Courage (old writing from 2011)

Long day is over. With looming darkness the tranquility blanketed the land. And with every passing moment small bright stars started to appear as a tiny dots on celestial sphere. And surreptitiously once azure sky transitioned to crimson and finally settled for dark gossamer of bright specks. Meanwhile the persistent screeches of silence were briefly being punctuated by crashing of waves on the rocks below. Thus the amalgam of monotony simply gave ample alibi for tired eyelids to relax upon already tired eyes.  All of sudden in the half light a silhouette appeared and brandishing the courage that no scimitar can cut through, spoke in crisp, terse and authoritarian manner “Here I am! Kill your emperor if you wish.”  The hortatory challenge impugned the loyalty of the entire troops and in no time the thunderous echo akin to heavy dose of caffeine commandeered the half sleep. And without further a do they all caved in, yelling at the top of their voice “Vive L'Emperur!”.  And thus Napoleon marched into Paris, unseated Louie XVII and ruled for next 100 days until he met his Waterloo.

In this day and age the courage as such is an endangered species. The most courageous thing that anyone has done seems to be eating some disgusting worms to win a stupid competition on Fear factor. And these sickly acts are triumphed in TV station as if it parallels to Hercules killing the Stymphalian birds. It is lamentable that the entire world is simply pursuing a transitory spike in tv ratings and the length people go for grabbing 15 minutes of fame is simply appalling. The best exhibit is balloon boy in America to Anuja Baniya in Nepal. Is media culprit? Of course but equally culpable is the viewers whose insatiable hunger for consuming shocking news has reduced once proud field of journalism into laughing stock. And with all the shenanigans of whether News of the World tapping into the phones of the victims of London Bombing or ESPN’s ridiculous coverage of Lebron James’s big decision one thing is for sure, every unimaginable event has in public eye become quite blasé.   

After going through the plots detailing Napoleonic wars written in old, yellow, dust covered pages from my mother’s diary I realized how awesome it might have been to live through that era, when valor and bravery were considered as an act of honor and when people lived and died by that word. It made me feel that the vanity that we protrude today is puerile in front of those valors of yester years.  History books, literature and ancient text all are all filled with the stories of warriors and kings that went through great lengths of suffering to reach greater heights.     

Courage always reminds me of that famous line from Lord Tennyson’s Lotus eater:

                “COURAGE!” he said, and pointed toward the land,

“This mounting wave will roll us shoreward soon.”

In the afternoon they came unto a land

In which it seemed always afternoon.

This line has several meanings. Of course one implies reaching the paradise where sun never sets. It is a beautiful analogy for prosperity. But reaching that Shangri-La requires courage; courage so big that it can overcome any rising tide that can drift us far from it. 

Cursory glances of my eyes then shifted through all the succeeding republics and settled on lines narrating the establishment of Paris Commune which till this date is idealized by leftist all over the world as perfect manifestation of cradle to grave utopian socialism. The fact further emphasized in Nepali media when in middle of heightened rhetoric our own comrade Badal told the uproarious crowd in Baneshwor that the ultimate goal of Maoist is to establish the Kathmandu commune and on doing so he underscored  an unwavering, unfaltering and unshakeable courage . But alas! All of sudden my animation was broken with shrill cry from surrounding and dogs barking everywhere. And before I could make up anything the ground shook violently and my reflexes immediately understood that it was an earthquake. And eating my pride and swallowing all the courage I ran to the safer grounds. Certainly courage can be romantic in literature but slightest jest of Mother nature can wipe the smugness of so called courageous bunch .  

Critical Analysis on Dr. Baburam Bhattarai's recent lecture on Underdevelopment of Nepal in Tribhuwan University

Had an opportunity to go through the  former Prime Minister Dr. Bhattarai's lecture at Tribhuwan University entitled "THE NATURE OF UNDERDEVELOPMENT & REGIONAL STRUCTURE OF NEPAL: A Marxist Analysis"(http://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/37144918#). His exposition on persisting stubborn underdevelopment of Nepal in context of Neo-Marxist theory of movement of surplus value from the periphery towards centre was really succinct and lucid. Being a staunch supporter of Austrian School of Economics  I was rather surprised by his  accurate assessment of poverty in Nepal from Marxist point of view. Especially in his slides he has clearly pointed out that the major economic hurdle Nepal faces is asymmetric trade between India and Nepal since the Sugauli Treaty. The historical reference he has provided regarding the balanced trade Nepal had between both Tibet and India before the Anglo-Nepal war is something every policy maker should heed to. Apparently in both ancient and medieval time Nepal had a vibrant economic trade with both its neighbor. During the time of Sino Chinese war in 18th century Nepal was so powerful that she even decreed Tibet to use our sovereign coins for trade.

