I’ll rather bring the good news Thursday, Nov 9 2006

It’s 2.50am and I’m supposed to be slogging for 401, but after seeing Tiffany’s wistful entry, I went to check out ekantipur and here’s Nepal’s headline news: SPA-Maoist accord foundation for new Nepal. Basically, the two groups have reached, in Koirala’s words, a “historic” agreement, after months of delays at the peacetalks over major sticky points like arms management, paving the way for the Maoists rebels to truly join the political mainstream.

Exams are coming, I’ve barely studied, but deep into the night where I should be worrying about that damned Kant’s readings, I find myself strangely happy. Nepal is TRULY at a transition, and I believe despite all odds, it is moving forwards. And since my powers of analysis tends to fail at the middle of the night, here’s an op-ed to share with you guys:

History Made

By Akhilesh Tripathi

 

It was already 12 at night and nothing was coming out of Baluwatar. November 8 was beginning to seem like it was just going to be another day of talks. Then, when it was least expected, the moment came. On the second day of the fifth round of summit talks, after over 20 hours of rigorous deliberations and discussions, the ruling seven-party alliance and the Maoists had, finally, made history. Overcoming all kinds of suspicions and apprehensions, they had reached the much-awaited peace deal, signing agreements on all political and arms issues and paving the way for the restoration of permanent peace in Nepal.Both the ruling seven-party alliance and the Maoists deserve a special pat on the back for making the historic peace deal. They have proved the conception that “the Maoists cannot be trusted” and “the government, too, is not serious about establishing peace” as wrong. After more than a decade of deadly conflict and the Maoists living in the shadows, the November 8 Agreement is the strongest indicator that lasting peace will finally come. As mandated by the April Movement, a complete restructuring of the state, too, looks very near.

Indeed, the agreement marks the beginning of the final stage of the delicate and unique experiment of ending the bloody conflict and establishing sustainable peace that began in Nepal in the wake of the success of the April Movement. It has sealed secure the process of drawing the violent Maoist insurgency into open politics and integrating the rebels into the political mainstream. Any misgivings the people may have had, that the leaders may be tempted to go for just mere adjustment of power, just a tuning up of an old system, is gone. All of them now know and have decided what needs to be done- how and when. The historic agreement has clearly spelled out the roadmap for a new Nepal.

The paper work is now over. Real work lies ahead. There is no time for dilly-dallying. If the Constituent Assembly elections are to be held by mid-June 2007, as has been agreed, then swift action will be required. What has been agreed on paper needs to be implemented in practice. And for this to happen, the time line that the two sides have set for forming the interim government and legislature, promulgating the interim constitution etc has to be strictly adhered to.

We hope both sides have learnt from the over six months that took them to make the final peace deal that a change is possible only if the parties trying to make the change are ready to change themselves first with time. While the historic agreement reached at Baluwatar is in fact an expression of their will to change, it must be willed into action.

The Maoist leadership has been time and again accused of failing to bridge the gaping chasm seen between what it says from the national pulpit and its ability to transform its armed cadres at the ground level. Reports of rebel extortions, intimidations and bullying still keep coming in. This has to stop. With the rebel leadership now publicly abandoning the People’s War, political re-orientation of their ground-level cadres and activists, so that they can learn to live in an open society, is the order of the day. There is no other way forward.

Maoist Chairman Prachanda’s announcement within hours of reaching the groundbreaking agreement with the government that the November 10 convention of the Newa Mukti Morcha has been cancelled is a significant gesture towards this end. For the convention, which the Maoists were touting to be a mass gathering of a million in the capital, the rebels had been pressing the valley dwellers really hard to give shelter and food to their cadres and supporters who were going to attend the programme. Instead they have decided to celebrate for the next three days. Such gestures must continue.

On the seven parties’ part, what needs to be changed is the usual political infighting, which they tend to become more vulnerable to when any change in government is made. This shouldn’t be the case with the interim government ready to be formed later this month.

