hope never dies

Finally the dream of Nepal entering into the third round of world cup qualifiers shattered as it crashed out with Jordan 10-1. The 148^th country in terms of FIFA ranking created a history by entering the second round of the WC qualifiers for the first time. The big margin victory over East Timor was something to be celebrated by Nepali football fans. But when the Asian giant Jordan made it 9-0 on the first leg of the second round, various questions were raised over the standard of Nepali football. The football governing body ANFA was widely criticized for doing nothing significant for the progress of Nepali football. The fans were disappointed and once again lost the hope of seeing their country in the greatest contest of the greatest sports ever.

The second leg of the Nepal versus Jordan match was scheduled in Nepal. The British coach of Nepal had said that Nepal would play for its prestige and would try to stop Jordan from scoring more goals. Nepali national team although having low morale by the previous defeat had some hope from the home crowed and home ground. The fans knew it well that Jordan was far ahead from Nepal not only in terms of FIFA ranking but also team management and fitness. But hope is something you can relay upon no matter how slim the chances are. Football fans of Nepal had that hope from the national team. They wanted the national team to do anything that would help to stop the erosion of standard of Nepali football and create a place where we could hope for more. Thursday’s match was much awaited by many football lovers across the nation as they hoped for the best possible result.

As I sat before the TV set to watch the match, I didn’t except a fancy win by Nepal. I wanted to see the fighting spirit of the players that would keep our hopes for football alive. The opponent was a mighty team with high level of confidence but giving them a tough fight back would prove that it is never too late to gear up to put a great show in the days to come. The match started and the crowed started cheering for Nepal. The hooting of the spectators echoed all over the stadium. Surely the “Nepal, Nepal” by the nearly 18,000 home supporters inspired the players to give a very good show. They played very well and created many more chances of goal. After the slight rainfall turned to be a heavy downpour, the game turned something into a muddy match. This was yet another advantage for the Nepalese side as our national team is well acquainted with this kind of ground in various other matches. But it was not the sole reason for Nepal being able to stop Jordan from hammering more goals. The Nepali side played with a high morale and moreover, they had to fight hard to keep the hope of thousands of supporters alive. And when the match ended in a 1-1 draw with a beautiful goal from Nepal, I felt that the national team has a lot to be hoped for. They are capable of delivering us joy even though they get a minimum state facility. Thursday’s match can be a lesson to the football officials of Nepal who have been leading us from the very early days. They should now have a faith in their players. They should know that if trained well, Nepalese national football team is capable of turning the match upside down however mighty the opponent be. If common football lovers can have a hope for the national team why not the officials who have very good international contacts? Please do not let this hope die.

end oil monopoly

As a developing nation with no access to the sea and not a single domestic source of petroleum product, Nepal has been facing serious fuel crisis for a long time. If you own vehicle of your own, you must have the experience of lining up in front of some oil store for hours. If not, if u squeeze in public vehicles, u must have been harassed by the bus staffers by unwisely hiking the fare simply because ‘they don’t get the fuel on time’.

And so, look at the system how oil (petroleum products are referred as oil in general) is imported and distributed in Nepal. We have a government controlled organization named NOC (Nepal Oil Corporation) which is solely authorized for importing and distributing oil or petroleum products in Nepal. What NOC does is that, it imports oil from IOC at the international rate and then sells it in Nepal through various petrol pumps in a lower rate. This has been one of the prime reasons why NOC is operating at loss. What is strange is that if NOC simply tries to adjust the price as per the international market it becomes a political issue in Nepal. The student wings of various political parties hit the street and demand the price be lowered, a demand which is baseless and violates the simplest rule of doing business. If the cost price is higher than the selling price the business is in loss. As NOC is a government body, no one really cares. The cabinet lowers the price.
This has been happening in Nepal for a long time. So you may think how NOC has been able to operate in loss for a long time? How has it managed to import oil from India so often? Actually NOC has not been able to import oil as per the demand here because it has no adequate money to pay the Indian side every time it buys oil. This is the reason why we have continuous fuel shortage. Not only this, fuel shortage leads to more serious problems of black marketing. No wonder many of you might have bought petrol at Rs150 per liter.

NOC often receives government subsidy while importing petroleum products. It means that the government gives some money to NOC to buy oil from India and sell in Nepal at the lower price. The government is spending on us, many have this feeling but the reality is not like that. The money that the government is spending in subsidy is the taxpayer’s hard earned money. Imagine who doesn’t pay taxes? Directly or indirectly every citizen rich or poor, pays tax to the government. Now let’s have a slight analysis of the people who directly or indirectly consume petroleum products. Mostly the urban population consumes petroleum products. Maybe for running their vehicles, generators, cooking food or whatsoever. There are no roads in the rural areas so no chance of oil consumption. No one can imagine people of Jumla or Humla cooking food in LP gas. Kerosene too has a limited use in remote hills of Nepal. No gas geyser or power generators, firewood are the major source of energy to them.
So it has been clear that the government is spending everyone else’s tax money in buying petroleum products which are consumed by less than half of the population. In simple words, through NOC it has been spending the poor people’s hard earned money to give petroleum products to the comparatively rich people in a cheaper rate.


