Sudarshan Dhakal crouches next to a motorcycle, carefully runs his fingers over its engine, finds the faulty part and removes it.&nbsp; He gets a spare part and replaces the component. He tests the engine, which roars into life emitting blue smoke from the silencer. Sudarshan, 54, owns and runs Dhakal Motorcycle Workshop with his wife Kamala Aryal. It is like thousands of other repair shops along the highway. What makes this one different is that Sudarshan cannot see. It was 1996 when Sudarshan was in a group ferrying brand new Honda motorcycles from the warehouse in Hetauda to the Dharan showroom. Near the Kosi Barrage, the car in front of him braked abruptly. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/an-eye-for-two-eyes">An eye for two eyes</a>, Yugottam Koirala  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240422070424_969d8d0e572373724f57e022fd67e925f03e134406cc0e2849fa7b3ae7926898.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20240422070424_969d8d0e572373724f57e022fd67e925f03e134406cc0e2849fa7b3ae7926898" data-rendition-name="original" width="800" height="421" loading="lazy" alt="Sudarshan Dakhal"> </figure>  The last thing Sudarshan ever saw was the car’s red brake light before he lost his vision. He had managed to pull over by the side of the road when his friends came back to look for him.&nbsp; “When they found me that day, I could just make out the white of the highway centreline, and car lights,” Sudarshan recalls. Ever since, Sudarshan can only see dimly during the daytime, and not at all in the dark. “Everything looks foggy, and I wondered if there was a treatment,” adds Sudarshan, who still bumps into things but has learnt to get around.&nbsp; Doctors at Tilganga Hospital had told him after the accident that his optic nerves had been damaged and there was nothing they could do. He went to India for a second opinion, but the diagnosis was the same. &nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/touching-others-with-words">Touching others with words</a>, Nepali Times  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240422070424_cce29890f3fda45a0b4afd611fb5b2cd01019309e313ec089d3b13399a369513.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20240422070424_cce29890f3fda45a0b4afd611fb5b2cd01019309e313ec089d3b13399a369513" data-rendition-name="original" width="1390" height="893" loading="lazy" alt="Sudarshan Dakhal"> </figure>  Sudarshan was not one to lose hope. He might have lost his eyesight, but not his passion for motorcycles. He can tell what is wrong just by revving the engine. In case the motorcycle cannot start at all, he uses his tools deftly to get to the bottom of it. For electrical faults, he needs his wife or son to help him with the colours of the wires. He can also assemble small parts of motorcycles without help. “It might take me a few tries, but eventually, the parts fit where they are supposed to,” he says.&nbsp; As a young boy, Sudarshan realised that he did not have much of an aptitude for academics after failing his Grade 9 exams. So, at age 16, he taught himself to repair Japanese cars simply by looking at catalogues. &nbsp; Today at his garage, Sudarshan takes care of maintenance while Kamala handles customers and does procurement. When there is a heavy workload, Kamala joins her husband and gets her hands dirty as well.&nbsp; Read also:<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/seeing-the-unseen-in-nepal"> Seeing the unseen in Nepal</a>, Asmi Ghimire  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240422070424_d4db6ac44283a687ad477de4b3a5a9e88ca571962097e0761bdf36a711632704.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20240422070424_d4db6ac44283a687ad477de4b3a5a9e88ca571962097e0761bdf36a711632704" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="900" loading="lazy" alt="Sudarshan Dakhal"> </figure>  Their son Rajiv has also been trained in repairs. If a bike needs a test run, Rajiv takes it out for a spin. Rajiv is actually a priest, and is mostly away from home officiating rituals. But whenever he is free he helps out his parents. “I wondered why this pundit in his white robe, his Sanskrit hymns and the smell of incense would want to work in a greasy, dirty garage that reeks of kerosene,” says Sudarshan. “It took some time for him to adjust, but now he enjoys this work as well.” It has been 27 years since Sudarshan lost his eyesight, but he has not let this stop him from continuing with his profession. The Dhakal family makes a decent living, and Sudarshan attributes this to his passion, skill and experience. "No job is too big or small," says Sudarshan, “what is more important is dedication, integrity and a sense of fulfilment from helping others.” Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-far-sighted-eye-care">Nepal's far-sighted eye care</a>, Sonia Awale

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Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance

<figure><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141120/636a580a9c7e80680e054811jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>All photos: BIKRAM RAI</figcaption></figure>The second edition of Mr and Ms Blind Rockers was held in Nachghar, Kathmandu on 16 September 2019. Organised by Blind Rocks!, a non-profit organisation working to empower the visually impaired, the talent contest saw participants from all over the country vying for the title.  Miss Nepal 2005 Sugarika KC, Miss Nepal 2017 Nikita Chandak Maheswori and Nepal Television presenter Neha Sharma made up the jury.Saugat Wagle and Smarika Pokhrel were announced the Mr and Ms Blink Rockers 2019.  <img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141120/636a580d9c7e80680e054812jpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141120/636a58109c7e80680e054813jpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141120/636a58139c7e80680e054814jpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141120/636a58169c7e80680e054815jpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141120/636a581a9c7e80680e054816jpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141120/636a581d9c7e80680e054817jpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141120/636a58209c7e80680e054818jpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141120/636a58239c7e80680e054819jpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141120/636a58269c7e80680e05481ajpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141120/636a582a9c7e80680e05481bjpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141120/636a582d9c7e80680e05481cjpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141120/636a58319c7e80680e05481djpeg.jpg" alt=""><figure><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141120/636a58349c7e80680e05481ejpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Saugat Wagle and Smarika Pokhrel (third and second from left) after being crowned Mister and Miss Blind Rocks 20189 at Nachghar, Kathmandu on Monday.