Natural Childbirth Practices & A review of The Business of Being Born

The Business of Being Born. This documentary explains why Natural childbirth practices should be preferred.

Less than a month ago, my sister gave birth to her first child. It's a boy. He is the first child in our family of the next generation, a child after 18 years. It's a moment of happiness. The delivery took place at B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences in Nepal, arguably one of the best hospitals in the country. All of us wanted her to have a normal delivery, if possible. We were all very hopeful since she went to the best hospital in the country. But the doctors performed a Cesarean section, popularly known as C-section. Because contractions did not start, the doctors injected her with a chemical to trigger contractions. Despite this, there were no contractions. 

Then the doctor told her that since contractions did not begin within six hours, she had no choice but to have a surgery to get the baby out safely. As experts, the doctor told my sister and her husband that if they were to wait any longer, the chemical might enter the child's body and inflict serious damage. When I heard all of this, it really infuriated me. It also made me very sad that doctors did not give complete information before injecting the contraction inducing drug. Whatever the motivations/incentives the medical professionals might have had, it was unethical and inappropriate. Furthermore, due to inadequacy of facilities, two childbirths were being performed on one bed. That is just unimaginable, even for a developing country like Nepal.

A review of the documentary: The Business of Being Born

I wanted to find out more about childbirth practices elsewhere for comparisons. I came across a documentary on childbirth titled, " The Business of Being Born" which chronicles around this same issue that I wanted to learn and know more about. It compares the natural childbirth practices performed in assistance with midwives against childbirths carried out in hospitals by surgeons. For anyone who is interested in knowing more about childbirth practices in the US and elsewhere, this is a good documentary to watch, readily available on Netflix. I'm not going to embarrass you by describing the details but will quote some statistics that will surprise you. 

In America, midwives attend less than 8% of all births and less than 1% of those occur outside a hospital. At the same time, the US has the second worst newborn death rate in the developed world.

Another interesting statistics, 

In 1900, 95% of all births took place in the home. In 1938, half the births took place at home, and the trend continued to spiral downward.

Today, less than 1% of childbirth takes place at home in the US. That is surprisingly low. From an economic perspective, childbirths performed at home under supervision of trained mid-wives is several times cheaper. At hospitals, on average it costs around $13,000 but with mid-wives, an average of $4000. These numbers are quoted in the documentary. Experts unanimously agree that childbirths are safer and better when performed at homes under mid-wives yet, why are more women choosing to go to hospitals? Is it mere fear espoused by popular media or is there something more? It turns out more than 70% of European women have childbirths at home. Yet maternity deaths are lower. Other countries spend less and have better results than the U.S. Isn't that a double whammy?

What about the aftereffects? The documentary doesn't describe what happens after a surgery is performed, how long it takes for the wound to heal or how does it affect the strength of the individual later. 

The bottom line is: if a pregnant woman goes to a hospital, hospital staff will wait for a few hours, if contractions don't start, pitocin is injected. Then, depending on the course of action, more drugs are injected to either ease the pain or control contractions. Epidural is injected to ease pain. Eventually, an incision is made, a C-section, to perform the surgery. Despite the technology getting better, the number of incisions being made during childbirth is rising and is at an all-time high. Many fear if someone does not intervene, it is on its way to hitting a 100% mark. If you go to a hospital, they don't want to wait. They just want to perform the operation and want you out of there so that they can accommodate someone else. However sad you think this practice is, it is THE truth.

Cultural Symbolism Behind Grass

Perfect grass after months of hard work & maintenance at Trinity University's renovated Soccer Stadium. Photo: Digital Subway

           Grass, despite being one of the most abundant life forms on the Earth, has failed to draw any noticeable attention or  secure its berth in human hearts and minds. The fact that I am even writing about grass may appear mind-boggling to some. Grass is a form of weed that adorns our garden, gives it a verdant appearance, adds vernal fresh air but needs to be trimmed down duly to maintain its aesthetics. And that’s all. I argue that grass carries with itself cultural symbols which vary across transoceanic boundaries. It impacts our lives in subtle yet important ways and therefore deserves more visible attention. Let me explain.

Grass, by the virtue of possessing a naturally green color is soothing to eyes. Unsurprisingly, after spending the entire day staring at light emanating screens at work, we go out for a run or a walk in the park rich with luscious green grass and vegetation because it soothes our eyes and offers the much needed repose to our soul that we so desperately seek. It is true that grass has receded from our vicinity as time has passed and we have to travel greater and greater distances when we desire to find solace in its vernal serenity. Yet, we still desire to have them close to our dwelling, albeit in limited amounts, of which lawns are the prime examples. Well-maintained luscious green grass is still characteristic of beautiful campuses, mansions and corporate complexes. It has certainly gone from being universal to available only to the luxurious in urban areas. It is nature’s gift that its prevalence has still been maintained in rural areas though. Nevertheless, grass has become a symbol of ornamental display.

        Cultural distinctions associated with grass across transoceanic boundaries can be understood more clearly if we foray into attitudes held towards walking on grass in these regions. My parents and grandparents in South Asia encouraged me to walk barefooted on grass, especially in the morning when dew is still fresh on their leaves. This is known to soothe one’s heel which in turn calms one’s minds. Take a continental stride right from Asia to America, walking on grass is prohibited and considered socially inappropriate. On one occasion, my friends and I took the shortcut by walking on grass instead of concrete pavement. One of the professors behind us yelled out, “Don’t walk on grass. Get off immediately.” Unhappily, we obliged.

            In another instance, a student complained because we were playing soccer in the open space. His argument was that we were killing the grass. In America, walking on grass is a taboo unless you are in the park or forest. Grass is grown and nurtured painstakingly, and watered frequently using an extensive network of fancy sprinklers supported by underground water pipelines. Municipal water suppliers even have clear guidelines and restrictions about what days and times the lawn can be watered. Clearly, any person in (rural) areas where grass grows abundantly would find this excessive expenditure of energy astonishing, if not out rightly ludicrous.

