Mimamsa Philosophy

Mimasha is one of the six Hindu philosophical darsanas or viewpoints. Jaimimi, an ancient sage, is believed to have given a concrete shape to this philosophy. The word Mimamsa refers to contemplate. Thus Mimasha in this regard is to contemplate and investigate over the proper interpretation of the Vedic texts. Because without proper study of Mimasha philosophy, one cannot probably comprehend the essence of the Vedic sentences.

The Mimamsa Sutra describes the different yagyas and what they are for, and elaborates the theory of apurva, which is the mysterious, transcendent power produced by a correctly performed rituals, not through the action of gods.

Kumarilabhatta is also to be credited for bringing Mimasha philosophy to its present state. HisnmbdcmndchHis three books namely ‘Shlokvartik’, ‘Tantravartik’ and ‘Tupitika’ have furthermore aided in the explanation of Mimasha philosophy.

This Hindu darsana is considered to be scientific in many ways as well. It brought forward the idea of the necessity of good conduct in human’s life in order to attain a better life. This idea was forwarded at a time when people blindly devoted their life to God without feeling the need to do good work.

For a person who has the understanding of Mimasha philosophy will view the from a different perspective. Majority of us have the understanding of religion as a mere translation of the word dharma. But the truth is that religion merely stands for a particular sect or majhab whereas dharma encompasses a broader meaning. With changing times, numerous religions have mushroomed around the world. Each one with its own set of rituals, beliefs and practices. People following different religions therefore have prejudices regarding one another’s religion.

The technological advancements have reduced the world into a global village where interaction with people from different walks of life has become inevitable. When we interact with people from different religious background, we cannot help the prejudices from seeping into our minds. This then leads to riots and violence because we always think our religion is superior to others. Such circumstances would have been avoided if had deeper understanding of what religious texts actually tried to convey. Rather, we tend to believe in just one interpretation of a certain person and blindly follow.

Mimasha philosophy believes that all such misunderstandings have mushroomed because we have failed to get the thrust of the religious ideas. Besides, we have forgotten to actually delve into what other people say and simply jump to conclusion. We fail to understand the hidden meanings of every information that is being disseminated to us in this global village. We blindly give into everything and everyone by saying this world has become global and to not give into what everyone is doing will be an act of foolishness.

It is at times like these when we need to take a cue or two from Mimasha philosophy in order to make sense of our existence in this technologically advanced world where one cannot remain untouched by the phenomenon of globalization.

State of Media in Sri Lanka

INTRODUCTION

Sri Lanka, the former British colony of Ceylon, attained independence on February 4, 1948, following the British withdrawal from the Indian subcontinent in August 1947. Under the Constitution of 1972, Sri Lanka became a republic, its official title being the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. The unicameral parliamentary system introduced by the constitution made the prime minister, who belonged to the majority party in the parliament, the head of the government. Under a new constitution, promulgated on September 7, 1978, the polity changed to a presidential system, with the president directly elected for a term of six years and holding full executive authority. Two major political parties have led the governments since independence: the United National Party (UNP) from 1948 to 1956, 1965 to 1970, and 1977 to 1994. The leftist Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) from 1956 to 1965 and from 1970 to 1977, and then renamed as the People's Alliance (PA) from 1994 to the early twenty-first century.
The Sri Lankan Parliament consists of one chamber with 225 members, elected by a system of modified proportional representation. The country comprises 9 provinces and 24 administrative districts, each with an appointed governor and elected Development Council. In November 1987, an amendment to the Constitution provided for eight provincial councils, with the northern and eastern provinces merged as one administrative unit.

Conflict between the Sinhalese and the Tamils

The government's relationship with the press in Sri Lanka at various points in the last half a century can be best understood by following the chronological landmarks in the conflict between the island nation's two principal communities: the Sinhalese majority and the Tamil minority. Since independence, and especially since about 1976, Sri Lanka's politics have been rocked by a festering, often violent, conflict between those two communities. The conflict has compelled the government to impose a variety of restrictions on constitutionally guaranteed fundamental freedoms, including freedom of the press. At various times, censorship has been imposed on newspapers as well as on the electronic media; journalists have been physically assaulted, a few even killed; and there have been court confrontations between the journalists and the government. A very active Free Media Movement and the Editors Guild, assisted by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) have intervened with the government at various times, with some success.

Despite such a murderous civil war, Sri Lanka maintained its parliamentary democracy and, within reasonable restrictions, the fundamental rights of its citizens and an independent judiciary. In the May 1994 presidential elections, Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga was voted in as president. Her peace talks with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) began in October 1994 and lasted 100 days, but the talks failed and hostilities resumed. This time, the Sri Lanka Security Forces were able to recapture the Jaffna peninsula by December 1995, ending 13 years of LTTE rule there.


ECONOMIC FRAMEWORK

The persisting ethnic conflict spanning a quarter century has adversely affected the economy of the island nation not only in terms of the fiscal burden of the costly military campaign against the rebels, but also in the way it has paralyzed the agricultural and plantation activities so crucial for the exports and the foreign exchange earnings. One must also note that from 1977, the country shifted its prime dependence on plantation crops, notably tea, to textiles and processed foods, insurance, and banking as foreign exchange leaders. In 2000, tea exports accounted only for one-fifth of the total, while the textiles brought in 65 percent of the exchange.

