<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121144/636b93409c7e80680e06f194jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"/><figcaption>British Gurkha veterans and their families march in London on 15 June, asking the British government, among other demands, to rush vaccine supplies to Nepal.</figcaption></figure>Outrage is growing against India and Britain, despite Nepal’s long association with  their militaries, for not responding to the country’s desperate pleas for vaccines as the second wave of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/nepals-humanitarian-emergency/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/nepals-humanitarian-emergency/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1624103985560000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHVGIddnZ9UzqWuLtmnXkMev6XBRw">Covid-19 ravages the country</a>.Critics on social media and press commentators have reminded India and Britain that Nepal’s nationals have shed their blood to defend them through wars in the past two centuries, and Nepal’s Rana rulers had been particularly generous in donating money to institutions in British India and the UK itself.On 15 June, Gurkha veterans in kilts and blowing bagpipes staged a demonstration in the heart of London, with family members carrying banners that read ‘We fight for you. Help us fight Covid-19 in Nepal’, and ‘Gurkha Lives Matter’.In May, British celebrities, war veterans, mountaineers, public health specialists and vaccine researchers wrote an open letter to Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab appealing for emergency medical equipment and vaccines to Nepal. They included Sir Jeremy Farrar, Sarah Gilbert, Andrew Pollard, Sir Chris Bonington, Joanna Lumley, Michael Palin, Gen Sir Sam Cowan, and many others. Gurkha veteran Capt Ram Bahadur Limbu, one of only five living recipients of the Victoria Cross, signed the letter from his home in Kathmandu. A similar appeal was made to the US government through the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/vaccines-are-the-only-solution/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/vaccines-are-the-only-solution/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1624103985560000&amp;usg=AFQjCNH4O1v0Y8hS89Y5bXDp44hB7rMf8w">Covid Alliance for Nepal</a> as far back as early May.Although Britain, the United States, and other European countries continue to fly in  oxygen generators, PPEs and medical equipment to Kathmandu on relief flights, they have not sent <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/aid-pours-into-nepal-but-where-be-vaccines/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/aid-pours-into-nepal-but-where-be-vaccines/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1624103985560000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEhfRWccAnQ-tbn2DyKJ_XRyVObsg">what is most needed now: vaccines</a>.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/south-asias-vaccine-geopolitics/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/south-asias-vaccine-geopolitics/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1624103985560000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHQ4XSlNRhn40f365N34hfPSwbC_Q">China, </a>on the other hand, has donated 2 million doses of its Sinopharm VeroCell vaccines, and Nepal is poised to order another 4 million jabs from Beijing.To be sure, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/the-gift-of-the-jab/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/the-gift-of-the-jab/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1624103985560000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHwBMIBC-6KR33qGaxYHOmT96YiaQ">Nepal was gifted 1 million doses</a> of the Covishield AstraZeneca by India as early as March as a part of its ‘neighbourhood first’ policy, and the government paid an advance to the Serum Institute India for another 2 million doses. Only 1 million were delivered.Britain also co-funded 2.268 million Covishield vaccine doses to Nepal via the COVAX facility, but only 348,000 were delivered in April before India stopped its export.Kathmandu has <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-needs-urgent-american-vaccine-support/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-needs-urgent-american-vaccine-support/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1624103985560000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHEjmaVIxRqFBfE5UwpeKxAv6cBRA">repeatedly made special appeals</a> to New Delhi to at least send the remaining 1 million Covishield doses it paid for, and to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-is-a-priority-for-vaccine-shipments/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-is-a-priority-for-vaccine-shipments/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1624103985560000&amp;usg=AFQjCNERDV63Evdml3D3N257h0RgHYNi-g">Britain to rush supplies</a> so that 1.4 million elderly Nepalis who have been waiting for their second doses now for more than 12 weeks get their jabs before their immunity runs out.Even though some individual European countries are willing to donate their surplus or unused AstraZeneca vaccines directly to Nepal, the EU has has insisted that it go through the COVAX channel which has pledged 100 million doses by the end of the year. But that would be too late for those waiting for second doses.Last month, US President Joe Biden announced that 7 million doses will be given to countries in South and Southeast Asia, but there is no mention of when and how many are for Nepal. The G-7 leaders last week pledged another 1 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines, half of it to be delivered by end-2021. But there are no signs of actual vaccines being readied for shipment to Nepal.Most <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/vacillating-on-vaccines/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/vacillating-on-vaccines/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1624103985561000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHnk6e_HurSuOgrRmr028cDkfFK_Q">Nepalis blame their government </a>for being too busy with internal power struggles to secure adequate vaccines in time. Nepal’s embassies, especially in New Delhi, London and Washington DC have come under special criticism for not being able to convey Nepal’s urgency. However, there is also deep hurt that Nepal is being treated so shabbily in its time of great need, especially by India and Britain.Blood sacrificeOf the 400,000 young Nepali men conscripted to fight alongside the British in the two world wars, nearly 50,000 were killed in action. Thousands of Nepali soldiers have died fighting in the Indian Army against Pakistan and China since Indian independence.Archivist Santosh Khaderi says the sacrifice of Nepali soldiers should be honoured, and also the generosity shown by Nepal’s Rana rulers towards institutions in British India and in the UK in the past.Prime Minister Chandra Shumshere Rana gifted Rs330,000 (a lot of money in those days) to buy machine guns for its soldiers in British regiments. And in 1914, an emissary of Chandra Shumshere handed over as a ‘personal gift’ to the British War Office in London 31 machine guns for immediate dispatch to the front.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121144/636b93439c7e80680e06f195jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="556" height="638"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121144/636b93459c7e80680e06f196jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="476" height="705">Photos: SANTOSH KHADERI“Nepal was a poor country, but it is shocking to see how generous its Rana rulers were in supporting the British,” Khaderi says. “They were giving away what was essentially taxes paid by poor Nepalis in the name of diplomacy. It is time for Britain to return the favour.”Another newspaper clipping from The Toronto World in 1916 reports on a ‘special gift’ of Rs200,000 from the Nepal government and Rs100,000 from the prime minister personally to Viceroy Lord Chelmsford in India as donation towards the British war effort.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121144/636b93489c7e80680e06f197jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1002" height="734"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Although the second wave appears to be cresting in Nepal, just as it has in India, the disease is still spreading in the community in the remotest parts of the country where there are scanty testing or treatment facilities. Public health officials say the death toll and infection rate is probably three times higher than what is officially reported.On Friday, 2,768 confirmed Covid-19 cases were reported nationwide, with 44 fatalities. This pushes the total number of deaths so far to 8,641. There are still     65,000 active cases, with most in home isolation, but there are 872 in ICU and 246  on ventilator support.Next week, the authorities are expected to ease the restrictions on movement in Kathmandu after nearly two months with a ‘smart lockdown’. However, public health experts say that relaxing the rules when only 4% of the population has been vaccinated is sure to mean another surge.After inoculating the 1.4 million people above 65 who are waiting for their second doses, Nepal needs to vaccinate at least 70% of its adult population for which it will need more than 40 million doses soon.Former  United Nations Under Secretary-General and Nepali diplomat Gyan Chandra Acharya told Nepali Times, “I don’t see a possibility of Nepal getting vaccines from India now, but the West is hoarding more vaccines than it needs. What is stopping them from sending the urgently needed second doses to Nepal?”<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121144/636b934a9c7e80680e06f198jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>What rankles Archivist Khaderi the most is the historical injustice of it all. Having studied Nepal-Britain relations, he is most disappointed at the way Britain is treating Nepal. The UK may be Nepal’s main donor today, but in the past successive Rana prime ministers lavished presents on the British royalty.Khaderi, who lives in Qatar, has uncovered archival material about Bir Shumshere Rana gifting 14 gold coins to Queen Victoria, even Jang Bahadur, who was the first royalty from the Subcontinent to visit Britain in 1850, showered expensive presents on Queen Victoria. Later, Dev Shumshere contributed Rs15,000 to Queen Victoria’s Memorial Fund.“It is really disappointing to see Britain and India bring so unwilling to help Nepal despite the sacrifices of our soldiers, the generosity and flattery that our rulers lavished upon them in the past, and to this present day through Gurkha recruitment,” he says.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121144/636b934e9c7e80680e06f199jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="204">Indeed, what is most telling for foreign policy analysts is that despite the ‘special relationship’ between Britain and Nepal and the military ties, not a single British prime minister has ever visited Nepal even though British royals have been here.Public health expert Sameer Mani Dixit of the Centre for Molecular Dynamics says the nature of Nepal’s second wave is changing. While hospitals in Nepal needed oxygen during the peak of the infections in May, now it is vaccines that is most needed.“Nepal has historical relations with India and the UK, but it is disappointing that particularly Britain has not done much in terms of vaccines. There have been pledges, but when will they get here? In 2023?” he asks. “Why get stuck with COVAX,  Britain should send us doses directly since we helped defend their Empire. We are not begging. Nepalis died for Britain, now Britain should help Nepalis live."

