Sports & Entertainment

Traveling To Dolkha Bhimsen And Back

admin — 2011-11-19T09:06:00Z

Siddhi B Ranjitkar

It was one of the fall-Saturday mornings; we got up at four o’clock in the morning for preparing to go to Dolkha Bhimsen. It was November 12, 2011 morning. It was still dark and we began our preparation under the electric light. By the six o’clock, the driver has come and then the housemaid to help us. The driver checked the small car and started off cleaning it in preparation to our trip to Dolkha. My spouse made a call to Chickanmugal bhauju for waking her up and asking her to be prepared for going to Dolkha. She had already been out of bed and obviously making preparation. In a few minutes we were ready to set out for Dolkha and then back.

Both of us wake up at four o’clock in the morning and then took a shower in turn. My spouse began putting all the items of offerings to the deity called Bhimsen in Dolkha. We put all those things in a plastic basket, and then other items of foods for us to eat on the morning as breakfast and then as a lunch in the afternoon.

It is a long drive. So we have to start so early in the morning. If we drive smoothly without a hitch on the way, it takes us about four hours but you never know what happens on the way. So, making provision for any unknown events we have started off at six immediately after the driver became ready for it.

We live with our 96-year-old father. He is very smart even at that age but somebody needs to cook food for him. The housemaid is for two-hour work in the morning. Somebody needs to be with my father. We made an arrangement that our youngest sister would keep the company of our father. She promised to come at 7 O’clock in the morning before the housemaid would finish her work and leave the house.

We set out precisely at 6 o’clock morning. Before leaving the home, my spouse made a call to bhauju again and informed her that we were coming to pick her up and be sure that she would be absolutely ready by that time as we did not have much time to spare for waiting and so on.

As soon as we reached Chikanmugal, the driver parked the car at a small open area. I went to pick bhauju up at her home. She had been waiting for us. I helped her to carry a small bag with some foods to the car. Four of us including the driver started off from Chikanmugal in a high mood.

After traveling for about 20 minutes we came to complete halt at Jagati, Bhaktapur. We did not know what had happened. We did not expect such a thing to happen so early in the morning. Moving very slowly and after about a half hour, we came to the police barrier. Two policemen were checking each vehicle. When our car took the turn for checking, one of the policemen asked, “Where are you going?” The driver replied, “We are going to Dolkha Bhimsen.” The policeman gave us his hand signal to go.

I was really surprised what the checking was for. After thinking a few minutes, recent newspaper reports came in to my mind. The news said that the police seized a truck full of sandalwood that was intended for taking to Tibet illegally. Then I thought that if the police suspected that somebody might be illegally taking something then the police should check the trucks and buses that could hide such items for illegally taking to Tibet or somewhere else. The police had delayed us for a half hour absolutely for nothing. I came to the conclusion that the Nepalese police perform their duties without even a bit of regard for the public convenience. They don’t care for whether other people would suffer from their needless checking for others’ illegal activities in the past. The police checking at other places have proved to be true my notion about the police disregarding the pubic convenience.

After crossing the ‘lamosangu’ bridge over the Bhote Koshi River, we were climbing a hill when the driver noticed that the left rear wheel was giving up. He stopped the car at the area where he could park the car without causing any convenience to other vehicles. The tire had gone flat. He quickly replaced the flat tire with a spare one. He took the flat tire to the market area called Khandhichaur at the ‘lamosangu’ about two kilometers down hill to fix it

The small area where the driver left us was the right place for us to have a breakfast. We spread out a mat and over it a sheet. We sat cross-legged and made us comfortable. The two not-so-young ladies took out one item of foods after another and a vacuum flask (thermos) with hot water to make tea. My spouse handed out one boiled egg to each of us. Then, bhauju opened a plastic box and offered ‘jerri’ and ‘malpua’ to us. ‘Jerri’ is a typical circle made of dough with circular rings around it cooked in boiling oil and then dipped in sugar syrup for sweetening. ‘Malpua’ also is a circular one but made of sweetened floor cooked in oil. Both these items have been the items of breakfast for Nepalis.

By the time we finished the breakfast, the driver came up with the repaired wheel. We offered him a breakfast, too. While the driver was eating, every one of us took a turn to drain our bladder in the open hidden place. Then, we were ready for travel.

The road to Charikot: the district headquarters of Dolkha branches away from the two-lane Kathmandu-Kodari highway at ‘Lamosangu’. This single lane road is called ‘Lamosangu-Jiri’ road. The Swiss government had provided funding for building it. From the mid 1970s, the Swiss government through its agency called Swiss Association For Technical Assistance (SATA) had implemented the rural development project called Integrated Hill Development Project (IHDP) in the Sindhupalchok and Dolkha districts. The ‘Lamosangu-Jiri’ road was the backbone of the IHDP.

The ‘Lamosangu-Jiri’ road has benefited millions of Nepalis living on both sides of it. They can easily reach the market towns and weekly market areas because of this road. So, they can sell their products at the reasonable prices and buy the items of their basic needs at the highly reduced prices at the weekly markets or the market towns linked by this road. This road has helped to grow Charikot to a modern market town, and of course Jiri at the end of this road to a market town, too. This road has brought considerable positive changes in the life style of the local people. We noticed that the clothing of the people living in this area was not absolutely different from the people living in Kathmandu.

The Swiss had made this road with solid foundation. So, we did not see any damages to the road even after 30 years of existence. However, the black surface has weathered at several areas and need repair for smooth driving. This single-lane road has been serving the mid central and some parts of mid eastern Nepal. So, we found several heavy-load-carrying trucks and large passenger buses traveling on this road. Fixing the black-surface-damaged areas has been quite necessary for smooth driving and for keeping the road safe from any heavy damages.

We noticed that both sides of this road from the lamosangu to Charikot have been covered with nice forest. We also noticed the continuous flow of water from the creeks on the way. Most probably, the trees on the hills have created the water. The trees have put the environment in this area back to normal. No landslides were visible. It was quite pleasant to drive along this road due to the green on both sides of it.

Development of a tourist industry is visible along this road. We saw several roadside hotels, trekking and rafting offices. We even saw some tourists. Surprisingly, not a single market place except for Mude has been developed between Khandichaur at Lamosangu and Charikot. Mude is still a small market area where anyone could repair a flat tire, buy some fresh potatoes and drink teas and have snacks at any time of a day. Mude is 25 km from Khandichaur and mid way to Charikot.

Charikot has been developed to beyond all recognition. I was in Charikot about 30 years ago when the road was in progress of construction. At that time, Charikot had only wooden houses built on both sides of the road. A few government offices were there to serve the people. It did not give any signs of urban settlement at that time. It was a small market area. Now, Charikot has three to five storey concrete modern buildings, a large market area, and even modern hotels. This has been a typical hill settlement in Nepal. We need to build such settlements across the hills in Nepal to bring all the people living in the scattered villages to such settlements for providing them with the modern amenities.

In Charikot, we took a road branching away from the Lamosangu-Jiri Road to Dolkha: a few kilometers away from Charikot. After driving a few kilometers from Charikot to Dolkha, we came to a wide under-construction road. While driving on this wide road we missed a narrow lane hidden under this wide road, and moved on this road for a few kilometers before we realized that we were on the wrong road. We turned back and came to the narrow lane to drive to the shrine of Dolkha Bhimsen.

After parking the car on one side of the narrow lane, we walked about 50 steps of the steep stairs down, and then passed the hawkers’ tables with the items such as flowers, fresh coconut, vermillion, and incense sticks of offerings before reaching the shrine of Bhimsen. Then, we saw wide stairs at the front of the shrine. That stairs are for the people coming from the Dolkha settlement.