How can this situation be solved? We cannot dig an oil well in Nepal and surely subsidy is not the right solution. So why not let private sector invest in it? Let’s have a slight analysis of the situation, what actually happens if the private sector is free to enter the oil business. Firstly, the market demand is addressed by proper import of petroleum products. The private businessmen would not enter the business without having adequate money to import oil. Therefore, there will be no more lines in the petrol pumps. Another thing is that, the private firms cannot spend the taxpayers’ money and sell oil in cheaper price. People get oil in the international rate which may cost slightly more money but the supply of petroleum is regular and uninterrupted.
As this is one of the burning issue, if not the authorities but we should come up against the monopoly of NOC in Nepalese oil business and advocate for the entry of private sector in oil business. The world is opening up and it’s our turn to open up for economic prosperity. If there is adequate supply of petroleum, then many industries which are dependent on it will operate in full pace. In other words, ending oil monopoly and the entry of private sector in oil business would prove to be a major milestone in our highway of achieving prosperity.

Beauty of sports

Couple of weeks ago a friend of mine invited me to his home ‘to watch live cricket’. As a proud owner of a big LCD TV, he hoped me and some other friends to enjoy the game. I didn’t feel like going because of my very little information about cricket. Neither I knew the history of previous world cups nor did I knew the players. I could understand the usual fours and sixes but didn’t really entertain the length of the game. But he insisted. ‘We would switch to some mob movies if u get really bored’ he gave me an offer. And so it was. We five people sat before the TV set and I tried hard to entertain myself. The fixture was quite interesting; defending champions Australia was playing against India. Initially I didn’t know whom to support because there were only handful of players I knew by name and face. But as the match went on took the side of Australia  When the first inning was nearly over, the gentlemen’s game was disturbed by our gentlemen (NEA officials). There was no electricity in the entire area and we choose to enter a cyber café with inverter to check the updates. I had started loving the game. The result favored India and three of us had to end up by paying the bills of the entire eating and surfing net.

I feel lucky to have started watching cricket because of Wednesday’s much awaited match. The arch rivals India and Pakistan are playing against each other in Indian soil. Many sport analysts have said words about the match. It has become one of the highest talked about affair in recent days. Social networking sites have proven to be good grounds for cricket lovers to express what they feel about this match.  The Indian media has even been rumoring about the match fixing though the news is yet to be proven. Both of the teams are in their best forms with glorious wins over defending champion Australia.

Wednesday’s fixture has raised some questions on nationalism. Basically due to the acts of hardcore fans in the Indian sub continent. It is natural to link the Indo-Pak match as a matter of pride of their respective country. Both of the countries share a troubled past with three major wars fought after the formation of Pakistan in the year 1947. Frequent terrorist attacks by accused Pakistan based militants in India have also been causing their relation to get colder. Rivalry in nuclear power and the controversial Kashmir issues have been triggered hatred and feeling of deep competition among these two countries. The forthcoming cricket match too has been termed as a ‘war with no guns’. But a game is a different issue. One can link the match with the political happenings of the past and present but only to a limit. Many youths seem to have developed strong hatred against the opposite side due to reasons other than the game itself. Religious and political factors have been affecting the game. Reality is sports should cross all the boundaries made by man. There is no different country, no different person but people who deliver us a good game. Win or loss would not exist for long. What does is the sports; one of the building block of human civilization. It promotes co-operation among rivalry and creates happiness among misery. The most beautiful part of any sports is that it unites people all over the world under its name. So take your side enjoy the game and do not let your socio-political views ruin the beauty of the game.

Sombody's always around

I remember my school days in the late 90s when most of my classmates used to have girlfriends. Those weren't such open days and they would date secretly, Mostly out of town.No facebook was there and no one could guess that they were 'in a relationship'. Well I didn't mean to write about how easy or difficult those days were for young lovers. What makes me remember those days is me not having a girl of my own. Having pretty girls in the class and introducing them as 'my friend's girlfriend' was probably the worst part of my entire teenage life.
So it was. I desperately needed a girlfriend .I seriously felt that it was too late when first ever crush ended up with being  'my friend's girlfriend'.
After so many years have passed, today I feel that my teen wish of a 'girl' has been fulfilled to much extent. Long chants on telephone, open street dating all those stuffs aren't what I feel lucky of. Only thing that makes me feel good about me having a girlfriend is whenever I feel 'this is wrong to me' I can always have someone to share. I can always live with a feeling that 'the end rope of my life is on some safe hands'. the way she cares..my studies, family issues, drinking out and stuffs like that, I feel that its not about being in a mere relationship, its a chain of trust and love of which we both must maintain in each steps.
I just look into my personal diary back then and smile..I was desperate but for good. I love you.

