नेपाली | Nepali
सन् २०१५ मा मैले यथास्थिति (शान्तिपूर्ण विद्रोह) नामक नाटक लेखन तथा निर्देशन गरेको थिएँ । आफू हुर्किंदै गर्दा देखेको भोगेको बन्देज, लैंङ्गिक भेदभाव, पूरुषहरु र पितृसत्ताको हेपाई प्रतिको आक्रोश समेटेको थिएँ । व्यक्तिगत तवरमा परिवार, समाज र प्रवृत्तिहरुसँग लडिराखेको भएपनि लैंङ्गिक विभेद विरुद्ध यो नाटक मेरो पहिलो अलि सार्वजनिक अभिव्यक्ति थियो । दुर्भाग्यवश, त्यसपछि नाटक लेखनले निरन्तरता पाएन । मलाई लाग्छ यो मेरो एक थोपा प्रयास थियो । तर मैले त्यस्ता व्यक्तिहरुलाई अझै खोजेँ, सुनें जसले लैंङ्गिक समानता र महिला सशक्तिकरणका लागि आफ्नो व्यक्तिगत चुनौती र आरामभन्दा बाहिर गएर दृढ संकल्प, विश्वास र साहसका साथ निरन्तर लडिरहे । अनि एउटा जग बसाले । जसको आडमा कालान्तरमा थुप्रै महिला तथा लैंङ्गिक अल्पसङख्यकहरु लाभान्वित हुँदै अर्को एउटा इँटा थप्दै जान पनि सफल भए ।
अलिकति फरक अनुभवको अवसर खोज्दै हामी दुई जीवन सहयात्री २०२२को फेब्रुअरीमा सेन्ट जोन्स, न्यूफनल्यान्डमा अवतरण गयौँ । त्यसको करिब एकबर्ष पछि पर्सिस्टेन्स थिएटर मार्फत आर्मिन नटिङ्ग गसलिङ्गको नामसँग पहिलो पटक परिचित भएँ । उनको अभियानको मुख्य उद्देश्य न्यूफनल्यान्डमा महिला मताधिकार स्थापित गराउनु हुँदाहुँदै पनि त्यो चुनौतीपूर्ण समयमा बालबालिका, अनाथ, पशु कल्याण र महिला खेलकुदको क्षेत्रममा भएका फराकिलो चिन्तन र प्रयास सराहनीय पाएँ ।
यता आएपछि थाह भयो, नयाँ अवसर, नयाँ परिवेश, अनुभवले नयाँ परिचय पनि माग्दो रहेछ । मेरो पुराना पक्षहरु क्रमशः कम सान्दिर्भक, विस्तारै मलिन, क्षिण हुँदै गएको देखेर आफ्नै नियास्रो, नोस्टाल्जीया प्रति करुणा जागेर आउँछ । तर नियास्रोमा अल्झिएर बस्ने सुविधा छैन । हरेक दिन कानुनी, आर्थिक, सामाजिक, मनोवैज्ञानिक हिसाबमा आफू सुरक्षित रुपमा अडिने ठाँउ निरन्तर खोजीरहेको छु । आफ्नो सान्दर्भिकता भेट्ने खोज । र यो आफ्नो आधारभूत, ससम्मान स्थानको खोजीमा लाग्ने म एकलो व्यक्ति होइन ।
हो, आर्मीनले पनि आफू मार्फत लेडिज रिडिङ रुम भित्र सामूहिक ससम्मान सान्दर्भिकताको स्थान खोज्दै थिइन् । र त्यो हक, अधिकारलाई स्थापित गराउन निरन्तर सामूहिक प्रयासको नेतृत्व गरिन्, अन्ततः सफल भइन् । अनि महिला मताधिकारको हकलाई सुरक्षित गरिन् । जुन त्यो समयको असाधारण सफलता हो ।