Dolkha is a Nevah settlement. The Nevah is the indigenous people of Nepal. Some of them are the traders by professions. Dolkha was on the ancient trade route between Tibet and India via Nepal. So, Dolkha was once a flourishing trade center. Some Nevah in Dolkha believe that Dolkha is the cradle of the Nevah culture. Dolkha Nevahs also have the festival of pulling the chariot of Karunamaya, celebrate the festival of Living Goddess Kumari, and other cultural events that we see in the Kathmandu Valley.

The Nevah traders worship Bhimsen as the deity that brings good fortune to them. Some traders offer not-burnt incense sticks to the Dolkha Bhimsen seeking the blessing of the deity, and then take the blessed incense sticks to the areas of their trade and burn one stick a day believing it would bring additional volume of trade to them.

The deity has four roles to play in a day. First, the deity plays the role of Goddess Durga and takes the offerings of animal sacrifices, and then God Bhimsen and also accepts the animal sacrifices. Thereafter, the deity washes off the animal bloodstains and becomes Lord Shiva called Bhimaysvore and finally, becomes Lord Vishnu called Narayan.

Two signboards attached to the front wall surrounding the shrine of Bhimsen say that ‘rudri’ is performed from noon to 2:00 PM every day. ‘Rudri’ means water and other liquid offerings to Lord Shiva. The signboards also say that animal sacrifices are absolutely avoided on certain days. Such days are two days immediately after the full moon day in Kartik (Oct-Nov), then some days of the Dashain: largest festival of Hindus and some other days.

In fact, my spouse and bhauju had to stand on the line for one hour to make offerings to the deity that takes four different forms a day. We reached the shrine just few minutes before noon after buying some items of offerings. We don’t know that the door to the shrine will be closed for the public at noon for performing the daily regular worship to the deity.

My spouse and bhauju put together all the items of offerings on two copper plates especially made for such offerings. Then they took off the shoes as nobody was allowed to enter the shrine with shoes and any other items made out of leather. These things are prohibited because they are made of the cow-skin leather. So, nobody should take them to the shrine.

The two not-so-young ladies walked barefoot to the shrine and stood behind the last person of the line to the entrance to the inner sanctum of the shrine. The number of people standing on the line was not more than ten when the two ladies went to stand on the line. However, it was just noon at that time and it was time for the regular daily offerings to be made to the deity. The attendants to the deity closed the door and performed the regular offerings. By the time the door was opened to the public, the line of devotees had been built up around the shrine.

It was already one o’clock after the door was opened to the public. My spouse and bhauju did not take much time to complete the offerings to the deity. The deity was so small and covered with flowers and other items of offerings, my spouse had even to ask the attendant to find a deity to make offerings.

From noon to 2:00 PM, it was the turn of Lord Shiva to take the offerings made by the devotees. So, rudri was going on. Rudri is the process of making offerings to Lord Shiva. A copper pot shaped in a cone with a small hole at the end of the cone is placed upturned above the deity. Then, the attendant pours holy water and any other liquid offerings into the pot and the small hole at the end of the cone lets out the liquid on the top of the deity. This is called rudri. It is performed only to Lord Shiva.

My spouse and bhauju each had a fresh coconut. They offered the coconuts after making offerings of other items to the deity. The attendant broke the fresh coconut and poured the liquid in it to the copper cone above the deity so that the liquid would flow on the top of the deity. The attendant returned the broken coconuts to the concerned devotees as the blessings of the deity.

The two ladies bringing the leftovers of the offerings made to the lord offered us those leftovers as the blessings from the lord. We took the vermillion and the flowers and applied the vermillion on our foreheads and put the flowers on our heads as the blessings from the deity and ate a piece of the coconut also as the blessing from the deity. Thus, we completed the making of offerings to the deity that takes four forms a day. The first two forms such as Goddess Durga and God Bhimsen are of the Tantric deities, and the latter two forms such as Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu: Narayan are of Vedic deities.

Then, our concern was for having a lunch at a suitable place. We had carried a lunch with us so we needed only a place to sit and have a nice lunch.

It was afternoon and drizzling. So, we needed a spot with a roof or a cover. After driving through the Charikot market and coming down to some extent, our driver spotted a shed with a tin roof. It looks like a bus stop. It must be built for sheltering the passengers waiting for buses but at that time we did not find any waiting persons nor we found the signboard stating it was a bus stop.

We took out the lunch box and unfold the lunch packages. We had a typical Nevah lunch. It comprised flattened rice, roasted chicken, curried chicken, pieces of ginger, roasted peanuts, potato salad and of course a peg of hard drink. Soft drinks followed at the end of the lunch.

After the lunch, it was already 3:00 PM. We needed to travel quite a bit and face the police checking at several places. So, we could not idle there. After emptying our bladders just behind a wall hidden from the public view, we immediately started off the return journey.

It was already late afternoon when we reached Mude. A young man was selling potatoes in a 25-kilogram pack. The price of potatoes in Mude was almost two-thirds of the price in Kathmandu. So, we grabbed one pack of 25 kilograms and moved on.

By the time we reached Khandichaur it was already dark and the market was crowded with incoming and outgoing buses and other vehicles. However, we needed to buy something. Again we found that the prices of some items were two-thirds of the prices in Kathmandu. However, we bought only one blanket and a hot case, as we were in a hurry and our small car had not much room to spare for other voluminous items.

We drove straight home under the headlight of the car. We reached home at 8:30 PM. Thus, we traveled to Dolkha and back home in a day. We burnt almost 30 liters of gasoline for the travel.

November 16, 2011

Strolling At Svoyambhu In Kathmandu

admin — 2011-11-13T09:32:55Z

Siddhi B Ranjitkar

When you travel on a vehicle to Svoyambhu you park your vehicle just on the backside of the Svoyambhu hill, and then you walk from there to the Svoyambhu shrine situated on the top of the hill. If you are a foreign visitor you pay an entrance fee at the gate to enter the Svoyambhu complex. This point is a saddle; if you stroll to the east you will reach the Svoyambhu shrine if you turn to the west then you are strolling to the famous shrine of Manjushree: the deity worshipped as the Goddess of Learning called Sarasvoti by the Hindus, and as the God of Vocational Learning called Manjushree by Buddhists. However, the correct approach to the Svoyambhu shrine is to start walking from the main entrance at the eastern base of the Svoyambhu hill.

If you stroll to the east then you will come to the two stone stairs: one on your right and another on your left. If you take the right stairs then you will reach western backside of the Svoyambhu complex. It is the short route to reach the Svoyambhu shrine. If you take the left stone stairs you will reach the northern side of the Svoyambhu complex at the end of the stone stairs. It is longer than the right stone stairs.

Nepalis always walk keeping any shrine on their right. So, if you follow the Nepalese tradition then you walk along the backside of the shrine you find at the end of the stone stairs you have climbed up. If you move on then you climb another stone stairs to reach a small open area. There, you find a large stone image of Lord Buddha. To the north you find an ancient shrine and its door locked by an ancient lock. This shrine is called Shantipur.

Shantipur shrine is always locked; the public has no access to it; so, it remains mysterious. However, the available ancient scriptures say that a Tantrik guru called Shantikar Acharya lived there and prayed for peaceful and prosperous lives of all Nepalis. He also helped the king called Narendradev of Bhaktapur to bring Karunamaya from the Kamarupa: present-day Assam in India to Nepal for resolving the 12-year drought.

Then you move on to another stone stairs, and pass by small stores that cater the immediate needs of visitors. You can have cold drinks, biscuits, muffins, and cookies and so on there.

