XI. Candid Verses: Emotional High!
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A few weeks ago, I read this article about Nepal being one of the least-emotional-countries in the world. As I read, my hands shook, my face winced, and my heart began to palpate --those emotional cells firing in all cylinders. I guess someone needs to invite these "Gallup" personnel to Nepal and get them the authentic taste of potpourri of emotions displayed in our streets everyday. Across all ages, gender, ethnic, and political groups, the emotional outbursts are so prevalent that it feels integral to our national unity--maybe the only thing that binds us together as Nepalis, dare-I-say!
Well, you might argue that those are mere negative outbursts coerced by our poverty and political strife and not a true measure of tangible and intangible emotions in a society. I have to disagree. I think we're a country on an emotional-high!
For starters, I am a very emotional person. This wasn't quite clear when I was in Nepal because I had to suppress my emotions throughout the school years in the hope of getting a good "Character Certificate." However, it was evident on my first night in US, when I cried my heart out. No--It was not because I had to leave Nepal for the very first time, but my family's acquaintance who picked me up at the airport dropped me in his empty apartment and went off to work for the night. Unsure whether I could drink water from the tap, food from the fridge or the cold milk lying around, I spent the night in extreme agony, a prelude to my undergraduate years. Thus, on my many future trips to the airport to pick up new Nepali guys (Girls? -wishful thinking!!), I made sure that they would not experience such a plight. So, if I had to leave them alone at home, I made sure a pack of Marlboro and a bottle of vodka was within their vicinity. :)
It is suffice to infer that I also have a very emotional family. My Mom, for instance, fears for my life in the east coast if she hears about a gunshot in the west coast. My dad might pretend to be stoic at times, but I remember how he sulked one whole Dashain cause I had forgotten to greet one of his far-distant-relatives. The neighborhood isn't any better. I remember an incident when my cross-eyed friend got beaten the shit out of him because the so-called Dada thought he was being stared at. It didn't help my friend's case when he pleaded truthfully that he was gawking at a girl, who also happened to be a crush of the Dada. Emotions flared further when the girl's family found about the secretive-romance between the two. Forget people for a while, the Nepali animals are equally emotional. My neighbor's feared "Alsation" has bit more than a dozen neighbors and innumerable fruit and vegetable vendors over the years for simply using the road.
But I have to admit not all "Nepali" emotions are equal. The emotions take a whole new meaning for Nepalis in US when confronted on Mount Everest and Buddha--the only things we are genuinely proud about. The issue of eating beef, returning to Nepal, and the progress of Indians/India also irks us a lot. While most of us also have an inherent emotions about our ethnic group and caste, we resist to display this in public and instead resort to frittering away these emotions with our keyboards. It is implicitly understood now that a Nepali party is not authentic unless there are a few punches thrown and our beautiful "national language" spoken.
Then there are politicians, both at home and abroad, who give emotional and arousing speeches spontaneously. Jees! if only they were half as emotional while working for the public. The only politician, who I seriously doubt has any emotion is Prachanda. The feared one has made a habit of displaying public emotions once too often. That is a big, red flag. But then he is also a slithering con-man. I mean seriously! he's been able to con his own party cadres, the journalists, the nepali people, the monarchy, UN monitors, and foreign donors all at once. That almost makes Kaushal Niroula seem like a court-jester.
Now that I have made a strong case for our emotions, how can we change the view of the Gallup that CNN is so obsessed with. There's only one solution. Start a White house Petition today! I am sure there are more than 100,000 emotional Nepalis who can challenge the distorted emotional state of our country in the US media.
Last edited: 01-Feb-13 09:46 AM
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