“I’m standing by the post office. You won’t miss me,” promised Alok Vaid-Menon over the phone. Sure enough, there he was. 
At the Sundance Film Festival in Utah, where temperatures dip so low even the red carpet is sometimes a parade of cosy sweaters, — the US-based gender non-conforming performer was dressed in cold-defying femme fashion. Indigo pumps, a blue-and-yellow frock ending in a cloud-shaped skirt, swirls of the same colours lining the eyes.
“I want to show that it is possible to look good here,” said Alok cheekily. 
Words from one of Alok’s own verses seemed apt for the moment: “They will say that femininity is not powerful, but I have stopped traffic simply by going outside.” 
On the day we met, the 32-year-old stopped traffic for another reason too. They were the face of a short documentary ALOK, directed by Alexandra Hedison and produced by Jodie Foster, which had just premiered at the festival.
For over a decade, Alok has combined art and activism. They tour the world with poems about queer and trans experiences, self-acceptance, and love. 
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/eleganza-extravaganza">Eleganza Extravaganza</a>, Sahina Shrestha
They will be in Kathmandu presenting a blend of poetry and comedy at the Spoken Fest on 16 February. “I haven’t been to Kathmandu since 2017, so shout out to Nepal,” Alok shared, with a beam.
The film ALOK spent two years in the making, after photographer Hedison chanced upon Alok’s work online and asked if she could trail them — as a “professional groupie” or “consensual stalker”.
The deep dive that followed, she said, “didn’t just inspire me intellectually, it moved me emotionally”. The 18-minute film, Hedison’s first, features Alok’s questioning of the gender binary, their imaginative force, and glimpses of their family and friends. 
Quoting Greta Lee, star of the Oscar-nominated Past Lives, Alok said: “For so long I’ve been cast as the best friend but this is my first time as the main character and now I don’t know if I can go back.” 
“The mainstream needs to move beyond token diversity. We deserve to have our stories be centered.”
Alok was born into a family of thinkers and academics, with roots in Kerala, Delhi, Malaysia, and the US. Although the Texas milieu they grew up in was conservative, the film shows their home was conducive to queer expression. 
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/a-mother-celebrates-pride">A mother celebrates Pride</a>, Durga Rana Magar
The poet’s aunt Urvashi Vaid, a noted LGBTQ activist in the US, became their protector: “Because of that I was able to articulate myself and be taken seriously from a very young age.”
Where most media representations of South Asian families tend to be opposed to queer and trans kids, Alok noted their South Asian family grew up and transitioned with them.
Approaches to queer rights on the eastern side of the globe are quite progressive, in the poet’s view. “LGBTQ rights are often framed as just recognition in the US, but in India, for instance, there is actually an acknowledgement that there needs to be reparations, there needs to be economic support.”
What is the creative process like? “Procrastination is my process,” Alok chuckled. “It starts out like I’m writing for the first time every time and that’s so daunting. But if it was easy, it wouldn’t be as rewarding.”
As a performing poet, the writing is woven with sound, considering the music that lives within individual words. “Poetry is a kind of spell-making, you have to think about how to pitch and tune each word.” 
So the poet reads aloud as writing progresses and edits based on the listening experience. Language is constantly evolving, Alok reflected, but people get upset when LGBTQ communities evolve it. 
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/right-to-marry-in-nepal">Right to marry in Nepal</a>, Aastha Dahal
Many object to the use of non-binary pronouns. “It is interesting when people say ‘Oh this stuff is all so new’, then why have you always had slurs for us in your languages? So there’s always been a context with which you acknowledge us, it’s just been pejorative.”
In several US states, disapproval of trans people is at risk of being written into the law. Our conversation took place in Utah where the House recently passed a bill seeking to criminalise trans adults for using bathrooms inconsistent with the sex on their birth certificate. 
“Hopefully it’s not going to pass the Senate and get approved into law but the fact that they’re even indulging it is obscene.”
Through art, Alok would like to loosen the hold people have over gender. “Me and my friends are finding a way of looking at each other as individuals, not as categories. So this is not some idealistic future, it’s something that’s being lived right now.”
Equity will depend on people’s willingness to feel a sense of community with everyone around them. That is why Alok opened the film saying: “The most controversial pronoun I have is ‘we’. It’s not ‘they’, it’s ‘we’.” 
Read also:<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-is-ahead-of-many-countries-in-lgbtqi-rights"> "Nepal is ahead of many countries in LGBTQI+ rights"</a>, Nepali Times
Alok Vaid-Menon will perform at Park Village Resort on 16 February.

