Stuck on the highway with a flat tire and a broken jack-screw

What would you do when you are stuck on a highway with a flat tire? If you have been in situations like this before, you will probably say- "Why does this happen to me always?" and if you've never been in these situations, you would panic like me. And what would be your reactions when you finally have everything in place but the jack-screw is broken? I know, I know. Anger would not know its bounds.

Waiting for friends to arrive can be very boring of course when the temperature is as low as -5 degrees. But, if you have a camera handy, then you might as well do some photo-shoot. And that's what we did. And of course, we got strange looks from people passing by, but they were too fast to realize we were just being silly.

With banners saying "Our protests will continue" and "Fulfill our demands," we definitely had our shares of fun. Albeit little cold, it didn't stop us from taking pictures with different poses. This incident taught us two important things: to be patient and to take the most of the situations which I hope we did to its best. Emergency lane on the highway for almost 4 hrs was really scary too. The cars, trucks running on the highway (the speed limit was 55mph) seem to be running way faster. We got scared multiple times when 18-wheeler would run on the right lane next to us. But, at the end of the day we had an album worth of pictures, and memory worth of experiences.

Thanks to the help from our dearest friends Deepak Baral and Dev Gurung. This experience would not have been complete without a silly mistake from Dev to lock himself out of his car once we had the spare tire fixed. We then had to wait for next couple of hours for his insurance to arrive and let him in. Then, again in the cold January afternoon. There is a piece coming soon, written by Sudeep Bhattarai where he describes the day from his angle, the background behind, and its consequences. Stay tuned my friends.

Never give up in life. Always cherish the moments as they happen. Every moment in life in precious.
Best,
Bishal Paudel
Vanderbilt University

A Ray of Hope

Disclaimer: All the characters in this story are fictitious. If it bears any resemblance to any one living or dead, it is by pure coincidence.

"A Ray of Hope" is my first attempt in story writing. The main character, Ben is a young professor in his mid 30's in Vanderbilt University who is highly successful in his professional life. Already the Head of Department (HOD) for Physical Chemistry, Ben's success is rare in his field for somebody of his age. However, like everybody else, he fails too. He has failed horribly in a pursuit to a happy family life. In the beginning, it might be his attachment to his career, and high aspirations that came as obstacles, but as time goes on, he realizes he is hollow in his sentiments, and feelings. He is fearful of the commitments. Through a rough patch in his disgruntled relationships, he discovers a meaning to his life. He comprehends what is actually worth in life. ``A Ray of Hope'' unfolds this metamorphosis in Ben's life as he, himself, begins to see it.

If you would like to know more about Ben, make a payment online. I will send you the ebook as soon as the payment is received.

It's only $0.99 USD (99 cents).

Words from the Readers:

Sudeep Bhattarai, Nashville, TN:

I do not have much patience in reading. However to my great surprise, when I read the first 3 chapters of Uncle Ben's story, I was asking more. I was desperate to read the other chapters. As far as I remember, the last time it happened to me was while watching the TV series "Prison Break", and it was because of the suspense in each episode. But this time, it is not only because Bishal created suspense in his writing, but also because of his way of presentation, the flow in his writing and the lesson he wanted the readers to learn. Uncle Ben's story taught me to be serious about my life. I should say that this is a great piece of writing by Bishal, given that this is his first attempt in story writing. I see a bright future in his literary journey. I encourage him to move ahead.