THANK YOU FOR WAITING!

Dear Love,

I know you love me.I can say it from your eyes. The way you act absolved once our eyes meet. It seems you feel insured for the moment! That I am still there for you. That I have not chosen somebody over you. It is almost the same for me.


All those heavy breaths that you unusually took in when our eyes missed, I want to repay them with smooches of plenty. It burns me inside when i feel of every ache that your heart had to go through when I smiled on purpose to another girl's lame joke.I feel sorry for every second that I passed without telling you that I love you too, that I want to embrace you forever!

Honestly,I have lost  control of my senses over you. What I thought of as a mere illusion of your mind had turned in to  love between our souls so deep, so pure.I can lie to you no more. I can no more act out with another girl. Enough have I done to make my mind believe that I can do without you, still the heart came out as superior.I want to break all barriers. I want to be madly and blindly in love with you.


Its so true that my cowardliness has betrayed our emotions; but I can't let that ruin our lives. I adore you for trying to give away the slightest possible sign of affection whenever possible. I am sorry that I ignored them all. I am sorry that I casually posted you as 'just another crush' in my memory lane. I am sorry that we did not walk holding each others hand when the road ahead was tough for you. I am sorry that I was not there for you for all those past moments; although you loved me the most.

 I don't want to reach those pinnacles where your love won't envelope me. I don't want to meet those success that our love cannot comprehend. I need nothing more than the precious purity of your love. There is no success that shall taste as sweet as your fragrance. With such pure conviction can I say that- there's no wealth that can even come close to your warm embrace. No mirror in this entity could reflect me as well as your eyes would. You alone can define love for me. You are bigger than universe for me, I wanna explore all the stars and galaxies within you. I want to be mystified by you. I want to take you to a journey within you.

Sorry, that I couldn't do anything extravagant this time around. I am just a man who can afford to play around with words. I am sure with your love these words of mine shall rekindle to form some of the greatest creations. We shall walk those moments of fame together. Together, we shall see all our emotions mingle. Together, we shall see a unison of a soul from two different bodies. We shall love each other so much that even if we were to sleep in different land we would  dream the same and talk about it the next morning. We shall share all our moments, whether they be in earth heaven or hell. Together for ever.

Desperately waiting to see the same gesture from your pair of eyes.

With lots of love!
S!

WHAT IS SEXY?

So what is sexy. Being sexy should literally mean you are attractive enough for the people of opposite sex(in most of the cases) to want of or at least think of having sex with you. However, things are ridiculous now-a-days with TV, music videos and all glamour. The thing sexy is completely a different thing. Today, being sexy is inextricably linked with what media portrays as "sexy".

When I went to watch a Hindi movie, this Laxmi Puja, one of the actresses kept explicitly stating herself as "sexy". To make that statement look relevant, the film started from a scene where she wore a bikini and dived into sparkling blue water. That is what most of us think sexy is. It occurred to me that irrespective of the actress, anyone(most of Bollywood actresses) wearing the same attire and carrying the same scene would have been tagged "sexy". So, I couldn't stop but think, were the wardrobe and the setup sexier than the heroine herself?

In some other cases, actors who are benevolent enough to strip off are considered sexy. That too surprises me. Neither of us are going to have actual sex with those highly rated, rarely reachable so called shining,hot celebrities. So, when they strip off, they must have lost their sexiness. I mean, if you are not going to have a sexual intercourse with a person, the next closest thing to be sexily close to him/her is watch them naked. So, to be "sexy" they must hide more than reveal, you know to keep that "sexy" curiosity going. Surprisingly, the media acts arcane and rates actors who reveal more as sexy. So, like a creed to be followed, actors continuously crave for movies that demands more of intimate scenes until either the viewers or their age get fed up of such nuisance. The rise and fall of such curiosity driven artificial "being sexy" culture is portrayed in the Vidya Balan's starer "Dirty Picture."

even the cartoons are to be blamed?

The media has presented another horrible prospect through its 24 hour "being sexy" bullshit. A "hero" in a movie  always has a muscular setup, and the heroine has a zero sized figure. Then, they are said to complement each other enough to make the sexy chemistry of the "true love saga" work, while all other shapes and sizes are ridiculously thrown away. Imagine, what would happen if all of the world were had men with six pack abs, and women with fair skin and a skinny figure? Maybe a overweight human would be told as sexy! Through continuous streaming of such propagandist agenda, people of personality other than that approved by the media, begin to impugn whether they are capable of nurturing a proper relationship. An over sized person, is always a subject of joke, and put as one who has to seek advise to date a girl/boy. And none protest to it.

Well, I realized these effects that media put into, when i recalled what sort of girls i got attracted to. In my early teens, i would have not picked a particular shape and size, while for now I certainly prefer the media fed "tall and slim" ones. Maybe, I was to grow this way or those actresses in movies made me think so: that may remain a mystery forever. But, it is certain that the media, is feeding wrong sense of being sexy into us. That is too detrimental as we shall spend more of our time, intellect and resources trying to be sexy in par with the actresses or the actors, who in fact have professionals to help their cause.

To sum it up, if you are a nurse, you are going to be sexy to a doctor, if you take care of your patient reliable and sincerely not necessarily by wearing what Jolie wore to the Oscars.

BURNING MEMORIES

Lot of us have memories, that trouble us. Memories that makes us feel dumb. Memories that makes us feel low. Memories that makes us feel betrayed. Memories that make us swallow our breath. Memory that twitches our chin Memories that makes us feel remorseful. Memories that make us feel derelict. And still, we can't figure a way to burn those thoughts.

A girl who dumped you for a drunk pervert. Parents who forced you to change your majors at University. Pet that died licking your dose of cocaine. The teachers who graded you low in a Viva because you were on flippers. Friends who left you in a middle of a fight. The child that left you in a old age home. These always remain in your mind. These always hunt you. They come in your dream to suffocate you. It leaves a musty grim patch in your brain. It makes your heart burn deep when you remember of it. But, still you can't kill those things.

So what?

Is your life ruined to hell? Just for petty shake of people who really don't care for you.

You have a way. Face it. And face it hard.

