Snake Lake & I

I recently finished reading a book, Snake Lake, by Jeff Greenwald. Both a memoir and a travelogue,the book is set in 1990′s Kathmandu, when the author was working as a freelance journalist for the San Fransisco Examiner. The book unravels the democratic aspirations of Nepali population, and the ultimate success of the ‘People’s Movement’ to establish democracy. Along with author’s quest towards Buddhism, his love life with a fellow American photographer, and tragic events leading to suicide of his brother; the book skilfully narrates few other historical, cultural, social, and political events in Nepal.  The book is simple, funny, interesting, sad, and even shocking; this is a great read, you will love it even more if you are a Nepali.

Festive lights at Naag Pokhari

The title ‘Snake Lake’ refers to ‘Naag Pokhari’, located in central Kathmandu; the author lived in a rented house near this lake. Nag Pokhari is close to my home too, about 15 minutes of walk. I must have walked by it over a thousand times, I must have been in there over a hundred times; but, unlike the author, I never cared for its history, myths, or the physiography.The lake had always been there, like many other cultural/historical/religious monuments, I had taken Nag Pokhari for granted. Jeff Greenwald, however, had a different perspective; his natural curiosity made him better informed. Thankfully, he documented the tales and history surrounding some of these monuments/shrines in Kathmandu, like: relation of ‘Naag’ (Snakes) to Kathmandu, rise of Swayambhunath, why was Ajima temple built near Swayambhunath and why do people offer first to Ajima before offering to Swayambhunath, information on mysterious and inaccessible Shantipur temple, Tibetan and Nepali version of origin of Boudhanath temple, etc.

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Netherlands Vs Spain

The 2010 FIFA World Cup, so far, is marred with multiple referring blunders, but hopefully the event won’t be defined just by that. Though few teams, especially the English and Mexicans, might beg to differ, the event itself is of a historic significance. It occurs once in four years, and almost all the countries in the world are involved in the qualification process, in other words this is a genuine global event. And, for the first time ever, it is being hosted in Africa.

It is definitely a different experience watching these games in United States. I once read in an Archie comic that US has four seasons: Basketball (NBA), Baseball (MLB), American Football (NFL), and Hockey (NHL). I found that absolutely true; and the current FIFA World Cup seems strategically placed for the US audiences. NBA just ended, and MLB is just starting, a perfect time to broadcast FIFA World Cup to the American audiences. Growing American interest in “Soccer” is a big deal for FIFA, after all sports are nowadays more about money. The American Soccer team did well at the event, which further enhanced the interest. But this beautiful game, so much adored around the globe has plenty of detractors here. It might come as a surprise to the “rest of the world”, but there are lots of people here dismissing the game in a similar fashion as they once did to women’s right to vote or civil rights to the minorities. Though not representative of general population, check out this link and this one to have a general idea on these detractors. The failure of FIFA to use the technologies, and dutifully accepting referring blunder as a part of the game is providing added fodder to these type of detractors.

Since I don’t watch club level soccer, it took time for me get immersed into this World Cup. But, as the tournament progressed, I have become more interested and won’t be missing any matches from here on. I don’t have any clear cut favorites in this World Cup. I would love an African nation to win, but conventional wisdom on Ghana suggests otherwise. A finale between Argentina and Brazil sounds very appealing; I believe they both have the biggest followers worldwide, the TV ratings would be off the roof. However, I would like to have a deserving, but not a prior winner hoisting the World Cup trophy. One good path forward towards that goal would be a Netherlands Vs Spain final, and I would be rooting for both to get there.

