CULTURE

Let’s imagine ourselves walking on the road one day. An accident occurs. Two vehicles collide. The drivers are injured. How do you respond to it? How do other people respond? What do you do?

There are several reactions possible. Some are: You might feel scared and remain still/feel pity over them and do nothing/ or approach them and help them reach the hospital. Which one are you? Which one seems right?

How we respond to any situation depends on our personality. Our personality depends on the way we have been brought up, the things that we had cultivated in us back then, our habits—all these take a long course of time.

The first reaction shows that the person is neither able to handle difficult situations in life nor him/herself during such times. The second response tells us that the person has learnt some kindness while growing up but does not know how to handle the situation. The last reaction shows that the person has learnt many skills of life and also has presence of mind.

Simple as the above example sounds, it is not so. We come over difficult situations every now and then in our life. Learning or not learning how to deal with them makes us who we want to be. It’s entirely up to us where and how we want our life to go.

So, making somebody learn values, manners and life skills is very important. These are required to be nurtured when somebody is young. Cultivation at a young age is easy and effective too. Hence, the sooner, the better.  

TO THE DEPARTED ONES

Every time I hear of somebody’s death, life seems to lose its meaning. When somebody dies, be it my relative or a friend or any known ones, life stops for some time. If it is only with me or with everyone else, I am not sure.

When we hear about it on news every day, it does not make much difference to us. It looks like we have become used to it, as if it is a part of life. We are indifferent. But when it involves us, we are disturbed or moved.

What is death? We are busy carrying on with our activities forgetting that we too have the same destiny. Why do we need to do what we do? What purpose? Why do so many things when all is meaningless? Why so many do’s, don’ts, should’s, shouldn’ts, must’s, mustn’ts, need’s, needn’ts? What is the point of all these when ultimately everything and everyone is going to perish?

All of us have a limited time in this world. Nobody exactly knows how long—might be a few years, months, days or hours.

We smile, cry, weep, laugh, love, hate, betray, get angry, cool down, get scared, get devoted, feel brave, get surprised, get disgusted and so on.  Then one day, a person once we knew, loved, hated, betrayed, felt angry upon dies. So what was all the response for? We spend much of our time in trivial matters, things that have no significance. When you get to know about somebody having only a limited time, how would you treat that person? You transform, after you become helpless and after going blank.

Death is an end. It is the silence. Words lose their value. It makes us wise and less spoken. It creates a vacuum. When you are haunted that you might be the next, then you grow wiser and quieter.

However, we need to move on keeping this reality on one side. Our lives should continue. The bad news takes us to our land, to our level. We realise our worth, our helplessness and powerlessness in front of death.

To all the departed souls—may you be happy and at peace wherever you are! 

THE EARTH NEEDS A HOLIDAY

Holiday, such a relaxing word! Just uttering it gives us pleasure and satisfaction. Who does not need it? Who is not happy to hear it? Be it students, teachers, officers, housewives, anyone who works in this world needs a break, a vacation.

When we work for continuous hours, days, weeks and months, even years sometimes, we feel exhausted and drained out. Holiday reenergizes us. It makes us realise that we are not machines but humans. Even machines need to be repaired sometimes. So we need much more. We repair ourselves by taking a rest, physically and mentally.

Having gone through the lockdown recently for 2-3 months across the globe, a situation which had never occurred before, the world came to know the real meaning of a break, a vacation, the long one. Everyone utilized it to the full extent, the way they wanted to. The holiday was long enough for people to carry out their hobbies, pending works and introspection.

Do we know that there is a similarity between humans and the Earth? She has different body parts like we do. They are air, water, soil etc. She falls ill too, like us. Sometimes, she has fever; other times, cold. She is also known as an ailing planet (as referred by Nani Palkhivala).  Her sickness is due to her body parts getting damaged and misused and overused.

The lockdown because of the pandemic seemed to be favorable to the Earth. She could take a deep breath as a result. The halt of the daily routine of humans made the Earth rest. The fresh environment and reduced air pollution was the news of the pandemic. We even witnessed animals roaming freely in the open space.

