I am in holiday, more than seventy five percent of offices across the country are closed citing the approaching Constituent Assembly election and government declaration of five days of public holiday across the country. Sunday, I returned home lot earlier as there were very few staffs in the office and those who had come were already getting ready to return. Yesterday the first day of holidays, I spent the whole day watching tv and sleeping. It was a boring day. Today I woke up fresh and decided to go for a morning walk. I thought today I will try to not watch tv or work on computer and check how it affects me. Luckily three hours load shedding in the morning helped my plan to work. I spent the morning reading the newspaper line by line and then after the morning meal, we had family talk. Probably after dashain, today was the first time we were all at home. I wanted not to spend the whole day at home but had no idea what to do about the remaining day. I wanted to go out aimlessly and just wander around the very well known Kathmandu city and return home. I was reluctant to go and see the city, the busy city that gives me headache almost everyday. The city and the crowd that I observe everyday, there was no point in wandering around the same people. I put on my clothes but with a change in mood I decided to rather stay at home, mummy insisted that I should go out. I had heard from people that Thali which is located on the outskirts of Kathmandu valley gives a rustic feel. I had heard the expanse fields are really beautiful and fun to watch. Though just around 10-15 kilometers from the heart of Kathmandu I had never been to the place, so I thought I should give it a try. I however knew the road till Dakshindhoka is discouraging and the environment too polluted. That didn’t stop me from visiting the place in my own. Just after leaving Dakshindhoka, the road was lot better and the environment green and the place really open. It would give an impression of coming out of school after a tiring day sitting before the teacher trying to be disciplined and well behaved. I liked it but it was not as good as I had expected. The fields were expanse, the space was open but there were no jungles around. Yet the place was village, expecting to change soon. To be part of the change which turned state from underdeveloped to developed, good to better is always good but in our country industrialization and urbanization of rural areas mostly takes place at the stake of local culture, tradition and heritage. Urbanization means destruction of environment, noise and pollution everywhere. I know next time when I visit this place I will say oops it is different now.
After getting off from the small bus, I entered into the Sankhu bazaar. The small bazaar exhibited almost everything that the huge bazaars of the main city, yet they were smaller. There were gift shops, clothes, hardware, utensils, cyber centers etc but the bazaar was only few hundred meters in length and shops faced each other. Few people were busy watching a film in a movie channel. The people were lot simpler with the dominance of Newar community. The glamour of election had completely taken over the city. It was surprising to see every house had a flag of either one or other political parties wagging on their roofs or small windows. The dominance of CPN-UML was clearly visible in the city, though I cannot tell it for certain but I saw only two flags of NCP and three or four flags of NDP. I was surprised to observe that even in areas like these where Maoists have been active during the period of insurgence and even after they came to peace process, there were people flanking their belief in monarchy. These days one needs guts to speak in favor of monarchy. The tide has been completely against the monarch and the royalists, when people would think twice to talk in favor of monarch in the main city, there were people who had flags belonging to NDP (party of royal supporters) waving on their roof. The other thing that took me by surprise that there were only one or two flags belonging to CPN-Maoists waving on their roof. People were busy talking about the election but I couldn’t understand them as they were talking in Newari. Few kids were chanting slogans in support of political parties. They were just imitating what they saw in their areas and in the television. They were no equivocal on their slogans, some were chanting ‘Long live Sun’ while some said ‘Long live Plough’. I wandered around, they just followed the trail across the fields that were green with potatoes. Farmers were busy pulling the potatoes. I must have walked forty five minutes after which I made a return. When I reached the bus station, I was not yet tempted to return home. A tarred and windy road seemed to pass across interesting places. I followed it. At the end of it there was a temple of lord ‘Vishnu’ on the bank of Sali river. I saw a hermit, and some elderly locals were having a chat on constituent assembly. I wanted to listen to them. I sat a little away from them but their sound was reaching me word by word. The hermit was well aware of the political developments and also knew the major political milestones in the history of the country. I also learned he had his name listed from the same area and he had made up his mind to vote for the Maoists. He was telling that he was not giving vote to Maoists because he liked their ideas but because once he had said if Maoists were to come to mainstream politics he would vote for them. So just to keep his words he was voting for Maoists. He further said, people have seen how futile are the assurances of other main parties and what are they upto. They amassed lot of money and wagged tail before India and America so no vote for them. His audience were affirming what they heard. In the Sali river a woman was washing clothes and she seemed so unaware of everything and neither cared for those chit chats. On the bank the children were playing something and neither they were interested in the talks. On the other side of the river a man was spraying pesticides in his potatoes’ field. I know except for the kids all of them had their names in the voting list and hope they will participate in the process.
Even yesterday I wanted to sneak into outskirts of valley and listen to political developments in those areas. I have no idea why I wanted to do so. I spent the whole day sitting at home yesterday. While many of those I have talked to believe that Maoists will have no place at least in Kathmandu but I know their position is not that weak and the verdict can go for any party. As I was returning, my eyes stuck on a house in the hillock, which had a long pole of Maoists flag waving in its ground. Just little further from this house there was another flag demonstrating the beliefs of its owner. I know further and above there were more and more supporters. For sure this area shared a communist dream, the dream of classless society and equal distribution of wealth. I don’t know how a common uneducated man, a farmer, a woman decides which party they should vote for. While reading the manifesto of CPN-UML and NCP I found they were more or less similar. May be this is where the influence of the leader comes into play, his power of persuasion among others become vital. While returning I was behind two girls who were also talking about election. One of the girl was saying how Maoists had come to her house and how her father had assured them that he will vote for them but how he had planned to vote for some other party.
A porter who was carrying a sack of potatoes for a woman was telling how still Monarchy is necessary, and the woman seemed to believe in him but I know if he has any children who can cast vote will never cast vote in favor of the king. To me we have already put the monarch in the coffin and the election will only strike the final nail into the coffin.
Though my visit was just to refresh myself, get myself away from the pollution and be at the lap of the loving nature in the blossoming spring, I was drifted by politics and the political development in the country.
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