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Here I Am

/ Neesha / 2 Comments

I returned to Nepal late Monday evening after an epic 32 hours travelling  from Melbourne through Singapore and Delhi after a hectic few weeks  finishing up work,putting my life into boxes and selling off everything else. Since my arrival I have been feeling the upheaval that is intrinsic to selling up and relocating to another country. The things we do to follow our dreams…the emotional components of such a move cannot be underestimated. Suddenly I find myself exactly where I want to be, to do exactly what I want and the magnitude of it feels scary. Right but scary.

Therefore my first few days here have been slow, while my body recovers from the 3o plus odd hours of flying and transit, and while I emotionally get to grips with leaving behind the stability of conventional life in Australia. There have been some emotional moments, and while I mean to  predominantly write as a journalist and cover issues and stories I don’t feel my  personal experiences as part of some stories takes away from that premise.  I feel it adds to it. I am not a writer whom believes in the objective observer, in fact I vehemently deny it. What I experience and where I am adds to the fabric of the stories I will cover and what I discover here. But obviously alongside sound journalistic practice.

Journalistic objectivity rant over.

So here I am.

I arrived  from the airport to be greeted by my favourite Kathmandu dog, Baba, waiting in the alleyway for me. How did he know I would be arriving? But bloody lovely none the less.That wagging tail and bounding hello put such a smile on my face. Since Tuesday I have been drowning myself in sweet cups of dut chai ( milk tea) while scoffing veg momo’s with alarming amounts of achar ( pickle) between epic  naps and little wanders to meet up with friends and reconnect with this city I love.

The government’s road re-surfacing and widening campaign  – thanks to Chinese funds  – continues making certain parts of the city profoundly dusty with all my clothes taking on a shade which I am now calling infrastructure improvement brown. All the tourists this high season are wearing it so for once I am on point fashion wise. But the sky has been remarkably clear for this time of year and from my guesthouse rooftop I have sat and stared with barely contained glee as the moon rises over the Himalayas. A sight so beautiful it is hard to comprehend let alone express.

So yes, here I am. My life in Australia packed into one box,a bag and generously being looked after by friends back in Melbourne. And everything I need in a backpack.

I now carry my life….it is up to me.

I howl

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It is midnight, I sit in my rooftop room overlooking the alleyway. I take a swig of Nepal Ice, ice-cold and a bargain at $1.30Au. Nepali and western voices interplay in their slow aural meanderings towards me. A dog howls, this refrain is picked up by Baba at the next house, there is a pause and another speaks in turn. The howl picks up in force and magnitude as others join their voices to the wailing. The sounds swirl around my little part of Kathmandu that I call home for this trip.

I had forgotten how much I adore this place.The chaos, if you choose to see it that way, makes sense. It is an honest representation of humanity without the contrivance of hiding away things in the lesser seen places.Things are observable -the struggle, the joy, the madness of modernity. The contrivance of the aid industry and the financial exploitation that can occur. The love of family and human connection, the luck intrinsic to a good life and the rawness of life in a country finding itself again after years of political and environmental instability.

Despite the country having  a caretaker government since May when the Constitutional Assembly failed in signing off a constitution for the fourth year in a row – Nepal functions. And as a representative from the UNV (United Nations Volunteers) said to me, even in the ongoing political instability with each Constitutional Assembly failure, that failure is less and less and some solid ground is being found.

Slowly , perhaps ungracefully, a foundation is being built for this developing nation. A foundation where the political gambling for power between the 209 political parties with a foothold in the government they appear to have less ability to unhinge it at the core leading to conflict on the streets.

This is not to say conflict does not occur. Recently after the May constitution failure, a 27 day general strike crippled a number of villages in the far western region of Nepal. Access to food, medical care and clean water was cut off and anyone acting to break the bandha (strike) was dealt with.

According to the acting government last year tourism figures increased by 20 per cent in the Himalayan nation. This growth is essential as tourism is a life blood of the Nepali economy alongside international aid money and  development  loans from the IMF/world bank. That said tourism cash does not touch all parts of this ethnically diverse country but it adds to the foundations firming despite  the geo-political maneuverings of China and India, which are predominantly helpful from an aid perspective,  but can have a destabilising effect.