             Growing and mowing grass is a cultural activity in America. Lawn-moving is centered around this and holds a unique position in every American’s heart. Every American has his/her own memories of lawn mowing in childhood. For some, it might have been a source of additional income or a (bi) weekly ritual performed with their dad. For others it might have just been a punishment for some misdeed or a mandatory chore for continued reception of pocket money. Whatever the reason may be, every American can relate to lawn mowing. There can be some exceptions and there always are. And of course, many absolutely abhor mowing their lawn just as they do shaving (since they share a similar trait, are repetitive and monotonous) and others love it because it allows them an opportunity to reconnect with nature, expend some energy naturally or because it is a mutual family activity. This whole experience and childhood memories are centered around grass yet, we regard them with utter indifference. I did not seek motorized assistance for mowing my lawn as a kid, but I too have memories of cutting grass using a traditional “khurpi”. It was not for aesthetic reasons but rather because I enjoyed feeding the grass to the cows and buffaloes that my grandparents reared. The joy I felt as these pleasant and docile creatures munched on the grass I fed incentivized me to spend hours cutting grass as a child. Incentives diminish as we mature, I agree and eventually vanish in some cases, such as this one.

              It will be false to claim that grass has only received indifference despite its cultural and salubrious significance. Humans have selectively chosen varieties that have superior softness and aesthetics. Some of the best grasses to walk on, albeit forbidden fall in this exquisite category and are colloquially known as “carpet grass” because of its appearance. I hope that by now, you are somewhat convinced that grasses are not simply fodder for vegetarians but also cultural and visual fodder for humans.

In Defense of Non-Vegetarianism

Should we eat meat? There are several reasons why we should not, yet most of us consume meat despite knowing the harm to the animals or the environment. I attempted to formulate an argument in favor of consuming meat for my Environmental Ethics course. Read it if you think it might be of interest to you.

Should we spare it or kill it? Source: http://bit.ly/hwVCif

Ecologists and animal liberationists have argued against eating meat because consumption of meat is unhealthy and unethical. They have launched movements calling for a complete halt of meat consumption on grounds of ecology, animal liberation, human health and global justices. It can be agreed that commercialization of meat production and distribution has institutionalized mistreatment of animals and therefore, operation of such large-scale animal farms have to stop. However, to ask all humans to stop eating meat, such as beef and become vegetarians is neither pragmatic nor ethical. If prevention of animal deaths is the primary motive behind promoting vegetarianism then, environmentalists will need to devote resources in preventing animal deaths even in the wild. Trying to prevent animal deaths due to natural causes such as overpopulation, food shortage, poisonous plants, diseases or preys by carnivores will not be pragmatic. On the other hand, if carnivores can continue preying on animals, it would be unethical to demand omnivores like humans to limit themselves to an herbivorous diet. 

Ecologists like Coffin and Fox have argued that meat consumption is unsustainable since it has created immense pressures on ground water supply and land productivity. Fox has further argued that eating meat is unhealthy and meat production is a threat to biodiversity. In light of these valid arguments, alternatives to resource-intensive meat production should be sought. Instead of feeding grains to animals like cows, age-old practice of grazing grass in approved pasture lands should be performed locally. Since humans would consume animal protein processed from cellulose, grain production could still be reserved to feed humans. In addition, localized animal husbandry has potential to optimize use of resources and diversify breeds of cows reared. In order to make meat diet healthy, animals have to be reared naturally, i.e. without injection of artificial growth hormones and meat consumption will have to be curtailed from the current level. A limited consumption of beef will be no unhealthier than many vegetarian diet containing oils that are high in fatty acids and cholesterol. 

A prominent utilitarian and animal liberationist, Peter Singer, calls upon non-vegetarians to give up meat consumption on grounds of human justice so that grains used to feed poultry and farm animals can be used to feed hungry population in less privileged regions. Taking his argument in consideration, it has already been suggested in the paragraph above that local farmers should use grass and shrubs containing cellulose (a form of nutrient humans could not have digested directly) to feed cows and other animals. Adopting a localized animal husbandry in place of commercialized large scale animal farms will appease ecologists and environmentalists to a large extent and limited beef consumption can be continued. 

Despite some vegetarian diet providing an equivalent amount of protein or calories, meat eaters argue that meat has high culinary value and tastes good. The fact that meat is also rich in protein and has high calorie content serves as a secondary motive. Such forgone culinary value could not be easily substituted by a vegetarian diet. Advocates of vegetarianism often argue that human canine teeth and digestive system are not designed for consumption of raw meat and thus, nature does not want humans to consume meat. Carnivores on other hand, can consume meat since they have well designed canine teeth and digestive system to process raw meat. I find this argument feeble and shortsighted. Humans have used their skills and instincts to design solutions for survival using natural resources. Discovery of fire, albeit by accident has allowed humans to increase palatability of meat but this process can be considered only as unnatural as use of clothing or shelter to “artificially” protect ourselves from hostilities of the nature. The shortsightedness of the argument should be apparent by extending it to “artificial” use of jet engines to fly even though nature has not provided humans with wings for aerodynamic flight and navigation.

Other animal liberationists such as Tim Regan argue against meat consumption on moral grounds stating that since animals have rights, killing animals is unethical. Warren responds to Regan’s animal rights argument by pointing out animal deaths caused due to natural causes. If Regan’s animal rights theory were accepted, humans would be morally obligated to prevent animal deaths in the wild and also stop herbivores from being preyed by carnivores. Demanding a vegetarian diet from humans and allowing carnivores to prey unabated is an application of double standards. Furthermore, while movements to call for vegetarianism is fairly recent, meat has been part of human diet since ancient times when humans lived in hunter-gatherer societies. Meat consumption fulfills ritualistic purposes and preserves important cultural aspects in several societies. Feasting on meat is a communal human activity with ancient roots that has been carried into modern societies in the form of celebration such as Thanksgiving Day, which is centered around eating turkey, a form of meat. Consumption of meat (like beef) in limited amounts is justified and should be permissible if it is produced through application of small-scale animal husbandry practices that are resource friendly and do not impose undue pressures on existing global food production. 

