Thoughts after a week in Katmandu

The Pandey Children
The five year old Pandey girl, Chandani, goes to all-day kindergarten. She can read and write short stories in English and Nepali. I was told she can read the Nepali newspaper, though has to ask the meanings of some of the longer words. When could I write stories in English, let alone a foreign language? Maybe second grade. Though I know this sort of private education is not given to all Nepali children, or even 1%, her abilities let me know how and why we Americans are not destined to remain a powerful force in the world much longer. The educated people from the rest of the world are going to eat us alive, crunch our ill-educated bones for the marrow, and spit out our indigestible parts without us even asking for quarter or even knowing how to ask, because we have become so ignorant.

Seeing how the Pandey children's top-notch education sets them apart from what I know of American children and of most Nepali children, I am struck by the power of knowledge and education. It doesn't bring us together, but instead divides us. On the savannah we all had pretty much the same education, knew the same things, held similar ideas. With the expansion in our fund of knowledge or information we become divided into haves and have-nots. No matter the category of life one studies there are those who get it and those who don't. If in one category you are a "have", it is more likely that you are a have in a few others. The same goes for the have nots. The divisions seem to be coming out more and more unequal.

Chaos after civil war
On our overland walk to the hospital to avoid the chaos of the demonstration that blocked off his hospital last Friday, Chakra made the point that despite having no government, and living in the midst of chaos, people continue to function as if life is normal--evidence that there is a human need or constitutional imperative to live and sort out life the best way possible.

Nepal is an example not of a developing country but of a deteriorating country. It shows how civil war can destroy the cultural fabric of the country. The insurgency has done nothing positive for anyone. Previous levels of trust (what Chakra called the innate forgiveness of Nepalis) no longer exist. The blame can be placed in many quarters, but I don't see how anything positive can come from the existing situation. A Nepali mentioned that he'd been in Vietnam and saw that everyone between the ages of 15-50 was moving, going somewhere, doing something. In Nepal, about half the people were moving and after 2 weeks in Sierra Leone, he calculated that about 10% of the people were moving. He figured a country had about 5 years, or some set, short time in which to right itself after a civil war, and Vietnam had passed this magic interval satisfactorily and is on its way to wealth and stability. Nepal is rapidly losing the opportunity and SL, well, . .


One of the wireless phone companies is called STD. Signs on small shop windows advertising STD/ISD available make me think automatically they are clinics to treat sexually transmitted diseases.

Kathmandu's Durbar Square
On Saturday Cherin Pandey, male about 13, and I visited Kathmandu's Durbar Square. one of the main tourist attractions in the city. A must-do. The historic site of official business lined with old government buildings and crowded with temples, filled now with tourists, touts, punks, dogs, motorcycles and cars. We started our walk in the tourist area of Thamel. I was a bit confused because I couldn't figure out where on the map we had actually started since none of the streets have names and even my little compass confused me. Cherin was a fastidious guide. Every 25 meters he'd ask a person the way even though we'd already been told and hadn't changed direction, or met up with a side street that would have allowed a change in direction.

The Square and its buildings were uninteresting--crowded, noisy, smelling of human waste and awash with litter. I would have no reason to return, or to walk through Thamel, past the souvenir sellers with their gaudy overpriced merchandise. Since I am uninterested in buying, nothing looks interesting to me.

Toy-Toying in Nepal
Sunday, on the drive to Nepal Orthopaedic Hospital the car was twice diverted into long treacherously crowded and dusty detours because of demonstrators performing on the road. This seems to happen daily. A group is unhappy about something and takes its discontent into the street. It all seems relatively peaceful, with chanting and marching, nothing mean or aggressive, but the street is closed, inconveniencing everyone and raising the general level of frustration mixed with anger. Such actions are called marches or demonstrations, but I think of them using the South African word: they are toyi-toying in the street. The term fits.

On Tues the Kathmandu Valley was shut off by the Maoists at all the major roads. No guns, no violence, just long sticks, red flags, red and blue baseball caps, plus some singing and dancing. By their numbers and the narrowness of the road, the mass of primarily male demonstrators prevented vehicles from coming in or leaving the valley all day. Riot police stood in their protective gear along the road, a presence only.

I had been planning to visit two hospitals east of the city and secured a ride beyond the valley's boundary in an official hospital van. After much palaver with the demonstrators the driver got us through in the morning, but coming back to the city we had to wait until one leader, with a very bad hair color job, finished his speech. Driving out I sat in the front passenger seat. I was told my presence was auspicious because Maoists are known to be kindly disposed to foreigners and generally don't harm them. (thought extracting payment is another thing) I suppose they are keen to prevent bad publicity. These toyi-toyis add to the already atrociously snarled traffic and fray the nerves.

I can't imagine the Afghans toyi-toying like the Nepalis or even the Africans. Demonstrating a grievance by taking it nonviolently to the street doesn't fit with notions of any preferred Afghan response. On further reflection, such peaceful action seems positively ridiculous in an Afghan setting.