Finally I get to meet Gagan Thapa in person.
I am hoping to get there at least half an hour early, but the weekend construction work on the train tracks makes you take unexpected detours, and I am seven minutes late to the assigned time. One person shows up after the program is all over and Gagan is out in the street. He never learned of the time change from 5 PM to 2 PM. At least that is not my story.
I get off the train at 125th Street. Then I run after figuring out which direction to run. The main door is closed. Just when I am trying to figure out how to open it, it opens. Khul ja simsim. Mridula Koirala and others are down at the entrance.
I hurry up to the third floor. Bump into Anil and Sanjaya. I head straight to where Gagan is sitting and introduce myself. We know each other by name and have seen each other's photos. But this was the first time meeting in person.
He is sitting next to someone who went to the high school I did, about seven years ahead of me in the row of batches. "I know you."
I tell Gagan and him I met Bill Clinton a few days back and got to shake his hand. I did not wash my hand for the rest of the day. Today I was getting to shake Gagan's hand. The hand is going to go unwashed for the rest of the day. Gagan is mildly chuckling. (Bill Clinton Had Icecream For Lunch)
More people arrive. The program starts fashionably late. Anil announces we have to leave the hall by 4 PM. Anil pulls me aside. "I wanted to ask you something even if belatedly, after the fact."
I have a transcript in English of Gagan's talk in Boston posted at my blog. Anil tells me Nepe has posted it at Sajha, and Anil has printed it for the Americans among the audience. (Gagan Thapa Talk In Boston: Two Hours Audio)
"You don't need my permission for such a thing," I say.
I mean, we are supposed to be in the middle of a revolution. This is not the time for niceties. Gagan refers to the same transcript before he speaks. He says he is going to stay within the outlines of the transcript. But he ends up elaborating much more. And I am glad he does.
Two people are recording the talk on video, artist Asmina Ranjit and the Samudaya person, so I figure I will just post links to those later on after those clips go online. I might even prepare another transcript later on.
For now I want to emphasize the key points.
12 years of democracy were not perfect, they were not even democracy in the strictest sense of the word, but don't lump the democratic parties with the true villains, he says. Nepal is two years older than America, but look at America today. It was lack of democracy that kept Nepal behind. Blame the monarchy, not the parties.
What you do here, the support you extend here really helps at the other end, he says. Keep doing what you have been doing. People in Kathmandu think your September 16 protest rally is the reason the king cancelled his UN visit. (September 16 Protest Rally, King Cancels UN Visit)
And he gives a terrific analysis of why the monarchy should go, no ifs, no buts. I am impressed as much with the conclusion as I am with the window into his thought processes he exhibits. Gagan Thapa is a sharp mind. He is a gutsy street fighter, but he is also someone who reads and thinks a whole lot. He is humble, he wants to learn. He is articulate. He has a great grasp of both Nepali and English. But I am glad he makes most of his presentation in Nepali.
His talk is preceded by the Aandolan Jari Chha DVD. It is heartwrenching to see the police mercilessly beat up demonstrators. Seeing it in photos is one thing, but seeing it in video is a whole different story. And the atrocities we see on the screen are only the tip of the iceberg. Brave photography nevertheless. This video needs to be uploaded on Google Video. The world needs to see. My high school roommate Dinesh Prasain has done the voiceover. (Dinesh Prasain Tour: Report, The Dinesh Prasain US Speaking Tour)
I have the honor of asking the first question.
"Before I ask the question, let me point out," I say, and relay the Bill Clinton story to the audience. Then I add, "I know you have already partially answered this question. But after Tihar looks like the movement might really take off. What support, moral and logistical, can the Nepali diaspora provide?"
He says financial support is not needed. But moral support is needed more. There are many Nepali groups all over America. But there is no one umbrella group that does rapid response. The Kantipur FM got assaulted, but I have yet to see a press statement from this end condemning it.
His comment is to the point. We at this end criticize the political parties, but the organizations at this end do not perform that much better. Fair enough.
I get myself some homework from Gagan. I hope to make a whole bunch of phone calls.
There are several other questions. Then a whole bunch of people come to shake Gagan's hand. Many want pictures taken with him. Some with my camera.
Around that time I also get criticized by several people in person for a piece I wrote after meeting Sharad Chandra Shaha. (Sharad Chandra Shaha Is A Dazzling Person)
I do not apologize but I do quite some explaining. I made no ideological sacrifices. Infact, I was very open in my criticism of Shaha and others in the king's inner circles. (Gang Of Four) I have criticized Tulsi Giri more severely than anyone else I know. (Response To The Panchayati Ghost Tulsi Giri)
But I was in a peace talks mood. Sharad Chandra Shaha, Bharat Mohan Adhikari, Tara Nath Ranabhat, and Lokendra Bahadur Chand were all staying at the same hotel for a few days. I had a chance to meet them individually and see if I could get all of them together and talk things up. I failed, that's another story. But if I am going to talk to Shaha, I need to respect him as a person. How else can I hope to do business with him?
