Now I don’t usually look for enlightening philosophies exposed by mega-goliath company advertisements, but this one took me aback. After all, the contrasting emotions between leaving Thailand and arriving in Kathmandu are enough to give one pause to think about the possibilities.
If I were to make.believe anything within minutes of arriving in Kathmandu, I would make believe that the airport authority had hired a real architect instead of an Indian tile company to create the new Dhoka that everyone will be passing under in 2011. I mean geez, my own kitchen tile looks better then the monstrosity erected to commemorate Nepal Tourism Year 2011.
Next I would make believe that there were proper sidewalks in this city that I love. Recently a tourist wrote about her observation that the parking police were doing their duty and that sidewalks were appearing around town:
“I consider these initiatives as ripples of change that will eventually turn into a tide of transformation. If a multitude of likeminded individuals could create enough momentum this will significantly make Nepal a better place to live in” (Chin Cabrido, Filipino tourist, NepalNews.com).
Okay, let’s make believe that a multitude of likeminded individuals could create momentum that would power a tide of transformation... would we then see sidewalks? How about electricity? How about water and petrol? Could these basic needs that are on the tips of all Nepal’s imagination, actually be made real – with or without the help of Sony Inc?
Perhaps if you are using a new Sony laptop and the latest version of Photoshop all of this could be made – as a mockup!
Does anyone out there believe that, as a civil society, that we can make real anything we can imagine... or is this all just make.believe?
When I first arrived in Nepal I thought as Sony does now. After all, there was a civil war going on and while most of what was happening was destructive, something was at least happening. But since the People’s Revolution and the resulting accord signed in 2006, just what has happened? I don’t know, you tell me.
Does anyone out there believe that, as a civil society, that we can make real anything we can imagine... or is this all just make.believe?
We now have plenty of new Sony LED 3D TVs for sale, at any of the dozen or so new “malls” around town. We have plenty of new dealerships for new SUVs with brand names that I can’t even pronounce. We have plenty of new types of washing machines, espresso machines, and a boatload of new cafes and restaurants in Jhamel, where you can go to get a coffee drink in case you didn’t go out and spent 1 lakh on a new machine for the home.
Yet, we have less then 8 hours a day to run all the new bobbles we can buy at branded shops across the capital. We are still waiting for that 4AM delivery of city water to fill our brand new washing machines. And once again, we are waiting endlessly in lines at petrol pumps in order to fill the tanks of our new gas-guzzling SUV.
And somehow I don’t think those A4-size photovoltaic panels being sold around town is going to help – at all. In addition, putting sidewalks down ONLY in front of shopping malls seems like adding insult to a fatal injury.
Perhaps Make.Believe is just not going to cut it...
It makes me wonder what’s going to happen with our Tunisian and Egyptian brethren, now that their people’s movement has succeeded to the point that their monarchies have been ousted. It does seem that in this case, Nepal had actually led the way, and was first for a first. But will it take them a half-decade to decide on a new constitution and get a working government, well, working on the things that we really need?
But you know me, I don’t usually rant on through an entire article; chalk that up to my last week in Thailand (with all those amenities) that has gotten me so riled; after all, the Thais were once sidewalk-less and powerless and with a Dhoka made of bamboo and mud…
Writer is quirky kinda expat happily living in the Kathmandu valley with Nepali family, friends and a very large dog – but today is just a realist dot downer
herojig@gmail.com
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