There are too many hits and responses here. Not saying ‘thank you’ would be rude. So, here it is.

Chapter I

The New ones

Norton,

Have you ever been here before? No? Welcome, then. Since this is your first time here, please fill up the form. Yes, yes, all those parts on the top titled ‘Compliments’. Don’t worry about the bottom part that says “Criticism”. Thank you sir for commenting.

Bender,

Thank you. I knew you were bored when I saw you in Baltimore during that ANA thingy. That’s why I came back to Sajha. Or was that you twin? I can never tell. I have never seen fraternal twins look so identical. A big thank you for commenting.

Fortunefaded,

You are very funny and you write darn well. Do it more often. Yes, “MILF” was the word.

Mazemyan/Oldmaven/Stat/Azalia/ Sarkis/ Nepwanted,

Thank you so much for commenting. Pleasure’s mine. Have a wonderful summer.

SuperHero,

I don’t know why you updated your post to null value. One of your criticisms was right on the money. I even changed a couple of paragraphs because you were so darn right. Other two criticisms, I don’t agree with, but I won’t argue. Anyone who takes time for constructive criticism is a well-wisher and will always remain so in my PlusMinus book of life. Thank you for commenting and even a bigger thank you for taking time to critique. I wish you a great summer.

Daydreamer,

The guy Sandeep you know from Duke seems to have two ‘e’ in his name. Sandip I know has an ‘i’. Trust me there is a lot of ‘I’ in Sandip Sharma. Thank you for commenting.

Teena,

Say hi to Reena, your sister who emailed you one of my writings two years ago. She’s a sweetheart. Thank you for commenting, and though she’s a sweetheart, no thanks to Reena for not commenting.

Jeffali,

Weird indeed. All I see is an emoticon wasted that we’ll never recover. You are a quick-witted man. Have you tried standup comedy?

Comcast,

Thank you for waiting. Did you read it though?

Copycat,

This is what you volunteered with:

“I have not started reading this one, but i think i should, hence I am bookmarking.. lol..
"And those who read and remained silent, you must be a very very very busy person." - even though I am not busy person, if i had read it, i would have remained silent, as i do in most other sajha threads... just proving that you are not that correct....lol.. what does that have anything to do... isnt it?”

Reiterating your claim: “if i had read it, i would have remained silent, as i do in most other sajha threads”

Notwithstanding your claim of NOT commenting on the threads you read, here you are, commenting on the thread you have not even read yet. Man, paradoxical, ain’t it? I am saying ‘man’ because only we men can be this contradicting.

Nepal Ko Chhora,

Hi there. I know nothing about people in Sajha whom I have never met in my threads. But then I try to learn everything on people I meet in my threads. I see you are a poet. Some of the poems you have published here are pretty good.

But, don’t you think, a poem about a war works best when you don’t use the words like guns, bullets, blood, victory, defeat and deaths? A poem about a war works better when it is about two mothers. One, a worried mother, obliged to watch her son leave for the battlefield, and the other, a grieving mother, whose son came home in a coffin from the same battlefield. Then imagine this grieving mother, helping this worried mother, pack her son’s bag. That is poetry: the unspoken words between these two mothers as they fill up the suitcase and find a photograph of these two boys (one already dead, the other going to the battlefield) in their uniforms, smiling and proud. If someone can capture that, he’s a poet. If he can’t, there’s always JAVA/J2EE.

Keep on writing. The idea is to be better than you were last time. We can only outdo ourselves. Let Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson judge the others. I look forward to reading your poems.

McLovin,

I did not know someone was reading me in Dublin. You are my first Irish reader. Thank you for your kind words. I have always wondered … a name like ‘McLovin’, when you get married, what happens to it? ‘McLovout’?

Dear Asterisk Lowered Tilda Spring Lowered Tilda Asterisk (AKA *~Spring~*),

I don’t know what your parents were thinking when they gave you such a hard-to-pronounce name? Thank you for commenting.

LahureDai,

Welcome and thank you for taking time to read it. It’s always great to meet a new ID. I too wonder what Sandip must be doing now.

Somewhereondearth,

Thank you kind sir for your uplifting words. By the way, there is another gentleman here by the name Explorer. Is he the one who excavated you?

Chapter II

The Occasional

Jira,

Thank you. You know the story did not end where you left, right? Or did you make up the rest with Jira’s own rants?

Out of curiosity Jira ji, I read this in your homepage:

“Awu Priye...Hagna Basam Kodo Barima..Himaal Herera!!! Shanti! Shanti!! Shanti!!!”

Really? Does your landlord know? If I were you, I would check with him. He may have already utilized this new technology called ‘Indoor plumbing’.

Tisa,

Thank you so much for commenting. I am glad the second part did not betray your expectation.

Uptowngal,

One day all the writers in Sajha will file a class action lawsuit against you for writing the same comment on every writer’s thread: “Wow Awesome.” Thank you for commenting.

Pretty/ NKC/ Batas,

Thank you so much for commenting.

Bhakunde Bhut,

Thank you for reading, a bigger thank you for commenting, and the biggest for interpreting.

Dipika02,

Why do I feel like you have not read the story? Are you just being nice?

Pjna007,

Lau, ke kuro gareko? Asparagus bhaneko ‘kurilo’ ta ho ni. Nepal ko chaahi ali dherai nai masino hunchha. Yaha ko bhandaa tara dherai nai mitho. I remember eating ‘Kurilo’ when I was in Kusma. I write a lot of stuff from my own experience, so that I don’t screw up the realness. Thank you so much for commenting. Take care.

