Virtual Slang that Bridges Generation Gap

😡😠

😍😪😽

The world is becoming almost totally virtual especially this very challenging times,   and lot of things change and evolve even the way we communicate  that we find so difficult to understand  but not for the   younger generation. As the language evolve, sometimes it creates misunderstanding that lead only to generation gap but also we find it difficult to grasp the language of the future.  So, for us to catch the slangs used in the virtual world, I am sharing the compilation of slang that we usually encounter but do not understand. To address the generation gap in communication and for us to grasp , enjoy learning the virtual language of today.

 

1. AMA: Ask Me Anything

2. Bae: Babe / Before Anyone Else

3. DAE: Does Anyone Else?

4. Dafuq: (What) the F***?

5. DM: Direct Message

 

6. ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

7. FML: F*** My Life

8. FTFY: Fixed That For You

9. Facepalm: "You Can't Be That Dumb"

10. Headdesk: Supreme Frustration

 

11. HIFW: How I Feel/Felt When

12. ICYMI: In Case You Missed It

13. IDGAF: I Don't Give A F***

14. IMO / IMHO: In My Opinion / In My Humble Opinion

15. IRL: In Real Life

 

16. JSYK: Just So You Know

17. Lulz: Laughs ("Just for Laughs")

18. MFW: My Face When | MRW: My Reaction When

19. MIRL: Me In Real Life

20. NSFW: Not Safe For Work

 

21. NSFL: Not Safe For Life

22. PAW: Parents Are Watching

23. QFT: Quoted For Truth

24. SMH: Shakes/Shaking My Head

25. Squad Goals: The Friends/Group You Want

 

26. TBT: Throwback Thursday

27. TIL: Today I Learned

28. TL;DR: Too Long; Didn't Read

29. YMMV: Your Mileage May Vary

30. YOLO: You Only Live Once

 

SOURCE: https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/30-trendy-internet-acronyms-slang-need-know-fit/

TEN IMPORTANT THINGS I LEARNED IN INTERNATIONAL VOLUNTEERING

My foster family in Lamjung, Nepal, the Ghimires.

Today, a decade ago, I  dedicated my life to volunteering. An international volunteer's life is not a cloud nine but it is like chocolate. We volunteer for a lot of reasons, but one thing remains, every day we encountered individuals who are wonderful and unique and they have their own story to tell that celebrates triumphs, defeat, betrayal, inspiration that touched our lives.  Today, I will share with you 10 important lessons in life that I learned in my volunteering life in the last 10 years.

Communicating  with the Kenyan brethren in one of the slums on Nairobi after the  post-election violence where I am inspired by their resilience and positivity

 TEN IMPORTANT THINGS I LEARNED IN INTERNATIONAL VOLUNTEERING

1. Always give your 100% dedication to whatever you do.
2. Spread positivity
3. Be a catalyst of change
4. Exude the  culture of excellence
5. Advocate the culture  reflective practice
6. Raise the standard by helping people to learn  through humility
7. Smile is the best weapon of diplomacy
8. Be open-minded but  do not compromise your values
9. Be inspired but be a source of inspiration
10. Be respectful and always willing to learn

Doing fieldwork in Rwanda with one of the national volunteers, Athanase who was very helpful to me by providing me with local insight for an international project.

Visiting the largest solar power plant in Rwanda with Mustafa in Rwamagana District

Bi Fatma and Bi Kamaria provided me with motherly affection after the death of my mother. while on placement in Pemba Islands in Zanzibar.

Mama Masai, pasteurizing for our morning milk in Iringa, Tanzania

Umanga Babu, My Little Bestie from the Himalayas

Umanga and me holding the Philippine Flag in the Himalayas of Nepal

I am locked inside the comfort room! Umanga babu, locked it from outside so that his Ammi baba (good father), cannot go far from away from him. He was told and knew that   I am going home and leaving Nepal soon, he do not want me to go away.

