Flag, Stamp, Puzzle and Anthem of Nepal

There are no stamp shops in Nepal- this is what I learned in my 3 day stay in this mountain kingdom. There are many souvenir shops selling stamps but not a dedicated stamp store. I saw the anthem stamp I was looking for Durbar market but unfortunately it was not mint so I did not buy it. However, I was able to buy native Nepalese stuff like the meditation bowl- which emits a resonant tone when properly "stimulated", the "Lucky wheel" and the "shape-shifting" meta lwire puzzle. The seller claimed it can be formed into more than 60 shapes, but I was only able to make half of the number. Nepal is a beautiful country...the mountain flight to Everest alone was worth the visit.

"Sayaun Thunga Phool Ka" ("Made of Hundreds of Flowers") is the national anthem of Nepal. It was officially declared as the national anthem of Nepal on August 3, 2007 amid a ceremony held at the conference hall of National Planning Commission, inside the Singha Durbar, by the speaker of the interim parliament, Mr. Subash Chandra Nemwang. The lyrics of the National Anthem were written by the poet Pradeep Kumar Rai, alias Byakul Maila. The music is composed by Amber Gurung. The national anthem is simply worded, praising Nepalese sovereignty, unity, courage, pride, scenic beauty, progress, peace, cultural and biological diversity.

After the unanimous decision on May 19, 2006 by the House of Representatives (Pratinidhi Sabha) of the Kingdom of Nepal, the old national anthem was suspended. The National Anthem Selection Task Team (NASTT) on 30 November 2006, selected poet Byakul Maila's (real name: Pradeep Kumar Rai) song as the new national anthem of Nepal. The new national anthem was selected from a total of 1272 submissions made from across the country. It was officially approved on 20 April 2007. On August 3, 2007, Sayaun Thunga Phool Ka was officially declared as Nepal's national anthem by the House of Representatives.

"Shree man gambhira" was the national anthem of Nepal till May 19, 2006, when the century-old national anthem was suspended by the House of Representatives. It was adopted in 1962, as a homage to the ruler of Nepal and the country's national anthem. In English it may be named "May Glory Crown You, Courageous Sovereign" or "May Glory Crown Our Illustrious Sovereign." The music was composed by Bakhat Bahadur Budhapirthi in 1899 (Grandfather of musician Louis Banks or Dambar Bahadur Budaprithi), and the lyrics were written by Chakra Pani Chalise in 1924. After the April movement for democracy, The anthem was abolished as it was widely accused of being just a tune for monarchical glorification instead of representing the Nation as a whole.

The Chinese Puzzle Box

The puzzle box is my second favorite mechanical puzzle (after entanglement puzzles. A puzzle box (also called a secret, or trick box) is a box that can only be opened through some obscure, and sometimes complicated, series of manipulations. They are usually made of wood and in various complexities. Some puzzle boxes may require only a simple squeeze in the right spot, whereas others may require the subtle movement of several small parts, to open the box. This puzzle box from China belongs to the former category. It took me less than 15 minutes to open the box and by accident after I squeezed the right spots.

Some boxes, especially those from Japan, consist of several moves with a variety of twists to trick the person trying to open the boxes. But the real trick is finding the correct series of movements that can range from 2 to 300+ moves.

Self Assembled Puzzles- Variations on a Theme

There is fun in assembling puzzles, sometimes even more challenging than disassembling it. Recently, I created some replicas with variations of existing puzzles using materials from Wizard's Workshop and my children's toys. The first one is similar to the "Easy Does It" puzzle (1). The object of the puzzle is to separate the two loops of rope. In the original puzzle, a wooden ring which snugly fit the pole was used instead of the metallic ring that I'm using.

The second one is a variation on Dilemma Games, Ring and String puzzle, Lord of the Rings (2). The object is to release the ring. In this puzzle, another metallic ring was used instead of the wooden ring and a block and string from Wizard's was used to secure the "other end" of the puzzle.

The third puzzle is another Ring and String puzzle (3 and 4). The object is to release the ring which can only be done if you separate the two interlocking ropes. I made two these- a complicated-looking one (left lower most pic) using a screw block, crescent/ half circle block and two yellow square block form my toddler's Smart Cube toys, and a simpler-looking one (right upper most pic) using fewer materials.

The fourth puzzle I made is similar to Kirill Grebnev's "Attached Ring" (5) or Forest puzzle (because the original wood was handmade from branch of a tree). This time I used a stretchable string used to tie name tags in conventions and a pole and block from Wizard's Workshop.

The Enigma and Chain Metal Puzzles

The enigma is one of my favorite mechanical puzzles. This puzzle was invented by Eldon Vaughn and patented in America in 1975. and manufactured and distributed worldwide by Hanayama, a toy company based in Japan. The object to dis-join the three somewhat swirled pieces of this puzzle and then to put them back together again. Basically, the technique to solve this puzzle involves several sequences of sliding through, rotating, overhanging and a tricky move at the end to dis-join the two remaining pieces. Separating the last two pieces is already challenging in itself. Putting it back is more difficult than the first task of disassembling it. I really had a fun time with this puzzle. Once or twice a week, I toy with the moves so I will never forget the sequences (more than 8). I also love the feel of this puzzle, so stern yet docile, so lustrous and fusible.

Another cast puzzle which I like is the Chain puzzle which was invented by Oskar van Deventer. His creation won an honorable mention in the International Puzzle Competition in 2002. This puzzle is made up of three interlocking chains which can be dis-joined by several maneuvers. Proper placement of the chains is necessary to release them apart. The final move demands placing one chain on gutter to enable one of the chains to pass through. I had fun with this one, and putting them back was also a challenge.

Bungler's Block (aka the Chinese Pendulum) Puzzle

I got this puzzle from eBay from a very good seller who was kind enough to give me some freebies. I don't know if he was really kindhearted or this was done to compensate for some little rusty elements on the metals, well anyway, I do appreciate his gesture. I definitely received more puzzles than I deserved- a whole box with no less than ten puzzles! I'll feature the other puzzles included in the box in my next blog.

The Bungler's Block, aka the Chinese Pendulum Puzzle, looks deceptively simple, but it is really a tricky puzzle involving several coordinated movements that's guaranteed to twist your brain. The long delay in my solving the puzzle ( 2 days) was attributed to a maneuver which I totally missed out. The opening and closing loop has two movements--this is the key to solving it. The other moves include coursing the rings through the movable loop and passing the ring over the big hump- a maneuver thats only possible if you are aware of the movable loops other movement. To finally release the ring out, one has to position it before the chained ring, so that it can pass unobstructed. A very good puzzle- a real brain teasing entertainment indeed!