TO CURB IS HUMAN

Every time a bus comes at the police check post in Khairidhunga, Himal Shrestha boards the bus and takes a minute to return. If he sees suspicious individual, he politely asks them to come down for a minute.

Some travelers look with suspicion and query why a passenger should get out. Himal takes some time to elaborate why. His work is both appreciated and dismissed by onlookers. The bus driver himself says okay but tells him to do it quick.

After the earthquake, Nepal government, along with various organizations warned with many being people being internally displaced, trafficking could be on rise. As a result, security bar has been raised.

Himal Shrestha and Rolina Tamang have been working to curb trafficking for the past 15 days at Khairedhunga Police Check Post. Both take turn to check for suspected individuals, especially children and girls.

That was how Rohit Tamang (name changed), around 10 years old, was saved. Rohit had boarded a bus to Kathmandu without his parent's consent, to work in a hotel. At Khairedhunga, he was stopped, queried, and then returned back to his parents.

In the last two weeks, Himal and Rolina have been able to save five females from being trafficked.  

In another incident, "two Tamang girls of around 18 from a nearby village said they were going to visit their uncle's place in Kathmandu. When we inquired the name of the uncle and the place they would go in Kathmandu, they were confused. Moreover, their uncle's surname was different from their own," Rolina said. When we asked the uncle's number, they gave it to us and when we called the phone and inquired, the man cut the line and since then has disappeared" Himal said. Having reported to the police, the man and his whereabouts is under investigation.

Rolina and Himal shared that all of those who were rescued were travelling alone and were scheduled to meet somebody on the other side. "When we interrogate a suspect, they generally tend to blabber, get irritated, panic and tend to hide themselves. They act abnormally," Himal said.

POLICE SUPPORT

Both Rolina and Himal shared that the police has helped a lot in inquiring and halting vehicles. Surendra Singh, Assistant Sub inspector at the Check Post said that they had always felt the need of such help desks. "We always felt the need for such work," Surendra Singh said adding that he greatly appreciated what Rolina and Himal were doing.

RESOURCE

Without resources, Rolina and Himal are currently operating from the police check post. Every time they bring a suspected individual, they escort them to the police check post and start to inquire. Such act has cast suspicious eyes amidst the onlookers.

"A lot of people here know each other," Himal said, adding that social prestige had come into play many times. Moreover, both the sub-inspector and Rolina believed that people seldom became open when queried inside a police post, no matter how small it was.

"Once, one of our suspects turned to be wrong. Because we had dropped her from bus and waited for her parents to come so that we could hand her over, she was nervous. She happened to know many of the locals and there were many onlookers too," Rolina said.

"When her parents came and we handed her over, the girl, although pleased by the attempt said that they could have chosen other destinations instead of a police post," Rolina narrated.

Without their own office, the two have been operating in the police post itself. "If only we had two tents, we could use one as a store and an office and another one as shelter during winter and monsoon. This also would have helped people to open up and confide," Himal said.

Moreover, both Rolina and Himal expressed that while they were doing their best (even when they do not have necessary trainings), had they had two more people, awareness in wards, VDCs, schools and health posts would have been in the pipeline.

AWARENESS

Khairidhunga is predominantly a Newari settlement. Surendra Singh, deployed in the post after two years in Jiri and Satdobato (Dolakha) opined that the level of awareness in terms of trafficking was nominal.

"More often than not, people, here, become dismissive," Surendra Singh said.

Dipak Shrestha, 22 is a farmer by profession. He has a son. When SCI queried if he along with his family was aware about trafficking, he said yes. However, when we asked if he bought out the topic and urged female family members to be alert of any stranger, he was reluctant. "We talk once in a while," Dipak said. "But we know everyone here so we don't need to worry much of trafficking," Dipak said.

The assistant sub inspector suggested that by incorporating media and creating awareness generating campaigns, the level of awareness would increase. "We also need to help people to stop being dismissive," Surendra said.

APPRECIATION

While many have criticized the security check, a lot have actually appreciated it. To Himal and Rolina, the pat on their back is a gratifying experience. "We really feel special and proud of what we do," both echoed. The experience is even greater to Rolina. "Being a woman and helping a woman is really heart touching," Rolina said, adding that she has been able to pride over what she's been doing.

Senior citizens, monsoon and aid

While I was talking to an assistant nurse at Chettrapa Health Post, a two and half hour drive over bumpy roads from Charikot, an elderly woman wearily walked in. Every wrinkle of her face had a story to tell. As I continued to talk to the assistant nurse, the woman started to rub her eyes. It probably was itching. Seeing the elderly woman itch, Mithu Suneal, an Assistant Nurse Midwife went to the woman and politely, asked what was wrong.

"My eyes are itching badly," I overheard the woman speak. Her voice was pressed and she found it difficult to utter the words. Mithu Suneal put a hiatus on our conversation and walked towards the old woman. She then put an inflammatory eye drop on her eyes. The old woman now felt better.

The conversation cut short for a while, as another patient came in, I walked towards the old woman. As I spoke the first words, I knew I would get some part of the history from the wrinkles that her face had. "Ama (mother), Namaste," I told her. She meekly uttered the same.

This was the first time I could well see her features. Her eyes looked weary of the itch. The two drops of inflammatory dose that the assistant nurse had put in her eyes found way through her wrinkled face to run down.

"What's your name Ama?" I asked. In her frail but jovial voice, she answered, "Batuli".

"What's your full name Ama?" I queried.

Having misheard her full name, I tried to correct her name.

"Batuli Jirel kya (It's Batuli Jirel)" she corrected me.

Having had lived with my great grandmother until she passed away, I had got to know parts of history that we had never known from our history books. Batuli Jirel was one of them and I was curious to know what she had to share. Having heard the earthquake of 1934 AD from my great grandmother, the very earthquake had, eventually, been the first question that I could not help asking of to Batuli.

"I was five or six years old when the earthquake came," Batuli Jirel said. "I was playing outside when that earthquake came," she continued. Batuli doesn't recall much of the earthquake apart from the earth shaking and buildings collapsing.

Now, 86 years old, Batuli Jirel tends to forget quickly. The ongoing conversation of 1934 AD earthquake skipped to the Rana regime. "I happened to pass a Rana palace in Thapathali. Then, a coin was dropped from a window," she continued to say. "When you see a coin, you have to pick it up and go inside the palace and stay with the person who threw the coin," Batuli said.

When the first earthquake of August 25 struck, Batuli was with one of her three sons in Patan. "I fell down when the earthquake came. My son carried me and took me out of the house which then collapsed," Batuli said.

