Category: Nepal

Prachanda Stotra

Posted on by Anand Nepal

We used to read a lot of such poems in the past. In the ancient time, the gods used to be worshipped by reciting/singing the poem (like the one worshiping Bagalamukhi). We still use them to worship the gods. Some leaders might look like god to some poet and they might feel like worshiping in similar manner – like the poem below.

prachanda_stotra

But, in later years, the kings used to be the subject of a lot of poems. Worshiping person is not something people prefer, unless they have some vested interest. In king’s time, the so called patriotic songs used to be full of pr
aises of the kings.

It is a matter of debate whether such poems should be written (or, promoted). The poem was posted by the son of Prachanda, Prakash Dahal, in his Facebook profile. Some of the comments had questioned the relevancy of the poem. 

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Nano, Na..No after 60K price hike – Nepali pay 4 times the price in India

Posted on by Anand Nepal

The authorized distributor of the so called "cheapest" vehicle, Tata Nano, Sipradi Trading, has raised its price by as much as Rs 60,000, within a few weeks of launching it in Nepal.

Nano was never cheap in Nepal. It cost about Rs. 8 Laks for the cheapest, Rs. 10 Lakhs for the intermediate and the LX model was 11.7 Lakh, before the price hike. Now, the revised price are Rs. 8.58 Lakh, 10.2 Lakh, and 11.8 Lakh respectively.

It is strange how a car that costs – IRs. 140,880 in Delhi, India costs can cost Rs. 858,000 in Nepal. After conversion (multiplied by Rs. 1.6) the Indian version of the car cost Nepali Rs. 225,408 in Delhi. The price a Nepali pays for the same car can buy 4 Nano cars in India (3.81 cars, to be exact).

Now, the question arises, who takes the extra 6.32 Lakh from each and every Nano cars sold in Nepal?

We believe, this is the worst form of cheating in Nepal for a totally unsafe (no airbag, plastic body), uncomfortable (no air conditioning), and underpowered (624cc 2-cyl engine) car. See the "specification" below:

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Happy Naag Panchami – Posters for Nag Puja

Posted on by Anand Nepal

UPDATE on August 19, 2015 – An introduction to Nag Panchami audio/video added. UPDATE on July 31, 2014 – two posters added at the end.

Nag posters for Nag Panchami. Click on the posters to download the bigger version. You can print them or keep as desktop wallpaper.

Stories of Naag Panchami

The devotees in Kathmandu go to Taudaha Lake, Naagpokhari to worship the Naag. Another holy lake, Naagdaha at Dhapakhel in Lalitpur also get crowded during the Naag Panchami worshipping.

In the Naagpokhari in Naxal, Kathmandu, a Naagpokhari Festival is organised during the festival to make the youth aware of our cultural heritage and religion.

Happy Nag Panchami

Pratibha Shrestha -Miss Purbanchal 2011 preparing for Miss Nepal

Posted on by Anand Nepal

Miss Purbanchal 2011, Pratibha Shrestha, has started to prepare for Miss Nepal contest that is going to be held after one month in the capital. Pratibha Shrestha (16), from Dharan-11 was crowned with title Miss Purbanchal 2011 in the 2nd Miss Purbanchal Competition, organized by Buddasubba Trainig Center, Dharan on Saturday evening.

5 feet 5 inch tall Shrestha was entitled out of 22 contestants at Sabhagriha. 1st Runner UP was Laxmi Subba (20) and 2nd Runner Up was Anita Bishwokarma (20). All three beauties got direct entry for Miss Nepal 2011 Competition to be held in Kathmandu.

Pratibha Shrestha was also entitled with Miss Catwalk and Roji Baraili became Miss Viewers’ Choices.

Dandi Biyo – Is it the Nepali National Game?

Posted on by Anand Nepal

Dandi Biyo is a very simple game, and is equally dangerous. Some say it is the National Game of Nepal. But, there is no documentary evidence to prove it (at least, I don’t know. If you have more information please comment.)

I am not against this sports being a National game. But, before a decision is made, there should be certain prerequisite of sportsmanship and safety of players and spectators. To illustrate my point let’s analyze the following photo:

In the photo above CPN-UML leader KP Sharma Oli is seen inaugurating Dharan Sports Tourism Festival, by playing Dandibiyo in Dharan on April 27‚ 2011.

