<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161152/636d1f0f9c7e80680e0af445jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="384"/>Although Nepal’s airlines have weathered the pandemic and remained airworthy, there are concerns about whether Covid has removed forever the magic and the romance of flight. It is hard to believe that it was only a century ago that the first heavier-than-air humans defied gravity and took to the skies.And just look at how far we have come since then. Modern airliners offer the epitome of luxury and comfort: seats equipped with Shiatsu backside massage, high speed internet, and futsal on the upper deck. Meanwhile in Economy, eco-friendly airlines now offer free fully-biodegradable family-size barf bags.Modern aviation is governed by the Vienna Convention as well as by Newton’s Second Law of Thermodynamics which states that the most garrulous gentleman from the Subcontinent, with odoriferous socks and a sneezing fit, must occupy the seat next to you on the 16-hour flight to Chicago.On a red-eye to Europe, the bulkhead bassinet will invariably have a baby who wails non-stop right across the air space of all five ex-Soviet Central Asian republics.In these troubled times, we have to find ways to re-inject awe and wonder to the experience of flying, which is why we are chuffed to hear that Nepal’s brand new Minister of Vermiculture, Marxism and Space Cadets has tried to ensure just that with some bold decisions.One of the first things he announced after swearing himself in was that once-Royal Nepal Airlines has been granted an ICAO license to carry dangerous goods. (If you don’t believe me, google him.) I am not sure a national flag carrier should necessarily be proud that its aircraft now carry hazardous cargo. But, hey, it also shows that we are not a nation of cowards. Nims Dai Was Born In Nepal.The resumption of free beer service on the Delhi shuttle is another proud accomplishment that will restore RA to the glory days of the Dakota, when passengers were allowed to board with one goat each as carry-on luggage on flights from Bharatpur to Palungtar provided it did not exceed the dimensions of the overhead rack.In the Covid era, there are other steps the Civil Aviation Authoritarians of Nepal (CAAN’T) have taken to revive the sheer thrill of flying. Passengers are not allowed to use toilets even if the 14 minute fright from Simara has to circle for one hour to land in Kathmandu due to air traffic congestion. Imagine the sheer suspense and excitement!It has also introduced monkeys into the domestic terminal to remind passengers about the primates we are all descended from.By allowing wild boars and jackals to cross the runway at Nepalganj, airport management has added another magical dimension of mystique to the miracle of flight.And we have just heard that pilots are also doing their bit to re-introduce a sense of amazement and surprise to domestic aviation. Recently, they transported unsuspecting Janakpur-bound passengers to Pokhara instead.

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Domestic frights

<figure><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110915118/636bb4b39c7e80680e07bbbajpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Photo: MANISH PAUDEL</figcaption></figure>As a part of its gradual opening up after a six-month Covid-19 lockdown, Nepal’s Cabinet decided to allow <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/domestic-flights-may-resume-monday/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/domestic-flights-may-resume-monday/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1600266251511000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGJIG9nDBs4bW9JXR4_uFyHLEQGiQ">domestic flights</a>, intercity buses, hotels and restaurants to reopen from Thursday.Trekking and mountaineering groups will also be allowed to take foreign clients up to the mountains from 17 October, government spokesperson and Foreign Minister Pradeep Gyawali told a briefing. The decisions were taken on Monday’s Cabinet meeting on the recommendation of the Covid-19 Crisis Management Committee (CCMC).The government had relaxed the lockdown from 13 September in Kathmandu Valley, allowing shops to reopen for limited times, and on certain days of the week. Public transport, taxis and private vehicles were also allowed on odd-even days. From 1 September, limited regular international flights were also allowed as long as the total number of arriving passengers daily did not exceed 800. Tourism and Civil Aviation Minister Yogesh Bhattarai hinted last week that up to 3,000 passengers a day may soon be allowed to land.However, foreigners are still not allowed to travel to Nepal, and all passengers must have RT PCR negative reports done 72 hours before departure. Despite this, inbound passengers have complained about unnecessarily long waits at holding centres in Kathmandu on arrival.  The decision will come <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/survive-2020-revive-in-2021-and-thrive-in-2022/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/survive-2020-revive-in-2021-and-thrive-in-2022/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1600266251511000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHecomLFWBg9jdpYxPyFNG_5_B-Nw">as welcome relief</a> to Nepal’s <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-airlines-may-merge-to-survive/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-airlines-may-merge-to-survive/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1600266251511000&amp;usg=AFQjCNE0HskgPfc5-B4wGVmcFMMqYT4Dpw">domestic airlines</a> which have had most of their planes and helicopters grounded for the past six months. Hotels had been allowed to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-ends-covid-19-lockdown/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-ends-covid-19-lockdown/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1600266251511000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFHIGxVjrnfIMp3TYLqg1-lILVcYA">reopen after 21 July</a>, but were <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/kathmandu-lockdown-2-0/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/kathmandu-lockdown-2-0/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1600266251511000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFR9UvrEx3YKTVHF7fcksQzuktKmQ">closed again on 20 August</a> when Covid-19 cases began to rise. The relaxation of restrictions come even as the number of confirmed cases in Nepal has been rising at between 1,000-1,500 every day, with more than half of them in Kathmandu Valley. On Tuesday, there were 1,451 new cases nationwide, bringing the total to 56,778.Eleven more patients died from Covid-19 on 15 September, and the total now stands at 371. More than 40,000 have recovered, and there are 15,779 active cases of which 8,139 are symptomatic and are in hospital isolation wards. <figure><img width="1500" height="1001" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110915118/636bb4b69c7e80680e07bbbbjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Photo: KUNDA DIXIT</figcaption></figure>Foreign Minister Gyawali said that although travel restrictions were being eased, planes, hotels and restaurants will have to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/kathmandu-airport-gets-facelift-during-lockdown/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/kathmandu-airport-gets-facelift-during-lockdown/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1600266251512000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHeOo3tfJiHXGtElHKiuN4LNyaHwA">observe strict protocols</a> on separation and masks. Long-distance buses will only be allowed to carry half the number of passengers, and everyone has to follow the protocols. Domestic airlines will have to follow strict hygiene rules on check-in, ramp buses, and on-board aircraft.Hotels have had almost no income since March, and have laid off a quarter of their staff, with others taking pay cuts. Nearly 1.2 million tourists visited Nepal in 2019, and this year the government was promoting <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/didnt-visit-nepal-year-2020/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/didnt-visit-nepal-year-2020/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1600266251512000&amp;usg=AFQjCNH_lgjTHwtKpwpLshuFtJwdzGyM0Q">Visit Nepal Year with a target of reaching 2 million. </a>Tourism brought in $700 million in 2018-19, and makes up 8% of Nepal’s GDP. Nearly half-a-million Nepalis are directly employed in the trekking and mountaineering sector, with 2 million others benefiting indirectly from tourism.The government was also beginning to feel the pinch from the drop in revenue from taxes on hotels, restaurants and also fees from trekking and climbing permits. Even prior to this announcement, two expeditions had been granted permission to climb in Nepal. One was a special permit for an <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepali-expedition-to-climb-baruntse/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepali-expedition-to-climb-baruntse/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1600266251512000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGLxR2kzEL3BwokvKpwGL1lScXnWQ">all-Nepali expedition to Mt Baruntse</a> which has already left for base camp, and the other to a 15-member <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-allows-royal-himalayan-expedition/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-allows-royal-himalayan-expedition/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1600266251512000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEBdOXQQrsChYhcxrayNahPzJXSTg">Bahraini military expedition to Mt Manaslu</a> that includes three Britons. The Bahrainis are arriving in Kathmandu on a charter flight on Wednesday.

