--BY MADAN LAMSAL

The environment minister is busy inspecting the exhaust pipes of vehicles for excessive smoke emission. The home minister is arresting contractors and holding them in prison. The supplies minister is pressing sugar mill owners hard to pay the farmers' money. The finance minister is weaving plans and forming commissions to raise more taxes. It’s incredible! The ministers are working to serve the people!

In fact, the politicians have been fighting for the people for decades. They have been working for the people day and night. Sometimes they fought wars, sometimes they made peace. Sometimes, they were in the government, sometimes they made the opposition. In the past, they sang the people's songs. So what if now they want us to sing songs in their praise!

Now nobody will die of hunger or diseases anymore. If they die, then it must be understood that their time was up. Cholera, Chicken Pox, Tuberculosis and some other diseases have already been declared as eradicated. You are simply not allowed to die of these diseases!

Sometimes I wonder what would happen to the people if there were no politicians or ministers. Who would fight for the people? Who would provide them education? Who would give them jobs, money? Who would maintain law and order and provide security? Who would find them work in foreign lands? Who would fill their lives with hope? Who would show them the dreams of trains and ships? Who would teach them to plant flowers in earthen vases on World Environment Day? Who would put an end to syndicates and cartels? Who would arrest the gold smugglers? And so on.

Many people don't know what is what in Nepal because many of them are living in an illusion. That's why most of the times they see things going from bad to worse and the country's situation deteriorating. They think that the plans and speeches of the politicians are just entrapping webs of words. They don't think that the politicians have been fighting for the development and prosperity of the country. In fact, they view the politicians as thieves, goons, thugs and corrupt.

The Nepali people need to change their attitude. No change is possible unless we change our attitudes. If people change their attitudes, they will start seeing the 'good' in the bad and circumstances will change. For example, a politician's attitude changes instantly when he becomes a minister or the prime minister. And his circumstances, too, change. The narrow Tukucha River in the valley suddenly looks like a vast ocean soon after becoming a minister or a prime minister. And begins the dream of operating ships across the seas
and oceans!

As soon as he reaches government, a politician's attitude changes in that he sees development prospects everywhere. That's why the current government has shown us a long list of the 'achievements' made in its first 100 days - from instances of our ministers and prime minister sneezing together with Modi to shaking hands with the Pakistani Prime Minister! Many people don't seem to understand that small things, too, matter in life! Happy with these small things, our politicians become even happier after becoming a minister. As a result, they only see happiness in society.

This feeling of happiness triggers a sense of enlightenment (or is it entitlement?) in them and they suddenly become experts in everything from classical music to the capital market to the 'Seven Ps of marketing'! Ideas ranging from how to run industries to growing vegetables without water suddenly crop up in their minds. The common mortals of the country don't understand this. As a result, they complain that the politicians and ministers don't listen to the experts!

The truth is there is no need for our know-all politicians and ministers to listen to the so-called experts. The earlier the people understand this, the better.