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Showing posts from September, 2012

Shopping with a pinch of salt

Nepali market may not yet be labelled as the market with nonchalant customer service but I am afraid we may soon have another negative label associated. Today hundreds of retails stores are mushrooming at an alarming rate – forgotten are the mom and pop stores who catered only to a small customers. Some offer unique products while some offer same products with a different twist. But one thing is common – all these retail stores lack a magnitude in customer service.  When I returned back from the US after a college degree and a one year stint at a corporate house with a 25 days training on telephone and face to face customer service training sessions I was appalled by the service I encountered in Nepal. Not that the service was excellent before I left for US the only difference was that now I noticed and I had learned the art of selling way different compared to Nepal. Every purchase made me unhappy and every time I encountered an unfriendly sales staff I asked if h/she could b

It’s biology stupid!

The festival season has officially kicked off. The best part is that families become complete, estranged relatives become acquaintance again and family members from far afar finally come home to be with their loved ones. My favourite being disagreements subside and love blooms.   Although the number of festivals lined up in the coming months of October and November are all about bringing family joy and happiness, these festivals are a true testament to testing Nepali women’s biological clock. Hindu women keep constant tabs of their menstrual cycle and my near and dear ones drive me crazy talking about their periods. I have seen women keeping track of menstrual cycles of each and every female family members of age. Their calculations never fail and many resort to advanced med pills (some are forced) to avoid having their scheduled menstrual cycle on the day of these holy festivals.  Women who forget about menstrual cycles while on a foreign trip would automatically follow t

Bangles and more

Why do I fail to impress my near and dear ones time and again? For the record, my latest failure was during a Teej party.   I happened to wear a beige kurta oblivious to the fact that everyone around me was wearing red. Don’t get me wrong I do wear red kurtas and sari often and I love the colour red. But I do not understand the importance of wearing red in each and every festival. Why do we ostracize other colours that are equally rich and vibrant? I fail miserably coordinating red coloured clothes with our festivals and believe me it is not intentional. But it is so simple; the only colour I need to coordinate with all our festivals is RED. So why do I fail to accomplish such a simple task time and again? No, I do not blame it on being huddled at a boarding school in one of the hill stations in India for years from the tender age. I do not blame all those years of not being home when Teej came around. I was deprived of enjoying the celebration of woman hood and bonding over d

Drinking in moderation benefits

Cheers it’s Friday! Drinking alcohol is associated with a negative connotation in Nepal: although I have met only a few souls who actually do not drink any kind of alcoholic beverages. I do not suggest or recommend anyone to drink up; I respect his or her choice. Nevertheless, I am happy and content to know that occasionally when I drink in moderation, the benefits outweigh the entirety of negative stigma associated with alcoholic beverages. Alcohol affects each individual differently. It is imperative for an individual to understand their relationship with their drink. I had a friend back in college who has given up drinking alcohol because he fell into the category who kept on drinking as the night matured. Wise decision my friend has made. I have witnessed some crazy stuff he committed back in the good old days and I am happy he made the right choice. But not everyone has the power to realize their equation with their drink and often end up drinking beyond their limit