{"id":10135,"date":"2016-10-04T17:00:18","date_gmt":"2016-10-04T11:15:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dorjegurung.com\/blog\/?p=10135"},"modified":"2021-08-16T10:41:30","modified_gmt":"2021-08-16T04:56:30","slug":"singha-durbar-the-singha-thats-lost-its-roar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/2016\/10\/singha-durbar-the-singha-thats-lost-its-roar\/","title":{"rendered":"Singha Durbar: The “Singha” That’s Lost Its Roar?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"singha<\/a>
Singha Durbar (Lion’s Palace). Needs cleaning, don’t you think?<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In rural Malawi<\/a>, cleanliness of the perimeter of the house is a sign of the level of care the woman extends to her home. And so, she cleans and clears the area pretty much every single morning, I was told.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But of course, to some extent, that\u2019s all just a fa\u00e7ade! Poor rural Malawian families live in small houses with a single or double or, at most, triple rooms, even while family members number half-a-dozen, for instance. Keeping the interior clean, organized and the children well-looked after, for most rural families, is a difficult proposition. I know because I saw a number of them during my three-year stay in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We in Nepal are also quite big on fa\u00e7ades ourselves!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a September 1 visit to Singha Durbar<\/a>, the seat of the Government of Nepal, I made two discoveries, one about fa\u00e7ade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first discovery was that most of those working inside the complex didn’t seemed concerned at all with keeping up fa\u00e7ades of any kind.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second discovery was that both the outside and inside of The Secretariat needed cleaning and fixing\u2014 literally and figuratively.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(But before I get into all that, on a side note, I was pleasantly surprised to learn about a change! Unlike how it had been<\/a>, citizens can now enter The Secretariat at any time during office hours. The last time I visited the place — in February 1999<\/a> — ordinary citizens could enter the compound only after 2 pm, unless someone from inside arranged a special permit. Apparently, some activist forced the government to change the rules!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for the fa\u00e7ade…we in Nepal like to describe our country as \u201cSundar, shanta, bishal<\/em>\u201d (beautiful, peaceful, grand) after a patriotic song by — I believe — Gopal Yonzon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Except, the first thing I noticed, entering the compound, was the state of the fa\u00e7ade of the old palace: it was derelict, decrepit and in an embarrassing state of disrepair!<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I suspect the reasons are neglect before, as well as damages<\/a> by, the April and May 2015 earthquake<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To me, it appeared very little effort had been expended in the upkeep of the fa\u00e7ade of the old palace and the surrounding area. I understand that the front building is condemned<\/a>, but that does not preclude cleaning up the area…surely!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s what I am talking about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"singha<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"singha<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"singha<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Since they haven’t bothered to even clean up the areas surrounding the building, even over the course of more than a year since the quakes, I suspect they have no plans to do anything on, or with, it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To be sure, there’s more to the neglect than what you can see in those three images.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That, however, is not to say that the government is apathetic towards such structures damaged by the quake. No, no, no! The second government, Oli’s government<\/a>, wasn’t anyway!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"dharahara-the-new-look\"<\/a>
New look of Dharahara. Original image from Setopati<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

One structure they created a campaign slogan<\/a> for, mobilized all the ministries and their employees<\/a> for, developed a detailed “24-point action plan”<\/a> for, set November 2017 as the construction initiation date for, developed a detailed design<\/a> for (see image above), kept appealing for support<\/a> for by no other than Oli, the Prime minister himself and kept getting large sums of donations for (Rs. 1bn<\/a> from NT, Rs. 10m<\/a> from NRCL etc.) — is none other than Dharahara.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BUT it’s the biggest — if not the only — phallic structure in Kathmandu! Coincidence? You tell me!<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oli’s government consisted of only 5 women in a 41-body strong cabinet of ministers!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Would a completely different gender-composition of ministers have devoted so much time, energy, effort and money into the re-erection of such a structure with such sense of urgency? Were our society not as chauvinistic as we are, would that Prime Minister and his ministers have chosen to shoot for that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What used to be referred to as the\u00a0folly of a man<\/a>\u00a0of two centuries ago, promises to symbolize the folly of a collection of 21st century leading (!) Nepalese men! But then, they are a group that have proven\u00a0themselves to be\u00a0a bigger disaster<\/a> than the natural calamity<\/a>\u00a0itself, which reduced Dharahara down to its current size, in the first place!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No wonder, those men feel like they have something to prove…and show (or compensate for? \ud83d\ude09 )!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Secretariat, on the other hand, will continue being neglected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What of the inside of the structures in the complex?<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That they needed fixing, it turns out, even those inside were aware of! Why else would they have piles of cement bags lying around in the corridors?! I came across them in two of the three buildings I visited. Here’s one of them!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"singha<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

And of course, in addition to the structures, I also noticed the people!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We in Nepal, take pride in characterizing ourselves by repeating the words of Prithwi Narayan Shah, the father of our country: “Nepal char jat chhatish barna ko fulbari ho<\/em>\u201d (Nepal is a multi-lingual, multi-ethnic, multi-cultural garden). We are indeed an incredibly diverse population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s how the population breaks down by ethnicity according to the National Population and Housing Census 2011<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"pie<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

According to the same census report, a little over fifty percent of those are women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, apart from the Chhetri and the Hill Brahmins — for whom the mother tongue is Khas Kura<\/em>, the lingua franca of the country and commonly referred to as Nepali<\/a> — most other ethnic groups have their own language and culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But — and this is the first thing I noticed about the people — the compound was filled mostly with MEN<\/a>!<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of the people I saw or came across — whether milling around outside, or heading to some ministry, or inside the few buildings I myself visited — only one of six must have been a woman! In one room, we saw what looked like a meeting attended by over a dozen people. Every single one of them was a MAN!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second thing I noticed was the names of the office bearers in different ministries.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lack of women representation in the compound and inside those offices weren’t the only inclusion issue. We have always known about that. Click here<\/a> for a September 6 article published on OnlineKhabar<\/em> about how we have NO female Secretaries. I have also blogged about it. Click here<\/a> for a blog post about lack of women representation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have also known about the lack of ethnic diversity in a number of different government and professional bodies about which I blogged here<\/a>. But the data I analyzed in my blogs did NOT include Ministries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To begin with, the current cabinet of ministers, not unlike the last two since the promulgation of the constitution a year ago, aren’t very diverse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Minister = Mister in #Nepal<\/a>, like all high ranking positions. (Another one for my #HallOfShame<\/a>.) pic.twitter.com\/NfLT2uIuyF<\/a><\/p>

\u2014 Dorje Gurung (@Dorje_sDooing) August 27, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n