Living in this 21st century we thrive on education, fashion and trend, however an accumulative population show their reluctance to explore the broken souls, their voices, that are never to be heard. 

A voice that explains how it feels to sleep on the cold pavement with no lights and rugs; only the buzzing sound of insects. A voice that weeps just because he has no one to hug when the thunder strikes with bright light in front of his eyes. A voice that wishes for his father to come home safe, hug him tight and explain that the world is too tiny to worry about everything . A voice that is judged for the way they are. A voice that needs proper food to eat. A voice that knows the importance of education and wishes hard to educate oneself.  A voice that is shown guilty before the decision is made. A voice that knows the importance of money and doesn’t get a chance to fulfill their wishes. A voice that carries a person in their tummy for 9 months without any hesitation; rather with love and excitement but is sent to be at a place filled with strangers. A voice that is burned alive just because of beliefs which are not even near to the so called modern reality. A voice that knows its standard, its limits and the difference between loving and to be loved. A voice that knows giving. A voice that is being raped in the streets. A voice of a father who sells all his property, his gold and his house so that his little princess lives a happy life. A voice that is sold at the borders of India. A voice that says “she was not to be born” at her first birthday. A voice that is a workaholic, for it is not a solution for everything. A voice that laments for justice, peace and loyalty, money and food. A voice that is ready to dirty themselves up by washing dishes, cleaning public toilets, etc.  Doesn’t this sound bizarre and make people cry and scream on top of their lungs, but who listens to the voice of slums? Is their voice supposed to be voiceless? Aren’t they humans? Did nature discriminate them and not give them a chance to live? Do they belong to another group of species? Well! No, but then who will understand the pain they had to go through just to stay alive? The Government!

Do you think our government, which is corrupted and has not even been able to serve the victims of earthquake of 2072, give justice to Nirmala, and stop the rape which is continuously flowing like rivers be able to see that agony? It’s time for a change, a change to agitate everybody’s life.  A change to give justice to all. A change for improvement and ultimately a change for “peace”. 

I remember the day I met her
Even more vividly than yesterday

How she came into my life like
A little petal
Yet it must have changed my life
Or else
 I wouldn’t be as happy as I am today
It was hard to understand her 
She lived a very simple life
But the way she cared about everyone and everything 
Couldn’t be defined by the word, simplicity

I thought I knew her from the beginning 
And still she used to surprise me, almost every single day
I found out new things about her almost everyday
Then yesterday, She gave me a surprise neither one of us was prepared for
Surprises are almost always exciting
But this time it wasn’t
I wasn’t prepared for this one
But I don’t know why 
I don’t feel bad either, I saw it coming

Now I look back to the times
That we spent together
A life full of light
A life without lies
A hopeful life and
To be exact
A happy life
For the first time in our life, She went somewhere 
And I can’t reach her

I have a feeling, I’ll follow her soon
Until then,
Let me live in her memories
For I have become 
Somewhat like a light of dusk
About to fade into the bright sky
But not quite there though
I hope I’ll see her you again 
With tomorrow’s first light

I still remember the day I met her
Even more vividly than yesterday
 

The wind was howling,
The sky was black, the night darker
The path full of bumps, but she moves on
On to new destinations full of new challenges
Till the break of dawn
Then only does she rest

The ray that guides us all
Bright and loving 
She protects us from what lurks in the dark
But every now and then she gets lost
Forgotten by everyone
All that remains is the eerie silence and eternal darkness
Until comes she better than ever
Inspiring and motivating the crowds

She Blooms but no one knows
 She's the hero less known
Best believe in her or cease to exist
But what does she want
All her needs hidden beneath a mist
But still she blooms
But still she blooms..

(Note: The `She` in this short poem refers to Hope.)
 

Human beings are unique creations of nature. We feel a strong and unique bond with nature. We are also the only beings that can save nature. Surprisingly, most of us don’t seem to care about her. Cities are popping up rapidly, and the natural beauty is suffering from terrible hits.