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10,000 Steps

Do you know how many steps you walk in a day?  We all know the importance of exercise in our lives, but most are unaware that excercise does not have to be difficult or physically demanding to reap health benefits and maintain proper weight.  Recent studies have shown that walking 10,000 steps a day is often enough for weight management, provided you take care of your diet too. However, if you are looking for a 6 pack abs or a significant reduction in weight, then you might require more strenuous exercises

I recently purchased a pedometer at a thrift store, so I was very curious to count how many steps I walk in a normal day. I clipped the pedometer in my belt everyday before leaving for work, and took the reading immediately after coming back home. The count was that  I walk slightly over 3,000 steps in an average. The proper reading needs to be taken right before going to the bed; but knowing the couch potato that I am, there wouldn’t have been more than couple hundred extra steps at max. And, I have a magnificent pot belly to prove it

It wasn’t just me, unless people do some extra walking they normally don’t reach the goal of 10,000 steps (or 5 miles or 8 km) in a day. Here is the list of few professions and the average number of steps they walk in a day. Note, this is based on the study conducted in USA. In Nepal I used to surpass 10,000 steps easily, even when I was doing absolutely nothing

For source: click this link

• Secretaries 4,327 steps

•  Teachers, 4,726 steps

•  Lawyers, 5,062 steps

•  Police officers, 5,336 steps

•  Nurses, 8,648 steps

•  Construction workers, 9,464 steps

•  Factory workers, 9,892 steps

•  Restaurant servers, 10,087 steps

•  Custodians, 12,991 steps

•  Mail carriers, 18,904 steps

Unless I choose to take stairs, 3-4 story’s up, every time I want to go to the restroom (toilet),  I don’t foresee attaining 10,000 steps while continuing my couch potato privileges  Hopefully, 10,000 Steps will be a part of my new years resolution

Happy Nepali New Year 2067 to y’all

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Power of collective buying

Today my wife introduced me to a new site, and I instantly loved it’s concept; it’s called GROUPON. Similar to Craigslist, it has city specific pages (limited to USA & Canada). Groupon, each day frequently, has  a deal offered from local businesses. However, for that deal to be valid, a minimum number of people (for example, 30 people) will need to buy it by certain time (for example, within couple of days). If the quota of minimum people is not materialized, the deal is off, but the buying can continue even after surpassing the minimum alloted number. You will get an email with the coupon and redemption instructions, after the deal gets valid.

There are lot more other “Deals” sites, and I use them frequently too. But either it’s Groupon or the other sites, one should always read the fine prints.  Looking at these “Deal” sites can make you a compulsive buyer, buying something that you will seldom use; I am a living example of it One should always be smart when it comes to buying, get your priorities straight; and ensure that these coupons are used before they expire.

I am not into advertising a “Deal” site, especially the one that I knew of just this morning, and have only few hours of cross checking. Like I mentioned above, I was fascinated with its concept, the power of collective buying. The thing that encouraged me the most to sign-up were some of the past deals (all from local businesses), like wine tasting, guided trip to new york, culinary classes, all for very good prices. It was not just about prices, it was more about quality ideas on spending your time on things that you might never had thought of.

Again, I hope you all are responsible enough to restrain yourself from being a compulsive buyer. But, I see no harm in signing up and seeing what local deals are available. I am still learning more about it, why don’t you give it a shot too?  Click here to go to the Groupon site. I have default city as Baltimore, you can change that using “Visit More Cities” on the center top side of the page. Sign up, and good luck :)

DSLR 101

First of all, this post is not for the professionals, or even the advanced level photographers. This post is primarily for those people who are sitting on the fence on upgrading to a Digital Single-Lens Reflex camera (DSLR), or to those who want to buy a camera but not sure if they are ready to jump straight to a DSLR.  Also, don’t expect this post to be very technical, this post is based mainly on my experience of using DSLR for past three years.