So the point is, break is essential for everyone including the Earth. She should rest too in order to perform better, to continue her existence. We should come up with a plan to give her a holiday once in a year. The implementation part is a topic of discussion. Let her take time to revitalize herself, to look at herself and admire her beauty. Let her be proud too.

The next generation needs to see the Earth the way we have seen her, or rather, a more beautiful one. Let us be back to our duties and let her do the same.  A pause in the ongoing routine is a need of everyone, only possible if we know the true meaning of the term HOLIDAY.  

MAN IS A SOCIAL ANIMAL

30^th May 2020

When I was in class 5, my English teacher asked me to repeat the lines from the text I had memorized. I went blank but tried to recall the text. The first line read—Man is a social animal. I said that. Said it again. Then went blank again. He made me stand up on the bench as a punishment. I obeyed. Several other students were asked too. Some replied but some could not. Those who could not followed the punishment as I did. After sometime, the teacher made me sit down as I had said something. He said, “You said the first line; you tried; sit down.” I was glad that I had remembered that line and could get back to my seat. I don’t exactly recall what happened to those who were standing like me.

Now I realise that it was such an important line. Maybe I had realized then too, through my childish mind that man had some connection to a society and hence social. Man had been, was (when I was in class 5), and is still a social animal. Yes, we are animals but a social one.  Society is an inseparable part of us. It has played a big role in grooming us, in making us what we are today.

At present, the lockdown has made people somewhat disconnected with the society. We are scared to be close to another person. We have become depressed and anxious. Despite the media and technology playing a major role in helping people forget about the vulnerability and uncertainties of life due to the virus, people are not able to completely overcome this issue. Moreover, there are many people in the world without access to these tools the way we have.

It is the nature of human beings to remain together, to talk, to go out and work; be busy and enjoy life by doing many activities; to touch, to feel, to express. For more than two months, we have refrained ourselves from many of these things and have seen the world by remaining inside our houses. But how long will a human being survive this repression?

These months have made us realise many things which we had never before. Finding value in family bonds, analyzing ourselves and working towards our improvement, utilizing our hobbies (some of us have almost forgotten that we used to have hobbies) are some of the positive aspects that the confinement has given us.

However, isn’t it high time now to return back to our realness? To feel the society as it is; to know that we are not alone, that there are people who care for us and support; to touch, to hug, to feel strong? Isn’t it time to think about our emotional and mental health?

Let’s stay strong and healthy. Let’s do what we need to do and not do what we need not. Let’s follow nature and remain natural. Being natural means doing the right things. This is the key to being healthy. Let this confinement be over. As it is in the very nature of man to be in a society, man was, is and always shall remain a social animal.  

Ain't I a great server?

I am 2 years old. I had a wrapper in the beginning. Slowly, my cloth started carrying dirt and I looked shabby. As a result, my dress was thrown away. I was naked, the way I was born. I still am. 

I have some scars on one side now. I had fallen from the height of 4 feet once on the concrete floor. Few other times, I had slipped from the hand onto the marble floor. Those scars are the result of those accidents. 

But I do my duty. I am used for talking to each other, connecting throughout the world, checking news, learning new things, anything that my owner wants me to do. 

Of late, I have become more useful as people are locked up in their houses. I serve as an education provider and earn bread and butter for my owner. I am handy and can be carried other times too when the owner needs break in between the duty but has to remain available. 

But the sad part is, my efficiency is decreasing as I am working overtime now. I am exhausted. I consume a lot of electricity to keep me going. It takes longer to be fully charged. I have become slow too. 

However, I am happy to serve as long as I live. Please handle me with care. I want to live more. 

It's Never Too Late...

How many of us are happy with our work right now? While many of you are saying “I am very happy,” there are some with the response “I am not, honestly.” This article targets the latter. So why do we feel so despite having worked for many years? When we have enough work experience and are financially stable, happiness should follow us everywhere. But that seems to be not the case here.

This is because we work for the sake of working, for our bread and butter. Where is the ‘joy’ factor? We go to office or do any other work because it pays us. We invest our energy all day in something which is never of any interest to us. So, as we have heard it often, either we have to love what we do or do what we love. We try to love our work and assume sometimes that we do, but the reality is we can never love what we do not like. Most of the time, we give up hope and continue with our internal stress because in our later years of life, there seems to be no option left.

