himsa antya ko shubharambha

15 september... turns out it was also the second anniversary of the violence that swept through chandrauta .. that was when the 'himsa antya' (roll back violence) campaign was launched in kathmandu. the venue was the rashtriya nachghar in jamal.
as four o clock drew near the nachghar folk were hurrying cleaning the stage.
sandaji (kanak) waits anxiously for the mc, the lights, the air conditioning, the mikes, the curtains, to function as best can be...
the stage all set for the guests to arrive

















meanwhile the volunteers run hither and thither with the banners... this volunteer wearing the t-shirt with the trademark twisted pistol that symbolises the himsa antya abhiyaan, looking like he's been imprisoned!

more volunteers with the himsa antya logo t-shirt


t-shirts were being sold by other volunteers



and kanak's still waiting for the things to click in place.. here he is chatting with the staff of the nachghar

at four the curtains close and the seven aguwa (patrons) are in the seats waiting for their cue, and interaction with the media... rajesh hamal, ani chhoying dolma, kul chandra gautam, haribamsha acharya, madan krishna shrestha, amrit gurung and c.k. lal


then it was the aguwa's turn to take the media's questions

the line-up


then the spotlight was on the podium...
rupa jha, the mc, and excellent sutradhaar then took over

kanak went on stage to explain the objectives of the campaign.. which he hoped to sweep the countryside like a meetho dadhelo (kind forest fire)
then curtains then parted to reveal the logo of the campaign, and the seven aguwas in a row. this marked the launch of the campaign.
the logo and symbol
ani chhoying then took over the podium and in her mellifluous voice sang two numbers, one that was composed especially at her request by poet durga lal during the peak of conflict in the country. she urged everyone to walk about as if they were hanging a mirror on their chest so that everyone saw a kindred soul reflected in others.
then kul chandra gautam to over. in his speech he talked about the degeneration of law, order and peace in the country and the scary trend of institutionalisation of violence in the past couple of years . he urged all to rather use shanti for kranti
















then it was ck la's turn. he started with gandhi's favourite incantation and then wen ton to talk about how, despite the odds, violence is meant to end. he gave example of he falcon and the tiger that are facing extinction, while the non-violent pigeon continues to multiply it population
ck then took seat and watched ...
amrit gurung, who talked about the need to keep the country united and violence free...
he also sang a new number that reflected the aftermath of violence... at the end he appealed to the leaders to improve the situation in the country so that poets did not have to pen sad songs, and neither singers and musicians like him forced to sing songs that tear the heart apart.
then it was the actor rajesh hamal's turn
he turned out to be an excellent orator, and explained about how non-violence can move mountains, by giving the examples from the civil rights movement in the usa. himsa can win battles, but they cannot win wars, he concluded.


all the while rupa jha stayed on the side, listening attentively and then stringing all the pearls coming from the aguwas into a nice garland of wisdom.
the shubharambha function ended with a mini-prahasan from maha jodi. they came up with an impromptu act that had hari 'bahadur' wanting to open a 'gun factory' in the country to help the politicians keep their promise of arming the citizens, and madan bahadur finally convincing him that those who'd die would be someone's dear one, a child, father, mother...
they had the audience enraptured with the message of non-violence being hammered with every dialogue that seemed funny...
sushil pyakurel then out the final words of thanks and outlined the future activities of the campaign too. the first activity is going to chandrauta in kapilbastu tomorrow, 16th september , for a similar programme.

following the programme people rushed to the stage to be with the aguwas
a group photo...
and then some words with the stars




some were more 'milled about' than others!
and kanak watched from above the orchestra pit
then it was time to leave...
.. from the hall that was inaugurated just last year
and which lies next to this odd combination of the old and new in the heart of kathmandu...
outside the nachghar in jamal, traffic flowed like it was any other day... everyone in a rush to get somewhere...