During the second earthquake, she came to Chettrapa to stay with her youngest son. This time as well, she was home alone. "I stayed still and my son, who was working in the field, came rushing and pulled me out," Batuli said. "Then, my house fell," Batuli said.

Batuli is one of the around 300 elderly people living in Chettrapa VDC. As monsoon approaches, health concerns of elderly is an issue that health workers of Chettrapa Health Post are concerned of.

Sudha Giri Khadka, Axillary Nurse Midwife at the Health Post highlighted. "Around 300 elderly people live in this VDC. The monsoon is going to create a big problem for them," Sudha said adding that during monsoons, weather would get much colder during morning and night. "This could raise the number of sick people at the health post, and it would be pretty difficult for us to deal with all," Sudha said.

Chettrapa Health Post employs only five health workers. "With limited staffs at the health post, it is a bit difficult to attend all patients," both Mithu Sunel and Sudha Giri said. "While a lot of agencies have come to support us, they've not looked into elderly people and their issues," Mithu Sunel said. She further opined that elderly people seriously needed to be considered while providing aids.

Apart from the monsoon, bathroom is of another concern for the elderly, Sudha shared. "A lot of bathrooms have been destroyed. For elderly citizens like Batuli, it is of a concern."

For Batuli, all she wants is to go back to her home and stay warm and silently wants to pass away.

YOUNG VOICE

Only overthrowing regimes, I believe isn’t the road to development. (We have thrown a lot of regimes—the Rana, Panchayat and the King was the jackpot!) Development is more, and if we, as citizens and political leaders of Nepal fail to recognize this, we will, once again be doomed. Every day, people increasingly have apathetic as well as skeptical view to the government: Nepalese rely on the government for their basic needs, while being skeptical.

The Nepali Congress overthrew the Rana Regime and marked the dawn of Democracy in 2007 BS. While the change supposedly was a step towards development, histories show otherwise. I firmly believe that democracy came at a time when no individual knew what democracy meant. Our leaders, especially those belonging to the Nepali Congress failed to explain what the values of democracy uphold—maybe because they themselves were fully unaware of what democracy meant themselves, or may be because they were afraid that by explaining the values of democracy to people, the common man would revolt—just like the Nepali Congress revolted against Rana Regime, or maybe because they were trying to figure out what democracy meant themselves. More than that, the dawn of democracy, I believe became more of a calculated misfire than the paths to development. Only after a country meets all the elements of democracy can a country really be democratic.  These elements include education, employment and food for thought.

Democracy is defined as being people centric. It is what we call, “By the people, for the people, to the people”. This simple line is easy to say but hard to keep—as people choose what they want. A country of sheep will select sheep as their leaders. They cannot choose a Lion because they are only a flock of sheep and they only have a sheep to choose. Even if they select a Lion, they cannot look up to a Lion for a few reasons. Firstly, they feel threatened and insecure that while the Lion gives them necessary needs, they feel that the Lion can pounce and eat them anytime. Secondly, the Lion itself becomes too powerful that he could use his powers otherwise, and eat the sheep whenever he wants. And finally, while both depend on the other, neither the sheep nor the Lion trusts one another because one is too weak before the Lion, and the Lion is always too powerful. Hence, we choose leaders according to what we are. Nepal is no different. We are a country of sheep selecting sheep. We fail to bring in more powerful leader because we ourselves cannot act according to the Lion’s strength, or work hard to become close to the Lion’s strength.

The values of Democracy relies primarily on education, employment and free speech. A citizen must be educated enough to know what democracy means along with upholding its ideals. (After 50 years of democracy, a vast majority of Nepali citizens cannot say what it means. Many pronounce it just because the word has stuck with them throughout their lives.  Nepal is a democratic country, a line in Social Studies book in early school years say.)

Nepal hasn’t gotten far with employment after five scores of years. Nepal used export rice grains to India and other countries because of self sufficiency. There is a “Dhan Adda” in Maitighar, if anybody seems to recall. Now, we import rice. Nepal’s government prides in its citizens migrating towards the Gulf for employment; which should be the last thing on a country’s mind. Throughout all these years, never once has it occurred as a national agenda to look back at why people are migrating and what the country could do. No wonder, we are a country supported by remittance, a remittance economy.

Another crucial power of democracy is free speech. Free speech comes with education.  Free speech isn’t just about talking freely. It is about talking sense freely. Free speech is not defamation, neither it is about creating rifts between the citizens of Nepal. It is about uniting people to work for national goals. It is about maintaining checks and balance, creating accountability between both the people and the government.

Nepal wasn’t ready for a democratic government when the country rose to democracy. Neither it now is ready for a federal system. This would be an appalling remark from a youth who stands as the future of the country—I am a youth in dilemma. I am the future of Nepal, but before being called one, my future depends on what the country can give and what I can give to the country without leg pulling people. My future depends whether I’ll be able to find or establish sufficient wage income to feed and support my family in the country. If I can, I will stay in Nepal. If I cannot, I will have to think of other options. I’ll be one more to the migrants list and a citizen cut from the country’s population of youth residing in the country. Now, when we multiply this across the 2.7 million population, what is the result? After a decade, Nepal will be a country of aging population , and the vast majority of my friends hold this view as well. Now, the important question arises. Why hasn’t the government been able to stop, check and bring back the youths towards their Motherland?  The answer lies on the country’s failure to promote employment that is self sustaining along with basic infrastructures of development—education, food, shelter, health, transportation and communication.  

When we answer these questions, we come back to the same cycle that our leaders have repeatedly said all these years, and the same answers that we’ve always made us believe. The leaders know that Nepal is a country of fools, and we are more the fools to accept their beliefs. We protest when there’s petrol shortage. But have we ever protested when the results of TU gets delayed? Have we protested against people who do not use the overhead bridge? Never. We pride in our ability to cross a busy street from the middle rather than walking for two minutes. We pride ourselves in crossing the road successfully while abusing the driver for not stopping when they see us crossing the road. We are fools and we will always be—as long as we develop the decency and morality of a good citizen through sound education and awareness—right from the scratch.

This existing system is beyond repair and the only way youths like me can see a different Nepal, a New Nepal as political leaders advocate is when we remove these very lines of dreamers and the system they have and build one from the scratch.

Every day, youths are losing their beliefs on the system. I almost have an apathetic stance towards the government. Not long ago we went through a decade long Civil War that cost the country billions of rupees and further pushed back development. Now, I see a spillover of the Arab Spring—a Nepal Spring. This time, it will not uphold to the principles of democracy. It rather will uphold the spirit of youth—“BY THE YOUTH, FOR THE YOUTH, TO THE YOUTH”.