original

674x448

610x380

500x500

400x266

400x240

400x203

301x200

1250x600

1084x550

Anger grows in Nepal over Covid vaccine delays

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121144/636ce48c9c7e80680e0966b8jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"/><figcaption>Gaumaya Gurung at the Rainbow Mountain in Peru.</figcaption></figure>Gaumaya Gurung moved to the UK with her family 15 years ago after completing Grade 10. Realising that she had been losing touch with her Nepali roots since then, she created a YouTube Channel with her friend Deevas Gurung.Both are children of former Gurkha soldiers settled in the UK and their channel ‘<a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCm4VT7skAZL3OLcJ8zySK6Q">Khula Akash</a>’ carries travel vlogs, helping them reconnect with the Nepali language, culture, history, as well as with people."I like to visit new places when I go to Nepal," says Gaumaya. “I want to discover what various parts of the country mean to me specifically— what the Tarai is to me, or Dolpa.”There are currently five videos on the channel documenting trips to Gorkha, Shey Phoksundo and Upper Dolpo. “We had hoped that the audience would be inspired when they heard people living outside Nepal speaking the language,” Gaumaya, who is currently in the UK, tells Nepali Times via WhatsApp.While Deevas does much of the behind-the-scenes work, it is Gaumaya’s voice that the audience hears, narrating their experiences in cheerful, precise Nepali.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121144/636ce4909c7e80680e0966b9jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><figcaption>Gaumaya and Deevas Gurung at Phoksundo lake in Dolpa. The two friends have been documenting their travels across Nepal on YouTube since August 2020.</figcaption></figure>“The older audience who are our grandparents’ age, are also able to understand us,” she says, explaining why the tone of the narration, which reminds us of Radio Nepal stories from the past, is befitting.But while making the vlogs, Gauamaya soon realised that she had to improve her Nepali. Since moving away from Nepal, she hadn’t paid much attention to writing or speaking the language.Her experience with Nepali during her school days has played a role in the difficulty Gaumaya still faces to grasp the nuances of the language.“Since schools typically prioritise the English language, I was always weak in Nepali,” she recalls. “But as I immerse myself deeper into this process, my interest and love for the Nepali language continue to grow.”Now, Gaumaya does quite a bit of research to find out the translations of many English words in Nepali and to pronounce them, always surprising herself while learning. “The Nepali language is wonderful,” she adds. “And I still have a lot more to learn.”Gaumaya got her bachelor’s degree in Optometry after moving to London and started working as a health worker. In 2011, while she was still in university, she was crowned Miss UK Nepal, becoming a public figure among the Nepali diaspora in Britain. Since then, she has been involved in writing, acting, and modelling.Gaumaya has starred in short films on mental health, domestic violence and drug addiction, and has modelled in Nepali music videos. Two films that she is involved in — Gorkha: Beneath the Bravery and Chukul are lined up for release in 2021. Gaumaya also co-stars in the FX TV and BBC-produced television series Black Narcissus, based on Rumer Godden’s 1939 novel.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121144/636ce4939c7e80680e0966bajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="658" height="384"><figcaption>Gaumaya in the upcoming film Gorkha: Beneath the Bravery.</figcaption></figure>In 2018, Gaumaya led an eye camp in Gorkha’s Chipleti village that benefited more than 450 people.In her speech crowning a new Miss UK Nepal in 2012, Gaumaya had said, "My journey is not over." At the time, she had used the word ‘journey’ figuratively, but over time, travel has become her reality.Even as she led an active and eventful life, Gaumaya had begun to feel an emptiness and disconnect within her work and relationships. It was during that period in her life, in 2015, that she travelled alone to New York to see Niagara Falls.“During my trip to New York, I realised that I was a free, global citizen, and there was still so much of the world I needed to see,” Gaumaya recounts. “After that, I travelled to Austria. I learned to ski and scuba dive.” The trip had quelled her restlessness and made her look at contentment in a new light.Whenever she is home in London, she works as a freelance optometrist, which funds her travels. She has now visited, both for work and pleasure, more than 40 countries over the last four years.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121144/636ce4949c7e80680e0966bbjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="960"><figcaption>Gaumaya takes a picture with children in the Ghanian city of Cape Coast.</figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121144/636ce4979c7e80680e0966bcjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><figcaption>Gaumaya at Machu Picchu, Peru.</figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121144/636ce49b9c7e80680e0966bdjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><figcaption>Gaumaya and Deevas at the Uyuni Salt Flat in Bolivia.</figcaption></figure>While their vlogs so far have seen them meet and recount the unique stories of Nepalis, Gaumaya and Deevas now plan to document their travels across the world.“Our next vlog will see us travelling from Manila to the Coron, Palawan in the Philippines, where we saw Bentley vehicles once used by the US military now being used to ferry passengers,” says Gaumaya. “They looked a bit like Nepali trucks.” Indeed, it is Gaumaya's habit to search for similarities in the geography, landscape, people and customs of the countries she has visited.Gaumaya is happy with the progress she has made in reconnecting with her heritage but says she has a long way to go in her search for personal fulfilment.Says Gaumaya: "Now I invest in experiences. My travels have not only brought me closer to my roots, but also helped me to understand other cultures, languages, and experiences.”