However, there are some wise people in the world who seem to tell us through their quotes exactly what/how we are supposed to think—‘Age is just a number’ and ‘It is never late to begin.’ The man-made beliefs should not de-energize us. Also, let’s not worry about what others will say. No matter what we do, some people will keep on passing comments upon us. When we know what we are doing, ignoring and carrying on is the wisest thing to do. It is our life after all and we have every right to live it the way we want.

We can always start our life again. Whether it is by learning a new language, skill, technique or by working on our long forgotten passion or hobby, we can have an open mind and welcome new opportunities towards our way.

While it may be risky to leave completely what we are doing now and make a move, it is a good idea to add to our life what we love. So, instead of starting a new work, it is wise to complement our ongoing life with the things that we had always wanted to do. By doing this, our mental status shifts from being stressful to being productive too.

After all, we have one life to live. Why not live this life doing the things we always wished to do rather than making them the ‘wishes never come true’? When we do the things we love, we become happy and are at peace. This soon resonates around us making everyone feel the same. When we know the vibes are meant to spread, why not spread the positive ones? 

Set Your Goals Early

When we are young, the world seems to be ours. Nothing can stop our way. We are full of energy and enthusiasm. We have so much time to spend for everyone and everything. We have friends who seem to support us forever, a family who is always there for us. We think this is how life is going to be—everyone by our side when we need them. We spend our time with them thinking they are our world, and invest most of our energy in saving our relationships, failing to notice the time that is passing.

We get involved in various activities daily like jobs, volunteering, interning etc. Some of us spend years on these too. We realize what we have done to our time only later in life when the time has really passed.

So the point is—when we don’t set a proper aim or goal for our life, most of our time is spent in whiling away with people who matter us the least and doing the works which lead us nowhere. We become lost. Life becomes like a maze. We won’t know why we reached there and if it was our desire to be there. However, we understand that something was wrong somewhere in this long process. After much reflection over it and analyzing ourselves every now and then, we reach to a conclusion that we have taken the wrong decisions in our life. Then our eyes open widely.

Although we felt our life to be productive during our youth, as we were busy working and getting involved in various aspects of life, the later stages of our life tell us something different. We realize that we had spent our precious years in trivial matters, with unimportant people, doing nothing much productive. Our aimlessness in life makes us a wanderer. While wandering may take us to different places, it does not take us to the right one, the one we are supposed to be in. But the question is ‘what is that’? It is the place where we had always wanted to be in, which made us happy and satisfied.

So the rule is—make right decisions at the right time. Right time meaning from the early stage of our life and the right decision means deciding on the steps that take us towards the things we like to do, people we love to be with and people we love to be. This might sound difficult. How to go for it then? If we are sure about our aim, the problem is solved. If we are not sure about it, we must take all the opportunities that come in front of us and do the things we love to do. This includes experimenting, exploring, being involved in anything we can when the body is full of energy. We should not wait or procrastinate because time passes quickly.

Things are going to be different with new responsibilities that life brings for us tomorrow. It is completely different than today. We might be able to predict but are not able to see it. When we look back at our life once we become old, our dreams and wishes should not remain as they were before, undone and unfulfilled. So let’s do what we love and live a meaningful life. Let’s not delay.   

Love Your Body

People are busy these days with their everyday life as compared to the previous decades. We are so engrossed in our work and fulfilling our daily obligations that our health has become our last priority.

By health, we mean a balance of physical, mental and emotional health. For a person to be healthy, all these three components matter. They are interrelated too. This article focuses on the first step, that is, one’s physical health, which can be achieved through diet and exercise.

An old saying goes—we are what we eat. Despite knowing that somebody has said it so true, we tend to ignore it and prioritize our works over our diet. We eat whatever we get, whosoever gives to us and whenever we want. No discipline for our diet at all. In fact, food is like the petrol for our engine to run. The quality of petrol determines the speed and durability of engine. Moreover, it not only affects us on the physical level but also on our overall health.

