By Dinesh Wagle on November 20th, 2004 in Wagle Monologues

beard (noun) hair growing on a chin and lower cheeks of a man’s face: a week’s growth of beard. a false/grey/bushy/long/white beard.

Thus defines the Oxford dictionary the word beard. We in Nepali call daari to what they call beard in English. Therefore, the hair on chin and lower cheeks of my face is daari. I cannot give you an exact number of my daari.

However, I can tell you how important they are. Huge. Daari generate talks, start conversations, and create such an atmosphere where people feel free to express themselves. Ditto with my daari. They are thought provokers. They attract attention from both sexes. You might understand why my daari is popular among females. I will explain why male are interested in my daari.

Let’s start the discourse, I call it Daari Mahatmye, from the news. Today, I am no longer a bearded man today. I am a beardless man. No daari, clean shaved face, cute and shining, at least for some of you people out there. Continue reading Beard (Daari), What a Lively Thing U R! →

The recently launched BBC 103 FM in Kathmandu has definitely changed my radio habit. Before I was a TV worm, always pressing the remote control and surfing those 40 something satellite channels available on my cable network. In a normal day, I would be in front of that idiot box until 2 AM. Not anymore. It’s the BBC’s World Service tuned all the time and I am constantly updated on world events. In the mean time, I can do a whole lot of work, like, now, I am writing this blog. It has been a good medium for a global citizen like me who wants to listen news from Africa, music from South America, a drama from Europe etc, etc. When it is 3 PM in London, Kathmandu clocks 20:45, time for the tune Changba ho Changba in BBC’s Nepali Service.

There was an interesting report on yesterday’s broadcast of BBC Nepali. Their far-western Nepal correspondent Umid Bagchand (sorry if I misspelled) had filed a report from Kathmandu about the mood of the capital city and his impression of that. His argument, and its’ very much true, was that unlike remote places like Dadeldhura where people were very much afraid to celebrate any festivals because of the messy security situation, Kathmandu was largely unaffected from what was going on in other parts of the country, and was in a festive mood to celebrate Tihar. Continue reading Kathmandu In Festive Mood. And, Patent for BBC Nepali’s voice. →