</figcaption></figure>Read also:<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-right-of-passage/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The right of passage</a>, Sahina Shrestha<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/seeing-it-a-different-way-for-visually-impaired-in-Kathmandu,2933" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Seeing it a different way</a>, Smriti Basnet

Blind Rockers 2019

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110811110/636a290b9c7e80680e0458a4jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1128"/><figcaption>Nepal's world renowned eye doctor Sanduk Ruit with his patient at Tilganga Institute. Photo: GOPEN RAI</figcaption></figure>Despite a decade long conflict, the absence of local government for 20 years, instability and bad governance, Nepal has taken dramatic strides in improving the health of its citizens. And it is in <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=6416#.XH43n8AzaUk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">eye care</a> that the achievement has been most impressive.Thirty years ago, the Nepal Blindness Survey showed that 0.8% of the population was blind. Nepal’s population then was 15 million, which means 118,000 people were blind. Cataracts was the cause in 72% of the cases, and trachoma, a bacterial infection of the eye, was the second leading cause of blindness. Poor eye-sight and blindness due to Vitamin A were also prevalent. Most of these were preventable or curable. Women were found to be 1.35 times more likely to get cataracts because of the detailed  nature of their work, and injuries stemming from household work and farming.Today, the prevalence of blindness has decreased to 0.3% out of a population of 29 million, which means only 87,000 are visually impaired. But most of them are blind still because of cataracts. Last year Nepal became the first country in South Asia to eliminate trachoma. Cataracts and other preventable cases can now be treated much earlier with modern surgery.“The quality of community cataract surgery here is one of the best among developing countries and people are coming forward for treatment because they trust us,” said <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times%20Buzz/sanduk%C2%ADruit%C2%ADtilganga,2574" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sanduk Ruit</a>, Nepal’s world-renowned eye doctor who pioneered small incision cataract surgery. (See below)But modern lifestyles and changing <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/GUEST-COLUMN/we-are-what-we-eat-aruna-uprety,1022" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dietary habits</a> have brought new dangers: diabetic retinopathy is on the rise, so is glaucoma. An ageing population also means cataract is still common, as is macular degeneration among elderly Nepalis.The most challenging ailment, however, is visual impairment due to refractive error which is increasing alarmingly among children, and at a much higher rate in urban areas. A 2008 study found that one in five school-going children in Kathmandu were short sighted and need to wear glasses. In remote rural areas, many do not even know they need spectacles or cannot afford them.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110811110/636a290f9c7e80680e0458a5jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1265" height="717">Ruit’s team at <a href="https://tilganga.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tilganga</a> and the group <a href="http://www.nnjs.org.np/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nepal Netra Jyoti Sangh</a> are now trying to test and treat the eye-sight of school children district-by-district. Free spectacles are provided, and complicated cases are referred to hospitals.“Our goal is to reach all school-going children in Nepal within five years,” said Sailesh Mishra of Netra Jyoti. “This needs regular monitoring and follow-up if children are using glasses or not, and we need to educate people about eye diseases.”While there has not been a study in Nepal to directly link the increased incidence of visual impairment with the use of mobile phones, computers and reading, research in other countries have shown a correlation.Nepali eye specialists and institutions have not just addressed blindness in Nepal, but have been world leaders in innovative interventions. Sanduk Ruit’s Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology has been exporting intraocular lens for cataract surgery at $5 apiece since 1995. Elsewhere in the world it costs $200. Tilganga is now equipped to also perform retinal transplant.Eye hospitals in Lahan, Hetauda and Kathmandu now treat not just patients from Nepal, but also provide affordable cataract and other eye operations for patients from India, and even Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.Read also:<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=19839#.XH4vDSIzbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Two Decades of Vision</a>, Skye MacparlandTilganga has is an international centre of excellence for ophthalmology training, and its surgeons have been conducting camps in Bhutan, Mongolia, North Korea, Ethiopia and Kenya. Much of this is credited to non-government initiatives by the likes of Sanduk Ruit and pioneer activist Ram Prasad Pokhrel.“One of our most important achievements was to provide eye care outside the government, creating high quality community hospitals at the grassroots that run on the social entrepreneurship model with highly motivated professional staff,” explained Ruit, whose community eye centres and hospitals are autonomous and self-sustaining.But with its Vision 2020 goal to eliminate avoidable blindness now only a year away, Nepal needs to develop more specialists and infrastructure. Some experts say the non-profits have done all they can, it is now time for the government to step in for the last push.