Life after becoming a civil engineer

Agriculture in Nepal

2011-08-09T07:30:00.001-07:00

Its third year in my degree. I was reading this book “ Irrigation Engineering.” Just a thought came in my mind why on earth am I reading this book? “Agriculture is not engineering.” In one semester, this book has planned some other thing to teach me. It wanted to prove me so wrong.
How many of you know about crop rotation? How many of you know that just watering the plant does not harvest the crops. They do need air as well. And how many of you know that watering at the right time during the crop life is important.
Today this engineer speaks. It’s the knowledge that I would like to share and may be open your eyes. We all grew up saying NEPAL IS A AGRICULTURAL AND TOURIST COUNTRY. In every essay that I wrote about Nepal, I never miss this line. Then how come we know nothing about agriculture.
I remember my friend once said about the agriculture. He was saying “You know in India they teach Agriculture to the school going children. The reason behind it is that the things that they will learn about agriculture during school hours and they will tell about it to their parents who most of them are farmers. This way the farmers will try the new things and see the actual real life difference.”
Every day I see kids going to school having nine or more big books in their bag. Are we teaching them the right things? Agriculture is the science- the basic for life. It took me 22 years to know about this fact. If the kids don’t know about it then how on earth can we expect them to visualize themselves as an agriculturist and farmers. The future of Nepal.
Just saying education can empower the nation is not enough only Right education can sanction it. Hope everyone get my message. Don’t forget to comment me.

Cooking and life- Some Similarities

2011-08-06T17:23:00.000-07:00

I remember the days in my dining table saying " Salt is not enough." I guess the only flavour that I know was SALT. I never remember me saying " Add more Cumin seeds or garlic or ginger or chilli."
It is said that every person is different and each person have their own taste of food. I can now proudly say that I like the flavour of garlic and ginger the most. Chilli is fine. I will prefer ghee rather than butter.
Something that I have explore in the past few days made me realise that I was missing something in my life. So what was that something? Learning how to cook actually taught me how to see the life. I never thought that way before.
Exploring the cookbook and ofcourse youtube for trying new recipe made me realise that Life is also about exploring and understanding what you enjoy the most. If you eat the same food daily of course you will feel bored so why not try something new in life. I wanted to try new things- I tried blogging and now I am starting to enjoy it. Here, I can express the life from my point of view. I am just another human being whose basic aim is to be happy. And here I am being happy.
I think my tongue is far more superior and so called BRAINY than my brain. It knows what I want to eat. Its fairly easy for me to say "I dont like this food." Then why not in life we say " I dont like doing this."
Saying about trying new things, I started reading Novel books. I said to myself " Why not?" I will update you about my progress of reading Novel in the upcoming post.
So its goes to all my friends and whoever is reading this post " Dont be afraid to try new things in life." Life is similar to cooking-you never know you might find the best flavour that you were looking for your whole life.

Thinking out of Box

2011-08-06T01:57:00.000-07:00

Today I was streaming "Thinking out of Box" from barcamp.org.np.
Something come across my mind.
Back in my campus, Wake up 7am time then time to get ready and 10 to 5 its campus time. Come back do the homework and then prepare for assignment. Thats seems horrible to you. Those were when I was doing my bachelor's degree. Guess what. I still have time for thinking out of box during this time.
Lets go further back during the plus two and school days. The days were similar same 10 to 5 job oops I mean study. But the study pressure were far more bigger. Again the same question when we have time to think out of box.
Barcamp is atleast giving a platform or some sort of motivation for people to think about creativity something more than your study.
The thing with people is we always complain. Here I will try to post something reasonable solution which seems to be atleast reasonable for me if not for others.
I dont know if you guys have felt the same way or not. But sometime I feel most of the time during our lecture, the lecturer waste far much more time just writing something in the blackboard. Its the time for relaxing and getting distracted from the topic. As soon as teacher faces the board, I am busy playing with mobile. How about my friends? They are also busy giving misscall to someone or texting someone.
Dont you think we should used overhead board or powerpoint presentation?
Now I remember the days when there used to be no class due to load shedding. But an inverter wont cost so much to run it. Atleast it will short down the time of lecture. We, human, are so much fascinated with the letters and alphabet that we forgot that PICTURE SPEAKS THOUSAND WORDS AND better to illustrate than a simple lines in the blackboard.
What I am trying to say is that 10 to 5 college time can be shorten and will give time for student to think out of box and be creative.
Do comment me. I would like to have a good discussion.

