[{"content":"","date":"13 June 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/","section":"Categories","summary":"","title":"Categories","type":"categories"},{"content":"","date":"13 June 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/","section":"Dipesh Dulal's Blog","summary":"","title":"Dipesh Dulal's Blog","type":"page"},{"content":"","date":"13 June 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/gardening/","section":"Categories","summary":"","title":"Gardening","type":"categories"},{"content":"It was not expected at Ason Bazaar. A street vendor was selling Pani Amala (Himalayan Ground Goosebery).\nAs my kids were already fan of this underground juicy tuber of a kind of fern native mostly on the himalayan foothills, I was determined to grow this fern in my garden.\nI decided to buy the brown tubers from the vendor. Those arrived home, straightforwardly sowed in the poly bags.\nHill hikers in Nepal are seen eating such fern tubers saying it provides quick energy and hydration.\rIt took quite some time for the tubers to grow fern leaves from them. In fact, many of them decayed and only few of them were successful. Then, I transfered those into another garden pot.\nHave I crossed the threshold by trying anything - even a wild fern?\rAnyways, thank you for reading yet another garden blog post.\n","date":"13 June 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/himalayan-ground-gooseberry-pani-amala/","section":"Posts","summary":"I did not expect that in my lifetime I would grow a fern in my garden.","title":"Growing Himalayan Ground Gooseberry (Pani Amala) - Tuberous Sword Fern","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"13 June 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Posts","type":"posts"},{"content":"आफूलाई सेल्फ डव्ट छ तर कुनै सहयात्रीले भन्नुभयो - \u0026ldquo;दिपेश सर तपाईँ त यस्तो \u0026hellip; उस्तो\u0026rdquo;। मलाई लाग्यो - केही न केही लेख्नपर्छ यो बारेमा, र लेखें पनि।\nब्रह्माण्डको असीमतामा एक औसत बौद्धिकता भएको अर्काले दिएको खाने अर्काले छोडेको खाने कसैले देवत्वकरण गरिदिएको रुपान्तरणको अभिलाषा बोकेर उडिरहेको कुहिरोको काग\nकुहिरोको काग चाहिँ मैले आफैंलाई भनें। यस्तो कागको यात्रा कस्तो होला? कतातिर जाला? केही वैचारिक मन्थन गरें मैले।\nनिश्चित समय पार गरिसकेपछि धेरैलाई या भनौ म जस्तालाई बाटो लामो हुँदैन बरु गोलो हुन्छ। अझ बीचमा रहेको बिन्दु अनन्त शून्यता हो भने बाटो घुम्दै-घुम्दै त्यो बीचको बिन्दुमा गएर लीन हुनु नै हो। तर अनन्ततामा मैले बाँचेको समय सुन्दर होस् त्यस्तै मनोकांक्षा रहने रहेछ। निरपेक्ष समय या भनौ ब्रह्माण्डको अनन्तताका अगाडि तुच्छ समय मेरा लागि सब थोक हो। त्यस अनन्तताको विराटताको सुन्दरतम अनुभूति मैले आफ्नो जीवनकालमा गर्न सकुँ। यो समय गुजार्न केही इतिहासका, केही वर्तमानका र केही आगामी दिनका सौन्दर्य चेतमा रमाउने पनि गर्दछु।\nयदि आगामी दिनका त्यस्ता चेतलाई सपना भनिन्छ भने म सपना देख्दछु।\n","date":"7 June 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/contemplation-mid-life-crisis-nepali/","section":"Posts","summary":"I had originally written this in my personal journal (in paper).","title":"Contemplation on Mid-life Crisis","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"7 June 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/personal-journal-in-nepali/","section":"Categories","summary":"","title":"Personal Journal in Nepali","type":"categories"},{"content":"I am Dipesh Dulal - an educator and blogger writing on the topics of pedagogy, learning, parenting, organic living, minimalism, and other topics - at the juncture of education and sustainability.\nSince beginning my teaching career in 2007 in Kathmandu, I have been engaged in designing and executing collaborative projects in environmental education and international school partnerships premised on curricular exchanges and beyond. In 2014, local and international school partnerships initiatives I coordinated at Chelsea International Academy were recognized under the International School Award framework of the British Council.\nMy academic journey has taken me from Nepal to Norway and Finland. From 2014 to 2017, I completed a Master’s degree in Multicultural and International Education at Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences, where I examined education within diverse and multicultural contexts. Later, from 2021 to 2023, I pursued further studies in Pedagogy and Teaching for Sustainability at University of Eastern Finland, conducting research on WWOOFers’ embodied learning experiences and their implications in the global agenda of Education for Sustainability (EfS). Living and studying in the Nordic countries deepened my engagement with the concept of Bildung and strengthened my interest in understanding how education shapes civic, ecological, cultural, and moral responsibility.\nAs a father of two and a lifelong learner, I approach education not only through formal institutions, but also through the agency of parents and local community, moreover - \u0026lsquo;places\u0026rsquo; and \u0026lsquo;spaces\u0026rsquo; as constructs of informed transformative projects. I approach digital spaces as constructive spaces of intellectual exchanges and learning opportunities. In my case, I have chosen personal blog, pedagogynotes.com, personal youtube channel and LinkedIn as spaces of networking and coconstructing ideas on education, and sustainable societal transformation.\nIn my personal blog (this website), I write about my subjective reflections and views on any topics related to sustainability, intercultural learning, placemaking, human geography, and the broader question of how education can contribute to meaningful societal transformation. I may even write a poem, story, or perhaps a book review.\nIn pedagogynotes.com, I write elaboratively on thoretical and empirical aspects of pedagogy, lifelong learning, informal learning, and education as general area of learning. The website has been developing as resource for teachers and students from across the globe.\nI am particularly interested in how individuals and institutions can cultivate depth, responsibility, and ecological awareness in a time of distraction and fragmentation.\nIf you would like to connect, collaborate, or continue the conversation, please feel free to visit my Contact Page.\n","date":"18 April 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/about/","section":"Dipesh Dulal's Blog","summary":"Can a wildflower be mainstreamed?","title":"About Me","type":"page"},{"content":"I told my child that it was called cloudberry in English. However, while researching a bit before writing this blog post, I realized that Ainselu has been termed as Golden Himalayan Raspberry in English. While writing this, he is having his free time at home. Let him unlearn and relearn things—I am not going to correct the English term for him. I am already content that this eight-year-old is able to term it correctly in Nepali.\nIt was again a slow morning. Last night, I had completed reading a Nepali novel. Hence, I woke up late in the morning. So did the kids. After the morning meal, I had no other plan than getting more sleep and starting a new book during the day.\nHe reminded me of juicy berries that they brought home earlier this week. I did not have a chance to have a second thought after hearing this. He then took me to one of the open fields in our village.\nPopularly called Ainselu in Nepali, Golden Himalayan Raspberry is prevalent in hilly areas of Nepal. We overcame some obvious degrees of pain due to pricks and scratches caused by the thorns of the bush. We were surprised to find mature and juicy berries.\nAfter eating some berries, we brought some more home.\nWhile sitting down writing about this, I asked myself—why on earth am I writing about a simple berry-picking activity? I found the answer myself. Firstly, I wanted to tell a story. Secondly, I want people to realize that the real world (mostly outdoors) offers rich opportunities for transformative learning.\nWhile juxtaposing our experience (father’s and child’s) against the learning phenomena, I found Gardner’s theory of Multiple Intelligences quite relevant.\nTheory of Multiple Intelligences during Berry-picking Activity # I could bring in many other theories and concepts in today’s activity with my child—for example, outdoor learning and place-based education (theories that I am a fan of). However, Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence came to my mind when I was thinking of the learning value of berry-picking with kids. In this context, I am going to use eight intelligences, as many other writers do.\nVisual and Spatial Intelligence # It was my child who led me there. Last time, it was free-ranging kids who discovered this bush. Knowledge and practice of physical geography comes into this context.\nLinguistic and Verbal Intelligence # My child was able to use a wide range of words to describe the Golden Himalayan Raspberry bush and the berries themselves.\nLogical-Mathematical Intelligence # Papa, do you know that the other side of the bush has more juicy and sweet berries than the ones on this side?\nI was more than surprised to hear this. The observation was valid. I explained that this could be due to the amount of sunlight.\nBodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence # We had to do various kinds of body movements to get there, pick and eat berries, collect some more for the family, and return home with berries in hand. We also tried our best to avoid injuries from the thorns of the bush.\nMusical Intelligence # To be honest, the experience was not intentionally musical. Till the moment of writing, neither my child nor I have gone through any structured musical learning beyond consumption. During this activity, we did not do anything musical besides the spontaneous absorption of natural sounds—birds chirping, river flowing, wind blowing, and horns of nearby vehicles.\nInterpersonal Intelligence # We talked with each other and connected during this activity. We discussed the child’s experiences with other kids. We also thought about our family members who would enjoy these berries, so we brought some home.\nIntrapersonal Intelligence # My child loves to explore nature when he feels bored. He recognizes this and is able to communicate it. Hence, he convinced me to go there and enjoy this activity.\nNaturalistic Intelligence # While returning home, our conversation became quite naturalistic:\nPapa: Do you think we should preserve such a bush? Child: Yes! Papa: Why do you think so? Child: We can get such tasty berries for the long run.\nWell, parents or caretakers do not necessarily need to connect every parenting moment with theories. Children need caring and shared moments with their favourite people while learning from nature.\n","date":"18 April 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/berry-picking-theory-multiple-intelligence/","section":"Posts","summary":"Berry-picking activity could we well related to theory of multiple intelligence.","title":"Berry-picking and Theory of Multiple Intelligence","type":"posts"},{"content":"I can be reached via e-mail - dipesh(dot)dulal(at)proton(dot)me.