“Nepal is far ahead of others in the region in term of eye care, we have reduced blindness, have sound modern surgical technology that has been recognised internationally,” said Hukum Pokhrel of Netra Jyoti. “It is now time the government included eye care into a more equitable health package that is sustainable into the future.”<h2>The Visionary Sanduk Ruit</h2><h2>New biography of the Nepali eye surgeon who overcame</h2>all odds to give the gift of sight to the world<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110811110/636a29119c7e80680e0458a6jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>It was on the death bed of his young sister that <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=12282#.XH448cAzaUl" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sanduk Ruit</a> vowed to grow up to be a doctor so others like her did not have to die needlessly. Later, at a surgical camp he found his true calling after observing the magic of restored eyesight.There were many such instances that turned this boy from a family of salt traders in Olanchungola on the Tibet border into a world-renowned surgeon. Reading Ruit’s new biography, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Barefoot-Surgeon-inspirational-Sanduk-surgeon-ebook/dp/B07BLJYZJ1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Barefoot Surgeon</a>, we find that it was sheer determination, hard work and perseverance that helped him overcome many obstacles on the way to rising from a remote village in Nepal to become an internationally acclaimed doctor.“I want this book to create awareness about how we alleviated blindness in Nepal, and how this experience can be fine-tuned and replicated in other parts of the world,” Ruit said in an interview, ahead of the launch of the soon to be released book.Australian journalist Ali Gripper recounts how his mother named Sanduk (sky dragon), and the family was so poor Ruit lost siblings to preventable infections like diarrhoea and tuberculosis. At boarding school in Darjeeling the young Ruit was bullied mercilessly, he spent hours with lab animals as a diligent student pulling all-nighters at King George’s Medical University in Lucknow, then operated on rhesus eyes in ophthalmology class at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi.Much of the book describes Ruit’s years as a junior eye surgeon trying to shake up the government health system in Nepal to introduce <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=3804#.XGI_jtIza71">intraocular cataract surgery</a>. He is rebuffed by seniors who see his motivation as a threat. Gripper follows Ruit’s transformation into a young man with a vision to rid the world of <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=6416#.XGI_adIza70">avoidable blindness</a>.Along the way, Ruit is mentored by famous Australian eye surgeon <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=19839#.XGI_O9Iza70">Fred Hollows</a>, and much later American climber-surgeon Geoffrey Tabin becomes a protégé. Both individuals play a significant part in expanding Ruit’s transformative work, and leave a profound impact on the doctor.<iframe src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/585215052&amp;color=%23ff5500&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false&amp;show_teaser=true&amp;visual=true" width="100%" height="300" frameborder="no" scrolling="no"></iframe>Ruit is known for pioneering the technique of small incision low-cost cataract surgery which he has used to restore the sight of more than 120,000 people so far in Nepal, China, North Korea, Ethiopia and other countries. He has won many accolades including the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 2006, and last year one of India’s highest civilian honours, the Padma Shri.As he interacts with patients in Kathmandu, he shows extraordinary kindness and humility for a doctor so famous. Ruit tells Gripper that he learned early in his career that giving back eyesight to people meant giving them back their life. Ruit’s life is not without personal tragedies, and the book is full of heartfelt moments. But it is as much about progress in eye care in Nepal as it is about Ruit himself.“Curing blindness is Nepal’s great success story,” said Ruit, who established the Tilganga Institute of Opthalmology in Kathmandu in 1994. At that time the prevalence of <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Seeing-is-believing,2577">blindness in Nepal</a> was 0.8%, with cataract the major cause. Today, blindness is down to 0.3%, despite the population having doubled, and Ruit is operating much earlier with improved surgery on contracts.The world-class eye centre is also a training ground for young surgeons from around the world. Tilganga runs on the social entrepreneurship model with a sliding scale payment system where those who can afford treatment pay more than the less privileged.“Instead of investing time and money on mega projects, we should focus on developing small, self-sustaining grassroot independent community hospitals with qualified staff, and that is the most important thing we have achieved in eye care in Nepal,” said Ruit, who has opened eye centres in all 77 districts,  with community eye hospitals based on the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=17323#.XGI-U9Iza71">Tilgaganga model</a> in Hetauda, Biratnagar, Dhangadi, Nepalganj and Lumbini.The Barefoot Surgeon is being translated into Nepali by FinePrint, but it is not the first book about Ruit. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Second-Suns-Trailblazing-Doctors-Blindness/dp/1615193626" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Second Suns</a> by <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/review/helping-the-poor-to-see,2575">David Oliver Relin</a>, who also wrote <a href="https://books.google.com.np/books/about/Three_Cups_of_Tea.html?id=HbezCyqr3q0C&amp;redir_esc=y">Three Cups of Tea</a>, was about Ruit and Tabin’s quest to restore sight to the world’s poorest. But following an allegation of plagiarism in an earlier work, Relin committed <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/03/business/media/david-oliver-relin-co-author-of-three-cups-of-tea-dies-at-49.html?