Birth of Republica: Notes from 'Garbha Griha'

Be that as it may, however.

 

To recap, even as a trivial pursuit in retrospection, the Republica-Newsfront-Dainikee-Nagarik foursome in English and Nepali languages created tons of fat fodder for the denizens of Kathmandu, its tabloids and online grapevines running their gamut to spread their fertile rumors and causing so many mental tumors to sprout in the wake. Now the imagined uproars are slightly silenced with the maiden copies of Republica and Nagarik in your hands from this warm morning onwards. Henceforth, it’s our readers, subscribers, advertisers, and supporters, who will, with fresh and undying hopes, be our friends, critics, guides, philosophers, teachers, and even spoon-feeders.

 

But the birth of the twin papers was prolonged and painful since the very conception. The labor pains were long and languishing. The parents quarreled, separated, and reconciled at least four times. Finally, the ultimate divorce happened, and now, the two dailies as a dulcet duet are in the care of a single parental family under the banner of Nepal Republic Media Private Limited. In the process of culling, the quartet of offspring was considered too crowded, and two of them had to leave the hallowed lair. This happened while the Biblical Cain-and-Abel tussles intensified within: Whose devotional altar-smoke would rise straight to the Almighty in the heavens? Fratricide-like eruptions were likely, and practically everyone participated in the friendly firing ricocheting in and around the Kathmandu Valley. Now the cannons have ceased booming, while the constructive commotion of creating these contents-laden pages has taken over. The proof of the pudding is in your hands for perusing and pondering.

 

I’m not spilling any more beans of my own because every available pod has been laid bare and tossed in the public domains through reportage or heresies. This scribe, however, has had the fate of being a witness to and an insider in the suspended birth of Republica and Nagarik. Eventually, however, “Many are called, but (a) few are chosen,” as Jesus said. So two of the other siblings had to leave the fold and fend for themselves after being declared emancipated from the yoke. So Newsfront and Dainikee had to go, they being signed off by the new parents. Many nurturers also left while some, this scribe included, seesawed from one loyalty camp to another house of belongingness. The group which finally took over the editorial halls of Republica wanted me to stay for the new repast; hence I’m with them as one of the chief mechanics called copy editors.

 

 

Before it all happened – happily, as it turned out – there was yet another scenario repeating from a parable from Christ, again. In His story of the Prodigal Son, Jesus has the father celebrate the return of his younger son who had gone away, and encourages the older son – who had devotedly tended the family farm and business all along – to do the same by rejoicing and welcoming his long-lost brother at the feast, for which the father had ordered the slaughter of a prime lamb. Whether the older brother obliged as his father bade him is not overtly clear in the parable, but in the essential process of selection at Nepal Republic Media Pvt Ltd, some chose to exit from the fraternity of Republica and Nagarik, just as Newsfront and Dainikee, too, had to disappear from the immediate scene.

 

Now the town’s fertile speculations are silenced, the rich rumors have subsided; it’s seemingly business as usual, as if nothing sensational ever happened.

 

In any case, as it happens to be, this is just the beginning before Nepal Republic Media celebrates its many jubilees in the decades to come. Right now, it’s time for me to look around the editorial hall and share some of my views with the readers of this page.

 

At 66, and already belonging to the Silver Generation, I’m possibly the oldest bloke on the Republica block. All around me are youngsters who are mostly on this side of 35, and so they have many decades to dedicate to this workplace of print journalism. Even then, many of them have, like me, made tours of duty at various publishing houses of Kathmandu. On the other hand, there are many in their mere 20s – 40 or more years younger than I. So it’s a rare honor and privilege for me to work with them; and at my age, it’s much less receiving from them and more sharing with them on my part.

 

Yet, we all must undergo a one-year period of boot-camp regimen before our TOR is made permanent with attendant conditions for longevity and assurances from pro-bono employers, just governments, and the accountable confederation of Nepal’s journalists. How much of mutual plusses and goodwill the various schools of journalists in Nepal will enjoy in the climes is yet to be seen before the next generation will succeed this one. How will Republica and Nagarik serve Nepal’s nagarik readers in the much-vaunted Republic of Nepal are all down the multilane of the future.

 

In the meantime, my much younger colleagues in the brand-new office complex will work to complete their first probationary year at Republica and Nagarik before their service contracts will be renewed on, say, April 23, 2010. As for me, I have nothing more to lose or gain, save for the best wishes I enjoy from one and all, for the fact that I’m already in my retirement phase. Perhaps that’s why I’m writing this piece on behalf of both Republica and Nagarik and the interns and professionals working for the two dailies. The rest is over to our readers, subscribers, advertisers, contributors, critics, well-wishers, supporters, and as I said previously, guides and even spoon-feeders.

 

Jai-Jaikar, therefore, to everyone on this fresh dawn of a new day! It’s Showtime, and here are the news, views and reviews in detail from very truly yours – Republica and Nagarik!