\nMy Social Media Presence:\nLinkedIn YouTube Google Scholar Donations via:\nBuy me Momo ","date":"18 April 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/contact/","section":"Dipesh Dulal's Blog","summary":"Should you write to me, I will reply to your message as soon as I can.","title":"Contact Me","type":"page"},{"content":"","date":"18 April 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/organic-life/","section":"Categories","summary":"","title":"Organic Life","type":"categories"},{"content":"","date":"18 April 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/outdoor-learning/","section":"Categories","summary":"","title":"Outdoor Learning","type":"categories"},{"content":"","date":"13 April 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/blogging/","section":"Categories","summary":"","title":"Blogging","type":"categories"},{"content":"It was really difficult to preventing myself from logging in again after I started 30 days grace period as I confirmed with Meta to delete my facebook account.\nIn fact, I had several instances of deleting Facbook account and reinstating it.\nThis time, it did not go that way.\nSo, the question is - what did I do to survive 30 days grace period of Facebook deletion?\nThe first and foremost thing is general disappointment with the content on Facebook. Secondly, I began to remain habituated to contact my family and friends by phone and messaging apps (WhatsApp and Viber - in my case). Thirdly, I have generally stopped doom scrolling also in other platforms like YouTube. And finally, I focused on 3 hobbies - hiking, reading, and gardening. Whenever I felt like I wanted to scroll to see Facebook feeds, I went to garden and did something.\nI hope that my strategy may be considered as learning opportunity to those who want to delete social media accounts and make life better without them.\n","date":"13 April 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/surviving-30-days-facebook-deletion/","section":"Posts","summary":"I deleted Facebook account forever aiming digital peace for rest of the life.","title":"How did I survive 30 days of Facebook deletion","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"13 April 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/minimalism/","section":"Categories","summary":"","title":"Minimalism","type":"categories"},{"content":"Blogger locked my new website for the last time! It was not new for me. It did time and again to the point that I heavily tempted to reconsider using it - why on Earth is this anti-spam measure hitting me?\nAs a professional gesture, they do notify both in Blogger dashboard and via email.\nI became so frustrated that I was thinking of moving my entire set of websites to self-hosted WordPress, or run in Hugo.\nI again contemplated -\nWhy do I lose in this anti-spam movement? It should be win-win for both Blogger and me! Blogger has done it as their anti-spam measure that they have put in place.\nIn fact, I should work along with them.\nHence, I used to request them to review!\nVoilà!\nThey always revived the website as my websites were not intended for spamming the internet space!\nUPDATE:\nI have moved my websites to other platforms whereas I still log on to Blogger for reading new posts from my reading list (mostly Blogger-based and WordPress-based blogs).\n","date":"13 April 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/thank-you-blogger-for-locking-my-website/","section":"Posts","summary":"Google’s Blogger platform helped me to learn blogging, some SEO, and have resilience.","title":"Thank you Blogger for deleting my website!","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"28 February 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/book-talk/","section":"Categories","summary":"","title":"Book Talk","type":"categories"},{"content":"I prefer reading small books. For now, I am easy-going with such books. However, the messages that such books convey must comply with my objective of reading. Pārijāt\u0026rsquo;s Dhupī, sallā ra lālīgurā̃sko phedmā has been quite a dense book that portrays existential traumas that the author faced throughout her life.\nAt the intersection of gradual and generational loss of the original culture, colonial settings, disadvantaged childhood, and the author\u0026rsquo;s unique abilities (and inabilities), Parijat has beautifully portrayed how she experienced her life in the premises of Darjeeling till the mid-1950s, since the time of her early childhood that her memory could bring out.\nToday, I bring the book\u0026rsquo;s issues into the frame of the topics I feel are necessary to discuss.\nFamily - a safe space? # Parijat lost her mother when she was in her early age. She confesses that her father did not compensate for the loss of her mother. He used to talk about philosophy that small kids would not understand. He forcibly turned them to atheists after the death of the religious mother. I read from her texts that religion and tradition could keep her identity alive - a strong thread that would bind other transformative projects of her life. She says that she had been disciplined by her father when she wanted to dance. As an individual with creative instincts and innate potential in expression, she could not express her thoughts by singing or dancing. She had traumatic experiences in her life - not getting her mother\u0026rsquo;s love, not sensing a belonging to any entity other than the eternal beauty of the abstractness of nature, and remaining in a really vulnerable environment she had to call home. She indicated that her father was making the family more vulnerable - financially, emotionally, and mostly by being absent because of his own illness. Her affinity to nature, abstract elements of nature, and arts through which she would express her abstracted thoughts was never promoted by her father. She was encouraged by other younger members of the house, from whom she learned to smoke tobacco. To her, tobacco smoking elevated the sense of agency, just to compensate for the safety-void that her family always had. She carried the trauma of losing her brother, who seemed rebellious (at least symbolically) against her father\u0026rsquo;s way of raising kids. She smoked tobacco till her fingers turned \u0026lsquo;yellow\u0026rsquo;, which already adds to her vulnerability of having a certain illness that used to manifest as immense pain in her joints.\nTraumatised Child, Nature and Abstract Thoughts (Existentialism) # At some point, she said, \u0026ldquo;I wanted to cry and laugh at the same time\u0026rdquo;. Let me begin with her side of situatedness. She was growing up as a child who did not have a mother and did not find her home as a safe space - a space to return and get emotional consolation from a motherly figure - that could be her father. She experienced such a situation throughout her childhood. She sometimes went to an aunt\u0026rsquo;s house just to get a glimpse of motherly love - a temporary refuge. As an innocent child, she sought to spend hours and hours under trunks of the trees, the tapped water, mostly in the quiet natural spaces as pure as her mother\u0026rsquo;s love. Not any entity scolded her, even if she chose to do things that she liked. As a coping mechanism and as an ultimate inspiration for keeping the hope of living, she grew abstract thoughts about nature and natural elements. She was more involved with nature, even if other kids were also with her, while collecting fern stems for piercing ears or other occasions. She used to collect flowers and do things as if she were spending precious moments with \u0026lsquo;mother\u0026rsquo; (nature). The trauma that she would have gone through in her childhood was so strong, and the existential reality was so permanent that she related the natural flow of monsoon showers in sync with her own emotions. That would make her outburst in tears, in her bed. And even if it made her cry so badly, she loved monsoon season.\nIdentity Crisis and (Post)colonial World # Children of Nepali identity in the northeastern hills of India, including herself, are portrayed as living in more organic engagement with the local nature, set against the backdrop of the (post)imperial reality of the 1940s through 1950s. In this book, this atmosphere during her childhood is symbolically reflected through imagery such as imperial soldiers on horseback, whose presence is associated with the lived fears and vulnerabilities of marginalized children. The question of who would advocate for the welfare of the oppressed is also implicitly raised, pointing toward the historical limitations of imperial power in addressing the social and human needs of colonized populations, as explored in the writings of Parijat. On the other hand, the non-clarity of her own father\u0026rsquo;s personal stances and ultimate alignment with the powerful colonisers were taken by her as submitting to the cultural supremacy of the imperialists\u0026rsquo; architecture, killing their own cultural realms. While growing up as a child who would think more before saying or deciding anything, this gave her an immense sense of loss and damage. This would again add to the trauma that she had been carrying.\nI hope that readers of this book-talk provide constructive insights as comments, should you have also read this book.\n","date":"28 February 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/dhupi-salla-ra-laligurans-ko-fedma-book-talk/","section":"Posts","summary":"Parijat’s Dhupi, Salla ra Laligurans ko Fedma is autoethnography that consists of her life description from her childhood till the point she leaves Darjeeling to Kathmandu.","title":"Dhupi, Salla ra Laligurans ko Fedma by Parijat: A Book Talk","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"22 February 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/activity-based-learning/","section":"Categories","summary":"","title":"Activity-Based Learning","type":"categories"},{"content":"It was nothing special about waking up - just a normal, slow morning. She woke up late as if we have a gentle agreement at home - that clock is irrelevant during the holidays.\nA teenager is mostly away from parents even if they are home. I also acknowledge their wish to remain independent and have non-authorative parents. That morning, while I was preparing a cup of coffee, I found that she had already settled in front of the TV - watching brainrot contents from YouTube. I was raged inside already as a father of flesh and blood - I must say. Being determined to adopt different approach, I went to the balcony and set the mat under the winter morning\u0026rsquo;s sun.\nA bit later, I called her to join me for sunbathing. She did not respond. Hence, as soft objection against her behavior, I used my phone to change the password of WiFi.\nA minute later, she appeared in front of me - smiling.\nWe sat together in the sun. I wanted to converse with a teenager child, with gradual approach. Initially, she was already showing withdrawal signs as she wanted to continue watching the TV. In such situation, the approach would be even more difficult, as I stiffened myself against providing the new password. She slowly shifted her focus from the TV to the real world - the mat, father, plants, the sun, and the winter breeze. Still, she would already be withdrawing from such situation and would ask me to tell her the new password.\nWe conversed about the things that would make her interested or keeping up conversing with the father - till a bit later. I observed that she had frequent peaks on longing to get internet connection to the TV. However, I convinced her to stay away from any form of screen till the lunch.\nAfter the lunch, I proposed a game - treasure hunt!