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I don’t like to spend a lot of time taking care of my hair and skin which is why I’m always interested in beauty hacks. But they can be tricky as not everything that you find on Instagram or Pinterest actually works. However, there are some tried and tested tips and tricks that have come to my rescue and I’m sharing them with you.

Onion for the scalp

Onion is a great remedy for hair growth and scalp health as it has sulphur and antioxidants. My mother rubs a raw onion on her scalp. It takes care of dryness, flakes, and makes your hair strong and silky in the long run. Earlier, she used to boil chopped onions with oil and use that on her hair. But she found out that rubbing a raw onion works equally well. There are various products in the market that claim to make your hair stronger and smoother, and they all have onion in their list of ingredients. But you don’t have to buy these expensive products when a kitchen remedy is just as effective. One thing I do recommend however is an onion hair mask. Use it once a week or on a biweekly basis for thick, lustrous hair. Simply extract some onion juice and mix it with coconut or rosemary oil and massage your scalp with it an hour before washing your hair. You can also use a warm damp towel to wrap your hair after putting the oil to lock in the moisture. Another great option is to boil onion peels in water for 10 to 15 minutes and strain the mixture. Use this to rinse your hair after washing it. It will make your hair shiny.

Rice water for glowing skin

One of my friends got rid of dry patches and inflamed facial skin with an easy remedy that her grandmother taught her. Now, she readily shares the secret with anyone who asks. Her grandmother told her to freeze rice water (the water from the first rinse) in ice trays and rub a cube on her face twice a day. Just this one simple thing and her skin, she says, has never seen better days. I tried it and it works. Your skin feels refreshed and supple too. I use an ice roller for that as it just feels easier and more accessible than wrapping an ice cube in muslin and using that. You can get really cheap ice rollers in the market or even order one online. If you want an extra dose of freshness, add a few crushed rose petals to the rice water before freezing it. This simple hack is good for both dry and oily skin. It is also believed to be anti-aging as rice water tightens your skin and helps close open pores. If you don’t like rubbing ice on your face what you can do is make a rice water toner and dab it on your face with cotton balls after cleansing it with a mild face wash.

Vaseline to the rescue

This is one product that is so multifunctional that you must keep a tub at home at all times. It can be used by both men and women for a variety of purposes. A friend uses it to style and shape his beard and keep it looking nice. The trick, he says, is to use just a smidgen otherwise it can look greasy. It is also an excellent replacement for hair gels that can be a bit harsh. It gives your hair a wet, slick look. Use it to lock in moisture in dry areas like elbows, knees, and heels, and to tame flyaways and eyebrows. The most common use of Vaseline is as a lip balm but it can also be used as a great cuticle oil or moisturizer. If you dye your hair at home, rub a generous amount of Vaseline on your hairline to keep the dye from getting on your skin. Another friend I know has stopped buying makeup removers. She says Vaseline does the job effectively at less than half the price. The one trick I found most fascinating was dabbing a bit of Vaseline on your pulse points before spraying perfume. It makes your fragrances last longer. I also recently found out that you can use Vaseline to buff leather shoes, and make them shine. You can also put them on squeaky hinges and rub them over stuck zippers to fix them. 

When I was a child, I remember sitting on the sofa with my mother to watch Chef Sanjeev Kapoor’s ‘Khana Khazana’. Mamu used to be armed with a pad and a pen (which had a bright blue cap that I found fascinating for some reason) and she would diligently write down the recipes as Kapoor guided her (among thousands of other viewers) through them.

This ritual wasn’t just limited to my house. Many of my friends too were going through the same routine at home, with their mothers. Sanjeev Kapoor was a household name and the delicious dishes our mothers whipped up at parties and get-togethers were often attributed to him. Mamu had a famous stuffed veggies recipe that our relatives had come to anticipate whenever we had them over for dinner (which was quite frequently back then as my dad loved hosting). She got the recipe from Kapoor’s famous show but it had taken her a while to master it (with some tweaks) so she didn’t hesitate to claim it as her own. 

Many of the dishes my mother made came from a thick black leather bound notebook, the pages of which were filled with recipes from ‘Khana Khazana’. I sometimes wish we had had the foresight to save that diary but it got lost as we moved homes. Back then, once my mother had memorized the recipes I guess we didn’t consider it as invaluable as I have come to think of it now.

Spoilt for choice

The good thing now is that everything that was once on that food journal of sorts can be found online. Though Sanjeev Kapoor will always be mamu’s favorite chef, there are many great chefs who share their wonderful creations freely with others on social media. Chefs like Vikas Khanna, Ranveer Brar, and Kunal Kapoor among others share many recipes that appeal to our Nepali palate. 

Food content creators on Instagram, Tiktok, and Facebook also provide simple recipes for daily, wholesome meals. You no longer need to sit in front of the television, at a scheduled hour, to learn how to cook. Mamu thinks it’s a miracle and often wonders why people my age and younger don’t take advantage of this and still prefer to eat out. However, things have changed after Covid-19. Though there are many restaurants opening up, people also love to cook and host at home. And the wealth of information we have available online has made great dinner parties possible. 

