The dust and pollution of Kathmandu have taken their toll on just about everything – our homes, our health, and our skin. While we are doing everything in our control to protect each of these elements from pollution, it seems like there isn’t much we can do in terms of saving our tresses. Frizzy, dry, and unmanageable hair is what we must battle with at the end of a long day only to do it all over again the next day. Here’s how you can keep your hair looking its best despite many factors working against it.

Why wait for a gift? As a woman of the world, we know what we want, and also we have what it takes to go after it. Whether it’s a great job, a fantastic vacation or an amazing apartment, we don’t wait for things to come to us.

Nepal tourism board along with the Facebook page Nepalese in Photography organized a competition, asking all their followers “What is ghumphir for you?” Sujan Subedi, coordinator for Photo Nepal and a senior officer at Nepal Tourism Board, said that this was organized to honor #Ghumphir2073. 2073 has been declared the year of ‘ghumphir’ in order to promote internal tourism in the country.

Good Reads

“Encouraging creativity in your child doesn’t necessarily mean you will be the parent of a potential billionaire or a future class topper,” says Pranjali Singh, program coordinator at Nepal Children’s Art Museum (NCAM). But still she considers the incentives for parents to take on the task to be more than worth it.

I migrated to Australia in mid 2013 as a skilled professional. The skill assessment and the migration process was relatively quick and the visa grant coincided with the festive occasion of Diwali, which called for a double celebration that year (the lasting hangover reminded me that we had overdone it).  Armed with a master’s degree in engineering and 17 years of experience, I landed at Sydney airport with controlled exuberance. A good life and a bright future beckoned. However, I had quit my permanent job as an engineering executive in Indiain pursuit of an uncertain future – in a distant country in a different hemisphere. The chill of that winter morning in early July (arriving from a sweltering Delhi) reminded me of the change and the looming thunderstorm was reflective of the turmoil inside: Will I find a job?

In the wise words of Homer Simpson, alcohol is ‘the cause of and solution to all of life’s problems’.

So how many times did you forget to feed your son? Shanti Maya* recalls one of the curious mothers at the malnutrition rehabilitation center asking her just a couple of hours after her arrival. She clearly found the question to be upsetting. Even now, Shanti insists that she genuinely believed that her boy was born to be that way, skinny and short. She never considered it to be a medical issue.

When her parents heard that she was pregnant, they did not congratulate her. She wasn’t married. It would tarnish her image, they thought, and she was told to rethink. But Bhawani Sharma*, a high ranking professional, was not ready to reconsider her decision and insisted on carrying the baby to full term.

As it is it’s difficult to take care of newborns and babies and, of late, with the growing pollution in the valley as well as the seasonal change the task is getting harder. With every other person having his/her own ideas about the best way to take care of babies, it has become all the more difficult for mothers to figure out what’s actually good for their kids. Dr Vivek Todi, consultant pediatrician and pediatrician nephrologist at Norvic International Hospital and Vayodha Hospital, sheds some light on how to take care of children aged from six months to six years.