Buddha was born in Nepal. So what?

Buddha was born in Nepal. So what?
Yes, Buddha was born in Lumbini, around 2600 years ago, which is now in Nepal.
The real question we should be asking each-other now in Nepal is:

Would Buddha want to be re-born in Nepal now?

  1. Would he approve of our pin-drop silence against injustice and impunity in Nepal?
  2. Would he salute the long lines of young men and women in a hurry to leave their motherland, that our elders turned into a place of dead-ends and despair?
  3. Would he embrace his fellow Nepalis who try to divide themselves along our castes, religions and material wealth?
  4. Would he keep smiling while some of his countrymen sell our own girls or kill our own kin in the name of change?
  5. Would he help us when we prefer to sit silent like sheep while our rulers rape any dignity that is left in us?

So before we get over-sentimental about Buddha’s birthplace, why don’t we first take some time off to learn what he actually taught. Bring to heart, what he really fought for 2600 years ago? Believe in his middle way first?

I am going to cherish the day when we Nepalis can declare instead:

“Yes Buddha would love to reborn right here in Nepal”

Enough of us Nepalis talking about his birthplace without taking his teachings into heart. It is time for you and me, to stop being simply a talker or advisor, but to be a ‘doer’, one that will make Buddha proud that he wants to be reborn here again. Are you up for this challenge?

 As for me, I am on a quest to make Buddha proud that he was born in Nepal.
Join me.

We are not failing. We have already failed. Deal with it.

Lets accept this fact for Nepal.

We are not failing. We have already failed. Deal with it.

How do we deal with it? And how do we move on?

Here are 3 important life-choices you will have to make to play a role in turning our country around:

Take the political path:  Want to serve your country fore-most? Take the lead and join politics. Politics is an ultimate sacrifice if you want the change you seek in Nepal now.  If your priority is saving your conscience, your family, your town and your country all in one, you will prepare yourself to lead us all out of this mess! No earlier experience required: you learn as you go. Simplify your life. Try to live a life of example. Beware, Politics is like fire. You can either make it a good servant or a bad master, all up to you. Note: Do not make politics a career. Make sure, you have an alternative livelihood which sustains your family.

Take the entrepreneurial path: Don’t shy away from your national duty to offer opportunities in Nepal. Do urge your kids to learn entrepreneurship right from mid-school. Teach them the value of prosperity, and how to create dignified opportunities by becoming an entrepreneur. Tell them how, providing opportunities for others is one of the best social service in a country like ours. Those of us, who are not entrepreneurial, please invest in those who are taking risks! You will never feel sorry.

Take the bureaucratic path: Join Nepal government and serve the people. If the bureaucrats in the government did their job, we wouldn’t need this many social organizations where many of us continue to make a career out of. Joining the bureaucracy is perhaps one of the best ways to do social service in Nepal now. And the surest way to see the change you seek in your environment.

All these paths need persistence, patience and humility. They bring the best in you and help thwart the worst in you to prevail. Continue to hone these qualities much, they will bring you that feeling of contentment one gets as s/he lives a life of purpose.

I hope you will make a clear choice to deal with our nation’s failure now… because if this country burns, we burn with it…

 

नेपाल आमाको पनि मुख हेर्ने हो कि आज?

Nepal aamaआमाको मुख हेर्ने दिन आज, आफ्नो आमाको साथसाथै नेपाल आमाको पनि मुख १ चोटी हेर्न नभुल्नु होला है। आफ्नी आमालाई केहि दिनु हुन्छ नै अवश्य, नेपाल आमालाई नि केहि दिने प्रण गरौँ है यस पाली।

आफ्नो आमालाई त केहि दिनु हुन्छ नै अवश्य। नेपाल आमालाई पनि आज केहि दिने प्रण गरौँ न है।

के दिने भनेर सोध्नु होला?
आफ्नो आमालाई जे दिईन्छ त्यही दिनुहोस् । बर्षै भरि माया गरिन्छ भने त्यसैँ गरौँ । यदि आमालाई बर्षको एक दिन मात्र माया र स्याहार-शुसार गरिन्छ भने नेपाल आमालाई नि त्यसै गरौँ।

आफ्नी आमा र नेपाल आमा के छ र भिन्नता? दुवैले तपाँईलाई उत्तिकै माया गरि रहेका छन् । जति तपाँईले उभद्रो गरे पनि सहेकै सह्यै छन्, माया गर्न छाड्िदनन् क्यारे। जति छोडेर गए पनि कुरेकै छन्। जति बर्ष पछि फर्के पनि हर्षको आशुले अँगालेकै छन् क्यारे । धैर्यको बाँध कहिले टुटेका छैनन्। सदैव हामीले राम्रो गर्नेछन् भन्ने आशका साथ बसेका छन्।

यहि भावनाको फाईदा उठाएर हामी केहिले बाटो बिराएका छौँ- अन्धकारको खाडल बेस्मारी खनिरहेको छौँ। आफ्नै मातृभूमिलाई अत्याचार माथि अत्याचार, बेईज्जत माथी बेईज्जत गर्न कस्सिएका छौँ । बाँकि टुलुटुलु देख्या नदेख्यै गरि बसि रहेका छौँ आफ्नो पर्खाल भित्र। स्थति जति नाजुक हुँदैछ त्यति नै पर्खाल अग्लो बनाँउदै छौँ। तर राम्रो कुरा पनि भई रहेको छौँ।  हामी धेरै राम्रा नेपालीहरु चै अामालाई लागेको रोगलाई निमोठ्न लागि परेका छौँ । एक्ला एक्लै कराई रहेका छौँ । कोहि हामी चुप्प लागेर समाजलाई बचाईरहेका छौँ । तर एउटा कुरो बुझ्नु अत्यन्त जरुरी छ है । अत्यन्त जरुरी ….