Gaumaya Gurung going places

Nepal’s month-long cricket carnival ended on a sunny Saturday in Kathmandu with a final game in which the Lumbini Lions dominated the Sudurpaschim Royals with both bat and ball.&nbsp; The Royals were bowled out for an embarrassing 85, thanks to Namibian Ruben Trumplemann’s three wickets for three runs, and captain Rohit Paudel’s hat-trick in the eleventh over. Only opener Ishan Pandey’s 33 run-innings was of any note.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025121315120_ced9258f9503a03fe53760d5ff420136ea9cfbaf3001512399ec5cafeef25364.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2025121315120_ced9258f9503a03fe53760d5ff420136ea9cfbaf3001512399ec5cafeef25364" data-rendition-name="original" width="1366" height="909" loading="lazy" alt="NPL 2"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251213141232_0b712b438a97b49747029e4b3884b0eeba8ec0ff0bfbc5fd3d61cbb2002a16c2.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20251213141232_0b712b438a97b49747029e4b3884b0eeba8ec0ff0bfbc5fd3d61cbb2002a16c2" data-rendition-name="original" width="1345" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="NPL 2"> </figure>  The Lions came out with virtually no pressure on them, and Dinesh Adhikari’s 42 off 13 including 27 off the first over bowled by Dipendra Singh Airee won the match. Rohit Paudel came in to finish the match calmly, with 11 overs to spare, scoring two stylish fours and a six before holing out with the Lions on 83.&nbsp; The Lions took comically long to get the final two runs to win the game, losing one more wicket. But it was merely a matter of time, and a single ended the Royal’s misery.&nbsp; As dusk fell, the big fluffy lion mascot was on the field dapping up the Lions as red fireworks went off and Lumbini fans leaped from their seats in the packed stands.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251213141232_ba4c4fde1865c583cf324d253563a0fc96002c31e8381ee85850f71c67515ea9.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20251213141232_ba4c4fde1865c583cf324d253563a0fc96002c31e8381ee85850f71c67515ea9" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1365" loading="lazy" alt="NPL 2"> </figure>  This capped off an incredible run from the Lions who had finished dead last in NPL Season 1, and had only one win and three losses after four games. They won the remaining three, finishing fourth, barely qualifying.&nbsp; This meant that they had to play an eliminator last week against the Kathmandu Gorkhas and then a qualifier against the popular Biratnagar Kings, whose squad included Sandeep Lamichhane, Faf du Plessis, and Martin Guptill. They won both in style. For the Royals, however, this was the second disappointing final in a row after being the best team in the group stage in both seasons of the NPL. National team batsman Binod Bhandari had had an excellent tournament for the Royals, but was in tears at having come this far again and fallen short.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251213141228_a90fd0afaeec366416efe314464d6b1152bd9cca011346b77914c2037b6b156e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20251213141228_a90fd0afaeec366416efe314464d6b1152bd9cca011346b77914c2037b6b156e" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1366" loading="lazy" alt="NPL 2"> </figure>  Despite the final being disappointingly less action-packed for the neutral viewer, the final marked the second successful execution of the NPL. The addition of seats and floodlights at the TU Cricket Stadium overlooking Kathmandu made evening games possible and improved the experience for fans.&nbsp; The floodlights also made for some gorgeous photography as the sun set behind Chandragiri, illuminating the Himalaya to the north in gradually fading shades of orange.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251205041256_280bea0db1d097c88d478f5ba7197b5e2faa05623ebf9c0438af46d85bdb891e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20251205041256_280bea0db1d097c88d478f5ba7197b5e2faa05623ebf9c0438af46d85bdb891e" data-rendition-name="original" width="1366" height="911" loading="lazy" alt="Cricket carnival NT"> <figcaption>Photo: SUMAN NEPALI</figcaption> </figure>  Adam Rossington’s 323 runs, including a century, and Sandeep Lamichhane’s 17 wickets were the standout individual performances across the tournament in the past month.&nbsp; The tournament brought out characters much loved by the vociferous crowd, including ‘Taklu’ Irish commentator Andrew Leonard who worked in a Dhaka Topi, British presenter Jess Crowe who donned a Sari for the final, and Chitwan Rhinos’ charismatic mascot Mr Gaida who entertained the crowd with enthusiastic nonstop dancing.&nbsp; The tournament was such a draw that the university grounds looked like a carnival with food and merchandise stalls. The capacity 10,000 stadium drew such a crowd that Kathmandu streets were relatively quiet on Saturday with people also watching the game live on tv at home.&nbsp; Kathmandu’s residents were genuinely delighted at being able to talk about <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/cricket-carnival">a Nepali cricket tournament</a>, and not about the Indian or English Premier Leagues. And while everyone appreciated the cricket no matter who was playing, fans showed up for their provinces in loud numbers.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251205041256_e96211da042ec3043940f2feca4cd59dd00351af41a4ca029169871f69f51957.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20251205041256_e96211da042ec3043940f2feca4cd59dd00351af41a4ca029169871f69f51957" data-rendition-name="original" width="1366" height="911" loading="lazy" alt="Cricket carnival NT"> <figcaption>Photo: SUMAN NEPALI</figcaption> </figure>  The organisers having proven themselves, future NPLs may need more stadiums in other provinces, even better overseas players.&nbsp; Sambhav Sirohiya of the Kathmandu Media Group ambitiously tweeted that he believes that the league could already become the second most valuable franchise cricket league NEXT SEASON, especially if the government would loosen up its regulations of advertising, especially that of alcohol. Nepali cricketers and fans are now better prepared for the T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka in February, with the experience of playing in the NPL and with the access to world-class cricket talent and seeing how they go about excelling at the sport.&nbsp;