\nMy child seemed eager and interested on it. I told her that I would let her know the new password, only if she is able to get to the \u0026rsquo;treasure\u0026rsquo;. In fact, my plan was to provide the password as the final thing she gets as \u0026rsquo;treasure'.\nI created cues related to various topics such as healthy suggestions to a teenager, personal decency, sleep time for a teenager, self disciplining, healthy food, healthy beverage, and importance of family. The final discovery would be the password iteself. Every cue made her think, contemplate, and keep moving - both physically and mentally.\nShe needed, at some instances, some help to get to another milestone of the treasure hunt. Finally, she made it. It seemed like she already liked it. I heard her saying - \u0026ldquo;I will make little bro play this\u0026rdquo;.\nTo my surprise, I saw her beginning to make an instant treasure hunt - for me to play. At first, I was not ready. Again, I thought that I must be a supportive father. I obeyed her and went to the rooftop so that she could plan it better - preventing me from knowing any hint already.\nLater, she called me. I began the hunt. To her surprise, I completed it in 4 minutes. The \u0026rsquo;treasure\u0026rsquo; was a splendid artwork made by her. It was a peepal leaf skeleton: only the veins remained, delicately colored red.\nI asked her who had taught her this technique.\n“YouTube,” she said.\nThe joy of the trasure hunt — thinking, moving, and creating — had already done its work. Later, during the daytime, she was reading the book, watering the garden, asking questions, and painting - father being at her side.\nI appreciated her artwork. I appreciated her works - more verbally - the treasure hunt. She seemed really content that her father acknowledged her creativity.\nThat day, even after getting the WiFi password, she barely turned to the devices.\nNot because they were forbidden — but because she felt good doing something else. ✍️\n","date":"22 February 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/treasure-hunt-reduces-screen-time/","section":"Posts","summary":"Sometimes, the most effective pedagogy begins not with instruction, but with a simple act: turning off the devices and playing real non-digital games.","title":"Papa Don’t Preach: How a Treasure Hunt Worked Better Than Rules to Reduce Screen Time","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"17 January 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/nepali-poem/","section":"Categories","summary":"","title":"Nepali Poem","type":"categories"},{"content":"वनको डडेलो घरमा नआएसम्म\nहामी\nजीवन, जगत र समाजलाई\nपैसासँग मोलतोल गरिरहन्छौँ।\nहामीलाई\nछिपछिपे माटो हिलो हुन्छ।\nबजारको कचरा खाना हुन्छ।\nघरको कचौरा देखाउन लाज लाग्छ।\nमोटर टल्काउँदा इज्जत बढ्छ।\nहिँडेर टहल्दा लाज लाग्छ।\rबाजेका पालामा\nकलकल पानी\nकान्ला कान्ला खेत गरा कुलो कुलेसो\nआदि इत्यादि गर्दै गर्दै\nएकआपसमा जब्बर र नरम एकै साथ बन्दै\nमाटो मन समाज रसिलो बनाउँथ्यो।\rअहिले\nबारी प्लटिङ गर्नु छ।\nबाटो ढलान गर्नुछ।\nजेसीबी विकास गर्नु छ।\nअनि पानी कहाँ जाने?\nजमिन केले भिजाउने?\nपालुवा कसरी पलाओस?\nसुख्खा\nखण्डहर\nहाम्रो भविष्य! ✍️\r","date":"17 January 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/nepali-poem-vanko-dadelo/","section":"Posts","summary":"With this poem,  I warn humanity against ruthless development projects that disrupt the livelihoods of the people who have been sustaining really well in symbiosis with the nature.","title":"Nepali Poem: वनको डडेलो","type":"posts"},{"content":"\u0026ldquo;It has been quite a productive day, right?\u0026rdquo; sought Musafir, a confirmation from Joseph. The dark-haired French guy nodded without moving his glance from the mystic lake - somehow brightened under the winter night’s gloom. Musafir felt he had been disadvantaged his whole life, never challenged nor supported academically and intellectually in his home environment. He saw a hunger for meaning and a spark of revolt in Joseph, who had been guiding him through the farm\u0026rsquo;s activities - all skillfully and gracefully.\nThe hole in the lake from which they had just emerged from the ice bath looked pitch black; the outside air could have been less than minus eight degrees. Young Joseph and the slightly older Musafir appeared in sync with life and death. Conversing very little, their gestures while sitting on individual chairs outside the sauna, in the enormity of the cold Nordic environment, conveyed a subtle message that the world would be more beautiful if there were no wars.\n\u0026ldquo;Will you come in?\u0026rdquo; asked Joe. Musafir followed into another session of the sauna.\nWelcomed by smiling faces, they found their respective spaces to sit.\n\u0026ldquo;You know, in Finland\u0026rsquo;s sauna, nudity is not indecency; it is the way of presenting our true selves!\u0026rdquo; - the farm owner Pikka broke the silence with a proud and loud accent. Sara confirmed politely, \u0026ldquo;Having stayed in Finland for six months, I am beginning to process it, and moreover, understand it … I mean acknowledge … oh, feel the essence of sauna culture.\u0026rdquo;\nMei, an exchange student from China, asked with enthusiasm, \u0026ldquo;May I ask if we all feel okay having people like me in this room, who come in shorts?\u0026rdquo;\n\u0026ldquo;Of course,\u0026rdquo; said the old farm owner. \u0026ldquo;You know, the world is beautiful with many beliefs and situations. Pardon me if I choose the wrong English word, as I am not a native speaker. But this is how it should work - everybody should be valued and respected. At the end of the day, positively working together is what matters.\u0026rdquo; Suddenly, the old man became the center of gravity in the sauna room.\nRemaining quiet, Musafir reflected on his life - less on the past, more on the present - in juxtaposition with the reality of the sauna and the farm itself. He had fled his hometown because he felt unsafe while pursuing environmental activism. The remnants of his recent experiences were evident on his face. He and his partner, Sara, had just registered their marriage in several departments and embassies before committing to their month-long organic farm volunteering a day earlier. They both looked enthusiastic and open. The only difference was that Sara seemed more verbal and confident in communicating with the group. She sprinkled in some Finnish words and phrases as she seemed eager in learning the Finnish language. At times, the newly married couple would exchange obvious glances, but the social reality kept them in their respective seats, and their gazes had to readjust.\nThe farm owner continued his wisdom delivery. If it were the Vedic era, and they were in or around present-day India, he would be considered a Maharishi.\nReplying to a random query from a young volunteer, the old Pikka said, \u0026ldquo;You know, I am a farmer, an environmental activist, and also a certified life coach.\u0026rdquo; Suddenly, Musafir’s eyes lit up, eager and hopeful. ✍️\nRandom Video Suggestion (Snowfall in Joensuu) # ","date":"13 January 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/laughter-sauna-and-silent-lake/","section":"Posts","summary":"Musafir goes through quite humane and intercultural experience though he felt somehow reluctant to enter the sauna room.","title":"Laughter, Sauna and the Silent Lake","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"13 January 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/short-story/","section":"Categories","summary":"","title":"Short Story","type":"categories"},{"content":"उडान भर्नु छ भने पंख फिजाउ। \u0026ldquo;जन्जिरले बाँधिएको छु म\u0026rdquo; भन्छौ भने जन्जिर काट्न सक्ने हिम्मत जुटाउ।\n\u0026ldquo;जन्जिर निकै बलियो छ\u0026rdquo; भन्छौ भने तिम्रो उद्देश्य के? तिम्रै तागतले फलाम गलाउ।\n\u0026ldquo;म त निकै घाइते छु\u0026rdquo; भन्छौ भने दायाँ बायाँ हेर त! घाइते घाइते मिलेर मलहम लगाउ।\n\u0026ldquo;म त उडिरहेकै छु\u0026rdquo; तिमीलाई त्यस्तो लाग्छ भने जकडिएको उडानमै खुसी छौ भने मेरो भन्नु केही छैन। यति भन्छु कि उडान भर्नेहरूको परिधि हुँदैन।\nजन्जिर काट्न सक्ने हिम्मत जुटाउ। तिम्रै तागतले फलाम गलाउ। घाइते घाइते मिलेर मलहम लगाउ। सोचाइको परिधि हुँदैन। एकफेर आँखा चिम्लेर एकदिन जम्मै घोत्लिएर आफ्ना आगामी उडानको कल्पना गर त! के देख्यौ? एक सुन्दर संसार?\nत्यसैले\nउडान भर्नु छ भने पंख फिजाउ\n","date":"27 November 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/nepali-poem-udaan/","section":"Posts","summary":"With this poem,  I inspire dreamers to initiate free and informed pursuits of self-growth.","title":"Nepali Poem: उडान","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"24 October 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/nature-education/","section":"Categories","summary":"","title":"Nature Education","type":"categories"},{"content":"On the onset of summer of 2025, we got a small rectangular plot of land on an edge of the school\u0026rsquo;s paddy field. The project aimed to get the enthusiasm of the kids to work on something that would make them realize their own agency in reclaiming the natural connection, moreover, the symbiosis of the human and the natural elements.\nSome boys showed interest and joined the club, as it was announced as the \u0026lsquo;School Herbal Gardening Club\u0026rsquo;. The club would work on the herbal garden during the \u0026lsquo;Exploratory Blocks\u0026rsquo; and other needful times as well.\nOn the first day, we worked together to make the soil bed. The boys were not prepared for this. However, since they were voluntarily in, they could not seek other options - at least they did not ask for a change despite the fact that they already showed uneasiness working on the soil. To me, that was really a radical programming for getting hands back to nature, the ones that were used to the flashy dopamine triggers (I mean digital devices). Together, we dug the soil, removed the weeds, and prepared the soil bed for herbal plantations.\nAfter a fortnight, the soil bed was already full of wild weeds. We again had to prepare it on the same day - we planted herbs like culantro, strawberry plants, mint, lemon grass, and we also sowed some seeds of various legumes.\nGradually, the South Asian monsoon began to hit really hard; our herbal garden was waterlogged. The school planted paddy on the other side, which mostly remains tilled with water. I learned that I should do such projects on raised beds with no water-logging.\nConsequently, I had to take the boys to another exploratory project as ours was hampered by the weather (and soil) conditions. If the day was not wet, I would ask the boys to work in some way in the garden - for example, to drain the water off. Despite all odds, culantro and mint survived. Had the herbs grown to some satisfactory extent, I would have asked them to do some pruning.\nOne day, I helped them do individual SWOT analyses of the project that was already started and was almost in limbo. For external factors, I also introduced PESTLE analysis. The boys really showed contemplative capabilities while working on these. As an environmental educator in a country that has removed environmental science/education as a mandatory school subject, I felt that I carry some agency in environmental education.\nI found that the project meant a lot for the boys. One boy had written \u0026ldquo;I think that the future of herbal gardening at (school\u0026rsquo;s name) is good, as the rainy season is ending, but a volleyball court might be built on the garden. But we may get a better place and landscape\u0026rdquo;.