The joy is here... Nepal is a republic!!

Whole Nepal, save a minor group of people, are on the streets celebrating Republic Nepal. 240 years of monarchy has been abolished formally... and all I can think about is going inside the Historic Museum aka the Narayanhiti 'Raj Durbar'! Yes, the Nepalese people have done it. They have proved that they DONT NEED Gyanendra or any so called 'symbol of unity'.

Yesterday was the day... Jestha 15... everything changed... and all I could feel was "God, I am so lucky..."

The morning passed as usual... there was a public holiday and my office was closed. I had no plans as such, so as Soo came to my place after attending a programme at NTB, we went to New Baneshwor to see how the things were going on. The first meeting of the constitutional assembly was scheduled to be at 11 am but then as anticipated, it was postponed until 3 pm.

At Baneshwor, the environment was awesome. Everyone I noticed had a happy mood... they were zealous, enthusiastic, full of energy... with this big smile on their face :) and I was like... God, people are so happy!!

The sun was intolerable... it was extremely hot but did people care?? No they didn't. From a small kid to elderlies... everyone had hopes in their eyes... hope of a brighter tomorrow, hope of a secure tomorrow and hopes that they wouldn't have to go through the same torture and instability all over again... Finally, the day had come... people won and the king?? People were calling names to him with an open heart... no fear, no regrets... what more could they ask for?

People were singing, dancing, embracing one another congratulating for the victory... some were just looking at others, with the same amount of joy reflecting in their faces... I was one of them... While Soo was taking pictures, I was just looking around... amazed, stunned, excited, curious, all sorts of emotions at the same time.

I really loved to see a group of people who were dancing beautifully making a circle, and singing. In the middle of a circle was a small kid who was dancing joyously. There was no fear in his eyes, no shyness...nothing except happiness and energy. I felt like joining the group and dance to their tune... actually dance to 'our' tune, but I was too shy!!

Badri Pangeni, as always, had already started to mesmerize the crowd with his beautiful voice and equally wonderful songs. People sang, clapped and danced...

Those who were tired didn't seek a clean place to rest. I could see people sit in any space possible. They were completely lost in their own world... why wouldn't they?? Their dreams had come true... I even saw some women with crown on their head. It was truly fantastic. 'The crown is on people's head' was written in the crown. True indeed!!

After observing the whole environment for a couple of hours, we were dehydrated. So we bought a mountain dew from a near by store and what a relief it was to drink that!

Then we headed home... and in the evening, we rejoiced watching news in the television- that finally, Nepal was declared a republic.

There were three bomb blasts yesterday in the valley- one in Khulamancha and two in Baneshwor... but as Yurgan dai puts it, "there is some labour pain before any delivery"... so true!!

At the end, the most important thing is "Unity"...

Mindblowing Saturday.

Well, I must say, this Saturday was different... It had already been more than a year that our room (meaning I and my sister Geeta share the room) had not got any new touch. Bed, study table, wardrobe, book-case, all in its own place since years... and we were literally bored with our room. I am busy with my work, Geeta is engaged helping dad in his nursery and the like...

But but but, we were determined to find a new touch to our room yesterday. Since early morning we made all the preparation- planning and stuffs.

It turned out to be much more difficult than we had imagined. My sister is an interior designer by the way... and she showed these qualities in her since early childhood. Every month (or sometimes even every week) she would modify this and that in our room and we were never bored. Yes, she did all the things and I did only very little, coz I am still quite the messy type. She wants things to be orderly and tidy... But yesterday, I helped her a lot. I have also posted the before and after pics of our room... God, it was an awesome experience.

We started the 'redesign campaign' at around 10:30 AM and it wasn't completed until 4:40 PM when I left for Naxal to attend a programme. Geeta later told me that she completed all the cleaning and 'final shaping' at around 6 PM. Gosh, can you see the spider-webs and dust behind the wardrobe?? It was horrible... And the dust?? Geeta and I were constantly sneezing like anything. I hope none of us will be ill...

Before leaving for the programme, I quickly washed myself and it was one of the few mindblowingly 'soothing' showers I have ever had...

