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Are we concerned about the universe? Are we degrading the environ­ment? These are the questions that Subodh Chandra Das (S.C Suman)’s Mithila Cosmos: Songs of Innocence and Expe­rience raise. Artist Suman’s 16th solo art exhibition at the Baber Mahal-based Siddhartha Art Gallery, with 29 exhibits, kicked off on Jan 23. Inspired by the rich Maithili heritage, the artist uses acrylic and natural dyes to paint.

For a long time, Kathmandu has been the city of choice for people from around the coun­try. Many have migrated to Kathmandu in search of good life. But they are oblivious of what they are doing to the environment in the process.

“I came to Kathmandu with my mother when I was small. My artwork presents the con­trast between old Kathmandu when I first visited decades back and the present-day Kathmandu,” says Suman.

The paintings are related to Pashupatinath, Kirtipur, Swayambhunath, Guhyesh­wari, Bishnumati, Dashava­tar, Banyan Tree, and Devi Sarswati. They celebrate love, commitment and fruitful­ness. On display are scenes of marriages and courtship and images of ripeness and suc­cess like fish, parrot, elephant, turtle, sun, moon, bamboo tree, and lotus.

“I have been in Kathmandu for a long time. I got married here, my children were born here and my daughter got married to a Newar,” Suman says. “So my artworks speak of how Kathmandu is a cos­mos in itself for the general population of Nepal.” The exhibition ends on Feb 20.

A lot has been written and said about Michelle Obama. In ‘Becoming’ she gets a chance to tell her story from her own perspective. Here, she talks about everything from growing up in the South Side of Chicago, in a nuclear family of four sharing a one-bedroom apartment, offering new insights into her upbringing to living at the world’s most famous address. You get the sense that she is being as candid as she is allowed to, never straying away from the limits of being politically correct and safe.

However, Becoming manages to create a sense of intimacy with you as a reader because you get to know quite a few things about the highs and lows of life with Barack Obama, and also what she felt and went through as a mother whose kids were too young to understand what was going on when all of a sudden they had Secret Service agents following them wherever they went. She talks about meeting famous personalities, including Nelson Mandela and the Queen of England, who apparently doesn’t care about or follow the royal protocols as much as the world likes to believe she does.

Michelle reminisces about her first loves, her first date with Barack, and how he eventually proposed. She also talks about her pregnancy complications, miscarriage, and IVF treatment, and learning how she navigated all of that while being in the public eye is inspiring to say the least.

The book is divided into three parts but it’s the first section where she talks about her childhood and her ambition to excel at school that is the most enjoyable. She got into Princeton out of spite for her high school guidance counselor who told her she was not ‘Princeton material’. In the later parts, she writes that it was clear to her that Barack’s ‘forceful intellect and ambition’ could possibly end up swallowing hers unless she stood her ground and believed in her own worth and the importance of her ambitions and priorities as she goes on to narrate Barack’s political career and the impact the campaign had on her family. In the end, you realize it’s her compulsive need to prove those who doubt her wrong and the ‘buzzy sort of satisfaction’ she gets from learning that ultimately made her the unflappable former first lady you saw and heard on TV.

However, certain chapters read like an image-making campaign for the former president. He is portrayed as a messiah of sorts, and when Donald Trump is the president that’s an idea that’s not hard to sell either. But as you read about Barack and his seemingly unyielding need to do good you realize it would be credulous to believe he is as flawless as he is made out to be.

 Maybe as the wife of a two-term former president you are bound by some unwritten rules of conduct. You wish it weren’t so, many times over while reading Becoming. But because Michelle has always had a knack with words, she manages to worm her way into your heart.

Book: Becoming

Genre: Memoir

Author: Michelle Obama

Language: English

Published: November 13, 2018

Publisher: Crown Publishing Group

Pages: 448, Hardcover

 The number of sex-selec­tive abortions is steadily increasing in Kavre, a dis­trict adjacent to Kathmandu. Most of these abortions are requested by unmarried women between the ages of 18 and 30. According to the Kavre Dis­trict Health Office (DHO), in the fiscal year 2015-2016, there were 1,256 women who had legal abortions. By the follow­ing fiscal, the number rose to 1,528. There are 15 health offices in Kavre that are autho­rized to provide abortion ser­vices. Abortion rates in the district are rising because of a number of reasons, such as the lack of sex education, the misuse of social media and the desire for a son.

