Build ’Em and They’ll Come

One comment was made for an article entitled, "Build ’Em and They’ll Come" at Nytimes.

Dear Sir,
Well, it does not matter weather it is million or billion what matters is spending. Especially in terms of research and innovation. Many Asian giants such as Singapore, Japan, Korea among others have spent hefty amount of money for research and they are still doing so. If there is no money in the research, you are bound to get no results or not so good results. The fact that entire world is running for "energy or green energy" is quite understandable since we lack them. However, by spending only on one sector cannot solve the problem. The spending should be proper and vigilant. The decisions of spending should be accountable dime by dime. Otherwise, there is no rhyme(innovation) coming from anywhere to anyplace.
Thank you !
 
Published here

Animal CRUELTY

Alexandra Delaney’s concern with animal rights and mass killings of buffaloes and goats during Dashain is legitimate and I understand how these acts could upset a true vegetarian (“Seeing red,” Oct. 12, Page 7). However, I do not agree with her statement about Nepal being “superstitious”.

Every country has a cultural legacy and religious practices for reasons that I don’t believe fall under the category of superstition, something that a religious scholar should understand. Her concluding quote of Ghandi—“every country can be judged based on how women and animals are treated”—also includes countries in the West where there are thousands of animals killed every day, often inhumanely. Why do only developing nations have to be picked for censure?

Santosh Kalwar

Ratnanagar, Tandi, Chitwan

Published: Letter to the Editor
The Kathmandu Post
Source: ekantipur

The Latest Crisis

In response to article entitled, "The Latest Crisis" this is my comments for it--

Dear Editor,

Please forgive my curiosity and concern. I am very much skeptical on asking question concerning, "why?". All this is being done to capture "one man" and defeat "terrorism". This is really good case where good guys are chasing the bad guys. To ordinary public like us, it is very doubtful question who is the good guy and who remains the bad guy. After hearing many conspiracy theories it raise little concern. However, all those spending and so called "crisis" are looking hazy and cozy.

Good luck !


Here is the link where the comment was accepted and published online.

Happy Dashain

Press releases: Warrior of Light by Santosh Kalwar

Lappeenranta, Finland, October 07, 2010 -- New Polish Beat (small press located in pozan, Poland)  is proud to present chapbook entitled, "Warrior of Light" by Santosh Kalwar--a young Nepalese poet currently studying in Lappeenranta, Finland.

Santosh Kalwar's "Warrior of light" chapbook is a veritable image gallery of warrior’s observations. Well structured and it has been edited by famous editor and songwriter of Poland, A.J. Kauffman, and equally well packaged as the poetic masterpiece of a soldier.

Kalwar's voice is unique and credible, unlimited beyond the scope of any boundaries or barriers. At times, he is brilliant. Nevertheless, mostly, his verse touches deepness of soul. “These poems are great”, says an editor and publisher, Mr. Kauffman

By publishing his great and fascinating poems, Mr. Santosh Kalwar has been entitled, the First Young Nepalese Poet to publish poetry chapbook in the West.
 
To order book:
simply send an e-mail to editor, aj_kaufmann@yahoo.com, indicating the title of the book. or, Visit here
See preview of book

Frog and toads

In a small pond, there lived a frog and thousand of toads. The frog was the leader of all the toads and whatever the frog decides, everyone obeyed. Today, we live in the similar situation. The frogs are the politicians and the toads are all public. All the public obeys to what frog decides and says. This is not how democracy works. In democracy, a person has power to choose and decide who their politicians would be.

While reading the recent debate on Terry Jones and burning of Koran (the holy book of Allah), I think there is a big frog running the business and whatever they are saying or doing is carefully obeyed or listened by the general public.

The religion is very sensitive issue to touch and talk about. Everybody has some religion. Everyone follows one religion or another. Nevertheless, the question is not what religious beliefs or faith you are indulging yourself into; the question is why big fat politicians have to mull these issues. The ‘Islamophobia’ and ‘Chrisitianophobia’ is running the entire show on this earth.

It is extremely difficult to understand why these phobias affect deep in our society and culture. When someone is burning something; let them burn. Do not be stupid! In the end, everything will be burned and there will be nothing remaining. If someone does not understand, your religion of their own religion then let them not understand. We humans are like child asking chocolates from the God. The God is curiously watching over our actions. He knows that these humans that are fighting over smaller things like this; are not moving towards greater path. He knows that these humans are like a small babies crying for a toy or just trying to get his/her/it attention.

The ordinary public are puppets of worthless news. Do not change your actions based on what these preachers suggest you to do. Be firm on your action and do not easily believe what they say. These people are playing a bigger game that is very hard to understand by an average mind. An average mind cannot easily grasp the fact that there might just be a religious fight for forthcoming World War III.

