Exotic Fearology

By Bhawani Shankar Adhikari

Exotic Fearology is the burning issues of ecology and its effects in relation to human life. Nature is beyond her tolerance via humans' misconduct. The balance between humans and other living creatures is as inevitable as eco friendly life to continue with harmony in nature. It is too late to protect nature and it is inevitable to apply the concise human conscience on time to protect the sound life of the Earth. The agony felt by the seas, Airports and Earth is to be realized and understood by humans as conscious beings. The language of nature is inevitable to know if we want to maintain peace and harmony in nature. The coronavirus is the outcome of wrongdoings over nature and if we do not become conscious on time, it may cause more dangerous virus in future. Fearology is the only doctrine to deal cultural fear and other social fears that come on Earth in new Era as the Era of coronavirus. It is concerned with the degrading condition of nature and the detrimental effects of it in the global crisis caused via misconduct in nature as it has already been witnessed via coronavirus in the world. Positive principle of fearology is to be vibrated in the conscious conscience of all levels of people to keep traumatic situation at bay even at the time of global pandemic. Humans cannot escape from the natural calamities and it is always essential to be humble with the nature to live with natural harmony. Ideas of the text are based on direct observation via the expression of people's countenance in various places especially in the airports during spreading condition of coronavirus.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris AU
• Release date: Sep 9, 2020
• ISBN: 9781664100749

Bhawani Shankar Adhikari

Bhawani Shankar Adhikari, Ph.D scholar is a senior lecturer of Nepal Sanskrit University in Balmeeki Campus, Kathmandu Nepal. With over 25years (Primary to University) of teaching experience, he is currently doing an LLB Course. Bhawani is a published author with books and over 20 national and international articles. His interest in Fearism motivated him to apply fearism in his Ph.D. thesis. He is an avid reader and critical analyst in the field of Fearism. Bhawani is an academic person who is open to learning from anyone interested in education.

Book preview

DEDICATED TO MY LATE GRANDFATHER

AND LATE PARENTS:

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CONTENTS

Preface

An Opinion on ‘Exotic Fearology’

General Introduction

Chapter 1 Happy Beginning

Chapter 2 The Unprecedented Wind of The Coronavirus

Chapter 3 My Experience in A Golden City

Chapter 4 Corona Era

Chapter 5 Held Between Scylla and Trauma

Chapter 6 The Right Decision

Chapter 7 The Fear of Covid-19

Chapter 8 Fear Management

Chapter 9 Reflections on Fearology

Works Cited

PREFACE

Creativity, as an art, explores the prevailing social issues and attempts to rectify or reform the weaknesses. Personal observation expands human conscience. Apart from reading books, visiting different zones containing ample cultures via diversified tribes/ values/ systems/ rituals/ lifestyles/ occupations and social structures are to be considered as open books. Reading can make us even forget the ideas but once it is seen and studied, it becomes permanent memory in the mind. Experience widens psyche and speaks better than envisioned vicariously. So what I write is the ideas what I experience more with directly observed entities.

I (Bhawani) have faced plenty of ups and downs in life. I being born and brought up in traditional society in Panchthar District, Eastern part of Nepal got an opportunity to acquire Limbu language and to understand Limbu rituals/ beliefs/ nature thoroughly through Limbu language. My birth place itself turned out to be a kind of boon in gaining human predicament. In course of getting education away from home happened to be another milestone for gaining human insights of hilly regions/ plains/ rural/ urban within Nepal and even in abroad especially in South Korea; India and the USA.

My teaching career from Primary level to Master Degree in various schools; colleges in different places as in Panchthar, Jhapa, Morong, Sunsari, Dhankuta, Bhaktapur and Kathmandu helped me to comprehend global human issues and inspired me to express the accumulated experience of life in the form of a book.