Nepal open for trekking from 17 October

<figure><img width="1274" height="843" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110915114/636bb4169c7e80680e07bb82jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption></figcaption></figure>Faced with criticism from migrant workers and Nepal’s embassies abroad for allowing only a limited daily quota of passengers to fly into Kathmandu, the government is letting airlines increase flights to meet passenger demand.Jobless Nepali workers stranded in Saudi Arabia for the past six months <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepalis-in-saudi-arabia-stage-protest/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepalis-in-saudi-arabia-stage-protest/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1599881394566000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHVzQfNtiXa129YrpqmIHNtsHrcJg">demonstrated this week in their camps</a> demanding that they be allowed home. The quota for repatriation flights had come under fire for being inadequate, impractical and driving up airfares by up to five times.“As long as passengers have PCR negative reports, airlines will be allowed to conduct any number of flights, but the passengers will have to stay for two weeks in home quarantine,” Tourism and Civil Aviation Minister Yogesh Bhattarai said in an interview on Thursday.On 1 September, the government had allowed 10 international airlines to restart limited regular flights as well as repatriation flights from the Gulf and Malaysia stipulating that only 500 passengers would be allowed daily because of physical separation requirements at the airport. It increased that number to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/flights-to-nepal-limited-by-airport-capacity/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/flights-to-nepal-limited-by-airport-capacity/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1599881394566000&amp;usg=AFQjCNF0MjYgBmo206-6-6xETJ2KJm0rOg">800 this week. </a>Bhattarai said the daily quota for arriving passengers would now be raised up to 3,000.However, only Nepali passengers and representatives of embassies and international agencies and their families are allowed to fly to Kathmandu for the time being. No tourists are allowed, and there is still no decision on flights to and from Indian cities, where thousands of Nepalis are stranded, even though people can cross the land border from India.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlIxeirVfycMinister Bhattarai also did not explain why passengers arriving with PCR negative reports still had to spend six hours or more at holding centres in Kathmandu before being allowed to go home for self-isolation. 
Some 80,000 Nepali workers have flown back from the Gulf and Malaysia since <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/after-10-weeks-first-overseas-nepalis-repatriated/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/after-10-weeks-first-overseas-nepalis-repatriated/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1599881394567000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEbXMiJZvQPYeNjvRSvmCKvD2Ad8g">repatriation flights began in mid-June</a>, but there are still about 100,000 workers waiting to return. Nepali workers who were on vacation when the lockdown went into effect are also waiting to fly out.  
In addition, there are also Nepalis in Europe, North America, Australia and Japan who are waiting for cheaper flights back.
The move follows heavy criticism that the government was not allowing <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/to-many-stranded-nepalis-not-enough-flights/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/to-many-stranded-nepalis-not-enough-flights/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1599881394567000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGxrvrn8yga9TIHSOMFf4gArqrd7w">repatriation flights</a> even for Nepali workers whose employers were paying for fares, and for governments like the UAE and Kuwait which have offered to fly back Nepalis for free.
The government is also getting the Labour Ministry and embassies to strengthen coordination and expedite the repatriation of stranded workers who need support for their return using the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/brokers-going-for-broke/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/brokers-going-for-broke/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1599881394567000&amp;usg=AFQjCNG7BGm87RU8uNuImfZSqxXgW0wifw">Foreign Employment Welfare Fund.</a>
Minister Bhattarai told a webinar organised by the Society of Economic Journalists of Nepal (SEJON) that the government was preparing to allow domestic flights from 1 October. The government has twice postponed the resumption of domestic flights after a surge in Covid-19 cases since mid-June.
Bhattarai also said the government was trying to promote domestic tourism to compensate for the lack of tourist arrivals. The government was thinking of announcing two-day weekends so Nepalis are encouraged to travel within the country, he added.

Nepal to lift quota on flights

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110915114/636bb3ed9c7e80680e07bb72jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2048" height="1365"/><figcaption>Signs for seven provinces at Kathmandu airport. All photos: BIKRAM RAI</figcaption></figure>The jumbled up signs for seven provinces at Kathmandu airport is symbolic of the shambles things in Nepal are in. Nearly<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/24-march-24-august-2020/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> half-a-year of lockdown later</a>, there are still 150,000 Nepali workers overseas waiting to return. Some of those who came back from India have now started going back because they could not find jobs.Although <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/flights-to-nepal-limited-by-airport-capacity/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">limited scheduled flights</a> have started, returning Nepalis still have to inexplicably wait for up to 7 hours at holding centres even if they have PCR negative reports. Hygiene precautions at the airport are rudimentary.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110915114/636bb3f19c7e80680e07bb73jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>As public pressure builds up, the government on Wednesday loosened up on some of the restrictions even though Kathmandu Valley is still recording a surge in cases. On Thursday there were new 572 coronavirus cases in the Valley, out of 1,246 for the rest of the country. Five more fatalities were recorded nationwide, three of them in Kathmandu Valley.After <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/kathmandu-lockdown-2-0/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">three weeks of restrictions</a>, instead of bringing down the cases in Kathmandu Valley saw an increase – meaning the virus is spreading within families and communities. But economic desperation had increased public pressure to relax some of the rules.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/nepals-leaders-are-in-isolation/">Nepal's leaders are in isolation</a>, Editorial<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110915114/636bb3f49c7e80680e07bb74jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000">The government’s strategy seems to be to loosen up some more after 17 September, allow long-distance buses and domestic airlines to resume to allow people to go to their districts for the festival season. And if there is another spike, they may lock down the Valley again over Dasain, which this year is 23-28 October. If needed, officials have hinted they can then deploy the military at checkpoints so the Valley is isolated from the rest of the country.The new rules that went into effect on Thursday are so complicated that even police enforcing them are confused about what is allowed on which days.From Thursday, provision shops were allowed to be open from 5-11AM, and 5-7PM. Department stores, shopping malls and other shops can open Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. Garment stores, furniture shops, and garages are open on other days of the week, while restaurants can provide takeaways from 12-7pm. Taxis and motorcycles are back on the roads. Bigger capacity buses are allowed, but there were few on the road Thursday because many preferred not to get on them.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/confusion-persists-about-lockdown-rules/">Confusion persists about lockdown rules</a>, Alisha Sijapati<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110915114/636bb3f89c7e80680e07bb75jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000">Detailed do’s and don’ts have also been issued, but somewhat ambiguously, the directive also states that ‘services similar to the above’ will also be allowed. Experts have also questioned how wise it is to limit opening time for shops because it could lead to overcrowding.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/24-march-24-august-2020/">24 March - 24 August</a>, Alisha Sijapati

