Featured Post

Saptari Killings was purely Human Rights Violation by the state

Rayznews reported " On March 5th four United Democratic Madhesi Front cadets have been killed in a firing by Police trying to dis...

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

DJ-ying in Nepal adapts the Nepali way

Amidst controversies and bad image of drugs and alcohol, DJ-ying in Nepal has always been in headlines countering and defending itself; years have passed with hundreds and thousand going in and out but it never saw a change. With DJs either getting into sex tape scandals or drugs addiction issue, DJ-ying in Nepal has seen its ups and downs, but with the changing time people have also started to accept this field of glamour and music with a new attitude. These days with the booming tourism and hotel industry, DJ-ying in Nepal is also grooming its way getting popular in Nepalese society where more or less new generations are getting interested.

It may sound absurd but previously when a DJ used to be considered as someone with tattoos, attitude and a drugs abuser but these days a DJ is respected as a professional where he stand for his professionalism and creativity.

Now getting down to the modern definition, DJ is acronym for Disk Jockey (DJ) who mixes, scratches and makes creative sounds from the disk but to its adaptation DJ-ying has more of its own dynamics where there are different aspects related to it. A DJ in a club is like a manager who controls and manages the club. It is his duty to manage the systems and to make the people enjoy in groove. Likewise, coming from that definition, DJ-ying in Nepal has been preexisting here from past one decade. With a very orthodox and limited thinking, this field has prolonged with a narrow definition and limited image and today it has out casted the prejudices with a slap of proving itself as a creative and professional field promising a prominent career like any other.


Moving its way from the limited discotheques to the modern definition of celebration, today DJ-ying has been a part of daily lifestyle in Nepal. What clubs, what marriages and what corporate occasions everywhere DJs are seen scratching and mixing sounds making people move around their beats. Moreover, it seems that the people of 21st century are more happier and want to celebrate their occasions in a more extravagant and musical way.


Looking at it from a different angle it also has evolved as a career for many aspiring young artists who believe in doing something in this field. Though few go through rigorous training and studies but most learn it in a sequential apprentice way of learning by doing method. Each individual is trained on one on one basis by their preexisting professional. The training are easily available at a cost of NRS 12,000 to 20,000 (USD 250 approximately) depending upon the level and skills of the candidates interest. The overall equipment of the DJ-ying costs from NRS 100,000 to NRS 300,000 which are easily available in the market.


DJ Saakar a leading DJ, who has worked in this field for more than 8 years says, “It’s a creative and entrainment field where a DJ is a king of celebration. It’s up to him to make the event happening and enjoyable. He should be extravagant in every possible way to make the crowd feel and believe to live their life in a more exhilarating way. DJ-ying is not just of being cool and showing off attitude, in-fact it’s about concentration and hard work, where a dedicated DJ keeps on practicing his skills and researching about the new developments in the music industry and equipments. It may look easy from outside but it’s very hard. On contrary if you compare it with any other professions, DJ-ying is a tough job as you have to constantly prove yourself in your family and society which has an orthodox and monotonous thinking about you and your career, so it’s a hell of a tough job which is not easy.”

Regarding clubbing, he said, “The scope of clubbing and DJ-ying is growing with peoples changing lifestyle. If we could just address their needs, then we can surely see it as a good revenue generation field . But the authorities are too limited and it creates problems at times as we don’t have proper rule and regulation here. They just bring the security issue in front and things go lame. Reality is we are a small country where we are doing an effort to develop. We have so many problems and further the authorities make it difficult to even work here. The way should have been the opposite and they should facilitate us, this field has tremendous potential, we can do so much but in reality it works the way around. I want to do something for this field and my major hindrance is not just the orthodox thinking but lame attitude of authorities towards this field. I have thought of opening an association which would help monitor and maintain the standards of club DJs and further more I’m also planning to go to schools and colleges with DJ-ying as extra curriculum activity. We are further working in talking with the other stake holders, we need to unite from all sides and work together.”


“These days it’s very easy to learn and to find the equipment, people of this generation are very fortunate as everything is available but during our days, we had to import the equipments and most importantly good trainers were also scarce. A lot of situations and conditions were there and you had to face the negative image of this field but now things have changed, which is really important,” added he.


Conditioning its own prospect, these days a lot of DJ-ying competitions are happening where the numbers of participants are also overwhelming. These DJ-ying competitions number are not a question but the quality of human resources that coming out are and getting in lime light most of theses competition and their winners certainly get themselves into controversies, which has further drained the image.
What’s the use when there are no standards and quality is a question that I made to one of the organizer of a DJ-ying competition – “Kings of DJ- March 05, 2011” Little Star Shrestha said, “Basically it’s all about giving people a plat form. We have given them a means to show their talents, now it’s upon them to work their way. We can’t be there all the time and take care of them, it’s upon them to work it and make this profession clean and practical. We are just here to show them the path the rest is in their own hands.”


Nepal being a small country has limited opportunity of investment, the big giants’ like china and India further makes it difficult for its industrial development where there are very limited opportunities which certainly affects its development. But significantly Nepal’s tourism industry holds a major part in its GDP which is phenomenal. These days a lot of Nepal’s DJs have also been seen working abroad in foreign countries where they are creating their own name and fame, it is just a trend but significantly it’s making an impact.