Finally, you reach the top of the Svoyambhu hill. You walk a few more steps before you have the view of the Svoyambhu shrine. On the way you see a number of small stone Buddhist shrines. On your left you find a number of stores selling the items of interest of visitors.

You might even miss to notice the backside of the typical Nepalese style temple if you are not careful to see one of the most important shrines for Nepalis. Haarati Ajima dwells in the temple. She has six children. She is the guardian deity of children. Previously, Nepalis have access to the stone image of Haarati Ajima and her six children. Recently, devotees can see the deity and her children standing at the entrance to the temple. The reason is the stone images have been worn out due to the devotees touching them.

Usually, you find a long line of devotees standing at the front gate of the temple of Haarati Ajima. You find wick lamps burning around the temple. A Vajracharya priest and his clients might be performing a long worship just in front of the temple. So, most of the Nepalese devotes might be visiting the Svoyambhu to make offerings to Haarati Ajima.

Leaving the temple behind, as soon as you move on you see the full size of the Svoyambhu shrine. You will notice a huge white dome of Svoyambhu, on it a square bronze box with painted Buddha eyes on all four sides, and then on it gold-plated thirteen rings: the largest one on the bottom and the smallest one on the top, sizes of rings become smaller as they move up. Then there is a small area called Sukhabhuti under a parasol on the top of the thirteenth ring.

Following the Vajrayan Buddhist belief, the thirteen rings represent the thirteen stages of your meritorious life. You need to pass through each of the thirteen meritorious lives before reaching the area called Sukhabhuti means an eternal blissful area. It is not an easy task to pass through the thirteen rings but you can try and might even reach the eternal blissful area. However, your efforts on earning the merits required to pass through each ring for reaching the eternal blissful area in the single life might not be possible. So, you might need to make efforts in the successive lives.

At the bottom of the white dome of Svoyambhu, you will find five Buddhas set in the niches made at the northern, southern, eastern, and western parts of the dome. There is a nameplate of each Buddha for you to identify each Buddha. A number of prayer cooper wheels are set at the level of the Buddhas at the white dome of Svoyambhu. If you want to earn some merits you can use your right hand to spin the prayer wheels while going around the Svoyambhu shrine. However, you should not forget that you needed to move keeping the Buddhas and prayer wheels on your right.

Svoyambhu means a self-born. The Kathmandu Valley was once a lake. The deepest area is 150 meters from the surface. According to the Nepalese belief, the deity called Manjushree cut off the stones at Chovar to make a way for the water to pass through and drained the water making the valley livable for the people. So, the belief is that Svoyambhu appeared after the water was drained.

If you move on keeping the Svoyambhu shrine on your right you find a monastery of Tibetan Buddhism on your left. You may go around the monastery if you like. None of the Buddhist shrines restricts anybody to visit the Buddha and seek blessing from the Buddha. Only thing you need to do is to take off your shoes. If you don’t like to take off your shoes you can stand at the entrance and pray the Buddha for blessing.

Now, in front of you is the open view of the western part of Kathmandu. You don’t have to be in a hurry to watch the unmanageable sprawling Kathmandu. There is a better place from where you can watch the view of Kathmandu and take pictures if you like.

If you move on you reach the area where you find a large ‘Vajra’ set on a block of a stone on the eastern side of the Svoyambhu shrine. The bronze Vajra is of about 1.5 meter long and about 0.5 meter high. It indicates that Svoyambhu is of the Vajrayan sect of Buddhism.

Buddhism has at least three sects. They are called Hinayan means a small vehicle; Mahayan means a large vehicle and then Vajrayan: the third vehicle that is quite different from the first two vehicles. Buddhism has traveled from Hinayan to Vajrayan a long way changing its procedures of following the faith. Hinayanis strictly follow the original teachings of Lord Buddha.

Vajra is set on the top of the very steep stone stairs. This is the front side of the Svoyambhu shrine. King Pratap Malla of Kathmandu had set this Vajra at this place. The stone stairs are so steep you find two iron pipes set at the middle of the stairs so that devotees can hold one of the pipes while climbing the stairs or going down the stairs. As you have come from the back of Svoyambhu you don’t have the problem of climbing the steep stone stairs.

Passing by the Vajra, you come to the open area from where you can view the western side of Kathmandu. During the winter means mid-November to mid-February, heavy fog might cover Kathmandu in the morning until 10:00 AM. So, you miss the view of Kathmandu if you happen to be in the morning of this season.

After having the enough view of Kathmandu, you move on to the area where two Shikhar style temples had stood. Unfortunately, one of them was hit by lightning in the summer of 2011 and destroyed. You have to wait until it is renovated to have the original view of these two shrines.

King Pratap Malla of Kathmandu had built the two Shikhar style temples. One at your right is called Pratapur built in the name of the king and another on your left is called Anantpur built in honor of his queen. Only a few people notice them, as they are not for the public uses.

Now, you have already gone around the Svoyambhu complex. If you move on you will soon be at the top of the stone stairs that take you to the parking lot. However, if you don’t like to miss Haarati Ajima then you move on to the north and reach the front of the temple of Haarati Ajima. You will see how Nepalis are lining up to make offerings to the deity and how the Vajrayan priest is performing worship for his client. Her blessing will be useful to keep you safe.

If you move on straight forward you find the signboard of the Buddhist library on your left, and if you move on then you reach the place from where you have come but if you turn back you reach the short route to the parking lot. Most probably, you take the short stone stairs to the parking lot.

When you are at the parking lot you have a choice of boarding on your vehicle and returning to the place of your choice or of taking another stone stairs to reach the shrine of Lord Manjushree that is the Goddess of Learning called Sarasvoti for the Hindus, and the God of Vocational Learning called Manjushree for the Buddhists. You might like to seek the blessing of the deity for enhancing your knowledge. You also find monastery there. You can view some parts of Kathmandu surrounding the Svoyambhu hill from there.

You have made a visit to the Svoyambhu complex from the backdoor. However, the main entrance is the eastern entrance to the Svoyambhu. You cannot ride any sorts of vehicle from the eastern entrance at the bottom of the Svoyambhu hill. So, you have to walk on the stone stairs from there. While walking on the stone stairs you find the first few hundreds of the stairs are almost flat but as you climb on you find the stairs grow steeper. A number of large stone Buddhas set on both sides of the stairs in the meditating posture greet you on the way. When you are about to reach the Svoyambhu shrine, the few hundred steps of the stairs are so steep you need to take the help of the iron pipes set at the middle of the stone stairs. After the arduous climb of the stone stairs you finally reach the area where Vajra is set. Following the Nepalese tradition you move on keeping the shrine on your right. Then, you start the tour of the Svoyambhu from the open area viewing the western part of Kathmandu and walking to the two Shikhar style temples and then to the temple of Haarati Ajima and of course around the dome of the Svoyambhu shrine. In this case you might miss to visit the Shantipur that anybody using the backdoor first visit.

Svoyambhu is one of the seven World Heritage Sites Nepal has. So, it is the world heritage and belongs to the world. People of any faith have access to it.

There is a ring road around the Svoyambhu hill at its bottom. Previously, it used to be a ring path for devotees to go around the Svoyambhu hill. Even now, you might find some devotees going around with prayer wheels in their hands to earn merits. Someone even moves around the Svoyambhu prostrating each time s/he moves for earning more merits.

There is a small flat area on the right of the main entrance to the Svoyambhu at the bottom of the Svoyambhu hill. This flat area is called ‘bhu-khel’. Here, the twelve-yearly religious festival called ‘smayak-dan’ is held once every twelve-year. Every twelve-year, all the Buddhas including Dipanker Buddha assemble here to receive the ‘samyak dan’. Living Goddess Kumari of Kathmandu presides over the festival. Svoyambhu also comes down to receive ‘samyak dan.’ The head of state is the special guest on this occasion. Literally, ‘samyak dan’ means the right or auspicious grant.

