When we get to elucidate immortality we often start with the phrase, “living forever”. Where scientists are trying to find out the ways to be immortal by testing out a lot of things, religious people are trying out mantras, poojas, havanas and worshipping gods to be immortal too. And to immortality, we call it to have a spiritual or physical afterlife in a religious manner. While in science, we call it to be revived from death or just simply rejuvenate. Sure, both their beliefs are valid but is it really the truth that we can be immortal and live forever?
Life and death
It is true that Life and Death is something that isn’t a joke. Life is simply existence. When we are born, we are brought up to the world. And death is the end of the same existence. Causes of death are mostly classified into three different types; aeging, disease and injury. Ageing is a kind of proof that we are growing older. We are born, time passes and we are a toddler, a teenager, an adult, a senior and then we depart from this life. Sure, we could lose our life early too and that is exactly what disease and injury does. Disease is a life taking thing too, while some diseases are fastly and easily recoverable, some take our life. And talking about injury; both mental and physical injuries are life taking. Physical injuries do a lot of damage to our body, some minor injuries are curable but some aren't. Physical injuries are considered a threat because we never know when we will get injured, but after we do. It’s a lot to handle. And if it's somehow dangerous. It takes one’s life too, same goes to disease. Mental injury or psychological injury provides mental traumas and different kinds of issues. Mental injuries are also one of the reasons behind the rate of suicide growing up. Psychological injuries are sometimes ignored but it is something to which we should really keep an eye on. Psychological injuries are also identified as psychological disorders which are really growing at this point of time. Every year, almost 800,000 people are dying from suicide globally. While suicide also being the main cause of death, the cause of suicide might be manipulation, bully, threat, mental or physical disorders, family and friendship problems, breakups, fights, tortures, mental or physical pressure, assaults, abuse and many more.
Is immortality even possible?
Immortality is very famous in fantasy movies and religious series, books and shows and what not. These fictional worlds leave a scar on our minds and brain and make us believe at least a point or a thing somehow. So, many times we just fantasize about living forever. Scientists and researchers are working day and night trying to figure out whether immortality is possible or not. Paul Nelson said, “As you age, most of your cells are ratcheting down and losing function, and they stop growing, as well.” Many living beings have lived around hundreds and thousands of years but that surely does not mean they are immortal. And till now, nature has not selected any living being to be immortal. And the answer to the question is no, nobody and nothing is living forever even though the lifespan of certain species could be increased.
Immortality Research: Staying Alive
Jon Cohen published an article about this research and project where they tested out if the lifespan of a certain animal could be increased. They tested it out and a certain mouse, GHR-KO 11C lived for almost 5 years which is twice the lifespan of a normal mouse. They removed a gene for growth hormone receptors.
Bibhisan’s immortality
In the hindu mythology, there are eight chiranjeevi's. Chiranjeevi is a word which is the combination of “chiram” which means permanent and “jeevi” means lived. The eight chiranjeevis are considered and believed to be immortal. Bibhisan is one of the eight chiranjeevis. Even Hanuman from Ramayan, who was a great friend of Ram is one of the chiranjeevis. Ramayan is one of the most important Sanskrit epics, also a holy book of hindus. Bibhisan is Ravan’s brother who was claimed as the good one. Bibhisan knew about doing good deeds and he was on the side of Ram during the whole war. He was a good team member and also one of the best companions of Ram. He was one of the reasons behind Ravan’s death as he knew what would kill Ravan, he disclosed the reason to ram and they were successfully able to kill Ravan. His strategies and good plans, deeds made him gain a grant to live forever. He was granted immortality and this is how Bibhisan is immortal in hindu myth.
