Archive for February, 2010

Here’s a feature I wrote on a Dambar Kadariya, a Nepalese man who has discovered great reward in taking care of the developmentally disabled.  (Appeared in the New Hampshire Sunday News, 2/21/2010 )

In 2001, Dambar Kadariya won the lottery. He didn’t score $50 million, but, for him, receiving word that he had been one of 50,000, chosen for a Diversity Visa– out of worldwide applicant pool of 30 million–to come to the United States, was nearly as exciting.

“It was like winning Powerball,” the Nepal native says, laughing.

Nine months of paperwork and bureaucracy later, Dambar’s plane touched down in New England, and he and his wife and unborn child were set to start a new life in Manchester, New Hampshire.  Now, eight years later, Dambar is a successful Direct Support Professional, serving his eighth year as an employee of Moore Center Services and sporting an impressive piece of recognition: the 2009 Region 7 New Hampshire DSP of the Year award.

The Rime of The Dangerous Man
(with apologies to Samuel Taylor Coleridge)

It is a Dangerous Man
And he killeth one of three
By thy slicked back hair and squinty eyes
Now wherefore killeth thou me?

The Dangerous Man’s fists are opened wide,
And he’s ready to begin,
With shoves and slaps and kicks and smacks,
May’st hear the violent din!

He holds me with his liver-spotted hand,
“Time to die,” snarls he!
“But wait, unhand me, wrinkled goon!”
Efstoons his hand slapped me.

He holds me with his tiny eye—
Powerless, I stood still,
And listened like a frightened child;
The Dangerous Man hath his will!

When Tony Jaa blasted onto the international martial arts film scene with Ong Bak, he brought with him an eye-popping athleticism, wire-free stunts, and an electrifying arsenal of badass Muay Thai moves. Unfortunately, his movies grew progressively more nonsensical. Does this sequel to his debut continue that unfortunate trend?

There’s a “2″ at the end of the title, but this is not a continuation of the events of Ong Bak. In fact, the story for Ong Bak 2 takes place hundreds of years in the past. Jaa stars as Tien, the lost prince of a kingdom on the brink of extinction. After his father is killed, Tien is captured by slave traders, but manages to escape and shack up with some awesome fighting woodspeople, where he learns the ins and outs of swordplay, martial arts, and basic leadership skills (e.g. murdering mentally unstable cave-dwelling hags).

From there, it’s time to embark on his mission: avenge the death of his father. Along the way, he’ll have to face off against a crocodile in hand-to-hand combat, infiltrate a royal dance party, smack down the very slaves who imprisoned him, and engage in some bodacious elephant surfing.