Every year, a great religious festival is held at ‘anand kuti’ on the backside of the Svoyambhu hill on the anniversary of Lord Buddha. They put the sacred bones of Lord Buddha on display for the whole day. It is dug out of the underground storage, and put it under the heavy glass for all devotees to view it.

November 6, 2011

Bollywood's Most Expensive Film ‘Ra.One’ To Hit Cinemas

admin — 2011-10-27T08:10:35Z

BBC NEWS, SOUTH ASIA

October 26, 2011: India's superhero film ‘Ra.One’ billed as the most expensive Bollywood film to date, releases on Wednesday to coincide with the Hindu festival of Diwali. The film premiered in London on Tuesday evening, will open in about 5,000 screens worldwide.

The movie stars Shah Rukh Khan in the lead role, which appears to be a cross between Spider-man and Iron Man. Initial reviews praised the film's ambitious special effects, but said the plot was underwhelming.

Khan also the producer is engaged in an aggressive marketing blitz to promote the $30m (£21m) film. Some trade analysts say the production, which will be screened in around 3,500 cinemas in India, has already recovered 70% of its costs.

Full-page newspaper advertisements, film merchandising, video and online games, and iPhone-iPad applications have been used to publicize it.

Speaking to the BBC at the film's London gala, Khan denied that its superhero content is an immediate attempt to take on Hollywood at its own game. "If the technology goes ahead, we'd be able to compete with Hollywood later on in terms of quality. Unless we have the quality and the length, we won't be able to compete." "We're trying to increasingly make Bollywood films that are seen in Hollywood, so we're going there," he added.

Early reviews have been mixed. The Times Of India called ‘Ra.One’ a "classy sci-fi film" that "sets the viewers' adrenalin soaring". But Indian entertainment website Rediff Movies branded the film "Shah Rukh Khan's most expensive midlife crisis", describing the story as "one long disjoined chain of events" with the "sole purpose of being able to show the (almost) 46-year-old actor performing some breathtaking stunts".

Hindi broadcaster Zee News, meanwhile, praised the "thrilling action sequences, mind blowing special effects [and] foot tapping numbers", while being critical of the "hollow script".

Regardless of critical opinion, the film is expected to be a lucrative box office hit.

Director Anubhav Sinha has in the past described it as a "sci-fi, comedy, romance, father-son relationship, superhero, good over evil fight to save the world".

The film also stars actors Kareen Kapoor and Arjun Rampal. The musical score has been composed by Vishal Dadlani and Shekhar Ravjiani.

The film, initially scheduled for release in June, has suffered delays due to the extensive special effects and 3D production work.

Pilgrimage To Liberty Island

admin — 2010-10-03T17:36:38Z

Siddhi B. Ranjitkar

We have made a two-night trip to New York from September 24-26, 2010. This time, our son has driven us to New York starting from Shrewsbury in Massachusetts at six o’clock evening and reaching New York at nine but checked in the Embassy Suite hotel at about 10. It has been a long drive for us. So we simply have gone to sleep. Next day, we visit the ‘Liberty Island’ and ‘Ellis Island’ and gain some historical background of the United States of America. We make a quick drive tour to Jackson Height and Harlem before returning back Shrewsbury.

Next morning, we have woken up to know that our son has already bought the e-tickets to the Liberty Island and the Ellis Island. So, we go down to the second storey cafeteria in the hotel and have a breakfast. Thereafter, we walk along the embankment of the Hudson River for about a half hour to reach the dock where we need to take a ferry to those islands.

A male voice has been saying that the airport style security is done before boarding a ferry; so take off all sorts of metallic wearing to expedite the security otherwise you will need to wait for another 20 minutes, as next ferry will be available only after 20 minutes. So, by the time we are nearby the security check we have everything in one pack to place on a tray and then pass through the security check.

The ferry is full of visitors. It has sailed for about 20 minutes before reaching the Liberty Island. Some of the visitors including me have been busy with taking the shots of the Statue of Liberty, as we sail toward the Liberty Island. I have seen it in trailers and pictures in the past but now I am seeing it. It has been so thrilling to see the statue from the distance. My camera has already captured several shots of the statue before reaching the island.

The island is just big enough to hold such a large statue. My son has hired an audio for me to listen the history of the Statue and the island. Listening to the history on the audio we slowly move on to the statue. We can see the tall buildings standing in New Jersey and Manhattan from the island. While walking around the statue we have read several plaques that give information about the statue and the island.

The Statue of Liberty stands on the remains of Fort Wood built in the shape of an eleven-pointed star between 1808 and 1811 as one link in a chain of defenses protecting New York City and its vital harbor. The statue is as tall as a fifteen-storey building. When the statue was built, New York had buildings up to five-storey tall only. So, the statue was the tallest building at that time.

French sculpture Frederic Auguste Bartholdi has designed the Statue of Liberty, and Alexandre Gustave Eiffel has designed an ingenious iron framework of armature bars and girders for holding the copper sheets that have become the outer parts of the statue. More than 300 copper sheets made of copper mined in Karmoy, Norway give a shape of the statue. According to the information received from the audio, the fingernail of the statue is as larger as an arm of a human. We can see the copper sheets bound together by nails to form the statue. Reaction of the copper sheets of the statue with the oxygen of the atmosphere has taken 30 years to give the green color of the statue we see today.

The statue of Liberty is the symbols of human rights, freedom and independence. The torch and flame she holds on her right hand are the symbols of truth and justice. The tablet of law she holds in her left arm is inscribed in Roman numerals the date of the American Declaration of Independence of July 4, 1776. The broken shackles at her feet are the symbol of the escape from tyranny. Her crown has seven rays that suggest the seven seas and seven continents.

The French have made the elements of the statue and shipped them to the United States but the Americans have no money to build a pedestal for the statue to stand on. So, they have made a collection from the individuals to make a fund for building a pedestal. The height of the granite pedestal is about ten-story building for the statue of 105 feet to stand on. Eminent American architect Richard Morris Hunt has designed the pedestal and former Civil War General Charles P. Stone has engineered it.

After visiting the Liberty Island, we again board the ferry to visit the Ellis Island. One of the plaques on the Ellis Island says that before 1855 immigrants arriving at the port of New York on the vessels checked and cleared for all “loathsome and contagious diseases” freely entered the United States. At Castle Garden in Battery Park between 1855 and 1890, New York State immigration officials have formally processed about 8 million new immigrants traveling through the Port of New York to the United State of America.

After 1890, the Federal government has taken over the responsibility for processing immigrants. The Federal government has made it mandatory to all third class and steerage passengers bound for the port of New York to be inspected at the Ellis Island Immigration Station. It has processed more than 12 million hopeful immigrants between 1892 and 1954 taking only a few hours for the medical and legal inspection process. It has sent back only two percent of those immigrants about 240,000 people that have not met the medical and legal standard of that time at the cost of the steamship companies.

We have gone around the Ellis Island Immigration Museum for about one hour. It has pictures of how the immigrants have arrived with their belongings and have lined up for the immigration checkup. It has also various statistical records of immigrants coming from different continents and the forced immigration from the Africa, and of the missionaries.

After going around the Ellis Island Immigration Museum, we board one of the ferries for coming back to New York City. It has taken only a few minutes to reach the dock. We walk back to the World Financial Center where we have rested for some time on the ground floor of the World Financial Center and then have an afternoon meal there. Then we walk to the ground zero area where Twin Towers had stood until September 11, 2001, and currently, the construction of a new building has been going on. The steel structure of a building has been more than 26-story tower.

