cover.pm6 1 11/5/04, 3:13 PM cover.pm6 2 11/5/04, 3:14 PM g 18 Leadership Muddle NOVEMBER 14, 2004 By John Narayan Parajuli VOL. I, NO. 30 At 79, Koirala is reluctant to step down COVER CONCEPT: SUBROTO BHOUMIK as NC president. As the party conven- www.nation.com.np COVER DESIGN: RAJ SHRESTHA tion approaches, talk of alternative leadership is getting vociferous but is again likely to go nowhere. 28 Little Hope By Suman Pradhan in New York Most Nepali illegal immigrants hang on to the US in the hopes of making enough money to send back home. They fear four years of Republican rule is going to be tough for them. 32 Cautiously Optimistic By Sara Shneiderman and Mark Turin in Dolakha The ceasefire opened a window of hope; the residents of Dolakha con- verged for the two-day festival in numbers far exceeding the past few years, when fear had kept many at home 34 Closet COVER STORY Conversation By Satish Jung Shahi 20 Flying High Though experts argue the condom taboo is minimal in urban areas now, By John Narayan Parajuli its still an awkward moment for many Cosmic Airs first jet aircraft has arrived; another will soon follow. Industry buzz buyers who approach the issue says the jets arent financially sustainable, but Cosmic isnt worried. indirectly COLUMNS LIFESTYLE 38 Canine Cops 11 Zero-sum Exercise 47 Colorful Skies By Satish Jung Shahi By Jogendra Ghimere By Indra Adhikari At the Central Dog Training School The colorful night skies of Tihar have the police dogs are on standby and been darkened by the government ban ready for duty, even on Tihar on fireworks. Alternatives with more sparkle and less boom could fill the gap. ARTS & SOCIETY 30 The Remembered Past 42 Troy DEPARTMENTS By Aditya Adhikari By Sushma Joshi The movie is Hollywoods new take 6 LETTERS on Homers great epic, one of the 9 WEEK IN PICTURES greatest love stories of all time. But 10 PICTURE OF THE WEEK Hollywood seems more obsessed with 36 Reading the Gita war than with love. 14 CAPSULES By Sushma Joshi SPORTS 16 MILESTONE 50 Super Success 16 BIZ BUZZ By Sudesh Shrestha 44 CITY PAGE The growing success of the Super Sixes 40 Shut Up And Dance 52 SNAPSHOTS tournament in attracting top corporate By Kunal Lama 57 BOOKS houses augurs well for Nepali cricket. Money matters. 58 LAST PAGE 5 Letters Quotas will discriminate those who are the most deserving, those who rely on merit MAHESHWOR MITTAL Divided classes worse off economically than those from YOUR COVER STORY LAST WEEK the scheduled classes. They were vir- raised a very important issue (Divided tually shut out from competition in Classes, by Satish Jung Shahi, Novem- medical colleges because a good 50 per- ber 7). Even by Nepals poor standards, cent or so of the seats there were set education is perhaps the most neglected aside for the backward communities, sector. And the neglect looks all the more many of whom in fact had been living appalling, considering the fact that its in cities for generations and were pretty education, if anything, that will bring all well off. We are certainly not speaking Nepalis to the level playing field. I, how- about mimicking poor Indian politics ever, have a problem with the quota sys- here, are we? The court has struck down tem. While providing quotas to backward a poor government decision, and thats and geographically disadvantaged com- good news. munities and women may look fair on paper, it will unnecessarily discriminate NARESH SHRESTHA against those who are the most deserv- LAZIMPAT ingthose who rely on their merits whichever group they may belong to. IN A SOCIETY WHERE ALMOST ALL ILLS Quotas for certain groups for a fixed pe- stem from social inequality affirmative riod of time are a good idea, even desir- action is perhaps the only way to prop able. But once it becomes a state policy, up the backward section of the society. its going to be politically explosive to Youve got to begin somewhere. Its so call for its withdrawal. That anyone lame to expect a dalit from the Farwest should look at quotas as a blank check, to compete with the Kathmandu-edu- regardless of his merit, would be a per- cated elite for a seat at the TUs Institute fect recipe for trouble. Premier institu- of Medicine? tions like the Institute of Medicine and the Institute of Engineering are among SUBASH the last remaining bastions of VIA EMAIL meritocracy. I for one certainly want them to remain that way. US elections WHILE I AGREE THAT THE U.S. ELEC- MAHESHWOR MITTAL tion results may not be the best for TEKU Nepal, it doesnt change anything for Nepal and I dont think Kerry or AFFIRMATIVE ACTION IN EDUCATION Nader would have either (Bush is not exactly a great idea. Why should Bind, Last Word, November 7). If