VALENTINES BETTER THAN A PERSON

So the much awaited, much hyped Valentine's Day is finally here. 

Everywhere I see reds, red roses, red teddy bears, big red Valentine's Day special edition "I Love You" cards, couples walking arm in arm, surprisingly, dressed in red. From a young budding teenage love to couples celebrating their 50 or so years of togetherness, everyone seems to be busy with their better halves, going on dates and spending the day together, updating their relationship status on facebook, instagramming love quotes, tweeting about how lucky they are to have someone so important to make their lives a better place. 

We also have some friends and family members gifting their friends and family members chocolates and what not because love is not limited between husband and wife or girlfriend and boyfriend. 

Then there are the singles, either turning a blind eye to everything that's going around Like A Boss, criticizing Valentine's Day and spreading it's un-importance, stating their 'Foreveralone'ness. And lastly, the popularly increasing group of, wait-for-it, the "I am in love with myself for there is no one as awesome as me" people.

And somewhere far below at the bottom of the list just about to get picked out of the page entirely, there's me, writing a blog post about my better halves way better than a person.

1. BOOKS

If I were to get stranded on a deserted island, I'm the type that would choose books over a person's company any day. In fact, I don't need to get stranded anywhere, given the choice I'll be choosing books over people right now. I always have this strange sense of happiness running inside me when I see someone reading a book in public transport, in cafes, by the roadside.
Write it down, someday us bookworms are going to rule the world, after we finish this one more book.

2. FOOD

What can I say about food? Even if I write an entire novel about how much I love food, it's never going to be enough. Food is the love of my life. I'm happy, give me food. I'm sad, give me food. I'm bored, well then give me some food. I just woke up, food. I just ate an hour ago. So what? I'm hungry, I need food. It's the middle of the night. Well guess what? I'm going to the kitchen because I need food. And I'll bring back some to my bedside just in case I might get hungry after a few hours.

No amount of memes is sufficient to convey how much I love food.

3. GADGETS

The basic needs for human has become modified from "Food, Shelter, Clothing" to "Food, Shelter, Clothing and most importantly, Gadgets". And I'm no different. 

The first thing I'll do when I wake up is feel around the bed for my phone, check Facebook and Twitter while half asleep, go to the toilet and level up in a game while taking a dump, check my email as I eat my breakfast, do stuffs, grab the laptop, log back in to Facebook and Twitter, see nothing, go through some useful and more useless stuffs in the Internet, check Facebook again, still see nothing, close the laptop.

Log in from my phone again after 5 minutes to find there's still nothing to see, open Instagram, go digging deep, do some stuffs again. It's night already, go to the bed to sleep, but instead of sleeping, use my phone again to read a book and fall asleep in the middle.

I'm not Steve and I might be gay, but I'm definitely in love with gadgets. It's just like Sheldon Cooper says, replacing human contact by developing a deeper relationship with a machine. Kudos! 

4. GARDEN

I mean who doesn't love a garden, right? And if somebody doesn't, like why?

Something must be wrong with them. A garden is by far one of the most beautiful places to leave your heart in. The soft chirping of insects and bird,all the different colours of life, the smell of fresh flowers mixed with the smell of wet earth. Aaah! A garden is heaven on earth.

5. CHOCOLATES

No, I prefer not to include chocolates simply in the food category. Chocolates are much more than just mere food. I saw a quote by Andrea Gibson "Yesterday, I carved your name into the surface of an ice cube, then held it against my chest 'til it melted into my aching pores." It's the same with me, except I don't write anybody's name and it's chocolate in place of ice.

6. COFFEE

Again, I don't include coffee in the food category too. Normal people drink, one or maybe two cups of coffee in a day. Me? I drink at the very least four or five cups, there is no upper limit. No relationship with a person will ever be as nice as a relationship with coffee. I'm thinking of marrying coffee as soon as the state legalizes our marriage.

7. ANIMES

I still don't know why people keep asking me if I'm too old for cartoons and animes. No. No, I'm not. Nobody is too old for cartoons. I have learnt more life lessons from mangas and fictional characters than school ever taught me. And I don't plan on backing out.

But then again, if you have somebody who can get you all these, I have no idea what you're doing here.

And yes, you've guessed it. I'm single.

This being said, Happy Valentine's Day to everybody out there. Spread love all 365 days around the year, the world needs more caring and nicer people. J

POETRYGASM

It started for me along with everybody else after the US Embassy and the Quixote's Cove hosted three American slam poets Matt Mason, Danny Solis and Karen Finneyfrock for the first ever QC Awards in December, 2010.

It resulted in the formation of a Kathmandu based informal group of poets and poetry lovers called Words Warriors. The main attempt was to provide continuity to various workshops and poetry competitions in and around the capital, promote slam poetry and preserve the growing culture of poetry in the country. 

And after five long years of bichdan, it has come back into my life again. Spoken Word Poetry.

Beginning with the Poetry Workshop a month ago and ending with the third QC Awards yesterday, this past month has been one of the most memorable and fun filled experiences for me.

The Spoken Word 101 workshop was held in two groups for two days each (17-18th Jan and 24-25 Jan) in which around 120 people had participated. Each group was hence further divided into four groups each assigned two mentors. 