It has been already late afternoon; our aim is to visit the famous ‘Times Square’. It has taken some time for us to find the right subway station due to the unclear subway map and the invisible subway station.

The Times Square we have seen is quite different from the impression we have had. The crowd and the people at the Times Square have reminded us the Ason Square and Thamel area in Kathmandu although we cannot compare our ancient square with the modern square in New York. Our son has said that if a company has no billboard at the Times Square means it has not done business in the USA. Our mission to New York would not have been completed without the visit to the Times Square.

On September 26, we have made a journey to the UN building, Jackson Height where we find mostly the Indian-American’s businesses; we feel the smell of Indian cuisine and see the Indian sari stores and golden jewelry stores, and billboards in Bengali and English. We also drive to Harlem where mostly the Afro-Americans live.

We travel back to Shrewsbury after a brief visit to New York on September 26.

Copies of plaques on the Liberty Island and the Ellis Island:

Plaque titled “Liberty Island”: This twelve-acre speck of land had many names. In the pre-Columbian era it was known as “Minnissais” or Lesser Island, by the native Cairarsie Indian tribe. To the later European colonists, it was known as Love, Kennedy, Great Oyster, Corporation and Bedloe’s Island. The island has also had many varied uses over the years: prehistoric Indian site, farm, summer house, quarantine station, Tory refuge, French naval hospital, dump, gallows, military prison and eventually, a military fortification named Fort Wood.

In 1924, Fort Wood and the Statue of Liberty were proclaimed a national monument by President Calvin Coolidge. Since 1937, the entire island has been part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument. In 1956, the island’s name was changed one more time, from Bedloe’s Island to Liberty Island.

Plaque titled “Fort Wood”: The statue of Liberty’s pedestal sits atop the remains of Fort Wood, originally one link in a chain of defenses protecting New York City and its vital harbor. The fort was built between 1808 and 1811 in the shape of an eleven-pointed star and was occupied by the War Department as an army post until 1937. The eleven-pointed star design was brought to North America by French military engineers in the 17th century. The fort acted as a lookout position with harbor guns entrenched near the shore. Many incised markings, believed to be Masonic symbols, have been found on its granite exterior walls and the surrounding lawn.

Plaque titled “Liberty’s Symbols”: The statue of Liberty conveys its message of freedom through a number of dramatic symbols. The broken shackles at her feet signify escape from tyranny. In her left arm, she holds a tablet of law inscribed in Roman numerals the date of the American Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776. Her crown’s seven rays suggest the seven seas and seven continents. Most significant of all, however, her torch and flame symbolize truth and justice enlightening the world. Perhaps no poem brings these symbols to life more than “The New Colossus,” a sonnet written by Emma Lazarus in 1883 as an attempt to raise funds for the pedestal’s completion.

The New Colossus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fume,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land,
Here at our sea-washed, sunset-gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows worldwide welcome, her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp” cries she,
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breath free,
Your wretched refuse of your teeming shore;
Send these, the homeless, tempest-lost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

Emma Lazarus (1819-1887)

Plaque titled “Building the Statue of Liberty”: The French sculpture, Frederic Auguste Bartholdi designed the Statue of Liberty as a giant three-dimensional jigsaw puzzle. Over 300 thin sheets of copper, most of it from a copper mine in Karmoy, Norway, fit together to form the Statue’s outer skin. Each copper sheet is 3/32 of an inch thick, about the thickness of two coins. The sheets were shaped in France using the ancient repousse method in which the metal is hammered and shaped within large wooden and plaster molds. The finished pieces were then shipped to the United Sates where they were assembled and supported on an ingenious iron framework of armature bars and girder’s designed by Alexandre Gustave Eiffel. Construction of the Statue started early 1886.

Plaque titled “The Pedestal”: The granite pedestal of the Statue was paid for entirely by private funds raised in the United States. It was designed by the eminent American architect, Richard Morris Hunt, and engineered by former Civil War General, Charles P. Stone. Its variety of strong shapes and rich textures makes the pedestal seem less massive as it tapers gracefully upward. Roughly the height of a ten-story building, the tremendous structure rests on a huge concrete foundation that is anchored to surrounding Fort Wood. The concrete foundation was once exposed, but now is enclosed by a museum.

Plaque titled “Why is the Statue Green?:” The answer is in the air. The Statue’s skin is made of copper when copper is exposed to oxygen in the air it undergoes a chemical reaction called oxidation. The reaction causes a fine crust or film to develop that is usually green in color. This layer protects the original metal underneath. In copper and bronze, this natural protective process is called patination. It took nearly thirty years for the Statue to turn from her original copper color to the green you see today. The patination process can also be observed on building where copper or bronze are used for roofing and ornamentation such as ferry dock on Liberty Island and on the roof and domes of the Immigration Station at Ellis Island.

Plaque titled “Immigration Processing In New York”: Prior to 1855, immigrants arriving at the port of New York were free to enter the United States if their vessel was checked and cleared for all “loathsome and contagious diseases.” Between 1855 and 1890, approximately 8 million new immigrants traveling through the Port of New York were formally processed at Castle Garden in Battery Park by New York State immigration officials.

After 1890, the Federal government assumed responsibility for processing immigrants. All third class and steerage passengers bound for the port of New York were required to be inspected at the Ellis Island Immigration Station, where more than 12 million hopeful immigrants were processed between 1892 and 1954. For most, the medical and legal inspection process took only a few hours. Overall, only two percent of those immigrants processed at Ellis Island, about 240,000 people, were excluded from entering the United States and these were sent back at the steamship company’s expense. The overwhelming majority of immigrants were free to begin new lives in America.”

Ends

A Quick Trip To San Francisco

admin — 2010-09-17T19:39:41Z

Siddhi B. Ranjitkar

We have made a quick trip to San Francisco from September 04-06, 2010. This trip has been the most memorable one. Nature has blended hills, plains and sea together in San Francisco. Humans have created a wonderful city of San Francisco. So, a quick trip is not sufficient to see the unique beauty of San Francisco.

Our plan has been to travel from Hartford airport to San Francisco via Charlotte airport from 7:00 PM on September 03 but the approaching hurricane has forced the airlines company to cancel our flights even it has been dying when it has reached here. The US Airlines have cancelled the original flights and reroute us to Dulles and then to San Francisco on the United Airlines. The night flight from Hartford to Dulles has been slightly rough because of the high speed wind, then from Dulles to San Francisco, initial fifteen and so on minutes have been rough but thereafter the flight has been quite smooth. We have arrived San Francisco after midnight.

The airport is relatively less busy and in the state of a half sleep; we walk out of the airport to catch an airport taxi. A few taxis are standing there to serve the night passengers. A Sikh Taxi driver takes us to the Hotel ‘embassy suites’ not far from the airport. The taxi takes only eleven minutes to reach the hotel and takes fourteen dollars including three-dollar tip.

We check in the hotel. The hotel suite is quite comfortable. We feel tired a little bit even though the air travel is not for a long time but only seven hours in total. So, immediately after arrival at the hotel everybody sleeps.

Next morning as soon we woke up, I approach the hotel window to see what are available for a sight. The hotel window opens me to the hill and a part of the city just before the hill. The high-tension power-line towers going across the hill spoil the beauty of the part of the city to our eyes. The hill itself looks dry and lifeless as it has only a few greens on it. I have been used to see trees everywhere in Massachusetts. So, the hill without trees has been not so pleasant. But you have to accept it as nature has given birth to the hill quite recently speaking a geological language.