 "I didn’t want to abort but was forced to after a video x-ray revealed that I was carrying a female fetus" Radhika Basnet, A 29-year resident of Bhumlu

“Some health workers may perform abortions secretly,” says Dr. Nand Raj Awasthi, Chief of Kavre DHO. “But our monitoring hasn’t found such cases. They don’t get revealed because unauthorized abor­tions are carried out privately by some doctors, medical workers or even by quacks.”

The law allows abortions during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. But sex-selec­tive abortions are illegal. “We take action against those who ask for or perform sex-selective abortions,” claims Dr. Awasthi.

Some medical centers and doctors charge exor­bitant rates to carry out sex-selective abortion after 12 weeks of pregnancy. Some claim that absence of regu­lar monitoring has led to an increase in the number of such cases. A medical center oper­ator corroborated this claim, saying, “There are many couples who come to my center asking for such abor­tions. But we don’t perform them. If the government inves­tigates this matter, many hos­pitals and medical centers will be implicated.”

Radhika Basnet, a 29-year resident of Bhumlu rural municipality, laments that she has had to abort her pregnancy twice under pres­sure from her husband and family. “I didn’t want it but was forced to after a video x-ray revealed that I was car­rying a female fetus. I paid Rs 9,000 to a medical center for the service.”

Unsafe, dangerous

A number of doctors claim that the use of contraceptives among adolescents is also on the rise. “Youngsters are tak­ing contraceptive pills to avoid pregnancy,” says Dr Awasthi. “But they are not risk-free. Excessive use of these pills can cause uterine cancer and heavy bleeding. Women who rely only on contraceptive pills are also at a high risk of contracting sexually-transmit­ted diseases as well.”

Medical store operators report that among the vari­ous methods of family plan­ning, the contraceptive pill sells the most. A medical store operator in Banepa says that many young people also buy the emergency contraceptive pill (also known as the morn­ing-after pill) at an interval of a week. High school and college students are the ones who buy these pills the most.

Because contraceptive pills are easier to use than other methods of family planning, they are preferred by women. They are also easily available, even in paan shops and hotels, for as little as Rs 80. The use of contraceptives such as Econ, I-pill, Unwanted, MTP Pregnot and MT pills is common.

Former prime minister and ex-Maoist leader Baburam Bhattarai is these days busy spreading and strengthening the organiza­tional base of his Naya Shakti Party, which he founded in July 2016. He believes old political forces are incapable of bring­ing about the kind of complete socio-economic transformation that will help Nepal become a first-world country, and hence his new party. A federal MP from Gorkha, Bhattarai is also a close observer of Nepali econ­omy and foreign policy. Biswas Baral and Kamal Dev Bhatta­rai caught up with him to dis­cuss the performance of the Oli government, Naya Shakti and the recent split in Bibeksheel Sajha Party.

 How do you evaluate the performance of the Oli govern­ment that has now been in place for over 11 months?

The government presented some statistics in the parliament and claimed significant progress in dif­ferent areas. That could be partially true. But people expect more than gradual changes. They want a quan­tum leap from an under-developed, backward economy to an advanced one in the shortest possible time. By that yardstick, the government has failed.

What in your view accounts for the government’s poor performance?

There could be several factors. First, there is the question of polit­ical vision. The political leadership should have an objective and scien­tific vision to guide the country to a certain goal within a given time. The prime minister makes vacuous state­ments, and does not seem to have a concrete vision, plan and program. Second, our political leaders were good at leading political revolution and making political sacrifices. But I think they lack the expertise on economic, social and international issues in order to pursue a viable plan for the country’s development.

But even if our political leadership do not have those qualities, they should be able to mobilize the tal­ents in the country. Why not have a team of experts to advise on crucial issues? Third, our political leaders have made huge sacrifice in their life, and spent several years in jail or underground. By the same token, they felt they had the liberty to rule as they pleased. This led to bad gov­ernance and rampant corruption. Because of these factors, the gov­ernment has been unable to deliver.

