Road Ahead
January 7, 2010
As the poet T.S. Eliot famously wrote, ” For last year’s words belong to last year’s language and next year’s words await another voice”…. Let us all hope and pray the New Year voice that the Nepalese will listen to is going to be of contemplative tranquillity, peace and inclusive development. Let these voices provide a sanctuary of the spirit where every Nepali can find strength to face anew the conflicts and the confrontations that are part of our human predicament. For me democracy in Nepal is like a flower, beautiful to behold, but at the same time fragile and in need of protection.
Today Nepal stands at a defining moment in its history. the road to formulate our new and inclusive constitution (through the constituent assembly) is long and bumpy. we are confused, disillusioned. Our visions of new and inclusive Nepal present a complex scenario of tensions between constraints and liberty, bondage and freedom, and the imperatives of a modern nation and the aspirations of a free citizenry. The new constitution will be a document and a vision that holds the promise of equality, justice, and opportunity. This new political culture is a sure harbinger of a new era of the country. But this new culture has to be nurtured. New norms and values have to be articulated and adopted.
Someone said “When we dream alone, it is only a dream, but when we dream together, it is the beginning of a new reality.” Let us all dream together to start a beginning of a new reality – a reality based on trust, freedom, equality, pluralism and prosperity.
Just to remind us, let us go back to the midnight of August 14-15, 1947, when a new nation – India – was born. Mahatma Gandhi saw the tragic partition of India upon independence as a betrayal. Despite the flames of communal hatred and rioting that lit the midnight sky as the new country was born; there was reason for pride, and hope. India ’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, put in words that still stir the soul ( Shashi Tharoor , India – From Midnight to the Millennium, 2000, pg.15,):
“Long years ago, we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance. It is fitting that at this solemn moment we take the pledge of dedication to the service of India and her people and to the still larger cause of humanity.”
For a New and Inclusive Nepal, let us all make this solemn pledge – a pledge to have peace, security, freedom and prosperity. A complete vision of the whole can perhaps be achieved by a renewed and inclusive Nepal – one that places people at the center so that people can become the active builders and shapers of a New and Inclusive Nepal.
Thank You!
Pramod Shrestha
1 Jan. 2010
Equivalent Annual Worth Analysis
January 6, 2010
Happy New Year 2010: Pramod Shrestha Sir
December 22, 2009
On this happy occasion of New Year 2010, may we extend our warmest wishes to you and yours for peace, happiness, good health and prosperity.
Today, Nepal is plagued by greater and greater division – within political groups, and families, even individuals. We are all in a state of total distraction and diffusion, hardly able to keep our minds in one direction before we are pulled in a thousand others. Yes, we say, we live in a democratic age. But let us all remember the fundamental truth previously articulated by Aristotle and Tocqueville: unregulated democracy undermines liberty and the rule of law.
In the context of democracy in Nepal, the democratic institutions and instruments might exist but their utilization might be quite limited. It may be partly through our own faults because we don’t engage enough or the way our political parties are organized. Democracy in any country is a case of unfulfilled expectations. Yes, in many countries, elections have just become a ritual. In some case, elections merely legitimized power grabs. Elected governments in Nepal claiming to represent the people have steadily encroached on the powers and rights of other elements in society. A strong government is different from an effective government; in fact, the two may be contradictory. In Nepal, we all have seen and felt that the first source of abuse in our so called democratic system have come from elected autocrats – which is the case of the tyranny of the majority. This problem, alive and urgent is important for us today because the majorities have – often quietly, sometimes noisily – eroded separations of power, undermined human rights, and corrupted long-standing traditions of tolerance, respect and fairness.
Massive corruption and a disregard for the rule of law have transformed Nepali politics. Have we reach a point when we will describe our political system as ‘bandit democracy’ in which our ballot boxes are stuffed, elections are rigged and the elected become immensely rich and powerful by looting the public coffers? Let us all pray that this will not be the reality of democracy in Nepal. Our democracy should live up to its promise – the promise we have made for the ‘excluded millions’. But we still believe that democracy has not lost its luster and its legitimacy in the world and in our country! It is because democracy is a new way of perceiving power that is premised on the fact that human beings can govern themselves. For some, democracy may also be a utopia; the key is how the disappointments of democracy can be contained. In a functioning democracy, we all have to be more tolerant, more secular, more law-abiding and more equitable. We will always believe that in a true functioning democracy, the ‘people’ should do all the corrections in the system. It does not matter if the people are poor or illiterate. If we are talking about growth and economic development, it should always be attempted through democratic institutions. While historic evidence is mixed on the contribution of democracy to economic growth, there is also no conclusive evidence in favor of non-democratic regimes either.