बिडम्बनाको कुरा अहिले नेपालमा “दुष्टताको हाँगो भाच्न हजारौँ लागी पर्या छन् तर जरो उखेल्ने मात्र एक -दुई“।

त्यहि भएर यहि आमाको मुख हेर्ने दिन, हाँगो भाच्न लागि राख्नु भएको साथीहरु, अब बाटो मोडौँ र ‘जरो उखेल्ने‘ बाटोमा आउनुहोस् ।
म पनि धेरै बर्ष हाँगो भाच्दै व्यस्थ थिए तर अब आफै जरै उखेल्न लागि परेको छु (यहाँ) :)
आउनुहोस् सँगै उखेलौँ !

मेरो शुभकामना छ तपाँईलाई र स्वागत गर्दछु यस जरो उखेल्ने बाटोमा !

I have a dream…

I have a dream…

that one day my children, their children and their children shall all embrace this nation as their god-given home, and not some rented shack that they choose to leave when the cracks start appearing…

I have a dream…

that one day, my little boys and girls shall be judged by the glow in their eyes, and not by the accent in their voices… by the ‘aura of their accomplishments’, and not by the history of their fore-fathers…

I have a dream…

that one day, every grandmother, daughter and grand-daughter shall all live within a breath from each other’s embrace, where they weave together monuments of love to leave behind, much like those courtyard temples, the ‘chautaaris’ or the ‘mithila’ paintings…

I have a dream…

that once-more “guests will be gods”, rivers are holy enough to dip, village is a refuge from the cities… where smiles are for real…

I have a dream …

that one day, the leaders of our nation shall be judged not by their herd of followers, but by the gems of leaders they produce…

I have this dream…

that one day again, we Nepalis will also be known for being fearless citizens, not just fearless mercenaries…

I have such a dream…

that my little girl and your little boy shall build together a righteous leadership that plants the tree of prosperity in each of our homes…

And I have a very selfish dream :) …

that one day, I shall walk down lush-terraced coffee gardens in my village, to find friends from all over the world drop by for a cup of the finest organic coffee available… with fresh buffalo cheese spread on a perfect slice of  whole wheat bread made right then and there…

I have a dream…

So, my dear friend, what is your dream ?

I have a dream

- inspired by Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream”

The seeds of terror in Boston are sown in the streets of Kathmandu…

A letter to the 1st world:

The seeds of terror in #Boston are sown in injustices on a 3rd world mess like Nepal or Chechnya or Syria… If we want to stop it, we have start taking autocracies head-on now. If our 1st world friends want to end terror on their streets, get your governments to stop smiling at 3rd world autocracies.

If the 1st world nations are serious about terror not spreading to their cities, you should start taking the sides of young men and women fighting their rulers on the streets of Kathmandu, Aleppo or Kandahar to fight for their dignity against their own rulers.

I ask, what are the governments in these countries but a syndicate of thugs? In Nepal we now have a syndicate of autocracy. Yet I see our 1st world friends recognizing and working with them while you choose to remain silent about gross injustices done to its citizens in the hopes of avoiding violence. War (violence) is an inevitable outcome of un-attended injustices. I still see you perhaps honestly but ineffectively striking at the branches of evil, rather than the roots.

Every day our young bow down to extremist ideals because they feel betrayed by the rulers of Nepal who soak them dry, continuously poke at their dignity while leaving them with no light at the end of the tunnel. On the other hand I see the brightest youths instead lured into brightly lit seminar halls where ’talk’ is practiced instead of ‘action’, where ‘rewards’ are another trip abroad, rather than another ‘impacts’ on the country-side.

Be warned! If the silent youths are left to fend for themselves against our rulers, they will see this world together with your world, as their enemy, not their friend. Cynicism and bitterness once arises, is hard to cure. And they will do anything to weaken their enemies. “If I can’t have it, they can’t have it” attitude creeps in.

Know that along with our political rulers, you will be also be held accountable for your non-action. Remember this: for youths who have lost their dignity, violence is always a ‘just’ option. By helping the status-quo, you have sown the seeds of terror by alienating this young population from yourself.

You have a stark choice today, ” What am I going to water today ? a budding plant or an old tree that is already dead inside?”

———-

If you have decided to water the budding plant, here are some ideas I believe in:

 We have to find and nurture those youths who are trying to bring others on to the middle path to unite this fragmented nation. They will be responsible for bring extremists from both sides towards them. Empower them in this task. Work long term with them (but rate their progress frequently).

Please repeat this in your head. In 3rd world countries, ‘Entrepreneurship is really the most effective social service’. Help our youths become entrepreneurial. Bring in your entrepreneurs to mentor our budding young entrepreneurs instead. Lets concentrate on generating prosperity now.

Identify and recognize progressive forces and movements that are pragmatists in nature, who solve problems without ideological bias, and who evolve over time, rather than those who get stuck in their box of ideologies.

Support those who take up ‘Issue-based-politics’, where they run for political office to rectify issues. Show hope to youths here that politicians can exist without making politics a career like how many in the 1st world countries have done successfully…

Do you have any ideas on how to bridge the gap ? Share it with us!