However, there are plenty of reasons as to why we should have natural beauty and more than enough ways to save it.

Talking about benefits, first all those resources that we get, we get from the environment. Indirectly, all that we see is a product of nature. There may come times when resources may deplete and it would be too late to take steps by then. So, we should focus on conserving as much of the environment and natural beauty as we can. Already statistical data shows how oil reserves are depleting and the greenery of forests is degrading . These are valuable resources so we must conserve them or at least reduce the amount we waste so that we can achieve a net win in the future.

City life and drab gray streets can get quite monotonous and frustrating. So, beauty should be there to provide us with a sense of being close to nature. People would argue that there are parks, but parks seem ‘artificial’ compared to green hills and lime green fields. Also, natural beauty is one of the main sources of tourist attraction. A very good example is our own country, Nepal. There are a lot of tourists as there is a lot of natural beauty around.

 As for solutions to the degradation of natural beauty, a major part of the effort should go towards educating people about conserving nature. This does not mean boring lectures and even more boring statistical data but actually involving them in activities. Public participation can do wonders and open a lot of eyes so that they really become aware of the effect crude development has on the environment. Also, the government of countries should also take some measures. Development should be sustainable. Technology has come a long way and now, people can indulge in “bio-geo-engineering” which basically means that development and urbanization is done with such an approach that mother nature takes minor harm.

As a conclusion, people should start protecting places of natural beauty. Since there are a lot of benefits and a lot of ways to conserve these places, we should not be sitting idle but actually making efforts so that humans and nature both benefit from it.

The life we live 
Is not for the money or fame,
Its for our dedication into the game. 
It's not about enjoying every second 
Cause you need to cope with the ups and downs every minute. 

We seek to struggle and work hard,
And trust me it's gonna get you to the top. 
There will be times when you need to sob, 
Just take a minute to look at your thoughts. 

Nobodies perfect, nobody’s a nobody, 
Just give your whole mind
And your whole body. 
Achieve the things that you have always dreamt of
Give time, show passion, hustle and you’ll get it all.
 

Birds chirp and flutter, trying to find their nests
Across the sky is the Sun's last dying red smear
The hustle is quieting down in the Bazaar
Its evening time, signal for the end of another day that was bizarre

Buses empty and honks die down
Shutters close and doors shut
Now, the city is naked and quiet
Because now, the city sleeps

Few are awake and watchful
Entrusted with the city's protection
Within closed doors, people now enjoy
The end of another hectic day

All is quiet, not a creak to be heard
Dogs bark in distant places
The Sun will soon penetrate the leaves
And now, gradually, the city wakes from its slumber
 

(Note:  Existential crisis is a moment at which an individual question whether their life has meaning, purpose, or value.The concept of Existentialism started in 20th century as humanity was threatened by the philosophy of Nazism and Facism, thus leading to Existential crisis.)  

After the advent of life
Many things went by
Some lows, some highs
Some regrets, some sighs

But once I crossed a point
Where I was skeptic,
Skeptic, about all things good
Uncertainty festered, but
No cure 
Questions arose, but
No answers 
I felt that,
It was the end.
Something I couldn't mend
I felt that,
Everything was in vain
Everything I had
Until I realized.
The agony, the pain
Life knowingly offered,
To test me, my resilience

Then only Did I make believe
That I had liberty
From the abyss of
Doubt 
And
From the clutches of
Existential Crisis…
The clutches of
Existential Crisis…

Does it concern everyone? Perhaps yes. In the place where most of the works are copied and pasted, surely it concerns to everyone. All the Nepalese professionals including writers, professors and the students are either recklessly or unknowingly plagiarizing the works of other people. The practice of plagiarism has been a great threat to the Nepalese. The issue of academics, impact on creativity and infraction of copyrights has been the serious issues that plagiarism summons.

