Anthropology Matters Journal 2004, Vol 6 (2).
1 Studying-up those who fell down: elite transformation in Nepal. Stefanie Lotter (University of Heidelberg) This article discusses the methodological challenges of studying elites, and argues that both
the negotiation of access and the position of the researcher in relation to the studied elite
group are vital to the research outcome. Unlike previous studies that took the stance of
associating with the elites, this article favours a perspective ‘from below’ borrowing
conceptually from ‘subaltern studies’ to reveal the working of gatekeepers and the study of
imposed hierarchy as an inherent part of the representation of an elite culture. Studying the
Rana, an elite clan past its prime, this study shows that an approach beginning with the
declined periphery and proceeding to the power centre presents an extensive view on the
working of elites. The Rana effectively ruled Nepal for over 100 years until they lost power following a
revolution in 1951. While they held all key posts in politics as well as in the civil and
military administration before the revolution, their influence considerably declined
after their fall from power. Despite maintaining strong personal links with the royal
family, the Shah, and a high profile in many of Nepal’s leading companies, few
political and military leaders come from the Rana clan any more. Many of today’s
Rana survive by living off profits from their property, failing to maintain the living
standards of previous generations of ruling Rana. Using the practical definition of elites as: ‘those who get the most of what there is to
get, in any institutionalised sector of society...’ (H. D. Lasswell cited in Marvick
1996: 238), it is evident that the Rana have transformed from a entire clan that
previously qualified as elites, to a clan from which a considerable number of current
elites still originate. In this respect my study of contemporary Rana has included
‘effective elites’1(those who would be recognized as such in their area of expertise on an international level), as well as Rana who would qualify as middle class by their
living standard if they were living in western Europe and not in Nepal. Studying a declining elite clan rather than a defined segment of a particular elite (for
example high ranking politicians or business consultants), my sample provided me the
possibility to observe ‘effective elites’ in less formal occasions such as family
gatherings where I accompanied their ‘accessible’ relatives. This situation allowed me
to study interactions between influential and less influential Rana in a field that Tanya
Luhrmann (1996) describes as predestined for ‘appointment anthropology’. Luhrmann
acknowledges the limitation of defined interview situations where the researcher has 1Along the lines of Stephen Nugent (2002: 72) one distinguishes between ‘accessible’ and ‘effective’ elites. Anthropologists may be able to gain access to the former and establish trust while the latter
group is not as easily approached and has no structural need to consent to being studied. Anthropology Matters Journal 2004, Vol 6 (2). http://www.anthropologymatters.com 2 usually little scope for negotiation and is often confronted with the participants’
highly choreographed self-representations. Beginning with the more accessible
periphery of the Rana clan and working inward towards the exclusive and powerful
centre provided me with glimpses of self-representation that was framed by family
interaction rather than set in formal interviews. To illustrate the unusual research
situation I had with elite participants, I remember well my astonishment when a
certain Mr Rana2had given me a time slot for an interview which was to be shared with a local newspaper journalist so that, as Mr. Rana explained, he would not have to
repeat himself. In a research relationship with elites, participants need not to be given
a voice in a project of empowerment. Elite participants can speak and write for
themselves and as Herzfeld suggests the more important question in this environment
is: ‘How do we gain sufficient intimacy to be able to say anything about these people
that they would not say for themselves?’ (2000: 230). I argue that there are two
directions leading out of the dilemma of elite studies. First, as anthropologists we
need to find ways to avoid formalized interview situations, which is best achieved by
gaining access to other interactions with the elite. Secondly, we need to acknowledge
the potential of choreographed self-representation as a specific discursive form which
can serve as a valuable alternative to the limited options of participant observation in
elite settings. Beginning with the second direction, I was surprised to find that elites are not only
experienced in giving interviews but furthermore often perceive it as their duty to
inform the public of their area of expertise and their public image. Public self-
representation is widespread and elaborate amongst the Rana and it is well known that
they give countless press statements and interviews. Furthermore Daman S.J.B. Rana
(1978), Jagadish Rana (1995), Padma Rana (1909), Pramode S.J.B. Rana (1978, 1995
and 2000) and Purushottam S.J.B. Rana (1998, 2055 B.S)3have written about the Rana in historical accounts. There are also several historical novels and fictionalized
accounts of the Rana aristocracy published notably by Diamond Rana (1981 and
1984) who has been acknowledged as the father of Nepali historical fiction but also
by Greta Rana (1977 and 1994) and Deepak Rana (pseudonym Ranabhumi). Recently
a coffee table book on the Rana aristocracy was written by Pashupati, Prabhakar and
Gautam SJB Rana (2002) and a large Rana genealogy was commissioned by the
families’ religious institution, the Pancayan (1999). Spivak (1988a, 1988b) who writes about subaltern groups rather than elites,
distinguishes between two modes of representation: Vertretung (proxy) and
Darstellung (portrait). This distinction can help us to locate the literary work of the
Rana on the Rana. Vertretung, understood in the sense of political representation, is
‘speaking for’ or in the interests of another person or group; while Darstellung is
understood as ‘placing there’, or portraying. Subaltern groups, unlike elites, do not
fully control the representation of their community; rather they rely widely on proxy
representation provided by political activists and sometimes anthropologists who may
represent their otherwise unheard voices. Dominant groups on the other hand, are not
in need of such Vertretung (proxy) as they create numerous self-representations in a 2Mr and Mrs Rana stand for anonymous participants in my study. Participants named with their full first names are not anonymous. 3B.S. is short for bikram sambat: the Nepali calendar which starts 57 years earlier than ours. Stefanie Lotter Studying-up those who fell down 3 kind of distanced self-Darstellung (portrait). In terms of Herzfeld’s question, Spivak
might suggest that the elite’s capacity to ‘speak for’ themselves makes
anthropological studies that produce Vertretung representations needless. There is no
scope to write about elites as if there would be a need to represent their otherwise
unheard voices. Studying elites, however, by studying the Darstellung of elites as
conscious presentations of the self is a challenging undertaking and as indicated
above in the case of the Rana—can be based on a well sorted corpus of material. In addition to the above mentioned literary productions authored by Rana, recently
several staged productions of the Rana theme have been produced. Biju S.J.B Rana
for example, had just written 27 episodes for a half hour TV serial on his ancestor, the
first Rana Prime Minister Jung Bahadur Rana, and was in the middle of selecting his
actors when we last spoke. The description of how he chose to become an actor shows
the ability of Darstellung, which is preserved even when the inherited membership to
the effective elite has already been lost. Biju S.J.B. Rana used his knowledge of the
Rana court to write about historical Rana. He also preserved his natural aristocratic
habitus4in order to perform on stage in the roles of the King of Nepal and amongst others Richard III, even though he had otherwise consciously unlearned his own
courtly past in order to adapt to living a commoner’s life. Unlike others, for him,
acting naturally in the role of a ruler is not particularly difficult. B. Rana It is like learning abc. That would not allow you to write
poems. It’s got to come from within and the theatre I
suddenly found, well I had this natural feeling for being
based in the public and speaking words or hmm—and yet,
I’m no politician! So, what else could I be? But, an actor? Concluding that he wanted to be based in the public sphere, Biju Rana decided to
embark on a career in the performing arts. This choice provided him not only with an
audience but with the possibility to express his increasingly conscious bodily memory
(i.e. his former natural habitus) as a conscious Darstellung (portrait) of the Rana on
stage. Without venturing further into a discussion on the probability of a conscious
habitus, I will only state here that many Rana opted to represent their clan in public
even when they were no longer in financially sound circumstances. Evidently this
provided me with an interesting field of self representation and self reflection. The contribution ‘subaltern studies’ provides for elite studies is however twofold: the
highlighted emphasis on self-representation in the sense of Darstellung and the
insistence on the ‘from below’ perspective even where other perspectives may be
available. The ‘from below’ perspective although primarily concerned with subaltern
resistance, does not exclude the writing of histories of so called ‘great men’ as Shahid
Amin (1988) demonstrated. In South Asia ‘subaltern studies’ contrast with an earlier
generation of researchers such as Louis Dumont (1966) who associated with elites
thereby helping to construct the writing of South Asian history ‘from above’. The
later studies have been largely based on privileged access granted by local elites to
western middle class researchers. The study of elites can however free itself from its
historical traits of studying ‘from above’ and can now experiment with new
approaches as discussed. For both the study of South Asia and the study of elites, this
4For Bourdieu, habitus is ‘embodied history, internalised as a second nature and so forgotten as history is, the active presence of the whole past of which it is the product’ (1990: 56). Anthropology Matters Journal 2004, Vol 6 (2). http://www.anthropologymatters.com 4 perspective frees the researcher from being associated with the colonial projects of
earlier generations. Peter Frankenberg (2002: 251) explains that when the comparison of class is based on
consumption, many elites in rural Africa cannot compete with middle class western
anthropologists. Such elites therefore need not be studied with a study-up approach.
Hence they are ‘accessible elites’ rather than ‘effective elites’ with respect to western
middle class researchers. Many of the recently published elite studies are the work of
middle class anthropologists working with accessible elites (Harvey 2002, Eade 2002,
Evers 2002 and Sobral 2000) rather then effective elites where the researcher must
acknowledge his/her powerless position. Beyond the example of the western middle
class anthropologist studying local African elites, accessibility in any elite setting is
dependant not only on the exclusivity of the elite to be studied but also on the status
of the individual researcher. This is easily demonstrated with the elite of this study,
the Rana in Nepal. Susanne von der Heide (1997) a German anthropologist, produced
a coffee table book about the Rana. While in Kathmandu, von der Heide rented a
smaller size Rana palace to live in and her social circle included diplomats and local
elites. Another German aristocrat, Kerrin Gräfin Schwerin (1993) wrote an article
about the bad taste in Rana architecture and Adrian Sever, former ambassador of
Australia to Kathmandu, published the largest historical compendium on the Rana
(1993). Finally Julia Thompson (1997), the wife of an American diplomat in
Kathmandu wrote her PhD thesis on the anthropology of beauty salons, including two
larger sections on Rana women. Thompson reflected on her own social position in the
field: ‘My identity in Kathmandu as a young white American researcher married to an
American diplomat helped me to straddle the social groups of poor student and
privileged housewife’ (Thompson 1997: 80). It is not surprising that Thompson, who
had recently made the transition from a research student to the spouse of member of
the diplomatic corps, is the only one of these writers who reflects upon her research
position. Studying the Rana as a researcher who has access to the social field of elites,
does not confront the researcher with the considerable problems of access and trust
that are so widely discussed in elite-studies (see Nader 1969, Herz & Imber 1993,
Gusterson 1997 and Hunter 1993). Studying elites by affiliation risks overlooking the
enforcement of institutionalized exclusivity and the overall choreography of presented
images. In contrast to the above mentioned studies, my own work on the Rana has to a large
degree been a study of an ‘effective elite’ that rather than being studied by affiliation
was approached from below. From this position I have been able to study
‘gatekeepers’ and other means by which the elites secure their privacy. Such a
perspective is relatively new to the field of elite studies even though the term
‘studying-up’, which strongly suggests to work from below, dates back to Nader
(1969). Until now, elite studies which concerned ‘effective elites’ relied mostly on
secondary data drawn from media and historical sources (Eade 2002, Lima 2000 and
Marcus 2000). Previous studies have brought anthropology into close proximity with
other social sciences and investigative journalism; for example some anthropologists,
such as Dan Rose (1990: 11), have worked undercover. Regardless of an ethical
dismissal of this approach (following Gusterson 1997), undercover research with the
Rana would have been difficult also in practical terms. I neither have the means or
education to display myself convincingly as a member of the elite, nor could I think of
a decent role which I could have adopted. The age of house teachers and foreign Stefanie Lotter Studying-up those who fell down 5 nannies has passed even in the most lavish Rana households. Thus I neither disguised
myself nor hid my intentions when approaching possible participants of my study.
Working from the periphery of the clan to the centre (i.e. from the more approachable
end towards the more exclusive and powerful centre), I rejected the use of name
dropping or association as a means of gaining access. I first became acquainted with several elderly Rana who lived in tiny places all the
while still preserving a style of nobility that was sometimes out of place in their
mismatched surroundings. During my discussions with these elderly Rana, I not only
listened to family histories that included financial decline and a focus on the domestic
life of elites past their prime, but I was sometimes also invited to join my participants
in the social space of their rich and powerful relatives. My experiences included
appearing once at a wedding party with Rana relatives in a taxi which was abandoned
outside the gates in order to avoid any indication of their financial decline (i.e not
owning a car anymore). However with this point of entry alongside the less powerful,
I still did not have unrestricted access to the social sphere of the ‘effective’ elites
amongst the Rana clan. I learned through the association with ‘accessible’ Rana that
even at family events, gatekeepers were in place to secure that ‘effective’ elites would
have their privacy. To ensure this employees, also members of the Rana family,
would oversee the segregation of guests including less ‘effective’ members of the
Rana elite. These gatekeepers politely restrict the movements of participants
whenever they try to leave their defined social space. On occasions with mixed
audiences the Royal family would sometimes be present, seated elsewhere in the
house, and all I would witness would be the security personal carrying ammunition to
and from the garden, or the influential members of the Rana clan disappearing into the
house while others, including me, were urged to the buffet in the garden. Without the
conspiracy of ‘effective’ elites, access to the secluded sphere of powerful people is
impossible. It is however vital to a study of elites to acknowledge this and to test ones
limits and the limits of those one decided to associate with. Beyond these limits little
can be done to secure the anthropologist further access. At best the anthropologist is
helped to gain further access by the subversive acts of members of the ‘effective’
elites who then prefer to remains invisible. On securing an entrance, apparently
without any help, politeness inhibits one from being asked to leave. Despite my experiences of hierarchical seclusion at these large social events, I found
that the difficulty of getting in touch with ‘effective elites’ did not always increase
linearly with seniority and status. To my surprise several very high ranking Rana were
rather approachable when I (detached from their ‘poor’ relatives) approached them as
a research student at their workplace. Some even responded surprisingly quickly and
were willing to give me time for an interview. For the duration of a two hour
interview the illusion of equality or even friendly proximity was easily established by
my high-end participants. Not unlike some anthropologists in other settings, elite
participants in the study-up approach may abstain from using their powerful position,
knowing that a dialogue that appears to be set between equals will win them
sympathy. Working with elites meant working with professionals who are
experienced with journalists, are aware of the danger of appearing arrogant and
unapproachable and have decided to be or at least appear to be helpful and friendly.
