Kathmandu:

A hope that someday

a Buddha meditating

in a niche of a chaitya

by a garbage heap

shall shake

the dirt and walk away…

The Government that cannot take care of the garbage of its citizens has no right to rule,” opined German Professor and lawyer, Dr Iur Menno Aden after reading this poem from my collection, The Lake Fewa and a Horse. It was the first time I had seen someone find a legal edge to my Fewa poems.

“We human beings issue excrement the moment we come into this world,” he added rather philosophically. “The moment a child takes birth he starts producing dirt and even a child wouldn’t like to lie in dirt for long and would want his parents to clear the dirt. Similarly, it’s duty of any good government to clear the dirt of its citizens and if they can’t do that they no have right to rule.”

Professor of Law, University of Applied Sciences, Essen, Germany, Dr Aden had come to Kathmandu sponsored by an INGO that organises international specialists’ visits to nations passing through critical times. His visit turned out to be full of surprises. Well-equipped with all modern gadgets and paraphernalia required for higher level counseling, Aden’s surprise knew no bounds when after a-nine-hour bus drive to remote district Parbat, he was gently asked to step out of the bus and start walking for six hours to his destination.

Unfamiliar with the Nepali geography and transport system, Aden asked if there was a taxi available. On not finding one, he reluctantly prepared himself for a bumpy ride on a motorbike. When nothing came into view, Aden decided to take the bus back to Kathmandu to spend rest of his tour in the city of large garbage heaps. The institute that he was supposed to visit turned out to a primary school in the remote mountains and with his high profile, he had no idea how he could have been of any help to the children or his donors.

Not only did the garbage heaps and poor level of hygiene here appal him, he was equally surprised to see people’s distrust in the legal system. His brief interview with legal specialist and fellow Rotarian Sarvagya Ratna Tuladhar revealed how shaky and fragile the law situation

in the subcontinent remains. His questions focused on international law and commercial arbitration. Would a common person like the taxi driver he befriended in Nepal approach the court to seek justice? How quick and supple are the legal proceedings? How do the Nepali courts react to international law? In what contexts would they resort to international laws?

Later after a walk through Thamel, at Rum Doodle bar, Dr Aden seemed distraught from the sight of sprawling shantytown that the Kathmandu seem to be turning into.

He had several suggestions for the governing bodies. His recommendations ranged from provisions to make legal systems strong enough so that even the poorest Nepali can find justice on the spot, to asking the government to order the savings accounts in the names of the poorest of the poor, regardless of any minimum for a deposit. He seemed harsh on INGOs and asked for a judicious survey to sort out the most reliable and authentic ones.

To his suggestions and story, I had a story to share. In the story by Hindi writer, Mohan Rakesh, a man spends most of his youth and old age in the vicious circles of courts to seek justice and spends and ends his life in its corridors like a dog, God’s dog.

(The writer can be reached at writer@yuyutsu.de)