We had a good night's sleep. And I really slept early yesterday... seems like I should daily do some tiresome manual work everyday so that I get sleepy on time. Otherwise it's almost impossible to sleep before midnight. And in the mornings, my mom wakes me up really early!!

Now, our room looks completely different. And we are in love with it...

Cheers for Geeta and poonam!! :)

All these days... and me!

I have a passion for writing, need I say that? I wish I could post something in my blog daily but then there's always one or the other thing on my way. Loadshedding has not yet freed us and thrice a week we have to live in utter darkness. Of course the time has been decreased to some few hours but still the few hours of darkness spoil the whole mood.

As I have found myself quite lazy and idle except working full hour in office, I have started giving some time for actually reading. I am recently reading 'Beyond the Illusions' by Sheeba Shivangini Shah, the novel which I had bought in the book fair. I had wanted to buy a few more but I didn't get the books which were on my hitlist. I really wanted to read 'Leaving Microsoft to change the world' by John Wood in the original version (as I wanted to have the true feel of the author) but the stalls only had the translated one. The other book I really wanted to read was 'One night at the call centre', by .... I forgot (sorry) but I didn't get it too. I also wanted to buy Paulo Coelho's novel but they didn't have the one I was looking for. Unfortunate for me!

Anyway, I am also reading 'The Golden Notebook' by Doris Lessing, but try hard as I may, I have not been able to grab a thing about it. It's a tough read. I have repeated some 25 pages more than 10 times but still I have not been able to actually find out what has been told. So, definitely, I need more focus. "Concentrate poo!!"

Anyways, back to work...

I have been enjoying my work a lot. My otherwise 'technical' or 'straight' writing has found a new model and I have learnt how to beautify things... I had to learn that skill coz I am working for a glamorous magazine. I am really thankful that my colleagues are really friendly and helpful. Sharmila Gurung, our sub-editor, Pavitra Rana, reporter and Evelyn Moktan, reporter... the three of them and myself comprise the VOW team. In office, we are addressed as VOW girls... I must say we are a great team. I add 'didi' (sister) after the name of Sharmila coz I really think she deserves my respect. Not that I don't respect Pavitra or Eva. But they have more of a childish nature to them. Eva is very much like Smita, very helpful and very jolly. Pavitra is very sweet and she is really beautiful. On the other hand, Sharmila didi is quite mature, patient and really focused. She is really somebody I look up to. She is our team's boss but never lets us feel inferior in any aspect. She lets us grow freely. She is truly a great mentor. She has completed her Bachelors in Sociology and psychology from USA and had done her schooling from Hongkong... But she never boasts about all that. She is simple and honest and modest, as far as I have been able to understand. She has been dating Raj Gurung for a couple of weeks but he has already left for USA. I keep my fingers crossed for their happy times ahead.

And Samjhana didi, our events manager, is truly the lady... she is confident... she is truly the woman who can bring change. I must say women should be as confident as Samjhana didi. Sometimes she really talks a lot but then she really deserves our respect. I adore her a lot. Now, let's not talk about other departments ok? Or may be in later posts!!

And yeah, I shall post the photos of VOW girls and Samjhana didi really soon...

It was quite sometime that we didn't have any bandhs but we had one last Wednesday. I was expecting a holiday at office but we had to go. Of course there was not much work and many staffs took leave... there were only Sharmila di and myself in our department. We had a long lazy day... sipping coffee, turning the pages of magazines and surfing the net.

And yesterday we were invited to the Yamaha Glam 2065 Calendar launch at United World Trade Centre... Gosh, Nepali models are indeed HOT. I was literally speechless when I saw the photographs... BOLD but not all were beautiful. I mean, I don't think I have the right to comment on how the photographs were (technically they were wonderful)... but still I must say, Nepali girls have really really become more and more glamorous and bold and blablabla.

But truly, I liked some of the photographs. Niruta Singh, Richa Ghimire, Sanchita Luitel... to name a few. Some of them gave me a feeling 'are they really Nepali girls?'... just imagine how the photos were like!

So, content with what and how I am, I now am going for dinner. I will surely write very soon. I just hope I will not have to attend these sorts of programme again. And I will also write a detailed description of the programme in my next post... with some photos if I manage to get a few.

