ShradhaGiriblogs

Every day while I drive to work and fro I have this epiphany; what if the traffic police followed a work routine similar to that of other government employees? What would happen, if the fine women managing the traffic in Tripureshwor decided to take a long tea break? And if the traffic police in Gaushala chowk decided to register their attendance and take their wives for a shopping spree? Well, the Katmandu traffic would definitely come to a halt. Drivers would fight among each other and all hell would break loose. This article is a salute to all the hardworking men and women who have held the most difficult job in our country – managing the traffic.  Our traffic lights never work. The solar panels that power the traffic signals have gathered dust. The drivers do not care. Everyone is in a hurry. The pedestrians are in a hurry. No one wants to wait. We have run out of patience – no one bothers to stop, look and go. Everyone wants to go, just go. The traffic police continu...

Every time I pass by Durbar School opposite to Rani Pokhari, the sheer magnificence of the building amazes me. Last week I took a detour and walked inside the compound for the first time. I knew it was neglected but didn’t realize to what extent. It’s a pity. Durbar School isn’t an exception and there are many public schools that need some serious monitoring to check whether the children are receiving quality education or not. It is time the government takes stringent measures towards restoring and protecting historical architecture including the monitoring of public schools that are in dire needs of students mainly due to their depilated conditions. The rate of admission in our public school is minimal which should be of serious concern. Although the drive to upgrade secondary schools to higher secondary (HS) seems like a right thing to do. I was lucky to visit some public schools and I noticed many public schools in Kathmandu and other districts are facing more serious and b...

Giving is happiness for many. Yesterday, Save the Children in partnership with Social Tours and Kathmandu City Cycling community had organized a press conference to promote the Kora cycling event. Although only one journalist arrived for the press meet, working as an external communication person I was happy. The happiness came from seeing hundreds of people – small children, young boys and girls, professionals from all walks of life come to the press meet not just to listen to what we had to say but to pledge for the cause.  This is the third edition of the Kathmandu Kora cycling event organized in partnership with Save the Children. This year’s cause is to raise funds to build a new birthing center in Pyutar VDC, Lalitpur 1. The Auxiliary head nurse serving in the one room birthing center from Pyutar VDC was also present at the meet to share her job experiences and her ordeal while performing her job. Gyanu Ghimire, Auxiliary nurse said, “I didn’t know all of you were r...

I have been entrusted with the most respectful job in my house since my mother in law passed away more than a year ago. While family members discussed who would perform daily prayers at home I slowly raised my hand and nominated myself. My husband commented casually – this should be as simple as getting a cup of tea from the kitchen. I thought to myself – this couldn’t be any more complicated. So it’s been almost a week now – I have been paying homage to the almost 20 gods’ pictures hanging and resting in our pray room.  For a year I thought to myself how would I pray? I am not an atheist. I may rebuff occasionally about how most of our festivals are paradigm to our gods and holy everything. I may argue thousand times with myself and anyone interested that the 33 million gods will not punish me for being a woman and for my impeccably well timed menstrual cycle. I pray mostly on my stomach full and I refuse to open my shoes in temples; I know I am not an atheist. I don’t h...

ShradhaGiriblogs: No mother should die giving birth! : After discussing the dismal standards of our health posts in far west since January among the team, we decided to check our health pos...

After discussing the dismal standards of our health posts in far west since January among the team, we decided to check our health posts around Kathmandu Valley to help us understand and compare. A few calls to some enthusiastic locals, we set out to explore the health posts of Lalitpur District Area 1. Situated only 35 km away from the capital, the health posts in Sankhu, Bhattedanda and Pyutaar were neglected to such an extent it was disturbing for us to fathom the distance from the capital. The birthing centers housed in the health posts lacked the minimum health standards set by the government. The health posts are highly understaffed. The road to Sankhu, Bahttedanda and Pyutaar is motorable but hold your breath if you are driving to these places for the first time – the ride is definitely not for the faint hearted. The health post in Sankhu is a three room structure sitting idly – one room dedicated for birthing with one iron bed and nothing in site. The other two rooms ...