टाला टुली बटुली कती राम्री पुतली

टाला टुली बटुली कती राम्री पुतली. We all of us must have read or at least heard this rhyme during our childhood. For most of us it is nothing more than a rhyme. But youths from Alternatives (a youth led organisation in Pokhara) were so moved by this sentence that for them it was more than a rhyme. They sensed some enterpreneurhsip culture in this rhyme and it gave rise to a programme called Tala tuli batuli kati ramri putali.

The programme is very simple and easy but it worths a billion dollar. As per this programme the Alternatives team went to Bal Mandir school and gave orientation to the students there on entrepreneurship. The students then had to prepare some goods, toys, decoration items or any other useful things from something being unused or thrown out. There were motorboats, bicycles, houses, dolls etc prepared by students from unused things. All the creations from students were evaluated by a panel of judges and the top five were awarded with prizes.

I have read somewhere “Even a stopped clock gives right time twice a day”. So nothing in this world is useless. The only thing is we need to have skills to use it. This was the main theme of the programme "Tala tuli batuli kati ramri putali". And the students of Bal mandir of pokhara have proved it. The students contributed in reducing the waste as well as the entrepreneurship culture has been incorporated in them since their childhood. If this programme is run in all schools it helps in reducing the burden of waste in our society and keeps our environment clean where as on the other hand it helps students in creative thinking and proliferates entrepreneurship culture in them since their childhood.

Don't Quit

When things go wrong
as they sometimes will

When the road you are trudging seems all uphill
When the funds are low and the debts are high
And you have to smile but you have to sigh
When care is pressing down you a bit
Rest if you must, but don’t you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns
As every one of us sometimes learns
And many a failure turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out
Don’t give up though the pace seems slow
You may succeed with another blow

Success is failure turned inside out
The silver tint of the clouds of the doubt
And your nerves can tell how close you are
It may be near when it seems so far
So stick to the flight when you are hardest hit
It’s when things seems worst you mustn’t quit.

(This is a poem from Shiva Khera’s book “You can win”. This is a poem which always gives be courage to challenge the situations through which I’m going right now. I just love this poem and whenever I go through it I get new courage and strengths especially in time of difficulties. Actually it is through this poem that I got title for my blog)

Time to rethink by all Public Health Personnels

I have just finished my Masters in Public Health (MPH). When I appeared in the final exam of MPH I have written many times that “Nepal is one of the countries to show highest progress in child mortality reduction, Nepal is likely to meet the MDG target of reduction of child mortality by 2015 and so on”. I have written these lines in good handwriting during the exams so that I may secure good marks. I have reiterated these lines many times in my class presentations and I even read these lines many times in many publications. And after few months when I go for job in any NGO/INGO/Government Organizations and when somebody asks me “What do you know about Child Health status of Nepal?” then again I have to repeat the same false lines that “Nepal is one of the country to show highest progress in Child mortality reduction, Nepal is likely to meet MDG goal of Child mortality reduction……blaw blaw blaw….”. I bet if you randomly draw five books from my cupboard at least in three of them you can read somewhere that Nepal has made huge progress in child mortality reduction.

Oh no………..I’m tired of it. The reality is, Nepal is a country where 150 children die of Diarrhea just in one month. When I share this story to my friend abroad he doesn’t believe it and says “Children dying of diarrhea in this 21st century……..Common guys where are you?” He doesn’t believe me and I have to send him links of news in the web.

I’m Public health personnel in a country where 150 children die in one month just because of diarrhea. And I become very happy on passing MPH in first division…………….shame on myself. If the hundreds of children die of diarrhea does it matter whether I pass or fail MPH, does it matter how much I earn by working in a NGO/INGO, does it matter how much marks I secure in exams. No I haven’t passed. I have failed. All public health graduates in this country have failed. All medical personnel of this country have failed and all paramedics have failed. All NGOs and INGOs have failed, the health system of this country has failed and all UN agencies in Nepal have failed.

Few days ago there was a kidney day and it was celebrated in my college by organizing a programme. There is no any doubt, it is good to raise awareness on people about their kidney, but what is the need of this country? Do we need a Kidney Day or Anti Diarrheal day?
Recently the Prime Minister (PM) himself visited the diarrhea affected areas and promised to give Rs 10,000 for every family who has lost a child due to diarrheas. What a stupid idea again…….? Instead of this if the PM had spent just 10,000 per VDC on raising awareness on diarrhea and provision of clean and safe drinking water just before the beginning of rainy season then all those children would have been saved. But…..who cares……………..this is Nepal and one gets attention here only after one dies and the PM also needs some good stuffs to gain popularity.