 But today's circumstances are completely different. Compared to volume of trade with southern block our trade with northern neighbor is a morsel. Dr. Bhattarai has correctly  pointed to this trade disparity as one of the major obstacle in country's development. He has also pointed out the concentration of workers from all over the countries to major cities such as Kathmandu, Biratnagar and Birgunj as the leading cause of inequitable growth. Besides these two major concerns in his lecture also notes the diminishing marginal return in agricultural sector as another aspect militating against the equitable development. And finally in a very last slide he provides his prescription to break free from vicious spiral of poverty in a trifecta- Federalism, Balance trade  and Inclusive Development. But unfortunately he simply list them out and stop short from providing the proper road map to achieve them.

And this is the point where I think he fails to deliver in his otherwise brilliant lecture. The first issue is of course the most contentious one: Fedralism. He hasn't mentioned on what basis should the lines of federalism be drawn. Further he completely glossed over the political malfeasance  that has so far plagues the entire issue. There is no denying that federalism the only way out from preventing wealth being concentrated only in urban centers, but until the argument of whether using geographical or ethnic basis as criteria for drawing federal map is resolved this issue will remain in limbo. Of course it is really easier said than done. And even after it get solved the other issues such as tariff barriers, state level taxes and equitable sharing of natural resources will undoubtly require extensive exercise before fruits of federalism can be reaped.

As for balancing trade with our neighbor goes this I think will remain a pipe dream until the feeling of enmity between both our neighbors get sorted out. And this of course is beyond our capacity. But that doesn't mean there is nothing we can do. In fact there are few things we can do in our home front. The first thing is trying to make Nepalese currency convertible in India. Second is to make Yuwan fully convertible in Nepal. One other effective option will be instead of fixed peg with Indian Rupees, a new peg should be  establish  with basket of Indian rupees and chinese yuwan, Further currently there is undercurrent brewing in SAARC region to establish single currency governed by same monetary policy. This idea though far-fetched can be very good for Nepal as trying to maintain fixed rate vis a vis India and independent monetary policy , we are witnessing large capital flight as predicted by Impossible Trinity of Mundell-Fleming model. But again the entire premise still hinges on the effective diplomacy. However one encouraging note in this front is establishment of BRICS bank of which both India and China are members. Nepal will need to leverage this new opportunity with skillful shuttle diplomacy in order to bring in capital which unlike the investment from world bank won't be objected by both our neighbor.

Finally the third point Inclusive Development can be achieved only by grass root level movement of increasing local skill and literacy rate. Instead of resorting into populist Affirmative action program, the policy should address towards increasing the core competency level of ethnic minorities. A gramin bank model of financial institution should be established that provides small capital without collateral to women, ethnic minorities, marginalized groups in order to promote small entrepeneurship.

Despite these short comings in his lecture everyone should laud Dr. Bhattarai's trail blazing attempt of sharing his experience with students. Let's hope this prelude will create a knoweledge sharing culture which will be nurtured and in future other policy makers and politicians will also engage in such endeavors.

World Cup and Escapism

After almost a month long festivities, 20th edition of world cup has finally come to an end. And by the early hour of tomorrow a new champion will be crowned thus relegating it to the history books . During this world cup many records were broken both on the pitch and the outside. The match between Brazil and Germany generated most number of tweets. Miroslav Klose became the highest scorer of all time. Neymar broke his back. Some of the underdogs like Costa Rica, Algeria challenged the notion that football is not only the game of elite teams. England  and Portugal kept up its perennial wont of being over hype wind bags by crashing out early.  Meanwhile Portugal cemented their legacy of being chokers. Biggest surprise was of course Spain and total demise of tiki-takka football. On the other hand United State's on again and off again love affair with soccer that seem to rekindle periodically in every four years again surfaced. But this time perhaps alarmed due to high ESPN's rating, right wing commentator Ann Coulter went on vile diatribe against football in general calling it the cultural and moral decadence in American in general. She is entitled to her opinion whatever they may be.  And perhaps most sadly a girl in Nepal killed herself when Brazil lost.

But now as the extravaganza draws close so does this month long escapism or should we rather say a spell of  mass hypnosis. During this period unbeknownst to most so many things happened:  Iraq is falling towards Muslim state with rise of ISIS, Israel and Palestine has gone to war again, Germany has expelled CIA chief , there is  brewing crisis in Ukraine and in our  own home front uncertainty in budget and politics as usual. So question may  arise amidst all these real world problem does the world cup taking center stage is really justifiable? Are we being too narrow minded and selfish that we seem to be oblivion to suffering of our fellow human beings and are too absorbed on absurd notion of who might score a next goal? Doesn't the sport being the major issue has really subjugated us to level of Proles in Orwellian Society?

Well the answer may depend on who you ask.  For me personally answer is no. No, the world cup is not  the distraction and neither is it a escapism. Instead it is the celebration of human virtue. It is the embodiment of all the goodness of mankind, amalgam of human spirit that brings in people of diverse culture irrespective of their cast, creed, ethnicity, sexual orientation, racial background to one common purpose and one common goal. It is a sublime demonstration of brotherhood, helping your team mate, showing courage in front of despair and fight for glory fair and square.

