Luji from Congo speaks near perfect Nepali. He says he was taught Nepali by the Nepali Army working for the UN Peace Keeping Force. The interview is taken by Bijay Kumar for his television program, Dishanirdesh. He has talent but still poses a lot in front of the camera.
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Not stupidity, but Insanity
Paramananda Jha, the vice-president, swore in Hindi during the swearing ceremony. There have been widespread protests about his action. Most people have not liked his action of renouncing the Nepali language over the Indian language. That is reasonable. However, the protests that have been going on in various parts of the country are equally, if not more, threatening to the peace of the country.
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I was able to witness three such incidents in different parts of Kathmandu. The first was in front of Shanker Dev Campus. That place in front of the campus has gained national reputation for vandalism during strikes or any other major or minor event such as this one. I was just about to reach the intersection in which the road merges with the Putali Sadak when police fired a tear shell. Then I took another path and came to Gyaneshwor.
The situation at Gyaneshwor Chowk was the worst I had seen. There were about 15 hoodlums, who had taken control of the road. They seemed to be enjoying blocking vehicles, and hitting stones at vehicles that tried to move on the road. They also seemed to have no appreciation of why they were blocking the road. It was simply pleasure for them. As I was watching them, a motorbike speeded towards them. Those assholes had stones ready in their hands waiting to pounce upon the bikers. However, as soon as the bikers took off their helmets, they started shaking hands. It happened to be that the guys in the bike were the friends of the hoodlums, who were blocking the street. They chatted for a while, and after a while, let the motorcycle pass. Well, I do not have any problems with them letting that bike go. But, what right do those muthafuckers have to block and destroy bikes and properties of others. If I had someone beside me, well, around 10 bodybuilders, who could take them easily, I would not have spared any of those assholes.
"New Nepal" is an assumption. There is simply no New Nepal for the moment. It will take decades if things go on as they are doing now. Until assholes are taught manners, the country is going nowhere. The police simply can't take control of anything that's going on at the moment.
That is why sometimes I feel the need for a dictator. People do not protest these days because they are passionately motivated by a cause, they just do it for amusement. We need a dictator, who can get things straight. If not, a vigilante, like V, or Batman. I would love to be one, but I do not have the resources or the knowledge either.
We need change. We need sensible people. We need a leader. We need a vigilante. And, we need to get rid of all the pests like those ones I talked about earlier, who are destroying our country.
My mind goes blank - I go blank
It is yet another night I fail to sleep at the normal time. I turn around my wrist to reveal the time in my watch - it’s 12:30 – not a late time at all for me. BUT since the people around me sleep at this time I feel awkward for me to be still awake. Well, even 12:30 isn’t exactly the time I go to bed. It’s something like 4 am in the morning when I feel the need to sleep, usually. Since I can’t find company in my house, I go over to the terrace to see any signs of light, to find anyone like me, who does not have the urge to sleep, and who I guess is haunted by questions that one cannot find a proper answer to every night. I fail and again I am lost in the twinkling of the countless stars that I can see from the terrace. And, further questions arise.
There are a lot of reasons why my mind wavers a lot at nights. Firstly, I fail to find anyone else around to amuse me. In the afternoons, there are people around, who you can watch and entertain yourself by looking at their actions. Or, sometimes there are your friends, who you go around with to different places and get fucked up with substances, chill and go around the streets trying to find beautiful girls with a hope that sometime a cute and hot and pretty girl falls in love with you, or at times with just a hope to get a glimpse of them. There’s nothing like that to do at nights. There’s porn but it’s not the same thing. So, what else do you have remaining to do? Studies – oh, it’s summer and I feel like studying now is not the best way to make use of the summer, even more so when you’ve paid money to come back to Nepal to chill. Getting drunk or high is not an acceptable thing to do at home in Nepal. In the end, I have nothing else to do, but to sit back and try thinking about things.
