A week ago, life was different. As I am almost getting done with my PhD, I had planned each day to the utmost perfection. Sundays: Going to bazar, journaling, and recently I was planning on making my Sundays “spiritual.” Yoga for three days a week. Teaching for Tuesdays and Thursdays. A date for Wednesdays and Fridays. And, rest of the time writing my dissertation, which I am defending soon to get Doctorate Degree. Everything was perfectly planned and there was a plan B too. But I didn’t plan to live through yet another disaster—the pandemic, the Covid-19 crisis that has crippled lives of hundreds and thousands of us around the world.

There were a very few vehicles on the road. I flew on I-93 and reached Boston downtown in no time. Boston was eerily empty. I pulled my car on the side of the road and rushed to my office building. I wanted to make it quick. I input the codes on the door pad, placed my hand under the self dispensing hand sanitizer, pushed the floor number on the elevator button and took a long sigh of relief when the door opened. There was no one in the elevator, providing all the space for myself. I did not need to worry about the social distancing measure that I had recently come to appreciate. I had not left home for a week and felt uneasy with everything—empty roads, empty elevators, empty office buildings and a mind that had never dealt with so much of safety concern just for getting out of home.

NEW HAVEN – In an effort to get a handle on the economic and financial consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, the first instinct is to search for precedents and remedies in earlier crises. Many have pointed to the 2008 global financial crisis (GFC) as the most relevant example, especially in the aftermath of the extraordinary monetary-policy actions announced by the US Federal Reserve on March 15. That would be an unfortunate mistake.

Nepal is often projected as the nation that lost the war with the foreigners. The Anglo-Nepal war (1814-16) is often cited to prove this claim. Yes, the war with the East India Company government turned out to be a losing battle for Nepal at the end. Nepal suffered a defeat but given that Nepal had fought with small troops against huge and well-armed troops of British India, the defeat was almost a foregone conclusion.

An email from an editor of one of the leading French dailies who cancelled her trip to Nepal due to the threat of coronavirus made me unhappy. She was going to visit Nepal for a few weeks and cover some travel related news. She said she had to cancel in response to Nepal government’s decision to ban ‘on arrival visa’ to French nationals.

Nepal exports agricultural commodities worth USD 200 million each year, and imports produce worth about five times as much. While nearly 70 percent of Nepal’s total imports of agricultural commodities—cereals, vegetables, and fruits—come from India, this has not always been the case. Until the 1980s, Nepal was a net exporter of agricultural commodities. Even today, if agricultural land in the Tarai plains—known popularly as the granary of Nepal—is optimally utilized, the country’s agricultural production can increase manifold to offset the current trade deficit. About 600,000 hectares (ha) of irrigable land in the Tarai are unirrigated and completely dependent on rainfall. If Nepal uses its groundwater resources to irrigate these lands, it will help bolster food security and lead to socio-economic benefits for the country.

WASHINGTON, DC – The global economy was ripe for a recession even before the coronavirus pandemic struck. Many commentators have been warning that stock markets were overheated, that advanced economies were heading for a slowdown, and that US President Donald Trump’s protectionist policies had disrupted supply chains and ushered in an era of heightened uncertainty. Now, the stock market has finally crashed, and a recession has become almost inevitable.

I have been reading newspapers and come across the following headlines: People asked not to make movements outside the home except when it is absolutely essential, gatherings of more than 25 persons at party venues, temples, mosques, monasteries and other public places banned, cinema halls, cultural centers, stadiums, gyms, health clubs, museums, swimming pools, entertainment spaces, dance bars and clubs to remain shut till April 30, regular classes and examinations of academic institutions suspended till April 12.

Toxic masculinity promotes the idea that men are better than women. Those that don’t abide by the patriarchal rules of what defines a man are often called “girls”

I don’t clearly know where I am headed (I feel out of this world, but I am not drugged), but I am sure I will find my way, my destiny, my destination. One thing is clear, though: I am leaving this city at least temporarily because it reminds me of so many things. You see, loads of memories are not a good thing when you are in an unenviable situation. On a pilgrimage?