Meeting the first Woman President on 107th Int’l Women’s Day

Rosha Basnet / Kathmandu, March 8: Around 400 women from various walks of life and from different age group gathered today noon at the garden of the Office of the President were seemingly agog as a rare and yet pleasant occurrence was soon to be unfolding in front of them.

It appeared that most of them, including this scribe, were at their best when it comes to attire, attitude and demeanour as they were getting to participate on the special ceremony organized on the occasion of 107th International Women’s Day (IWD) under the aegis of President Bidya Devi Bhandari at her residence cum office-Shital Niwas in the Capital City.

The Madame President’s arrival fell nearly an hour behind the schedule. As she entered the scene donning a violet colored saree with Dhaka pattern in the border, it occurred to me that her presence did not only lift the faces of the attendees but also their spirit too for they seemed to take pride in her presence amid them as well in the State’s apparatus as the first woman Head of the State.

The Office of the President had not observed the day amid the gathering of women, both achievers and aspirants alike until President Bhandari took the office some a year and half ago, as it was illustrated in the speech the President later delivered during the ceremony.

It was for the second time the IWD was marked since President Bhandari assumed the office and this scribe, working at desk in a state-owned news agency got to experience not only the celebration of womanhood in the presence of the Madame President but also a brief and certainly a rare opportunity to have a word with her.

A troupe of artists began the programme with national anthem and few other patriotic songs to whom Madame President thanked informally following her formal speech.

As I keenly observed the whole scenario, throughout the musical performance, the President, wearing a sun glass to evade the glaring sun, seemed to give all the attendees equal attention marked by occasional winsome smiles.

Right to her sat Vice-President Nanda Bahadur Pun and Speaker of the House Onsari Gharti while Chief Justice Sushila Karki shared the space to her left. It may also be noted that Speaker Gharti and Chief Justice Karki, are the first women to hold the current positions in the modern history of Nepal.

Not to kill the joy of the celebration with formalities and strict protocols attached with the persons of high eminence, Madame President kept her speech short and sweet, calling for gender quality, empowerment and guarantee of women rights.

Her speech evidently spoke the volume about co-existence for she argued that women be on an equal footing at every strata of the society besides at all state organs. President Bhandari also added that to achieve gender equality, we must give due attention to education, health and employment opportunities for socio-economic progress of women who account for more than half the population in the country.

No sooner the speech ended, President Bhandari reached out to the women under the ‘meet and greet’ session where she did not merely exchanged pleasantries with attendees but enjoyed some lights moments such as quipping, taking pictures, taking stock of the welfare of the attendees known to her both professionally and personally.

When it came to my turn to exchange the greetings, I began with ‘Greetings, Madame President!’ Before she would respond to it, I introduced myself and shared how proud I felt to meet the person whose exclusive interview I got to edit earlier day.

President Bhandari had summoned the journalists from several media houses to give an exclusive interview on the occasion of International Women’s Day.

I asked the Madame President if she would give her autograph in the picture carried in the front page of a national daily I was holding (to actually evade the glaring sun!). Without hesitation, she took the pen I offered and signed in Nepali language with the date.

I also took a chance to share her that I was looking forward to doing an exclusive story to which she answered in affirmative.

While a brief talk held between President Bhandari and I, others kept wondering what transpired between her and me. I was later nailed down by a fellow media person what I exactly talked about with the President, to which I gracefully replied, “Wait and watch!”

Overboard and inspired, I returned to my work place and made a humble effort to pen down my experience of rubbing shoulder with the first female President of the country. RSS