If you have written a poem for the girl as above. Don't burn it outright. Recite the poem every morning until you get the emotion and attachment out of it. Than its your literary creation.Not everybody turns into an Adele, but maybe you get to recite those poems in a college program or among your friends. If your pet dies licking cocaine, that you intended to sniff, maybe the best thing is to quit it. If the teachers graded you low, maybe you turn up to the University in flippers at Convocation day.That very day teacher are helpless and you feel powerful. If your child leaves you in an old age home, write a diary of every day there. Publish it. Or, try publishing it. It's worth trying. It's never too late. It's not a choice but compulsion when it's your time to act selfish to the ones that did it to you first. It's no revenge, it is an attempt to break the chain that surrounds your precious brain

The main thing that you need to remember is you need to burn memories, not physical things related to the memory. That is just not going to help. Instead look at them every once in a while, until you feel the attachment has faded away. Then nothing can shake you up at middle of the night. Nothing can make you feel low. And, finally you are the same man before the event. Once again you are ready to fight. Once again you are ready to dream.


Good Luck!

TWO KIDS! SAME STORY!!

There are numerous such kids but they  have almost the same story. Here, I try to bring into limelight stories of two such kids whose fate has taken them away from home, in pursuit of a little money and better fooding; however at expense of education. Two such kids that I have recently met are Shere and Azhmed Ali.I could have had their photos here, however a lack of proper camera phone is really taking a toll on my blogging. Although, I am trying to stick with my current set until the end of my engineering degree.

Shere: Shere is a delightful and humble kind of kid working at a restaurant near Kathmandu University. He must be of 10 years of age. He possess a beautiful smile and that coupled with innocence of tender age results into direct affinity from the customers, which the restaurant in itself seem to benefit from. His family lives at Koshipari, a rural setting in the hills of Dolakha, East from Kathmandu. Dolakha is where my forefathers have settled for generations. We  have close relatives and some property there. So, I find myself attached to people from Dolakha.

These two might just represent the kids.
Courtesy: http://www.fotothing.com/photos/

Shere was sent to school, but he did not take liking to it. He turned truant, left the school, probably hearing wonderful stories of the city and due to excesses of unnecessarily martinet teaching personnel. The teachers in Nepal, take physical punishment as integral part of the education system. This makes education a heavy duty for kids especially who have much to do at home or average at certain subjects.

Just before the Dashain vacation, as the number of customer withered away I got an opportunity to interact with him. He came to Kathmandu by himself with the cook of the restaurant- who is much older than him but he had somehow done schooling till the 6th grade. I wanted to make him return to the village, and begin to go back to school. He seem to shyly oblige. I along with the cook gave him some simple logic. Even if he had to do away with daily diet of meat and rice (that is a much better supplement in both taste and nutrition compared to what he gets back at home), he could make it up in his adulthood owing to better education. I reminded him, even to work in better paying restaurants of Kathmandu, education was essential since he needed to note down and read orders, calculate prices etc.

He might have got his lesson, in the tiny stint he had working away from home. He must have missed his parents and friends of his age. Now when he goes back home, he shall be a star among his friends and a nuisance among his parents and teachers. His wonderful stories of the city, the boys in well pressed shirts and smooth denim and girls with clean hair and fitting apparels would be new story to his pals. If this experience increases his morale and that improves his confidence in being a good student, it would really turn his life on its head. I sincerely hope and pray, he doesn't return back to the same hotel, and maybe I get to see him only after years as an educated smart man doing great at whatever he takes up in future.

Azhmed Ali: I met this kid just for a day, at the occasion of Phulpati. He must be aged around 8-10 (however I have a gross ability of guessing ages). He was at Tudikhel, and began voluntarily fielding for us. He would field at fine leg, a fielding position in Cricket where the ball tends to go regularly especially if u have average playing conditions. He was a prodigy if we are concerned with his cricketing ability. He threw the ball in a technical manner, fielded in bumpy outfield putting his body behind every ball and diving (not in the air however) to gather balls away from him. He just got to bat a few deliveries at the end, which is a very obvious however painful of a story of any young cricketer playing with adults. However, he swung  the bat which was relatively heavy for a kid of his age, above his head to connect bouncing balls and still managed to connect them to get them away up to conventional mid on position, that's like 40 yards away from his batting position.

As we returned, I asked him in which class he studied. He said, he did not go to school. That made me slightly angry. I don't know why but I felt angry for our country which would trade cheap labour out of these kids at a young age , and later make them a comrade of their stupid politics and desert their agenda after getting to power. He was from Janakpur. Regarding Janakpur, it has a strong connection with me. My mom was raised up in Janakpur. I was born in a hospital of Janakpur, and we constantly visited our great grandmother who resided in Janakpur until she passed away due to old age. We used to call her ghuyya aama ( as we had to travel in bus to reach her).I still adore visiting temples around Janakpur.

This poor kid, has his father working at one of the Gulf countries. His mother lives back in Janakpur. He was left by his dad to work at a Saree embroidery shop near Maitidevi. As Maitidevi is in my route back home, I offered him a ride in the Safa tempo. He had a monthly salary of Rs 3000 ( roughly US dollars 40). Surprisingly, he had a brother who studied back home. As we boarded the tempo, I showed him "Maitidevi" written in the rear side of the tempo. I told him if he had studied he would have understood it. As he seemed so interested in cricket, I persuaded him in another way. I asked him if he watched cricket in TV. He answered positive. I asked him if he understood scores written in TV. He said no. Perhaps, that moment he must have realized education was required even to be a cricketer. At least I pointed that out for him, and suggested he could enjoy the game even more back home at Janakpur.

I told him the same as that to Shere. Go back home and enroll in a school. Don't run away even if the teachers punished him. He promised me he would go home back after a month. I myself got off at Maitidevi, as it was Dashain time and I needed to fulfill my mother's desire of visiting temples. His teeth was all brown. I bought him a brush and asked him to brush regularly. He seemingly obliged. He promised to return back home in a month. I said I was a local of Maitidevi and  gently threatened him that it would not go down well with me if I was to see him again after a month. And out of nowhere, he brought up his hand to make a hand shake. I was surprised. A kid who was fumbling with words just an hour ago, now was confident enough to shake hands. I hope he thought of going back home, studying well and pursuing his dream to be a cricketer. I hope he would do good and luck would see him shake hands with the current rising stars of Nepal like Prithu Baskota and Chandra Saud who would be his seniors if he ever made it to the National team.