any- anyone relinquish his/her right for edu- thing, the election clarified the prob- cation so as to make room for others of lems within the Democratic Party and lesser caliber? Isnt that another form has decisively shown who the Ameri- of discrimination? Just as Dr. Shishir can people are and what they want. Lakhey, I saw friends in India (from the Voters turned out in numbers that have so-called upper classes) who were far not been seen since 1968. The major- 6 NOVEMBER 14, 2004 | nation weekly ity of Americans believe in George Smugglers hub Bush and relate to the Republican YOUR REPORT SMUGGLERS agenda. It was a clean win for Bush and Haven on smuggling at the Nepal- Nation Weekly, The Media House, Tripureshor, a serious wake-up call for the Demo- Kathmandu, Nepal (Regd. 165/059-060). India border may have been revealing Tel: 2111102, 4229825, 4261831, 4263098 cratic Party. to people in Kathmandu, where you EDITOR: Akhilesh Upadhyay As for the Democrats, record num- sell most of your magazines after all [email protected] ber of voters did turn out to vote for CONTRIBUTING EDITOR: Suman Pradhan (by John Narayan Parajuli, Novem- COPY EDITOR: John Child them as evidenced by their win in Penn- ber 7). To someone like me who has SENIOR STAFF WRITERS: Sushma Joshi, Satish Jung Shahi, Tiku Gauchan sylvania, for example. Still, they lost. lived not too far from the border for STAFF WRITER: John Narayan Parajuli Why? Because they do not have a clear PHOTOJOURNALISTS: Sagar Shrestha, Das Bahadur Maharjan generations, these things are a fact of DESIGNER: Raj Shrestha agenda or an unequivocal leader. I cant life. Cross-border smuggling is a huge EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS: Indra Adhikari, Yashas Vaidya tell what the party really wants. I can trade, which is a boon to everybody: AD & CIRCULATION DIRECTOR: Krishna Shrestha tell you what they dont want, but that ASST. MARKETING MANAGER: Rameshwor Ghimire It helps the poorly-paid local police [email protected] doesnt get America anywhere. When I and administrators, almost every MARKETING EXECUTIVES: Bijendra Pradhan, Rena Hughes Sharma look to the 2008 election, I really dont single monitoring agency in the trans- SUBSCRIPTION OFFICER: Akshaya Shrestha know who the Democrats will run in [email protected] boundary trade chain (customs, bor- ASST. SUBSCRIPTION OFFICER: Jeshna Karmacharya the primaries or who will emerge as a der patrols, etc.), down to the poor DISTRIBUTION: Angiras Manandhar MARKETING CONSULTANT: Kreepa Shrestha leader for the party. They need an settlers at Mechi Danda Basti. Smug- agenda that I can sum up in one sen- gling in Tarai towns is so common- CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Nripendra Karmacharya tence and they need to find decisive place that many of the people involved PUBLISHER: The Mirror Media Pvt. Ltd leaders. While I am not a supporter of in it dont even feel that it is criminal AD ENQUIRIES: Tel. 4229825, 4261831, 4263098 Bushs agenda and he did not win my COLOR SEPARATION: ScanPro, Pulchowk, 5548861, 5552335 or something that will bring them ill PRINTING: NPTC Limited 4476226, 4461745 vote, in the final analysis, Election 2004 repute. Dhulabari, not too far from DISTRIBUTION: R.B. News, 4232784, 4244679 has been good for America. here, has flourished due to the cross- Nation Weekly is published every Monday by The Mirror Media Pvt. Ltd. All Rights Reserved. The reproduction of the contents of this border trade and people on either side publication, in whole or in part, is strictly prohibited without the prior consent of the publisher. CAROLYN RODAL of the border have benefited im- Vol. I, No. 30. For the week November 8-14, 2004, released on November 8 MAXWELL SCHOOL OF mensely from it. Tens of thousands of PUBLIC AFFAIRS AND CITIZENSHIP shoppers from neighboring Indian CONTACT SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY, NEW YORK towns/cities of Darjeeling and Siliguri www.nation.com.np cross over to this side of the Mechi Request to Onta River during the weekends and take PRATYOUSH ONTA IS ONE OF THE with them whatever they can. The rest best scholars and social scientists around. We prefer to receive letters via e-mail, without of the consignment is home-delivered attachments. Writers should disclose any connection I like the issues he raises in many of his to you (customs-free) in India and you or relationship with the subject of their comments. articles. His critiques keep the con- need not worry about your stuffs get- All letters must include an address and daytime and cerned on their toes. In his last article he evening phone numbers. We reserve the right to edit ting seized by the customs officials.