As a citizen of Nepal, I can foresee Nepal Spring. Such uprising, while every young individual sees as a necessity (because youths believe that they’ve long been made fools of the ever existing system of “endless youth” –the old always feel they are young!) will, undoubtedly hit hard on the country’s economy and development. 

Understanding Customer Satisfaction

In its simplest sense, customer satisfaction refers to a customer being satisfied for the service or goods s/he opts for. To do so, the service provider should meet the user’s expectations. Unless a service taker feels something is amiss, customer satisfaction seldom takes place. Eventually, enterprises are profit driven ventures. Hence, an unsatisfied customer significantly affects an enterprise’s financial inflow. As a result, in modern business era, which is fueled with neck-to-neck competition between organizations on diverse platforms, (ranging from social media to advertisements to Corporate Social Responsibilities), customer satisfaction is the key mantra.

In their article, “The three Cs of customer satisfaction: Consistency, consistency, consistency” authors Alfonso Pulido, Dorian Stone and John Strevel argue that sustaining an audience is hard. As a result, the writers express, that to sustain an audience, an enterprise requires a “consistency of thought, of purpose, and action over a long period of time.” They argue that while managers generally tend to look down upon consistency, the writers think otherwise. They opine that as customers are ever increasingly voicing their satisfaction and seeing to it that the service or product they use meets their expectations, one cannot, in no way, refrain from customer satisfaction. To do so, enterprises need to focus on consistency, the writers argue. Indeed, “(a) satisfied customer is the best business strategy of all,” Michael LeBoeuf, American Businessman and author rightly said to highlight the importance of customer satisfaction.

For me, as a consumer, key issues that seek consistency are: consistent business policies, service quality, service delivery and communication.  To elaborate the four, a consistent business policy means that an institution knows what it is doing. For example, sale of Classmate notebooks in India are far superior to other notebooks. The reason: Classmate has joined hands with a social cause. With each notebook a person buys, 2 rupees goes to educating the poor. Here, a buyer feels satisfied on two ways: firstly, the notebook is of superior quality for the price. Secondly, she has supported for a social cause.

Likewise, I believe that service quality and service delivery are two wheels of a cart in marketing. In this competitive world, no individual pays for two things: poor quality and poor service delivery. A quality service with slow service delivery or, a quick service delivery with poor quality is something that industries have to guard themselves against. Hence, industries should maintain consistent quality of a service. If possible, they should add on to their services to give them the edge. Secondly, with quality, they should also have quick service delivery. The reason, I believe is simple: people now want quality things; quicker. Service delivery, moreover, relies on the ways a service is rendered. As people continually have lesser free time, people are drifting away from traditional service usage of queeing. People now want efficiency and action in best possible quickest means: cell phones, World Wide Web, social media. Hence, the better and stronger the service delivery with quality service, the more satisfied a customer tends to be.

Lastly, but another important aspect of customer satisfaction is communication. One of the key marketing strategies is to stay in touch with its customers. An enterprise first, must effectively communicate its vision to the masses. Secondly, they have to ensure that customers understand their meaning as stated through queries via emails, phone call or surveys. Finally, they continually need to stay in touch with their audience, even after a customer buys or uses a service.  Hence, customer satisfaction are important for 6 reasons.

-          It is a leading indicator of consumer repurchase intentions and loyalty -          It is a point of differentiation -          It reduces customer churn -          It increases customer lifetime value -          It reduces negative word of mouth -          It is cheaper to retain customers than to acquire new ones (http://blog.clientheartbeat.com/why-customer-satisfaction-is-important/)

Some theories of Customer Satisfaction:

The Dissonance Theory:  The theory suggests that a person who expected a high-value product and received a low value product would recognize the disparity and experience a cognitive dissonance (Cardozzo, 1965). What this means is, when a customer uses a service which is assumed to be of superior quality, but ends up to be inferior, the customer tends to repent on the time and price she has paid to use the service. It then creates a psychological discomfort between a customer and a product.

The Contrast Theory: The theory is opposite to the dissonance theory. The theory expresses that when a product falls short to a customer’s expectation, the contrast between expectation and outcome will lead customers to exaggerate the disparity (Yi, 1990). The theory maintains that a customer who receives a product less value than expected, will magnify the difference between the product expected and the product received (Cardozzo, 1965)

The Comparison Theory: The theory maintains that there are numerous detriments for a customer to opt for one service or product against others. When dealing with customer satisfaction, the theory argues to look upon the following areas; 1) consumers’ prior experiences with similar products, 2) expectations produced by a situation (those created by advertisements and promotional efforts) and 3) the experience of other consumers who serve as referent persons. The theory argues that prior to using any service or product, consumers compare against other products, user opinions, referrals, advertisements and so forth.

‘KABI’ LAMA: NOT A POET, BUT AN ARTIST

When the 2011 Tsunami ravaged Japan, a young Nepali artist was stuck in Tokyo—stranded and in oblivion. With limited food supply, closed shopping centers and radiation leaking from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear power plant, the artist had nowhere to go. “My parents cried and asked me to come back home.  Yet, even when I said that I would pay twice the amount for the airfare, I couldn’t get a ticket,” Kabi Lama shared.

An art student who had gone to pursue his Masters in Painting at the University of Tokyo, Japan, destiny had another fate waiting. Lama, when he came back with his degree to become Nepal’s only lithograph artist.

Although Lama is now proud at his achievement, it was not so when he decided to pursue a degree in lithography. “In the beginning, it was extremely difficult,” Lama shared adding that at some point of time he even regretted his decision to pursue lithography.

In his own words, Lama said that the beginning was a “torture”. “I had gone to study painting and I was learning science—chemicals and their properties,” Lama shared in his studio, a kilometer away from Boudha Stupa.

“Science had never been my cup of tea and I was there, in my class learning something that I detested. To it, language too became a barrier,” Lama said.

Although Lama made very good paintings, when he went to print, the images would all turn black. “For six months, my paintings were ruined and I was frustrated. I threw my paintings. I even spoke to my professor and shared that I wouldn’t be able to do it,” Lama shared.

However, rather than accepting Lama’s proposal to quit, his professor, Shibuya Kazuyoshi offered him a tip of advice – to experiment with different stones and immerse into self study. “My professor, who had spent four years in Germany researching stones, is an expert in lithography and he is extremely respected in Japan,” Lama shared of his professor.

Lama then took his professor’s advice and then, his journey towards being Nepal’s only lithography artist started. “I studied chemical properties and experimented with a lot of stones. I would write down the details on my notepad for reference. I then came to find out that each stone had different chemical properties, a reason why my paintings would turn black,” Lama shared.

