The Human Kingdom

Monsieur,
do you have a little water ?

Fire ?
It was water i was asking for,
Monsieur !

Donn’t you know-
that when there’s a drought of compassion
fire spills all over the kingdom of life,
rises in flames
and hunts for every bit of harmony ?

O, is that so ?
That means, only fire is cultivated here ?
Don’t flowers ever bloom in this part of the world ?
Don’t the cuckoos rove about ?
Are there no fountains that spew water,
just enough to quench one’s parched throat ?

O, vultures ?
Mountains of cactuses ?
That means, no pigeon ever croons here ?
Is valture the national bird
and cactus the national flower here ?
That means, no rose ever opens up ?

If so, I beg your pardon, Monsieur !
I happened to lose my way
and run, by mistake,
into the human kingdom.

-Phulman Bal Tamang

Cultural Affection

American Documentary filmmaker Carlos Gomez with Indian filmmaker Rwita Dutta and Taiwanese artist  during The Nepal International Indigenous Film Festival-2012, Kathmandu. 

Published on Kantipur National Daily. visit: http://www.ekantipur.com/kantipur/news/news-detail.php?news_id=296908

• By Phulman Bal

Kathmandu: Carrying a pie chart of Colombia, last year an American filmmaker Carlos Gomez arrived to Nepal International Aboriginal Film Festival (NIF) and said to Nepali film makers: “I want to collaborate.” Clinging to that very determination, he arrived this time once again.  This time he had a documentary movie based on Nepal. During the seventh convention of NIIFF, he displayed a documentary entitled as ‘Indigenous Media Postcard from Nepal’ as a spectator depicting the effort of Nepali aboriginal communities to preserve their culture and lifestyle; now he had a responsibility of jury member to cooperate on. Lost in far nooks of Nepal for three weeks after the mark of formal conclusion of the festival, he was convened at Basantapur of the capital as the twilight broke at a particular dusk.

“This time I got lost in the villages,” He, who was starting filmmaking of different nation and their communities said, “My days are all memorable which I spent on nearly extinct Nepali culture and diverse traditions.” As the festival halted he lunged to Panchthar to examine the uniqueness of Limbu culture; remained there for two weeks. He was assisted by Limbu festival organization, and even did a four days workshop on the film. There he prepared a documentary on Limbu myth on fire: ‘Misek’. The myth opines that the spark reaching a particular direction while torching the woods is an indicator for a new happening; he even edited this belief in his work.

“All the aborigines of the world seem same”, he told his emotions while wandering through the Limbu village carrying Panasonic GH6 camera, an Apple Computer, and a mini sound set, “From food to traditions to dance, all feels the same.” He added. With this nostalgia he even recalled his tour to Ecuador. When he reached Ecuador by sailing across the Amazon River continuously for two days in a small yacht with his Japanese wife, he was welcomed there by half naked aborigines of Ecuador. “See these people,” he said indicating the photo he uploaded in Facebook and added, “If we don’t make a film on their social status, it is soon going to be extinct.”

To the very community he donated a computer, a solar system, a camera, and a sound system to establish a media center, and he wants to exercise the same stuff in Nepal. Last year he donated a camera to Chandra Mangmu, resident of Paachthar; this year he has come up with greater ideas. After he returned from the east, he moved towards Kavre to find a new community with young film makers Prinaraj Joshi and Ravi Sharma where he made a new documentary movie on the role of community radios to preserve the cultural paradigm and the language of aborigines of that place.

“There we found a fascinating subject,” he said after collecting all the works of community radios and electing Radio Namobuddha as an ideal one, “Radios are connecting to various people across the globe.” During the shoot of documentary, he met Gunjaman Dong of Kavre, Tilam Machhegaun, whose progenies are living in America and he is working on the radio exalting the significance of culture and tradition wishing the future generation shall never marginalize these fundamental aspects. Dwelling in America for two decades, the sons of Gunjaman and their life is going to be featured in next documentary, Carlos said.

“This is community based documentary,” he even added the movement of his organization Cineminga, “I am planning to make this association worldwide, which actually started in 2007.” The president of Cineminga, a Colombian word for ‘cooperation in movies’, Carlos opined that during the era of globalization films are going to connect the communities of the world.” He has been conducting charity after he features the documentary visiting different parts of the globe. “I do have a plan to establish community film centers,” Carlos said as he is going to America this Monday, “Next year; I shall establish two such centers in Nepal.”

