Who Am I?

Celebrating the successful summit over Thorang-La (5416m asl) at 9.33 am on 25th November 2009. (Photo: Bob Bazely)

Ranipani - 2, Parbat is a  remote mid-hill village of Nepal Himalayas where I was born and grew up. It is 14 hours drive from Kathmandu – the capital city of Nepal. Like other villagers, we also had a small home made up of stone, wood and mud with thatched roof. Neither of Roda, Concrete and Cement constitutes our home (there is no even small fragment of RCC). Now you can just imagine where and how did I grow up? I simply respond you that I grew up in soil playing with soil. I love to spend my every possible minutes in those landscapes where there are small thatched homes painted with special type of red and white clay mud, having a view of snow capped mountains in distant and a small forest nearby. Generally we can find those types of land settings in mid and high hills of Nepal. I’ve an immense attachment with rural settings in high-hill mountains. But I’m equally attracted by high altitude Himalayas – mainly those which receive snow at least once in a year.

I love the cultural, social, biological and geographical diversity of the mountains. Most importantly, the chilly weather with cool and fresh air, often mixed with the smell of different wild flowers and medicinal herbs, in the laps of the high altitude Himalayas are so fascinating that sometimes I forget of everything while I am in those areas. Hospitality and peculiarities of mountain peoples worth extra significance and makes me so passionate about the Himalayas. See a photo posted below to get an idea of a village blessed by Himalayas and furnished by Tibetan Buddhist culture in trans-Himalayan valley:  

Jhong village with colorful Buddhist prayer flags in roof of houses with a Monastery (extreme end of village) in Mustang, Nepal and Mt. Dhaulagiri in distance, 18th November, 2009.

Academically, I’m a Master graduate (Botany with research specialization in Ecology) from Tribhuvan University, Nepal. As a natural science scholar, I’m interested in the fields of Alpine Ecology, Biodiversity, Livelihood and Conservation of the Himalayas including global change and its impact. I was also a student of Anthropology at Tribhuvan University, Nepal.

Photography is my hobby but i don't have any idea on technical aspect of photography  because I've not taken any course on photography yet. I believe on "learning by doing" therefore, I hope I will gain  that knowledge soon so that I will be able to take cool photographs and post on this blog.  I apologies for not being able to post good shots till that point of time.
I love to participate in talk programs, seminars, exhibitions, conferences. I also would like to conduct Conservation Awareness Program and other educational programs in order to blend local traditional knowledge with scientific theory for effective nature conservation. 
  
I'm sorry I could not provide the picture of my village. I am sorry to say that I've not visited my village since a couple of years. When I visited last last time I didn't have my own camera to capture my birthplace. but I will try my best to get that soon possible. As a copy of my village here is a photo of a village from Chitwan. I took this photo on 14th April 2010 when I was there for a research along with Mr. Jon Appeal.

A landscape showing house with stone roof and painted with red clay soil, in Hattibang village of Chitwan Nepal.