No political party or figure is bigger than the nation. The change the nation wants is perhaps possible only if the concerned sides realise this. The Baluwatar agreement has certainly opened a new exit but it will take solid effort and total commitment to make use of it and take the nation out of the centuries-old problems that came to a head in a violent and deadly manner in the last one decade.

In short, the country stands on the brink of a historic changing of the guard, and both the government and the rebels, the latter in large measure, hold the key to whether the peace process ultimately ends up treading the path of confrontation or final conciliation.

Cynicism and faith seem strange bedfellows, but I’m always for cautious optimism. Tiffy, I believe one day we can really go back and rejoice with the people! 🙂

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Their hope, my cynicism Tuesday, Nov 7 2006

It’s been a while since we’ve returned from the Himalayan Kingdom (sounds like a phrase taken from a lonely planet book) and I’ve been trying to grab any piece of news on Nepal that is available on the World Wide Web.

There are days I enter the BBC site to click on the “South Asia”,and only the “South Asia”, link. I’ve also updated myself weekly with the Nepali Times and flip to the South Asia page in the Straits Times (Life! used to be the only section i read everyday. I’m a convert!).

Of cos this post is not to go on with my rant on how much I miss Nepal and all. I’ve grown out of that stage. My point is this: The kind of news I read about Nepal is making me very cynical.

I remember going to Nepal Gunj and acting like a know-it-all. When we spoke to the people there, one of the must-ask questions is this, “Has the Maoists or the government been harrassing you?”

That question is extremely popular amongst us young journalists cos hey, they say bad news IS news!

But all the villagers would stare at us in disbelief and reply in a unanimous voice, “No. We are at a ceasefire.” Even our educated, young, supposedly to be cynical JOURNALIST-interpreter wonder why we are so fixated about hearing how life has been tough under the Maoists. They probably thoughtI was stupid to ask such a question.
It seems, the ceasefire provides lots of hope for the people.

The general sense that I get talking to these people is that SOMETHING GOOD will come out of this ceasefire. They don’t know what it will be but there will be something good. Yet as I read the reports on the peace talks and recall all that I know of the country, my judgement is that these people are placing their hope on something that will not come in the short term.

They have so much hope for the future. To them life is simpler now that the ceasefire is in operation and will continue to get better.

Yet I believe, perhaps due to my cynicism, that there is just too much tension around. Sooner or later either the Maoists or the government will get tired of waiting for the other side to compromise, someone will fire the first shot and we are back to the same old situation.

With that belief, I wanted to hold on to every villager I see, look them in the eye and shake them up. Your so-called peace MAY not happen.

However, I know that I shouldn’t let my cynicism shroud my faith. There is some good in everyone and I will want to believe that everyone there is trying, including the government and the Maoists.

So maybe I shouldn’t be jaded about the whole peace process and hope together with these people. That something good WILL come out of the ceasefire.

And when that day comes, I will hang my head in shame that I was cynical once and rejoice with the people that their hope and faith brought the country democracy and peace.

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It’s getting plain torturous.. Thursday, Oct 19 2006

Okay, the title is wrong, because torture, as a form of interrogation, or even for pleasure in seeing enemies suffer, has been around everywhere for about as long as humankind. And dare I say, this is true for Nepal as well.

Problem is, it’s still in rampant use, and according to a news report from the Times of India  (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/2194760.cms) and Nepal Human Rights News (http://www.nepalhumanrightsnews.com/news.asp?id=535) , it seems even acceptable – just as long as you keep it quiet.

The first report tells us that a few members of the Nepalese Army have been tried and sentenced by a military court for causing the death of a Maoist suspect “during interrogation”, which the article itself admits is torture. However, this action is actually in response to years of pressure by Human Rights groups to punish those found guilty of “gross torture”.

I really believe this is just one really really rare case of punishing those who have committed such acts. And from the very light sentencing (I can’t even call it a “tap on the knuckles”) such as 45 days jail and promotion freeze,  I can’t help but feel this is the first time they’ve pressed charges, and are also starting really small to send a little warning to the hordes of other soldiers who are doing the same thing. Perhaps they feel that if they go on a sudden strong assault, they may have to sack more than half the army.

