Unfortunately, I do not have full details of the question or the exam or his schooling. We became friends more recently in January 2013. If any of his schoolmates have details about this exam and the particular question, please help to fill in this information.
Ujwal being Ujwal apparently drew a fancy and detailed cartoon in answer to this question that asked to write an essay.
Upon learning of his feat, Ujwal’s colleagues suggested he is going to fail the exam.
Guess what? He scored top marks for his cartooneering.
During one of our conversations, I verified this folklore to be 100% true from the man himself. When I queried Ujwal about this, he was kind of shy to admit that it happened. Upon my probing, with this well-known grin of his, he goes, “हो... हो…” (Yes, yes). On that day I told him that from there on he will be “maverick” between us. The term is in reference to the Maverick of the movie Top Gun.
Ujwal was different. He is the epitome of out of the box thinking, lateral thinking, strategic... you name it; all these fancy framework or models . He lived out of this world thinking.
In one of the online meetings of keen “wanna-be-change leaders” from around the world (about 20-25 attendees; at times we needed to break the meetings into 2-3 rooms due to the large number of attendees), back in January 2013, I was concerned with confidentiality of the topics and documents we were producing. Ujwal doesn’t speak much at meetings and he usually has his say in the end. At this meeting also he took his turn at the very end after listening to everyone for more than an hour. In response to my confidentiality concerns, Ujwal goes, “Raj, if we have to hide what we are doing, we are doing something wrong”. “दिमागमा लागेको ढक्कन खुल्यो उज्वल । धन्यवाद । ”, I said (You opened my eyes, Ujwal. Thank you).
Yes, Uj (another name we used during our conversation) opened my eyes to my role, duties and obligations towards the homeland. He did so without making me feel guilty. Rather, he motivated and encouraged me. He gave me something that gave me a lot of “buzz”. The ideas we would discuss kept me up all night.
Remember the कुकुर वाला चुनाव ? (The election in which Ujwal and friends stood in election with dog as the election symbol). It was the 2nd Constitution Assembly Election in 2013 when the then “Bibeksheel Nepali Manch” filed candidacy from four constituencies in Kathmandu. Maverick, of course, was one of the candidates. Ujwal and the other three candidates (Pukar Bam, Govinda Narayan and Santosh Pradhan) might have received a few hundred votes each in that election but that planted the seeds of alternative politics firmly on the ground. The rest is history.
Ujwal was a visionary leader. He had grand plans. He didn’t like doing small talk. On our last meeting at his home on 2018-04-07, he was so serious about establishing a conglomerate of businesses similar to Samsung. “Samsung” was the exact company he referred to. He liked to think forward. He was far ahead of our times.
Ujwal went to the USA for higher studies to become an astrologer. Instead, he returned to Nepal after gaining a degree in IT. In his own words, when he returned from the USA, instead of souvenirs he brought back heaps of books and his old computer in his suit cases. After a stint in Conflict Management in Nepal during the conflict era, Ujwal then inspired many IT professionals in Nepal to grow their business. He is one of the founders of the WordPress Nepal. Additionally, Ujwal was the catalyst and the thinker behind Entrepreneurs for Nepal (E4N) movement long ago the Bibeksheel movement. Many of us know him for his leadership role in the Bibeksheel movement but he was a man of many talents, so as to speak.
Today, on this day when Ujwal has left us to go on an eternal journey, I hope he has found the meaning of life he so longed to seek. I am hearing his words in my head. That laugh, those filler words that he used to mix during our phone conversations “एस्तो हो के... हो हो... हैन राज ?..."
I am numb today. I have no clue how to process this news. I have not yet lost a close family member but it must feel like how I am feeling right now.
The void in our lives created due to Ujwal’s early exit from this existence will never be filled. His shoes are too big to fill, in my view. We should, however, celebrate his extraordinary life, his achievements and his contributions. We have to do something productive and creative to keep his legacy alive.
On this sad day, I am thinking a lot about Ujwal, his family members and our mutual friends. Most importantly, I am thinking about Erika.
Ujwal was more than a friend and a mentor to me. He was my brother. He was my friend. He was my leader.
Long live, Maverick. So long, my friend. I will miss you.
Thank you for everything, Maverick.
(If you are new to Ujwal Phenomenon, please read his blogs to get a peek into his mind https://www.whynepal.com/ujwal/)
(If you are new to Ujwal Phenomenon, please read his blogs to get a peek into his mind https://www.whynepal.com/ujwal/)