There are several theories about what to eat. Trying to follow all/some of them, we have confused ourselves. So the approach we can take now is something common to all those theories and that is—following the natural way, by adding a lot of fruits and green vegetables to our food (mainly carbohydrates) and avoiding unnatural and unnecessary food.

Next, the way we make timetable for our days, let’s make a timetable for our food too. This includes—eating at a fixed time, not eating when we are not hungry, not eating whatever comes in front of us and also knowing when to drink and when not to. Proper gap of about 30 minutes should be maintained between eating food and drinking water. We have heard about it for a long time but have ignored. Let’s not now.

Movement of our body is equally important as our diet. Children run and play. As we grow up, our movement decreases due to various factors such as responsibilities and jobs. However, our body should be busy and engaged in various activities throughout the day. This keeps us mentally fit too. Also, we should know when to rest. Over-activity and inactivity are harmful for us. When our body communicates with us, we should be able to understand its language. For example, we feel tired when we overwork. So the body says—Get rest now. When we eat but don’t work, our body feels heavy.  It means—Work now.

Along with the physical activities we do, an hour of exercise daily is a necessity. The purpose is to move each and every part of our body and make it flexible and prevent it from getting jammed. We can make use of our body to the maximum level in this way.

We exist in this world physically. Once dead, the body loses its value. So, we should look after it properly when we can. By prioritizing our physical health and becoming fit and sound by doing the above-mentioned simple tasks, we can fulfill our duties towards the world more effectively. So let’s eat, work and rest in a proper balance and feel happy and peaceful.

For Children/ बालबालिकाका लागि

बसन्त ऋतु 

चरीको चिरबिर चिरबिर

बसन्तको याम

हराभरा स्वच्छ मौसम

कता घुम्न जाम् 

छन् सारा पशुपंछी

प्रक्रितिमा रमेका

के के कुरा गर्दै होलान्

के होलान् त गमेका ?

न चर्को घाम न पानी

मनमोहक यो बेला

मौसम सधैं यस्तै रहे

कति जाती हुन्थ्यो होला !

--X--

Rustic taste in an urban setting

Birds are talking

Dogs are talking

Man is silent

They are asking

“What has happened?”

“Why are things different?”

Trees look greener

Buds are opening

Flowers are blooming

No vehicles around

No cars, no bikes

No traffic, no rush

Life at a standstill

All of a sudden.

Bells ring in the temple

Situated about a half kilometer

Kitchen cutleries

News broadcasting and telecasting

Even mobiles ringing

From neighbours

Clearly audible.

When it rained

The purity, the freshness

Tiny planes in the sky

Water tankers, hawkers, milkmen

Make their ways

And rush out immediately after duty.

Such a rural taste

Amidst the city crowd

Do you remember this pleasure

When was last found?

Bird's-Eye View of Kathmandu

Hi, I am a Sparrow. How are you doing? I want to share with you how I am feeling lately. Things are very different as compared to how they used to be in the past, I mean, until some weeks ago.

I have noticed, it so started somewhere around the middle of the last month. But before that, an unusual sight had occurred for about a week. I could see human crowd everywhere—in the streets, shops, roads, bus parks, highways etc.—people buying and selling things, some carrying them in bulk amount and shifting somewhere; people waiting in bus park counters in a long queue. The chill of the winter still troubled then. It had rained twice or thrice too. I wondered what had happened. Dashain-Tihar was already over, so were Xmas and New Year. Even Valentine’s Day had passed and so had Holi. I saw no point.

Now, Spring is in the air. Look at the environment. Anyone can feel the pleasure. You are enjoying too, I am sure. So am I—passing my days by singing and dancing with my friends and family every day, moving from this tree to that tree, from this corner to that corner, enjoying the beauty of the greenery and blooming flowers . The air is so fresh; let me tell you, I have never inhaled such pure oxygen in my entire life. You must have felt it too.

