Do hashtag trends really work?

To understand hashtag trends, let's understand hashtags first. Hashtag is usually introduced by the number sign or a hash symbol (#), is a type of metadata used in social media platforms like facebook, instagram, twitter and other media services. It is a user generated tagging that helps to find messages with specific theme or content easily. Its the users who creates and use hashtag by placing a hash symbol in front of a word or a phrase which is written without a space.Same hashtag is used by someone else to share views on the topic. There have been a practice of using hashtags to bring people for discussion under same topic, issue and get it in attention of the people to whom it is targeted for. 

Hashtag trends have recently picked up in Nepal too. With more people locked up in home and cannot move freely outside due to ongoing pandemic, social media platforms have been the main show ground for protests, raising concerns and voices. Whether to support someone, to speak agains someone or to ask for justice, hashtags are widely used these days. 

Understanding whether the hashtag works or not can be a topic of debate but it certainly puts a pressure on the government or the targeted body to take action. With the world shifting to online, it cannot be ignored that there are people on the internet who care about what happens around them. For a situation like we are facing these days because of COVID, it should be taken more seriously as hashtags are the most safest and convenient way of raising voice and concerns.  

For a developing country like nepal, hashtags trends seem to be less significant but it should be the government willing understand the seriousness and to embrace the changing society. Hashtags have made easier for people living abroad to support on the cause happening in their home country. people being more busy with work and life, no one should be forced to come to street to raise concerns.  It should be heard before matters get serious. Demonstration on streets may be comparatively powerful but hashtag trends shows people care and raise voices without being on streets. They care about the things that are affecting the society. These trends may not cause a lot of damage to attract attention, but it is the concerned authority that need to remain alert. 

Personality and Social media

Like our fingerprints, our personality is also unique. Though one can argue that we can deduce someone’s personality by observing behaviour which can be true to some extent. However, there hasn’t been any technology developed or any research been done to understand a human as a whole. Since we can fake behaviour, even unknowingly, an in-depth personality cannot be deduced by observing behaviour pattern. There are much more things going inside a human brain which are significantly important and are difficult to be mapped.

 

Social media and internet are elements of revolution of this century. The access to information and the connection we have been able to achieve are astonishing. With this revolution, we have dragged some negative behaviours along with it and these behaviours are certain to be a social media culture of future if no actions are taken today. We see these actions of sharing news, views and ideas as a granted elements on internet but it’s clear that we are not able to understand the seriousness of these actions.

 

How can sharing news and views be bad? If you see as a whole, well it’s a good action and maybe finding a bad consequence is not that easy. However, if we look deep into it, this small act can be a bad culture for future. An example can be, A person shares a post about a dog getting beaten by a person, badly injuring the dog and with a caption stating “humans are cruel. Let’s fight for cruelty “.  It is a good message that is being passed on but wait, has the action of person sharing the post have changed? No. The person sharing the post throws water on dogs on the middle of night for barking in front of his home in the middle of winter. The same person throws away his leftover when the dog outside roams the community to find food for its puppies. The man doesn’t care if the stray dog population in his community is increasing and actually he hasn’t ever thought about dogs this much, but he is not heisting to share human cruelty on the poor animal. Well the post is heartbreaking, which is understandable but are you changing the attitude of yourself towards these things. It is not just about animal cruelty, there are a lot of things where we show our soft part but, have we realised that the social media culture may be making us a hypocrite?

 

 

So, where does this personality things come into play? It is right there every time. We are sensitive to lot of things that happen around. In fact, if you scroll thought your Facebook newsfeed all day you will find thousands of things you get embarrassed about and thousands of things that you will be happy about. It depends on your sensitive personality that you might even share a few things in your timeline. This is what needs to be focused on. There are people who give opinions and just aren’t the part of your life and there are people who are genuine in giving constructive feedback on your action. Whatsoever you are the person who make primary decision for yourself. This article can raise a question within you but its again up to you to decide what the best for you is. Writing posts, sharing ideas are not bad, but the significance content matters. It is equally important to ensure that the quality of the things you share aligns with your values.