Lockdown eased in Kathmandu

<img width="1355" height="814" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109141112/636ba7359c7e80680e07376bjpeg.jpg" alt=""/>Nepali Times: What is the collateral damage to Nepal’s airline industry from the lockdown? Birendra Basnet: We are down to zero. The worry is how can we take off again and reach the heights we had attained. For every one of the past five months we have earned no revenue, but we still have expenses in operations, insurance, loan repayments, salaries. We are losing up to Rs100 million a month, whereas as in an average month we were earning Rs500 million. The loss to our airline alone since the lockdown is Rs3 billion. The government says the lockdown needs to be extended to stop a surge in infections. But the aviation and tourism sector has warned of an agitation if flights are not restarted. Why? Restaurants and hotels were allowed to open after August 1 to spur business. In fact, all over the world, hotels and restaurants have been open under strict guidelines. We think airlines and hotels should be allowed to restart under the same protocols. We have to learn to live with this virus, keeping the economy turning while adopting safe practices. <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/nepals-airlines-can-take-off-again/" target="_blank" style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepal's airlines can take off again</a>, Birendra B Basney <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-to-open-regular-flights-from-1-september/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepal to open regular flights from 1 September</a> <img width="1500" height="727" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109141112/636ba7389c7e80680e07376cjpeg.jpg" alt="">Even if the government allows flights to restart, it doesn’t look like there will be too many passengers.That is our problem. If there are few passengers, we will reduce our fares or reduce flights. Neighbouring India has allowed domestic flights. Allowing flights makes it possible for essential travel. There are many countries with Covid-19 where the economy is on track. We have to learn to minimise the risk, and resume flights. Workers have lost jobs, their savings, how long can we go on like this? Flights have to restart.But how will you manage fares if there are very few passengers?Fares are a part of a company’s overall business strategy. Fuel prices have gone down, so fares will go down. Supply-demand principles could push fares down further. And there is an upper limit for fares set by the government. We have to hold out till February 2021, when the Covid-19 crisis is supposed to ease. It’s up to the government, but it doesn’t seem to be able to come up with a coherent plan. At Buddha Air, we will do what we have to do to hold out for another six months to support our 1,100 employees.How are you managing salaries and keeping your fleet airworthy?Of course, there will be problem because our income is zero. We could have told our employees, this is a crisis we can’t pay you. But we could not morally leave those who have worked for Buddha Air for 23 years in a lurch like that.The government wants to scrap the two-tier fares where foreigners paid more than Nepalis. How will that affect you?This policy has been around for 50 years. The dollar fares allow us to subsidise fares for Nepali passengers. If we scrap the two tier fares, a Nepali passenger paying Rs3,000 for a ticket will have to pay Rs5,000. So fares for Nepalis will go up. <img width="1000" height="742" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109141112/636ba73b9c7e80680e07376djpeg.jpg" alt="">How will the crisis affect your plans to serve remote airfields with STOL aircraft?We have evaluated the STOL performance of 18-seater Textron Aviation aircraft. We will conduct test flights even if the lockdown continues, and if the planes are suitable for our terrain we will operate them. We see demand and a business potential in flying these planes to remote areas. How long will it take Nepal’s aviation sector to recover from this pandemic?It will depend on the government’s strategy and performance. The international travel industry expects tourism to grow by 145% by 2021 winter compared to last winter because of suppressed demand. Nepal could also see a rebound in tourism. We have to start planning for that, and assure visitors that Nepal is a safe destination. At Buddha Air we have been ready since April to restart safe flying adopting safety protocols, we have carried out rehearsals. We are ready.Interview conducted by Raju Baskota.

“Domestic flights need to resume so the economy can take off”