And, what do I think of? I fail to come up with a proper answer for this. I like thinking about my life, the lives of the people around me, the acts I did earlier in the day, or yesterday, or some weeks and years ago. I then realize that I’ve accomplished nothing. I still have a long way to go. Then I start thinking about accomplishments. I’m puzzled by this very notion of accomplishing. Is it earning money later when you graduate from college, or is it getting many accolades and coming up with things like Einstein did, or is it getting a hell lotta drunk and high and getting all the pussies you want? I do not have an answer. A better way to put that would be – I have so many answers that I fail to choose which one is the right one. Then, I am again confounded by my inability to label anything as right or wrong.
At this time I remember an incident in my high school. I had to write an essay for an exam and the question was something like – “Is democracy the best form of government?” At first glance, this seemed to be quite an easy question at the time. I jumped into the question, and started writing since I was confident that I could answer it as I had learnt a lot about the glorious lives of the Americans and then the miserable lives of people in communist states like North Korea. The real trouble started when I wrote a statement and happened to go over it as soon as I had written it.
“Democracy is the right way to run the affairs of the state.”
This sentence turned out to be my worst nightmare. When I went over it again, I started questioning myself about what I had written. How could I ever write something was right when I’m not even sure what is right? Then I moved on to WHAT’S RIGHT? I failed to get any answers from this piece of shit that my skull protects, but from somewhere around my forehead a few drops of sweat fell down on the paper I was writing on. That was when I realized that I was sweating like crazy. Suddenly I could feel the redness growing on my face and I look around and find that people have already finished one out of the two essays they’re supposed to write. I look back at mine. Two paragraphs – with the second one incomplete – that’s all I have. After some period of trying to rewrite, and then again rewrite, and failing at all my attempts miserably, I decide to quit. First time in my life I fail in a subject – one in which it’s real hard for anyone with an ability to put a few English sentences together to fail.
I realize my perspective of things has not grown in any way from what it was during my high school years. I feel that I might live my life for as long as I live up to, but still then I wouldn’t have any knowledge about right and wrong, or about any other questions that I can muster up. There are answers at times, but as I wrote earlier, there are so many answers you realize that you can’t distinguish the right answer. Then the problem of right and wrong creeps in again, and I’ve can’t go anywhere in my thoughts. My mind goes blank – I am blank.
That’s it for now. But as I am trying to end this not I suddenly have a nebulous view of what I want – I want to have things, such that, I do not ever have the possibility of losing them. I want to have nothing with me, nothing beside me, so that I do not have to worry about anything. But as I write, humans do not only want to lose, but also to gain. There must be something, anything I want to gain. Now I’ve to think whether the want to have nothing is a want to gain something. I feel that it is - Wanting nothing is wanting freedom. I want that freedom; I know not if I’ll ever get it.
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There are a lot of reasons why my mind wavers a lot at nights. Firstly, I fail to find anyone else around to amuse me. In the afternoons, there are people around, who you can watch and entertain yourself by looking at their actions. Or, sometimes there are your friends, who you go around with to different places and get fucked up with substances, chill and go around the streets trying to find beautiful girls with a hope that sometime a cute and hot and pretty girl falls in love with you, or at times with just a hope to get a glimpse of them. There’s nothing like that to do at nights. There’s porn but it’s not the same thing. So, what else do you have remaining to do? Studies – oh, it’s summer and I feel like studying now is not the best way to make use of the summer, even more so when you’ve paid money to come back to Nepal to chill. Getting drunk or high is not an acceptable thing to do at home in Nepal. In the end, I have nothing else to do, but to sit back and try thinking about things.
And, what do I think of? I fail to come up with a proper answer for this. I like thinking about my life, the lives of the people around me, the acts I did earlier in the day, or yesterday, or some weeks and years ago. I then realize that I’ve accomplished nothing. I still have a long way to go. Then I start thinking about accomplishments. I’m puzzled by this very notion of accomplishing. Is it earning money later when you graduate from college, or is it getting many accolades and coming up with things like Einstein did, or is it getting a hell lotta drunk and high and getting all the pussies you want? I do not have an answer. A better way to put that would be – I have so many answers that I fail to choose which one is the right one. Then, I am again confounded by my inability to label anything as right or wrong.
