Lost Voices

The other day, my friend and I were discussing the situation in Nepal, about what exactly is wrong with it and what needs to be done to make it the way we think it should be. After about an hour of "discussing," we couldn't come to any fixed conclusion. Is there even any one conclusion to a place that has so many problems? Problems of poverty, illiteracy, politics and not to forget, the mentality of our people. I especially stress the mentality because that is what I think the main problem is. All we do is talk for hours on end about our political situation, even more than our personal lives (this includes me too) - especially when exams are near and we need a break from mental stress. We talk about the country when all else has failed to amuse us. 

Now, I'm not a writer nor have I written articles of any significance, but this is a matter near and dear to my heart. So please forgive me if I tend to diverge from the subject at times and that you'll just consider it the mistakes of an impulsive, indulgent youth. Let me start by mentioning the things that my friend and I were talking about. 

First, I talked about this web magazine (yes, this magazine right here), about how it was the right step into the future of Nepali youth culture, how this magazine had forayed into a new direction in making people's voices heard and telling stories like never before. We have so many stories to tell - stories of personal struggle, stories of accomplishments, stories of change. Speaking our mind is our birth right, but I don't see many people expressing their thoughts elsewhere. I know that each and every one of us want to be heard, we struggle all our lives to find our own voice, that particular thing that makes us who we are. An inability to express can manifest itself into a degrading attitude towards society. Each time I am in Nepal, I see people wandering aimlessly, young people with no clue as to what they are going to do with their lives. These young guns probably have dreams in their hearts, voices in their dreams and music in their souls but nothing to show for it. I think this is what makes us so sick of our situation and politics. The only voices I can see making any sort of progress is in the music medium.

This is where our second topic of the discussion comes in. Like I said, a significant amount of change we are seeing in Nepal is in its music. Now, I'm not talking about those cliche commercial songs that most of you listen to, what I am talking about is the underground music scene of Kathmandu. There are many bands emerging from this scene, not to mention the fusion of genres that we can say belongs solely to our culture. Recently, E.Quals competed for the 'Global Battle of the Bands' competition and did very well (being placed 6th out of 21 countries is a BIG deal!). I'm sure they'll do great in the future. I myself have several old school friends playing in bands that are very well off. I'm not going to name them personally but I take this as an oppurtunity to say that they have brought about (knowingly or not) a change in the music system of our country. Each and every one in this underground music scene are doing what they believe in. They have found their voice! They know what needs to be done and are doing it without a care in the world. But what about the other voices? The voices of art, voices of literature, voices of culture, voices of fashion even. Where have they faded? Or have they yet to be heard? I think that there are still many dreams that have not yet been tapped. 

The famous literature of Bhanubhakta, Laxmi Prasad Devkota and others have become bygones, only fulfilling their duties as curricular syllabi. They were great, they even managed to stir up conventional Nepali thinking. But what about now? All their voices seem as lost as we are. I'm sure that when we are older and tired of doing our 12 hour jobs, we will eventually listen to our hearts and do what needs to be done to fulfill our dreams. And it does take some people longer to realize this than others, and that is fine. But even that youthful indulgence is not present anymore. 

The last topic that we discussed was opportunities. My friend tells me that Nepal is the way it is because there aren't a lot of opportunities for people to do what they want- be it financial, social or individual opportunities. No arguments there but what have we done lately? There are very few among us who have actually gone out there and made a change to give us that opportunity. And that's when my friends and I realized, we cannot just sit back and complain that there are no opportunities in Nepal while we go abroad and live our lives working our asses off. The developed countries are what they are because of people that go the distance to create those conditions. We need those kinds of people in Nepal: people who believe in what they want to do and believe that they have something new to offer to the community, to the culture, to the system. Even the politicians we hate so much are atleast out there doing something for a cause. Now, our country can be a democratic one, a republic or even under totalitarian rule, but we cannot afford to just sit and discuss while our country tears itself apart. We need to wake up and do something. It doesn't have to be for the betterment of our country. I hope I don't sound like I'm promoting narcissism when I say that you have to do whatever your heart desires - without a care in the world. After all, creativity gives rise to youth culture and revolution is born from this culture, and who knows? This revolution might be just what we need. 

P.S.: Of course, I would be just another hypocrite if I didn't practice what I preach. Which is why I plan to come back to Nepal immediately after I finish my B.E. to work on a graphic novel that has been on my mind for quite some time now.