Taking Advice

Taking Advice
We are social creatures, and we seek freedom. It’s really irritating if someone tries to treat you like a captive. Maybe freedom is one major reason why youngsters fly abroad as there is no one to scold them and they get to live their life in the way they want. Truly, when it’s our life, we should get the freedom to live as we wish.

But this does not happen here. There are thousands of actors who turn out to be a villain in our life. Every senior we meet tries to give us advice on how we must live.

One says, if you don’t study science, that’s stupid, while others will claim there is no scope in science. I am sure such advice is not new. I don’t call such advisors bad, as they mean well. But it’s the advice receiver who needs to tolerate them. Since they are our seniors, there is no point in arguing with them.

Probably, they are exposing their feelings in the advice they give. Or else, why should the advice vary from one person to another? One suggests you go abroad after completing high school, while another will claim there will be much trouble earning and studying there. Now what do you call this? Advice? I call it a feeling. Such varying advice causes irritation in you. The feeling of irritation will then be followed by confusion, frustration and anger.

In Nepal, it is difficult to avoid the advice of others. Even a person sitting next to you in a bus is ever ready to give you expert advice. The advice receiver must, therefore, grow wise and properly analyse all the advice he is receiving.

One says drinking is necessary as one needs to socialise while another will say drinking is not good for you. Now don’t get confused. Mix the two pieces of advice and arrive at the conclusion that drinking in limits is okay.

There really is nothing wrong in lending your ears to people’s advice. Take in all the advice they give for free and then give them a thought. Know the benefits and effects of studying science from the advisors and then you decide for yourself what to do in the end.

Your grandfather may say, do not listen to AC-DC’s songs as they will make the hearing or listening power weak. Now your cousin may claim that AC-DC is the best band in the entire universe and praise its style. Now it’s up to you, will you listen to AC-DC just because your cousin likes it or will you avoid stop listening to it simply because your grandfather hates it?



Both of them are right. So listen to AC-DC, Enrique and Beatles once. If you like any of them, that’s perfect. You can listen to AC-DC in low volume. Or you may not like any of them, instead you may settle for Taylor Swift’s songs. So listen to her songs. But whatever decision you take in the end has to be meaningful. And let that be the unspoken advice to others.

(PUBLISHED IN THE RISING NEPAL APR 25 2011)

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Going for the mix up

Going for the mix up


It's good when one doesn't need to stand in a queue for anything.

I was really happy to find out the `token' system in various banks, government offices and other places. One needs to simply get the coupon or token from a dispenser, and wait peacefully till your number is called out or digitally displayed. The system definitely needs appreciation as it removes the irritating trend of standing in a queue in front of the relevant counter.

The digitalized system doesn't require you inquire frequently whether your turn has come. The digital display screen shows the your number when your turn comes. This system really is wonderful and requires appreciation.

However, the mismanagement of this service makes the system irritating as well as frustrating. Let me trace an incident that I faced some time back. I took the coupon as soon as I reached the bank, and then filled the deposit slip and had to wait for my turn to come. I sat down in one of the chairs to relax. There was a queue there as well. I was confused. At that instant I saw a man come, fill in the deposit slip and stood in the queue and his job was done, while I kept on waiting for my turn to arrive. My fury made me stand in the queue.

All of a sudden, another man came with his coupon saying it was his turn, and he got the chance. I wondered about the system. I felt really frustrated; and I am sure anyone there would be. Either the bank had to follow the coupon system or the queue system.
How can it bank of the use of both the systems.

Finally, it was my turn and handed my coupon to the teller. Although my work was done, I was not satisfied with the simultaneous us of the old and new way.

Maybe we are still in the transitional phase. We haven't got over with the old one and the new technique enters.
The confusion seems to exist not only for the users but also for the service providers. Is it a competition?
Going for the coupon system must be a leap forward by the bank management. But, only if the transactions were to be performed as per the coupon basis! It's not that I abhor the queue system, both the coupon and standing in the queue at the same time is out of comprehension.

That's just one side of the story.


THIS ARTICLE WAS PUBLISHED IN THE HIMALAYAN TIMES (2011,APRIL 4)

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Writing is not easy (My First Writing)

Writing is not easy (My First Writing)

After going through my letters to the editor in different newspapers, people give me all kind of feedback. Some believe I will someday be a journalist. Others believe that getting published in the letter column is easy as breaking an egg. I have been hearing them for last three years. An admission : I took to writing letters because I hated my studies. One day, when I was in class ten, I wrote to the 'Letter to the editor' section of the Post just to pass my time. To my surprise, it was published the next day! I was so happy and excited, and thus began my letter-writing spree.
When I got into the college, I expected my teachers to go through my letters and talk about them in the classroom. But during my two years in plus two, not one of them had any idea I wrote to newspaper on regular basis. Luckily, the station manager of a local FM station in Biratnagar used to read my letters and comment them favorably to my father. It was thanks to all those letters that I got the job of Radio Jockey for a year.
At last getting the kind of attention I was looking for, I thought about upgrading to the Post Platform column and then finally, to the feature articles. I promptly wrote a dozen Platforms. Sadly, not one of them was good enough to published. After cleaering my plus two, I faced another hurdle.In those days, I didn't have a computer to be able to write long stuff, like the Platform. However, writing small letters was still possible through the GPRS connection of cell phone, which I took full advantage of.
Since I have been collecting all the Post Platforms and started analyzing them to get an idea about what I should be writing about - so keen I was to get published in the column. Then came time to pick a topic to write about. It was a tough job as none of my earlier ideas had been accepted. I thought about it night and day: in the microbus, while walking on the road, when I was reading or...even when I was in the bathroom. But nah! I couldn't get a unique topic to write on. After something like a fortnight, I thought: why not to write about my unsuccessful tries?
I don't know if these thoughts will find a place on the editorial page. If not, I have since come up with two more ideas and I will write something on them for sure. If I do get published, I'll jump with joy, as I will be well on my road to becoming a successful, ahem, writer.

(This is my very first writing that got published on The Kathmandu Post(Oct 25 2009))

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