Libyan Situation Creates Unrest

I write this with a troubled heart. Thousands of miles away in North African land, unarmed protestors are being gunned down from land and air simultaneously and this scenario has induced uneasiness inside me. You might ask what connection do I have with Libyans? Hundreds of Africans (thousands maybe) die every day of hunger, malnutrition, malaria, AIDS, civil war and other cultural and natural malaises so why does it matter suddenly when 300 Libyans have died in a matter of two weeks? This is a valid question.

To know my answer about why I as a Nepalese citizen living in the U.S. feel connected about Libyans, read “Nepal's Stalled Revolution” by Manjushree Thapa. He, a fellow Nepalese outlines what a Nepalese in general, thinks of Arabian revolutions going on around the world.

My trouble stems from the fact that I have been actively following reports of killings of protestors by mercenaries and armed men loyal to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. Twitter is flooded with such reports despite the internet and telecommunication blockade in Libya. Follow Andy Carvin on Twitter if you want to stay updated on situation in Libya. I feel powerless to witness violence on Al-Jazeera live yet not be able to act or even attempt to prevent it. Tolerating injustice is as heinous of a crime as committing one, don’t you agree?

How can we go about our daily routine pretending to be oblivious of the fact that freedom seeking fellow Homo Sapiens are being mercilessly terminated? You could call me a hypocrite too for not I haven’t attempted to launch a protest at my university let alone local town or resident country. I still go about studying in the library and completing assignments for this hectic Midterm week and stop to catch Al-Jazeera and Twitter updates only when convenient. In addition, sleep deprivation that I have subjected myself to in the last two weeks is not because of the alarming situation in the Middle East or Northern Africa but only because I have been trying to keep with my college work and do well on tests. I have been a passive participant in these revolutions.

You can again ask what good does a passive participant do than who chooses not to participate at all? My response is: review Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle.  In crude terms, it states that mere presence of observer affects the state of the object/subject being observed. In other words, a device attempting to measure velocity of a moving body alters its motion by bombarding it with photons, even though the change may be very small. You can never measure both the displacement and velocity of an object accurately without compromising the other. This is because the presence of measuring device makes a DIFFERENCE. My mere presence in this world and thinking about a situation makes a difference. Review Chaos theory where flutter of butterfly wings could cause a cyclone in the Atlantic. Metaphorically speaking, writing this post and putting my thoughts out there is my flutter of butterfly wings.

When a geek with an interest in international affairs (like me) tries to understand or interpret the situation, use of scientific theories to understand and model the problem should be expected. My request to all of you reading this is: Do what you can. Tweet about your thoughts, update your Facebook status about Libyan situation or send your thoughts to media. Train to be an assassin to kill Gaddafi, if you have to. But don’t be indifferent. (Actually I was kidding about assassin training. Do that in your free time.) Flutter your wings because we are all connected with invisible strings (my version of string theory) floating in this matrix with solid space to step on that we call Mother Earth. Your little flutter will create force strong enough to cause a dramatic impact in a place thousands of miles away across the Atlantic. Act now.

P.S. 300 deaths have already been confirmed and Italy fears the actual number could be around 1000. Crude oil prices have peaked since recession due to situation in Libya. We can't just ignore it and go about our daily routine anymore.

Missing Joy in Life

This is a guest post by an author who has chosen to be known by his psuedo name "The Philosopher".

Something is missing. What it is, I do not know. Wow, this sounds almost like statement in the Matrix made by Neo. Maybe it is why I so much like the Matrix. I feel it is so relevant and philosophical to my and other peoples’ lives too. Alright, this was a tangential offshoot. Something definitely does not feel right. Nothing or no one makes me happy anymore. How or since when this feeling started, I cannot recall. But I seek solace in loneliness, away from presence of any human soul. I find myself trying to distance from human company, slipping quietly from any human gathering into solitude. I fear I am starting to earn the reputation of a loner. I spent entire Sunday afternoon cleaning my room and then staring at my computer either blogging or browsing on facebook. In the evening, I got bored with my computer and so took refuge in my second favourite place after bedroom- general library.

Sometimes I wish I had kept a journal where I could have just let loose my random rants. It would have made me feel better at least instead of keeping these weird thoughts bottled up. There is a fear in expressing such thoughts since it could easily earn one the label of a “weirdo”. Everyone has these thoughts once in a while, some people hide it while others cannot hide it and hence appear as weak ones. After all, how can humans despise human company and have any affinity towards loneliness? To be human is to be social. Civilization has designed activities, rituals and organized family units so that humans can live in groups/cohorts. How can one reject all this? If you feel lonely, find a hobby, play sports, join a club or simply go listen to music, watch movies, et cetera. Is the desire to be on his own, a natural drive for ‘The Naked Ape’ aka humans as Desmond Morris likes to call.

I know no one is ever, and I really mean ever going to read this random incoherent rant that I am writing past midnight instead of going to bed despite knowing I have to wake up early for class at 8 am. Yet, my fingers keep moving and somehow thoughts keep pouring. Maybe because I haven’t written freestyle in a long time. Everytime I have tried to write conformist pieces, ones that I can post to my blog and would be acceptable by others since many can and would associate those words with my image/personality.

Do I even know the source of my longing for loneliness? Why I am trying to run away from human civilization? Is it because my “unhappiness is a direct result of contradiction between my natural drive and civilization’s needs”? Yes, this phrase in quotes is Freudian idea that I read today in Elizabeth’s book, “Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s search....”. It’s such a good book. I’ve said this before too. Maybe I like the book because Liz, the protagonist is lonely and depressed too. I find solace in her character and portrayal. And judging from its immense popularity and subsequent filming of a movie based on its story proves that other people identified themselves with the lonely, depressed pleasure seeking protagonist woman. By pleasure I do not mean bodily pleasure alone. She claims she isn’t seeking that even though I can sense she is lying when she says that.

