I teach my Son
the difference
between Denmark and Nepal
and inspire him
to be proud of homeland
I teach him
the highest point of this earth
that we have Mt. Everest
but I hide him
that people live there are poor
among the top poor list in this World
and, the Denmark top ranks
the happiness index —
tops the list of the countries
with the best livelihood
and in the prosperity index
I teach my Son
that Nepal is rich in fresh water and other resources
but I do not tell him
still the majority of people
there in Nepal do not have
a good access to safe drinking water.
I teach him —
Nepal is the country
with the highest hydroelectricity potential
but people still live there
either in darkness or partly distributed electricity
or lit kerosene lamps or pine wood resins.
I still teach him
Nepal is rich in natural resources
and the land of brave Gurkha fighters
and conceal him that Denmark is —
land of Vikings and abundant natural gases.
And, trained by his patriotic father
he goes school with his clear mind
to define his motherland
to friends and teacher
and proudly says,
and prepare assignments
on various topics on Nepal-
I have Mt. Everest, majestic mountain peaks
and glacial rivers
snow leopard, mountain goats,
yaks and yetis
crocodiles, elephants, and rhinoceros
which do not belong
to those poor Danish classmates
and,
when they ask him —
why is he here then?
when he is from such rich
and proud nation?
he just replies:
for clean toilets and safe tap water
in each school days —
without punishments
and walking without big loads of
books and homework.
Bidur Chaulagain
