After a very long day in the hectic city of Patan, I lugged my way up four flights of stairs until I finally reached the kitchen. I didn’t even need to turn to the stove to see the load of dal bhat stacked on the counter. But as I turned......Read More
A couple of months ago, I heard a Buddhist teacher say that he travels to feel more at home within himself. He described how all we enter the world with is ourselves and in the same way, all we will leave with. This idea that we are the only......Read More
I begin to recognize a certain darkness that lives in Patan. The melancholy cry of a dog pleading for mercy as his owner provides the nightly beating hovers about the barren room where me and Saziv have our quiet dinner. Some other time I’d be......Read More
A Nepali man, Anil, told us that in the United States we have too many watches but no time and here they have no watches but all the time they need. On a daily basis, I feel as though I am constantly running; a never ending track to get to my......Read More
When I first met my Nepali family I employed a tactical approach. My hope was that if I played my cards right, which god only knows what that means, they would be back to their habitual routine despite the sudden presence of a new, completely......Read More
Pashupatinath is one of the four holiest sites in Hinduism. Every Hindu with the means and physical ability attempts to visit in their lifetime. It is dedicated to Shiva, god of destruction, one of the primary three gods in the expansive Hindu......Read More
At least two packs a day, Smoking my troubles away. But I don’t have a lighter, Its okay, there’s a trash fire! Bought a mask to stop it, So small it’ll fit in my pocket , Dust shutting my throat like a locket. I take a second to......Read More
An incredible place, A throne for a king, I open the door and hear birds sing, So dirty yet so clean, What a paradoxical thing. I see a snake on the ground, Oh wait.. no! That’s a hose I almost fell over because I’m plugging my nose,......Read More
In the chaos of Patan sits a building red brick and wood windows climb four stories off the street hundreds pass by without a second look honking cars and motorbikes, women clad in saris and kurtas carrying food home. It is not a building of......Read More
Today we had a discussion on what defined a developed nation vs. a developing nation. This time last year I was having the same discussion in economics class, sitting behind a desk. An important point that my econ teacher made focused on laundry......Read More
As soon as I picked it up, a certain feeling instantly filled my body. I looked to my right and saw my brother Siddhartha grinning at me as a predator stares down his prey. I looked down at the Xbox controller in my hand and was ready to finally use......Read More
Three lines in the middle and no back No one more important than the last A cylinder of ancient brass Covered with scriptures from the past It sits there amongst the others Dark brown, almost black. One of one hundred and eight, It waits for those......Read More
Music and theater have always been an undeniable part of what makes me who I am. It’s an outlet for stress, an inlet for new friends and something I just enjoy doing. However, I hadn’t intended for music to be such an integral part of my......Read More
Before dinner on October 3rd, I sat with my host father and brother in front of the TV. CNN was playing, and the words “59 Dead, 527 Injured in Las Vegas Massacre” dominated the bottom of the screen. It was the first time I had watched......Read More
I sat on the hardwood floor of the program house with 40 people crammed into a space meant for 20 as the excitement building inside nearly masked my shooting leg cramps from sitting, crunched on the floor, for an hour. I had to withhold a scream of......Read More