At this time I remember an incident in my high school. I had to write an essay for an exam and the question was something like – “Is democracy the best form of government?” At first glance, this seemed to be quite an easy question at the time. I jumped into the question, and started writing since I was confident that I could answer it as I had learnt a lot about the glorious lives of the Americans and then the miserable lives of people in communist states like North Korea. The real trouble started when I wrote a statement and happened to go over it as soon as I had written it.
“Democracy is the right way to run the affairs of the state.”
This sentence turned out to be my worst nightmare. When I went over it again, I started questioning myself about what I had written. How could I ever write something was right when I’m not even sure what is right? Then I moved on to WHAT’S RIGHT? I failed to get any answers from this piece of shit that my skull protects, but from somewhere around my forehead a few drops of sweat fell down on the paper I was writing on. That was when I realized that I was sweating like crazy. Suddenly I could feel the redness growing on my face and I look around and find that people have already finished one out of the two essays they’re supposed to write. I look back at mine. Two paragraphs – with the second one incomplete – that’s all I have. After some period of trying to rewrite, and then again rewrite, and failing at all my attempts miserably, I decide to quit. First time in my life I fail in a subject – one in which it’s real hard for anyone with an ability to put a few English sentences together to fail.
I realize my perspective of things has not grown in any way from what it was during my high school years. I feel that I might live my life for as long as I live up to, but still then I wouldn’t have any knowledge about right and wrong, or about any other questions that I can muster up. There are answers at times, but as I wrote earlier, there are so many answers you realize that you can’t distinguish the right answer. Then the problem of right and wrong creeps in again, and I’ve can’t go anywhere in my thoughts. My mind goes blank – I am blank.
That’s it for now. But as I am trying to end this not I suddenly have a nebulous view of what I want – I want to have things, such that, I do not ever have the possibility of losing them. I want to have nothing with me, nothing beside me, so that I do not have to worry about anything. But as I write, humans do not only want to lose, but also to gain. There must be something, anything I want to gain. Now I’ve to think whether the want to have nothing is a want to gain something. I feel that it is - Wanting nothing is wanting freedom. I want that freedom; I know not if I’ll ever get it.
Smart As Einstein
This is something I found on the internet today. It's real good. Just read it.
A young boy enters a barber shop and the barber whispers to his customer, "This is the dumbest kid in the world. Watch while I prove it to you."
The barber puts a dollar bill in one hand and two quarters in the other, then calls the boy over and asks, "Which do you want, son?" The boy takes the quarters and leaves.
"What did I tell you?" said the barber. "That kid never learns!"
Later, when the customer leaves, he sees the same young boy coming out of the ice cream store. "Hey son, may I ask you a question? Why did you take the quarters instead of the dollar bill?"
The boy licked his cone and replied, "Because the day I take the dollar, the game's over!"
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A young boy enters a barber shop and the barber whispers to his customer, "This is the dumbest kid in the world. Watch while I prove it to you."
The barber puts a dollar bill in one hand and two quarters in the other, then calls the boy over and asks, "Which do you want, son?" The boy takes the quarters and leaves.
"What did I tell you?" said the barber. "That kid never learns!"
Later, when the customer leaves, he sees the same young boy coming out of the ice cream store. "Hey son, may I ask you a question? Why did you take the quarters instead of the dollar bill?"
The boy licked his cone and replied, "Because the day I take the dollar, the game's over!"
Addicted Nepali Youths in Britain
This article was published in today's Kantipur. The writer is Nabin Pokhrel. Needless to say, but I happen to be the translator. I also feel the need to mention at this point that I've translated only the paragraphs that I felt were relevant.
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After the British Government granted residential visas for Ex-Gurkhas and their families, along with the growth in the number of Nepalese in Britain, there is also an increase in the tendency of Nepali youths to become drug addicts.
The youths, who had been called into Britain by their parents with a hope that they would get better educational opportunities and thus a better future in the long run, have been taking the path of addiction because of peer-pressure and group mentality. Their guardians are now sad because of this. Most of the drug users are adolescent girls and guys.