Appearance is conscious and trained from an early age in the elites, as Sreejana Rana
put it: ‘the last thing your parents want is you being snobbish’.Anthropology Matters Journal 2004, Vol 6 (2). http://www.anthropologymatters.com 6 The line between true recognition and the condescending attitude of the elite is hard
for anyone to distinguish, including the researcher of elites. For example in her study
of the wives of industrial elites in Germany, Böhnisch experiences a kind of
charitable attitude from her informants that she calls ‘motherly’. One of the
interviewed women considers helping Böhnisch (1999: 66) after her PhD to find a
job. Böhnisch interprets this offer as her informant’s recognition of the power of
knowledge and as her ability to see the PhD student as a future prestigious job holder
among the elite. For Böhnisch, the one sided condescending offer to help does not
mirror a power imbalance as I would have interpreted the situation. The failure to
recognize the researcher’s inferior position in relation to the studied elite leads to a
false perception of equality in Böhnisch’s case. Pierre Bourdieu (2001: 162) with
whom I agree, points to the importance of analysing the social space in which social
differentiation takes place. Böhnisch (1999: 44-5) meets her informants for a period
of two to three hours in one to one respondent-oriented open interviews. She does not
experience her interview partner in a larger group where she could have seen
strategies of distinction or demarcation directed towards her. Böhnisch therefore has
to rely on the spoken word in an artificial situation and as a result, is unable to analyse
her own position. Members of elites may pretend to be on the same level as the
anthropologist during the course of the interview, since they know that the chances of
meeting the researcher again in their own social circle are small. During two hour-
long interviews with top Rana elites, I was allowed to use their first name indicating
their efforts to establish familiarity with me. This was in sharp contrast to my
experiences at family events where the same individual made clear efforts to avoid
me. The comfortable interview situation, where one sinks into a large sofa, a glass of
wine in hand and sandwiches decorated on a silver platter to one side, may be an
unusual working atmosphere for an anthropologist and one should not be deceived by
what appears to be acceptance and familiarity. The gatekeepers of the elites are still
present and the anthropologist is expected to leave after the two hour-long interview
is finished and should have the decency not to return. Because I was studying a
declining clan and was working and socialising with less influential relatives, I was
able occasionally to see ‘effective elites’ in their proper social space. Being able to
discuss events with the less influential relatives and experiencing with them how
some elites avoided us was part of studying-up outside artificial interview situations. I suppose I must have looked quite ridiculous at times being blanked, having backs
turned on me, and left standing on my own while I was in the middle of a sentence.
However I was working on elites and their decline and being ridiculous is certainly an
experience I shared with many elites past their prime. Bourdieu has termed the
inappropriateness that results from hysteresis (1982: 238, 496) in situations of
downward social mobility, the ‘Don Quixote’ (1982: 188) effect. Some participants in
my study and I myself, displayed features of ‘Don Quixote’, albeit different ones:
they ‘the knights’ and myself ‘up against the giants’. In summary, working with
‘effective elites’ is a challenging task due to the difficulties of access, the limitation of
fieldwork to short term interviews and the choreographed self-representation of elites.
Based on my experiences whilst studying the Rana, I suggest analysing the elites’
self-representation as a specific literary form. In order to overcome time constraints
and the artificial interview situations within spheres usually studied with the methods
of ‘appointment anthropology’, I suggest to participate in further events with mixed
audiences so that gatekeepers can be observed. Understanding the means of exclusion Stefanie Lotter Studying-up those who fell down 7 so intrinsic to the functioning of elites is one step closer to an understanding of the
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Pedroso de Lima. Oxford: Berg. Stefanie Lotter Studying-up those who fell down 9 Spivak, G.C. 1988a. Can the subaltern speak? In Marxism and the interpretation of
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Kathmandu: Ratna Pustak Bhandar. About the author Stefanie Lotter is currently completing her PhD in Social Anthropology at the
University of Heidelberg (Germany). She was posted in Kathmandu as the
representative of the South Asia Institute of the Heidelberg University for two years
(1998-1999) during which time she undertook fieldwork with a declining urban elite,
the Rana.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Ranas fell down as they went up in medieval times. This time it is republican democracy!
Anthropology Matters Journal 2004, Vol 6 (2).
1 Studying-up those who fell down: elite transformation in Nepal. Stefanie Lotter (University of Heidelberg) This article discusses the methodological challenges of studying elites, and argues that both
the negotiation of access and the position of the researcher in relation to the studied elite
group are vital to the research outcome. Unlike previous studies that took the stance of
associating with the elites, this article favours a perspective ‘from below’ borrowing
conceptually from ‘subaltern studies’ to reveal the working of gatekeepers and the study of
imposed hierarchy as an inherent part of the representation of an elite culture. Studying the
Rana, an elite clan past its prime, this study shows that an approach beginning with the
declined periphery and proceeding to the power centre presents an extensive view on the
working of elites. The Rana effectively ruled Nepal for over 100 years until they lost power following a
revolution in 1951. While they held all key posts in politics as well as in the civil and
military administration before the revolution, their influence considerably declined
after their fall from power. Despite maintaining strong personal links with the royal
family, the Shah, and a high profile in many of Nepal’s leading companies, few
political and military leaders come from the Rana clan any more. Many of today’s
Rana survive by living off profits from their property, failing to maintain the living
standards of previous generations of ruling Rana. Using the practical definition of elites as: ‘those who get the most of what there is to
get, in any institutionalised sector of society...’ (H. D. Lasswell cited in Marvick
1996: 238), it is evident that the Rana have transformed from a entire clan that
previously qualified as elites, to a clan from which a considerable number of current
elites still originate. In this respect my study of contemporary Rana has included
‘effective elites’1(those who would be recognized as such in their area of expertise on an international level), as well as Rana who would qualify as middle class by their
living standard if they were living in western Europe and not in Nepal. Studying a declining elite clan rather than a defined segment of a particular elite (for
example high ranking politicians or business consultants), my sample provided me the
possibility to observe ‘effective elites’ in less formal occasions such as family
gatherings where I accompanied their ‘accessible’ relatives. This situation allowed me
to study interactions between influential and less influential Rana in a field that Tanya
Luhrmann (1996) describes as predestined for ‘appointment anthropology’. Luhrmann
acknowledges the limitation of defined interview situations where the researcher has 1Along the lines of Stephen Nugent (2002: 72) one distinguishes between ‘accessible’ and ‘effective’ elites. Anthropologists may be able to gain access to the former and establish trust while the latter
group is not as easily approached and has no structural need to consent to being studied. Anthropology Matters Journal 2004, Vol 6 (2). http://www.anthropologymatters.com 2 usually little scope for negotiation and is often confronted with the participants’
highly choreographed self-representations. Beginning with the more accessible
periphery of the Rana clan and working inward towards the exclusive and powerful
centre provided me with glimpses of self-representation that was framed by family
interaction rather than set in formal interviews. To illustrate the unusual research
situation I had with elite participants, I remember well my astonishment when a
certain Mr Rana2had given me a time slot for an interview which was to be shared with a local newspaper journalist so that, as Mr. Rana explained, he would not have to
repeat himself. In a research relationship with elites, participants need not to be given
a voice in a project of empowerment. Elite participants can speak and write for
themselves and as Herzfeld suggests the more important question in this environment
is: ‘How do we gain sufficient intimacy to be able to say anything about these people
that they would not say for themselves?’ (2000: 230). I argue that there are two
directions leading out of the dilemma of elite studies. First, as anthropologists we
need to find ways to avoid formalized interview situations, which is best achieved by
gaining access to other interactions with the elite. Secondly, we need to acknowledge
the potential of choreographed self-representation as a specific discursive form which
can serve as a valuable alternative to the limited options of participant observation in
elite settings. Beginning with the second direction, I was surprised to find that elites are not only
experienced in giving interviews but furthermore often perceive it as their duty to
inform the public of their area of expertise and their public image. Public self-
representation is widespread and elaborate amongst the Rana and it is well known that
they give countless press statements and interviews. Furthermore Daman S.J.B. Rana
(1978), Jagadish Rana (1995), Padma Rana (1909), Pramode S.J.B. Rana (1978, 1995
and 2000) and Purushottam S.J.B. Rana (1998, 2055 B.S)3have written about the Rana in historical accounts. There are also several historical novels and fictionalized
accounts of the Rana aristocracy published notably by Diamond Rana (1981 and
1984) who has been acknowledged as the father of Nepali historical fiction but also
by Greta Rana (1977 and 1994) and Deepak Rana (pseudonym Ranabhumi). Recently
a coffee table book on the Rana aristocracy was written by Pashupati, Prabhakar and
Gautam SJB Rana (2002) and a large Rana genealogy was commissioned by the
families’ religious institution, the Pancayan (1999). Spivak (1988a, 1988b) who writes about subaltern groups rather than elites,
distinguishes between two modes of representation: Vertretung (proxy) and
Darstellung (portrait). This distinction can help us to locate the literary work of the
Rana on the Rana. Vertretung, understood in the sense of political representation, is
‘speaking for’ or in the interests of another person or group; while Darstellung is
understood as ‘placing there’, or portraying. Subaltern groups, unlike elites, do not
fully control the representation of their community; rather they rely widely on proxy
representation provided by political activists and sometimes anthropologists who may
represent their otherwise unheard voices. Dominant groups on the other hand, are not
in need of such Vertretung (proxy) as they create numerous self-representations in a 2Mr and Mrs Rana stand for anonymous participants in my study. Participants named with their full first names are not anonymous. 3B.S. is short for bikram sambat: the Nepali calendar which starts 57 years earlier than ours. Stefanie Lotter Studying-up those who fell down 3 kind of distanced self-Darstellung (portrait). In terms of Herzfeld’s question, Spivak
might suggest that the elite’s capacity to ‘speak for’ themselves makes
anthropological studies that produce Vertretung representations needless. There is no
scope to write about elites as if there would be a need to represent their otherwise
unheard voices. Studying elites, however, by studying the Darstellung of elites as
conscious presentations of the self is a challenging undertaking and as indicated
above in the case of the Rana—can be based on a well sorted corpus of material. In addition to the above mentioned literary productions authored by Rana, recently
several staged productions of the Rana theme have been produced. Biju S.J.B Rana
for example, had just written 27 episodes for a half hour TV serial on his ancestor, the
first Rana Prime Minister Jung Bahadur Rana, and was in the middle of selecting his
actors when we last spoke. The description of how he chose to become an actor shows
the ability of Darstellung, which is preserved even when the inherited membership to
the effective elite has already been lost. Biju S.J.B. Rana used his knowledge of the
Rana court to write about historical Rana. He also preserved his natural aristocratic
habitus4in order to perform on stage in the roles of the King of Nepal and amongst others Richard III, even though he had otherwise consciously unlearned his own
courtly past in order to adapt to living a commoner’s life. Unlike others, for him,
acting naturally in the role of a ruler is not particularly difficult. B. Rana It is like learning abc. That would not allow you to write
poems. It’s got to come from within and the theatre I
suddenly found, well I had this natural feeling for being
based in the public and speaking words or hmm—and yet,
I’m no politician! So, what else could I be? But, an actor? Concluding that he wanted to be based in the public sphere, Biju Rana decided to
embark on a career in the performing arts. This choice provided him not only with an
audience but with the possibility to express his increasingly conscious bodily memory
(i.e. his former natural habitus) as a conscious Darstellung (portrait) of the Rana on
stage. Without venturing further into a discussion on the probability of a conscious
habitus, I will only state here that many Rana opted to represent their clan in public
even when they were no longer in financially sound circumstances. Evidently this
provided me with an interesting field of self representation and self reflection. The contribution ‘subaltern studies’ provides for elite studies is however twofold: the
highlighted emphasis on self-representation in the sense of Darstellung and the
insistence on the ‘from below’ perspective even where other perspectives may be
available. The ‘from below’ perspective although primarily concerned with subaltern
resistance, does not exclude the writing of histories of so called ‘great men’ as Shahid
Amin (1988) demonstrated. In South Asia ‘subaltern studies’ contrast with an earlier
generation of researchers such as Louis Dumont (1966) who associated with elites
thereby helping to construct the writing of South Asian history ‘from above’. The
later studies have been largely based on privileged access granted by local elites to
western middle class researchers. The study of elites can however free itself from its
historical traits of studying ‘from above’ and can now experiment with new
approaches as discussed. For both the study of South Asia and the study of elites, this
4For Bourdieu, habitus is ‘embodied history, internalised as a second nature and so forgotten as history is, the active presence of the whole past of which it is the product’ (1990: 56). Anthropology Matters Journal 2004, Vol 6 (2). http://www.anthropologymatters.com 4 perspective frees the researcher from being associated with the colonial projects of
earlier generations. Peter Frankenberg (2002: 251) explains that when the comparison of class is based on
consumption, many elites in rural Africa cannot compete with middle class western
anthropologists. Such elites therefore need not be studied with a study-up approach.
Hence they are ‘accessible elites’ rather than ‘effective elites’ with respect to western
middle class researchers. Many of the recently published elite studies are the work of
middle class anthropologists working with accessible elites (Harvey 2002, Eade 2002,
Evers 2002 and Sobral 2000) rather then effective elites where the researcher must
acknowledge his/her powerless position. Beyond the example of the western middle
class anthropologist studying local African elites, accessibility in any elite setting is
dependant not only on the exclusivity of the elite to be studied but also on the status
of the individual researcher. This is easily demonstrated with the elite of this study,
the Rana in Nepal. Susanne von der Heide (1997) a German anthropologist, produced
a coffee table book about the Rana. While in Kathmandu, von der Heide rented a
smaller size Rana palace to live in and her social circle included diplomats and local
elites. Another German aristocrat, Kerrin Gräfin Schwerin (1993) wrote an article
about the bad taste in Rana architecture and Adrian Sever, former ambassador of
Australia to Kathmandu, published the largest historical compendium on the Rana
(1993). Finally Julia Thompson (1997), the wife of an American diplomat in
Kathmandu wrote her PhD thesis on the anthropology of beauty salons, including two
larger sections on Rana women. Thompson reflected on her own social position in the
field: ‘My identity in Kathmandu as a young white American researcher married to an
American diplomat helped me to straddle the social groups of poor student and
privileged housewife’ (Thompson 1997: 80). It is not surprising that Thompson, who
had recently made the transition from a research student to the spouse of member of
the diplomatic corps, is the only one of these writers who reflects upon her research
position. Studying the Rana as a researcher who has access to the social field of elites,
does not confront the researcher with the considerable problems of access and trust
that are so widely discussed in elite-studies (see Nader 1969, Herz & Imber 1993,
Gusterson 1997 and Hunter 1993). Studying elites by affiliation risks overlooking the
enforcement of institutionalized exclusivity and the overall choreography of presented
images. In contrast to the above mentioned studies, my own work on the Rana has to a large
degree been a study of an ‘effective elite’ that rather than being studied by affiliation
was approached from below. From this position I have been able to study
‘gatekeepers’ and other means by which the elites secure their privacy. Such a
perspective is relatively new to the field of elite studies even though the term
‘studying-up’, which strongly suggests to work from below, dates back to Nader
(1969). Until now, elite studies which concerned ‘effective elites’ relied mostly on
secondary data drawn from media and historical sources (Eade 2002, Lima 2000 and
Marcus 2000). Previous studies have brought anthropology into close proximity with
other social sciences and investigative journalism; for example some anthropologists,
such as Dan Rose (1990: 11), have worked undercover. Regardless of an ethical
dismissal of this approach (following Gusterson 1997), undercover research with the
Rana would have been difficult also in practical terms. I neither have the means or
education to display myself convincingly as a member of the elite, nor could I think of
a decent role which I could have adopted. The age of house teachers and foreign Stefanie Lotter Studying-up those who fell down 5 nannies has passed even in the most lavish Rana households. Thus I neither disguised
myself nor hid my intentions when approaching possible participants of my study.