By the end of the first year, with guidance from professor Kazuyoshi and his self study, Lama’s paintings started to turn out as he wanted. “That was the happiest moment of my life,” Lama shared.

 Lithography is derived from two Greek words, Litho meaning stone and Graphia meaning writing. “In its simplest terms, lithography means writing on stones,” Lama shared.

Lithography was invented by German author, Alphonse Louis Poitevin in 1796 AD.  The process of creating a lithography art is physically draining, Lama shared. “You will need to level the limestone manually and draw images. Even a millimeter of unevenness will ruin best art. Since its base is greasy, we have to wear gloves as even a bit of sweat from your finger tip would be absorbed and would come out on the final print,” Lama said about his subject.

“Once the sketch is completed, it is treated by nitric acid and gum, a process called planography. Then a canvas is kept in a machine which then presses the stone to form images on the canvas,” Lama shared, adding that while drawing, one would need to draw mirror images. “While printing, it would come as a straight image.”

Success is never by luck. It rather is through continuous hard work and by overcoming obstacles. “My parents were never happy when I said I wanted to get into painting. Like every parent would want from a child, my parents wanted me to have a good career, not a field that was extremely difficult to survive on. Hence, it was extremely difficult for me to make them understand. Only when they got a closer look at my paintings and saw them being brought by those who appreciated it did they understand,” Lama, who currently works as a visiting faculty in at WLC College, Gaushala said.

Although Lama entered into lithography by luck, worked hard to be where he now stands. “While Japan has excellent education, Tokyo is also one of world’s most expensive cities,” Lama shared adding that there seldom were opportunities for students to employment. “You have to do manual work, and before I was offered a teaching assistantship, I worked as a manual worker for two years,” Lama said.

Physical work, both at his work and at his Masters program consumed him. “I slept very less and at a time, it even started to become draining. It was then I realized that wherever I went, I was battling with my identity wherever I went. My realization was so profound that I started to replicate my life in my artwork. From 2011 AD till the end of 2013 AD, I then created the Identity series,” Lama shared.

After four years in Japan, Nepal was calling him. “After I booked my tickets, I suddenly came to realize that I wouldn’t be able to do lithography in Nepal. I immediately approached my professor and asked him if he would allow me to use the studio for a week. With time tickling every second, I did an experimental Action Series,” Lama shared. “Action series includes whole body movement. One of my action series was bought by Suresh Vaidya for Rs. 200,000, my most expensive painting so far.” Lama shared.

Media in social development

What do media refer to? General understanding sees it synonymous to journalism—news that is printed on newspapers, broadcast on television and radio and hosted on the website. My encounters with my friends and relatives have produced the same result, to a larger extent. Hence, it becomes crucial to distinguish between media and journalism. While journalism is a part of media, mass media, abbreviated as media, is a larger picture comprising all forms of mass media used to disseminate mass media content. To elaborate, media is not just the Press, but also other forms of mass media genres and their content, including movies, documentaries, videos, infotainment amongst others. What it means is, while mass media is limited, media content is diverse and incorporating to modern times.

As I mentioned before, mass media is a platform that is used to disseminate mass media content. While the World Wide Web has significantly challenged this one way flow in recent times, especially after the upsurge of social networking sites like Facebook and micro blogging Twitter, I will stick to traditional media platforms (Television, Radio and Print) for this article.

Students who have pursued their Bachelors or Masters degrees in Journalism and Mass Communication are often familiar with the history of media—the invention of Gutenberg Press in 16^th century has been linked with the foundation of modern journalism. Airwaves invented by Marconi was pivotal for radio and later was incorporated for television after (ABC)’s ingenious idea to incorporate airwaves with video. The invention of media, as one can see, intertwines with developments in journalism.  Hence, media often becomes been misunderstood for journalism and vice versa.

Regardless, of the history, researches in the field of media studies and journalism have time and again proved the impact media (here, traditional media) have on the people. Communication researches in the early and late 20^h century, like the Shannon and Weaver’s model, Two-step model, The Hyperdermic model amongst others have highlighted the power media possesses to affect individuals.

Likewise, while modern researches done by the likes of Roberts and Bachen (1981), Hearold (1986) and others now contend that media does not affect individuals as it was initially thought of, citing various criteria’s: media literacy, knowledge, literacy, exposure, socio-cultural and economic values amongst others; they nonetheless agree that media does influence. Hence, it would not be wrong to say that media and its content can be used for development.

Media creates love as much as it creates hatred or resentment. It creates hope as much as it creates desperation. It strengthens love and friendship as much as it fuels enmity or anti-sentiments. Media tailors all of these human values to create an impact. Hence, we act and react to certain contents. For example, rape or adversities evoke feelings of helplessness, prosperity evokes hope for ourselves, romantic movies make us think of our loved ones and make us compare our love to that in the movies. We express such reactions because we have been affected by the media content. Hence, it would be impossible, if not improbable, to say that individuals exposed to media content would not be able to be affected.

Having seen the thread of effect, we can easily apply it for development. While some contend that media is only a reflection of the society, it also tends to enforce or bring in new concepts and trends in a society. For example, three decades ago, we did not even know of Burger. But now, burger has become a part of our lives. When strangers meet, they are likely to acquaint themselves over a bottle of beer as much as they would do with coffee or tea in the past.

Hence, media content can be used for development and to forecasting future as much as it can be used for depicting or reminding what our society is about; depravity, hopelessness, resentment and statelessness.

Western action movies (which to a larger extent becomes American movies) woe us by the patriotism of American soldiers, their willingness to die for saving a single individual. We immediately look into Nepal Army—something Nepalese know extremely less of. We wonder if our state would also do the same and stay quiet with disappointment. War movies produced by the West and our Southern neighbor India has helped produce patriotism as well as rivalry in their citizens. India is seen against Pakistan, The United States and its NATO allies are seen against the Communist.

All of these examples probably help us to retrospect and introspect our national media content that finds its place in media. It is high time that media be used extensively to promote development and create positive change. While every Nepalese is pinning hopes of a constitution which would lead the nation towards stability, it would be erroneous from the media (to be understood in larger context) to sideline other developmental aspects of our society. Nepalese movies should work to identify Nepal, its beauty and diversity. It should urge us to denounce violence as a form of patriotism. It should help us to live in mutual co-existence and respect to one other, regardless of caste, class, gender or ethnicity.

To conclude, Nepal has greatly been less aware of its power to influence and create change. It is seen as synonymous to journalism and very less, as an agent of social change. While media content investors might blame it for the lack of audience or economic constraints, I would see it because we fear to try something that’s never been tried. We look for profits on-the-go rather than learning from the losses. Hence, Nepalese media should work to change societies in a positive way by being able to context sensitive. It is through such responsible acts that they will be always remembered.

