Sunday, November 25, 2012

Catharsis- Long Awaited Revenge


“It’s just the beginning, ” said he, “For the downpour of calamities are yet to come”, and while he
spoke those words, hot tears escaped from the corners of his eyes and rolled down his cheeks. At
that moment, I knew that there was no looking back. I had to do what we intended.

It was a kamikaze attack. Although, I believed that the danger and risk was nothing, only like a small
mosquito that could be smashed within seconds. I was cocksure that our plan was flawless. It was a
photo finish. However, saying that would’ve made me naïve, way too naïve.

He was the world to me. The one who broke the ice; and ever since that day it has been flowers and
candies. We met during mid-July. Crystal like waters pouring down overlapped Kathmandu. We were
two complete strangers walking together on the streets of Durbar Marg. I was eagerly scanning a
subject for my work window and there he was staring at me or right through me.

He was godlike handsome, with a sleek nose and flared nostril accompanied by the liquid warm look
of his eyes. His lips were curled up into a killer smile, flashing the perfect set of teeth. Then I realized
that the smile was for me. I managed to give him the best smile I could, and I think it was a success
as after that he said, “Hey there! I’m Roy.”

His voice was like rhythm to my ears, a perfect piece of melody taken out from Beethoven. “I’m
Dave,” I replied curtly. But he didn’t realize, instead his eyes brightened with the waves of vitality he
said, “So you are a photographer huh?”

His interest towards me came as a shock, with all those beautiful girls walking around giving him a
flirty glance, he preferred talking to me. “Well I am not a photographer, but I do photography. Ah…
you wanna check it out?” I was mortified by my own audacious reaction. Wow!

“Sure. Let’s go to that café and guess what if I like your photos you may teach me photography,” he
said pointing at the café across the road. I’d never witnessed such gorgeously heartbreaking smile;
mind you not even a single girl I knew could’ve smiled like that.

That day was the beginning of a new friendship that blossomed into a rose of love, true love. I was
happy he loved me and so did I, despite the fact that it would be stone hard for us to convince our
families and the society. Of course, it brought us great anxiety thinking of the outcome everyday. But
no matter how chaotic things were we decided never to leave each other. We believed in killing for
love, not getting killed.

Today, I stand in front of his house. A total melancholic pile of bricks put together with cement
forming his or rather his parents’ mansion. This was it, few minutes of hardship, few minutes
without mercy, and few minutes filled with catharsis and then we would be together. I was nervous
though. Hell, why wouldn’t you be nervous, when you’re going to kill you boyfriend’s parents.

His parents were real hypocrites living just for the society. When they had found out about us - they
felt like lambs about to be butchered by the mocking world. They couldn’t let that happen. They did
their wicked best to keep us apart. Alas! It’s not that easy. We had a little plan of our own; indeed
we were saving them from the butchers. Well, we can at least do that amount for the ones who gave
us birth but forgot to give us life.

The door was kept open; Roy had done that. I walked fast but soundless, then up the stairs and
stopped in front of his parents’ bedroom. I was pant- wetting terrified. Then I slowly turned the knob
of the door. It was open, thank god! ‘So far so good’ I said to myself. As I opened the door inch by
inch adrenaline gushed into my veins like one of those extremely fast express trains of Japan. It was
pitch black inside and there was no sign of life as if they were already dead. I was about to make the
next move when suddenly the lights went on.

His parents were lying on the floor, drenched in their own little pool of blood. Blood was splashed
everywhere and in one corner of the room, I saw him. He was looking vicious, filled with the aura of
madness, holding a six-inch knife in his hands. He looked at me and said, “Its over Dave, its over. I
killed them. We can be together now.”

Roy had killed his parents. I couldn’t believe that we were free at last. Death of Roy’s parents gave
new life to us. We hugged each other for a long time. It was hysterical and it was all over the room.
This was sublime. Our greatest fantasy had come true. We were over thrilled by the idea of being
together forever. Our love had won the battle against the world.

Today, we were re- united. Today, we had our Catharsis - our long awaited revenge.

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Unsparable Drops

This Video was made by the BBA students of Cosmos College of Management and Technology, as part of the documentary film making competition at Eco Carnival organised at KUSOM. This video was awarded IInd Position. 