Sheetalb,

Thank you so much. I hope you liked it.

Explorer,

Are you still in Chicago? Is the offer still valid?

Bideshi,

The answers to your questions are in the story itself. No? Maybe I am hallucinating. But I think they are there. Thank you for commenting.

Angeleyes,

Saarahi badmaas yaar hajur ta. You asked for the second part. I worked on it by skipping a graduation party on Friday, a four-year-old’s birthday on Saturday, and a baby shower on Sunday. Then I hear nothing from you. I can take “Samaf, your second part sucks.” I am a grown man. Too grown. If I were ‘raayo ko saag’, they’d call me “Oeeli sakyo, hera ta”. By the way, can you figure out (for me) why we men are invited to these Nepali baby showers? We got nothing to contribute. Ok, whatever we could contribute, we already did, isn’t that why there’s a baby shower in the first place?

Sgy,

I write hoping someone will quote me. Then you do. Then I am so happy. Then I say thank you. And I really mean it. Because you quoted me. There is no bigger accolade than that. I wish you a lottery. Not a winning number necessarily, but a lottery, nevertheless. Now I’ve written nine in a row, I realize, short sentences don’t always make a whole lot of sense.

Cowboys,

I am glad you liked it. Thank you for waiting. Owe you for waiting.

Aman,

Thank you so much for commenting. You said you read the whole thing in one breath. You must have borrowed that breath from David Blaine.

San,

Thanks a million.

CHAPTER III

The Usual

Amber,

How can I forget you? You are a true inspiration.

Captain,

If the election is held today, Obama, on top of every state that Kerry won (including New Hampshire), would add New Mexico (5), Colorado (9), and Iowa (7). That will give him 252 of Kerry plus 21 new, making it 273. Game, set and match. This is the safest bet. Things may change between now and November 4, but those are the safest ones.

What does that analysis have to do with my story? Because you did not talk much about my story. I am reciprocating. To quote you, “In jest.”

Mickthesick,

Thank you M.

Samsara,

Lau na haamilaai pani alikati economic advice chahiyo kya. Government consultant ko job le wakka bhayo. Chhin chin maa budget kaati diera dikka garisakyo. I’m thinking Atlantic City. Is that a good investment? How say you?

Occult,

Naya lekheko chhaina? Post garam lekheko chha bhaney. Aru ke chha? Ekdam busy ho?

‘Prasuti Griha’ kahile baneko re? Here you go:

http://www.nepalitimes.com.np/issue/32/DomesticBrief/8438

Gahugoro,

You vanished from Sajha for a while, then I vanished for about four or so months. It’s been a while. Thik thaak? Photo taasam na Nepal ko. One of the photos you taassing in Sajha, is still on my desktop.

Freak_Alien,

So how are things at Queens, California? Or is it Staten Island, California? I can’t believe you were six doors down from me in Baltimore and you didn’t bother to look for me. I was within inches of San couple of times. He didn’t tell you? But now I think about it, I think I introduced myself as Tamang_lady to San. He didn’t believe me. I wonder why.

Lootebhai,

When I see your name in my thread, I always cringe. Because you have always been honest. And keep it that way. Thank you for commenting.

Suna,

Why do I have this feeling that you’re not in this country right now?

Meera,

My no-nonsense, blunt-talking friend is here.

You said:

“This is by far the best you've written.”

Shouldn’t that read?

“In my opinion, this is by far the best you've written.”

In the absence of “In my opinion,” you become my ‘Creative Writing 101’ teacher. I write for my friend Meera, not my teacher Meera.

But this may be why I like you so much. Perhaps this is why I always look for you in my threads. You are one cool customer. A genuinely honest contributor. Your “I liked it” feels like someone else’s “Get published now.”

I won’t recommend Obama’s upcoming cabinet to send you to a diplomatic mission to Lebanon, but I sure will tell him I’ve a cool friend here in Sajha and her honesty won’t let her take a job of a diplomat. She’ll have to pass.

Thank you so much. Take care.

SunnyDev,

Mark Twain: “Sanity and happiness are an impossible combination.”

Sheela Pradhan’s character was based on that quote. Besides sushila, she was the happiest one in the story.

If you think you may know an unknown place where you can seek happiness, you may come out of there quite miserable.

That was Catherine’s problem at Sushila’s house. She thought happiness is triggered by an event or a sacrifice (like scarring her own hand, or going to Africa). At Sushila’s place, she realizes: Happiness is all about NOT realizing that you need to be happy.

I am happy because I can.

This really works on some people. I have seen many Sandip Sharmas in the last 13 years I have lived in this country. They actually believe “I am happy because I can.”

Foolsparadise,

I was looking for you until you arrived. I am relieved. As always, thank you for your beautiful words. You always make me wanna come back here. You just know how to read. How to write. How to compliment. And more than that, how to critique—without sounding self-important. The Obama thing was a paragraph of meaningless scribble I had, which nobody seemed to like. But I have some essays, which, a part of me wants to post. The problem with posting an opinion piece in Sajha is, well, the specificity of the essay will be gainsaid by generic comments in no time.

 

PS

Believe me I spent more than three hours last night writing my thank you notes. You all matter to me a lot. I was very sleepy when I wrote this; I hope I did not miss anyone. If I did, my apologies.

Comments are unedited, please pardon the typos.