The clock is still ticking

6:15 am

Kathmandu wakes up to a promising day with dreams to be realized, expectations to be met and promises to be fulfilled. The early hours unfold with the rustling of newspapers revealing the same old political events progressing at the same snail’s pace, yet there is faith in human conduct and people still diligently turn the pages, hoping for something sanguine. The tolling of bells in the background, adds to the optimism in the air.

8:00 am

The shrieking whistles from the kitchen signals, the employed, and job seekers alike hurry up, for we all know what punctuality means, don’t we?

9:30 am

People board microbuses, bus or any available public vehicle. Inside the fumbling radio jockey on the radio bores listeners to the point of death.

10:00 am

The hands of the watch rotate softly, but the microbus only crawls. The young driver loses his patience. He swears, overtakes and performs any and all moves possible on four wheels. Once again the taxi drivers are holding the strike at Koteshwor. Nobody knows the reason but it is definitely taxi drivers versus someone. As always, these incidents usually occur without prior notice, irritating thousands of people on the road. And making people wait for the long hour on a lonely road without no any work just at a place.

11:45 am

The vehicles head straight towards the Ring Road seeking an alternative route to circumvent the strike. Unfortunately, everyone else seems to have the same idea. And all the vehicles get jammed.

12:15 pm

Still at the same place with a hope that vehicles will certainly move from there and reached office to look after the bundle of work made ready by the boss. No one knows what the boss mode is gonna be.

1:00 pm

Life couldn’t be better; the morning so far has comprised of many U-turns, a full 360 rotation of the valley, lots of sighs and some serious cursing. Faces question, “Whose fault is it” “For what reasons” Diagnosis of the problem brings forth comparisons with the political scenario of the bygone day. Many people seem to vent their frustration while for the majority it does not matter; it is a normal price to pay for using the roads, so to speak; a question of luck, of being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

3:15 pm

A day wasted for no reasons. Those who do not reach their destinations on time metamorphose into whimpering, sniveling grown-up children, stuck for hours in a jam or a strike. Too many grown-ups child looks absurd and foolish until they go through the same experience.

5:00 pm

One imagines a better life somewhere in America, England, Australia, an easy compromise to the day’s absurdity. And that is not obvious as most do.

6:30 pm

Dust starts to settle and as the fumes recede, the fragmented personality last regains a substantial shape. There are no more accusations and nothing more to escape from.

8:00 pm

The traffic lights powered by solar energy stop working in the dark. The lights blink yellow. Kathmandu, like its traffic lights, comes to a standstill.

The evening news unfolds the mystery of what caused the afternoon mishap. But does it really matter now? The day is wasted; guess work is over and done with. This isn’t rare occasion. It is everyday life, the one that has come to be surprisingly comfortable in this ‘New Nepal’.

9:30 pm

In the darkness of the night, dreams rise. We build a new dream of brick and stones of a regained nation, for all Nepalese alike. No false promises of hopeless possibilities, just a beautiful life. As they say, it is always dark before dawn. Until the ‘waiting’ becomes time without numbers. And the clock keeps ticking.

He Found Salvation

He saw a light shining at the far end. The dark tunnel seemed to go on and on for ages. He was alone; his intuition told him that if he went towards this invisible force that was pulling him, he would not return back. Part of him was curious, what if he didn’t have to come back to his harsh, cruel world, and part of him was scared. All that he had even wanted was to be happy, maybe for a little while, just a little while, but all that he ever got was deceit, failure, loneliness and his only friend was solitude.

He was fading fast, like the wind that blows away the blame of burning candle. As his veins throbbed faster, and blood drained away from his skin, he felt something. Was somebody there, was it Meg? He focused his eyes, his vacant brown eyes, he saw nothing. Everything was a blur. All he heard was a busy rushing noise, and some people talking…

‘Andrew, father wants you inside his room now’

‘Yes mother’

‘Andrew, tomorrow for Howard medical school’

‘But dad… oh, father, I don’t want to join the medical college. I want to become a geologist’

 The next day he was at Howard, studying medicine. Silence…

“Nurse, the situation is getting critical”

Sweat poured down his face. His limpid eyes vividly showed the horror and fear in them.

“Andrew, you won’t whisper the word about this to anyone will you son?”

‘No father, I … swear I won’t. Please don’t hurt me’

‘Good if you do, it won’t take me long to slit your throat. You are a disgusting pathetic twenty-year-old with the brain of the stupid miserable eight-year-old brat and look know that people don’t believe anything a fool like say. Do they now?

‘ No… no father, I promise I won’t tell anyone father… don’t …donot lock me in the closet….. Father’

He remembered that the next day he had cried himself to sleep when he saw the picture of the mother’s dead body in front of the newspaper.