_r=0">suicide</a> in 2013 right after handing over the manuscript of the Second Suns.Read also: <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/review/helping-the-poor-to-see,2575" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Helping the poor to see</a>, Kunda DixitFor the new book, Gripper followed Ruit’s surgery team for more than three years in India, Bhutan and Burma. In Nepal she joined Ruit’s eye camps in Trisuli, Mustang, Hetauda and Solu Khumbu to see people seeing again. She noticed that Ruit preferred to work barefoot ‘allowing him complete control of the pedal under the table that pulls focus on his microscope’.The book recounts Ruit’s vision for Tilganga, the rapport he shares with Bhutan’s Queen grandmother, the eye camp in North Korea where minders followed their every move, his meeting with the Dalai Lama, the challenges in manufacturing low-cost intraocular lens in Kathmandu, and a treacherous journey to Mustang for a field camp.There will be tears of joy and of sadness, there will be elation and wonder as you turn the pages of The Barefoot Surgeon. This is a moving portrayal of a great Nepali whose work has transcended borders to transform many, many lives.Sonia AwaleThe Barefoot Surgeon: Inspirational story of Dr Sanduk Ruit, the eye surgeon giving sight and hope to the world's poorBy Ali GripperAllen &amp; Unwin, 2018305 pagesAUD $32.99<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110811110/636a29149c7e80680e0458a7jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="2294"><h2>Ozone and Eyes</h2><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110811110/636a29179c7e80680e0458a8jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="484" height="460"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The ozone layer in the outer atmosphere filters out harmful ultra-violet rays of the sun from reaching the Earth’s surface. There has been a steady <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=2243#.XH44ecAzaUk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">depletion</a> of this, especially over the Southern Hemisphere, due to chemicals called CFCs used as a refrigerants. This has caused a rise in the incidence of skin cancer, but also of eye disorders. People living southern Argentina, Australia and New Zealand have been known to suffer more cataracts because of the solar UV-B radiation.A <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1298891/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2005 study</a> carried out by the American Journal of Epidemiology found out that  ozone depletion would result in a 20% rise in the number of cataract cases by 2050. Ultraviolet rays is also responsible for the onset of cataract at an earlier age. Not just people in the southern hemisphere, but those living in high altitude areas like the Tibetan Plateau and Nepal also become more susceptible to cataracts due to ozone thinning.Apart from cataract, UV radiation can also cause photokeratitis (inflammation of the cornea), eye cancer, conjunctivitis, pterygium, conjuctivitis, acute solar retinopathy, and degeneration of the macula. Long term exposure to the harmful rays can cause permanent damage to cornea, lens and retina.As a result of the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/bringing-kyoto-and-montreal-together,1405" target="_blank" rel="noopener">1985 Montreal Protocol</a> to phase out CFCs,  the ozone hole over Antarctica has started to shrink, but exposure to UV B radiation will be seen till the end of the century. HFCs  that replaced CFCs in refrigerators and air conditioners are very potent greenhouse gases that contribute to the global warming.Doctors say, minimising the time spent outdoors especially in the southern hemisphere and at high altitude is a useful precaution.

Sonia Awale

Nepal's far-sighted eye care

In the black and white photograph, General Wangdu smiles broadly in front of the dusty cactus garden in Kathmandu’s Annapurna Hotel. With an ill-fitting jacket and shaggy hair he looks benign enough, but this was the last leader of the Tibetan freedom fighters who led the resistance against the Chinese from their remote mountain hideouts in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/comings-and-goings-in-mustang">Mustang</a>. Five months later, Wangdu was dead. Snapped in March 1974, I had only recently arrived in Nepal. How did I meet this legendary fighter? Possibly with his devoted camp follower, Lynne Klapecki, and probably in the Om Restaurant near Freak Street which was the preferred <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/hippie-trail-nostalgia-in-kathmandu">hippie hang-out</a>. Om Lobsang and his brother Yeshe were <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/page/earthquake-brings-back-memories-of-camps-for-tibetan-refugees">refugees from East Tibet </a>whose cafe offered a friendly welcome and<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/momo-loco"> the best momos</a> - they became my in-laws after I married their eldest brother Tenzin, but that was a decade later.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_4573b34282b0f5395c007243d6bef12c7ba76bfd520419e994cdcea048d795a1.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="2025052403054_4573b34282b0f5395c007243d6bef12c7ba76bfd520419e994cdcea048d795a1" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="1583" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>Photo: LISA CHOEGYAL</figcaption> </figure>  Wangdu’s English was enthusiastically rudimentary, but even riding around town with him on the back of an aging <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/kathmandu-s-new-motorbike-museum">motorbike</a>, he was a commanding presence. Always flanked by armed outriders, impressive scars marked his forearms and a pistol hung from the cord around his neck. A charismatic guerrilla leader, Wangdu was celebrated by his followers for his tough commitment and respected for his measured pragmatism. He seemed so young to have shouldered such a responsibility of command, leading hundreds of hardened <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/50-years-after-the%20raid-into-Tibet,1012#google_vignette">Khampa combatants </a>through what had been a particularly <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/heavy-snowfall-over-nepal-himalaya">brutal winter in Mustang</a>, the last bastion to hold out against the Chinese invasion of their Tibetan homeland.