Despite the handicaps imposed by the festering strife, Sri Lanka has retained its second-place among the nations of south Asia (with the exception of the Maldives) for the highest per capita gross national product. The economy maintained a healthy annual 5.5 percent growth throughout the 1990s, except in 1995 and 1996. Sri Lanka is also ahead of the other states of south Asia in another important area: literacy, which stands at more than 90 percent and is at almost 100 percent among children up to the age of 14. Most of the citizens who are illiterate are senior citizens, who did not have the opportunity to go to school. The high literacy has a positive impact on the state of the economy, on the readership of newspapers and magazines, on the size of radio and television audiences, and on the growing number of Internet users.

Media in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka's media outlets are generally divided along linguistic and ethnic lines, with state and private media operators providing services in the main languages. Many of the broadcasters and publishers are owned by the government, including two major TV stations, radio networks operated by the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC), and newspaper titles in Sinhala, Tamil and English.

However, there are over dozen privately owned radio stations and more than eight privately operated television stations. They often engage in political debate and criticise government policies

NEWSPAPERS

Most newspapers in Sri Lanka are published by three powerful groups: The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited (ANCL), or Lake House; Upali Newspapers Limited (UNL); and Wijeya Newspapers Limited (WNL). At the time of the government's takeover of the ANCL, that organization's dailies in all three languages—Sinhala, Tamil, and English— commanded the highest circulation in the country. In 1981, the UNL was founded by Upali Wijewardene, who was related to ANCL's Wijewardene and was also a cousin of the then president Junius R. Jayawardene. Upali was a very successful businessman who held political ambitions but he perished in a mysterious plane crash in February 1983. Control of his company passed on to his widow, but in reality her father, who was a brother of Sirimavo Bandaranayake, held the power. Though the UNL is thus connected with both the UNP and the SLFP leadership, it claims to be independent of both the UNP and PA and is often critical of both organizations. The third major group, WNL, is owned by Ranjith Wijewardene, a former Chairman of ANCL and son of D. R. Wijewardene.. Politically, Ranjith is close to the UNP. The WNL started the weekend Irida Lankadipa in February 1986, the Sunday Times in June 1987, the daily Lankadipa from September 10, 1991, the Mid-Week Mirror in 1995, and the Daily Mirror from June 1999.

Below are the important newspapers in the three languages along with their proprietary affiliation:
Sinhalese: The daily Dinamana and Sunday Silumina are owned by the ANCL. They fully support the government's position on all issues, changing their stand with the shift of political power from one party to the other.

The daily Divayina and the Sunday Divayana are owned by the UNL. The Sunday Lankadipa (since 1986) and the daily Lankadipa (since 1991) are owned by the WNL.

English: The Daily News, the evening Observer and the Sunday Observer, are all published by the government-owned ANCL. The Island and Sunday Island are published by the UNL. The

Sunday Times, the Midweek Mirror and the Daily Mirror are owned by the WNL.

Outside of the three groups, the Sunday Leader (started in 1994) is published by the Leader Newspapers Limited, while the Weekend Express, a weekly, is published (since 1995) by the Indian Express Newspapers Limited.

Tamil: The two major Tamil newspapers published from Colombo are the Thinakaran, owned by the ANCL, and Veerakesari, which is owned by a Tamil businessman and published by the Indian Express Newspapers Limited. It subtly supports Tamil nationalism.

There are several tabloids published in the north and the east. Among them, Eelanadu, Eelanadam, and Udayan, which openly support Tamil separatism. Of the 23 important newspapers, 10 are dailies, 4 in Sinhala, and 3 each in Tamil and English; 11 are Sunday editions, 5 in Sinhala, 2 in Tamil, and 4 in English; 1 publication appears only on Wednesdays and another only on Saturdays.

The highest circulation is in Sinhala newspapers, at 389,000 daily and 901,000 on Sundays, with Lankadipa and Dinamana closely competing with each other, while the Sunday editions of Silumina and Divayana Irida claim the highest honors. The English newspapers come next, with a total circulation estimated at 132,000 daily with the Daily News having the highest circulation and 407,000 on Sundays. The Sunday Observer, Sunday Leader, and Sunday Island compete for the highest circulation among Sunday papers. The Tamil papers have roughly a combined circulation of 66,500 daily and 107,000 on Sundays, with Thinakaran and Veerakesari and their Sunday editions competing with each other.


RADIO

Until the liberalization in 1984, radio was a government monopoly. It was governed by the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Act of 1966, which established the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC). It had two services: National Service and Commercial Service, both in three languages: Sinhala, Tamil, and English. In 2002, it had seven home services, three regional services, six community services (Aralangnwila, Girandurukotte, Kot-male, Maha Illuppallama, Jaffna, and Vavuniya) and seven overseas services. The services are named: the Sinhala National Service, the Tamil Commercial Service, the English Commercial Service, the Regional Services, and the Education and Sports Service. The overseas service uses several Indian languages: Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, and Telugu. The overseas service is principally beamed at south and southeast Asia and the Middle East. The rules governing the Conduct of Business of the Commercial Service were framed by the Advertising Department of the SLBC. They took effect May l, 1994. They stipulate that advertising materials that contain statements or suggestions that "may be considered to be of a political nature or offensive to religious views, racial traits, and sentimental susceptibilities of any section of the community" would not be accepted.
The SLBC has three major regional stations: North Central, based on Anuradhapura and called Rajarata Sevaya; Southern, based in Matara and called Ruhunu Sevaya; and Central, based in Kandy and called the Kandurata Sevaya. The Colombo-based City FM Service is currently called the SLBC's Sri Lanka FM. The latest government-owned radio station of the SLBC, which was inaugurated in January 1997, is the popular Lakhanda, a 24-hour service in Sinhala. While the SLBC continues to operate in the public sector, there are now eleven private radio stations: Sun FM 99.9, TNL 90/101Radio, Yes FM, 7FM, Capital Radio, and Gold FM 89 (all in English); Sirasa FM (MBC Networks), Savana, Hiru FM 107.9, and Tharu FM 96.7 (all in Sinhala); and FM 99 and Suriyan FM 103.2 (both in Tamil).