But again………………what am I doing to prevent the diarrhea……. Just writing this article and putting blame on others doesn’t solve the problem of diarrhea in Rukum and Jajarkot……….….I need to do something, otherwise even though my academic degree show I passed my exams I will be a failure in real life exams.

Exams are not yet over

Hurray ….the exams are over now. I will be having lots of free time. Now I can chat with friends for hrs and now I can spend hrs on facebook. In last two months my whole daily routines were crashed due to the exams. Neither I could update my blog nor could I chat long with friends….But now……wow…lots of free time……..While I was preparing for the exam I had made a list of to do things…..I can now complete them.

But how were the exams. Leave it man…………you have just completed them…the results will tell. But during the whole exam period one thing always hitted me hard “ ……..had I gone extra mile……had I read little more during the free time…….” I think this happens with all in every exam. You are never satisfied with your preparations……… you always regret in the last hours of preparations. “Why didn’t I go through detail on this chapter when I had lots of free time? Why I went to that party…….instead of that if I had gone through this chapter………? ” So and so……..You regret very much for each and every minutes you wasted. The regret becomes much severe if there comes a question in exam from the chapter you haven’t read thoroughly. You know on which book and on which handout answer of this particular question lies but you don’t know what the answer is. At that moment the only thing you can do by sitting on the exam hall is biting your pen and regretting the time you have wasted.

And another problem that I faced is when you are preparing for exams you feel like watching TV, you feel sleepy immediately after having dinner and you feel like going to movie with friends. And at that time you think if there were no exams………………… And today exams are over and guess what. I don’t feel like sleeping………… “Ajha jhan exam sakiyeko din nindrai lagdaina…….”. What to do…….I don’t have sleeping tablets. A good idea………….I went to my cupboard took out a book of epidemiology then started to read. Guess what happened……..I felt asleep in five minutes……………..A good replacement for sleeping tablet

But are my exams over………….? Oh no…what a silly thought I had. Still I have another six months to work on thesis. I think this will be tougher than my theory exams. Besides……….how can anyone’s exams be over just by appearing on a month long written exams ………….I still have many exams to appear ahead in my life………I will be having exams in each and every moment of my life. There will be someone, somewhere always evaluating me based on my performance, based on my language, based on my communication……so and so. Then how can I say that my exams are over. It was my foolishness to say exams are over……….finally I have reached the conclusion that exams are not yet over……………

Protected Child

“Protected Child” this is a phrase given to me by one of my friends. When she tagged this stamp on me then I thought “Am I really so?” Then I remembered my childhood days. Yes I was really brought up as a protected child. Though I was eldest son I didn’t have to do any household chores. Neither my parents urged me to do so nor did I show any interest on that. Till I was on tenth grade I didn’t know how to light the gas, how to boil water and how to make tea. My grandmother, mother, aunt and sister were always there to cook foods for me, to wash my clothes, to press my dress. I myself was also reserved and introvert. Whenever new guests used to come to our house I used to hide in my study room until they were out of my house. Speaking to new people was one of the most difficult tasks for me.

After I passed SLC I came kathmandu and joined plus two in one of the reputed college. Then my mum also came to kathmandu because my family didn’t want to leave me alone. She was here to do all mine household chores. I requested many time that I was not a child and I want to be independent and want to live alone. I also gave examples of my friends who live alone. But my family was not ready to leave me alone in kathmandu. My college life also passed in the same inert and inactive way. After I passed plus two I was in dilemma about choosing my carrier. There used to be discussions in the house everyday about my future carrier. MBBS, BDS, BE, BSC………..so many options………but not sure which one to choose. But for all the family members the first choice was always medicine. I was not determined to make my carrier in Medicine. With more interest of the family members and little interest of mine I did medical entrance preparation classes and waited for one year. But I never put my whole effort in entrance preparation, that’s the reason why I couldn’t succeed. If I could have studied with full dedication I could have easily achieved that. One of the lessons I learnt in my life from this is that be fully dedicated and make a complete picture of what you wanna be. With no proper carrier counseling and lots of options ahead I was really in dilemma to choose a carrier.