Most Nepali youths start their drug journey with drugs of the "C" grade such as weed, which is CHEAP (?? it's expensive in the US!!) and later they move into drugs of the "A" grade like cocaine, crack cocaine, and heroine. Some of them say that they had been involved with drugs when they were in Nepal, and now even after coming to Britain, it's hard for them to give up their addiction.
Many of these youths also say that the freedom they get since their parents are working all the time and can't give enough time for them is also responsible for their addiction. If they don't work hard all day, it's impossible to run the family life for most Nepalese so most parents forget everything else and get seriously in work. Then their children start taking the wrong paths. According to Britain's law, a person cannot be arrested for drug abuse unless they are caught red-handed so the number of people involved in drug dealing is increasing.
Along with drug intake, the number of fights and crimes in the Nepali diaspora in Britain is increasing. In this year, a party that was organized to celebrate the Nepali New Year saw the death of a 23-year old Bishal Gurung during a fight. The engineer of Vegas Sound House, who usually takes part in organizing different ceremonies sums says, "There are fights in all the parties we organize".
nepali journal's widget
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Animal Cruelty
Well, this one is a bit off-topic.
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This shows a gruesome act - the lamest and one of the most wicked acts I've ever seen. This happened in China and still does. If you're not used to shocking and brutal videos then refrain from pressing the play button.
This was really difficult to watch. I hope those assholes that did this receive the same treatment sometime in their lives. Fuck these retards!
Watch Nepali Channels for Free
I was just stumbling the internet today, and I came across this site that has a lot of Nepali Channels up on the web for free viewing. Take a look. Click on the Channel below to view it. You can watch Kantipur TV, Nepal Television, Image Channel, Avenues TV and Sagarmatha TV for free.
Avenues TV
Image Channel
Kantipur TV
Nepal 1
Nepal Television
Sagarmatha TV
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Avenues TV
Image Channel
Kantipur TV
Nepal 1
Nepal Television
Sagarmatha TV
Rantings on Nepal's Politics
I have always been a harsh critic of the Maoists. I fail to grasp their ideologies, and the way their cadres resort to violence every time even when it’s not needed. I realize that this feeling against them has made me judge them with an unbalanced view.
Well, the way they act surely makes them a fear factor. However, in the recent times, the way they have been handling situations, I think, is quite on the mark. I felt that the Congress and the UML had changed and that they would be the new forces that would take every measure to ensure that democracy prevailed in Nepal. I had hoped that they had changed their mindset of participating in the dirty games of using every measure they could find to get into power. That, sadly, was not to be.
I do not know under what conditions they joined hands with the Madhesi JanAdhikar Forum. The Forum, for me, is a party of opportunists. It comprises mostly of the members, who left the Nepali Congress and the UML. Further, most of these people in this party have people, who were labeled as corrupt. After the Maoists joined the peace process, the Forum created chaos and havocs in the Terai – sometimes beating up and at times even killing people ethnically from the hills and mountains of Nepal, who were working or had migrated and settled in the Terai. After it’s creation, they used the feeling of discrimination that the Terai people had in their minds, to uplift their own political party. Well, it is still not the time to say if they are just working for the vested interests of foreign powers or they are acting seriously for the betterment of the people of Terai. But, the members that comprise the Forum, and its acts in the past have seriously jeopardized the Forum’s image for people like me.
I am also angered by the decision to appoint a previous hash dealer – who has nothing but bad reputation beside his name. How can anyone justify that action? The post of the Vice-President is an honorable one – it’s not a joke. Appointing a person, who has a bad history beside him, to be the FIRST Vice-President of the country is not a good precedent. They might argue that he’s changed from what he was in the past, but that is not good enough for anyone to assume the post of the Vice Presidency. Furthermore, he showed utter lack of responsibility when he dressed up in dhoti instead of Daura Surwal, which is the national dress of Nepal. That might be a step in line with his party, the Forum’s decision. But, how does it make the Nepali Congress and the UML look, who are considered to be the national parties of Nepal with a responsibility to lead the nation. When Prachanda said this coalition was unnatural, I thought it was a funny statement, but now I think he was right to do what he chose.