Lastly, BETTER TO HAVE AN UGLY FACE THAN AN UGLY MIND.

Cant men be trusted? Are they really that bad??

Before marriage....

He: Yes. At last. It was so hard to wait.

She: Do you want me to leave?

He: No! Don't even think about it.

She: Do you love me?

He: Of course! Over and over!

She: Have you ever cheated on me?

He: No! Why are you even asking?

She: Will you kiss me?

He: Every chance I get.

She: Will you hit me?

He: Are you crazy! I'm not that kind of person!

She: Can I trust you?

He: Yes.

She: Darling!

After marriage....
Simply read from bottom to top.

This was the message my brother forwarded me in my mailbox. I was in office when I got this. I remember those days when these sort of before-after marriage jokes made me laugh. Honestly, they no longer tickle my funny bones. These sort of messages make me think- Cant men be trusted? Are they really that bad??

As far as I can remember, I had always hated men while at school. My family, kins group and neighbours had given me ample of reasons to justify my hatred towards men. I had seen families broken, relationships shattered into pieces and lives become dreadful even at one's own home because of men. I had some really good 'boyfriends' at school and I even respected them for their goodness but then, quite paradoxically, whenever the fact that they were 'men' striked my mind, I regretted respecting them. No goodness in them could overcome what I felt toward men. For me every man was a radish from the same row. They were someone who could not be trusted, who were sent on earth to torture us, women. God, I hated men so much.

When I passed SLC, I felt more than liberated. I was sad that I would have to find a company of a completely new pack of friends, but then I was already prepared for the inevitable because there was no one in my batch who was willilng to study Arts... I was the only one. I wanted to be a journalist... I wanted to write... and read, read and read... I simply love literature.

The college I went into was able to instill new thoughts in me. Social sciences and literature gave new meanings to my life. I still had hatred towards the male species but I also learnt that not all women had a good heart and nice intentions. I saw many of my girlfriends doing things I had known only boys did. They drank liquors in class, spoke dirty words... and you might have guessed what else!! I was shocked to discover all this and it was a kind of revelation to me. I thought I was enlightened. I actually was.

On the brighter side, there were some really great friends, both girls and boys, who helped me get out of my depression. I got to meet Govinda Bhattarai sir, our Major English teacher, my best teacher, who was able to instill so much of positivism in me regarding men. I truly admired him, I still do. He is in Washington DC at present.Perhaps I wouldn't be writing all these things now if they had not come in my life. I was in the last stage of my depression. I owe this life to Smita and Suman. I really do. They shared my joys, and most essentially, they didn't hesitate to give me a shoulder when I badly needed one. They changed my life, and continue to do that. They are great beings... Many things about them, specially Smita, irritate me a lot but deep inside, I can't help loving her.

And Suman, or Soo, as I love calling him, continues to be with me, supporting in my every ventures, making sure that I am doing good, caring after me. He is such a sweetheart :)

So, yeah, I have learnt to trust men... at least some of them. Still, I hear so many stories of betrayal and stuffs but then I don't always want to remain biased. There are two sides to every story, and I am sure men can't just rot if there aren't any rotten women. I must believe this...

And yeah, when I get to read stuffs like the one I have posted at the beginning, questions arise within me, again and again... Can't men be trusted? Are they really that bad??

My 'little' brother turns 18 :)

31 Baisakh 2065 and my 'little' brother is 18 years 'young'...

No special celebration... morning prayers, tika, sagun and the like. Mom, dad and Geeta gifted him a mobile phone... he was stunned... I should have seen his face but I was in college to fill in college forms. I and Soo bought him a pair of sandals... he liked it of course!!!

I am trying to upload his photos but I don't know... there's some problem with the server I guess... may be in later posts..

My brother is an innocent guy... at least in my eyes. He is like a girl coz he cries over small things... and he is very 'nakkale'... he takes a lot of time to get ready... hairstyling, dressing well, and the list goes on...

