Adam had earlier been in Nepal in last autumn. He was here to write on the
ecological footprints on Everest. When he met Deepak in a restaurant, they
discussed about the kind of journalism they were interested in.
During the discussion both of them were in an agreement that there were several
swathe of stories yet to be told. And they both found out that the story of Everest
was one of them. Deepak could not deny the project when Adam came up with crowd-funding project to tell the stories
of invisible people of the Himalayas.
अमेरिकाको टेनसी राज्यस्थित टस्कुलम कलेजमा चलिरहेको पत्रिका पायोनियर फ्रन्टियर बन्द हुने अवस्थामा थियो भने त्यहीँ अंग्रेजी र पत्रकारितामा स्नातक पढिरहेका एक नेपाली विद्यार्थीलाई पत्रकार बन्नु थियो । आफ्नो रहरको काम गर्न नपाएकामा थकथकी मानिरहेका उनकै आग्रहमा पत्रिका सुचारु भयो । सम्पादकको जिम्मेवारी पनि उनैले पाए । समाचार, फोटोदेखि डिजाइनसम्मका काम आफैँ गरे ।
पत्रिकाले कलेज क्यान्टिनका चर्चित परिकारदेखि कलेजभित्र गाँजा ओसारपसारका समाचारसम्म छाप्यो । गाँजाको समाचार कलेजकै प्रतिष्ठाको विषय बनेपछि प्रशासनले उनलाई त्यसमा संलग्न व्यक्तिहरू नचिनाए हटाउन सक्ने चेतावनी दियो । तर, उनले आचारसंहिताले नमिल्ने भन्दै बताउन चाहेनन् । धन्य, कलेजबाट भने हट्नु परेन । ६ वर्षअघिको घटना सम्झन्छन्, अनुप काफ्ले, २९ ।
यिनै अनुप अहिले अमेरिकाको दी वासिङ्टन पोस्टमा काम गर्छन्, वैदेशिक र राष्ट्रिय सुरक्षा सम्बन्धी डिजिटल सम्पादकका रूपमा । चर्चित अन्य दुई अमेरिकी पत्रिका दी न्युयोर्क टाइम्स र दी वालस्ट्रिट जर्नलका माझ वासिङ्टन पोस्टको ह्वाइटहाउस, कंग्रेसजस्ता अमेरिकी राजनीतिक चासोका रिपोर्टिङ्मा पृथक् पहिचान छ । भन्छन्, “वासिङ्टन पोस्टले विश्वभरका समाचारलाई वासिङ्टन दृष्टिबाट समेट्दै आएको छ ।” सुरक्षा मामिलामा विश्वभर चासो छ, अमेरिकाको । पोस्टमा त्यसको डिजिटल समाचार समन्वय र सम्पादनजस्तो संवेदनशील जिम्मेवारी अहिले अनुपको कमान्डमा छ । उनी १७ वटा ब्युरो र राष्ट्रिय सुरक्षा डेस्कबाट आउने सामग्रीलाई मल्टिमिडियामा लैजान्छन् । जस्तो : अनलाइनका लागि आवश्यक समाचार, ब्लग, तस्बिर, भिडियो, ग्राफिक्स, नक्सा एवं विभिन्न न्युज एप्लिकेसन्स बनाउने ।
As a blogger and a youth writer peace means “the freedom of expression” to me. I have seen Nepal transit through monarchy to a republican state. The transition was not easy. During the political unrest, I have seen the seizure of right to expression. It was a dark age which we have definitely left behind and a new era has emerged –the era where the right to expression is ensured and this means real peace to me.
The period of Maoist insurgency was the hardest period for media persons. You could not either criticize the government or write the brutality of terrorists. It was a dark era. One could not go to villages to collect the news while publication houses in the cities were censored heavily. Media persons could not express their frustrations with the prevailing scenario.
That was the matter of the past. Today, even in the world’s giant like China and other countries like Iran, Bhutan, among others where governments seem stable enforce totalitarian government resulting in the seizure of freedom of expression. You can’t talk about the dissident awarded Nobel Peace prize in China or Tibet or ethnic Uyghurs in Xinjiang region. Similarly, there exists an autocratic monarch in Bhutan. These totalitarian governments control the media there and there exist no peace in a true sense.