Fortunately I planned to do my Bachelors in Public Health. Till this time I was not sure what actually this field is. I just jumped into it. I appeared in entrance examination and got successful as well. Immediately after the results came there was Dashain and Tihar Vacation, I went Pokhara with two books “You can win” by Shiv Khera and “How to influence people and make friends” by Dale Carnegie. These two books brought lots of changes in me. I followed the principles given by the writers in the books. The books written in simple language are really worth reading. Then I began to plan my future and promised myself that I will be an extrovert and multidimensional.

I don’t know how fast those three years of Bachelors degree passed. The public health, the subject itself was different from other sciences. So once I began my student life as a public health student, it automatically changed my way of thinking and way of behaving with people. I don’t know how it happened but it all happened automatically. I became extrovert, more confident and bold. I was no more a shy and reserved person. I began enjoying the discussions and argument with people. I became interested in what’s going around the world as well. The books (not course books) became my best friends. Besides these there were lots of helpful colleagues around me always. This boosted my confidence. Lots of presentation assignments in class, lots of exposure in the field helped me in further enhancing my presentation and Public speaking skills. The hostel life, window shopping, hanging in the garden and partying every last Friday of the month added more romance to the college life.

And my dear friend now I’m a grown up boy……..

पोखरादेखि तातोपानी सम्म

एम. पि. एच. मा नाम निस्केपछि नौलो घुम्तीमा मैले राजिनामा दिइसकेको थिएं । अब काठमाण्डौ जान एक हप्तामात्र बाँकि थियो । हुन त काठमाण्डौमा पढाइ शुरु भैसकेको थियो र लगभग पन्ध्र दिन जति मेरो पढाइ छुटिसकेका पनिे थियो तर म अझै पनि काठमाण्डौ गएर पढ्न तयार भैसकेको थिइन । वास्तवमा म काठमाण्डौ जान अघि शहरको कोलाहालबाट टाढा, घर परिवारबाट पर, कुनै रमाइलो र शान्त वातावरणमा गएर केहि दिन बिताउन चाहन्थें । काठमाण्डौ गएर फेरी ठेलीका ठेली किताब पल्टाउन र लामा लामा लेक्चरहरु सुन्न अघि मैले बिगत दुइ वर्षपोखरामा काम गर्दा संगालेका तिता मीठा अनुभवहरुलाइ यतै बिसाउन चाहन्थें म । एक दिन युवा अभियानको अफिसमा भेट भएको बेला साथी जीवनले म्याग्दी हुदै नागीसम्म ट्रेकिङ्ग जाने प्रस्ताव ल्यायो । मलाई त के खाज्छस कानो आखो भने जस्तै भयो । मैले तुरुन्तै जीवनको प्रस्तावलाइ स्वीकार गरें र हामीले ट्रेकिङ्गको योजना बनायौं ।
हाम्रो योजना मुताबिक भोलिपल्ट जीवन र म बिहान सात बजे नै यवा अभियानको अफिसमा भेट भयौं र जीवनको बाइकमा म्याग्दी तिर लाग्यौं । शुरुमा त जीवनले मलाइ बाइकमा जाने भन्दा अलि डर लागेको थियो तर जीवनको बीचमा एक दई ठाउमा काम भएकाले र गाडीमा जादा ढीला हुने हनाले हामी बाइकमा नै जाने सहमतिमा पगेका थियौं । पोखराबाट हिडेको डेढ घण्टामा हामी लुम्ले पुग्यौं । खाना खाने बेला भैसकेको थियो त्यसैले हामीले लुम्लेमा नै खाना खाएर अगाडि बढने निर्णय गर्यौं र सोनाम लजमा पस्यौं । लजको साहुजी खुशीमान दाइसंग जिवनको पहिले देखि नै