The above posting was taken from: www.martinchautari.org.np ************************** Martin Chautari in KathmanduIdeas unlimited and thoughts unrestrained By C K. L A L Bengalis have their addas. There they gather, like-minded Bengalis, to discuss the relevance of Marx, the writings of Jean-Paul Sartre, deterioration in the quality of education, the poetry of Kamala Das or the horses of M. F. Hussain. Majlis of Awadhis less eclectic, but no less spirited - the role of religion in society can be quite engrossing. This ýCoffee Houseý culture was a new name for an ancient habit of us Homo Sapiens.We like to gossip, exchange views, share ideas, and simply let words flow in a congenialatmosphere. That is what chat rooms attempt to recreate in the virtual world of Cyberia.But Cyberia lacks the warmth of real life. It is cold out there; anonymity of the Internet failsto connect us with each other.For women, it used to be the village pond, the community well, or the lonely tree at the edge of the forest where they rested with their load of fodder or firewood. For men ,it was invariably the banyan tree, usually near a temple or school. Village elders would gather there to resolve issues of common concern, wonder at the pace of changing times,or merely gossip. In the hills of Nepal, such a tree, often with a raised platform, is called a chautari. The more prosperous and aware the village, the higher the number of chautaris in it. But everyvillage would have at least one. Then came the teashops and the bhattis - shops selling rice-wine and the cheap edibles that go with it. These took away some of the regulars from thechautaris. But it was the radio, and television to a certain extent, which drove the last nailinto the coffin of chautari culture. There still are many functional chautaris in the countryside of Nepal, but they arenýtused as extensively as they used to be. These days, people gather at local teashops, bhat-tis, or the offices of various political parties. Does this decline in the popularity of chautaris have something to do with increasing intolerance in Nepali society? Difficult to say, but thefact is that people have less time, and even less inclination, to listen to the views that arenýtin consonance with their own.Kathmandu may be called a metropolitan city, but it carries the burden of being thecapital of a primarily rural nation-sate. Close to nine-tenths of Nepalýs population still lives invillages, without complaint. Unfortunately, there are very few places in Kathmandu whereone can express oneýs outlandish ideas or cranky thoughts without the fear of being ridiculed or worse. But then Kathmandu does have Martin Chautari, hereafter the Chautari, and thank God for that. Entering the Public Domain To give you a taste of the action, see what happened during one typical discussion. On 9 January 2001, second Tuesday of the month, the topic at Chautari was Darjeeling-basedwriter Indra Bahadur Raiýs path-breaking Nepali novel, Aaj Ramita Chha. A rough translationof the bookýs title would be, Today is Interesting, in the sense of the Chinese curse, ýMay you live in interesting timesý.The discussion was kicked off by Sangita, a working mother who had ploughedthrough the book with some effort. Her remark was forthright and unpretentious, ýThe book ambles without a beginning and an endý. Her judgment even more blunt, ýItýs a difficult readý. That is what any reader uninitiated in the nuances of high-literature feels while read-ing classics, but very few have the courage to accept it. Sangita did, and got an apprecia-tive nod from other participants facing a similar dilemma.The second reader to comment on the book was Ashutosh, a Harvard graduate and an activist. His suggestion, ýRead the book twice to appreciate the slice of life that itserves.ý After that, an animated discussion for over an hour engaged ex-ambassador andlinguist Nobel Kishor Rai, novelist Khagendra Sangraula, poet-satirist Bimal Nibha, writer-commentator Narayan Dhakal, writer-commentator Basant Thapa, novelist Manjushree Thapa and a group of young students in awe of the ýcubistý image of Indra Bahadur Rai.