The trend of replicating theses, projects, final reports and other academic works has been a common thing that most of the academic personnel in Nepal do. The habit of robbing others' work without giving reference to the real author has been inherited in the Nepalese people. The actual worth of one’s own work has been worthless in the Nepalese academics. Imposing economic value for the academic work is prominent. As published in the Centre of Investigative Journalism, Nepal (CIJ), even Nepalese professors are found to be involved in plagiarizing other’s works on their own books. Nepalese academics are slowly and gradually tilting towards the dullness. The value that the academic writing possess in actual has been a valueless thing that Nepalese are neglecting. For the case of plagiarism one can be suspended from the universities, colleges and from their works too for life time. The originality of the works in Nepal has been shaded by the addiction of copying others’ work.

The creativity of the Nepalese people is declining at a great pace. The more we plagiarize the less we get chance to explore our quality of writing a piece of work. The intellectual traits are blackened by the plagiarism which always retards the tendency to publish something that is of your own. The Nepalese students who have plagiarized the theses from others are lacking in making research, extracting information from the research and creating a piece of an article of their own. There are lots of live examples of the people involved in plagiarizing who have failed in real life to expand their fluency in writing creatively. Nothingness starts to influence the brain of humans when we indulge ourselves on being parasites. The parasitic nature has been embedded in every Nepalese that has overtaken the state of their authentication on works. When there is no sign of respect for the works of the other, the issues of copyrights also gets a space along with the distortion of creativity of an individual.

The sense of Nepalese in the norms and values of copyrights is senseless. The Nepalese people haven’t been legally conscious about the penalties they can be charged for plagiarizing the work. The habit of including citation on the articles or other paperwork hasn’t been setup in the behavior of Nepalese after including references from others article. As published in “The Republica”, the TU Vice Chancellor Dr. Tirtha Khanya has been blacklisted for the plagiarism. So, if the legal actions are to be carried he can get legally punished for such a critical act of plagiarizing others and get suspended from his profession. The culture of respecting the laws of copyright is directly violated which shows how bad we Nepalese people are, on having trust issues. The people of foreign countries will have serious trust issues over Nepalese for their unawareness against the copyrights. The ban of Spotify can be a good example for the abuse of copyrights in Nepal. The act of “copy and paste” that Nepalese do without any citation of authors has a large impact on the values of copyright.

The professional, intellectual and legal consequences are brought by plagiarism which Nepalese people are facing nowadays. The people have been academically backward, intellectually faded and  are unlawful towards copyright. Thus the overall personality of Nepalese has been pictured negatively by the plagiarism.

Director: Martin Scorsese

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Sir Ben Kingsley, Emily Mortimer

Based on the novel ‘Shutter Island’ by Dennis Lehane

 Background: The story takes place in 1954 in a post WWII era on a small island named ‘Shutter Island’ which holds a mental asylum for the criminally insane.

 Plot: Shutter Island is a psychological thriller movie where two U.S. Marshals Eddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Chuck (Mark Ruffalo) are called to investigate a possible escape from the mental asylum in Shutter Island. A woman named Rachel Solando (Emily Mortimer), who was detained for murdering her three children,  has escaped from a high security facility and now, the two Marshals work towards finding her but, as events unfold and the story takes a turn for the worse, Eddy starts suspecting all the people around him and questions his own sanity. Eddy specially suspects the head of the institution, Dr Cawley (Sir Ben Kingsley), and as events unfold and the story becomes clearer, there is a very intricate relationship between Eddy and Shutter Island.

 My Opinion: Shutter Island is one of the most interesting psychological thrillers I have ever watched. The story unfolds in horrific ways as each realization hits the viewers with a sense of growing suspense and mystery. Rated R for its violence and portrayal of insanity, I do not recommend viewers under the age of 16 to watch Shutter Island. For others, if you have a hunger for psychological thrillers, Shutter Island will not disappoint.