My folk—pigeons, crows, cuckoos etc. are very happy these days, like me. Even dogs are seen either sleeping or barking in the streets carefree. But what surprises me is, when all of us are enjoying the Spring and this freshness, why aren’t the humans? From around the mid of the last month, hardly anyone is seen outside. The roads, shops, bus parks seem empty. No crowd anywhere. Where have all those human beings gone? I ask my friends and family members but they too wonder.

And where are the vehicles—the honking bikes and cars, the public buses, trucks and tractors? Forget about these, I have not seen the airplanes even much lately. Let me tell you, my folk always had tough time with these sky-vehicles. Why do they have to fly across our way? You know, some of my dear ones have even died when they met them. At least, we are at peace now. So I was saying that all the hustle and bustle of this part of the earth has vanished suddenly.

But sometimes, vendors and some shops are open. Vehicles like water tankers and ambulances also run. Very few bicycles, bikes or cars or people are seen sometimes. The riders and walkers hide their faces with scarves or shawls and put masks on their faces. So I can’t recognize who is who. Police are seen on the roads standing most of the time and they talk to anyone who is walking or passing by them.

However, I can see a few people in their terraces or balconies coming out frequently and doing many activities. Some of them use mobiles with their earphones. They seem happy sometimes and sometimes dead serious and worrisome. Others wash clothes and dry up daily—a common scene in most of the terraces. Another type does singing in mike and eats delicious food, which I get to enjoy sometimes. Some bask in the sun and have oil massage. I hope you are not bored? Another common sight is, forming small groups in the balcony or terrace with a distance and talking. It has been ages I saw people in a house sitting in a group—a pleasant sight though. There are some people working in their gardens too.

You know what, I can also hear people singing loudly inside their houses, alone. Sound of babies crying, people laughing is audible now. Some children stand outside with their friends and laugh. People seem to be in a relaxed mood. They are not active; they are moving slowly. It looks like they have plenty of time. I always saw them active and rushing before. The change is really strange. Don’t you think so?

No matter why this sudden change has occurred, I am enjoying the present and wished this fresh and pure environment lasted forever. But I am scared this might be short-lived. One day humans might reappear, as a crowd again, and the environment might be the same as it used to be. I wished all the human beings thought about how this fresh environment could continue. This is all in their hands as they can think, we can’t. We can only feel. Can't we all be  safe together?

Thanks for listening.  I got to fly. Bye

SOME WORDS OF WISDOM

Exactly 10 days for a New Year. Will this lockdown be over by then? Will we be in a mood to enjoy the New Year?

It is said New Year brings new opportunities. But how? So many years came and passed by. Nothing much happened. Did any miracle occur? It is just a process. Unless we put some effort towards anything, how will any matter be an opportunity for us? I don’t think New Year bringing opportunities make sense. It is we, our mentality, and our approach towards what lies before us that proves whether anything that we do is an opportunity or a bad luck for us.

So rise from the couch, take a deep breath, clear your mind and move ahead. See for the positivity in everything and deal accordingly. Even if you lose, it does not matter. Try to see positive factor in losing too.

What I am trying to say is we decide our lives. The decisions we make and the actions we take, yes exactly, are the things which shape us in being who we are. These are solely internal. You might say—then what about our genes, the unconscious and subconscious? Yes, they do have a part to play. They are external factors. We have no control over them at the conscious level. But if we decide to work on that too, we will get a large part of or life transformed. Again, it is a decision; then comes action—mental activity followed by the physical.

So how to go for that? Well, we can’t spend our life doing everything that exists. Time is limited. As there are works from people who had already sacrificed their time, we should take their help. They are writers, researchers, psychologists, hypnotizers and, of course, the internet which has become such a convenient medium now. Make use of all these resources and analyze yourself. Slowly and gradually, everything starts making sense. You will get answers to all of your whats, hows and whys. You will then become calm and peaceful and go for the right things, right choices that make sense to your life. When we become blessed in this beauty of life, what more can we ask for?

I started with the New Year but where I have reached! Anyway, New Year does not bring opportunities. We create them. I say, everyday is a New Year’s Day. Let’s do good things every day. Let’s pray for the world. The world needs it so much now. Let’s serve the mankind. Let’s cherish our existence. Let’s celebrate every day.