उनकी आमाको व्यक्तिगत जीवनको प्रतिकुल परिस्थितिका बावजुद पनि आत्मनिर्भताको प्रयास अनि शिक्षाको महत्वको सचेतता र आफ्नी छोरीलाई प्रदान गरेको ससक्त मार्गदर्शन असाध्यै किम्ती र प्रेरणादायी छन् । त्यसपछि जीवनको अर्को चरणमा उनको जीवनसाथीको व्यक्तित्व, पद र समभावी मनोभावना सहितको बलियो भूमिका त्यो समयमा अविश्वस्नीय र एकदमै सुखद छन् । यो तथ्य ऐतिहासिक अभिलेखमा राम्ररी स्थापित पनि छन् । अर्को छुटाउन नमिल्ने कुरा, आर्मिनको व्यक्तिगत जीवनको कतिपय कामको भार आफूले जिम्मा लिएर आर्मिनको अभियन्ताको भूमिकालाई अझै स्वतन्त्र र फराकिलो बनाउन मद्दत गर्ने उनको गृहसहयोगीको भूमिका पनि म उत्तिकै सम्मान र महत्वका साथ हेर्छु । सबै खाले व्यक्ति, वर्ग, समूह, भूमिकाहरुले न्यायोचित सम्मान र समानताका प्राप्तीलाई अबको मानवीय र लैंङ्गिक मुद्धाका अभियानहरुले प्राथमिकतामा राख्नुपर्छ भन्ने लाग्छ मलाई ।
म व्यक्तिगत रुपमा आत्मनिर्भता भन्दा अन्तरनिर्भताको अवधारणामा बढि विश्वास गर्छु । जसले मानवीय समभावना, दया र करुणालई राम्ररी हुर्कने स्थान बनाउन सक्छ । मेरो सामान्य व्यक्तिगत जीवन सहज रुपमा सञ्चालीत हुन प्रत्यक्ष र परोक्षरुपमा कयौँ व्यक्तिहरुले मिहेनत गरिरहेका छन् । म पनि त्यसैगरि कृयाशिल छु जसमार्फत कति मानिसको जीवनमा धेर-थोर टेवा पुगेको छ होला भन्ने कुरामा विश्वास गर्न चाहन्छु । यो दृष्टिकोणले मलाई आधारभूत रुपमा विनम्र र आभारी हुँदै सकारात्मक ढंगबाट अगाडि बढ्न प्रेरित गरिरहेको छ । यो मानवताको क्षयीकरणतर्फ उन्मुख हुन थालेको जस्तो देखिने विश्व परिस्थितिमा अति आवश्यक छ ।
जहाँसम्म महिला मताधिकारको अभियानमा भएको कमी कमजोरी वा नसमेटिएको पक्षहरु छन्, म त्यसलाई उद्विकासीय प्रक्रियाको एउटा पाटो ठान्छु । जुन गतिशील र प्रगतिशील हुनुपर्छ । धेरै मानिसको जीवनमा एकै पटक सकारात्मक प्रभाव पार्न सक्ने तहसम्म कतिपय व्यक्ति र प्रयासहरु नपुग्न सक्छन् । जो पुगेका छन् उनीहरु स्थापित हुनु पर्छ आगामी पुुस्तालाई प्रेरणादायी सामथ्र्य प्रवाह गर्न । आर्मिन नटिङ्ग गसलिङ्ग ती मध्य एक हुन् ।
अलिकति फरक अनुभवको अवसर खोज्दै हामी दुई जीवन सहयात्री २०२२को फेब्रुअरीमा सेन्ट जोन्स, न्यूफनल्यान्डमा अवतरण गयौँ । त्यसको करिब एकबर्ष पछि पर्सिस्टेन्स थिएटर मार्फत आर्मिन नटिङ्ग गसलिङ्गको नामसँग पहिलो पटक परिचित भएँ । उनको अभियानको मुख्य उद्देश्य न्यूफनल्यान्डमा महिला मताधिकार स्थापित गराउनु हुँदाहुँदै पनि त्यो चुनौतीपूर्ण समयमा बालबालिका, अनाथ, पशु कल्याण र महिला खेलकुदको क्षेत्रममा भएका फराकिलो चिन्तन र प्रयास सराहनीय पाएँ ।
यता आएपछि थाह भयो, नयाँ अवसर, नयाँ परिवेश, अनुभवले नयाँ परिचय पनि माग्दो रहेछ । मेरो पुराना पक्षहरु क्रमशः कम सान्दिर्भक, विस्तारै मलिन, क्षिण हुँदै गएको देखेर आफ्नै नियास्रो, नोस्टाल्जीया प्रति करुणा जागेर आउँछ । तर नियास्रोमा अल्झिएर बस्ने सुविधा छैन । हरेक दिन कानुनी, आर्थिक, सामाजिक, मनोवैज्ञानिक हिसाबमा आफू सुरक्षित रुपमा अडिने ठाँउ निरन्तर खोजीरहेको छु । आफ्नो सान्दर्भिकता भेट्ने खोज । र यो आफ्नो आधारभूत, ससम्मान स्थानको खोजीमा लाग्ने म एकलो व्यक्ति होइन ।
