The Summer of 1993, after spending two-and-a-half years in the US and six months in the UK at Lancaster University, I visited Nepal for the first time. One of the things I did then was to send snail mails to my friends in the US. One of them was my dear friend E, who had also been at Lancaster University the preceding Spring. The following is a reproduction of most of the contents of the first letter I sent her.
I am reproducing them here because they provide a glimpse into how things were then in Kathmandu, just three years after the autocratic Shah regime had been toppled and when the country had been experimenting with a democratic form of governance.
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July 12, 1993
Kathmandu
Dear [E],
How are you doing? […]
Well, it’s been a week since I arrived here. This place has changed for the worse. I hadn’t expected much improvements, but just the same, the changes have surprised me quite a lot. I feel a little lost.
This place has degenerated to a lower level. The streets are in pitiable conditions: dusty, rough with pebbles, stones and gaping holes, and disgusting with garbage strewn all over the place. A nauseating stench pervades everywhere.
The part of the city where I live is a popular place with tourists. And now the whole section is geared towards catering to the tourists! Practically all the stores sell materials for tourists, and hotels and restaurants line the streets. For example, there are three hotels, one travel agency, six shops dealing in tourists attraction and two restaurants round my house!! Three years ago, there were only 2 hotels, 1 restaurant and 2 shops. (These are in the houses in front, on on side, and the back of my house!) I hope don’t sound like I am complaining. I guess I am just trying to share with you things are here. [I should clarify that “my house” is kind of a misnomer; my family were renting a floor in a three story house.]
I wonder what the place will be like in ten years. The Gross National Product per capita is abysmally low at $180. Democracy, or what Nepal has of what’s democracy, is at its infant stage. Few people, very very few people, have any understanding of what constitutes democracy.
To give an example: just about two or so months ago two prominent leaders of the Communist Party [Madan Bhandari and Jibaraj Ashrit] died in a jeep “accident.” The communist party, blaming the present government (comprising of a Congress majority) for the death of their leaders have taken their case to the streets. They have been asking for the resignation of the Prime Minister. Instead of going through the proper channels of requesting the government to investigate the incident, they have been calling on the people to protest and strike. They have called for all businesses to shut down and all public vehicles to stop operating on specific dates in their effort to make the Prime Minister comply with their demand.
Just the day before I arrived here, all of Kathmandu had shut down. A couple of weeks ago, the police and demonstrators had clashed resulting in the death of seven people. Incidentally the driver of the jeep in which the leaders were traveling survived the accident. The rumor is that the government paid the driver. Many more closures of business and traffic have been called for in the the near future dates.
It appears that all democracy has done, as in many other third world nations, is to pave the way for opposing political parties to bicker over every single issue and vie for power and the ignorant lot of the population seems to serve the purpose of pawns toyed around by those in high positions.
It goes without saying that corruption and bribery are rampant. Just to get my new passport, my father, who doesn’t know people in high places, is paying Rs. 2500. (My old passport expires on the 25th.) To get things done you either need connection or have money. Enough said about Nepal.
[…]
P.S. I have to be home everyday by 8:30 pm!!
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What do you think?