So, what am I seeking? Is it love? Sex? Pleasure? Enlightenment? I do not know for sure. It may be more on the lines of joy. I am seeking joy. I think joy is missing in my life. I do experience occasional joys though. For instance, when I am just lying down or napping in Albert park under the Sun in the afternoon practising the art of doing nothing, that’s when I feel joyful. The same joy is felt when I go running in Auckland domain during the evenings. Joy is greater when I go alone because often I cannot catch up with pace of my other friend that I used to go running with. Listening to music, especially sufi and qawwali by Nusrat Fateh and Ghulam Ali brings joy. But besides these, I struggle to find joy. Drinking offers occasional escapes from boredom but I know it is like taking a shortcut and thus not good for you/me.

I need to learn how to derive joy from mundane worldly activities. I need a GURU.

Rules, too many freaking rules

I am not a rule follower. I know that's not a pleasant thing to say and if you are someone who knows me personally, you would look down upon this statement. Don't come chasing after me if something wrong happens though. There are hundreds, thousands or possibly millions like me. There are too many systemic rules in this world. Rules, freaking rules everywhere. If you want to be different, you just can't. You have to do what you are asked to. It's like "to differ is to suffer".

Why am I complaining about rules? Because I have been getting all these random fines everywhere. What a way to force a free spirit to bow down to systemic rules and practices. Oh, you cruel world designed by social and cultural braniacs. You make me feel like a maniac for breaking rules and being an outlier. I borrowed a library book and returned the day after. Guess what? A fine of 33 bucks. Are you kidding me? I mean seriously are you freakin kidding me? It was supposedly a short loan book only for two hours. Who the fuck can read a book in two hours? It's like you borrow the book and without even going to the bathroom, you start reading and put a timer. You don't want to exceed two hours.

Another instance. Last week, I walked into my apartment after midnight from a dinner party at one of the professor's house. Five minutes later, a security guy at apartment complex knocks at the door because there were too many people in our apartment and we were noisy and wrote me and one of my apartment mate a fine. I tried explaining him I had just walked in and wasn't part of it. He wouldn't even listen. He suggested I talk to the administration. Administration said I had to write a formal letter which I did. A couple days later, I get a reply saying the case was reviewed with security and the fines cannot be removed. If I did not pay the fines within 3 days, more fines would accrue. They didn't even talk to me or give me a chance to explain. Is that what you call justice? Oh you cruel world. Someone makes the rules and rules are rules, no one can break them. As if these man made arbitrary practices were engraved in some holy text, which are written by humans too.

You want to hear another story? My credit balance showed $1.22 which was below minimum payment of $10 so I thought there was no need to pay. A couple days later, I checked my account and I see a fine of $35 for not paying $1.22. Are you freakin' kiddin me Bank of America? Where is your fucking fairness? How can you charge a fine that is almost 25 times more? And who do you complain to? These freakin banks are large multinational corporations. It's not like they have an owner or manager you can talk to. You go talk to receptionist at your nearest bank branch and they'll make you go through so many bureaucratic practices that you would waste more time trying to retrieve that amount than you could earn working at Starbucks for the same time. No, I don't plan to work at Starbucks, not even after graduation.

Every time a system frustrates me, be it political, economic or social, I think about the movie "Into the Wild".

The Most Gay Friendly Nation on the Earth

Which is the most gay friendly nation on the Earth? The same one that has the second happiest people among nations. Still clueless? Alright, the same country where Buddha was born. Not India, stupid. Buddha was born in Nepal despite the publicity stunt by Indian government to promote India as the birthplace of Buddha. Siddartha Gautam (original name of Lord Buddha) was born in Nepal but he achieved Enlightenment while meditating under a tree that is present in modern day India so rhetorically speaking, you could say although Siddartha Gautam was born in modern day Nepal, Buddha (Enlightened being) was actually born in the place that lies in modern day India. Oh and also, pronounce it as Buddha, not "Buda" as Americans say it. 'Buda' means old man while "Buddha" means knowledge. Anyway, what a tangential offshoot to begin with.

Back to discussion of Nepal being the most gay friendly nation on the Earth. You ask why? Here are my reasons:

• It gives away national identity cards that have "third gender" category. Soon, we'll have third gender bathrooms. We don't even have sufficient public bathrooms.
• It is openly promoted in international media as a lucrative, welcoming and safe destination for LGBTs in order to boost tourism from LGBTs. Even ordinary people don't feel safe.
• It has an openly proclaimed LGBT representative in constituent assembly.
• And now, Nepal becomes the first nation on the Earth to host a foreign gay marriage. , Even the United States of America, allegedly the most democratic nation on the Earth that values personal freedom and values is still grappling to allow gay marriage the same status as heterosexual ones.

And who performed the first foreign gay marriage? A Hindu priest. What are we seeing here? Globalization? Does Hinduism permit same sex marriage? I don't even know so I choose not to comment about it. But one piece of advice to the priest, "Well done, purohit baje. Must have received a handsome payment in return." Make Hay while the Sun shines. Our politicians are so engrossed in their own never-ending tussle of power. It was the fifth round of voting for new Prime Minister that failed, wasn't it? I would like to see it go up to at least a dozen, wouldn't you? At least Sunil Babu Pant is making a name for himself and is staying true to his cause by promoting what he believes in. The only politician who seems to be efficient at this time. Remarkable.

What if we are not seeing any perceivable economic development, this event signifies quite significant gender development in Nepal. To add it, Blue Diamond Society (society of LGBTs) awarded a cash prize of US $200 to the married couple. Wow! Last time the government only awarded a couple thousand rupees(<US $50) to promote an inter-caste marriage.

The Facebook Experiment

This post is a break from my usual crisp style travel log entries. This one is an occasional rant that I had stopped for quite a while. Seems like I need to take up this again. This one is about Facebook, the second most used website in the world, first being Google, of course.

If you are a Facebook user, you must have seen ads on the right hand-side of your browser. You tell me how appropriate they are. It's always about "Meet Hot Singles in your area" or "Come Meet Me" with a scantily dressed pretty girl's image. You know what I am talking about. We have all seen it and despised it. I devised an excellent plan to get rid of these spam style ads that are customized for every user based on the information they have entered in their profile or contents of posts/status messages. All it took was one single variation in my profile information page and I have never seen those inappropriate ads again.