Recently, micro blogging sites and social networks brought the like minded protestors to the streets of Egypt that made Mubarak flee and the good point is this wave is gaining momentum. This is the power of media and the possibilities that freedom of expression pose.
It all started when I was a 5th grader. We started a child club called Bal Yojana Samuha (Child Planning Group) under my chairmanship. It was the first of its kind in the municipality, Ramgram (Nawalparasi district). So, we did not have any seniors to follow. Instead, we were supposed to inspire the posterity. Personally, I was very much interested in reading articles and columns in newspapers and magazines. In fact, I could recall the names of all the famous writers and columnists. I think my novice brain must have seen my potential of being an editor someday.
My father was an employee at District Administration Office. The office had a section: District Child Welfare Board. This section received a lot of child magazines from all over Nepal. So, this is how I had access to the magazines which talked a lot about “wall journals”. And, this ignited my innovative mind to start something of that kind in my very own school as a mouthpiece of our club. We were neither trained nor had we ever seen our seniors publish such journals. So, we were left on our own to discover all the processes of preparing a wall journal. We used to have our wall journal inaugurated at assembly hall by our principal. Well, that used to be a very proud moment for me, being a young editor-in-chief. Our club had a group of creative members to work on the journal. Friends who had beautiful handwritings and drawing abilities contributed to the journal. I used to collect news of school activities, world news and interesting discoveries for the journal. The journal always looked very catchy to the eyes after the final touch. The entire process took two days and the moments after we finalized it used to be very exhilarating.
The same year something very unpleasant happened. I got a red line in my report-sheet of second term examinations. Yes, I failed in a subject. The paper was very tough and many other class-mates also got a red line in their report-sheet. If rumors were to true, even the guy who was in the third rank of the class failed but the teachers pulled him out of it. It came from a highly reliable source. So, I went straight to the principal's desk and warned him to publish news regarding the issue in the journal. This all sounds very weird and funny today.
Eventually, I got promoted to upper grades. I was growing mature. Opening child clubs was like a popular fashion. Following our path, several other schools and children opened child clubs. Seeing the growing number of child clubs, I thought something must be done to bring all these clubs under a network. So, under my chairmanship, Child Club District Co-ordination Board was established. It was the first of its kind in the entire Western Development Region. Afterwards, UNICEF showed interest to help us publish the magazine. District Child Welfare Board (DCWB) wanted elders to take the responsibility. Later, those officials agreed on giving the responsibility. Besides, I had already edited and published a magazine, Usha. During, the publication of Usha, we had raised about 20 thousands (around 300 $) from the advertisements. Since, we were being financially supported by UNICEF, we could focus entirely on the quality of the magazine. To be frank, I haven’t taken any training to improve my writing ability. I developed this ability by practice and by reading the articles from the magazines my father had subscribed (viz.Nepal, Himal etc.). I used the skills I acquired by reading those articles in the magazines. Though I was very young, I was respected for who I was, an editor of a child magazine.
Our team published children’s issue with high priority. So, some national magazines wrote very highly of our team work. As mentioned earlier, I was a great fan of some of the columnists. I would like to recall a small incident. The then editor of Nepal magazine, Sudheer Sharma (currently editor of Kantipur Daily) wrote a very fine report about Maoist insurgency in Nepal. At the last page, he wrote ‘I’m leaving Nepal (mag).’ I also wanted write in the similar fashion. So, I also left the post of editor of Usha. Many people did not want me to leave the post. But, what I did was for its best. I wanted to give juniors a chance. And, I feel so happy that they are doing very well.
I used to send my articles to national dailies like Kantipur, Gorakhapatra and the Himalayan times. In 2007, I graduated from the school in Parasi with distinction marks (86.63%) in the SLC board. Unknowingly, I had set an example. Even these days, my school principal asks the students to follow my example. Students in Parasi remember me as person who was able to handle both the studies and extra carricular activies. Later, my articles started to get published in Kopila, Kantipur’s supplement for children. Rajesh Koirala, Kopila’s coordinator, instructed me on how to improve writing skills. Besides Kantipur, my feature articles mainly on children’s issue were also getting published in other national dailies like Nagarik, Gorakhapatra, among others.
