LAJJA (Shame), a novel which I just finished reading

I just finished reading Lajja (Shame), the controversial novel by Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasrin, is a savage indictment of religious extremism and man’s inhumanity to man. It is based on the upsurge of communalism in Bangladesh that is making it exceedingly difficult for the minorities to continue to reside there.

The Duttas—Sudhamoy, Kironmoyee, and their two children, Suranjan and Maya—have lived in Bangladesh all their lives. Despite being part of the country’s small Hindu community, that is terrorized at every opportunity by Muslim fundamentalists, they refuse to leave their country, as most of their friends and relatives have done. Sudhamoy, an atheist, believes with a naive mix of optimism and idealism that his motherland will not let him down... And then, on 6 December 1992, the 450-year-old Babri Masjid at Ayodhya in India is demolished by a mob of Hindu fundamentalists. The world condemns the incident, but its fallout is felt most acutely in Bangladesh, where Muslim mobs begin to seek out and attack the Hindus.... The nightmare inevitably arrives at the Duttas’ doorstep—and their world begins to fall apart.... Unremittingly dark and menacing, the novel exposes the mindless bloodthirstiness of fundamentalism and brilliantly captures the insanity of violence in our time.

Not in that scale, such kind of communal riots take place sometimes in our country also. In my understanding, only few people break away the communal harmony for the sake of their own or for some political benefits. They don't think about the communal devastation that might be created across the world which begins from a small cottage. There are so many ways to solve the problem, if any, but communal problem still haunts us. When will it end? Is is increasing or decresing?

I am Hindu by birth but secular. I stand up for religious freedom in the world and secularism in their behavior. And I do not think it suggests that either of Hindus or Muslims are bad in any way.

"If we allow fundamentalists to go unopposed, no society will be safe," - Taslima Nasrin

Bidding farewell to Sudeep G

Time has come to bid farewell to one of my friends - Sudeep Ghimire, who is leaving to pursue his further studies in Portugal. I met him over 6 years ago when I joined Pulchowk Engineering Campus. Since then, we were together -- 4 years in College and 2years in D2HawkeyeServices Pvt. Ltd. He was helpful and had good sense of humor that we all enjoyed.

He has got a prestigious Erasmus Mundus Scholarship to study Masters degree in Computer Science in Europe.

I wish him all the very best.

Good bye. And GodSpeed you, Sudeep..

Happy dashain 2065

May the blessings of Goddess Durga always be with you and your dear ones

Happy dashain to you all...

PS: Stop sacrificing animals in the name of god.

Karnali flows southward - 'Karnali Dakkhin Bagdo Cha'

Drama title: “Karnali Dakhhin bagdo cha” - Karnali river flows southward
Stage: Rimal Hall, Gurukul, Old Baneshwor, Kathmandu, Nepal
Thursday Sep 18 2008 (Asoj 02, 065) – accompanied by Sushil Poudel and Janak Pokharel
Sunday Sep 21 2008 (Asoj 05, 065) – accompanied by Hari Banjade

I had heard, the play entitled ‘Karnali Dakhhin bagdo cha’ - Karnali river flows southward staged in Gurukul Theatre (Old Baneshwor) was must to watch. I was eagerly waiting the weekend to watch the drama but I couldn’t wait when my friends (Sushil and Janak) became ready to watch before the weekend; I managed to joined, I couldn’t wait. Really, I felt privileged at least to watch such a wonderful drama which portrayed the cultural, economic, health, education, transportation and food problem of the least development area of Nepal – Karnali zone. Almost half of the artists, who came from Karnali zone were trained here in Kathmandu and played in the drama, wanted to establish a theatre like Gurukul in their Karnali zone to provide entertainment and create awareness among the people of that region. The concept was of prominent drama director and script writer of Nepal Mr Sunil Pokharel. The play was lively enough to improvise the entire Karnali region inside Rimal Natakghar of Gurukul. The language they used was Khas which I could understand partially but their action helped me enough to understand what they wanted to deliver. I forgot everything when I was watching the drama staged in Rimal Hall of Gurukul which was about 2:00 hrs long. The psychedelic dance... I came out of the theatre with heavy heart and my eyes were still wet but none could notice it since the lighting was deem in the darkness of evening. I captured the audio and visual of whole episode. I told about it with many people but some of them were less interested. Ok, that’s their choice but I have my own life, no problem!!. But I always try to convince the people when it comes about social service and understanding the others problems. I believe "the only thing that increases individual happiness over time is helping other people". It doesn't mean that I have done so many things. If they don’t want to do anything and even they don’t want to listen, what can I do? Anyway I don’t stop trying.

