Art Institute of Chicago: When will you return our Goddess’ Necklace?

Today is Nawami Day, the ninth day of the Dashain festival in Nepal, and the day when the doors of Taleju Bhawani temple are open for visitors and worshippers. This is the second Dashain when we desperately waited for the Art Institute of Chicago to return the necklace of Taleju Bhawani necklace and yet, the museum keeps it open on display as its own when it doesn’t belong to it. There has been so much outcry and so many demands, letters, public advocacy, greater journalism pieces and articles, and whatnot… yet for a powerful institution like the Art Institute of Chicago, it doesn’t matter. They are not accountable and they are not respectful towards the larger community in Nepal where people are waiting for the arrival of Taleju Bhawani’s necklace. The more I write and talk about this necklace, everyone I have spoken to (non-Nepalis) has said that the necklace shouldn’t be here and should be sent back to where it belongs – to the Taleju Bhawani who was gifted this necklace. This necklace is not just a piece of exotic art but it was a piece that was worshipped for many years until its disappearance. Many onlookers might not know why it is so important to the Nepali community but this piece is a part of our Goddess and we would like it back and we would like to worship it. Art Institute of Chicago is not allowing this to happen because we have to prove the provenance, we have to prove that it was lost, we have to do all the paperwork, etc. But when there was no paperwork that existed from where we will ever prove that is ours is ours? This is just too ridiculous!

But Goddess will find her way home! When she wants it no one can stop and the pathway will be created. I hope the Art Institute of Chicago realizes that what they are doing is colonial and it is not okay! I will continue to advocate for this and so will many other Nepalis. Hopefully, next Dashain we will take the Goddess Home.

Now it is two years that I stood up next to the necklace and asked for the return of the necklace. But the Art Institute of Chicago is not listening!

We are hopeful and counting the days for Goddesses’ return to Nepal. It will happen. It should happen.

Pray For Nepal

 

 

7.6 Richter Scale Eartquake stuck Nepal. 1800 above have been dead. Thousands injured!

Nepal Need Prayers

Nepal Earthquake! picture source: Nine News’ Twitter account

 

Literature and Human Rights

Human Rights have been partially taught in variety of genres of Humanities and Social Sciences. It has seen its different variety of forms for an example – in Media it is related with issues such as censorship or in various other genres of social sciences – Human Rights is studied in a different way. Human Rights has been a matter of discipline of law, political science or the cultural studies. But what about in Literature? The study of literature is nowadays more and more interdisciplinary. This is allowing the courses and other disciplines to make the study of literature more diverse and interesting.  As a part of Blog Action Day 2013 and the theme set for this year #HumanRights , I chose the topic of – Literature and Human Rights, which is one of the subjects I am studying now – to write about.

“Literature and Human Rights” is also one of the courses I am pursuing in my Masters of Philosophy ( MPHIL ) in English class. This is the unique course that has been introduced by Tribhuvan University, Nepal for the MPHIL students. However, the subject teacher told that the course is of Undergraduate studies in America (Ironical). Human behavior, condition and thinking are explored in literature additionally Human Rights is also the product of same human civilization. Human Rights are certain type of rights that are peculiar to human themselves. The first and foremost or the ancient form of Human Rights is Religion. Most of the religions talk about human rights which makes the subject matter naturally literature of human rights.

In the subject Literature and Human Rights we are studying a variety of texts that are related to the theoretical aspects of the Human Rights, its definition and explanation as well as analysis. Moreover we are also studying literary approaches to study Human Rights, the theories on Human Rights. As well as we are studying the Literature of violence including trauma. With the approaches of selected theorists we will be re looking the literature from the perspective of various theories including the trauma theory. With all these, we will also be studying what is the purpose of literary works?

पारिजातको शिरीषको फूल सम्झेर

मन्द-मन्द चलिरहेछ हावा

स्पर्श गर्दै निर्धक्क

शिरीषको रुखमा फुलेकी सकमबरीलाई

एक झोंक्कामै भुइँमा झर्ने सत्य स्वीकारे पनि

थामिन सक्दैन सुयोगवीर

सकमबरी छे नै यति मनमोहक

कसरी रहोस् सुयोगवीर तटस्थ ?