For example, Nepal has an obligation to spend money received from China to develop roading infrastructure by a certain date each year to ensure on-going financial support for an essential infrastructure which needs development. Therefore Lazimpat, the embassy district of Kathmandu is in a small upheaval as buildings are cleared destroying homes and businesses to widen the road to ensure funds are spent and the coffers are refilled.

Nepal in many ways is the front line, the coal face, of interactions between the regions super powers. On reading the  English language papers the Himalayan Times, Kathmandu Post and the Nepali Times (among others) this coalface is clearly illustrated – when a Chinese government representative turns up within a few days a similarity ranked official will visit from India and vice versa.

Obviously my observations are simplistic representations of the complex reality of Nepal, one of the poorest nations in the greater Asia region, but they represent the slow changes taking place here. A here I feel privileged to visit often and love dearly.

Here comes the rain again

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I breathe  in , deeply, I exhale slowly expelling the warm damp, that is the air pre the daily Monsoon downpour.

I am standing on a rooftop in Paknajol, an area  near Thamel the tourist hub of Kathmandu. Grey clouds are gathering and beginning to roll across the Kathmandu valley “hills” into the city. Large wet drops fall in slow motion cascades on myself and my rooftop companion with whom I have been discussing Middle Eastern politics to the tunes of Neil Young. (Doesn’t that just make sense.)

The cascades become a downpour and I stand arms stretched feeling the release from the humidity. Water runs in rivets down my skin- time to dash down the rickety metal spiral stairs to shelter and a nap to take the edge off the jet lag.

Jet lag does affect so much of the body, my jaw talks,water retention, digestion and sensation becomes very present for a few days after a flight but with massage, walking, local curd and yoga it passes.

Speaking of massage and yoga, near my guest house is an amazing natural medical center ( the name escapes me) that also runs yoga intensives.

This morning I had my first one on one yoga session to help my back and get my body back in sync with it’s new environment and oh boy do I know I have done a class right now. My class consisted of mainly twists, laying down yoga ( believe me that sounds deceptively easy but is not) and back bends. My teacher says I am not to do any forward bends for a week or so and I have back bend homework to do each morning and evening before our next session. I am looking forward to getting into the regular class in the next week or so even though it has a reputation for muscle soreness.

I am continually humbled being back in Kathmandu, friends from my last stay greet me as family and pour Chai in my direction. They are opening their homes,  contacts,businesses, NGO’s and restaurants open to me  and  Melbourne photographer Abigail Varney with whom I am working with here. I  get the feeling that this trip is going to be very productive professionally and I am loving it.

You can check out Abbi’s work at http://abigailloves.blogspot.com/

Abbi is a crackshot photographer and has been published in a number of magazines in Australia including Frankie and Yen.

Chai lag

/ Neesha / 2 Comments

Six hours into Kathmandu and I am already stunned by the synchronicity. I am also jet-lagged and Chai bloated adding to the wonderment that is post flight water retention. As uncle ( the owner of a guesthouse I stayed at on my last trip here) said “have you got fat?”, no, “Uncle it’s just Nepal you are all small here.”

Weight  comments aside I have been quietly embraced again by Kathmandu. A gentle embrace.

Walking from my guesthouse, Family Peace House managed by the lovely Bimal, I was greeted as a lost family member by people I used to see walking out and about the city in 2010.  Walking past a little store that sells samosas I was greeted with such smiles, and another store owner pulled me and drowned me in glasses of  sweet milky Chai, promptly followed by more Chai the next store down and another on my walk back home from a coffee hit at a local haunt for NGO types, volunteers, travellers and those needing a solid wifi connection.

Speaking of coffee, I need more.

Travelling is filled with such joys but lack of sleep, though it can make working your international adapters interesting, is not one of them. Everything feels vaguely surreal, familiar, unfamiliar…horn beepingly present and disconnected in this state. But I am here and interesting stories are already revealing themselves.

Ahhh….Kathmandu.

 

 

 

Occupy Melbourne -Day 1.

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There is something magical about walking into a publicly held space, a space being  reclaimed for change. City Square in central Melbourne occupied  peacefully despite the four mounted police of the occupation, despite police cameras filming the crowd from above and a crowd representing a diverse range of political opinions.It is inspirational.

