A new beginning
Posted: May 30, 2008 Filed under: News/information and opinion, Randomization of randomness 2 Comments »Nepal is the latest republic of the world. Absolute monarchy, that too very unpopular and demanding, would never be accepted in any civilized part of the world. Nepal‘s monarch learnt that a hard way couple of days ago.
I hope Nepalese political leaders/parties, for at least two years, work in an unpartisan way without any trivial political bickering. Republic is not a super-bullet; it’s simply a new starting point. The situation, until new constitution and general election, is very sensitive; we need to demonstrate patience, unity, vision, and leadership never before seen in Nepalese history.
And people of Nepal need to show more maturity; stop being whimsical. Getting Republic doesn’t mean that there is lawlessness; the whole point of republic is to state that “no one is above the law”. We still need to learn more about respect, common sense, and civic sense. Stupidity and rush of blood is not patriotism, I hope the youths of Nepal think thrice before doing anything offensive, especially younger “Maoist Cadres”. I want to reiterate again, getting republic doesn’t mean any party cadres are above the law. We are Nepalese first before Congress, Communist, Democrats, hilly people, Madhese, Hindu, vegetarian, cricket fan, pet lover, singer, and so on. Think of Nepal first, anything after is trifling in comparison.
कागले कान लग्यो भन्दैमा आफ्नो कान नै नछामी कागको पछाडि दौडिनु हुन्न है।
Gorkhe’s crawfish experience
Posted: May 25, 2008 Filed under: Let the picture speak, News/information and opinion 4 Comments »In one of my earlier posts I had mentioned about my experience with alien food, today I would like to share my familiarity with another one. Unlike the last one, I eventually did enjoy this food item: Crawfish, one of the specialties of Lafayette Louisiana.
Crawfish are freshwater crustacean, resembling like small lobsters. More than 90% of Crawfish supply for United States is harvested alone in Louisiana, thanks to its immense swamps. Eating crawfish in Louisiana is more than just a culinary practice, its part of their culture too. According to Wikipedia, “Louisiana crawfish are usually boiled live in a large pot with heavy seasoning (salt, cayenne pepper, lemon, garlic, bay leaves, etc) and other items such as potatoes, maize, onions, garlic, and sausage. They are generally served at a gathering known as crawfish boil.”
When I first came to Louisiana, my colleagues suggested me to try crawfish. After my rabbit fiasco, I was extra careful where I ate; I only went to the places where I knew the food, like Chinese buffet. But even there, they had crawfish. I had no idea how to eat those, so I skipped them for couple of times. The hype of crawfish was getting bigger on me so I decided to bring the food home instead (so that I don’t look like a fool trying to figure out how to eat it in the restaurant. Anyone ever seen the movie “Mr. Bean’s Holiday” ?). At home, I broke the crawfish in half, threw the tail and peeled the abdomen off and ate (there was nothing to eat, so I sucked the spicy juice). What a waste of crawfish I thought, all this hype was for nothing. That year I tried couple more of crawfish in few occasions in Chinese buffet, and same the next year. However, when I was talking with one of my colleagues this year on how best to eat a crawfish that I realized, all this time I was throwing away what was supposed to be eaten and eating what was supposed to be thrown away. No wonder, crawfish didn’t live up to the hype 
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Nepal Diary: Gorakhpur Trip 4
Posted: May 19, 2008 Filed under: Let the picture speak, My bandwagon 3 Comments »After my Gorakhpur Trip someone asked me “how was Gorakhpur”? I replied saying “Just imagine crowds and congestion of Ason in Kathmandu, and add high volume of vehicular movement to it”. That’s exactly how it was.
After returning to Nepal after four years interval, I was surprised with Kathmandu’s traffic. But after returning from Gorakhpur, Kathmandu’s traffic was no more terrifying. However, I did get a sense that the development pattern of Kathmandu is following the trails of Gorakhpur: ever expending with limited infrastructure. Read the rest of this entry »
Nepal Diary: Gorakhpur Trip 3
Posted: May 16, 2008 Filed under: My bandwagon 4 Comments »The lunch at Ganesh restaurant was good, as usual I was eating like that was my last day on earth. I can’t blame myself; it’s unlikely that I would get similar food back in Louisiana. I ate South Indian dish and lots of sweets, and my preferred drink was ‘Thumbs Up’. The place was relatively clean, and the prices were reasonable too. But I had one issue, I was having trouble communicating with the servers. When I spoke in Hindi they replied back in Nepali, then I see this server who looks like a Nepali and I spoke to him in Nepali, and he has no clue what I am talking about. And when I try to negate this problem by talking in English, no one has any clue. Lots of Nepalese work at Gorakhpur, I being Kathmandu locked bum hadn’t seen the extent of diversity in the features of the people in Nepal and India. That made recognition more complicated, and though there is political boundary between Nepal and India, culturally and physically the people look similar. Wasn’t a big issue at all, but for a moment I almost felt like Bill Murray in “Lost in Translation”. Read the rest of this entry »
Nepal Diary: Gorakhpur Trip 2
Posted: May 10, 2008 Filed under: Let the picture speak, My bandwagon 8 Comments »Railway Station at Gorakhpur is one of the gateway of educational opportunities for thousands of Nepalese. Nepalese have used this station to reach far away, even beyond India, in pursuit of their higher education. Though I haven’t been on any rail (till date), few of my friends have very fond memories of Indian railway network (starting from Gorakhpur to their Colleges, and vice versa).