It is a long withstanding dream of Nepalese to see a prosperous and developed Nepal. Though Nepal has undergone many political transitions the ultimate goal of it all is the prosperity of Nepal. To accomplish this there need to be core areas to focus on by the state. 

Although Nepal is an agricultural country, it has failed in terms of self-dependency on food products. Subsistence and traditional farming methods have lowered production. Nepal has to import large amounts of food products from other countries. Agriculture has to be modernized and commercialized to create a market and boost up production. The surplus food products can be exported for foreign currency. 

Infrastructure is one of the primary needs for the development of the country. Construction of road networks to remote areas will help create the domestic market and increase the development and economic activities of that area. Road networks connecting other countries will ease the import-export activities of the two countries. Construction of suspension bridges and bridges will allow alternative means for trade and travel between different areas. Construction of airports also helps in boosting domestic and international tourists increasing the economic growth of our country. 

It is essential that we learn to utilize our natural resources for creating products within our own country. This is possible by establishing more industries. Manpower and natural resources are utilized in industries to manufacture different things for domestic consumption and export. Once Nepal is self-reliant in majority of products earning huge amounts of money from exports then it can be an economically strong country. 

If we can prioritize agriculture, industry and infrastructure sectors then Nepal will surely embark on the path to development. So it's high time that the state starts taking concrete actions for this purpose. Then we can see a prosperous and developed Nepal in our lifetime. 

Adorable aroma has  gone 
The thorns are blunt 
And those creepy leaves are dried 
The petals have been burnt 
And the roots are losing the tight 
Oh! Its beauty is on leave, 
So, the stem is weak to pose 
Ecstasy is still to give 
But the bloom is off the rose 

Nothing is forever 
The rose when red 
Was too far from the fear 
The earth was its bed 
And the sky was clear. 
Breeze was its doorbell 
And the rainbow was dear
 
Now it’s-God is in hell.
The bloom is off the rose
 
The thorns were crushed 
And the leaves were torn, 
The pollens were brushed 
And the petals were thrown 
The cloud is rainlessly dense 
And the land is bare rock, 

The wind has lost its sense, 
And the sun is suffering a block 
In the zenith of depth, 
When the rose is enlightened, 
The bloom is not it 
And its frightened. 
The bloom is off the rose 
The red is not by itself. 

It deceived the earth, 
Stole from the wind 
And lured the sun 
The rain was obliged to fall and that is all 
 

Cancer is one of the most deadliest diseases on the planet. So, what causes cancer? It's something known as a carcinogen. Carcinogens are materials or other agents that cause or worsen any form of cancer. Carcinogens range from chemicals, radiation, food and other external factors. 

Excessive radiation is a form of carcinogen. UV rays from solar radiation causes skin cancer. Exposure with  other radioactive substances also increases the risk of cancer. The nuclear radiation during the Second World War in Japan is an example.

 Specific foods we eat also become carcinogens as well. Caffeine, oil, canned food, etc becomes carcinogenic when consumed in excess. Fat rich diets can also be carcinogenic causing colon cancer. Foods like Charred Barbeque and betel nut should be avoided as they are carcinogenic food products. 

 Different chemicals can show carcinogenic effect. Tar found in tobacco smoke is a major chemical carcinogen. Industrial chemicals such as arsenic, asbestos, coal products, benzene, naphthalene, etc are also carcinogenic. Other carcinogenic chemicals include formaldehyde, vinyl chloride, etc. 

 There are also other factors that are carcinogenic. Viruses like Herpes Virus, Hepatitis B, Human Papillomavirus, etc are carcinogenic viruses. Old wounds, if not cured in time can cause cancer. Different environmental pollutants are also carcinogenic to humans. 

 So, different carcinogens vary from chemicals, radiation, food as well as other factors. To prevent mankind against cancer, we must identify and avoid different types of carcinogens. This can help make cancer free society a reality.