Special Me

In this new era of competition, life starts with comparison and ends with it. None is free from it. All of us is busy just to prove our superiority than others. We are concerned about, "I am best" in any field than others. The journey of comparison, for all of us, starts from our home as, "I am better than my cousin." Later in education where ,"I am the topper of my class" then at offices where "I got awarded as the best employee this year" and so on. In this comparison we forget to feel "my specialty." 

My grandparents ran through it, my mother went through it, so am I. Why was I sent to school ? Just because everyone goes. Why was I admitted to engineering school, Just because everyone says. What was I taught all these days? Just what everyone reads. Why didn't they taught me to be the different one? I don’t want to be at your pass list or fail list. Why don’t you create some special list for me. Why don’t you teach me, to write my own book before I read yours. I don’t want to be you, who won the race. I want to be at audience group, who never runs, just observes. I want to be your audience, who pays for seat before he sits.

It's not only mine and your problem. We all are running through the same race. We are born at different time and place, but all of us run the same race. Maybe I am senior than you, maybe you are smarter than me but we belong to the same world, the world of competition and comparison. We are different, but we want to be the same, "The best one." Hard to believe!

Why don’t you create a race, where there is no winner no looser, all is just special one. why do we need to tag everyone with best or worst, good or bad? Why don’t we try to make different tags for all or remove the all tags? Why we are taught to be the richest one? Why we are not asked, "who wants to be a beggar?" Yes! all expectation are for gaining the richest, best, most intelligent, most beautiful tags. Why don’t we are supposed to be the special one, not the most special among all.

Yes, I want to read where there is no limitation of lessons and no comparison who understood the most? Maybe I read it from the different perceptions than you. Maybe at my perception no question arises. The sun is special, the moon is special, so am I and so do you. Let's be special to feel our specialty. Neither I am you nor you are me, so why the comparison between us?

Maybe for you they may look like same, but ask them , they can make you understand they are special. They may look like same but they are special within them.

दुखनी चमार

दुखनी चमार के दुख हजार,

किनका सुनाउ, वयस्त छै संसार।

मधेसमे घर छै, नइहर बिहार

घरके टाट टुटल, बडेरी ओलार,

खानपिन आधापेट, पहिरन गवांर,

जुत्ता बनबैछै, बेचैछै पेटार,

बेटा ब्लैकिया, साईं छै कतार,

किनका सुनाउ, वयस्त छै संसार।

घर अंहार, अंगना अंहार

लालटेन किनलौं, ओहो बेकार

कहां करु नोकरी, कि करु व्यपार

शलहेश पुजली, नै सुनलखिन पुकार

नै सुने लोग, नै सनैय सरकार,

किनका सुनाउ, आखिर वयस्त छै संसार।

Am I coward?

Prescript: It's not intended to hurt anyone personally. Some people are genuinely working for social issues, It's not to hurt their feelings. It's about the issues which is growing in our society, and intended to flow a message not to use them for personal benefit.

I beg your pardon if it hurts you personally.

To know the difference between right and wrong is one of the basic idea in all human being. We all know the right path and decision should be followed. But implementing the right ideas in practical life is quite different than learning. Sometimes, we know the path we are following is wrong, but we don't dare to take the right one. Due to lack of some courage, starts cowardice that leaves a guilt in us.

Once I was back to home from a campaign named "Stop Dowry". At home, I found a girl's parents were paying dowry for her marriage with one of the boy of my family. I was asked to keep the money in locker. As my step of protest I disobeyed my family and did not keep the money but I could not raise a single word for stopping dowry at my own home. I felt guilty for the event then and now. I just decided "Dowry needs to be stopped" inside me. Since then I am haunted by a question, "Am I coward?"

After completing my bachelor's studies I worked in different sectors. Within my small professional life I traveled more. I met females working  in different sectors and at different levels, from VDC level to national levels. During the conversations, I came to know that most of the females have suffered sexual harassment during their professional carrier. Some of them were victimized physically whereas some of them were victimized by rude words of their seniors.

If I suppose those talks as literal proofs, then most of the females have the idea about the right against sexual harassment. But they don't use it. In most cases they are harassed by their office heads. If they file a case or raise a voice against it, firstly they are most probably fired from the job in case of private companies. But the scenario is more complicated at government sectors. If the girls are new comers and working on some contract, and if  they ask for leave or any support for their office works, first question from their office head is "Can you meet me alone?" It's not the issue at VDC level only. From ward levels to ministries, the conditions are same until the head is too female. Either they ask for transfers or any contract renewal, they face the same question. Some of them even resign to get out of that situation, whereas some of them ignore their question as well as their problem, whereas in worse situation some get victimized. If they raise their voice, then heads have more links and they settle it easily by relating it with their bad performance at work.

Most of the offices have the idea about women empowerment, but I have met even the persons who deliver fine lectures about these issues while holding a mike in public but when they leave the mike they ask the same question. The lecture about gender empowerment and social inclusion is a way to earn money.

I met the children too who are victimized by sexual abuse. I have seen the children working at hotels. I have seen persons charging money to uneducated people for their basic rights which needs no money according to government rules. I have seen the husbands torturing their wives. I have seen untouchability. I have seen the people who just raise the issues to earn money and make the social issue a business. But  all I could perform was sympathizing me and the victims. I could not raise the voice for them. So I get haunted by the question, "Am I coward?"