After the morning rituals, we have complimentary breakfast in the hotel. The complimentary breakfast is not so rich in food but you can fill your stomach with the pancakes, potatoes, scrambled eggs, toasts with jam jelly butter, eat fruits, and drink tea, coffee and juice as much as you can for a day. Then, you are ready for sightseeing or going around the city for curiosity.

We choose to visit the ‘Fishermen’s wharf’. In the past, it must be really a fisherman’s wharf; currently it is a tourists’ wharf. The whole area has turned into an entertaining area for the tourists. It has a number of piers but we have visited only Pier 39. The whole pier has been converted into the eating-places, stores selling the interest of tourists, and entertainment centers. You can reach sea beach, too but only a few tourists like us that have rarely seen sea in their home country bother to go there except for a few occasionally visiting there. We have spent a half-day there just going one store after another and one eating-place after another. We take pictures standing just before the huge apparently plastic noodle, then before the huge crab made of metallic, and standing on the way, too. Our children and we enjoy watching the huge lobsters, crabs and other sea animals made in breads at the bread store. One of us buys a lobster bread of 2.5 ft long for our two children to enjoy. The area is really busy one as the flow of tourists is continuous.

In the second half of the day, we visit the famous ‘Golden Gate Bridge’. The plaque placed nearby the bridge says, “‘The Golden Gate’ army explorer John Charles Fermont named the entrance to San Francisco in 1846. His Majesty Emperor Joshua Abraham Norton decreed in 1869 a bridge be built across ‘The Golden Gate’ to Sausalito Ridge. Work finally began 64 years later.” The construction work starts on January 05, 1933 and opens the bridge on May 27, 1937 for the public transport.

The span of ‘The Golden Gate’ bridge is 4,200 ft. It is the longest suspension bridge. It has six lanes for vehicles and two sidewalks for pedestrians and cyclists. You can see hundreds of cars moving back and forth. Perhaps, millions of cars 24 hours a day cross the bridge. You pay six dollars for crossing the bridge. So, you can imagine how much money you can make building such a bridge. According to the plaque placed there, the construction of the bridge has cost $35 million at that time; Bank of America purchased the entire $35 million bond issue needed for construction.

Tourists come on double-deck buses to see ‘Golden Gate Bridge’. Some of them riding on the top deck of a bus, they can enjoy the views of not only of the city but also of the bridge. Sometimes, the mist covers the towers holding the bridge so much that you can see only the lower portions of the towers. The top towers are lost to the mist.

We take the pictures standing before the statue of the engineer that has built the bridge on one side of the bridge and the statue of a lone marine on the other side of the bridge. The areas on each end of the bridge are full of blooming flowers and nicely trimmed grasses. Some people enjoy a pleasure fishing just below the bridge.

After seeing the bridge to our satisfaction we drive down to the sea beach. No much life is seen on the beach perhaps due to the windy and chilly climate the area has at that time. A few people have been water surfing. We just have a few shots of pictures on the beach and then return back to our vehicle to keep us warm again. At some places you find nice beach areas where you can dine and refresh after so much of travel on a car or on foot. We see an abstract sculpture made of only scrap steel rails on the beach area. We spend the second-half day around the ‘Golden Gate’ bridge.

You enjoy different climate or weather in San Francisco depending on where you are. Even in the early September you need to wear a jacket to keep warm if you are in the places where strong chilly wind keeps you cold but in the main city centers where the tall buildings keep away the wind you might feel hot and you may like to change your full pant into a half. So, you need to be prepared for any sorts of weather while visiting San Francisco even though you might expect for a warm climate because of its geographical situation.

You sleep very well after a daylong visit to different places. Sometimes, you walk other times you simply ride a car but still you get tired after visiting so many places in such a short time. So you sleep without a complaint in the hotel suite.

Next morning, you watch the same hill scene. You might feel like in Kathmandu if the hills are little taller than what they are today, and can see the high mountains with snow peaks but you have San Francisco Bay here that you don’t have in Kathmandu. Here in San Francisco you have hills, plains and the sea combined together whereas in Kathmandu you have small valley surrounded by hills and mountains.

You go for a complimentary breakfast and fill your stomach with all the foods you can serve yourselves. Drink as much as you like to keep you going for some time to visit different places even though you don’t need to worry about finding eating-places whenever you feel like to eat but you might have the problem of finding the eating place of your choice.

The next day, we are for visiting the ‘Lombard Street’. Possibly none of the tourists misses it. It is so famous street for its step climbing down in a narrow lane. We as tourists don’t like to miss it, too. We park our car on one of the nearest parking site and then walk to the down portion of the street.

Other tourists have been already climbing the street in the opposite direct of the cars coming down in the serpentine brick-paved hill path. Blooming flowers on both sides of the paved-path make the area so beautiful you may like to watch the flowers than the carefully coming down cars on the ‘Lombard Street’. We walk uphill watching cars coming down and lavishly commenting on the flowers on both sides of the path. It might be a ten-minute walk if you walk normally but we take some time more as we watch the cars coming down and take the pictures of them at any convenient turns where we can see the entire body of a car. Most of the drivers are probably pleasure drivers rather than commuters. You don’t cross such a path with bends and curves if you are on a business trip. After reaching the top of the serpentine path, we come downhill using the opposite sidewalk again watching the cars and some cycles passing by.

Our next target is to ride a tramcar called cable car here. One of us goes to line up for a ticket to a cable-car ride. The rest of us enjoy the beautiful sea beach scene. Most of the tourists that have never seen such a cable car enjoy having a ride on it. For me that have already had such tramcar rides for six and a half years in the past is not much fun to ride a cable car.

The cable cars move on ropes uphill and downhill carrying tourists as well as the daily commuters. Some tourists hang on the outside of cable cars holding the tubes set on them to have a fun ride and to enjoy the scenes of the city. We travel from the sea beach station to the Union Square station on a cable car. I guess the time we have spent on the cable car ride is around 40 minutes. The area at the Union Square is so small for the cable cars to turn to the opposite direction; drivers and conductors of cable cars put a tramcar on a large disc and push it to the opposite direction for a return journey.

On the Union Square, we enjoy watching two trolley buses running parallel on one direction, double-deck buses, cable cars, and cars and so on moving on different directions. I have seen only one trolley bus moving on one direction elsewhere. So, two trolley buses moving on the same direction on the same road is unique to me. Here, they call trolley buses ‘Muni’ buses

After enjoying all sorts of scenes on the Union Square and going around the nearby park, we go back to one of the cable car stops waiting for a cable car to take us back to the place from where we have come. We ride back to the place from where we travel on a cable car to the Union Square.

We are again back walking on to the Fishermen’s Wharf. This time we are looking for a nice place to sit and dine. We walk one restaurant after another but all of them are so crowded we have hardly any place to step on. We are tiered; our two small grandchildren are hungry, too. Finally, we find a restaurant with some vacant seats on the second floor. We enjoy sitting there and watching the beautiful scene and then nice seafood.

The end of the day for us is the nightfall. So, we return back to the hotel at the end of the second of the visit to San Francisco. At the hotel room either you watch the TV or write something about the travel. You can watch the TV of your choice of the regular channels provided by the cable TV companies. If you want to watch the TV on demand you need to pay.

The third day is the final day of our visit to San Francisco. As usual we go to the dining hall for a complimentary breakfast. Then we get ready for the day-sight seeing.