 

It is us who make things worse and its us who make things better as well. News, views and ideas are to be shared if they are worth sharing but sharing is not enough. Sharing something doesn’t just mean you have done your part, its you who too needs to take some action on your level. It’s you, your personality that needs to show changes and that can be in your own way. Fake personality will not work all the time and definitely you will be in a loss in the long run.

पाउँदिन

 खुसी आउँथ्यो होला साथमा, म ल्याउन पाउँदिन

यस्पाली पनि सुख्खा दशैँ , म आउन पाउँदिन

हर्षो उल्लास गाउँ घरमा, साथी भाई जम्मा होलान् 

हेर्ने ईच्छा भएपनि, म च्याउन पाउँदिन 

हालियो होला लिंग पिंग, सबैले झड्कार्दाहुन् मच्चाएर

हरेक साल हाल्ने पिंगको काम्रो, म ख्याउन पाउँदिन

उ हो मेरो साथी

हाँस्ने बेला सँगै हाँस्ने, दुखको बेला दुख बाँढ्ने

मनको कुरा फ्याट्ट बुझ्ने, उ हो मेरो साथी 

केही दिन पछिको भेट हुँदा होस्, भेट्न जाँदा थोरै लेट हुँदा होस्

खिस्स हाँसेर दाँत देखाउने, उ हो मेरो साथी

संकटमा पर्दा सल्लाह दिने, चुप लाग भन्दा हल्ला गर्दिने 

उत्पट्यान्ग काममा माहिर जो, उ हो मेरो साथी

खल्ती रित्तिदाँ सापटी दिने, सापटी देको चाहीँ फिर्ता नदिने

अच्चम्मको बैंक हो जो, उ हो मेरो साथी

आफ्नी रानी सँग घुम्न जाने, रेस्टुरेन्टमा के के हो के के खाने

केही ऩाखाई सुत्छु म आज  भन्ने,, उ हो मेरो साथी

केटी सँग देखे गिज्याउने, सिंगल भइस भन्दै खिज्याउनेॉं

सयौं साथीको लभ गुरु, उ हो मेरो साथी

प्राय काम सँगै गर्ने, कुरा भावना आदानप्रदान गर्ने

मिठ्ठो सम्बन्ध जो सँग छ मेरो, उ हो मेरो साथी 

CRY

Deep down me There is a boy

He is almost like me, he loves to enjoy

The greatest gift he has is, that he can cry

I tried to do the same but, my eyes are arid dry

 

 

Sometimes I ask myself, why cannot I cry? 

The answers is my upbringing, that I cannot justify

Some think that I’m heartless, some think I am mean

Understand me dear, this is not what I always had been

 

My grandpa had always taught me, crying is not for boys

So suppressing my tears , became my choice 

My granny always told me, crying makes a boy weak

So I trained my eyes, not to react quick 

 

As I was growing up, there came my friends 

And they too never cried, they were well trained 

When I look back  at my school life, there used to be a boy 

Crying was a part of him but there were moments of joy

 

My father wanted me to be strong, to be a man 

Well certainly in his advices, crying was a total ban 

Mother was a bit sensitive, she heard my inner voice

She too didn’t want to see me being “so called” weak, she wanted me to rejoice 

 

My brother is fierce, thinks crying is for babies 

Who knows what he has suppressed deep within, there could be something... maybe 

Well there comes my sister, crying once in a while 

To persuade father to do what she wants, we thought it’s her style 

 

What I think as a grown up is, crying isn’t just the tears 

I believe it’s a way to get rid of, the inner fears

science proves that it’s a way of boosting up your mood 

Self soothing isn’t just a benefit, for eyes too crying is good

 

I know all these things, I know them by heart 

Today I realise knowledge is not the only thing,  to make you smart

I feel the pain, I try to cry 

No matter how much it hurts, my eyes are desert dry

What will THEY think!

“What will they think?” Have you ever asked this question to yourself? 

If yes then welcome to the team, we have something in common.

Even if its a "No", welcome, its important to understand it for you as well.