\nI think that environmental education and inculcation of enthusiasm in kids should be really working when the \u0026lsquo;home\u0026rsquo; shares enthusiasm and pragmatism in partnerships/communication with the school. One of these boys was found to be conversing about the project with his family. They sent some seeds for the garden (that failed, of course, because of waterlogging) and also expected some saplings of culantro if we could propagate well in the school\u0026rsquo;s herbal garden.\nAs an environmental educator with no \u0026lsquo;hopelessness\u0026rsquo;, I am currently reevaluating and juxtaposing my EE efforts. I do nature education stuffs also with my own kids, who do not study at the same school. While acknowledging that environmentalism should scale up, and should instill extensive reorientations among people\u0026rsquo;s lifestyles/livelihoods and economies in this world, I decided to provide a catchy topic for my blog post - School Herbal Garden of Resilience.\n","date":"24 October 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/school-herbal-garden-of-resilience/","section":"Posts","summary":"Despite being a short-spanned, this project got attention of the school management and made them enthusiastic on having nature education projects at the school.","title":"School Herbal Garden of Resilience","type":"posts"},{"content":"Well, I can not be so much certain about the nutritional guarantee of chayote for most of this squash\u0026rsquo;s content is water. However, reports have been emerging that this backyard (a tree-climber vine) plant species can be considered as viable vegetable source in terms of food security.\nChayote gourd had been a readily available source of food in Nepal. Somehow forgotten, chayote ('Iskus' in Nepali) vine has been standing mighty in my garden. You can see it covering a tree in this picture..\rIn Nepal, we call it Iskus. I have avid memory of my childhood when I had been witnessing women of Kathmandu\u0026rsquo;s fringes who used to get up early in the morning to sell a doko-full (a bamboo-basket that they used to carry on their back) of chayote squashes in the urban areas of Kathmandu. These days, as the urban people have been exploring various other food sources, Iskus is almost getting forgotten. People tempt to ignore this squash also because it is somehow bland in taste.\nHence, I thought that I should write a blog post about Iskus. Particularly, this time we have been harvesting it\u0026rsquo;s delicate shoots and using as green vegetable that can be cooked as a curry. By curry, please do not imagine spicy Indian curry-like outlook. In Nepal, we mostly cook vegetables with minimal adding of spices.\nChayote provides food sources via its main fruit (the squash itself), tender shoots, and its tuberous root. My family is more fancy with its tender shoots and the squash itself. We have not tried its tuber.\nLet me elaborate how we prepare tender chayote shoots before cooking.\nFirst, we wash the harvested shoots. Then we tear the shoot\u0026rsquo;s covering fibers that would be really difficult to be digested by humans. In Nepali we call this process as \u0026lsquo;munta kelaune\u0026rsquo;. Then we wash the outcome once again. Then we cook the tender chayote shoots in small amount of oil, on an open pan in mild heat for considerable amount of time.\nCleaning chayote shoots\rChayote shoots almost cleaned\r","date":"22 September 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/iskus-ko-munta-tender-chayote-shoots/","section":"Posts","summary":"Chayote gourd had been a readily available source of food in Nepal. Somehow forgotten, chayote (‘Iskus’ in Nepali) has been mighty in my garden.","title":"Iskus ko Munta: Tender Chayote Shoots - Vegetable in Abundance","type":"posts"},{"content":"On a random summer day this year, I saw a poster at my neighborhood shop indicating they have it. It was written \u0026ldquo;यहाँ बन सिलाम पाइन्छ।\u0026rdquo; on a plain white paper with black marker - a conventional marketing by Nepalese shops. Initially I did not care much about it. However, later in few days, somebody told me that it has become much popular in Nepal.\nHence, I decided to try it. I went to the shop and asked the shopkeeper about its benefits. He said that it is said to heal the body pain. The price was NRs 1000 per kg. I decided to buy 250 gm. He suggested that I needed to keep the seeds in an air-tight dry container.\nAt home, I washed half spoonful of seeds and kept it in drinking water overnight. In the morning, I saw that the seeds were surrounded by jelly-like balls. I knew that it would happen as I had researched a bit more about it. What next? - I consumed the water with few seeds. I must admit that I could not drink the whole water with seeds because of its taste, or my body's response.\nWhat's next? Perhaps, I could try roasting the seeds and mixing with morning breakfast (muesli and milk).\n","date":"10 August 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/trying-ban-silam-seeds/","section":"Posts","summary":"When it comes to nutritional- and/or health benefits of some random herbs as suggested by social circles, Nepalese people tend to run for it. So did I for ban silam seeds.","title":"I Tried Ban Silam Seeds","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"15 July 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/ai/","section":"Categories","summary":"","title":"AI","type":"categories"},{"content":"When a biology teacher gets a reflection from the students, s/he may not be surprised by them admitting that they struggle drawing and labeling human heart.\nThe webpage of eCampus Ontario has only the picture of the heart of the left side of the screen with the list of heart-chambers, blood vessels, valves and muscular wall on the right side of the screen.\nHere, we can add another dimension to the learning. What we can do is prepare printable sheet with 11 definite hints of the respective components of the heart and make a number of copies according the learners in the classroom.\nOne of the student goes to the PC which is connected to the smartboard, gets one of the 11 hints, read the hint, and then drags and drops the respective component\u0026rsquo;s name to the label-box. Rest of the student confirm whether it is correct or not.\nThis drag-and-drop activity can be used to learn- and reinforce the learning of parts of human heart.\nReference:\nLabel the Human Heart Activity - ecampus Ontario","date":"15 July 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/drawing-and-labeling-human-heart/","section":"Posts","summary":"I have found a digital way of helping them with drawing and labeling the human heart.","title":"Drawing and Labeling Human Heart","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"15 July 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/edtech/","section":"Categories","summary":"","title":"EdTech","type":"categories"},{"content":"","date":"15 July 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/educational-resource/","section":"Categories","summary":"","title":"Educational Resource","type":"categories"},{"content":"\u0026ldquo;Why?\u0026rdquo;\n\u0026ldquo;Why not?\u0026rdquo;\nI think that I can convince one to change her/his mind who would suggest against the value of generative AI for writing student feedback.\nAfter all, we need to save time and give little rest to our body and mind which already has nearly drained almost all energy in the working environment of the 21st century schools.\nThis does not mean that we completely leave the task to the computing devices for we do not want our schools to be fully automated. Do we? I believe that human-to-human exchanges of subjective knowledge, ideas, and ideals shall remain forever in academia and other environments.\nIn the case of writing feedback to our students, we may want to provide key descriptions of our pupils, followed by short suggestions. For this, we can:\ndictate our verbal feedback using the software, followed by using the generative AI tools to rewrite the feedback in the required tone and correct language give draft commentary to generative AI tools so that these can create clear student feedback for us. Once one logs into the system of ChatGPT, Gemini, or other generative AI technologies, the prompt that s/he gives is important for generating the texts. In this article, I share few prompts that I used.\nUsing Dictate Tool and ChatGPT/Gemini for Writing Student Feedback. # These steps are quite organic because they involve in deeper formulation of verbal texts for the students of concern.\nUse dictate tool in Word processing software, or any other software to convert verbal comments into text. Use ChatGPT/Gemini to rewrite those texts for clear language with rework on structure, tone, language etc. When these technologies generate the feedback text, you may publish straightaway or edit a bit beforehand. Some ChatGPT/Gemini prompts for writing student feedback. # Rewrite this student feedback that succinctly provides information on the student\u0026rsquo;s strength (s), weakness (w) and action (a). I am going to publish the same so that parents get a clear message about the ward in subject.\nAngel is a very hard-working student. Apparently, she has been struggling hard in academics, especially in mathematics. She also stays withdrawn when the situation demands expressing and communicating. However, I can suggest that she can make use of other skills and competencies in combination with developing communication skills for getting more confidence.\nRefinement prompts. # While working with generative AI tools, one may want to get refined responses. Some examples of refinement prompts are given below.\nCan you please write in 1 paragraph?\nCan you rewrite the feedback in bullet points?\nRewrite in 3-4 sentences?\nBenefiting from the ocean of generative AI may not do harm if we try to learn the language and presentation while doing it. The key thing not to forget while harnessing the potential of generative AI is keeping the true message, remaining honest with our work and remaining confident by cross checking the outputs.\nI hope that my post provided some value to your reading. I would reiterate that it is humans who thrive in the education industry- educators, students, parents, and the range of professions involved.\n","date":"15 July 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/ai-for-writing-student-feedback/","section":"Posts","summary":"One should not forget to consult relevant assessments to provide real input to AI, for generating feedback in text.","title":"Using AI for Writing Student Feedback","type":"posts"},{"content":"Do you really want to read old Nepali Textbooks? This question came second to me when I was desperately looking to read ‘Ghanashasyako Ukalo Kaatata’ by Dr. Taranath Sharma, past two decades after I transitioned from the 10th grade to upper secondary education.\nIn these two decades, I have become someone who proceeded to transform as an environmental educator. Since then, much have been said and done in ‘Education for Sustainability’ – a global agenda patronising education as the best tool in achieving sustainable development. I hereby move straight into present my argument that using ‘stories’, ‘experiences’ and ‘literature’ based on certain geography would be ‘best utilised’ in the agenda of ‘education for sustainable development’.\n‘Ghanaghasyako Ukalo Kaatata’ is an essay that presents a trip memoir of an educated person who departs from a school in Baitadi to Dadeldhura – a thrilling journey in one of the most remote areas of Nepal.