Mahabharat Or Soap Opera

Wish Me Luck

I have received quite a few emails in response to this post.

"Good luck. Those will be some adventurous meetings. I would be curious to learn of your discussions."

"....it's a good idea to converse with these people. lets see how they respond to ur proposed constitution. hope u'll post it on ur blog, and then we can read it."

"This is simply great. Good luck to you."

"I can go with you if you like. I can be there for support or whatever."

"Nice to know that you have some time these days to interact with them. Frankly speaking - you're the most transparent, uptodate individual - with this rate - you'll be able to represent us in the near future. I fully support you, you don't need good luck - they all need. Don't under-estimate the support you're going to get- if you don't deviate from your dignity. Don't stoop but give the people who need due respect. Teach them what you see with your un-biased mindset, un-disturbed eye-sight. Some tips: 1. Take some of your buddies with you. 2. Please record every details what they speak-out and vibes 3. These are all of our pieces in the game that we are going to win. Good luck in winning - it's the matter of time."

"Good luck."

"My Best Luck is and always will be with you!! "

So I feel the need to make a blog entry about my first not so auspicious foray into the matter.

They all are here for some conference, and today was the big day, 8 AM to 8 PM. I got to the hotel early around 9 PM. I called from the lobby every now and then but, for the next two hours and a half, I got to see much of that part of the city. I walked around while waiting.

Finally I got through to Bharat Mohanji. I gave him a hard copy of the document. He was on the committee that drafted the 1990 constitution. But then he is already a democrat. The big prize would be face time with Shaha.

Adhikari told me he will give me his feedback within a day. I told him there was no hurry. Besides, I am taking him around town anyways.

I also intend to get a bunch of UML phone numbers from Adhikari.

I got Chand's number.

I called him up from the lobby.

"Namaste Mr. Prime Minister. My name is Paramendra Bhagat. I am a Nepali in New york. By the way, I know your son Binod Chand. I was wondering if I could please see you for about 10 minutes."

"Now?"

"Yes. I am inside your hotel." I was one floor above his.

"I was about to go to bed."

"That is fine. I know you had a long day. I look forward to seeing you in the morning then."

From the lobby I tried to get through to Sharad Chandra Shaha. The first two times the machine told me "the guest was on the phone." The next two times the phone was not picked. It was close to 11:30 PM.

I had left two voice mails for Shaha, one early in the day, and another when I first got to the hotel. He was supposedly inquiring about me during the day. I hope he is not avoiding me. I am just looking for some informal chit chat. I totally understand he has a boss who is above the law. I just intend to seek some basic feedback, I understand I might not be able to do serious business with him.

Or maybe we can exchange phone numbers. For when he is in Kathmandu.

To be honest with you, I started out from my residence thinking there is this major Mahabharat style political battle in the offing, the two armies are at the ready, and I am on this peace mission. The Mahabharat might still happen, but at least I will have participated in some dramatic peace efforts.

The actual experience of waiting for them to get back to the hotel after a long day, and then trying to get through to them on the phone it felt more like I was part of some unfolding soap opera.

I should probably keep my hopes low. Not much might come out of the effort. But I should give it a shot nevertheless.

It is like you go out into space in your space ship, and there are all these asteroids you see. They are very much alive. But they are going to move at their own tempo. You and your space ship do not matter a whole lot to them. It is a colony of asteroids.

In The News

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• RNA bars UML general secy from entering hotel
• Prohibitory orders for civil society
• NEPAL: Maoist ceasefire – some gains, some violations Reuters AlertNet, UK
• Nepal: Countdown to Republic? Asian Tribune
• Nepal invites UN observers to monitor Municipal polls Hindustan Times, India
• Army misbehaves with MK Nepal Kathmandu Post, Nepal
• The latest Maoist ceasefire and political parties resolve can bode ... OhmyNews International, South Korea
• Why King cancelled UN trip Kathmandu Post, Nepal
• US arms assistance embargo to continue Kathmandu Post, Nepal

Wish Me Luck

Bharat Mohan Adhikari, Taranath Rana Bhat, Lokendra Bahadur Chand, and Sharad Chandra Shaha are all staying at the same hotel: The New Yorker by the Penn Station. To me that is a total godsend.

I am going to try and meet all of them, singly, and in groups. The idea would be to hammer them into this: Proposed Constitution.

Bharat Mohanji is a leading UML person. He could potentially be the interim prime minister.

Taranath Rana Bhat is not exactly in good favor within the inner circles of the Koirala Congress, but he is a Congressia nevertheless. What's more, he is still Speaker.

Lokendra Bahadur Chand is a statesman. He helped bring democracy in 1990. Maybe he will help again.

Sharad Chandra Shaha has the king's ears: that's for sure. A week or so back I was frantically searching for Paras' email address, phone number, anything. I was trying to know if he will come to the city with his father. I failed. None of my classmates seem to have it. But it might be much better to talk to Sharad Chandra Shaha. That would be more professional.

This is what I will tell him: "Sharadji, I am not a politician. I came to New York City over three months back to cultivate my business ideas. But it has been all Nepal all the time for me. Rescue me. Let's bring peace and democracy into Nepal so I can go back to working on my business ideas. And hopefully I will make money. And you will likely be living the life of a private citizen. A few years down the line I would want to engage in some kind of a partnership with you. You are a person of proven people and management skills. And both of us seem to have a thing for information technology. And I do not mean this as a favor to you. Given the right policy framework for foreign direct investment in Nepal, the rate of return in a young economy like Nepal tends to be much higher than in a more mature economy like the US. Let's make each other money down the line. But for now, let's bring peace and democracy into the country. I think we could bring it as a Dashain gift to the Nepali people."

I just printed out a hard copy of the document on my Estonian roomie's printer. No, I don't own one. I am a paperless office, online person. I am so online, I don't even have Excel on my computer.

I am going to make half a dozen copies. And then I am going to meet the hoteliers.

The guidelines are simple:

1. Go through the document and make three columns.
2. All the items you agree with.
   
3. All the items you disagre with.
4. All the items you would like to add, subtract, modify.
   

This is practically like giving each person a blank page to write down their wish list. My document is just a framework.

Wish me luck. This is important work. Peace making always is.

And the leaders in Kathmandu are only a phone call away. Himtel might end up making some good money.

Even if they go to Kathmandu with a near finished document, that will still be something.