A Call for National Discourse: Addressing Nepal's Development Challenges

Hey you, where are you heading?  
Hey you, where are you going?
Let us hold a discussion here instead.
Discarding bourgeois education to bring scientific learning,
Making education equal for both the poor and the rich.
We have been saying this for 50 years,
Why has it not been fulfilled yet?
Let us discuss these matters here,
Why all this unnecessary noise? 

In our villages and settlements,
How do we unlock the doors of empty homes?
Where do we drive away the monkeys and wild boars?
Where should we establish industries and businesses?
Bridges that take twenty years to build,
Roads that crumble before they are even finished,
Roads where vehicles cannot travel,
Dangerous turns that claim lives.
Let us discuss these issues,
Why are we still hesitating? 

How do we promote tourism development?
How do we feed the hungry?
By developing hydropower,
How do we make Nepal bright?
Ensuring health access for every citizen,
Making laws equal for all,
We must build a beautiful country,
It is best to hold discussions here.

By processing medicinal herbs,
Let us extract minerals without delay.
Water taps in every citizen's home,
Let us irrigate all our fields.
Driving away wild animals, finding markets,
Providing employment opportunities for the people. 

What should our foreign relations be like? 
How can we get cheaper rations? 
How can corruption be eradicated?
How can prosperity touch the sky?
How do we make our villages green and vibrant?
By developing integrated settlements,
Where do we relocate high-risk communities? 
Let us hold discussions here,
Hey you, where are you all going? 

How do we reopen closed factories?
By running a government with good governance,
How do we speak kindly to the people?
How do we bring economic prosperity?
As we must become self-reliant,
How do we bring back the youth who have gone abroad,
And engage them in nation-building?
How do we ensure border security?
How do we eliminate murder, violence, and addiction?

Should we not hold discussions here?
Where are you wandering off to?
Hey you, not that way, come here now,
Let us discuss and build unity.

(Oli is a former Constituent Assembly member.)
Kotigaun, Doti