I feel I have a right to say all this, from all the stories related to me during interviews with the Maoists and some Nepalese people. Of course, the Maoists are no angels either, but I think the abuse of Human Rights on both sides is just the same. What really saddens me is how systematic the use of torture is. Read both articles and you get the sense that as long as you’ve been caught for any reason by any side, you’re probably not going to get out quite the same.

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back home with a rumbling tummy Saturday, Oct 7 2006

All the jokes about being lovesick over Nepal, I actually did get sick.

It’s kind of a reverse sick – it wasn’t having to adjust to different food and water there, but rather, making my body adjust to the food and water back here in Singapore.

So I have a horrific cough (which maybe blamed on the dust in Nepal, granted, but could very well be the damned haze here), and a rumbly gas-y tummy, which churned out contents I’d rather not write about.

And then I read all the posts you guys put up about the place and the rumblings vanished. My mid-week depression receded. I felt all sappy and nostalgic.

It wasn’t trip without its fair share of horrors and outrage and frustrations, but as how what is surely the theme song for our trip by now – Don’t Look Back in Anger by Oasis – why would anyone in their right mind choose to look back with rage and regret?

I remember flying kites and seeing hundreds of other kites in the sky and kids hopping on roof tops and thinking that time could stop right then and it would be perfect.

I remember the food, the craziness of being in a place where it’s momos one day and four-cheese pizza (with the most divine thin crust) the next.

I even like the crazy traffic and the honking, I never had a problem with it, and while I do like cruising smoothly in a car with actual suspension, there’s a certain exuberance in Nepal traffic that cool efficiency just can’t quiet replace.

Our intepreters – it was definitely out fortune to meet you guys, you guys were helpful and as a bonus, you guys were fun!

 And of course there was the actual process of chasing the stories. Calling it a learning experience seems pretty bland – it doesn’t quite capture what an rollercoaster ride it was: the frustration when you hit a dead end; the adrenaline rush when everything seems to fall right into place; the emotional ups and downs as you become inevitably encouraged/repulsed/surprised by the story itself.

 And so on Day 6 after we’ve come back from Nepal, I continue to wait for my stomach to stop rumbling, but I hope I don’t ever forget what a time I had in Nepal with you guys. I know I’m going to miss being able to bitch and moan and laugh together on a regular basis.

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DOCENDO DISCIMUS Friday, Oct 6 2006

It has taken me weeks to write this blog entry – the length of time I have been observing and reflecting on our experiences in Nepal. Perhaps I have been jolted into responding by some gentle reminders about…..ahem…..age (“going pubbing with dad”) and the like, but nevertheless reading your thoughts has inspired me to dwell on my own reflections during our expedition.

At my “age” and given my years of traveling on assignments to rough spots as a photojournalist, even I am surprised to realize how much I have learned through our shared experience. It has in many ways underlined my core belief that one learns through teaching.

When we visited Nepal for the first time I was surprised to discover that my understanding of each of us was wildly inaccurate: not better, not worse, just different.

So what have I learned from GO FAR – Nepal (and Sri Lanka before that)?

Chiefly that embarking on a journey to a political hotbed such as contemporary Nepal, which, by the developed standards of Singapore, is not an easy destination even in times of relative peace, with twelve young, eager students in my care was a responsibility I took very seriously (and look at the sacrifices I had to make…(1) going pubbing as a teetotaler AND (2) having to listen to OASIS! All so I could keep an eye on you lot out unwinding in the wild nightlife of the Himalayas!) 🙂

As we tried very hard, in various ways, to make you understand, GO FAR is neither just another ‘regular course’, nor a class excursion. It is far more, and demands far more from all of us than either. Reporting from the ground is not the only goal. The story is always there in any situation, what we are trying to learn through GO FAR is how to get it. And we don’t get it by just climbing onto to a plane and going to where it is happening.

The important lesson – which I think you have learned well – is that journalism is not all travel and excitement. A lot of it is grunt work. Learning to make travel arrangements and fix accommodation and interpreters and transportation; learning about the country, its history, its culture, its people and its terrain; learning how to push through or skirt around obstacles in your path – logistical hurdles, denied permissions, and reluctant subjects.