Movies-way of expression

2011-08-05T00:09:00.001-07:00

What is a movie for you?
For me its an art. I grew up watching movie. I like any kind of movie whether that be a hindi masala movie, some serious movie of Rituparna, some sci-fi.
I belive every movie has something to learn from.
I was thinking about the different shot angles which make you believe the mood of the scene. As it is said truth is just what u believe and movie is just what director wants you to show. Its a conversation between you and the director. Sometime they portrayed it so well that you can understand the meaning.
I am just a big follower of movie.

Just a thought

2011-08-04T23:59:00.000-07:00

I created this blog right after finishing my bachelor's degree. Thought I could write the things and share my view about how civil engineer works. But sadly I never updated it.
I remember those days when I used to work, I feel there was so many memories that I wish I have poured into my blog. Its my diary and it will help many others as well.
Well here I am once again blogging.
This time I am student again. Studying in different part of world and studying in different way that I have ever imagine.
I still feel I have learn many things that I should share in this blog. I hope to update my findings.

You rock my world!

2009-04-09T00:42:00.000-07:00

You rock my world!

By Bibhushana Shrestha

It was an awfully wearisome day. Entering a class lecture was more like standing on a battlefield, defending myself from being caught unawares by the teacher in my state of drooping eyelids and swaying head. After all, who wants to sit the next forty-five minutes in front of the classroom?

But there was something more that day: the seat next to mine was vacant. The finding of this reality check made a chill run down my spine. Everything flowed back into my mind — all those memories, so fresh yet so painful. I remembered every single day from the very start.

*****

Raindrops trickling down my forehead, I waited for my new roommate. It was the start of a new academic year and a few new students were being added. Like some other students of the batch, I was also assigned a room with a new arrival. So here I was, standing in the rain for half an hour and this “new” friend of mine had not shown up yet. After waiting for a couple of minutes more, I decided to get inside the room. Then I heard a screeching sound of an engine coming to a halt. First went up a black umbrella and then she came out. Dressed up in white kameez and denim, she had a magnificent figure. Tall with a slightly darker complexion, she looked simply beautiful.

I escorted her to our room. That evening we barely spoke a word to each other. I didn't know what was going through her mind but I was annoyed with her for making me wait in that cold rain.

Next morning, she woke me up. As usual, I was getting late for my classes. While I freshened up, we chatted a bit. I found out that her name was Pratistha. By the time we entered the classroom, we were already bonded in friendship. I introduced her to my other friends.

We were engrossed in our girlie chat when this new boy entered the classroom. Hearing his voice, Pratistha stopped talking and looked back.

She said, "Hey, I know that guy. His name is Pramod. We were together in the crash course for the entrance preparation. He's very brilliant.

No doubt about that. He was already discussing Hubble's telescope with someone.

But the twinkle in Pratistha's eyes told me something more.

Back in our hostel room, we settled down to finish our assignments. I couldn't resist asking her about Pramod. She slowly poured out everything that was in her heart.

“It was love at first sight,” she said. Every time she saw him, her cheeks would go red. She told me all about those moments when she used to pray to God for his just one look at her, and about those breathtaking moments when he glided past her. She was completely crazy about him.

But I was shocked when I learned that she hadn't talked to him even once. Our conversation lasted till two in the morning. Our eyes were swollen as we woke up the following day, obviously very late.

The next week was full of mischief. Our main aim was to get Pramod's attention all over Pratistha. I still remember how she liked me helping around to get her love of a lifetime. We became the last benchers in the class, while still maintaining our excellent academic positions. But the very presence of him made her feel lively. I saw her with a shy smile plastered on her face if he was around. Counting the number of times he shot a look at her in a minute was her mission, even though the frequencies turned out to be much lesser than I expected.

As time went by, I realized that Pratistha was a true friend indeed and in deeds. She helped me out with the subjects that I was weaker in. This made me more aware of my responsibility to her as a friend. I tried to inculcate in her the courage to walk to Pramod and at least say “Hi!”