Furthermore, he is an advocate of a SINGLE Terai province, which I think is against the interests of the country and the people of Nepal. Division of the country, even more a small country like Nepal, on the basis of ethnicity is an unacceptable demand. How many ethnicities are there in Nepal? Well, if every ethnicity starts demanding it’s own state, how is that possible? We can’t make Nepal bigger than what it is already. We have limited resources. We have limits in everything – maybe more than most countries in the world. Furthermore, this is a crucial time – a time when mistakes are not worth making. These assholes do not seem to realize that. All they seem to care even at this important time is how they can come to power, and increase their own wealth.
Enough of these ramblings. I hope that the Maoists form the next government albeit there is a risk inasmuch as they might turn Nepal into a state like China or North Korea. I hope that the funny claim that the Forum put forward – that they were also given a mandate by the people to lead the government – remains a funny one for ever. The Separatists should never come to power, even more so when most of them are illiterate, corrupt and mere puppets of foreign powers. Though violent and stupid at times, the Maoists are more nationalists than any other political party at the moment.
Me thinks this way. Me can be wrong. Nonetheless, fuck everything that’s going on now in Nepal.
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Well, the way they act surely makes them a fear factor. However, in the recent times, the way they have been handling situations, I think, is quite on the mark. I felt that the Congress and the UML had changed and that they would be the new forces that would take every measure to ensure that democracy prevailed in Nepal. I had hoped that they had changed their mindset of participating in the dirty games of using every measure they could find to get into power. That, sadly, was not to be.
I do not know under what conditions they joined hands with the Madhesi JanAdhikar Forum. The Forum, for me, is a party of opportunists. It comprises mostly of the members, who left the Nepali Congress and the UML. Further, most of these people in this party have people, who were labeled as corrupt. After the Maoists joined the peace process, the Forum created chaos and havocs in the Terai – sometimes beating up and at times even killing people ethnically from the hills and mountains of Nepal, who were working or had migrated and settled in the Terai. After it’s creation, they used the feeling of discrimination that the Terai people had in their minds, to uplift their own political party. Well, it is still not the time to say if they are just working for the vested interests of foreign powers or they are acting seriously for the betterment of the people of Terai. But, the members that comprise the Forum, and its acts in the past have seriously jeopardized the Forum’s image for people like me.
I am also angered by the decision to appoint a previous hash dealer – who has nothing but bad reputation beside his name. How can anyone justify that action? The post of the Vice-President is an honorable one – it’s not a joke. Appointing a person, who has a bad history beside him, to be the FIRST Vice-President of the country is not a good precedent. They might argue that he’s changed from what he was in the past, but that is not good enough for anyone to assume the post of the Vice Presidency. Furthermore, he showed utter lack of responsibility when he dressed up in dhoti instead of Daura Surwal, which is the national dress of Nepal. That might be a step in line with his party, the Forum’s decision. But, how does it make the Nepali Congress and the UML look, who are considered to be the national parties of Nepal with a responsibility to lead the nation. When Prachanda said this coalition was unnatural, I thought it was a funny statement, but now I think he was right to do what he chose.
Furthermore, he is an advocate of a SINGLE Terai province, which I think is against the interests of the country and the people of Nepal. Division of the country, even more a small country like Nepal, on the basis of ethnicity is an unacceptable demand. How many ethnicities are there in Nepal? Well, if every ethnicity starts demanding it’s own state, how is that possible? We can’t make Nepal bigger than what it is already. We have limited resources. We have limits in everything – maybe more than most countries in the world. Furthermore, this is a crucial time – a time when mistakes are not worth making. These assholes do not seem to realize that. All they seem to care even at this important time is how they can come to power, and increase their own wealth.