 

“What will they think?” is a significant question if you are constantly asking yourself while you do things that other will eventually see or analyse. It’s also a question which makes people like me step back while trying to change.  Change in a sense like " coming out of comfort zone, speaking up, being noticed, changing clothing style, thinking different and so on". But asking this question time and again makes the question more powerful obstacle for your step towards change if you are not able to answer them yourself. It has that ability to develop fear for those who do not get right motivation and direction. Eventually a short and simple question becomes complex and a factor in life that holds back creativity, expression and emotion of a person.

 

Well, if the question is self damaging,

Should I avoid asking it to myself?

The answer is “No”. While writing this piece of opinion, I realised that if I stop asking this question to myself, it means I am avoiding something that gives answer and directs me to be a better person. To put it more concisely and clearly, thinking about my action and its consequence on others is always important. Undoubtedly, no matter what you do, people are going to have their own opinion on your action, while at times, opinion matters. In those situations, positive opinions should be taken as motivation and the negative opinions should be taken as lesson if needed.

 

Now putting things into perspective, questing oneself for actions that you do for is correct. I do it all the time. Even after something has happened, I question myself if I did right thing. If things are reversible, I change my decision to go for a change of action. But sometimes, I regret. I regret for stepping back. When I think deeply, it feels like I am holding up my true self. Just assuming what other will think, I get scared to reveal my actual beliefs. In contrast to that, asking same question makes me realise that I am making mistakes. Maybe the state of mind also determines what is good and what is not at situations but actively seeking answers for questions within yourself is necessary. It helps to build a positive environment within which you can satisfy yourself.

 

After all, its important to understand that having feelings and letting the feelings take over yourself means restraining yourself to command yourself. You cannot reach a destination until you start to move. If we have command on self, opinion of others should not restrict on having a life we desire. Positive motivation is always carrying you forward. 

Better life

Words from saint 

“Drink water from the spring where horses drink. The horse will never drink bad water.

Lay your bed where the cat sleeps.

Eat the fruit that has been touched by a worm.

Boldly pick the mushroom on which the insects sit.

Plant the tree where the mole digs.

Build your house where the snake sits to warm itself.

Dig your fountain where the birds hide from heat.

Go to sleep and wake up at the same time with the birds – you will reap all of the days golden grains.

Eat more green – you will have strong legs and a resistant heart, like the beings of the forest.

Swim often and you will feel on earth like the fish in the water.

Look at the sky as often as possible and your thoughts will become light and clear.

Be quiet a lot, speak little – and silence will come in your heart, and your spirit will be calm and full of peace.”

-Saint Seraphim of Sarov

Starting a new BUSINESS?

Business in simple terms means an operation where people work together to make and sell product or service. The business can earn profit for the product or service that it provides or produces. There are many types of business that you might want to start. If you want to start on your own, you can start a sole trader or you can partner with other person to start a business. It can be manufacturing or merchandising business or anything of  your concept. There are wide range of things you can do but what signals that you are ready to start?

For a starter its a challenge and get themselves bombarded with questions like what business should I start?, how should I start? But here is a guide. Your business stands on your idea. Everyone has their own way of thinking and your idea might sound outstanding but before moving ahead, market research is really important. Asking yourself these questions to start a business is must: Is my business idea viable? Is there any competition in the market? What kind of business structure should I adopt? Do I know what I am getting into? Am I ready to handle situations?

After you choose what business you are about to start, you need to see if you are ready. Know your market, the consumers you are serving and the location you are about to start your business. If you are starting it online, make sure you have a plan to attract traffic to your business. If you are planning to invest heavily at the start, its important to make sure that people(target market) know what is going to come to their plate. It is like securing your investment as when you start to give off products, consumers are prepared to for its consumption. Throwing something by surprise to your consumer doesn't always prove to be successful and as a starter, being on the safe side is the best idea. 

When you are certain about idea, location and consumers a proper business structure is necessary. It can be sole trader, Partnership or other business type according to your initial investment. Having a business structure, it will be easy to develop a business plan. Set a goal and establish objectives for your business. Having those helps you to develop business tactics and strategies that will ultimately help to fulfil business objectives and achieve the business goal. After all these processes, register your business and research on legal requirements according for your business. Record keeping and accounting should be managed and finally insure the business.