But it was all in vain. She just couldn't gather enough grit to confront him. She lived in her own small world of dreams. She loved him but couldn't tell him so. In retrospect, I think it's a common love problem. However, this one was a little more complicated. The fury of possessing Pramod for herself, I'm sure, fused into Pratistha's madness. At times, she mumbled his name in her sleep, scaring me in the middle of the night.

*****

One day, we saw him come straight to our hostel with a red rose in his hand. Poor Pratistha was nervous and shaking all over. I held her as we stood with our fingers crossed. Then something happened. Another resident, Anima, popped out of the hostel gate. He offered her the rose.

Anima was at the height of her happiness. I slowly turned my head towards my friend. She sat there — emotionless, calm and mute. But her eyes spoke a thousand words. I would never forget the agony of pain that reflected in her eyes. She was frozen like a stone and I stood helplessly behind her, watching Pramod and Anima talk merrily.

I had no idea what to say or what not to. Then she stood up and headed to the bathroom. Leaving her on her own was the only thing I could do at that time.

*****

“Bibhushana!”

The voice of my teacher yanked me to reality. I wiped the tears from my eyes and stood up. Before he could say anything, I asked for permission to go to the restroom. On my way, I recalled how other friends had woken me up the other day. I had slept on the floor waiting for Pratistha to come out of the bathroom.

Instead, my classmates had handed me the note she had left behind. It read:

Pramod,

You rock my world……………

Pratistha was nowhere to be found since then.

Posted on: 2007-02-17 22:23:53 (Server Time)
Published on Kantipur publications

Fireworks in the sky

2009-04-06T20:09:00.000-07:00

Yesterday,April 07 2009, at around 8:30pm I heard the noise of blasting.My first thought was that some transformer got blast and then I thought may be its a machindranath rath jatra( local festival in which gunpowder is blasted after the finish of the chariot Programme). But I was wrong wow that was awesome really I can see the colorful sky where it seems light are dancing.
Actually it was inaugural of 5th national games in dasharath Stadium Tripureshwor so the blasting was fireworks in the sky. When I went to terrace i could see lot of people were already watching and enjoying the fireworks.The mood was really good as we can see that people were shouting when the light were dancing.
I remember last time i was such fireworks when i was small and there was SAARC game but really now i know why countries do fireworks in the inaugural of the games

Solving the problem of Student card in Bus

2009-04-04T06:32:00.000-07:00

I always think that how can we solve the problem of showing student card in bus( to stop fake id problem) then I had this great idea of showing Nationality card instead of Student Card.
The main reason behind this is that in Nepal everyone are showing the card (lot of fake card) so the students( who are real) are facing the problem that even when they showing real card then the conductor dont believe them and they face arguement.Recently I have seen a man about a age of 40 showing a fake card. How can i forget a old woman who showed a visiting card(knowingly) when the conductor ask her to show a card.Its not possible for government to stop the fake id so the only solution is to show nationality card.
So what is the logic behind showing the Nationality card instead of Student card?
1. The government should be able to give proper education to the people who are below 25 years and so the people below 25years should be consider as a student so hence they would be able to get the student concession.
2. Although there are student who are above 25 years but the logic is that they would be able to earn by that time so they wont need concession at all