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The most controversial pronoun is ‘we’, not ‘they’

As surely as night follows day (or is it the other way around?) it is now that time of year again when we celebrate the season of beauty contests. From now till Dasain just about every venue in the city is booked for knockout tournaments in various categories to select young men, women, or both, who are most qualified to be Mister Donut, Messrs Schmidt, Miss Nepal, Miss Taken or Miss Guided.One gala pageant last week saw the crowning of Miss Teen Kunay in all her resplendent glory. And just so the other contestants would not be disheartened, there were also awards for Miss Photogenic, Best Hair and Thickest Dandruff categories.As expected, competition was keen, as indicated by the riot that broke out over the counting process for online votes. Awards were then also given to Mr &amp; Ms Tod Fod, Mister Hat Pat, and Miss Hina Mina. In order to introduce gender parity to these pageants, various organisers this year have also encouraged members of the unfair sex to participate in the mayhem.We are now in possession of the calendar of events for the rest of the season, and it looks like a busy next few months of pageant-hopping for us hacks in the beauty beat.Master and Miss Infant Nepal 2019Motto: “Catch ‘em Young!”Date: September 23-27Venue: Prasuti Griha Maternity Hospital Main Auditorium, ThapathaliCriteria: Only babies who have their umbilical cords already cut are eligible. Newborns will be required to take part in the elimination rounds which include the Koochi-koochi-koo Round, Crawling-Around Round, Disposable Diaper Round, Breast-feeding Round, Burping Round and the Wee-wee and Poo-poo Rounds. Judges will evaluate participants on the basis of noise, poise, odour, motor functions and response to questions in the Interview Round. Sample question: “What kind of world are you being brought into by your parents?”Mister Unfair and Ugly Nepal Street Pageant, 2076 BSSlogan: “We Do Not Believe in Fair Competition”Date and Time: Daily 10am-5pmVenue: Maitighar Mandala Prohibited ZoneCategories: Mr Brickbat, Mr Young Turk, Cutest Arsonist in the Tyre-Burning Round, Mr Water Cannon, Most Authentic Weeping in the Tear Gas Round.Politically-Incorrect Pageant 2019Credo: “Mother and Motherland Are Dearer Than Heaven”Venue: Behind-the-ScenesProcedure: Winners will not be selected on merit basis but nominated by a clique of shadowy political appointees.Categories: Miss Melanin-Challenged, Miss Impunity, Miss Latent Talent, Mr &amp; Mrs Kleptocrat, The Right Honourable Mr Ex-Convict, Messrs Wilful Defaulters, Miss Thighland and Mr Cutest Ass.Activities: Participants will be eliminated in the Muscial Chairs Round during which winners will be allowed to sit for a brief period on chairs before they are unceremoniously unseated.

The Ass

Miss Guided

Speech delivered by the Director General of the Department of Women, Children, Labour, Home Affairs and Animal Husbandry on the occasion of the Day of International Women. (Please check against delivery.)“Madam Chair, Respected Futons, Distinguished Desks, Honorable Sofas, Ladies and, last and also the least, you gentlemen at the back talking loudly in your mobiles who are an utter disgrace to manhood.Now that I have your undivided attention, allow me to begin my lip-service. As far as this Grumblement is concerned, and if it was up to us, we’d declare all 365 days in the year as International Days About Women.I think I speak for a majority of my all-male colleagues here on the dais when I say that we would not be doing justice to members of the female species if we celebrated today only once a year.This is why we propose that henceforth every day be devoted to women except April First, which as a token gesture, has already been set aside by the United Nations as the International Day for Men. Going by your tumultuous applause, I hereby declare that motion passed.There is now a consensus in the scientific community that women hold up only half the sky. In fact, if it wasn’t for us men holding up the other half, the sky as we know it, would fall. We must grudgingly admit that Nepalese women have taken great strides. Admittedly, these strides have not been as great as the strides we menfolk have taken but, hey, we’re not here to gloat.For example, us men have amassed a lot of experience in vitally important activities such as mansplaining, and making hilarious sounds by cupping our palms under our armpits. Allow me to demonstrate.Now, show me one woman who can do that. The fairer sex has a lot of catching up to do to be at par with us of the unfair sex who are governed by the left hemispheres of our brains (unlike women who are governed by the western hemisphere).Men have had a headstart in the race to makes asses of ourselves. Women, therefore, are lagging behind, but given perseverance, commitment and determinism they can be as (if not more) idiosyncratic as us. You will just have to try harder.Ever since cave men chewed mastodon innards with their mouths open, right down to the modern industrial age where men still haven’t learnt to stow toilet seats in an upright position during takeoffs and landings, us boys have been rightly called the stronger sex.Some men may have their egos dented when they see women overtaking them in this march towards mediocrity, but there is nothing to fear. Both sexes now have equal rights to make oxymorons of themselves.After all, GONe is an Equal Opportunity Employer.”

