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starting daily blogs

So, today was a pretty decent day. I woke up at around 8:00 and spent a few hours drawing. I am learning to use charcoal. Australia vs. Sri Lanka's second Test started today, so I spent some time watching the match as well. In the evening, I started preparing for the class I was teaching from 21:00 to 22:00. I was supposed to teach congruence modulo, and the class went quite well.

Sadly, I haven't solved any problems today for my Olympiad practice. But we'll be more productive tomorrow!

Goals for tomorrow:
- Wake up before 6.
- Solve at least one ISL problem from each topic.
- Make problems for PMO.

Goodnight!!

life update

Hi,

Where am I?

Far behind where I should be.

Life hasn’t been great lately. I’ve been feeling sad most of the time, which has made me very unproductive. My Olympiad practice hasn’t been going well either. So, I’m writing this blog to put an end to this unproductive and sad phase. Starting tomorrow, I will write daily blogs to remind myself to stay positive and productive—I’ll simply write everything I did during the day.


A Recent Good Thing:

I have a crush on this girl, "A," and I finally met her in real life recently. We walked and sketched together. YAYYY!!! Walking and sketching are two of my favorite activities, and getting to do that with A, lessgoooooo!!! I really enjoyed the day, and I think A did too. The very next day, we met again to play cricket. A is even sweeter than I thought she was.

A Recent Bad Thing:

I woke up early today to check my decision for Tufts University. I had applied for ED2, but sadly, I got rejected.


happy new year

 Hi, 

i was supposed to start a blog series (you'll know in few days) from today, but aaaa, been busy, and there are other things that i need to get done with. fuck this application process, i kinda enjoy it, and as the same time kinda hate as well,

well i will get started with the thing as soon as im done with my applications.

until next time, take care ;)

completing a drawing

It’s just a personal feeling.

You draw for so long, sitting at the desk, being patient, trusting, enjoying, and letting the process take as much time as it needs. And at the end, when it’s completed, all you can do is look at it. Knowing that you won’t be able to be in the process anymore is just sad and sometimes painful. I just fall in love with the process, and the longer the drawing takes, the deeper the connection gets.

What hurts the most is when you have to give the drawing to someone else. 

But this is also what makes me stronger and reflects how life is.

An Evening at Swayambhu: Sunset and Solitude

 I went to Swayambhu yesterday. I rarely go out simply for enjoyment, without a specific purpose in mind.

I woke up late and started working on a commission sketch I’d been trying to finish. Honestly, I hadn’t really wanted to take on this commission, and I ended up regretting it. I started to hate the process and just wanted to complete it as quickly as possible. Around 16 o’clock, I decided to take a long break and relax. I watched YouTube for a bit, and then, for some reason, I decided to go to Swayambhu.

Swayambhu is very close to where I live—about a 15-minute walk. Yet, I rarely go there. The last time I visited was at the end of June with Krish, for a morning walk.

At around 17 o’clock, I put my digicam in my pocket, plugged in my earphones, played Eminem, and started walking. I realized, too late, that I’d forgotten to wear my watch. I only noticed it when I reached Swayambhu.I have a habit of constantly checking the time on my watch, so it felt strange not being able to glance at my wrist and see it there. I went up to the top, sat down, and just observed people while enjoying the sunset. The sky was clear, and the moon and Venus were visible. I took some pictures with my digicam and headed back around 18.5 o’clock.

Here are some of the pictues I took.




It was a nice experience, and I enjoyed it. I plan to go for another evening walk soon.

Art Journey So Far

I’ve been drawing for as long as I can remember, ever since I started going to school. But that’s pretty common, right? Most of us first learn to draw at school—basic shapes that we color in. My earliest memory of drawing isn’t much different. I was around 3 or 4 years old, drawing an apple, which I colored red. I’m sure I’d drawn other shapes like circles and squares before that, as we had drawing books in nursery school, but the apple stands out in my mind. I recall sitting there one evening, copying the outline from my drawing book. I might be wrong, but I remember the apple’s size being perfectly proportioned to the paper. The apple was solid red, with a single leaf I colored green.

During nursery and LKG, I did a lot of drawing—more than what the teachers assigned. I think it wasn’t entirely because I enjoyed it, but because I was living with my aunt at the time, and I was really afraid of her which made me sit quietly in a corner, keeping a book open in front of me, copying every drawing from it.

My childhood exposure to art wasn’t anything special, no different from other kids in school. I wasn’t particularly good at drawing, but I loved looking at good artwork. In UKG, I had a friend named Pawan. At our school, every Sunday, students were required to submit something—a drawing, a poem, an article, or general knowledge questions. While the poems, essays, and questions would be shared during assemblies, the drawings were displayed on a board. This was only for grades 1 to 9, but Pawan brought a drawing every Sunday, even though he didn’t have to. I told him once, but he said his older brother, a senior at the school, had encouraged him to submit something. And Pawan was amazing at drawing—far better than anyone in our class, maybe even better than our teacher. One Sunday, he brought a drawing of a tree, and I was blown away. It looked so real. I wasn’t the only one; the entire class was a fan of his work. From then on, Pawan became my art inspiration. I dreamed of making great drawings, submitting them every Sunday in first grade, and having everyone, including teachers and students, appreciate my work.

When I finally reached first grade, I did submit many drawings, though not every Sunday. You see, my interest in drawing wasn’t constant. I didn’t draw all the time, and we didn’t even have an art teacher until sixth grade. Still, every time I saw a good drawing or picture in a book, I’d want to replicate it. By just doing that occasionally, I might have become the second-best artist in class—Pawan always held the top spot.