Working from the periphery of the clan to the centre (i.e. from the more approachable
end towards the more exclusive and powerful centre), I rejected the use of name
dropping or association as a means of gaining access. I first became acquainted with several elderly Rana who lived in tiny places all the
while still preserving a style of nobility that was sometimes out of place in their
mismatched surroundings. During my discussions with these elderly Rana, I not only
listened to family histories that included financial decline and a focus on the domestic
life of elites past their prime, but I was sometimes also invited to join my participants
in the social space of their rich and powerful relatives. My experiences included
appearing once at a wedding party with Rana relatives in a taxi which was abandoned
outside the gates in order to avoid any indication of their financial decline (i.e not
owning a car anymore). However with this point of entry alongside the less powerful,
I still did not have unrestricted access to the social sphere of the ‘effective’ elites
amongst the Rana clan. I learned through the association with ‘accessible’ Rana that
even at family events, gatekeepers were in place to secure that ‘effective’ elites would
have their privacy. To ensure this employees, also members of the Rana family,
would oversee the segregation of guests including less ‘effective’ members of the
Rana elite. These gatekeepers politely restrict the movements of participants
whenever they try to leave their defined social space. On occasions with mixed
audiences the Royal family would sometimes be present, seated elsewhere in the
house, and all I would witness would be the security personal carrying ammunition to
and from the garden, or the influential members of the Rana clan disappearing into the
house while others, including me, were urged to the buffet in the garden. Without the
conspiracy of ‘effective’ elites, access to the secluded sphere of powerful people is
impossible. It is however vital to a study of elites to acknowledge this and to test ones
limits and the limits of those one decided to associate with. Beyond these limits little
can be done to secure the anthropologist further access. At best the anthropologist is
helped to gain further access by the subversive acts of members of the ‘effective’
elites who then prefer to remains invisible. On securing an entrance, apparently
without any help, politeness inhibits one from being asked to leave. Despite my experiences of hierarchical seclusion at these large social events, I found
that the difficulty of getting in touch with ‘effective elites’ did not always increase
linearly with seniority and status. To my surprise several very high ranking Rana were
rather approachable when I (detached from their ‘poor’ relatives) approached them as
a research student at their workplace. Some even responded surprisingly quickly and
were willing to give me time for an interview. For the duration of a two hour
interview the illusion of equality or even friendly proximity was easily established by
my high-end participants. Not unlike some anthropologists in other settings, elite
participants in the study-up approach may abstain from using their powerful position,
knowing that a dialogue that appears to be set between equals will win them
sympathy. Working with elites meant working with professionals who are
experienced with journalists, are aware of the danger of appearing arrogant and
unapproachable and have decided to be or at least appear to be helpful and friendly.
Appearance is conscious and trained from an early age in the elites, as Sreejana Rana
put it: ‘the last thing your parents want is you being snobbish’.Anthropology Matters Journal 2004, Vol 6 (2). http://www.anthropologymatters.com 6 The line between true recognition and the condescending attitude of the elite is hard
for anyone to distinguish, including the researcher of elites. For example in her study
of the wives of industrial elites in Germany, Böhnisch experiences a kind of
charitable attitude from her informants that she calls ‘motherly’. One of the
interviewed women considers helping Böhnisch (1999: 66) after her PhD to find a
job. Böhnisch interprets this offer as her informant’s recognition of the power of
knowledge and as her ability to see the PhD student as a future prestigious job holder
among the elite. For Böhnisch, the one sided condescending offer to help does not
mirror a power imbalance as I would have interpreted the situation. The failure to
recognize the researcher’s inferior position in relation to the studied elite leads to a
false perception of equality in Böhnisch’s case. Pierre Bourdieu (2001: 162) with
whom I agree, points to the importance of analysing the social space in which social
differentiation takes place. Böhnisch (1999: 44-5) meets her informants for a period
of two to three hours in one to one respondent-oriented open interviews. She does not
experience her interview partner in a larger group where she could have seen
strategies of distinction or demarcation directed towards her. Böhnisch therefore has
to rely on the spoken word in an artificial situation and as a result, is unable to analyse
her own position. Members of elites may pretend to be on the same level as the
anthropologist during the course of the interview, since they know that the chances of
meeting the researcher again in their own social circle are small. During two hour-
long interviews with top Rana elites, I was allowed to use their first name indicating
their efforts to establish familiarity with me. This was in sharp contrast to my
experiences at family events where the same individual made clear efforts to avoid
me. The comfortable interview situation, where one sinks into a large sofa, a glass of
wine in hand and sandwiches decorated on a silver platter to one side, may be an
unusual working atmosphere for an anthropologist and one should not be deceived by
what appears to be acceptance and familiarity. The gatekeepers of the elites are still
present and the anthropologist is expected to leave after the two hour-long interview
is finished and should have the decency not to return. Because I was studying a
declining clan and was working and socialising with less influential relatives, I was
able occasionally to see ‘effective elites’ in their proper social space. Being able to
discuss events with the less influential relatives and experiencing with them how
some elites avoided us was part of studying-up outside artificial interview situations. I suppose I must have looked quite ridiculous at times being blanked, having backs
turned on me, and left standing on my own while I was in the middle of a sentence.
However I was working on elites and their decline and being ridiculous is certainly an
experience I shared with many elites past their prime. Bourdieu has termed the
inappropriateness that results from hysteresis (1982: 238, 496) in situations of
downward social mobility, the ‘Don Quixote’ (1982: 188) effect. Some participants in
my study and I myself, displayed features of ‘Don Quixote’, albeit different ones:
they ‘the knights’ and myself ‘up against the giants’. In summary, working with
‘effective elites’ is a challenging task due to the difficulties of access, the limitation of
fieldwork to short term interviews and the choreographed self-representation of elites.
Based on my experiences whilst studying the Rana, I suggest analysing the elites’
self-representation as a specific literary form. In order to overcome time constraints
and the artificial interview situations within spheres usually studied with the methods
of ‘appointment anthropology’, I suggest to participate in further events with mixed
audiences so that gatekeepers can be observed. Understanding the means of exclusion Stefanie Lotter Studying-up those who fell down 7 so intrinsic to the functioning of elites is one step closer to an understanding of the
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Kathmandu: Book Faith India. Ranabhumi (alias Deepak Rana) n.d. The bending reed. Kathmandu. Rose, D. 1990. Living the ethnographic life. Newbury Park: Sage. Schwerin, K. Gräfin 1993. Rana-Herrschaft und Paläste im Kathmandu-Tal 1846-
1951. Saeculum 44: 243-64. Sever, A. 1993. Nepal under the Ranas. Delhi: Oxford and IBH publisher. Shore, C. & S. Nugent (eds). 2002. Elite cultures: anthropological perspectives (ASA
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elite. In Elites: choice leadership and succession (eds) J. de Pina-Cabral & A.
Pedroso de Lima. Oxford: Berg. Stefanie Lotter Studying-up those who fell down 9 Spivak, G.C. 1988a. Can the subaltern speak? In Marxism and the interpretation of
culture (eds) C. Nelson & L. Grossberg, 271-313. Chicago: University of Illinois
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Nepal. Unpublished PhD: University of Wisconsin-Madison. von der Heide, S. 1997. Changing faces of Nepal: The glory of Asia's past.
Kathmandu: Ratna Pustak Bhandar. About the author Stefanie Lotter is currently completing her PhD in Social Anthropology at the
University of Heidelberg (Germany). She was posted in Kathmandu as the
representative of the South Asia Institute of the Heidelberg University for two years
(1998-1999) during which time she undertook fieldwork with a declining urban elite,
the Rana.
1 Studying-up those who fell down: elite transformation in Nepal. Stefanie Lotter (University of Heidelberg) This article discusses the methodological challenges of studying elites, and argues that both
the negotiation of access and the position of the researcher in relation to the studied elite
group are vital to the research outcome. Unlike previous studies that took the stance of
associating with the elites, this article favours a perspective ‘from below’ borrowing
conceptually from ‘subaltern studies’ to reveal the working of gatekeepers and the study of
imposed hierarchy as an inherent part of the representation of an elite culture. Studying the
Rana, an elite clan past its prime, this study shows that an approach beginning with the
declined periphery and proceeding to the power centre presents an extensive view on the
working of elites. The Rana effectively ruled Nepal for over 100 years until they lost power following a
revolution in 1951. While they held all key posts in politics as well as in the civil and
military administration before the revolution, their influence considerably declined
after their fall from power. Despite maintaining strong personal links with the royal
family, the Shah, and a high profile in many of Nepal’s leading companies, few
political and military leaders come from the Rana clan any more. Many of today’s
Rana survive by living off profits from their property, failing to maintain the living
standards of previous generations of ruling Rana. Using the practical definition of elites as: ‘those who get the most of what there is to
get, in any institutionalised sector of society...’ (H. D. Lasswell cited in Marvick
1996: 238), it is evident that the Rana have transformed from a entire clan that
previously qualified as elites, to a clan from which a considerable number of current
elites still originate. In this respect my study of contemporary Rana has included
‘effective elites’1(those who would be recognized as such in their area of expertise on an international level), as well as Rana who would qualify as middle class by their
living standard if they were living in western Europe and not in Nepal. Studying a declining elite clan rather than a defined segment of a particular elite (for
example high ranking politicians or business consultants), my sample provided me the
possibility to observe ‘effective elites’ in less formal occasions such as family
gatherings where I accompanied their ‘accessible’ relatives. This situation allowed me
to study interactions between influential and less influential Rana in a field that Tanya
Luhrmann (1996) describes as predestined for ‘appointment anthropology’. Luhrmann
acknowledges the limitation of defined interview situations where the researcher has 1Along the lines of Stephen Nugent (2002: 72) one distinguishes between ‘accessible’ and ‘effective’ elites. Anthropologists may be able to gain access to the former and establish trust while the latter
group is not as easily approached and has no structural need to consent to being studied. Anthropology Matters Journal 2004, Vol 6 (2). http://www.anthropologymatters.com 2 usually little scope for negotiation and is often confronted with the participants’
highly choreographed self-representations. Beginning with the more accessible
periphery of the Rana clan and working inward towards the exclusive and powerful
centre provided me with glimpses of self-representation that was framed by family
interaction rather than set in formal interviews. To illustrate the unusual research
situation I had with elite participants, I remember well my astonishment when a
certain Mr Rana2had given me a time slot for an interview which was to be shared with a local newspaper journalist so that, as Mr. Rana explained, he would not have to
repeat himself. In a research relationship with elites, participants need not to be given
a voice in a project of empowerment. Elite participants can speak and write for
themselves and as Herzfeld suggests the more important question in this environment
is: ‘How do we gain sufficient intimacy to be able to say anything about these people
that they would not say for themselves?’ (2000: 230). I argue that there are two
directions leading out of the dilemma of elite studies. First, as anthropologists we
need to find ways to avoid formalized interview situations, which is best achieved by
gaining access to other interactions with the elite. Secondly, we need to acknowledge
the potential of choreographed self-representation as a specific discursive form which
can serve as a valuable alternative to the limited options of participant observation in
elite settings. Beginning with the second direction, I was surprised to find that elites are not only
experienced in giving interviews but furthermore often perceive it as their duty to
inform the public of their area of expertise and their public image. Public self-
representation is widespread and elaborate amongst the Rana and it is well known that
they give countless press statements and interviews. Furthermore Daman S.J.B. Rana
(1978), Jagadish Rana (1995), Padma Rana (1909), Pramode S.J.B. Rana (1978, 1995
and 2000) and Purushottam S.J.B. Rana (1998, 2055 B.S)3have written about the Rana in historical accounts. There are also several historical novels and fictionalized
accounts of the Rana aristocracy published notably by Diamond Rana (1981 and
1984) who has been acknowledged as the father of Nepali historical fiction but also
by Greta Rana (1977 and 1994) and Deepak Rana (pseudonym Ranabhumi). Recently
a coffee table book on the Rana aristocracy was written by Pashupati, Prabhakar and
Gautam SJB Rana (2002) and a large Rana genealogy was commissioned by the
families’ religious institution, the Pancayan (1999). Spivak (1988a, 1988b) who writes about subaltern groups rather than elites,
distinguishes between two modes of representation: Vertretung (proxy) and
Darstellung (portrait). This distinction can help us to locate the literary work of the
Rana on the Rana. Vertretung, understood in the sense of political representation, is
‘speaking for’ or in the interests of another person or group; while Darstellung is
understood as ‘placing there’, or portraying. Subaltern groups, unlike elites, do not
fully control the representation of their community; rather they rely widely on proxy
representation provided by political activists and sometimes anthropologists who may
represent their otherwise unheard voices. Dominant groups on the other hand, are not
in need of such Vertretung (proxy) as they create numerous self-representations in a 2Mr and Mrs Rana stand for anonymous participants in my study. Participants named with their full first names are not anonymous. 3B.S. is short for bikram sambat: the Nepali calendar which starts 57 years earlier than ours. Stefanie Lotter Studying-up those who fell down 3 kind of distanced self-Darstellung (portrait). In terms of Herzfeld’s question, Spivak
might suggest that the elite’s capacity to ‘speak for’ themselves makes
anthropological studies that produce Vertretung representations needless. There is no
scope to write about elites as if there would be a need to represent their otherwise
unheard voices. Studying elites, however, by studying the Darstellung of elites as
conscious presentations of the self is a challenging undertaking and as indicated
above in the case of the Rana—can be based on a well sorted corpus of material. In addition to the above mentioned literary productions authored by Rana, recently
several staged productions of the Rana theme have been produced. Biju S.J.B Rana
for example, had just written 27 episodes for a half hour TV serial on his ancestor, the
first Rana Prime Minister Jung Bahadur Rana, and was in the middle of selecting his
actors when we last spoke. The description of how he chose to become an actor shows
the ability of Darstellung, which is preserved even when the inherited membership to
the effective elite has already been lost. Biju S.J.B. Rana used his knowledge of the
Rana court to write about historical Rana. He also preserved his natural aristocratic
habitus4in order to perform on stage in the roles of the King of Nepal and amongst others Richard III, even though he had otherwise consciously unlearned his own
courtly past in order to adapt to living a commoner’s life. Unlike others, for him,
acting naturally in the role of a ruler is not particularly difficult. B. Rana It is like learning abc. That would not allow you to write
poems. It’s got to come from within and the theatre I
suddenly found, well I had this natural feeling for being
based in the public and speaking words or hmm—and yet,
I’m no politician! So, what else could I be? But, an actor? Concluding that he wanted to be based in the public sphere, Biju Rana decided to
embark on a career in the performing arts. This choice provided him not only with an
audience but with the possibility to express his increasingly conscious bodily memory
(i.e. his former natural habitus) as a conscious Darstellung (portrait) of the Rana on
stage. Without venturing further into a discussion on the probability of a conscious
habitus, I will only state here that many Rana opted to represent their clan in public
even when they were no longer in financially sound circumstances. Evidently this
provided me with an interesting field of self representation and self reflection. The contribution ‘subaltern studies’ provides for elite studies is however twofold: the
highlighted emphasis on self-representation in the sense of Darstellung and the
insistence on the ‘from below’ perspective even where other perspectives may be
available. The ‘from below’ perspective although primarily concerned with subaltern
resistance, does not exclude the writing of histories of so called ‘great men’ as Shahid
Amin (1988) demonstrated. In South Asia ‘subaltern studies’ contrast with an earlier
generation of researchers such as Louis Dumont (1966) who associated with elites
thereby helping to construct the writing of South Asian history ‘from above’. The
later studies have been largely based on privileged access granted by local elites to
western middle class researchers. The study of elites can however free itself from its
historical traits of studying ‘from above’ and can now experiment with new
approaches as discussed. For both the study of South Asia and the study of elites, this
4For Bourdieu, habitus is ‘embodied history, internalised as a second nature and so forgotten as history is, the active presence of the whole past of which it is the product’ (1990: 56). Anthropology Matters Journal 2004, Vol 6 (2). http://www.anthropologymatters.com 4 perspective frees the researcher from being associated with the colonial projects of
earlier generations. Peter Frankenberg (2002: 251) explains that when the comparison of class is based on
consumption, many elites in rural Africa cannot compete with middle class western
anthropologists. Such elites therefore need not be studied with a study-up approach.
