Lockdown Tales: Lives of Journalists

I opened my eyes to clean Kathmandu and inhaled the fresh air. Kathmandu had never been this silent yet this loud where all I could hear was birds chirping.

Just like every millennial would do I grabbed my phone and turned on my wifi. I wondered how would people survive during the lockdown if there were no internet.

The phone started vibrating and didn't stop for a while.

I opened up a message. "Listen is this tiktok video true?" It read. I opened the link to find out a tiktok video where a guy living in US says how he had seen plastic wrapped dead bodies of Corona victims being taken out of Teku based hospital with his own eyes.

"No it's just a gimmick of the tiktok user to get more views. Plus he has apologized for his actions as well." I typed back.

"Listen is the state owned media trying to hide something?" The other message read.

Aee baba private mediale ta dekhaauthyo hola ni ta bhaako bhaye, hoina ra  ( If it were so wouldn't the private media expose it atleast?) I thought.

Yet I replied "No we are not hiding any thing. The truth is right in front of your eyes."

I knew I would be late if I started to answer all of the queries so I finished my breakfast and made it to my office along the empty roads.

I reached my office, applied sanitizer, got my temperature checked, wore my gloves, put on my masks and started working.

I checked all the updates to find majority of the news were about Corona.

Just few months back I had read news on how Corona virus had taken lives of 100 and then this morning I was preparing news on how the death toll had surpassed 50 thousand.

No sooner had I started preparing my first news my brain talked to me "Everyone's enjoying the lockdown and here is poor Shail working in the office and is using the keyboard which might have been used by a Corona victim."

Remembering that I had put on gloves and every single staff had to undergo the thermal gun screening I pleaded my brain to stop chattering and not to play games with me for a while .

After preparing some national news I checked to see if there were any new updates in the international front.

I then stumbled into an article on how countries were investing on producing anti corona vaccines and how number of cases in Wuhan and South Korea had declined and how so many people had recovered.

I heaved a sigh of relief.

I prepared the news, presented it, bid goodbye to the viewers and went back to the cubicle.

"I was stopped by traffic for 7 times today. The police has definitely beefed up the security" one of my colleagues shared.

"Well I wasn't stopped even once" I shared.

"Maybe because they couldn't collect themselves as they had not seen such a beauty since long" my other colleague replied.

All of my colleagues had a good laugh.

I knew it was because I had my pass along with me but who doesn't like a compliment now and then so I chose to stay shut.

My phone beeped.

"Listen before you enter home make sure you hang up all your clothes, wash your hands and sanitize yourself and then enter the room. Clear? " It read.

The message from my mom was valid because if the Corona virus would enter the house it would only be through me. I would be THE REASON. "Is putting work ahead of everything healthy? Is your work bigger than your life? " My mind chattered again.

Just then one of my coworkers' child called him and asked him to return home as soon as possible. 

My other colleague was frantically wiping everything with santizer so that he didn;t carry the virus to his house along with him. We had laughed just a few minutes ago yet it couldn't overpower the fear that all of us had in our hearts. We all were  fighting our own battles but silently.

Is it how the armies deployed in violent areas feel ? I pondered.

I prepared news for the second bulletin, delivered it and left for my home.

PC: Prabin Ranabhat

Lockdown Tales : Part 1

Police uses multi functional rescue and arrest device to arrest people defying restrictions read the newspaper which dated almost a week back.

My mom mocked saying police wouldn't be able to detain me as I would be too thin for the device.

"Why would I walk unnecessarily? " I asked my mom.

" I know you don't do unnecessary things. So here's what you have to do which is very necessary and that's purchasing grocery. " My mom handed me the bags.

I don't know what people have evolved to be during this lock down but I have definitely evolved to be the Kaanta Bai of the house.

Along with the list of groceries that I had to purchase I went to the nearby convenient store.

" कोरोना कत्तिको लागेको छ त? ( How is the corona virus affecting you?) " one of my uncles asked me.

I wanted to tell him that I hadn't tested positive yet but I knew he wanted to ask how the corona virus outbreak was affecting my life. 

"Not much. I am still going to work. " I replied. 

" बहादुर हो मान्छे त (Brave) " he said.