Even the private radio stations are, however, governed by certain "guidelines" from the government, particularly in regard to materials affecting the country's security and harmony among the ethnic minorities. The SLBC as well as the private stations have, by and large, operated independently but under the general direction of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. The broad mandate for its programming stipulates that nothing be included in the programs "which offends good taste or decency or is likely to incite to crime or lead to disorder or to attend [sic] any racial or religious susceptibilities or to be offensive to public feelings."

TELEVISION

Just like the radio, television was a government monopoly until the liberalization in 1992 and 1994. The Sri Lanka Rupavahini Act of 1982 established the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation (SLRC) and the Independent Television Network (ITN) The SLRC is run by a board of six nominees of the government, including one from the SLBC and one representing the National Film Corporation (NFC). Its mandate parallels that of the SLBC in terms of its programming. In September 1986, it established the Copy Code, whereby the SLRC would not accept any advertising copy that was critical of traditions and customs of any community, or would create a feeling of insecurity or disharmony in the community, or could be injurious to the well-being of any community or the devotees of any religion. The code was further revised in November 1995. According to the code, "unacceptable material" is that which makes "irreverent reference to any time, incident or concept of religious, racial, political or sentimental susceptibilities of the community." Such cautionary language in the codes meant for radio and television broadcasting reflects the ethnic tensions and the civil war between the two principal communities on the island nation over the last quarter century. The government seems eager to establish a delicate balance between upholding the protection of fundamental rights of expression to individuals and to the media that are guaranteed by the constitution, and the supreme need to maintain interethnic harmony in a plural society.

Major changes came in 1992 when the UNP government allowed private television networks. In that year, the Maharaja Television Network (MTV), in collaboration with Singapore Telecom International (SingTel), began its operations as MTV and MTV Newsvision. The Sirasa TV replaced the MTV channel in June 1998 as the first private sector nationwide TV channel while MTV Newsvision was renamed MTV. In the following year, the Teleshan Network Limited (TNL) was started; it now operates TNL TV and TNL radio. In 1994, the Extra-Terrestrial Television (ETV) was started; it added a second channel in 1995 called ETV2. The two ETV channels were later replaced by Swarnavahini and ETV in April 1996 when there was a change of ownership. Then in 1996, the Dynavision Broadcasting Coprporation started the Dynavision channel, which became Sri Lanka's first stereo broadcast station. In 1999, the government's Telecommunication Authority authorized two more private television channels: Ruhuna 2001 Multivision and Channel 9, the first "direct-to-home" pay television, owned by TV and Radio Private Limited, a private collaboration between Sri Lanka and Australia.

Until 1994, there was complete state control over the production and broadcast of news concerning Sri Lanka. All private channels broadcasting—even BBC, CNN, or other foreign channels—were required to delete any items in which Sri Lanka was mentioned. This became a major issue in the 1992 and 1994 elections. The PA's Election Manifesto in 1994 promised to restore the freedom of expression of the citizens and of the media and to "create a framework within which the media can function independently and without inhibition." Accordingly, after the elections, the PA allowed private television companies to produce and broadcast local news bulletins. In October 1995, however, the government introduced "temporary censorship" on news concerning "security matters."


MOVIES

Sri Lankan cinema in recent years has featured films that tackle gritty subjects, including family relationships, abortion and the years of conflict between the military and Tamil Tiger rebels in the north. Many films are based on Sinhalese literature. Its style is similar to neighbouring South Indian cinema, and often features the beautiful scenery of Sri Lanka. The first film to be produced and shown in Sri Lanka was Kadanwunu Poronduwa (The Broken Promise) which was released in 1947. The first colour film of Sri Lanka was Ran Muthu Doova. Hundreds of movies were made in Sri Lanka afterwards. However the most influential filmmaker in the history of Sri Lankan cinema is Lester James Peiris who has directed many movies of prodigious quality which led to global acclaim. His latest film, 'Wekanda Walawwa' (Mansion by the Lake) became the first movie to be submitted from Sri Lanka for the Best Foreign Language film award at the Academy Awards. 'Nidhanaya' directed by Lester James Peiris is however considered as the best movie ever made in Sri Lanka.

In 2005 Director Vimmukthi Jayasundhara became the first Sri Lankan to ever win the prestigious Camera d’Or award for Best First Film at the world renowned Cannes Film Festival for his Sinhalese language film Sulanga Enu Pinisa (The Forsaken Land). Many Sri Lankan filmmakers have won prestigious awards. The highest Documentary film award being the Golden Mercury at Venice in 1952 and again in 1972 by Pragnasoma Hettiarcahi(this information comes from Dr. D.B Nihalsinge's Book "Public Enterprise in Film Development success and failure In Sri Lanka", there exists no local or international record about this award, Best film award in Venice film festival is Golden Lion).
Controversial filmmaker Asoka Handagama's films are considered by many prestigious names in the Sri Lankan film world to be the best films of honest response to the ethnic conflict currently raging in the country.