Oh! Almighty Power

Oh! almighty power of universe,

wherever you are

whatever you are

Oh! seen and unseen power

I know,

somewhere you are

I feel,

something you are

Oh! lord of deaths and lives,

let me thank you,

for empty canvas of life

gifted me on birth,

for plain brocade of time

handed me with birth.

I want to thank you for,

ups and downs

smiles and tears

failures and crowns

strength and fears.

I got to thank you,

for,

the  brinish and sweet taste of life,

the struggles and comforts of life,

the brims and peace of life.

Oh! almighty god

power of the universe,

I have to thank you

for all,

absent and present in my life,

who hates or loves me

who teases or cares me

who pleases or fears me

who bores or entertains me.

oh! one in all

all in all,

I want to thank you

for,

achievements and failures,

flower and thrones,

gold and coals,

days and night,

dark and bright

all part of life.

Oh! almighty power

I have to thank you

for,

accepting and rejecting my prayers.

I want to thank you

for the versatility of life.

Oh! almighty power.

Let's raise right issues!

Nature may have created all livings and non-livings with huge effort. Among all, it must have created humans with love and emotion too. It cares about us all the time, may be so it manages the resources for us everywhere. It tries as much as it can, makes us reachable to resource and use it. But although it have tried much, some of us are still facing issues. Some of them are created by nature like flood, earthquake etc whereas some of them are created by humans themselves like dowry, inequality, sexual harassment etc.

Most of us are working for those issues so that resources can be made accessible to everyone. Everyone can live a better life. We are trying to overcome all issues either those are by nature or humans. Government organizations, I/NGOs all are working for solving the issues. Some of them have already solved some issues whereas some of them are working and some of them are failed too. There are lots of faces devoted for giving everyone a good life. Whereas there are lots of faces these days who create more issues by raising one issue. They are raising issues for the needed ones but they start it with the wrong way as well as inappropriate words. If issues are raised with right voice and right words they get solution and everyone is benefited. What if they lack the right direction and right words? Raising issues of society is good, because we always need some people to speak if something wrong is going on, but raising the wrong issues and wasting resources for it is crime.

For instance, If in some colony lacks food and it is thrived to starvation. If all the members, men and women, are suffering.  What if we write it as," Again women rights could not reach here. The women of the colony are starving. Where is government? " After reading the statement above government would never take it as the problem of poverty. It will start working for women rights and launch some programs there. Is women right need of the colony at the time? What would be the result? Probably all the people, men and women, would die of poverty or may be their condition would be worse. And it would be all for a single reason ,"raising the wrong issue." What would it have been if it was raised as ,"people of colony starved. Where is government?"  Later issue could take the stakeholders towards the right solution and probably people can be saved.

Lets raise the issues in order to get proper solution of it and address it. If the problem is not identified correctly it can never get the correct solution. The real problems get solution, created problems can never get. These days issues are not the real issue, raising wrong issue is the main issue. Specially, Nepal is already bound with lots of problems, let's not create more by raising wrong issues. Women's right, gender discrimination are the genuine issues and so many resources have been utilized to uplift the lives, but don't mix it with all the problems. Think twice before we raise an issue, if we are raising right issue then we will can get closer to its solution and if you are raising wrong issue then we can prevent world from more issue by dropping it  or searching the right way to raise it.

 

A face of volunteerism

“Volunteering for me is all about being able to give instant and long term happiness to all. May be they are the people whom we watch regularly or maybe we have never seen them in our whole life. Getting inspired with my own definition, I started to volunteer for empowering women of the Terai community of Nepal. I started my journey to educate them so that they can decide their life and volunteer for others who they used to be. 

The world can be happier place only if all of us are living happily. But in most places we can see that there men have only life, women are just their service provider or commodity to them. Women are concerned as service to men, their self existence is questioned? For the independence of my community, I tried to educate the women informally. I taught them to realize, "their own existence, their role." Nature is incomplete without them. I started this movement from Mahottari district a year ago and included some formal and non-formal education during my sessions. All the sessions are equally memorable to me and smile on those faces are unforgettable.

One of the sessions which is most memorable moment to me. We, me and my students, were talking about women rights in world. One old grandmother said ,"So we are equal to world. " I realized I am a good teacher and a good volunteer too. Because the grandmother have never felt her own existence and equality in society. And I answered her ,"Yes! all women are. Women are volunteer by nature that does not mean that they have no rights." This movement have increased women literacy, decision making roles of women in society and their participation in all events.

It is not a formal organization. Some of the women of local community run the program. The smiles in all the faces and positive confidence towards life in them drives me there. These days some of the local men are too attending the sessions so they can understand about the women rights and implement in their life.”

क्युं?

सुबह तुम्हारी, रौशनी तुम्हारे,

अंधकार ही सारे मेरे क्युं?

अंधकार चलो दिए तो दिए

उन अंधकारकी चन्द्रमा भी तुम्हारे क्युं?

क्या मैने ऐसा मांगलिया

जो तुम दे नही सकते,

आखिर दे नही कुछ सकते,

तो देनेका इसारा दिखाया क्युं?

घरमे लेना है इतना मुश्किल

तो बाहर जाके हम मांगे क्युं?

आदिकवि तुम्हारे, महाकवि तुम

तो मैं तुम्हारी धर्तीको अपना मांगु क्युं?

स्वर्ग तुम्हारी, जन्नत तुम्हारे

बचाखुचा नर्क मेरा क्युं?

नर्क मेरा हुवा तो हुवा,

ये नर्क चलानेवाला यमराज तुम्हारा क्युं?