Sushil Da aka SuKo, the last of the Mohicans who got to at least see the Shree Teens enjoying the good life, has left the building. Let us hope that SuKo is in heaven. He was probably one of the few politicians in our land who really had nothing, did something even though it brought us nothing, and has now left with nothing too. 

I guess after our great Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, he is the only one who has left us with three things: two working mobile phones and one that is still to be repaired. Krishna Bajey left us with three things too: one umbrella, one suitcase and one lota! For more than two decades, we have been waiting for water from Melamchi. And don’t be surprised if we have to wait for the same amount of time to get our constitution right as well.

Most of the politicians who are still around do not really know how the Shree Teens lived the good life, and how they still continue to act like the Kings of Lamjung and Kaski. I guess they must have read Diamond Shumsher’s books on our Shree Teens during their trip to our government jails during the Panchey days. The Ranas had 17 brothers and they got to enjoy the loot. We now have 600 clowns enjoying their free paycheck and chiya kharcha. Once we get done with our provinces, 

we will have a thousand or more clowns looting everything they can get their hands on.

Our corrupt government still continues to use the Rana palaces as offices. Most of the Rana palaces have suffered major damages due to the earthquake. I think it’s time our government demolished those palaces and built green buildings for our government offices. 

But of course, our civil servants and clowns would rather build mansions for themselves while our security personnel who guard so-called sensitive buildings continue to live in sheds without adequate plumbing and restrooms. 

At least SuKo got to see the Rana rule live and maybe that’s why he never really cared for making enough money to live like a Shree Teen. Today, most of our so-called top leaders of major political parties are worth billions of rupees but of course our CIAA wallahs can’t find the loot because our netas are smart and leave it to their personal assistants (PAs) to do the dirty deals. 

Our Nepali superhero Lokman should go after the PAs instead of our politicians. But of course, he is busy dealing with former IGPs of our Armed Police Force. I think our former IGPs should have the courage to speak up and finally tell us the truth. They did not become chief saabs only because of their merit but also because of suitcases filled with cash. The going rate to head most of our government agencies is around Rs 7 Karod be it our security agencies or public enterprises. 

It seems that we the people know the street price for everything; be it fuel, cooking gas or driving license but the agency that investigates abuse of authority has no idea what goes on in the real world. The media should also stop making up stories and fooling us all. Yes, the Birgunj Blockade is over but where do all the fuel tankers and gas bullets go? Do we have a Bermuda Triangle somewhere between the Madhes and the Hills? Please don’t tell us that life will go back to normal in a week or two. We all know that we won’t see a full cooking gas cylinder or enough fuel for our vehicles at market price any time soon.

SuKo was our former Prime Minister and the person who finally gave us a People’s constitution, even though it was half-baked. We also have to thank him for the current political crisis which has shown us how we Nepalis will not be affected by anything: be it earthquakes, blockades or a nuclear war between our chimekis in the future. 

SuKo did not want to leave Baluwatar but he had to pack his stuff and move out, thanks to the number games our politicians play. Instead of hanging around, he should have gone to Banarasi and become a hermit but he chose to stay and hoped that he would continue to lead the Kangaroos till his time was up. And his time was finally up this week. He was a good man while most of our politicians today are nothing but cunning con artists who will sell our land to the highest bidder.

SuKo should have written a book before he left us, but of course, most of our politicians think they will be here forever and do not really care about their legacies. Amriki Presidents leave the White House and then write a book or two and go on speaking tours because they have to make some dough so that they will have a comfortable retirement life. 

Our politicians never leave. You could have been a Home Minister twenty years ago but you still get to enjoy free vehicle, chiya kharcha and a dozen security personnel as your bodyguards till your time is up. It seems that our government has enough funds to provide such perks till our politicians leave this Earth but do not have enough to provide for the earthquake victims.

Our politicians stick around till it’s time to finally pack up and go upstairs or downstairs. We don’t know where they end up. The only ones who know if they get the visa to Heaven are the ones who are no longer with us.

SuKo actually wanted to be an actor in Hollywood. He didn’t care much for Bollywood because he was more good looking than Raj Kapoor or Dev Anand. He could have ruled Hollywood if he had gotten there. He didn’t. But at least, he got the chance to be our PM. We have lost a good man. We will not get another SuKo. We only got politicians who will not even leave a suko from your bank account if they get a chance! 

Guffadi is a grumpy old man who blogs at guffadi.blogspot.com. You may contact him at [email protected]