हो, आर्मीनले पनि आफू मार्फत लेडिज रिडिङ रुम भित्र सामूहिक ससम्मान सान्दर्भिकताको स्थान खोज्दै थिइन् । र त्यो हक, अधिकारलाई स्थापित गराउन निरन्तर सामूहिक प्रयासको नेतृत्व गरिन्, अन्ततः सफल भइन् । अनि महिला मताधिकारको हकलाई सुरक्षित गरिन् । जुन त्यो समयको असाधारण सफलता हो ।
उनकी आमाको व्यक्तिगत जीवनको प्रतिकुल परिस्थितिका बावजुद पनि आत्मनिर्भताको प्रयास अनि शिक्षाको महत्वको सचेतता र आफ्नी छोरीलाई प्रदान गरेको ससक्त मार्गदर्शन असाध्यै किम्ती र प्रेरणादायी छन् । त्यसपछि जीवनको अर्को चरणमा उनको जीवनसाथीको व्यक्तित्व, पद र समभावी मनोभावना सहितको बलियो भूमिका त्यो समयमा अविश्वस्नीय र एकदमै सुखद छन् । यो तथ्य ऐतिहासिक अभिलेखमा राम्ररी स्थापित पनि छन् । अर्को छुटाउन नमिल्ने कुरा, आर्मिनको व्यक्तिगत जीवनको कतिपय कामको भार आफूले जिम्मा लिएर आर्मिनको अभियन्ताको भूमिकालाई अझै स्वतन्त्र र फराकिलो बनाउन मद्दत गर्ने उनको गृहसहयोगीको भूमिका पनि म उत्तिकै सम्मान र महत्वका साथ हेर्छु । सबै खाले व्यक्ति, वर्ग, समूह, भूमिकाहरुले न्यायोचित सम्मान र समानताका प्राप्तीलाई अबको मानवीय र लैंङ्गिक मुद्धाका अभियानहरुले प्राथमिकतामा राख्नुपर्छ भन्ने लाग्छ मलाई ।
म व्यक्तिगत रुपमा आत्मनिर्भता भन्दा अन्तरनिर्भताको अवधारणामा बढि विश्वास गर्छु । जसले मानवीय समभावना, दया र करुणालई राम्ररी हुर्कने स्थान बनाउन सक्छ । मेरो सामान्य व्यक्तिगत जीवन सहज रुपमा सञ्चालीत हुन प्रत्यक्ष र परोक्षरुपमा कयौँ व्यक्तिहरुले मिहेनत गरिरहेका छन् । म पनि त्यसैगरि कृयाशिल छु जसमार्फत कति मानिसको जीवनमा धेर-थोर टेवा पुगेको छ होला भन्ने कुरामा विश्वास गर्न चाहन्छु । यो दृष्टिकोणले मलाई आधारभूत रुपमा विनम्र र आभारी हुँदै सकारात्मक ढंगबाट अगाडि बढ्न प्रेरित गरिरहेको छ । यो मानवताको क्षयीकरणतर्फ उन्मुख हुन थालेको जस्तो देखिने विश्व परिस्थितिमा अति आवश्यक छ ।
जहाँसम्म महिला मताधिकारको अभियानमा भएको कमी कमजोरी वा नसमेटिएको पक्षहरु छन्, म त्यसलाई उद्विकासीय प्रक्रियाको एउटा पाटो ठान्छु । जुन गतिशील र प्रगतिशील हुनुपर्छ । धेरै मानिसको जीवनमा एकै पटक सकारात्मक प्रभाव पार्न सक्ने तहसम्म कतिपय व्यक्ति र प्रयासहरु नपुग्न सक्छन् । जो पुगेका छन् उनीहरु स्थापित हुनु पर्छ आगामी पुुस्तालाई प्रेरणादायी सामथ्र्य प्रवाह गर्न । आर्मिन नटिङ्ग गसलिङ्ग ती मध्य एक हुन् ।
In 2015, I wrote and staged a play called Yathasthiti, (Shantipurna Bidroha).
