Hi All,
I haven't been using blogs for a quite a while now and I see that leaving comments open to everyone it has given access to spammers to invade my comments area. It looks like they had a hell of a party there!! I will have to start restricting comments again but I seem to have forgotten how to have that set up. I'll have to re-jog my memory at some point again.
I did, however, go through some of the comments and to see that 'one' legitimate comment out of what feels like millions...makes me feel like I should maybe continue blogging again...at least there may be some that find my weird writings somewhat entertaining? :-) maybe? :-P
On a serious note, with such a tragic event occurring back home in Nepal it has been really hard waiting to hear from everyone that they are safe and okay. Waiting and not knowing is really really hard and constantly having my eyes glued to the TV and online for any hopeful news make you feel really useless that you can do nothing but just wait. I am very grateful of the internet and the fact that it can be used for just such crisis moments to get the messages across to the loved ones not nearby.
I just wanted to take a moment to share a link we are setting up to collect money to send Nepal with the relief efforts. I am sure lot of us are having a tough time having families, relatives, friends over there and not knowing what happened to them....if they are safe... if they are okay. I hope you all hear some good news....I was surely relieved when I heard back from those who were there. Just to know they are safe is so much comforting. Feeling helpless in their times of need, we decided to set up a fundraiser site to help with the relief efforts back home and I am sharing it here for those who want to help as well. Our plan is to raise to raise at least $5000 and we (me and my family together) are planning to match 25% of the total donation we are able to collect.
We were able to establish contact with a person in Nepal who is directly working with the local disaster management committee to help those in immediate need. We will be sending all donations we are able to collect to them directly and they will be coordinating things accordingly based on the shortages and needs such as water, food, medical supplies, etc.
Thank you all for your thoughts, prayers and support.
Fundraising Websites - Crowdrise
Here are some picture taken by Shyam Shrestha and those participating in distribution of supplies in one of the area (Kirtipur -Gamcha), where help hasn't yet arrived and people are waiting to get food and water or even shelter amid all the destruction. (Photos provided by Shyam Shrestha with permission to share on this blog):
A crack in an encased mirror,
Dredging up an ol' superstition...
A prick on a finger from a thorn,
Cursing at an innocent gardner...
A presence of an animal corpse,
Unsettling feeling arising within...
An unexpected bump on a course,
Causing a skip on a heart beatin'...
A presence of a lone crow cawing,
Ignoring the myth about souls...
An apparition of black cat darting,
Pressing back on the folklores...
A myriad of unreal coincidences,
Tearing it up at the inner cores...
A series of bad omen hit ashore,
Snubbing to build up the defenses...
The listless expression on your face,
Shows the toll taken by the grim news...
The smile you maintain with hesitance,
Makes it harder not to see thru the ruse...
The jitteriness within every movement,
Shows the unsettling nerves within...
The rapid spouting of every statement,
Makes it harder to watch you squirmin'...
The hard swallowing of the food you eat,
Shows the loss of taste with every bite...
The alarmed expression with each beat,
Makes it harder not to see your fright...
The loss of words during a conversation,
Shows the rate at which you zone out...
The quiet strides ahead without emotion,
Makes it harder not see you falter 'bout...
Some people swore that the house was haunted. ‘That statement’…that is how it always started. It was a ploy to get the kids to think freely. It wasn’t our first choice…for kids to be the subjects, but their imaginative skills…the creativity…that’s what we really liked. With adults…they had total control over their thinking, which made free-thinking very difficult. The way kids let ideas manifest fear in their hearts…the way their thoughts came to life as they were put into a sleep induced state. This was how we studied the effects of fear: how the brain registered activities when fear took hold of a child. We hoped this would answer the ultimate question: “If you die in your dreams, would you die in real life?”
There isn’t a child out there that hasn’t heard folk stories or ghost stories. A form of entertainment, no harm no foul. Then there are people with mental illness that can’t tell the difference between hallucination and reality. If we can find out what it takes for our brain to take imaginary things and perceive it to be real, then maybe we can find a way to help people realize the difference between the two. This was what our study was about. We particularly chose this horror aspect of it because this was one topic that caught like wild-fire. Kids couldn’t stop themselves from thinking. Their imaginations evolved quite rapidly. It was perfect for a simple study to see how the brain activities changed as the ideas grew more life-like. We believed we could find out when fear turns into fright…a dream into reality. There was a thin line between the two and we were making progress.
The drug administered that put them to sleep induced state magnified the stimulations already present in the specific regions of the brain…which in turn amplified the senses to make it feel as if they were actually seeing things they imagined. We monitored all the vital signs as well as the brain scans mapping the activities during the event. Just to make sure of kid’s well being, there was always a watcher present in their dreams, blending in the background…observing. If abnormality was present, watcher would pull them out of their dreams instantly.
Using a serum to extremely heighten their senses…was something we weren’t going to apply in this experiment being that they were just kids. But when the experiment results were so close and seemed yet so far away we decided to try it out on one. The stories had manifested into quite a horror story…we recorded every story he dreamt of, every conversation he had with his friends. The dreams manifested his worst fears. As the serum took effect, the dreams became more illusive, more frightening. There was total chaos in his thoughts. The ideas weren’t as seamless as before.
It was going fine in the beginning but as he progressed into his own story, he started to lose sight of what’s real. He knew he had created this, that it was not real but his senses were pushing him towards the brink, the line had been crossed…the brain activity data soared. He was perspiring heavily…heart rate was uncontrollably high. The watcher wasn’t able to keep up with him. The surrounding chaos didn’t help matters much. His brain had taken it all to be real. He died trying to escape his own dream. The watcher awoke as he watched him holding this fragile child in his hand as his life slowly faded away…taking with him his dreams. Nothing was ever the same again after that.
My try at short story....I'll have to rethink this one...
Beauty of the world surrounds you,
Yet you experience no such colors...
Crowd of people share their news,
Yet you hear only those of losers...
Gush of waves tell of their wonders,
Yet you think only of their struggles...
The human emotion show no borders,
Yet you see it separated in bubbles...
Sea of butterflies scream of freedom,
Yet you only read of those in prison...
Crafted songs voice people's wisdom,
Yet you fear of it not being in unison...
Blue Sky shows a boundless horizon,
Yet you know of only the restriction...
Our earth basks in the glow of the sun,
Yet you only think of the UV-radiation...