“Oh, doctor look. I think he is getting better.”

He breathed in the fresh cool air. He had never been so happy. As the coffin was buried he laughed out loud, a real hearty laughter after 25 long years. It created a big hullaballoo at the funeral and outraged angry stares met his broad smile. His father was dead.

“Nurse, look like he will make it!”

Jason had introduced him to Meg. She wasn’t pretty. She was quite an unusual girl with a weird hairdo. They become good friends and she quickly understood him. She didn’t listen for the sake of listening. She listened because she truly cared. She was a nice person and he finally had someone whom he could call the friend. But their friendship didn’t last long. After two weeks, Meg died in car crash. Once more he was alone, left in his cocoon of darkness.

“Doctor, the heart beats are failing.”

Why him, why did he have to run away from his terrifying past, why did he dread the present, and why did his unknown future hunt him? Everyone nauseating moment, every breath he took tortured him. His visions of his childhood tormented him, and nightmares lingered in every shadow. He was despised and ignored. His whole neighborhood loathed and feared him after he nearly murdered a woman beating her child. Some men had beaten him up and saved her life. Ha had almost served her right hand.

He didn’t know what he wanted from himself but he knew he wanted salvation. How could he get it? He would do anything for it. That night he wrestled with his emotion behind closed doors and enclosed cold walls. The menacing cries of the hounds, the mocking laughter of people around him ate his less and same mind. The tornado of wild crazy thoughts left him defeated. He picked up a knife and stabbed himself in the stomach. He groveled and cried in anguish, he cried for all those years that had passed in fear, indescribable pain, and utter loneliness. Steel like coldness engulfed him, he lost consciousness.

The machine beeped louder and signaling the emergency. Tensions mounted in the operating room, nobody spoke. A tear trickled down his face, he had finally found salvation. Andrew Hawkins was dead.

   

Are you a leader?

Truth be told, not everyone is a leader. It’s just not meant for everyone. And that’s ok.

But more people are leaders than they realize. Leadership takes on many different faces; it’s just a question of understanding, how you lead and why? Here are 10 key leadership skills you will need to succeed as a leader:

1.      Lead by Example:  You can’t be an aloof leader, someone that’s never around and incapable of getting your hands dirty. One of the best ways to lead is by example- pitching in where needed, lending is helping hand and making sure that the work you do is clearly understood by your team.

2.      Passion: A leader without passion isn’t a leader. He’s a paper pusher. Or a task master. Or a government employee…. Passion drives a lot, and you can inspire so much in others through your own passion and enthusiasm. That doesn’t mean you have to be constantly cheery, it means you’ve got to believe in what you are doing and what your company is doing?

3.      Be organized: A disorganized leader isn’t leading; he’s chasing his own tail. Disorganization breeds nothing but more disorganization. If you are frazzled and messy, your team will be too. When you’re organized you’ll be much more productive and so will everyone else.

4.      Delegate: You can’t do everything. A great leader needs to be able to delegate successfully is giving employees ownership of the work you assign them. They can’t just feel like they own the work, they really have to.

5.      Take ownership and responsibility: Although you’ve just delegated work and truly given your team ownership, you also have to take ownership and responsibility at all times. Your team has to know you’ll be there for them through the good and the bad times. That doesn’t mean you absolve people from making mistakes or ignore crappy work/effort, but it does mean you take responsibility for the big picture.

6.      Communicate effectively: Duh. Everyone knows great leaders have to be great communicators. But there are certain points of communication that many people forget. For example it’s critical that you communicate to employees how their work truly makes difference? Communicating success is also something leaders forget to do. People affirmation. They want to know they did a good job. You just have to tell them. And be precise. Insecure leaders will often ramble; uninterested leaders cut things often quickly. Whether you’re giving prays, providing constructive criticism, or defining goals and to-dos, you have to figure out how much to say and what order. Be precise, specific and concise. Get to the point.

7.      Be brave and honest:  Cowardly, leaders will shy any number of situation that crops up regularly when running the team. The project your team has worked for the sixth month just got shelved. Now, what? Or you have to talk to someone about their lack of effort recently. Do you ignore the problems? Or may be its time to take your product into a new market. Do you hobble forward, scare and nervous, or do you grab the market by the throat? Leaders are brave honest. Tell it like it is. Don’t sugarcoat, don’t obfuscate. Don’t be a jerk either. You have to learn how to present the things to your team in an honest but in balance manner.

8.       Great listener:  A huge of being a great communicator is being a great listener. If you all want to do is talk, you aren’t a leader. Keeping people motivate means listening to them asking them a question and understanding their issues. When you listen more, you can respond more effectively and go to the heart of things much faster.