राम्रो चिनजान रहेछ । लजको टेरेसमा बसेर हामी थकाइ मार्दै गफ गर्न थाल्यौं । “सरकारको नेतृत्व माओवादीले नै गर्ला त - यदी माओवादीले नै गर्यो भने नेपाललाई अन्तराष्ट्रीय स्तरमा कस्तो सहयोग प्राप्त होला - माछापुच्छ्रेलाई पर्वतारोहणका लागी खुला गर्नुहन्छ की हुदैन - अरवीन तीमिलसेना किन सगरमाथाको त्यती नजिक पुगेर पनि शिखर चम्न सकेन - के वास्तवमा नै उसलाइ मौसमले साथ नदिएको हो वा उसको शिखर चुम्ने सपनालाई असफल बनाइएको हा - झलक दाइले बनाएको डाडाघरे वाइनलाइ किन राज्स्व बिभागले स्वीकृत नदिएको होला -” यिनै बिषयमा छलफल गर्दागर्दै खुशीमान दाइले भात र सुकुटी लिएर आउनुभयो । यहां पहिले नै खाना बनाएर राख्ने भन्दा पनि गा्रहक आएर अडर गरे पछी मात्र खाना बन्दो रहेछ । खुशीमान दाइले बनाएको सुकुटी साह्रै मीठो थियो । बि. पि. एच. पढदा मैले बफ मःम, सुकुटी वा सेकुवा सबै खान छाडीसकेको थिए । तर पछि जागिरको शिलशिलामा पोखरा आएपछी “ टिपटप र मम किङ्गले” गर्दा फेरी बफ खाने बानी बस्यो । मटन बफ दुइटै चल्ने हुनाले हामीले खुशीमान दाइलाई के को सुकुटी हो भनेर सोद्धै नसोधि खायौं र वास्तवमा सुकुटी साहै मिठो थियो र हामी पर्वत हुदै बाग्लुड पुगुन्जेल यस्को धेरै नै चर्चा भयो । हामी लगभग तिन बजे तिर बाग्लुड पुगेका थियौं त्यहां एकदुइ ठाउंमा जीवनको काम सकाउदा चार बज्यो र हामी चार बजे बाग्लुड बाट म्याग्दी तर्फहिडयौं ।
म पोखराबाट बाग्लुङ्ग त धेरै चोटी आएको थिएं तर म्याग्दीको मेरो यात्रा भने यो पहिलो थियो । म्याग्दी जानकोलागी मालढुङ्गाबाट कालीगण्डगीको तिरै तिर हुदै एउटा कच्ची बाटो जादो रहेछ त्यहीबाटो हुदै जान पर्नै रहेछ । कच्चीबाटो भएकाले ज्यादै डर लागेको थियो । कतिपय ठाउमा त मैले बाइकबाट झरेर बाइक धकेल्न पनि परयो । लगभग एक डेढ घण्टाको बाटो बाइकमा हिडेपछि म्याग्दी आइपुग्यो । जीवनले खोलावारी बाटै त्यही हो म्याग्दी शहर भनेर देखायो । टाढाबाट हेर्दा म्याग्दी शहर ज्यादै राम्रो लाग्यो । साथै पोहोर साल माओवादी र आर्मीको दोहोरो भिडन्त भएको ब्यारेक पनि जीवनले मलाइ परबाटै देखायो । हो त त्यो ठाउ त मैले टिभिमा देखेको थिएं जहा सयौ लाशहरु देखाइएका थिए । अझै पनि सम्झंदा पनि कहालीलाग्छ त्यो दृष्य ।
हामी ठिक्क छ बजे म्याग्दी पुग्यौं । म्याग्दीमा कान्तिपुरका सम्वाददाता घनश्याम खड्कासंग भेट भयो । घनश्यामजी, म र जीवन कालीगण्डकी नदीको छेवैमा रहेको माइ क्याफे (My Cafe) मा बसेर खाजा खायौं । दिनभरी पोखरादेखी बाइकमा हिडेका हामी म्याग्दी आइपुग्दा ज्यादै थाकेका थियौं । कालीगण्डगीको छेवैमा बसेर चिसो बियर र मःम खांदा ज्यादै रमाइलो भयो । घन्ाश्यामजीको लेखहरु त कान्तिपुरमा धेरै पहिले देखिनै पढदै आएको थिएं तर आज वहांसग पत्यक्ष रुपमा भेटेर गफ गर्दै बियरको चुश्कि लिदा ज्यादै रमाइलो भयो । क्याफेमा बसेर गफ गर्दा गर्दै झमक्कै साdm परेछ हामीलाइ त पत्तै भएन । त्यसपछी कता बस्ने भनेर कुरा हुनथाल्यो । केहीबेरको छलफलपछी गलेश्वरमा बस्ने नीधौ गर्यौं हामीले र त्यतै तिर लाग्यौं । गलेश्वर भन्ने बस्ती म्याग्दी भन्दा अली माथी एकान्त ठाउमा कालीगण्डगीको तिरैमा रहेछ । हामी बसेको “प्याराडाइज होटल” सांच्चै नै प्याराडाइज नै थियो । शान्त र एकान्तमा रहेको होटेलको कोठामा कालीगण्डकीको कलकल बगेको आवज प्रश्टै सुनिन्थ्यो । हामीलाइ होटेलसम्म छोड्न आउनुभएको घनश्याम जी पनि हाम्रो धेरै अनुरोधपछी हामीसंगै होटलमा बस्नुभयो ।
