The reason ‘time’ has started to fascinate me in recently is because of my observation of how a certain proposition that looks completely implausible at a point in time suddenly turns out to be true; how time changes everything or sometimes, changes nothing at all! As a case in point, if someone had mentioned fifteen years ago that Dr Baburam Bhattarai will become prime minister one day, I am sure the hypothesis would have been rejected outright. A decade of war followed by the never ending peace process, and this is exactly where we stand—with Bhattarai as prime minister.
However, on the other hand, some things don’t change with time, as much as we may hope for change. During all these years, one key word has grabbed newspaper headlines—‘new Nepal’. Leaders began to talk about a new Nepal mostly around the time when the then king was forced to step down. However, as time has passed, so have my expectations of a new Nepal. To me, the day when no Nepali will have to sleep on an empty stomach, no young man or woman will have to sweat it out for a living in far-off desert lands, where every citizen will have access to not only education but health, sanitation, hygiene and basic amenities will be when a new Nepal will be born. However, watching time go by with none of this being transformed into reality has taught me how some things never change. And this has taught me to lower my expectations.
My minimized expectation begins with Nepal Oil Corporation—an oil importing body which has somehow managed to transform itself into a grand-fatherly political institution of Nepal. How many times in a year does it happen that you feel like leaving this place forever because of acute fuel shortage? Remember the countless times when unless the finance ministry signs another check, NOC is left with no petrol and gas.
Take another example, the Nepal Airlines. Although the frequency of it making to news headlines is slightly lower than that of NOC, it still bogs me down. I feel like I have spent my entire life hearing that RA has decided to buy, lease, rent, hire etc. a new aircraft or even an entire fleet, but till today, nothing of that sort has happened. All you do get to hear is, how one old jet has gone for servicing to a garage somewhere in Brunei.
Then comes the year of an Olympic, and a new script plays out in Nepal. First, the war of words between two committees—each claiming to be the legitimate one—begins, and then begins the story of how the number of officials at the Olympics actually outnumbers the athletes! Find a Nepali newspaper from three days prior to the beginning of the 2012 London Olympics and read it just before the next Olympics in Rio, you will be fascinated by how the same stories are being repeated even after four years.
Another thing that has not changed is our chaotic road structure. While our roads may be relatively wider now, what irks me is the battalion of traffic policemen frantically blowing whistles at some crossing, creating much commotion. I am beginning to realize that fixing a broken traffic light here is much more complex than rocket science. The only other plausible explanation could be that it’s a deliberate attempt to not fix them as this provides employment to so many policemen!
Next is the never ending story of driving licenses. When I recently handed over my license for opening a bank account, it was promptly rejected. While the bank official did not openly say it was ‘fake’, he did politely tell me ‘the bank could not accept my license as a rule’. Our original licenses not being given their due is a common feature.
In essence, with time, we may not have achieved anything at all, leave alone lofty dreams like double digit growth or end to our power woes. What might happen instead is that time will tame our expectations, making us appreciate the least corrupt from the lot and be grateful for the little we have. And if ever we get to see NOC distribute oil with ease and RA buy new aircrafts or all the traffic lights working in the valley as well as our original driving license getting its due honor, we will be thrilled beyond words.
And finally, when a Nepali political bigwig claims he was in Delhi purely for ‘medical reasons’ and we can call his bluff by taking out a smartphone, opening a map app and telling him “Didn’t you first take a taxi to 10 Janpath and then head to the opposition leader’s for lunch”, we will feel liberated and vindicated. This will be our ‘new’ Nepal.
I am sure your expectations of the new Nepal must have dipped, just like mine. Hence, even these little changes will be enough to leave us completely satisfied as citizens of a ‘new’ Nepal.
hiteshkarki@gmail.com
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