Immortality is something that isn't believable even in the fictional world. Like if you go upto a person and say, “I am immortal” they’ll surely make a joke out of it. For now we can take an example from this book called, Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt. This book is known for its major theme, immortality. A character’s wife thinks that he is into and is doing witchcraft because he was not ageing but her wife was. And when we think about it, this thing is actually very false and is all fiction. Ok, we grew up listening to the same old stories where people are immortal and animals talk and what not. We must have listened about our gods being immortal and them using a potion or a liquid called amrit that makes them be immortal. Immortality is one of the strongest powers, we have acknowledged it from many hindu puranas and religious stories too. In this century we often go with the facts and not myths so we believe what science says but religious myths are strongly believed by people and it is believed to a point where people drink out different unusual things to stay alive. But what is the obsession to be immortal anyways? Just like the book, Tuck Everlasting says, “Everything’s a wheel, turning and turning, never stopping. Dying’s a part of the wheel, right there next to being born. You can't pick out the pieces you like and leave the rest, Being part of the whole thing, that’s the blessing.”
Anime is a Japanese television animation watched by people from almost all ages. Some can be rated R (restricted to certain age groups) so children shouldn’t watch those until they meet the age they are supposed to. Anime wasn’t popular until 2020 AD. It started to get famous due to the lockdown of 2020 because people were feeling bored and didn't know how to spend their time and tried watching anime and started to like it. I used to watch anime before it got famous and I was super happy that now I will be able to talk about it to my friends who have just started the journey of watching anime.
In these past two years anime has become super popular and if we ask people whether they have watched anime, most of the answer will be yes. The same people who used to say that anime is for kids are now saying that anime is so good. Due to people liking anime they have started to learn about the culture of Japan and also understand a little bit of Japanese too. Some of the anime shows the reality of the world such as discrimination between poor and rich. We can take an example from a anime show named One Piece, in this show we get to see the how royal people treat those who are from small villages and make them slave, etc. Anime has become a very big topic in today’s world. Due to anime cosplayers who dress up as characters, there are multiple events in a year. Due to this they are also getting paid and can dress up as the characters they love.
In the context of Nepal, anime started to get famous around the mid year of 2020. And people started to love it. Also many people have seen some nepali words in anime like One Punch Man, My hero Academia, etc. People have seen a word which spells cat in Nepali. And also last year an anime got released which was “For The Sake Of Sita”. In this anime we got to see the culture of the Newari people of Nepal. We can see Kumari in this anime and the typical local houses of Nepal. But sadly only episode one was animated and the show got canceled but still because of episode one many people from different countries got to see Kumari. Also people have started doing cosplay events where cosplayers of Nepal get a chance to show their talent in Otaku Jatras. Also they show anime clips, sell anime stuff, etc.
Hence anime culture is spreading around the world at a very fast speed and people are eagering to learn about the culture of Japan as well, through anime. Because of anime many people got inspiration from their favorite characters, like not to give up on their dreams just like Naruto never gave up until the day he became the head of his village.