Visit Nepal 2011

Should We Manipulate Our Dreams?

A comment on Should We Manipulate Our Dreams?


"Normal dreams are normally unpleasant."

Dear Sir,

I am so lazy to read after the first lines of what you have written here. Let me tell you why. First of all I can write 1000 pages of text on why "normal dreams are NOT normally unpleasant" and many of my contemporaries will do the same.

I am really sorry but I hope that I am not being offensive about your insights. I am also sorry for my poor delivery of English in this 'small comment box' I don't get paid for putting my ideas by NYTimes and I don't do re-writing. So, let me get back to the first statement on why normal dreams are NOT unpleasant.

Let us assume that Mr. A is a normal guy and he lives in normal world and he has normal life. The usage of word: 'normal' is simply pointing to an ordinary life. When Mr. A is normal guy then it is not necessary that he also lives normal life. Well, to some extent he is bounded to live and sustain normal life but it not a predicament that he must live a normal life.

Therefore, When Mr. A is not living normal life then
Mr. A can live either abnormal life or Mr. A can live an extraordinary life.

The point is: Not all normal dreams are unpleasant.

To clarify please think about this:

Mr. A lives normal life then he must either dream normally or abnormally. If he dreams normally then he has greater chance of being rather pleasant than unpleasant. I think this is simple mathematics. If he dreams abnormally then he has greater chance of being rather unpleasant than pleasant.

Whatever be the case, I do not agree that all normal dreams are normally unpleasant.

The reasons are:

1. Normal dreams are manifestation of everyday reality.
2. What we dream is either for our future or is about things happening in the present.
3. Our consciousness and unconsciousness theory are outdated which needs to be re-written.


Anyways, I clearly understand the point you guys are trying to make for 'manipulation of dreams' and I think this is very much possible. I know how...

Thank you for bearing these texts with me.

Defining Prosperity Down

A comment on Defining Prosperity Down


Dear Sir Paul,

Thank you very much for your information but this is not of any help.

I am sorry but please bear with me for few seconds. Personally, I agree much of what you have to say here. Yes, joblessness is growing. There are people who are 'thinking' on how to fetch a job. On the other hand, there are those who have low wage jobs.

True that politicians (either democrat or republican) put blind ears to much of job creation. It is also true that they are not only to blame.

The blame goes to rich and elite industry owners who were once responsible to create jobs and who once gave people jobs.

The underemployment rate is growing and it will grow in near future. We are responsible for developing 'who cares' society. Now, we have to face the consequences.

I think the 'economic distress' will be norm in the future society. It is better to pack bags and run towards developing world. All the jobs given are in the developing world. When Mr. A can do same work as Mr. B in low wages why to employ Mr. B? I think, the same idea is followed by most of this big fat industries nowadays.

I hope you will get this point. The point is very simple. The bottom line is jobs will decline if not taken righteous action.

Thank you
and
May God bless us !

Society needs to change

This is with reference to the article by Arun Gupto “Contraries & contradictions” (july 21). I first of all would like to thank the writer for jotting down such a good piece and bringing into light the disorder and senseless things happening in Nepal.

            As pointed out by the writer, it is true that politicians say something and do something else but they are not only to be blamed. I would rather blame the society that we have developed. Until and unless we change our social values and practices, politicians alone won’t do and can’t do much for the country because they are also the product of the same society. In this light, people living in the society should be taught to be responsible for their own actions and  to be accountable to others while representing them.

            Furthermore, Nepal needs visionary leaders. Only such leaders can do something for the developement of the country. The practice of anybody joining politics should be discoraged. Personally, I don’t think putting blame on politicians alone will have any effect in bringing change in the country.

Published: Republica
Letter to the Editor

Its a beautiful day

Another poem accepted by Asphodel Madness

Good news ! I think I am soon going to be a "poet". Very funny !

The good news is that yet another poem has been accepted by Asphodel Madness, edited by Ross Vassilev

Here is the link : 

http://asphodelmadness.blogspot.com/2010/07/let-us-play.html

you may click above... to read a poem.

Thank you and Happy Reading !