Cellphone wins at NIIFF

Published on The Kathmandu  Post:http://www.ekantipur.com/2012/07/17/entertainment/cellphone-wins-at-niiff/357290.html

Director Phulman Bal Receiving award in Closing ceremony at Hotel Yak and Yeti, Kathmandu.

KATHMANDU, JUL 17 –

The sixth Nepal International Indigenous Film Festival, organised by the Indigenous Film Archive (IFA) came to a close with Phulman Bal, who heads the arts and culture bureau at Kantipur daily, bagging the Encouragement Award for his film Cellphone. The honour was accompanied by a cash prize of Rs 25,000, given at a ceremony held at the Regal Ballroom at Hotel Yak and Yeti on July 15.

Speaking at the programme, Nabin Subba, the chairman of the IFA remarked that this year’s edition of the festival was a triumph, wherein indigenous philosophy, knowledge and diversity were celebrated. “Our objective was to give indigenous people a voice of their own,” Subba said. “We had started small, but we’ve managed to expand to the international community, and bring diverse stories to bigger masses.”

Under the theme ‘Pathfinder… Indigenous Youth’, this year’s festival saw submissions of 79 films from 26 countries, which were screened at City Hall and Nepal Tourism Board, Exhibition Road between July 13-15. Seventeen films were premiered during the festival, and a jury, comprising of Australian filmmaker Andrew Vial, anthropologist Dambar Chemjong and Indian film critic Professor Rita Datta, were responsible for picking winners in the various categories.

Other prizes included the Nepali Panorama award for the film Impression of Lumbini by Lujaw Singh (Nepal), the Public Choice award for Ke: Ba Kokma by Rabi Sherma (Nepal), the Jury award for The Sound of One Leg Dancing by Dilman Dila (Uganda), the Bronze Drum for Eagle VS Sparrow by Michelle Derosier (Canada), the Silver Drum for Mamu by Curtis Tailour (Australia) and the Golden Drum for Voice in the Cloud by Aaron Hose (Taiwan).

A Glimpse of Short Film ‘Cell Phone’

Brief description or synopsis of the film

Choiku is a young boy who lives in a village near the Kathmandu valley. He belongs to a middle class family. His father is a hereditary shaman and dreams of his son to follow his traditional profession. Choiku is secretly in love with his cousin sister – Palmo, who comes to stay in his for few days. Choiku spots Palmo talking with a guy who promises to gift her with a mobile phone. Palmo seems attracted to that guy as she expects to get a mobile phone. Knowing this, Choiku struggles a lot to get a mobile phone to impress Palmo. He even tries to steal other’s cell phone and his mother’s money as well but never succeeded. Ultimately, he goes to Kathmandu to sell a dhyangro – which symbolized one of the significant heritages in Tamang community. He returned to his home with a mobile phone but found his father is ill. At the end, he regrets his act.

Producers:

1. Ngima Pakhrin Tamang- USA

2. Chandramaya Tamang- Israel

4. Shanti Lama-Nepal

Director :

Phulman Bal Tamang

Staring :

Umesh Tamang, Shanti Waiba, Sonam Moktan, Prem Lopchan, Maya Moktan, Buddhi Tamang, Tej Br. Tamang, Krishna Waiba

About director :

Phulman Bal Tamang was born in Timal, kavrepalanchok,  the cultural land of tamang community of nepal . He is a journalist, writer and filmmaker  He has been working in Kantipur National daily since one decade. Now he is bureau Chief of art and culture department of Kantipur daily. His First book was ‘Kaajol Khatoon’, a story collection based on war and conflict of Nepal and he just published a poem collection named ‘Mahabharat ki maichyang’, this anthology  has  awarded ‘Garima Samman Award’ from Shaja Prakasan, the  book publication wing of Nepal Government.

Cell phone is his first short film.  it has achieved Encouragement Award  in Nepal International Indigenous Film Festival (NIFF)- 2012. He is now working two film project named ‘Soi Bonpo Soi’ (The Dancing  Shaman)  and ‘Timal Trip’. He is also founder Chairperson of  Community Radio Namobuddha FM, Dhulikhel  Kavre.

List any previous screening and dates in the space below:

• Nepal International indigenous film festival-2012, Kathmandu
• Martin chautari  weekly film show, Kathmandu
• Ratoghar Foundation weekly film show, Kathmandu
• Indigenous women conference , Bangkok, Thailand
• Toronto Nepali Film Festival-2013

Award :

• Encouragement Award- Nepal International indigenous film festival-2012, Kathmandu

Please Watch Promo Of ‘Cell Phone’ in this link : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xp-s1uByTZo

Technology and the Third World

Published on The Kathmandu Post Daily-

http://www.ekantipur.com/the-kathmandu-post/2012/06/19/et-cetera/technology-and-the-third-world/236231.html

POST REPORT

KATHMANDU, JUN 19 – Phulman Bal, the bureau chief of the Kantipur daily’s Art and Culture section, has just released a 15-minute short film titled Cellphone. The clip was shown at a press conference organised at the Indigenous Film Archive in Anamnagar on Tuesday.

