Nepali Bloggers At The Forefront Of The Movement

For the longest time it has been Kantipur's Dinesh Wagle who has been hogging the limelight, and for good reason. United We Blog is in a class of its own.

And I have been working with Dinesh to video blog the movement. We have been stuck so far on the basic equipment details.

In the mean time I ran into Umesh Shrestha of Mero Sansar. He already has audio and video blogs. That means he already has the equipment. Besides his is also a groundbreaking blog, the first in the Nepali language.

He was going to cover the December 2 UML rally on his own. But then we started talking, and we figured if I could help him with the purchase of four more batteries to the tune of $20, he could provide longer footages to what he has been doing so far. Instead of five or eight minutes, he might be able to offer 40 minutes.

Right then I contacted my friend in Seattle Himanshu Shekhar who owns the MoneyToNepal.com company, a fellow Madhesi, a major league software entrepreneur. I got him to donate $100. First I decided to send off $20. Then I changed my mind and sent out all of $100. If the money is already at the other end, it will be easier to move it around.

If you organize stuff online, the group looks like a cloud, not a pyramid. There is no central authority. The best ideas could come from any member of the group, at any time. Execution is faster. You just keep moving as fast you can. You walk and chew gum at the same time. You stay tuned in with the group. And you keep doing what you need to be doing. You keep moving. Fast.

Look at this video clip: December 2. Umesh Shrestha is one amazing human being. And I said as much at a thread at the Nepal Democracy Google group which pretends to be the cyber Upper House of the Nepali diaspora.

Then I came up with this project: 7 questions for 7 leaders.

Girija Koirala*. Madhav Nepal. Gopal Man Shrestha*. Hridayesh Tripathy. Amik Sherchan. Narayan Man Bijukchhe. CP Mainali*.

(1) This is for the global audience who do not know anything about Nepal. Can you please say what is going on in Nepal? What are you agitating for? What do you want?

(2) What is your understanding of the other two forces, the Maoists and the king?

(3) The king says the democracy in the 1990s failed. How do you respond to that criticism? There is criticism that you democrats are not united enough, that your vision and action plan are not clear enough. What do you say to that?

(4) How and when do you expect this democracy movement to conclude? What will the endgame be like? What are the various scenarios that could play out?

(5) The king has announced elections for the towns and cities for February 2006, and for the parliament in April 2007. Why is that not a good idea? Why will you not participate?

(6) You and your party are for a constituent assembly. Which means you are for a new constitution for the country. What will that new constitution be like? What is your party's vision?

(7) How can the international community help you in your effort to establish democracy in Nepal?

Umesh got back with me saying he is not too political a person. But then he referred me to another blogger. And when I visited his blog, boom, I found a treasure drove of blogs in Nepali, a whole bunch of them blogging away. Just take a look.

• Mero Sansar
• Ratna Park
• Blogger Nepal
• Laliguras
• Nepal Gulf News
• Sayapatri
• Mero Paribesh
• Prabas: Saudi Arabia

A few of them are solely dedicated to literature. A few of them are mixed, and are very bloglike. Blogs are not newspapers gone online. Blogs are blogs. They are like themselves. And now that I have looked around some, it is so obvious to me that Mero Sansar has been a pioneer of sorts. Blogger Nepal is more overtly political.

What's the idea?

The idea is to video blog all street demonstrations in Kathmandu, but also to interview as many leaders of the seven party coalition on an ongoing basis as possible. The Nepali diaspora has to be able to feel it. When democracy activists in Kathmandu take to the streets, the Nepalis abroad might not be able to smell the streets, but the crowd dispersed over the globe has to see it, has to hear it. Video footage does much more than text and even digital photos. You feel the energy through the video.

And it is important to sway global opinion. One important goal of the movement is to shape global opinion in its favor. Video blogging the movement also keeps the lights on and chances of extreme oppression are lessened. I have talked more about that here: Movement Taken To Online Video.

Interviewing leaders also lets the diaspora put its questions directly to the leaders, so they are more accountable. The movement for democracy has to be democratic.

The talk is very much on as to how best to go about it.

Logistical support is to be provided, but that is not the most important element. I think we all should help shape the basic guidelines. I offer some.

• Keep the costs down. Use the existing equipments and infrastructure. Share equipments. Do timeshare on equipments. Seek private citizens with broadband facilities or private companies with such facilities who will allow use of their internet access for uploading purposes.
  
• Seek help from the diaspora. Keep all book-keeping transparent, or at least within the group.
  
• There must be at least 10 camcorders among the private citizens there. Borrow.
  
• Delegate. Make a list of all the work to be done, and then delegate, so the workload is not too much on a few people. So person A, person B and person C donate cameras, persons D, E and F are the camerapeople, persons G and H do the editing, persons I, J, K and L are offering broadband, persons M, N and O do the quality uploading, persons P, Q, R and S do the quantity uploading. It might not exactly work out that way. But that is one model. You decide locally.
  
• My preference is to upload all video clips at Google Video. It is the best free hosting service I know. But you decide. I know there also are other options. If you use Google Video, make sure you insert the word Nepal somewhere. Most people will likely see your video clip when they search for Nepal at Google Video.
  
• December 2 is a work of art. Follow the good example.
  
• It is a good idea to edit and offer a five or a 10 minute highlight. So, yes, quality matters.
• But quantity is even more important. Upload as much raw footage as you can. That is how we magnify the impact.
  
• Let it be a goal: 100 hours minimum of video online by February.
  
• Be safe, and always have Plan B. Stay united, and stay visible. Report any and all harassments, if any, by the authorities to the network. We will respond.
  

This is history being made and recorded. This is like 1947 in India.