Not every placement is heaven, and the people you expect highly to support you are the same people who will disappoint you and worse make your life miserable so that you cannot integrate in the community and makes  it difficult adjusting to a new environment. This was my situation in Besishahar, Lamjung, Nepal in 2015 when I was there for  the post recovery effort project and the height of the economic blockage. Frustrated, feeling hopeless and ready to give up my placement and go back to  my home country.

My foster hajur bhaa (father)  Raghunath and Umanga babu 

On that same day, the Ghimire family, a very kind Brahmin family which is very usual for these priestly caste to invite a bedhesi (foreigner) brought me to their humble and modest home where I meet an angel that inspires me to stay and never lost hope to be in Nepal. 

Umanga was excited to go the Lamjung Mela (festival)

I was introduced to a sleeping cute baby in a traditional bamboo hammock who opened his twinkling eyes and smiled mischievously back at me, the newly awake baby that I meet for the first time seems he knows me very well that he embrace me tightly and played with me when I hold him.   From that day onwards, the family always brings me to their home, so that Umanga babu and I can play. Almost every weekend, he sits on my shoulders and his father Binod or any family members walked around the family farm, enjoying the scenery of the snow-capped mountains of the Himalayas and overlooking the green fields and pristine Marshyandi River. As we walked along, Umanga who was learning how to speak, teaches me the local language too by pointing the things around us. My first Nepali word I learned from him was putali which means butterfly. Like a butterfly our fondness to each other metamorphosis every day. I was there for his father during his hair cutting ceremony, celebrate Christmas, and he had his first Christmas tree and enjoyed his first Santa sock filled with sweets and apples,   we cry together when his cute little fingers accidentally burned when he played with the match sticks, I had my first dashai, tihar, pooja and attended all the family celebrations.  He loves to visit me too in my house and always wanted his house “tent” that I have to set up for him.  When he with his father Binod and mother Shova go home, they always stop on the top of the hill terraces under the banyan tree to wave goodbye as I wave back down in the village.

Enjoying our dashai holidays in the terraces

Then, I did not  realized that I already extended my one year contract for almost two years, fully immersed in my project and now well integrated in the community, and often mistaken as a local, a  Bhahun with a Gurung nose!  I proudly wear my Nepali topi ,  nepali clothes gifted by my Nepali family and the identical “bond” bracelet that Umanga and I had as a gift from the family.

Goofing around at home with hajur Amaa

Tears shed from eyes, and as I travel back to Kathmandu on a VSO car for my flight home, forever grateful I met Umanga, my little Himalayan bestie and his family, they are the ones who help and inspires me to do my best in my placement, helping the under privilege girls of Nepal and together with the Ghimires, we help in our own little ways the less fortunate in the community,  especially the dalits. As the snow-capped mountains starts to fade from the distance as the car snakes  to the Kathmandu valley, I prayed to Bhagwan, thank you and promise that I will be back in my life time in a place I called home in Nepal and uttered, mero Lamjung ma ra mero Ghimire phariwarma, dherai malai man parcha. (My Lamjung and my Ghimire family, I love you very much).

Umanga and his parents Binod and Shova

Practical Guide in Establishing Parents Reading Club

Reading Clubs is a significant in introducing the reading culture in the community, it is also a catalyst in developing the reading interest of the children during formative years. The parents are first contact of the children at home and plays an integral part in the children reading appetite. Here are the practical guides of forming reading clubs in in our schools or in our community initiated by parents.

1.     Introduce  the  importance of the  Reading Club

2.     Motivate the parents of  having  a Reading Club

3.     Let the parents decide for themselves to form a  Reading Club

4.     If the parents decided, guide and facilitate   to organize a Reading Club that is growing and sustainable by answering the following questions?

·        Who   will lead the group of parents

·        When, where  and how often they will meet

·        Where they will get the books

·        What steps they are going to follow in borrowing books.

5.     Trained and coach the parents where to get resources aside from books provide by Itegure Gusoma, like they can obtain and collect books.