I will try to  remember these two kids for ever. And, if they made a name for themselves, I would selfishly draw myself some credit. Maybe, it was small time and money for me, but their experience with me might change their entire lives. Studying amateur palmistry, it occurred to me that smallest of the lines might have biggest of the impacts in a person's life. I just can hope that their encounter with me can change their life. May Durga Mata bless them both this Dashain.

UNSURPRISINGLY! NEPALI CRICKET is on the RISE!!

Well, the drama that lasted yesterday during the final of the ACC Elites trophy, the equivalent of Asia Cup for the non test playing nations of Asia, must be the closest and the most thrilling episode in Nepal's cricketing career. The espirt de corpes shown by the players, crowd in the stadium, and the cricket followers back home is in itself exciting and promising. More importantly, new generations of Nepali teens have heroes like Paras and Shakti to emaluate.

Picture tells it all!
courtesy Saleem Sanghati/ACC

The tie in the finale and eventually being the winner of the competition for the first time that too avoiding a defeat to the UAE only for the second time in ODIs in their own background not only depicts the statistical achievement but also points to the burgeoning confidence and mental toughness that the Nepali cricket team has begun to possess.

First of all, Nepal lacked a premier fast bowler via injury to Amrit Bhattarai and veteran Binod Das. So, Nepal  had to  chose to bowl first, in a pitch that looked good for batting. In the match that twisted and swayed from one side to other, at one point it seemed Nepal have given it all up after being in a good position to win the match up till the 45th over. The fragility and lack of power hitting lower mid order batsmen could have once again exposed Nepal and betray them of another hard fought victory. But, thanks to the resilience and the willingness to win, Nepal with help of a six from Gauchan and a well placed innings from Veshwakar, a good opening partnership and intelligent batting at the middle overs, achieved a tie and in doing so bagged two major titles back to back.

Among the associates nation, at least in Asia, only Nepal and Afghanistan seem to boast vivid popularity in cricket among their country men. UAE playing in their home turf were humbly outnumbered by the Nepalese audience. Afghanistan have progressed fast and developed a reputation of playing brand of 'fearless' cricket with their explosive batsmen and seriously fast bowlers. This have resulted in Afghanistan being a much better T20 side than a ODI side as the recent trend have shown. However, Nepal seems to be emerging from more conventional school of cricket. Nepalese team, it seems is trying to develop an all round team having all essential components that could perform in any condition and against any opposition.We have proper openers in Khakurel and Mandal, the middle order is sound with Malla, Khadka and Veshwakar. The lower middle order is a bit of a concern with its inconsistency and lack of muscling power. Airee seems to be the chosen finisher; however he has lot to improve on his technical aspect. Prithu being a more technically able batsmen, seems to be lost in singles in crunch overs. However both have the potential to rise to the occasion and more hard work and competition by likes of veteran all rounder Alam and  youngster Bhandari will keep them in check. Similarly, handy batsmen like Gauchan, Das and Regmi always seem to give hope of Nepal scoring a bit more run, even in pressure situations. Similarly, in the bowling department Nepal has consistent spinners in form of Gauchan and Regmi. Das with his experience and Bhattarai with his aggression make a good  opening combination. Similarly,players like Vishwakarma and Saud have risen through the ranks and are looking to cement their place. Nepal has widely benefited especially through skill of the skipper Khadka to fill in the spot of third seamer in spin friendly pitches and Prithu has rolled his arms over even in final overs of the match.

Howzzat People!
Photo courtesy: cricket.com.np

Now what Nepal needs is more competitive environment. Nepalese are genuine cricket lovers. It can be seen among the crowd in Nepal's domestic matches.  Every gully in Kathmandu, Pokhara and other towns especially in Terai are buzzed with regular score updates. Nepal is probably one of the few associate nations that telecasts its domestic games in a regular basis. However, the presence of skillful analysis of cricketing events in FM and paper (two widely popular form of communication in Nepal) is meagre. The recent success in Nepali cricket is moreover attributed to raw passion and talent along with skillfull training provided by the newly appointed coach Dasanayake. He has brought more international exposure into Nepalese cricket team that has certainly brought results. What we need now is better infrastructure for cricket, as we already have the success and the charm in being a National cricketer that shall lure more youngsters to stack up their pads for more hours or run a few more yards in every run up  to the stump. Pouring a bit more money into cricket annually, and creating proper living standards for cricketers will surely make Nepal a better cricketing team as we have the same emotional attachment to cricket as that of India or any other test playing cricketing nations.

The success and the charisma that Nepali cricket has brought to Nepal is such overwhelming that, Nepalese seem to have forgotten the old nascent combination of former monarchs Gyanendra Shah and his son Paras Shah, even if it is for match days, Nepalese tend to substitute the image of those two via their two most solid batsmen of Nepal, Paras Khadak(C) and Gyanendra Malla (Vc) in their neurons. We can't forget that Nepal is the poorest nation in Asia and we suffer from various limitations, however none can stop us from dreaming and paving a path to better cricketing future.Lets hope, this Nepalese cricket team rises and the players of today are attributed for Nepal being a ODI nation or lets even hope bigger a proper Test playing Nation.For that a passionate set of teens of 2012 must push their seniors to perform better and create a healthy competition for a place in the squad.

THE MYTH OF DEMOCRACY

Democracy has an unknown meaning. This particular word is said to be complete in itself. An unquestionable term, "democracy" is the key word in anything and everything around in the political, social and economic sphere. You can find democracy everywhere-from N. Korea's official state name to Putin's Russia, from Suki's Myanmar to India ,democracy is the buzzing word. However, the drawbacks of democracy have been ignored for a long time, which has resulted in underutilization of human potential. The alternatives provided by likes of Hitler, Mussolini,Stalin, Castro, Kim Jong Il, Dalai Lama, Khomeni has blinded our imagination to accept that democracy is the brink of human's political evolution i.e.nothing can pass the comfort that democracy has achieved for us. It cannot be further from the truth. With the rapidly increasing technology and educational revolution the current setup of democracy can't last forever.Until we dont erase the mindset that "we can't do better than democracy" things shall remain stagnant like it is at present.

via thenuancedphilosopher.wordpress.com

Democracy consists of voting. Actually, democracy means to vote for represantatives, not leaders. Like, if somebody's elected from a certain area of Rolpa, he is expected to stay among Rolpalis and represent them being a Rolpali. However, that seldom happens. Instead, these member of parliaments begin to take a role of being a leader. They tend to teach people, rather than learning from the people. These MoP, tend to pass a bill first and than explain its usefulness to the people later.This is a trend seen everywhere in the world. This is one of the loopholes of democracy since the persons elected and among whom legitimacy is provided to represent a group; begins to lead a group. Suddenly, the right of thousands of people to decide for themselves, remains in hand of a single person who himself believes to be the leader not representative of the group. So, it is a myth that self right is protected in democracy. It is just that we get to choose an autocrat every 4 years, and if we have luck we tend to choose the best among the autocrats not at all a democrat.

