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When I look at the sky, I wish I could fly 

When I view the nature, I feel the vibe 

We humans are the soul of the nature 

Which extends more indeed inside 

That never tends to share. 

At first when I felt it, I got a different peace of mind 

That was stressing inside me myself 

The first time I felt I was not lonely, 

but was in my own peace 

I took time to feel the same sunsets,

When it’s about to end its presence. 

I got my own thoughts, and I feel we are the cage 

For our own freedom, we destroy our own inner peace 

I feel the bird, I feel their happiness, I can see the love 

Towards the Mother Earth, that saves,

gives birth and takes the last breadth.  

Supriya Paudel 

BBM III Semester, United College

Today, I am surrendering;

Surrendering amidst the vista;

To keep myself in attunement;

In my heart I know;

Dear life, it feels liberating.

As I gaze upon the horizons;

It reminds me of my ever-growing dreamscape;

A picturesque of euphoria;

In my mind I know;

Dear life, it feels awakening.

The realm of hope engulfs me;

While getting lost in the depths of my thoughts;

A never ending thought;

In my wariness I know;

Dear life, it feels empowering.

As I took a sigh of relief;

The gentle breeze flustered me;

I mustered up the courage to face the inevitable;

In my belief I know;

Dear life, it feels reinforcing.

Today, I am accepting;

Of my defeats with grace;

For I am fearfully and wonderfully admitting; 

In my realization I know;

Dear life, it feels musing. 

Animon Rapacha 

BBM VI Semester, United College

In the mid winter,

Just like the flickers of light in darkness,

Just like the icy serenade of coolness in dawn,

A part of me was forlorn.

After some years,

In the mid spring,

Just like the gentle breeze of wind in May,

Just like the first drizzle of rain,

One fine afternoon,

A part of me was melancholic.

But,

Some parts of me were under Phoenix’s spell.

Amidst nowhere,

There existed be-all and end-all,

In your presence,

I could be more human.

More courageous.

More myself.

What a time!

Animon Rapacha

BBM VI Semester, United College

Aditya Goenka, a student from Nepal who topped the Richmond American University at London in BA Economics (Hons), leading to distinguished offers from the prestigious Cambridge and London School of Economics for pursuing his Masters’, has committed himself to helping alleviate poverty at large, reshaping the socio-economic landscape in Nepal with the help of a multi-utility grass called Vetiver. He envisions extending his paradigm of sustainable and inclusive development across the developing world once he sees Nepal’s underprivileged empowered with sustainable and inclusive development in place. 

He believes that comprehending ‘Ecosystem based Adaptation (EBA)’ holds the key to the holistic development of a nation. For us in Nepal, this is very pertinent. It can be understood as interactions that connect several approaches to addressing climate change adaptation, biodiversity and ecosystem conservation, and socioeconomic development with people being at the center of the approach. For the vulnerable communities, it assumes even larger significance.

He has embraced Vetiver, a specific vegetation known for its capability as a sustainable agriculture tool along with being a bioengineering marvel. It impacts all the 17 SDGs in Nepal. The initiative covers diverse need-based arenas as critical as soil and water conservation, disaster mitigation, wasteland reclamation, groundwater recharge, carbon sequestration, phytoremediation of abandoned mines, quarries etc, substitution of fossil fuel with green energy, landfills, leachates, and many more.

The impact of his work has been revolutionary across various applications, with the aforesaid being just a few examples. Vetiver plantations can be seen at several public projects in Nepal having solved bioengineering challenges with elan—such as the under-construction ‘Fast Track’ road project from Nijgadh to Kathmandu, Pokhara International Airport, Mahakali Irrigation Project, Wasteland Reclamation for farmers and several more. 

Goenka is confident that most of the critical issues as challenging as poverty, climate, hunger, unemployment in Nepal (and in extension across the developing world) can be addressed with Vetiver which is not just a grass but, it’s a technology. It is a C4 perennial grass that fits well in ecosystem service models contributing to multifarious environmental applications, and offers sustainable opportunities for carbon sequestration as well.

Vetiver has unique morphological, physiological and ecological characteristics including its massive root system, tolerance to highly adverse growing conditions and to high levels of toxicities. As a fast growing grass, it possesses some features of both grasses and trees by having profusely grown, deep penetrating root systems that can offer both erosion prevention and control of shallow movement of surface earth mass. It is also cost-effective and environmentally-friendly.

On the poverty alleviation narrative, Goenka is working on a model wherein the farmers can bid adieu to the less revenue-accruing traditional crops and plant Vetiver as a livelihood measure which would fetch them several times more of revenue—a buy back arrangement with institutional tie-up is being worked out by him. This will enable a large number of farmers to come out of misery. There are several farmers in the terai whose stretches of lands got swept away by devastating rivers turning those into wastelands. 

Since Vetiver evolves in such lands too, there will still be a restoration of fortune for them which provides a sigh of relief to this young epitome of humanity, Aditya whose mission is driven on the premise of his pledge to bring a smile on the faces of these farmers many of who have been rendered “Sukumbasis”. He is working with his plantations right in a flood-devastated region of the downstream Bagmati river where there is a settlement of ‘Sukumbasis’ whom he provides employment and supports with Vetiver plants to guard whatever little lands some of them could save when a major flood struck the region in 2050.     

Goenka envisions helping usher-in security for the nation across all the following attributes if the wastelands in the country which are absolutely redundant today, could be put to Vetiver plantation. food, jobs, energy, climate, economic rewards, et al, can be available to the nation.