Since the beginning of time, advancement of technologies has been taking place to make this world a better and easier place to live for Humans. But, existence of Human species is in risk. Why? The answer is well known to every single of them. The reason is, Climate Change.

Change of climate attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of global environment is Climate Change. The major concern of every person either a politician or a farmer has been shifted to Climate Change, as it effects has been adversely affecting everyone here. According to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2017 has been declared as the second hottest year in the history of earth. And if the trend of increase in temperature keeps on going, it is certain that 2018 may break the record of being the hottest year in the history. Climate Change tends to bring serious impacts in communities, ecosystem and livelihood of people. Increase in temperature, drought, intense summer heat, untimely rainfall, floods and landslides are the major impacts of Climate Change. Nepal being a developing country is also in great risk of Climate Change though its contribution in CO2 emission is very less in comparison to other countries i.e. 0.2%. Mean annual temperature of the world is increasing and with this trend the estimated global warming from 1990 to 2100 is of 1.4-5.8°C, assuming a range of climate sensitivities. On one hand temperature has been rising annually whereas on the other hand precipitation rate has been decreasing significantly. This anonymous change in climate has frequently resulted extreme weather events and water-induced disasters to the intense harm in livelihood of human.

The tremendously increasing temperature has made the life on earth difficult. Climate extremes disasters such as flash floods, landslides, and drought are hitting every part of earth in a severe manner. Catastrophic disasters such as Glacier Lake Outburst Flood, is taking place counting in the glaciers lake in the endangered list. Economy and GDP of countries depending on agriculture have been questionable as Climate Change has negatively impacted the sector of agriculture. Diseases related to air and water has been killing millions of people every year. The world has continuously been trying to address these issues and to work to combat it. Different Conference of Parties (COP) meetings are organized to address these issues and review the progress of every party towards climate change. Various program of action has also been made in regards to Climate Change. Likewise to achieve the goal of combating Climate Change, on December 2015, the world agreed to keep warming significantly below 2.0° above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5° degrees in comparison to pre-industrial levels. Simply, we can understand that world agreed to put efforts on staying below 1.5 degrees. But still a big question arises here. Is it possible, if so HOW????

Achieving this goal is challenging but not impossible. The major cause of Climate Change are human so changing the habits and traditions of human which are in practice can be a helping hand in achieving the goal. Adopting natural solutions to every environment related problem can also induce in achieving the goal. Forests are great contributors in decreasing the impact of Green House Gases as they play the role in carbon sequestration and carbon storage. So, providing emphasis on implementing the concept of community forestry and scientific forestry will also help in staying below 1.5 degrees. Practicing sustainable agriculture, focusing on cultivating nitrogen-fixing plants, improved livestock management and practicing agroforestry concept are also some natural solutions. Today, the use of solar energy has flourished about 30%, in practice, but to reach the goal it must reach 100%. So, developing the technologies with the concept of use of renewable energy is a must and shifting the priority to 100% renewable energy and eco-friendly products is needed to stay below 1.5 degrees. The era we live is the era of social media. Almost 90% of world’s population is updated with various social media sites. So, revolutionary change towards mitigating climate change can also be brought through these social media. Providing awareness to public through various social media sites, initiating social media campaigns against Climate Change can also help us to reach the goal of staying below 1.5 degrees after all it’s our duty to save our planet.

-Dipika Badal

Dear parents,

I am writing this letter to remind you that you have a daughter. Yes. She is vagina-ist. She has a
vagina and boobs. Perfect two rounds and booty she loves. She is your daughter. You both
conceived her. I am here to jog your memory lane.

Like any parents, you protect her. Oh, you do.

She starts to grow up. She hits her puberty. Her flat chest is not flat anymore. She is beautiful.
You get worried. You ask her where she is heading to. How many friends does she have? Are
they all girls? Vagina-ist? Oh no?? There are boys too? More boy-friends than girls? Red alert!
Be careful.

Infant, child, teenage. She is growing up. You get worried. You share her awful stories of what
happens to vagina owners. She feels scared. She looks down her vagina and wishes things were
easier if she had a penis? Brr. She brushes off the idea. She is straight. No way. But she still
questions her existence as a girl. She thinks the world is cruel. Ruthless. Living monsters.