Second, democracy leaves us with very little of a choice. Yes, you may think we have a lot of choices. But they are infact limited in a mysterious way. If you want a presidential style democracy and non ethnic federal states in Nepal, you have zero choice.  If you vote for UCPN Maoist, they gonna give you the first choice but not the later. And, if you voted for UML or NC they gonna give you the second but not the first. So, you are asked to compromise. There are many such issues in which you shall find strangled. The problem is much of the population has got into the habit of leaving into a selected few that they don't even care. This phenomenon has been degrading democracy ever since its inception and has rather burnt down the hopes of the state trying creative but minority backed ideas.

Third, democracy is the rule of the mightier to the minnows. None are going to be as lucky as South Africans. Imagine the blacks in SA fought for their rights and won it even with a population vastly smaller than the whites. Could they have maintained the same momentum through the parliament? Absolutely not! And another series of systematic absuse of the blacks would have intitated.

Fourth, democratic institutions are all based on revolutionary acts, but they themselves are the appartus to supress it. The French parliament recently announced not to allow any Muslim protests in backdrop of release of a blashphemic movie in the US. The legacy of the French parliament goes back to the French Revolution as radical and as creative an idea, however it is such fearful of its own people, that too of a stunning minority in terms of population.

Fifth, democracy needs money to run. From running a political party like in ours to run a presidential campaign as in USA, money  plays a serious role. In fact in many previous elections in the USA the nominee getting the highest campaign fund has ultimately won the Presidency. This has developed illicit role between the hidden capitalists and the politicians. The policies are made in accord to these chosen donors though said to be representing the mass. In fact democracy has served as a disguise to serious economic crimes like the recurring recessions. If recession repeats every 3 decades, its only current day democracy that is preventing everyday people from breaking down the system. It is the last thing that demoralizes scholars who ought to challenge the current economic setup that is too much biased to the banks and corportaes.

There are many more drawbacks that democracy contains, too many leaks that can't be maintained forever. The world is just waiting for a revolutionary spark in one intelligent mind. That can be you. Don't stop thinking. Don't stop dreaming. It is almost sure that this skeleton of ragged and failed but still evasive form of democracy shall crumble and the propoganda that democracy is the best system shall just be another myth to be rewritten in the pages of history.

THE MICHAEL EFFECT

Sometime back, I read an article of a foreign educated young Nepali women who went to rural Nepal working for a program in an INGO. She reportedly felt like not being treated as their own, by the people in the field. This is a prime example of the "Michael"  effect. Compare a women, who would put lipstick in her cheeks to get that red look during her marriage to a sophisticated women who would not step out without a SPF leveled sunscreening cream.The difference is such that a mere closeness of 2-3 day is not enough to create homely interactions.Throughout the article she made genuine effort to indicate her willingness to serve Nepal, and her act of returning to Nepal in itself stands as a proof. However,she could have faced the situation better.

would you call this a skirt?

To those who have done schooling at Nepal, Jujuman is an interesting story included in Secondary level Nepali curriculum. The Michael that I am talking about is just the opposite of the Jujuman. The humiliation that Jujuman faced while visiting his relative in urban area, is nicely depicted in the story. Now, as more and more city based organizations are seeking to  take their programs to rural Nepal, more of educated and modern Nepalese are visiting the rural and ragged side of Nepal.These urban Nepalese are facing opposite however similar humiliating incidences as Jujuman.Back in my hometown in Sarlahi, some of my uncle used to call me "Ta tuh Michael bhayechas"; when I visited them during  occasions like Dashain. Covered with shining denim, and hair trying to point skywards, it certainly would have made me look like more of an alienated phenomenon than a village boy they searched in me. If somebody would put an earphone
(especially those bigger ones) and murmur some foreign songs coupled with fancy sun glasses; that would make him look a perfect "Michael".

Here are some points which if taken care of could save you from being a Michael.

a. Dress Up: Don't dress what's fashionable in Kathmandu or Paris. It shall look nothing but alien to the rural people. Dressing unorthodox shall attract unwanted precaution and shyness while interacting. Simple shirts and soft jeans shall serve well.

the man on the left has the perfect dress up

b. Language: Don't mix English words until absolutely necessary. Most of the words that we use for granted like washroom, cupboard etc sounds too foreign. These shall create a negative impact in your audience and create a wider gap. Try to explain technical terms in as detailed way as possible. An engineer may be habituated to call a "suspension bridge" but  saying "Jholunge Pul" creates a world of difference.If you are staying for a long time, try to make use of the local language.

c. Lifestyle: Try to adapt to the way the people are living. Try to have the same food, in the same manner. Don't try to be picky and particular. Maintain basic cleanliness but don't give an impression that the whole surrounding is allergic.Try to know more about people and try to accommodate yourself to their day-to-day life.

d. Attitude: Don't have an attitude like you are the learned and command high respect. Have an attitude of a learner and a trier. If you didn't like those folk songs played over and over again in the public buses of Kathmandu, it doesn't mean every folk songs are going to be boring. Listening to a live event in itself is a new and better experience. Try to learn or observe new things like milking, shearing of wool etc. Try to give equal space and maintain two way learning process with your rural counterparts.

I hope these tips would help you come out of the "Michael" shell and enjoy your trips to far flung remote part of Nepal.

WHAT MISS NEPAL REALLY IS?

