Let us congratulate our Maharaja Deuba and his crew for showing us all that politicians don’t have any permanent enemies. Our Emperor Prachanda has also shown us that he is very flexible and can bend either way as long as he gets to be relevant and make some dough. 

We, the people really need to learn a lot of things from our chor netas. Yes, forget all the moral science lessons learned in school. Our corrupt clowns and civil servants have no morals and for them only money matters the most.  They join politics or civil service in hopes of making some moolah and they will do their best to make sure that service seekers pay them chiya kharcha.

 No wonder, our fake VAT bill byaparis evade billions of Rupees in taxes every year and our netas and civil servants get richer and fatter. If we were to compare the before-they-came-to-power or became-a-hakim-saheb pictures with the pictures of our chors today then you would clearly see the difference: From starving, skinny and sunken faces without any smiles to red, chubby and bubbly faces with a smirk after amassing millions and millions of Rupees in bribes and what not. 

And it seems that our corrupt folks really take the ‘code of silence’ more seriously than the Costa Nostra! Yes, the mafia folks in the West do turn on each other for reduction in fines, jail term and other benefits but here in this land of ours, we have yet to witness one person who has been sent to jail for corruption speak out against other civil servants and our politicians who have benefited from such shady deals.

Tulsi Giri was our Prime Monster under the Pancheys and vice-chairperson during Gyanu Uncle’s rule. When it comes to wasting our taxpayers money, our politicians do not discriminate against the old or the new players. After all, who doesn’t like free lunch?

Let us not blame Deuba or Kamal Thapa for doing their best to provide funds to Giri for his medical treatment. Our Emperor Prachanda had earlier tried to provide funds to Giri as well. So, all politicians, left, right or nowhere are in the game to make some moolah and help each other out in times of need instead of helping the common folks.

We have a former President who would rather spend lakhs per month from our national coffer to rent a house, a few minutes walk from his own residence. Soon, our current President will also get few lakhs per month for rent and other expenses.  We have half a dozen Prime Monsters who get security, perks and other benefits from the State and let us not count our former Speakers, Chief Justices and other thulo mancheys. 

It seems that our state treasury is more like a personal piggy bank for our thulo mancheys. Yes, all of them can share the funds to provide security, vehicles and other allowances for themselves while the common folks have to run around in circles for days and months to get basic services from the State.

Our President has finally authenticated the ordinance on election to the National Assembly. Oli might not get to enjoy the Bideshi New Year in Baluwatar but he should finish wrapping up his stuff to move there soon.

We expect our politicians to change but we seem to forget that there is no incentive for them to change their colours for the good of the nation when everything is going fine for them and their stooges? Our politicians know very well that they are not here to make this nation prosperous. They are here to act like mini-Maharajas, enjoy the loot while they can and make sure that they don’t get prosecuted by new players by offering free lunch to all political parasites, old and new.

And we thought that even though we do have enough crooks at the national level, we would at least get good folks to run our local bodies but we were wrong. Look at our Mayor from Kathmandu. The man whom we thought would act like Buddha, has turned out to become just another broker for our shady contractors. Maybe, we should also ask Oli Uncle to put some sense to his brother in law. 

After all, our mayor thinks it is better for all of us if we turn Rani Pokhari into another fun park or a circus. The man didn’t just wake up one night and dream of fountains, coffee shops and picnic spots inside such historic places. He must have received proposals from con artists who want to pay a few Rupees to our government while making hundred times more for themselves and our politicians.

Let us all wish each other a very Happy Bideshi New Year and look forward to a better year for ourselves. Yes, our government and civil servants will not repent overnight and be honest and hardworking. Our Mayors and Chief Ministers will continue to favour byaparis and contractors over the common folks and historic sites. But we must not lose hope, be strong and fight back if we see our folks in power try to roll over us with their corrupt nataks.  Someday, we will be fortunate enough to witness our own David defeated our corrupt Golaiths! 

Guffadi is a grumpy old man who blogs at guffadi.blogspot.com. You may contact him at [email protected]