6.     Train and guide the parents on how to  manage the  Reading Club   resources by preparing  the following

·        Road map of  the Reading Club  activities

·        Guide to successful reading club sessions

·        A  planning checklist of the Reading Club

 If you gave completed the six steps, then   the Reading Club is on the way!

Ten Commandments of Managing Large Classes

Large classes is always a  challenge, it is every one dreams   to delivery quality education  especially in the  formative  level of education.  However,   being selective of who will attend the class we deprive the  children of their right  for education. In some society,  the salary  amount  of the teachers depend on the number of students because the state or maybe the institution cannot provide them with salary but I will  help you based on experience how to  handle large classes in a very simple way and these are my Ten Commandments in handling large  classes.

The Ten Commandments of Teaching Large Classes

1. Thou shall remember the rights of the child for education
2. Thou shall  not come to class without lesson plan but prepare also an alternative class ativities
3. Thou shall keep   your  class  routine
4. Thou shall be firm  with class disciple and rules without being stric
5. Thou shall manage your  class time carefully but open a room for flexibility
6. Thou shall not forget your class seating plan
7. Thou shall divide your class into groups or teams
8. Thou shall give every student  the opportunity to be heard and participate
9. Thou shall not forget to reinforce or review the lessons before and after the class
10. Thou shall not forget your student name

Ordinary, Extraordinary People: PARMEET SINGH WAHI, India's Multi-awarded Model Compassion for the Less Privilege

Parmeet Wahi, 2016 Mr. Universal Ambassador India and  2017  Dada Sahib Phalke National Awardee

Inspired by Sushmita Sen  and believes  that the best thing to change yourself is your attitude and be positive in order to succeed, let us  meet and be inspired by this  6'3"  tall Indian model who loves to steal the runway while contributing to the society and  has the passion  to help the less  fortunate . Here is  the   chat  that I have  with New Delhi based Parmeet Singh Wahi, a multi-awarded professional Indian Model that tucked 2016 Mr. Rubaru Mister Universal Ambassador   India and Mr. International India 2014 titles in his belt. He is a professional model, actor, nutritionist, and fashion consultant. Let’s look why he is such an inspiration to everyone, most specifically to Indian youth and in the world.

·      Namaste and thanks Parmeet, you won several titles and you are a   successful model who has walked for all major Indian designers and you been to different parts of the world, but you always mentioned your mother is your inspiration, why? A mother is a person who cares (s) for you and loves you. She tells you how to fight the difficulties of life, she always nurtures and inspires me as a role model, So I believe my mom her teaching taught me how to be a better human being which makes my mom a true inspiration of my life.

·         Did Mr. India just happen to you along the way – or were you preparing to take part in the pageant from much before.  The credit goes to my mentor (Parvinder Singh) as he knew that I want to do something for my country. He suggested me to participate in pageants, so that’s how my journey was started to be a pageant boy.

·         What is your success mantra and how you live with it? And where your career has taken you? My success mantra is to be positive, forget about luck, accept failures and yoga. Well, it is all in the hand of good but after a few years (s) I will become a successful person so that I can take myself to those people who need my help and support.

·         You have several titles in your belt, is it more of responsibility or prestige?

Every title gives you responsibility which shows how confident you are towards your duties which makes more prestigious towards your title. I believe being a representative with titles shows the trueness behavior individuality as a true human being.

·         What and how it inspires you to join male pageants, and what you can say that other men perceived it as very “unmanly” thing? As I belong to (an) army family and when I was in 1^st standard, my grandfather used to tell that our life is for others, so at that time I committed myself to do something for my country but after graduation, I started giving exams, but I failed but after watching an interview of Sushmita Sen, I started to participate in pageants. Well, we people are civilized and the people who perceived male pageants as unmanly is a normal thing because that is the way of living with an expressive thought. It is our duty to awaken our mind and feel the relation of brotherhood.