Business can be short term or long term. You might want to build an empire out of your business and make it your life or you can reach a certain point, sell you business and move on. It depends on the business structure you choose, how easy or difficult these process can be. A successful business faces challenges, have endurance and is always prepared. To be able to start a new business you need to be ready rather than walking into the dark tunnel without knowing where it will lead you. 

Caste System, Quota and Nepal

https://i-sight.com/resources/discrimination-in-the-workplace-guide/ 

It is an undeniable fact that influenced by Hindu caste system, Nepal has a complex social structure of different class of people which in past gave power to certain influential group only. There are four principle castes: Brahmin, Chhetri, Baise and Sudra. Sudra, the caste that was also considered the "untouchable" class in the time in past is still facing hard time in rural part of Nepal after so much of change. Different rules and regulations are established by the government to ensure the discrimination doesn't happen like before and the people who lagged behind in social context uplift their lifestyle. To ensure the lower class people gain economic stability and establish better social status, Nepal government ensures reservations "Quotas" in different civil service posts, Police, Army and other various institutions. In addition there are laws and many non-governmental organisation that are there to protect the underprivileged group. 

Caste system is a deep rooted problem in Nepalese society. After the constitution of Nepal 2015 was drafted,  there are various laws that discourages discrimination, encourages participation for minority groups and secures various other essential rights. However, lack of government effort to flow correct information around and the old mentality of society of unequal treatment of people have turned to be a bigger challenge. Illiteracy, ineffective local governing bodies and influence of certain "high" class people causes the people of so called lower class to face problems. Various incidents relating caste discrimination surfaces in media platforms time and again showing ineffectiveness of government in controlling these issues. Contradicting to that, small incidents that involve people of such caste but actually have nothing to do with discrimination gets highly politicised, pushing back societal reforms and establishing a firm identity of the caste system.

As an initiative to uplift social status of the people, certain percent of civil service posts are allocated to minorities which is also known as " Reservation Quotas".  In Nepal, 45% of all civil service posts are allocated for inclusive ( Reservation) and other 55% is allocated for open competition. 45% of the reservation quotas is converted into 100 percent and distributed according to given reservation clusters.Within that, 9% of post are allocated for "Dalit", people who are considered "untouchable". As educated people like us can distinct that it is a myth that passed-on in the society that these people should not be touched and later on it became a norm. It has been a challenge to make old generation people aware that such things should not exists and at some level, those who are the victims are not able to accept the change themselves. 

In contrast to positive efforts, the constitution of 2015 and the government have established various institutions like "dalit aayog" and "dalit uthan kendra", that always will identify the underprivileged as minority group "Dalit". It is like reminding the community of their real status though they get various support. If  Nepal government really want minorities uplift their life style, get ahead in society, the main thing needed is literacy. Its old norms and values that are holding the society back in accepting everyone to be equal. Reservation works only when the system is fair but in a corrupt government like of Nepal, reservation  gets exploited. Countable people and educated society might help the community to uplift their status but when it comes to getting social benefit, people in power will use it as a weapon to gather a mass around them. It is taken as a political advantage and a means to gather vote.

 No matter how much aware we have been, how far ahead we have come or how much we try, its those minorities who decides their fate. EDUCATION is MUST.

शक्तिको नशा हो

बुढो शरीर , उठेर आएँ 

थचक्कै बसायो,

निर्धक्क छाती फुलाई आएथेँ,
यि आँखा रसायो ।

के भयो दैव , यस्तो मुर्तिलाई?
कसले हो फसायो?

छोरो हो मेरो, मुटुको टुक्रो 
के ठुलो दशा यो? 

निर्दोष व्यक्ति, हत्कडीमा देख्दा ,
न्यायले हँसायो ।

धन , कानुन सबै आफ्नै बनाए 
शक्तिको नशा यो !