Over the past few years, I have been diligently collecting recipes from YouTube channels of Indian Chefs as well as saving reels of simple recipes on Instagram. My best friend shared a really long google docs full of recipes from all over the world and I was inspired to do the same. However, while food content creator’s recipes are fun and easy to replicate, the charm of learning from the top chefs is entirely different.

Learning from the pros

My first stint with online cooking lessons began with Ranveer Brar’s YouTube channel. His engaging banter makes learning to cook fun and less like a chore. I started watching them during the pandemic lockdowns and I became quite a pro in the kitchen, if I might say so myself. The thing with learning from the top chefs is that they inevitably teach you to be a good cook by arming you with skills that quick recipes never provide. For example, Brar taught me that cooking with coriander stems brings out its flavor while the leaves are used for garnishing purposes. 

He said if you put coriander leaves in curry while it's cooking, the flavor gets lost in it. Whereas if you add the stem part, it cooks with the curry and gives a nice taste and aroma. I didn’t know that and all these years, I had been recklessly adding whole coriander to curries. 

Chefs like Brar might seem intimidating at first. After all, they do everything so effortlessly. But overtime, you will come to emulate their techniques and understand your spices and other ingredients. I like how Brar keeps things simple. He never tells you that you need a specific ingredient to make something. He gives you alternatives. I mean, you can’t do without ‘imli’ to make ‘sambar’ but besides the absolute essentials, everything can be substituted with something else or simply not used. Great cooks give you that flexibility.

Making learning fun

I must confess that I never thought cooking could be fun. I thought of it as a mindless chore. My favorite line while growing up used to be, “Why cook for two hours for a meal you will finish in 20 minutes?” Mamu always said she enjoyed cooking because it calmed her. It was meditative. I never understood that until a few years ago. I remember Sanjeev Kapoor made cooking feel like a fun activity on his show. He enjoyed it and he wanted others to enjoy it too. It’s the same with Brar. He cooks at such a leisurely pace and his body language is so relaxed and comfortable that it makes you want to do the same when you are in the kitchen. Over time, watching him take his time in the kitchen, I too have started taking things slow. Now I don’t rush through the washing and chopping, choosing instead to savor the process and feel the different textures. The beauty of turning to the pros and not looking for shortcuts is that they really teach you that cooking can be a mindful act—something that you can enjoy and use as a relaxation technique.

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Top favorite chefs

I have mentioned Ranveer Brar repeatedly so I’m going to skip him here. But these are my other three favorite chefs who I think can  teach even the most uninitiated some really cool cooking basics and tricks.

Kunal Kapoor

If you want to learn how to make amazing kebabs and curries, look no further. His is the only YouTube channel you will need. Apart from that, he also teaches you to whip up some unique chutneys and drinks.

Shirpa Khanna

Best known for winning the MasterChef India title when she was just 29, Shripa Khanna’s YouTube channel is an eclectic mix of mouthwatering recipes. If you want to learn to cook different kinds of Indian dishes, this can help.

Harpal Singh

He is an Indian chef and restaurateur. His YouTube channel is a fun one with recipes you are not likely to hear of elsewhere. One of my favorites is the ‘Spinach Corn Potato Boats’ that is easy to make, filling, and nutritious.

Discovering new artists can be such a wonderful thing, whether you are looking to add art to your walls or simply find some inspiration. Various farmer’s markets and pop-up markets are great places to discover new artists, as many of them have taken to exhibiting and selling their works at these popular places. However, if you are too lazy to head out on a hot weekend afternoon that doesn’t mean you need to miss out on this creative greatness. You’ll find many of them on Instagram. Here are three of our top favorites. 

Aashish Arts

A self taught artist, Aashish exhibits his drawings and paintings on his Instagram page. There is quite a variety of landscape paintings and portraits as well and you are bound to find one that appeals to you. You can also commission him to make a painting or sketch from a photo of your choice. We recommend you scroll through the Instagram page to get a feel of the artist’s works before making a purchase or placing an order. 

Sangee Shrestha

A freelance visual artist and academician, Sangee Shrestha’s page on Instagram gives you a glimpse into her vibrant world of paintings and sculptures. Her work is captivating because of the use of colors and juxtaposition of ideas. The ceramic pieces are also intriguing and might be great conversation starters should you choose to bring one home. We also love her contemporary artworks that are visually enthralling. 

Nibhaa Art

We first discovered her at Labim Mall’s Saturday market where she was quietly selling her paintings. Since then, we have bought quite a few of her works and they adorn our living room walls. Though Nibhaa is marketed as a lifestyle brand that makes crafts and functional pieces for your home, paintings and prints of her work are also available at really affordable prices. 