Well, what did I do, you must be wondering. Simply unchecked the box "Single" in relationship status page. The profile page did not display anything about my status and so this "benefit of doubt" worked out in my favor. Facebook ad program assumed I was not single anymore and stopped displaying ads with pretty ladies. Now I get ads about "Fly Cheaply to China" or "Rent Textbooks Cheaply". Much less annoying.

After the success of "get-rid-of-undesirable ads" mission, I decided to experiment with Birthday wishes posts on Facebook. I wanted to see how many Facebook users actually remembered their friends' birthday. On your birthday, your Facebook Wall is flooded by seemingly alike scores of single liner birthday wishes, yet that brings joy to your life because you are under the impression that there are so many friends out there who care for you. The fact that more than half of them may have simply written that because they saw birthday message post(s) on their homepage or saw the birthday notification does not even cross your mind. You want to think like an optimist. That's fine.

I devised an experiment to isolate the effect of birthday information on Facebook profile page. Two weeks before my birthday, I removed birthday information from my page which meant that my friends could not see any birthday notification on their home page. I wanted to see how many people would actually remember my birthday. In the past, I had received birthday wishes exceeding fifties on Facebook. Guess how many I received after removing birth date from my profile page? None. Nil. Right.

The experiment was far from complete yet. I still needed to verify that people solely depended on Facebook information for birthday wishes. So, a few days before April 1, I changed my birthday to April 1. Some people may have realized I was just trying to fool them but still I received more than 50 birthday wishes. I'm not kidding. This experiment that I carried out appears so silly that anyone would be highly reluctant to give it any credibility yet, it speaks volumes about behavior and reliance of Facebook users on the information displayed on Facebook page.

So, what's the moral of this story? You tell me.

Black Sand Beach and Waterfall

New Zealand Travel Diary, Entry #8

After listening to Amateur Traveler Podcast on New Zealand, it seems I made the wrong choice between Black Water Rafting and Waitomo Glowworm caves.  According to the podcast, black water rafting was really the experience he liked more than the glowworm caves. Before coming to New Zealand, I had heard wonderful things about black water rafting but not so much about glowworms. Black water rafting is simply rafting in darkness, under caves probably so that everything appears black, hence the name "Black Water Rafting". As you should have guessed, I went to see glowworms in a cave but did not go black water rafting. Anyway, there will be opportunities to do it sometime later. :D

As I promised in my previous blogpost, I will post pictures of waterfall and gorgeous black sand beach. You may wonder well how is the sand black? Does the sand derive its color from sedimentary rocks? That's what I thought. It turns out that black sand is a result of volcanic ash released during volcanic eruptions. Remember, New Zealand is mostly formed from volcanic eruptions and it still has several active volcanoes, the most recent of which eruped within the last decade, I think. 

My friend Alvarro with Waterfall in background. Photo by: Digital Subway

Beach is an absolute eye-soother for me, especially because I am from a land-locked country. The first time I saw sea/ocean was when I was 20 years old, went with a Christian group called InterVarsity through Trinity University to a beach called Port Aransas, a little further from famous Corpus Christi in Texas. It was special. Seeing black sand beach this time was really special too. We spent more than an hour taking pictures, making graffitti on the beach, not so much building sand castles though. We are a little too old for that, I guess.

 The beautiful Black Sand Beach. Photo by: Digital Subway

 Anna walking on stones at the beach. Photo by: Digital Subway

If you want to see more pictures, you can see it on my Picasa Photo Album.


Read Entry #7 of New Zealand Travel Diary Series here.
Read Entry #6 of New Zealand Travel Diary Series here. 
Read Entry #5 of New Zealand Travel Diary Series here. 

Read Entry #4 of New Zealand Travel Diary Series here.

Read Entry #3 of New Zealand Travel Diary Series here.

Read Entry #2 of New Zealand Travel Diary Series here.
Read Entry #1 of New Zealand Travel Diary Series here. 

Laundry Nightmare at WSA in Auckland

New Zealand Diary, Entry #3

Living in a foreign country has its good and not-so-good times. Little deviations from what happens and what was expected could become frustrating. Take laundry for example. It costs NZ $3 for using a washer and another NZ $3 for using a dryer. In US $ that's a little more than US $2 for washer and the same amount for dryer. Isn't that too steep? Well, that's hardly part of my frustration though. I wouldn't mind paying an extra buck or two as long as the work gets done.

Wellesley student Apartment Building, Photo by: Digital Subway

Let me brief you about my unfortunate laundry experience yesterday. I live in Welleseley Student Apartments, managed by AUT (Auckland University of Technology). The laundry machines only accept coins but coin change machine was broken. I had all my clothes and laundry detergent already in the washer. (My fault, I know). I walked down the streets to a mini mart and asked for change at which my request was rejected. It turned out more students went to the same mart for a change than to make a purchase. His frustration was understandable. I did manage to get some change at another store by resorting to my emotional appeal and making it clear that I already had all my clothes inside the washer.

After completion of washing cycle, I loaded my clothes into the dryer. 40 minutes after, I opened the washer door only to find the clothes were still soaked without any signs of dryer even doing its work. I checked to see if I had forgotten to press the start button. Nope. My coins were already deposited into it's coffers and the machine had indeed started when I had left. Arrgggh!!!! I had to do repeat drying cycle. Time for more coins. No way! I was not going to those stores again. I went upstairs to  my room, on 9th floor and checked all over. I found one NZ $1 coin and one NZ $2 coin. Fortunately enough, the coin change machine worked if you were exchanging coins only. I dropped my NZ $2 coin and got two NZ $1 coins.

I loaded my wet clothes into another dryer (just to be extra-careful) and put coins and started the machine. This time I made sure the machine had started. 40 minutes later, I opened the dryer door again only to find my clothes had merely been transported  in space but unchanged along time domain. Not a single drop of water or moisture had evaporated from any of clothes' surface. Their state had not changed a bit since I loaded them from washer to first dryer and then second. This was absolutely ridiculous. No more coins to redo it. Fu@k. I missed laundrying at Trinity for the first time. For US $1 each, I could use washer and dryer. And I didn't have to worry about getting coins since all it required was a swipe of my Tiger Card.

