It's exactly 6:54 pm. Let's talk about FM stations here in KTM. We have 101 FM stations... not really but more than a dozen amigos vying for the same ears. Nepalese media laws are more liberal than our Desi bhais.
Indian FM stations are not allowed to broadcast any news whereas our FM stations will report anything, even if someone lost a khasi (goat) in the middle of nowhere. We also have a Christian radio station. India doesn't.
But thanks to desi-influence, Indian tourists will feel right at home as our FM stations play Bollywood music round the clock. We have the BBC service, so has the rest of the world but we also have Chinese radio programs where Chinese folks tell their folk stories in Nepali accents.
I am still trying to figure out if these storytellers are really Chinese or Nepalese themselves , speaking Nepali with a Chinese accent. I don't know. I am confused. And our RJs have their own accents. Some speak like they just arrived from down under. Some speak... English/Nepali/Hindi all mixed in one giant blender. And some don't have the faintest idea of what they are talking about.
But it's all good. Three cheers for all these folks who are working in the media business. Very low pay, no benefits , blabbering in a dungeon. Somebody should carry out a rescue mission.
A friend of mine is now working for one of these FM stations. He gets 5,000 rupees. And of course another 10,000 to get by (thanks to Papa!). If he stays with this company, then he will have to work for another 40 years to pay back his student loan.
So, children... don't spend 30Gs* getting your Masters degree in Fine Arts. Spend that 30Gs to travel the world and maybe publish a travelogue. And pray to Goddess Kali that it sells well, if not... go for a PhD!
*30Gs = approx. 2.2 million rupees or 60 billion Mugabe-dollars!
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