Narayan Manandhar
In Hindi there is a saying, time time ka baat hai meaning, there is a time to eat and time to feast. There are different times to perform your rituals. Let us look into this time of eating and feasting.
Hierarchy of feeding
Readers must have watched several animal hunting programs in the National Geographic or History channels. Just recall: Often a lion makes a big kill, say a buffalo or a giraffe is pulled down. Observing what happens afterwards is more interesting than the process of killing. It is often the lion king that takes the first bite. He will start from the rear side this is because it is where the best piece of meat, as we call in Newari, hyakula, is located. Others will join the fray, possibly, with little cubs. As the eating frenzy goes on what you see is one or two brave hyenas try to steal a deal here and there, just to be kicked out by hungry and, equally, angry lions. Gradually, hyenas outnumber the lions and manage to push them out from the ring.
The hyenas are supposed to have strong teeth. They can crush bones and eat marrows that lions find difficulty. They can devour anything. The scenario do not end here. As hyenas get busy with their feast, one can see vultures gradually rounding up, with one or two, trying to have a crunch. Stronger hyenas will try to push them back. But they rarely dare to fight with ugly looking creatures. Gradually, the vultures will also outnumber hyenas and successfully manage to push them back. With full bellies, hyenas prefer to pull back.
The vultures are special creatures built with strong beaks and claws that they can rip open anything and can eat pieces of meat not accessible to the lions and hyenas. In Nepali, we call them dharmic charaa, the religious bird. They don’t harm living creatures; they are happy eating dead bodies. Hang on a minute here. The story is not complete.
By the time vultures got to eat, the carcass would have decomposed and the rot produce maggots. Lucky that you are watching TV otherwise the smell will not allow you enjoy the drama reconnect it to human life situation. It is now the turn of the crispy little young birds, flying in and out, happily picking up maggots; dancing, singing joyfully and playfully.
Here is a difficult assignment for you: Narrate this story to the corruption situation in your country. Did not Ranas, Shahs and Panchas had their share of hyakula? Didn’t the bahudalbadis played the role of hyenas? What about Maobadis or, literally dubbed as Khawobadis? Did not you see their appetite for food? By the way, a taxi driver informed this scribe, a couple of years back, momos get into popularity in Kathmandu with the arrival of the Maoists.
What about Gen-Z little birds? Are they here to feast on maggots? Don’t you see Jana Andolans as hyenas and vultures pushing out their rivals with a sheer number? The system of bhagbanda (sharing of the spoils, corruption by consensus), the aalo-palo system (eating turn by turn, playing the game of musical chair) are all part of this social hierarchy of eating and feeding. Have you attended conventional Newari bhoj? The senior most or the thakuli, occupies the top most of the eating rows or seats, followed by juniors, all ranked by their ages. The children, women are supposed to come only at the end. There is a hierarchy in or of feeding.
There is nothing like corruption-free society
Zero tolerance against corruption or a corruption-free society is a pure hoax, a political propaganda designed to deceive sheepals, not peoples. If you do not believe, ask any Danes or Finns, are they free of corruption? Are not they at the top of the Corruption Perception Index rankings? Similar to poverty, corruption can only be reduced, it can never be eliminated. If you are seeking to eliminate corruption, you are, most probably, living in the land of cuckoos.
RSP and RSVP
How many of you have received a dinner or a party invitation letter with a french acronym RSVP? V is missing in RSP. Yes, it is RSP lunch time. That is the reason they are politely asking, those under political appointments, to vacate their places. For it is their turn to feed. Soon we will see the frenzy of people feasting - securing lucrative contracts, sinecure posh jobs, diplomatic appointments/assignments, advisors, consultants etc. Guys like Yuba Raj Khatiwada or Shanker Sharma may have difficult time adapting the changed situation.
Remember that the spell “Nep” in NEPAL, stands for nepotism. Definitely, it is not a crime to hire your near and dear ones. The merit system or janne lai chhane may ends up as paisa bhayeko lai manne. It is time to watch eating and feasting. Also please do remember: Younger the age higher the corruption. This is because youths are highly susceptible to corruption. They don’t have a patience to stand on the queue. Do you have?