One smoggy winter morning in February 2019, Ekta regretted coming to her sculpture class. It was the first day of her period, and the 19-year-old wished she was home, curled up in bed with a hot water bag to soothe her cramps.
Her class was at Kalapremi Ceramic Studio, a dark room on the ground floor of a house in Maharajganj, and Ekta’s teacher was the artist Gopal Das Shrestha ‘Kalapremi’, a noted sculptor.
Two other students were already there, using all their muscle strength to knead the sculpting clay. Ekta, now 24, recalls how Kalapremi asked her if she was feeling all right. She avoided him, as she did not want everyone to know she was menstruating.
Kalapremi repeatedly asked Ekta what was wrong. She finally muttered that she was having her period, after which he grabbed her hand and led her to a partitioned corner of the studio and sat her on a chair. Before she could stop him, he slid his hand under her dress, and started massaging her abdomen.
“I was horrified,” Ekta recalls. “I told him to stop, but he didn’t listen, asking me not to be shy, saying he knew how to relieve my pain. He stopped only after I protested furiously.”&nbsp;
The art tutor then said, “You’re like my daughter. I’m doing it out of love to make you feel better, but you’re so stubborn.”&nbsp;
“Instead of saying sorry he acted like I was the one having crazy thoughts,” remembers Ekta, adding that from April 2016 to August 2020 beginning the time she was 16, the artist sexually abused and harassed her on several occasions. &nbsp;
Now, Ekta and the artist’s other former students are finally sharing their experiences and some are pressing legal charges against him, hoping that others do not have to endure what they did.&nbsp;
Award-winning artist and teacher Gopal Das Shrestha ‘Kalapremi’ (the name means ‘Art Lover’) is known for his ceramic art, sculpture, and contemporary pottery. He was <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/the-house-of-kalapremi">profiled in Nepali Times after a collaborative exhibition</a>, ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ at the Siddhartha Art Gallery three years ago.&nbsp;
His pieces, titled Gaalis, featured sculpted female figures with the heads of dogs, sheep, and donkeys (pictured) to depict derogatory terms for women. Some critics said the collection was a satire on feminists.
Kalapremi started his artistic and teaching career in 1983 and over the years taught at Bhanubhakta School, Kathmandu University School of Arts, Lalitkala Campus and at his private Kalapremi Ceramic Studio. He has also lectured at Jeonju University in South Korea and recently at Tabor Academy in the United States.
Seven of Kalapremi’s former students were interviewed for this story. Five female students said he touched them inappropriately in his studio or at Kathmandu University. Two male students said they witnessed him abuse and harass the women. In all cases, the students struggled to recognise the abuse when it occurred, and the lack of reporting systems left them to cope on their own for years.&nbsp;
Earlier this year, students shared a social media post hinting at Kalapremi’s history of abusive behaviour following which more students of the artist reached out sharing similar experiences. Some students spoke of abuse that happened as long as 20 years ago.
Kalapremi, 60, has denied the allegations. He told Nepali Times: “Some years ago, there was a movement encouraging people to hug and kiss. I used to do it purely out of friendship and love. But after seeing posts on social media last year calling out my behaviour, I realised my actions may have hurt some people. I understand now that I should have been more mindful.”
He added: “I am also an auxiliary health worker, so I know the exact points to massage to relieve menstrual pain. It’s not just menstruation, I take anyone who is ill to the hospital.”
Sexual abuse is much more rampant than reported given how difficult it is to prove it in court. The law defines sexual abuse as occuring when someone touches another’s private parts, coerces them into touching theirs, uses vulgar language, shows degrading images, or behaves indecently towards them without consent.&nbsp;
Ekta and her fellow students are consulting lawyer Suneeta Regmi Pokhrel, who says they know that even if the court decides in their favour, it is difficult to survive after speaking up, and influential men defend themselves saying they are being framed.&nbsp;
“They are in a lot of pain and weep when recalling how he abused them,” Regmi Pokhrel told us. “They are angry and have filed a case against him, but they are also terrified. They know he is a powerful man and they have seen how our society treats women who speak up against abusers. Unless people speak up, perpetrators will be emboldened.”
Art and academia in Nepal simply reflect the power imbalances in society where people with intersecting identities experience worse forms of abuse. Theatre actors Raj Kumar Pudasaini, Rajan Khatiwada, and Sunil Pokhrel were called out during the #MeToo movement in the Nepali theatre scene in 2019. Even after the allegations Pokhrel went on to receive national awards, while others continued to work without repercussions.
“If you speak up against abusers, you gradually get sidelined from projects,” explained a theatre artist who wished anonymity fearing professional setbacks. “The theatre scene in Nepal is quite small, you just have to make peace with the perpetrators and work with them if you want to sustain yourself.”&nbsp;
In academia there is a history of faculty members sexually harassing students and getting away with it. After Tribhuvan University (TU) lecturer Krishna Bhattachan was accused of harassing women students, the university said it would follow Nepal’s sexual harassment law and set up a reporting mechanism. But nothing happened to the professor, who had already retired. Instead, he counter-accused the students of 'attacking the indigenous people’s movement with baseless allegations' as <a href="https://kathmandupost.com/letters/2019/01/29/bhattachan-responds">he told the Kathmandu Post in 2019</a>. He continues to be featured as a prominent speaker including at TU.
Other faculty members previously accused of sexual harassment include Jagadish Murti Koirala from TU, Bishnu Prasad Acharya from Ratna Rajya Campus, and Bodha Raj Tripathee from Lalitpur Madhyamik Vidhyalaya. A woman staff member from TU also filed a sexual abuse complaint against Dambar Chemjong from TU.
Prominent figures like <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/the-rise-and-fall-of-nims-purja">mountaineer Nims Purja</a> have been <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/31/sports/mountaineering-sexual-harassment-abuse-nims-purja.html">accused of sexual assault</a>, and cricketer Sandeep Lamichhane, actor <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/celebrity-rape-case-spotlights-nepal-laws">Paul Shah</a>, and former speaker of Parliament <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/mahara-arrested">Krishna Bahadur Mahara</a> have been accused of rape, but society-at-large has let off the alleged perpetrators amdist a larger debate about justice for survivors and punishment of perpetrators.&nbsp;
