One of the most common questions I am asked by people who know my long history with Nepal is
"How would you compare Nepal today with the Nepal you knew forty years ago?(or twenty years ago
or even ten years ago.") Of course, a lot has changed, but where hasn't it. As a kid in Santa Monica,
California, people still rode horses on streets where there are now luxury apartments and commercial
offices. Horse back riding is still a feature of Santa Monica living, but it is restricted to the Santa
Monica mountains. Throughout the world change is everywhere, we all know this. The difference is
that in some places change brought with it a better quality of life, while in others a worse one. Nepal
falls into the second category. Since the fall of the monarchy about twenty years back (not counting
the figurehead monarchy) Nepal has spiraled down hill. I have not spoken to a single Nepali old
enough to have lived through the monarchy who thinks otherwise.
The main problem in Nepal is a political one; no one can agree on anything and so nothing gets done,
accept that more and more people keep coming into the Valley from the hill and mountain regions.
Twenty years ago there were about one million people in the Valley; now there are six million ---
literally living on top of each other, in multi storied brick houses and apartments. Very often entire
families squeeze into a single room, leaving behind a comfortable village home, all to be where the
action is. They end up miserable The great thing is that the people haven't changed. Nepali people are
the best people in the world; friendly, hospitable, gentle, soft spoken, humble --- I could go on and
on. Their humble attitude is so endearing I often envy them myself. They very naturally make you feel
like the most important person in the world. Westerners who come here, especially Americans, either
learn from this attitude or try to take advantage of it. The problem is not with the people; living
conditions have changed. People are living in a toxic environment; and I mean toxic in a way that most
in the West are not familiar with.
First of all there are countless small vehicles everywhere; but that is just what makes the smoke. The
real problem lies not with the smoke, but the dust. Many people in this Valley are sick with TB,
hepatitis, typhoid, and who knows what else. The streets are poorly maintained and the roads are
broken, and dusty. The people walk about spitting whatever sickness they have onto the dusty streets
and the endless cars spit it back into the air from the pavement. It is easy to get sick here, even if you
are careful about your water, soak veggies in iodine, and do all the usual tricks. Being in Kathmandu is
like being in a hospital quarantine ward.
Most of this city was designed for Ox carts. That fact was not a problem when I was here in 1969.
Back then I remember walking in the middle of the road everywhere because hardly ever a car came
by. But, now it is impossible to move about by car faster than one could walk in the inner city. In fact
a friend of mine, a Nepali guy, who was head of the Tourism Department, two years ago tried to make
a section of the city a car free zone. It lasted only three months even though it worked beautifully and
everyone liked it. The reason it failed points to one of the failings of these very lovely Nepali people;
they cannot agree on anything or organize themselves. What happened with my friends project was
that no one wanted to chip in the few rupees it would take to keep guards at checkpoints to keep the
cars out. This was a minor expense that was supposed to be borne by each shop keepers; but although
they all liked it, none would pay the small fee to make it work. In this way Nepalese are often very
foolish.
But, unlike in the above example, their propensity to not be able to come together in a meaningful way
often has consequence that effect the entire Nation dramatically. The most important example of this
is the Nepalese failure to take full advantage of their hydroelectric potential which is second in the
world, only bested by Brazil. Nepal has so much electricity to sell that it could be moved off the list
of the top ten poorest nations if it were fully taken utilized. Today it sells only a small fraction of what
is available.
So, what is the problem? You decide; I'll give you an example. About two years ago an Asian country
offered to build for Nepal a multi-billion dollar hydroelectric plant in the Western region that could
sell electricity to neighboring India. They would repay themselves over the years by taking a
percentage of the proceeds until they were repaid. Since this was a donation, they would take no
profit. Everyone agreed. Now it came to explaining to the villagers whose land the project was to be
on and getting them on board. No one anticipated any problems as the project would compensate
people nicely for their land and give work to the local people.
Off to the village to present the idea. The villagers agreed at first, but then as things got under way,
came up with one demand after the other until the donor became so fed up they withdrew their offer.
First the village demanded health care for all the villagers working on the project. The project
managers agreed to this saying they would build a small clinic and supply doctors. The villagers
however wanted to be flown for treatment to Bangkok or Europe.
It is a mess politically. Nepal's biggest industries are the carpet industry and the handicraft industry
and to a smaller extent the hotel industry. Recently ninety-percent, yes ninety!, of the carpet industry
closed down. Why? The Maoist went into all the factories and told the workers that they should not
work for less than five times what they were paid. The result, almost all the carpet factories closed and
moved to India; leaving the Nepalese out of work. The Maoist did a similar thing with the hotels. A
few months ago they started walking into all the hotels, even the five star ones, gathering all the
workers in a central place, leaving the guest to fend for themselves, and had meetings in which they
educated the workers by asking them simple questions, like why is it you walk, but the owner of the
hotel drives a Land Rover, and why does the hotel's attorney make more than the dishwasher? Etc.
The result is still to be seen; but the workers are making three times what they were making, but the
hotel owners are discussing quiting the business because they are no longer able to make a profit.
A few days ago a reporter was killed for writing unflattering stories about the Maoist. He was shot in
broad daylight and no one can do anything about it. The Maoist had a news conference recently and
announced that they would destroy any news publishing business that talks bad about them. Years ago
there was a similar rule that one could not talk bad about the King; but at least he declared one day a
year that was a completely legal King bashing day. (This day was great fun and people often actually
did use it to state grievances.) But another difference of note is that the King was loved and
worshipped as a God, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, and people identified with him in a positive way.
It was a happy kingdom. Not so with the Maoist, who get their way by intimidation and violence.
King Birendra was the king that got assassinated in the palace by his son; along with many other
relatives. This happened long after he lost power during the Maoist uprising which was enhanced by
the students. It stated as a so called democracy movement. The students claimed that the people were
poor because they don't have democracy, but if they get rid of the king they will all become rich. So,
they got the people to buy the idea. The King could have easily squashed the uprising in the early
stages, but he didn't take it seriously. A big mistake. It snowballed and soon there was blood on the
streets. This shocked the King. He didn't realize the people were serious. So he said, OK, you want to
run the country, go ahead. And it has been downhill ever since.CADRES
to be continued