Calmly, without kicking any of the dryers, I took out all my wet clothes and carried it back to my ninth floor apartments and hung it out to dry on  a cloth drying hanger. With so many clothes all around, my room looks like a drying room. I opened my windows to let in air to speed the process. Of course since it is the peak of winter, it didn't take long for my room to become frigid. I woke up next morning to find none of my jackets or sweaters had dried up. I was stupid enough to laundry all my warm clothes at once. I had to wear my semi-dry jacket to class at 8 in the morning. Welcome to a life in foreign country.

I could go rambling on and on about other little unsatisfactory experiences here but these are all of course part of learning to live in a foreign country.

Read Entry #2 of New Zealand Travel Diary Series here.
Read Entry #1 of New Zealand Travel Diary Series here.

Beating Summer with Aqua Sports

I can not stop talking about the FIFA World Cup 2010. I know there are so many upsets and unpredictable results. The only clear winner uptill now that has not suffered any setbacks are Brazil and Argentina. Brazil all the way.

Putting aside World Cup talk, I want to describe about my weekend. I went tubing in Guadalupe River with my friends. It was so much FUN. The atmosphere was just so jovial. All you do is rent a tube and you can bring your own booze. You could drink while tubing in the river. That's what most people did and social lubricant as it is rightly called, overcame awkwardness and people spoke to others who were no more strangers. A woman fell in love with my sunglasses and pleaded to exchange mine with hers. After I said No, she got off her tube and came to mine, neck deep in water and started flirting.

Tubing is really fun. Of course you never know unless you try for yourself. In the later evening, we went to a state park and camped there. I learnt to set up the tent with instructions from my friend Lawrence. Sawan barbequed some very juicy chicken and beef patties. The dinner felt great after an exhausting afternoon adventure.

The Camp that Lawrence and I set up. Photo: Digital Subway

Next day, we went to Austin and did canoeing and kayaking. My arm muscles ached after more than 2 and a half hours constant rowing in the river. The weekend was very aqua-sport intensive but I definitely enjoyed it a lot. I wet my camera and it stopped working. I do not have pictures yet so I will post them later

Middle East Imperialism

I know you don't need me to tell you about Israel's raid on flotillas in Gaza. But really what the Hell do Israelis think they are doing? First they attack humanitarian aid workers and now they refuse to apologize. And they refuse to let an international team conduct a fair probation of events that transpired and innocent lives were lost. Israel claims it is fully capable of such a probation. Are others not? How can a perpetrator defending his case be the Chief Justice at the same time?

In the name of preventing Hamas extremists from arming themselves and strengthening their bunkers, it has imposed sanctions on even food items like jam and solantro. Really? I have no words to describe this  Israeli Imperialism on Palestinians. The attack Israel carried out last year killed hundred times or maybe even more civilians than did rockets fired from Palestine allegedly by Hamas extremists. How can anyone justify that?

And now that Turkey's citizens have been killed, Israel is suddenly starting to come under heat and its illegitimate sanctions in international water is coming under scrutiny. The world is crying out to stop this. How long will the United States government keep supporting Netanyahu's government? Only few months ago, Joe Biden suffered humiliation during his visit to Israel when Israeli authorities announced new plans for building more settlement areas. Israelis have money so they can buy lands from impoverished Palestinian civilians living on the border who want to sell their land and escape anyway from intolerable suffering and violence from both sides.

Is there any solution to this problem that has been deepening since UN's controversial proclamation of Jewish state of Israel. It seems to be polarizing more and more countries. Iran and several Middle East countries were already on Palestinian support and now Turkey, an influential country in the region seems to be joining the camp. We keep hearing about two state solutions from several actors like the US and the UK who are mediating talks between these two nations. But does it really mean anything without Israel showing some respect and halting controversial settlement plans till a peace deal is struck?

The World Cup has Made me Alive Again

The wait is finally over. The World Cup fever has begun and with it the whole world has joined hands together to watch this wonderful charismatic game of football. No, I will not say it as soccer. Americans should name their game of football as handball because that is what it really is. The only time they use foot is while kicking it from the 10 yard line or something, I don't know.

We say enjoy it while you're still young. Watching world cup and realizing that millions and certainly bilions are watching it across teh globe makes you feel young again. Staying away from home for two years is a long time and it can emotionally drain any human being. That's how immigrants have to live in their emigrant country. I was starting to get tired of this monotonous life. College too had started to seem like to be a routine and everyday brought mundane assignments. Weekends brought less relaxation than project deadlines. I had lost touch with my culture, religion and festivals. I have been twice to a temple, once this year and once last year. Sometimes, you feel you are lost in translation, as they say. That was exactly what had happened to me. And I imagine it happens to all of us.

Then today as the World Cup kicked off, I realized I was filled with life again. Seeing the whole world and less so Americans probably rise up to the euphoria made me feel so happy again. Two years of detached college life that had stripped me of excitement and connection with my culture was revived again by imagining myself four years ago and reminisicng the company I had enjoyed while rooting for favorite teams and cursing opponents. It all seemed to come back again. I know I am being carried away a little and some of this may appear exaggeration but I felt a genuine excitement for something after a very long time while watching the game. No, SuperBowl never succeeded in doing the same. A single day event spanning a couple hours can hardly have the same effect. The first time I watched SuperBowl was to see advertisments. I am not kidding.

Alternative Spring Break to Republica Dominicana

Somehow, my breaks are becoming passport intensive. Last Winter, I had a chance to visit Mexico and this Spring - Dominican Republic. Two different countries in a year? Certainly, it must be a coincidence. And, if you didn't already know, I am planning to study abroad in New Zealand next semester. Yes, that's in 2010 as well which makes it 3 countries in a year. I am excited. 

                     Trinity group at Santiago Airport.  Photographer: Dr. Raphael Moffett

Interestingly, both American and DR authorities were greatly fascinated by my passport. They checked its every single page and oscillated their eyes between my face and passport photo several times. No, my passport was not fake. Poor creatures, they must have never seen a Nepali passport or Devanagari Script in which its contents were typed.

