Beyond protests: Questioning the cause of #VAW

( Warning : This entry details some instances of violence against women.Do not read if you find them disturbing.) 

why

Everyone who writes needs a reminder, now and then, of why they started to write in the first place. I for one, always wrote diaries but never naming people or discussing events in detail. Yet, if I went through the pages of my past I can tell who and what exactly I am talking of. Internet replaced paper. The thrill of being unknown and known at the same time was glorious!

Selroti

Everyone has a responsibility here and I’m the self-declared global media promoter of our Tihar here @ Bharatpur.

Happy Tihar!! More pics at: http://instagram.com/drshn_

Dashain and Durbar Squares

The Jamara sown on Ghatasthapana didn’t grow. They wouldn’t be used even if they did as someone passed away. A TV anchor was discussing the benefits of Jamara, how they can be dried and consumed with hot water as a cure for headache so I guess we’ll let them take their time to grow. Still, there was Dashain, quite different from the ones before. I had almost forgotten about how Dashain equaled unlimited consumption of Kaju Kismis until this reminded me of it. Its absence has been conspicuous along with many other things which will never be the way they used to be…

To Delhi, With Love

By the end of this day I will have left this city for good. Delhi, where I lived for the past two years and some more. I wish  I could define my relationship with this place, express in a few lines what this place has been for me but I can’t. It’s a complicated relationship of some sorts. There have been times when I have hated Delhi to extremes. And then in other times I have had nothing but infinite gratitude to this place for what it’s done to me. Delhi was my ‘shock absorber’ when I first landed here.

Ficus elastica

‘You write?’ I asked opening my laptop.

She turned her head to my direction from her bed on the opposite side of the room and replied ‘Yes.’

‘Where?’ I was curious.

‘Somewhere you don’t look for.’ She seemed uninterested.

But I had to know.

‘On the internet?’ I continued.

‘Why does it matter?’

‘Everything does for curious souls’ I replied tapping away on my keyboard.

The next few minutes passed in silence.

Dashain 2011

Dashain 2011 By S. Thapa

Our Dashain was a small private affair: five girls, a bit of dressing up for the occasion and lots of photos. Dashain was barely acknowledged last year so it was mine as well as everyone else’s first Dashain away from home. My day started by reading news about Jobs’ demise which saddened me deeply but all thanks to the girls here who cheered me up and helped me get ready for the occasion. Walking out with the big red tika on our foreheads with people staring at us, students from elsewhere asking us for the tika as well….it felt so good to be different. It was as though we had taken up the herculean task of preserving and promoting our culture here. Big words, I know.

Lastly, my heartfelt thanks to the spirited Nepali girls for just being there…

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Where do I go from here?

Where Do we Go from here? , a photo by Zaded on Flickr.

I was just going through my Flickr shots when I came across this. The picture is a perfect portrayal of my state of mind. There is nothing to do here in Delhi apart from experience the unbearable heat. But I feel like the little kid I was back in school who never wanted to go home! For some reason I don’t want to go back to Kathmandu though I must. I think I have grown too accustomed to this ‘Robinson Crusoe’ economy of mine …I don’t want to change the way things are. I don’t think I am ready to come out of this oven and go out in the real world and interact with people. The mere thought of human interactions is bit too much for me to take at the moment. I don’t want to be baked in this Delhi heat but I don’t have the heart for anything else either. I feel like one of those birds in the picture. What should I do? Take a tourist bus to Kathmandu? Air ticket? Train ?