...I speak my mind =)

Picture credit: dreamstime.com The methods of informal education in Nepal dates back hundreds of years. However, the doors to proper formal educational institutions for the general population was open only after 1951 after the oppressive Rana regime was over thrown. That event will always mark a stellar moment in Nepali history as it brought about the wave to produce thoughtful and intellectual Nepali citizens. Over the past 60 years, educational scenario has come a long way. From 10,000 students in 300 schools in 1951 to hundreds of thousand students in 49000+ schools in 2010 reflects on the positive journey. The adult literacy rate climbed from 5% to 60.3% which shows how far we've come. However, the bottom line is this isn't enough. For the past couple weeks, Nepal is in the middle of huge political unrest regarding the constitution draft. There are strikes and revolts against the decision of the government left and right. Some castes have demanded their own st...

In the fall of 2011, My family took a vacation to South India. Until then, I'd only travelled a few places in Nepal so it was safe to say that I was quite excited. And the fact that I was going away from Kathmandu for a total of 22 days only made it better. Don't get me wrong, I love Kathmandu along with all its quirks but we all need a break sometimes. My Trip to India involved 2-3 days long train journey at a time, visiting stunning beaches and staying in sea view hotel rooms. Sounds amazing, right? And it was amazing...for 5 minutes. After a while, the euphoria was up in smokes. I had my family right beside me at all times but I missed home. I missed my friends. I don't want to sound like a spoiled brat, but the whole sleeping late/waking up early to visit someplace new got old too soon. Halfway through the trip, I just wanted to go home and fall into the unproductive monotony of a typical 15 year old teenager.  But, you see, this is where things get intere...

My jar of memories :-) Ever since I was little, I've had this affinity with Roses. I don't know if it's the overlapping petals, the sweet sensational smell or the fact that that level of beauty can blossom midst the nastiest of thorns. Or maybe its the whole package.  It might be the romantic in me showing its colors, but gifting someone Roses always felt like the right thing to do. And in return, receiving Roses still feels like the best thing ever. Years passed, friends broke away and lovers drifted yet I always saved the roses- pressed and dried. A sane person would throw away the memories of people who don't matter anymore. However, I like to save it because no matter what happened afterwards, that moment is a happy memory. And happy memories are like bottles of wine in a way. As our brain has a way of blurring out negatives, moments become sweeter the farther down you travel in time. In a way, my jar of memories (as I like to call it) provides me ge...

As of today, around 7 million people have viewed Deepika Padukone's Vogue Empowerment video. For the first few days, I just ignored it when it appeared on my Newsfeed. But a slew of jokes followed and I knew I couldn't ignore it forever. The first time I watched the video I had a deep unsettling feeling in my gut. Women Empowerment is a very important issue and all that the video pointed out to me was the societal double-standard against men in today's seemingly "modern" world. The video talks about matters ranging from the choice of clothing to choice to have sex (I'll come back to this one later) and something about being the snowstorm not the snowflake. The video has got so many things wrong it's not even funny. India has so many problems regarding the society bringing women down. India is the place where a girl being married to a man thrice her age is normal, where a girl has to pay the price when the only sin she has committed is being born a...

photo credit: kimberlybelle.com As February 14th was fast approaching, my Facebook news feed was flooded with posts about how people were going to spend Valentine's Day crying or eating ice cream while crying or something along those lines. No I'm not kidding but I wish I was. It only shows how our society prefers two people over one. You are born alone, you die alone. So why the prejudice? Ever since I was little, I've been a big fan of all things romantic. Roses, Novels, Chocolates ...you name it. And I understand that Valentine's day may be the most superficial 'holiday' in the history of holidays. You give someone gift because you're supposed to. You say you love them because it's an unspoken rule to say it that day. I want to hate this supposed 'Day of love' but I cant make myself do it. When I pretend to be disinterested, something inside me stirs and I remember that all this began in good spirit. How wonderful is it to value love ov...

When I think about the first time I met her, the details are a little hazy. But I do remember thinking it being such a 'date' despite us resisting to call it that. A little coffee on her part because I hated coffee then, a walk along the dusty streets of Kathmandu all sealed off with Ice-cream for us both. The fact that it was a chilly December evening didn't stop us. Come to think of it, the details aren't all that hazy because I remember it being a Wednesday. When I saw her for the first time, the first thing I noticed about her were her beautiful brown eyes. I was in my early twenties and I had already been with half dozen other brown eyes but hers had that glimmer that no one else held. They were exquisite. Online dating was new to me whereas the whole dating scenario was new to her. She'd warned me beforehand that she was going to be awkward as hell on the first meet but when we met she was all talks and smiles- zero awkwardness. At that poi...

Photo credit: Tumblr.com This is the second part of the story I wrote a couple months back. You can click on this link " Things and Places- I " to read the first part. Also, these stories are based on a real events. I'm kidding! Maybe :P Sameer It'd been two weeks since I'd been talking to Sneha over the email. And our conversations had only gotten more amusing. Like a few days back they had argued over their least favorite/favorite Book-to-Movie adaptation and I hadn't laughed like that in ages. Dear Sneha, Don't judge me. But my least favorite book-to-movie adaptation is ....... Twilight series. Yes, I've read them.  And watched ALL the movies. Yes, all five of them. Sue me. -Sameer Dear Sameer, Judge you ? what ? I respect you more because It takes guts to accept you've read Twilight series in today's world. :D Let me let you in on a secret, I've read Twilight series twice. lol -Sneha Dear Sneha, Haha, For Real?...

My heart was still fluttering and it was only aggravating the situation further. It meant I still hadn't died, didn't it?  But Why ?  In the recent times, everybody has the day they’d die tattooed on their arm immediately after birth. It probably makes for a more sustainable living as people know their days are numbered so nobody does anything stupid at all. When someone is born, the medics check the Total Health Factor (THF) of the baby and calculate the day to which that person could live with no health-related obligations. People have THF ranging from 10 to even 35 years. People having THF lower than 10 are sent away, nobody except the government knows where. My THF is 16. And the date tattooed on my arm is 20th November 2311. Today. My providers had once told me about a time when death was uncertain. People lost the value of living because at one point everyone was just surviving for the sake of it. And the other major problem of that time was pe...

Photo credit: Toodamnyoung.com " Why did you decide to switch your field of study, from science to business? " Ever since I made it official that I'll be pursuing business administration for my undergrad, this question has been all the more frequent. So frequent that this is all anyone ever asks me. And to be honest, I had been expecting this. In the 21st century, people change their career paths all the time. So, the surprise element for me is not w hat people ask, but  why people ask. People say 'World is a small place' all the time and there's a reason they say it. There's constant innovation in every field possible, every few seconds. The stakes are so high these days, that you can't just zone out for a few months and think that you'll catch up in no time. It's so hard to keep up that you have to keep your best foot forward all the time. To make it in today's world, only straight A's just don't cut it. You got to be ...

You see me and you smile I look away, too shy You kiss me and talk of love This is la vie en rose We take a walk in the rain together holding hands, it only gets better Unfurling, I tell you things I feel You smile and touch my lips And life will always be la vie en rose.