Guffadi
I am a grumpy old man in my thirties.
I started blogging to let my friends (who live abroad) know what's going on with my life and current affairs of Nepal but then it became more of a jpt (je paye tehi) political guff-stuff because politics is entertainment in Nepal. Hehe!
I actually put a bet with a friend about writing daily. I lasted for about a year (from October 2010 to 2011 or something like that). But now I only write my guff suff once in a while and I do a weekly column for The Kathmandu Post on Saturdays.
The traditional media is kind of boring. It's the same 'He said, She said' whereas in blogs, we can share ours views and it's more personal and fun to read.
An short excerpt from Guffadi's latest post
Our caretaker government failed to forge consensus with other clowns and had no choice but to go with the partial budget. Now, our cadres and contractors will have only a small piece of the pie to choke on. I hope our netas's cousins and chamchas will curtail their spending habits because they won't be getting much this year. Maybe if Dr Saheb had offered to share some of the free lunch money then other party wallahs would have agreed to share the full pie hola.
Our competent civil servants won't have to worry about not getting paid. Our taxes will be enough to cover their salaries. Maybe our government can save some money if they introduce some kind of a 'pay as you want' service. Our civil servants will make a lot more that way even if they don't get a penny from the state. It's all about the chiya kharcha and when the peon says, 'Milayera dinoos nuh' then most of us end up paying more anyway. After all, the poor fellow will have to share the 'express service' fee all the way to the Hakim Saheb. And our hakim sahebs need to have some dough ready for our netas so that he or she can get a lucrative posting.
The Mao Inc is holding its seventh 'hang out'session. Our Emperor is going through a rough patch. Baidya dai left the party because he really wants a people's revolution. And he still thinks that his crew can take on India and win. Maybe he is watching too many of them Chuck Norris movies? And our crown prince left the palace so that he could be with his new love. He won't have to worry about staying away from home because he is pretty loaded. But he better start learning some mixed-martial arts techniques. You just don't run away with somebody's wife. The other guy has every right to kick the lover boy's arse!
The former Maoist combatants ask, 'Show us the money?'. Our Emperor has asked the former PLA commanders, 'Where is the money?' and the commanders have resigned because they tell the Emperor that, 'You have all the money!'. I think it's time our Emperor realises that it's okay to fool the general public but you can't go on short-changing your own comrades.
To read the full post, visit www.guffadi.blogspot.com
Surath Giri
I started blogging since February 2009 and have been a regular blogger for the past three years. I studied economics and currently work at Samriddhi, the prosperity foundation, as a research associate. I also teach entrepreneurship development at ICHM College. And I also work as a stringer for Khabar South Asia, a South Asian magazine. I write primarily on economic and political issues.
Being tech-savvy, I used to help friends and colleagues with technical problems which included blogs when I didn't have my own. One day, I was called in to train some volunteers in a youth organisation on blogging. I thought it would be easier to train and garner their interests if I had my own blog. So I created one and posted some of my articles. Later on, I thought, "why not keep blogging since people were eager to know my views?" I wrote movie and book reviews. Slowly, my blog gained regular readers which encouraged me to write more.
After having a few regular readers, I started writing on Nepal's political and economic issues with a perspective that is different from the dominant discourse. With time and more articles, my blog has become a source of information on entrepreneurship, free market and commentaries on political issues and I have been recognised as a prominent blogger on these issues. As I love travelling, recently (due to the request of some of my readers), I have started posting my travel diaries as well.
The enormous freedom that blogs have is something that sets them apart from other types of media. Similarly, through blogging, you can not only reach out to people but also get feedback from them. Blog is a two-way communication which I believe is essential for any media to be effective. Had it not been for blogs, I don't think I would have been able to express my views effectively.
I find blogging a very good platform to express my critical opinions which are not very likely to be published in the mainstream media. Since it's a personal blog I also review books and movies. Besides these, I also translate popular English articles into Nepali and post them. I have conducted blog trainings for a couple of colleges too.