·         Did you always want to be in the modeling profession? When was the first time you realized you wanted to take it up as a career? Yes, this is my profession and I love that because I believe is good for me but career-wise I want to be an actor.

·         Tell our readers and Mr. India 2014 aspirants about what it takes to be a Mr. India. What are the challenges involved? How was the experience? Any significant incident you can tell us about that taught you something important?  Participants should be humble with positive attributes and he should be a good speaker so that he should convert his message to the masses being.  The first challenge I faced is how can I give a good message to the society and how we going to achieved it. After winning the competition, I started training on youth mentally and how to be to be physically fit, so I participated in  Khalsa Aid Organization.

·        As an Indian, how easy or difficult is it for a model to get international exposure? Are pageants like this an important platform to breakthrough? How has winning the Mr. India pageant affected your modeling career? As a model and working for international brands, I believe that a model should have some X factor. People used to say that height and face matters. Yes, these things matter but apart from this model has the right attitude, confident, potential and punctuality. First, Judges see your confidence, he must be a good speaker, physically fit because there is always a physical round, career-oriented and the experienced which I received (and) it was amazing because you have been chosen among thousands of people. I sued to stammer a lot, and this was my weakness and I have seen a load of failures in life but one thing my grandfather and mom taught me that world needs those people who work smartly and focus.  Be positive and help others who are needy.

·         As a model, you need to be at your physical best. How do you maintain yourself? Tell us something about your diet and exercise regimen and tell us what aspiring male models should never do. Yes, you need to be physically fit, for mental peace, I do yoga thrice a week in the morning and the rest of the days. I do high-intensity workout in the gym and I just want to say to our youth never shortcut especially do not take steroids and have the patience, eat healthily and live a healthy lifestyle.

·         Winning a title also brings the responsibility of being an ambassador of the country and representing the nation. How does this helped you grow?  It effected e to grow in good ways because first you are the brand ambassador of the country and the role model for those people who take wrong path. So, I think being a representative you can give a right message to the society and today our society needs that to vanish the problem which we people are facing. Love everyone without any caste creed, color or sex.

·         What purpose you have added to your title and tell us something about the charity projects you are involved in. I adopted two children so the title which I want to give myself, unmarried single father and my purpose is to live for other.

·         What are your proudest achievements? When I received the Dada Said National Award in 2017 was (the) proudest moment for me.

·         What do you do for fun? Spending time with society children and meet new people to explore more ideas.

·     Few words for the fans and people who look up to you as a source of inspiration. Be with people who inspire you to become better and remember focus with right attitude is the key to success. Be an inspiration for other and I want to be a billionaire to serve for those people who are needy.

Thank you so much for time and for allowing me to have a chat with you Prameet and continue to be a blessing and inspiring others especially young people to be like you, discipline, hardworking and an achiever. As you say in India, namaskar and special dhanyavaad to you.

Ordinary, Extraordinary People: BISHWA NATH GHIMIRE, A Brahmin Championing Child Rights in Nepal

Bishwa Nath Ghimire, and his son Umanga

Nepal  is  patriarchal society and one of the world's less developed nation, like  any other less develop country, child rights  advocacy is lagging despite of the society's effort to advance it. Socio-cultural factors and poverty remains an issue, early child marriage, gender disparity and child labour are just some of it.  In a male dominated society, we will rarely find men doing child rights advocacy,  but I meet few of these men, but among the few, only a gem of them have the passion in their works, most of them are there for monetary reason only that despite of the effort to advance child rights in a patriachial society it is dragging due to the lack of passion. However, a very young promising Nepali father, who comes from well respected clan in Lamjung, Nepal is doing it differently.  Bishwa Nath Ghimire, coming from a Brahmin family always does it with passion. He has vision for his country that is totally hampered development is due to so many social-cultural factors. Currently, working for World Vision International - Nepal as field education specialist in the Central Office, he devotes his free time doing community work and his family.  Below is the excerpt of   the interview about the state of chill right in Nepal as well as his stands on it.