I don’t have many clear memories from that time, but I do remember improving steadily. By sixth grade, we finally had our first art teacher, Prince Maharjan, who was studying art at the time. On his first day, he asked who the best artist in the class was, and everyone said my name, haha. He asked me to draw something on the whiteboard, and I think I drew a male student standing. He then used my drawing to teach us how to draw the human body. I asked to see more of his work, and I was really impressed. He became my new inspiration, and I wanted to draw like him.

That’s when my interest in realistic drawing began to grow. Prince Sir asked us to buy 2B, 4B, and 8B pencils for the next class. It was the first time I realized different pencils existed! I bought them that same day, along with a sketchbook, which I still have. I sometimes look back at it to reflect on how far I’ve come. He taught us shading techniques, and I practiced them seriously. I’m sure I was his favorite student. While most of my classmates worked on assignments, I’d sit in the front row, learning from him.

Here are some of my drawings when I was learning from him.

As you can see, I’ve always been more drawn to pencils than colors. I just liked the idea of creating something that looked real with nothing more than pencil strokes.

A few months later, Prince Sir left, and we got a new art teacher—his teacher, Shyam Maharjan, a professional artist. He was different from Prince Sir and didn't pay me much attention. To be honest, my drawings weren’t that impressive at the time. Shyam Sir taught us various techniques like patterns, design, and watercolor, but not shading and realism, which were what interested me. Most of my classmates didn’t care much about shading or realism, either.

Later, there was an inter school art competition, and Shyam Sir was selecting participants. I signed up for the selection test. We were asked to copy the outline of a drawing of Gautam Buddha, but I didn’t get selected. Two of my classmates did. I was pretty upset—maybe outlines just weren’t my strong suit.

Time went on, and I continued to draw occasionally. One important thing to note is that I never set out to train myself to get better. I just wanted to draw, and I did. The improvement came naturally with time, experience, and maturity.

For some reason, I’ve always been fascinated by drawing faces. I’ve always enjoyed capturing a person’s likeness on paper. During a winter vacation in eighth grade, I drew a lot of portraits. Here are some of them.

When I returned to school after that vacation with my portraits, I became somewhat of a hero. Teachers and students alike were surprised and impressed. A teacher later mentioned my art to the art teacher, and I showed him my work. He hadn’t really noticed me before, but now he was impressed too. He started taking me to art competitions, though I never won any, mostly because the competitions were usually focused on painting, which I didn’t particularly enjoy. I also helped him paint a mural at our school, which depicted elements representing Nepal.

Then came the period that brought me to where I am today—the lockdown. I didn’t have to go to school, so I spent entire days in my room, with nothing but time and internet access. And guess what I did? I drew for hours—sometimes more than 12 hours a day, with only a few short breaks. Lockdown was the most productive time of my life. I was doing so much that I could write a separate blog about it. But just focusing on art, I kept drawing, discovering my mistakes, and figuring out how to improve them on my own. That time elevated my skills to a new level. 

After the lockdown, I was in 10th grade, preparing for SEE, so I didn’t draw much, just here and there. But I never lost interest.

There’s been another noticeable improvement in my work since I entered 11th and 12th grades. I wasn’t drawing as frequently, but when I did, the results were pretty good. I think I became more mature, patient, and focused. 

And here is my best work so far, "Portrait of Isha", which I did back in August.




The Oddities of My Life #2: "The Night I was Possessed"

Hello there! Welcome, or welcome back, to my blog. After a month, here is Episode 2 of "The Oddities of My Life." In this episode, I’ll be writing about the time I was possessed by a ghost.

Back in 2012, when I was in UKG, I lived with my maternal uncle and aunt. They had a son named Sushil, who was two years older than me. I stayed with them for a year, and Sushil and I were more like best friends. I didn’t even call him "Dai"; I just used his name. We were very curious and always trying new things, like planting an apple tree or attempting to train ants and houseflies. However, the ghostly incident that occurred had nothing to do with our usual experiments.

One Saturday night, we wanted to watch a TV show that was scheduled from 9 to 10 PM. The TV, however, was in my uncle and aunt's bedroom, and they went to sleep early. Determined to watch the show, we went downstairs to where Sushil's other uncle and aunt were living. They had a newborn baby girl who was only a few months old. We managed to watch the show, but just as it was ending, the baby started to cry. They asked us to leave so they could put her to sleep. We exited the room, and they locked the door from the inside.



As soon as that happened, both Sushil and I lost consciousness. I wasn't completely out of control, though—I could occasionally see what was happening. After the door closed, the next thing I remember is crawling up the stairs on our knees. I could see Sushil struggling beside me, trying hard to climb the stairs. My consciousness kept fading in and out, and during the moments I was aware, I only had control over my eyes. Each time I looked, I saw Sushil and me struggling to climb the stairs on our knees.

After some time, when I regained full consciousness, I found myself on the balcony. It wasn’t completely dark, and I could see my hands gripping the railings. When I turned my head, I saw Sushil smashing his head against the railings. At that moment, I was fully aware and screamed before running to my uncle and aunt's bedroom to call them.

The next day, I was completely normal, but Sushil fell sick for about a week.







starting daily blogs

So, today was a pretty decent day. I woke up at around 8:00 and spent a few hours drawing. I am learning to use charcoal. Australia vs. Sri ...