Being away from Nepal is the price many of us have chosen to pay for the sake of better education and career. We miss Nepal; it is plain old nostalgia. The good news is that the world is shrinking and it is getting easier to be in touch with Nepal. We do that by watching ‘तितो सत्य’ at nepal123.com, watching Nepali Music videos in YouTube or by following latest development in blogs and web-sites.

I recently found that Netflix, a US based movie renting service, had Caravan (the movie Himalaya by Eric Valli was known by the name Caravan in Nepal) available for renting. I had watched that movie in the old Jai Nepal theater the year it was nominated for Oscar in the ‘Foreign Language’ category. I was impressed by the breath-taking visuals from Dolpa and by the work the team had put together. When I found that I could watch it again, I did that without second thoughts.

Thinle in Caravan

A glimpse of the mountain

It was like a short visit to Nepal that filled me with joy. The movie impressed me equally this time. I recommend that you view it if you have not viewed it already. If you are not a Netflix subscriber, you can subscribe to their 15 day free-trial and watch the movie (and several others like Slumdog Millionaire) at no cost. Click on the image below to rent the DVD from Netflix. If you are not an existing customer, you will be asked to join the free trial in the following page. I am sure you will enjoy the movie!

Yes, you read that absolutely correct. Mars Science Laboratory, a laboratory with NASA, is inviting everyone to send their names, stored in a microchip, to Mars on their robot that is heading to Mars in 2011. This is a part of the effort to promote NASA missions among general public. Previous missions had followed similar schemes, for example the STARDUST Project sent more than a million names to outer space.

According to NASA, Mars Science Laboratory is part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort for robotic exploration of the red planet. The rover will assess whether Mars ever was, or is still today, an environment able to support microbial life. In other words, its mission is to determine the planet’s “habitability.”

To send your name, simply visit this page and enter your Name and Country in the form. Here is a certificate for the entry of Rangeen Chara; Rangeen Chara is going to Mars!

Rangeen Chara going to Mars in 2011!

Nepal has been increasingly popular in international media for odd news. Take for example the incidence of Nepal Airlines Corporation sacrificing goats to appease Aaakash Bhairab when their aircraft went through a series of technical problems. The news was covered by renowned media like Reuters and BBC among many others. The news has bagged 523 diggs so far in Digg.com; probably the highest any news from Nepal ever has! Another similar odd news from Nepal has recently become popular in international media: Nepal bans pockets to stamp out bribe-taking at airport. That much about the oddity of the news; the remaining part of this post is about how the same news is presented by different media.

BBC UK published the news online (see here) with the title ‘Nepal bans airline staff pockets‘. The ending paragraph of the news goes:

The BBC’s Nepali service says almost all incidents of petty corruption have been directed at Nepalese travellers rather than tourists.

That line does justice to Nepalese tourism by clarifying that foreigners planning to visit Nepal need not worry about the petty corruption.

Now the news is also published in Hindi by BBC India (see here) which evidently is based on the same news source. The only difference: the above paragraph has been left out.

Was the paragraph lost in translation or was it intentionally left out?