SAARC Samelan and its Chahalpahal is the In- thing in Nepali community all across the world. It looks like this year we are going to have Dashain part two.”Dashain aayo, Dashain aayo, Naya nana laula, ghar rangaula, naya gahana lagauna…..” And it is called SAARC Summit 2014 Kathmandu.If you are in Kathmandu or even in Nepal, you know what I am talking about. Wait let me correct it I am sure with the shrinking internet and information system everyone in and outside this world is checking at the pictures of the changes and the beautification, specially Kathmandu.

I assure you I am not complaining. Being a Kathmandulite, I haven’t see such massive make over in my whole life ( Let us not get into the year details coz its irrelevant…just take 20 years as a median :P). New smooth roads that is such smoothly charcoaled, new solar street lamps which hasn’t been there for almost over a decade, green REAL plants everywhere, oh my my!! I had to ask my mum pinch me when I saw it all.

I have realized, it is not that we don’t have funds. Two billion Nepali rupees have already been spent for all this renovations and makeovers. The Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transportation Management has received Rs 81.5 million where as Ministry of Urban Development got Rs 254 million and Ministry of Foreign Ministry have received Rs 202 million. It is not that we don’t have human resources, blue collar or white collar coz I see Nepali workers ( unlike it is sometimes tempered in media that we don’t have cheap labor and we import it from Indian) or the plan. In a month’s time the entire city had a Botox…so to say.

I see a lot of people commenting negatively on Social Networks, on all these development that has taken place. But why not for once see, that maybe even the government needs motivation, a reason for development. Maybe our government is like a Nepali kid, whom you keep on telling that he is worthless and it starts believing in it and says “ Je garey ni hunna hya baru gardai gardina”. I think we should have more of such summits each month so that the newly made roads are fully maintained, the flowers are watered and taken care of and the infrastructure is renovated time to time.

In November 1987, the third SAARC Summit had taken place. And I clearly remember that story. Then, the Prime Minister of India was Mr. Rajiv Gandhi and was accompanied by his wife Sonia Gandhi. Since Sonia Gandhi is an Italian married to an Indian, the Authority at Pashupati had restricted her from entering the temple ( it was out in the media and then later it was a hush hush thing). In 1988-89, Nepal had experienced the first petroleum and resource crisis cos Senora Gandhi had taken it extremely personally. The boarder were sealed and for me it was the first panicky crisis that I have seen ( and it was followed by a lot of domestic turmoils, civil war, political imbalances that now we are used to it). Hopefully it will be a smooth once this time and I hope it will give these government bodies the feeling that they are the one who can change the face of Nepal. Nepal ra Nepali ko Jai hosh!