To my mum

You have to go two decades back before you can start this story.
It was a cold morning of January. The western hills of Nepal were measuring one of their lowest temperatures of the year.The sun hadn't been around but people of the hills were already away to their farms. Distant voices of dogs barking could be heard sometimes. If not, a faint gargle of a small stream nearby was trying to kill the silence of the village gamaudi.
It was almost 7 of the morning. My mum suddenly felt the toughest yet most precious waves of pain over her body. She knew it was me. Drops of happiness sparkled on her face which became a glow in no time. The happiness from the pain made my mum the most beautiful lady of the entire world. Underneath her smile, an innocent life was crawling. It was then I made my way to this world.
My mum didn't ever imagine that the tiny life she had introduced to this earth could cross 20 hurdles, each of 365 days and still remember how much his mum struggled to show him this beautiful world.
Today when my mum wished my birthday on the telephone, I was thrilled of the thought that she still remembered the pain, the pleasure and excitement of giving birth to me. Now its my birthday, people have been wishing me a good life, good health and all those stuffs. So nice of them. I love to be wished and gifted but what I feel is that today, its more my mother's day than my day. What of me? I'm just a product of her love. If it wasn't you, no Dibya, no birthday.
Hey mum thank you for my life.

Innocence lost and not regained

 As a child getting grown up was the greatest of all my desires. The thoughts of the outer world would hunt my dreams and I would feel like going out as a grownup man. Time has now provided me with this opportunity and I am a big boy now. As a grown up person it has led me to an outer world. I have met a lot of people and learned many things. The outside world has influenced me in a bigger way. My involvement to the outside world has changed the way I perceive things.

As a child I was always fascinated by the starry nights. I would find pleasure in the vastness of the sky but now as a grown up boy with the scientific knowledge about the space, I am not much excited when I see it. The twinkling of the stars is no more magical to me. The beauty of the rainbow is no more related to any fairytales but a pure refraction of light. Books and knowledge have broadened my mind but have shrunk my heart.

As I walk down the street, I see no one waving at me. As I grown up I have learnt that odd things go around the city and I suspect people. When I was a child everything was beautiful for me and I trusted all people for money. Now I am a grown up person but my happiness has been ruined. I no more admire beauty as I used to do because I now know beauty does not last forever. Once a lovable child, I’m no more so.

Now I feel I have restrictions all around me. I have so many responsibilities to fulfill. It has been quite a while since I last cuddled up and cried on my mother’s lap. Now I can’t cry on my mother’s pal. I can only cry and soak my pillows. Worse still, my dad has stopped telling me stories and my sister soesn’t feel like sharing a joke with me. All because I’ve now grown up.
As I recall, rain would thrill me; I loved to get drenched not knowing I would catch a cold. Now I restrict myself from letting the raindrops drip on my head. The finest fabric out of my wardrobe today doesn’t give me the pleasure as it used to when I was a child. I find no thrill in plucking off the flowers from my neighbor’s garden and tiptoeing.

I have grown up and know many good things but I can never enjoy life as I did as an innocent toddler.
Published: Republica June 22 2010 

Do I need a new year's resolution?

It's more than common to talk of New year resolutions by the end of December. Almost everyone seems to have at least one new year resolution. Mostly we commit to complete any  tasks that remained incomplete this year. New year marks a beginning of a new period. If we want anything to be done, we want it to be done right from the beginning. New year resolutions show the very same human tendency but do all new year resolutions turn into reality? Mostly they remain as resolutions for another new year.
Personally I find most of the resolutions a a part of formality. Its like " if everyone else is making new year resolutions, why not me?" Its even interesting to watch TV and find our celebrities making same resolutions almost every year. 'Giving more time to family and friends' must have topped the chart. You know, everyone wants to show that they are busy and are working hard. Interestingly our leaders don't make such commitments
but they always have time for their family and friends. Its so ironical.
Making new year resolutions has been a sort of culture for urban youngsters. Did u promise your girlfriend that you'll quit smoking? or maybe getting better grades is in your list. My personal experience has proved that most of the youngsters think of career, family, friends and their overall responsibilities once in a year; in new year eve because they have to make a list of resolutions to follow. Making resolution isn't a bad practice, it can never be but making resolutions  only has restricted our span of responsibilities. Why do you choose a day in the entire year to cheat yourself. Can't you quit smoking in mid of July? will it hamper you health if you start going gym from September or what?
My point is start any good thing when you feel it. Don't wait January 1st or you'll see many January 1st come and go. You'll still be making more and more resolutions each year. Happy new year 2011.