यदि म यो देशको प्रधानमन्त्री भएँ भने सबैभन्दा पहिला शिक्षा क्षेत्रको सुधारमा लाग्थेँ । जबसम्म कुनै पनि देशका नागरिक शिक्षित हुँदैनन् तबसम्म त्यो देशका नागरिकमा चेतना छाउन सक्दैन । शिक्षित जनशक्ति नभएसम्म देशको विकास हुन सक्दैन भन्ने कुरा मेरो पहिलो प्राथामिकता हुन्थ्यो । त्यसैले शिक्षाको पहुँच दूर दराजमा रहेका दुर्गम जिल्लामासमेत पुर्याउँथे ।
त्यसैगरी मेरो दोस्रो प्राथामिकताको क्षेत्र भनेको स्वास्थ्य हुन्थ्यो । सबै मानिसहरूको स्वास्थ्य राम्रो नभएसम्म स्वस्थ जनशक्ति उत्पादन हुँदैन । अस्वस्थ मानिसले आफ्नो पारिवारको,समाजको र राष्ट्रको लागि समेत केही गर्न सक्दैन । मानिसको स्वास्थ्य स्वस्थ र मजबुत छ; भने मात्र त्यसले आफ्ना र अरूका लागि पनि केही गर्न सक्छ । मानिसको सम्पूर्ण जोस जाँगर भन्ने कुरा सबै स्वास्थ्यमा भर पर्छ । ग्रामीण इलाका तथा दुर्गम ठाउँमा अस्पताल तथा डाक्टरको अभावमा कैयौँ मानिसले दिनहुँ ज्यान गुमाइरहेका छन्। कैयौँ सुत्केरी महिला प्रसव पीडामा छटपटाउँदा, समयमै अस्पताल पुर्याउँन नसक्दा, आमा र बच्चा दुबैको ज्यान जाने गरेको छ । यसतर्फ मैले विशेष ध्यान दिन्थेँ ।
यदि म प्रधानमन्त्री भएँ भने शिक्षा र स्वास्थ्यपछि अर्को प्राथामिकताको क्षेत्र भनेको कृषि तथा सञ्चारको क्षेत्रमासमेत विशेष ध्यान दिन्थेँ ।यसैगरी कृषि तथा सञ्चार क्षेत्रलाई पनि थप बिस्तार गरी कृषकलाई कृषि अनुदान दिन्थेँ । कृषकका उत्पादित सामग्री सरकारले नै किनिदिने व्यवस्था गर्थेँ । जसबाट कृषकले आफ्नो उत्पादित सामग्रीको उचित मूल्य पाउँछन् भने जनताले पनि सुलभ मूल्यमा सामान खरिद गर्न सक्ने छन् यसबाट बिचौलियाको समेतअन्त्य हुने छ ।
सडक यातयात क्षेत्र पनि अर्को महत्वपूर्ण क्षेत्र हो । सडक यातायातको विकास गरी दुर्गम क्षेत्रमा विशेष गरी सडक सञ्जाल नजोडिएका जिल्लाहरू मेरो प्राथामिकतामा पर्थे । सडकको स्तर उन्नतिमा ध्यान दिन्थेँ। अर्को महत्त्वपूर्ण कुरा भनेको भ्रष्टाचार हो । यसलाई म जरैदेखि उखेलेर निमिट्यान्न पार्थेँ । भ्रष्टचारीलाई कडाभन्दा कडा कारबाही गर्थेँ । वैदेशिक रोजगारीमा जाने जनशक्तिलाई रोकी स्वदेशमै रोजगारी सिर्जना गर्थेँ । उद्योग कलकारखानाको स्थापना गरी बेरोजगारीलाई रोजगार उपलबध गराउनु मेरो प्राथमिकताको क्षेत्र हुन्थ्यो ।
देशभित्र रहेका स्रोत र साधन परिचालन गरी देश विकाशमा लाग्ने मेरो सोच हुने छ । देशबाटै गरिबी निवारणका लागि के कस्ता काम गर्न सकिन्छ, भनी विज्ञको सुझाव लिएर त्यसै अनुसारको काम गरी समग्र देश र जनताकाे सेवामा लागि पर्थेँ ।
Thinking about getting covid twice is a nightmare to a lot of people. Getting covid twice is not fun either. I got covid for the first time when I was in grade 7. I got covid when shopping malls, offices were open. Most of my dad's colleagues tested positive and we were also going to shopping malls but we were taking all the precautions. I was the first one from my house to get covid as I got sick before Tihar, I recovered for Tihar and again got sick after Tihar. My dad also got a common cold, body pain and mild fever. So we decided to get the PCR test. Three of us from a family of six people got tested positive. The experience was not that bad, I didn't have any trouble throughout the time. I used to question myself if I really had covid but the positive report confirmed I had got it. Getting tested positive for covid was scary. My CT value levels were also pretty low so everyone who knew about it would ask me to eat,drink alot of hot foods and avoid cold foods.Those 15days of isolation passed really quickly. I was really thankful that I had not had any difficulty throughout the two week isolation. And I thought that I would not have to suffer after getting covid but I was wrong. The trouble that started after isolation was tiredness on an extreme level. Even if I was home all day taking my online classes, I used to be tired like I had climbed mountains. I faced tiredness for a very long time. I faced it for more than 6 months. Even after a year I got tired quickly and had difficulty running or playing sports for a short period of time too. I got sick a lot more than usual after covid. I used to get sick easily and would be on bed rest soon too.