Well the bir gurkhas have passed it onto me I wanted to answer but I changed my mind realizing  there are many more Bahadur people who dare to go on dates, morning walks and "hyaa bore laagyo (I am bored)" walks when people are dying of Corona virus worldwide.

“चिनी धेरै नहाल है चियामा तितो हुन्छ (Don't put too much sugar! It will ruin the taste) ” the shopkeeper shouted at the top of her voice. 

"अनि त्या पुलिस आको छ कि छैन हेर है सर्टर लगाइ हाल्नु पर्छ ( And make sure the police isn't around we need to close down the shutters before they come around) " she yelled again bringing me back to reality.

There were days when we wanted to sleep days through and now that we have got days to sleep through it's getting tough. The experience of lock down is so different for all. Some are struggling to bond together some are struggling to tell their stomach not to growl. 

I don't know how the world will be after the COVID 19 comes to an end, what we will evolve to be. But the world won't be same and we won't be same either.

" यो नेताहरुलाई सत्ता बाहेक केहि चाइदैन मध्यावदी चुनाब चाहियो रे ( The only thing all these leaders want is power. They want mid term elections in this situation)  " lamented an old man holding cigarette in between his puckered fingers.

" तपाईंलाई चाही कत्तिको लागेको छ त कोरोना ? ( How is the corona virus affecting you) " I replied.

Welcome and farewell speech for Modern Kanya students

                    

How do you envision a modern Kanya as?

Do we call a woman modern if she follows the modern dress code, works relentlessly in office, imitates man yet knows the difference between foundation and concealer or do we have a different definition for a modern Kanya?

Well we will discuss it later but I hope this question runs in your mind.

Almost 3 years back I finished my bachelors in social work. I studied journalism as my other option. In those 3 years I worked for many organizations including US embassy, Chinese Embassy, United Nations and Maaiti Nepal. I developed a network in the social work fraternity in such a way that I would never end up alone in whichever programs I attended. Yet I wasn't satisfied.  

I left a lucrative career and stayed jobless for a year started taking training, online courses, applying for scholarships and started my masters. That very hustle helped me to crack a scholarship in university of Washington which falls under top 20 universities of the world and that very hustle brought me to Nepal Television.

                  

For the BBS students out here, working a 9-4 job in a bank or financial institution is always easy because you have a set of do's and don’ts to follow but starting your own work needs guts.

For the BA students out here, jobs will only come after you if you are skilled enough for the employers to have no option except hiring you. But at other times you have to hunt for the job yourself. Take that internship that you had been thinking since long and prove yourself. It might not pay you for the first few months but will definitely help you in the long run. It’s always better to screw others money than your own.

Nepal television was also a result of risk. NTV has molded me in such a manner which wouldn’t have been possible if it would  be somewhere else.

                

Meeting people and enlarging my horizon of knowledge during reporting, understanding the gap between the government and the grass root level while preparing news, staying updated on international changes and getting a lovely audience to speak to, none of these would have been possible if not Nepal television.

Media has evolved a lot. The fascination for radios to magazines to televisions has now eventually shifted to digital media. Every profession is ever changing and you should work on yourself in such a manner that you become ready for the ever changing demands.

Every profession is tough but you should make sure it is worth it.

All that I have to say is don’t drape your mind with limitations if you want to be a modern Kanya for draping a Saari doesn’t make you old but draping your mind with limitation that you can't study a subject or you can't conquer your fear will definitely make you old.

Working relentlessly and juggling household chores simultaneously and realizing that you never loved yourself in the end of your life doesn’t make you a modern Kanya but understanding the delicate balance between your mental and physical health and then working for economic fulfillment does.

Not knowing the difference between foundation and concealer doesn’t make you less of a modern Kanya but starving yourself to death and trying to impress the world will definitely make you an unmodern kanya (well if that word exists)

Imitating a man will not make you a modern Kanya for we are not here to compete but complete.

If it’s a farewell for you I hope your hard work takes a shape, if it’s a beginning I hope you become intentional of how you spend your time but again not pressurize your mind with the cut throat competition.

I am sure we have better economists than Elinor Ostrom in this audience, I am confident that we have better anthropologists than Mary Doughlas in this very group of people, I am sure that we have better journalists than Oprah Winfrey and Martha Gellhorn. I am sure that we have Meg Whitman among us all we need to believe in our self and unleash the potential within us.

Thank you one and all.