I want to be the Prime Minister : Ganesh Dhungana!


[Ganesh Dhungana of Dhading Bensi is today a national youth ICON. A journalism graduate from Bangalore University with a first-class degree, he is also an MA in Rural Development from Tribhuvan University. He earned a distinguished diploma in leadership from the University of Indonesia. He has attended global youth conferences in Mangolia, India and Nepal. For many years, he led Youth Network Dhading that earned a lot of repute for its excellent performance and lasting impacts among youths of Dhading district. The architect of Action Nepal, Ganesh now leads Mission: Better Nepal, a social campaign of brilliant graduates for all-round development of Nepalese youth.

In 2008, when he was just a little lad, Kartikeya Child Talent Award Trust had awarded him the Kartikeya Child Talent Award, and I was present in the ceremony. After the award distribution, I had talked to Ganesh. Here I recall what passed between us.]



Mahesh: Congratulations Ganesh, how are you feeling?

Ganesh: Fine thank you. Many years back, ghazal writer Gyanuwakar Poudel had told me about this every award. Today, surprisingly, it came to me.

Mahesh: What are the types of activities you are involved in?

Ganesh: Social work and literature. I coordinate and lead Youth Network Dhading. I began publishing when I was in class VII. Writing made me a youth leader. Writing is my mother, and leading is my father.

Mahesh: What do you write?

Ganesh: Basically I write poems. My first collection 'Baal Boli' was published in 2003, when I was in the seventh class. The very next year, I published "Aawaj Mutuko" , also a collection of verses. The third collection "Timro Aagaman" catches moments of pain when a family breaks. Presently, I am readying another collection of poem, to be published jointly with Sagar Karki, my bosom friend from Chitwan. Occasionally, I also write articles on youth and children related issues. You know, a lot of problems have arisen among youths these days.

Mahesh: Lik??

Ganesh: Like drug addiction, drinking and teenage pregnancy. My Goodness, how rampant have all these things become in my district. This gives me a lot of pain.

Mahesh: What do you think is the reason behind the perversion of these youths?

Ganesh: Conservative family cultures. It is a reaction you know. They are not understood at home, and their changing needs according to their ages are forcibly curbed. In reaction, they become delinquent. This is my understanding about the problem.

Mahesh: How did your career as a writer begin?

Ganesh: When my brother's poem 'Kalam' was published in a local newspaper many years back, I was inspired. Later, my teacher Nabin Bandhu Pahari caught my hands and taught me with love. There is no one, who knows me more than Nabin Sir. I also want to remember my teacher Rajendra Pratap Shah and Devi Prasad for their constant guidance.

Mahesh: Why do you write?

Ganesh: It gives me company when I am alone. Secondly, I am always among senior intellectual whose very company keeps inspiring me to write.

Mahesh: Is your family happy with you? May be they had other hopes with you.

Ganesh: They are perfectly happy. Yes, my father had wanted me to study science. On that day after my SLC when I was slated to go to Kathmandu with my father for admission to a science college, I ran away from home and admitted myself to Nilakantha Higher Secondary Dhading as a student of Humanities. My dad was initially upset. But now, he is happy with my progress. My mother has always been happy with me. In fact, my mother made me what I am today.

Mahesh: What is your aim in life?

Ganesh: I want to enter politics. I want to be the Prime Minister of this country. My aim might sound ridiculous now, but if I work hard, it is not impossible.

Mahesh: In fact, it is not. Lastly, you are working for children. How comfortable are you with children?

Ganesh: O, I love them so much. Children of my locality run to me and share their family woes. I tremble to remember my long childhood days in a hostel. It was a terrible time. I advocate both love and freedom for children.

Mahesh: Thank you for your time, and good luck for coming days.

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