Lumbini gets the lion’s share

International Mountain Day on 11 December should inspire celebration, not cynicism. It follows &nbsp;a small but rare diplomatic win: the agreement at COP30 in Belém to hold a dedicated global dialogue on mountains in 2026, and to include mountain-specific indicators in the new climate adaptation framework.&nbsp;
A welcome shift, certainly. But the old narrative lingers — mountains are fragile, disaster-prone, eternally vulnerable. But the uncomfortable truth is that safe and environment-friendly development in the mountains is simply too expensive than anyone wants to admit.
To build a kilometre of two-lane highway in the Tarai costs Rs200 million. That same kilometre on a Himalayan slope with retaining walls, drainage, bioengineering, and landslide protection costs more than Rs1 billion. Add tunnels, viaducts or highways designed for minimum 80km/h speeds and that figure can easily triple.
This pattern repeats across all sectors. A 50MW run-of-river hydropower plant that costs $80 million in low-ling valleys costs four times more in the mountains. The headrace tunnels have to be longer, desanding basins must trap the silt, the access roads cost more than the entire project. And there is no way to prevent the scheme from being washed away by a glacial collapse flood.
Nepal's annual road budget is only Rs150 billion. It is scattered thinly across 753 municipalities, most of them perched on steep, unstable slopes. When resources are inadequate and political cycles are short, the incentives for corruption are predictable &nbsp;— shaving a mountain flank at 70 degrees instead of 45, taking a shortcut on drainage canals, skimping on asphalt thickness, or skipping the Gabion.
In high Nepal, the bulldozer is the engineer. We hang on the prayer that the monsoon will be merciful. July arrives, and reality returns. Mountains fall on roads, flash floods wash away swathes of expensive highways.
The entrance to the Siddhababa Tunnel in Palpa collapses yet again. The Nagdhunga Tunnel faces another landslide delay. The Melamchi headworks go under — again. Each failure costs more to repair than proper engineering would have cost when that infrastructure was built.
We are not just paying once. We the taxpayers are signing up for a subscription to disaster. The real fragility of Nepal’s mountains is of governance, not geology.
This is what the international climate conversation habitually misses. Mountain communities are repeatedly told to ‘respect nature’ and avoid linear infrastructure, often by the same countries proudly announcing new expressways and airports in their own countries.
Mountain people are not anti-development. They want what everyone else wants: electricity that does not flicker, roads that survive the monsoon, schools their children can reach in winter. What they lack is not aspiration, it is the budget required to build things safely that is not stolen by politicians and their crony contractors.
If the world truly wants to protect the Himalaya, Andes or Alps, and the billions who rely on them for water, the answer is not more romantic slogans about fragility of the mountains. It is concessional, patient financing that narrows the gap between cheap and dangerous versus expensive and resilient. And it is transparent government that spends that money wisely.
This means money for tunnels instead of unstable surface cuts. Money for bioengineered slopes instead of naked bulldozer scars. Money for hydropower built for 1-in-100-year floods, not 1-in-25-year budgets.&nbsp;
This is not charity. Mountain infrastructure safeguards global water, carbon, energy and biodiversity systems. It is a global public good, and should be financed as such.&nbsp;
In Syangja, small investments under the Climate Adaptive Equitable Water Management Practices have restored nine community ponds, protected recharge zones and increased dry-season spring flow by about a third. All of this for less than the cost of repairing a single kilometre of poorly built hillside road after the next landslide.
Our experience from the Subnational Governance Programme (SNGP) in some districts of mountains and plains show that when municipalities receive practical guidance backed by scientific research, they can scale these solutions with modest, targeted budgets. Local governments are not the problem — they are the missing link. &nbsp;
The tragedy is not technical incapacity; it is chronic under-financing of the most cost-intensive terrain on earth. Lets stop romanticising mountain poverty on 11 December, International Mountain Day. Let us retire the language of fragility that excuses inaction.
Mountains are not pleading for sympathy. They are demanding fairness: that the true cost of safe development in the world’s steepest geographies be acknowledged and shared. Until that bill is paid, the monsoon will continue to do the accounting, one landslide, one road, one abandoned promise at a time.
Ngamindra Dahal is a water and climate adaptation practitioner based at the Nepal Water Conservation Foundation, Kathmandu.