\nWhile reading this masterpiece again many years after my school days, something intrigued me. I realized that this essay provides opportunity for readers to study human geography of far-western hills of Nepal. Words like ‘Gaad’ (meaning river in Far Western Nepali dialect), ‘Patan’ etc. take the reader to imagine the landforms in front of the eyes. The hints of settlement patterns, weather events, the enormity of topographic hardships, the businesses that the people are engaged on are essential elements to the human geography at its best found in the literary forms.\nThe author poured his aesthetic imaginations and abstract thoughts that confront himself when he confronts the outdoor nature at its harshest. He loves ‘Ghanaghasya’ among many natural wonders of Nepal as he establishes that he is nature lover.\u0026nbsp;\nWith faint memories of the good words from the essay, I had decided to search the Grade 9 textbook of my school days to see if its digitally archived. To my surprise, I found out that it was there. Cornell University eCommons has kept many such downloadable textbooks in digital repository.\nI also decided to make a video reciting the literary, more accurately, down-to-earth essay with my thoughts regarding interdisciplinary learning, abstract thoughts, aesthetic imaginations and quality outdoor confrontation- all for EfS (Education for Sustainability).\n","date":"5 January 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/ghanaghasya-ko-ukalo/","section":"Posts","summary":"I was so fancy reciting the travel memoir and uploading in YouTube that those mandated this blog post.","title":"Ghanaghasyako Ukalo Kaatata: Revisiting Dr. Taranath Sharma","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"5 January 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/human-geography/","section":"Categories","summary":"","title":"Human Geography","type":"categories"},{"content":"Do you feel comfortable?\nWhen?\nWhen you wear repaired clothes or shoes and go out?\nErm, I think that others may judge me.\nAs long as you are committed to minimalism and environmental protection, other\u0026rsquo;s judgement just seeing your outfit does not matter. Oh yeah, should they themselves get motivated from your action, you are already a hero in environmental activism.\nI recall a day when my partner suggested me to buy a new pair of shoes as the one (in the picture) had soles separated from the body.\nThings turned to different direction; we first tried to try a mending service!\nAs I have been committing myself for (self-perceived) pro-environmental actions, the outcome of the shoes mending service led me to think again. Yes, I did not buy a new one.\nImagine that your old shoes is a family member. Would you treat them or discard right away?\rWith that decision, I think that there has been multiplier effects. For example, the cobbler got a commissioned job. The damaged shoes did not go to the dumping site. I saved money, and what else?\nWith this blog post, I may inspire few more people if they take time to read this short piece. Look at my mended shoes (in the picture). I believe that they look (somehow) nice!\n","date":"18 December 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/mend-your-shoes-and-become-minimalist/","section":"Posts","summary":"I am content of my actions; I let them choose between trash talking about its look and getting inspired in eco-actions.","title":"Become a minimalist by not throwing an old pair of shoes!","type":"posts"},{"content":"This is really sour!\nOf course, we do not want to consume Oxalis latifolia Kunth (in Nepali: Chari amili/amilo) in bulk. However, life is adventure. We should try this. Eating cleaned leaves, shoot and root of this wild herb provides strong sense of sourness to our buccal cavity. Human nature of exploring and adventures has been key element in human learning for survival and growth.\nDoing nature exploration with kids is one of my strategy of environmental education from a parent's side. In nature, we should really be wary of risks associated with exploration that range from toxicity and allergies to infections and impact injuries. However, as a parent, I have little more leverage than schools in taking decisions for my kids. This is called 'risk taking'; and I love it to teach the same (safety limit is mandatory!) to my kids, be it navigational or sensorial.\nWhen it comes to comsuming Chari amili/amilo, I used my own childhood experience to make my kids savour few shoots of the herb once in a while. When I was a kid, I used to eat the whole herb with other kids. My kids also do not hesitate to eat Chari amili (as we say in our local Nepali dialect) in controlled amounts (they know that eating this in more amount is not safe).\n","date":"18 October 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/chari-amilo-oxalis-latifolia-kunth/","section":"Posts","summary":"When it comes to comsuming Chari amili/amilo, I used my own childhood experience to make my kids savour few shoots of the herb once in a while.","title":"My kids love Oxalis latifolia Kunth","type":"posts"},{"content":"Few years back, I was surprised to see a wild climber which had been expanding over the trees in my backyard had some potato-like growth on its shoots. While I was new to the farmhouse to settle for good, I did not know what this species was. While it was apparently similar to the yam plant, villagers suggested me that they call this wonder tuber gittha (गिट्ठा) and they would usually cook it than waste it.\nGittha: the air potatoes are finally welcomed in our kitchen.\rInitially, I ignored them. Over the years, we as a family have been emerging as organic activists. Hence, this year, we decided to try this and integrate the same with our movement. It took us almost 5 years to accept this wild aerial tuber as something that can be welcomed to our kitchen.\nWe did not decide out of blue. In fact, we cooked these tubers also because we ran out of potatoes in the house.\nLook at the leaves of air potato; these look like those of yam plant.\rRegarding toxicity of air potato # I have read many authentic articles regarding toxicity of air potato. Hence, we do not encourage valued readers go after this plant without learning details about it. One needs to learn about the toxic species, toxic parts, methods to remove the toxicity, and so on. In our case, we consumed the aerial tuber of this plant by peeling off the tuber skin, and a bit deeper; and properly cooking it. We do not avidly consume it; for instance 3-4 times a year, with significant gap between each instance.\nAs we used this as an alternative to potato, one can assume that we could have mixed this with another vegetable. Of course, we cooked this along with green amaranth leaves!\nAfter a self-fulfilling perception of having a healthy morning meal, I thought of putting our (my family\u0026rsquo;s) action in one of the corners of global food scenario.\nWhy is gittha (गिट्ठा) called air potato in English? # I assume that the name holds true. The tuber looks like potato and it grows aerially attached to the expanding shoots of this specific climber plant.\nAir Potato is a wild climber that can be used as credible food source.\rWe know that we are feeble in production capacity so that we could sustain our food sources with locally grown/produced and organic stuffs. However, our action can prove to pose an alternative thought pattern in the space and time fluidity that has been evident with consumerism, mass media, social media, algorithms, accelerated climate change and all that lie in the spectrum of wicked problems of the world.\n","date":"30 September 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/cooking-air-potato/","section":"Posts","summary":"Our grandparents ate this, why can’t we? - said my mom. While trying the aerial tuber of this climber, I parallelly researched more about it and found that some varieties are toxic!","title":"We cooked air potato!","type":"posts"},{"content":"This activity is designed to teach collaboration skills to youth aged 12 and older. This activity is an adapted form of IMYC entry-point activity for the theme \u0026lsquo;collaboration\u0026rsquo; (see reference below).\nFeatures # peer learning reinforcement of metacognitive skills linking the theory with practice make learners active and engaged elevation of the confidence of learners mutual respect and tolerance collaboration respect to diversity enhancing locus of control Preparation # The learners make a large human circle in the activity room. If there are 25 learners, each learner chants a number serially, starting from 1. In this case, eight groups will be formed. Hence, once the third student chants 3, the next starts with 1.\nIn such a way, eight groups are formed. One group will have 4 members while the rest will have 3 members each. Each group will decide on an appealing \u0026rsquo;team name\u0026rsquo; and make a placard mentioning their own group\u0026rsquo;s name.\nEach group goes on a \u0026lsquo;scavenger hunt\u0026rsquo; to find the task cards hidden somewhere around the premises of the activity. The groups will report the task they find to the facilitator. Additionally, they can seek guidance should they have any confusion regarding the task.\nTask 1 # Use a camera and pose for a group selfie and \u0026ldquo;look inquisitive and interactive in the garden\u0026rdquo;.\nTask 2 # Use a camera and pose for a group selfie and \u0026ldquo;look actively working together in a group project\u0026rdquo;.\nTask 3 # Rearrange these letters to make a sensible sentence.\ne e w c r a\rHINT: Yes, a sentence!\rTask 4 # Task 4 Collect one word from each member of your group that would mean \u0026ldquo;working together\u0026rdquo;. Examples are also permitted.\nHINT: You are expected to correct each other when you feel like the input does not meet the expectation of the task. If there is an objection, just include the input from that team member.\nTask 5 # Arrange these cards to make a sensible presentation: because we am Ubuntu: I are\nTask 6 # Discuss together and separate \u0026ldquo;desirable habits\u0026rdquo; and undesirable habits\u0026quot;.\nTake a free ride while others work hard in a group project. Learn from one another. Divide the tasks. Put effort into the task. Work in the 11th hour. Task 7 # Prepare a mind map on the word \u0026ldquo;peers\u0026rdquo;.\nTask 8 # Rearrange these letters to make a sensible word. o r g e t t h e\nAfter the groups perform the eight tasks, they creatively present their tasks and outcomes. Finally, all the participants again sit together (in a human circle) for a moderated discussion. The facilitator moderates a discussion session, focusing on the key issues of \u0026lsquo;collaboration\u0026rsquo;. The ideas range from the expectations and realities of group situations to the philosophical underpinning of group ethos.\nReference: https://internationalcurriculum.com/international-curriculum/middle-years\n","date":"3 August 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/group-activity-collaboration-skills/","section":"Posts","summary":"I have been so enthusiastic about IMYC Experiences that I weblog one of those.","title":"Group Activity for Teaching Collaboration Skills","type":"posts"},{"content":"From South America, perhaps not straight to Nepal; this wonder herb has failed to win my heart (I am saying this with 50 percent honesty with the words I choose, yet I stick with my choice). I am sorry Pepino; you do not taste sweet, sour, or anything good.