भोलीपल्ट बिहान उठेर जीवनको एक दुइ ठाउमा रहेको काम सकायौं र तातो पानी तीर लाग्यौं । वास्तवमा पोखराबाट हिंडदा हाम्रो योजना नागी जाने थियो तर म्याग्दी आइसकेपछि हामीले आफनो योजना परिवर्तन गरेर तातो पानीसम्म पुग्ने योजना बनायौं । हालसालै नेपाल आर्मीले म्याग्दीदेखी मुक्तीनाथसम्मै मोटरबाटो बनाएको रहेछ तर बषर्ा याममा भने गाडी नजांदो रहेछ र बाटो पनि साहृै हिलो हुनेरहेछ । हामी बाटो हिलो छ भन्ने थाह हुदा हुदै पनि जहांसम्म पुगिएला पुगिएला भन्दै बाइकमा नै हिंडयौ । पहाडलाई खोपेर बनाइएको बाटो कालीगण्डकीको तीरै तीर र पहाडै पहाडको बिच भएर जादो रहेछ । कतै कतै बाटो राम्रो भएता पनि धैरे जसो ठाउमा एकदम हिलो र चिप्लो थियो । यदि केहि गरी बाइक चिप्लेर एक इन्च मात्रै छेउमा गयो भने सिधै खालामा पुगिने डर । तर जीवनले कत्ति पनि नहडबडाइ राम्रैसंग बाइक चलायो । हाम्रो यात्रा ज्यादै रमाइलो भएकोमा हामी ज्यादै खुशी थियौं र हाम्रो यात्रालाई घरी चे ग्वेभाराले “मोटरसाइकल डायरीमा” गरेको यात्रा त घरी Into the wild भन्ने मुभीमा हिरोले गरेको साहशीक यात्रा संग हाम्रो यात्रालाइ तुलना गर्थयौं । सांच्चै नै त्यस्तो अप्ठयारो र जोखिमयुक्त बाटोमा मोटरसाइकलमा गुड्दा त घरी घरी आफु नै चे ग्वेभारा भएर मोटरसाइकल डायरी भन्ने डकुमेन्ट्रीमा चे ग्वेभाराले गरेको यात्रा जस्तै लाग्थयो तर Thanks God जीवनले उक्त डकुमेन्ट्रीमा झैं बाइक चाहिं पल्टाएन । लगभग आधा घण्टा जति बाइकमा हिंडेपछि बाइकको चक्काभरी हिलो भरिएर बाइक गुडाउनै नमिल्ने हुन्थ्यो । त्यसपछी हामी बाइक रोकेर बाइकको चक्का र बम्परमा टांसिएको हिलो फाल्थ्यौं र पुन अगाडि बड्थ्यौं । यसरी कहिं गुडाउंदै त कहिं घिच्चयाउदै लगभग दुइ घण्टा जति बाइकमा हिंडेपछि हामी यस्तो ठाउमा आइपुग्यौं जहांबाट बाइकमा अगाडि जान असम्भव प्राय थियो । त्यसपछि त्यहीं छेवैको घरमा बाइक पार्किङ्ग गरेर हामी हिंडन थाल्यौं । हामीले यहांका स्थानीय मानिसंग बुझदा त्यहांबाट हिडेर तातोपानी पुग्न अझै चार देखि पांच घण्टा लाग्ने थाह पाए पछि हामी कस्सिएर हिंड्न थाल्यौं । तातो पानि पुगुन्जेल बाटोमा ज्यादै रमाइला गफहरु भए । तातोपानी पुगेपछि हामीले तातोपानीमा डुबुल्की मार्यौं । मैले शुरुमा त सोचेको थिएं तातो पानी भन्ने मात्रै होला पानी मनतातो मात्रै हुन्छ होला तर त्यहाकेा पानी त मैले सोचेको भन्दा ज्यादै नै तातो हुदोरहेछ । तातो पानीमा नुहाउनाले बाथ लगाएत बिभिन्न छालाका रोगहरु निको हुन्छ भन्ने मान्यता हाम्रो गाउघर तिर पाइन्छ । तातो पानीमा लगभग एकघण्टा डुबुल्कीमारे पछि हामी होटल खोज्न लाग्यौं । ट्रेकिङ्ग रुट र मुक्तिनाथ जानेबाटो भएकाले यहां पनि राम्रै हाटेलहरु पाउदोरहेछ । हामीले कटेज स्टाइलको एउटा होटेलमा बस्ने निधौ गर्यौं र त्यहीं बस्यौं । कोठामा केहिबेर आराम गरेपछि हामी तातो पानि बजार घुम्न निस्कियौं । यो एउटा पुरानो बजार रहेछ र यसको आकर्षा भनेको तातो पानी नै रहेछ । प्राय जसो हिडेर मुक्तिनाथ जाने यात्रीहरुको लागी म्याग्दीबाट हिंडेपछिको पहिलो दिनको बास बस्ने ठाउ यो तातोपानी नै हुदोरहेछ त्यसैले यहा प्रशस्तै होटलहरु थिए । तर अफ सिजन भएकाले होला विदेशी पर्यटकहरु भने फाट्टफुट्टमात्रै देखिन्थे । बेलुका खाना खान अगाडी मैले मार्फ चाखें तर ज्यादै कडा भएकाले एक गिलास पनि बडो मुकिलले सकियो । तर जीवनले भने दुइ बोतल बियर खायो । खाना खाइसकेपछि त्यही होटलमा बसेका एकजना ब्राजिलियन पर्यटक र होटलकै साहुजीसंग लगभग एक घण्टा गफ गरयौं र सुत्न गयौं । लगभग दुइघण्टाको बाइकको यात्रा र चारघण्टाको पैदल यात्राले गर्दा साहृै थाकेका थियौं । कटेजमा आएर आ आफनो बिस्तारामा बसेर हामी गफ गर्दा गर्दै कतिबेला निदाइएछ पत्तै भएन । भोलीपल्ट बिहान सबेरै उठेर जीवन र म पोखरा तर्फहिडंयौ । यसरी हाम्रो पोखरादेखि तातोपानि सम्मको यात्रा ज्यादै रमाइलो र सफल रहृयो ।