The Sustainable Development Goals (Target 3.4) call to “ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.” One of the key targets is to reduce premature mortality from non-communicable diseases by one-third through prevention and treatment, while also promoting mental health and well-being by 2030. However, progress in reducing suicide rates has been hampered by widespread stigma, underreporting, difficulty in tracking incidents, and a lack of political will to formulate effective suicide prevention strategies.

The government allocates less than one percent of the health budget to mental health. Reports show that the mental health budget declined from 0.8 percent in 2008 to just 0.2 percent in 2020. Such limited resources result in inadequate mental health services, poor access to care, and a shortage of trained personnel and facilities, especially outside urban areas.

According to the WHO, 73 percent of global suicides occur in low- and middle-income countries. In high-income countries, suicides are often linked to mental disorders—particularly depression, alcohol use disorder, and a history of previous suicide attempts.

Every year, many people die by suicide, while many more attempt it. Each suicide is a tragedy with profound and lasting effects on families, communities, and entire societies. Why, then, do people take their own lives?

The French sociologist Émile Durkheim (1858–1917) sought to answer this question in his classic study on suicide, inspired by the death of his close friend Victor Hommay. His theory remains relevant today. Durkheim argued that suicide rates are influenced by levels of social integration and regulation in society. When social integration is very high, altruistic suicide may occur, as when individuals sacrifice themselves for religion, politics, or the nation. When integration is very low, egoistic suicide arises, as people unable to find belonging or meaning choose suicide to escape loneliness or isolation.

Similarly, excessive regulation can lead to fatalistic suicide, seen historically in slavery and persecution, where individuals feel trapped by fate. On the other hand, insufficient regulation results in anomic suicide, often triggered by economic crises or sudden social changes that disrupt people’s expectations—such as financial collapse, divorce, or the loss of a spouse.

Durkheim identified two forms of anomic suicide: acute anomie, caused by abrupt changes like a business failure or divorce, and chronic anomie, a constant state of instability common in modern capitalist societies. Examples include betrayals in love, economic depressions, or other crises that create a gap between people’s lived experiences and their expectations.

In Nepal, police data show that 7,055 people died by suicide in fiscal year 2024/25. Hanging was the most common method (5,798 cases, 82.2 percent), followed by poisoning (961 cases, 13.6 percent). Among these, 3,734 were men, 2,451 women, and 870 children. Hanging was the dominant method across groups, with men (3,112) and women (1,907) most affected. Cases of suicide provocation were higher among women (143) than men (30), reflecting unique gendered dynamics. Other methods—self-immolation, drowning, jumping, or weapons—were less frequent.

Applying Durkheim’s framework to the Nepali context reveals that a lack of social integration, regulatory imbalances, economic hardship, and rapid social change drive many suicides—mostly anomic in nature. Financial crises and relationship breakdowns often lead to hanging, while oppressive norms, early marriage, and abuse may drive women toward fatalistic suicide. Migrants isolated in urban areas may be prone to egoistic suicide. Altruistic suicides appear less common in today’s Nepal.

Karl Marx’s concept of alienation also sheds light on suicide. Marx argued that modern capitalist society separates individuals from their creative potential and from authentic social relationships, undermining equality and freedom. In such conditions, people may feel estranged and hopeless.

Osho, a 21st-century mystic, similarly observed that while traditional societies imposed clear collective values, modern individuals must construct their own identities in a competitive, uncertain environment. This search for meaning, he argued, often leaves people disoriented and vulnerable to despair.

Religions also shape perspectives on suicide. In the West, Judaism and Christianity generally condemn suicide as sinful, historically treating attempts as criminal acts with punishments that even included confiscating property. In South Asia, Hinduism and Buddhism reject suicide but historically permitted forms of altruistic suicide under certain circumstances. For instance, the sati system of self-immolation was once believed to ensure salvation for the widow and her family. Suicide is also often seen as a consequence of past karma.

In Nepal, the Muluki Ain of 2020 criminalized suicide, with survivors facing fines or prison. However, the National Penal Code of 2074 no longer treats suicide as a crime but makes encouraging or assisting suicide a punishable offense, carrying penalties of up to five years in prison and fines of up to Rs 50,000.

Despite decriminalization, stigma persists. Many Nepalis still view suicide or attempts as shameful, discouraging people from seeking help. Yet a suicide attempt can be a turning point—if timely support is provided. Too often, however, families and communities are preoccupied with their own struggles, leaving vulnerable individuals neglected.

Recognizing early warning signs is critical. Verbal cues (expressing a wish to die), emotional changes (hopelessness, mood swings), and situational triggers (loss, trauma, illness, or financial stress) can all indicate risk. High-risk groups include people with a history of attempts, mental illness, substance abuse, or social rejection.

Timely interventions—listening with empathy, offering care, and connecting individuals to professional help—can save lives. Social environments and family dynamics play a decisive role. As social beings, we carry a responsibility to reach out, talk to, and care for those suffering from depression, anxiety, or despair. Professional support from psychiatrists, trained social workers, and counselors—including meditation and mindfulness practices—can provide immense relief and hope.