First Days in Birganj

There is a restaurant on the main road in Birganj, Himanchal Cabin, just south of the clock tower, across the street from Maisthan Chowk, smack in the middle of everything happening in the busiest border city of Nepal, a place I spent most of my Peace Corps experience—Himanchal Cabin, that is. Above the rear-most seats is a concrete Shiva, sprawling the width of a whole window, arms wagging, hovering above you in what I can only describe as Technicolor. A menu is available, but only spoken and shouted rapid-fire, not containing periods or commas but a single hyphenated item . . . .

Also, be sure to check out the article on the Friends of Nepal grant projects. FoN does good stuff, so if you’re interested in support good projects that are collaborations between RPCVs and locals, you can donate to one (or all) of the projects listed.

Anyhow, here’s the newsletter. Enjoy.

May 2009 FoN Newsletter

Mr. Singh, according to NepalNews.com, is one of wanted criminals in Nepal.

Baban had openly admitted to have masterminded the September’s blasts in Kathmandu, describing the terror attack as an act of vengeance of Madhesi people against the state. He has been in the ‘most wanted’ list of the police for quite a long time.

To really capture the significance of this moment, see the newscast reporting the story. Note the ‘Wanted’ poster for Mr. Singh. This part of Nepal (and the bordering area of India), it is worth noting, is not unlike the Wild West.

This Week with George Stephanopoulos 04-13-08 (MP3, 15 mb)

As the comments mocking Hadley and Stephanopoulos grew, an overdue use of sic later appeared in the body of the article. ABC News required more than a day to determine that the proper nouns Nepal and Tibet are not interchangeable.

Conflict, Maoists, and the People War by rangichangichha

Rangichangichha now has an amazing collection of photos from Janakpur, Dhanusha, of a Maoist-affiliated group, the People’s Liberation Army. Wild. Very different than I imagined what such a group would ‘look’ like.

The Terai is the southern flatlands of Nepal. I like to think of it as the heartlands, as this is where the majority of population lives. I had spent the two years of my Peace Corps experience in a more similar to Karkarbhitta than Kathmandu.

I had come to Karkarbhitta by myself and with a jeep stuffed full of Binita’s father’s possessions: linens, curtains, blankets, small appliances, et cetera, et cetera. I was responsible for moving them from point A to point B, from Karkarbhitta to Kathmandu.

The cost of shipping them by air was prohibitive as was renting a private car to transport them. The 700 kilometers separating the two points would take 15 hours by land and less than an hour by air.

The eleven bags would have to be transported by bus. I had come on the main tikka day of Dashain, so most everything was closed. I had lunch in about the dankest dhabba I had ever been in.

The morning after we arrived in Kathmandu, I went to Kalanki to pick up the bags, which were arriving on the Makalu night bus. I have always been impressed with the effeciency with Makalu buses given somewhat impossible operating conditions.

Less than an hour after we were told the bus would arrived, sure enough it rolled in to the dusty Kalanki lot. The bags were visible, stowed atop the bus.

Bus parks, dank dhabbas, and mass transit. Felt good to be back in Nepal.

The most measurable difference was in all the Prashant Tamang signs and murals. (Tamang was the winner of the 2007 Indian Idol TV show.)

Every half kilometer there was some sign reminding people to vote for Tamang. And if that wasn’t enough, our driver played a CD of songs Tamang sung on Indian Idol, which included a local song to help promote Tamang:

Vote for Prashant!
It’s your duty!
SMS P-R-A-S-H-A-N-T to 52525!

Madness—but only because Tamang had won Indian Idol a month back. But it’s nice to see the folks around here enjoying Tamang’s victory and a Nepali’s success in India.

Anyhow, it’s on the Kathmandu on October 22.

Exactly at 8 o’clock I rang the front desk, thinking asking over the phone for a pot of tea was more civil than nudging awake the doorman while his pants rested on a nearby door handle. Ring, ring, and no one answered.

I finally roused the doorman when I saw that The Times of India had appeared under the door and was resting a few inches from his face. While Binita enjoyed her first cup of tea, a pigeon shat on her.

(These are the little details I often forget.)

We got a taxi for the day. We were taken all around east Delhi and saw, well, quite a number of amazing things. Today we went to Old Delhi and visited the Red Fort and the Jama Masjid, which is the largest mosque in Asia.

While I’m unable to accurately report where we went or what we saw, some choice photos should suffice.

When I have some books (or Binita) nearby, I’ll add some descriptions to the photos I’ve uploaded.

Binita was disappointed that the film had nothing to do with Darjeeling. But I was okay with that since, in reality, there is no Darjeeling Limited train. The Darjeeling Mail does exist and runs from Kolkata to New Jalpaiguri. The train from New Jalpaiguri to Darjeeling is the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway.

The first leg of our trip is Delhi, the ‘vacation’ component of our trip. While I have passed through Delhi a couple of times, my interest to visit there is driven by my possibly distroted expectations after reading William Dalrymple’s City of Djinns.

Next we are off to Darjeeling to meet Binita’s father. We have some family things to do, but we will really be there to help him move to Kathmandu. Which is the final leg of our trip, Kathmandu. There we will be helping Binita’s father settle back to his old hometown.

Highlights from the trip will include the Red Fort, Taj Mahal, and, of course, pani puri with a side of Delhi belly. All the usuals from Kathmandu, too.

On September 23, 2007, Tamang won Indian Idol 3. His talents (though modest, comparatively) were boosted by extremely active supporters. For example, the mayor of a city near Darjeeling, Mirik, pledged Rs. 10,000 for SMS voting.

Now that Tamang has won, it’s less about community than communal. Riots, that is. The Times Online is reporting riots in Siliguri and elsewhere in India’s north-east. Tamang has gone on national TV to ask for calm.

In ten days, Binita and I will be flying to Siliguri on our way to Darjeeling. I’m not really bothered by all this, though. Odd that Tamang was formerly a police officer. I do feel as if India goes from zero to riot in almost nothing flat. So much for Naxalites and Maoists.