He is a creative person. He doesn't like to study very much. He tries hard to get good grades, in fact he gives more time to studies than I do, but he hardly gets good results and I really feel sorry for him. He tries his best but can't do much. In that case, I don't like my parents or my teachers comparing his abilities to mine coz everyone has his/her own better sides. He is far more better than me in terms of drawing, painting, computer games etc.

We are good friends coz we share each and everything (but there's a room for privacy too ;) )... Specially we share many interests. We were in the same orchestra back at school. I was in keyboard and he was in congo. We had good times joking and making noise at home (we still have). We love singing. We are die-hard cartoon fans. We even have our own code-language... but because of me, other members of our family have also learnt the language. We also agree on most of the things...

He is taking the 11th grade exams from this Thursday and he's had a lot of preparations. I wish the exams went out really well. All the best to him.

And many many happy returns of the day.

Suman will always remain my little brother no matter how many birthdays he celebrates...I love him the most!!

Wishing for a speedy recovery!

I have caught cold (or the scorching summer heat???) since a few days... I have a runny nose, watery eyes and the most irritating thing is I have a sore throat. My voice has become sweeter though, and this is the only good thing about having a rhino virus in you!!

Yesterday I went to my office although I wasn't feeling like because I had to go to RR early in the morning to submit some assignments (but could not submit coz the teacher didn't show up), and then I thought it would be okay if I went to the office and completed some articles. I was feeling bad all day due to an ill health but I stayed until the last minute. Once I was home, I just slept, slept and slept. This morning, I felt a little better but teary swollen eyes compelled me to take a leave at office. Complete rest all day!

In the afternoon however, I heard a person say "The most common crime people do is killing time." I agree somehow, and today I was doing the same. Just turning this side and that side and wishing that the day ended soon. And now, it's 7 pm and I can no longer resist lying down in the bed, having nothing to do. I can hear my mom grumping... coz she still is telling me "lie down and rest, I will bring you some soup"... If I go to bed for another few minutes, I am going to be insane. Sorry mom...

My health has always been the negative aspect of my life. My mom said that I had caught pneumonia twice when I was an infant and so I am very vulnerable to cold. I try to be careful most of the times but then when it rains, I can't help myself let a few drops fall on me. Rain is so beautiful, and it gives me such a nice feeling, just that it ruins my health.

It's been only about 2 months that I have joined VOW and I have to take a sick-leave... I remember writing, in the application, young, enthusiastic, with "sound health"... such a fake thing... but then.. it's ok!! No one is well all their life...

I don't know what more to write. I just wish that I get well soon. I plan to keep myself away from guilty, or rather, unhealthy pleasures like getting wet in rain, enjoying ice-cream... at least for a time being. When I was in school, I used to wish that I fell ill coz I could skip classes then. But now, if there's something that I really hate, it's to lie down in bed, doing nothing... wishing to recover as soon as possible!!

So poo, I wish for 'your' speedy recovery. Get well sooooooooon!!

Direct from my mind........

As usual, I don't think I will get sleepy anytime soon. It's only 10:45 pm and there's a long way to go. Look at my sister, she is fast asleep and I know my keyboard's tak-tak-tuk-tuk really disturbs her. She always complains but what can I do? I am helpless, and in a way, so is she.

Today's day was quite extraordinary...

At the moment, a very romantic song from Jab We Met (tum se hi...) is accompanying me and I am feeling a little better. It actually feels so good when you realise that someone in a corner, may be a little far, is remembering you, thinking about you, missing you... Love is such a wonderful feeling!! I was so wrong about it earlier, now I realise how beautiful it is.

So where was I?

Okay... my day...

I woke up early coz I had to go to college to fill in exam forms. I went there reluctantly because I wanted to sleep more. I asked for the form and the officer asked me for the admission receipt. I was literally shocked. I got myself admitted in the college so many months back and they were asking me for the receipt! Rule is rule... I sincerely told her that I didn't have any receipt but I had my identity card which had been renewed after the admission. I told her I would show her my card as a proof that I was already admitted. She told me, in a very unfriendly manner (of course I wasn't expecting her to be friendly), that I would have to pay Rs 30 if I didn't have the receipt. I was taken aback... what sort of rule was this? What was the use of record-keeping then? I had to pay her the sum as a wage for her to turn the pages of record and find out if I was actually admitted. Funny... ridiculous... insane... nonsense... systemless system... that is what Soo tells it is. Soo, myself and that lady had a long discussion. We ended up without taking the form and headed home. Bad start of the day...