It translates to Status Quo, a Peaceful Revolt.
The play was me letting it out.
All the limitations that were forced on me, the gender discrimination, the suppression from patriarchy and its gatekeepers.
Things I lived through while growing up.
I was always fighting.
With family, with society, with the way people thought.
That never stopped.
But this play, it was the first time I put that fight out in public.
The first time I said it out loud.
I couldn’t keep writing plays after that. Life didn’t allow it.
Still, I believe that what I did, what I said through that play, added a drop to the ocean of women’s empowerment.
Since then, I’ve kept looking for people who broke out of their comfort zones.
Who faced real challenges and still stood firm.
People who had the courage to speak up, to fight for gender equity and women’s rights.
Their fights built the foundation that others, like me, have stood on.
And that foundation keeps growing. One brick at a time.
The promise of a different life brought my partner and me to St. John’s, Newfoundland in February 2022.
A year after we arrived, I first heard the name Armine Nutting Gosling through Persistence Theatre.
Armine fought for women’s right to vote in Newfoundland. But her activism didn’t stop there.
Even in such difficult times, she put serious thought and energy into the well-being of orphans, children, women sports.
She even extended her compassion to animals.
Starting over in a new place taught me that new opportunities and new conditions come with a cost.
They demand a new identity.
The parts of my life that once felt solid started to fade. Slowly, they became less relevant.
I watched them blur, fall apart.
That loss made me pity my own nostalgia, my own longing for what I had left behind.
But nostalgia is a luxury I couldn’t afford.
Every day, I’ve been trying to find some sense of stability – in legal systems, in money, in society, in my own mind.
I try to find where I fit, why I matter.
And in this constant search for relevance, the kind that’s basic and dignified, I know I’m not alone.
Armine knew that too.
Through her Ladies Reading Room, she built something collective.
A space where people, especially women, could come together and seek their own relevance. Their own place in the world.
Armine led that effort and didn’t stop until they succeeded.
She helped secure the right to vote for women.
An extraordinary achievement, especially for the time she lived in.
Despite all the hardship in her life, what Armine’s mother did for her–raising her, educating her, supporting her on her own terms–feels deeply valuable and inspiring to me.
Later in life, Armine’s husband also played a strong role.
His empathy, his support for her movement weren’t just significant.
It was joyful to witness in the way it’s remembered.
Here, I don’t want to overlook the role Armine’s home support workers played.
The care they provided, the responsibilities they took on, gave Armine space to think bigger, to act wider, to do more.
That matters to me just as much. I admire that.
I see it as essential.
Making sure that people across class, gender, race are seen and valued for the roles they play should be a priority in today’s gender and human rights movements.
That’s what I believe.
Personally, I believe more in interdependence than independence.
I believe in something that nurtures empathy, compassion, emotion.
I know that there are countless people, visible and invisible, who have shaped my life.
And I want to believe that, in some way, I’ve done the same for those around me.
This way of seeing the world has changed me.
It’s made me more humble.
More grateful.
And it keeps me going.
When I think about the limits and what the suffrage movement didn’t cover, especially in the context of Armine and Newfoundland, I see it as an evolutionary process.
One that must stay active and always move forward.
Not many people reach a high level of influence all at once. It’s rare.
But those who do get there need to be recognized and remembered.
Their stories have to be passed down.