Bal is a seasoned journalist who has worked in the media for over a decade, and he has both directed and penned the script for the short himself. The film revolves around a poverty-stricken Tamang Jhankri family, where the father wants his son to take up the Jhankri tradition, but his son is more interested in other things. After coming across a fellow villager carrying a mobile phone, the son decides he must have one for himself, especially if he is to impress the girl he likes.

Lacking any other alternative, he ends up going to the city to sell his Dhangro—the Jhankri drum—and purchasing a mobile with the money. On returning to his village, he finds that his father has fallen ill, a fact that causes him to regret his decision.  “What I wanted the film to convey was the impact of new technologies on rural communities,” Bal says. “The idea that globalisation has crept into even remote areas in Third World countries like ours is something that fascinates me.” He stresses on the fact that technology needs to be made culturally-friendly, being that it is already an inescapable aspect of living in these modern times.

Cellphone has been shot in the Tamang language and subtitled in English and Nepali. It stars Umesh Tamang, Shanti Waiwa and Prem Lopchan, Sonam Moktan among others, in leading roles. Producers of the film include Ngima Pakhrin, Sangey Lama, Chandramaya Tamang and Shanti Waiwa. “I came in contact with Lama and Tamang via Facebook, and it was while chatting online that they requested me to write the script, which I did,” says Bal.

Cellphone is scheduled to be screened at the 6th Indigenous Film Festival on July 13.

The wild cell phone chase

Aashish Bhattarai (Published on The Kathmandu Post Daily)

Film Director Phulman Bal delivering a speech about his short film ‘Cell Phone’ at Martin Chautari, Kathmandu.

http://www.ekantipur.com/the-kathmandu-post/2012/09/29/related_articles/the-wild-cell-phone-chase/240222.html

KATHMANDU, SEP 29 –
How important is it for one to have a cell phone in today’s techno-world? The lead in Phulman Bal’s short film Cell Phone is so strongly driven by the notion that cell phones are indispensable that he trades his family inheritance, a dhyangro, to buy one.

Based on the Tamang community, Bal’s film explores the impact of modernisation—geared mostly by advancements in technology—on the culture and tradition of the numerous indigenous communities that populate the country. The film, in particular, highlights the inherent passive nature of a third-world country, where the entire population is made up of ‘technology-receivers’.

Cell Phone is set in rural Nepal, where Chhoiku, the son of a witchdoctor, is driven into bouts of envy when he sees his cousin, Palmo, talk to a man boasting about how he has two cell phones. This triggers in him a deep desire to become the proud owner of a cell phone, come what may. During dinner one night, he asks his Apa for two thousand rupees, but is rejected right away.

This, however, does nothing to kill his desire, which attains unprecedented heights when he comes across an antique dealer during a ritual ceremony. It is here that he makes up his mind to steal his father’s dhyangro to sell to the dealer. He then proceeds to buy two cell phones—one for himself and the other for Palmo—with that money. When he finds out, Chhoiku’s father, the witchdoctor, falls sick. Distressed, he condemns himself for his failure to pass on to his son the traditional skills of healing he received from his father.

Concluding the story at this point, director Bal leaves his audience to mull over the extent to which modern equipments have overridden long-standing traditions. While technology continues to enhance life in different ways, films like Cell Phone compel reflection on their implications on society and our values.

Shot at Devichaur VDC of Lalitpur district, Cell Phone combines works of amateur as well as professional actors. It recently received an Encouragement Award from the Indigenous Films Archive. Phulman Bal directed the film while Anil Khadka worked as casting director. The film was screened at Martin Chautari on September 27

Pls read news on Original link: http://www.ekantipur.com/the-kathmandu-post/2012/09/29/related_articles/the-wild-cell-phone-chase/240222.html

The Moon of Valentine’s Day

By Phulman Bal

Dusky Evening—
Yours guiding hands to the pine forests
Caring lips at my checks
At the sight of the Moon
Wandering fingers
With scaling tsunami
Slithering lock as necklace
All, entirely all
Are only standing
As the witness of reminiscences