THE ROAD FORWARD: ISLAM AND TERRORISM

From the basement, the murmur and footsteps coming from the ground floor sounded like a victorious military march. As they came closer to the low lit two feet wide passage, their faces and clothes got visible. They were wearing salwar kameez, pants and shirts. At the door, the once empty passage steadily filled with slippers and shoes. They then entered inside the hall covered with red carpets.

As the clock slowly crossed 4:15 PM, more and more audible sounds of chatter and footsteps could be heard. On the basement of Mandela Hostel at Sharda University, it was time for the third prayer for the Muslim, the Asr, one of the five praying times. The other four are Fajr, Dhuhr, Maghrib and Isha.

After around 20 minutes of silence, except the cohesive sounds of movements when they bowed down or stood up during prayers, they walked out of the Masjid. Once again, the two feet wide passage filled with sounds. This time, the sounds faded.

Rabiu Abdul Kadir and Ayman Aminu, both 25 and from Nigeria were two of the 80 Muslims who prayed on Monday (Nov. 3) at the Masjid. The former in white salwar kameez and the latter, in jeans and t-shirt expressed that Islam meant “submission to only One God, Allah and believe that prophet Muhammad was the last messenger of Allah.” Both Mr. Kadir and Mr. Aminu agreed that there is no deity worthy of worshiping except Allah.

As terrorists, in the name of Islam continue to spread violence and killing of innocent people across the world, Muslims believe that their religion is losing its beauty. (A 2014 UN report stated in the past eight months, more than 24,000 people have been injured or killed by ISIS.) As a result, they argue that the religion should open up to modernity. However, some, on the other hand argue otherwise. Mr. Kadir opined that the teaching of Islam were universal and are suitable for any time.

OPENING UP

 “A Muslim submits himself to Allah and to what is written in the Holy Quran without doubt because it is the eternal truth,” Mr. Kadir expressed, adding that “whoever expressed doubt was not a Muslim.”

The 21^st century has been blessed with inventions and discoveries. These inventions and discoveries have, in turn, eased the world to know and understand what was unknown before. Powerful and economically rich nations devote billions of dollars for research and development. In 2013, the Obama administration devoted $140.8 billion alone.

While such inventions are accepted with more awe than doubt, Mr. Kadir and Mr. Aminu take a retreat. They highlighted conditions before accepting such inventions and expressed that Islam had already mentioned such inventions 1400 years ago.

“Any new discoveries are tallied with what is written in Quran. If it is mentioned, we accept. But if the finding are not mentioned, we think twice before accepting,” Mr. Kadir elaborated.

“In the first case, even if inventions are not written in Quran, and if they do not contradict anything that is written in the Quran, we accept it. In the second case, anything that is not mentioned in the Quran and that also contradicts the Holy Quran, are to be rejected.”

However, views vary. Sheik Hassan, 25 (name changed) argues the contrary. Mr. Hassan argues that Islam is suffering because of the silence that people have been enforced in the name of religion. “We should question everything that is written in the religion,” Mr. Hassan argued.

“We should be guided by reasons.  These reasons should be within the context of the modern world. Quran was written long time ago and things have changed. Quran was written at a time when there were no countries and societies and law. Now, we have nations, laws and societies.

“By sticking to what is written in the Quran, we are forgetting the first verse, Al Kalam, which urges Muslims to ‘Read.’ What ‘Read’ means is to cultivate the ability to think and to be rational,” Mr. Hassan said.

By questioning, Mr. Hassan suggested that each Muslim should introspect themselves and ask if this is the Islam they want for themselves and their children. Moreover, Mr. Hassan argued that it was important that Muslims came together to redefine their religion to the world.

“We need to properly represent Islam through media, cinema music and not by weapons,” Mr. Hassan said.

Mr. Khalid Akhtar, editorial research consultant with India’s state run media, Door Darshan, argued that Islam was losing its beauty in modern age due to politics and distorted interpretations. He argued that politics and religion should be independent of each other.

Moreover, Mr. Akhtar opined that scholars should sit together and discuss and debate over the interpretations of the Quran and come up with the conclusions that fit modern times. 

However, the thirst for power is limitless. The clerical classes, especially religious preachers, do not want to lose their grip on the society. As a result, the clerical classes become adamant towards reforms. Eventually, the scholarly voices, Mr. Akhtar argued, gets suppressed and silenced.

ORIGINAL QURAN, NOT A CUP OF TEA

Quran was originally written in classic Arabic, which is not everyone’s cup of tea and only highly fluent people can read it in its original text, Mr. Akhtar opined.

“As a result, the Quran was rewritten and reinterpreted in simple and different languages by Imams of different countries. The rewriting was based on what the Imams themselves understood of the original Quran which was written in classic Arabic,” Mr. Akhtar expressed.

Researches and developments in the field of psychology and cognitive developments is increasingly highlighting how individuals act or react to certain message. One of the theories of reading, the Reader-response theory argues that any reading of a text is valid. The theory believes that each individual has different understanding of the text due to various factors like family, surrounding, culture, tradition, lifestyle amongst others.

However, the theory maintains that the “Reader” is defined as an imaginary person who reads the text exactly the way it was written—being careful of the stated, the implied, the grammar and the context, without having any biases. These researches have concluded that reading of the same text by the same person in different setting tends to produce different interpretations.

These personalities affect how an individual reacts and interprets a text. The four interpretations of Quran are no different, Mr. Akhtar explained.

“Yes, Quran is sacred but the interpretations were made by Imams who interpreted on their own understandings. As a result, so far we have four interpretations of the Quran. While we cannot change anything that is written in the Quran, we can always improve our understanding and interpretations in light to modern times,” Mr. Akhtar said.

JIHAD, ONE WORD, DIFFERENT VIEWS

Followers of Islam are divided on what Jihad means. Mr. Kadir and Aminu define it as self defense. They further expressed that death of a person during self defense was permissible. However, Mr. Hassan defined Jihad as a struggle and shared that Jihad Alnafs, (the ability to control oneself and their desire and senses and how they treated other living beings), is the highest form of jihad.

In their article, “Jihad: A Misunderstood concept from Islam”, authors Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani and Shaykh  Seraj Hendricks expressed that while the Arabic word was often translated as “holy war,”  “in a purely linguistic sense, the word ‘jihad’ meant struggling or striving.” The authors argued that in a religious sense, as described by the Quran and teachings of Prophet Muhammad, jihad had many meanings. “It could be referred to internal as well as external efforts to be a good Muslims or believer, as well as working to inform people about the faith of Islam.”