Hence they are ‘accessible elites’ rather than ‘effective elites’ with respect to western
middle class researchers. Many of the recently published elite studies are the work of
middle class anthropologists working with accessible elites (Harvey 2002, Eade 2002,
Evers 2002 and Sobral 2000) rather then effective elites where the researcher must
acknowledge his/her powerless position. Beyond the example of the western middle
class anthropologist studying local African elites, accessibility in any elite setting is
dependant not only on the exclusivity of the elite to be studied but also on the status
of the individual researcher. This is easily demonstrated with the elite of this study,
the Rana in Nepal. Susanne von der Heide (1997) a German anthropologist, produced
a coffee table book about the Rana. While in Kathmandu, von der Heide rented a
smaller size Rana palace to live in and her social circle included diplomats and local
elites. Another German aristocrat, Kerrin Gräfin Schwerin (1993) wrote an article
about the bad taste in Rana architecture and Adrian Sever, former ambassador of
Australia to Kathmandu, published the largest historical compendium on the Rana
(1993). Finally Julia Thompson (1997), the wife of an American diplomat in
Kathmandu wrote her PhD thesis on the anthropology of beauty salons, including two
larger sections on Rana women. Thompson reflected on her own social position in the
field: ‘My identity in Kathmandu as a young white American researcher married to an
American diplomat helped me to straddle the social groups of poor student and
privileged housewife’ (Thompson 1997: 80). It is not surprising that Thompson, who
had recently made the transition from a research student to the spouse of member of
the diplomatic corps, is the only one of these writers who reflects upon her research
position. Studying the Rana as a researcher who has access to the social field of elites,
does not confront the researcher with the considerable problems of access and trust
that are so widely discussed in elite-studies (see Nader 1969, Herz & Imber 1993,
Gusterson 1997 and Hunter 1993). Studying elites by affiliation risks overlooking the
enforcement of institutionalized exclusivity and the overall choreography of presented
images. In contrast to the above mentioned studies, my own work on the Rana has to a large
degree been a study of an ‘effective elite’ that rather than being studied by affiliation
was approached from below. From this position I have been able to study
‘gatekeepers’ and other means by which the elites secure their privacy. Such a
perspective is relatively new to the field of elite studies even though the term
‘studying-up’, which strongly suggests to work from below, dates back to Nader
(1969). Until now, elite studies which concerned ‘effective elites’ relied mostly on
secondary data drawn from media and historical sources (Eade 2002, Lima 2000 and
Marcus 2000). Previous studies have brought anthropology into close proximity with
other social sciences and investigative journalism; for example some anthropologists,
such as Dan Rose (1990: 11), have worked undercover. Regardless of an ethical
dismissal of this approach (following Gusterson 1997), undercover research with the
Rana would have been difficult also in practical terms. I neither have the means or
education to display myself convincingly as a member of the elite, nor could I think of
a decent role which I could have adopted. The age of house teachers and foreign Stefanie Lotter Studying-up those who fell down 5 nannies has passed even in the most lavish Rana households. Thus I neither disguised
myself nor hid my intentions when approaching possible participants of my study.
Working from the periphery of the clan to the centre (i.e. from the more approachable
end towards the more exclusive and powerful centre), I rejected the use of name
dropping or association as a means of gaining access. I first became acquainted with several elderly Rana who lived in tiny places all the
while still preserving a style of nobility that was sometimes out of place in their
mismatched surroundings. During my discussions with these elderly Rana, I not only
listened to family histories that included financial decline and a focus on the domestic
life of elites past their prime, but I was sometimes also invited to join my participants
in the social space of their rich and powerful relatives. My experiences included
appearing once at a wedding party with Rana relatives in a taxi which was abandoned
outside the gates in order to avoid any indication of their financial decline (i.e not
owning a car anymore). However with this point of entry alongside the less powerful,
I still did not have unrestricted access to the social sphere of the ‘effective’ elites
amongst the Rana clan. I learned through the association with ‘accessible’ Rana that
even at family events, gatekeepers were in place to secure that ‘effective’ elites would
have their privacy. To ensure this employees, also members of the Rana family,
would oversee the segregation of guests including less ‘effective’ members of the
Rana elite. These gatekeepers politely restrict the movements of participants
whenever they try to leave their defined social space. On occasions with mixed
audiences the Royal family would sometimes be present, seated elsewhere in the
house, and all I would witness would be the security personal carrying ammunition to
and from the garden, or the influential members of the Rana clan disappearing into the
house while others, including me, were urged to the buffet in the garden. Without the
conspiracy of ‘effective’ elites, access to the secluded sphere of powerful people is
impossible. It is however vital to a study of elites to acknowledge this and to test ones
limits and the limits of those one decided to associate with. Beyond these limits little
can be done to secure the anthropologist further access. At best the anthropologist is
helped to gain further access by the subversive acts of members of the ‘effective’
elites who then prefer to remains invisible. On securing an entrance, apparently
without any help, politeness inhibits one from being asked to leave. Despite my experiences of hierarchical seclusion at these large social events, I found
that the difficulty of getting in touch with ‘effective elites’ did not always increase
linearly with seniority and status. To my surprise several very high ranking Rana were
rather approachable when I (detached from their ‘poor’ relatives) approached them as
a research student at their workplace. Some even responded surprisingly quickly and
were willing to give me time for an interview. For the duration of a two hour
interview the illusion of equality or even friendly proximity was easily established by
my high-end participants. Not unlike some anthropologists in other settings, elite
participants in the study-up approach may abstain from using their powerful position,
knowing that a dialogue that appears to be set between equals will win them
sympathy. Working with elites meant working with professionals who are
experienced with journalists, are aware of the danger of appearing arrogant and
unapproachable and have decided to be or at least appear to be helpful and friendly.
Appearance is conscious and trained from an early age in the elites, as Sreejana Rana
put it: ‘the last thing your parents want is you being snobbish’.Anthropology Matters Journal 2004, Vol 6 (2). http://www.anthropologymatters.com 6 The line between true recognition and the condescending attitude of the elite is hard
for anyone to distinguish, including the researcher of elites. For example in her study
of the wives of industrial elites in Germany, Böhnisch experiences a kind of
charitable attitude from her informants that she calls ‘motherly’. One of the
interviewed women considers helping Böhnisch (1999: 66) after her PhD to find a
job. Böhnisch interprets this offer as her informant’s recognition of the power of
knowledge and as her ability to see the PhD student as a future prestigious job holder
among the elite. For Böhnisch, the one sided condescending offer to help does not
mirror a power imbalance as I would have interpreted the situation. The failure to
recognize the researcher’s inferior position in relation to the studied elite leads to a
false perception of equality in Böhnisch’s case. Pierre Bourdieu (2001: 162) with
whom I agree, points to the importance of analysing the social space in which social
differentiation takes place. Böhnisch (1999: 44-5) meets her informants for a period
of two to three hours in one to one respondent-oriented open interviews. She does not
experience her interview partner in a larger group where she could have seen
strategies of distinction or demarcation directed towards her. Böhnisch therefore has
to rely on the spoken word in an artificial situation and as a result, is unable to analyse
her own position. Members of elites may pretend to be on the same level as the
anthropologist during the course of the interview, since they know that the chances of
meeting the researcher again in their own social circle are small. During two hour-
long interviews with top Rana elites, I was allowed to use their first name indicating
their efforts to establish familiarity with me. This was in sharp contrast to my
experiences at family events where the same individual made clear efforts to avoid
me. The comfortable interview situation, where one sinks into a large sofa, a glass of
wine in hand and sandwiches decorated on a silver platter to one side, may be an
unusual working atmosphere for an anthropologist and one should not be deceived by
what appears to be acceptance and familiarity. The gatekeepers of the elites are still
present and the anthropologist is expected to leave after the two hour-long interview
is finished and should have the decency not to return. Because I was studying a
declining clan and was working and socialising with less influential relatives, I was
able occasionally to see ‘effective elites’ in their proper social space. Being able to
discuss events with the less influential relatives and experiencing with them how
some elites avoided us was part of studying-up outside artificial interview situations. I suppose I must have looked quite ridiculous at times being blanked, having backs
turned on me, and left standing on my own while I was in the middle of a sentence.
However I was working on elites and their decline and being ridiculous is certainly an
experience I shared with many elites past their prime. Bourdieu has termed the
inappropriateness that results from hysteresis (1982: 238, 496) in situations of
downward social mobility, the ‘Don Quixote’ (1982: 188) effect. Some participants in
my study and I myself, displayed features of ‘Don Quixote’, albeit different ones:
they ‘the knights’ and myself ‘up against the giants’. In summary, working with
‘effective elites’ is a challenging task due to the difficulties of access, the limitation of
fieldwork to short term interviews and the choreographed self-representation of elites.
Based on my experiences whilst studying the Rana, I suggest analysing the elites’
self-representation as a specific literary form. In order to overcome time constraints
and the artificial interview situations within spheres usually studied with the methods
of ‘appointment anthropology’, I suggest to participate in further events with mixed
audiences so that gatekeepers can be observed. Understanding the means of exclusion Stefanie Lotter Studying-up those who fell down 7 so intrinsic to the functioning of elites is one step closer to an understanding of the
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cultures: anthropological perspectives (eds) C. Shore & S. Nugent. ASA Monographs
v.38. London: Routledge. Gusterson, H. 1997. Studying up revisited. Political and Legal Anthropology Review
20: 114-19. Harvey, P. 2002. Elites on the margins: mestizo traders in the southern Peruvian
Andes. In Elite cultures: anthropological perspectives (eds) C. Shore & S. Nugent.
ASA Monographs v.38. London: Routledge. Herz, R. & J.B. Imber. 1993. Fieldwork in elite settings. Journal of Contemporary
Ethnography 22: (1): 3-6. Herzfeld, M. 2000. Uncanny success: some closing remarks. In Elites: choice
leadership and succession (eds) J. de Pina-Cabral & A.P. de Lima. Oxford: Berg. Hunter, A. 1993. Local knowledge and local power: notes on the ethnography of local
community elites. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography 22: (1) 36-58. Luhrmann, T. 1996. The good Parsi: the fate of a colonial elite in a postcolonial
society. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. Anthropology Matters Journal 2004, Vol 6 (2). http://www.anthropologymatters.com 8 Marcus, G.E. 2000. The deep legacies of dynastic subjectivity: the resonances of a
famous family identity in private and public space. In Elites: choice leadership and
succession (eds) J. de Pina-Cabral & A.P. de Lima. Oxford: Berg. Marvick, D. 1996. Elites. In The social science encyclopaedia (eds) A. Kuper & J.
Kuper. London: Routledge. Nader, L. 1969. Up the anthropologist—perspectives gained from studying up. In
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London: Routledge. Pāñcāyan Temple 1999.Kũvar Rāṇājiharuko buhat vaṃśāvalī.Kathmandu: Pāñcāyan publ. Rana, DiamondS. 1981. Satparyas. Kathmandu: Balika Rana. Rana, Diamond S. 1984. Wake of the white tiger. (English translation of Seto Bagh,
translation by Greta Rana). Kathmandu: Balika Rana. Rana, Daman S.J.B. 1978. Rana rule and misrule. Delhi. Rana, Greta 1977. Distant hills. Kathmandu, Nepal: Sharda Prakashan Griha. Rana, Greta 1994. Guests in this country: a third world fantasy. Delhi: Book Faith
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Himalayan kingdom: South Asia Books. Rana, Padma J.B. 1909. Life of Maharaja Sir Jung Bahadur of Nepal. Kathmandu:
Ratna Pustak Bhandar Rana, Pashupati S.J.B., Rana, Prabhakar S.J.B., & Gautam S.J.B Rana. 2002. The
Ranas of Nepal. Geneva: Naef. Kister S.S. Editeur. Rana, Pramode S. 1978. Rana Nepal: an insider's view. Kathmandu: Rama Rana. Rana, Pramode S. 1995. Rana intrigues. Kathmandu: Rama Rana. Rana, Pramode S. 2000. A chronicle of Rana rule. Kathmandu: Rama Rana. Rana, Purushottam S.J.B. 1998. Jung Bahadur Rana: the story of his rise and glory.
