Like most of our readers, Paanpasal vaiya too voted numerous times for Pushpa Basnet. If I say I knew her before she was nominated on cnn heroes, then I would be lying. But I too, along with millions of other Nepalese around the world, voted for her, even though I didn’t know her personally.

The first reason why this matters is:
Nepalese vote for too many useless competitions all year round. Vote for some beauty queen, vote for someone’s friend picture riding a bike/scooty, vote for someone’s friend’s picture, even vote for someone of Nepalese ethnicity in a foreign TV reality show/contest! If there was a Guinness book of world record for the nationality that votes the most online, Nepalese will give you a tough competition. This “CNN Heroes” voting is one of the rarest one where the winner would be someone else other than your friend, family (unless you are related to Anuradha didi or Pushpa didi). The fact that vote of a Nepalese using a PC in a cyber café in Itahari or the vote of one using a Mac in New York, mattered for a unified cause, is a big accomplishment in itself.

The second reason why this matters is:
Anuradha didi won $125,000 and Puspa didi won $300,000 total in prize money for their organizations. It’s very hard for someone to even feed themselves in Nepal, forget about raising that much amount of money for the private charity organizations. The collective amount of simple clicks you did for 10 minutes, resulted in someone from Nepal with a Nobel cause get that much amount of money. This is EXTRAORDINARY. And the best part about this is, these are some genuine people who will use the money for right reasons, unlike some politicians or bureaucrats in Nepal.

The third reason why this matters is:
Not only we can have faith in humanity but also faith in the fact that a NEPALESE can be such selfless, such kind-heart. And that the world will recognize their effort and reward them for what they have done for the society. Anuradha didi and Puspa didi did all the hard work even before they knew about CNN heroes. They did everything for the helpless without even thinking about themselves and their financial situation. We always talk and hear about how Nepalese are selfish (ek arkako khutta tanne), lazy, violent, and then we lose hope in our own kind. Then once in a while, these angels come from nowhere and give us hope that Nepalese can be genuinely good people. Nepalese can rise above their difficulties and provide hope, love, and kindness without asking much in return. Anuradha didi and Puspa didi have not only showed “humanity” some hope but also showed all of Nepalese that we can do things for each other selflessly.
I hope you got the immense joy when you saw Anuradha didi and Puspa didi in winner’s podium with the title like I did. The title might not mean anything outside the premises of the winning country or CNN headquarters, but it matters to 30 million Nepalese who have now hope to do good and be recognized for being that way. It matters to the two people who gave everything in their life for someone else’s well being. It matters to Anuradha didi and Puspa didi. And that’s why it matters to me too.