Sometimes we use gentle persuasion, sometimes friendly but firm persistence. What we needed to learn (and didn’t someone say experience and travel are the best teachers?) is when to employ what tactic…when to negotiate and when to just elbow our way through as journalists.

While the Do’s and Don’ts of journalism practice are taught in the classroom, GO FAR was envisaged to give you a lot more – to instill professionalism, independence, courage, empathy, sense of fair play, the ability to think on one’s feet…….and an opportunity to experience first hand the emotional, physical and intellectual challenges of working in a foreign environment (“out of one’s comfort zone” was a phrase that was bandied about much).

And in the process of learning this in the alley ways, on mountain roads, during bumpy rides and while battling bee-sized mosquitoes of Nepal, GO FAR enabled you to forge new bonds, relationships, friendships………with people, nations, cultures and between yourselves. And that perhaps is the biggest plus of all – an environment that enabled you to learn more about yourselves, about journalism and about developing your personalities.

Momo jokes (I still think my initial “flopped” attempt is a good one: What is a chewed-up momo called? Nomo!) and the chance to watch me “dance”(and I thought I was being dragged around the floor!) kept us going and offered some comic relief in the midst of all that hard work, and that’s what we learned too, that assignments need not be just all hard work.There is time to play – and to shop and to just chill – when all the work is done, when the story is in the kitty, so to speak.

GO FAR, like life, required all our skills and guess what? We survived.

I am thankful to each of you for reinforcing the wisdom of the Latin, docendo discimus (we learn by teaching). I learnt much as teacher, parent, guide, mentor, friend, facilitator, editor, and lets not forget….the flinty, detail-oriented boot camp major, with a low tolerance for “lax-ness, incompetence or ignorance”!

It’s an experience I would never let pass by me without snatching it out of somebody else’s hands!

P.S: My contribution to the GO FAR soundtrack – which kept playing in my head while we were awaiting the boarding announcement at Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport:

Simon & Garfunkel – Homeward Bound (for my little boy waiting for me)

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Don’t want it no other way Wednesday, Oct 4 2006

While travelling to the Blue Diamond Soc (i hear your sniggers) in Kathmandu, Subel asked if I felt any regrets that the Go-Far team had to change our original plans for Kashmir and visit Nepal instead. He felt that while stories were currently more plentiful in Nepal, Kashmir would have definitely been a much more beautiful and gratifying place to visit.

Well I told him there and then that having experienced all I had in Nepal during the first trip, I won’t and can’t wish for our experience to have turned out any other way. Still I feel that answer seems only half-explained, so I’m gonna try to do the rest now.

Although a few were disappointed (in the beginning) that we were ditching Kashmir for Nepal, I know for sure now that no one has even the slightest inkling. How can anyone that has enjoyed all the momos & pakoras, car-sharing, lobby-phone hogging, kite-flying and “moments” (winks at Kaixin) and all the warm friendship actually hope for something else instead? I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.

And our stories… It was almost surreal how friendly and open the people in Nepal are, so much so that you can just CALL THE FINANCE MINSTER after dinner, and arrange to meet a BIG-SHOT NEWSPAPER EDITOR the next day after you call him. (Read: No email introductions necessary) Though not all of us had it so easy (my heart goes to Desmond and his friends at the hospice), most of us enjoyed tremendously the hospitality the Nepalese showed us.

But Nepal’s political situation and diverse topics for news stories is not the reason why it’s one-up in our hearts over Kashmir. Rather, it’s the process we all went through in getting our stories that is now part of our precious memories.

We MAY have had more fun in Kashmir, we MAY have had prettier scenery, we MAY have found easier stories… but what matters is what we’ve definitely received now. And I think everyone else has done enough rhapsodizing, so I’ll stop here, and be glad for the chance we had to see and smell part of Nepal, meet the great people we did, and work (and play sometimes) like we did.