Prasanna Vithanage is one of Sri Lanka's most notable filmmakers. His films have won many awards, both local and international. His last two films, 'Death on a Full Moon' and 'August Sun' have been critically acclaimed. While both films deal with the ethnic conflict, 'Death on a Full Moon' can be regarded as one of the best films made to date by a Sri Lankan filmmaker.
Recent releases like 'Sooriya Arana', 'Samanala thatu', 'Hiripoda wessa' have attracted Sri Lankans to cinemas.'Sooriya Arana' was the highest grossing film in Sri Lankan cinema history, generating Rs.121 million at the box office. 'Aba', the forthcoming epic movie by Jackson Anthony will become the most expensive film produced in Sri Lanka costing over 60 million Rupees to produce. Several other countries such as China, Italy and Australia have shown interest in screening this film after its trailer was released. Among them China has shown special interest by considering dubbing it in Chinese. Aba will be released on 8th August, 2008.
Sri Lankan films are usually of Sinhalese language. Tamil language movies are also filmed in Sri Lanka but they are not part of Kollywood which is Indian Tamil cinema. However some Kollywood films are based in Sri Lanka as well.


MUSIC
The music of Sri Lanka originates in cultural traditions deriving from three influences: the religious practices of Buddhism, the aftereffects of Portuguese colonization, and the commercial and historical influence of Indian culture - specifically, Bollywood cinema. The Theravada sect of Buddhism has influenced Sri Lankan Music since Buddhism arrived in Sri Lanka two millennia ago.
Portuguese colonizers arrived centuries after the Buddha, in the mid 1400s, bringing with them cantiga ballads, ukuleles and guitars; as well as African slaves (referred to, historically, as kaffrinhas), who brought with them a style of music now referred to as baila. The people of these two regions, and the musical traditions they brought with them, served to contribute further to the diverse musical roots of modern Sri Lankan music.
Since 1998, Many Pop/R&B groups have emerged in Sri Lanka - the most prominent of which is known as Bathiya and Santhush (these two musicians are considered pioneers in contemporary Sri Lankan pop, having begun performing in 1998 with female singer Ashanti and rapper Randhir). Among their accomplishments; they are the first Sri Lankan group to be signed to an international record label (Sony BMG), and were an integral component in the label's entrance into the nation's music industry in 2002/2003. They have received international awards for their compositions, and have performed in several countries - including on BBC radio in the UK. Chitral 'Chity' Somapala is an artist who lives in Germany and has his own Power Metal band called "Civilization One". He's the first artist who did a sinhalese sond which falls into Rock Music category, which is the theme song for "Lion Beer". The artist M.I.A. is an electric artist living in London who is of Sri Lankan ancestry. M.I.A. has recently reached acclaim in the United States. Other Western styles of music, such as rock and heavy metal, are also popular among the middle and upper class youth of the country.


ONLINE MEDIA

The use of the internet is a growing force within Sri Lanka primarily because of its high literacy rate. Many of the newspapers now have online editions. Because of the limited circulation for the daily and weekly newspapers, they are heavily dependent on advertising. As a result of this it is very rare to see Sri Lankan newspapers engage in investigative journalism or daring exposes of big business
News Websites
Sinhala 24 News - Sinhala Langugage News Aggregator
The Official Government News Portal of Sri Lanka
The Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the United Nations Office at Geneva -24Hrs Official Government News
News-Lanka- 24Hrs News Service. English
Nidahasa news- 24Hrs news. English
Sri lanka News portal. Sinhala/English
Ministry of Defence, Sri Lanka - Matters related to defence and public security in Sri Lanka
LankaeNews - 24h news. sinhala/English
Sooriyan - Sooriyan News Service 24 Hrs
Lanka Business Online - 24h news with a strong focus on business and economy
Lanka Everything- 24h news
Lanka Academic - 24h news
Lanka Page
Lanka Herald
Lanka Web
Muslim Guardian - 24h news.
Vimasuma - 24h news, business and economic analysis in Sinhala
eThalaya - 24h news & sports in Sinhala


CENSORSHIP

The government of President Chandrika Bandaranayake Kumaratunga, which was in power at the start of the twenty-first century, came into power on the basis of an Election Manifesto that promised fundamental freedoms, including freedom of the press. Censorship was re-imposed on June 5, 1998, when the war against the LTTE heated up and the government felt that "unfettered freedom" for the press resulted in newspapers carrying vital information that provided "tactical benefits" to the LTTE. This time, censorship applied to all reports relating to the war being fought in the north and east sections of the island. Local and international coverage of the war was prohibited, as was any discussion by the media of the actions of police and military officials. All reports, photographs, and videotapes were to pass a military censor, army general Jaliya Nammuni, the first time the government had appointed a such an overseer. Journalists were forbidden from entering the conflict zones, or, in the government's language, the "uncleared areas."

The censorship continued at the civilian level with the appointment of Ariya Rubasinghe as the chief censor and with the announcement of even tighter restrictions in November 1999. On June 30, 2000, a panel of three judges of the Sri Lankan Supreme Court unanimously nullified the appointment of a government censor or "competent Authority" in response to a fundamental rights petition filed by the newspaper group, Leader Publications, challenging the closure of the Sunday Leader and associated Sinhalese newspapers by the chief censor. The immediate reason for the action was the publication of an article in the Sunday Leader entitled "War in Fantasyland," which lampooned the government's censorship policy

Information controls in 2002 followed more subtle and less obvious methods. Thus, books, magazines, and videos were quietly banned without fanfare or publication of lists of banned materials. In the case of imported materials, the Customs and Excise officials quietly confiscated them on grounds that they were pornographic, offending traditional values or tenets of Theravada Buddhism. Political writings, even if they were critical of government policies, received far more tolerance than those affecting religion or family values.

Although the Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera had pledged that the censorship would be lifted before the parliamentary elections were announced, the government made no changes in the policy even after August 18, when the elections were announced for October 10; disappointingly for the press, no changes were made to the censorship policy. In September, the government suspended the additional censorship regulations imposed during the year.