As more diverse group are actively involved in social networking sites, the debate about current Miss Nepal has fuelled up. Links to her profile are splashed all around wall of FB and tweets. Her snaps in glamourous dresses, poses among the wild animals, and some controversial interview are being shared and viewed as never before. Even her nationality is a concern for many. Whatever be the case, Shristi Shrestha certainly enjoys popularity that none of the previous Miss Nepal had.

Criteria: Mrs of  Nepal

I think most of us have not understood what Miss Nepal really is. They love to call it "Miss Nepal World" while it is in real "Miss Upper Class Nepal". While, running across some tweets on this issue, one said about recent trend of winners "Is it necessary to be a Newar to be a Miss Nepal?". Well, not necessarily but you need to be that of an upper class rich family. The trend has risen to such proportion that, allegedly Hidden Treasure requested Shristi Shrestha to participate in Miss Nepal due to her modelling experience in England. It seems like the organizers are trying to make their presence felt at the World stage, by whatever means available.

Like any other beauty paegent, Miss Nepal depends on its sponsor which are predominantly beauty products. Imagine a farmer's daughter from Chitwan winning Miss Nepal, will her standing next to such cosmetic brands satisfy the sponsors? Certainly not! But instead if u have a stunning model, who is professional enough to know her poses by heart is gonna bring instant attention to their products. Imagine a posh beauty parlour opening with hands of current Miss Nepal, that shall just add up to its reputation. Such consumerism leads to selection of beautiful and glamorous ladies who have capability to perform as a brand ambassdor to the event's sponsor.

It is unfair to expect more than this from the organizers. Neither are they a governmental body, nor they are here to prove Miss Nepal represents Nepal. A ragged ,rugged and one of the poorest country of the world; no organizers can't ensure fair participation.Nepal is no USA where every high school girl carries a make up kit. The middle class and poor of Nepal can't afford participating in such events. They don't necessarily know the make up, dressing, ramp walks techniques. A name shake grooming session is just like 2 week of coaching before your final exams. Moreover, the winners must  bear all the expenses for preparations with little or no support from the organizers. These hurdles have narrowed the juridisction of Miss Nepal into rich and thick wall of Kathmandu.

Ctiteria: Miss Nepal World

So, for those who criticize Miss Nepal; please stop it. Your voice is just not worth it. Miss Nepal was never designed for our agenda of inclusive and intelligent competition. It is just a show like "Indian Idol", which necessarily doesn't indicate what Indian Idols are or must look like. Miss Nepal, is merely a show where the upper class ladies with equally high esteemed questioners participate. Some clap, and some protest.The results are obvious.

Yes, the name "Miss Nepal" makes us feel that the event must be a concern of whole Nepal, however that is far from truth. And if Hidden Treasure asks for only candidates who are comfortable in Bikini; it won't surprise me for they are completely hyped by consumerism. Well, I do confess if the Miss World event has a swim suit round why doesn't Miss Nepal have it. I think that will attract more glamour, audience, sponsors and at least better our chances of being crowned Miss World rather than going abroad for recruitment. For those women leaders who criticize Miss Nepal, they rather get working into cases of forced prostitution of Nepalese women in Brothels of India and Nepal.

If somebody wishes to participate in such event and want a platform to model in ads and see the world at least for once, does our constitution stop it?

(photo courtesy: womennewsnetwork.net nepaliblogger.com)

IS GOD BIGGER THAN NATURE?

In several occasions, I have come across people and situations that argue God created Nature. The placing of sun, the tilting of Earth, the flow of river, the dark spots in moon, the constellations in sky all are thought to be there for pleasure of God. This thought is completely vague, ignorant and a shame to knowledge that mankind have acquired.

God, if bigger than nature would have ruled all of earth. The animals to must have their own Christ to celebrate Christmas; the trees too must have bowed when some human carried an idol of Shiva through the forest. Well, even if not so God should not have looked like men, their story would not have written in books that only literate man let alone other lovely species could understand. So, the falsity with which every religion seems to spread its propaganda regarding origin of life is a great fiction created by nature gifted human imagination.

did God do the Bid Bang?

Let us first examine the universality of God among humans. From Islam to Christianity, Hinduism to Buddhism the moral of religion seems to be the same- that of brotherhood and peace but the day-to-day living codes lay different. That is so obvious. A snow leopard leaves the same way as normal leopards; hunting and feeding itself, suckling its young ones however their prey is different, their hunting pattern is different too as their niche is far apart. The same is with religion. Islam being originated in relatively hot place demands young male’s prepuce to be cut. Later modern science stated that such act would reduce the chances of cancer in male genitals. Christians marry in White while Hindus wear White while mourning. It would be considered a sin, if I being a Hindu wore White in my marriage, and the Christian would rarely want to wear anything but white in his wedding. This tradition has lasted for centuries, however the bitter truth of dishonesty among partners remains a part of both culture. Hence, in name of God, society have made us do things that maybe good or bad; but without it we would have still lived passing through successive generations successfully.

So, you may ask how religion inhibited among us. It is the same way how agriculture, industry, education inhibited us. The religions that we talk of so fondly must have been created only once humans begin to live in society. Thus God is part of Nature. Like the Physicist, who, if he can’t prove “an ever occurring phenomenon”, terms his theory as hypothesis, religion is of no more a thing than hypothesis of learned men who could not furnish proof. If bathing thrice could provide men would vigor and jolliness all his day, nothing but religion would force men of medieval era to do so. Thus, Hindus in an era of disease and dirt might have flourished further due to this specific cultural directive. However, with modernity some of religion’s best directives have been left completely misinterpreted. While most of humans were into agriculture at time when religions where created one after another, the only one human most have prayed to for gifting them with food was Nature or God whom they believed to have created Nature. However, in 21^st century as much of us have taken up service and industry, it is necessary that we thank the labor of farmers along with Nature itself for providing us food. Such alterations in religion are mere common sense, but the ways we have portrayed God has made us frightfully but not willfully follow his words strictly.