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don’t make me cry Tuesday, Oct 3 2006

Man this is so not easy. Everyone seems to have an ode to the place and I don’t even know where to start. My mind is working in pieces and I want to say so many things without boring anyone with my segmented brain. So now my melodramatic self is going to take control.

The last trip rendered me useless for a month but at least I knew I would be back in 10 weeks time (Yes I actually count). But this trip would be the last with everyone together in the same combination. That got to me. I hate goodbyes. Even Azira commented I get attached easily. And so it is of no surprise that I’m back recounting the memories of the awesome experience. This time complete with a waterbucket me.

“How can an airport evoke two extreme emotions?”

That was what I jotted down in my book as our plane taxied onto the runway 2 days ago. At the start of the trip, anticipation burst through my veins and now, i can’t help but wish I didn’t have to go home. I felt sick in my guts and contemplated 101 escape routes out of the Kathmandu International airport. When the plane took off, I rurned to Desmond and said, “Hey, let’s come back next year.” And I was elated to hear a loud and confident “OK!”

Now coming back I’ve slinked back into the shadows. A place where I thought no one will understand the pain of not being in the beautiful land. But as I read what my fellow Go-Farians have to say, I realise that I am not alone.

Guys, your entries are making me tear! I thank God that He chosen the best combi to enter this team. I can’t imagine going for this trip with anyone but you guys. Sweet Mel wrote an entry about us and that made me go “Awww…”

“You know what sucks? Knowing that I enjoyed every single moment with both the intepreters AND the team. I never expect to get to know everyone so well but i did and now I’m so attached to you guys. I don’t want this to go back to only being hi-bye friends. I want us to be able to chat about anything under the sun decades down the road.”

I wanted to turn to Kaixin and tell her this when we were in the airport waiting for the dreaded plane to take us back to Singapore. But as I did so I started on my first few words, I started choking and I had to stop to regain composure. She looked back and me with tears in her eyes and I screamed, “Get away from me! We are not doing each other any good!” And the two Caucasians sitting in front of me stared at us wondering why these two Singaporean girls are suddenly reduced to tears. Wuss are us.

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who here has been nepalized? Tuesday, Oct 3 2006

Everyone’s sentiments here seem to be so morose about leaving nepal. I guess it hits us more this time because of the uncertainty of when we’ll be back (if we’ll ever be back at all). The last time we left Nepal, it didn’t hit us as bad coz we were already looking forward to coming back in September.

So yesss, I share all your sentiments, in missing the stars at night, the kites, the interpreters, the food, the dust, the language barriers, the crowded roads, the scorching sun, the warm hospitality, the temples, the street vendors, the [add “things you will miss about nepal” here]

I’m sure memories of Nepal will definitely stay with all of us, immortalized in our hearts, minds and the stories that we’ll tell.

To lighten the mood a little, lemme just add a couple more songs to the Go-Far OST…

Greenday – Give me novacaine (for those long days of gruelling hard work)

East 17 – Hey Child (For Xiaobin who covered stories on street children)

Marvin Gaye – What’s goin’ on (for those doing stories on corruption)

Beatles – The long and winding road (for amelynn who survived those 8-hour car rides to Pokhara and back to Kathmandu)

 Shawn Stockman – Visions of a sunset (for the video team who rode into the sunset in nepalgunj)

Pink Floyd – Wish you were here (for the interpreters)

Snow Patrol – Chasing cars (for the drivers)

Mariah Carey – We belong together (for fellow go-far-ians. muahah. long live GFA!)

 Sinead O’Conner – Nothing compares to you 

& 

Elvis Presley – Always on my mind (for Nepal!)

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Nepaled, but the dust will settle.. somehow Tuesday, Oct 3 2006

The “add to the Go Far OST” activity is so addictive that I went to scroll through my MP3s and it seems that every song on my list can be on the soundtrack (at least my own). “When it’s over” by Sugar Ray, “So Far Away” by Staind and even “Linger” by Cranberries, they pretty much sum up my missing-Nepal pangs right now.