‘Gaushala-26’ is the court name given to the 18-year-old who accused Sandeep Lamichhane, former captain of Nepal’s national cricket team and skipper of Biratnagar Kings in the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/here-comes-the-nepal-premier-league">ongoing Nepal Premier League</a>, of rape. She left the country citing society questioning her character affecting her mental health while Lamichhane got an outpouring of support. In May, the Patan High Court overturned a prior verdict that found Lamichhane guilty of rape and had sentenced him to eight years in prison. During the 23-month legal battle to pursue justice, Gaushala-26 faced threats of gang rape and acid attacks.&nbsp;
Exhausted by the struggle, Gaushala-26 sought to “move to a new world” where she could live free without hiding her identity.
Actress Samragyee Rajya Laxmi Shah in an Instagram video now deleted detailed the harassment she faced from a filmmaker during a movie shoot. She did not name any name but veteran actor Bhuwan KC filed a defamation case against Rana, but the court ruled that the charge lacked sufficient evidence.&nbsp;
Former Kathmandu mayor <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/theytoo">Keshav Sthapit also mocked the #MeToo movement</a>, calling accusations against him by journalists Rashmila Prajapati and Ujjwala Maharjan “a rape of men’s rights”.
Serial Abuse
Back at the Kalapremi Ceramics studio, another former student, 24-year-old Rajiv, says he felt the need to speak out after seeing his female classmates being abused.&nbsp;
“He frequently kissed them on their cheeks,” he told Nepali Times. “Whenever they walked into the studio he flailed his arms like a child asking for a hug. They awkwardly hugged him from the side, but he pulled them closer, held their chin, and kissed their cheeks.”&nbsp;
Rajiv says he also saw Kalapremi pull the women’s bra straps, touch their breasts, and slap their buttocks. The young students would freeze, not knowing how to react, and if they protested, he would say it was “normal in art”. Rajiv, 19 at the time like his classmates, remembers thinking perhaps the well-respected artist was right after all.
Another student, Luna, who took lessons at Kalapremi’s studio from 2020 to 2022 did try to confront the tutor after he made an obscene proposal to her. She recalls: “One day when the other students had left the studio and it was just the two of us, he told me that God had given him special artistic talent and he could transfer those powers to me. But to do that both of us will have to be naked, inside a dark room, and have sex.”
Luna, who was 18 then, was livid and told him she did not want any of his powers, but she says he laughed at her as if he was joking. She did not tell her family about the incident because she thought no one would believe her.&nbsp;
“They were all in awe of this famous artist and felt I should be grateful that to be learning sculpting from him,” she says. “I was scared to be alone with him in case he talked about sex again. My coping mechanism was to be rude so he wouldn’t try to come close to me.”
Seeing how some classmates were standing up to Kalapremi, Ekta too tried to push back against his advances, but she said he found ways to coerce her. Since Ekta, Rajiv, and Luna could not afford Kalapremi’s Rs30,000 monthly fee for lessons, he had offered them all a stipend to assist him in the studio.
“He had spondylosis and took me to his therapy sessions to learn massage techniques, then he often made me and other students massage him,” says Ekta. Whenever she refused, he would feign pain to make her feel sorry for him. “He would insist that I put my hands under his shirt so that I could massage him better,” she adds.
The art tutor often tried to “seduce sympathy” from Ekta by sharing how he had never been loved as a child and was “sexually frustrated” as an adult.&nbsp;
“At 7PM, he would pour himself Signature whiskey and immediately go off again about how he was sex-starved. I didn’t know how to respond. It took me time to realise alcohol was just an excuse to talk about sex,” Ekta says.
If convicted, Kalapremi could face financial penalty and/or a prison sentence of up to three years according to Section 224 of National Penal (Code) Act 2017.&nbsp;
Data suggests that victims of child sexual abuse on average take nearly 24 years to tell someone about their trauma, and some may never disclose it at all.&nbsp;
“In our culture, children are rarely taught about boundaries. They often react, show anger when adults pinch their cheeks. But adults insist they did it out of love, and force the children to accept it,” says Sita Lama, a psychotherapist at Manka Kura. “And even when someone touches them inappropriately they struggle to identify and verbalise it.”
When perpetrators claim to be “acting out of love”, Lama says survivors are likely to perceive it as something safe, rather than recognising it as abuse.&nbsp;
“It may take years for them to realise they were abused,” she explains. "And even when they become aware, the power imbalance with the abuser and the associated shame often prevents survivors from speaking up."
Other former students from the School of Art at Kathmandu University have also come forward years later, saying Kalapremi sexually abused them. As young adults, they felt his behaviour was off but were uncertain if it was inappropriate, illegal, or they did not know how to respond. After having understood that it was indeed abuse, they say they are speaking out now to protect others.&nbsp;
Amina Singh, a visiting faculty member at Kathmandu University, says there is no clause against sexual abuse in contracts of teachers, and there is no formal grievance handling mechanism for the students.&nbsp;
“So the only way students can to deal with sexual abuse is approach someone they trust,” she says.
Eight other former art students of Lalit Kala Campus and Srijana College of Fine Arts of Tribhuvan University and other private art studios in Kathmandu say they were also sexually abused by their art teachers. Three faculty members interviewed from these institutions said they saw the abuse, but felt it was futile to report it given how powerful the teachers were.
In the absence of a formal system, some longtime women artists warned each other about “problematic” artists. They shared &nbsp;a “heads-up” to be more cautious when collaborating with them, and avoided responding to their calls and texts after work hours.
To ensure art institutions are safe for all, galleries, museums, artist studios, and smaller art spaces need to develop policies on sexual harassment. This would include a code of conduct or studio policies that hold the leadership accountable and outline the principles of professional ethics.&nbsp;
Students and employees should inquire about accountability mechanisms for raising concerns, both formally and informally, advocates say.
Three years after Ekta left the ceramics studio, she learnt that Kalapremi had harassed many other women. Still trying to get a footing in the art industry, she attended a workshop in Kathmandu where women artists discussed ways to stay safe in the art sector.&nbsp;
Since it was a close-knit group Ekta opened up about how she felt violated and realised she was not alone, he had been abusing underprivileged students for years, and this was common knowledge among artists in Nepal.
Ekta says that even after she quit, Kalapremi continued sending her text messages like ‘I am thinking of you’, ‘Why have you stopped speaking with me’, or ‘I am waiting for your call’.&nbsp;
But what really forced her to act was when Ekta found out that he was sending similar texts to her younger sister.&nbsp;
“I’ve had enough,” she told us. “He abused me all these years but I won’t let him abuse my sister.” &nbsp;
Ekta, Rajiv and Luna are not the real names of the students.&nbsp;