Enough of these ramblings. I hope that the Maoists form the next government albeit there is a risk inasmuch as they might turn Nepal into a state like China or North Korea. I hope that the funny claim that the Forum put forward – that they were also given a mandate by the people to lead the government – remains a funny one for ever. The Separatists should never come to power, even more so when most of them are illiterate, corrupt and mere puppets of foreign powers. Though violent and stupid at times, the Maoists are more nationalists than any other political party at the moment.
Me thinks this way. Me can be wrong. Nonetheless, fuck everything that’s going on now in Nepal.
Nepal's Presidential Election
Well! Things are sad, but funny in Nepal. The Maoists, who tried to get everything according to their own whims got pawned by the Nepali Congress and the UML that have been experts in playing their cards, when the matter boils down to simple majority in the parliament. To prevent anyone from the (powerful) parties including the Congress and the UML, the Maoists decided to nominate Ram Raja Prasad Singh as a presidential candidate, to which the Congress and the UML Coalition responded by nominating a candidate, who had similar stats like Ramraja just to show the Maoists they can't get everything that they want just because they have the largest number of votes in the Constituent Assembly.
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The story was already funny. The Maoist leader, Prachanda, responded to this challenge by labeling the Coalition that was against them as an unnatural one. He still hasn't clarified what is natural and unnatural, but he said that this move by his opponents has put the whole peace process to a standstill. Prachanda, has been making funny statements like this time and again. He seems to be a mature politician, but he tries to gain public sympathy by make populist claims that bear no relevance.
The elections just concluded a brief moment ago. It is still unclear who would become the new president but the Maoists have said that if their candidate doesn't win, they would stay out of the government and play the role of the opposition. Well, they add more spice to any story every time. Weird things have been happening in Nepal, and everyone in the political limelight has been active in making these weird stories even more weirder. Most people had thought that the removal of monarchy would be an end to all the problems in Nepal, that monarchy was the only guilty and foul player, which obstructed every development in Nepal, but these parties are showing that monarchy was not the only responsible factor. Though funny most of the times, these parties also have a great role in obstructing peace and development in Nepal. Time will give an indication of which of these players is the most responsible, but if things continue the way they have been going on for the last few months, we will have that realization soon indeed.
Lalsalam to all the funny Comrades
Trip To Mustang
I have not been able to post anything in this blog for a long time now because I was occupied with many things. Two of my friends from college came to visit me and to travel in Nepal for the summer. I went along with them to Mustang - a place I had never been to before in my life. Mustang, definitely was, as many people have said from time to time, one of the most beautiful places on earth.
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We were thinking of doing the Royal Trek - which is a 21-day trek and passes through Thorung La, the pass at the highest altitude in the world - but decided against it as we had limited time with us. Instead we did a 8 day trek. However, we turned it into a 15 day trek by staying at places where we could have walked and not stayed, and by staying in Jomsom for 5 days and 4 nights waiting for our flights - which, of course, never arrived all that time. So, we walked back, and when we were around Tatopani in the next morning, we saw a plane flying right above our heads. That is when we thought - SHIT happens.
To all those people, who have thought of traveling to Mustang - do it. If you are a Nepali, do it, because there are not many places like Mustang that exist in Nepal. If you are a Hindu, you'll also get to enjoy the extreme cold bath in the 108 water taps in Muktinath. If not, just see the place, and also the view of the landscape and the mountains from that place - they are simply fantastic. You'll also get to see how hard a life people in Mustang have. You'll not be able to feel that if you stay in expensive places all the time - so try to stay in some cheap places, or in the houses of some families, and try to learn something their lifestyles. I so wanted to do the latter, but since I had some foreigner friends, I had to take them into consideration and hence I dropped that idea. For a fact, it cost foreigners 2500$ to go to upper Mustang, which is ridiculous considering that it takes just around 40$ to go to lower Mustang.
I also have some pictures of Mustang, which I will upload in flickr and link that through this blog. Hope people enjoy those pictures.
Update I : I've uploaded some photos to Blogger. Flickr seems hard to use with a Nepali connection - the upload fails everytime. Click here to see the photos.
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