 Earlier you talked about making a quantum leap. Could you elaborate?

We are still a least developed country with a per capita income of around $1,000. The world average is about $10,000. We are way behind the rest of the world. To make a leap from third world status to first world status, you need rapid economic development. In my understanding you should have double-digit growth for at least two decades to make that jump. That is the quantum leap I was talking about.

But that has not been possible in the past three decades. What makes you think we can achieve that now?

Earlier, our agenda was political revolution. As we could not com­plete our revolution in one go, we had to make repeated attempts: in the 1950s, the 1990s and again in 2006. We spent most of the past half century on different phases of politi­cal revolution. Now, with the prom­ulgation of the new constitution, this political revolution is over. We have an elected government with a two-third majority. Now, it is time for the political leadership to deliver on the economic front. It is possible if there are concrete vision and plans.

How do you see the emergence of new political forces like Naya Shakti, Sajha and Bibeksheel?

With the start of the 21st century, people were saying we had entered a phase of the fourth industrial revo­lution, brought about by digital, bio­logical and economic revolutions. So old ideologies and political forces are not going to work. We will have to devise a new political program, and we need new political parties to carry out the new agenda of the new political era. In that sense, we are trying to build alternative political forces that will go beyond the dog­mas of capitalism and communism.

With this view, we started the Naya Shakti Nepal party. Bibekshel and Sajha also came up. What hap­pens in history is that at the start of a new phase, different tendencies and groups sprout. Ultimately either they coalesce or one of them swal­lows the rest. In Nepal’s case, two Nepali Congress parties were estab­lished at the same time. Ditto with our first communist forces. Even in the case of the regressive royalist party, two Rastriya Prajatantra par­ties were established on the same day. New alternative political forces will also follow the same rule.

 Why do you think the Bibekshel Shaja Party split? Is it part of the same evolutionary process you talk about?

Yes. My contention is that Bibek­sheel and Sajha were based on differ­ent political and ideological planks. Their political backgrounds were also different. In my understanding, Bibeksheel leaders were more inno­cent and committed youths who wanted to develop a new political force through people’s movements and campaigns. Therefore, they attracted the educated youth. On the part of Sajha, old profession­als and retirees came together and thought that would be enough to create a political force. Even after the split, with good guidance, these two parties could be a part of the new political firmament, a viable third force we are trying to create.

Our party Naya Shakti Nepal start­ed on a firm ideological and political ground, with a five-point principle of equitable development, participa­tory democracy, good governance, balanced geopolitics and participa­tory socialism. Unfortunately, since we had to face elections within a year of the party’s formation, we could not spread our organizational roots in rural areas, and in urban areas the space was already occu­pied by other forces. In the next election, there will be a repolariza­tion of political forces and we will emerge as a strong alternative force to the NC and the NCP

In a separate context, the UN and some countries with representa­tives in Nepal have come up with a joint statement on the TRC pro­cess. What is your take?

Our TRC is basically a home-grown process based on political consensus. It stands on the back of the Comprehensive Peace Agree­ment (CPA), the interim constitution and the new constitution. But yes, it is about time we completed the protracted peace process.

As a member of the Maoist move­ment and an active participant of the peace process, I am also concerned about the delay. But I wonder why the international community issued such a statement in haste. I think there was no need to get worried that way. We are on the right path.

There are voices that the TRC Act should be amended in line with the Supreme Court order.

We should be guided by the CPA and the new constitution. They are the main documents. Thus the TRC process should be completed within their framework. The role of the judiciary and other bodies is only to interpret these provisions. If there are loopholes, there is the parliament to plug them. There is no other way: you have to go by the constitution and the CPA. And this is the right path. Otherwise, there is a danger of the whole process falling apart, with serious consequences for the country.

As a former finance and prime minister, can you tell us why the national economy is in such a bad shape?

The government lacks clear think­ing. When I spoke in the parliament, I told them you should dare to dis­card the garb of communism. I still believe in Marx and many of his principles, especially his critique of capitalism. But he was critiquing a post-capitalist society. Nepal is in a pre-capitalist stage and transitioning into capitalism, and in this phase you have to promote private invest­ment, both internal and external, and industrialize rapidly. This is the root of the problem. Nepal’s com­munists have to recognize it.