Then we went to the near-by Bhrikutimandap park, took some rounds around and sat to have some fruits. I felt nice coz I had gone there for such a long time. All people seem to be at their best moods in the park. There are friends sharing good laughs, jokes going on in every corner, lovers romancing, exercising, or just bunking classes. Bhrikutimandap has all sorts of people!!

Yet again, there's this romantic song from the movie Life in a metro... In dino dil mera mujhse hai kehraha, tu Khwab saja, tu jeele jara, hai tujhe bhi ijajat, karle tu bhi mohabbat... Beautiful song.

Then after having a little chat with Soo, Prabin and Bipin (actually I was the listener as always), I headed for office. As almost always I was the first one to reach in my department. Shortly after Eva showed up and we started doing our own works. Then we had to prepare ourselves for the 'My Cup of Tea' discussion. At 10:30 am, Sharmila didi, Eva and I left for Jazzbell Cafe at Chakupat, where the programme was organised. As we didn't get seats in a tempo, we caught a taxi. Thank God, we reached there 1o minutes before 11 am (the scheduled time). The guests could come anytime so we started preparing the whole thing like arranging tables, spreading magazines, et cetera. Everyone knows the meaning of Nepali time. Only two guests, a housewife, Mrs Rumi Srivastav and Usha Khadgi, the former Miss Nepal showed up in time. We had to wait for others.

Richa Ghimire smsed me that she would be there by 11:30...okay... A little later, she called me and we could not understand each other...network problem... then I called her again. She was still in balaju and would be able to make it only at 12. What could I say? The discussion had already begun... I told Sharmila didi and she convinced her that she would be called for the next month's discussion!! She was so eager to participate, but unfortunately, we couldn't keep other guests waiting just for her. Other guests included Intern Doctor Ojaswi Acharya, Laxmi bank's Business Development officer Priti Pandey, Photoconcern's Director Shrijana Thapa and News anchor of KTV Poonam Poudyal.

The topic was "pressure to look good"... the guests spoke so much... we didn't even had to ask them any questions. It was fun. Usha, Shrijana and Rumi ji... they could speak so much. Priti and Poonam ji only spoke what had been asked to them. Specially Poonam ji, she remained silent most of the times. I guess she did so coz most of them were telling, actually making the point that, if you are not beautiful, your talent and intellect won't count. I was asking myself, is it true? I don't know. May be Poonam ji didn't agree.

I could see that all of them, except Poonam ji, had come there well-groomed, with make-up, thoughtfully selected attires... I could see that Poonam ji hadn't even got to put a layer of lipstick. She was saying that she had learnt to put lipstick only after working in TV as a news anchor.

This reminds me of my own story. You know, I had shaped my eyebrow on Poush 15 when it was confirmed that I would get an internship in Kantipur daily and it would start from the next day. Actually I did that coz I didn't want any women journalists in Kantipur to ask me why I hadn't plucked my eyebrow until then. Because that was the question I had to face wherever I went. It was ridiculous and i now feel silly about what I had done. I had actually cried when the beautician was threading my eyebrows. My sister Geeta was catching me, the beautician herself and my nini (phupu didi) were seizing me tight and I was crying with pain, tears flowing... it was tough. That was the first and the last threading I did. Since then I have not been able to recollect the bravery to thread it again. I pluck the grown ones sometimes though...

So, I liked Poonam Poudyal the most, coz I could easily relate her feelings to myself.

The article is getting longer....

And then back at office, writing, submitting... hungry... tired...waiting the clock to tick 5:30... nothing cooked at home. Still hungry. Then I went to Baneshwor chowk with my brother to buy vegetables. There we ate momo... a little satisfied, we did some more shoppping and came back home. Now it's 11:45... 15 minutes before the residents of underworld come out hunting... Oh, I am NOT scared.

Anyways, i have to sleep now.