Memories Remain | Feature | wavemag.com.np

The photo exhibition A People War has been to 30 destinations in Nepal and has exhibited horrid memories of the 10-year long duel between the government and the Maoists. But it was more than an exhibition, for behind each picture was a story, some of which were relived by the spectators.

I remember the first time I went to see the exhibition as a student. I was struck more than anything else by the sheer pain and sense of loss in the faces of women and children. The gut wrenching feeling that I experienced as I looked at the pictures made me realise the magnitude of the war, perhaps for the first time.

A visit to Gorkha this year, to see the exhibition, revealed how students outside the Valley reacted to the pictures. The basic emotions were the same; they too were shocked at how barbaric the war had been. The pain and suffering in the eyes of widows and their children pulled at their heartstrings as much as they had at mine. However, there was one difference; unlike us, most of them could relate to the pictures.

The war affected the entire nation; the only difference is the extent of the effect. During the course of the exhibition, nepa~laya, the organisers realised that people in the urban areas were indifferent whereas every other person at the exhibition in the rural areas had a story very similar to those depicted in the pictures.

Formal invitations to all the local schools in the area to bring students above grade 6 were sent. And I witnessed all sorts of reactions to the pictures; some simply declined to look at any more pictures, some fainted, some took their time and read the captions intently while most skipped some pictures and wiped their tears with their handkerchiefs.

The exhibition is such that you cannot stop your tears. The few students that I managed to talk to after the exhibition had the same response; they were saddened. Ashmita Shrestha, a seventh grader, took her time to look at the photos and write how she felt after she had seen them. "The one of the headmaster (Muktinath Adhikari), as a student I cannot see teachers being killed for no reason," she replied promptly when asked her which picture had touched her most.

On flipping through the feedback books, I could not help noticing comments that said, "even though I am a boy, the pictures brought tears to my eyes." Most girls expressed their hope that no mother would have to lose her child and that no child would have to lose their parents to a war. It was starkly clear that they never wanted to see such horrifying pictures ever again.

An incident that I cannot help mentioning here is when kids aged below 6 came for the exhibition. When we asked the principal why he had brought along such young kids, he replied, "They have all seen the pictures. For them, it is nothing. They are live witnesses to the scariest of war incidents."

Now that the war is over, we do not have to listen to news about daily death toll in cross fires. But the psychological impact of the war on children is still evident. I met the father of Sunita Shrestha, a girl who had been kidnapped by the Maoists. For her, the war has still not ended. Even though it has been two years since the ceasefire, she has still not been to her village in Gorkha.

It is quite natural for anyone, especially a youngster, who has lost a loved one to have a feeling of revenge or anger. Perhaps the biggest achievement of the exhibition has been its role in making the victims of the war aware that they were not the only one. Rachana Sharma of Chandranigahapur, who lost her father in the conflict wrote, "I used to think I was the only one who'd lost a loved one but today I have seen that there are many more like me. And that has somewhat eased my pain." Comments like this show that youth are no longer seeking revenge but trying to accept that mistakes were made.

Besides all the sadness that fills the pages of the feedback registers, there is also hope that now the country will move to a new direction. They recognize the sacrifices made by all those who died and want the politicians and all those responsible to respect people's wish for a peaceful Nepal.

"We were content on publishing the book but then we realized how quickly people tend to forget things. The reason we decided to cover the length and breadth of the nation with the exhibition was to remind people what Nepalis have gone through during the 10 year war," says Arpan Sharma of nepa~laya.

The exhibition has definitely succeeded in refreshing the memories. While there might have been different reactions to the exhibition, it has hit the bull's eye in spreading the message of non-violence. The fact that war and violence never solve any problems has hit home with every youngster.