·       

He cross river and climb mountains but never get tired of his advocacy, even along the way he stops and talks with children.

        First of all thank you obviously for your time. what are you trying to accomplish  as a child right advocates and why you choose this advocacy especially in this very patriarchal society Nepali society? Thank you a lot for providing me an opportunity to share my ideas, knowledge and experiences. At present I am trying to have such a society competent with child protection mechanism. I have chosen this advocacy as I had gained different knowledge about child rights from my school life. I used to actively participate in different activities related to child rights and I was tempted to work on child right related issues. However this is patriarchal Nepali society, still there is the discrimination even to their children in terms of gender. I am struggling to minimize this through my advocacy with mother's group, child clubs, father's group, and political leaders as well as different stakeholders. As I know development is a long process but the concept of the people cannot be change easily but I am hopeful in future days that we will have such utopian society.

·         

What kind of a sense have you been able to get so far in terms of how severe the crisis of children right in Nepal and what actually needs to be done to help out? As being developing country there are many socio political crisis in the field of child right. Some of the issues are traditionally going on and some of the issues are changed with the emerging technology. Here are the problems of identity issues of newly born babies if the baby is born after unidentified father. For this I have fought a lot to get the citizenship of one child but he was not allowed to get such citizenship unless his father is identified as his mother was deaf and dumb and she could not tell who her husband was. Here is discrimination for children in terms of gender, caste, disability. There are school dropout children as well as out of school children. Child labour is another issue. In some villages child marriage is taking place. Beside this due to technology drug addiction is also emerging. Due to political influence the people who are engaged in child abuse are freely working as they pressurized the victim and some time they tempt by offering good job or money.  Child trafficking and organ selling of children is another issue in Nepal. As you know Nepal has been engaged in civil war and the  children affected from conflict are not properly addressed and being open boarders many  Indians come to Nepal with their children and they are earning money with their parents and they are deprived of getting education. Due to hand mouth problem there are some children who are working in sex market and they are sexually and physically exploited. There are some children who are engaged in domestic labour too. Government of Nepal has granted abortion of child but people are identifying children and doing abortion in terms of gender.  So intensive planning for the children is needed. As federal system is gradually being implemented hence we should encourage government bodies to open child care home in each municipality and rural municipality. There must be counselling center in each state and district where children who involve in addiction and other serious issues can be kept there.  Social security amount for unidentified children, disable children should be granted.

·        

Do you think that the global community has a responsibility to address that? Obviously it is the global responsibility as there are some cross boarder issues as Nepali children are sold in Indian market for circus and even they are sold in other countries for their organ transplant. Being developing country, Nepal has mainly focused in providing basic infrastructure and child right issue is in shadow so for creating awareness, providing fund and developing such core programme to reach vulnerable children is the support needed from the global community.

· What would the message that you would want to carry out in Nepal or even the message that you would want to get out internationally in terms of what's happening about children rights  in Nepal and how serious it is and the consequences that could happen in the future if it's not properly addressed? Nepal is gradually working on child rights. Child Friendly Local Governance is being practiced but its only working on policy level too. But this is limited in policy level only. Many villages are declared with Child Friendly but after declaration there is no follow up being done. Nepal has granted the abortion for unwanted baby but in terms of gender people are trying to abort the child and it is being secretly so this must be another issues to be raised outside of the world. Many children are without citizenship as there parents are unidentified and in Nepal unless we have citizenship we are not allowed to work anywhere so my advocacy can be for granting them the identity. For this right based approach must be done.

· On a personal level why is this so important to you ... you willing to risk your life for this advocacy? The constitution of Nepal has clearly mentioned that any child born inside Nepal and the children who are unidentified but are in Nepal are the children of Nepal but the government is not easily giving the citizenship. To get citizenship they must show their father and mother. Here is the contradiction between the policy and practicality. Hence I am eventually working for this with some organizations to raise voice against this.