9.      Know your people: You have to know your people. You don’t have to be best friends or even socialize outside of work, but you do have to know what makes them tick? You need to know about their personal lives because their lives outside work matter. Their lives outside work drive a great deal of their success (or lack of) at work. Keep trace of the simple thing: birthday, marriage, children, etc. The more you know your people the more common ground you are likely to find, the more you’ll be able to connect.

10.  Be a follower: Benjamin Disraeli said, “I must follow the people. Am I not their leader?” That sum up many of other points so beautifully. Great leaders are the follower too. If you are a leader without following, you are a dictator. And as fun as that sound… being a leader-follower is finding value in your team, getting inspired by your team, encouraging your team to communicate Brainstormed and be open.

Be a great leader!!!!

The Tortured Birthday

“That’s totally gnarly!” Exclaimed Joe.“ I learned to share such ghostly story from my wife,” said the old man and boasted. “I’m already getting late for my special birthday celebration,” said Joe to the old man. Then old man suggested Joe go home soon. Joe collected all the scattered material and put in his bag. Joe and the Old man turned their Pecs off. The old man also planned to go, at the same time, Joe planned to go. But their homes were in a different direction.

Joe went towards garage to find his descent car. But he was suffering from mental tension. He thought that his wife would come to receive him at his office when Joe would be travelling to his home. And it would be really problematic. It was one hours late than usual leaving time. He started driving car listening to classical music. His mind changed at once. Now he started reckoning himself as a flying bird in the blue free sky. But the current time was already 9 PM and it would take at least one hour to reach home. And the way to the home was through a dense forest. Time passed swiftly and he was driving through the forest. The thundering sound from the sky warned Joe about bad and critical climate in his surroundings. He had a little fear about those ghostly stories recited by old men in that same forest. The cool breeze was trying to change into fierce wind.

After some time, all his happiness and fear was directly captured by a sudden unexpected event. His car stopped in the middle of that great forest and he had about 6 km to walk through. He watched all those engines of his car and was totally unsuccessful in repairing that. So, he thought of running all the way home. Light and wind were all there to oppose him. There was a little light of the car which left a minute ago. He then saw a speedy vehicle coming from the opposite direction. He thought of asking a lift but again he was too late and unsuccessful in doing so.

After a little while, he noticed women shouting at him. She was in the white dress and appeared like a ghost from far. Thinking her an evil spirit roaming in that forest, he started running.

He ran and ran until he broke his spectacles. Then his eyes were a little blurred and his power of vision was decreased. The woman was approaching nearer and nearer to him. He again looked back to her and saw that she was carrying a long and mighty sword. But he didn’t know that his eyesight has done a great mistake.

When he ran for about one hour, he reached his own home. Joe entered through the door and locked it. He cried,” Ciara, where are you?”  He heard no answer from his wife and thought that she is already asleep. He planned to kill that coming lady. His torture mind helped him to find a pistol in an open almirah. He directly fired to that lady through the window. The bullet hit her stomach and she fell down in a helpless way. Joe thought of seeing that helpless ghostly lady. Fearing a little, he stepped up towards the vacant body. He saw blood spurting out from her stomach. Just when he saw the face of that lady that was totally faces of Ciara. A birthday present (gift) was lying aside her. He discovered a magnificent ring inside it. His eyes were full of tears. He just couldn’t tolerate that. Now, he has only one alternative left for making his heart only one alternative left for making his heart satisfied and still.

That was how Joe celebrated his last birthday.

The Reasons...

There was a college boy name Mohan. He always had nightmares about a girl. The nightmare had made his personality different. After having the nightmare, his behaviors got changed. In his dream, he always saw a girl. She was always in the same dress. Her face and smile hunted Mohan every night.  A blank shadow would be chasing her. The girl would be shouting for help. She would be calling his name. Suddenly when she reached near a Peepal tree, the shadow would kill her on the same tree. But the dead girl‘s hunting eyes would be staring Mohan.

He often told his friends about his nightmare that is happening in his dream. His friends always tried to make him comfortable by saying the nightmare might be the cause of tension of study. His friends decided to take him to the village (in the home of one of his friend) in order to refresh his mind.

In the summer vacation, Mohan and his friends went to the village. Mohan looked relieved after reaching his friend’s house. The next day, they managed to go the jungle near the village. While they were walking through the jungle, Mohan found the road quite known. He told his friends through he was joking because Mohan had never been to that place before.

After a few hours, they were near to large Peepal tree in the heart of the forest. There was a cloth in the branch of the tree. Then, Mohan felt his heart heavy. He soon fainted. When he opens his eye he saw his friend around him in the house. His friend asked him about the trance incident. Mohan with his nervous voice and fearful stated “you know...The peepal tree... it’s the same one that I saw in my dream… and the cloth... The cloth…the cloth... which was laying on its branch… it is the same cloth that the girl in my dream wears”. This made his friends shocked. They suggested Mohan take rest.