The world has been always divided place. Everything from religion, politics to geographical lines have separated the people and will continue far away in future as well.  But amidst all this the world cup gives a chance, a simple glimmer of hope that in the heart we all are same. We all harbor same hopes and aspiration to be happy and to live life at fullest. And if some moralist accuse us of this as escapism then let it be. Because we all need a short break.

World Cup Mania

World Cup mania is like falling head over heels in love. You lose your sleep and your appetite. You can't think rationally, your head hurts, your work suffer, your professional and personal life suffer. All you can do is ponder upon results , feel ecstatic when your team wins, fall into abyss of despair when they lose. It is a month long whirlwind of romance that brings you joy, pain ,happiness, make you light headed, clear headed ,  make your heart beat go faster and break your heart again and again.

And after month long dizziness she (world cup ) leaves you. She will leave you  behind in the same state of despair as before to the same old boring routine. You feel jilted, dejected and spurned. You feel as if a part of you is gone. And despite the pain and loneliness you can't let go of her. You look forward to meeting her again and again in next four years. You wait for her, you long for her and waiting is all you can do because she is your one true love.

Damn you world cup for ruining everything.

Void

Imagine colors

disappearing from

 a painting

Imagine music

relinquishing

a song

Imagine fragrance

fading from

 a perfume

Imagine humor

escaping from

the joke

Imagine juice

squeezed out

of grapes

Imagine love

forlorn from

the heart

Imagine life

drained out

from body

what's left behind

is nothing

but void.

Cluless World Bank and IMF

World Bank and International Monetary Fund has jointly issued an objection to Nepal Rastra Bank's recent decision to fix the spread rate at 5%. Their main concerns are as follows:

i. Fixing spread rate will discourage bank to give away loans that will eventually stifle the investment environment

ii. Marginalized and poor people who need loan will be greatly affected.

iii. With persisting stubborn excess in liquidity, the bank will be discouraged to accept deposits causing capital flight.

Taking everything into consideration this objection simply shows how myopic and clueless international agencies are with regard to ground scenarios of Nepalese economic condition. Before going further into discourse one has to identify the root cause that compelled NRB to take such drastic measure. This decision came in heels of following prevalent scenario.

i. Commercial Banks were providing  morsel of interest to depositors while making away with huge chunk of profit through interest on loans.

ii. Bad cooperate governance in loan practice led to large amount of irrecoverable bad debts.

Of course the NRB's decision was simply a knee-jerk reaction to somehow contain the afore mentioned situation but it is in no way as bad as portrait by World Banks critique. The reasons are as follows:

a. Nepal's economy do not follow the economic fundamentals of developed economy where fixing the interest rate single handedly  can manage the ills of the entire economy.

b. Prevalent high liquidity and the opportunity cost associated with it isn't the result of interest rate rather it is because of lack of investment environment  caused by political turmoil and absence of proper  infrastructure. So logic of fixing spread rate will stifle investment is an oxymoron, since there is no investment in the first place.

c. The second logic that marginalized and poor people will be somehow affected is completely ludicrous. Because poor and marginalized demographic have hardly been beneficiary for  the loans. Commercial banks only provide loan on frivolous  luxury items such as car loan to high income bracket who can pay off loans.

d. The third logic that the capital flight will take place since bank will not be able accept deposit is by far the most stupid reason.  This is because capital flight is already taking place as the current interest rate do not even cover the inflation rate. The reason of proliferation of so many cooperatives is by far tell tale sign of this situation as people are willing to take more risk with promise of higher interest rate.

So what is the solution?

Since Nepal has taken the path of economic liberalization the fixing of spread rate is certainly a regression. But at the same time it seems NRB has no other option as well. But following steps can be taken into  consideration to mitigate problem.

i. The root cause of all the problems right now is uncontrolled inflation. The double digit inflation must be curbed. If inflation is controlled then people will be encouraged to make deposit even at low interest rate.

ii. Compel bank to charge high interest rate on loan on luxury item.

iii. Make commercial banks compete for granting loans to development program concerning public goods  at lower interest rate.

iv. Put ceiling on the bonuses and salary that banks pay to its high officials.

v. Compel banks to establish the corporate governance by making it mandatory that they plough back the share of profit in granting loans that addresses the need of poor and marginalized community

vi. Provide financial incentives to banks by reducing corporate tax rate, especially  to those banks that provides financial services to rural Nepal.

vii. Impose harsher punishment to those who has committed loan fraud.

Move of Pawn

The pawn sits on the board

brooding on every move

carrying  the weight

of  saving the king

with fear of being sacrificed

 making way for

powerful piece.

The pawn sits on the board

lamenting on every move

entrapped in its fate

towards one direction

on a lonely death march

to die for  some  lost cause

The pawn sits on the board

praying on every move

to reach to the other side

with a faintest glimmer

of hope of turning

 someday into queen.

The pawn sits on the board

waiting for every move

carrying  the weight

of  saving the king

with fear of being sacrificed

making way for

powerful piece