The Himalaya is not fragile

This is the 76th episode of Diaspora Diaries, a Nepali Times series in collaboration with Migration Lab providing a platform to share experiences of living, working and studying abroad. We did not have a whole lot, but did not grow up in scarcity either. When I was in Grade 7, my father migrated to Malaysia but returned just after 18 days and was heavily in debt. It is the interest and not the principal from loan sharks that ruins borrowers. As we grew up, family expenses rose and my father migrated again to Qatar, determined to make it work this time. I used to watch him via IMO in buildings under construction eating rice out of plastic bags. There was no AC, no oven, no shade. Those images are etched into my memory.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251208081244_3f46ccdd1fab8f85ccce9fc8bec677cb7466a1b9556f36d0f92d19c6478369b6.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20251208081244_3f46ccdd1fab8f85ccce9fc8bec677cb7466a1b9556f36d0f92d19c6478369b6" data-rendition-name="original" width="600" height="800" loading="lazy" alt="Diaspora Diaries 76"> <figcaption>Family picture from 2014 sent to Anil's father who was working in Qatar.</figcaption> </figure>  After Grade 10, I was encouraged to take up computers in +2 as I was a bright student. I did not have access to a computer, and the 30 minutes we got weekly at the computer lab was just not enough. My parents could not afford to buy a computer, but a friend had both a desktop and laptop at home.&nbsp; I did his homework in exchange for using his computer. When my father in Qatar, found out he bought me a laptop. Today, a decade later, I am still using it. Maybe I valued the computer more because it was bought with my father’s sweat. The laptop reminds me of how he toiled overseas.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251208081240_2b3dc0b903d0b01caf875b5f50c22053aa28097b405cf14f36c6324a93f5dfef.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20251208081240_2b3dc0b903d0b01caf875b5f50c22053aa28097b405cf14f36c6324a93f5dfef" data-rendition-name="original" width="1200" height="1600" loading="lazy" alt="Diaspora Diaries 76"> <figcaption>Anil still uses the laptop his father bought him ten years ago.</figcaption> </figure>  The money he sent home did help with household expenses. My mother did tailoring, although the income was not stable. After my father returned from Qatar, we he bought a three-wheeler which he still uses in Makwanpur. After completing Grade 12, I came to college in Kathmandu to study IT. It cost Rs20,000 a month in tuition, rent and food just to survive. I could not complete my bachelor’s. Although my father kept saying, “Don’t worry, I am here,” he just did not have the money to pay for me. So, I took up a data entry job which helped cover living expenses. The pandemic meant my father could not earn money from his auto-rickshaw. We had no savings and had outstanding loans. Migration was the only way to get us out of the rut. I told my father that both of us should go abroad to earn some money. He could return earlier and I would stay on.&nbsp; My father agreed, and I visited recruiting agencies with both our passports. After reviewing our CVs, they said it was easy to find jobs for my father but not for me, given my educational background and my experience in software. “How can we send you for jobs as a cleaner or security guard?” they asked. I finally found a job in Romania, and decided to have my father stay back because going to Europe would have doubled the cost. My mother and sister came to see me off at Kathmandu airport. It felt just like my father leaving for Qatar many years ago. Perhaps some day, my brother would also leave in a similar manner, I thought.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251208081240_c1a00b70223f048e994e1cab7c0e6cd6944c4a2f3f7740b0a8e76921da9d23f0.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20251208081240_c1a00b70223f048e994e1cab7c0e6cd6944c4a2f3f7740b0a8e76921da9d23f0" data-rendition-name="original" width="1200" height="1600" loading="lazy" alt="Diaspora Diaries 76"> <figcaption>Anil's sister hugging him at the airport before he left for Romania.