Dr. Abhishek Dutta

Today I patched up a puncture in my bicycle which had been lying in our store for last 6 months. I was waiting for some free time to fix my bicycle and have been using my wife’s bicycle to travel to work and city. Today, I found some time and patched up the puncture. During my high school days in Janakpur, I often visited bicycle mechanics to get my bicycle fixed. It is during these visits that I learned this skill of patching up a punctured bicycle tube (or, a flat tyre). I felt so happy to fix my bicycle on my own. I not only saved money but also some coveted happiness which you get by doing things on your own. After finishing this bicycle maintenance work, I recalled something and went to my bookshelf to search for a book.

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We bought a bag of big blocks (similar to LEGO but larger in size and suitable for babies) for Aadhya on her first birthday. Initially, we had to show her how to join those blocks together to build something. She took some time to learn but now is quite skilled at putting these blocks together. Read the rest of this entry »

Aadhya walked her first steps today at 10:43 AM.

When she was born, we used to support her head when we held her in our arms. A few months later, she could hold her head upright and gaze around without the need for a supporting hand. Then she learned to roll over on her own. Soon she was able to sit upright on her own. As she grew and started eating solids, she learned to crawl and explore the surroundings on her own. Now she has started to learn the art of walking upright — an evolutionary leap that helped to sets us apart from fellow mammals. Babies gain strength in their muscles from top to bottom — first neck, followed by the back and finally the two legs. In the last 11 months, we have watched her go through all these stages of development. The moments when she did something for the first time will always be in our memories. Read the rest of this entry »

I collected € 690 to support the relief operations of Suraj Sapkota ( @ssapkota ) and his team in Nepal. Here are some updates from Suraj:

• May. 16, 2015 : “Heartfelt gratitude to all those who supported in this relief distribution.” [Field report video]
• May. 03, 2015 : “I just checked my account. I have received the amount that you sent on 30th Apr.   We will be going to Dukuchap, Lalitpur today with food. Tarpaulin, temporary shelter, is highly required and is in high shortage.”
• Apr. 30, 2015 : “We have reached abukhairani.. will be heading towards baluwa, Gorkha tomorrow early in the morning… I have already brought relief material of almost 1.5L NRS … We hipe to support 200 houses with it. …. 75% of that amount is for shelter. And the rest is food and medication/sanitation …”
• Apr. 29, 2015 : “We are desperately looking for support from abroad.  Currently I am using from my personal account, I am spending here on the basis of promised fund from abroad. But I am running out on this …”

• The Postman Who Came Too Late (Genre: Short Story, Fiction ; 2200 words)
• The Life of a Dying Mind (Genre: Philosophy, Poetry, Death ; 662 words)
• Quotations: powerful and concise thoughts of the giants
• My Favorite Poems

I just read CK Lal’s Nepal’s deracinated generation and could not help but write a blog post about it. Mr. Lal’s writings are never bloated with politically correct statements. Therefore in addition to a large number of people cursing him as a social and political analyst (see comments sections of his earlier articles), there are even more who praise his eloquent style and thank him for clearing out the haze in the topics related to the Nepali politics and society. In this article, the following thought hit me very strongly:

From a youngster requesting a stranger at the Tribhuvan International Airport to fill up her migration form because she can only sign her name, to the boy coming back home from the USA [Europe] for the summer and carrying an extra pen so as to help as many fellow passengers fill up immigration cards as possible, a great many of CGs [Cyber Generation] are travelling abroad. — Nepal’s deracinated generation by CK Lal

I do carry a pen in my backpack and yes I do fill in the immigration forms of some of my fellow countrymen who seek my help in overcoming one of the many hurdles put in place to throw them at the mercy of others. Although some of them can fill in the form themselves, they seek help in fear of the arrogant immigration officials who reject their form, without any explanation, even for the slightest mistake. I am sure that those officials would strip themselves of all the arrogance once they understand why some people have to travel abroad for work and how they worked and lived in dire conditions to send their earnings back home to feed their family — thereby contributing to the country’s ailing economy.

Little wonder, the highest concern of the top-of-the-heap CG [Cyber Generation] urbanite nowadays is how to cut, saw, or sandpaper a micro SIM so that it will fit into the nano-SIM slot of the latest iPhone 5. — Nepal’s deracinated generation by CK Lal

Fortunately, this is not me. To be honest, I carry a 15 euro mobile phone — the cheapest that was available. Had my cell phone service provider known that some humans can live without making calls and texting, they would have removed the prepaid scheme with infinite validity period :)

Here are some more interesting satirical lines from this article:

A few winners of the Diversity Visa Lottery, when denied permission to migrate, would hold protest marches and fast-unto-death for their inalienable right to run away from their country and settle in their dreamland.– Nepal’s deracinated generation by CK Lal

Part of the explanation perhaps lies with the attitude of CGs [Cyber Generation] —Baal Matalab (I couldn’t care less)—who have little or no interest in the political struggles of the past. … These youths expect that everything be within the reach of their thumb—of the remote, of touchscreen smartphones or tablets—and all the effort that they should be expected to make is open the door to receive pizza delivery, pasta parcels, and eBay packages. Communication should be through social media; activism should be limited to cyberspace; and occasional get-together at a bar, a café or the mall on the way back home from work should suffice for civic engagements.– Nepal’s deracinated generation by CK Lal

So, am I “Nepal’s deracinated generation” ?

Well, at least I do not share the, “I couldn’t care less” attitude. But I am definitely guilty of “caring for little else other than ‘I’, ‘Me’ and ‘Myself.’ “. Thanks to Mr. Lal for forcing me to reflect on these issues. I also admire his capabilities as a writer. Did I just hear somebody recall Edward Bulwer-Lytton‘s thought, “The pen is mightier than the sword” ?