First we drive our rented car to the 49-mile-drive ‘Golden Gate Park’. ‘San Francisco Parks Trust’ (SFPT) runs the park. It is the largest park in the world according to the brochure and map of the park. It was only sand dunes and far away from the San Francisco city back in 1870 when 1017-acre area was selected for building the park. At that time San Francisco was the fraction of the today’s San Francisco. To build an entirely new ecological system and sustain it within the dunes was a monumental task but they did it.

The park has eight man-made lakes to keep the ecological balance of the area. It has several museums, science buildings, number of botanical gardens, various sports courts, areas of recreation and a stadium to mention only a few things. Golden Gate Park shuttle bus runs every 15-20 minutes from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM. You buy a two-dollar all-day-round-trip pass and travel on the shuttle anywhere in the park for the whole day. Except for the weekends and major holidays, you can drive your car around the park.

In 1894, the Midwinter International Exposition was held in ‘Golden Gate Park’. They built more than 200 buildings for the exposition in the area of 200 acres. Completing the exhibition after six months, all temporary buildings were tore down except for the Japanese Village and the Fine Arts Building. Later, the Japanese Village becomes the Japanese Tea Garden and the Fine Arts Building becomes the M.H. de Young Museum.

We visit the Japanese Tea Garden each of us paying a seven-dollar entrance fee even though the brochure says SFPT provides visitors with a free entry. The garden is well maintained. You can walk up and down enjoying varieties of vegetation. You can climb up and down on the bridge called a Drum Bridge built in the shape of a huge drum cut into a half. You can see various examples of bonsai and other Japanese method of tree trimming.

After a brief visit to the ‘Golden Gate Park’, we are on the way to the twin hills. You can drive to the tops of the hills. You can watch certain portion of San Francisco and see the straight line of the famous ‘Market Street’ of San Francisco from there. It reminds us the Svoyambhu hill in Kathmandu from where you can see most parts of Kathmandu. It is a hot sunny day and exceptional day, as we don’t find any chilly wind that characterizes the area. After taking a few shots of group pictures, we come down to a lunch.

We move on to a nearby park called Merced for a picnic lunch. We notice a few other groups enjoying the picnic with an open cooking of some foods. We have already cooked food; so, we don’t need any cooking in the park.

Some of us lay some plastic sheets on the ground for placing the food containers on them. All of us sit around the food. Plastic plates, forks and spoons are the picnic crockery. Self-service is the order of the day. Everyone takes the foods of her/his choice and enjoys it. One of us has prepared the food so nice and tasty I even want to have the recipe of the foods so that we can cook such foods whenever we want to eat very delicious food. The foods are typical Nepalese but without a bit of red or black pepper in them. These foods are the most suitable for the people like me that cannot eat the peppered foods.

Our next destination is the Cliff Walk. The cliff is probably one-hundred-feet or higher from the coastline. You can walk around on the flat area of the cliff top. You can see far away sea even a section of the ‘Golden Gate Bridge’ from there. We notice the broken steps: obviously remnants of nicely built staircases, and the closed entry with the police notice of not entering the staircase. Lack of repair and maintenance of the staircases have denied the visitors to reach the coastline.

The visit to the Cliff Walk is the end of our trip to San Francisco; it is time for us to return back home. So, we set our mind on flying back home Shrewsbury in Massachusetts. Our flight from San Francisco to Minnesota of Delta Airlines is at 12.35 midnights, as we don’t have the direct flight to Hartford. The flight from San Francisco to Minnesota is smooth but the wet and windy weather at Minnesota have made the pilots difficult to balance the aircraft, as we have felt the aircraft going of balance while pilots bringing it back to balance while landing on the ground.

Minnesota is a little bit more than the half way to Shrewsbury; we need to take another plane to fly to Hartford. We have to walk a long way to reach the Boarding Gate in the airport building. One hour time we have in between the two fights is just enough for disembarking from one aircraft to embarking another. So, we don’t need to wait for boarding the aircraft for the flight to Hartford. It is a morning flight. We have a small breakfast on the plane. Usually most of the American airlines don’t serve food on the plane to keep their prices as competitive as possible.

We landed on Hartford airfield at 10:30 morning. It is time to find our car parked at the airport parking building. I have noted the level and the row where we have parked our car. If you don’t note the area of parking the car and you forget it then it might take you quite some time to find your car.

Flying from Minnesota to Massachusetts is only two hours and a few minutes but driving from the Hartford airport to Shrewsbury is one and a half hours. Reaching home has been the end of the trip to San Francisco but the tiredness of the journey remains. So, as soon as we reach home, we take showers and quickly eat the lunch and lay on the bed for a sleep.

September 14, 2010.

Phone dialing Instruction to Nepal

admin — 2009-11-02T15:48:20Z

To call Nepal- Ktm;
Dial: +977+1(city code of Ktm)+7digits number
To call landline outside Ktm:
Dial: +977+(city code)(i.e 61 for Pokhara)+number
To call Nepal Mobile/cell;
Dial: +977+mobile number

Make Him A Minister For Punishment

admin — 2009-10-31T07:09:42Z

A wandering ascetic came across a dog that has been barking continuously. The ascetic has phobia of dogs. So, he could not bear the barking of the dog. He thought, “If I move forward the dog might bite him; so before the dog could do any harm to me I need to hit the dog so that the dog would not do any harm to me.” The beaten dog runs to the most judicious king for justice. The king could not judge so asks the dog, “what sort of punishment I should give the ascetic?” The dog tells the king to make the ascetic a minister.

The ascetic hit the dog with his stick so hard that the dog ran away without looking back. The ascetic went on his way.

The dog has run to the most pious and judicious king called Rama. The king has been famous for bringing his own spouse to justice. So, the dog went to Rama for justice.

King Rama listened to the dog and then sent for the ascetic to hear his reason for beating the dog. The messengers brought the ascetic to King Rama.

Rama asked the ascetic, “Why did you beat the dog?”

Ascetic said, “The dog was barking in my way. So, in order to avoid his bite I hit the dog.”

Rama said, “Did the dog attempted to bite you?”

Ascetic said, “No, the dog was continuously barking.”

Rama said, “The duty of a dog is to bark. So, the dog barking in the way was simply doing his duty.”

Rama found the ascetic guilty for beating the dog. However, Rama has difficulty to find out what punishment the ascetic should get. So Rama turned to the dog and asked the dog, “What punishment the ascetic should get for beating you?”

The dog replied, “Make him a minister.”

Rama was surprised very much and asked the dog, “Why do you want to make the ascetic a minister as a punishment for beating you?”

The dog said, “As a minister he would commit many sins. He would make his daughter a minister, and his brother an ambassador, give the donations from the state treasury and any other things as gifts to his wife for running her non-governmental organization, make his illiterate sister the head of academy, sell the government assets and buy many things that are not even required for the state for earning commissions, employ his cadres to the government positions even though they are holding fake certificates; ultimately, he becomes a dog as I am. I was also a minister before being a dog.”

Corrupt Prime Minister becomes a bitch, unscrupulous Deputy Prime Ministers become spotty dogs, and corrupt ministers become stray dogs.

Note: Svami Haridass told this story in his religious discourse aired in the morning program of the state-run Radio Nepal on October 24, 2009.

Julia Roberts' Indian connection

Sam Garg — 2009-06-12T00:25:00Z

The film will be produced by Brad Pitt and Dede Gardener will also feature Robert Jenkins. The shooting is scheduled for July and the film will be shot across, India, Bali, New York and Rome.

Trekking From Phulchowki to Godavari or Vice Versa

admin — 2009-06-13T05:11:13Z

Siddhi B. Ranjitkar

Nepal has been known for a trekkers’ paradise but most visitors think that they must trek in remote areas for weeks for enjoying the country’s natural beauty and the hospitality of the Nepalis. This is not necessarily true. Day treks around the Kathmandu Valley can be rewarding experience for both the seasoned trekkers and the tourists whose time is limited.

