Be Responsible

“Someone like you” by Adele was playing in the earphones of 21 years old Shikha Hada when she was on her way home from office at Shankhamul. While lost in music, she suddenly got distracted when a hard object hit her back near Banglamukhi temple. She felt shivering cold inside her thick black sweater. She was hit by a colored lola (a small plastic bag/balloon filled with water) in cool March evening. She looked around immediately but found no one. Few seconds later, she saw two young kids of around 10-12 years old laughing loudly at her from the roof of an old four storey building. She murmured few words in anger. Since there was nobody to listen to her, she moved ahead. She didn’t feel any hurt at the moment but was compelled to put pain healer in her back at home. Fearing lola hits, she started using another way for going to office next day onwards. 

"Lucky" Girls

Growing up as a child of new generation in Nepal is lucky enough for us. Lucky in a sense that many of the evil social practices like “Sati Pratha” have already been abolished.”(Sati Pratha was an ill practice in Nepal, in which a widow needed to cremate herself alive along with husband’s burning pyre). It was my first response after watching the latest Nepali movie Jhola, based on a story by popular Nepali writer Krishna Dharabasi. Ill practices like ‘Sati Pratha’ existed in Nepali society once upon a time. Our generation could never imagine that it’s the same society where we talk about gender and equality today. Limited within the course book of Social Studies in school and mentioned in grandmothers’ bed stories, I was partially informed about this evil custom and never cared much. But, Jhola has portrayed a clear picture of the bitter reality of the then society which was more than a hell for many women. Girls of this generation are fortunate for being born late; at least they are not compelled to burn themselves alive.