Unfair sex

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171148/6369375c9c7e80680e03fe2fjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="900"/><figcaption>Photo: SEWA BHATTARAI</figcaption></figure>Three best friends are at crossroads in their lives, trying to leave their carefree days behind and move to stability. For Anil the solution is investing in art, and he buys a completely white piece with faint diagonal lines across it, also white. When Mahesh laughs at him, Anil's ego is hurt and their friendship falls apart. The gentle Devashish tries to play peacemaker, but we won’t spoil it for you by revealing whether it works in the stage play, Art.Studio 7 has been staging plays for nearly 40 years at the <a href="http://www.hotelvajra.com/">Hotel Vajra</a>, spanning most of the ups and downs of Nepal’s recent history from the Panchayat monarchy to democracy, war and post-conflict transition. Its choice of <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/three-paise-opera-sabine-lehmann-nepal,1866">adapted classics</a> and original works all come with a sharp <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=11865#.XBctL9Iza70">contemporary message</a>. The latest offering, Art is no different. The original play by <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/The-Kathmandu,384">Yasmin Reza</a> premiered in 1994 at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Com%C3%A9die_des_Champs-%C3%89lys%C3%A9es">Comédie des Champs-Élysées</a> in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris">Paris</a>, and made it to London and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadway_theatre">Broadway</a>.The play about three friends starts rather slowly, with introductory scenes setting the characters. But soon, the plot thickens as the friends squabble not just about art, but each other and the very basis of their friendship. The blank canvas is not just a painting but a symbol of their youthful bonding.Each viewer can take what is important from the production. Some can see it as a satire on how modern, abstract art fetch huge prices but are not understood by anyone but the artist. What is the use of art that cannot communicate with the viewer? What is the rationale behind their high market value? And if they have such a high commercial value, is it necessary for them to be understood?With very few characters Art’s strength lies in how the characters react to each other and create comic scenes. Anil has turned into a pretentious art hoarder who buys things he may or may not understand, because they are deemed ‘valuable’.Mahesh, meanwhile, retains a youthful brashness, sneering at everything he does not understand and surprised that Anil has moved on. Trying to agree with them both, Devashish doesn't know who he is. This is an interesting interplay of characters and friendships that each of us can relate to: how friendships change with time as our tastes and economic status changes. The director is Studio 7 veteran <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=11646#.XBcsidIza70">Sabine Lehman</a> who succeeds in creating a fast-paced performance that keeps the small audience at the Vajra engaged throughout.Raymon Das Shrestha and <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/a-journey-through-red-and-blue-a-little-prince,3055">Karma</a> are not just convincing, but inhabit their roles as a pompous nouveau-riche dentist and a wannabe cool digital entrepreneur respectively. It is the energetic Kundoon who steals the show, as an indecisive and uninspired Pashmina salesman. With an expressive face and on point comic timing, he creates the most realistic character of a Kathmandu Everyman -- a city boy struggling to make it big on the back of a rich heiress fiancée.Director Lehmann and set designer <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/The-guardian-of-the-shadows-%20G%C3%B6tz%20Hagm%C3%BCller,3352">Ludmilla Hungerhuber</a> make a cameo appearance with a satirical song about the ‘ego and arrogance of the boys’, which raises the play's comic pitch. Hungerhuber has designed a minimalist but pleasing set in which the same architecture is rearranged between acts.  Aman Karna's lively music complements the production, building up to an abstract finale.As the holiday season approaches, Art will be an evening well spent in Kathmandu.Art7:15 PM every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday until 30 DecHotel Vajra (01) 4271545

Art by Studio 7

Of late cartoonists have tapped into the rising public disenchantment with the government on issues as disparate as the rape of Nirmala Panta, the proposed Nijgadh airport that will require felling millions of trees, and the friction between two factions of the NCP. Cartoonists have zeroed in on the government’s insensitive responses to serious issues, the seemingly nonsensical quotes providing easy fodder for satire.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171112/63692f139c7e80680e03c088jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1181" height="870"/>Newspaper Headline: ‘Nepal Drowning: Madhav Nepal’“Mr. Prime Minister, it says Nepal is about to drown!”“Which Nepal is drowning? The country Nepal or Madhav Nepal?”Abin Shrestha in Kantipur, 1 October<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171112/63692f169c7e80680e03c089jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1200" height="876">Madhav Nepal: The country (Nepal) is drowningOn his briefcase: China visitBasu Kshitiz in Annapurna Post, 2 October<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171112/63692f189c7e80680e03c08ajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1800" height="1424">In the newspaper: The country is drowningKP Oli on TV: The country will not drown, I am bringing ocean linersBasu Kshitiz in Annapurna Post, 30 September<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171112/63692f1c9c7e80680e03c08bjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="668" height="960">Policeman: The criminal is found! Capitalism had raped Nirmala!Durga Baral in Kantipur, 30 September<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171112/63692f1f9c7e80680e03c08cjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="540" height="380">Signboard: gate to heavenGatekeeper: Is everyone from prosperous Nepal?Girl: Yes, everyone raped Rabin Sayami in Nagarik, 5 October<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171112/63692f219c7e80680e03c08djpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1200" height="889">Signboards outside the window: Punish the rapist, Stop rape, etcPrachanda: This is definitely a conspiracy against the government!Durga Baral in Kantipur, 16 September