At the night the same nightmare again hunted him in his dream, he heard the knowing sound on the door of their room. He woke up with a great fear sweat was trickling from his face. He found his friends asleep.

Suddenly, he looked at the door, someone… or something… was really knocking at the door. He could hear his heart beating clearly and loudly. He slowly went near to the door.

There was no knock then. He slowly opened the door. There was on one. He looked all around but found no one suddenly, his eyes fell on a shadow some distant further.

He knew something was wrong. He felt he has to after the shadow. He caught the torch and ran after the shadow. His eye felt sleepy but his leg was taking him somewhere.

When he opened his eye, he found himself standing near the peepal tree. He rubbed his eye to make sure he was dreaming or not but… It was not the dream in fact… was really there. He felt dumb. Though the moon was not in the sky, he could figure out the same girl whom he used to see in his dream, hanging on the tree. He feared to show his torch light in the face of the girl. But he found something was changing there. The girl was catching the paper when he showed the light towards her hand, the paper felt down. He picked up the paper in the fear and unfolded it.

On the paper there was written something in a very strange handwriting,”I told you many times I cried … but you never helped me… I begged for my life but you…less… You are the reason for my death. ”

Mohan felt as if he was falling down from a cliff. He remembered… wait... Mohan didn’t see the second shadow… that was the shadow…? Was, the shadows himself… had he really killed the girl…? He looked up. The girl, she was dead but her eyes were same haunting eyes which were staring him.

  

A Perplexing Question: What’s yours Aim?

And once again, the most useless and irritating question” What’s your aim, baby?”

O God! Are you serious? Is that the only questions available to be asked in this vast universe? I mean someone can ask lots of better questions rather than talk about aim, like about my friends, about my hometown, about my hobbies, different ideas or even something else that I’m totally sure about. Why only aim? Or sometimes even study and result. How can I tell someone what’s my aim when even I’m also uncertain about it? Who knows what’s life gonna make me ahead.

Yes, it’s true that aim is what you have decided for yourself for secure future neither what fate nor life has for you. But how do I tell as I want to join every profession I see around me. It’s something totally puzzling and what come front just impress me and make be the dream about that future, just a day dream.

In my primary school, I first saw a teacher and I wanted to be a teacher. And enlighten the world with the bright light of education and change the education system also. But again when I see some sportsperson practicing and fighting hard to win, I begin to imagine myself in the middle of medals and trophies and I could hear only cheers and claps. And the fans would be awesome. If get to see some really best designer dresses, I think what if I become a fashion designer and design some elegant dresses that catch everyone’s eyes and the people would love them. And sometimes while watching movies makes me feel I must join film line acting, modeling, dancing and all that stuff (people around me will be waiting for me for my autograph).  While listening to music I just want to be the best singer of the world. And while reading some novels I just want to be a best writer and be the best seller in the world. Also, inspires thousands of people with my writing. And of course studying in military school and hearing the risky bravery task of military personals drives me to the world where I see myself walking between the people and everyone salutes me with full respect. And most important is fighting for the protection of my country and people from an enemy.

Likewise, sometimes I am influenced by some disgusting activities I see. Whenever I visit the hospital and observe the people suffering from different diseases and lack of Doctors I tell to myself, “one day, I will become a doctor and treat them all for no cost.” Listening to the effects of the earthquake and its homeless victims pushes me to be an engineer and make strong quakeproof houses. I feel worst to see the street children and all those old people on the street and feel like social work is the best thing to do. And of course, how I can forget something called “dirty politics”. I feel these Nepali leaders will surely take the country down. Real ridiculous people with the shameful power of the country in my hand and sue all the dishonest and corrupt people. Take a country in right direction with all the development activities would also be my aim.

Well, when I’m in the mood, while I play really awesome games then I just fell like being the programmer and design such best game that will occupy some of ever people storage with my games in their mobiles. Just give me a break. Am I the only one who all these situations?

Life to short to accomplished every dream and take you’ve wished for. Or even we may have to do or follow something which we totally hate. I guess time decides the best for everyone. The thing which we have to do is just continued with hard work, dedication and maximum effort from our side. I surely lead us to our perfect destination. We must always dream big and always think how to accomplish it.  I can’t be everything I want but I can surely be one thing I want and that is being myself, getting prepared to face the secret fox of unexpected surprises life has for me.

Finally, I think we must start to work hard from today to achieve our goal or else someday someone might be using us to accomplish theirs. Dream big aim big and select the best field for you.