Kathmandu: It is about a mythical story. The narrator begins “this is the story from an Indian mythology which is even relevant to the present situation.” And then the story follows: “One day, Lord Shiva while applying Bhashma, the ash on his body, found a hair and was terribly angry and threw the bowl. There a demon was born named Bhasmasura. Lord Shiva assigned him a job of bringing Bhasma for his application. Bhasmasura brought lots of ashes for a long period.”
“One day he returns with empty hand claiming the death rate has come down. No dead body to burn, no bhasma. He requested Shiva to grant him a boon as by touching anybody’s head he could reduce them to ashes by which all unwanted creatures will be destroyed and also get sufficient Bhasma. Shiva granted the boon. As soon as he got the power he attempted to test it on Shiva himself. Shiva was shocked. Boons can only be granted but not taken back. So the only choice left was to escape from the monster. Bhasmasura chased him. Shiva ran to God Mahavishnu and explained the situation. Mahavishnu immediately made a plan and disguised himself as a beautiful woman named Mohini. While Bhasmasura was searching for Shiva, Mohini appeared in front of him. He was badly seduced and forgot everything else. He held her hand and asked ‘will you marry me?’ She told ‘you defeat me in dance and I will marry you.'”
“Bhasmasura agreed and the dance began. Both of them went on for hours together. Mohini wisely makes a move by touching her hand to her head. He too imitates the same. Within no time he was burnt into ashes. This was the end of the demon but how is it relevant to the present day situation?”
The idea behind this video story, which appears to be a voter awareness message prepared for the Indian voters, is to ask the voters to vote wisely and for the right candidate.
“Every one of us has a great power, the power of voting. Think before you grant it to anyone. Once the power is in the wrong hands, it cannot be taken back,” the video ends with this message.
The voter awareness video message prepared and disseminated by the Election Commission of Nepal follows this story ditto–both in terms of content and message. Only difference is artists, voice over, background scenes and language.
When the Election Commission was asked for comment, the officials said it is unfair to raise questions on every single matter of the Commission.
“It is not desirable to criticize each and every step of the election commission. Even if the idea of the video message was copied from somewhere it was copied for a good reason. The video is good,” said Saligram Sharma Poudel, the spokesperson at the Election Commission.
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