 ‘ISLAMIC MILITANT GROUP’ OR ‘TERRORIST’ OR ‘WARRIORS OF ISLAM’?

Views continue to be divided on whether to call the groups that are spreading violence across the world as “Islamic militant group” or as “terrorist.” While the larger population calls them both, some contend that lines are blurred. The Oxford Dictionary, 2014 defines terrorist as “a person who uses terrorism in the pursuit of political aims. Terrorism, the Dictionary continues to define, is “the unofficial or unauthorized use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims.”

Mr. Kadir expressed that while he personally, he could not come up with saying if these groups were “terrorists” or “warriors of Islam”.   Nonetheless, he agreed that there were some principles of Islam that they had failed to follow. Mr. Kadir expressed that although “these groups” were acting in the name of Jihad or self defense, they nevertheless were against the concept of jihad. Mr. Aminu expressed that these groups were “transgressing the limits of Islam” by killing innocent people.

However, Mr. Hassan did not hesitate to identify them as terrorists. “I do not think that they are representatives of Islam. Not at all,” Mr Hassan expressed.

“Warriors?” Mr. Hassan said rhetorically. “Warriors have something to fight for. These terrorists have nothing to fight for. They are blood thirsty people. If their cause was justified and if they were warriors, they would  not use kids and teenagers as shields for their cause. They would not trade women, bomb public spaces and kill innocent people. These terrorists don’t justify Islam. Not at all,” Mr. Hassan gasped, adding, “They are like cancer. The longer you keep, the more it spreads across your body. You can’t cure it. The only way you can stop its spread is by amputation.”

However Mr. Akhtar remarked that it was a catch. He argued that “while some of the demands these terrorist groups have made seem reasonable (as in the case of Israel and Palestine where both the nations are looking for a solution to the problem of land and fighting for their existence), their action of killing innocent people to achieve their goals under the name of Islam was not justified.” 

Likewise, the Iraqis have been protesting because they want American and other Western troops to go away from their land. Iraqis see Western selfish interests as a cause of their internal suffering and destruction, Mr. Akhtar added.

A WIDENING GAP?

As the global media continually reports increasing numbers of violence where innocent Muslims and other people are killed in the streets of Middle East, people feel that the gap between the Muslim and the non-Muslim community is widening.

The widening gap is a catch: as long as the Muslim community does not stop violence and killing of innocent people, the world would further discriminate Muslims. And as long as the world does not change their view of how they look at Muslims, the Muslim community cannot stop violence.

Moreover, developing nations are continually fighting for a religion based identity. The rise of Narendra Modi and his right wing Bharat Janta Party (BJP) in last year’s general election of India was interpreted as a triumph for the followers of Hinduism. Believers of Hinduism in India urged Modi and his party to call India as a “Hindu Rastra”. Similarly, rightwing Rastra Prajatantra Party of Nepal also advocated for reverting Nepal back to Hindu Rastra from a secular country after BJP came into power in its Southern neighbor, India.

Mr. Akhtar argued that religion and politics should never be intertwined. “Religion is a private affair. Politics should be separate from religion and vice versa,” Mr. Akhtar said, adding that “societies and nations needed to be accommodative and representative of all religions, castes and classes. In order to do so, governments should positively discriminate to increase popular participation.”

THE WAY FORWARD

Every year, developed countries spend billions of dollars to counter terrorism. The United States alone spent $16 billion in 2013. From 2001 as of 2014, America has spent more than $1.5 trillion, all to no avail. Terrorism, unlike planned, is continues to grow. Every year, new factions emerge killing hundreds and thousands of innocent people. Global economies continually collapse and countries even get engrossed into Civil War.

After the Arab Spring, Syria went into a civil war. The conflict between Shia, Sunna and the Hutis in Yemen is creating a political deadlock. Israel and Palestine have been striving for existence without any compromise.

In such light, views are turning to constructive counter terrorism approaches. These propagators are arguing that rather than spending billions of dollars in weapons, nations should invest in education and schools and creating employment. “We don’t need mosques. We need schools where we can learn freely. Schools which give us platform to raise queries, clear our doubts and understand better,” Mr. Hassan said.

Mr. Hassan and Mr. Akhtar argued that every individual and society needs to work together for the way forward. They argue that both need to trust the other. Apart from reporting negative images of Muslim, media also needs to convey positive images of good Muslims and positively discriminate them from the terrorists.

“Scholars should sit together and ponder upon the four interpretations and its validity in modern age. They should make reforms on practices and adjust according to modern times.”

Nonetheless, Mr. Akhtar maintained that modernity was subjective and needed clear definitions. “However, any form of regression to a society in the name of modernity should be discarded.”

Similarly, the Muslim community should also work towards peace. Moreover, Mr. Hassan argues that in modern age, with education and wider global exposure, individuals should be guided by reason and not by what is written. “We need to ask if it is applicable in modern day or not. If it is not, we should let it go.”

“In its core, Islam is respects freewill,” Mr. Hassan said.

(Names have been changed to protect the identity of individuals in light of potential threats.)

MAKE IN NEPAL

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi once again covered world headlines by his “Make in India” program. World leaders and entrepreneurs who carefully listened to what the Indian Prime Minister had to say on his speech on Sept. 25 applauded his idea.

In its editorial, Hindustan Times applauds Modi’s ingenious idea and remarks that the program would be transformational to the country’s growth.

What is Make in India?

Modi first spoke about “Make in India” initiative in a speech that he had given on India’s Independence Day.

Make in India is an initiative where Modi has invited entrepreneurs from both local and foreign companies to invest and make products in India itself. The initiative has number of proposals that are designed to get foreign companies to set up investments in India and turn it into a manufacturing powerhouse.

The initiative emphasizes on 25 sectors with focus on job creation and skill enhancement. These include automobile, chemicals, IT, pharma, textiles, ports, aviation, leather, tourism among others.

Modi has focused on manufacturing for the fact that the world is seeking an alternative to China’s labor market. India has the potential to invite global companies for the fact that the Indian Rupees is flat to USD. At the present, USD 1 is equivalent to 60 INR. As a result, although India might pay less in dollars, the money that gets converted into Indian rupees is more than sufficient to live a good life in the country. 

“‘Make in India’ is about the present and the future,” Mukesh Ambani, Chairman of Reliance Ltd said, adding, that his company “committed to the movement”.

REACTIONS TO MAKE IN INDIA

While the world has welcomed such an innovative move from Modi, the success of ‘Make in India’ still needs to go a long way. A lot of it depends on the policies that Modi’s government brings out or scraps to ease foreign and local investments. The editorial of Hindustan Times expresses that the delay that state governments do to give clearances would be a herculean task. 

