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Shattered national psyche
OCT 03 - Vincent Androsiglio’s "Unhealed national psyche" (October 2) was a refreshing respite from the annoyingly inorganic intellectual showbiz that goes as opinion articles in your pages. Pity, it took a foreigner to notice and document our anguished national psyche. Indeed, the current generation of Nepalis are living in very, very traumatic times.In the last eight years, thousands have lived through the trauma of an armed insurgency, bloodbath and, yes, perpetual terror. On many occasions, I have heard many people wonder aloud: The unending cycle of violence must have left thousands of people, particularly the kids and adolescents, in a state of despair and confusion. Are they fine? Has enough thought gone into what appears to be a national catastrophe, a ticking time bomb? Until Androsiglio so brilliantly document ~ ~ d the traumatic dream patterns, it never occurred to me that the scale of the tragedy was so huge. I ended up relating myself with the dream narratives of the Nepalis he talked with during the three-day bandh early this month. Thank goodness for Nepal that dreams have such a high therapeutic value.
And it’s no coincidence that we have dreaming similar dark dreams. Flowers, birds, green pastures, mountains, yummy food and Prince Charming no longer visit my dreams. It’s all blood, violence, revenge, and deep insecurity that I may get killed myself. A recurrent dream shows women wailing at the feet of burly militants, whose faces are hidden behind their masks. My worst nightmare: I face a barrage of bullets. I am haunted day and night by this single question—Who is going to be the next victim—the boy next door, my family members, me? As the writer puts, one need not be on the battlefields
to feel wars.Gargi SharmaNew Baneshwor, KathmanduPosted on: 2003-10-02 11:24
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