\nHowever, Pepino melon has added itself to the list of my organic gardening. A small twig of it was gifted to me by one of my old friends who also runs a nursery. Then, I was unaware of the sheer volume of the bush it grows into, and the amount of fruit it yields in a season.\nIt almost died last year when we did not take care of its bush. Around the same time of its potential death, I accidentally watched a video on social media where a rooftop farmer in Kathmandu was seen mentioning the pros of eating the fruit it yields. He said that pepino melon has a beneficial role in the health of an individual in various ways.\nI then transplanted a few twigs of the almost-dying plant into a new place. Magic followed; each twig grew into glossy and juicy bush as I watered the new plantation daily and prevented water logging at the same time.\nI am still not sure whether it is valuable to write a blog post for this fruit with no taste. However, one can have something as a fruit to eat when s/he plants this herb on the garden, kitchen garden, growing pot, or what else?\n##Pepino Melon in Nepali Few Nepali speaking agro scientists call it Pepino Tarbuja (पेपिनो तर्बुजा); while rest simply call it pepino melon.\n","date":"9 July 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/south-american-pepino-nepal/","section":"Posts","summary":"It is all about sharing and caring: I got a branch of pepino melon plant from a friend and have been sharing the overgrown twigs to enthusiastic gardeners.","title":"South American Pepino Growing on my Nepali Garden","type":"posts"},{"content":"Nature activities help kids to connect with nature. They will embrace all the tangibles and intangibles that nature can offer to them. While they do nature activities they spend quality time with people around them which helps in their well-being - physically, mentally, socially, and emotionally.\nIn this article, I am listing the nature activities that I do with my own kids. Hence, I will be updating this article time and again.\nForaging the edibles # Got a lawn where wild and edible herbs grow? Or, have you ever wondered that forests can truly be sources of food for the family of the 21st century? Collecting plants and edibles for food projects can be fun and a good learning oportunity. As humankind has been struggling with climate change and global food crisis, this activity positions as exemplary of teaching resilience to the young citizens.\nBerry-picking and mushroom foraging are most common examples of such activities.\nI collect pods of common vetch (Kutuli Kosa in Nepali) with my kids when it is a sunny afternoon during the winter. Our family also collects Lambs Quarters (Bethe ko Saag in Nepali) to consume as curry. Another wild herb that we try is Oxalis latifolia Kunth (Chari Amili/Amilo in Nepali) which grows wildly in our backyard.\nSupervised free-play # If you have time and commitment to look after free-playing kids, this is another important thing to do in the nature. Sometimes do not like to be directed or guided. They want to do some free-play. This helps in enhancing their their social skills (role-play and negotiation skills), and other abstract skills (imagination). They will also become risk-takers, and experimentors during the free-play.\nNature-based artwork # Kids can spend hours making artwork from the physical elements found in the nature. They can make many kinds of things using twigs, stones, and even the petals fo the flowers as part of their decorative artwork project. What about painting the rock?\nSuch art-work based on natural elements helps kids to develop a bond with nature.\nI believe that this helps in enriching their imagination skills, and emotional skills (affection and appreciation).\nGrowing the plants from the seeds # I have worked together with my kids in growing varius types fo plants. The plants range from tree to herbs. This helps in cognitive enrichment of the little kids. They learn many things while they grow plants from the seeds. For example, they learn abnout the criteria of the suitable seed, optimal condition for seed growing, best season for the seed growing, and so on. This will also increase their locus of control as they begin to witness the outcome of the work they have done.\nPhysical Activity # There are various outdoor physical activities that one does for one\u0026rsquo;s own fitness. These activities also establish a bond with nature.\nHiking helps kids in shaping their physical capacity to explore the nature. They will appreciate the nature, and the company of people for nature-based activity. Outdoor gym is also another such opportunity.\nWhat about supervised swimming with the safety backup? This helps in exploring the nature in vertical dimension. Another element of nature (bulk of water) is added to one\u0026rsquo;s nature experience. Swimming also helps in preparing one to add to nuances of skills in living with nature.\nHome gardening # Got a home-garden? Your kids will enjoy doing things with you. You may have dead parts of the plants that need to be pruned. You may also need to mix soil with the vermicompost that you have just brought in. What about watering the growing herbs? Composting the kitchen waste in the premises of home-garden can also be part of the process.\nOr perhaps, they can just pluck the leaves of culantro for the delicacy.\nHome-gardening with kids gives them a greater locus of control and helps in enrichment of gardening skills.\nThey will understand the wide empire of plant-and animal life in the garden. Not just the names of the flora and fauna, they will also understand the life processes of the same. Doing things in the home garden, they also find a purpose of engaging in life. At least, they should hate remaining idle and doing nothing.\nLitter Collection # Your backyard may not offer big area for litter collection. You may involve your kids to do volunteering in cleaning your neighbourhood. Doing so, they connect well with nature and feel a sense of responsibility towards nature and society in general. They also realize their agency in nature restoration.\n","date":"18 June 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/nature-activities-kids/","section":"Posts","summary":"With this blog post, you may get ideas of some pragmatic nature activities that can be done with kids.","title":"Nature Activities for Kids","type":"posts"},{"content":"Nepali Kade Dhaniya - Eryngium foetidum L. (Kaade Dhaniya, Ban Dhaniya, Burmeli Dhaniya) is not Nepali by origin. It is said to have spread throughout the world from the Americas and the Caribbean.\nOne of my neighbors gifted me with a new kind of herb with a pleasant aroma in 2019. The smell was similar to that of cilantro (coriander). I planted it on the poly bag of my rooftop garden. Rest is history; I now have almost become an activist in spreading culantro throughout my circle of the organic movement.\nInitially, I did not intentionally expand the plant by vegetative propagation or by seeds. I did not observe any significant root system development so that I could perform a vegetative propagation. Yet, I found its young sprouts here and there in my garden. I have been giving off those sprouts to my acquaintances. I am close to the conclusion (after reading educational resources) that this random propagation has been because of the natural spreading of small seeds that formed on the mature plants.\nIt was only during the summer of 2024, that I sowed the proper seeds of culantro, got saplings grown, and distributed amongst my colleagues, neighbours, and relatives.\nSince it pops out as a wild herb here and there, I realized why some people in Nepal call it Ban Dhaniya which means \u0026lsquo;wild cilantro\u0026rsquo;.\nLike a normal salad of coriander and smashed tomato, I experimented replacing the coriander with this culantro. Putting it simple, I ground together tomatoes, a little salt, turmeric powder, 2 grains of Sichuan pepper, small bit of red chili, and leaves of cilantro.\nIf you are a Nepali and unaware of this herb, you might be interested in trying out Golbheda ra Kade Dhaniya ko Achar (salad of tomatoes and culantro).\nI have determined to continue raising, caring for, and propagating this wonder herb. Nepali Kade Dhaniya rocks!\n","date":"8 June 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/nepali-kade-dhaniya-culantro/","section":"Posts","summary":"Culantro has already been localized with Nepali names (Kade Dhaniya, Ban Dhaniya, and so on) though it is believed to originate in the Americas.","title":"Nepali Kade Dhaniya (Culantro)","type":"posts"},{"content":"In this segment, I attempt to list the remarkable literary and academic books that I have read. The book that I am currently reading is indicated by an emoji - 📖.\nएब्स्ट्र्याक्ट चिन्तन प्याज - शङ्कर लामिछाने Animal Farm - George Orwell धुपी, सल्ला र लालीगुराँसको फेदमा - पारिजात डोरबहादुर बिष्टका कथाहरू - डोरबहादुर बिष्ट (Himal Books) चम्पा - लक्ष्मीप्रसाद देवकोटा Fatalism and Development - Dor Bahadur Bista घामकिरी - नयनराज पाण्डे Manu (Rigvedic Social Novel) - Dr. Devi Prasad Subedi रुदाने - टंक चौलागाईं Shirishko Phool (Novel) - Vishnu Kumari Waiba (Parijat) Siddhartha (Novel) - Hermann Hesse The Old Man and The Sea - Ernest Hemingway Volgadekhi Gangasamma - Nepali translation by Hemraj Adhikari (Original Book: Volga Se Ganga by Rahul Sankrityayan) Khusi - Vijaya Kumar लाहुरेको रेलिमाई - विजय हितान Nexus - Yuval Noah Harari 📖 ","date":"9 April 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/my-bookshelf/","section":"Dipesh Dulal's Blog","summary":"A quiet dialogue between books and the self.","title":"My Bookshelf","type":"page"},{"content":"","date":"3 April 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/alternative-schooling/","section":"Categories","summary":"","title":"Alternative Schooling","type":"categories"},{"content":"In this part of the world (Nepal), we mostly hear about \u0026lsquo;home tuition\u0026rsquo; which mostly involves an adult (with- or without a degree in pedagogy) teaching the pupil(s) in the comfort of the home. Basically, the home of the pupil(s) is used as a tutoring place.\nHowever, in some cases, the pupil may visit the home of the tutor which is mostly located in a nearby area.\nThe homeschool tutor may not have expertise in all subjects. In some cases, they may need to self-learn relevant topics before guiding a student.\nIn this part of the world, a home tuition tutor is basically paid by the parents/caretakers. If a parent/caretaker teaches the ward at home, s/he may not be remunerated by the public authorities. And, home tuition is not popularly considered as an alternative school in Nepal. It is taken as extra classes, or mostly, support classes.\nIn this article, I am going to discuss the positive sides of \u0026lsquo;home tuition\u0026rsquo; (based on my experience/observation in the Nepalese context) which can also be related elsewhere.\nHome Tuition: Making Use of Talent in the Proximity # In Nepal, the social networks of the local school and community come as the first priority when one wishes to recruit a home tutor.\nDoing so, the local talent (mostly a young adult) gets some employment. Furthermore, home tuition helps in maintaining social capital (relations, value, respect, exchanges of labor and money).