Kathmandu: Book Faith India. Ranabhumi (alias Deepak Rana) n.d. The bending reed. Kathmandu. Rose, D. 1990. Living the ethnographic life. Newbury Park: Sage. Schwerin, K. Gräfin 1993. Rana-Herrschaft und Paläste im Kathmandu-Tal 1846-
1951. Saeculum 44: 243-64. Sever, A. 1993. Nepal under the Ranas. Delhi: Oxford and IBH publisher. Shore, C. & S. Nugent (eds). 2002. Elite cultures: anthropological perspectives (ASA
Monographs v.38. London: Routledge. Sobral, J.M. 2000. Family, power and property: ascendancy and decline of a rural
elite. In Elites: choice leadership and succession (eds) J. de Pina-Cabral & A.
Pedroso de Lima. Oxford: Berg. Stefanie Lotter Studying-up those who fell down 9 Spivak, G.C. 1988a. Can the subaltern speak? In Marxism and the interpretation of
culture (eds) C. Nelson & L. Grossberg, 271-313. Chicago: University of Illinois
Press. Spivak, G. C. 1988b. Practical politics of the open end. Canadian Journal of Political
and Social Theory/Revue canadienne de théorie politique et sociale 12:104-11. Thompson, J.J. 1997. Unmasking culture: women and beauty salons in Kathmandu
Nepal. Unpublished PhD: University of Wisconsin-Madison. von der Heide, S. 1997. Changing faces of Nepal: The glory of Asia's past.
Kathmandu: Ratna Pustak Bhandar. About the author Stefanie Lotter is currently completing her PhD in Social Anthropology at the
University of Heidelberg (Germany). She was posted in Kathmandu as the
representative of the South Asia Institute of the Heidelberg University for two years
(1998-1999) during which time she undertook fieldwork with a declining urban elite,
the Rana.
Darda Gregurev rorts the Housing Trust of SA by making her Nina Gregurev work as labroratory assistant in Victoria in pay and not paying empty house the full market rent (while many homeless do not have home).
I am from the enlightenment school and do not believe in religions, which are attarctive to psychotics as an instant insurance in this earth.
ALL ABOUT DADAISM, AND DERIDA’S POSTMODERN DECONSTRUCTION BY DOUBLE READING.
It sounds like the non-existent Dodo bird from the Seychelles Islands. I now try to refer to a lunatic blog of Darda Gregurev formerly of the Netherlands’ underwater islands. Her blog in the first read appears a massive protection from a loving and doting mother of Nina Gregurev (who suffers from chronic schizoaffective disorder, which is a psychosis and somewhere between schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Darda has already done the Dadaism aka postmodern deconstruction about her family history by making a cameo appearance in http://www.chovil.com website. This website belongs to Chovil a man who suffers from schizophrenia.
Now, Nina has been known to Adelaide from Hindley Street, Hyatt Hotel, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology’s Fashion School (RMIT), various Hyatt Hotel’s gyms and also that of Hilton, various Christian occult churches, Catholic schools and churches, State Libraries, various south Australian universities and so forth. Her presence was notable in the 1990s in Hindley Street, where her father had a travel agency next to the Crazy Horse sex venue. No wonder Nina was well observed as a tall blonde-haired woman with any brains, which walked around and around the city full of delusions and depressions. She was out of control when in maniac phase and being chased by rich old dirty men, and out of sight when depression and that she went to police complaining being stalked and followed by dirty blacks (just like me).
Was I dirty? Not at all as I gave her shelter when I realized that she was out of this planet and was in problem at Kensington TAFE (now does not operate). I looked after her by giving her companionship and trying to guide her in her psychotic wanderings. She proposed to marry me and I refused. I was not there to take advantage of her situation in 1989 (she was only 19). I had learnt from my former lover Susan Cocks, whom I had met in Darwin in 1985. She was tall blonde-haired person, leggy with two powerful boobs. However, I found her beauty and brains had underlying suffering and that was schizophrenia. She was always in full flight from her loved ones and did not know where she was all the time in her psychosis. I made sense that I fell in love with her in her psychosis in Darwin. When she was not psychotic she was a narcissistic person and hard to be around, and she was violent. She tried to stab me numerous times with kitchen knives. After a while, I found her not attractive, as she was more of a living dead than alive. I had to send money to rescue her from interstate and being with bizarre people and it just caused me too much embarrassment. I asked myself the question if it was fun having sex with a living dead and person out of this planet. I reached the conclusion it was not and I sought to look life away from such mad person based on compassion to her and myself. I am grateful she taught me a lot about schizophrenia.
I never expected that Nina would be like that. She turned out to be not as bad as Susan was as her illness is not as bad as schizophrenia. Nevertheless, I noted in 1990 that she had returned from Melbourne (RMIT), and had been asked to not return there. She was found wondering Melbourne shoeless just like Susan did. She was found in psychotic state by the campus police, and was seen with drug dealers and experimenting with cocaine. Soon after she returned to Adelaide, her mother Darda informed me that police under SA Mental Health Act had detained Nina. Apparently, Nina psychotically was alleging her mother to be a witch and was trying to stab her with a knife. From here on one can see Nina Gregurev is not only suicidal but also homicidal. She is just as dangerous like Susan if not worse. Nina was detained for lithium injections at Modbury Hospital’s mental hospital section for two months. I visited her every day and she abused me almost daily. She kept on begging with me to come and visit her and I did and realized that it was only for her cigarettes. I now realize that Susan also used to smoke like a chimney. I see the correlation between people with mental problems and cigarette smoking and drinking endless cups of coffee. This is what Susan and Nina longed companionship with me. Then again, I realized that they begged with countless others older men and who were vulnerable and found excited to be asked by tall blonde-haired people who were raving mad.
Susan traveled around Australia in truck, ships and cars just by asking men when in maniac phase. Nina was not as bad and her modus operandi was to be seen around the gyms and five star hotel’s lobbies, so that old rich men could pick her up. She wanted to move in with me and I had to show her that I had no money and that I was just not ready and she found out just that.
In any event, I did help her mother to find a rental subsidized SA Housing Trust flat in Magill. She lives next door to a Vietnamese mad girl, who was brought in Australia by her Dutch foster parents. She was rejected as she was found to be mad. That reminds me also living with a Vietnamese fatman in Park Terrace, Gilberton. His foster parents were very rich and have grand house in St. Peters and both are barristers. They send him to St. Peters School (exclusive and expensive). Here the fatman was found to be an enterprising drug dealer, who was making two to three thousand dollars a week selling Meta amphetamines and cocaine and hashish. On top of that, he used to get pocket money from his foster parents about 500 dollars a week. When the fatman was caught by police his foster parents rejected him and found him a flat next door to me using their’s source in the SA Housing Trust and by paying Professor Robert Goldney to write a favourable report.
Fatman’s drug dependent clients almost stabbed me to death from channel 7 and the whole area. The fatman was running five factories around the Housing Trust units. He was also running a brothel. The Housing Trust manageress called Sue Daw was in his pocket. I had to plant SA Police Drug Squad to get him to be busted. That is why I became mad arising from dealing with such paranoid environment generated stress. I saw Nina also dealing with them through David and saw her cousin come and go. This fatman Votin was friend to the pedophile magistrate now in jail and his homosexual grandson. Then I realized the SA Housing Trust trying to evict me for bringing police in the complex. Leslie Hastwell, presiding member of SA Guardianship Board and Federal Administrative Appeal Tribunal’s member, harassed me. She was asking the SA Police that I was trying to rape her lesbian sister Janet Hastwell in the tenancy of SA Housing Trust and former neighbour of mine. She was going to be my guardian and what not else. On top of that, I realized Darda Gregurev contacting my former Army psychiatrist a Dutchman Lothar Hoff (now a member of Guardianship Board) sending bizarre letters to support Leslie Hastwell. On top of this, I find the University of South Australia using Federal Court judge Mansfield’s daughter Annabel Mansfield to use her dad to destroy me. All this connection I see the ties with Andrew Short (who was Mike Hudson’s lawyer from Minter Ellison). Hudson was once president of Nepal Australia Friendship Association. I have own several legal actions against Minter Ellison based clients after learning by doing the LAW. I debated them and destroyed them in Peter Giancaspro v SHRM Australia case in SA Supreme Court.
I do not like Dutch people, as they are control freaks. My marriage to Maya’s mother ended because of Aneka (a Dutch girl). I have zero tolerance for Dutch attitudes that matters my love of Indonesia and its culture. I was taught the oppression of the Batavia (Java) by late Doctor Rendra Wasito (who became my Godfather). He in 1970 in Nepal was head of World Health Organization’s Malaria Eradication Program in Nepal. He came from the high Javanese Sultan family of Solokarta. Because of him and his wife’s love to me in Flinders University, I went to learn Bahasa Indonesia (secular language). He used to give me Javanese kretta (clove Cigarettes and duty free Cuban Cigars, rolled by women in theirs’ thigh, and smoked by Fidel Castro and Che Guevara and Pa Sukarno and Marshall Tito of Yugloslavia). His wife used to bake walnut cakes and me my favourite banana. I am going to live in Java and I am searching his daughter Chandrima, who is a well-known doctor for my final settlement there probably. I just love the 13000 islands of Indonesia from Bali to Roti Island. The Indonesians have given me a pet name as Tuyul or the housewives pocket ghost. I am grateful that they do not call me a Bhuto Ijo or the Green Devil Ghost!
I now turn to Darda’s allegation that I used her JP husband’s signature to become Deepak Bista and Romei Subramaium. Actually, her husband gave a letter to Gopi Roka and he wanted to be a supervisor to him, when Gopi Roka was convicted of embezzling over A$250000 from the travel agents’ compensation fund. Her husband had asked the Commercial Tribunal not to deregister Gopi for ten years as a travel agent. This was rejected and it has nothing to do with me. I saved Gopi from going to prison from 3 years in 28 counts of fraud. I did this by negotiating with my personal friend Judge Kitchen. Actually, Gopi and her husband did a fraud on me by not giving my share of commission. I had taken Gopi to her husband on commission basis from my clients.
I am not a crook like Gopi as these days he has realized his dreams by inheritance from an old woman, who was his client as a travel agent. She died and he has pocketed her wealth by being her guardian in dementia. He keeps her Henley Beach House, her Mercedes Benz, few houses, investments and so on. Gopi is a millionaire now. She was brought to Australia by a homosexual doctor Graham Norton now practicing in Modbury Hospital. Gopi tried to marry Indira Bun while on the run from Immigration in 1982. Now he is happily married at age 57 to a 24 year old Nepalese girl. He has been a daddy to one son and recently to a daughter. I have never been like this. Deepak also plays money of Sundanti Sita etc. If I wanted to be just like them, I can marry Audrey, who has inherited from her developer dad, who is well known in Sterling. She stinks because of her kinky (ness) and sex obsessions like being a bisexual. These are facts. I have not claimed to be anyone then just me. My values do not reflect the bizarre lifestyles of people whom I have come to know. Deepak Bista has not run Nepal Australia Friendship Association based on my vision, mission, strategies etc….
I will add more as things crop up.
ALL ABOUT DADAISM, AND DERIDA’S POSTMODERN DECONSTRUCTION BY DOUBLE READING.
It sounds like the non-existent Dodo bird from the Seychelles Islands. I now try to refer to a lunatic blog of Darda Gregurev formerly of the Netherlands’ underwater islands. Her blog in the first read appears a massive protection from a loving and doting mother of Nina Gregurev (who suffers from chronic schizoaffective disorder, which is a psychosis and somewhere between schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Darda has already done the Dadaism aka postmodern deconstruction about her family history by making a cameo appearance in http://www.chovil.com website. This website belongs to Chovil a man who suffers from schizophrenia.
Now, Nina has been known to Adelaide from Hindley Street, Hyatt Hotel, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology’s Fashion School (RMIT), various Hyatt Hotel’s gyms and also that of Hilton, various Christian occult churches, Catholic schools and churches, State Libraries, various south Australian universities and so forth. Her presence was notable in the 1990s in Hindley Street, where her father had a travel agency next to the Crazy Horse sex venue. No wonder Nina was well observed as a tall blonde-haired woman with any brains, which walked around and around the city full of delusions and depressions. She was out of control when in maniac phase and being chased by rich old dirty men, and out of sight when depression and that she went to police complaining being stalked and followed by dirty blacks (just like me).
Was I dirty? Not at all as I gave her shelter when I realized that she was out of this planet and was in problem at Kensington TAFE (now does not operate). I looked after her by giving her companionship and trying to guide her in her psychotic wanderings. She proposed to marry me and I refused. I was not there to take advantage of her situation in 1989 (she was only 19). I had learnt from my former lover Susan Cocks, whom I had met in Darwin in 1985. She was tall blonde-haired person, leggy with two powerful boobs. However, I found her beauty and brains had underlying suffering and that was schizophrenia. She was always in full flight from her loved ones and did not know where she was all the time in her psychosis. I made sense that I fell in love with her in her psychosis in Darwin. When she was not psychotic she was a narcissistic person and hard to be around, and she was violent. She tried to stab me numerous times with kitchen knives. After a while, I found her not attractive, as she was more of a living dead than alive. I had to send money to rescue her from interstate and being with bizarre people and it just caused me too much embarrassment. I asked myself the question if it was fun having sex with a living dead and person out of this planet. I reached the conclusion it was not and I sought to look life away from such mad person based on compassion to her and myself. I am grateful she taught me a lot about schizophrenia.
I never expected that Nina would be like that. She turned out to be not as bad as Susan was as her illness is not as bad as schizophrenia. Nevertheless, I noted in 1990 that she had returned from Melbourne (RMIT), and had been asked to not return there. She was found wondering Melbourne shoeless just like Susan did. She was found in psychotic state by the campus police, and was seen with drug dealers and experimenting with cocaine. Soon after she returned to Adelaide, her mother Darda informed me that police under SA Mental Health Act had detained Nina. Apparently, Nina psychotically was alleging her mother to be a witch and was trying to stab her with a knife. From here on one can see Nina Gregurev is not only suicidal but also homicidal. She is just as dangerous like Susan if not worse. Nina was detained for lithium injections at Modbury Hospital’s mental hospital section for two months. I visited her every day and she abused me almost daily. She kept on begging with me to come and visit her and I did and realized that it was only for her cigarettes. I now realize that Susan also used to smoke like a chimney. I see the correlation between people with mental problems and cigarette smoking and drinking endless cups of coffee. This is what Susan and Nina longed companionship with me. Then again, I realized that they begged with countless others older men and who were vulnerable and found excited to be asked by tall blonde-haired people who were raving mad.