In deeper dilemma
As a crow in cloudy atmosphere
Showing the rising Moon
You used to tell
It’s Valentine’s Day
And
You kissed my forehead
Then my fingers
You enjoyed my blooming bosom
With jubilant smell of lurking youth
And beautiful physiographic angles
Under the premises of making me social mobilizer
In a new would-be project

Dusky Evening—
Yours guiding hands to guest house
You made me observing the Moon from roof top
Mild-red light from zero watt bulbs
The smell of consumed hot chocolates
Odors from red label that you sipped in
All, entirely all
Are only standing
As the witness of reminiscences

In a dilemma
As a crow in cloudy atmosphere
Tales of Laila and Majnu
Saga of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz
And
Overhearing songs from Muna-madan
You used to find congruence between
The full Moon of the sky
And my bosom
You used to fit
The Moon of my bosom in your fist
After being ashamed
I used to remove your hands
And you told me silently
I do not deceive maichang
Never will I deceive you
You’ll be a teacher
After establishing a boarding school

Now seven and half months
Setting the Moon of Valentine’s Day
I’m searching your face
Oh, dear disappeared one!
The dense mustache
Which I could not see
In that very evening
The pointed nose like cliff
The clever eyes
All are under my search,
I must search all of them

And
Slowly and gradually,
The Moon of Valentine’s Day
Getting Matured
Inside my womb

Oh My Beloved Kantipuri !

By Phulman Bal

Kantipuri,
Oh my beloved
Open your eyes
I have come
With red roses in my hands

**** ****

Forgotten since ages
I, crazed, lovelorn
Have come
To place these love-flowers
On your loosened hair

**** *****

Perhaps,
You’ve forgotten those days
When
You were adorned
In clothes I weaved
And your virgin beauty smiled
In the ornaments I studded
You sun-bathed lying
On the ancient courtyard that I laid for you
It was I who sketched
Your oil paint portrait in your boudoir
It was I who carved love images
On the ivory cupboards
Do you remember
Those formless shadows
That appeared north of your boudoir every evening?
That which you thought the soul of a white khyak – spirit
Was I
The rustling sound you heard
Was of my feet.

****** ******

Kantipuri,
Oh my beloved
I have many complaints
Who erected those white palaces on your breast
That you consider your identity?
Who engraved the crown as tall as temples and steeples on your hair
That you consider your pride?
Who decorated
Your beautiful garden
Where, rambling in the mornings and evenings
You lost yourself?
And who built the ancient stone-water-spout
Where, giggling with maids and friends
You washed your youth?

********* ***********

Yes Kantipuri,
O My beloved,
Entangled am I this moment
In the thicket of complaints upon complaints
Many a night,
Have I approached the golden door of your boudoir
To return without knocking on it
And when your cherished one
With drama of love
Continuously squeezed you
Many a time have I
Withdrawn my hand empty
From the khukuri sheath hanging on my hip
One day, lost in the rainbow of your intoxicating eyes
The tray fell on the floor
And with the ineradicable marks of the lash
Was I chased away.

****** *********

Tell me Kantipuri,
O my beloved.
Whose sweat has flowed on the walls of your palace?
Whose pain is engraved in the beam supports and taps of temples?
There, do I still hear the tunes of life flowing
And restless images of pain do I see swirling
While you went for drives in the vehicle
We, without being paid,
Carried on our shoulders from Bhimphedi
You enjoyed the cool breeze of the yak tail flipper
That we knitted till the blood boiled in our fingers
I used to sweep away the dung of your horse
And spend sleepless nights inside the stable
Many a time have I sprained my legs
While climbing Sanga Bhanjyang with a load of mangos for you

********* **********

Kantipuri,
O my beloved!
Ripping apart the veil of long sleep
I’ve awoken after an age
You were also asleep!
In a long sleep of delusion
Awake now.
Recognize and fold me in your embrace
To rub rose water
On your lethargic spine
Have I come.

******** *************

Now see.
The crimson rising in the East
Perhaps, from the coupling of earth and sky
A new morning is being born
And this morning will create
A new city
Such a city
Where
I shall love you without fear
And make you mine forever
Because
You’re always mine.

Democracy In The Far Westren Nepal

Photo: Jhala Biswokarma

Phulman Bal
A kachahari play on loktantra has just finished showing in Kachanali village situated on the banks of the Seti River in Doti district of far western Nepal. The locals returned home discussing the issues of women’s rights, education and inclusive loktantra raised in the drama.

I spotted a wrinkled old lady with her grandson in a group of old women in their 50s.

“What’s your name?” I asked, intending to find out her impression of the play.