हरेक वर्ष सकमबरी

शिरीषको रुखभरि फुलाउँछे सुयोगवीरका सपनाहरु

स्तब्ध पार्दै सुयोगवीरलाई

पर्लक्क पल्टिदिन्छे उसको मुटुमाझ, मस्तिष्कमाझ

पत्तै नपाई नतमस्तक हुन्छ सुयोगवीर

हरतरहले थामिन खोज्दा पनि सक्दैन

हावा जस्तै हुत्तिएर छोइदिन्छ सकमबरीलाई

बिना प्रतिक्रिया झर्छे ऊ

सुयोगवीरको छातीमा अजम्बरी चोट रोप्दै …

 P.S. Many Many Thanks to Jotare Dhaiba for pics 🙂 and typing this 🙂

A Grain

A Grain...

You are so tiny little thing

So strong to you hold our life in you

You grow yourself up into many like you

We fill us with you every time

We chew you, swallow your presence

We then release you as a dirt

Yet you continue to grow yourself for “US”

Eternally as you grow

We grow too

We grow old and die

But you grow for eternity…

( Written to mark BlogActionDay 2011, Happy World Food Day, Don’t waste a grain ..it means a lot to a lot of people)

In the clouds

A cup of magical black coffee without sugar, tipping rain , a wet umbrella and the blue mimosa everywhere; I just love to walk in this rain.

Isn’t it amazing how water pours from the sky above our head? During my childhood I always imagined to touch sky, especially the rainbow. I always wanted to have wings as a child. Such a stupid I was, I jumped off a wall thinking that I will fly away with a comb in my hair and along with brother :). Nothing happened to us, luckily. I always imagined as a child to be a bird, to have cartoons as my friends they were mostly Gummi bears, Chip-Dale and most importantly I imagined being Minnie Mouse and having a house like hers and a lover like Mickey. I always wanted to have a small house of my own and rooms, I always wanted to shrink and to be smallest like Chip-Dale; I wanted to be Mermaid and swim. Ah! Those were the imaginations…

But, imaginations remain imaginations always and forever. They give you a sense of relief when you fantasize them. I have always enjoyed in imagination. Our teacher used to say that human heart has more speed than light and sound, it can travel anywhere at anytime. It is so true. My heart always travels around, everywhere and anywhere. My childhood dreams / imagination revive again. I really want wings; I wish I could travel around. I want to touch the rainbow and feel a colorful feeling. I want to be a bird, to have no restriction of flying ( at least I will not need a visa). Humans betray always, I want cartoons as friends. How ideal they are, how moral their ideologies were? Mermaid always fascinated me, how it feels like to be beautiful like a Mermaid?

Reality is so different, so different that imaginations are most of the times shattered. No one feels the pain but just you when imaginations are shattered. I light it and inhale it deep to my lungs and throw it out, do I feel shame about it? No, I don’t feel shame at all. But something burns with it; the broken dreams, fake imaginations and the sadness created because of them, all of them I have to burn. They have to burn, imaginations have no space in reality at all.

House of Mirrors

It reflects illusions. Nothing but illusions. It reflects the way you are and the way you should be, but its all illusion. Once you don’t stand there it does not reflect anything. It shows you the reality. The true and hardest reality. When you smile, the image smiles back, your actions, movements everything it shows how you are and what you are. Suddenly, you become proud of yourself ! Does being proud suits you ?

You envy yourself ! Like Narcissus did. Envy the beauty you think you are.

I remember a line from Shakespeare’s Hamlet “What a piece of worke is a man! how Noble in Reason? how infinite in faculty? in forme and mouing how expresse and admirable? in Action, how like an Angel? in apprehension, how like a God? the beauty of the world, the Parragon of Animals; and yet to me, what is this Quintessence of Dust? ”

Why do you feel proud yourself so much ? You feel you are so powerful that you can keep anyone in illusion. How you can assume that you can keep people in such a great illusion and you pretend that that’s reality?  You feel you are so powerful, right ? You are nothing more than dust…

This is house of mirrors, where you get your reflection. Every moment you are in illusion. Illusion that you are so powerful but you are so away from being powerful. You keep on fooling around. However, you do not realize how much you are fooling yourself. You thought you will be away from the deeds that you did? By showing your back and showing that you do not know anything , things are not going to change. Mirror reflects: the truth, it shows how you are. Look and reflect over yourself, scar remains where it is.