Life sans ambition seems to be in the cloud of an immense forest. Lurking ambitions ignited my psyche and published three critical books- Sexuality and Sexual perversion in The Waste Land of T.S Eliot; Communism and Power Domination in George Orwell’s 1984 and Animal Farm; Khaled Hussein’s Reflection of the Ideology and Diaspora in his novels: The Kite Runner, A Thousand Splendid Suns and The Mountains Echoed and Balmeeki: Prose Poems and Travelogue. My fifth book is Eco-Fearism – co-authored with Desh Subba and Osinakachi Okuma Kalu. This is my sixth book with new perspective based on fear and excitement simultaneously.

I have realized that writing book is not only collection of experiences and knowledge but also sharing ideas and informing the facts with the readers. 21st century has turned out to be the time of global village. Any events occurred in any corner of the Earth reach the eyes and minds of global citizens via digital skills and information is inevitable to modern people.

International Technology and Engineering Educators Association (ITEEA) is an organization established in 1939 in the USA. It was 82th international conference of ITEEA in Baltimore Convention Centre from March 11th to 14th. I was eager to attend it and to learn the global technological advancement. When I reached there with my colleagues’ to participate in the conference, I got excited with the ideas and the technology presented in the stalls but unfortunately the program got cancelled from 13th March due to coronavirus Pandemic. The local Government of Maryland ordered to stop it to control coronavirus infection in the area. It was right from the point of view of being infected via coronavirus but a misfortune to miss the remaining paper presentations and discussion sessions to form the future technological vision of the world.

I have planned to provide a perspective to see the world from the fearological principle to the existing global burning issues even by the readers once they go through it. My future research would be to go Eco-Crisis and how it can be managed via application of fearology principle in day to day affairs to save humanity by saving nature.

AN OPINION ON

‘EXOTIC FEAROLOGY’

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Khemlal Pokhrel

A Fearological Survey of Bhawani Shnakar Adhikari beginning from the Himalayan White House Educational Institution at Tinkune in Kathmandu to Baltimore, the USA, circumnavigates the new horizon in the pretext of ITEEA, a special program for updating the teachers from all around the world in the technological skill in teaching-learning activities. The all important program happened to be just when the coronavirus had peeped the world from Wuhan Province of China and had made its way to different parts of the world.

From the day the participants received the Visa from the authorities, they seemed in the grip of fear to the extent that whether their going to the USA means an unthought-of fear pangs, mental agony, that may lead them to the serious questions of survival. But the inquisitiveness, of the author of this ‘Exotic Fearology’, none other than my friend Bhawani Shankar Adhikari along with Pradeep Bahadur Thapa (another friend of mine), Purna Bahadur Gurung and Devilal Niraula made bold decision to dash for the lands beyond horizons.

They reached their destination, but were dumbfounded on the occasion of the first day’s program that America was in the perpetual grip of coronavirus. All were at a loss, as what would be the best course of action then.

After their hurried program of the day, starts the second course of Bhawani’s plans of return and in course the mood, scared mental state, the philosopher and thinker in him (Bhawani), all on a sudden began giving birth to what he finally achieved, ‘Exotic Fearology’, a book which shows the areas of his writing skills, through which the readers will find themselves some special and rare references of great thinkers and poets. He makes the seas, lands wherever he reaches in his fear research travel memoir, which may be called a successful travel writing that never easily leaves any reader’s psyche.

He deals in this small text about positivity and negativity of fear keeping coronavirus as the center point to discuss and reach at a decision making point from minute to minute, hour to hour and day to day development. At times Bhawani reaches the exact moment towards finding the cause of coronavirus and boldly declares human beings for ........the entire world’s misbalancing of ecology and environment, the living beings and the living things.

Another beauty of this piece of writing is the taste of poetry along with prose, where Bhawani makes an airport, a sea, coronavirus, a place, himself in his nightmare, motherland, etc. give to the point poetic addresses which involve the soliloquy of the author.

I take leave with the following opinion in a nutshell:

Yes, Bhawani

You’ve made a journey

You developed fear

And gave ‘Fearology’ to the world.

With coronavirus you had a gossip

That gave you sense to make humans responsible for the viral pandemic.

You’ve developed yourself,

Through this ‘Exotic Fearology’:

Your poet has found a way from within,

That was unheard of before.