“Why do you want to know?” she shot back. “We illiterate people don’t have names. Go ask the educated people.”

The old woman then headed towards her home, muttering something in Doteli language which I could not understand. My question had angered her; it was writ large in her face.

Just then, Yogendra Malla, a teacher at the local Harihar Secondary School, pulled me by the arm and said, “Most of the village women are uneducated, and they don’t speak Nepali, only Doteli.”

photo: Dil Bahadur Chhatyal

A documentary is about to be shown in the school’s under-construction building. Many women and children have gathered to watch it. According to Malla, there are not many men because most fled to India during the conflict; and there is little hope of them returning except during festivals.

The documentary, Newsroom Bahira, is about an incident in Achham caused by unsafe abortion practices. A woman lies writhing in pain inside a hospital and dies after some time. Two years ago, a woman had died after a hot iron rod was inserted into her genitals to cause abortion.

“We could’ve saved her if there was a hospital nearby,” Malla commented after watching Dilbhushan Pathak’s documentary. “This is the misfortune of the far west.”

Parvati Malla, 46, of Kachanali VDC was listening to him as she clutched her child in her arms. She had come to see the film after watching the play.

Photo: Dil Br. Chhatyal

“The men don’t understand our problems,” she said. “Most of them go to work in Indian cities. Many return home infected with HIV and forcefully transmit the disease to their wives. If we have many children and want to have an abortion, we have no access to such service.”

Just a while ago, Parvati had been watching in silence when Silgadhi’s Abhiyan Sanskritik Samuha was staging the play. Only after the show did she start speaking openly, the chief reason being the play’s interactive style.

Propagated in the 1970s by Brazil’s innovative and influential theatrical director, writer and politician Augusto Boal as “Theater of the Oppressed”, this drama style connects the audience directly with the stage and creates an environment for finding solutions to one’s problems.

For example, the play has a scene where a Dalit girl is grazing her goats. She becomes thirsty and heads towards a tap by the roadside. When she is about to cup her hands to drink water, someone shouts, “She’s made the tap impure, this wretch!”

Photo: Dil Br. Chhatyal

The girl would not go without getting water, and they kept arguing for a long time. The narrator then stopped the play and threw a question at the audience, “Should the girl get to drink the water or not?” They shouted back, “Yes!”

Parvati also started voicing her opinion. “Yes, times have changed now. Why should people be treated as untouchables?”

Rukmini Shahi, 23, who represents the new generation, climbed on to the stage and pushed aside the man from the so-called upper caste who had been protesting against the Dalit girl.

In this style of drama, artistes weave problems of the local people into the story, and when the confrontation between the characters reaches a climax, the narrator asks the audience for a solution. The viewers then turn into characters and the problem is solved together.

Problems arose twice again in the play — in the scene involving a village girl and her trafficker and in the scene of the village council meeting. In both instances, the villagers actively participated to devise solutions, from chasing away the girl trafficker to uniform budget allocation and inclusive leadership for the village’s development.

Photo: Dil Br. Chhatyal

This style of drama, which aims at active audience participation rather than imposing ideals from the stage, is being staged in various villages of Doti these days. The campaign, conducted by Alliance for Peace as part of MS Nepal’s “Sthaniya Loktantra Nirman” program, has reached Doti via Palpa and Banke.

“It’s not enough to have loktantra in the constitution and leaders’ speeches. It should be the way of life of every citizen. Loktantra can’t be long-lasting if we don’t spread awareness to the local level,” program coordinator Ramesh Adhikari said. “That’s why we’ve started this campaign.”

Group Members of Loktantra Bus Campaign. Photo: Jhala Biswokarma

Yogendra Malla also seconded his views. The 23-year-old teacher was willing to help take the play to another village nearby.

In parting, he said to the play’s director Milan Pariyar and team coordinator Rajkumar Pathak, “Remember that there are also young people like us in the villages who haven’t fled to India.”

Welcome to China !!!

Photo: Chiran Baral

‘Congratulation !’
when I was into the lift, Mr. Shekhar Kharel, co-ordinator of the City Post, said- ‘I just saw your photos about china trip on the desktop of your computer. When did you go to china with Bikram Subba ? how was trip ?’

I was so surprised that I rushed toward my computer. But there weren’t any photos concern with China besides pictures of our Lumbini trip. Ha…ha….ha ! I got really fun. Actualy, Mr. Kharel, my senior friend got confuse because of a photo, which was about chainese monastery with beutiful chinese architecture.

Now your turn, How do you want to express on this photo ?