If you are thinking of buying an advanced (high-end) compact camera, and if the portability (size) is not an issue for you, then you should go ahead and buy a lower end DSLR. If you can afford, then you can even shoot for a higher end DSLR . The camera I have now, Nikon D40, costs around $400 -$500, with kit lens.  A higher end compact camera will easily cost you from $350 -$500.  I understand, it’s not always advisable and possible to carry a bulky camera around, but for those “Kodak moments” you always have your cell phone camera. The camera’s in the cellphone, today, are far better than my very first 2MP HP digital camera

The biggest secret of a DSLR taking great pictures, even when a novice is operating it in an Auto Mode, has to do with it’s larger sensor designs. These sensors can capture more light, even in darker conditions, hence producing crisp images with reduced noise.  Compared to compact cameras, DSLR normally focuses faster and shoots fast without the shutter delay. Think of the times you wanted to take a picture of some event, when you finally clicked your compact camera, and that event has passed. Also, you can take very fast continuous shots of an object. These qualities alone will make Geoff Boycott say “Even my mom could take better picture with a DSLR”.

Unlike the compact cameras, with DSLR you can change the lens based on your requirements. For starters, let say choosing from your kit lens of 18-55mm to take pictures inside a room (closer objects) or choosing 55-200mm to take pictures of birds (farther objects) on the field. The sky is the limit, when you think  about the type of lenses for different occasions, the more you know about them, less you feel you have known. If you want to learn more, check this site to see some of the DSLR lesnes.

Now let me talk about my experience with DSLR. Like some of the available texts recommends, and based on my own knowledge, never fall for the megapixel trap. Paying more money to get higher megapixel camera is no longer worth it. My six megapixel Nikon D40 can easily produce excellent16x20” pictures, now why would you want to pay more for higher megapixel camera (unless you often require very BIG prints)?

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Do I need it?

For past couple of weeks, I was feverishly following the development of Nexus One, the “Google Phone”. I have to say, I am very impressed with what they have come up with. The phone is pretty fast and powerful, one of the Google’s official stated that it is better than what his laptop used to be four years ago. But, one thing to keep in mind is that this doesn’t end here, the products hereon will keep getting better with time.

I don’t blame anyone for wanting this phone, I do too   But are you willing to purchase another one, with even better features (surely) within a year? Unless you have a big chunk of money to spend on these gadgets, I am absolutely certain that it would be overwhelming and very hard to keep up with the new technologies. I feel that how you want to proceed in these technological advancements basically boils down to two questions: 1. Do I have the best possible phone? or 2. Does my phone do everything I need it to do?

People have different opinions; but, personally, I will be asking myself the second question before thinking about any possible upgrades As much as I am impressed with this phone, I don’t have any immediate plans for purchasing it

Please check the following links for some more information, and early reviews on Nexus One: Link 1, Link2, & Link 3, or simply go to the Official Page to play with it.

The politics of health care

I believe there are three types of health care systems in the world. One is like in Britain or Canada, where the government either runs the whole health care system or runs the health insurance program. The people pay hefty taxes for it, but everyone is covered.

Second is like in Nepal, or in any other developing country, where health insurance is almost non existent. If you have money, you can find best of care. If not, then good luck in waiting for your appointment in government hospitals. Not a sound system, but fairly simple to understand.

Third is similar to what we have in United States of America, which I feel is the combination of above two. If you are above the age of 65 or a military veteran, then the system is more like in Canada, the government takes care of you. If you are below that age, then you need to purchase the ever expensive health insurance. If you have a pre-existing condition; good luck in finding an insurance provider. Even if you find one, it’s very complex to figure out what your insurance plan covers and what it doesn’t. The bottom line: health care system in America is best suited for wealthy or healthy.

The American legislator are currently trying to come up with a new health care legislation that will insure all uninsured people, and make it more affordable and stable for the ones who are already insured. There seems to be strong emotions in both sides of this legislative debate. I am, especially, fascinated with the opposition of this legislation. They have branded President Obama as both socialist and fascist for trying to overhaul the current health care system in America. I personally feel both of these accusations towards Mr. Obama are hyperbolic, but what amuses me more is how the “opposition” is trying to brand the proposed legislation (work in progress) as both fascism and socialism.  Fascism and socialism are two opposing ideology. Even if the accusations were assumed to be valid, they contradict each other.

No matter how developed a country is, no matter how literate the people are; politics is always going to be politics: dirty.

Image source: http://www.psychologytoday.com/files/u107/health%20care.jpg