‘Art Lover’ accused of sexual abuse

It was 8:15 in the evening of 25 March 1968 when everyone in the village of Batulechaur near Pokhara heard a deafening sound like thunder as a bright flashing object hurtled down to land in a field.&nbsp; That field belonged to Kul Timilsina, and the next morning he retrieved a sheet of metal about 2m by 1m and carried it home with the help of a few others, thinking it would be useful for his buffalo shed.&nbsp; Before he died at age 83 three years ago, Timilsina had told photo archivist Sunil Ulak that the black metal sheet was not rectangular and had rounded corners. There are a few witnesses still alive who have a clear recollection of the object that fell from the sky that night.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024120707128_75cc85aac56b9cc4a77366471f058d7b3eb6868776811b0923845c2d0a61f014.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2024120707128_75cc85aac56b9cc4a77366471f058d7b3eb6868776811b0923845c2d0a61f014" data-rendition-name="original" width="1170" height="601" loading="lazy" alt="UFO over Pokhara"> <figcaption>The field in Batulechaur belonging to Kul Timilsina where fragments of a flying object fell from the sky in 1968.</figcaption> </figure>  One of them is Timilsina’s wife Gyanu, who was 22 at the time. She had been at home, and remembers hearing the big bang and the sky becoming very bright. “We saw the thing in the field in the morning,” she told us. “It looked like a lid, a covering of some sort. The way it was stuck in the ground, it must have fallen from the sky. We thought we could use it to dry clothes on, and took it home.”&nbsp; Another witness is Kul Narayan Paudel. “I was only eight then. We ran to the field to see what had fallen. It was a four-sided metal sheet. The elders took it away, and I don't know what happened to it.” &nbsp; Ram Bahadur Baniya, a teacher at the local school, says he had heard the sheet had been brought to the school, and later handed over to the Zonal Commissioner at the time, Nanda Prasad Malla. “But that is all hearsay,” he says.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024120707128_0bf207a12063fb8155b3c8d9a00a94887b126380c9e0627527c84cf5e1101f54.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2024120707128_0bf207a12063fb8155b3c8d9a00a94887b126380c9e0627527c84cf5e1101f54" data-rendition-name="original" width="1170" height="610" loading="lazy" alt="UFO over Pokhara"> <figcaption>Gyanu Timilsina, wife of Kul Timilsina.</figcaption> </figure>  There are two versions of what happened to Kul Timilsina’s metal sheet. One is that an American Peace Corp Volunteer teaching at the nearby Bindyabasini School took it, and another is that it was handed over to the government. Recently declassified Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and US State Department documents from the time say that the US Embassy in Kathmandu tracked down the object two years later and had it shipped back to the US. A telegram from the Department of State and Department of Defense tagged as ‘MOON DUST / Space Fragments’ dated 1 March 1972 stated: ‘1. Restored space fragment will be on board Embassy support flight 115 arriving Kathmandu on or about March 10. Fragment is packed in shipping crate (cargo no. 72-33365) marked in care of DAO.&nbsp; 2. State and Defense representatives examined fragments prior to shipment finding restoration acceptable.’  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241207071212_929d903ee06d41baa4f6040e981cd7c7d7bd75cc9c37c9b617d307fc8538d2df.png" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20241207071212_929d903ee06d41baa4f6040e981cd7c7d7bd75cc9c37c9b617d307fc8538d2df" data-rendition-name="original" width="856" height="568" loading="lazy" alt="UFO over Pokhara"> <figcaption>Declassified CIA documents about the investigation into the object sighted in Pokhara. </figcaption> </figure>  The documents show that the US government, military and intelligence agencies investigated this incident thoroughly when it occurred, and have continued to revisit it ever since, as recently as five years ago. What is even more intriguing is that the object that fell in Pokhara was not the only unidentified space object that fell to earth that year. There were similar sightings of objects falling from the sky in Ladakh, Sikkim and Bhutan between 19 February and 25 March 1968.&nbsp; These mysteries were the subject of a CIA investigation in 1968 titled ‘<a href="https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP81R00560R000100070007-8.pdf">Sighting of Unidentified Flying Objects in Ladakh, Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan</a>’, and the report is part of the recent online declassification of 800,000 top-secret documents from the period.&nbsp; &nbsp;Although unidentified flying objects (UFOs) have a connotation now of being alien craft, it could be pieces of satellite, missile, rocket or even aircraft. The CIA report documents six sightings in 1968 and quotes local sources as describing all of them having similar characteristics: bright blue or red streaks in the sky accompanied by loud sounds like lightning and thunder and objects falling to the ground. Aside from the metallic object that was found in Batlechaur, there were other items also found nearby in Tallakot, Tureypasal, Armalakot and Maidan. Whatever the object was, it seems to have disintegrated even before it hit the ground.&nbsp; The CIA report records the first sighting on 19 February 1968 in various parts of Sikkim and Olangchung Gola and Ghunsa in eastern Nepal. The light was said to be ‘long and thin’ and giving out ‘green and red light’. &nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241207071212_c3c825027d966a2aedc846970390eebe063957503c7eacc8e01e0517843f9bbb.png" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20241207071212_c3c825027d966a2aedc846970390eebe063957503c7eacc8e01e0517843f9bbb" data-rendition-name="original" width="892" height="596" loading="lazy" alt="UFO over Pokhara "> </figure>  Two days later on 21 February, a soundless blue object was seen traveling fast across the sky above Thimphu in Bhutan. Then on 4 March there were multiple daytime sightings or white streaks in the sky at Chang La Pass, Fukche and Koyul in Ladakh. There were more sightings in Ladakh on the very day fragments fell near Pokhara on 25 March 1968.&nbsp; After the sightings in Pokhara, rumours started flying in Kathmandu that these were aliens trying to land on Earth, it could be Russian or Chinese spy planes or satellites, and some even say it as a sign from heaven that the end of the world was near. This was at the height of the Cold War. The Russians and Americans were testing their thermonuclear devices as well as intercontinental ballistic missile delivery systems. The Washington-Beijing rapprochement had not yet happened, and China was making quick progress testing atomic bombs. Within two years after its first atomic test, in 1966 China exploded its first hydrogen bomb at the Lop Nur site in Xinjiang, 3,000km to the north from Nepal. After neary six decades, what is still intriguing is that all the sightings within a few months of each other in 1968 were along the Himalayan arc bordering Tibet: from Bhutan, Sikkim Nepal, to Ladakh. The US military intelligence seems to have concluded that this was not a coincidence and there were frequent research trips to the site in Pokhara by American officials in the months after the incident. With the help of the Royal Nepal Army, the region north of Pokhara was thoroughly searched.&nbsp; A confidential memo dated 25 June 1968 by Jerry C Trippy to a ‘Mr Farley’ mentions that the US Air Force’s Foreign Technology Division had decided that the debris could be important because it may be related to a Chinese missile test or a Soviet ‘Vehicle Venik’ rocket.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241207071216_feb5425692dc36b20187de4e4fcc2ce9fd12b6d9e1b8724398e50bcdbf9032fe.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20241207071216_feb5425692dc36b20187de4e4fcc2ce9fd12b6d9e1b8724398e50bcdbf9032fe" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="UFO over Pokhara"> </figure>  On 28 August 1968 the US Embassy in Kathmandu sent a letter to Washington DC saying that the object could be of Soviet origin, possibly from when the rocket carrying the ‘Kosmos 208’ satellite re-entered the atmosphere. But why were the fragments falling to earth several weeks apart, and in the same region? No one knows where the metal sheet that Kul Timilsina recovered is now. It was definitely packed in a crate and taken to the US, and although it is rumoured that it was returned that is not very likely. Archivist Sunil Ulak heard from the Timilsina family that CIA officials had returned to the site five years ago. &nbsp; Interest in UFOs peaked in the US in the 1950s, with the Cold War space race and tests of atomic weapons and delivery rockets. CIA and scientists were being sent to investigate sightings, both publicly and privately. Could the Pokhara fragments as well as the sightings in Ladakh and Bhutan actually be alien craft falling to earth? The renewal in interest in space travel in large part due to Elon Musk’s SpaceX, UFOs and sightings are again subjects of public interest.&nbsp; Even 57 years later, even if there was definitive proof about whether the Batlechaur fragment was from a Chinese missile or a soviet rocket, it has not been made public in documents declassified so far. We may never know.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241207071216_b6938795f40731e7657fd6dcbb3cf460a326186a15eb11d4f832f602201ff598.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20241207071216_b6938795f40731e7657fd6dcbb3cf460a326186a15eb11d4f832f602201ff598" data-rendition-name="original" width="642" height="320" loading="lazy" alt="UFO over Pokhara"> </figure>  Sunil Ulak speculates if the debris actually came from an American aircraft, perhaps on an intel mission upon China. “Which could explain why they were so thorough in collecting the fragments in Pokhara,” he says. But that still does not explain the multiple sightings weeks apart in 1968.&nbsp; Indeed, US military aircraft were at that time flying frequent night-time missions from air force bases in India to supply weapons to Khampa guerrilla camps in Nepal located north of Pokhara in Mustang. It could very well be that the Chinese shot down one such aircraft. The other sightings could have been contrails of US spy planes, or Chinese anti-aircraft missiles.&nbsp; There were quite a few developments regarding UFOs in 2024. In a US congressional hearing in July, former intelligence officer David Grusch claimed that the government had long been involved in a program to investigate and retrieve non-human craft crashes, and then try to reverse engineer them. However Grusch did not show any evidence.&nbsp; The UAP Disclosure Act of 2024 was signed into law by Joe Biden in December 2023. It plans to oversee the public disclosure of UFO information. However, there is a clause in it that prevents disclosure if it would cause threats to military defense, intelligence operations or foreign relations.&nbsp; It is unlikely that the declassified documents about sightings in the Himalayan will cause any real surprise about definite evidence of alien life even if it was found. It seems humanity will continue, at least for now, to wonder about curious lights in the sky and whether there is anybody out there.&nbsp;