After that second variant of covid known as Delta virus was seen. I had all the symptoms of covid and took the antigen test at home which came negative. Luckily I didn't catch covid this time and had a good lockdown too. Getting covid second time was scary and I didn't want to get the same tiredness twice and go through it twice. Everything went back to normal after covid cases decreased, school reopened and after going to school Dashain came and we got holiday and school reopened for almost two months and we were given winter vacation after school. Vacation was well spent, we had theater drama practice throughout the vacation which was fun. Covid started rising a lot and declared having online classes but we did not get any emails from our school about online classes and later got an email saying there would be physical classes. Physical school opened but just for a day and we got an email saying we had online classes. We got our first dose of vaccination. It was painful for three days. I could not move my hand for three days. Online classes were going great. It was a normal day but I caught a cold and started showing symptoms of covid. The first symptoms I had was no food tasting tasty or good and I ignored it at first thinking it was just because of medicines but later my taste was gone I could not taste anything even chilly powder. If I had to describe how it felt having no taste it was like there was no species, salt anything in the food. It was the weirdest feeling ever. Later I had extreme body pain. I had pain in my leg the most and joint pain. I got a mild fever too. One day before knowing I had covid I was not able to breathe and had to sit straight to be able to breathe. I felt weak. First time getting covid was for 15 days but with less effects but omicron was for 5 days but with a lot of difficulties and suffering. I had the worst feeling and wanted to feel good and fresh again. First 3 days were hard but slowly got better. We had covid vaccine 2nd dose distribution but I could not take it because of having covid a week ago and we had to cross the time limit of 1 month. I faced a lot of tiredness more than before. Even small walks make me so tired. Getting covid twice is the worst and not the best feeling.
My lockdowns were great, I had fun times, a lot of bad things in my life turned into good ones. Not everyone had a good lockdown but I had except the parts of getting covid.
कति प्रिय थिए ती दिनहरू
त्याे खुला आकाश र वातावरण
चिर्बिर चिर्बिर चराका मिठा धुन,
के भन्थे खै ? गर्थे गुन गुन,
तिमी र म
सुनसान त्याे जूनेली रात
डराउँदा एकान्तमा समाई हात
ठेगान नभएकाे यात्री जस्तै,
हिँडिरहेकाे त्याे अन्जान बाटाे
तिमी र म हात समाएर
ओठमा हाँसाे
मनमा अनेकाैँ प्रश्न
केही सङ्काेच केही प्रश्न,
केही डर केही रहर
डुबी रहेकाे छ याे मन
ती पुराना यादहरू सम्झेर
रमाइरहन्छ मेराे मन
खुसी छ मेराे मन ।
Observing the current situation and comparing the current situation with past situations I have found a lot of changes. Lockdown made many people's lives hard and difficult for everyone, affecting their lifestyles, work, school, and the country’s economy. Even my family has to face a lot of difficulties. When the lockdown started my grandfather was admitted to hospital for 11 months straight and it was very risky to visit him frequently. Due to the lockdown we were not able to visit the care center and meet him. Life was hard at that time leaving him in a care center but the nurses were great and they made us feel at ease.
Corona started in late 2019 but it has not ended till now. I have enjoyed lockdown a lot. Even though lockdown made me lazier. Lockdown was a wholesome experience. Never knew that I could experience all of these in my life. It is said to be unexpected and here we never knew that corona would come and we have to stay at home for 6-7 months straight. Staying home was boring as hell and this was the time where I could develop a great bond with my family. My brother and I got super close to each other and we got to know about each other a lot. We used to play pubg together and due to which we have a great bond now. Everyday we used to play pubg, watch pmpl (pubg tournament) together. We all got to know and experience technology more. Corona made us learn how we can fight diseases. During this pandemic time as students, there were advantages and disadvantages. There were no schools and I enjoyed playing games all day. All I was going to do was wake up late, join online classes, play games and do my assignments and stay up late at night. Waking up going to school was the thing we were doing but the government announced that every school should conduct online classes. Learning virtually was a new way of learning and it was effective for some time but as the days passed and the months passed I realized that it was affecting many people’s studies and careers, even mine. My grades are decreasing. We all students were at home and we all became lazy. We all did not care about our exams cause we all could cheat. Many students, including myself, have a physical exam phobia now. Staying in the same room 24/7 sleeping and studying in the same room affected my mental health. During the lockdown I lost my grandfather and in the first lockdown I lost my grandmother (my mother’s mom). It was hard to call a priest every month and complete all the rituals. Every month we have to do jaldan by hook or crook but luckily we were able to complete all the rituals. It is still hard for me to remember my grandfather and grandmother passing away and my mental health getting worse. So yes, lockdown I had been fun for awhile but it did not last for too long.