STATE PRESS RELATIONSHIP

In order to facilitate relations with the press, the government has established the Sri Lanka Press Council. However, unlike most countries where the role of such a body is to protect the journalists and publishers, the Press Council in Sri Lanka is charged with the responsibility of protecting individual citizens who may have grievances against the press. Journalists look to their own unions, the most important of them being the Editors' Guild or the Free Media Movement, for readdress of their grievances.

The White Tiger

Arvind Adiga's debut novel 'The White Tiger' won the 2008 Man Booker Prize for fiction. This book is a tale of two Indias through the eyes of Balram, a son of a rickshaw puller, who narrates his journey from darkness to the hustling bustling life of sub urban area of Gurgaon in Delhi. Balram is a storng headed person who wont let the lack of education come in the way of his dream to lead a prosperous lfe in the future.

He belongs to the majority of Indians who live a lowly life in the darkness where their basic necessities are snatched from time to time by the wealthy people. His job as a driver (cum cook cum house cleaner) at a welthy man's house in Gurgaon brings him face to face with the new India where city ouskirts are being turned into cocrete jungle and where one cannot do without bending to the corrupt system. In order to live his dream of being an entepreneur, he murders his master, steals the money and runs off to Bangalore. There he starts his own business with a new name and new identity.

The rise of a fourth grade drop out Balram from darkness to entepreneur success and his journey all along brings forward the unspoken, unaddressed issues of people living in darkness and the orthodox Indian families (rich and poor alike) that are being masked under the growing economic boom in India.

a day in Pokhara..

eat a hearty thakali lunch as soon as you get to Pokahara
wake up to the majestic Machapuchre himal each morning
gush over the scenic beauty of Pokhara
try a different hat
try some more hats
visit the popular caves
dry DAVIS Fall in the month of December
row your own boat at Phewa Taal

climb all the way to Peace Stupa

an evening in Pokhara

start the evening with an exotic drink sing your heart out at the Karaoke Bar
go through great books at the second hand book shop
dine at the famous Everest Steak House

end the day with a game of pool

Namaste London!

If given a chance, which place would you like to go?" Well, if this question had been posed to me a year back I would have endless list of places within a couple of seconds on my mind: right from our very own mystique Manang to the ever so popular Paris. But thanks to the British government I now only want to go to one place - LONDON.

Ever since the law has been passed enabling the ex-British Gurkhas to settle in UK I dream of only going to London. It is not because of its high fashion or anything but because of the fact that with each passing month I have been losing out my friends and relatives to UK.

Earlier it was only the young Nepali men who were moving to UK, and that too temporarily. But now a staggering number of Nepali families are moving there permanently.
Over the last few years, hundreds of ex-British Gurkhas and their family members have left for the United Kingdom with the hope of a better future. And there are still many of them who are trying to get there and join the Nepali Diaspora.

The majority of those trying to get British visa have actually abandoned their very comfortable lives here in their own country for a future in a far away land. It is both ironical and amusing that people are ready to give up everything and start it all over again from a scratch. I guess that is what happens to people when they are blinded by the spell of living abroad.

Similarly, age is no bar when it comes to grabbing the opportunity of living abroad. Parents of teenagers to the grandparents of infants, everyone is eyeing on getting to UK. The enthusiasm seen in the people to settle there permanently is overwhelming. The housewives are busy taking crash courses to improve their English. Besides this, they have resorted to beauty parlors. Not just for their personal maintenance but to learn a thing or two about beautifying others and oneself too. After all, it may just come in handy when you are planning to settle in one of the most expensive places in the world.

The families that have jumped at the prospect of residing permanently in UK seem to be focusing only on how to get there. The life thereafter is not a cakewalk. Most of them know this fact. However, they do not seem to be fully prepared to face the subsequent challenges. And this shows that old habits die hard.

Amidst all the hustle and bustle of settling abroad, it is the children who get caught between two conflicting cultures. It is most likely that they will have an extremely hard time to be amalgamated smoothly into the British way of life. But nothing is going to stop them from making every possible effort to land in their dreamland despite their different culture and life style

We Are not Fat!!!!

Though I am friendly with everyone, I have been able to get really well with two girls of my class. Coincidentally, all the three of us are overtly concerned over our body images.

As for me, my buddies look absolutely fine. One looks pleasantly plump and the other has no visible fat anywhere. Nevertheless they aren't okay with their bodies. And when I start my fuss they are always there to console me that I am not fat.

Lunches are the worst time for us. We drool over the food that goes into other girls' mouth who don't seem to gain even a single pound from all of those oil dripping, high calorie munchies. Although we usually have the most healthiest food, cutting off as much deep fried and high calorie dishes, we curse ourselves for each guilty pleasure we take in every once in a while.
Our never ending desire to look a little better, feel a little good about ourselves is the motivational factor for our daily exercise regime. While most of the girls inside the dormitory nuzzle in their warm beds, we sweat out on the playgrounds.

We lay our hands on every reading material and health shows related to loosing body weight. My longing to be informed about how to drop those extra pounds is similar to that of a child's longing for chocolates and toys. There is nothing more inspirational then to learn about an obese dropping off oodles of pounds. All the exposure to weight related materials has indeed enlightened us and we have been doing a lot of soul searching since then.

Besides, we have also come to know about the most startling eating disorders which we had never thought existed. Anorexia and bulimia are common. But we came to know about orthorexia – an eating disorder characterized by an obsession with eating what the sufferer considers to be healthy food and which can lead to early death.

It was more than shocking for me because my obsession with weight brought me face to face with the fact that I was in the initial stages of the disorders. However, all of us have now realized that it's the constant bombardment of skinny imagery of women all over the media that has driven us into such frenzy.