I was in my mid-teens. I did not want to limit myself in children’s issues. I was being continuously encouraged to explore the other genre as well. So, I went exploring other genre of writing. As I was a science major in my high school, I wrote many scientific articles as well. I even wrote about UFO in a tabloid, Saptahik. That was an exclusive cover story of the tabloid. I was just 16 when I wrote that.
Now, it has been almost a year since I started contributing regularly for Kantipur national daily. I got this opportunity to write for Hello shukrabar, youth supplement of Kantipur Daily. My columns are published evey fort night. I can say it proudly that I am one of very few columnists to start writing this early. I am very thankful to Mr. Deepak Adhikari, a senior assistant editor at Kantipur Daily. He is the one who taught me journalism. He is one of the very few Nepali journalists who write for international publications such as TIME, The Guardian, among others. He trusted me just by reading a single article. It must have been a tough decision for him to trust me who had no prior experience in writing articles in a national daily like Kantipur. And, working under him turned out to be very fruitful for me. He encouraged me to write features for Hello Shukrabar. I got a whole new opportunity to learn and explore due to my guru Deepak Adhikari.
Standing at this point, whenever I recall my past activities and try to connect the dots; every dot I left has escorted me here. Everything that I did knowingly or unknowingly makes a complete sense today; be it opening a child club for the first time in my municipality or starting the trend of wall journal. The proud moments of being an editor of a wall journal has multiplied. And, yes, starting it all small I am playing it big. Our wall journal used to be published a single copy with limited number of readers. And, the praises from a couple of teachers and parents used to be very overwhelming. Today, my articles are published in a newspaper that is well circulated (2 hundred fifty thousand hard copies) and are accessible to millions of readers worldwide via internet. The day my articles are published, I receive hundreds of messages, calls and emails. I have a huge fan following on Facebook and Twitter. Whatever I am today, it is all due to my child club and the experience that I gained from the publication of my wall journal. :D
एसएलसी.केा नतिजा र्सार्वजनिक भएकेा दिन सबेरै मेघराज अंकलले फोन गर्नुभयो । "डिस्टिडसन आएकोमा बधाई छ, अब पत्रकारिता पढ्नर्ुपर्छ । त्रि्रो पोटेन्सीयालिटी म पत्रकारितामा देख्छु ।" पत्रकारिता मेरो सानैदेखि शोखको विषय भएता पनि मैले भौतिक विज्ञान पढ्ने कुरा सुनेपछि अंकलले निराश हुँदै भन्नुभयो "निर्ण्र्ाागर्ने काम त त्रि्रै हो, तर तिमी मेरो आफ्नै छोरा भएकेा भए पत्रकारिता नै पढ्नुपथ्र्यो ।"