However, it is true that there is spiritual side to life. Only human can afford to meditate among the species in Earth. This is the great gift that Nature has given to us. All religions have tried to exploit this part, Buddhism at best. However, no religion has been able to make it a part of our day-to-day life. This very fact will lead religion to extinction. Almost all religious scriptures are written to evoke our spiritual part. However, the priests and guardians of religion continue to contain themselves to reading text from books whose language very few understand. If those responsible for religion promotion worked hard to find justification to spiritual part of life, and curtail God within limits of Nature it would prove a milestone in case of human civilization. That is the difference between Modern Science and Religion. Scientists are not only free to question but are provoked to question established theories. Thus, Einstein could go over Newtonian Physics to develop new unsought dimensions. However, you will get a hell ride if you questioned what is in holy script. Thus curiosity never arises among the priests and monks; they simply mug up what have been written thousand years back. They are never encouraged to bring new dimensions to religion they follow, but are only allowed to interpret what’s there for centuries.

THE SECOND CLASS CITIZENS

                                                                                                                                                                                               

In a regular, normal day, I asked a sane friend of mine a more than sane question, "What is this?". He replied, "This is f***ing bullshit!"  Well, when I was listening to a reply by one of the government official regarding shortage of fertilizers I had the same reply written all over my face.

via Ekantipur :Happy! But for how long?

More than half of Nepalese depend on agriculture for their livelihood. For most of them, paddy is the main source of feeding themselves and earning a profit. With the irrigation system not in place; people already have to depend on the almighty for rain. The next big thing is fertilizers. Nepal needs about 700,000 tons of fertilizer annually. However, this summer what we are going to have is just 150,000 tons of fertilizer. That deficiency ratio is greater than the power deficiency and even crosses the petroleum deficiency ratio. However, both the petroleum and power shortage issue gets caught in tape and are shown over and over until some politician does a "breaking news" kinda spectacular crap. It has been long since Kathmandu has forgotten the rest of Nepal. Had fertilizer not made itself available in polished shops of Kathmandu; people might have taken the issue up to the street. The Reporter's Club would have hold a debate on "Fertilizers..." and maybe the secretary of Agriculture ministry or the minister himself might have suffered the same disgrace that Janajati Leader Aang Kaji Sherpa has suffered through the hand of mainstream media.

Well, the street next to Tri Chandra and ASCOL gets crowded with protest as soon as the petroleum tariff increases. And for our poor farmers who have to toil hard to feed themselves, whose successive generation has never made it to Kathmandu, there's none-not even in a Government college to protest for their cause. It is obvious for the next generation of urban based population to forget agricultural difficulties as much of us haven’t been through the rigors of sweat and mud. It is always difficult to stand for the cause of the poor’s. They cannot put a case in the court as some of our Royalist do to revive the monarchy. They don’t go to conferences like RIO 21 like our caretaker PM has gone to. All they can do is visit neighboring state of India and carry loads double or even triple the weight of their body just to feed their family .A look that the Nepalese themselves are ashamed of seeing when they travel to India. Why this? The answer is simple. Without proper fertilizers the yield from their already limited land is not sufficient to feed throughout the whole year.

The situation is critical in Nepal. Amidst the political turmoil and instability the farmers are set to suffer in future as well. As per the government, there is no way Nepal can import more of fertilizers until next three month fulfilling technical procedure. Well, we defy technical procedure when there is acute shortage of petroleum; we bring it via governmental understanding with India even if there is an outstanding amount of due to be paid. This is because, without Petroleum; Kathmandu and its leaders shall starve. The luxury shall curtail. The pressure is enormous and somehow even if it means standing in long lines the supply is restored. This is not the case with fertilizers. With no connections to the bureaucrats and lobbyist in Kathmandu the farmers have sought to contraband fertilizers from India. That in itself has led to tax evasion and moreover than that the poor farmers are cheated with sub standard fertilizers. Regular lab test has shown these fertilizers of not having the chemicals as they advertise in their packet. The farmers in the hills, they don’t even have access to these smuggled ones as they are far from the border itself.

And they need to work to feed themselves!
via stevemccurry.com

And of course, we have famines due to issues like this. The government sends second class foodies through costly airways. There the people have to pay more for degraded stuffs. The state has treated them no less than second hand citizens. First the state deprives them of raising their own crops, and later rotten rice is sent to weather the self caused famine. The paddy growers have to face tough competition from Indian counterparts as they have heavily subsidized seeds, fertilizers and other crucial facilities. So, the profit that the well-to-do farmers are doing in Terai is too decreasing. This means the landless farmers who do farming in lease for their 'Mahajans' and 'Jamindars' get lesser of the share and subsequently suffer from food insecurity.

There is little solution to this problem. According to some agricultural experts, the delay in fertilizer supply is due to role of commission in every aspect of the supply system. From immediate buyers to transporters and suppliers all have to pay some commission to the officials. Until the commission is fixed, importing of fertilizers is a far cry. As regard as constructing our own fertilizer industry in Nepal. One report said, a 100 MW of energy to run such industry. That seems to be a distant alternative.

Successive socialist government has ruled Nepal. We have currently a PM who did his PhD based on Marxist ideals that criticize capitalism. However, the truth is they have not been able to defy the principle set by Adam Smith, where he says the workers of poor countries shall work for more hours than workers of rich countries but still they would be much poorer. When some segment of the society raises voice for some limited ethnicities the problem is rather the farmers across all ethnicities are treated as a second class citizens.Hope, the future gets better for more than half of the Nepalese souls!

(most of the statistics belonging to this essay is taken from an article published in The Kathmandu Post)

MY LOVE Is NOT BLIND

I still remember you being the first one I noticed when we moved to Kathmandu. You and me were just child then. We didn't have to go to school and with our parents away the whole afternoon we had enough time together. With the city bustling, all colorful, full of neon lights all you said beautiful were mere sounds that the wind bell hung on your ceiling would produce. Unlike, me you never were fond of watching TV. That made me like you simply because you were different from me and most of my friends. When my dad would scold me for watching more of TV, and shut down my desktop when I reached last level of a video game, I would consol myself for being close to you. I liked being like you even if it was forced upon me.

