This is the weekend that I thought of many of you, dear readers, writers, poets, artists and the general learned bunch that you are. Yesterday was Shripanchami or the Goddess Saraswati festival—the venerable goddess of learning and the arts & letters: she rides a swan and plays the sitar. And we have the good fortune of living in the area of the Blue Saraswati temple—on Stupa alley just off of Blue Saraswati street, in fact—so our neighborhood was buzzing with lots of activity: a fresh coat of paint for the temple; the clanging of bells inside the compound; balloon and pushcart ice cream vendors set up under the big peepal tree; the smell and smoke of incense wafting down the narrow lanes. The temple walls were covered with chalk drawings, graffiti and characters of the Nepali script—Shripanchami is a particularly auspicious day to take your son or daughter to the temple to etch their first Nepali alphabet character on the temple wall, many with the help of their parents. Shripanchmi is also supposed to warrant the arrival of spring, and if the last couple of days are any indication then it will be a very nice one.
In good saraswati fashion, I went to Didi (older sister) Bahini (younger sister) day at the organization of the same name. There were the usual speeches and accolades for supporters of the organization and a street drama by the youth group (the drama is one of the most used advocacy tools among NGOs in Nepal)—a usual production of an overachieving daughter being urged by her parents to give up dreams of higher education and anything other than finding a good husband. The father, of course, favors the lackluster son and when the daughter appeals to the sensibilities of her mother, she is normally told by her mother that there’s nothing she can do. Only when tragedy befalls the son do the epiphanies of everyone come to the forefront. The street dramas are particularly fun to watch for the reactions of other spectators, who normally hang on every word. Nepal is a country that traditionally acted out day(s) long versions of the Ramayana or Maharabarta or other religious epics.
At night I took advantage of a VSO invitation to the British Ambassador’s residence (no, I don’t normally get invitations to such events, but this was for a merger between VSO and another British professional sending organization) for a reception. I’ve been once before, and the gluttonous array of drinks and finger foods is hard to pass up. One needs not miss a beat from one gin and tonic to another… He’s a nice enough bloke—the British Ambassador with whom I share the same first five letters of a surname—but he remained tight-lipped about the political situation, opting instead to profess his wife’s commitment to the dalits of Nepal. Apparently the pool used to be available to vsoers on the weekends until some unfortunate skinny-dipping incidents….
The indefinite maoist bandh has begun, but there are, as of yet, no indications of that in Kathmandu. Outside of the Valley, however, traffic and life has come to a halt. Some traffic is coming into the Valley via armed security forces escort and apparently there are security forces every 2 kilometers or so outside of KTM. The US Ambassador laid out his 100-day ultimatum on Friday afternoon: restore some semblance of multi-party democracy or risk losing all earmarked aid. I imagine this is mostly lip service for now, since the last thing anyone wants is for the Maoists to be able to swing the political parties over to their side and start an all-out civil war. The Indian and British governments have been making similar rumblings and the INGO community is still mulling over its next steps. Both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch Intl have weighed in with public press releases, the former calling for the release of the head of Nepal’s most activate human rights organization with the unfortunate acronym HURPES. He’s considered Nepal’s foremost human rights activist. Slowly, the palace has been releasing some backbenchers and lower level party wonks and there are hints that the former prime minister will be released in the coming days, but so much is rumor and the newspapers are still nothing more than kindling.
Today as I brainstormed ideas for a early childhood marriage eradication program linked with out overall child labor abolishment projects (particularly as a means of getting more girls, especially dalit girls, to remain in school not to mention just upholding their rights) we spotted a story in the papers of a 65-year old man marrying a 9-year old girl in the southern part of the country. Yes, it’s illegal (and also very uncommon between the very old and very young), but it also indicates the kind of social norms and traditional customs that we are up against.
Other than the Guardian (and a few things from the BBC World Service) a good source of news not found in the papers here is available via the International Nepal Solidarity Network at: http://insn.org