Moreover, the world’s biggest democratic country, with a population of 1.2 billion, the initiative is more easier said, than done. India faces from a number of challenges including energy shortages and land problems, tax and labor laws.

Meanwhile, opposition Indian Congress remarked that Modi’s program was only a “repackaging and rebranding” of the earlier initiatives that the Congress government took during its time on power (2004-2014).

REPLICATING THE INGENIOUS

Apart from hydropower and tourism, Nepal should, now, focus on manufacturing and automobile. It needs to invite foreign manufacturing and automobile companies to the country and establish its own lines of manufacturing and automobile lines. The fact that Nepal does not have necessary skills to start these enterprises on its own is known. Therefore, it should hire experts and train local people.

Similarly, in order to promote local products, Nepal needs to levy taxes that it imposes on Nepalese industries. Doing this, I believe, would make the business community of Nepal confident to compete against foreign goods.

Between superpower China and emerging superpower, India lies the underdeveloped Nepal. Regardless of its potentials, Nepal and Nepalese business community has not been able to compete with itself to meet the country’s need. As a result, we are relying heavily in imports. Nepal’s trade deficit, according to Trade and Export Promotion Centre rose to Rs. 289.62 billion in the first half of the current fiscal year.

As Nepal heavily modernizes to equate Western lifestyle, the trade deficits are bound to sore. Both government and the business community share the blame for such failures. I believe that an interconnected business communities and politics is a driving factor for a country’s development. Modi’s speech was also addressed to India’s billionaires. However, we are still stuck at the blame game.

While India is promoting its strength to compete in the world market, both Nepal and India share a similar plight. India suffers as much from power failure as Nepal does; hence the lobbying for India’s GMR Company to build a 900 MW hydro power plant. Similarly, tax laws in both Nepal and India are both ambivalent. Likewise, the failure of the state to quicken the process for foreign or national investment is the same. The delayed Power Trade Agreement that Nepal signed with GMR Company is an example.

Admitted that Nepal has its weaknesses. But to what extent should these problems become a detrimental factor for the country’s growth? Each individual is bestowed with two options—to complain and to act. While India is working to act despite obstacles, Nepal, on the other hand, still is complaining.

I firmly believe that Nepal’s business communities should come up together, propose their business plans and act and commit to develop the nation despite adversaries. Both political leaders and the entrepreneurs should be concerned with the outcome and not the process of an event. Moreover, Nepal should not just promote Nepalese business community. It should also invite by bringing in innovative initiatives and incentives to call upon tenders from the global community. 

Moving Beyond Past

China, Nepal and India share a lot of history. However, the relationships are strained because of increasing mistrust. Can these nations open new chapters of friendship in modern age? And how difficult would the road be?

In between the Dragon and the Elephant country lays Nepal, home to Mt. Everest. The three countries share large parts of their borders. China borders Nepal in the north, whereas the remaining three sides are bordered with India.  While the relationship between the three countries has been written explicitly, some issues continue to exist despite the harmonious relationship these nations share throughout history.

Indo-Nepal ties

Regardless of sharing excellent relationships in all forms, in modern times, Indo-Nepal ties have been affected by the way India continually tries to play as Big Brother. In his article on Hindu, Damakant Jyasi expresses that one of the key reasons why both the nations have fits is for the fact that India continually meddles in Nepal’s internal affairs. While India has repeatedly stressed that it would not interfere in Nepal’s politics, the case is otherwise. In his address to the Nepali parliament on his visit to the Himalayan nation, Indian Prime Minister Mr. Modi expressed the India, in no ways would interfere in Nepal’s polity. He opined that both the nations needed to open a new page in their relationships and then move forward.   

The failure of Nepali leaders to stand on what they speak has been one of the reasons that seem to have strengthened India’s role as “Big Brother”. One of the many incidents was Home Minister’s remarks on Indian interference. Mr. Bam Dev Gautam, Home Minister of Nepal from CPN-UML, is one of the many Nepalese leaders that criticize India’s interests in Nepal and accuses the former for meddling Nepali politics. However, they immediately come up with their modified versions; often stating that “Nepal and India share good relations and it is illogical to think India with negativity”. However, the dual standard continues. 

Moreover, one of the major concerns against India is its border intrusion. India continually has been infiltrating Nepal’s land and claiming it as theirs—just as China is doing to India on its northern side. (China claims that the region of Leh and Arunanchal is part of China). In such light, India’s double standard—whereas it doesn’t want China to intrude in its territory and wants a clear border in the north, it is doing the same to Nepal.

Sino-Nepal ties

During the Panchayat period (1960-1990), Nepal and China remained cordial. Few months before the first People’s Revolution or Jana Andola (1990), the then Chinese PM Li Peng and Mrs. Chulin had arrived in Kathmandu in a three day visit. A day after the arrival of Chinese PM, China granted Nepal Rs 38,25,00,000 for developing the sources of economic development. China’s decision to supply arms to Nepal had, by then, become a subject of great controversy. Dr. Ram Kumar Dahal, professor of Political Science in Tribhuwan University, Kathmandu expressed that the Sino-Nepal ties turned sour after “Nepal failed to strongly defend to India its decision to bring weapons from China.” Moreover, Mr. Dahal expressed that “the emphasis that Nepal put on with its ties to India, including the relationship between Indian leaders and the Nepali Congress leaders adversely affected Nepal-China relations.”

PLEASING THE GIANTS

Throughout its history, Nepal has been trying to please both China and India. As a result, both India and China want to have a strong hold in Nepal. A Chinese stronghold means that it can explicitly monitor India and vice versa. Consequently, both nations want to gain trust of Nepal and bring it closer to one against the other. Nepal does not allow anti-China activities inside the country. Likewise, India has its upper hand with its proposals for the fact that Nepal is landlocked. Everything that comes to Nepal comes via India—through sea (Bay of Bengal) or through road. Hence, rather than finding its own strength to put forward in a dialogue, Nepal, continually pleases the two giants.

THE ROAD AHEAD

Every individual must come out of their past and work for a better present and future. The case of the three nations is no different. The nations must emerge out of their historical relations and differences and develop into strategic business partners of one another for long term development in modern age.

In doing so, each country must identify and exploit its resources to the optimum.

While Nepal is second richest country in the world in water resources, including running water that is suitable for producing hydroelectricity, it unlikely has been the case. Although Nepal has the potential of producing 83,000 MW of hydroelectricity (40,000 MW is considered technically feasible). , Nepal’s total installed power generation capacity is at mere 750 MW, less than two percent of its potential. The 900 MW hydroelectricity agreement reached with India’s GMR Company on Sept. 19 is seen as an important step to realize Nepal’s untapped resource. Nepal should also invite more foreign investments with investor friendly policies and utilize its waters to the maximum.