Yes, dear Bhawani

Congratulations for being an author and poet of repute.

Reviews

Review of Bhawani Shankhar, Exotic Fearology

God sleeps in stones, breathes in plants, dreams in animals and awakens in man. Hindu proverb

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom Proverbs 9:10

Bhawani Shankhar’s Exotic Fearlogy is a book that focuses on the problem of Covid-19 and its effects to humanity. This book is quite a special one when we compare it to other books that cover the same topic, such as: SlavojŽižek Panic, Debora Mackenzie, COVID- 19 and Fang Fang, Wuhan Diary to mention some of them.

What makes this book different? This book is written as a travel journal and is based on the writer’s constant reflection on inner and outer experience during his journey to United States of America while the world is under coronavirus.

Exotic Fearology is more than a travel journal; it is as a philosophical reflection on the problem of coronavirus, its powerful effects and the questions that it raises. This book is a way in which Bhawani Shankhar, the writer of Exotic Fearology, decided to respond to this call to arms¹as this actual situation asked for, a response that definitely enriches our human understanding regarding coronavirus and its deadly effects.

This book covers the detailed information about the four delegates of Nepal that participated in the 82ndInternational Conference of ITEEA held between 11th March and 14th March in 2020 in Baltimore Convention Centre in the USA and its factual description about what the participants experienced in relation to the worldwide spreading coronavirus Pandemic. It captures the entire idea of COVID-19 and its global fear.²

In order to understand the message of this book we think that this book must be seen as being made up of three parts: a travel journal, a philosophical reflection about coronavirus and a meditation about the question of fear.

Exotic Fearology as a travel journal

Travel literature is a genre of literature that has been practiced since ancient times. From Pausanias, Description of Greece to V.S Naipal, India: A wounded civilization, people transform their travel experience into knowledge, which proved to be very important to humanity.

A perfect example is Charles Darwin’s famous account of the journey of HMS Beagle which challenged the way we explained the world and its beginning. This kind of literature is powerful although it seems not to be very popular in the western society today. Bhawani’s Exotic Fearology is an event in this respect.

The journey to the United States of America in which Bhawani is involved constitutes the framework of this book, the book starts and finishes with it, and everything that happened in this book is part of this journey. This travel journal isn’t formed only by adding descriptions of towns, cities or countries, it also involves history, lessons about social structure, politics, philosophy, reflection about ideas such as human rights, good parenting, examples of good behaviour, ethical values and examples of good people alongside with Geography lessons. This travel journal has a very interesting characteristic although it is full of philosophical reflections; the way in which it is written makes it accessible to everyone; the philosophical reflections can be skipped and the book will still make sense. It is accessible for everyone, for kids and for the philosophers; there are things to learn for all of us.

Exotic Fearology is a travel journal that has the ability to show both faces of humanity. It takes place in between two different countries with two different kinds of values, two different worlds, it is a fair analysis about what is positive and what is negative in both worlds…from the lack of material comfort of an embassy in one of the Asian countries to the ignorance regarding nature specific to the most advanced countries in the world. This travel journal depicts reality without any cosmetic adjustment.

This travel journal doesn’t stop at describing the world, the writer starts interacting with what he sees and, inside of this process; a philosophical reflection about the world takes place. This reflection moves the journey from earth to the mind domain where the writer starts interfering with his journey at different level. In doing that, he became alone, his companions disappear and the philosophical reflection about coronavirus starts taking place.

Exotic Fearology as a philosophical reflection about coronavirus: dilemmas, dreams, voices and advice

The writer of Exotic Fearology uses William Shakespeare’s, Hamlet,³ as a link between his travel journal and his philosophical reflection that takes place during this journey.