The Pursuit of Happiness

There are only a few movies which have touched deep in my heart. One of the latest movie i watched "The Pursuit of happiness" was also able to touch deep in my heart....so i couldn't stop myseld from writing its review. Thanks to my friend who recommended me to watch the movie and provided me its DVD.

This movie is the story of a man struggling in his life. It's also a story of a loving father. Christopher (Will Smith) the lead actor of the movie is a seller of bone density scanner (a portable medical device). He works hard and lives with his wife and his son. But their life is in misery as the income of both christopher and his wife Linda goes on paying the taxes and bills. The both couple are struggling hard just to solve their hand to mouth problem and providing good care to their son. One day on seeing the stock brokers and their luxurious life style Christopher also wants to become a stock broker "a high paying job " . But for a high school passed person like christopher being stock broker is not easy. The film is all about how he becomes stock broker. The struggles done by christopher to become stock broker is very impressive. I would love to.....but i don't want to......narrate here how he struggles and achieves his dream because if you have watched this movie you already know it and if you haven't yet watched it then, I recommend you to watch it

The struggle of christopher and his love towards his son are two of the things of the movie that touched me deeply. The director has well portrayed the father son relationship in the movie. When i was watching the movie i felt like how much do people can struggle. And behind the story of every successful people in this world there is another hidden story of struggle with life. But when we see them we only see their successful part. If we could see the struggle and understand how they overcome their difficulties then it would be a great lesson. The only lesson i learned by watching this movie is.....struggle hard if you want to be successful in life.