Nepali blogs that I follow:guffadi.blogspot.com, www.aakarpost.com, ushaft.wordpress.com
International Blogs: mises.org, chrisguillebeau.com, reason.com, www.lifehack.org
A short excerpt from Surath's blog
China's capitalist revolution
While in Hong Kong for a summer course at the University of Hong Kong in July 2010, a Chinese student asked me, "It really surprises me. How come Maoism is so popular in Nepal when even we Chinese have largely abandoned Mao's philosophy?"
I struggled for an answer. Jokingly, I said , "Come to Nepal. You would know for yourself." But on a serious note, I added "There is a widespread myth that China developed because of Maoism. Everyone knows Mao but very few know about Deng Xiaoping and his reforms. The so called critical mass and public intellectuals never really bother to learn the truth or go beyond popular rhetoric and propaganda."
And I believe it's true. I have learned from my interactions with many people who eulogise China's communism, that only a few are aware of Deng Xiaoping's contributions. Had it not been for Deng's reforms, China would still be languishing in poverty and millions more Chinese farmers would have perished. I recently discovered an interesting documentary depicting Deng's role in the economic transformation of China. I hope watching this documentary will help viewers enhance their understanding of China's economic transformation from a poverty ridden third world country into an economic powerhouse.
The question that bothers me now is: we have more than enough Maobadies in Nepal. Mohan Baidya, alone would be more than enough for that purpose. But do we have or can we expect to have a Deng in Nepal?
You can read more of Surath's articles at www.surathgiri.com
Aakar undefined
I completed my undergraduate degree from Kathmandu University, in 2011. I have a degree in computer (software) engineering and am an internet marketing consultant by profession. Being a social media and SEO (search engine optimisation) expert, I look after the inbound marketing at CloudFactory as an internet marketing specialist.
I started blogging five years ago on August 2007 when I was still in uni. I used to share my assignments and basic computer knowledge with friends. Later it turned out to something else; a platform to showcase my writings and reach to a global audience. I began by sharing assignments, poems and stories, but it has changed now. Now I basically focus on social media and technology. Generally I give commentary on social media and technology and the use of social media, but sometimes I also write commentaries on politics and movies as well. Besides that I promote events through my blog. So the reason I blog has changed from the first time I started blogging.
Blogging is an easier medium than mainstream media. You don't have to wait weeks or months to be published. In a blog, you're the editor and the publisher. There's no one to control you besides the law of the country. You're free to write anything as you please. The media is under the control of powerful businessmen and women, whereas blogs are the voices of voiceless people. Blogs can be your identity and your business.
Nepali blogs that I follow: Nepa.li, nepalivoices
International blogs that I follow: Being a social media and SEO professional, I generally follow tech and social media blogs including TechCrunch, Mashable, SEOMoz, GigaOm, SearchEngineLand, The Next Web etc
An excerpt from Aakar's post
Whenever a person asks me, how social media is being used, I always remember a tweet from Google's Avinash Kaushik. Avinash has aptly linked social media to teen sex saying, "Social media is like teen sex. Everybody wants to do it. No one actually knows how to. When finally done, there is no surprise, it's not better."As you go on using social media, you get a similar feeling. Social media is being used in different ways.
Blog is also a form of social media. Today, I am talking about how a blogger can benefit from the use of other social media tools. Social media is an online tool which lets us share our thoughts and opinions online easily and interact with each other. Blog, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Slide share, Google +, etc are all social media. Any website which uses Web 2.0 technology is a social media.
Any blog that hasn't been made private is a public blog. Whenever a blog is made public, the author hopes that she/he will have a large readership. If the blogger doesn't want this, then the internet is probably not the right medium. Such people should limit themselves to writing in a diary or keep their blogs private. It's human nature to want other to read our works, and the greater the hits the better. Even then, bloggers do not usually pay much attention to promoting their blogs. In Nepal, I feel there are many bloggers who believe blogs are solely personal. I have yet to find a Nepali blogger who lives on earnings from blogs, but whenever I talk about blogs and how there should be commercial blogs too, many bloggers have stuck out their tongue in disapproval. Blogging is not always personal ranting, talks of literature or slamming others. It is much more.
To read the complete post visit www.aakarpost.com