We never want to be stick thin ever. Because with the kind of body structure we have and the never dying love for food we render, the skinny dream is practically impossible to attain.
No longer do we refer to the word 'obsession' while discussing our bodies. We prefer saying 'healthy interest in our body'.

And yes the important lesson learnt; acceptance is the key. We just have one body to live in. One ought to value it and understand that being fit, healthy and happy is what really counts irrespective of the kinds of shapes and sizes we fit in.

love thy neighbour!!!

Of late, Indian actress Kareena Kapoor (the incredibly shrinking woman) has been making headlines everywhere. I surf the music channels and there she is flaunting her newly-found well-sculpted and toned body. I turn over to the news channel, and there are all these nutritionists and news anchors doing some big time discussions over the same actress's health regime. All are putting their heads together to unravel the mystery over her diet and exercise regime. And yes all the remaining Indian channels have moved one step ahead by calling her anorexic and creating tons of laughter by mocking her weight reduction in the standup comedies.
Our very own newspapers and magazines are also not very far behind in this regard. Not a single movie review (of Kareena's latest movie) published in our papers has missed mentioning the actress's fabulous body.

So it didn't come as a surprise to me when Kareena's svelte avatar talks started making rounds everywhere in the life of an average urban Nepali student like me. Everyone (guys included) has started gushing about the same actress right from our college bus rides to the canteen tables. Like so many girls, my skinny friends have started feeling 'fat'. They find their invisible bellies bulging out and have made resolutions to score a svelte figure like Kareena's by this summer. (All the best to them!!!)

When Hollywood beauties were taking extreme measures and scored fabulously toned body, we read about it and simply gushed "Lucky girls!!" But when an actress from our neighboring country did the same, we have driven ourselves into frenzy. This is a clear evidence of the influencing power Indian media has over us.

No matter how much we try showing more penchant to Western media in comparison to our neighbouring country's media, we cannot remain untouched by the day-to-day effect it has on us. We love Bollywood movies, Bollywood music blaze in our FM radio stations, Indian commercials make us appreciate their wit and Bollywood gossips never fail to make headlines in our national dailies

The majority of what we hear, read and see in our country's media happen to take a cue or two from the Indian media. A few years back when the first ever reality game show 'Kaun Banega Crorepati' hit the Indian television screen, one of our television channels came up with a similar kind of show, which unfortunately didn't quite garner that much of success. After that we've witnessed host of such 'inspired' versions of Indian reality shows and television soaps making rounds in our Nepali television channels. And given the ever increasing number of tried and tested concepts of Indian media still giving ample doses of 'inspiration' to our media, this trend of being 'inspired' is unlikely to stop in the near future.

However, it would be a pleasant surprise for us, if the so-called 'top notch' Kollywood actresses would also cue in for some fitness and fashion guidelines from the svelte divas of our neighboring country.

Aspiring Journalists

With the media boom in recent years, the image of journalists has changed forever. No longer does the picture of shabbily dressed person with pen, paper and a jhola cross our mind when we talk about journalists. Rather they have evolved as iconic figures who have succeeded in reaching out to many with their charismatic personality. And thanks to them, a career in media has emerged as a viable career option for many young people.

If there is anything that has seen an upward swing besides inflation, it is definitely the number of aspiring journalists. For some it’s the fame factor and for many it’s the desire to change the society, the nation and the world at large. There is another chunk of aspiring journalists entering this field not because of the above reasons, but for the simple fact that this particular discipline has very little (or nothing at all) to do with numbers and formulas.

However, ‘changing the world’ claim makes aspiring journalists sound like Miss World contestants because they too almost always claim they want to change the world. Its high times both Miss World contestants and aspiring journalists start making realistic expectations.

The media coverage of the Aishwarya Rai – Abhisekh Bachchan wedding (the contentious Indian wedding) few years back, or any other celebrity related event for that matter, comes nowhere close to the claim of changing the world, let alone our society. But then, there are people, many people, who can sit for hours glued onto the television screen and scan newspapers simply because they want to know about all the same. Therefore, there are plenty of occasions when responding to the readers’, viewers’ and listeners’ need is the only option.

Even though, such hardly life altering stories make up so much of the media content there are still plenty of scope for stories of other kind. Aspiring journalists need to let loose on ‘changing the world’ claim and hone the skill of balancing between what the people want to know and what they don’t know but NEED to know.

An article put things in perspective for me; “The news biz is a funny thing”, it read, “For every Shilpa Shetty Big Brother story, there’s a really lovely one like Mohammad Younis, who provides micro credit for the poor in Bangladesh.”

Just two years old as a journalism student and I already feel we are in the making of being in a business where we get to see the world, tell stories to people and interpret the world for them. Changing the world maybe a far cry for most of us. But if we are able to tell the right story, in the right way and if the right person reads it, maybe they can change their own world.

strikes, protests nad some more....

Two weeks of festivities and everything nice sumped up my Dashain vacation. With the Dashain hangover still hovering around me, I headed to KU. With only two weeks more to go for the Tihar vacation, I was hoping for some serious study time during this period.

But living Nepal, its better not to think of even one day in advance. Uncertainties coming knocking onto our doors every moment, so its best for us to simply live in the present, LITERALLY. So it didn't come to me as a surprise, when we had to return from the bus stop for three straight days. There would be no confirmation about whether or not the banda was taken back. Therefore, we had to get to the bus stop to see it for ourselves and return back.

A banda can be pleasent for many when you work for months and months on stretch. But here not a week goes by without banda. We get all geared up to give finishing touches to our assignments, plan to do this and that in the college. But then a banda is called or some people block the road and we are forced to regret studying at KU. And most of the times we regret having to stay in such a country like Nepal where there seems to be uncertainity looming large over our lives.