The summer joy

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
                                               -William Shakespeare,
                                                  The Sonnets, XVIII(18)

When Shakespeare wrote these lines in his collection of The Sonnets, he must have touched the hearts of his readers. As I am Shakespearean myself, I love the melodies of words and the passion. Looking deeper to dig the treasure behind these two lines, here Shakespeare compare his art as lovely and profound as the days in the summer.
    Unlike Shakespeare's justification for his love and the summer, I would assume it has also negative impacts on the lives of human beings all around the world. The summer heat and the sweating body are very normal. With an immense increase in body temperature, it can cause serious illness. As the mercury is increasing in all the corners of globe there is no doubt skin burn, headache, diarrhea and sickness might increase if not taken proper diets or needful care.
    Most of the times, I am traveling from one country to another and while journeying, I feel the summer heat getting up into my throat.
   Especially in Northern Europe, the winter lasts long and the summer season is not very long. You know what? People in these parts of the world take 'Vitamin D' tablets as they lack the heat from the Sun or especially during winter times. So, it is apparent that people living there do not get required amount of heat for the body. On the one hand the winter is cold, windy and frustrating, on the other hand, summer heat brings pleasure, delight and fun. The summer heat that the sun brings is pleasant. In the East, as most of us fall in the middle of the equator on the earth, we are fortunate enough to experience the summer heat for long.
   Summer provides one of the best occasions to mingle, laugh, play and smile around.
    Undoubtedly, in every country the summer is the warmest season and days are longer and nights are shorter. On the one hand we have to take precaution not to let sun harm us. On the other hand, we have to enjoy the smiling sun somehow.

Published: Republica, 12 July, 2010
Vol. II No. 080, page 04

To blog or not to blog?

Paul-the octopus

Paul-the octopus is covered in all the major newspaper media. Everybody knows by now that the famous Octopus has predicted that Spain will the world cup. I don’t understand why there is so much of hype going on in the media.

Yes, it is true that the prediction game played by Octopus is worthy of notice and whenever prediction has become true, people have started to belive in the octopus. Newspaper industry run on the basis of what people want to read and current happenings all over the world. Therefore, I don’t want to blame neither newspaper industry nor general people.

In my opinion, nothing can be trusted fully. We are overdosed by information around us. If you can’t find any single bit of information, you know where to look for. Majority of us will use--  ‘Google dai’ to search for the information but Google has its own problems. Similar case applies to other online and print media.  Sometimes, I feel that it is a media which runs the society, not the other way around.

The write-ups about Paul-the octopus shows that people just want to believe on something. On one hand, whoever wins the worldcup match, a history will be written. On the other hand, if the prediction happens to be true, then large number of people will believe in Mr. Paul-the octopus.

Nobody is perfect and in my opinion neither animal nor human beings are perfect. For example, with every pencil comes, a eraser. If to err is a human and just-in-case, our famous anchestor octopus fails then what should it be called, “to err is an animal" ....?

Santosh Kalwar's Thirteenth Book, Entitled "Obscurity," is Published

Lappeenranta, Finland, July 07, 2010 --(PR.com)-- Lulu Press, Inc. is proud to present "Obscurity" by Santosh Kalwar from Lappeenranta, Finland.

In his new book, entitled, "Obscurity," a young Nepalese poet from Chitwan, Nepal has published collection of obscure poems.

Obscurity is a collection of thirty two meaningless poems. In some poems, author maintains an obscure tone. The simplicity of individual word may not be clearly understood. In some poems, author lacks clear formulation of idea due to inadequate conception. The first poem tells about departure of soul mate whereas the second poem is about spoken words of soulless mate. Poem 3 is about words and poem 4 about loneliness. Similarly, poems 5 and 6 speak about carelessness and obsceneness, while 7 and 8 describe about love and death. In short, all these poems may look as if they are the most mysterious poems ever written.

Santosh Kalwar is an author of twelve published books entitled, "Nature God (2008), Human behavior on the Internet (2009), A Very First Book of Poems (2009), ...109 Quotes, 07 Poems, and a song of despair (2009)..., 20 Love Poems and Economy Crisis (2009), 25 Sexy Poems (2009), Yet another book of Poems (2009), Happening: Poems (2010), I Am Dead Man Alive (2010), You Can (2010), An Aphrodisiac (2010) and The Warrior (2010).

Santosh Kalwar is studying at Lappeenranta University of Technology, Lappeenranta, Finland. He loves reading and writing poetry. For further information about the writer, please visit his website at kalwar.com.np

ISBN 978-1-4461-3628-7

To place orders for the book, contact: Lulu Press, Inc.

URL: lulu.com/product/paperback/obscurity/11703864

IT in developing world

One article was invited and published by an Editor of Global South Development Magazine, a quarterly magazine published by Silver lining Creation ry. You may read the magazine for free. "Literate Yourself"

I don't know much to say about
how the development works
but I have much to say on
what we can do, to make
underdeveloped developed.

Anyway, thank you and Happy Summer !

Very Happening

Everyday there is something happening all over the world. People are finding love and people are losing love. Somebody is betraying his best friend for women and somebody is depressed or frustrated over something.

