Sikkimization, what the hell !!

Every body in Nepal, whenever they are trying to show the imminent dangers of growing neigbourly interest in the country, never forget to bring up Sikkimization. It is the ultimate threat to the nation's sovereignty, they say. Perhaps, they are reminding how the threat is still very real. The annexation of the once independent Himalayan kingdom, Sikkim to the Indian Union happened not very long ago. So, it is natural for the analysts to get a little suspicious at times. I don't like to make political predictions but my take on this is that its very unlikely. I mean at this age imperialism does not come in the form of forceful conquest. Gone are the days of colonization. Economic and cultural imperialism have given new ways of establishing dominance over countries. ANd when this is happening so smoothly in Nepal, why would India stake its repute in the international arena once again? I mean when the four and a half century Portugese rule in Goa was finally brought to end by the Indian Army in 1961, Jawaharlal Nehru had a hard time recovering his tarnished repute and credibility.

Anyway, when I was in Sikkim last month for our college tour, the rhetoric of Sikkimization constantly played on my mind. I looked at the well managed city of Gangtok, the denizens' almost ferocious adherence to the rules and regulations, cleaner air, cleaner sky. It was a big joke amongst us that gazing to the rare sight of a clean blue sky would have our neck permanently bent by the time we return. A well perfected tourism system. Hydro power plants being constructed everywhere. The look of content on people's faces. I am not exaggerating. Every Sikkimise we met were all too eager to tell us how things were changing, how their lifestyles were changing for the good. Topographically, nepal is not much different from Sikkim. There are similar potentials in the fields of tourism and hydro power development. But may be we don't have some one like Pawan Chamling as they have in Sikkim. Someone who can dream big, and translate visions into reality. May be we don't have a stricter legal system or the respect for rule of law or the culture of accountability ingrained onto us at all.

I couldn't help thinking that Nepal can learn quite a bit from Sikkims experience with advancing the country. Of course, I wouldn't want a political Sikkimization of my country. But if this is what Sikkimization looks like, I am on for it.

Our elusive rastriyata

It is really vexing that most of our so called nationalism surfaces only at times when a particular neighboring country attempts aggression upon our national pride. The otherwise silent Rastriyata bursts with its full exuberance only when someone else tries to show us our weak position by means of their unwanted patronage or deliberate insults (everyone remembers the Hrithik Roshan, Madhuri Dixit, Chandani Chowk to China, BJP, Shiv Sena, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and blah blah blah kanda).The irony is, by some arrangement of the geopolitical situation or whatever for that matter, we are weak. Those who beg are always weak. Those who cannot construct a 10 kilometers motorable road without the "help and cooperation" of the donor nations are always weak. Look at our roads, our flyovers, our hospitals, our universities, our hydropower projects, our glorious NGO sanskriti, even our toilets, I have started wondering do we have anything substantial to boast about that is really ours, that have been made from purely Nepali money and effort? Forget these, our national budget, to be precise, is largely a contriution of our too nose poking neighbors and friends. Why care about Rastriyata then if it is limited to chanting slogans and vandalising what is left of our national property?

I don't believe that we don't have the money or the expertise to do something on our own. We simply don't have the will. We have become so much entrenched by our Magne sanskriti that we have started believing aids and donations are somehow our natural and inalienable rights and we don't hesitate to demand for it. Little do we realise how helpless we have become in the hands of these foreign players. It is said that a leaf cannot rustle in Nepal without the knowledge of our Southern neighbor. With what seems like more than a growing friendly interest from our Chinese brothers , I suspect the leaves will now have to ask for their permissions too if they intend to rustle henceforth. The Nepalis do not seem to have enough hawa, I guess.