06:00 in the morning. This time I woke up without anybody banging
on my door. But even before I could open
the door I hear Rekha Didi yelling “Manju!” “Hajur” I said. She said “Chiya”. Tea is ready.
So I take my tea, light my cigarette, sit on the spare bed and look out
the window at the cannabis sativa tree.
They are grown all over. No one cares
for them. A plant that caused wars, mob
fights, deaths is just peacefully growing in a back yard of a house here. Surrounded with corn, basilica, not alone at
all…
They do smoke weed here, it is not legal
either, but that is not the big problem in this country. 2 weeks before I arrived here they had their
first democratic election and for the first time in Nepali history a government
elected by vote was in power. Before
that, Nepal was a ruled by oligarchy for hundreds of years. Until one day the son of the king, according
to conspiracy theories someone wearing a mask, killed all the family at a
dinner and committed suicide.
Nepal was 3 separate kingdoms until the
Shah family unified them in 18th century all under Shah Monarchy. The Ranas have served as prime minister to
King since then. The heir to the crown
would marry the daughter of Rana and this has been a tradition since then.
In 1950 The Rana was so powerful the
current King Tribhuvan took all of his family including the rightful heir
Biendra and he left Nepal to escape the oprresion of the Ranas. He left his youngest boy, 2 year old Gynendra
behind so it would seem like they would come back. Rana’s announced the little boy King, who was
destined to be king twice according to a respectful fortuneteller before. But Ranas gave up on this idea in a short
while. It was probably to handle an adult then a 2 year old! They asked the King back and accepted all
conditions lifting the pressure and ending the Rana’s oppression forever.
When King Tribhuvan passed away, his 27
year old son Birendra took his place.
His oldest son, and heir to the crown Dypendra, who went to school in
England and came back to Nepal, fall in love with the beautiful daughter of the
Rana. But inspite of the traditional
bound between the Rana daughter and the King’s son, the family did not want
them to get married because the father was a powerfull politician in India. For the sake of Nepal’s future since India had
a lot of plans about this small country they decided to obstruct this marriage.
Dypendra lost in the labyrinths of power,
driven by love and intoxicated by alcohol, with the help of relatives and games
all around him, was certain it was his time to be King.
Meanwhile Nepal was already on the
edge. The King’s army was killing
anybody they could blame to be Maoists or helping them. Maoists were acting out and killing landowners
in the name of the people’s rights and had started the guerilla fight. The people are already convinced that their
King has no interest in them, so the Maoists slowly grow stronger. What the Maoists assure everything that a
government is supposed provide to the people; work, health and education. So the guerillas up in the mountains and the
King’s soldier in the valley, there comes the end of Kingdom.
One family dinner on June 2001 Dypendra
gives up on hope and shots 14 members of his family including his father,
mother and sister, turns the gun to himself and pulls the trigger for the last
time. He lived in a coma for one day
and the Rana’s announce Gynendra as King for the second time. But the people do not believe that Dypendra
could have done this. Acording to
Nepali CSI and conspiracy theoires this
was a game well staged by the brother Gynendra who wanted power, who was not at
the dinner by accident. They say there
was a mask made in Taiwan which was a perfect match to Dypendra’s face. The gun was found further away from his hand.
The entry wound of the bullet is not like a self-shooting wound. He was buried honorably.
The people not believing their beloved
prince could have committed this massacre started a rebellion and everybody
stayed on the streets for days. Shreeram
told me how they would go fight on the streets, get beaten up, come back home,
get patched up and go back out. King Gynendra was about to give up but his wife
left the palace and told him she wouldn’t come back unless he stayed King. For
the sake of his family peace he decided to go on as a monarchy. Years went by with Maoists vs. King’s army
and of course the people where the ones to get hurt.
But people did not rest. They decided it was time for change. King’s army boosted up the tyranny on the
people. Maoists using this opportunity to
create an even more complicated situation, powered up the guerrilla war. King Gynendra gave up and in May 2008 Nepal voted
a democratic government for the first time in their history.
With not much of knowledge of democracy and
little choices the Maoist party was elected.
The royal family was sent to a slightly
smaller palace with a big pension.
Nepal was announced Nepali Republic when I
was there.
Now it is time to go forwards for Nepal.
They have discovered the people’s power now. Since I came here there have been
2 strikes and a student’s protest.
With the book “Love and Death in Kathmandu”
in my hand, I sit still for a while, shivering from the cruelty and reality of
the past, and the uncertainty of the future.
I am reminded of my own country and the games played on the people for
the sake of power.
Then I go out and walk to the huge Mango
tree near the house. Babu told me this
was their mango tree but it was so high they could not collect the Mango’s and
the crows ate them all.
I felt a deep love to the Nepali people who
had mango trees but had to pay for Mango because of the crows…
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