 

Before the ‘sport’ considered a sport, let alone a ‘National Sport’, there has be a standard for everything that is used in the sport. These standards are required so that the competitions are fair and the result of one game can be compared to another. A slight variation on the length of dandi or biyo can have a very different result.

 

Some points to be noted:

  • A sports need to have standard playing gears. The dandi KP is using to play the game is a simple piece of wood. If it were to be a sport, that piece of wood should be standardized in terms of the type of wood, length, diameter and grip friction.
  • Same applies to the biyo piece. Length, diameter, tapering angle and so on should be standard.

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Gorkhapatra – Insufficient Bandwidth

Posted on by Anand Nepal

When I wanted to see the online edition of the oldest newspaper in Nepal, Gorkhapatra, I was surprised to the following screen:

It is surprising for a few reasons:

  1. The media is the mouthpiece of the Government of Nepal.
  2. It is state-owned: meaning they have more money to spend in quality webhost than any other private owned media in Nepal.
  3. They have more manpower than other media houses
  4. The newspaper is not that popular to have that many visitors (Stats show that they have less than half the visitors in xnepali).
  5. Bandwidth are really cheap these days.

Now, I don’t know what this means in Gorkhapatra!

May the corrupt rot – MaHa, Rameshowr Khanal, Bhagawati Kafle and 200 others

Posted on by Anand Nepal

In a protest against corruption, high profile protesters like Bhagawati Kafle, Rameshore Khanal, MaHa jodi (Hari Bansha Acharya, Madan Krishna Shrestha), Rabindra Mishra, and others gathered in front of the office of The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), wearing the T-shirt with the message "Bhrasthachari laai kira paros" (Let the corrupt rot).

 Photo credits – edited from Chandra Maharjan’s photo

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How to cheat in exam? Cheating skirt tricks

Posted on by Anand Nepal

Don’t get the wrong message, it has nothing to do with sex (or such bodily parts!).

It is cheats hidden on the thigh. Boys do cheat and I don’t have any data to determine who are the better cheats in exams. Boys and girls alike, can cheat in normal ways but, girls have an unfair advantage of hiding cheats on their thigh and a male invigilator can’t even check there.

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22 Dhara-sculptures in Balaju Park, Kathmandu

Posted on by Anand Nepal

When I was a little, we used to go to Balaju Water Garde park to bath. The Balaju Water Garden is known for its 22 stone waterspouts (hiti) carved in the shape of sea-dragons. The artistically designed traditional taps 22 Dhara (means 22 tap in Nepali) were fed by the Nagarjun Hill watershed, located in about five-kilometer northwest of Kathmandu City. But, due to urbanization and higher water demand in the valley, the taps are empty these days.

Now, these are only the beautiful sculptures – that are of no use.

The park also houses religious shrines, fishponds, and a replica of the statue of Budha
nilkantha. The swimming pool located inside the park is one of the few swimming public pools in Kathmandu.

Delhi Belly ban in Nepal and Aamir Khan’s reaction

Posted on by Anand Nepal

Aamir Khan’s latest production, Delhi Belly, has been banned in Nepali theaters. Reportedly, the Censor Board of Nepal allowed the theater owners to screen the film after deleting and muting some scenes containing abusive scenes and offensive language. But, the theater owners were found screening the film without deleting the censored scenes. Therefore, the film has been banned and replaced with others movie, since Sunday.

Chetan Sapkota, a Censor Board member, as quoted in Republica, stated, "We issued the certificate on condition that more than five dialogues would be removed. But, we found that the movie was screened without removing them". The punishment for offenders, as per the country’s censorship laws is that, the film’s distributors can either be fined a sum of NRs 10,000 or can be imprisoned for a year or can be penalized with both. However, the theater owners told that they had complied with the order. They told, they need some time, especially for the digital format changes, they had to send the reel back to India.

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Don't kill the journalist – Truck literature

Posted on by Anand Nepal

"Killing" the word in itself is scary! When you feel like writing a message telling not to kill somebody is one of the saddest thing to do.

Yes, it can only happen in Nepal!

The message written on the back of a truck read:

Journalists are the eye openers! They shouldn’t be killed!

Poor Nepali journalists !

I rather prefer love messages better, for a truck literature.