जाँदै छु म आज टाढा,
भविष्यका यादहरू बाेकेर,
खल्लाे र उदासी याे मन बाेकेर ,
झर्न थालेका आँसु लिएर ।
झाेलाभरि बाआमाका आशीर्वाद बाेकेर,
रहर भनाैँ कि बाध्यता खै,
दुःख र कष्टलाई साथमा लिएर
बाआमाकाे चाहना पूरा नगराैँ कसरी ?
बाका ती सबै आदर्श मेरै मनमा छन्,
आमाका ती स्नेह मेरै तनमा छन् ।
भुल्ने छैन मेराे मन
झुल्ने छैन मेराे तन ।
सुन्दर भविष्यका सुनाैला सपना,
बनाउने छु म दृढताका साथ बिपना,
बाेकेर ती मिठा पलहरू ,
जाँदै छु म आज टाढा ।
Neith was an early Egyptian deity who was said to be the prime creator of the universe and said to govern all that is within it. She was also the goddess of cosmos, fate, wisdom, water, rivers, mothers, childbirth, hunting, weaving, and war. Neith was the patron deity of Sais (an ancient city in Egypt) where her cult was centered in the western Nile Delta of Lower Egypt she was also one of the three tutelary deities of the southern city of Latopolis. Neith was generally depicted as a fierce looking woman who wore the red cron and had or used a bow in some and an arrow in others. Neith was a goddess of war and of hunting so her symbolic representation was that of a shield with two arrows crossed over it. The city of Sais is identified as her symbol which was displayed on top of her head in Egyptian art. It is said she is the goddess of war, she is said to make weapons for warriors and it is also said that she protected the souls of the dead warriors. In some myths Neith is said to be the mother of Ra and Apep. After she was identified as a water goddess in a myth she was thought to be the mother of Sobek, the crocodile. After this she was also associated with a god who was believed to be the source of the Nile and the creator of bodies. As the goddess of creation and weaving she was said to reweave the world on her loom daily. Neith was a deity with many roles she was also once called the opeaner of the ways which may have been related to her roles in war, hunting, protecting the souls of the dead on the way to the underworld etc.even in ancient egyptian terms Neith was considered an ancient goddess so she was said to be the oldest among all the other egyptian gods and goddesses. As Neith was considered to be the goddess of war she was also associated with death and she was said to protect the dead by shooting at their heads, she was also represented as a snake in the tome of king tut. She is also said to be the protector of the four sons of Horus which represented different parts of the body during mummification. She was said to be especially protective of Duamutef who was the personification of the abdomen as it was the most vulnerable part of the body during war. The different symbols used to represent her were the bow, shield, crossed arrows, ankh, loom, mummy cloth.