 

Time passed soon. Now we had to go to a school. I would pray to God so that we were admitted in the same school. Well you brought different uniform days before school started, and I knew God shattered my dream that day. You know I seldom cry in public, I didn't do it then too. But I cried in my bed. Luckily, I managed my mom not to know of it. I didn't want her to feel sad for my misery. Still, I woke up the next morning, with a frown in my face. Unusual twitches in my face immediately brought attention out of my grey haired Grandma. She would, as usual, ask me why? I could not help answering. I said I wanted to go to the same school as you did. And, my Grandma said the school of yours was for special ones. I need not go there because I was already special from the very beginning. Well, I wanted to be just like you, not special than you. I said the same to my Grandma, but she said life would be pathetic being like you. That might have made me grow to hate you, but instead I grew loving you more.

I was always a curious fellow; right from the beginning. So, I would rush everyday to you to look at what you studied that day. Your books were ridiculous. They didn't have the colorful pictures that ours had. I wanted you to see my books, but you would not dare to. I felt how could you be like that. Well, I didn't think much of it then. Then, I would say you were the most beautiful girl I ever saw. You would ask me to describe how you looked. I used to say, you had beautifully curled up thick-black hair, big forehead, beautiful brown eyes, and your lips were more than pretty when you smiled. You would blush and your face would turn red and I would often, to redden you further, ask you to do the same about me. You used to say, I smelt good, my skin felt soft, my hair though thorny were good enough to rub the cheek with, and particularly you were fond of my voice. At that moment, I would feel ashamed that I couldn't define you the way you did me.

Slowly, we promoted our respective classes just like how we lifted ourselves in the steps close to Pashupati. I always cherish those moments, where I would hold your hand and took you to those green benches facing the temple, in the evening. I came there because I like seeing the temple ablaze in evening light produced by dying sun coupled with blazing yellow electric bulbs. You said you loved to listen to the evening prayers and the birds chirp faintly. Among these days, there would come February 14. I always waited for that day, to let you know that I loved you no matter what. I still remember the first time I felt like celebrating that day with you, I brought you a bouquet of red roses out of my winter's saving. When you inhaled the smell of it; my breathing halted and my heart pounded. Then you said, to bring Jasmines the next time since you could hold it easily without minding the thorns. Moreover, I know your love for that flower and still feel enthralled remembering those days when you used to tell me I smelt like Jasmine. And the next year, when I brought jasmines to you, I never saw you that happy before. You thanked me for remembering your choices. Well, you must have known by then that it was the only thing I cared of. We were in each other’s arm that day. We felt like being at top of the world. That heavenly moment was perfect to bring us more closer. I drew your chin towards me while you closed your eye lids. I gradually came towards you, and just the moment I saw your lips part to make path for mine's our noses collided. We smiled at our inexperience, and you looked down shying. Well, we corrected ourselves just few seconds after and shared our first kiss. So pleasant, soothing was the feeling that I can still remember every fragment of it. It made me think what would have happened if I have never met you.

When I graduated from college, the first thing I thought of was marrying you. I knew you were the one I wanted to be with all my life. I said it to my parents. They would deny. And why that? I would lay disappointed for few more days. Seeing me agitate, my mom proposed me to marry your sister. She said you and your sister looked alike. I could marry her and be as happy. Such ridiculous argument made me boil from inside. I asked for the last time ,"Why?". My mom replied, "Because she is blind".

She replied as if I didn't know the fact. I knew it a decade and a half ago. I loved you before I knew it and still more after I knew that you could see more than what our human eyes could. Your senses would travel faster than light, so you are no less special than us. With all these thought crashing in my mind  I replied to my mom, " Yeah she is blind, but my love to her is not blind. It seeks her and cares for her all the while. I cannot live without her."

I am waiting for her answer right now. I hope the answer would be positive.

JESTHA 14: THE DOUBLE COUP SAGA

As the mystery of another Jestha 14 unfolds, the most unexpected thing might just have happened. As the clock steadily moved towards midnight, it was almost clear none of our leaders were really into constitution making. They had their own set of tricks to covert to what they wanted after midnight.

I am with you brother!

The first Coup as I say is committed by the united stand of NC and UML. Once, it was clear that the issues of federalism could not be solved by consensus; they should have allowed the issue to roll into motion in the CA. Most probably a voting in it would have been the best option at that time. However, knowing that their own lawmakers would cross the floor, the leaders of these parties sought to delay the process in name of flexibility and consensus. Had voting been done, UML would have been in serious trouble with their Leader Prithivi Subba Gurung taking the leadership of the Janajati Caucaus. A signature campaign set right after the 5 point agreement between the 4 major stake holders earlier, gathered 320 out of 596 lawmakers to go for federalism based on identity. They might be wrong or right, but democracy was doomed that day and doomed hard. The NC and UML knowing they would lose to this issue, never really wanted to get into the CA, where they didn't have the same bargaining teeth as in other meetings outside the CA. The so called democratic parties broke the very backbone of modern day democracy that day.

Clever than the teacher Mao!!

The second coup is a fresh one but a long thought for. The Maoists, even the liberals, always ought to have the final onus to be the "State Capture" walas. Every Maoist speaks of it, especially in their internal meet. As far as I am concerned, the Maoists have the cleverest of leaders with their mind full of amazing political tricks. The Baidya faction and Prachanda faction continuously play the Hollywood's Good Cop- Bad Cop routine. The Baidya faction has been able to retain the disgruntled and hardliner faction of their cadres; while Dr. Baburam Bhattrai continuously attempts to bring in more of the middle and upper class into the party base. As, Jestha 14 came closer, the Maoist leadership played an interesting game. Knowing that the downfall of CA, would bring down the legislature as well they organized a show piece discussion the whole afternoon. As the majority of communists, who seek the right situation to pounce for their unquestionable and continuous right to the government, Maoists of Nepal have done the same. If Dr. Bhattarai doesn't resign by himself, there's nothing else to force him to. A Coup, as said by the Chief whip of NC, occurred due to the failure of the same party to understand Maoist tactics. Maoists now have a stronghold in country's day-to-day running. The day they have dreamt of almost two decades ago, have come in partial fulfillment.

If NC and UML don't go into election as soon as possible, but rather choose to stick to its formulae of bringing down Maoist led government showing constitutional short comings, it will obviously  play into Maoist's ploy to stay in the government infinitely. So NC and UML along with other parties have no choice to go into election, even if it be under Maoist government, which shall sustain itself till then via it's coup of Jestha 14.