\nIn the context of socially embedded localities, monetary exchange may not be made against home tuition as a part-time job. Rather, the young members of the society are mostly seen volunteering to help the wards in the neighborhood. In such cases, the social relations have various interbinding nuances; for example, social bonds, non-monetary reciprocity of labor and local products, kinship, and spatial essentialism (willingness to help every individual of the locality be a competent citizen).\n","date":"3 April 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/home-tuition-nepal/","section":"Posts","summary":"I may not engage in discussion on American homeschooling here. However, I had a pragmatic experience of homeschooling when I taught one of my kids at home (during the COVID-19 pandemic).","title":"Home Tuition: Harnessing the Potential of Intellectual Social Capital","type":"posts"},{"content":"Before writing this article, a question really hit me: How many parents of school age kids will really read my article? While it may depend on the search volume and ranking of this article in search engines, the key theme of this article is about engaging adults (parents/caretakers) and children in home activity of cultural zigsaw puzzle so that the young ones develop well in many aspects in their walks of life- physically, mentally, emotionally, socially, and artistically.\nAnother question overlaps with the main question. One might ask - \u0026ldquo;parenting education? who provides?\u0026rdquo;. To answer the question, we should not be smart enough to specify the agencies or institutions, but dumb enough to say that parenting education is the overall outcome of real-life situations when the parents learn to do something creative or well expected for better outcomes of their kids. They can learn while talking with other parents, talking with a school teacher, from own life experiences, talking with school/locality nurses (wait, do we really have school/locality nurse in the developing world?), discussing with counselors and so on.\nWe should not limit ourselves to get parenting education from conventional agencies and institutions. A private sector can come up with innovative ideas. Researchers on child psychology, child development and cognitive neuroscience can be more funded by private agencies, government agencies and academic research centers. We could read the outcomes from them as publications that might come up in a local newspaper or national daily.\nSimilar thing happened to me, rather differently. I was exploring a national level classifieds website where these entrepreneurs who call themselves Gaju Products had posted an advert that drew my interest. It was about the culture jigsaw puzzles for school age kids which is made in Nepal and included the pictures of Lakhe (a demi god of the Newari folklore of Nepal), Swayambhunath Stupa, Nyatapole, and Krishna Mandir. I immediately decided to get those for my kids and ordered a pack of 4 puzzles. My kids loved it to the moon and back.\nFor our parents-kids activity, these cultural zigsaw puzzles came in a 4-set box.\rThe advantages of getting kids involved in solving such puzzles, as explained in South Mountain Memory Care are: exercising left brain and right brain simultaneously, improving short-term memory, improving visual-spatial reasoning, connecting with family and friends, being attentive towards accomplishment and quality time-passing. Moreover, the visual content in the puzzles help in enhancing detailed knowledge of the visible outlook of any kind of object. It can have cultural, natural or any kind of significance.\n","date":"16 February 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/jigsaw-puzzle-for-kids/","section":"Posts","summary":"Playing indoor games or engaging in mental activities with the kids are not just opportunities of cognitive engagement. These also help in social-, emotional- and other domains of learning.","title":"Jigsaw Puzzle with Kids: Opportunity for Intellectual and Social Skills Development","type":"posts"},{"content":"Being an avid enthusiast of \u0026lsquo;reading culture\u0026rsquo; and \u0026lsquo;spaces for reading\u0026rsquo;, it made me more than exalted when I encountered Sajha Publication Showroom at Bhrikutimandap in 2019.\nWell, you might welcome a thought here - \u0026ldquo;This person must be flaunting of himself\u0026rdquo;\u0026quot;. To be honest, I must reply- \u0026ldquo;Yes\u0026rdquo;! I also add that I write to encourage the general populace of Nepal, a country which apparently has a pathetic reading culture given that we have close to 30 million people.\nWe must acknowledge that we do not have ample reading spaces in our cities, towns and villages. I believe that physical reading spaces can be foundation of \u0026lsquo;reading space\u0026rsquo; in abstract terms. Eventually, this can help in development and evolution of \u0026lsquo;intellectual space\u0026rsquo; in Nepal.\nSaying so, I am not pessimistic on this arena. I have seen spaces like Keshar Mahal library and the likes. Adding to my optimism, I have seen a billboard displaying the upcoming building of National Library at Jamal as well.\nAnd this Sajha Publication Showroom, though may not be a physical reading space, added to my hope because of the selection of Nepali literary works books published by Sajha Publications.\nSajha Publication Shorwoom that lies in the premises of Campus of International Languages (Vishwa Bhaasha Campus), Tribhuvan University, Exhibition Road, Kathmandu. Popularly, this area is also called Bhrikutimandap area.\rI decided that I should, at least, try to invoke a reading culture at my home. Hence, whenever I visit the city, I buy books written in Nepali language from this outlet.\nThis showroom also features few books written in English language. However, Sajha Prakashan (Sajha Publication) has been an exclusive worshipper of Nepali language and literature.\nDespite the fact that Nepali is my mother tongue, I have always remained weak at Nepali grammar. Nevertheless, I admire the Nepali language and literature. I feel the rootedness, smell the nation and expect the eternal nationhood with Nepali literature.\nSo far, I have been completely satisfied with the reading selections that I have brought home. Sajha Publication features written works of Lakshmi Prasad Devkota and B.P. Koirala, among many. I mostly buy children\u0026rsquo;s books and few selections from myself as well.\nI am a proud parent who reads and has motivated kids to read Nepali literary works.\r","date":"11 February 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/sajha-publication-outlet/","section":"Posts","summary":"Sajha Publication Showoom lies in the premises of Campus of International Languages, Exhibition Road, Kathmandu.","title":"Quenching the (Reading) Thirst with this Sajha Publication Outlet","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"11 February 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/reading/","section":"Categories","summary":"","title":"Reading","type":"categories"},{"content":"Let me put a disclaimer here: Common vetch (Vicia augustifolia L.) has many local variants of nomenclature in Nepal. I call it \u0026lsquo;Kutuli Kosa\u0026rsquo; as I have heard the same from my elders and in the popular media.\nI could not stop myself from taking the picture of blooming common vetch.\rI have also heard people calling this herb Kutil Kosa, Kutul Kosa, Kutali Kosa, Nakata, Akra, and Putali Kosa, among many local variants of nomenclature. Since Nepal is a multiethnic country with many languages, it definitely has more names.\nHowever, In English, this beautiful wild herb is called \u0026lsquo;common vetch\u0026rsquo;. I was particularly interested in the English name for \u0026lsquo;Kutuli Kosa\u0026rsquo;; and had to work a bit harder to find it.\nWhen it comes to my outdoor nature activity for kids, I usually venture together with them around the locality. Since this herb is distributed widely across Nepal and the world, you may also try such experience with family, or during school outdoor projects.\nI try to stop myself picking these grow-bag Kutil Kosa pods (though these grew without sowing the seeds) for my kids love these more than I do.\rWith this herb, and especially the pod that contains tiny pea-like seeds, I have enormous memories of my childhood. I used to collect the mature pods with my friends in the open field and eat the seeds. Children would be more than eager to listen to the childhood stories of adults.\nKutuli Kosa may not fulfill you when you are hungry, for its small size. You may spend hours collecting the pods if you are determined to collect as many as you can in your time. However, the foraging process of \u0026lsquo;Kutil Kosa\u0026rsquo; can be a good outdoor experience with your family and friends.\n","date":"7 February 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/kutil-kosa-common-vetch/","section":"Posts","summary":"I have good memory of my childhood when we kids used to collect pods of common vetch popularly called as Kutuli Kosa (or Kutil Kosa) in Nepali. I (somehow) reproduced the same experience with my kids.","title":"Collecting Common Vetch Pods (Kutuli Kosa): Outdoor Nature Activity with Kids","type":"posts"},{"content":"Earlier this week, one of my kids found a word search grid on the back pages of a notebook. We then decided to play a game together.\nIn fact, it was not a competitive game. Rather, we used a cooperative approach.\nAll we had to do is find a word (at a time) by looking at the grid. We were not allowed to cover the page with finger or anything.\nTo be honest, it turned out to be quite competitive because one would be super pompous if s/he finds the given word at the earliest (sooner than others)!\nThe joy of the trasure hunt — thinking, moving, and creating — had already done its work. Later, during the daytime, she was reading the book, watering the garden, asking questions, and painting - father being at her side.\nI appreciated her artwork. I appreciated her works - more verbally - the treasure hunt. She seemed really content that her father acknowledged her creativity.\nThat day, even after getting the WiFi password, she barely turned to the devices.\nNot because they were forbidden — but because she felt good doing something else. ✍️\n","date":"7 February 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/word-search-grid-parenting/","section":"Posts","summary":"Sit next to your kid for word search grid, your bond matters most in life!","title":"Word Search Grid: Spending Quality (and Quantity) Time with Kids","type":"posts"},{"content":"I have been collecting Lamb\u0026rsquo;s Quarters (in Nepali: Bethe ko Sag) to cook as a one-off curry for my family dinner. Though it tastes quite strong, this wild herb can add vital nutrients to your Nepali-style meal.\n'Bethe ko Sag' flourishes in perfect symbiosis with wheat cultivation.\rCollecting \u0026lsquo;Bethe ko Sag\u0026rsquo; has been an outdoor nature activity of my family during and after the winter. Kids love it to the moon and back.\nI usually cook 'Bethe ko Sag' as I do with normal Nepali spinach curry.\rDoing things together out in nature, we (as adults with life-sized experiences) share our childhood memories which turn out to be valuable to the younger ones. It is quite a good socializing (and learning) opportunity for people of all ages. This activity also instills awareness of climate resilience with alternative food sources.