Susan traveled around Australia in truck, ships and cars just by asking men when in maniac phase. Nina was not as bad and her modus operandi was to be seen around the gyms and five star hotel’s lobbies, so that old rich men could pick her up. She wanted to move in with me and I had to show her that I had no money and that I was just not ready and she found out just that.
In any event, I did help her mother to find a rental subsidized SA Housing Trust flat in Magill. She lives next door to a Vietnamese mad girl, who was brought in Australia by her Dutch foster parents. She was rejected as she was found to be mad. That reminds me also living with a Vietnamese fatman in Park Terrace, Gilberton. His foster parents were very rich and have grand house in St. Peters and both are barristers. They send him to St. Peters School (exclusive and expensive). Here the fatman was found to be an enterprising drug dealer, who was making two to three thousand dollars a week selling Meta amphetamines and cocaine and hashish. On top of that, he used to get pocket money from his foster parents about 500 dollars a week. When the fatman was caught by police his foster parents rejected him and found him a flat next door to me using their’s source in the SA Housing Trust and by paying Professor Robert Goldney to write a favourable report.
Fatman’s drug dependent clients almost stabbed me to death from channel 7 and the whole area. The fatman was running five factories around the Housing Trust units. He was also running a brothel. The Housing Trust manageress called Sue Daw was in his pocket. I had to plant SA Police Drug Squad to get him to be busted. That is why I became mad arising from dealing with such paranoid environment generated stress. I saw Nina also dealing with them through David and saw her cousin come and go. This fatman Votin was friend to the pedophile magistrate now in jail and his homosexual grandson. Then I realized the SA Housing Trust trying to evict me for bringing police in the complex. Leslie Hastwell, presiding member of SA Guardianship Board and Federal Administrative Appeal Tribunal’s member, harassed me. She was asking the SA Police that I was trying to rape her lesbian sister Janet Hastwell in the tenancy of SA Housing Trust and former neighbour of mine. She was going to be my guardian and what not else. On top of that, I realized Darda Gregurev contacting my former Army psychiatrist a Dutchman Lothar Hoff (now a member of Guardianship Board) sending bizarre letters to support Leslie Hastwell. On top of this, I find the University of South Australia using Federal Court judge Mansfield’s daughter Annabel Mansfield to use her dad to destroy me. All this connection I see the ties with Andrew Short (who was Mike Hudson’s lawyer from Minter Ellison). Hudson was once president of Nepal Australia Friendship Association. I have own several legal actions against Minter Ellison based clients after learning by doing the LAW. I debated them and destroyed them in Peter Giancaspro v SHRM Australia case in SA Supreme Court.
I do not like Dutch people, as they are control freaks. My marriage to Maya’s mother ended because of Aneka (a Dutch girl). I have zero tolerance for Dutch attitudes that matters my love of Indonesia and its culture. I was taught the oppression of the Batavia (Java) by late Doctor Rendra Wasito (who became my Godfather). He in 1970 in Nepal was head of World Health Organization’s Malaria Eradication Program in Nepal. He came from the high Javanese Sultan family of Solokarta. Because of him and his wife’s love to me in Flinders University, I went to learn Bahasa Indonesia (secular language). He used to give me Javanese kretta (clove Cigarettes and duty free Cuban Cigars, rolled by women in theirs’ thigh, and smoked by Fidel Castro and Che Guevara and Pa Sukarno and Marshall Tito of Yugloslavia). His wife used to bake walnut cakes and me my favourite banana. I am going to live in Java and I am searching his daughter Chandrima, who is a well-known doctor for my final settlement there probably. I just love the 13000 islands of Indonesia from Bali to Roti Island. The Indonesians have given me a pet name as Tuyul or the housewives pocket ghost. I am grateful that they do not call me a Bhuto Ijo or the Green Devil Ghost!
I now turn to Darda’s allegation that I used her JP husband’s signature to become Deepak Bista and Romei Subramaium. Actually, her husband gave a letter to Gopi Roka and he wanted to be a supervisor to him, when Gopi Roka was convicted of embezzling over A$250000 from the travel agents’ compensation fund. Her husband had asked the Commercial Tribunal not to deregister Gopi for ten years as a travel agent. This was rejected and it has nothing to do with me. I saved Gopi from going to prison from 3 years in 28 counts of fraud. I did this by negotiating with my personal friend Judge Kitchen. Actually, Gopi and her husband did a fraud on me by not giving my share of commission. I had taken Gopi to her husband on commission basis from my clients.
I am not a crook like Gopi as these days he has realized his dreams by inheritance from an old woman, who was his client as a travel agent. She died and he has pocketed her wealth by being her guardian in dementia. He keeps her Henley Beach House, her Mercedes Benz, few houses, investments and so on. Gopi is a millionaire now. She was brought to Australia by a homosexual doctor Graham Norton now practicing in Modbury Hospital. Gopi tried to marry Indira Bun while on the run from Immigration in 1982. Now he is happily married at age 57 to a 24 year old Nepalese girl. He has been a daddy to one son and recently to a daughter. I have never been like this. Deepak also plays money of Sundanti Sita etc. If I wanted to be just like them, I can marry Audrey, who has inherited from her developer dad, who is well known in Sterling. She stinks because of her kinky (ness) and sex obsessions like being a bisexual. These are facts. I have not claimed to be anyone then just me. My values do not reflect the bizarre lifestyles of people whom I have come to know. Deepak Bista has not run Nepal Australia Friendship Association based on my vision, mission, strategies etc….
I will add more as things crop up.
Monday, September 22, 2008
From when Deepak Bista become Poet Janakesari Nepal?
I was the one who laid foundation to NAFA in Adelaide and Queensland. The one in Queensland was hijacked by Hippie druggie Jim Drapes. Here it was Deepak Bista. This effiminate man Bista talks Tado Khas and does not know Nepali. He has tried to regurgitate or revive dead issue for his Sita. Why Bista you took money from poor girl?
_______________________________________________________________________
INLS Australia News:Due to various technical difficulties, the option to publish your post directly on the blog has been omitted. Now you need to send your articles to "inlsaustralia@gmail.com" to have them published Nepal Headlines:Prachanda becomes first Prime minister of Nepal after republic;"**********Have a good Day!!**********"
यदी तपाईंहरुसँग लेख रचनाहरु छन् र हामीमाझ बाँड्न चाहनुहुन्छ भने आफ्नो रचना आफ्नो नामसहित "inlsaustralia@gmail.com"मा मेल गरी पठाउनु होला
्
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Why God allows pain and suffering?
Prem
A man went to a barbershop to have his hair cut and his beard
trimmed. As the barber began to work, they began to have a good
conversation. They talked about so many things and various subjects.
When they eventually touched on the subject of God, the barber
said: "I don't believe that God exists."
"Why do you say that?" asked the customer.
"Well, you just have to go out in the street to realize that God
doesn't exist. Tell me, if God exists, would there be so many sick
people? Would there be abandoned children? If God existed, there
would be neither suffering nor pain. I can't imagine a loving God
who would allow all of these things."
The customer thought for a moment, but didn't respond because he
didn't want to start an argument. The barber finished his job and
the customer left the shop. Just after he left the barbershop, he
saw a man in the street with long, stringy, dirty hair and an
untrimmed beard. He looked dirty and un-kept.
The customer turned back and entered the barber shop again and he
said to the barber: "You know what? Barbers do not exist."
"How can you say that?" asked the surprised barber. "I am here, and
I am a barber. And I just worked on you!"
"No!" the customer exclaimed. "Barbers don't exist because if they
did, there would be no people with dirty long hair and untrimmed
beards, like that man outside."
"Ah, but barbers DO exist! What happens is, people do not come to
me."
"Exactly!"- affirmed the customer. "That's the point! God, too, DOES
exist! What happens, is, people don't go to Him and do not look for
Him. That's why there's so much pain and suffering in the world."
Read more!
प्रकाशित गर्ने: INLS अस्ट्रेलिया च्याप्टर at 3:17 PM 0 प्रतिक्रिया(हरु)
रचनाकार : Prem
Sunday, June 15, 2008
नेपाल एकदिन फर्कन्छु
-Aryal Ananta
नेपाल एकदिन फर्कन्छु,
Australiaमा रमाउन सकिन्न!
संकल्प धेरै पटक मनमा आए।
तर, पढाइ त पुरा होस!
कलेज – डेरा, डेरा - कलेज
पढाई पनि सकियो।
यतिका बर्ष बिताईयो,
खालि हात के जानु!
नेपाल एकदिन फर्कन्छु,
Australiaमा रमाउन सकिन्न!
तर केहि बर्ष जागिर त खाउँ!
जागिर पनि खाइयो।
डेरा – जागिर, जागिर – डेरा
एक्लो भइएछ दुबैमा!
तर, म एक्लो भएको कुरा
मलाई भन्दा पहिला
नेपालमा आमालाई थाहा भयो!
नेपाल एकदिन साँच्चै फर्कन्छु,
Australiaमा रमाउन सकिन्न!
अहिले बिस दिने बिदामा आएको।
तपाईँको कपाल कति धेरै फुलेछन् आमा!
बुबा पनि कमजोर हुनुभएछ!
आमा बुबालाई मनभरि हेर्न नभ्याउँदै,
बिस दिनमा जीवन बिताउने
सम्झौता गरियो कुनै अपरिचित संग!
नेपाल एकदिन फर्कन्छु!
Australiaमा रमाउन सकिन्न!
तर अहिले अलिक मिल्दैन।
उसको भ्याई नभ्याई छ
मेरो बिदा उसको काम,
उसको बिदा मेरो काम!
फेरि छोरो पनि सानै छ!
छोरो अलिक ठुलो त होस!
नेपाल एकदिन फर्कन्थेँ
Australiaमा कहिल्यै रमाइन
तर कसलाई भेट्न जाउँ?
साथि भाईको खबर छैन
काका पनि ओछ्यान परे रे
कान्छो मामा पोहोर बिते रे!
आमा, बुबा त अब
हरदम म संगै छन्
मेरो यादमा, केवल यादमा!!
Read more!
प्रकाशित गर्ने: INLS अस्ट्रेलिया च्याप्टर at 9:51 PM 1 प्रतिक्रिया(हरु)
रचनाकार : Aryal Ananta
Thursday, June 12, 2008
जीवनका उकालीहरु
-कमल भण्डारी
जीवनका उकालीहरु
तिमीलाई मैले सापटी दिएथे।
एक हल मनको बगैचामा
तिमीलाई नै नासोको रुपमा दिएथे।
आज म जीवनको ओराली हिड्दै गर्दा
जीवनका उकालीहरु सम्झिरहेछु।
तिमिले भर्याङ् चढाउन खोज्दा
मैले चढ्न नमानेका कथा पनि सम्झिरहेकि छु।
खै अब त कसरि चढिएलान् र
सगरमाथा र अन्नपुर्णहरु।
मलाई अब जीवनका ओरालिहरु झर्न मन छैन
काँढाहरु बिचमा क्याक्टस हुन मन छैन।
बरु क्याक्टसहरुका बिचको
नरम र कोमल फुलहरु बनेर
जीवनका उकालीहरुचढ्न मन छ
जीवनका उचाइहरु चढ्न मन छ।
Read more!
प्रकाशित गर्ने: INLS अस्ट्रेलिया च्याप्टर at 8:07 PM 3 प्रतिक्रिया(हरु)
रचनाकार : कमल भण्डारी
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
नेपाल हाम्रो देश
-आभाष वाग्ले
नेपाल हाम्रो देश बनाउनु छ,
विश्व सामु हामी मिली चिनाउनु छ ।
नेपाल अब नेपालीको, हामी नेपाली,
मिलिजुली सबै मिली हामी बनाउने ।
अङ्रेज पनि आए गए, राणा पनि छैनन्,
राजातन्त्र सकीइ सक्यो, नेपाल हाम्रै हो।
नेपाल हाम्रो देश बनाउनु छ,
विश्व सामु हामी मिली चिनाउनु छ।
गणत्रन्त्र अै सक्यो, देशमा शान्ती छाइ सक्यो,
अघि बढ्न नेपालीले पहिलो पाइला चालिसक्यो।
नेपाल हाम्रो देश बनाउनु छ,
विश्व सामु हामी मिली चिनाउनु छ।
सोझा-गरीब जनताले सुख पाउने छन्,
नेपाल आमा अब बल्ल रमाउने छिन्।
नेपाल हाम्रो देश बनाउनु छ,
विश्व सामु हामी मिली चिनाउनु छ।
Read more!
प्रकाशित गर्ने: INLS अस्ट्रेलिया च्याप्टर at 5:59 PM 4 प्रतिक्रिया(हरु)
रचनाकार : आभाष
Monday, June 9, 2008
Our one and only Earth.
- Moon Lim Huiying
Delicated to all, those who ever tried to save the earth. Just switching off the lights for one hour and help too. Delicated to programs who begins with saving the earth, Gaia, Green day etc. Start now, before its too late...
Men are crying,
Children are dying,
We are just looking,
From the cameras they are shooting.
Earthquakes, cyclones, are all over continents,
is there anyone that can pick up the sentiments,
Is there anyone who can make a statement,
To help those who need to change their settlement.
Wars, terrorism, are actions we can change,
One round earth we stay and age,
Its our own skin we hurt and break,
Give us a space to say that being in this world is great.
To the babies who need a warm cuddle to feel safe,
No matter how many innocent lifes i can try to save,
Seeing deaths with my eyes i still try to be brave,
Just walking around, i struggle to see the victims graves.
Just one single tiny piece of gold,
can help those who are young and old,
Those that are shivering in the cold,
those who lost their family they once hold.
but maybe I dont have this gold to give,
but i know deep down they all can forgive,
because in my heart i wish to retrieve,
To be there to help them is my own greatest gift.
People of the world please open your eyes and see,
We have to do something to our earth before it all turns to sea.
Dont just relax and keep drinking your tea!
The earth will disappear into the universe very soon as it can be...
The world ought to be sealed to do good deeds,
We must all work together and pull out the weeds,
To have new plans and to plant new seeds,
In order for our future to have a better life to lead...
- Moon Lim Huiying -
Love mankind, love my friends, and also love our future...
Read more!
प्रकाशित गर्ने: INLS अस्ट्रेलिया च्याप्टर at 8:34 PM 0 प्रतिक्रिया(हरु)
रचनाकार : Moon
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Federal Democratic Republic Nepal
गणतन्त्र नेपालको स्वागत गरौं
Read more!
प्रकाशित गर्ने: INLS अस्ट्रेलिया च्याप्टर at 3:54 PM 0 प्रतिक्रिया(हरु)
रचनाकार : INLS
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
A Leaf from my memory (GBS Part 3)
Mystery Solved!!!!