·  Do you think that you in your position  right now  working  for  a globally recognized  and influential organization you can try to push this process forward put ... pressure perhaps on the

Nepali  government to push for stricter implementation of the children rights? Definitely our organization is working on child right issues. Last year our organization conducted one campaign It Takes Nepal to End Child Marriage and it was inaugurated by the president of Nepal. It brought positive vibes within the organization as well as in the community. World Vision Nepal has its project for child protection. We are working for child rights and birth registration and other issues are taken seriously and we are doing advocacy in the local and national level and we are hopeful that we can bring child wellbeing. Being child focused organization we are trying to have the life in all its fullness of the children.

 On fatherhood, how central are fathers to childhood development and child education? In a family father and mother both are responsible to rear a child. Many fathers seem very submissive rather than mother. But I think every father has higher duties to perform especially to foster good habit to the children. In Nepalese society mostly fathers are not being responsible to their children as the children's personal hygiene is looked after by mother. She has to feed, bath and look after the baby. But father can support in the family. Being the era of knowledge transformation, hence father can assimilate with his wife and he can look after the baby doing household chores. Even peer reading to the baby can be much influential.  

Do fathers have a different impact depending on the gender of the child? How it will be if you have a girl child? I am totally disagree with this opinion as father is like god and he can not differentiate his children. There are 5 fingers in a hand but they may be long or short and they have their value and importance like in the same way whatever he has either son or daughter he should love them. As I have my son, I am very happy with him but if my baby was daughter I should have loved her like him. Still there are some people with traditional perspectives of their children and many parents will go on giving birth to the babies as they wish baby son. But if I have a girl child I would treat her equally like my son.

 

On the lighter note, how do  you spend quality time  to your child considering your workload when this   is suppose to be the  time that you be a great influence to your child?I am not able to spend my quality time with my family but whenever I will be at home my boy wander around me. He follows me even in the toilet too. I spend most of the time interacting with him. I always encourage him to do new best things and he dazzles me with his works too. During evening time I take him to the neighbor hood so that he could learn things from others. We play together. He is 3 and half years old. I encourage him to sing, dance and tell stories himself. He dances and sings Nepali folk songs. During bed time, he is fond of bedtime stories and I always tell him one story and he starts to make his own stories in his way. Always I try to be exemplary character in front of him. Bed time is the best time to influence my boy as I have sufficient time to concentrate him on my moral stories.

Enjoying quality time with his son, a rare Nepali father's practice.

  What does your experience show about the impact of a father's state of mind on the development of the child?Father has greater responsibility to rear his child. He can foster good discipline and he can make his children more responsible by showing his good character. I have seen many fathers smoking and drinking in front of child, if they do it, it will affect the children psychologically. Children can be shaped as we like and if we are working for them we have to spend our time with them.

 Do you believe on partnership parenting, of course there is an exception to those who are single parents?Definitely I believe on partnership of parenting. As there are many parents who are not able to bear a child and they may have the feeling of parenthood but they may be deprived of loving of children. Hence, if we have child, they are the platform to be loved by everyone as I believe that loving a child by all can be on the shared basis but it is as a whole. Love cannot be divided but love is the matter to be shared. In my organization there are many sponsors and they are like father and mother of Nepali children even they have not seen each other. So, partnership in parenting is not the matter to be measured but the thing is how the parents love their children is greater thing.

Bishwa, and his young  family.

On personal note, what are the joys of fatherhood that you can share to  a very patriarchal society ? It will be funny in the Nepali society to wash the clothes of baby, taking bath to the baby and massaging them by a father but I do all the things. As a result my boy loves me much. In our Nepali context there generation gap between father and son but in my family it is not such. Me and my father as well as me and my son are equally have strong bond. It is joyful to see the progress of children and noticing them their best habits growing gradually. 

Even in his spare time, he does community volunteering  work to advance  children rights.