Lost and found

I remember my first mobile. It was a used one and was given to me when I was in the second year of my college. It was like a toy. When I say a toy, I really mean it. I remember my four year old cousin say to me back then, 'Didi, please give me that mobile like thing to play with.' So, you can imagine how unsophisticated I was (I still am the same with technology). I used it for two years, and then gave it to someone. It sure was a sturdy set.

My second mobile was a gift from my bhinaju. I don't remember it clearly, but I think this too was not a brand new one. I used it for quite some time and then one fine morning, while I was enjoying the sun rise from my aunt's balcony, I dropped it. The screen was damaged. So, my sweetest bhinaju gave me another set to use.

The fourth set I got was from my father. It was the best one I had used till that time. I really liked it. But I could not enjoy it for long. One evening, a young chap entered my aunt's house, got inside the room I used, took away my laptop and my mobile, and ran away. By god's grace, I could save my laptop, but lost my mobile to the asshole (sorry for the bad language, but I can't help it).

The next phone was again a gift..from a friend, who wanted to pay me back for a little favor I did (It was not at all needed, but my friend was insistent). I used it for sometime. It was doing pretty alright, but DR got me another phone. We nearly had a fight because he wanted me to get a new phone. Now, have you seen someone get upset when he/she gets a gift ?..I can be that weird sometimes.

Anyway, last year, after it started giving me problems, I had to change it. But guess what, I got yet another gift. This time it was my brother. I have been using the set for more than nine months now. So, as you will see, I never really 'bought' a mobile for myself. Thanks to all the wonderful people around me :)

 I am very very careless when it comes to taking care of my mobile. I have the habit of leaving it anywhere, everywhere. I have nearly lost it many times. Today could have been the last day of my current phone. After office, I went to a cafe with a friend, had a nice meal, dropped off the friend, came back home, and searched for my mobile everywhere. It was nowhere to be found. I called my number from my ghar ko cheu ko pasal ko didi ko phone. It was unreachable. I was sure I had dropped it somewhere, that some lucky chap had found it, and was super happy about it. More than the tragedy of losing the phone, it was the thought of having to go through the process of buying a new set, blocking my sims, filling forms to get new sims (I use two sims in my mobile), and retrieving the contacts, etc. etc. that was bothering me all through the while.

With the faintest hope, I went back to the cafe, and asked the parking guy if he had found a mobile. He said, 'La hajur, malai dui saya rupaiya dinu hos. Tapaile mobile jharera janu bhayecha. Maile tipera rakhideko thiye. ' I wanted to hug that old man and thank him. At a time when I was thinking that honesty has become ancient in today's world, this man gave me hope. I was a happy person.

Sadly, I had only hundred rupees left with me (after the meal at the cafe), or I would have been more than happy to give him dui saya rupaiya for his sincerity. 

The cost of astrology

So, it had started few months back. I was low on life, low on luck, low on everything.I am a firm believer of destiny. But somehow, during that time, I packed that belief in the closet of my mind. I didn't like what was happening to my life. So, I asked my mom to seek some astrological advice from an expert. When life takes a negative turn, rationality and open mindedness ceases to exist. I wanted to be told that yes, my stars were not in the right positions, and that it was not my fault that nothing in my life was going right. And the 'astrologer' did just that. He told me that malai brihaspati ko dasha lageko cha (I had something wrong with my brihaspati). He asked me to do the following things:

1. Kera ko bot ko puja every Thursday. (Pahelo luga lagayera)

2. Thursday ko barta (by barta I mean a real kind of fasting. I eat only yellowish fruits--count oranges only)

3. Wear a gold ring with yellow sapphire on it

So, the first two options were not too difficult for me. I have done them in the past. The difficult part was finding kera ko bot in Kathmandu, and yes, I dont have any yellow color ko luga. But, somehow, I solved both the problems. Fasting is not a big deal for me. I used to fast a lot just a couple of years back. I used to fast every Tuesdays, then after I was told that girls don't fast on Tuesdays, I started fasting every Monday. I used to fast during the nine days of Durga Puja (Navaratri), I fasted for 21 Fridays and used to eat only at night after taking a bath (regardless of the cold) and doing puja. I still fast during Shivaratris, on Mondays during Shrawan, and few other days. Don't judge me, please. Many people laugh at me for fasting, making me feel embarrassed. But I think fasting once a week is very healthy. Anyway, I have already fasted for 5 Thursdays, and it has not been very difficult.

