Being a villager for a day (Hiking from Jiri to DandaKharka)

Though our office, D2HawkeyeServices Pvt. Ltd, organizes and sponsores hiking on every Sunday and sometimes organizes trip for two days (vehicle tour + hiking), I went only few hikes before. I decided to join this time because I liked most the theme and the route of the hiking.

Theme: Being a Villager for a Day
Hiking Route: Jiri-DandaKharka and back to Jiri [in Dolakha district].
Distance: Kathmandu - Jiri (~200Km), Jiri-ThuloPatal ~15Km.
Day: June 21, 2008, Saturday – June 22, 2008 Sunday.
Participants: Aashish Koirala, Abishesh Joshi, Basu Dahal, Lava Kafle, Mahesh Regmee, Mahesh Subedi, Manoj Rokka, Niraj Shah, Prajwal Shrestha, Pramod Rai,Sanjeet Baidhya, Shankar Raj Upreti and Rajendra Banjade.

It was the day of strike throughout the Bagmati zone, we escaped from Kathmandu at 6AM. We were all equally excited and curious about reaching the destination.Some jokes and gossips on the way, enjoying the nature and taking wonderful snapshots of the beautiful and natural views of mountains, rivers, streams, we reached Charikot, the district headquarter of Dolakha. We visited the famous 'Dolakha Bhimeswor' temple. Legend has it that the idol perspires as a warning of a possible disaster in the country. Then we reached 'Jiri' at around 7:00 PM. With little rest and some tea, we decided to start our hike from Khawa which is 1 hr drive back from Jiri. Among 13, only 9 decided to go to Thulo Patal as it was already getting dark. It was 8:00 PM, we started hiking which was unusual. Unfortunately, we forgot to take the dry foods and after buying 5 small torches so as to kill the dark, we moved ahead towards our destination 'Thulo Patal' to be a one day vlllager. Many questions like 'Are we on the right trail? if yes, how far is the destination' started haunting us. The lights were getting dimmer and the night was getting deeper. Then to our relief, we reached a place called ‘Lahare Mane’ at 9:15 PM. There we came to know ThuloPatal (name of a VDC) was about half an hour away for us. Having tea (only tea), we again decided to continue our hiking over the night sky. ‘JUKA VOKA CHAN’ (leeches are hungry) was the phrase used by a villager. But, we had to reach our Dhurba dai’s ghar at ThuloPatal, so we had no choice but to move on.

Moments later we came to know that we actually were to reach DandaKharka, situated in remote hills of ThuloPatal VDC. Our previous assumption of half an hour hike was then a big blow to all of us. As the clock was ticking towards midnight and most of the people were sleeping in their cozy bed, nine of us were wandering in the forest seeking the right direction towards DandaKharka. We didn’t know we were heading towards the wrong direction until we heard someone cough nearby. Luckily, the man replied to our shouts and decided to join us.

Finally, we reached Dhurba’s house under guidance of Tilak Bahadur. But to our dismay, we came to know that there were two persons named Dhurba in that village and Dhurba we were referring lived at about half an hour’s walk from there. We had no option, but to walk. Tilak was a great motivator. After 5 hours and 30 minutes of continuous hike over slippery and dangerous jungle trail we reached our destination at 1:30 am (the house of Dhurba Kafle). Dhruba was a cheerful person and he couldn’t believe we had made it to his house under such conditions. We enjoyed the dinner on the top of his house (Buigal) and discussing the earlier events, we then went to deep sleep from 3:00 AM.

We had to wake up early in the morning as the village life had already started. We had no idea where we were, and it was a surprise to look outside and find ourselves in the middle of a cliff. Dhruba’s family members were nice to us and served morning tea to us. It was already getting hotter, and we had a big day ahead. So, we gathered our belongings and bidding goodbye to Dhruba, we decided to return back to JIRI following alternative descending trail at 8:00 am.

