Musings: Young and curious

In the politics-suffused atmosphere of Nepal, how can you not be interested in politics?

A 2014 poll in the UK found that only 31 percent of the 16 to 24-year-olds were "fairly" or "very interested" in politics. In comparison, a similar poll in India in 2013 found that 71 percent of urban youngsters had an active interest in politics, up from 45 percent in 2009. I know of no comparable polls in Nepal, but I cannot believe the curious Nepali youth are far behind their Indian contemporaries.

Hate politics you might, but there is no escaping it in Nepal. Even the Kathmandu-born teens, who are otherwise perfectly happy in their little vaped nirvanas, became experts on India-Nepal relations overnight, as their favorite watering holes closed down and their hip bikes had to be put under wraps, for months on end. Even now, post-blockade, they have to line up for at least a couple of hours to be eligible for a little fuel so that they can rev up their bikes and take their date out for a Friday-night matinee. 'Why, hasn't the blockade been lifted?' they ask. No, apparently, India is still not satisfied with the new (amended) constitution. 'Why', they ask again? Their curiosity truly knows no bounds.

Their easy life disturbed by the big brother next door, they have also become among the youngest India-haters on the planet. Not that you could escape politics in Nepal even before the blockade. Those who have come of age recently have lived through some of the most tumultuous times in Nepali history since the country's unification in eighteenth century. The first Jana Andolan (1990), the Maoist war (1996-2006), the second Jana Andolan (2006), the abolition of monarchy (2008), the promulgation of new constitution (2015) and most recently, the Indian blockade—the whole country has been steeped in politics; it's at your face, all the time.

The latest political spectacle to literally drape Kathmandu is the 13th general convention of Nepali Congress. In the past few days wherever you go, you can find streets lined up with the red-and-white, four-star Congress flags. The tourist hub of Thamel is now overrun by Congress greybeards who have descended on the capital from all over the country on a four-day, all-paid holiday. Apparently, there aren't enough hotels in Kathmandu to house the upward of 3,000 Congress delegates for the convention.

Others tend to come to Kathmandu for reasons more mundane than the national jamboree of the biggest and the oldest political party in the country. The young and the ambitious come here for higher education; or they come on their way to the money-spinning factories of the Middle East; or to find their true selves (whatever that means). Eighty percent of Kathmandu's population is comprised of non-natives, the immigrants, those from the hinterlands of Nepal.

This eclectic mix makes for a curious crowd. One of the big dreams of the immigrants to Kathmandu—and they invariably come here young—is to somehow buy a piece of land in the capital and then, in time, to build a small house upon it. They cannot escape centuries of acculturation. It's deeply ingrained in their minds that if you can have a house of your own in Nepal Khaldo, however small, you have 'made it', in what is a foolproof ticket for your entry into the ranks of the urban middleclass.

These immigrants, young or old, from hills or Tarai plains, are also deeply interested in politics. I still remember the booze-filled political conversations with my close friend from Dang district back in the 1990s and early 2000s. We would have been considered too young to care about politics. But the Maoist war had just started and all kinds of rumors were swirling about the true identity of the party's mythical chairman, Prachanda. Some said he was no other than King Gyanendra, others believed he was a purely imaginary figure cooked up by the Maoists to scare people. There were Maoist raids near my friend's ancestral home. They came to ask for donations. How could he not be interested in politics? And since he was, so was I.

So you might not be interested in politics, but your friend is, and he likes to talk about it. At first you listen with disinterest. But slowly it starts to pique you. And there is a lot in Nepali politics to be interested about. Take that lady who was speaking at the opening ceremony of Congress general convention on Thursday. She was reminding the rapt crowd how anything is possible in Nepal, if only we took care of 'Kehi KURA': Kindness, Unity, Respect and Ability. Just the theatre of it warrants attention.

But of course politics is so much more than that. As the growing interest of the youth in politics in developing countries attest, they see it as an art of the possible, something that can be harnessed for public good.

biswasbaral@gmail.com