कोभिड १९ म कक्षा ७ मा हुँदादेखि नै सुरु भएकाे थियो। मैले कक्षा ७ काे अन्तिम परीक्षा दिएपछि लकडाउन भयो । सबै विद्यालय र अन्य धेरै ठाउँहरू बन्द भए । म र मेरो परिवार धेरैजसो घरमै बस्यौँ र केही समयपछि अनलाइन कक्षा सुरु भयो । सुरुमा मलाई कोभिड-१९ बाट धेरै डर लाग्याे । सबैजना कोभिड १९ बाट मर्नेछन् भन्ने लाग्यो । अनलाइन कक्षाको केही समयपछि मेरो ठुलाे बाबालाई कोभिड भयो । त्यसैले उहाँ हामीबाट अलग्गै बस्नुभयो । उहाँ मेरो हजुरआमाको दिदीको घरमा बस्नु भयो । किनभने हजुरआमाको दिदी केही वर्षअघि अमेरिका जानुभएकाे थियो । सुरुमा त उहाँ मर्नु हाेला कि जस्ताे र डर लाग्यो । एक हप्ताको आइसोलेसनपछि उहाँलाई निकाे हुँदै गयाे ।
केही महिनाको अनलाइन कक्षाहरू पछि दशैँसम्म यो क्रम जारी रह्यो । लकडाउनको बीचमा खुल्यो र बन्द भयो र अन्ततः ६ महिना पछि स्कुल खुल्यो र मैले मेरा साथीहरूलाई फेरि भेट्न पाएँ। म तालाबन्दीबाट बोर भएको थिएँ । आठ कक्षामा हाम्रो पहिलो र दोस्रो परीक्षा अनलाइन थियो र हाम्रो अन्तिम परीक्षा भौतिक भयो । अर्काे वर्ष म आठ कक्षामा थिएँ । त्यसैले मलाई बिएलइको चिन्ता थियो । फेरि लकडाउन भयो र वर्ष बित्यो । मेरो बिएलइ परीक्षा पनि अनलाइन भयो । त्यसपछि म कक्षा ९ मा पुगेँ । अघिल्लो वर्ष जस्तै यो वर्ष पनि अनलाइन कक्षाबाट सुरु भयो । मेरी आमाको जेठी बहिनी, छोरा र छोरीको विवाह थियो । छोराको बिहे हुँदै गर्दा मेरी आमा र बहिनीलाई कोभिड भयो। त्यो समय हाम्रो लागि कठिन थियो । मेरो हजुरआमा र बुबाले धेरैजसो खाना पकाउनुहुन्थ्यो र मैले उनीहरूलाई सकेसम्म मद्दत गरेँ। त्यसबेला नेपालमा खोप आएको थिएन । बरु त्यसबेला आविष्कार नै भएको थिएन । दसैँसम्म अनलाइन कक्षा चल्यो र फेरि भौतिक भयो । गत वर्ष जस्तै खेलकुद सप्ताहबाट भौतिक कक्षा सुरु भएको हो । म त्यसबेला पोखरा गएकाले खेलकुद सप्ताहमा जान सकिनँ ।त्यसपछि एक दुई महिनासम्म भौतिक कक्षा सामान्य रूपमा चल्यो । त्यसपछि हामीले थाहा पायौँ कि हाम्रो पाठ्यक्रम पूरा नभएको कारणले दोस्रो चाैमासिक परीक्षा रद्द गरिएको थियो । बीचमा भौतिक कक्षाको केही समयपछि मैले पैदल यात्रा पनि गरेँ । मेरो भौतिक कक्षा राम्रो चलिरहेको थियो । त्यसपछि काेभिडकाे तेस्रो लहर सुरु भयो । कोभिडका सङ्क्रमितहरू बढ्न थाले । हाम्रो अनलाइन कक्षा सुरु भयो ।हामीले स्कुलबाट पहिलो डोज खोप लगायाैँ । त्यसपछि एक महिनाको अनलाइन कक्षापछि फेरि भौतिक कक्षा सुरु भयो ।
Author: Carl Hiassen
Published on: March 27, 2012
Genre: Novel, Mystery, Young adult fiction
Plot:
Wahoo and his father Mickey, take care of the wild animals from the Florida Everglades. They keep their animals in their backyard and make money by training the animals enough to be on Tv shows. Wahoo lives with his father and mother in Florida. His mother had recently gone to China for her job. Wahoo’s father Mickey gets an offer from a TV show called “Expedition Survival”. The show is about a man surviving in the wild and the TV show staff want to rent some of Mickey’s animals for the show. They did not want to take the job but because they were short of money, they took the job. The host for Expedition Survival, Derek Badger, was not much of a good person. The entire show was scripted and the host never really survived in the wild: he was basically on a vacation shooting his days.