I still believe the seven party alliance and the king should agree on an all party government that will take the country through a constituent assembly. I prefer that option to a revolution. When you go for a revolution, several intangibles come into play. The goal is a constituent assembly, and the least disruptive path to that assembly is the best option.
I believed that then, I believe that now.
Sadly I don't see either the king or the parties coming around to it. And so I am going to do my very best to support the movement.
No, meeting Sharad Chandra Shaha was not a mistake. It was an effort at peace making. I wish more people in each of the three camps did what I did. I am willing to lose some popularity for peace. Many Nepalis are losing much much more than that.
I also see representatives of Tamang and Sherpa and Gurung groups come to meet Gagan. These Janajatis are one step ahead of the Madhesis in terms of their political consciousness. They have vibrant organizations. They make sure the Bahuns and Chhetris know this is America, not Nepal. There is almost this hierarchy, Bahun-Chhetri, Newar, the different Janajati groups, and Madhesi. Dalits are pretty much non-existent. The mini-Nepals in America reflect the power structure in Nepal even in purely social circles.
As a Madhesi I have thought some into this. First of all, neither my personal nor my professional lives depend on any Pahadi. So I only interact in a zone of mutual respect if it be forthcoming. As for the collaboration on the movement in Nepal, as long as federalism is on the agenda, as it is, the collaboration does not have to be lovey-dobey, it only has to be an attempt at effectiveness. Organizations like the Alliance and the Youth Council are into event logistics for Nepali guests passing through town. They do a great job, and the logistics are not my forte. I contribute primarily through my blog and I telecommute directly into the circle of the top leaders of the seven party coalition. I help with the analysis, the strategies. And I think it helps the movement when I go shake Bill Clinton's hand, Jesse Jackson's hand, Howard Dean's hand, and so on. I also pick up the phone when and where it can help.
I think the Madhesis do need to work on the ANTA idea all over America. The pride has to be cultivated. And then there has to be an emphasis on creating zones of mutual respect with the other groups, and especially with the Bahuns and Chhetris and other Pahadis with hangovers from Nepal.
I think for many Madhesis to rally behind the ANTA is tantamount to coming out of the closet. It is only happening so far in trickles. Members of an oppressed group have spent too much time running away from their collective identities. It takes some time to undo that disintegration.
Gagan is booked for most of the rest of his stay in the city. I want to spend some time with him but he does not really have a slot. But there is an open lunch with him in Jackson Heights tomorrow at 11. I don't feel bad about not having more time with him, but I do feel bad he is not getting to do much sight seeing in the city. Too many people want one-on-ones with the superstar. Meeting in large groups, or going sight-seeing in a group they might feel diluted. There is a rush to get on a first name basis with Gagan. It is almost ineffective to the cause. But how often does someone like Gagan come to the city? The 1990 movement produced Madan Bhandari. This movement is to produce Gagan.
See you tomorrow at lunch, Gagan. After that he spends time with Kosmos Bishwakarma. At lunch I am going to throw in the idea of taking Gagan on a tour of the city. He needs to see at least the top four or five places. People can hold the conversations during the tour.
And then after the event Sanjaya Parajuli, Mridula Koirala and I ride in Sanjaya's car over to Mridula's restaurant. I have known her name and face since I got into the city. But today I got to know her as a person. She is like the Mayor of the Nepalis in the city, the unofficial ambassador.
She was reading news for Nepal Television during the last years of the Panchayat. Once she referred to the king as the Vice Chancellor of Tribhuvan University instead of the Chancellor, and she got sent from the news reading section to the production section. She is good friends with star TV journalist Bijay Kumar. And looks like she just knows a whole lot of people. BP Koirala's daughter in DC, not to say Girija Koirala. She knows Keanu Reeves, the actor. Senator Charles Schumer has dropped by her restaurant.
Minendra Rijal of the Deuba Congress once told her when the Foreign Ministry in Kathmandu issues people like him passports, they also give them a key to her apartment. A lot of dignitaries pass through I guess.
Mridula has been running her Upper West Side restaurant for almost 15 years. She is a successful entrepreneur. I don't know many Nepalis who even attempt to be, let alone succeed.
"I am a feminist," she says. Not many white women say that, let alone South Asian women.
Mridula presented a replica of the Statue to Gagan on behalf of the Alliance. She was the second best speaker of the day after Gagan.
She was off to a dinner with Pradip Giri's ex-wife who now works for a UN organ. I overheard them on the phone. The query was if Gagan was coming along! Answer: No, Gagan is not with Mridula and me.
Gagan is hot property. Everyone is wanting to spend some time with him.
The following Saturday I get to meet 15 leaders from the seven parties who will also be passing through town. I intend to make a second attempt at this: