Well-known 'progressive' Nepali writer Khagendra Sangraula has formed a committee
in Katmandu to protest against the Dabur Vatika Miss Nepal Contest 2004, which is
going to be held this coming Saturday.

The Sangraula Committee's reasons are: That such beauty contests demean Nepali women, turn them into advertising tools of multinational (capitalistic) companies, and degrade the values of Nepali society.

Does the Sangraula Committee have valid points or is it just being a spoilsport?

***********

I think the Sangraula Committee has every right -- without resorting to violence --
to protest against beauty contests AS MUCH AS all the over-the-age-of-18 women participants have the right to participate in such contests.

I also do not believe that any variation of "Nepali society" is so weak that beauty contests have the power to change it beyond recognition.

But what do others think?

oohi
ashu

Why not Ban those vehicles esp. the tyampos that uses capitalistically churned diesels ýJust for KTMý that leaks the fumes- a health hazard to us Ktm basindaýs, may be them politicians can confide and more than relate to these fumes because these politicians are causing damage to the whole nation Dammnit!!! Isnýt it so Ironic, they cant do shit about the pollution but make it a big deal when they have to fight for their own stupid values???, Banning a BEAUTY Contest?????, I think the Osamaeites are a comin', it's gonna be Nepalsthan soon...Bahg ...bhag.

twixiechick, I agree with you. About swimsuit, it's very funny why the people are so shy to take off thier clothes in front of others. Afterall, nakedness is the most natural form you have. But if someone ask us to take off the clothes, our brains go crazy and we act quite differently than when we are wearing clothes. I wonder if Khagendra Sangraula has guts to do cat(male one) walk in front of thousands of people with earing only an underwear. His hos-hawas will be Guum, if he has to do that.

I recall one of such protest when I was in Nepal. It was Timila Yami (Dr. Baburam
Bhattarai's wife) protesting against some beauti-contest. When I looked at the picture
taken during those protest, I could see why all those women were there.

I don't see any reason for such a protest. No matter what you do, society will change
and those who go along with the change tend to make more sense than holding back
and resisting such a change. Of course, he has the right to arrange such a protest, but
we have the right to tell him to shut-up.

Furthermore, why do we think Taleban were crazy when they forced their women to
cover head-to-toe ? It was so obvious, wasn't it ? Such protest will be so in another 100
hundred years...trust me.

Saroj

reminds of this line frm a song"traffic jam when its already late, no smoking sign in ur cigarette break, isnt it ironic?".....where is personal freedom? ...let them do what they want to do unless its harming ur personal freedom...has dabur vatika or any of the gals participating done anything(regarding beauty contest) against a person called Khagendra Sangraula...or vice versa.
I hate capitalism..I have the right to protest against it ....but u may like capitalistic society n defend for it...mind u ...u have the right to protest n thats what khagendra sangraula is doing..thats what democracy is for...but democratic system is far from perfection though its the best..its all the game between percentage..things will be gone in favor of 50.11111111% than 49.999999%.... lets wait n watch who represents the majority.

Now the question of intelectuality n good reasoning...we shudnt be biased by Ashus point of view regarding khagendra's intectuality coz who r we to evaluate others ...what I found in his article is the hidden truth....reality that what he (inc.me)want others to realise...other realise it or they protest against it is not his or my problem...but to be heared is always the right of minority(if I consider myself a minority in this thread)n thats exactly what sangraula is doing.

I have perfectly no problem if a girl has to wear a swim suit or show her nudity ...thats her personal freedom..she has the right to do so...but at the same hand I have the right to protest if I get offended. But the matter here is not abt beauty peseants to be organised but a beauty peasent to be organized by a company who's real motive is something else than the integration of nepali community, if we think that beauty paseant shuld be held for the promotion of a product...why not a modelling contest ..who cares if its a modelling contest n someone gets the role of making the product popular.

Saying someone 'Miss Nepal' just to make her foto attached in advertisement is far less worthy than saying 'Model Nepal'. Coz the image that Miss Nepal carries is something different it not only deals with the modelling but representation of the country aswell, n who says that models r not intellectual person ?

At the end I have absolutely no problem if some Jack, Jill, Bill , tom or Vatika comes over n does a 'Jack, Jill, Bill , tom or Vatika Modelling Contest' for the pormotion of their products or something else* but for a miss nepal they have the right to sponser it but it should be 'Miss Nepal Contest' not 'Jack, Jill, Bill , tom or Vatika Miss Nepal Contest' sounds a bit wierd aswell.

critcs welcome:)

Yeah, Khagendra Sangraula should protest... but protest to the Govt. Why the HMG has given permisssion to organize such Vatika Miss Nepal contest... What's the view of HMG on this? It all depends on how NEPAL wants to define "Miss Nepal".

"Vatika Miss Nepal" should be "Miss Vatika".

But problem is our HMG is lame govt. It cannot decide a single thing solidly. ONe such example is, announcing the SLC toppers. This year, they announced the Toppers among boys and girls. Then later MOE announced other toppers.

People like Khagendra Sangruala is needed for the country.. and other types of people as well.

I have no problem if the interested organizations organize Miss Beauty whatever contests frequently or once in a while. ...By the way who is Kagendra Sangraula....he is a mysterious person to me.

And i dare to ask, which one was Miss Nepal, the Sitaula one or the other geezer. Nothing feminine or any beautiful traits in either of them....

Yelloooooooo!

Allz two bits i can offer here is........ there is actually.... a Mr Nepal..!!! Truly there is! Seen the latest winner on sumthin Nepalisite.com i think......i preferred the 1st runner up i thinks.......... so..i aint bloody complainin...!! Heeheehee!

But i understand the points about whats the need in the Swimsuit section.....to see who carrys off confidence over their body some say....?? Hhhhm....i dont really see the point in that....wats more important is obviosuly who carries off most confidence in...their abilities...personality......maybe..? Khhaaaaaiiiii...... ;o)

Domi ;op

I have known Khagendra Sangraula since 1996, when he and I squared off in an informal discussion program on "poets and poetry" at Martin Chautari.

His point was that "poets and poetry" get no respect in Nepal; my point was that
poets are the pampered lot in Nepal, and they'd better grow up instead of always
complaining.

Later, in one of the Leftist magazines, Khagendra actually wrote very nice things
about me, making me famous in the Leftist circles

We've kept in touch since (I've been to his house several times) though he very well knows that I do NOT share his ideology, but I do love his choice of words that he uses
in his Nepali-language pieces.

It was he who encouraged me to take certain works of Nepali literature seriously, and developed a reading-list for me. That list was later published on the Net and in Himal magazine. [Still, to date, I am going through that list, and now have 25 more books to read.]

I like Khagendra Sangraula personally; but intellectually I find it hard to respect him.

*****

Here are my two PROMINENT reasons.

*****
During the infamous Rhitik Roshan Kanda (December 2001), for instance, when -- in the heat of the times -- arsonists went about to set Gopi Krishna Cinema Hall in Chabel on fire, Khagendra wrote a piece PRAISING that action. He called the owner of the hall
"an Indian agent", and argued that Hindi movies should never be shown in Nepal.

Regardless of what one thinks of Hindi movies, how can a writer publicly praise destruction of private property, and then incite the mob all the more with his pen?

Sangrala offered no apology and showed no sense of remorse/contrition about his action.

*****
When a Leftist editor published naked photos of a young Nepali actress (Srisha Karki) in October 2002, that actress ended up committing suicide. It later became clear that that editor had been blackmailing the actress for years.

Surprisingly, there was NOT a single word of protest (organised or otherwise) from Khagendra Dai or from any of these Leftist stalwarts who have a stump speech ready when it comes to talking about women's empowerment.

It was very clear that the Nepali Left decided NOT to touch that editor simply because, well, he too was a fellow- Leftist. [I have often said on Sajha that shared political ideology goes a long way in Nepal.] The issue died after a while. Karki is dead. That editor Kishore Shrestha is still running his newspaper.

And NO thanks to Khagendra Dai who could not risk taking on one of his Leftist
comrades for a clear criminal act.

***********

Whatever one thinks of Miss Nepal Contest, it has to be defended for the simple reason that what 18-plus-year-old Nepali women (or men) decide to do -- with eyes wide open and with full access to information - is their business and their business alone.

The Miss Nepal Contest is neither illegal, nor it uses up public funds.

If Khagendra Dai is really progressive, he should be PROTESTING against the fact that these 18-plus-year-old Nepali women need parental approval to take part in the contest, as though these young women (who canvote to elect their own Members of Parliament) can't decide for themselves what they want to do.

Now, that's a throwback to old conservative times, isn't it?
Why isn't the Left protesting that?

But no, Nepali Left is muddled PRECISELY because it is never comfortable with INDIVIDUAL sexual freedom (regardless of whether one approves or disapproves
of it).

That's why it has REDUCED to whipping up nationalism and lofty "anti-capitalistic" rhetoric to tamp such freedoms down "to preserve our culture", as though they
are the ultimate Moral Police on our collective behalf.

It is that muddle of the Left that I find more entertaining -- intellectually -- than the Miss Nepal contest.

oohi
ashu

Very nicely put Ashu.
In our country I've seen and heard many cases of naatabaad, where people will conveniently close their eyes to the wrong doings of thier close friends and realtives. Ashu is one person that I have seen to be sticking to the side of the righteous even if he has to voice his discontent towards an acquaintance. In our culture that is not appreciated nor respected. That is probably why we hear that he doesn't have many friends. That he has many enemies is evident from the anonymous attacks that we have seen against him here.

This does seem to be a moral dilemma. What would you do if your friend is involved in wrongful activities? Would you denounce his actions or ignore it? Are you wrong to denounce it since he's your friend and you should stick to your friends? Are you wrong to ignore it since you owe it to your conscience to choose the righteous thing?

What do you say to this dilemma which in the end reveals what kind of person who you are. Initial observation points to the fact that it will be difficult for one to make friendships which are so very important in politics, if one is known to not stick by his friends.

Saroj, thank you for your kind words.
I appreciate them.

*********
Saroj wrote:

"That is probably why we hear that [Ashu] doesn't have many friends."


Ashu's response: In the above sentence, the interesting word is "hear".

Thankfully, what one hears (from uninformed/prejudiced sources) and what the truth
is are completely two DIFFERENT things.

Happily, I do remain very satisfied with my social life in and out of Nepal -- online
and offline. But, hey, don't take my word for it. Come, visit me in Nepal!!

*****
Saroj wrote:

"That he has many enemies is evident from the anonymous attacks that we have seen against him here."


Saroj, I would worry if I didn't get attacked :-)
Getting attacked is one way to assure myself that I should not take myself too
seriously and get all filled up with self-importance.

All these attacks -- thankfully, all FALSE -- help me strengthen myself -- without being bitter and without losing my sense of humor.

oohi
"For god, country and sundari prati-yogita -- in that order!"
ashu

Ashu,

Since you have aana jana with Khagendra Sangraula, please ask him to go for Vipassyana meditation. YOu probably might have got long list of books from Khagendra to read. But the best gift in return from you to him could be the path to meditation. Do not think that Khagendra is too rigid, afterall everything is impermanent. YOunever know when he can change. Vipassyan will show him to break is ego. He seriousely needs the treatment. Meditation the best one for him.

hahah darshankaka, good suggestion Buddy! I LIKE THAT..maybe i need to try some meditation too :)

where in earth did saroj found Khagendra Sangraula doing wrongful activities?.....still wondering.

Former Miss Nepal Usha Khadgi and current Miss Nepal Priti Sitaula (holding a newspaper) at Tribhuvan University hall, Kirtipur before the debate on MISS NEPAL beauty contest and women representation began on Thursday.

DK wrote:

"Since you have aana jana with Khagendra Sangraula, please ask him to go for Vipassyana meditation."


Sorry, no.

I do not like to advise others "to go for Vipassyana meditation".
When you tell others to go meditate, that sounds patronising and insulting, and
seems as though you can adopt a holier-than-thou posture.

My attititude is: One can disagree -- even strongly -- with Khagendra Sangraula by being very critical of his publicly expressed ideas. If he listens to your criticisms, fine.
If not, that too is fine.

But there is NOTHING to be gained by insulting him by telling him to do this and that
for his whatever ego.

oohi
ashu

oh no no no no no, ashu. he is not taking a holier-than-thou posture. methinks he is truly concerned about your welfare. oh yes. we all know that meditation is good for the body, mind and spirit. he probably thought that a lil meditation would do you good. but what he does not realize is that you must be really busy, so even if you wanted to meditate, you would not have time. and that is perfectly fine. no pressure...


now, on to the main topic. if ppl have pretty lil asses that they want to flaunt, why feel insecure about it? i say, if you've got a pretty ass, you have an option to exercise that right. and if the ass is really pretty, believe me, the option is In-the-money. oh yea....big time. it's what economists call a positive externality - by flaunting your god-given assets, you gain gratification, but you also soothe the eyes of the onlookers. and when that happens, sparks fly out and that moment is a wonderfool moment...

oops methought the meditation recommendation was for ashu...but nevermind. methinks ashu should still meditate if he can spare the time... and if the experience is nice, maybe you can recommend it (rather diplomatically) to mr sangraula too.

whatever guys? if they think they can make it or that is the way to the dreamed future. In my sense there will be one thing important glamour, metally civilised should go hand and hand. The problem with us is one thing that is phys civilised.
I live in like a hawai life style. I work in beach as a rest manager being graduated from swiss hotel school. I dont fancy gals in bikini or nor they makes in hard on my knees. I see them everyday. I like i take chance.
Nepali gals will still be same no matter what they study or where they studied? the sexual life of nepalese is so hampered coz of shyness to talk about sex and trying kamasutra which is gift of god. We were given art but now western are using and we are not.

By the way Preeti situla has a nice nipples up there in bikini what carefully

that was rather observant of you, you naughty beachboy. and i am happy that things are going well for you - y'know with the wanton sex, the swiss hotel mgmt diploma, the hawaii life...but perhaps you shoud not generalize nepali girls. for instance, i am sure that neurotic girl is an exception. she sounds like she's memorized the kamasutra, and even read the stuff in type. she's probably wild in bed....i'm sure...