Derek had come to Mickey’s house to visit the animals he would be working with where he had near-death experiences with the animals due to his carelessness. He decides the experience was TV-worthy and hires Mickey and Wahoo to work with him. Along the way, Whoo meets Tuna, a girl from school who had an abusive and drunkard father. She decides to follow Wahoo and Mickey to the Everglades where they wrangle the animals for Derek’s show. Darek was in the wild when he tried eating a bat which led him to be sick. Drek thought he was turning into a vampire. Tuna called her father(Jared Gordon) to inform him that she will not be returning home, and he finds that the caller ID number is from a tourist shack. Furious father comes after her with a weapon. While everyone was hunting for Derek, Jared Gordon appeared, holding his rifle like a cowboy, and shooted an airboat driver who was attempting to take Tuna and Wahoo away. Then Jared kidnapped Mickey and forced him to drive around with him in quest of Tuna. Jared eventually tracked down Tuna, shoots Mickey in the foot, and is then assaulted by Derek, who bites him furiously because he thinks he's a vampire. Finally, Jared is apprehended, and everyone is safe and happy at the end, except Derek, who is rarely pleased in the first place.
Critical analysis:
There were many issues highlighted in the book. Animal exploitation being one of them was shown vividly to the readers. There were many parts in the book where humans were exploiting animals like when Derek was having a bit too much fun with the animals, or the iguanas dying because of the change in the climate. All the injustice we as humans have been exposing towards animals was one of the main themes. Wahoo is a 14-year-old but he is portrayed as a mature person who understands his parents' work and tries to help in every way he can. His character shows that maturity doesn't come with age but it is also sad how some children would be forced to mature at a young age because of their environment. Another example of “maturity doesn't come with age” is Derek. Derek is a fully grown man but his character is still very childish. He does not seem to understand the value of people. Another thing greatly highlighted in the book is “Reality Show”. Of course, some reality shows are real but mostly the shows that we tag as real are all scripted. We can see it through “Expedition Survival”. The show was heavily scripted and most of the episodes were filmed with many shots. There are many examples like these in real-life “reality shows” as well. For example the infamous dating reality show from India “Splitsvilla” where the members fight so much with moving cameras around them. Or, the world-famous idol group survival shows like “Produce” or “Idol School” where the votes were manipulated. Chomp highlighted these everyday issues in it. Things like anger issues, domestic violence, and abuse of power were also seen throughout the book. Tuna’s father hitting her, Derek firing the director because of his own mistake, Derek’s useless tantrums, etc were the examples. All these things sometimes may seem like small issues to some but it is not. These issues are the root cause of many problems. Prevalence of violence even in your own home is not something to be taken lightly.
Opinion:
My first thought or impression of a book was not good. I thought the book was not my genre or something that I would enjoy. I did not enjoy this book that much but my impression did change a lot. By the cover, I thought it was a children’s book. You should not judge a book by its cover. The book covered some very sensitive issues from society which I liked. I liked how the book had sarcastic humor. Derek thinking that a bite from a bat would turn him into a vampire was stupid but also hilarious. It was educational and interesting to some point but personally did not like the book that much. Because there were so many things going on, I would get confused along the way but still, it's a good book for reading while you are bored. Because the book is written for children of grades 4-8, I would recommend it to them only. I don't think adults or anyone above middle school would enjoy it that much. I would rate it 2.5 out of 5 because I did not find it too interesting and it was not a genre I like.