Over the last 2-3 years, in Nepal, we see democratization of violence; now small groups of people can do dreadful things and we all are silent spectators. In future, we can see the rise in ethnic and regional communal violence in Nepal. Can our democracy accommodate ethnic divisions without violence or terror? Ethnic conflict is as old as recorded history and democratizing societies display a disturbingly common tendency toward it. The reason is simple: as society opens up and political parties and politicians scramble for power and position, they appeal to the public for votes using the most direct and effective language, that of group (ethnic) solidarity in opposition to other ethnic group. Often this stokes the ethnic or religious conflict and sometimes the conflict turns into a full-scale war. This, we think is one of the major challenges in Nepal. Our political parties and politicians are organizing support along racial, ethnic, or religious lines. In this context, once an ethnic group is in power, it tends to exclude other ethnic groups. Compromise seems impossible and political competition that is so divisive can rapidly degenerate into violence. The unilateral declaration of autonomous republican states by the Maoists will create ethnic and regional violence and promote communal disharmony. New names for cities and states might seem merely symbolic, but they represent a seismic shift in attitude. In crises, this shift can turn bloody. India is one example. Let us not forget the Gujarat riots.
Let us pray that may we all live in freedom; freedom from fear, freedom to live up to our potentials and freedom to dream about a better world and better new Nepal. Let us also pray that we all will preserve our integrity, which for us is the highest form of loyalty. Integrity should mean being integrated or centered on principles, not on people and organization. You will find that the root of most issues that we are dealing with is “Is it popular (acceptable, political) or is it right?” When we prioritize being loyal to a person or group over doing what we feel to be right, we lose integrity. We may temporarily gain popularity or build loyalty, but downstream, the loss of integrity will undermine even those relationships. It is better to be trusted than to be liked. Ultimately, trust and respect will generally produce love.
We have always admired and respected you for your simplicity, your kindness, your civility, and the depth and extent of your scholarship. Here we would like to quote the Olympic Creed that we think captures the occasion and it reads as follows: “Ask not yourself for victory, but for courage, for if you endure, you bring honor to yourself; and even more, you bring honor to us all.” Let us all have the courage to speak against ‘injustice’. We are honored and proud to have friends and well-wishers like you all.
Prarthana, Pranita, Rita and Pramod
21 December, 2009
Biofuel
December 11, 2009
Letter to Students: Pramod Shrestha Sir
November 27, 2009
Dear Students,
We as teachers always get our inspirations from our students. Sincere thanks for your compliments. It will help me to be a better teacher. I will coordinate with poudyal sir about the enterprenureship lectures. I will be leaving for Manila on 29 Nov to deliver a lecture at an international conference on quality assured technical education. I will come back on 4 Dec.
I feel that institutions of higher studies should prepare students for leadership in civic engagement, public service, advocacy and social action (apart from your core technical field). It should also celebrate the life of the mind. I hope that this opportunity will help you to fulfill these valuable objectives of your life.
You, along with others (in your masters program), is embarking on a journey which will be exciting and frightening, a period of joy, pain, discovery, and disappointment. Your road to success is lined with many tempting parking spaces. Always remember that no college or university will ever much successfully educate you or anyone else, because the individual (categorized as a “student”) must come to their own fire about learning. Teachers can only inspire. They can bring knowledge to life – but all education (educere – to lead out [of ignorance, not knowing]) must come to being alive to the individual. If you merely passively await to get an education, you’ll never become “educated”. And the pile of (seemingly-irrelevant) dates, facts and figures you need to pass tests in your classes will soon fade from memory. The secret to happiness and success is not in doing what one likes to do, but in liking what one has to do. It’s always nice to be the best, but not when being the best brings out the worst in you. History of humankind is a real living story of life and death, love and joy, suffering and pain, the search and struggle for meaning…
As an inspiration when I have doubts I always remember the following Serenity Prayer (one of my inspiring prayer) – this prayer is also used by Alcoholic Anonymous:
“Oh God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.”
People are still trying to find that difference!
In any difficult situation, also remember the following three sentences that I hope will rejuvenate you :
“Between stimulus and response there is a space.
In that space lies our freedom and power to choose our response.
In those choices lie our growth and our happiness.”
(source: unknown)
Try to identify and define that space. The maverick psychiatrist R.D. Laing captured in the words below how failing to notice that we have this space kills our ability to change:
“The range of what we think and do is limited by
what we fail to notice. And because we fail to
notice that we fail to notice, there is little we can
do to change; until we notice how failing to notice
shape our thoughts and deeds.”
Real glory springs from the silent conquest of ourselves. People always say time changes things, but remember you actually have to change them yourself. We are like tea bags – we don’t know our own strength until we’re in hot water. An awareness of our freedom and power to choose is affirming because it can and will excite our sense of possibility and potentials. It can also threaten, even terrify, because suddenly we are responsible, that is, “reponse – able”. We become accountable. Think and ask – am I becoming response-able???? Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful. It is difficult! But keep on trying!
You must be the change you wish to see in the world.
- Mahatma Gandhi
With warm regards and write whenever you have time.
Pramod
Why Project Fails
November 26, 2009
Projects and their Management
November 26, 2009
Heat Exchanger Lab Report
November 25, 2009
Lab report submitted by Brian Campbell Davis.
Bernoulli Lab Report
November 25, 2009
Lab report submitted by Brian Campbell Davis.
Energy conservation and demand side management
November 21, 2009
Lecture note prepared by Dr. Bhakta Bahadur Ale.
