Coming of age of Nepalese democracy…

The outcome of the recently conlcuded first ever Constituent Assembly election in Nepal has indicated to some extent the coming of age of Nepalese democracy.

The people of Nepal, especially the people who have always been marginalised, but much talked and supposedly advocated about by more than fifty years of development efforts, media, civil society, development agencies, donors, politics, politicians, so called elites and rulers and the like in Nepal, have finally decided for themselves by excercising their adult franchise in favour of the Community Party of Nepal (Maoist). 

Not only the landslide victory of the Maoists, but also the terai parties being able to garner relatively signifcant number of votes indicates that democarcy has come of age in Nepal. More than fifty percent of Maoists women candidates getting elected also shows the maturity of plural democracy in Nepal. It goes the same for the relativelvy, rather traditionally and historically, marginalised ethnic and caste groups also. 

Though it rarely happens and is accepted by the global political and economic systems. In this age of political, social and economic globalisation, the extreme left parties like the Maoist in Nepal gets to power through ballot rather than the bullet. Since that’s what the people in Nepal want, it would be sane and good will of true friends of Nepal to support the people’s verdict and wish…  

 More to come…

 

 

Diya is going to Darjeeling… (15.04.2008)

What’s the big deal with Diya going to Darjeeling? Anybody can go to or goes to Darjeeling. But Diya is our only daughter, the apple of our eyes, who just turned four on 8th March last month.

Diya decided this morning to accompany her maternal grandmother tomorrow to Siliguri and Darjeeling. We, I mean her parents are not accompanying her. This is the first time we are letting Diya travel on her own with her grandmother… without us. 

Diya sounds confident and excited that she is going to Siliguri and she will be picked up by either Aja (my father) or her Badi (my sister-in-law) from Siliguri to go to Darjeeling. She wants to go to Darjeeling and ride the toy train and go for the pony ride in Chawrasta. She also wants to play with my toys which my parents (Diya’s paternal grandparents) have still kept safe to be inherited by Diya.

I am sure Diya will thoroughly enjoy her this maiden trip to Darjeeling without us, though she is just four. Though it will be a very short trip she will enjoy it. And we (parents) decided to let her go with her grandmother as she wishes to do so and are confident that she can take care of herself to some extent and she has GROWN!

Though it will be difficult for us parents, but Diya also needs the space of her own and we too. We look forward to going with her to Darjeeling later this year in October during Dassai.

Love, Baba and Mummy.