Our political leaders are sitting in hotels making laws and policies for the country, aren’t they? There is crisis or conflict everywhere. The million dollar question is not what is happening, but why are these things happening? Every morning when I wake up and read sad and melancholic news, I feel that there is some kind of conspiracy going on around the world.

Some news and media are trustworthy and some are not. It is apparent that not all the news media are right and fully truthful. Some events and news are “made-up stories”. Some are not.

With the penetration of the Internet, the contents cannot be easily trusted. How can an ordinary man assume something to be truthful? It is a very complex world that we all live in now. It apparently appears that a life without conflict is no life.We all are born and we all have to die someday, but nobody is interested in such stories. If there is nothing happening and there are no interesting stories to read about they do not fascinate anyone, do they?

To live fully, we have to do something and while doing something these conflicts or crisis are aroused. There can be many types of crisis: inner crisis, outer crisis and other types of crisis. I am no conflict expert and I do not claim to be able to solve all the miseries that are happening in the world. My inner conflicts are more important to me than outer conflicts. The other day I met a friend who asked, “How to solve these conflicts?” “First of all it is important to solve the inner conflicts, then only can we solve outer conflicts”, I said.

I would rather assume there are three types of things happening in around the world. These are: creation, conflicts and destruction. Firstly, we are created by the creator and then there are conflicts and finally, the destroyer is responsible for the end.

It is similar to Hindu beliefs where Brahma is God of Creation, Vishnu is Lord of Love and Mahesh is responsible the destroyer. Somewhere in this blue planet, something just happened, as you read this “very happening article”. May God bless our souls!




Published: The Himalayan Times
Editorial Column: Topics, Page 08

One Poem accepted by Chiron Review

Well, well well... now it seems that I am going to get qualification for being a real "poet" ....officially. Early this morning, just woke up and checked e-mail, I found an acceptance letter from the Editor of Chiron Review for my work, entitled "In Chitwan", isn't that great news? Anyways, my excitment landed me to see what kind of journal is this... and I found following information, which might be useful for you too:

Chiron Review, a creative writing journal well known in the English academia arena, came to literary life in the Spring of 1982. Chiron Review has even been used as a teaching tool at Princeton and other colleges! Impressive, to say the least!
Michael Hathaway, editor/publisher, has presented readers with the widest possible range of contemporary creative writing—fiction and non-fiction, traditional and off-beat—in an attractive, professional tabloid format, including artwork and photographs of featured writers. About a quarter of each issue was devoted to news, views and reviews of interest to writers and the literary community.

 Past contributors include Charles Bukowski, William Stafford, Marge Piercy, Gavin Dillard, Edward Field, Antler, Robert Peters, Joan Jobe Smith, Fred Voss, Janice Eidus, Felice Picano, Lyn Lifshin, Will Inman, Richard Kostelanetz, Lorri Jackson, Ruth Moon Kempher, Charles Webb and a host of others, well-known and new.
 
Visit the home page if you are interested to read and submit your work !
 

Selfless observation

Imagine that you are standing in a crowded street in some unknown city. Take a deep breath, and look around. What will you see? Will you take some notice of that man standing in that crowded street? Most of us will probably ignore him.
What if you were standing for a moment? You will see that everybody is moving around. 


You may be surprised when people hardly notice you.Our existence in the form of ‘flesh and blood’ is similar to the above scenario. Each one of us is standing in a crowded street and we are unaware of our sole purpose.And I understand the reason behind not noticing such men/women. The answer to any question lies in the question itself. 

Please hold your breath because I am going to reveal a secret.The secret is that we are selfish! We are selfish because our primary goal is to fulfill our needs. We always think about 

ourselves first.Some of us may argue that this is a failed theory. And I understand their rejection. Many of us live a life based on the ‘principle of dualism’. This principle suggests that there are two ways of doing things or looking at things.
One is right and another is wrong.Based on such principle, the theory of ‘selfishness’ reports that either we are selfish or we are not. So, if you are a follower of dualism, probably you will either accept the theory or reject it outright. I would recommend experiencing this sacred moment before rejecting or accepting it. At least once, before your ‘final exit’!
The beauty lies not in thinking about us but thinking about others. 

In simple English, it is called 'observation'. There are two types of observation. On the one hand, there is self-observation or inner-observation, and on the other hand there is selfless-observation or outer-observation.Again, imagine that you are in the same crowded street. You may see office/home goers, a student searching for a job or righteous education, a woman looking for her prince charming or a man looking for his princess fair, someone selling or buying one thing or the other and so on.

Therefore, a person standing in a crowded street will experience fellow humans hustleand bustle which is what may be the experience of selfless observation. And, that is good news of you having achieved enlightenment.


Published: The Himalayan Times
Op-ed


Source:  THT