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AFTER THE STRANGER

Source: Kindle Cover I read a book after so long, almost a year, I think. I’ve always had this strange habit when it comes to reading: I overcommit. I start several books at once, lose track, and end up finishing none. This time, though, I tried to keep it simple, The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy, and The Stranger by Albert Camus. Two books. Simple. Manageable. And maybe a little bit symbolic where one is rooted in emotional chaos, the other in emotional absence. I’ve always considered myself someone who enjoys philosophy. At different stages of my life, I’ve seen myself through many ideological lenses - a Marxist, a radical communist, an anarchist, a monarchist, a nihilist, and now, after reading Camus, maybe even an absurdist. Maybe that’s a flaw, or maybe it’s growth. Maybe I’m just trying to understand myself better each time I change. I finished The Stranger in four days. These are some of the thoughts running through my mind after closing the book. I can understand Meursa...
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The inherent flaws of today's astrology

Source: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Every time we had to schedule an important event in our family, my mom always used to visit a Jyotish. That’s a very sweet affection of my mother, but also a bad practice and belief unknowingly inherited by her because of deep-rooted astrology influence through society, her ancestors, the media, and the newspaper. There are hardly any parents in Nepal who don’t believe in astrology. The theory behind astrology originates from a background that is associated with an extremely long history of humanity. Astrology started as a scientific thing under the domain of astrophysics in the beginning but later went on to become a pseudo-scientific concept that relied mostly on overly generic statements. The concept of astrology is based on the different movements and alignments of celestial bodies and stars and their impact and influence on human affairs, the future, and behavior. There is no scientific evidence as to how it is possible. My generation as a whole i...

MBB Shah: A Trailblazer in Nepali Politics

Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah (1920–1972) served as the king of Nepal for 17 years, from 1955 to 1972, until his untimely demise, which was later declared to be due to a heart attack. His motto, "Ma Mare pani mero Desh Bachirahos," which translates to "May my country live forever even if I die," shows how patriotic he was and how much he valued Nepal and the Nepali citizens at that time, which almost every leader lacks nowadays. Before the Dehli Accord in 1951, Rana's solely controlled entire Nepal, and the Shahs were just kept for the sake of their name with no executive status. The royal family was mostly held captive during the Rana regime, so Mahendra mostly grew up wandering around the huge and luxurious royal palace of Narayanhiti without seeing much more of outer Nepal. There was a royal trend at that time to attend prestigious schools and universities, but he was home-schooled, yet he had an acute and substantial knowledge of economy, politics, literature, an...

Review of Buddhisagar's Masterpiece Karnali Blues 

In high school, I had always heard a lot about Buddhisagar, particularly his book "Karnali Blues".  I got that book in early February (maybe around February 3), and I finished it today (February 21st). I love this book. This book and the stories in it are something else; they have made me realize the value of bonds. We often see stories of mothers in a lot of novels, but this story is about a father—a great father instead. The story reminded me of my own childhood and made me appreciate my relationship with my father even more. Karnali Blues is the story of a father as depicted from his son’s perspective. The plot began with the narrator recalling his childhood as he rushes to see his father, who is in his last stage of life. The story is very nostalgic and emotional. The story is told from the perspective of an adolescent teenage boy who has described his childhood and his father, who was no less than a hero to him as he met all of his needs during his childhood, and how he ...

The Kashmir Enmity and Nepal

  Whenever there is a conflict between India and Pakistan, Kashmir serves as a battleground for them to vent their frustrations and disputes. People's lives there have been turned into a living hell. The ongoing strife between the two countries has resulted in a series of border discords and tensions. Kashmir's problem was not only territorial but also rooted in religious feudalism and extremism. Some have even compared Kashmiri pandits to ancient Roman slaves who were merely treated as dogs for their own benefit. The history of Kashmir has always been violent and tumultuous. The origins of the conflict in Kashmir can be traced back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when the region was a princely state under the rule of the British Indian Empire. After India gained independence from Britain in 1947, the princely state of Kashmir was faced with the choice of joining either India or Pakistan. The Maharaja of Kashmir, Hari Singh, who was a Hindu King, initially sought to ...

The Communist Manifesto in simple words

The Communist Manifesto (1848) was written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. It became a revolutionary and radical statement between political parties and the general public during the 19th and early 20th centuries. This manifesto gave birth to a new political concept that is still relevant today. In the Communist Manifesto, Karl and Friedrich described all aspects of history as a result of class struggle between the aristocracy (the high class holding hereditary titles), the bourgeoisie (the capitalist class), and the proletariat (the lowest class/working class). Its main idea was to overthrow capitalism or a capitalistic society and be replaced by a worker’s society. The main theme was basically that the proletariat should be protected and raised to the position of the leading and ruling class. The manifesto breaks down into a preface, a nice beginning, and four sections later on; I. Bourgeois and Proletarians II. Proletarians and Communists III. Socialist and Communist Literat...