The journey back was rather interesting. We met different people on the way and shared wonderful experiences with them.
We met farmers busy in their fields..we decided to help them in their work. It was good to give a helping hand to an old lady. We took her photo along with her son and promised to send it to her. As we were already hungry and no signs of any shops or hotels were to be seen nearby, we asked a young boy named GAMBU BIKA to prepare some food for us. He boiled some potatoes, and provided us wheat, maize and some plums. We thanked the boy and moved forward.

We had already been hiking for five hours, and Jiri was still a distant dream for us. Then suddenly it rained. We bought a broken umbrella giving 50 Rs more from a man who was returning to his home. Then, another man gave us his umbrella on the condition of returning it back to him by dropping it in his friend’s shop in Jiri-encouragement for hiking in the heavy rain.

Finally at 5:00 PM, all of us were altogether. We decided to journey back to Kathmandu and it was 12:30 am Monday when we reached Kathmandu.

I wish I wouldn't miss such adventurous hikings.
Find more at:
http://www.everestuncensored.org/2773/2008/06/26/being-a-villager-for-a-day/

SLC pass percentage in the last few years..

2008 - 63.73

2007 - 58.64

2006 - 46.51

2005 - 38.72

2004 - 46.18

2003 - 32.50

2002 - 31.22

2001 - 31.2

2000 - 45.42

1999 - 49.20

1998 - 47.60

Source: ekantipur.com

Programmer (Joke)

When you are counting objects, you go "0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,A,B,C,D...".

When asked about a bus schedule, you wonder if it is 16 or 32 bits.

When your wife says "If you don't turn off that darn machine and come to bed,then I am going to divorce you!", and you chastise her for for omitting the else clause.

When you are reading a book and look for the space bar to get to the next page.

When you look for your car keys using: "grep keys /dev/pockets"

When after fooling around all day with routers etc, you pick up the phone and start dialing an IP number.

When you get in the elevator and double-press the button for the floor you want.

When not only do you check your email more often than your paper mail, but you remember your {network address} faster than your postal one.

When you go to balance your checkbook and discover that you're doing the math in octal.

When you dream in 256 pallettes of 256 colors.

Social Entrepreneur...a change agent of society.

Wikipedia reads “a social entrepreneur is someone who recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create, and manage a venture to make social change without necessarily seeking business return”. And social entrepreneurship is the work of a social entrepreneur. Whereas a business entrepreneur typically measures performance in profit and return, a social entrepreneur assesses success in terms of the impact s/he has on society. Social entrepreneurs often work through nonprofits and citizen groups, many of them work in the private and governmental sectors to change society for the better. And unlike the majority of non-profit organizations, their work is targeted not only towards immediate, small-scale effects, but sweeping, long-term change.

Florence Nightingale (U.K.), founder of the first nursing school and developer of modern nursing practices, is the most striking example of social entrepreneur. Maria Montessori, the first female physician in Italy, began working with children in 1906 and created a revolutionary education method that supports each individual child's unique development. Montessori schools allow each child to realize his or her full potential by fostering social skills, emotional growth and physical coordination, in addition to cognitive preparation.

"Social entrepreneurs identify resources where people only see problems. They view the villagers as the solution, not the passive beneficiary. They begin with the assumption of competence and unleash resources in the communities they're serving." David Bornstein, author of How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas

In today’s world, most people are selfish, cunning and enjoy dominating others. The big problem is to make them realize the actual problems of needy people. People should be motivated towards the social entrepreneurship from their early childhood rather than bare business and the government should provide favorable environment to grow up them. The social entrepreneurs have very important role to alleviate poverty which is severe in the developing countries like Nepal.
Let’s get social and make others smile. The true value of life is measured by what we give to the society.

Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS)

Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS) is the general term used to describe the variety of vision-related symptoms that may be aggravated by regular use of a computer. It is more likely to experience eyestrain and eye fatigue while sitting at the computer, because of unique visual demands that are unlike those associated with most other activities. Eye-Q survey conducted in 2007 by American Optometric Association shows that more than 70% of Americans who use computer have CVS. However, CVS has not been proven to cause any permanent damage to the eye.

a) Symptoms of CVS
-Eyestrain, Headache, Blurred vision, Fatigue and pain in the neck, shoulder, and back, Dry and irritated eyes, Light sensitivity

b) Causes of CVS
-High focusing effort
-Decreased blink rate
-Poor ergonomic setup and posture
-Glare and Reflection
-Low quality display
-Dehydration
-Unfavorable contrast level

C) Mitigation
-Minimize glare and reflection
-Take frequent breaks
-Consider computer eye wear
-Ergonomic adjustment
-Adjust the brightness and contrast of your computer screen
-Upgrade your display
-Blink more often
-Use artificial tears
-Stay hydrated and improve the eating habit
-Exercise your eyes
-Take enough rest
-See your ocular hygienist.

Monarchy abolished... but

Peaceful exit of former king Gyanendra Shah, however he had no option but to leave the palace to accept people's verdict, is appreciated. As he expressed that he will not leave this country which indicates he will remain as a businessman. People are not offensive more towards him these days and it seems he will be able to live peacefully within this country in the days to come. It is clear that the down fall of monarchy in Nepal was because they always tried to remain autocratic, feckless, undisciplined and hypocritical. Abolishment of monarchy was not in favor of a single political party but it was in favor of all the Nepalese people. Monarchy remained atop of constitution and the royal members were not binded by any kind of laws enacted in this country. Major political parties in the mainstream politics waffled in the matter of monarchy and were seemed reluctant to raise flag against king but former rebel party Maoists had strong stance on holding Constituent Assembly election and abolishing the monarchy. Pull down and blaming game among the major political parties left the monarchy more safe and powerful.

The level of animosity towards monarchy grown highly, mainly after the royal massacre in June 2001. Taking the benefits of unstable political situation and the maoist threatened condition in the country, the then king Gyanendra took over all the exclusive authority on February 1 2005. Mainstream political parties intensified their agitation and maoists came out of the jungle after 10 years of war and stirred jointly with other political parties which ultimately forced Gyanendra to cede power to the last elected government. CA election held peacefully and first Constituent Assembly meeting passed the bill to abolish monarchy with high majority (560 out ot 564 members present) and finally monarchy came to an end.

Now Nepalese people are pending better rule, peace and prosperity. But still the ruling political parties have not reached to a consensus on presidential and ministerial portfolios to form a coalition government, which is making the people dismayed. It is important to remember that Gyanendra came to power at the time of worst political instability in the country and now the current political leaders should work in harmony to regain Nepal's lost stability though there is no fear of monarchy. Most of the political leaders and the government officers are engaged in political issues and for their own which is pushing this one of the world's poorest country even back. All political leaders and even commoners are shouting for ‘New Nepal’ but there is no positive sign of it. Here are no enough jobs in this country to hold the youths and the brain drain problem is worsening. Even the policy making leaders are not serious about the development of science and technology, economic growth and so on. Indulging into the political agendas always and politicizing in all sectors is not good. The big challenge which is facing this country is to change the way of our thinking and doing. We should work hard leaving the unhealthy politics and mercenary behavior. Since the lack of proper education is the root cause of terrorism and other problems, the government should give priority on improving the education sector along with other things.

Abolishment of the monarchy shows that none will be allowed to relish on the national income making the peoples scapegoats.

Blogging... first post.

Blog is a term used to describe web sites that maintain an ongoing chronicle of information. Blogs range from the personal to the political, and can focus on one narrow subject or a whole range of subjects.

Many blogs focus on a particular topic, such as web design, home staging, sports, or mobile technology. Some are more eclectic, presenting links to all types of other sites. And others are more like personal journals, presenting the author's daily life and thoughts.

I heard blogging few years back and started visiting many blogs which really fascinated me. Finally I am trying to share my knowledge and opinions through my own blog. Contents of this blog are 'subjective' since my opinion in any subject matter might be different if measured by different people.

I am very thankful to Google for providing this wonderful platform of blogging....

And I am anticipating your comments & suggestions. Please feel free to write.. I will accept them gracefully.

Thank You!