धन , कानुन आफ्नै बनाए यहाँ ,

न्याय नै मेटाए,

कस्तो लत लग्यो यो समाजलाई 

शक्तिको नशा यो 

बुझ्छु,

शक्तिको नशा हो ।

COVID-19 and Nepal

Nepal had a big plan in 2020. The stage was set, the performers were ready, arrangements were being made and the audiences had started getting invitation to attend the programme. Honourable Minister of Culture, Tourism and civil aviation, Yogesh Bhattarai was already preparing for the opening speech, in-fact he already had delivered some pre programme preparation. Disaster stroke. A virus, that started to spread in Wuhan in China, according the sources,  crippled the viability of the programme and later it got cancelled. All the efforts that was made for "VISIT NEPAL 2020" had officially been unproductive due to an unforeseen and unprecedented situation of COVID-19.

The first reported case of COVID-19 in Nepal was on 15th of February, in a student who returned from china. As per the sources, now on 21st of may, there are 453 cases of COVID-19 in Nepal out of which 49 have recovered. The government of Nepal imposed lockdown on the 24th of March restricting any kind of unnecessary movements within country and stopped international travel. At that time there were only 2 cases of coronavirus in Nepal. Though the lockdown had been imposed, thousands of people who had employment in India returned home, they brought corona virus with them. Even Indian nationals who had travelled to Nepal before lockdown had been infected by COVID-19 and are also  considered as possible sources for community transmission. The rate of infection is increasing and the number of death because of the virus also have started rising. Currently there are 3 people reported deaths because of the virus but if the health system is not upgraded, the death and infected number of people is likely to rise. Nepal still is in a lockdown situation.

The communist government is criticised for its ineffectiveness in making lockdown realistic. Though receiving thousands of virus testing kits, the government have not been able to effectively increase testing ratio in high alert areas. Low testing ratio and longer lockdown is severely affecting mental state of every individual and the economy but the government seem unconcerned to the fact.  Longer lockdown is emptying everyones pock and especially lower class people who need to work everyday to eat are severely affected. The government have not shown effective measures to tackle the situation while leaders of communist party are flaunting on effectiveness of the relief they are giving to the public. The goal has been made clear that the government will not let anyone die of hunger and will not let anyone suffer but where they have failed as a state is that no realistic objective and tactics are put in place. Small and medium scale business are considered as a backbone of an economy but the government have not presented any plans to support them. The government has failed at many places but a silver lining is that it is still not too late. The virus crisis is bringing in thousands of migrant workforce home and it is an opportunity to make a use of that workforce. The lockdown is being extended and may even get extended further but its the responsibility of the state to ensure that when the virus will pass, plans are put in place for a safe landing.

A Beginner : Photography

Following Photography

People spend their time in different ways. Some like to dance, sing, engage in sports, some start gaming , go fishing, read books and many more activities around to get engaged.


Photography is one, among all those activities. It can be a hobby, a passion or  profession. Photography is an art, its an art of story telling. Like a story having different genre, photography also have its own type.


Here, I am giving my opinion on photography. For me, photography is a hobby. When i'm free and I see something fascinating, I take my camera out and start capturing moments.


Being amateur photographer and sometimes capturing magnificent image gives chills. Thats the best part of photography I adore.

Best photographers need to build patience. If you want to capture a perfect moment, you need to wait for the time and so being alert is important as well.
Colour composition and lighting setting affect image quality and so it also needs to be taken care of.

I clicked these photos last month when I was staying at home during coronavirus lockdown. Though the images are not perfect, this greatly satisfies me.


I used my iPhone to capture these images  and after i saw the results, it really proved that the camera is worth the price I paid for the phone.


If you are looking something to photograph, the best idea is to look around yourself. Find something creative, maybe a pen or a small statue you have at home. It not always important that you get photograph of new things, animals or some event. Maybe something in your vicinity is waiting for you and your camera.

Yes, there are rules in photography. There are certain techniques that enhances the quality of your image. But for me, creativity comes first before rules. I am not a perfect photographer, I might never be able to do that but to stand out of the crowd you need to make your own rules. Basic understanding and basic rules are important, I agree but when you start engaging,  you'll learn more from your own experiences more than the explanations of others.