So, the most difficult part was the third option. I have never shopped for gold on my own. I don't know which shops sell original yellow sapphire and which sell the fake ones while claiming them to be real. I was in a state of fix for the last one month. I visited a lot of shops in the meantime, but I couldn't decide who to trust. So, I turned up to my aunt and today, I visited a shop in New Road to order for my ring. The shopkeeper gave us a lot of options so as to help us decide. I decided on a medium size sapphire some 7.5 carat (which he claimed to be the perfect choice), on 22 carat gold to be weighed 4 gram approx. He diligently made his calculations. When he turned the calculator towards me, I wished I hadn't come to the shop, I wished I hadn't complained about my bad luck, I wished my mom had not consulted the astrologer, I wished the astrologer had not recommended the third option to me, and I wished so many other wishes.

But it was too late. I had no choice. So, I agreed to pay to the shopkeeper what he had quoted (BTW, it was a discounted price, thanks to my aunt). I am supposed to pick the ring on Tuesday and wear it for the first time on Thursday. I hope that the golden ring with the yellow sapphire brings me enough luck so that I can at least get back the value of the money I have splurged on it!

UNITE FOR HUNGER AND HOPE

Today, we are supposed to write something on world hunger, on how we can address the problem, and reach a solution to it. I have been wondering since the morning: how can i make a little contribution to the cause-should i not eat the whole day so that my part of the food goes to somebody else? Or should i go somewhere and give food to people who are deprived of it? The first option does not sound very realistic. Even if i don't eat the entire day, there is no guarantee that what i have sacrificed will reach to the needy ones. The second option looks more plausible. I plan to do that today. But this wont help in the long run. I might forget this once April 29 passes. We need to build a more concrete strategy to alleviate the problem.

The foremost reason for the existing status is low production of food that could meet the demand of the growing population. This imbalance between supply and demand creates a shortage and raises the price of the available food...which cannot be afforded by all. I was looking at the statistics related to world hunger and among the many, i found the following the most appalling:

--Every year 15 million children die of hunger-This means that due to world hunger, we lost 15 million brains that could take the world ahead.

--For the price of one missile, a school full of hungry children could eat lunch every day for 5 years-If this is true, why do we value gun power so much? We need to realize how its absence can uplift lives of people...

--One in twelve people worldwide is malnourished, including 160 million children under the age of 5. (Source: United Nations Food and Agriculture)

--Half of all children under five years of age in South Asia and one third of those in sub-Saharan Africa are malnourished.

--About 183 million children weigh less than they should for their age

--To satisfy the world's sanitation and food requirements would cost only US$13 billion- what the people of the United States and the European Union spend on perfume each year.

--Every 3.6 seconds someone dies of hunger

These statistics could take anybody to thinking. How many of us do not waste food? How many of us take for granted what we have? I guess most of us, including me.

I had received an e-mail from a friend who lives in India.A local NGO has taken a wonderful initiative to pacify the situation.If there is food left after lunch or dinner that the family plans to dump,they could rather call the NGO, and they would send their volunteer to collect the food and make it available to people who have to go to bed with empty bellies.They have volunteers spread over the city and food could be collected from anywhere. I think this is a wonderful initiative,and if this is implemented everywhere,everyone could contribute in their small little ways.

I have also seen people offering grain,food,fruits to deities in temple.A lot of food is wasted this way.God doesnt eat it,we all know that. So what is the point in offering it?We could rather give it to people who could eat it and drive away their hunger.I have strictly followed this,and whenever i go to temples,the amount i would use to give offerings to god, i use it to buy some eatables for the poor.

I am hopeful that the situation will improve one day,and we all need to come together to bring the change,and create HOPE!