Flag of Dominican Republic. Photographer: Dr. Raphael Moffett

I will tell you briefly (even though there's a lot to say) about my week long Alternative Spring Break to Dominican Republic through CCI of Trinity University. In one word, it was AMAZING. It was like the perfect spring break one could think of. I got to see a new country, learn a little about their culture, way of life, devour great food, teach English to students in primary schools and live with kids at the Orphanage. Yes, it was a service trip filled with lots of fun and adventure. The experience was enhanced by amazing group of students and team leaders from Trinity and elsewhere. There were 170 volunteers including 9 from our Trinity. Interestingly, male-female ratio was heavily imbalanced, 30 male and 140 female. I didn't complain. You know why.

                             Students imitating different Emotions. Photographer: Puru (Myself)

                                She was so obedient in class. Photographer: Puru (myself)

The most rewarding experience was seeing the transformation in students while teaching English. On our first day, they exuded usual indifference and occasional unfriendliness towards learning English, a language foreign in Spanish speaking nation. But gradually, they started liking us and showed genuine interest in learning English. The experience was particularly valuable for me since English is my third language (Maithili being the first, and Nepali the second). I found it easier to put myself in their shoes and reminisced about my own school days. I will tell you English is a crazy language, and therefore, difficult to learn. There was a visual emphasis to our teaching and we deployed several methods that worked such as memory games, bingo, songs and poems among others. I also attended Church for the first time to gain a cross cultural experience.

              Volunteers sorting through donation items. Photographer: Dr. Raphael Moffett

                          Students at Dona Ana School. Photographer: Dr. Raphael Moffett

 Maria teaching English to kids. They loved the camera.  Photographer: Dr. Raphael Moffett

On our final day, we went for sight-seeing and ate a traditional lunch with exotic delicacies. We saw a clock tower that was designed by the same architect who designed Eiffel Tower. Unbelievable, isn't it? But remember, Dominican Republic was a French colony. We also went to Monte Christi Beach and bounced against the waves for hours while the Sun tanned our skin. There were surprisingly large amounts of fossil and coral on the seashore. We also went to a local gift store and bought some native items as souvenirs for friends back home.

            A kid at the Orphanage enjoying Christian Music. Photographer: Puru (myself)

                         Should remind you of Eiffel Tower. Photographer: Puru (myself)

    See the beach in the background. Yes, we also went hiking. Photographer: Maria Greene

My appreciation to Orphanage Outreach in Monte Christi and its team that made our stay so enjoyable. The sleeping huts (which they called 'armadas') were not one of the best places you would want to spend your night in but it was part of the experience. We could keep the mosquitoes away (which were plenty, maybe several hundreds per volunteer) if our nets were tugged inside the mattresses properly. Thanks to Trinity team consisting of Edwin. Dr. Moffett, Rachna, Mark, Maria, Kate, Kelsey and Ben who made my experience worthwhile. Dr. Moffett took some great pictures as evidenced in this blog. Thanks in big part to MAS (Mexico, Americas, Spain) Program that covered part of my expenses and made the trip possible.

Holi - Festival of Colors

I miss three F's the most here in the U.S.


 1) Food,
 2) Family,
 3) Festivals


Both 2) and 3) are somewhat related to 1). This weekend on Sunday, we celebrated Holi, the most jovial festivals of all, known as 'festival of colors'. Organized by Hindu Student Union (HSU), it was lots of fun and there was also Indian food. 'One bullet, two prey' as we say it.


See below how everyone, even people who had never played Holi before enjoyed it so much.

Trinity students enjoying Holi , Photographer: Abhishek Chhetri

Kevin becomes a piece of modern art, Photographer: Abhishek Chhetri

Jaskirat was the first one to be thrown in, Photographer: Sidra Qureshi

Everyone was thrown in the water pool, Photographer: Abhishek Chhetri

Cold Blooded Murder of Arun Singhaniya

When Jared Diamond proclaimed that Nepalese society is on the verge of collapse, I was prepared to argue against his every statement. But after what happened day before yesterday (on Monday, 1st March), no more.

Cold blooded murders with a similar hit-and-run method is becoming popular among criminal groups. On Monday, they killed Arun Sinhaniya, a media entrepreneur, barely a couple feets outside his house. He is probably one of the most famous and influential people in Janakpur, my hometown.

People can be killed just like that and the government offers no resistance. A group of policemen were deployed near the spot he was killed yet the assailants escaped unharmed. Jamim Shah was killed less than a month ago. Uma Singh, a journalist who worked for Sinhaniya's FM station, Radio Today was also killed last year. 

Gaurishankar, one of my other uncles was shot about a year ago. He was extremely lucky to survive after being in a critical condition for several months. If people like Sinhaniya can be killed then, I would feel threatened to live in Janakpur. What should we all do? Just desert the town and leave for somewhere else? Just because I am away here in the US does not mean I feel safe. My hometown and my family are still in Janakpur. All I can do is write about this horrible situation on my blog. FUCK!!!!

I feel so powerless and disappointed!!

Marching with Trinity at largest MLK March of nation

         San Antonio is a pretty quiet city only until Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Come MLK day, San Antonio city attracts a lot of attention and marchers. In fact, San Antonio leads the largest MLK March in the US and Trinity University leads one of the largest student marchers group every year. Keeping in mind, waking up habits of college students on holidays, it adds to institutional integrity of Trinity.

Photo By: Jaskirat Singh Batra

      I also marched along with other students and this was my second time which means I have marched every single year I have been here. MLK march has a significance and people marched for various causes. Since it is not a parade, every student was told to think of why they were marching. I marched because,

• I wanted to be a part of the largest MLK March in the US.
• I want global inequality to end, MLK was the symbol for end of inequality
• I wanted to wake up early. March ended before noon and I wouldn't have waken up before noon had I decided not to go.