Comical communists

<img width="1078" height="516" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107121148/6368f1379c7e80680e035a1cjpeg.jpg" alt=""/>A chhuchi girl Muna (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm8619216/?ref_=nv_sr_1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Shristi Shrestha</a>) in Dharan meets a pulpuleko dude Ved (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4641795/?ref_=nv_sr_1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Vinay Shrestha</a>) from America. He has all the money to host luxurious pool parties and she has no money for milk in her morning tea. Will they ever click?It seems unlikely: he tears her kurta as he shoves past her and she splashes paint at him. But the director <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4531129/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Naresh KC</a>  manages to bring the two together to create sizzling, sparkling chemistry. The transition from spitfire to flames (from sandwich me to sketch me to sandwich chhaina? back again) is entirely believable. Along the way we also learn why the girl is so stubborn, and why the guy so callous. Vinay is a convincing insensitive brat, Shristi credibly essays a struggling small-town girl in flowery kurtas and plaited hairdos, but it's her sister who brings the eastern flavor with her on-point accent.Not that the movie is not without flaws. The editing, especially in the first half, is not that great, it jumps abruptly from a girl doing the shradha funeral ritual to a bikini party to a dream sequence with a monster. And the shock value of that gimmicky bikini party song on Nepali screen is a whole another story (was it really necessary to imitate wannabe South Asian rap videos? Kathale magekai ho?).There are some tropes that could have worked until the 90s, but not today. For example, when Ved loses access to his money and is forced to do Muna's bidding, the audience comes up with a thousand reasonable things he could have done to solve it. Some plot twists are reminiscent of Korean melodramas. Sushma Karki's gold-digger character is not just over the top, but the entire subplot is annoying.What is refreshing, however, is movie’s approach to real world issues instead of taking the masala Bollywood route that most of Kollywood is fond of. In his first film <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3552320/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dying Candle</a>, the director had explored complicated family dynamics with an absent, benevolent father and a problematic mother. This time he reverses it with a romanticised, absent mother and a difficult father. This movie calls itself a tribute to Van Gogh, and Van Gogh's strong bond with his supportive brother finds itself reflected in Jukhuri and Thupri, that was also at the centre of Dying Candle.Animation plays a refreshingly large role, perhaps for the first time in Nepali cinema. A CGI-rendered monster haunts Muna in her dreams and spills over into her paintings. It is a symbol of issues that we cannot run away from how we must slay our own demons. The attempt to tackle deep seated emotional trauma is laudable, but not entirely satisfactory -- and this is the movie's biggest flaw. One wishes the writer had worked harder to make the reconciliation more plausible.Still, Van Gogh is a rare treat to movie-going eyes. Starry Night swirls everywhere: from the title credits to Vinay's shirt to songs. A blue train chugs behind Shristi in a red dress and parasol, bringing Bridges across the Seine at Asnieres to life. A field of post-impressionist sunflowers wave in the wind. A couple takes a mid day Siesta after Millet on a haystack to Sukmit Gurung's Pal Pal Timrai Samjhana Ma. Giving new meaning to old songs is something of a favourite for KC. Having used the classic Kehi Mitho Baat Gara to great effect in Dying Candle, he does it again with the mushy favourite Gahiro Gahiro Sagar Jastai. The movie's original songs are also delightful, especially the soulful Sanjh Paryo.Though this movie is wanting in a lot of ways, it is watchable for venturing into new territories. It captures Nepali filmdom at a time it is just beginning to flex its wings, so this is not yet time to compare the fledgling industry with the world cinema. But there are some things this movie does as well as any other: deliver an emotional punch, especially on its central theme--the redemptive power of love.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpcXJBdB4xo

Romeo & Muna

Fenerbahçe Beko won the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague finals in Abu Dhabi, held 23-25 May, defeating Monaco 81-70 in the final. Olympiacos, who defeated Panathinaikos 97-93, finished the series in third place. The Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the final match, Nigel Hayes-Davis from Fenerbahçe Beko, received a prize of 1,000,000 Miles&amp;Smiles from Turkish Airlines’ Chief Commercial Officer Ahmet Olmuştur. The carrier has been the title sponsor of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, a top tier tournament, since 2010.

Turkish Basketball

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

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