\nThe embodied experience of venturing out, appreciating nature and natural elements (including this herb), doing things together with adults and other kids, cooking, and eating (this wild herb) enrich the learning experiences of the younger ones.\nThe open spaces in the neighborhood are gradually vanishing to the expanding built-up areas. Otherwise, one can find abundant Lamb\u0026rsquo;s Quarters, growing wild in their localities in Nepal and diaspora.\n","date":"29 January 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/bethe-ko-sag-lambs-quarters/","section":"Posts","summary":"Bethe ko Sag (Lamb’s Quarters) can be promising alternative food for the world while Nepalese have been cooking it since eternity.","title":"We collect Lamb's Quarters (Bethe ko Sag)","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"5 January 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/informal-learning/","section":"Categories","summary":"","title":"Informal Learning","type":"categories"},{"content":"I come from a country where the pedagogical ecosystem is basically centered on authoritative textbooks. Whatever the textbooks contain, the teachers and students tend to follow, processing the content per se.\nNepal is also said to be a country with general incompetence of the school system (and those of the institutions of higher education) in terms of quality education. Basically, schools in Nepal are characterized by a lack of critical pedagogy and a shortage of cross-curricular experiences that would encourage teaching-learning experiences beyond the classroom walls.\nOne of the working solutions for addressing these problems can be reorienting teacher education (and consecutively, the pedagogical landscape) that promotes dynamism and transformative potential in each individual stakeholder, be it a curriculum developer, teacher, learner, or guardian.\nIn essence, teachers and school managers could start the transformative journey by being highly open, proactive, organized, and engaging in implementing cross-curricular, resourceful, and multi-stakeholder learning experiences for the school students.\nThe learner should be provided enough chances to navigate between formal education, non-formal education, and informal learning opportunities. Museum visits can be one of the most influential \u0026lsquo;informal learning\u0026rsquo; opportunities for learners.\nMuseums themselves can work in collaboration with the schools, local government, and other agencies to make a learning environment (space) on their premises. Museums can be perfect places for learning various disciplines, especially history, science, and geography.\nWhat did I see at Changu Museum? # Initially, I wrote this article just to show the medieval science carried by one of the artifacts at the Changu Museum. Later, while updating this article, I reckon that museums can be fluid spaces of interdisciplinary learning, and interplay of formal education, non-formal education, and informal learning.\nJust before we entered the square of the Changu Narayan temple, we saw \u0026lsquo;Changu Museum\u0026rsquo; managed by local people. Exploring the museum, we realized that it makes one aware of factual information about ancient and medieval Nepal.\nA picture that I have posted here is all about the \u0026lsquo;science\u0026rsquo; in it. I forgot when was such balance used in Nepal, but I saw a principle of lever here:\nLoad x Load Distance = Effort x Effort Distance\nThe plate can be considered as a load in which food stuffs can be measured against the effort (the woody mass on another end). If more mass had to be measured, the plate\u0026rsquo;s end would be slid toward the string (fulcrum) that hangs the lever.\nThis signifies that medieval Nepal had science in it; which can still be studied as many of those articles and monuments have been conserved well. Learning science through ancient articles and monuments can be another idea in project-based learning.\nUPDATE: I came across several of information from different sources later. This balance is called \u0026rsquo;tulo\u0026rsquo; (तुलो) in Nepali language and is still being used in some places of Nepal for weighing meat to sell in the community after slaughtering the animal locally.\n","date":"5 January 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/informal-learning-museum/","section":"Posts","summary":"The idea of informal learning with a museum came to my mind when our school group visited Changu Narayan temple premises (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) located in the eastern Hills of Bhaktapur District, Nepal in the Spring of 2013.","title":"Informal Learning with Museum","type":"posts"},{"content":"Many places in Nepal have Naag ko (S)Than. Naag is the snake god. Every snake is considered a god in Nepal, and no one should kill a snake. Naag ko S(Than) means place of snake- home of snakes. One should not mess up with a snake’s home.\nWhen one uses a bridge over the river, they chant Vishnu Vishnu. Vishnu is one of the trinities in Hindu religion.\nMany Nepalese worship Kul Devata. These deities are the origins of the patrilineages. Nepalese also summon vaayu (ancestral spirits who left their physical body at no age) in their own bodies during special ceremonies.\nIn Newari culture, they have been continuing the stories, dance, music, Jatras (parades of Gods, Goddesses, and other supernaturals), and other traditions. You might be surprised that places where Newars live have a significant number of temples of Devis, Ganeshas, and other Hindu deities.\nThe months of Shrawan and Bhadra are Fupu-Bhadai (paternal aunt – a woman’s brother’s daughter). These months fall during the peak summer monsoon and the end of the same. While the month of Shrawan is the paternal aunt, the month of Bhadra is the niece. The common saying is that when Shrawan ends and Bhadra starts, there is intense rain (symbolic of emotional crying).\nThe month of Shrawan is also considered lord Shiva’s month. A special month when women commit themselves to religious devotion expecting good health of husbands and children.\nMost Nepalese offer honorary food to Vaayu and Kul Devata when something special is made in their kitchens. Every year, they perform Shraddha as homage and food to a deceased parent, or grandparent (Pitri). The lunar day of death of the deceased parent or grandparent is noted so that Shraddha can be performed on the same day, every year. If a child who has survived some years dies, Shraddha is done by the parent every year. Shraddhas are done by members of patrilineages. A married daughter joins the patrilineage of her husband when she leaves her patrilineage.\nTime has 4 yugas in Hindu religion- Satya, Treta, Dwapar, and Kali. We are currently living in Kali Yuga. This is meant to end with destruction.\nNepalese believe in extraterrestrials. The spirits and the gods are believed to stay ET, yet put an eye on the mortal world. They believe in the voyage from land to Satya Loka– meaning extraterrestrial space; and the reverse.\n","date":"26 October 2023","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/mysticism-in-nepal/","section":"Posts","summary":"Mysticism in Nepal is expressed at the fronts of nature, mortals, supernatural, extraterrestrial, space, and time.","title":"Mysticism in Nepal","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"25 October 2023","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/hiking/","section":"Categories","summary":"","title":"Hiking","type":"categories"},{"content":"Jamacho peak, the top of the Nagarjun hill (a segment of Shivapuri-Nagarjun National Park) has remained a significant religious site for Hindus and Buddhists of Kathmandu valley. The peak has now become an attractive spot for hikers.\nHiking up to Jamacho peak and down is around 5 hours trip. All you need is to have the readiness to wake up early in the morning with a few essentials and reach Fulbari Gate, the entrance to the Jamajho Gumba.\nOne fine morning, I accompanied my nephew for my first Jamacho experience. In his case, it was his 5th ascend to the top of the hill.\nHow to go to Jamacho hike? # In our case, we met together at Machhapokhari Chowk (bus stop about 200m West from the new buspark). From there, we walked along a road leading northwest up to Fulbari Gate which is located at the base of the Nagarjun hill.\nFulbari Gate: beginning point of Jamacho hiking. You can see a road and hiking stairs, parting their leads, and agreeing to meet again up at the peak!\rRequirements # In our case, we bought some snacks and sweets at Macchapokhari. I had brought water from home, so we did not need to buy water in the bottle. You may need some snacks to eat. Water is essential.\nBest clothing may include a pair of hiking shoes, inners, trousers, a middle layer for the upper body, and an outer layer (wind/waterproof). A walking stick helps in maintaining the balance of the body during hiking.\nIf you think that Nepali sweets (like Jeri) are a bit more inappropriate, some lozenges of orange ball candy can be an alternative for quick energy.\nShivapuri Nagarjun National Park (NP) Regulations for Hikers # Arrive early, because NP authorities and security personnel suggest you leave the NP area by 5 pm. The entrance fees are different for various groups: students, Nepali nationals, SAARC countries nationals, and foreign nationals.\nWe saw such seeds along the trail. NP regulations prevent one from doing anything with plants and animals there.\rYour presence along with names will be registered at various points- mostly at the entrance of the hiking trail, and at the midpoint of the same trail. Please do not forget your valid ID. Otherwise, your attempt to ascend up to the Jamacho Gumba may go in vain.\nJamacho Trail # Actually, the motorable road can lead one up to the Nagarjun Peak. However, there is an allotted trail for hiking. One must adhere to the trail. Otherwise, s/he may risk the biodiversity, and/or expose to the dangers of the wilderness.\nOn the day of Buddha Jayanti, the pilgrims make a spectacular caravan en route to Jamacho Peak.\nThe Top! # Nagarjun Peak is a must-go place in Kathmandu if you are a hiker. From there, you can see the breathtaking span of the Himalayan range. You can also see Kathmandu Valley from above!\nThere is a viewtower for the purpose.\nJamacho peak viewtower\rAs a must-do hiking routine, we clicked pictures of our fulfilled (and fun-filled) faces while enjoying the \u0026lsquo;view\u0026rsquo;.\nView of snow-capped mountains from Jamacho (Nagarjun) peak\rRandom Video Suggestion: Pristine Water Tapped (meanwhile during a hiking) # ","date":"25 October 2023","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/jamacho-gumba-hiking/","section":"Posts","summary":"Jamacho on the top of the Nagarjun hill, has remained a sacred spot for Buddhist and Hindu pilgrims. Lately, it is emerging as a popular hiking spot.","title":"Jamacho Gumba Hiking","type":"posts"},{"content":"","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/authors/","section":"Authors","summary":"","title":"Authors","type":"authors"},{"content":"","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/series/","section":"Series","summary":"","title":"Series","type":"series"},{"content":"","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Tags","type":"tags"}]