IN PURSUIT OF EQUALITY

When I woke up last Saturday morning, I was not aware of that day being birthday of Karl Marx. Luckily, one of my friends in twitter tweeted to greet Karl Marx his 194^th birthday. I grew nostalgic and posted some thought into Facebook to mark the occasion.

He resurfaces despite being said obsolete long ago

I adored utopia of equality since beginning of my teenage. I had to call myself a something, so that people could understand what I felt like politically and socially. So, when people asked me of my ideology, I began calling myself a person who adored Marx. I was in deep love with this man’s thinking. His political rhetoric would attract my thoughts especially while seeing poor laborers carrying loads heavier than them, but paid miserly to. I have had hard time persuading peoples why Marx should be regarded as one of the greatest thinkers of all time. The ruthless autocracy in North Korea, the repression of Tibetans by the Chinese Communist Party, millions of deaths in Stalin’s Russia were enough to deter my friends from wanting to know more of Marx. I could not agree more to the intellectuals who rightfully point out flaw in the way communist have ruled states in name of Communist Manifesto co-authored by Marx.

However, Marx’s thinking has planted an irreplaceable dream in human kind; the dream to create a just world. Though the dream was a utopian one, it is the first of a kind to connect people in a revolution aiming for justness in such a large scale, over vast lands. It is true that a social theory possess loopholes. Most of our ancient astronomers were wrong to believe in sun revolving around Earth; however this observation laid foundation to modern day astronomy. So, it is no big deal if Marxism came with flaws in it. However, he has made us dream if a society better than what current day democracy has achieved. The same dream could be obtained by completely different means but the credit of making humans think of its possibility goes to Marx. In an upbringing where we are ready to praise Devkota for dreaming to reach the moon even before the human did, it is inappropriate that we don’t pay respect to a man who thought if every one of us would be free of hunger, prejudice and injustice. Neglecting Marx and his theories as utopian would be betrayal to humanity.

May Day rallies have found new vigor in Europe @reuters

 Many people criticize and sense authoritarian manners in Marx’s idea of legitimizing violence to overthrow bourgeois rule to establish autocracy of proletariat. Let us deal with the first part. In a totally different context, CK Lal points out in his column Reflection (Republica Daily): “The Road to Martyrdom”, “Lord Krishna justifies wars, even by means of deception if necessary for end of tyrannies and restoration of righteousness.” It is similar to what Marx said. It is debatable if Nepal would have been a Republic this soon without a ‘People’s War’, but the Tsar would not have been removed from Russia; ruthless Batista would not have been ousted from Cuba have the discontent of the working class be united by communist ideas. As far as autocracy of proletariat is concerned, communist parties can achieve it through democratic ways. Successful example of it is the three decade long rule of communist party in West Bengal of India, which recently ended in a bitter loss. The communist parties can establish the rule of the proletariats for a long time, taking consent of regular terms from the people. This fact is more underlined by Leon Trotsky when he famously said, “Democracy is oxygen to socialism”.

Attempts to revitalize communism from its ugly track of autocracy via bureaucracy of a single political party, as in Stalin’s Russia, were even made in Nepal. The credit goes to a  foresighted Marxist-Leninist Madan Bhandari. As per the demand of time, in his doctrine “People’s Multiparty Democracy” , Bhandari has tried to push his communist party out of extreme leftist mode into a democratic socialist force. In fact, many socialist parties in Europe are based on consolidation of their communist ideals. The popularity of such parties in Nordic states and recent polling trends in France, Portugal, and Greece support the popularity of socialists in Europe. However, many rigid communists, so called ‘hardliners’ view this as a betrayal to revolution and tag it as ‘revisionism’. This dogmatic approach deprives pragmatic communist to innovate and adapt after the overthrowing of a bourgeois autocratic leader. This approach has failed to yield communism as a self evolving dynamic culture, rather it appears to be an imposed ditto of some other unsuccessful regime of the past.

Need more of these: Comrade Bhandari

The hardliners are wrong in their insistence to push Unified Maoists, the biggest political force of Nepal into a fully fledged communist revolution. Marx himself was aware that a successful communist state could not be built upon an isolated agricultural economy. Alex Callicinos explains in his book ‘The revolutionary ideas of Karl Marx’ the reasons for failure of USSR, “As Marx had predicted, the confinement of the revolution to a single country meant that the whole filthy business of exploitation and class struggle was restored.” Nepal would suffer the same fate, a communist dictator would take over and Stalinism would eventually dominate Marxism. The writer further insists that ‘forced industrialization’ was flung into by the Stalin regime during and after 1928-29. This goes against the very basics of Marxism. In fact, the communist manifesto clearly states the beginning of united revolt of the proletariat to take place in the economies where Capitalism has reached its pinnacle. However, to the contrary communist revolution happened first in Russia and is popular in poor country like ours. Marxist had hoped the Russian Socialist Revolution to be a “a signal to western proletariat revolution. A self sustainable communist world is to happen only when whole of the world resources are capitalized, a small economy like Nepal would go by the North Korean way if we happen to embrace what the hardliners are pushing for.

If we look at matters seriously, Nepal is the last hope for modern communists. Unlike China, Cuba or North Korea communist ideas are popular among the Nepalese without any forced propaganda or repression by the state. We are probably the only country left, which could get an elected communist executive in the near future. Hence, we don’t have the luxury to experiment the same as orthodox communist regime did to fail just few decades ago. The way forward for communists in Nepal is a tough and demanding one. As written in the communist manifesto by Marx and Engels, “This organization of the proletarians into a class, and, consequently into a political party, is continually being upset again by the competition between the workers themselves. But it ever rises up again, stronger, firmer, mightier.” Hopefully, scattered communists of Nepal would unite and run as a single force in upcoming elections. Further in the communist manifesto it is clearly stated that, “The Communists do not form a separate party opposed to the other working-class parties.” Unfortunately, we have clear factions within the big two communist parties itself.

The recurring crisis in capitalist system like the recent recession in US and Europe would make Marx resurface despite rigorous attempt to nullify his criticism of the current system. But, it would be great if Nepal could prove a point or two by successfully pointing to the West, a democratic socialist state could sustain efficiently. It would stand as a towering example; just like our peace process and removal of monarchy did to bewilder the Western elites. Who knows, the pursuit of equality would rejoice the world once again from the deeds of our communists?