&nbsp; The freedom fighters of Tibet, known as the Chushi-Gangdruk, had emerged to resist the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/territorialism">Chinese takeover</a> of Tibet during the 1950s. Estimated to be 80,000-strong at the time of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/what-or-who-after-the-dalai-lama">the Dalai Lama</a>’s final escape to India in 1959, the sheer number of Chinese deployed into Tibet eventually forced the Chushi-Gangdruk to retreat to Mustang, From this high Himalayan stronghold, they continued cross-border raids on the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) throughout the 1960s.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_8a4a935ba25ae79dc3a63bb5c14626927020e5ec098093c45ccb9a5982e009fd.jpg" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="2025052403054_8a4a935ba25ae79dc3a63bb5c14626927020e5ec098093c45ccb9a5982e009fd" data-rendition-name="original" width="1114" height="676" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>Guerrillas known as the Chushi-Gangdruk emerged to resist the Chinese annexation of Tibet during the 1950s. Photo courtesy: MIKEL DUNHAM</figcaption> </figure>  Their Kathmandu base was a small discreet lodge in a back lane near Rani Pokhari. Sipping sweet tea from a blue mug with a chipped lid, I sat bemused in a corner of the Mustang Hotel room whilst Wangdu and his cohorts received a battered brown suitcase from their CIA connection, a tousle-haired American in a leather jacket. Heaved onto the dingy bedspread that covered the thin mattress, it was clicked open to reveal piles of neatly stacked dollar bills.&nbsp; I cannot think why Wangdu allowed me to witness this handover but I was clearly no threat, a newly arrived world traveller with no understanding of the stakes nor any Nepali or <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/tibetan-music-in-nepals-sacred-valley">Tibetan language</a>. Despite armed guards in the corridor,Wangdu radiated confidence and bravado, and there was a practiced familiarity to the tense transaction. This deadly dance for many years had been funded by the Americans, tolerated by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-kingdom-within-a-republic">Mustang’s residents</a>, and permitted by King Mahendra and the Nepali authorities who it suited to turn a blind eye.&nbsp; But Mahendra died in 1972, and times were changing. Richard Nixon’s ping-pong diplomacy thawed the cold war and signalled a fresh entente with China. Nepal’s yet-to-be-crowned <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/if-birendra-was-alive-nepal-could-still-be-a-monarchy">King Birendra </a>was under pressure to curb the irritating incursions against the PLA launched from the Nepali territory of Mustang. Keen to appease his northern neighbour, on several occasions the King summoned Wangdu for peace talks but, despite increasingly overwhelming odds, Wangdu refused to surrender.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_a8efd5cfb92cd997bd7cb74296a936fef46e2f7428f9cd642b03f1ac4ea11ecb.jpg" data-media-id="editor_14" data-image-id="2025052403054_a8efd5cfb92cd997bd7cb74296a936fef46e2f7428f9cd642b03f1ac4ea11ecb" data-rendition-name="original" width="1055" height="885" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>General Wangdu flanked by two Tibetan resistance fighters in Mustang in the 1970s. Photo courtesy: MIKEL DUNHAM</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_75969125a745847a2ef82b6fe8b9106c0b21a116d85b8efdf5d2ee89a347bb31.jpg" data-media-id="editor_15" data-image-id="2025052403054_75969125a745847a2ef82b6fe8b9106c0b21a116d85b8efdf5d2ee89a347bb31" data-rendition-name="original" width="1044" height="792" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>King Birendra with General Wangdu (right in dark glasses) taken in 1974 possibly in Mustang after one of their few attempts at negotiation. Photo courtesy: RAJRNDRA KUNWAR</figcaption> </figure>  While I naively rode pillion around Kathmandu in the spring sunshine, Wangdu was in the midst of what turned out to be his final round of negotiations with the Nepal government. Refusing to cease hostilities with the Chinese, Wangdu must have suspected the cost of his decision, making his cheerful smile in the photograph all the more poignant and brave. It was only much later that I appreciated the significance of the moment. Wangdu had been sent to replace the first resistance leader in Mustang, Baba Gen Yeshe, a much derided corrupt character who stole money meant for his troops and exploited fleeing refugees by seizing their treasures. Baba Gen Yeshe never forgave Wangdu,and sought revenge in May 1974 by betraying him and his commanders to the Nepal authorities. Renewed Chinese incursions from the north, active PLA collusion with the Nepali forces under the new King, and treachery from within the Chushi-Gangdrukranks combined to seal their fate.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_e0987a7c90d76431b0d7d5e6115ebfe3dbda7ab939e5941e079c18d722e884c0.jpg" data-media-id="editor_16" data-image-id="2025052403054_e0987a7c90d76431b0d7d5e6115ebfe3dbda7ab939e5941e079c18d722e884c0" data-rendition-name="original" width="1400" height="769" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>British television journalists George Patterson and Adrian Cowell embedded themselves with Khampa guerrillas and accompanied them from Tsum Valley on a cross border raid on a Chinese Army convoy in 1964. Photo: ESSAYS ON NEPAL / SAM COWAN</figcaption> </figure>  Mikel Dunham, renowned author of Buddha’s Warriors, writes: ‘It is possible that Wangdu was waiting for some cue from the Dalai Lama’s government-in-exile in Dharamsala, India. It is equally possible – during that last, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/the-human-cost-of-nepal-s-yarsa-gold-rush?