The drama shed light on geographical, social and economic problems. No electricity, no motor road, no bridges, limited supply of food, uncontrolled birth rate, gender bias and child marriage, poor education, corruption and biasness, no doctors the hospitals, only means of transportation is airplane which is not regular and most people can’t afford, lack of human resource in almost all government offices, away from the means of information and communication. Few INGOs and NGOs are working in this region but most of their budget is finished in Kathmandu. They collect photos, make documentaries and attract international community for donation but they lack giving back to that community. People wonder if the reckless government has the map of Karnali zone.

Just imagine the situation. Few students in a class, mixed up of different grade students. Poor physical infrastructure and staffs.. Students come to school crossing a river with the help of rope (tween). Huge line up for food but the limited supply. Youths are compelled to leave their village to fulfill their basic needs. Hospital without doctors. High air fare, no vehicular conveyance. Child marriage – bride and bridegroom in their early teen age. One refuses to take water from lower caste people even he is in the deathbed. Only lower rank officials present in the district administration and other offices. Abuse of authority. Chicken, ghee, vegetables, fish are presented to government officials to get their work done. Many have not heard dial tone yet. They are clueless why many people come to see Rara lake via air spending thousands of rupees but they have not seen any charm with it. "Is it happened because they are satiated and we are hunger?", Karnali habitants asked. And so on.. so miserable.. imagine their life.

Artists from the Karnali region asked with the political leaders of their region who were present in that particular day's show. They ask to the government what they have got except a citizenship card received after paying levy. Realize the problem and think about the solution, how their life can be uplifted.. policy makers ???.

The proceedings of the play have gone for the construction of theater in Karnali.

Hats off to the artists and the contributors!!

Solve It

Solve it:

4 criminals are caught and are to be punished. The Judge allows them to be freed if they can solve a puzzle. If they do not, they will be hung. They agreed.

The 4 criminals are lined up on some steps (shown in picture). They are all facing in the same direction. A wall separates the fourth man from the other three.

So to summarize:-

Man 1 can see men 2 and 3.
Man 2 can see man 3.
Man 3 can see none of the others.
Man 4 can see none of the others.

The criminals are wearing hats. They are told that there are two white hats and two black hats. The men initially don't know what colour hat they are wearing. They are told to shout out the color of the hat that they are wearing as soon as they know for certain what colour it is.

They are not allowed to turn round or move.
They are not allowed to talk to each other.
They are not allowed to take their hats off.

Who is the first person to shout out and why?

Source: Internet

One day at a rural school

Date: Sunday September 07, 2008
Participants: NishchalS, SureshT, IshworM, RajendraB, PragyaB, PrajwalS, MaheshR
Sponsor: D2HawkeyeServices Pvt. Ltd (our office)

Weekend, but I woke up early in the morning and reached office premises at around 6:30. Me with other six fellows headed towards Sankhu, a historical city, about 25Km north-east from Kathmandu. We packed our backpack with copies, books, pencils and sports accessories and took uphill path to Jersing Pouwa. After about 3 hours of walk in the sunny day, we reached our destination, Kalika Sharan Secondary School; Jersing Pouwa at around 12:30.

Teachers and students welcomed us warmly. We distributed copies and pencils in the primary level, from grade I to VI. We affixed few posters on the wall of their classes.

We also conducted talk programs on “Importance of Education” in three different classes. We asked them to speak on this topic before their friends, teachers and us. Only few of them spoke on this topic. We encouraged them to speak up more and we presented them with some special gift for their participation. Students were all happy since it was something different from their regular classes. We were also happy being with them. But the classrooms, innocent students and their speeches made me to think seriously. From their speech we could easily realize how far behind they are from the students of the urban area. We handed over some story books and sports accessories (football, badminton rackets and cocks, skipping threads) to the teacher. Students started playing games and we also participated.

The physical exertion was momentarily forgotten, eclipsed by a sense of accomplishment. Our contribution was like a drop of water in the sea, but still the smiles on the faces of the children, during our informal program, meant a lot. As we left school and returned, we were unanimous about the idea of integrating community service as a part of our regular activities.

Actually the school where we reached lies in Kathmandu district where the Nepal’s capital is. Just imagine what could be the situation in other remote areas. We should try to realize the problems and do something for our community. We can manage some time and money to pull out some others who are compelled to live with chronic problems and its sure their successors need to follow the same path if none shows a shinning path.

“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” - Gandhi

“If you have knowledge, let others light their candles in it.” – Margaret Fuller

“Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.” – Albert Einstein

"If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain.
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robinUnto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain." - Emily Dickinson






For more detail: click here

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/