Alex Lam JP, Deputy CEO and Executive Director of Securities and Futures, commission of Hong Kong contends that the three nations should work in three different levels to move ahead.

Mrs. JP maintains that “first, the three nations should strengthen political trust and cooperation at the official level”. She believes that doing so would build common grounds to resolve differences. All the three nations have continually fought battles to trust one another for the fact that they have minimum encounters. The Chinese President, Mr. Xi Jinping came to India after six decades whereas, Indian Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi visited Nepal after 17 years. Such encounters builds on to political mistrust that strain friendly relations amongst neighbors.

Secondly, these nations should also promote regional cooperation. Mrs. JP expresses that the countries should “encourage cross border investments, sharing of professionals and experts, opening of regional markets to each other, joint infrastructure construction and resource exploration to ensure that the Himalayan region goes through coordinated development.” 

Thirdly, Mrs. JP feels the need to “deepen civic and cultural exchanges” to better understand and respect ethnic identities, religious beliefs and cultural differences.  An open border between Nepal and India along with long history of family relationships has strengthened person-to-person ties between the two nations. However, both Sino-India and Sino-Nepal ties is minimum. Fifty years ago, all the three nations were on the same level. Yet, now, the picture is otherwise. China has far outpaced the two nations in growth and economy. India, despite being an emerging superpower is fighting its battles to social evils. Nepal, on the other hand, was pushed to a decade long Maoist war that has led to continued political instability till now.

While the road ahead looks bumpy (with all the blame games), a united voice and unified action is still possible. The countries should eventually move ahead with new chapters in friendship and relationships. Any country which attempts to stay in history misses opportunities of development. With every missed opportunity, a nation, instead of becoming stronger, fails and crumbles.

Nepal, poorest of the two nations should be able to find its own path to development and seek assistance of either or both the countries only when necessary. It should not be a battleground where the two Asian giants fight for their dominance and Nepal becomes a mere pawn. 

TO ‘DO’ OR NOT TO ‘DO’? MODI’S CLASSROOM

On September 5, Indian prime minister Mr.  Narendra Modi did something that was applauded as well as viewed with an opportunity of indirect political indoctrination.

Mr. Modi addressed students and teachers across India on the occasion of Teacher’s Day. In the speech, which was broadcast from state run television, Door Darshan and through online streaming, Mr. Modi spoke elegantly about the importance of education, recollected his childhood memories, and urged teachers to be a guiding factor in the lives of their students. Mr. Modi also pleaded teachers not to separate students from technology. He argued that doing so would be a “social crime”. Moreover, Mr. Modi explicitly spoke on girls’ education and expressed his dissatisfaction of high dropout rate of girls between fifth and seventh grade. Mr. Modi scorned the failure of building separate toilets for girls as a detrimental factor for such high dropout rates.

As a person nominated by the citizens, the prime minister has the right to be concerned about issues that plague citizens. The role diminishes the gap between political haves and haves-not, and shrinks its size to find itself in an example of a house. Just as our parents do not want to see ill prey on us, the prime minister, being the guardian of every citizen, too does not want to see the same. In this light, the prime minister, therefore, is seen to be bestowed with the right to select and suggest what is best for his children.

Agreed that a guardian has the right to select and suggest what is best for his children. But to what extent is forcing their children allowed?  The question of freewill versus freedom contradicts with one another. Rousseau, in his famous political book, “The Social Contract” argues, “man is born free, but everywhere he is tied in chains.”  And indeed, while the children who attended Mr Modi’s speech were free, they, however, were tied in chains.

Although Mr. Modi spoke from his heart and raised genuine concerns in the field of education, his address from Maniksan Bhawan, New Delhi is pulled on both sides. Rather than forcing all educational institutions to submit a report card of his one and half hour class attendance which commenced from 3 PM till 4:30 PM, Mr. Modi, prime minister of the world’s largest democracy, should have requested, and not made it mandatory for everyone to listen. In this view, Mr. Modi’s address to the students, through state operated media, could be seen as an authoritarian approach.

Mr. Yogesh Dhakal, a journalist from Nepal opines that one cannot force somebody to do something in a democratic country. “You cannot dictate somebody in a democracy.  It was his attempt to indirectly inject indoctrination,” Mr. Dhakal said, adding that the address was a populist move to find his place in next elections. Mr. Dhakal also remarked that Mr. Modi always was choosing his words carefully. “You could see his handpicked words in all the three foreign visits (Bhutan, Nepal and Japan) that Mr. Modi went after becoming the prime minister.” 

However, veteran journalist Prabhat Shunglu sees it the other way round. Mr. Shunglu believes that the address saw no harm at all. “The PM is trying to connect to the youth in his own way and there is nothing wrong with that,” Mr. Shunglu opines, adding, “the youth are builders of new India and the PM can choose to address the youth any day and any time.”

Nevertheless, Mr. Shunglu maintains that the move was “slightly breaking away from the traditional past of the Nehru-Gandhi line.” The Nehru-Gandhi establishment in Indian politics goes a long way through history. The Indian Congress, established in 1885, was the first to fight against the British colonialism which came through the East India Company after the Battle of Palssey in Bengal in 1757 AD. The British, who steadily rose to power consumed the country’s resources and exploited the Indian people for almost 200 years. The Indian Congress, led by Jawahar Lal Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi finally achieved independence on August 15, 1947. The very history of being the first party to make India free from British domination has been a pushing factor for the Nehru-Gandhi family to stay in power—until it suffered a humiliating defeat in the election of lower house four months ago.

In doing so, Mr. Shunglu believes that Mr. Modi is “trying to get the nation out of the mental and political paradigm”.  Years of failed “promised” developments by the Indian Congress infested by escalations in crime and corruption, and justice being a distant dream, the gap between Indian citizens and their representatives widened. As a result, after 50 years in power, the Indian Congress paid its price.

While Mr. Dhakal believes that the step was one of the several stepping stones to ensure Mr. Modi’s victory in future elections, Mr. Shunglu believes that it was too early to say whether the prime minister has next election in mind.

Regardless of the sides, teachers and students did appreciate what Mr. Modi expressed. “No government had ever pondered on the issue as Mr. Modi did. We are grateful to him,” one of the teachers expressed on an interview on television. Was the speech an opportunity to inject PM’s doctrine? Mr. Shunglu says, “likely not. We still are too early to decide on that.”