I really enjoyed reading the above post. Kudos to Biplav Pradhan for writing it. Wonderful! Hope to read more of your writing, sir.

I totally agree with his point of view. But I want to push him a little bit more. He says the future is about educating the children properly. I totally agree with that. But, I say that the proper education of the children will only happen when we respect and value the women in their role as mother and wife in the family. I feel that this has been the missing ingredient in Nepal.

This is what we were discussing in this thread:
http://sajha.com/sajha/html/index.cfm?threadid=93850

What I really like about Biplav's point of view is that he is going to the root of the problem: the family. This is where the foundation of what a Nepali is, is made. It is the family that shapes the Nepali. And it is the Nepali that shapes Nepal. I will go as far as to say that if Nepal is struggling today, it is because something was wrong with the Nepali family functioned 50 or a 100 years ago. The effect of that is playing into national politics today. I feel that this is the point that Biplav Pradhan is making also.

I feel that in the Nepali family, the positive role of women has not been appreciated enough. What we Nepalese need to realize is that we need to respect and empower the women first, before the children. We need to respect her as a woman and understand the unique gifts that she can give the family and society and the world. We need to understand her relationship with herself.
We need to listen to her and understand what she wants. And we as a society need to make her needs a priority. We Nepali men need to sacrifice for their needs for a change. The Nepali women have been sacrificing for their men and children for years.

I feel it is then we will be able to value her as a woman. And then we will appreciate what she has to offer as a wife and a mother. And when she feels secure and happy and loved and cared for and respected for who she is, she will naturally give her best gifts to that society. She will happily contribute to the family. If the mother of the household is miserable, how can she give the best that she has to the family? If she is needy, hungry, abused, tattered and has a low-self-esteem, from where will she get the energy to empower her children?

I don't feel that it is possible to empower the children without empowering the women first. I feel that there are not enough Nepali men, including me, that understand this.