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR31-Cqw8oyIwMPzf_35e4Skr0ululJvLf3_vDkzHn-AYG2h8uPw2rqqErg_aem_tGVn5coY1-jA7fze_xqhew">desolate winter </a>– that he made the decision to go out in glory rather than admit defeat. Over the last fifteen years, Wangdu had experienced Tibet’s organized resistance being squeezed and shoved around by every conceivable outside force.&nbsp; First they had been pushed out of their own country by the PLA; then they had been refused sanction while on <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/borderlines/nepal-india-trans-boundary-bonds?fbclid=IwAR0PpJ5zUEbwdug3g_U3ar6FUugngRY0S8Tl2v_7wqzrsHmXWcXsKjvL4t4">Indian soil</a>; then they were abandoned by the Americans because, apparently, Nixon wanted to make friends with Wangdu’s mortal enemies, the communists; then they had been betrayed by the vampiric Baba Gen Yeshe – a Tibetan and, even worse, a fellow Khampa; and now, finally Wangdu’s army was being evicted by the Nepalis. One thing was certain: Wangdu was a warrior. To imagine Wangdu simply giving up and settling down in the pacific squalor of a <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/elderly-left-in-bhutan-refugee-camp">refugee camp </a>was unthinkable.’  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_8fc1ffef4ae751628b90ae781b66e11e51e4fdde2787207c9042efbee345ce49.jpg" data-media-id="editor_20" data-image-id="2025052403054_8fc1ffef4ae751628b90ae781b66e11e51e4fdde2787207c9042efbee345ce49" data-rendition-name="original" width="500" height="746" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>The much derided Baba Gen Yeshe, the first Tibetan resistance leader in Mustang, who betrayed Wangdu for personal gain. Photo courtesy: MIKEL DUNHAM</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_b1d833cdb00d3ac4416b844d8730475cd88c238caaaf8da69889a584eea229a3.jpg" data-media-id="editor_21" data-image-id="2025052403054_b1d833cdb00d3ac4416b844d8730475cd88c238caaaf8da69889a584eea229a3" data-rendition-name="original" width="500" height="656" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>Aditya SJB Rana of the Royal Nepal Army whose team ambushed Wangdu and his cohorts at the top of Tinker Pass in Darchula, West Nepal. Photo courtesy: GAUTAM SJB RANA</figcaption> </figure>  By August 1974 the game was up. Wangdu and six of his exhausted party were killed on their horses by <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=7270">the Royal Nepal Army</a> on the brink of escape. The officer in charge, Aditya SJB Rana, cleverly predicted their route into India after they failed to silence a police radio in Yari. A carefully laid ambush trapped them near the summit of the Tinker Pass in Darchula,at 5,000 meters the highest military operation of its time. Wangdu’s body was helicoptered to Kathmandu, and a big show made of the royal Nepal victory.&nbsp; The Tibetan armed insurgency against China had reached its end.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250524030520_3ff9c6fc85a65bc9a2c3afe9736d9f5f9413de752e790a5d9dca0981ea94f9b4.jpg" data-media-id="editor_23" data-image-id="20250524030520_3ff9c6fc85a65bc9a2c3afe9736d9f5f9413de752e790a5d9dca0981ea94f9b4" data-rendition-name="original" width="1136" height="702" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> </figure>

The Last Days of the Khampa

Starting 17 September Turkish Airlines will fly daily to Seville, one of Spain’s major tourist draws. This is Turkish’s sixth destination in Spain after Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Malaga, and Bilbao. Seville is in the Andalusia region on Spain’s south coast with a rich Moor history. There are approximately 30,000 Nepalis living in Spain.&nbsp;

Turkish to Seville

The newly-formed Himalayan Art Council is set to launch Nepal’s National Art Protection Platform that seeks to preserve <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/the-history-of-heritage">Nepal’s unique cultural heritage </a>using<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/artificial-censorship"> AI-powered tools</a>. The Council seeks to safeguard <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/nepali-art-going-places">Nepali art works</a> from neglect, theft and counterfeiting as well as preserve existing artwork and celebrate living masters by giving them a cultural space to continue the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/sacred-survival">sacred art traditions</a>. "We are introducing a new digital platform designed to preserve, verify and elevate <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-new-generation-of-alternative-artists">Nepal’s art for generations to come,</a>” says a statement from the Council, adding that the digital platform will use AI told for authentication and blockchain to keep track of works of art. Artists can now be protected by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/ayo-ai?fbclid=IwAR1uwmTVq4gUB70ljfRezjzukD9ArWXPuMnUikopeQ8PoiZMjicToPSwhKE&amp;=1">AI tools</a> that detect forgeries, identify their work even when unsigned, and ensure they receive proper recognition and credit. The archives will be searchable with translated inscription and interactive guides. Says curator Meena Lama: “AI and blockchains are tools that give us the power to detect fakes and identify unsigned paintings and track every piece. With these tools we can restore trust, secure authorship and give artists the dignity they deserve.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250514170544_2ab58f6313c0458f75114a692b0016bd9efb3b59d5f8f07f0da72e1e37b82f53.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20250514170544_2ab58f6313c0458f75114a692b0016bd9efb3b59d5f8f07f0da72e1e37b82f53" data-rendition-name="original" width="1300" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Artwork at the Traditional Art Exhibition at Patan Museum."> <figcaption>Artwork at the Traditional Art Exhibition at Patan Museum.</figcaption> </figure>  The Council is also holding an exhibition of Nepali cultural masterpieces with 50 historical <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Buzz-the-art,671">thangka and paubha </a>by past masters and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/between-the-sacred-and-everyday">contemporary works by current artists</a>. This curated collection is a living tribute to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/when-yaks-go-so-does-culture">Himalayan culture</a> with economic depictions of deities, mandala and sacred narratives. The exhibition at <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/a-portal-into-patan-s-past-and-present">Patan Museum</a> also provides an opportunity to meet painters and custodians of art and culture. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/golden-deities">Golden deities</a>, Sewa Bhattarai ‘The exhibition is only the first step in a long journey to ensure that Nepali art is no just seen but fully understood, <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Narratives-of-Faith-and-Memory-Remembering-the-Lost-Sculptures-of-Kathmandu-exhibition,987">protected and remembered</a>,’ the Council says. Artist Kailash K Shrestha of Artudio has spent decades promoting thankha and paubha traditions because of their beauty and devotional meaning. But he also says artists are underpaid, exploited and ignored. He adds, “AI and blockchain are not just buzzwords, they are powerful tools that can protect Nepal’s artists from fraud, verify authenticity and build a permanent record of provenance.” Traditional Art Exhibition Till 17 May Patan Museum

Digital protection for Nepal’s art

<a href="https://www.instagram.com/prabalgurung/" target="_blank">Prabal Gurung</a> left Nepal for New York in 1999 to escape years of bullying, sexism and homophobia, and to pursue his dream of becoming a fashion designer. He <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqN0VaoAI5w" target="_blank">realised his dream</a>, but did not escape discrimination and racism in the new world. Propelled by passion for fashion, Gurung overcame everything America threw at him. He has attained <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/style/story/prabal-gurung-recalls-his-first-met-gala-when-zoe-saldana-was-at-his-side?srsltid=AfmBOooy-H0oGgxMit864FnW_Pmw8mUnV8rYrh-co-f6OyYK6m2ip5hP" target="_blank">fame and recognition</a> for his haute couture dress designs while remaining true to his Nepali roots, and is even more resolute in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSmNauyzACk" target="_blank">fighting prejudice</a> in all its forms. Prabal Gurung’s newly-released memoir <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Audible-Walk-Like-Girl-Memoir/dp/B0DG11HCDQ?fbclid=IwY2xjawKZfpxleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHuZcIJO2OXyXcRm1oq1iG6wzeoF7VJFrQ7GXOFI0YxuZZ4id_CNvSZSZZIna_aem_pG_mOKG73RTnYvN8JaC4fA">Walk Like a Girl</a> is a saga of harrowing abuse in boarding schools in Nepal and India, only finding himself facing a different kind of bullying in the US. He prevails over it all to be where he is today: an award-winning American fashion designer with his own label. Walk Like a Girl was launched last week in New York at a time when everything Gurung fought for — tolerance, inclusion and diversity — are in retreat in his adopted country because of a president who has espoused a culture of bullying. The book is a searing, raw exposé of how cruel and abusive people can be even at a young age in school. On the other hand, it also shows that there are generous, compassionate and open-minded souls out there. In his book, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4le_uWX7YE">Prabal Gurung</a> calls out those who tormented and tried to hold him back (some of their names have been altered). The moral of his story is: resist, never stop believing in yourself, do not let others define you, never lose sight of your dream, and help those who have been kept out. “Walk like a girl” was a slur used by bullies back in school in Nepal and India for Gurung’s effeminate ways. He fought back then, and he is still resisting by turning those words into something to be proud of.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250519170544_4ffc9c3f565dd2cfa754d10b224816897b82bb31ebaee91b6d79d469fc96f14e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20250519170544_4ffc9c3f565dd2cfa754d10b224816897b82bb31ebaee91b6d79d469fc96f14e" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="1253" loading="lazy" alt="Prabal Gurung NT"> <figcaption>Prabal Gurung at home in Kathmandu in the 1990s.</figcaption> </figure>  “Living through it all was one thing, but writing about it is one of the hardest things I have done in my life,” admitted Gurung during the launch. “I broke down constantly during the six-year writing process.” He continues: “I did not want this to be a victim’s book. I did not want to burden my readers with my emotions. I wanted my struggle to be an inspiration for others facing what I faced. I am grateful to those who bullied me in school, they made me a stronger person ready to face the world.” Indeed, this book is a departure from his earlier one titled simply, Prabal Gurung (Abrams, 2019), which was a lush pictorial autobiography of his career in fashion. Walk Like a Girl is not a typical fashion book, it is an intimate tale of <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=16997">Gurung’s travails and triumphs</a>, and how he willed himself to succeed. Prabal pays a lavish tribute to his mother Durga Rana. We find out she is a descendant of the first wife of the eldest son of Jang Bahadur Rana who was banished to Palpa in the late 19th century. Prabal’s father served in the Singapore Police and that is where he was born before the family returned to Nepal when he was four. Gurung relates with brutal honesty about the violence his mother endured from his father. Durga raises three children as a single mother in Nepal, and Prabal credits her for his fierce determination to resist patriarchy and injustice, which in time manifests itself in his hyper-feminine and subversive dress designs. Writing the book has been a cathartic experience for Gurung, who says he is now relieved of the burdens of his past. It no longer haunts him, and he does not have to prove anything to anyone anymore. Walk Like a Girl has life lessons not just for the <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DJmOcSgxdWz/" target="_blank">fashion industry</a>, but for every other profession. How can my job serve a greater cause? Gurung tells us his work is <a href="https://asiasociety.org/blog/asia/why-designer-prabal-gurung-doesnt-want-just-stick-fashion" target="_blank">bigger than just making clothes</a>, it is about making the world a better place because it could do with a lot of improvement.