I have never

First the credit. This post is inspired by and based on Tajim’s entry on his website. I have copied his post- including the title- and added my own comments and links where I felt appropriate. So this is more of my extended comment to his post than an original entry. He is 25. I am six years older than him so it’s but natural for me to experience/see more things than he has. But hey here’s no booze around me and I am not drinking while saying “yes I have done this one!”

• 

  Seen an Ocean – [Yea, until 2006 when I saw the Pacific in California. It was an amazing experience. (photo) To see, feel and, yes, taste the sea water. Then in 2008 I saw the Arabian sea in Kovlam, Kerala before seeing the Indian ocean come together in Kanyakumari (and again in 2009) with the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea. In Mumbai the same week, I saw the Arabian sea more closely (and again in 2009). In 2009 I finally saw the Bay of Bengal more closely at Marina Beach, Chennai. Running around on the beach wearing dhoti was quite an experience.]

• Been to a swimming pool– [I have been to two swimming pools to swim. 1st in Balaju while I was in school. 2nd in Dasharath stadium, Tripureshwor. That too while I was in school. I haven’t been to one (to swim) since I left school. And that was more than 15 years ago. That doesn’t mean I haven’t swum in these years. I have crossed Likhu Khola and dived into Khimti Khola! नढाटी भन्नु पर्दा पौडी खेल्न चाहि उति सारो आउदैन है । तर फेरी त्यसो भन्दैमा कुनै पोखरीमा कसैगरी झरीएछ भने हत्तपत्त मरिन्न जस्तो पनि लाग्छ । 🙂 ]
• Flown Overseas– Not since 2006 when I went to the US. No foreign government has invited me for such trip since then. Invitations are welcome!
• Travelled on the roof of a moving bus– PLENTY! While going home in Ramechhap during Dashain holidays in my school years. It was risky as it is now but with risk came with a lot of fun and an opportunity to show how brave you were. Last time I traveled on the roof of a moving bus was, if I remember correctly, in 2008 while going for a trek to Helambu. Very few buses were plying on the road because of Dashain holidays (that was the day of nawami).

• 

  Jumped Out of a plane or a bridge (Bungee **Scary**)– Not from a plane but yes from a bridge! Bungee. Damn scary it was, I tell you. Have promised myself not to do that again!

• Touched Snow– the real one, not that which is made in a fridge.-Okay, I have touched the real one. I think it was during one of those trips to Kathmandu or back home in Ramechhap during my childhood days. We had to cross a few snowy hills in winter on the way. Apart from that I have touched snow in Langtang valley (I named one hill after me by writing D-I-N-E-S-H on snow), Gosainkunda (the lake was partly frozen) and we had to walk on a three-feet snow on the pass, and on Manang’s Kang-la pass. The latest being in Rohtang-la Pass in India’s Manali a few months ago.
  
• Seen a 3D Movie– Me too.
• Seen an Imax Movie– Me too.
• Been on a roller coaster– Me too. But the Nepali version- रोगटे पिङ् चाहि चढेको छु 🙂
• Smoked- Yes, I have (spot the proof). I am not a regular smoker though. I don’t like it. I have smoked cigar too.

• 

  Gone Serious Trekking– though i live in Nepal- For a man born and brought up in the hills of Nepal trekking came as a mandatory task to me rather than something taken as a hobby. People still have to walk a full day in my village to reach the district headquarter (May be not these days because I have heard the road has reached to the point from where you can reach the village in 2 hours.) Some of trips on established commercial routes: Ghandruk Ghorepani, Nar-Phu and Helambu

• Visited a dentist- When I had to extract a tooth when I was a kid I visited a local man in the village who wasn’t a dentist. He did that successfully but I can’t forget the pain even now- 23 years later. The last time I visited a dentist was three years ago in New Baneshwor. I know the lady didn’t do the job properly, I still feel that. I have to see a dentist soon.
• Owned a camera. (not even analog once)– After I lost my analog camera, I bought a digital one- a Canon. That became dysfunctional because of excessive use forcing me to buy another- Canon again. I lost that too. Now I am using a Sony.
• Been to a Gym– Me too. There’s a gym in my neighborhood here in Jangpura, New Delhi. Once I went there to inquire about the membership and timing. They opened either in the mornings or in the evenings. I usually become busy in the evenings with my work and I hardly see mornings as I sleep during that time. My wish to go to a gym hasn’t been fulfilled yet.
• Seen a Lion or Tiger– Me too. I mean apart from those I have seen in the zoos. But I might have seen a leopard in a jungle.
  

• 

  Gone to any serious forest/jungle– Plenty. While traveling from Gamgadi, the headquarter of Mugu to Sinjha, a famous village in Jumla where daura suruwal and Nepali language originated, I had to walk through this dense forest where monkeys were in abundance. I was traveling alone. The river on the side running against huge boulders was producing huge noise. That noise itself was scary. Occasional calm (when I went farther from the river) would be interrupted by a boulder falling from the hilltop on the other side of the river. I would try to concentrate on my walk, trying to think that I would see human being soon but my concentration would be disrupted by the monkeys or birds that jumped from one branch to another or flew from one tree to another. डरले रौं नै ठाडा हुन्थ्ये। [But climbing up to nearby Rara lake was enjoyable.]
  