COSMOS COLLEGE OF MANAGEMENT AND TECHNOLOGY
(Affiliated to Pokhara University)
Tutepani, near Satdobato, Lalitpur
Tel: 5532246, 5548704
www.cosmoscollege.edu.np

Monday, November 19, 2012

NEW GROUP AIMS TO END STREET HARASSMENT IN KATHMANDU


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


November 19, 2012 Kathmandu – Hollaback, an international organization dedicated to end street harassment was launched in Kathmandu today. Hollaback Kathmandu is run by a team of college students who are deeply committed to working online and offline to end street harassment in their community. Hollaback is now in 62 cities and 25 countries, with leaders speaking more than 10 different languages.

According to Centre for Research on Environment Health and Population Activities, Kathmandu, Nepal, 1 in 10 young women and girls face street harassment everyday. “Sexual Harassment is the most pervasive form of gender-based violence. However it is extensive in Nepal and considered a normal behavior. Hollaback is a unique initiative to encourage people to start talking about this issue and recognizing it as a problem and thereby, taking an initiative to solve it”, said a renowned media personality working for a non-profit organization.

The site constitutes posting and sharing of personal harassment experiences, the experiences of a second or a third party and hence making collaborative efforts to take an initiative. The team members will also work offline through the medium of workshops, seminars, screenings as well as coordinating with other organizations sharing common objectives.

“Around 30,000 women are harassed daily in Kathmandu. Sometimes it’s our friends. Sometimes it’s our sisters. And sometimes, it’s us. So we Hollaback! Do you?” said the team members.


Hollaback! Kathmandu will run their local blog and organize their communities through advocacy, community partnerships, and direct action. The leaders of Hollaback Kathmandu are as diverse in their backgrounds as they are in their experiences of harassment.  The Hollaback movement reports that 41% of site leaders are lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer, 33% identify as people of color and 76% are under the age of 30.


“We only have 8 or 9 years before the babies in strollers today start experiencing street harassment too.  Our children deserve better, we deserve better, and Hollaback Kathmandu is going to get us there.  Share your story and join the movement today,” said Hollaback Executive Director Emily May.

New locations include Ankara-Turkey; Dublin-Ireland; Fredericksburg- VA; Ghent- Belgium; Jacksonville-NC; Kathmandu-Nepal; Milan-Italy; Pathankot- India; Rutgers, NJ and San Francisco, CA- USA.  



About Hollaback! Hollaback (ihollaback.org) is a nonprofit movement to end street harassment, powered by a network of local activists around the world.  We work together to better understand street harassment, to ignite public conversations, and to develop innovative strategies to ensure equal access to public places.

visit: http://ktmnepal.ihollaback.org/
Contact: Supriya Shrestha, Utsah Shrestha, Bijeta Bhandari
wlead.advocacy@gmail.com
9813766211/9849485086



Monday, November 12, 2012

Rope Maker Grandpa - Datenzing Ongmu Tamang, Melita Mary Ruchel Thapa, Suveckchya Shrestha

Donned in his woolen cap, sweater and trousers, Kaji Tamang, who assumes his age to be around 90, is often seen in the roads of Kapan (Kath), selling ropes for the past six years and is popularly known as " Dori Banaune Baje"       (Rope maker Grandpa) among  the locals.
Kaji Tamang 
Baaje
Other than complaining about the unfortunate things that happened to him, this old man encourages himself  and uses an optimistic attitude to comfort himself.
Baaje in his room.
Reading!
Baaje's praying beads.
Something out of nothing: we often witness the city being littered by sacks and plastics which we consider as waste. But this grandpa has a different perspective. He makes use of insubstantial things to produce something worthwhile. 
Baaje browsing through his raw materials.

The collected sacks are ripped off, shredded and the strings are put together. 
Shredding the Sack!
Strings are out.
The strings are then adjusted in a stick.
They are twisted and turned continuously with his dry, wrinkled hands.
Getting them into shape.
Just like the life of this old man, who has met with different hurdles in his life, the ropes that he makes also have a similar story.

Getting ready for the final touch.
Making fire for his last step.
To give the almost ready rope a smooth and neat texture.
Another phase of burning!
Cooling of the ropes.
Baaje pleased with his hard work gets the ropes ready to sell.
Final dori is then sold to people at Rs. 25 to Rs. 50 depending on the length.
Final Product!
The locals use the dori for various purposes,

The day meets its end, after all day of hard work. 
Content, he rests and looks forward to the next day.