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250519170544_d75296ad8bfdc00d88935f40d23543c6fea3d4d6a10e61a99d6cfc6127f2ee5b.png" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="20250519170544_d75296ad8bfdc00d88935f40d23543c6fea3d4d6a10e61a99d6cfc6127f2ee5b" data-rendition-name="original" width="1516" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Prabal Gurung"> </figure>  This story of chasing the American dream may sound familiar to many immigrants: knocking on doors for jobs, rejections, trying to survive from day to day on expensive rent, and dealing with subtle racism in white America. Gurung finds racism is rife, and he is often mockingly called ‘gaysian’. He writes: ‘There was a strong hypocrisy — this idea of independence felt like a marketting ruse … and for all the talk of feminism in America, these high society women were trapped by the patriarchy just like in Nepal and India.’ After a trek to the Khumbu region in 2013, Gurung is inspired to use the colours, palette and textures of Nepal for his collection exhibited on Manhattan’s 8th Avenue. A major buyer tells him bluntly: “Stick to making pretty dresses … if I need to see a collection like this, I could buy a copy of National Geographic.” The New York Times was equally dismissive: ‘The designer tries to draw connections between blistered techo-fabric used to construct it and the topography of his homeland, Nepal. But, at the moment, he has lost his map.’ One potential investor tells Gurung he cannot design for Americana because “you do not look American”. Gurung wants to use expletives, but restrains himself. After a fundraiser in New York for the Nepal earthquake in 2015, some belittled his effort, saying: “Here comes the saviour."&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/prabal-gurung-by-prabal-gurung">Prabal Gurung by Prabal Gurung</a>, Kunda Dixit The Gurkha DNA must be dominant in Prabal Gurung’s genes because he does not take such mistreatment lying down. When asked by a fashion publicist why he was designing clothes for fat people, he snaps back: “Because of people like you.” He joins the Black Lives Matter and #MeToo movements, launches the Shikshya Foundation charity in Nepal, and has powerful allies among celebrities who wear clothes he designed: Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Sara Jessica Parker, Kamala Harris, Deepika Padukone … it is a long list.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250519150556_48a5f4211991a23fa85b64bbd5377575ca7081d97309d7542035591dda5180fe.png" data-media-id="editor_12" data-image-id="20250519150556_48a5f4211991a23fa85b64bbd5377575ca7081d97309d7542035591dda5180fe" data-rendition-name="original" width="1114" height="1534" loading="lazy" alt="Being Prabal Gurung by design"> <figcaption>Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie wearing Atelier Prabal Gurung’s design for Met Gala 2025 in which the theme was ‘Superfine: Tailoring Black Style’. </figcaption> </figure>  “I don’t dress women to look beautiful, they already are,” Gurung says. “I try to bring out their innate strength and grace.” <a href="https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17908766880140171/" target="_blank">Admirers</a> tell Gurung he makes it all look so easy, but he used to put up a strong facade to not show his own vulnerabilities in public. “I was closed because of my childhood experiences,” he says. “I was always on guard to defend myself because I never knew where the next punch would come from.” But in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPVepzPA210" target="_blank">Walk Like a Girl,</a> Gurung comes to terms with his vulnerability, and bares his soul. It has not been easy, it took sustained will power and support from his mother, sister Kumudini and a circle of close friends. “I made unbelonging my power,” he says. “Nepal is where I still have my heart and soul. Nepal grounds you. It is where people go to find themselves. But I escaped.” Recently appointed vice-chair of the <a href="https://cfda.com/about-cfda" target="_blank">Council of American Fashion Designers</a>, Gurung says: “I can’t believe I am here, it feels like it is happening to someone else. Writing this book, the healing has finally begun.” <h2>‘Everything is better in color’</h2> The Met Gala was two weeks later, and my table was an example of everything I’d been fighting for all these years as my guests represented everything I believed in: dynamic, powerful, influential women who were unapologetically original and unabashedly graceful. I was grateful to Anna for inviting me to host and dress a table that reflected my ethos—and for her guidance in doing so. I was also aware of the privilege as one of the first-­ever Asian fashion designers—not just from Nepal, but from the entire continent— to get the opportunity to do so. That fact was not lost on me. I reached out beyond the expected Hollywood celebrities and well-­known socialites to curate a table of exceptional women who inspired me. I invited Deepika Padukone and Alia Bhatt for their first-­ever Met Galas, as well as Michelle Yeoh, Mindy Kaling, Camila Cabello, Ashley Park, Denée Benton, KiKi Layne, Quannah Chasinghorse, and Grace Elizabeth. Together we checked many boxes: Asian, Black, Latinx, and Indigenous, each woman undeniably chic and powerful, a dazzling array of skin tones and experiences that proved my decades‑in‑the-­making hypothesis: everything is better in color. Excerpt from Walk Like a Girl Viking © 2025 by Prabal Gurung  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250519170520_6b91d560e9f072c37d16876901058c073a51ffa05e7ad1b9461d19e1c9c28215.jpg" data-media-id="editor_16" data-image-id="20250519170520_6b91d560e9f072c37d16876901058c073a51ffa05e7ad1b9461d19e1c9c28215" data-rendition-name="original" width="1136" height="702" loading="lazy" alt="Prabal Gurung book details NT"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250519170520_345240c21be400e2ce2ec629b52bd82bb53890e5bd86fe95b48340d84b5f1748.jpg" data-media-id="editor_17" data-image-id="20250519170520_345240c21be400e2ce2ec629b52bd82bb53890e5bd86fe95b48340d84b5f1748" data-rendition-name="original" width="1136" height="702" loading="lazy" alt="Prabal Gurung book details NT"> </figure>  &nbsp;