Countdown to New Nepal

In this first post at Muse Nepal (now called Aaraniko), I want to share the vision that prompted me to start this blog. These visions would also serve to establish the concerns and topics of coverage in this blog.

Nepali political culture is dysfunctional in many ways--the usual suspects of nepotism, corruption and institutional lack of democracy being the prime reasons. Nepali bureaucracy suffers from the same ailments. Actually, I think these corroding elements are pervasive throughout the society. When our leaders talk about development and prosperity, when they sell us the dreams of New Nepal, their words are less a vision of a changed society and more like daydreams. So far, our political or civic leaders have been unable to even identify the source of these problems, much less tackle them. 

The heart of the issue, as I see it, is dearth of diverse ideas. The problem is that Nepalis have very short history of wrestling with ideas of governance, democracy, and development. Even when we have been engaged in debates, our ideas have been limited in focus to the events of the day or wildly fantastical daydreams about changing the face our motherland overnight. We have scant institutional, social or academic practice of honest intellectual debates. There is essentially no marketplace of ideas to speak of. Yet, it is true that finger-pointing is easy; it is especially easy to find faults from the comfort of foreign soil. 

My attempt at Muse Nepal will be not just to keep track of the current developments in Nepal but also try to extend and enlarge the debate beyond the day-to-day events to the larger and more basic intellectual ideas, essentially to extend the marketplace of ideas to ask some fundamental questions about the nature of Nepali society, the history of our political system, and the shape of our shared future. I will try to engage in the intellectual underpinnings of change in our society. The hope is to offer some optimism about the prospect of change and improvement. Hence, the countdown to New Nepal. Also, the muse, motive and subject is Nepal and Nepalis--therefore Muse~Nepal.

While these decidedly lofty aims are primary, on the day-to-day scrum, I will highlight, engage and share any sundry observations, ruminations and thoughts that draws my interest. Hope some readers (when/if they join) would find them of interest as well. 

Jai Ganesh!