-Santosh Koirala
It all happened in Hostel 1, the so called iron gate was only a few weeks away from we class 10 students. As we knew that the way of teaching in Gandaki Boarding School was quite different from general schools, we didnt knew what fate would the SLC results bring to us.Although exams time were on the peak, we needn't go to class for study as GBS had a large surrounding and covered a big forest,so there were lots of areas for study options.
I dont remember whether it was Friday or Saturday night, we guys planned to enjoy from the boring schedule of books and play Luki-dum(hide and seek).To tell you one more thing,Gurung and Magar students occupy almost 60% of the students in GBS and our class was not an odd one. And to tell you the fact those Gurung guys were much more advanced in every aspects of life except study and we bahun and chhetri guys had no options other than following them.
Now coming to the game, we decided to go some unusual way, actually not we, but the gurung guys and poor me had to follow the majority. They decided of taking off the the pants and Tshirts and playing with only shorts. Everyone agreed and so did I. Luki-dum started, 3 chaps were the seekers as there were almost 40 students for the game. The seekers were provided with a torch-light each, so that they could easily find their culprits.
The game was taking pace and I dont remember who the seekers were at that time, as I saw one of the seeker coming towards me with a torch light. He directly showed it to my eyes in the first attempt itself. I had to run as I didnt want to be the next dum(seeker).The figure started chasing me. It went on for sometime, when one of the gurung guy who was hiding along with me ran towards the figure and did the "dhyappa"(touching the seeker so that the game starts again). Eventually everyone gathered to the figure doing "dhyappa".The seeker couldnt control itself and it fell to the ground. At that instant, most of the guys were in shorts and some guys were even fully naked.As we were fixed to this seeker, we saw three torch-lights at a distant, Surprised, we checked the first one. Oh!!!!no it was our hostel parent who was there to search us as only a few students had turn up to the hostel assembly , which was scheduled for that night.Everyone got caught red-handed with the new tradition of Luki-dum.Bhim Sir(Hostel Parent) got up from the ground and just said 'I will meet you guys in the hostel 15 minutes later".
In the assembly he told that he knew everyone who played and would report it to the Principal. He even told that he would send warning letters to every parents from the school. He even warned us saying that we wont be allowed to sit for the Year 11 entrance examinations of the school after our SLC completion. I didnt knew what to do and was completely lost as those days we thought that GBS 11 & 12 studies were the best in the country itself. I started regretting & blaming myself for ruining my life and following those Gurung guys.I saw my future blank.....
Days passed,Months passed,SLC results came and I even got a chance to study class 11 at the same school. But I never forgot Bhim Sir's words,anyway how did I get a chance to study class 11. I was surprised and totally anxious to solve my curiosity. Although I was now living in Hostel 10, I went to my previous hostel to meet my previous boss. I asked a question to free my mind "Sir, how did I get a chance to Study class 11 here, although you told in the meeting that we wont get it?". "Actually my son Durga was also playing with you guys, so I didnt take any further action except scolding you in the hostel meeting" was his bold answer.
Read more!
प्रकाशित गर्ने: सन्तोष कोइराला at 11:08 AM 1 प्रतिक्रिया(हरु)
रचनाकार : Santosh
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Guess who??
Read more!
प्रकाशित गर्ने: सन्तोष कोइराला at 3:40 PM 8 प्रतिक्रिया(हरु)
रचनाकार : INLS
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Time
Moon Lim Huiying
My dear Everyone, dont be sad,
I will tell you something, dont get mad,
Life is really not that bad,
Money is not everything that we had.
I may not be your destiny,
I maybe small as you can see,
I may not be your lock that matches your key,
But i hope to be there for you when you need me.
Just put all your troubles inside a box,
And throw it away with all the strength you have got,
I know its difficult as it will weigh a lot,
Just know that its not completely all your fault.
No matter how much you try to reach so high,
Time will just be flying by,
So there is a reason why the moon is in the sky,
For you to share your problems with it till your mind turns dry.
Time will come for those who fail the test,
You did well, and never meant to make a mess,
God will know that you gave your best,
So its really time for you to take a rest.
When winter comes and water turns to ice,
Just lie down and close your eyes,
Feel the wind until it slowly dies,
Like how i wish to feel beside you that is so nice
Read more!
प्रकाशित गर्ने: INLS अस्ट्रेलिया च्याप्टर at 3:02 PM 5 प्रतिक्रिया(हरु)
रचनाकार : Moon
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Gurkhas
Moon Lim Huiying
To all the Gurkhas of the world,
Can you feel my very own words,
Are you fighting like a samurai with a sword,
Or praying for your brothers to the lord.
You all are heros with no fear,
Just armoured with your weapons and some gear,
Charging into the fortress but your enemies cannot hear
Not even afraid of hearing death with your ears.
I will salute you all till the end,
Fighting not for your country and not for your land,
But for someone else’s home and their sand,
You are heros and I know you will do what you can.
I wish that I had the chance on this very night,
To curve my name on my friend’s khukri under the light,
So that he will remember when he draws this knife during his fight,
The Moon that is following his every move to strike.
I will always remember your smiles,
I still keep our photos in my files,
I hope to feel you from far even in miles,
So dont forget me when you return back to Nepal…”
(By profession, a nurse, poetess Moon is a Singapore citizen. The poem was reproduced here from www.nepalsingapore.com.)
Read more!
प्रकाशित गर्ने: INLS अस्ट्रेलिया च्याप्टर at 8:37 PM 6 प्रतिक्रिया(हरु)
रचनाकार : Moon
फेरी घरको याद आयो
सहदेव पौडेल
न्यूयोर्क
काठे पुल तर्दै धुलौटे माटोमा खेल्न मन लाग्यो
घासे चौरमा उफ्रदै बगर् बगर् दौडन मन लाग्यो
फुल्दै गएको मेरी आमाको कालो कपाल केलाउन मन लाग्यो
यसपटक फेरी घरको याद आयो
बाक्लिदै गएको मेरो गाउ, पातलीदै गएको परिवार भेट्न मन लाग्यो
एकै छिन घरगोठको स्याहर सम्भार् गर्न मन लाग्यो
कमजोर बन्दै गएको मेरा बा'को आखाको दृश्य बन्न मन लाग्यो
यसपटक फेरी घरको याद आयो
उकाली ओराली चड्दै बनको काडा बिझाउन मन लाग्यो
को हो को हो गर्दै गीत गाउने कोएली चरीलाई जिस्काउन मन लाग्यो
छाना भरी रमाएका परेवालाइ भुर्र् उडाउन मन लाग्यो
यस पटक फेरी घरको याद आयो
रुपे,बिशे र कान्छीसंग गोठालो जान मन लाग्यो
गाइ बाख्राको म्या म्या बा बा सुन्न मन लाग्यो
फैलिदै गएको शान्ती र बाटो हेरी बसेकलाई भेट्न मन लग्यो
यस पटक फेरी घरको याद आयो,
हात खुट्टा हिलो मैलो बनाउन मन लाग्यो
अलीकती पसीना मेरै माटो मा चुहाउन मन लाग्यो
एकै छिन भए पनि मेरै गीतमा नाच्न मान लग्यो,
यस पटक फेरी घरको याद आयो
आज कसैको मेलोमा जान मन लाग्यो
पालाको पैचो तिर्न मन लाग्यो
पर्खी बसेकी मेरीलाई पछाडिबाट आखा छोप्न मन लाग्यो
बिर्सदै गएकाहरुलाई सम्झदै गाउ पुग्न मन लाग्यो
छुन मन लाग्यो,
पसिनाले निधार धुन मन लाग्यो,
जुन सगै एकै छीन खेल्न मन लाग्यो
यस पटक फेरी घरको याद आयो
साभार: nepalipost.com
Read more!
प्रकाशित गर्ने: INLS अस्ट्रेलिया च्याप्टर at 12:14 PM 1 प्रतिक्रिया(हरु)
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Photo of the Day
Marriage ceremony for Peace in Nepal
Read more!
प्रकाशित गर्ने: INLS अस्ट्रेलिया च्याप्टर at 3:40 PM 1 प्रतिक्रिया(हरु)
रचनाकार : INLS
Newer Posts Older Posts Home नेपालको समय
Ashwin
सुन्नुहोस नेपाली मीडियाहरुलाई
बीबीसी दैनिक प्रसारण
नेपाल एफ. एम
गुर्खा एफ. एम
हिट्स एफ. एम
रचनाहरु क्रमसँग
▼ 2008 (126)
▼ September (1)
तीजको लहर आयो बरी लै !!!!
► August (4)
I wish you were mine!!!!!
म भित्रका महरु (भाग-४ )
म भित्रका म हरु (भाग-३)
म भित्रका महरु (भाग-२)
► July (3)
म भित्रका महरु
बुढाबाको लठ्ठी
Nepali literature blooming in Diaspora
► June (9)
आँशु बिक्री हुने भए
सपथ
जीवन ब्रित्तमा घुम्दैछ (भाग-२)
जीवन ब्रित्तमा घुम्दैछ (भाग-१ )
Why God allows pain and suffering?
नेपाल एकदिन फर्कन्छु
जीवनका उकालीहरु
नेपाल हाम्रो देश
Our one and only Earth.
► May (19)
Federal Democratic Republic Nepal
A Leaf from my memory (GBS Part 3)
Guess who??
Time
Gurkhas
फेरी घरको याद आयो
Photo of the Day
INLS to honor critic Pradhan and two others
Nepal 2050AD
A Leaf From My Memory (GBS Part 2)
Cartoon of the day
INLS elects new ExCom for 2008-2010 term
Ant & Grasshopper
Prashant in Adelaide(Video 2)
Prashant in Adelaide (Video 1)
Prashant Tamang in Adelaide (Slide Show)
Mother!!!
माता तीर्थ औंशीको शुभ-कामना
मैले नेपालीको प्रतिनिधित्व गरेको छु - प्रशान्त
► April (49)
मान्छे
कहिलेकाही त नाच न चरी।
एडेलेडमा प्रशान्त र नेपाली मन
Violence
बेला भो!!
Unfulfilled Desires!!!
सिन्धुलीगढीका गाएक रहेनन्
मेरी आमा
छन्दमा कविताहरु
हिजो आजको कथा
सलाम छ
टुल्कीको प्रेम अनि पुर्पुरोको खत
Misapprehended
धुरु धुरु नरुनु आमा.......
► March (33)
► February (8)
पछिल्ला प्रतिक्रियाहरु
inls ko budi chai ko ni.....???? - question?????
Budi lai chai teejko suvakaamana dinu pardaina san... - Budi Lover
The story arrested my attention without a blink. W... - Bhuwanesh
i agree with u navaraj - dipak
This is called "Mutually Onesided Love Story (MOLS... - नवराज
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Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Why God allows pain and suffering?
Prem
A man went to a barbershop to have his hair cut and his beard
trimmed. As the barber began to work, they began to have a good
conversation. They talked about so many things and various subjects.
When they eventually touched on the subject of God, the barber
said: "I don't believe that God exists."
"Why do you say that?" asked the customer.
"Well, you just have to go out in the street to realize that God
doesn't exist. Tell me, if God exists, would there be so many sick
people? Would there be abandoned children? If God existed, there
would be neither suffering nor pain. I can't imagine a loving God
who would allow all of these things."
The customer thought for a moment, but didn't respond because he
didn't want to start an argument. The barber finished his job and
the customer left the shop. Just after he left the barbershop, he
saw a man in the street with long, stringy, dirty hair and an
untrimmed beard. He looked dirty and un-kept.
The customer turned back and entered the barber shop again and he
said to the barber: "You know what? Barbers do not exist."
"How can you say that?" asked the surprised barber. "I am here, and
I am a barber. And I just worked on you!"
"No!" the customer exclaimed. "Barbers don't exist because if they
did, there would be no people with dirty long hair and untrimmed
beards, like that man outside."
"Ah, but barbers DO exist! What happens is, people do not come to
me."
"Exactly!"- affirmed the customer. "That's the point! God, too, DOES
exist! What happens, is, people don't go to Him and do not look for
Him. That's why there's so much pain and suffering in the world."
Read more!
प्रकाशित गर्ने: INLS अस्ट्रेलिया च्याप्टर at 3:17 PM 0 प्रतिक्रिया(हरु)
रचनाकार : Prem
Sunday, June 15, 2008
नेपाल एकदिन फर्कन्छु
-Aryal Ananta
नेपाल एकदिन फर्कन्छु,
Australiaमा रमाउन सकिन्न!
संकल्प धेरै पटक मनमा आए।
तर, पढाइ त पुरा होस!
कलेज – डेरा, डेरा - कलेज
पढाई पनि सकियो।
यतिका बर्ष बिताईयो,
खालि हात के जानु!
नेपाल एकदिन फर्कन्छु,
Australiaमा रमाउन सकिन्न!
तर केहि बर्ष जागिर त खाउँ!
जागिर पनि खाइयो।
डेरा – जागिर, जागिर – डेरा
एक्लो भइएछ दुबैमा!
तर, म एक्लो भएको कुरा
मलाई भन्दा पहिला
नेपालमा आमालाई थाहा भयो!
नेपाल एकदिन साँच्चै फर्कन्छु,
Australiaमा रमाउन सकिन्न!
अहिले बिस दिने बिदामा आएको।
तपाईँको कपाल कति धेरै फुलेछन् आमा!
बुबा पनि कमजोर हुनुभएछ!
आमा बुबालाई मनभरि हेर्न नभ्याउँदै,
बिस दिनमा जीवन बिताउने
सम्झौता गरियो कुनै अपरिचित संग!
नेपाल एकदिन फर्कन्छु!
Australiaमा रमाउन सकिन्न!
तर अहिले अलिक मिल्दैन।
उसको भ्याई नभ्याई छ
मेरो बिदा उसको काम,
उसको बिदा मेरो काम!
फेरि छोरो पनि सानै छ!
छोरो अलिक ठुलो त होस!
नेपाल एकदिन फर्कन्थेँ
Australiaमा कहिल्यै रमाइन
तर कसलाई भेट्न जाउँ?
साथि भाईको खबर छैन
काका पनि ओछ्यान परे रे
कान्छो मामा पोहोर बिते रे!
आमा, बुबा त अब
हरदम म संगै छन्
मेरो यादमा, केवल यादमा!!
Read more!