The first day began with a brief introductory session and a short performance with everybody together, after which we broke off to our respective groups. The day proceeded with various fun games and exercises like Name Game, Human Atom, Step into the Circle, Rhythm Circle, Things I know to be True and some discussions and introduction to the effective use of Sensory Details and Metaphors and Similes in a poem. At the end of the day, each of us were assigned homework to reflect back on the lessons for the day and try to apply it all and create a poem, which was not really compulsory but most of us did it anyway because we're good and enthusiastic children. Yaaay. J

The second day of the workshop comprised of more confidence building exercises Beastie Boys, Inanimate Object and Performance Circle. We were then familiarized with the difference between written poetry and spoken word poetry. There were talks about the importance of performance and theatrical elements. Via a Bad Performance example, the participants were themselves allowed to discuss and point out the shortcomings of a bad performance and the essentials of a good one, the importance of correct posture, voice manipulation, eye contact and much more. 

Few snaps of the Spoken Word 101 workshop, Photo Credit: Official facebook page of Spoken Word Nepal

After a performance by everyone interested, we then regrouped for a feedback session, followed by briefing about and registration for QC Awards and Write to Speak Intensive Workshops,thus concluding the workshop.

The auditions for the QC Awards 2015: The Youth Poetry Slam were held in three different venues on Feb 1 where 22 finalists were selected to compete in the final event held at Mandala Theatre, Anamnagar, on Saturday. Five winners were then selected after two more rounds of intense poetry battles.

Photo Courtesy: eKantipur Nepal

Remembering back from the first poetry slam with me as an uninformed, insecure, not very confident school girl to the properly informed, not insecure and perhaps a teensy bit more confident girl I was yesterday, I can say happily and proudly that the Spoken Word Poetry culture has come a long and better way in Nepal. More and more international poets and literary figures are now coming in and collaborating with the poets here to broaden the reach of slam poetry. The recent show up and interest shown in famous slam poet Sarah Kay's event proves just how far along Spoken Word has come.

There were only a mere five or so members when Words Warriors group was first formed in Facebook, and now with more than 17,000 members, poets all over the country are uniting towards a common passion of poetry each one of them shares, posting on Facebook, organizing regular meetings with Words Warriors live and promoting with various workshops and performances in cultural and literary events and schools and colleges in various places around the country.

It has been successfully providing space to people of all age groups, especially the youth, to voice out their opinions in a way that is true and unique to each individual. It has created a room for budding and enthusiastic poets like us to present themselves with a certain flexibility and freedom, express our personal experiences and concerns ranging between anything from a bad dinner date to fist love to family problems and other wide topics like feminism, politics, youth empowerment and much more.

I, for one, am extremely happy and thankful to have made such wonderful friends and seniors in the process and would encourage everyone interested in performance arts and poetry to come attend all the events and be a part of a warm and loving Words Warriors family.

PS for all those single people who have nothing to do this Valentines Day, there is the next Words Warriors live being held this Saturday in Base Camp, Jhamsikhel from 4.30 pm onward themed "Love in the time of Loadshedding", and for all those couples and takens, come with your other half anyway, you'll have fun. For more information, stay updated through

Telephone : 01-5536974
Youtube : https://www.youtube.com/user/WordWarriorsNepal
Facebook Page : www.facebook.com/spokenwordnepal
Website : www.wordwarriorsnepal.com
Facebook Group : https://www.facebook.com/groups/wordwarriorsnepal/

JANUARY VERSES

RUEFUL

Dearest,

All those days,

I let you tread over me and gave you a place to stand,

and you with your untrained, weak bladder dog,

your clumsiness,

your laziness,

your unwashed clothes,

your dirty shoes and smelly feet,

stepped on my trust.

I hope you get pricked by the scraps of food,

bleed out with a paper cut

and stumble on my torn out, roughened edges

and I get to smother and roll up your inanimate, dead body

to it's rightful place.

Ruefully yours.

...............

I REMEMBER (DREAMS)

I remember

spending hours up on the roof on winter nights,

the cold of the floor seeping up my spine

like melting ice through my aching pores

as my bare hands traced lines and curves on the moon's surface,

and I counted one by one

the infinite number of possibilities

each star held for me.

The World had never felt any smaller.

I remember 

the first time I held a cigarette between my lips,

the silent scream of my lungs gasping for air,

the feel of the fiery pits of Hell in my tongue,

ashes like gunpowder

and the smoke rising, diffusing,

moulding into shapes like it were the calm spring clouds,

forming art.

Dying had never seemed more beautiful.

I remember

the constant scribbling of pens,

the endless chaotic noise inside my head

of thoughts clashing, clamouring,

crying like the wind through the hollow of the trees,

words flowing out the veins

like the twisting, tumultous sea,

carving life into poetry and metaphors and similes.

Life had never been more peaceful.

I remember

wanting to belong,

belong between the towering shelves of books

stacked neatly like the suitcase of a frequently travelling OCD patient,

the rusty smell of old books and new books,

the feel of the hard paperback and the leathery files,

the soft ruffling of pages,

the monotone ticktock of the grandfather clock

synchronized with my heartbeat

as I sought in once more in letters and words and between the lines

the stars, the moon,

the feel of life and death,

of chaos and peace,

one more place to belong,

one more reason to wake up everyday,

wanting,

hoping,

dreaming.

LOVE HER LIKE

Love her like

She's the raging sea,

Unrestrained and dark and deep.

And you crave her touch

Through aching pores

As you slowly drown in sleep.

Love her like

She's the tender storm,

A lovely shade of grey.

Like with every whiff

Of breath she takes,

She's taking yours away.

Love her like

She's the silent clouds

With calmness floating by.

Like you'd want to make

Sweet love to her

Under the moon's apocalyptic eye.

Love her like

She's the blazing fire,

And you lust the candied pain.

Like she's the disease

That swallowed you whole

And you'd like to die again.

When her gentle touch

Makes your chest explode,

And your addiction is your girl.

Promise you'll love her

Through hell and back,

Or don't you dare love her at all.