoist insurgency, Madhes movement, Janjati movement, Tharuhat movement and Dalit and Pichadabarga movements will be dropped and they will be given general amnesty," the second point of the agreement reads. ..... uphold universal fundamental rights, constitutional supremacy, rule of law, press freedom, accountable judiciary, inclusive democracy autonomous states with right to self-determination and competitive politics

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Sunday, August 14, 2011

Bits And Pieces



Wormholes And The Dollar A Day People
The Most Powerful Scene In Interstellar
My New Startup
How Will America Benefit?
BNKS' Gift To Me
Chinatown: My Favorite Part Of Manhattan
$100 Billion Plan To Save The World

The Google/Facebook Of Microfinance
Seeking Head Of State Like Powers
My Web Diagram
Social Concentric Circles
Wearing Black
Black Friday
My Failures
Larry Ellison's 1995 Network Computer Vision
Eric Schmidt's Cloud Computing And My IC Vision
Google's Newest Venture: Google Ventures
Permanent War
54 Followers On Angel List
The Significance Of Eating An Apple
The Subway, The Mobile Phone: NYC, The Global South
Top Influencer During Social Media Week? Moi

Me In The New York Times
Paul Graham, Brad Feld, Me, BBC
Netizen Has Arrived: A Link From AVC

New York City
The White Male Conundrum
White Male Conspiracy To Drive Me Homeless
Truly Disruptive
Race, Gender, Tech (2)
So I Did It
At The Buspark (2)
At The Buspark (2), Kentucky Blues
At The Buspark
1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1997, 2007

Hitting The Road
Big Rig
My Hurricane Story
Driving Coast To Coast
My 9/11 Story

So Much For The Butterfly Effect
One More Immigration Court Date
Kentucky Blues
Southern Hospitality
Third World Guy
Enemy Of The State
The First Time I Heard The Obama Name
Larry Shinn
Larry Ellison
Larry Insane
Larry Ellison's Personal Life
Tim Berners-Lee: The Internet Is Not A Country
DL21C: Enemy Organization
What Is Racism?

A Statement For My Next Immigration Court Date

Family, Internet, New York City
The Democratic Party Died For Me In 2008
Berea College Died For Me During Five Minutes With Virgil Burnside
Budhanilkantha School Died For Me On The Kanchenjunga Balcony
Budhanilkantha School (2)

March 8, 2012: Next Immigration Court Date
Using Political Contacts To Beat The Immigration Beast
Questions Prepared By My Lawyer For Immigration Court Date Tomorrow
Immigration Court Date: June 6, 2011: Prepared Statement
June 3 Immigration Court Date
Immigration Mess/Humiliation And Window Shopped Tech Entrepreneurship
My Non Personhood Of 2009, 2010
A Life Of Poverty
April 22 Immigration Court Date
Immigration Is Today's Civil Rights Movement
June 3 Immigration Court Date
An Event Invite From DL21C: This Can't Be Real
A MLK Style Death Awaits Me In Nepal
Jail Time
A Political Immigration Detention
Letter To The Department Of Homeland Security
Freedom, Finally

Robin Hood: My German Nickname

"Do You Have An Email Address?"
"Can You Understand This?"
"Bring Home An African Next Time"
Padgurum
Hawai Chappal
Deaths In The Family
How My Grandfather Became Mayor The First Time
Gonu Jha
Hum Jayega Burnt His Ears
"Thanks For Asking"
Prax
मोदी के चाय दोकान पे चर्चा
पप्पु यादव: Persona Non Grata?

Raksha Bandhan 2011 In Boston
Madhesi Self Hate