I can hardly contain myself these days. All my moments are filled with the images of Nepal. I spend hours googling news and tidbits of my hometown. I save everything that is interesting--news, pictures, blogs, everything. It has been 13 and a half years since I left Nepal. Now with the peace restored and constituent election on the way, there is no better place to be than Nepal, my sweet home. At first, I was appalled that I would have to leave this life in USA. But fate intervened, if one believes in fate. My second Master’s degree will take an extra semester so I would have had to extend my visa for a semester, which would take me to May of this year. But the happening place is now in Nepal. This is the moment of historic change that will be forever engraved in all Nepali psyche. Which will be the better choice? Which will be the difficult choice?
So, I informed my advisor about my decision to fly home and come defend my thesis in the summer term, if my doctoral application is accepted. Or maybe never. Nepal beckons. I feel an urge, a vacuum when I recall home.
When we listen to the discussions, no one seems happy with the leadership. There is no hope that the same old leaders can lay a foundation for a new Nepal. Gagan Thapa, a young activist, wrote in his column that a new house cannot be built on an old foundation. This is the time to dig that new foundation- a new constitution, a republic Nepal that is free and moving toward prosperity. And this is the time to be active and go home to apply the knowledge gained after living, studying and teaching in the USA. Plato said that virtue is not virtue unless one practices it. So enough of venting and start doing already. Be the change you wan to see in the world, they say. The time is now.
Nepal has already stamped a unique mark in the history of the world. Merely after a decade of conflict and now a prospect for peace is with us. When I look at Sri Lanka, I shiver--they are still at it, and no end in sight. But we showed that world the power of the will of the people that defeated the most autocratic of rulers. There is new respect for a “poor†Nepal in the international arena. Even India is not as heavy handed as it used to be. Now with India and China both poised for greatness in the world arena, their attitude has been more empathetic to the plight of their smaller brothers. Nepal can achieve greatness too, if we manage to catch the tide.
New Nepal calls for its youth, new blood, new vision, new activism. I have done some activism in the USA, volunteering to help elect legislators for state senate in Arizona and US Congress from South Dakota. They were wonderful experiences. But what will make more sense is making a difference in my own homeland. I feel that each Nepali who is staying abroad can make a difference no matter where they are. At this juncture, even if they cannot be back in Nepal, they can raise their voices, and lend their support to those who are there, and help emergence of a new generation of political activist.
My mission is to go and bring electronic age to the democracy in Nepal. There are already blogs and websites of capable and interested parties. I wish to inform the expatriates, the Nepali diasporas about my trip back home and the things I will encounter. I remember when I was first became interested in thrusting myself in the political process. It was when Howard Dean stood up to Bush and told the American people the truth, opposed the war, and energized the grass root activism and showed the immense power of citizen participation. I hope we can emulate that in Nepal and create a wave that harnesses the power of the Internet and channel the virtual wave for a constructive tsunami that will deluge the old and the rotten.
Each Nepali who is working, studying or simply living abroad has the power to contribute to the struggle in Nepal. Everyone knows their own little area the best, and understands what needs to be done. I am going back to my own area in the doon, to lend my sweat to the soil of my birth. We share that responsibility because we are composed of that soil. My friend used to sing in school. "Bagekocha chahara, ragatma mero." So I hope everyone will find a way to contribute in their own way. I will definitely do what I can and what needs to be done. For starters, I have a camcorder and some tapes to start recording the realities and “birth pangs†of new Nepal, a people’s Nepal, a truly sovereign Nepal. If we have to throw out the old foundation, so be it.
I will be posting my reintroduction to Nepal in the following blog. You are all welcome to post your cooment and provide me your suggestions. Jaya janmabhumi.
http://empowernepal.blogspot.com
