National Geographic's Article on Nepal

http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0511/feature3/index.html

Article
- http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0511/feature3/index.html

Multimedia
- http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0511/feature3/multimedia.html

I know, this whole issue has been talked about, argued upon, examined, re-examined, and dissected for countless times, here in the forum since long. Due to my lack of in-depth knowledge regarding this matter of instability back home, most of the detailed discussions however, does an OHT [Over Head Transmission] for me.

But today, this simply told short report and seeing the photographs caused quite an acute feeling of sadness?.and despair in me, amidst a tandem of confusion.

A myriad of questions, rap insistently on my under-utilized cerebrum, making me feel like I am tumbling headlong into the ?Ambience Warp? visualization of the ever faithful Windows Media Player. Feels like, if I don?t give it some kind of outlet right now, I will get smothered by this overwhelming feeling, so please bear with me?. but, where do I even begin to comprehend ?........


:::::::::::::::: Some intel on Nepal :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Population: 27 million
Percent of Nepalis who live below the national poverty line: 31
Rank of Nepal among poorest nations in South Asia: 1st
Percent tourist numbers have dropped since 1998: 38
Nepalis killed by Maoists from 1996 to 2005: 4,500
Nepalis killed by government in same period: 8,200

:::::::::::::::: Some excerpts from the commentary report :::::::::::::::


?Some of their demands include -------->>redistributing of land rights, power moving from urban centers to rural areas, elimination of traditional caste system, equal rights to women, institute a communist republic?

?movement fueled by extreme poverty all over Nepal?

?Fierce Focused Females??. approx. one-third of the fighting force is made up of young women??seemed like the most fierce of the fighters, reason maybe cause they clearly know what they are fighting for?lot of Maoist women enjoy decision making power ?

?Self styled Maoist rebels are waging a deadly ?People?s War? against the King of this Himalayan Country, yet it?s the people themselves who are suffering. ?

?call themselves Maoists and follow the teachings of Mao Zhedong, though they have nothing to do with China?

?conflict largely ignored by International media ?

etc etc etc????

Courtesy : www7.nationalgeographic.com
Credits : Ed Douglas and Jonas Bendiksen
Photographer : Jonas Bendkisen
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

A visitor to the site Forum, Joel writes ?In closing I would just like to say that I think anyone who is even slightly inclined to travel to Nepal should do it. Who knows how long it will be that way it is now. ?----------->> Somehow I never thought of it this way?.it is rather disturbing, strikes too close to home. Ram ram kasto alachin boleko hola maile?..hari om hari om !

Ok, will stop. Won?t post more excerpts. Anyone who did read my ramblings must be bored by this point. Must be the longest post I ever typed. Most of the demands seem reasonable! Errrrr?.And don?t understand why this conflict is ?largely ignored by International media?, when Khmer rouge and Tamil tigers guerillas whatever used to be broadcasted all over the earth. Are we so insignificant ? I feel worthless. Maybe because we don?t take ourselves seriously enough, the rest of the planet sees no reason to either.

The cold chilly October wind, through my open window bringing in its wake, the first hints of snow fails to compete with the chill inside my heart, that this sense of helplessness brings?.I don?t really see any distinct right or wrong here [maybe it?s just me]. Who are the good guys, who are the baddies ? Its all muddled up so much, even the combined efforts of CSI Miami,/Las Vegas,/New York, FBI, CIA, Navy SEALs and a dozen other alphabet-soup-letter agencies would have a hard time to fathom. But of course there are some significant auxiliary support/help being offered to Nepal. There are a whole lotta stoopid questions ajai baki on my part?pooh ignorant me, but I think I should stop?.errrrrr.

Just for once I wish I really was Lara Croft, with those inexhaustible supplies of hi-tech, ultra-sophisticated artillery and all those amazing contacts of hers. Oh my, am I getting violent ??! I better go offline now. I know the National Geo. report has a relatively small piece than many other reports/documentaries etc, but yeah sometimes some things do affect you in a certain way I guess.
.
And I am neither advocating nor under the aegis of any Maoist/government/student union affiliated stuffs, just an average worried Nepali student [Student ID cha University ko, bhandiya chu aile nai]. Just my half-baked thoughts, for my own peace of mind.

I sincerely apologize if I offended anyone with my silly ramblings.


~ Om namoh Shivaya ! May the lord rakchya garun sabai ko.