We curse the protestors, the politicians and every such individual who contribute in making our lives so much filled with hassles. Yet we console ourselves at the end of the day saying things will get better. Nothing, no country is perfect. Nepal is going through a transitional phase and we have to bear the consequences for some time. In a few years time, all of these uncertainties that are now a part of our lives will be a long forgotten story.

Lets just hope that such day will arrive in our once 'peaceful' country.

privileges and more....

French Revolution of eighth grade history classes introduced me to the word ‘privilege’. It was then that I learnt about the perks of privileged people who were tax exempted and also about the peasant s who were burdened with taxes of all sort. That was where my understanding of ‘privileges’ began and ended. Although I was familiar to the various ‘privilege’ cards that endowed my parents with various offers, it never stuck to me if my parents were actually ‘privileged’ by any means.

With passing years and better understanding of how money and power makes everything go around in our daily life, I have finally figured out to certain extent about what may be kept inside the ‘privilege’ bracket and who are those lucky few ‘privileged’ in every possible way.

The first time I realized about being unprivileged was during the procedure of obtaining my citizenship. Fresh out of school, I was all excited to finally have proof of my identity as a citizen of Nepal. But little did I know of the fussy and lazy government officials who did everything to delay me from laying hands on my citizenship. And yes the long stinking queue of people under the scorching heat made it even worse. Just when I was discussing the hardship of obtaining my citizenship, one of my cousin simply gushed over how his citizenship card was brought to his doorstep from district headquarter of Illam. That was his ‘privilege’ of not even having to move an inch for his citizenship that too brought from hundreds of kilometers away district.
My same cousin seemed to be double privileged when his driving license was handed over to him inside the comfort of his living room. No hassles of driving test and paperwork for him. That was one privilege I didn’t know of back then.

Living in a country where nepotism and abuse of authority are on full swing, it didn’t come to me as a surprise when my friend casually said how he got ‘choose’ his mobile number as per his convenience. Thanks to high ranked government officer dad who pulled few strings to get his dear son an easy order of numbers. No wonder, anyone can memorize his mobile number after the first dial. And every time I dial his number, it reminds me of ‘headline making’ long queues of people who waited days to get their mobile numbers. That too with not a single repeated digit. (Talk of being unprivileged!!)

Of late, there seems to be only one category of lucky few who have clinched the privileged of the most privileged spot. And this lucky few are the ones who still cruise around in their bikes and cars each day without having to fret over the acute shortage of petrol. Yes, they are the ones who have ample amount of petrol stocked up to last for weeks. Even if they run out of petrol, stocking their petrol tanks again will just be a phone call away.
Ironically the same privileged folks never seem to get enough complaining about the ever worsening condition of the country. Since they are ‘privileged’ enough to make frequent trips to the developed (and seemingly cleaner) parts of the world, they find faults in everything about their own country. Right from how unmanaged the roads are to how uncivilized majority of we Nepalese are. From what they see and read about the hardship an average person in Nepal has to go through, they make conclusions about how Nepal is not worth living.

They aren’t the ones who have to worry about managing square meal for their family amidst shortage of cooking gas and kerosene oil. Neither do they know how difficult it is to not only to get the 5 liter of petrol (after waiting for hours at stretch) but also being extra cautious about preventing it from getting stolen. Same goes for the hardship of waiting for public vehicles and hanging on them to reach our destination that is beyond their imagination. Rather such crammed buses and hanging passengers tickle their funny bone.

The deeper my understanding of privileges and privileged people get, the more under privileged I feel. With all due envy towards the privileged people’s lives, I would like to ask them to step down from their privileged lives every once in a while just so that they could value their ‘privileges’ more. Hopefully that would bring an end to their attitude of looking down towards the majority of Nepalese people who are far from leading privileged lives like theirs , yet are going strong!!

Kids with camera : their world through their eyes

As a aprt of their monthly program, Photo Circle fetured the academy award winning documantary feature by Ross Kauffman and Zana Briski, 'Born into Brothels'. It is the portrait of several unforgettable children who live in the red light areas of Kolkatta where their mothers work as prostitutes.

New York based photographer Zana Briski gives the children their own cameras and teach them how to take pictures. the children are soon able to capture people and places around them though their new found photography skills. It is through their pictures that people outside the red light areas actually get a taste of how different life in the red light areas actually is. Inspite of being within one of the largest metropolitan city Kolkatta, people of these red light areas are forced to live under such harsh conditions.

children are the ones who suffer the most in these areas. the documentary not only showcases thepictures taken by these but also follows the children when they are taken to hostels across the city. during this process, it is revealed how unwilling people from these child welfare centers are to admit children from red light areas. The children are made to go through HIV test just as a part of the criteria to get admitted.

however, all the hard work of these children get paid off when they are flooded with appreciation from India and abroad. their pictures are on sale and all the proceedings go for the further education of these children and also for the welfare of many such under privileged children.

following the foot steps of Zana Briski, many countries have been doing similar projects involving children with camera and seeing the world through their eyes. this documentary has proved how powerful media photography really is.

iphone: the new eyecandy

The first time I saw it, I couldn’t figure what it actually was. Unusually larger than a regular cell phone and way too sleeker than an average digital camera. Then it struck to me that I was actually only 3 feet away from the most eagerly awaited product in the history of technological advancement. Yes, the shimmery silver surface, bearing a quarter bitten apple’s logo, in my classmate’s hand was the iPhone.