</figcaption> </figure>  In Romania, I work in a factory making car seat belts. It is not physically demanding and it is indoors. Even though I did not share it with my family, the initial period was difficult as I had no experience standing and working for so many hours at a time. Once, when I was tired at work, I wondered how my father managed in Qatar in a much more physically taxing job. Here I was not carrying heavy loads, my work was not outdoors. I was so emotional, I wrote a ghazal in my head. The words “खाडीको तातो घाम” kept repeating in my head. After work, I jotted down the verse in my diary:&nbsp; बुवा, तपाई जस्तो बन्न म सक्दै सक्दिनँ Father, I cannot become like you कति गाह्रो छ, म भन्नै सक्दिनँ I cannot imagine how hard it is म मान्छे हेर्दा मात्रै ठूलो I only look like a grown man बानी अझै बच्चै छ But I am still childish किनकि जता त्यतै जान मन लाग्छ I feel like roaming around जे देख्यो त्यो खान मन लाग्छ Eat whatever I see. न पैसा बच्छ I cannot save. न खाएको कुरा सबै पच्छ The food doesn’t agree with me&nbsp; कहिले काहीँ त मलाई म्याकडोनाल्डको बर्गर पनि पच्दैन Not even a burger at McDonalds तर प्लास्टिकमा पोको परेको त्यो चिसो भात But how did my father eat that cold rice खाडीको त्यो तातो घाममा सेक्दै खाँदा मेरो बुवालाई कसरी पच्छ? Under the hot Gulf sun? मेरो पेटले यस्तो पचाउन सक्दै सक्दैन I would not be able to eat that. बुवा, तपाई जस्तो बन्न म सक्दै सक्दिनँ Father, I cannot be like you. कति गाह्रो छ, म भन्नै सक्दिनँ I cannot say how difficult it is.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251208081240_51eb68a130750f1c79ab1046406a5b940c780ebd87cfff5ff6861d3287bd69c0.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20251208081240_51eb68a130750f1c79ab1046406a5b940c780ebd87cfff5ff6861d3287bd69c0" data-rendition-name="original" width="1200" height="1600" loading="lazy" alt="Diaspora Diaries 76"> <figcaption>Anil Gole's diary entry of his ghazal compares his migration with his father’s journey.</figcaption> </figure>  I posted it online, and it went viral. But more importantly, people found the words relatable and engaging. My sister first saw it on Tiktok and shared it with my mother. It moved them to tears while my father kept watching it on repeat, deep in thought. Even though my birth father decided to leave my mother when I was less than a year old, my step father never made me feel the absence of anything. My friend from Grade 6 in Makwanpur, Sharan, introduced me to ghazal. He was six years older because he had to pause his studies during the Maoist conflict. He worked in a brick factory in Kathmandu, saved money, and returned to school. He was very talented and we became friends through the school children’s club.&nbsp; Sharan and I spent most of our time together, sharing meals to save money and even skipping classes. One day, in Grade 9 when our teacher was absent, he wrote a ghazal on the spot and explained the form, the rhyme, the meter. I listened half-heartedly as it was not of interest. We left it at that. Shortly after, Sharan was diagnosed with leukemia and he could not finish exam. Because he was a sharp student, the teachers decided to not hold him back. He died just before Grade 10. I cried. I do not have any pictures of Sharan. He had small ears, and I used to tease him that people with small ears do not live long. That still haunts me. <div class="embed-block"><div style="max-width: 56vh;"><div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 177.7778%;"><iframe src="https://cdn.iframe.ly/api/iframe?url=https%3A%2F%2Fyoutube.com%2Fshorts%2FLpizGQWTbMs%3Ffeature%3Dshare&key=87ca3314a9fa775b5c3a7726100694b0" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;" allowfullscreen scrolling="no" allow="accelerometer *; clipboard-write *; encrypted-media *; gyroscope *; picture-in-picture *; web-share *;"></iframe></div></div></div> At the school assembly at the start of the new year, we were asked to share a talent. I did not know what to do, but I wrote a ghazal just as Sharan had taught me and dedicated it to him. Halfway through, I started crying and the principal took me to his office and calmed me down.&nbsp; I do not write much poetry except a few posts on social media here and there. But a video of me reciting went viral on TikTok and that encouraged me to write more. That made me feel validated, and I began writing more about real life experiences. It has been three years in Romania. My brother will also be joining me soon. Things have improved for us financially, but we are not where we want to be. We will get there. When we do, I will resume my studies. I’m interested in programming, especially back-end development and working with databases. It is on hold right now.&nbsp; I do not have big dreams, I just want to make sure my parents get what they deserve. It is okay if I get delayed if my parents are able to access what they had scarified for us when they were of my age. For now, my family is my priority.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251208081240_9e8d3cad3b505d3ec5adcea94ed05b2ea9de1d2cd8507335eec86c2659a11b34.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20251208081240_9e8d3cad3b505d3ec5adcea94ed05b2ea9de1d2cd8507335eec86c2659a11b34" data-rendition-name="original" width="2016" height="1512" loading="lazy" alt="Diaspora Diaries 76"> <figcaption>Anil's family.</figcaption> </figure>

