Remeber your Duties

We are quick to demand things these days. We expect facilities to be up to date and the ones responsible to be as prompt as possible. Conversely, many of us tend to turn a blind eye when our own duties are concerned. In the times when making demands has become the mantra, it takes both determination and courage to remind people to do their jobs instead; exactly the thing the Civic Rights Movement 2007 (Kartabyabodh Aviyaan) has been attempting to do.
The brainchild of 28-year-old Nirmal Kumar Thapa and businessman turned writer of the "Socha" fame, Karna Shakya, the campaign was formally initiated in January after months of designing. "I had always had these ideas on following duties rather than blaming others. The idea to take it forward came into being eventually after meeting and discussing with Mr. Shakya," said Nirmal. The campaign that began with a handful of members has now expanded into a 31-member crew of dedicated volunteers. The collective ideas of these members formed the 122-point booklet penned by Karna Shakya.
The group has been distributing the booklet to the general public since 10 March. Priced at Rs. 10, the booklet has proved to be immensely popular selling more than 14000 copies since. The book speaks of a range of social issues from responsible social sense to traffic problems. "The response we have received on the book is overwhelming," said member Diwa Rai, "It has truly motivated us to put more of our efforts into our campaign."
When many of such movements and campaigns are politically motivated or focusing on donors, Civic Rights Movement stands out as being a completely volunteer fuelled non-political campaign. "Perhaps this stance has added to the interest people have started giving us," said Nirmal. On their future plans Nirmal spoke of awareness generating interaction session at various Colleges and Non-Government Organizations. "We also plan on doing free interaction session at 3-month intervals." With a documentary planned on the movement the group also intend on making biographies for the unsung heroes of the society. They plan on using the proceeds from their booklet sales to fund their activities.
Who are the unsung heroes you ask? "Many exceptional individuals who have contributed in the development of our nation such as writers, video-graphers, photographers and many others that deserve the respect that in due to them for a long time," said Nirmal
With such ideas fuelling them, one does wonder whether they will fade out after the core year of their campaign, 2007 is over but they think otherwise. "The movement will continue after our core year too. We are more than sure that we will be able to pass on our ideologies to future members who will take it to another level", Nirmal responded.
The Civic rights Movement 2007 is attempting a social movement which has been long overdue in coming. Their approach is energetic, dedicated and sincere and most importantly, they are a group of people who truly practice what they preach.

Shashank Shrestha
For WAVE Magazine