 Do you think the Oli govern­ment’s foreign policy has been on the mark?

I think it has been quite imma­ture. Given our geopolitical reality and the fast-changing regional and international dynamics, we need a new foreign policy suited to the cur­rent context. That means a policy that takes into account the interests of India, China and the US. These three major forces have consider­able interests in Nepal and these interests are likely to clash in coming days. We should formulate our for­eign policy with this on mind.

Of course, we should have good relations with all three countries. We should follow a pacifist policy that promotes national, regional and world peace. Maybe we can even propose Nepal as a peace zone. Though this issue had been raised by King Birendra, there was no question of peace in an autocrat­ic system. Now, if we pursue this policy sincerely it is achievable. It will also be the best way to preserve our sovereignty and independence, and to embark on the path of peace and prosperity.

That corruption is increasing in Nepal hardly needs confirmation. As we go to press, Dr Govinda KC is on his 16th fast-unto-death, as a part of his campaign against the corrupt bureaucrats and politicians who have deprived mil­lions of Nepalis of affordable and reliable healthcare. Just this past week, the Center for Investigative Journal­ism, Nepal published the names of 55 Nepali nationals who have amassed ill-gotten wealth in tax havens, and described how this money is being laundered back into the country. The national flag-carrier is under par­liamentary investigation for iffy transactions related to its purchase of two Airbus aircraft.

And now, the Transparency International, the global anti-graft watchdog, has released the 2019 Corruption Perception Index (CPI). Nepal has slipped two places from last year, to 124th, well below neighboring India (78th), and even troubled Pakistan (117th). The CPI says Nepal’s political parties and bureaucracy are the most corrupt entities in the country. In other words, the communist government with a two-thirds majority at the center is contributing to the institutionalization of corruption in high places. Rather than using its vast powers to clamp down on corruption, it is rewarding unscrupulous contractors and fixers.

One often gets to hear about how the whole govern­ment machinery operates under the ‘system’. While earlier individual government officials asked for small kickbacks for ‘pushing the file forward’, nowadays one or two officials pocket lump sums which are later dis­tributed down the line. Corruption now is thus less visi­ble but more prevalent. Even foreigners are not spared, as our story this week on the ordeal of the first foreign couple to register their marriage in Nepal illustrates.

For Nepal to make a significant dent on this bur­geoning edifice of corruption, it is vital that its chief anti-corruption bodies like the CIAA and the National Vigilance Center (NVC) get, first, the right manpower, and second, the autonomy to carry out their respon­sibilities freely and fearlessly. Yet the intent of the Oli government seems to be on cowing these institutions to do the government’s bidding, as putting the NVC under the Prime Minister’s Office suggests. The cul­ture of ‘political consensus’ that flourished following the 2006 political change has also been detrimental to the health of our public bodies. Even as the ruling and opposition parties appear bitterly divided over some issues, they are united in the shared knowledge that each has closets full of skeletons.

When you’re hanging around the Basantapur area, where do you go to eat? It’s either the old school local bhattis offering ethnic Newari dishes or the posh modern cuisine restaurants. So its history vs modernity. But the Firefly Café near the busy Basantapur dabali offers you the best of both worlds. A multi-cuisine restaurant, Firefly emphasizes Newari food and ambience, and is housed in a traditional Newari building, which in itself is a piece of heritage. Damaged by the 2015 earthquake, the building has been resurrected to stand impressively over the ruins of Basantapur and the interiors are given an elegant touch of modernity, while the traditional Newari architecture is accentuated to preserve the building’s antiquity.

Keeping in mind both the tourists and the locals, Firefly offers continental and Indian food apart from its scrumptious selection of chhoela, bara and samaya baji set, at the fairest of prices.

 THE MENU

Chef’s Special:

- Alfredo Chicken Pasta

- Fusion Style Chatamari

- Tofu Rosemary

Opening hours: 10 am - 10 pm

Location: Basantapur

Cards: Not accepted

Meal for 2: Rs 1,500

Reservations: 01-4241562