नवलपरासीमा मलाई चिन्ने अधिकांश पत्रकार, राजनीतिज्ञ, बुद्धिजिवी मेरा शुभेच्छुक एवं आफ्नै गुरुहरुले मलाई पत्रकार बनाउनु पर्छ भन्ने कुरा गर्थे । नवलपरासीबाट प्रकाशित हुने एकमात्र बाल पत्रिका -म्यागाजिन) उषाको सम्पादक भएर ३ बर्षकाम गरेको हुँदा पनि होला सबैले मलाई पत्रकारितमा राम्रो गर्ला भन्ने सोच्नुभएको । बुवा एउटा साहित्यिक पत्रकार भएको हुँदा वहाँले पनि मलाई पत्रकारिता नै पढ्ने सल्लाह दिनुभयो । तर सबैको आग्रह र अपेक्षाका वाबजुत म अहिले भौतिक विज्ञान पढिरहेको छु । यधपि सबैको मप्रति रहेको सद्भाव एवं शुभेच्छाको म हृदयत सम्मान गर्छर्ुु सिभिल इञ्जिनियर हुने मेरो इच्छा सानैदेखिको हो । इन्द्र अंकलले त मेडिकल क्षेत्रमा जाने कि भन्ने अप्सन पनि मलाई दिनुभयो । तर भावुक हृदयको म मेडिकल क्षेत्रमा जम्न सकुँला जस्तो लागेन । न त जीवनमा म कहिल्यै डाक्टर बन्ने सपना नै देखेँ । बरु देशको भौतिक निर्माण गर्ने काममा आफ्नो योगदान पुर्याउन पाए हुन्थ्यो भन्ने सोचले मलाई सिभिल इञ्जिनियर बन्ने बाटोमा डोर्यायो । भौगोलिक विविधताले सु-सुजित पहाडी मुलुक नेपालको कुनाकुनासम्म आधुनिक ढगंले मोटरबाटो पुर्याउने र कृषिप्रधान देशको कृषिकै माध्यमबाट आर्थिक बृद्धिदर बढाउन जलश्रोतलाई विधुतका अतिरिक्त आधुनिक नहरहरुमार्फ सिंचाईमा सदुपयोग गराउन सके देशले काँचुली फेथ्र्यो भन्ने मलाई लाग्थ्यो । भिनाजुले त कहिले काँही ख्यालठटा गर्दा प्रदीप त राजनीतिमै लागे पनि भौतिक योजना तथा निर्माण मन्त्री बन्नर्ुपर्छ है भन्नुहुन्छ ।
हिमालयन ह्वाइटहाउस कलेजमा भौतिक विज्ञान अध्ययन गर्दा मेरो लेखनकार्यमा कमी आएता पनि पर्ूण्ारुपमा ठप्प नै चाही भएन । समय समयमा कान्तिपुरको कोपिलामा मेरा रिपोर्टहरुले स्थान पाइराख्छन् । गत मंसिरको दर्ुइ हप्ता त लगातार कोपिलाको प्रथम पृष्टमा मुख्य रिपोर्टका रुपमा मेरा रिपोर्टहरु प्रकाशित भए । त्यसलगतै कोपिलाका संयोजक राजेश कोइरालाले प्रदीप त अब हिरो भयो नि भन्दा म साह्रै रमाएकेा थिएँ भने आफूमा थप जिम्मेवारी बोध भएकेा पनि अनुभव गरे । अझ रुपन्देहीका दृष्टिविहीनहरुले क्रिकेट खेल्ने गरेको रिपोर्ट कोपिलामा छँापिदा कान्तिपुरका सम्पादक नारायण वाग्ले स्वंयले प्रशंसा गर्नुभएकेा थाहा पाउँदा म निकै हौसिएकेा थिएँ । रिपोर्ट प्रकाशित भएकै दिन नारायण सर र प्रख्यात लेखिका मञ्जुश्री गेस्ट लेकचर दिनको लागि कलेजमा पत्रकारिता पढ्ने विधार्थीहरुमाझ जानुभएकेा रहेछ । त्यहाँ वहाँले प्रदीप बस्याल को हुन् भनेर खोजिनिति गर्नुभएछ । अन्ततः त्यहाँ मलाई नभेटेपछि अन्य संकायतर्फहोला भन्दै वहाँ त्यहाँबाट र्फकनुभएछ । सोही दिन क्याम्पसभर प्रदीप बस्याल को हुन् - भनेर खोजिनीति भएछ । पछी म नै प्रदीप बस्याल भएकेा थाहा पाएपछी आजकल साथीहरुले पत्रकार महोदय भन्दै सम्बोधन गर्छन् । कलेजको साइन्स क्लब को प्रकाशन शाखामा समेत मलाई दाजुहरुले मनोनयन गर्नुभएको छ । काठमाण्डौं पोष्टका पत्रकार पुरन विष्टले अब त अंग्रेजीतर्फपनि लेखनलाई लैजानुपर्यो भनेर सल्लाह दिनुभएको थियो । तर प्रयाप्त समयको अभावमा म त्यसो गर्न सकिराखेको छैन । एकजाना साथीकेा मोबाइलमा विविसीका रविन्द्र मिश्रको जस्तो अन्तरवार्ताको केरिकेचर एकताका रर्ेकर्ड गराएकेा थिए । साथीहरुले राम्रो मानेर ब्लुतुत मार्फ ट्रान्फर गर्दै राखेछन् । पछी त्यो एमाले महासचिव माधवकुमार नेपाल सम्मले सुन्न पुग्नुभएछ । त्यसबेला वहाँले प्रदीप राम्रो पत्रकार बन्न सक्छ भन्नुभएछ । सिकारु पत्रकार हुँदा खेरी नै धेरै राष्ट्रिय व्यक्ति सम्म परिचित हुनपाउँदा आजकल पत्रकारिताप्रति मेरो सम्मान ह्वात्तै बढेको छ ।
Published on the KANTIPUR (koseli) on college life column
