COVID-19 Nepal, May 2021: What happened to 5K Confirmed Cases?!
The discovery of an intriguing pattern in the changes in the number of active COVID-19 cases in Nepal led to the discovery of unaccounted 5K cases!
Do Hindu Gods Discriminate Against Those Who Arrive Late to Heaven?
If I didn't know any better, based on the fervor with which Nepalis have been celebrating festivals during these times of the coronavirus pandemic, I would have concluded that there was some benefit to reaching heaven sooner than later.
Data in Bhaktapur's case, for example, show how Biska Jatra had contributed to, what I call, COVID-19 Jatra -- a massive spike in COVID-19 cases. No doubt that'll lead to deaths, if it hasn't already.
With Many Nepali Men, You Can Take Them Out of Nepal BUT You Can’t Take Nepal Out of Them
I avoided being part of Nepali associations and organizations all the years I lived abroad. Luckily, that wasn't too difficult most of the time because most places I lived in neither had any sizeable Nepali population nor organizations.
One reason behind the avoidance was a discovery I made about many Nepali men -- you can take them out of Nepal, but you can't take Nepal out of them!
Will MoHP’s Third COVID-19 Projection Go the Way of the Other Two? If Not, We Are F*cked
On April 13, Ministry of Health and Population of Nepal made another projection about COVID-19 cases in the country. If one were to go by their past projections, this should and can be written off too. However, there is at least one confounding factor this time around.
The Science of Sex
One of the many consequences of low science literacy and high level of religiosity and the attendant belief in superstitions in the highly patriarchal Brahmanic society of Nepal is unabashed cruelty to females. One way the cruelty is meted out is in the way they are blamed for a newborn's sex as it that were determined by gestation and birthing. Science says otherwise, of course!
In The Topsy-turvy World of Nepal…
When left is right and right is left; when might is right and right is wrong; and when the wrong get their way and are held is high esteem, what is left?!
I'll tell you what is left...Nepal.
You are left with the country of Nepal...where pride is the new shame!
Open Societies Use Information & Knowledge To Free Their People; Closed Ones to Control
How a society uses information and knowledge depends a lot on the kind of society it is. An open and outward looking society uses information and knowledge to free their people, for example. A closed and inward-looking society, on the other hand, utilizes them to control their people. Nepal, being a closed and inward-looking society, expends a lot of effort into controlling their people, starting from when they are children.
Accents, Science, Nepalis, American Idol, and Arthur Gunn
Combination of lack of good quality and level of education and a social system based on a highly discriminatory caste system means that, in Nepal, there are many instance of people displaying their ignorance and/or bigotry and prejudices without even them being aware that that's what they are doing.
This blog post is about one such example: Nepalis mocking the American twang in a Nepal-born American as well as fellow Nepalis for their non-mainstream Nepali accents.
Hold up a Mirror to a Closed and Inward-looking People, They’ll Shatter It
Nepalis on average are a closed and inward looking people. And because of that, when the proverbial mirror is held in front of them, offended, disappointed, or not liking what is reflected back, they generally shatter the mirror. In this blog post, I document one such example from Twitter.
COVID-19 Nepal Update: Government of Nepal Has Given Up
I have been tracking the Coronavirus pandemic in Nepal by keeping tracking of data about and related to it. Based on my analysis of those data, I have come to conclude that the Government of Nepal was really just pretending to fight the pandemic. Sadly, in the last few days, they appear to have given up the fight. They appear to have collapsed.