Bespoke Blogger

TRAVEL, FOOD, TECH

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July 29, 2018

Month of Monsoon

I wish if every droplets of monsoon rain could be utilized, every gallons stored, and equally voluminous amount seeped freely down the earth to recharge the ground water.

While the Facebook feeds are replete with the pretentious design of buildings by the high-headed architects, they are oblivious of integrating the design that fosters the harvest of rainwater.

The Government has, to some extent, silenced the carping public by promising them its heralded Melamchi Project, however, not a modicum of policies of rain water harvest has been promoted to the ignorant public.

We are yet to unravel the full potential of rainwater.

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Benign Buffer

For one who has spent his entire childhood in the valley of Gods, and belonging to the quintessential Newar clan, the Kathmandu Durbar Square holds a special place in my memories. Apart from every festivals that the Square circumscribe, the fragrance and the conspicuous carvings in the woods that form the pillars of those Medieval architecture and the ambience provided by the unison of Newari art, culture, and tradition, is a source of bucolic romanticization for me.

The pressing issue lies in the botched urban planning that has exterminated the pristine beauty of the Kathmandu Valley, and its ramifications on the sustainability of Kathmandu Durbar Sqaure is conspicuous. The buffer zone of the Durbar Square is encroached by the voluminous settlements, the diaspora of people from all over Nepal flocking to one single place. While it was customary for the ancients to settle in the periphery of temples or places of religious importance, the successive generation thought it an easy job to continue that trend, however, commercializing the spaces of the buffer zone, in lieu of traditional settlement.

Simutaneous cultural and economic capitalization of a place are incongruous. Kathmandu should never have been the capital of Nepal at first place. The Shah dynasty touted as the epitomy of valor did not have a modicum of sense of an urban planning. And so are our present generations. For corrective measures, Nepal needs to find a new economic hub, and extricate the Valley of Gods from its incessant encroachment.

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Man- Now a social(media) animal

October 20, 2017

11:36 p.m

The ubiquitous internet and the proliferation of technology has been a great appurtenance to write blogs and share our thoughts, giving minute by minute updates. However, keeping abreast of technology doesn't mean one become apathetic of their culture and traditions. Being 'modern' means to enhance your thinking while embracing your traditions at the same time.

The hegemony of Facebook in Nepali society is conspicuous in today's generation. However, the way people are using it concerns me. Facebook is rife with photos of celebrations during these festive seasons. Ironically people are now celebrating festivals so that they could 'spam' their news feed with such grandiose photos while remaining totally oblivious of the ethos of such festivals.

Today's young generation are the ones mostly impacted by social media. I atleast lived a life devoid of social media till my school days, the moment which I cherish the most and the memories that is still indelible in my mind without even having to take 'selfies'. In contrast, I am oblivious to the glut of memories captured by 'selfies' in the contemporary digital age. What I seek is a balance between technology and human expressions and the need to preserve our memories in a 'frame', albeit digital, but not 'fabricate' memories to make an ostentatious 'frame'.

Goodnight

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Lights, Camera, Food & drinks

6:30 p.m. October 20, 2017

What seems more uproarious than bidding off the day with a toast of wine, with a city scintillated with colorful lights in the background. The millieu is teeming with melodious songs of 'Deusi' with a clamor of some 'Bollywood' dance mixes. The traditional ceremony of 'Mha Puja' is about to begin.

The ceremony begins by creating a 'mandap' - a form of art works made on the floor with the help of color powers. This is followed by decorating it with fruits and fragrance of incense sticks. After the 'mandap' is ready, all the members of the family sit infront of it and the ceremony is performed.

The completion of this ceremony is followed by feasting on traditional Newari cuisines served with liquor.

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Diyas

October 20, 2017

'Diyas'- the epitome of scintillating light that is pristine, placid & perennial. Tihar is incomplete without lighting these traditional lights. In contrast to electrical lights that has inundated the cities in this modern age, lighting diyas still feels more vivacious and requires meticulous preparation and perseverance.

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UNMATCHED. UNRIVALED. ONE OF ONE #SURSUDHA

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The festival of Lights

October 20, 2017

I've always wanted to write a blog ever since my childhood. I even tried. But that moment collided with the precedence of social medias like Facebook which digressed me from reaching my goal. Now, I am apathetic to social media, glutted by pretentious posts, premeditated stories and friends staying reticent on important events but spamming inboxes with 'candy crush' invites with celerity. I have become a detractor of 'facebook' to be precise and I have no qualms for that. I don't believe that staying away from 'social medias' makes me a reclusive.

Coming back to this day, reminiscent of all the past childhood memories when people used to enjoy this festival with gaiety, it now seems quite opposite, especially in the towns. People are lingering more on 'social medias' than showing the exuberance towards preserving our traditions. 'Deusis' - a tradition where a group of itinerant people for the day being, travel house by house singing folk songs and offering blessing- are getting scarce. Rock bands have superceded the traditional musical instruments, thus tarnishing the ethos of our culture and nobody seems to worry about that.

This day also marks the beginning of new year for the 'Newar' people of the valley. Being a Newar, I embrace this day for the ceremony conducted in the evening where we worship our own body. I visited the Basantapur Durbar Square where the vivacious youths were embarking for the rally called 'Bhintuna' - a rally of motorbikes and people, singing and dancing with jest in occasion of the new year. During these times, even the cacophony of horns and speakers sounds mellifluous.

As the sun sets below the horizon, the entire town gets illuminated by lights and 'diyas'. The celebrate of Tihar continues in its 4th day.

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The obsolete iPhone

The iPhone, which was so revolutionary in 2007 that not even their rivals could easily copy it, has dwindled to the point of obsolescence in 2017.

Despite being a billion dollar tech monstrosity, Apple in the Tim Cook era has been stingy in investing to create new innovations. It's recent release of iPhone 8 is bagging the same dated design of iPhone 6. Even the tech specs of its exaggerated iPhone X is quotidian when compared to Android flagships.

The reason behind Apple's lethargic outlook to innovation is its loyal fanbase, colloquially termed as 'iSheep', who are known for their obsequesness to Apple, buying anything that Apple throws at them. Unless 'iSheep' become politic, Apple will continue to swindle them with their underwhelming dated iPhone.