If you have camera then start capturing photos. You never know that the photo you capture might one day motivate you to be a professional photographer.

चुन्यो तिम्लाई यो मुटुले

चुन्यो तिम्लाई यो मुटुले, एउटै कक्षा पढ्दाखेरी

छुट्यो साथ जिन्दगीमा हामी अघि बढ्दाखेरी

के सोचेको के भयो खै, दुबै माथी पुग्नु थियो

धक्का दियौ झारीदियौ सँगै भर्यांग चढ्दाखेरी

पुग्यौ माथी खुशी छु म, मुर्ती मात्र भएको छु 

दैबले नै थापे हात , भर्यांग बाट लढ्दाखेरी

सम्झन्छौ र? के सम्झन्थ्यौ, सम्झनालाई जलाएथ्यौ

डढेको थ्यो मेरो शरीर, मेरा तस्बिर डढ्दाखेरी

न त बोली, न थ्यो भेटघाट, मुख हेर्ने फुर्सत पाईनौ,

फुल लिएर किन आयौै, म चिहानमा सढ्दाखेरी

COVID- 19

Part 3

COVID-19, HUMANS and POLITICS

When I was writing my last article on 7th April, 2020, around 1.5 million people around the world were infected by the corona virus and now after 35 days the total number of confirmed cases has increased by 280%. There are now 4.2 million people infected by the virus and almost 2,87,000 people have died due to it. Along with bringing health consequences, the virus have also brought serious political, economical and humanitarian situation affecting people world wide.

Humans are not new or relatively oldest species on earth. Before humans there might have been million types of living organisms on earth. Virus are also considered to be the oldest lifelike form and it has been proven that they have been on earth for a long time before humans. With this outbreak, it has been clear that no matter how advanced human become or how intelligent we think of ourselves, we are vulnerable to small (microscopic) nonliving (still a point of scientific discussion) beings. It clearly reflects that how advanced we become, we are still vulnerable. Though we think we are in control, nature will certainly rule us out over time. The recent corona virus crisis is a perfect example to that.

Whether it is a mind game, a game of manipulation or a game to take advantage of situation, politicians have started to centre coronavirus for politics. Donald Trump, the president of United States, have been constantly pointing fingers at china for mishandling coronavirus, bringing deliberate economic crisis to countries like USA and using Virus as a tool to establish a solo economic dominance around the world since late February. Though he was constantly praising china for containing virus and taking absolute measures to ensure safety of the people as virus appeared in Wuhan, the table turned when cases began to appear inside USA. Other countries are also disagreeing with china and its policy of not letting independent research on the origin of Corona Virus and the supply of unworthy medical equipments to different countries from Chinese companies. China on the other hand have banned companies that are not government approved to export medical supplies and denying investigation reasoning that they can investigate the matter themselves. Another reasoning that sources from outside claim that China will deny independent investigation fearing that many secret of its system might get exposed and in the name of the independent research, foreign spies and intelligence will infiltrate the Chinese system. It is a clash of big nations and an example of regional conflict for economic and political dominance.

On the other hand, coronavirus is uses as a facade to initiate other political move. India has inaugurated a road network connecting border with china and the LOC, that runs through the disputed region of India and Nepal. Few months back India claimed the land and included it in its political map and how has inaugurated a road network while Nepal is in lockdown and the nepalese government is focused in corona control and the leading political party is having internal dispute. In USA, international media have been constantly publishing dispute between state government and the federal government regarding peoples safety and reopening of the economy.While the central government in India is urging railway to reopen, which has been shut down for last two months, the regional governments are opposing the move fearing virus spread. COVID-19 is rapidly spreading in India. The virus is crippling economy as the countries are in some sort of lockdown for far too long and dwindling economy is seen as a government failure. To SAVE their face and in the name of reopening economy some governments are playing with the health of its citizens.

At this rate and looking at the trend, COVID-19 is not showing any signs of slowing down. Its the responsibility of government for the safety of the people because they are there for that purpose. Economy definitely will get a hit but health is more important than economy. Politics should be fair.