He writes Hamlet’s dilemma remained from the beginning to the end of his life. He felt that he had to do something for the misdeeds of his uncle, Claudius, but he did not do it on time. He delayed in his action and doubted whether the ghost of his murdered father was telling the truth or not. It was his weakness to come to the right path of his life. So, this knowledge assisted Hamlet is not a man of action but a man of wisdom. He thinks too much and he does not come in action when it is needed. He must have killed his villain uncle, Claudius, whether he was praying or not. Hamlet’s delay in action brought his tragedy later. Hamlet’s tragedy is known as the lack of action when it is required. Hamlet is an ideal prince and it is another weakness of his tragedy. Hamlet is the ideal Renaissance prince and the conventional malcontent, the traditional avenger and the sensitive idealist in a brutal world. The ideal person does not become the practical one. At the time of taking decision, a person must come to the ground of reality rather than being an ideal one like Hamlet to take the right decision in time. This is the real application of the knowledge that we have gained through our study in life. The character study of Hamlet became the source of coming in the right decision to return from the USA and to be safe from the coronavirus attack. This was the pragmatic application of the theatrical knowledge not to be in the same condition of the life of Shakespeare’s Hamlet.⁴

Bhawani starts his travel journal to United States of America as he starts his return one with a dilemma of taking decision⁵, facing an existential decision as Hamlet from Shakespeare’s play; he has been helped by non-humans, in Bhawani’s case is not about the ghosts as it was the case for Hamlet, but by God, visions and dreams. At this extra-human level, the earthly journey began, became possible, got the direction and shapes, the writer’s decisions and philosophy.

Everything starts with a dream the writer wrote about. So when I slept, I had a strange dream about the coronavirus advising and uttering in my mind and eyes as if being present in a real visual image and acting the role of inspiration to be fearless in my trip to the USA.⁶

The writer mentioned that during this encounter with coronavirus while dreaming, he heard this I am your fate determiner⁷, and has been assured to go to the United States. At this point, the journey became more than a travel experience; it is transformed from a journey into an act of faith.

The writer sees himself as Hamlet facing an existential dilemma, but he thinks that he followed the advice completely, whereas Hamlet refused to do it. This stopped him to be a man of action and remained only a thinker. As opposed to him, the writer of Exotic Fearology thinks and acts, which made him superior to Hamlet.

The writer of Exotic Fearology acts, whereas Hamlet just thinks, which in the end seems to be reaching the same outcome because the writer’s act is similar with Hamlet’s; he didn’t kill the killer (coronavirus), but followed the killer’s advice, which means that there isn’t any difference between the writer and Hamlet. The writer of Exotic Fearology insisted that there is a fundamental difference, he thinks and acts, whereas Hamlet just thinks, but does not act. The only way of getting out of this situation is the fact that the writer describes coronavirus in relation with himself being something positive. Therefore, there isn’t any need to kill it. His mission wasn’t to kill anyone, but to listen, obey, trust and convey the message to the world as the voice of Tribhuvan airport said So, start communicating my ideas with my other children from now on.⁸

Bhawani wrote regarding this fact that he had a dream on 17thMarch, a dream in which coronavirus was giving me both advice and the warning to take the right decision. But I contemplated that it was not the coronavirus, but the divine in the form of coronavirus arrived to guide us to think on time to escape from coronavirus infection from the USA.⁹

Very puzzled for a Western mind to imagine that God can take this kind of avatar, but at that time that situation might have been so intense that God had to take this form to get Bhawani’s attention and help him to get out of United States immediately. Although this dream is not very easy to be understood especially if you were affected by coronavirus, the essence of it is that this is a call for life and the presence of God adds intensity to the importance of Bhawani’s safe return to his home country. What is interesting in this dream is coronavirus’ message about Bhawani being in United States of America, so, you are not in safe zone here, You will realize it when you are back to your nation, Trust me more than anyone, I am telling the truth to you since you are from an innocent nation of such deterioration and degradation of ecology and the environment… why do you delay to leave USA on time before I start my duty of killing the people beyond the imagination of American people?¹⁰

This degradation of ecology is presented in all dreams and is referred to as a justification for which humans must suffer. Should not they pay the price of their foolish act of deteriorating ecology and environment?¹¹This is a central question of the divine that takes the form of coronavirus.

Has being born in a Western rich nation made you automatically responsible and guilty? Does everyone that lives