Ravi Sharma a Social Scientist said, “Any creative field should not be limited within the idea of ignorance. DJ-ying was considered as a stigma of the western world but it was mostly due to the shadows of drugs and alcohol but its changing and people have started to accept it in a normally way. Apart from that DJ-ying is part of music which cannot be defined and like said earlier creativity has no limitation. Till the time it soothes ears, it’s feasible and it goes well. Its normal tendency for people to migrate where there are better opportunities. If there is a possibility of making this field better and has a potential possibility the government and the concerned department should do a research about it.”


Sharing his experience Sharma added, “Even I have danced to the beats of a DJ in a recent wedding where it was phenomenal. The way they mix the rhythms and melodies are simply awesome. I enjoyed every bit of it and I still have a hangover. I would love to dance to the tunes again.”


Breaking the league, creative fields like this has certainly created a new scope and horizon for such fields where alternately it has also broken the orthodox thinking of limiting secured professions as Doctors, Scientist, Managers and Engineers as a prominent career choice. As comparing it to any other professional an average monthly income of a good professional DJ is ranged from NRS 30,000 to 60,000(USD 450 to 850) which is lucrative.


DJ Jazzy Joe a reputed Indian DJ on tour of Nepal said, “DJ-ying is all about expressing yourself in the form of music, the only way a DJ can be called good is the way he can entertain the crowd. It’s an art form that’s very normal like any other field. This field also has its pros and cons, but due to the stigma of Drugs and alcohol, its image is getting affected where people tend to see DJ’s with a different perspective but now times are changing. DJs are also getting recognized where society is accepting them for what they do.”

“DJ-ying is a field related to music, and music is positive, it’s the field of making others happy and spreading joy. If you have an attitude and you are stiff then you cannot perform well, it’s all about being yourself and making people feel the happiness, so a DJ needs to be positive and happy all the time,” added he.

Talking about Standardization he said, “It’s a must in this field but standardization should not affect the interest of the young aspiring artists, it should be entailed in a proper way where quality must be its priority not quantity. This career choice certainly comes with fun but loads of options, like said it’s upon the rider to make sure the journey goes well.”


Controversies raging of DJs having bad images to their sex tapes, DJs of Nepal have not been able to meet up to the standards though Nepalese have accepted them but with the controversies coming up at times it seems they have to work on their moral and ethics. The question here is not about who does what or what can be done to stop it , the question here is about morale and ethic whether our society is able to accept it or not. May be it’s a personal or professional question but how can a single person’s act be responsible for staining the image of the entire field? This question certainly affects this field and further dilutes the prospect of the coming up aspiring artist who look up to their elders. Now it’s upon the DJs to make themselves credible and responsibly, so that the coming generation and their field could look up to them.

May be it’s a standardization issue may be it’s not but it certainly holds key to the future prospect of this field.

By Shreedeep Rayamajhi

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Shivaratri- The Weed Day celebrated here in Nepal

Kathmandu March 02: The festival of Shivaratri was celebrated with great enthusiasm and zeal among the devotees, followers, yogis, and sadhus here at Pashupatinath Temple Kathmandu Nepal. Thousands of Hindu pilgrims from all over the world came to this temple just to pay their homage to lord Shiva where lines were seen from a day before. Traffic around Pashupatinath area was completely halted due to the devotee’s number.

Looking at the popularity of the Temple, the Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT) had made arrangements of tickets for directly entering the temple without any hassle by
paying NRS 1000 which was proven to be very fruitful especially for old aged people and Hindu tourists.

According to beliefs, it is said that devotees who mediate and voice the name of lord Shiva on this day would be freed from all sins. Most of the devotees were seen fasting all day where
they visited the near Shiva temple to break their fast. It is also believed that this is the night when Lord Shiva performed his Tandava Nritya that is

the source of creation, preservation and dissolution.
Another excitement that attracted youngsters and teenagers was on this particular day it is allowed to smoke hashish or Marijuana for gurus and yogis, which is considered as one of the prized possession of lord Shiva. With this trend, Pashupatinath area also attracts thousands of teenagers where these illicit drugs are sold and bought openly on this day.

Ramesh Shrestha, a teenager at Pashupatinath area said, “Lord Shiva loves marijuana that’s one of his favorites, so we all come here to celebrate this for him. We are his devotees and we are bound to follow him; we want to make him happy.”

Pashupatinath area was not only seen smoked and buzzed with intoxication but hundreds of medical camps and ambulances were also seen treating and catering thousands of people for their hallucination and injuries.

Ravi Sharma, a social scientist said, “It’s a very harsh aspect of our culture where things are manipulated accordingly. Certainly it’s happening due to lack of monitoring and surveillances. The uses of these illicit drugs are just for the yogis and sadhus but irrelevantly they are sold to teenagers and it’s open for all. It has evolved as a negative trend in our society where people are grasping it into the culture which is highly questionable. Necessary steps need to be taken by authorities before it’s too late.”

