On the journey

It’s been a little more than a year that I moved to Baltimore, and I still struggle to chaperon my visitors for the city and it’s vicinities tour. If someone is in Baltimore area for a very short visit, then it’s a piece of cake, I take them to the Inner Harbor. The Inner Harbor has it all; the aquarium, the science center, lot’s of chain restaurants, boat rides, and tons of other potential spots and scenes to capture for their Facebook There is also Fort McHenry close by to wrap up the combo Harbor trip.

If it’s slightly longer than a day visit, then it spells trouble for me. Not all want to go to the zoo, not all want to go for a hike in the trails, and going to a museum is an absolute no. Interests and time limits (enough for the harbor visit, but not for hours of hike) makes the above choices more difficult. I don’t know if its because that Nepal is blessed with so many natural wonders, we Nepalese want to see more physical structures. For any natural phenomenon to catch our attention, it has to be of a big magnitude, like Niagara Falls or Grand Canyon. Washington DC (less than an hour drive to my west) is always there to bail me out, but after multiple visits through the same routes has made it a very dull place for me. Even when it is extremely fascinating for the new visitors, I only go there if I am made to View full article »

बल्टिमोर  मा  धेरै  नेपाली  छन,  नेपाली  कलाकारहरु  पनि  धेरै  छन  रे ।  पुरै  सात  महिना  भयो  Lafayette  बाट  यता  सरेको,  तर  कुनै  पनि  बृहत  नेपाली  कार्यक्रममा  सहभागी  हुन  पाएको  छैन ।  त्यसैले  गर्दा  यता  रहेका  नेपाली  कलाकार  र  नेपाली समाज  संग  खासै  साक्षात्कार  भएको  छैन ।  आज  दिउसो (electronics स्टोर नगै) मल  तिर  गएको  थिएं,  त्यहां  श्रीमती  संग  उसको  लुगा  हेर्दै  बस्दा  फेला  परिन  नेपाली  सिनिमा  को  सबै  भन्दा  लोकप्रिय  नायिका  करिश्मा ।  उनी  पनि  त्यही  ठांउमा  Dress  खोज्दै  रहिछिन ।  एकै  छिन्  त  बिश्वास  नलागेर  श्रीमतीसंग  confirm  गरें । उनलाई  देखेर  म  त  एकै  छिन्  school  boy  blush  भए  झै  भए  र  नर्भस  हुंदै  “नमस्ते  करिश्मा  जि,  तपाईंले  मलाई  चिन्नु  हुन्न  तर  म  भनें तपाईंलाई  obviously  चिन्छु”  भनें । उन्ले  पनि  सहजै  पारमा  “नमस्ते,  अनी  आरामै  हुनु  हुन्छ” भनिन । त्यस  पछी  हामी  आ-आफ्नो  बाटो लाग्यौं ।  हुन  त  बाल्टिमोर  बासिन्दालाई  करिश्मालाई  त्यसरी  भेट्नु  कुनै  ठुलो  कुरा  थिएन,  तर  नेपाली  नै  कम  भएको  Lafayette  बाट  आएको भएर  होला  मलाई  भने  खुब  रमाइलो  लाग्यो ।

झन्दै  चार  दशक  पुग्न  लागेकि  करिश्मा  मैले  LUX  साबुनको  बिज्ञापनमा  देखेको, वा  मायालु  भन्ने  सिनेमा  मा  देखेको  भन्दा  खासै  फरक  पाईन। अझ  सिनेमा  मा  भन्दा  बहिर  पो  राम्री  हो  कि  जस्तो  लाग्यो । क्यामरा  त  थिऍन  तर  फोनको  क्यमरा  प्रयोग  गर्न  पनि  बुद्धि  पुगेन ।

नेपाली   कलाक्षेत्रको   दुर्भाग्य  (वा  के  हो)  उनि   लगायत  धेरै  कलाकारहरु  बिदेश  पलायन  भएका  छन्, तर  उनिहरुको   पनि   त   आ-आफ्नै  इक्षा  र  आकांक्षा  होलान् ।

Photo Source: Nepal News

The first time I went for ski was in Minnesota in 2005, at the end of the day I had promised myself that it would be the last time I would ever go. Well, I broke my promise and went ski again yesterday in Pennsylvania. I made another promise yesterday; this would be the last time I would go ski again

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The whole of August I was busy looking for a new job, after two and half years in Lafayette I had decided it’s time to move on now. Looking for new job while working on another one can be a real challenge, it’s hard to focus on both simultaneously. Finally after different interviews I decided to take a new offer. I had two basic criterions for a new job: either it should be much better (in pay, benefits, or work exposure) than previous job or it should be in my preferred geographic location. My new job was more of the second criterion; I now have to relocate to the east coast from down south Louisiana. 

I hate moving, there were two options for me: throw everything I have and then buy new stuff later or pack old stuffs and somehow transport it. After doing cost benefit analysis I decided to take most of my old stuffs. Not all of these could fit into my car so I had to either use service of U-Haul trucks (tow my car with it) or let the moving company transport my stuff while I and my wife travel in my car. The distance to my destination was about 1,300 miles, and I was not confident enough to drive truck with a trailer for such a long distance. Thus I used the services of U-Pack to move my stuff. The contract was to drop my stuff at U-Pack terminal at Lafayette and then pick it up at U-Pack terminal at Baltimore. I had scheduled a drop off on September 4, so we were busy packing our stuff. I didn’t realize that in two and half years I had assembled so much stuff, it was very frustrating to pack them. 

My stuff drop off was on September 4, my last day at work was on September 5, and my new job start day was September 15. I and my wife were working hard to ensure everything goes according to the plan, and then something unthinkable happened. Hurricane Gustav was heading straight to Louisiana and was forecasted to make a landfall on September 2.  

To be continued….