Kathmandu's Pollution Profile, Much To Be Concerned

2009-04-02T23:45:00.000-07:00

After a major influx of people migrating into Kathmandu from the hills following the Maoist insurgency and the more recent migration of people of hill origin due to the violence in the Nepal terai respectively, people have of late started wondering whether Kathmandu is livable from the health point of view. The thinking stems from the fact that even to breathe in today’s Kathmandu is to play havoc with your health. Not many of us who live in this teeming metropolis realize that on a daily basis we are breathing in fatal levels of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, lead, dried sewage, smoke and soot. According to those in the medical profession, the short-term effects are already beginning to show among the Kathmanduites and that it is now common to talk of sore throats, headaches, burning eyes, shortness of breath, nausea, fatigue, depression, sinus infection, high blood pressure, irritability etc. etc.
Medical experts say that constant exposure to such high levels of air borne poison can lead to a dangerous premature aging of lung tissue and possibly cancer and emphysema. "The only time Kathmanduites can really get to breathe air considered near safe by international standards is ironically during strikes and chakka jams when life in the metropolis comes to a total halt. It’s a pity that the governments never seem to put the issue in their list of priorities" put in a health conscious citizen."
It is now common knowledge that Kathmandu has earned itself the reputation of being the second most polluted city in the world after Mexico City. At the rate environmental pollution is increasing here, it will not be the least bit surprising if Kathmandu beats Mexico City to clinch the world title in the next couple of years. Even by conservative estimates, Kathmandu’s pollution measure is regarded to be well over the danger mark all the year round. This is indeed a very grave sign and indicates the severity of vehicle emissions and other atmospheric pollutants that are slowly but surely transforming Kathmandu into a "hell hole." The bowl shaped nature of the valley that traps air pollutants and the fact that Nepal still remains one of the least industrialized nations on earth, should be reason enough for the government to galvanize itself into action. Even by conservative estimates, it is time to call for an immediate alert, if not an emergency!
The stinking garbage piles that appear in almost every nook and corner of Kathmandu and further aggravated by the just concluded Dasain garbage, coupled with the staggering stink that emanates from the Bagmati and Vishnumati rivers are added problems that have been plaguing the city for decades. It is indeed a miracle of sorts, that in spite of the problem and the growing water scarcity in the valley that has virtually forced the people to live in dirt and squalor a plague does not break out within the city. To complicate matters, stray dogs, stray cows and pigs digging through the piles can be seen further littering the roads in almost every major street crossing. The staggering stench that emanates from piles and miles of garbage, faithfully preserved by plastic bags and lack of action on the part of the Kathmandu Metropolitan Cooperation adds to Kathmandu’s sordid picture.
The carcass of dead animals lying on the main streets and highways probably hit by speeding vehicles and duly squashed and rubbed to extinction by passing trucks and buses has now become another Kathmandu characteristic. There can be no doubt that this along with the environmental pollution touched upon earlier has seriously damaged Nepal’s image in the international tourist market. But more than this seriously needs looking into is the havoc it is creating to public health!
According to reports, surprisingly government hospitals and privately owned nursing homes are further adding to Kathmandu’s environmental ills. Some 800 plus kilograms of potentially dangerous and infectious bio medical wastes, produced from operation theatres and wards of government hospitals and private nursing homes instead of being properly disposed, are conveniently dumped on the banks of the Bagmati and Vishnumati rivers. The possibility that these wastes could "spread like cancer through the Valley’s veins of the underground water system" should be enough to make Kathmanduites sit up. As it is they have already been consuming contaminated piped water supply for god knows how long. The World Health Organization Report published some time ago, that some six hundred plus people in Nepal alone out of the twenty five thousand that die the world over of water borne diseases every day should be enough to give the Kathmanduites/government sleepless nights.
The question therefore as to whether Kathmandu is livable or not becomes quite obvious. As obvious as the silence of the inhabitants for whom the plastic or polythene bag has proved to be a blessing in disguise for keeping the spirit of NIMB (Not in My Backyard) alive and well, as loud as the silence maintained by our respective government(s), the Ministry for Tourism and the exponents of "Clean Green Healthy Kathmandu." As obvious as the silence of many Non Governmental Organizations and International Non Governmental Organizations "committed" and "dedicated" to the environment.
Another related question that comes immediately to mind is why nothing is being done about it in spite of the government(s) and tourism related agencies being aware that the alarming pollution profile of Kathmandu could/has seriously damage the country’s tourism prospects in the long term. Kathmandu’s notorious reputation is slowly but surely gathering momentum and many travel agencies the world over are reportedly refusing to sell Nepal as a tourist destination unless we seriously commit ourselves and do the much needed cleaning up act. In other words, the goose that has been dutifully laying the golden eggs for over half a century has been neglected for too long which as a result is now ailing and in need of proper care and nourishment. It is indeed high time we paid more attention to the heath of the goose and stop being obsessed by the golden eggs for a while. "No goose, no eggs" is a simple home truth that in our case needs to be taken seriously.
Ananda P Shrestha

Today is my Final exam for bachelor level

2009-04-02T01:43:00.000-07:00

I wont forget the date yeah its April 02,2009 and I have just finished my Final viva of my hydropower project. I always wish of starting a blog : A blog that is useful to everyone. I hope i can post some interesting facts that may be necessary for the upcoming civil engineer. Lets see what i can do from now onwards.