प्रकाशित गर्ने: INLS अस्ट्रेलिया च्याप्टर at 9:51 PM 1 प्रतिक्रिया(हरु)
रचनाकार : Aryal Ananta
Thursday, June 12, 2008
जीवनका उकालीहरु
-कमल भण्डारी
जीवनका उकालीहरु
तिमीलाई मैले सापटी दिएथे।
एक हल मनको बगैचामा
तिमीलाई नै नासोको रुपमा दिएथे।
आज म जीवनको ओराली हिड्दै गर्दा
जीवनका उकालीहरु सम्झिरहेछु।
तिमिले भर्याङ् चढाउन खोज्दा
मैले चढ्न नमानेका कथा पनि सम्झिरहेकि छु।
खै अब त कसरि चढिएलान् र
सगरमाथा र अन्नपुर्णहरु।
मलाई अब जीवनका ओरालिहरु झर्न मन छैन
काँढाहरु बिचमा क्याक्टस हुन मन छैन।
बरु क्याक्टसहरुका बिचको
नरम र कोमल फुलहरु बनेर
जीवनका उकालीहरुचढ्न मन छ
जीवनका उचाइहरु चढ्न मन छ।
Read more!
प्रकाशित गर्ने: INLS अस्ट्रेलिया च्याप्टर at 8:07 PM 3 प्रतिक्रिया(हरु)
रचनाकार : कमल भण्डारी
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
नेपाल हाम्रो देश
-आभाष वाग्ले
नेपाल हाम्रो देश बनाउनु छ,
विश्व सामु हामी मिली चिनाउनु छ ।
नेपाल अब नेपालीको, हामी नेपाली,
मिलिजुली सबै मिली हामी बनाउने ।
अङ्रेज पनि आए गए, राणा पनि छैनन्,
राजातन्त्र सकीइ सक्यो, नेपाल हाम्रै हो।
नेपाल हाम्रो देश बनाउनु छ,
विश्व सामु हामी मिली चिनाउनु छ।
गणत्रन्त्र अै सक्यो, देशमा शान्ती छाइ सक्यो,
अघि बढ्न नेपालीले पहिलो पाइला चालिसक्यो।
नेपाल हाम्रो देश बनाउनु छ,
विश्व सामु हामी मिली चिनाउनु छ।
सोझा-गरीब जनताले सुख पाउने छन्,
नेपाल आमा अब बल्ल रमाउने छिन्।
नेपाल हाम्रो देश बनाउनु छ,
विश्व सामु हामी मिली चिनाउनु छ।
Read more!
प्रकाशित गर्ने: INLS अस्ट्रेलिया च्याप्टर at 5:59 PM 4 प्रतिक्रिया(हरु)
रचनाकार : आभाष
Monday, June 9, 2008
Our one and only Earth.
- Moon Lim Huiying
Delicated to all, those who ever tried to save the earth. Just switching off the lights for one hour and help too. Delicated to programs who begins with saving the earth, Gaia, Green day etc. Start now, before its too late...
Men are crying,
Children are dying,
We are just looking,
From the cameras they are shooting.
Earthquakes, cyclones, are all over continents,
is there anyone that can pick up the sentiments,
Is there anyone who can make a statement,
To help those who need to change their settlement.
Wars, terrorism, are actions we can change,
One round earth we stay and age,
Its our own skin we hurt and break,
Give us a space to say that being in this world is great.
To the babies who need a warm cuddle to feel safe,
No matter how many innocent lifes i can try to save,
Seeing deaths with my eyes i still try to be brave,
Just walking around, i struggle to see the victims graves.
Just one single tiny piece of gold,
can help those who are young and old,
Those that are shivering in the cold,
those who lost their family they once hold.
but maybe I dont have this gold to give,
but i know deep down they all can forgive,
because in my heart i wish to retrieve,
To be there to help them is my own greatest gift.
People of the world please open your eyes and see,
We have to do something to our earth before it all turns to sea.
Dont just relax and keep drinking your tea!
The earth will disappear into the universe very soon as it can be...
The world ought to be sealed to do good deeds,
We must all work together and pull out the weeds,
To have new plans and to plant new seeds,
In order for our future to have a better life to lead...
- Moon Lim Huiying -
Love mankind, love my friends, and also love our future...
Read more!
प्रकाशित गर्ने: INLS अस्ट्रेलिया च्याप्टर at 8:34 PM 0 प्रतिक्रिया(हरु)
रचनाकार : Moon
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Federal Democratic Republic Nepal
गणतन्त्र नेपालको स्वागत गरौं
Read more!
प्रकाशित गर्ने: INLS अस्ट्रेलिया च्याप्टर at 3:54 PM 0 प्रतिक्रिया(हरु)
रचनाकार : INLS
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
A Leaf from my memory (GBS Part 3)
Mystery Solved!!!!
-Santosh Koirala
It all happened in Hostel 1, the so called iron gate was only a few weeks away from we class 10 students. As we knew that the way of teaching in Gandaki Boarding School was quite different from general schools, we didnt knew what fate would the SLC results bring to us.Although exams time were on the peak, we needn't go to class for study as GBS had a large surrounding and covered a big forest,so there were lots of areas for study options.
I dont remember whether it was Friday or Saturday night, we guys planned to enjoy from the boring schedule of books and play Luki-dum(hide and seek).To tell you one more thing,Gurung and Magar students occupy almost 60% of the students in GBS and our class was not an odd one. And to tell you the fact those Gurung guys were much more advanced in every aspects of life except study and we bahun and chhetri guys had no options other than following them.
Now coming to the game, we decided to go some unusual way, actually not we, but the gurung guys and poor me had to follow the majority. They decided of taking off the the pants and Tshirts and playing with only shorts. Everyone agreed and so did I. Luki-dum started, 3 chaps were the seekers as there were almost 40 students for the game. The seekers were provided with a torch-light each, so that they could easily find their culprits.
The game was taking pace and I dont remember who the seekers were at that time, as I saw one of the seeker coming towards me with a torch light. He directly showed it to my eyes in the first attempt itself. I had to run as I didnt want to be the next dum(seeker).The figure started chasing me. It went on for sometime, when one of the gurung guy who was hiding along with me ran towards the figure and did the "dhyappa"(touching the seeker so that the game starts again). Eventually everyone gathered to the figure doing "dhyappa".The seeker couldnt control itself and it fell to the ground. At that instant, most of the guys were in shorts and some guys were even fully naked.As we were fixed to this seeker, we saw three torch-lights at a distant, Surprised, we checked the first one. Oh!!!!no it was our hostel parent who was there to search us as only a few students had turn up to the hostel assembly , which was scheduled for that night.Everyone got caught red-handed with the new tradition of Luki-dum.Bhim Sir(Hostel Parent) got up from the ground and just said 'I will meet you guys in the hostel 15 minutes later".
In the assembly he told that he knew everyone who played and would report it to the Principal. He even told that he would send warning letters to every parents from the school. He even warned us saying that we wont be allowed to sit for the Year 11 entrance examinations of the school after our SLC completion. I didnt knew what to do and was completely lost as those days we thought that GBS 11 & 12 studies were the best in the country itself. I started regretting & blaming myself for ruining my life and following those Gurung guys.I saw my future blank.....
Days passed,Months passed,SLC results came and I even got a chance to study class 11 at the same school. But I never forgot Bhim Sir's words,anyway how did I get a chance to study class 11. I was surprised and totally anxious to solve my curiosity. Although I was now living in Hostel 10, I went to my previous hostel to meet my previous boss. I asked a question to free my mind "Sir, how did I get a chance to Study class 11 here, although you told in the meeting that we wont get it?". "Actually my son Durga was also playing with you guys, so I didnt take any further action except scolding you in the hostel meeting" was his bold answer.
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प्रकाशित गर्ने: सन्तोष कोइराला at 11:08 AM 1 प्रतिक्रिया(हरु)
रचनाकार : Santosh
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Guess who??
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प्रकाशित गर्ने: सन्तोष कोइराला at 3:40 PM 8 प्रतिक्रिया(हरु)
रचनाकार : INLS
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Time
Moon Lim Huiying
My dear Everyone, dont be sad,
I will tell you something, dont get mad,
Life is really not that bad,
Money is not everything that we had.
I may not be your destiny,
I maybe small as you can see,
I may not be your lock that matches your key,
But i hope to be there for you when you need me.
Just put all your troubles inside a box,
And throw it away with all the strength you have got,
I know its difficult as it will weigh a lot,
Just know that its not completely all your fault.
No matter how much you try to reach so high,
Time will just be flying by,
So there is a reason why the moon is in the sky,
For you to share your problems with it till your mind turns dry.
Time will come for those who fail the test,
You did well, and never meant to make a mess,
God will know that you gave your best,
So its really time for you to take a rest.
When winter comes and water turns to ice,
Just lie down and close your eyes,
Feel the wind until it slowly dies,
Like how i wish to feel beside you that is so nice
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प्रकाशित गर्ने: INLS अस्ट्रेलिया च्याप्टर at 3:02 PM 5 प्रतिक्रिया(हरु)
रचनाकार : Moon
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Gurkhas
Moon Lim Huiying
To all the Gurkhas of the world,
Can you feel my very own words,
Are you fighting like a samurai with a sword,
Or praying for your brothers to the lord.
You all are heros with no fear,
Just armoured with your weapons and some gear,
Charging into the fortress but your enemies cannot hear
Not even afraid of hearing death with your ears.
I will salute you all till the end,
Fighting not for your country and not for your land,
But for someone else’s home and their sand,
You are heros and I know you will do what you can.
I wish that I had the chance on this very night,
To curve my name on my friend’s khukri under the light,
So that he will remember when he draws this knife during his fight,
The Moon that is following his every move to strike.
I will always remember your smiles,
I still keep our photos in my files,
I hope to feel you from far even in miles,
So dont forget me when you return back to Nepal…”
(By profession, a nurse, poetess Moon is a Singapore citizen. The poem was reproduced here from www.nepalsingapore.com.)
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प्रकाशित गर्ने: INLS अस्ट्रेलिया च्याप्टर at 8:37 PM 6 प्रतिक्रिया(हरु)
रचनाकार : Moon
फेरी घरको याद आयो
सहदेव पौडेल
न्यूयोर्क
काठे पुल तर्दै धुलौटे माटोमा खेल्न मन लाग्यो
घासे चौरमा उफ्रदै बगर् बगर् दौडन मन लाग्यो
फुल्दै गएको मेरी आमाको कालो कपाल केलाउन मन लाग्यो
यसपटक फेरी घरको याद आयो
बाक्लिदै गएको मेरो गाउ, पातलीदै गएको परिवार भेट्न मन लाग्यो
एकै छिन घरगोठको स्याहर सम्भार् गर्न मन लाग्यो
कमजोर बन्दै गएको मेरा बा'को आखाको दृश्य बन्न मन लाग्यो
यसपटक फेरी घरको याद आयो
उकाली ओराली चड्दै बनको काडा बिझाउन मन लाग्यो
को हो को हो गर्दै गीत गाउने कोएली चरीलाई जिस्काउन मन लाग्यो
छाना भरी रमाएका परेवालाइ भुर्र् उडाउन मन लाग्यो
यस पटक फेरी घरको याद आयो
रुपे,बिशे र कान्छीसंग गोठालो जान मन लाग्यो
गाइ बाख्राको म्या म्या बा बा सुन्न मन लाग्यो
फैलिदै गएको शान्ती र बाटो हेरी बसेकलाई भेट्न मन लग्यो
यस पटक फेरी घरको याद आयो,
हात खुट्टा हिलो मैलो बनाउन मन लाग्यो
अलीकती पसीना मेरै माटो मा चुहाउन मन लाग्यो
एकै छिन भए पनि मेरै गीतमा नाच्न मान लग्यो,
यस पटक फेरी घरको याद आयो
आज कसैको मेलोमा जान मन लाग्यो
पालाको पैचो तिर्न मन लाग्यो
पर्खी बसेकी मेरीलाई पछाडिबाट आखा छोप्न मन लाग्यो
बिर्सदै गएकाहरुलाई सम्झदै गाउ पुग्न मन लाग्यो
छुन मन लाग्यो,
पसिनाले निधार धुन मन लाग्यो,
जुन सगै एकै छीन खेल्न मन लाग्यो
यस पटक फेरी घरको याद आयो
साभार: nepalipost.com
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प्रकाशित गर्ने: INLS अस्ट्रेलिया च्याप्टर at 12:14 PM 1 प्रतिक्रिया(हरु)
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Photo of the Day
Marriage ceremony for Peace in Nepal
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प्रकाशित गर्ने: INLS अस्ट्रेलिया च्याप्टर at 3:40 PM 1 प्रतिक्रिया(हरु)
रचनाकार : INLS
Newer Posts Older Posts Home नेपालको समय
Ashwin
सुन्नुहोस नेपाली मीडियाहरुलाई
बीबीसी दैनिक प्रसारण
नेपाल एफ. एम
गुर्खा एफ. एम
हिट्स एफ. एम
रचनाहरु क्रमसँग
▼ 2008 (126)
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तीजको लहर आयो बरी लै !!!!
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I wish you were mine!!!!!
म भित्रका महरु (भाग-४ )
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म भित्रका महरु (भाग-२)
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बुढाबाको लठ्ठी
Nepali literature blooming in Diaspora
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आँशु बिक्री हुने भए
सपथ
जीवन ब्रित्तमा घुम्दैछ (भाग-२)
जीवन ब्रित्तमा घुम्दैछ (भाग-१ )
Why God allows pain and suffering?
नेपाल एकदिन फर्कन्छु
जीवनका उकालीहरु
नेपाल हाम्रो देश
Our one and only Earth.
► May (19)
Federal Democratic Republic Nepal
A Leaf from my memory (GBS Part 3)
Guess who??
Time
Gurkhas
फेरी घरको याद आयो
Photo of the Day
INLS to honor critic Pradhan and two others
Nepal 2050AD
A Leaf From My Memory (GBS Part 2)
Cartoon of the day
INLS elects new ExCom for 2008-2010 term
Ant & Grasshopper
Prashant in Adelaide(Video 2)
Prashant in Adelaide (Video 1)
Prashant Tamang in Adelaide (Slide Show)
Mother!!!
माता तीर्थ औंशीको शुभ-कामना
मैले नेपालीको प्रतिनिधित्व गरेको छु - प्रशान्त
► April (49)
मान्छे
कहिलेकाही त नाच न चरी।
एडेलेडमा प्रशान्त र नेपाली मन
Violence
बेला भो!!
Unfulfilled Desires!!!
सिन्धुलीगढीका गाएक रहेनन्
मेरी आमा
छन्दमा कविताहरु
हिजो आजको कथा
सलाम छ
टुल्कीको प्रेम अनि पुर्पुरोको खत
Misapprehended
धुरु धुरु नरुनु आमा.......
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पछिल्ला प्रतिक्रियाहरु
inls ko budi chai ko ni.....???? - question?????
Budi lai chai teejko suvakaamana dinu pardaina san... - Budi Lover
The story arrested my attention without a blink. W... - Bhuwanesh
i agree with u navaraj - dipak
This is called "Mutually Onesided Love Story (MOLS... - नवराज
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