Random hits on the keyboard

This weekend I took a run up a hill around Kathmandu. I ran to Champadevi, through Chovar, Kritipur. I ran to the hills after a while. It was exhausting. The run (or walk uphill) was brutal for my body. My body started to having comfort of running in plain. At this point in life, I quietly started to observe the world differently. I see things through the lens of my years and years of living. As I am approaching my 50s, I started to notice small things. My body takes a little longer to recover. The mind becomes more reflective. The ambitions of youth slowly transform into questions about meaning and purpose. For many people, this stage is called a midlife crisis. But I prefer to see it differently. It is not necessarily a crisis. Sometimes it is simply a midlife awakening. For me, that awakening has taken the form of three simple practices: RRR — Running, Reading, and Resting. Lets talk about running. In fact, it was only recently that I started serious running. Two years ago, I ran my...

On the very first day of 2026, I collected some of the most memorable moments, almost as if the morning shows the day. The good start is a good omen. I have a feeling that it will lead me to a good year ahead. But wait. According to Neil deGrasse Tyson, this day is entirely arbitrary. We celebrate it because we have collectively agreed to do so. It’s culture, not cosmos. He says, “And it is fine.” I agree with him. It is fine. The New Year is a story we tell ourselves. A shared fiction, which is so powerful that we all believe in it. We draw an invisible line in time and say: from here, something begins. Unsurprisingly, it has become a festival. A pause. A reset. A permission slip to start again. And like everyone else, I happily join the pack. I wanted something special from the day. I live by three simple R’s: Running, Reading, and Resting. January 1st feels like it will mirror the year, a full package depending on the single day. The day began with responsibility before ritual. I dr...