Nevertheless,

She wants to work her ass-off. She wants to go beyond what the stereotypical society holds for
girls, because she believes on her hidden wings. But, you get worried. So, you call her, every 1
hour. Ask her where she is. She replies. She replies to every question. Calls you back every 30
minutes before you reach home, just to let you know where she is.

She starts working 8 hours a day. She works in the darkest nights of winter. You get worried. You
constantly remind how scary the world is. “Penis-holders’ v/s vagina-ist? Penis-holders are the
winner, my child. You are weak. You are vulnerable. You are our child. We love you. Come
home early.”

She meets new friends. She talks to them. She meets guys. She meets girls. She has a boyfriend.
She learns the true virtue of men. Penis-holder has a name- Men. He shows you the meaning of
men. He makes her meet his men-friends. They respect her. Real Men.

She makes a world of her own. A world with men and women both. True men and true women.
They inspire her. They show her sides; a girl can be. She starts weaving her wings. You,
You. Get. Worried.

You share her stories about rapes, sexual assault, groping and kidnapping. Penis-holders are
monsters.
Stop. Please.

The world is not all that. She knows there are monsters. She knows. Not everyone is safe. Not
everyone is vulnerable. She understands your love. She does not understand your fear. Believe
her. She has woven her own wings. She is careful. She has never forgotten her values.
Stop. Please.

Tell her, assure her, she is in the safest hands of her friends. If not, teach her to fight. Don’t teach
her ways to run away. Tell her to use her wings but to be careful of the scissor-holders, not penis-
holders. Talk to her about your life and real struggles. The courage and efforts you faced to raise
her.

Teach her to be a fighter…

With best regards,
Daughter (Fighter)

Last year during this time, ‘We’ were set to collect resolutions from you to see what you had in stored for yourself in 2017. I hope you achieved what you had set out for.

Years add up in our lives and we scribble our goals into words for the year (and forget, that’s what happens for most of us).

We set goals. We set targets. We dream about our dream. We set goals to buy a house in the future, dream to become a millionaire, buy cars and all the expensive luxuries you can imagine of.

Today, as you read this, ask yourself, ‘Are our goals limited to materials? Is earning money your only motivation? Should money be your ONLY motivation?’
Hey, don’t get me wrong. Money drives you to work but is it the only force?
Stop setting goals that are too materialistic. In the end what is the purpose of all the bills you have in your wallet, or cards, if you do not have a single person to share your meal with.

Stop wasting your time trying to prove and please people. Why give a space for negativity, when you can fill that space with other beautiful thing? 10 years down the line, when you look at the mirror and see your reflection, what is that one word you would want to say to you?

Work for that ‘Word’. Work to better self. What the other correspondent says doesn’t matter, what matters is what your own reflection will say to you.

Everyone is frantically looking for happiness all around, not knowing where it is. Many people’s lives in this world goes on rush. And, when asked most of the people shares the secrets of happiness are: money, power, fame, luxurious life etc. But, do you really think money, power can bring the inner happiness that person wish to have? Various thoughts puzzling in yours’ mind right? I guess my personal answer will be NO but to some extent it might be the reason for YES.
Ohh wait! Let’s reflect this point as. For me, the most greatest secret of life for being happy and satisfied is being yourselves, knowing what you are, doing the things that you love to do no matter what other’s feel, peace of mind and spreading sense of positiveness. The following words such as innocence, motivation, loving, caring, pious perception, helping behaviour, positive attitude and placing others as your own place/circumstances, always drive you towards happiness. Our happiness might lies on the happiness of others too.
The way of happiness also depends on the people’s characteristics like age, habit, status, freedom, family and environment where we are grown. Some interpret being single in life rocks and other say having the loved one around is happiness. Some might found happiness in music while others might found through adventures, reading, playing etc. Being intoxicated might also be the medium of finding happiness to some fellows. But, I personally feel that’s bad aspect. So, it is all about categories, choices of the respective persons. What I feel is, everything has its own importance in life but need to balance it well.