Photo by: Abhishek Chhetri

         Solidarity and integrity among marchers of San Antonio incited good feelings. Scale of an organized march in modern day shows that it is still valid as a powerful tool against hegemony and discrimination. It also acted as an excellent platform to disseminate information and advertise about one's business or candidacy in Mayor's election which was reflected in posters and flyers that were distributed periodically throughout the march.

Thanksgiving Dinner, American Style

When I tell my friends that I will be staying at Trinity (on-campus) over the Thanksgiving Break, they flood me with their sympathies. I really don't that much because I had no idea what Thanksgiving meant until I came to the US. I actually used to think it had something to do  with appreciating others and saying thank you. How stupid right? Turkey, eating a turkey dinner should have sprouted to my mind. Anyway, I feel sad when I miss festivals celebrated back home.

I thought Thanksgiving would never have any meaning for me until I had my Thanksgiving Dinner with my host family. No, Turkey was not the part that appealed to me. Turkey does not even taste good. Oh, oh, I just said it. Goat and chicken meat resonate with my taste buds better. Can't help that goat's meat is the most delicious meat in the world, if you know how to cook that is. This year I had Thanksgiving Dinner at two places. I know, right. The first one was on Wednesday, a day before with InterVarsity. The second one was with a half-Nepali, half-American family. The food was good but the atmosphere was even better.

I could imagine how blissful it would be to see all family members unite for a nice family dinner. Amazing. We talked about a lot of good things. And then it was followed by a game of Poker. Before we left, I also got a chance to play records on their really old device. I don't even know what the name is. Wait a minute. It is called Gramophone. No, that did not come off top of my head, I wikipedia'd it.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. And thanks everyone for reading this. It's Thanksgiving day.

Women are from Venus, where are Men from?

World View: Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus.

Feminist View: Women are from Venus, Men are from Mars Hell.

        That's so precisely put. Feminists have evolved over time to become men-haters. The Women's revolution that started with an aim of empowering women and giving them fair roles in decision making has taken a different turn. Today we see, feminists not only advocating for women rights but highly critical of success of men. Maybe, I am stereotyping feminists but show me one feminist who believes that women should be empowered and is okay with mens' progress and I'll show you a liar.

        Now, why does it have to be this way? Does success of men automatically translate to subjugation of women? I don't necessarily believe that. Maybe also because I can't really put myself into their shoes despite my claims. Can a field be leveled by addition or is it always have to follow a subtraction method where materials from uphills are taken out for redestribution? Thomas Friedman has excitedly claimed that the world is flat and wrote a book on the same title in 2004 that won quite some rave reviews and accolades.

        This is essentially also the main theme of discussion over can everyone be made rich without making richer any poorer. Can developing nations become developed without developed nations having to give up their luxurious lifestyle? Can it be a win-win situation for all? I don't know.

(The readers are free to differ with my opinions and should be aware that despite the controversial nature of the content presented, it has no intention of hurting anyone's personal feelings or values.)

A Death in the Family

Lightning didn’t strike me but I know even if it would have, it could not have been worse. I guess I will start rambling on after few sentences so, I am warning you ahead. I received a call from my home and the news delivered was distressing. I do not call home often, usually they call me. I am trying to live in this little isolated world of my own, divorced from all worldly bonds and emotional attachments. Every call from home creates a little hole to peek in my little isolated world. It’s not that I hate my parents or family. They are the only people I love and they mean to me more than anyone else. This is a normal behavior of an adolescent I guess, normal since I am growing amid an American society.

Life and death are the two biggest mysteries that haunt every human minds, even more so thinking, active and intelligent minds. The only death that I have seen closely is the death of my grandfather. It was an unusual death in many ways, ways that I do not intend to mention here. I was only 14 years old then and the concept of death was alien to me even though I knew that being dead means not being able to find that person on this Earth or in this universe. I was very close to my grandfather and I was his favorite among all cousins that I grew up with, in my large family in my village. It has hardly been 6 years since I lost my grandfather and the pain has not healed yet and it seems I am going to lose my grandmother now. It’s unfair.

Can’t they wait? Death should give me sometime so that I can overcome the pain of losing my grandfather and those childhood days that I spent in his arms listening to folklores. It should give my grandmother sometime so that I can finish my college degree and go back home to see her. The tears in her eyes when I left for the United States have stamped an indelible image in my mind. I vividly remember her words, “You are going so far from me. I do not know if I will ever see you again before I die.” Even though she said these words in a serious tone, I knew this was just an intended humor. Her words have turned true, what an irony. I wish they had not.

My father did not hide anything; he explicitly said, “She is in her last stages. She is confined to bed now and cannot move at all. It seems she will not live for long. Do you have any of her photos?” As a grown-up adolescent, I know about this process of life and death, unlike Siddartha Gautam(Lord Buddha). But my incomprehensibility and inability to understand this process or to reason why this is inevitable is no different than Siddartha Gautam. When someone dies in one’s family, all the knowledge, understanding, rationality and pragmatism goes on a holiday trip to Bahamas, all it matters is that the person, whom they loved so much and who loved them so much would be no more in this world. No one can do without shedding tears.

Jaundice. That is what put her into this situation. This word will become associated with fear and hatred for me throughout my life. I know throughout my college degree and beyond, whenever I will come across this word, I will wage a war against it. I will try to learn everything about it with every opportunity, all its weakness and I will humiliate it. I might not be able to kill it but I will defeat it and will make sure it never invades me or my family in the future. Jaundice is a curable disease if treated properly and in a timely manner, if not, it brings death. Her jaundice was not caused due to contaminated fluid or food; it was due to degeneration of her liver aggravated by her diabetes. Diabetes runs in my family and so does high blood pressure. She was further afflicted by gastrointestinal complications. She moved with a diseased body afflicted by diabetes, high blood pressure and gastrointestinal diseases. Such a lethal combination will bring any mortal down sooner than one can imagine. She battled successfully these years, thanks to her healthy diet and traditional lifestyle in a serene, natural and rural environment.

Living amid strangers, all I can do now is reminisce my childhood days spent with my grandmother and wait for the final call from home. With every trrriinnnnggg now, my heart will skip a beat. The tears have started welling, it’s such a pain I have no one to share my grief with.