• Applied for US Diversity VISA (99% of Nepalese have probably applied once)– LOL. Me too. But I almost did because I was working on a story on that and wanted to see how people filled up their forms.
• Applied for VISA of any country– I have.
• Gone more than 6 months in any serious day-job– I have. Have switched offices thrice in my 13 year long career. This is my fourth office (or third- depending upon how I count it) and I am with them for the past 10 years.
• Seen any Himesh Reshammiya Movie (this one for Bollywood Fans)– LOL. Me too.

• 

  Been to any underground concerts.– Me too. But I have seen guys who perform in the underground concerts play in the cellar of a house in Kathmandu. The house belonged to one of the musicians. तर हेभी मेटलले कानै फुटाउला जस्तो भा’को ‘थ्यो । [an entry on an ‘overground’ concert]

• Been to a discotheuqe. Two weeks ago a friend of mine and I were driving around in the midnight looking for a disco in south Delhi. We were stopped at a makeshift police barricade on the middle of a road to trap DUI folks. I wasn’t drunk but that encounter forced us to immediately stop our disco-hunt. We came back to home. Yea, I have gone to discotheque. The Everest Hotel, Kathmandu.
• Climbed on any high speed elevator– I once climbed to the 18th floor of a building in LA in a high speed elevator. Haven’t entered into one since then.
• Been to top floor of any high rise building.– Being at the top of a tall temple in Orcha, India was quite an experience. The building must be around 10 stories high. But that may not fit into the definition of a high rise building.

• 

  Met a Chinese. : )– LOL. I have met plenty of Chinese. I remember the most among them is the one I traveled with last year. It was such a fun. It was my first real interaction with a Chinese and an opportunity to learn about Chinese society through the eyes of a Chinese youth who was born immediately after the One Child policy was introduced. ऊसँगको कुराकानीमा आधारित एउटा लामो लेख पनि लेखेको थिए ।

• Had a buffet lunch/dinner.– I have.

• 

  Seen an actual theater play.– I have. Actually, I have acted in one! I had to play a TV (erecting my hands that symbolized antennas. Those were pre-cable TV days in Kathmandu.) Poor chap. That was when I was in school. The latest play I saw in a theater is Putaliko Ghar (Doll’s house, dir: Sunil Pokharel) in New Delhi, staged as part of a festival organized by India’s National School of Drama.

• Used Linux.– What’s that? LOL. Me too.
• Owned any Smartphone.– Own an iPhone 3G. Can’t believe I haven’t written an entry on my iPhone yet which I have promised to do since the day I bought that damn beautiful thing two years ago.
• Drank Beer (Cant’t stand the smell of that shit)– Me too! I mean, the second part- can’t stand the smell of that shit, yes, but have consumed several bottles of beer. I can’t describe how much I hate the taste of beer though! I simply dislike it :(.
• Been on a plane in Nepal (only flew twice in India)– The flight from Kathmandu to Dhangadi that I took in 2006 was the scariest ever among those that I have taken (inside Nepal).
• Been to any Nepali Airport– Many. But I would like to go to the Lukla airport. Pity I couldn’t go there when I had a chance. Damn weather became so bad that day. Next year, when I saw some of the biggest international airports, I couldn’t hide my amazement.
• Had an ICQ account- I had. Actually that was the third registered account of mine after Hotmail and Yahoo on the Web. I don’t use that anymore.
• Neither used IRC.– Me too.
• Been on TV Camera.– The last time I was on TV was on a talk show in India’s Loksabha TV. त्यसपछि कसैले बोलाएकै छैनन् । अँ, नेपालमा एउटा च्यानलले बोलउदा गइएन ।
• Had a Girlfriend. – Married her last year. धन्न माओवादीले त्यो दिन गर्ने भनिएको ‘नेपाल बन्द’ फिर्ता लिइदिए ! (त्यो लिंक हेर्न ‘द इकोनोमिस्ट’को ग्राहक हुनुपर्छ ।)
• Had a credit card– Me too. That’s on the top of my wish list now. My bank here in New Delhi tried to provide me one but, whey they had to follow some procedures, I didn’t qualify. That’s because I don’t have PAN card in India. And that is because though I live and work in India I am not employed by an Indian company or the company that operates from within India.
• Celebrated my Birthday– Mixed. I have celebrated some of my birthdays though I don’t like to. [a b’day entry & the most recent post, not b’day].
• Received gift ever from anyone (someone send me )– I have but, of course, would be happy to receive more! So someone send me too!

And Last one,

I have never been admitted in a hospital.– Me too, fortunately. But I have been bedridden for long in my home. I don’t want those days to repeat. Actually I hate to visit a hospital when I am not sick or not accompanying a sick person. One might say why do you have to visit when you are not sick or not accompanying a sick. Good question. I have to do as part of my job sometime.

:::::::
P.S.: Thank you Tajim 🙂