To inspire and give courage to the generations that follow. Armine Nutting Gosling is one of those people.
It translates to Status Quo, a Peaceful Revolt.
The play was me letting it out.
All the limitations that were forced on me, the gender discrimination, the suppression from patriarchy and its gatekeepers.
Things I lived through while growing up.
I was always fighting.
With family, with society, with the way people thought.
That never stopped.
But this play, it was the first time I put that fight out in public.
The first time I said it out loud.
I couldn’t keep writing plays after that. Life didn’t allow it.
Still, I believe that what I did, what I said through that play, added a drop to the ocean of women’s empowerment.
Since then, I’ve kept looking for people who broke out of their comfort zones.
Who faced real challenges and still stood firm.
People who had the courage to speak up, to fight for gender equity and women’s rights.
Their fights built the foundation that others, like me, have stood on.
And that foundation keeps growing. One brick at a time.
The promise of a different life brought my partner and me to St. John’s, Newfoundland in February 2022.
A year after we arrived, I first heard the name Armine Nutting Gosling through Persistence Theatre.
Armine fought for women’s right to vote in Newfoundland. But her activism didn’t stop there.
Even in such difficult times, she put serious thought and energy into the well-being of orphans, children, women sports.
She even extended her compassion to animals.
Starting over in a new place taught me that new opportunities and new conditions come with a cost.
They demand a new identity.
The parts of my life that once felt solid started to fade. Slowly, they became less relevant.
I watched them blur, fall apart.
That loss made me pity my own nostalgia, my own longing for what I had left behind.
But nostalgia is a luxury I couldn’t afford.
Every day, I’ve been trying to find some sense of stability – in legal systems, in money, in society, in my own mind.
I try to find where I fit, why I matter.
And in this constant search for relevance, the kind that’s basic and dignified, I know I’m not alone.
Armine knew that too.
Through her Ladies Reading Room, she built something collective.
A space where people, especially women, could come together and seek their own relevance. Their own place in the world.
Armine led that effort and didn’t stop until they succeeded.
She helped secure the right to vote for women.
An extraordinary achievement, especially for the time she lived in.
Despite all the hardship in her life, what Armine’s mother did for her–raising her, educating her, supporting her on her own terms–feels deeply valuable and inspiring to me.
Later in life, Armine’s husband also played a strong role.
His empathy, his support for her movement weren’t just significant.
It was joyful to witness in the way it’s remembered.
Here, I don’t want to overlook the role Armine’s home support workers played.
The care they provided, the responsibilities they took on, gave Armine space to think bigger, to act wider, to do more.
That matters to me just as much. I admire that.
I see it as essential.
Making sure that people across class, gender, race are seen and valued for the roles they play should be a priority in today’s gender and human rights movements.
That’s what I believe.
Personally, I believe more in interdependence than independence.
I believe in something that nurtures empathy, compassion, emotion.
I know that there are countless people, visible and invisible, who have shaped my life.
And I want to believe that, in some way, I’ve done the same for those around me.
This way of seeing the world has changed me.
It’s made me more humble.
More grateful.
And it keeps me going.
When I think about the limits and what the suffrage movement didn’t cover, especially in the context of Armine and Newfoundland, I see it as an evolutionary process.
One that must stay active and always move forward.
Not many people reach a high level of influence all at once. It’s rare.
But those who do get there need to be recognized and remembered.
Their stories have to be passed down.
To inspire and give courage to the generations that follow. Armine Nutting Gosling is one of those people.
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Sadhana Bhandari (she/her)
Sadhana Bhandari, originally from Nepal, has worked in the theatre since 2012. She has experience in acting, production, costume and props management in theater arts. She was the founding member of Tatsama Arts in Nepal. Besides her production tasks, she is known for her performances in theatrical productions like Sphatik- their parallel escapes, Kaaya- a perishable layer, and Conference of the Birds, to name a few. Her exploration of acting led to the cinematic art form where she got to play crucial parts in notable movies like Tandav (Nepal), Best Friends Forever (Nepal), Kokro( Nepal), Umber (Nepal), and Ashmina (UK). |