And since it’s a gofar NEPAL soundtrack.. how can we not do without some Nepali songs? I told Timor that on msn and he has promised to send some Nepali songs over… whee and that will make our gofar OST that little bit closer to completion!

I was also telling Tiffy that everytime my friends asked “how’s Nepal” after the trip, I wouldn’t know how to start. I mean, I could either say, “yeah, it’s good. Eventful but tiring.” (which is pretty much what I said anyway) or I could just go on forever about our wonderful interpreters, the food that made Singaporean dumplings and Marche’s rosti seem really bland, walking in Patan square, passing by crowds of cars, dust, motorcycles, cows, colourfully-clad Nepalis, flying kites, bantering about nothing in particular with the drivers and shopkeepers – just the plain indescribable feeling of being right there and then in Nepal. (yup, you got the point about going on forever).

And the thing is.. I never expected this to happen to me. Xin Yi gets stressed about her work and stories at most, provides comic relief (as proclaimed by Des, ha) at least, but Xin Yi seldom gets sappy. If you know me enough “badly” (and after 2 weeks, most gofarers unfortunately do, haha), I can’t multi-task, get stressed easily and have a one-tracked mind. And since GoFar is essentially for work, going to Nepal is also primarily work. I go there to do stories, not to get sentimental. But sometimes, when I think that the stories failed me, the people don’t. And even if the people failed me, the memories – good or bad- don’t.

Of course, there are lessons to be learnt, some in hard ways that disappoints and even appalled, but they are lessons. For every unfulfilling interview that I had, every inefficiency in the system that I uncovered and every frustrated sentiment I got from the Nepalese with what’s (not) happening in the country when it comes to progress, there are the simple things in Nepal (like flying kites) to make up for it. And for every shopkeeper that tried to rip poor Xin Yi off of her 350 rupees for something that can be bought for 50 rupees, there will be another shopkeeper who went out of his way to provide me with large amount of souvenirs in a ridiculously short amount of shopping time and great product advice to go along with them. You win some, you lose some, but you learn a lot, and that’s all part of the experience.

So I came back to Singapore retrospective, sappy, missing Kathmandu, and for a lack of a better word – “Nepaled”. The dust will settle somehow…but before it does, just let me drown in my memories of all things Nepali. And when I do embark on the hard and difficult part – transcribing my interview and writing out my stories – all these will ultimately give me the push to make a better piece out of them.

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more to add Tuesday, Oct 3 2006

Let’s add on to the Gofar soundtrack:

1. Oasis: Don’t look back in anger

2. Leaving on a jet plane

These two songs were playing at the pub we went to on the last night of our trip. Tara, our interpreter, recommended the place, while Shyam brought us there. It was funny, something like going pubbing with your dad, but it’s cool. A Nepali jam band was playing loud songs and I swear that Shyam looked like he’s going to go deaf.. on both ears. I think we were very amazed when we saw him dancing with Tara. 😛

It was fun, singing along to songs, watching cool caucasians dancing with dubious characters, drinking and teaching our Prashant how to play tai di. And playing taidi while feeling inebriated.

I couldn’t help tearing when we were on our way on a cab. Leaving on a jet plane. When will I come back to Nepal again? When can I see Timo, Prashant, Tara, Subel, and Shailee again? We couldn’t even say a proper goodbye as the sending off was hasty. I looked at the photos on my camera and videos on the video team’s camera at the airport and it was hard to control the tears.

Thank god for emails and msn as we try to stay in contact. But it’s not the same. The past week and the previous trip were simply amazing and I couldn’t imagine anything otherwise. Interviews after interviews in a foreign land increasingly made dear to us, it couldn’t have happened without the help from our dear friends in nepal.

I really want to go back again. To see more of Nepal, to trek, to see our friends again. Hopefully we can go back together as the gofar group again. It was funny how we didn’t know much of one another before the trips, but grew so close to one another after that. I guess when we were out of our comfort zones, we relied on one another for support, to get us through our doubts and worries about our stories and other problems. It’s just something I’m thankful that I had signed up for and was selected to go, as I wouldn’t trade anything else for this amazing experience.

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