GAINICS FL. re

CLEPHANT HEADED GOD OF
DRAAMINISN . THE STORY OF
HOW HE CANE TO HAVE AN
ELEPHANTS HEAD 1S A GREAT
ONE INDEED AND ILLUS-
TRATES NOT ONLY HOW HE
CAME TO HAVE SUC A PECL:
LIAK FACE DUT HOW HE C4NE
TO EMBODY THE QVALITIES
NEQCSSARY TO BE THE RE:
MOVER OF ALL OBSTACLES
AND THE DIVINE DEFENDER. IT
IJ, HOWEVER, A STORY FOR
ANOTHER TIME.

THE STORY OF HOW HE
CANE.TO BE THE DIVINE EX:
AMPLE, INSPIRATION AND PA-
TRON OF ALL WRITERS 15 THE
ONE | WISH TO KEQCOUNT.

The sage Vyasa wished to dictate the great
spiritual work that would eventually bear the name,
The Mahabharata. This was no ordinary dictation.
He was dictating something of power, intensity and
profoundness, all in one sitting. No mortal scribe
was capable of keeping up with Vyasa. No mortal
scribe could do the job without pausing for private
revelation or editing the sometimes painful truth
out. s

The job required someone of immense
dedication. Someone who could remove obstacles
and ensure success. It was a job for Ganesh. He
willingly volunteered and wrote as fast as Vyasa
could think. Sage and god worked feverishly. And
then the pen burst into flames.

Surely the end of this noble effort. The
truth would never be fully told. Ganesh had failed.
But he hadn’t. The pen had. So he broke off his tusk
and without batting one of those great elephant
lashes, he finished the work.

I mention this story because it is the
ultimate example of a writer sacrificing whatever is
necessary, even themselves, to get the the story; to
get the truth to print on time.

While in Nepal, I not only discovered the
story of the god Ganesh. I also became aware of
another more earthly writer. His story is no less
remarkable.

His name is Padam Thakurathi. He’s a
journalist in Nepal and he is a source of great
personal inspiration. Padam was involved with a
newspaper. It criticized His Majesty’s Government
of Nepal; frequently acting as a dilligent watchdog.
The paper got shut down by His Majesty’s Govern-
ment.

So, with the diligence of Ganesh, he simply
started another paper, called Bimarsha. It’s a Nepali
weekly known for it’s investigative and uncompro-
mising reporting. Jeff Greenwald of Mother Jones
met Thakurathi during one of his many trips to

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Graphics by Angus Adair

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Nepal and wrote about him. It was through
Greenwald’s account that I came to hear
Thakurathi’s story.

In 1976 Nepal had 500 heroin addicts, give
or take a junkie. Within a decade that number
exploded to over 15 000. Nepal is a landlocked
country with strict border controls. A rampant
influx of heroin with few arrests was not only a
national problem but a mystery.

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A mystery which Padam uncovered and
printed in a two part expose in 1986. In the world’s
only Hindu kingdom no one is allowed to check the
bags of the royal family when they cross the border.
They are the only ones who have this ability. In
Nepal, given the nature of how the street culture
works and the sweeping powers of police , if
someone has a multimillion rupee business in junk,
and I’m not referring to scrap metal, the police not

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By Angus

 

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