तेह्र जना देवताहरूको एक गण हुन्छ । जसमा सेती भैरव, महाकाली, ब्रह्मायणी, गणेश, सिंहा, दुमा, भैरव वाराही, महादेव, कुमारी, इन्द्रायणी, महेश्वरी र वैष्णोदेवी पर्छन् । यी देवगणहरू विभिन्न ठाउँमा गएर नाच प्रदर्शन गर्दछन् । मानिसहरू यी गणहरूलाई पूजा गर्छन् । यी देवगणको मन्दिर भक्तपुरमा छ । यी देवगणहरूको विभिन्न मुखाकृति हुन्छ। जसलाई मुखैडा भनिन्छ । यो मुखैडा घण्ड कर्णको दिन बनाउन सुरु गरिन्छ र नवमीको दिन बनाई सकिन्छ । यो मुखैडा भक्तपुरका चित्रकार जातका मानिसले बनाउँछन्।
नवदुर्गा भगवान्हरू वर्षमा सात ठाउँमा नाच प्रदर्शन गर्न जान्छन् । ती ठाउँहरू हुन् : थिमी, जयबागेश्वरी, नाला, बनेपा, पनौती, धुलिखेल र चैखेल हुन् । यी ठाउँहरूमा गएर पूजा आजा गरेर जात्रा मनाइन्छ । अरू ठाउँमाभन्दा धुलिखेलमा यी गणहरूलाई भव्य स्वागत गरी जात्रा मनाइन्छ । यो जात्रा दुई दिनसम्म मनाइन्छ । जसमा सेती भैरवले दिनभर नाँच प्रदर्शन गर्छन् । सबै देवगणहरूको भिन्न भिन्न प्रकाका नाच प्रदर्शन गर्छन् । जुन नाच सेती भैरवको रूप लिएर देखाउँछन् । सेती भैरवले मान्छे समात्ने कोसिस गर्छन् । कुनै कुनै देवगणले रगत चुसेर बलि पनि लिने गर्छन् । नवदुर्गाको प्रसादको रूपमा धागोको माला हुन्छ । जसलाई पशुका भनिन्छ। पशुका माला सानो थोरै पैसा र माटोको धेरै पैसा लिन्छन् । यो माला दुई प्रकारको हुन्छ । विशेष गरी यो नवदुर्गाको जात्रा चाहिँ नेवारी समुदायले मनाउने गर्छन्। यसरी सबै ठाउँमा गएर नाच प्रदर्शन गरेपछि पुनः भक्तपुरको नवदुर्गा मन्दिरमा भित्र्याइन्छ । जात्रा मनाएर नाच प्रदर्शन गरिसकेपछि तेह्र ओटा नवदुर्गाका मुखैडालाई चितामा राखेर जलाइन्छ ।
हरेक वर्ष यसरी नै बनाउने र अन्त्यमा जलाउने परम्परा शताब्दी देखि नै चलि आएको छ । यो नेवारी समुदायको मौलिक परम्परा हो । यो परम्परालाई आउने पुस्ताले पनि निरन्तरता दिएर पछिसम्म जोगाई राख्नुपर्छ ।
Religious practices can simply be defined as the various rituals practiced by the people of different races. For example people who belong to hindu community worship gods by organizing poojas. These religious practices have their own meaning and importance. They are considered to be the culture that is passed down by our ancestors. In the context of Nepal there are many bad customs and rituals that are practiced in the name of religion. So, should the government control those religious practices?
People should follow their religion and culture and at the same time respect the differences. This helps to maintain peace in the community. Culture is made by humans that are supposed to be beneficial to humankind but there are alot of bad customs that are still prevalent in the name of religion. Deuki pratha, Daijo pratha, Ghumti pratha are some of the major examples of bad customs prevalent in our community. Time changes gradually. People have to go with the flow of time and follow things that benefit the environment and mankind. These customs only cause bad influence, misunderstanding, disputes, and other harm to humans and animals as well. These customs have been prevalent for a very long period of time now. They must be eradicated soon or it will negatively influence the upcoming generation. The government plays a very important role in eradicating these problems. If they implement strong and strict laws, punishments for the people who spread these customs and still practice it in the society we can gradually eradicate the problem from the root itself. There are practices that benefit society as well. Let’s take an example. In the Nepali society people believe that if they commit a crime they go to hell in the afterlife whereas if they do good works and help people they will go to heaven. Most of the people who believe this do not commit crimes and do good works to go to the heaven afterlife. There are many other religious and cultural benefits that carry a huge importance in Nepali society. They are followed by the people all around the country. Those practices should be promoted as it does not harm the environment and humankind. Those are the practices that should be passed from generation to generation rather than passing down rituals that cause harm to the society. Passing down bad customs is just going to create harm to society. So it must be eradicated as soon as possible.
Government should take required actions to control some of the bad customs. In my opinion, the government must ban the customs that are a threat to society and promote the religious practices that don't harm the human kind. Promoting those religious and cultural practices helps to preserve Nepali culture. The culture reflects the people living in Nepal and their personalities. Hence, the government should only ban the religious and cultural practices that are a threat and bad influence to the society.