Lady Croft,
Very well said! Your 'half-baked thoughts' made my half-Friday - now 'full-baked', all primed and ready - quietly bracing myself for the drizzly, dreary weekend that's coming my way. Have a good weekend.

Om namoh shivaya (see, your Sanskrit mantra has taken over my Latin one!)

The movement is fueled by greed and power, period! Not by extreme poverty! Any other claims by anyone to the contrary is totally lies and more lies!!

RBT
Ciao

Ok, will stop. Won?t post more excerpts. Anyone who did read my ramblings must be bored by this point. Must be the longest post I ever typed. Most of the demands seem reasonable! Errrrr?.And don?t understand why this conflict is ?largely ignored by International media?, when Khmer rouge and Tamil tigers guerillas whatever used to be broadcasted all over the earth. Are we so insignificant ? I feel worthless. Maybe because we don?t take ourselves seriously enough, the rest of the planet sees no reason to either.

- Dear Lady Croft,

Amazing piece of writing. Its pre tty well-written an d pre tty much to the point (on the mark, that is). I don't think the conflict is ignored by the international media. Just this month we have 2 articles on this issue- one on National Geographic an d one on Foreign Affairs. We are not insignificant, we ar e on top of South Asian foreign polciy of many "gr eat" powers these days. Even though we don't take ourselves se riously enough, there ar e others who take us seriosuly enogh. :-)

Re garding the help being offere d to Nepal, I don't know much about it either. But I have my reasons to believe that we are still being helped, albiet covertly, to combat the insurgency. I don't know the details though.


Violence is not the answer at this point. So inste a d of playi ng Lara C roft, you should play Siddartha (BTW, my profs. this Angelina jolie is hot, and I don't have any good reason to contracidt their thinking).

Can I see your Student ID?

this Angelina jolie is hot, and I don't have any good reason to contracidt = think

yeah, had more than my fair share of deliosul;y foaming amazingly refreshing Yanjing beer, so my aplogies for the typos.

Sandhurst Lahure ::::::::::::::: Thanks for reading. What's your Latin mantra ? Hope you are having a good weekend too !

Raybati :::::::::::::: Hmmm.....yes, I do agree the movement may be partly fueled by greed and power too. But poverty does play a part, among other factors. I don't have a distinct opinion that this or that is, what is the ultimate truth. Neither am I a staunch supporter of any single idea cause I don't have any substantial data to back it up.

Judging by what I understand with my limited brain power of these issues, I'd say right now, even the Maosit themselves have no specific idea what they are exactly fighting/lookin for. Somewhere along the long road that started back in 1996, the whole concept of the supposedly " People's War" have seem to branched out into too many different arteries.

Isolated_Freak ::::::::: Hey Iso_Fre, nice to see you drop in ! :)

Thank you for your kind words. Thanks too for brining into my notice, things I was not aware of. I should have phrased my line as " in comparison to other issues of similar nature, the Mao conflict ignored by international media ".

You and your Profs. are supposed to be enjoying some delectable cuisine with never ending choruses of ganbei rather than talk abt Ms.Anglina Jolie ! And I meant to refer to Lara Croft as in the Video Game character not Ms.Jolie.

Sure you can see my ID. Pray, for what purpose though ?

Lady Croft; well expressed! Enjoyed reading your musings. Similiar thoughts swim in my consciousness causing me mental paralysis.

It is more and more clear that the only way out of this mess is complete democracy by way of constituent assembly with real participation of the people in defining our constitution. Unfortunately most people just don't get it, and in it lies the struggle for many of you to make sense and see the answer out of this conundrum.

The solution is out there, the public in general need to be aware of it. If many of the (educated) people who write in Shaja and many of our veteran politician have a hard time grappling with it...you can imagine the rest of the population and their ability to understand the current problem.

peace!

Sitz ddz ::::::: Thanks for reading. Dherai nasochnus, feri writer's block bhayo bhane we'll be deprived of your wonderful anecdotes ! ;)


Haude_ko_bhai ::::::::::: My apologies for not having, your level of expertise in understanding what is becoming more and more clear, seeing the solution just out there as soon as you are aware, the truth is out there for the mess, struggling to make sense, being simply unaware as a whole and having a hard time grappling, among other stuffs.

I know some indoor rappelling though. Does that count ? Or do I need to just go out there and do more and more outdoor rappelling on the cliffs, so that I will be able to assess the current problems of the sea during full moon ?