Poets, punks, anarchist dogs (“no leads, no leaders!”), children, environmentalists,performance artists,film makers, hipsters, unionists, curious teenagers joggled alongside one another, took to the mic, workshopped, assisted organisers, played drums and marched in support of others (BDS protestors) who had previously arranged a march. It became more and more obvious as the day continued that peacefully and together we have real power. Even though in Melbourne they are only just picking up the reins started with the Madrid Occupation that started in May, it feels like this movement has the potential to facilitate change. No other reason for all the police, surveillance and undercover cops in the crowd unless the occupation movement was a real challenge to the inequitable status of now.

One of the criticisms of the #occupy movement is that it doesn’t have concrete aims. But from what I see internationally not having concrete aims at this early stage of the movement is the point. Huge sections of the population globally are dissatisfied with the status quo. With the insane inequality of wealth distribution , a correlating power resting in the hands of the very few and governments globally facilitating this concentration of power (As one occupier said to me yesterday. “Governments no longer govern, they are corporate administrators”) to have a cohesive plan already laid out would be unrealistic and non representational of the diversity of the movement. The movement needs to be representational, grassroots based so it cannot be co-opted to represent current government/corporate interests. This is something I found evident yesterday, the general assembly model while slow-moving means that strategies developed are truly representational of the majority.

It became clear  after speaking to more people than I can count that not only do occupiers want the world to be equitable,they want real community , they want purpose and meaning, they are claiming back our connectedness. Occupation is about putting humanity first.

A sign of the times - #occupymelbourne day 1. Copyright Alexandra Bremner 2011

Nepal and Northern India Earthquake

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An earthquake  struck Nepal and Northern India at 6.10 pm local time on Sunday, September 18.  Indian English language News X service is reporting that the 6.8 quake hit the region causing significant damage, waves up local rivers and casualties. Associated Press footage from Nepal shows a number of dead at a Kathmandu hospital, the crumbled wall of the UK embassy and people out in the streets post quake. (Please note in the link provided there is footage that may disturb some people.)

The Kathmandu Post is reporting landslides and seven deaths from one landslide alone in the Rolpa district. (* please note this landslide occurred the day before the quake, my apologies for any misunderstanding) The Guardian is reporting 16 confirmed deaths and damage to buildings.

Infrastructure and building codes are variable in Nepal so the potential for more fatalities and damage to needed services is high. The steep mountainous terrain means there is a potential risk for more landslides.

If anyone has any additional information on what is happening within Nepal please let me know. You can email me at neesha@storytellerproductions.net

To all my friends in Nepal, be safe!

Te Mana and women.

/ Neesha / 29 Comments

Today a Feminist activist Boganette (link – www.twitter.com/boganettenz) posted a question on the Te Mana political party’s Facebook page asking if they had policy on sexual health and access to abortion and if they would be listing their positioning on ‘conscious’ issues.What followed can only be described as base sexism, misogyny, abuse, and trolling.

The abuse is pretty normal when discussing access to abortion or issues surrounding pro-choice, as is the hate against women who dare to ask uncomfortable questions. Being called a lesbian, a whore, (as if these are even fundamentally bad things), and being told to get fucked in various forms, is classic, if not run of the mill misogyny aimed at women who ask valid questions even without stating a position. What is important is knowing what each potential party stands for .It is surprising and extremely disappointing  that all this happened on the social networking page of a political party looking to gain votes not far out from a important election for New Zealand.

Many on the left in New Zealand feel disaffected and are looking for a place to put their vote on November 26. A party, even a young one like Te Mana, should be monitoring its social networking pages regularly and looking after its supporters, potential voters, and not letting one man loose with hate speech against women. It makes me wonder if his perspective is something the party membership are comfortable with. This may be unfair but when I asked Sue Bradford, on her facebook page, about what the party position on sexual health and abortion access was, my questions were ignored. This could be because she is busy with her campaign for the Waitakere seat. But I do wonder, in all fairness to Sue Bradford – does the party have a policy on these issues? Issues that are so important to so many voters?

I have asked the party to moderate their page, but from what I can tell the thread is still there with vitriol intact. I know abortion and sexual health can be contentious but it is also a fundamental policy platform. And potential voters should not be verbally attacked online for making a valid policy enquiry.

So I have some questions for Te Mana;

  • Who is in charge of the Women’s Affairs portfolio?
  • What is your policy on sexual health?
  • What is your policy on access to abortion?
  • Is Te Mana a pro-choice party?

Te Mana is a political party that claims to represent Maori, the poor and under -represented; many of those are women. This is a time when they need to stand up and be counted. Do they stand with women?