Looking at the growing trend of using illicit drugs, this year a high number of police personnel were seen in and around the Pashupatinath abode. According to sources almost 4000 security personnel wore deployed in plain and formal clothes to curb the trade and use.

The Ex-Monarch Gyanendra Shah and his consort Komal Shah were also seen in the Temple where after paying their homage, they headed towards Guheshwori Temple. Likewise, celebrating the enthusiasm an Indian dance group compromising various dancers including Santnu Chakraborty a renowned bharatnatyam dancer performed and the enigmatic and exaggerating Shiva Tandav at the abode.

For watching the full procession, you can see it through this given link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RXb6uaKKQE

By Shreedeep Rayamajhi

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Why did biography.org de-listed buddha from Indian Great Leaders



It was really sad to see that Biography.org in its list of biography of Indian Great Leaders had listed Buddha, Siddhartha Gautam being an Indian. The whole Biography of Buddha was conscripted making him an Indian leader with supremacy and bigger words.
Most of the references were taken from the local  websites without international research. I was so surprised to see that such a reputed organization making such mistake in view of limited research and communication. It was clearly  written that Buddha was born in India. To my surprise there has been no proof found regarding the boundaries of  the so called Bhart Barsha or there has not been any technical or geographical studies done. In-fact Nepal was create 200 years ago but it existed in the form of many states scattered and spread. There are documentation of Yalabar the first king of Kirats being acknoweldge in the Mabharata as the king who had came to fight from the kingdom of HIMKHANDA 

There are still proofs that sikkim and other state of India which were part of the great Nepal period during the  British India Company are today in India but there is no technical paper of research that proves buddha was born in India.

The truth about where buddha was born can be answered only by him, as there was no documentation in terms of geography. It has been identified and certified that the place where Buddha was born is currently in Nepal by the UNESCO in its website and excavation are still happening in and around the area.

It is clearly said and documented that Asoka the Great king left his country in  search of Buddha and came to Nepal and erected the Asoka pillar.         

Now getting back to the topic, I wrote back to biography.org with the links of UNESCO  reference stating why they listed   Gautam Buddha was born in India. Within a couple of days they changed the title and remove buddha from the list of   Indian Great Leaders

https://www.biography.com/people/groups/indian

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Don't Say I hate Politics, Say I hate Politician( The SPARK of CHANGE )

Whether it’s Nepali Congress or UML or the Maoist party, there is not a single politician or leader who could be respected or worth getting the respect. All of them, they are so limited and bounded by their selfish motives and games that they forget they are the servants of public. More or less, they indulge themselves to luxury of cars and securities with the hard earned money of tax payers and citizens disgracing their oath of serving public.

In fact reality is Politician is such a respectable image where we confine our believes and aspirations, we trusts the leaders to play a crucial role in overall development of the country but till date we have just see them engaging themselves in corruption, power politics, commission rackets, favoritism, social discrimination, lobbing selfish motives, accumulating people money in foreign banks etc .

I bet there is no politician who would be respected from heart by any one. They disgrace the societal values of socialism where they take the oath of serving the nation but alternately support their individual party in strengthening their forces and power.
The problem here is not with the leaders, the problem here is with us the normal people, we select these leaders and when they get to power, they play and manipulate us in their desired ways but we keep our mouths shut. We just move to their rhythm where they treat us like nobody.

I say and believe every Nepali has the bloody right to ask each of these leaders about what they did and what they are planning to do coz it’s our Nation and we are the tax payers. As we pay taxes in everything from buying a chocolate to sewage to cold drinks, everything but still we are least bothered group. Moreover, the hard earned money completely goes in vain paying hefty salaries and comforting their luxury. It’s our responsibility to remind them of their mistakes where we lack.
We ignore e the fact that we pay taxes and it’s our RESPONSIBILTY to see what is happening and to validate their actions but we don’t have time. Likewise, we blame everything upon them which is completely erratic and irresponsible, as they are selected by us. We do protests; do blockades, Chaka Jam, Bandhas etc on useless things but regarding our politicians and their acts we keep silence making it limited within the voices of an unknown tables and chairs.

The fascinating part is we say politics is a dirty game, but it’s our garbage. Just by saying it’s bad or disgracing it, things won’t change. We have two choices either we keep our mouth shut and let the things that’s happening go on or do something about it in any way possible. It’s upon our efforts and we need to dig our hands into the garbage and clean it, because it our garbage and nobody else is coming to clean it we have to do it by ourselves.

We the young blood the so called generation-X needs a wake up call and say that yes we are determined not just to blame but to take charge. We have to take responsibilities in every possible way of being a good citizen and work our way in the system. It might take days or years, but change is supposed to happen and it will happen no matter what. We have the skills and courage and let’s unite to bring change.

This is not just a call for me, you or anyone, it’s a call for every Nepali who feels pride to say he or she is Nepali and if you care about it spread the awareness and save our nation. Let’s take the promise to bring change not just by words but by social awareness and by social change where our small effort counts and each individual matter to say that he or she is a part of this society and we can play a crucial role for the development of our country. Let’s make Nepal a better Nepal for the coming generation to be proud of where we can hold our heads high to say we brought the change.

Search This Blog