My father’s son

People like myself were too young during the decade of the Maoist War to remember its horrors. We often wonder what life was truly like back then. Perhaps the closest we have come to experiencing a national crisis of that scale – with the protests, violence, curfews, and political maneuvering – was the GenZ movement in September. How did people cope? What did they fear? What was it like in the cities and &nbsp;villages? How was it that the king still held so much power? What motivated the guerrillas? And, how did &nbsp;ordinary people adjust and endure the war? My curiosity about the war that ended 20 years ago &nbsp;was met with a rollercoaster of emotions with Monica Rana’s debut novel, The Paths We Choose. The novel is not a retelling of events from the vantage of leaders, rebels. It is not about the violence, but a carefully curated perspective of ordinary people caught up in it. It is a glimpse into how the war altered or defined their paths. This is the 'People’s War' from the people’s own perspective. Readers are immediately invested into the lives of two central characters, the sister duo, Sumnima and Rita. The elder radiating from the beginning with her brave and cunning aura, and the latter, more timid and obedient, much of her time absorbed in awe of her sister. The writer’s language flows as effortlessly as the sisters’ strides up the hills to steal mangoes from Dhire Dai’s trees, only to race back down to Rato Mato, carrying us through their journey into adolescence. Amidst the rolling hills, mango trees, life is filled with laughter, adventures, and everyday banter, scenes so serene that they carry an unsettling calm that hints at what lies ahead. Village life is not all painted in romantic hues. The stark reality of poverty, subsistence, and contrast with the comfort of city living are never far away. Amidst these reminders, there runs a humbling truth: happiness once rested on small things, not on the material excess that define urban life. As the pages turn, the title begins to resonate: two sisters, once bound by the same bloodline, shared dreams, and the same roof, are caught in the crosshairs of war and forced onto separate paths. One by choice, and the other by necessity. The story unfolds with the seasons: the relentless monsoon rains, the scorching heat of summer, and a liberating winter that carries bittersweet truths. The year is 2001, as the insurgency intensifies. Against this backdrop, the cousins’ lives diverge. Sumnima is drawn into the rebels’ ranks to 'fight for equality and freedom', while Rita is uprooted, carried across distances, and placed in Seto Bangala as a helping hand among the higher-ups, in her family’s desperate attempt to secure her a better life after their village is reduced to a 'ghost city' by violent attacks. There are betrayals and beginnings, high palaces and humble hills, royals and rurals, identity and ideology, loss and lament, distance and discovery. Through upheavals, tears, and struggles, one thing remains constant: both sisters wonder about the other. They care. They long to reconnect. They hold fast to the dream they once shared to open a guesthouse in their village someday. A dream to simply live with no fear. To be free. To be happy. And, to be together. The writing illuminates vital themes: innocent people caught up in strife, the vast chasm of class from royals dining on silver plates to villagers back home hiding their last grain to save it from looters. And discrimination so stark it was as if people carried labels on their foreheads, marked by caste, skin colour, and gender. The sisters eventually reunite, but their journey is not an easy one, and what lies ahead is far from the future either of them once imagined. One might romanticise it as fate, or might recoil at the harsh reality Monica Rana lays bare: it is often the innocent who bear the heaviest burdens of war. Civilians are trapped between warring sides, enduring hunger, displacement, and violence through no fault of their own. Wars continue to rage across the world. Though the novel does not particularly focus on exposing the horrifying depths of war crimes, it remains a timeless reminder of what the Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish once said: “The war will end, and leaders will shake hands. The old woman will keep waiting for her martyred son. And those children will keep waiting for their hero father. I don’t know who sold our homeland, but I saw who paid the price.” &nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251213031240_2f7c62e392a430082c1627719e014f82b857118e226299e1590d74503387ae93.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20251213031240_2f7c62e392a430082c1627719e014f82b857118e226299e1590d74503387ae93" data-rendition-name="original" width="1136" height="702" loading="lazy" alt="The paths we choose book review"> </figure>

british-gurkha-soldiers

Anger grows in Nepal over Covid vaccine delays

Gaumaya Gurung going places

Lumbini gets the lion’s share

The Himalaya is not fragile

My father’s son

The war between people