One of the nicest treks around the Valley is the hike from the top of the Phulchowki Mountain down to Godavari or vice versa. Phulchowki at about 9,000 ft (about 2, 800 meters) above sea level is the highest peak in the Valley. Godavari is at about 4,500 ft (about 1, 400 meters) above sea level. So, the difference in altitude between Phulchoki and Godavari is about 4,500 ft.

You have a choice of trekking up from Godavari to Phulchowki or from Phulchowki down to Godavari. If you want to trek up you may drive up to Godavari and then take the direct climb from Godavari to Phulchowki. It may be a hard trek for the senior people as the climbing from Godavari at about 4,500 ft to Phulchowki at 9,000 ft will not be so easy. However, for the smart and physically sound people willing to have a challenging trek in a short time, this trekking route serves their purpose. The trek from Phulchowki down to Godavari is easy, charming and enjoyable and physically less strenuous.

If you plan to trek from Godavari to Phulchowki then you may take a bus to Godavari with the trekking gear and some food and drinks to eat on the way to Phulchowki. Starting off early in the morning for the trekking up is advisable as the morning climate is more conducive to walking up than at any time of a day. In addition, you might see different birds and even some small wild animals on the way in the early morning.

Once you are at Godavari, you may chose one of the traditional walking route or simply walk along the road to By KTM Metro Reporter in Kathmandu

. Walking along the road may be tedious or as pleasant as walking along the traditional route depending on how you think it. However, the traditional route is a steep climb and arduous one. When you climb along the traditional route you need to cross the road at several places so if you feel tired of climbing the hill through the narrow route then you may walk along the road but it will take much longer time than passing through the route or you may call your car over to you on the road and then take you to the peak of Phulchowki. Choice is yours.

While climbing up you may stop at several places from where you can watch the majestic Himalayan mountain range spreading from the east to west of the northern part of the country. Relaxing for a few minutes at each of such places and moving on to climb up will be more enjoyable than just trying to complete the trekking as soon as possible.

The trekking time is about three hours but you may like to spend some time on watching the mountains and eating and drinking at some places. So, you may plan for five hours for reaching the top of Phulchowki.

On the way you will not find any human settlements, as it is a preserved forest area. So, don’t anticipate having tea-stalls and resting places as on other trekking routes. Carry everything you want to eat and drink on the way.

Once you are at Phulchowki you can see three towns such as Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur from there. You will see Goddess Phulchowki at her open shrine, a small office of the air control tower and TV antennae on the top of the Phulchowki Mountain. You will not find a large flat area there.

At 9,000 ft above sea level some people may even get altitude sickness. Symptoms of an altitude sickness are strong headache and even vomiting. In such a case you need to climb down as soon as possible, as the only remedy for an altitude sickness is to get to low altitude. Once you are at the lower altitude then the sickness disappears immediately.

Phulchowki is the name of goddess residing at the sacred top of the mountain. She is one of the Tantric incarnations of Sastriya Goddess Parbati, the consort of Lord Shiva. She dwells in a simple open shrine made of stone. Several metal tridents, bronze bells and vermillion-smeared stones are the symbols of the presence of the goddess.

The most thrilling time for trekking in this area is a spring season. Some northern part of the Phulchowki Mountain may be still covered with snow but the southern part will be blooming with the red and white rhododendrons at the altitude of 7,000 ft (about 2, 300 meters) and above. Some parts of the mountain will be seen red because of the rhododendrons blooming all over the area.

Local people hold religious festivals at the Phulchowki Shrine twice in a spring season. So, if you happen to visit this area during a spring season you may have a chance to meet some of the pilgrims coming from various parts of the Valley. Many Nepalese pilgrims visit Goddess Phulchowki seeking blessing from her.

Once, you have completed the trekking from Godavari to Phulchowki, you have a choice of trekking down from Phulchowki to Godavari or simply take a car you have hired for taking you down from Phulchowki to Godavari. After the comparatively arduous trekking up you will find trekking down from Phulchowki is much more simple and easy. It will take you less than the half of the time you have taken for trekking up.

If you choose to trek one way from Phulchowki down to Godavari, you need to drive up to the Phulchowki peak and then trek down from there. It is the easiest thing to do for anybody who wants to have trekking experience but does not like to go a hard way. Take a traditional route rather than the road route you have traveled up in a car to enjoy the pristine nature and meet some wild animals and birds on the way down. If you feel you cannot walk any more on the traditional route you have always the choice of walking down along the road or even ask your car driver to pick you up on the way.

Senior people may even venture to trek down. You can do, too, but you better keep your car not very far away from you, as you may feel that you better ride down than walking down. It is possible as you trek not very far from the road and you often cross the road on the way down.

Once you are at Godavari you are back to the regular civilization. You will see the Godavari Marble Factory churning marble sheets out of block marbles. The marble factory has consumed almost a half of the marble hill causing a large scar on the hill. Pollution in this area is visible.

Also nearby is a three-tiered Nepalese style temple to Goddess Phulchowki. The forest extending down from the mountainside camouflages the temple and its nine stone waterspouts; a keen eye is needed not to miss this religious site.

On the opposite side of the marble hill, you will find a number of old building former rulers of Nepal have built for their summer residence. Now, they are the homes of St. Xavier School run by Jesuits.

Then, you will find a once beautiful botanical garden on the northern side. Once it has raised orchids, ferns, and many varieties of cactus, plants and flowers. It also has bred and grown local and foreign plants in greenhouses. It has a lotus pond. A cool water stream passes through the garden. The botanical garden has been once famous for picnickers.

Past the botanical garden you will find the holy pond called ‘Godavari Kunda’. A month-long religious festival is held here once every twelve year in July-August. People come from all over the country to bathe in this small pond believing it will washed away their sins committed knowingly or unknowingly and worship God Sapteswor Mahadev.

A legend has it that a rishi or a holy man has lived here and revered God Sapteswor Mahadev. One day, it so happened that he accidentally killed a cow. Killing a cow means committing a great sin for Hindus. The holy man knows that if he can go to the South India where Godavari River flows and take a bath in the holy Godavari River, he can atone for the sin. So, to atone for the sin caused by killing a cow, the holy man visited there, and meditated on Goddess Godavari.

The holy man’s dedication to and reverence for Goddess Godavari for a number of years has pleased the goddess. So, one day she appeared before him and said to him, “I am very pleased with you and am here to meet the wish you have in your mind.” The holy man prostrated at the feet of the goddess and said, “I accidentally killed a cow; so, I am here to atone for the sin.” The goddess said, “You go back to your place and I will appear there for you to take a holy dip and wash away the sin.” The holy man said, “How can I know that Goddess Godavari will be there?” The goddess said, “ Leave your holy water pot called ‘kamandalu’ here and it will appear in your place means I am there.”

Then, the holy man returned back to Nepal and after twelve years, he saw his holy pot floating on the waters of the pond. He immediately jumped into the water and took a wash atoning for his sin of killing a cow.

Since then, Nepalis have been emulating the holy man at taking the bathe in the waters of the small pond once every twelve year believing that Goddess Godavari appears in it.

On your way back to Kathmandu, you may stop at the town called Harisiddhi that takes you back to the medieval times despite this Nevah settlement being right on the road, the people have preserved the traditional way of living.

The trek from Phulchowki to Godavari or vice versa is a fascinating way to spend a day at a nominal cost to enjoy the local culture, mountain vistas, flora and fauna in short all the elements of a longer trek, with the convenience of being in the Valley.

June 11, 2009.

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