UFO over Pokhara

Four international names in architecture, Shigeru Ban, Rem Koolhaas, Tadao Ando and Louis Isadore Kahn, all left their mark in Nepal. But despite their best intentions, the ambitious designs fizzled out. Ban, Koolhaas and Ando won Pritzkers, the best known international award for architecture, and Kahn could have won it had the prize been given in his lifetime. But their designs fell short of transforming Nepali architecture and did not help inspire local architects.&nbsp; Why were these four ‘starchitects’ unable to pull off their Nepal projects and enrich the country with exemplary contemporary designs? The failure, especially the violation of Kahn’s design, also raises larger questions about how much contemporary architecture is valued in Nepal.&nbsp; Whereas Sri Lanka had Geoffrey Bawa and Bangladesh had Mazharul Islam, the pioneers of contemporary architecture in Nepal have had far less public appreciation. One wonders if Nepali architecture only refers to the monuments and heritage of the past. Nepal does have examples of outstanding modern architecture such as the &nbsp;पाङ्रे घर ‘Wheel House’ and खुट्टे घर &nbsp;‘House on Legs’ by Shankar Nath Rimal in the 1960s. These are the best examples of how some Nepali designers successfully tailored modern architecture to the Nepali context.&nbsp; Ten years ago, Nepal had three architecture magazines, SPACES, praXis and Business Architecture, but none of these survived. This newspaper has prominently covered contemporary architecture, and the built environment, but these are exceptions in Nepal’s media. There have been a few encouraging signs. The 2024 exhibition Modern Encounters in Architecture in Kathmandu Valley (1945-1985) at the Taragaon Museum had many visitors and its accompanying book is a seminal document.&nbsp; In 2023, the Mountain Architecture Dialogue (MAD) that focused on examples of good-practice sustainable contemporary architecture for the mountainous terrains of Nepal was a packed event with over 300 young architects, engineers, environmentalists and architecture students. <h2>Shigeru Ban</h2>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024122003128_8bb8dde080c5698c2585966bef27ce4c08e4ee488d3432b2caac98b9de762dfe.png" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2024122003128_8bb8dde080c5698c2585966bef27ce4c08e4ee488d3432b2caac98b9de762dfe" data-rendition-name="original" width="990" height="1074" loading="lazy" alt="Forgotten international starchitects in Nepal NT"> </figure>  Shigeru Ban had already built a name for himself in post-disaster construction when he came to Nepal following the 2015 earthquakes in which 500,000 people lost their homes. The basic design and its 3D-rendered images were reviewed in upbeat articles on DOMUS, Architectural Review, Dezeen, and Arch Daily.&nbsp; But his signature cardboard tubes could not handle the monsoon and the roof structure had to be re-designed with timber. Only two shelters were completed in Sindupalchok, and only one of them still stands at the Hyatt Regency grounds today, as Ban’s souvenir to Nepal.&nbsp; <h2>Rem Koolhaas</h2>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024122003128_58afec9b57accfa38327af0936648c6eb2f2e11ff18f1af8ca27383dc57dc222.png" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2024122003128_58afec9b57accfa38327af0936648c6eb2f2e11ff18f1af8ca27383dc57dc222" data-rendition-name="original" width="750" height="722" loading="lazy" alt="Forgotten international starchitects in Nepal NT"> </figure>  The designs of Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas have a specific signature: bold shapes and an intriguing architectural typology that challenges standard building blocks. Some designs even seem to defy gravity, like the CCTV headquarters in Beijing: an angular, continuous geometry of glass and steel.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241220031216_a18dc8a8d6b97bc6fa9d590036cf374f9dc3709c699fe5c5787304bbd05cb17d.png" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20241220031216_a18dc8a8d6b97bc6fa9d590036cf374f9dc3709c699fe5c5787304bbd05cb17d" data-rendition-name="original" width="1812" height="1168" loading="lazy" alt="Forgotten international starchitects in Nepal"> <figcaption>Rem Koolhaas' design for Ullen's School in Khumaltar.</figcaption> </figure>  Koolhaas was commissioned by Belgian billionaire Guy Ullens to design a new building for Ullens School in Khumaltar. The most prominent feature is its vertical glass block staircase. Some interior spaces have lowered windowsills, which provide ample views and daylight. But the school building has gone unremarked in Nepal. <h2>Tadao Ando</h2>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241220031212_cc16bd6feb8be07a7198285b847a45d2126dc3a479e0cc7370331861fc544675.png" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20241220031212_cc16bd6feb8be07a7198285b847a45d2126dc3a479e0cc7370331861fc544675" data-rendition-name="original" width="626" height="628" loading="lazy" alt="Forgotten international starchitects in Nepal"> </figure>  Doctors providing aid to victims of the Great Hanshin earthquake in 1995 in Japan requested Tadao Ando, who had donated his Pritzker money to the victims, to also make a design for a hospital in Butwal.&nbsp; Ando’s contribution would be pro-bono and the construction was funded by the Hanshin Earthquake victims and by the popular Japanese newspaper Mainichi, as a tribute to Nepali doctors. The first block that Ando designed for the Siddhartha Children and Women’s Hospital (SCWH) was the out-patient department. He quickly realised that he would not be able to pull off structures with his typical style of smooth-finished, high-quality concrete.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241220031216_73ec0950d52320277ccc81d4a66fa6aa6acb38141e7b7633683e4cf8179dc579.png" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20241220031216_73ec0950d52320277ccc81d4a66fa6aa6acb38141e7b7633683e4cf8179dc579" data-rendition-name="original" width="1594" height="958" loading="lazy" alt="Forgotten international starchitects in Nepal"> <figcaption>Tadao Ando's Siddhartha Children and Women Hospital in Butwal.</figcaption> </figure>  Ando wrote in the online architectural catalog Architectuul, that the two main problems with the project were costs and the availability of local technology. ‘It became a facility that has a slightly different expression from the buildings I have completed so far,’ he wrote. He designed a colonnade for the west façade that would provide shelter from harsh sunlight, and the exposed brick walls were locally manufactured bricks.&nbsp; The hospital is characterised by modernist cuboidal massing, but the outer brick façades now appear unintentionally badly weathered by monsoons. The interiors lack both sufficient natural light and natural ventilation. <h2>Louis I Kahn</h2>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024122003128_612e199d62fb3e72b6b8f6a936b0fa0451d8c0aa3d831c071320bf423ee3d67f.png" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="2024122003128_612e199d62fb3e72b6b8f6a936b0fa0451d8c0aa3d831c071320bf423ee3d67f" data-rendition-name="original" width="694" height="926" loading="lazy" alt="Forgotten international starchitects in Nepal NT"> </figure>  American architect Louis I Kahn had experience of projects in South Asia, and several were under construction when he died suddenly in 1974. Amongst these were the National Assembly complex in Dhaka, the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad and the Family Planning and Maternal Child Welfare Centre in Kathmandu.&nbsp; Kahn had started the USAID funded project in Nepal by developing a master plan for the government institutional zone in Kathmandu, which included a building for the Health Ministry. The building’s façade in exposed brick has deeply recessed vertical windows for shading.&nbsp; The balancing of accentuated horizontal lines in the brickwork with the verticality of the larger composition is the work of a master. The brick walls rise up into punctured parapet walls at the roof level. These square apertures ‘frame the sky’.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241220031216_69c2e4972dbe38773e0a3a3f1129485c9c87033ee84cd454e24ae0dc772d05cf.png" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20241220031216_69c2e4972dbe38773e0a3a3f1129485c9c87033ee84cd454e24ae0dc772d05cf" data-rendition-name="original" width="1924" height="1242" loading="lazy" alt="Forgotten international starchitects in Nepal"> <figcaption>Louis Kahn's plan for the Ministry of Health.</figcaption> </figure>  When Kahn died, only the eastern half of the building was finished. The Western part was never built and Nepal’s bureaucrats decided that without paint, the exposed brick façade was not finished. Then in 1995, citing roof leakage and a space crunch, the Health Ministry added a floor.&nbsp; The frames-to-the-sky in the roof parapet were converted into windows and topped off with a sloping roof of corrugated steel sheets, whose only virtue was that it was cost-effective.&nbsp; Kahn’s orthogonal composition, which clean horizontal and vertical lines, was desecrated despite a public outcry and legal challenges from architects and cultural organisations. A version of this article was first published in HIMAL Southasian. Illustrations by Varun S Bapu.