Although it was a summer blockbuster of 2007 in the United States, this multimedia mammoth made its way to our neighbouring country India only a few days back. Therefore so much of hype and even more is the urge to lay hands on it. The iPhone commercial pops up in a blink of an eye. And of course there are endless talk shows with tech gurus who never seem to get enough, revealing about iPhone. All these only make us drool over the hard to attain 600 USD priced sleek and posh iPhone.

The who’s who of our very own Kathmandu are already seen showing off their proud possession. Even though I am far from being one of those proud people flaunting iPhone, the iPhone mania has brought me face to face with its nitty-gritty. The story goes that Steve Jobs decided to tinker with a touch screen, and it evolved into an epic, the iPhone. Besides having a virtual keyboard interface, phone and internet capabilities, embedded digital camera function and, inescapably, the iPod muscic player, the new 3G iPhone also supports Global Positioning System mapping and wireless internet. The mind blowing applications and games on this new 3G iPhone could leave anyone asking for more. If merely seeing an iPhone on television could leave an average person wanting for more display of its functions just imagine how hard it would be for the proud owners to take their hands off this incredible iPhone.

iPhone represents the coolest of the cool mobile phone brigade. These cool brigades of mobile phones have everything from touchscreens and gold-plated bodies to features that we’d only dreamed of. They truly are the phones to die for.

Over the past decade mobile phones have gone from plain blue screen to the recent touchscreen ones. Few years ago there were mobile phone commercials that predicted how everything under the sun from movies to music to worldwide connectivity would all sum up in our palm. All such predictions have come true, given the ever evolving cutting edge technology that has changed the picture of mobile phones forever.

An average urban youth, financially dependent on parents (but fascinated by technological gadgets) like me can do nothing but pray for a techno savvy fairy godmother. Well, more than often I’ve to pinch myself to get out of this fairy god mother dream and start practicing pinching in real life. The sole reason being the incredible feature on iPhone that reduces image with a pinch on the screen and expands image by pushing two fingers outward!! Period.

my take on "3 mistakes of my life"

I have been reading books since the first grade but the only book that I have finished in a single read till date is Chetan Bhagat's '3 mistakes of my life'.

The biggest selling Indian writer of recent times is Chetan Bhagat and '3 mistakes of my life' is his latest book. Unlike what the title suggests, the book has nothing to do with the writer's life itself. It is a bittersweet small town comedy set amid a trio of Indian obsessions - cricket, religion and business. The book revolves around the lives of three friends Omi, Govind and Ish who venture into business to earn a living. As the story proceeds, their lives take unexpected turns because hoard of people, problems and pressures make way into their lives. Its all about how they react, solve and live with those problems. Just like his other two books, he chose a batch of people who truly represent a good proportion of of urban India.

With quirky and witty lines unmasking the realities of our daily lives, Bhagat has been able to leave the readers, especially the Indian youth, aware about the problema that plague its society. Since our Nepalese society is similar to the Indian society in a number of ways, we Nepalese youth can greatly relate to the issues presented in this book.

Right from the conservative mentality still looming large in Indian socities and religious extremism to our faulty government that has done very liitle to reform our faulty education system solely based on mugging and puking out everything to issues of to how the importance of money has resulted in killing of one's passion, Bhagat has tried bringing all such issues that have a lot to do with the shaping of our lives and our society's structure. He has thus weaved a wonderful story with a very funny and entertaining writing style that makes the book too difficult to put down.

And most importantly, with the price tag of only IRs 95, this book couldnt have been more (pocket) friendly for the youths.

Facebook Mania

Just attended the most happening event of the town all decked up in the super hot outfit and you want the world to see it. No problem, it’s all just a click away. Being social has never become this easy. Updating ourselves regarding the happenings in our friends’ lives at such unprecedented rate was beyond our imagination few years back. But ever since the boom of social networking sites, the unsociable of the unsociable has realized how easy, fun and cool it is to be social in the cyber space. The ever increasing time and effort we put in order to remind everyone of our presence in the cyber space has earned us a netizen status.

Let’s face it; the power of social networking sites has charmed us like never before. Topping the social networking sites is probably Facebook. Getting in touch with our long lost friends has now become a cakewalk. All thanks to the soaring popularity of Facebook worldwide. With its zillion applications that we are hooked onto, it has become the Mecca of social networking sites. It has been quite a long time since I have become one of those Facebook fanatics who can stare at Facebook without batting an eyelid for at least an hour. There have been plenty of occasions when the first thing I do after getting up in the morning is log into Facebook and check my notifications and news feed. And most of the time I end up going through other people’s profile. Even when I sit for completing the assignment whose deadline is only a day away, I can’t help taking out 10-15 minutes every hour to check who is online and what the latest notification is.

Even though I am among many who are addicted to Facebook, the majority of such Facebook addicts are found on the other side of the globe. And all of this addictiveness has cost companies on the other side of the globe very dearly. www.surfcontrol.com , an internet filtering company, estimates that the site maybe costing Australian business $5 billion annually. This, however, has made Mark Zuckerberg, its founder, the youngest billionaire at the age of 24. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that Facebook was recently valued between the lofty three billion to $15 billion.

Social networking is not a relatively new phenomenon. Not many know this, but the first social networking site that was created was www. sixdegrees.com was back in 1998. As my friend rightly puts in, “What, however, is new is that the cyber space has opened the doors to a parallel universe reducing us to mindless zombies where virtual add-ons are equivalent to real life milestones.”
From changing your relationship status online, to updating what you are upto every hour and uploading latest pictures (hoping for a list of flattering comments), isn’t a mark of your rising networking skills. Rather this reflects an acute lack of work in your life. Therefore, we need to keep the thin red line between real life and virtual life intact.