Forgotten international starchitects in Nepal

If you were raised in Nepal, you must have picked up its unique set of vocabulary: आन्दोलन, चक्का जाम, बन्द, राँके जुलुस, आफ्नो मान्छे, हाम्रो दल, कर्फु and many more words connoting political protest.
We became familiar with the acrid smell of burning tyres, and eyes smarting from tear gas. And yet, everyone speaks of another revolution in the making. Not by desire, but by suffocation.
We heard speeches about नयाँ नेपाल, but the New Nepal never arrived. The governance system changed, but it did not reflect on people’s lives — except for those close to centres of power. The state is still unreachable and is not bothered about <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/matter-of-life-and-debt">victims of loan sharks</a>, cooperative scams and other injustices.
Politicians continue to speak in sound bites, but fail to deliver. They have mastered the game of pointing fingers towards an external enemy and convincing people that they are never at fault. The political narrative is so disconnected from the actual analysis of the problem that suffocation doesn’t go away after every revolution.
No genuine effort has been made to deliver at all, which is why there is a palpable sense of disillusionment in the air forcing us to seek another revolution, even if Nepal may not be able to afford it.
How has the current system successfully held power, even if the public is deeply frustrated? How is it that for three decades we continue to be led by the same faces, who have time and again, proved to us that they may be great politicians but not national leaders?
<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/improving-internet-governance-in-nepal">My experience at the epicentre of politics</a> has led me to identify three cultures that have enabled political parties to keep a tight hold on power: acceptance, silence and dependency.
We accept things the way they are. We use fatalistic phrases like “नेपालमा यस्तै हो” or “नेपालको कानुन दैब जानुन”. While this resilience enables us to rise back up from devastating calamities, it is also a reason for our compliance with the status quo.
Despite so many ‘revolutions’ that have led to significant reforms, these phrases keep getting reinforced, to the point that the upcoming generations have made it their lingo.&nbsp;
This acceptance is not a symbol of law-abiding citizens, but citizens living in fear of those in power, unable to ask the whys and why-nots.
Innovation suffocates in this culture of acceptance of the status quo. This is manifested in remarks like “but we don’t have any laws for this,” or “we don’t have the capacity to implement this”. An innovator or entrepreneur therefore has to spend that energy to become a political lobbyist, often educating and convincing the bureaucracy.&nbsp;
Remember when locally assembled <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/designed-and-made-in-nepal">Yatri motorbikes</a>, despite having willing customers, had to suffer to secure license numbers because of a lack of regulations? Instead of creating new laws, the government kept chanting the “We will promote Nepal-made goods” mantra, leaving entrepreneurs in a labyrinth of bureaucracy. The weight of acceptance of the law lies heavily on innovators. Fatalism is a tactic used by those in power to generate mass fear in society.
When we accept, we become silent. This is a pervasive phenomenon. We are trained to keep quiet, lest we ruffle feathers, burn bridges, or not get the help we need in future. We know, yet we don’t speak.
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/bureaucratic-hurdles-in-researching-nepals-bureaucracy">Bureaucratic hurdles in researching Nepal's bureaucracy</a>, Daniel W Edwards
Here is one example: the 2021 census shows that the number of baby boys born for every 100 baby girls is 112. This is a clear indication of female foeticide because of boy preference in society.
Despite such horrifying realities, there is finger-pointing within the government between the Ministry of Health and Population with the Ministry of Home Affairs. At the citizen level, we know those who are involved in killing girls. Yet, we don’t speak up. The Nepal Medical Council reports state that despite this gender imbalance at birth, there is no indication of any action.
But why would anyone speak against one's own fraternity, no matter how vile the act is?
When we accept and keep quiet, we become dependent on those who yield power. From getting our government procedure completed on time to getting transfers, to accessing any of our legally protected rights as well, we are forced to depend on our networks of चिनेको मान्छे people we know by blood, village, relations, political affiliation.
The culture of dependency has been the established way in Nepal. If you drive a two-wheeler or four-wheeler, and you get into a small accident, you will be asked to sort it yourself, dialing up the most powerful person you know. It becomes a competition of who knows who.
Recently I was told that there were calls from the Ministry of Health and Population and another from the Prime Minister's Office for just one medical position in a private hospital. Each was pushing its own candidate. Guess which candidate got the position.&nbsp;
The dependency of people is not on the laws or the state, it is with people in power, a reliance on the network of somebody who knows somebody, including those not officially in power.
These cultures are deeply ingrained in our heads, and in society. Collectively they form a vicious circle that helps those in power to retain power. This is not the society we want to live in.
Then, what do we do as a collective to break away from this? How do we break away from the cultures of acceptance and silence that have created this dependency? What can we do to ensure that our children do not have to learn the jargon of आन्दोलन before they learn about the state?
These are the cultures political parties need to shed rather than use them to perpetuate their power. This is what <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/an-alternative-to-alternative-politics-in-nepal">alternative politics</a> needs to be about.
Sumana Shrestha is a member of Parliament’s Education, Health and Information Technology parliamentary committee and represents the Rastriya Swatantara Party.

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