<img width="644" height="372" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221207101216/639059ee9c7e80680e0ce213jpeg.jpg" alt=""/>Ten days after Nepal held parliamentary and provincial polls, the last of the election results are trickling in.With ballots in 161 out of 165 constituencies now counted,  the NC leads in first past the post (FPTP) with 54 seats, the UML is second with 44, the Maoist Centre is a distant third with 17 seats, followed by Madhav Kumar Nepal’s CPN (Unified Socialists) who have won 10 seats. Meanwhile, the monarchist Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP), which won only 1 seat in 2017, has emerged with 7 wins this time. The Madhes-based Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP) — which formed an electoral alliance with the UML at the last minute — has won seven seats overall, while the LSP — which sided with the coalition — has four seats.Rabi Lamichhane’s new Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) has emerged with seven young MPs, while five independents have also bagged direct seats. Coalition partner Rastriya Janamorcha, former Madhes separatist CK Raut’s Janamat Party, and Nepal Majdur Kisan Party have obtained one seat each. Nagarik Unmukti has won three seats in the western Tarai.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-nepali-people-have-spoken/">The Nepali people have spoken</a>, Sonia AwaleNepal’s two biggest political collectives, the five-party coalition led by  the NC and opposition UML both fall short of the 138 out of 275 parliamentary seats they need for an outright majority. While NC leads in the direct elections, the opposition UML is ahead in the proportional representation (PR) ballot count with more than 2.7 million of the over 10 million votes counted. The NC is in second place with more than 2.5 million popular votes, followed by the Maoists with over 1.1million. Although these numbers may look like the big parties are still in control, the electorate has sent a clear message by elevating the independent RSP as a national party in Parliament with more than 1 million votes. With its 7 change-minded MPs, the RSP will have clout in the federal Parliament — a remarkable feat considering the party was only formed six months ago. Meanwhile, the JSP has little less than a million PR votes, and CK Raut’s Janamat Party has obtained more than 360,000.  Madhav Nepal’s Unified Socialists which split from K P Oli’s UML, has fared badly in the PR count, and is struggling to stay relevant with under 3% of the threshold required to have PR members in the House. It is clear from the results so far that neither the coalition, nor the UML-RPP-JSP alliance will have enough seats to form a majority on their own. This means they will have to explore partnerships with multiple fringe parties, making politics even more unstable. At the same time, individual parties also have to deal with internal power struggles between prime ministerial aspirants.  Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-poll-results-signal-upset/">Nepal poll results signal upset</a>, Sonia Awale <h2>The Excluded</h2> <figure><img width="2048" height="1366" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221207101216/639059f09c7e80680e0ce214jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>There were 225 women candidates standing for FPTP seats to the federal Parliament. Only 25 of them got tickets by Nepal’s mainstream parties: 11 from UML, seven from the Maoist Centre, five from NC, and only one each from the Rastriya Janamorcha and the Unified Socialists. And with results in 161 out of 165 constituencies now in, only nine women have been directly elected to Parliament — four from the UML,  two from the independent RSP, and one each from NC, Maoist Center, and Nagarik Unmukti. Young lawyer Sobita Gautam and doctor Toshima Karki were elected from Kathmandu-2 and Lalitpur-3 — both young RSP candidates who defeated established Maoist women Onsari Gharti Magar and Pampha Bhusal. In 2017, 90 women were voted to Parliament: six women through direct ballots and 84 by popular votes. So far, Bidya Bhattarai is the only female leader to be reelected even though four out of six women elected under the FPTP in 2017 were given tickets by their parties. Padma Kumari Aryal of the UML ran from Syangja-2, where vote counting is stalled. Nepal’s top leadership has historically denied female leaders tickets to contest direct elections, preferring to fulfil the 33% Constitutional quota by nominating women through the PR list. Women who became MPs through PR proportional complain that they are seen by their directly elected male colleagues as underqualified and less deserving. ‘Parties were reluctant to give tickets to women because they thought they would lose, yet youngsters like Sobita Gautam and Toshima Karki have proven that women win when they run for office,’ noted former Election Commissioner Ila Sharma.Meanwhile, Nepal’s excluded communities have been pushed out further in this election. Both the mainstream parties and the independent RSP fielded few candidates from marginalised and indigenous communities. Glaringly, no mainstream party fielded Dalit candidates for direct elections this time. Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-power-to-have-a-say-in-her-story/">The power to have a say in her-story</a>, Shristi Karki <h2>Looking for Partners</h2> <img width="2000" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221207101216/639059f39c7e80680e0ce215jpeg.jpg" alt="">Even before final results are in, Nepal’s top political leaders are in talks to switch partners and explore new alliances to find a majority in Parliament. PM Deuba has met with Dahal and Madhav Nepal, Dahal and Oli have also sent feelers to each other. Before polls, Deuba and Dahal had agreed to rotate premiership, but that was before the poor showing by the Maoists. Pushpa Kamal Dahal wants to continue his Maoists' alliance with NC to fulfil his ambition to be prime minister for a third time. But other leaders within his party see more advantage in a left alliance with the UML.  Deuba also faces challengers to a sixth tenure as premier from within his own party: Ram Chandra Poudel and Gagan Thapa think it is time for him to step aside. Thapa says he is now preparing for Parliamentary Party elections and is supported by other NC leaders like Bishwa Prakash Sharma and young turk Pradip Poudel, who defeated established UML leader Ishwar Pokhrel from Kathmandu. A NC-Maoist-RPP partnership or an UML-RPP alliance  with the RSP are possibilities. However, an NC-UML alliance happened in 2013 and is also possible.  Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/back-to-the-future/">Back to the future</a>, Santa Gaha Magar <h2>Depending on Independents</h2> <img width="1600" height="1066" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221207101216/639059f79c7e80680e0ce216jpeg.jpg" alt="">Rabi Lamichhane and six other RSP candidates have won direct elections to become MPs. Five other individual independents have also won the election. While having these fresh faces in the political arena is seen by many as positive, it remains to be seen how younger candidates will fare as kingmakers while they navigate coalition horse-trading in the coming days. Since neither the NC nor the UML will have enough seats to command a majority in the House, they will need support from the RPP, RSP as well as independent candidates. Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/dejected-voters-reject-polls/">Dejected voters reject polls</a>, Anita Bhetwal <h2>Big Leaders, Small Parties</h2> <img width="2000" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221207101216/639059fa9c7e80680e0ce217jpeg.jpg" alt="">While the election has been advantageous for up and coming parties like the RSP and the newly revived RPP, Nepal’s established leaders of smaller parties faced losses.The Maoist Centre, which enjoyed an advantage during the May local election through its alliance with the NC, has now shrunk from 36 parliament seats to 17. Madhav Kumar Nepal’s party cannot be sure if it will have enough PR votes to become a national party in Parliament. Chitra Bahadur KC of Rastriya Janamorcha, has been elected, but his party has negligible popular votes. Kamal Thapa of the breakaway RPP-Nepal was defeated by RPP candidate Deepak Bahadur Singh in Makwanpur-1 even though he ran under the UML banner. His party has fared similarly poorly in the PR votes.The LSP has already lost its national party status, although party leader Mahanta Thakur was elected. The JSP, meanwhile, will get PR seats, even though its leader Upendra Yadav was defeated by Janamat’s CK Raut in his Tarai constituency. Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-urban-voters/">Nepal’s urban voters</a>, Tayama Rai

Shristi Karki

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The past is foretold in Nepal poll results

<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221207101212/639059739c7e80680e0ce1edjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"/>For elections to reflect the national mood, they need to be free and fair. Candidates should not win based on caste, ethnic or religious vote banks. Money and lavish feasts should not determine the outcome.Last week’s elections for members of the federal and provincial assemblies could have been freer and fairer, but by Nepali standards they were clean with only sporadic incidents of violence. Most candidates and media adhered to the Election Commission (EC) guidelines.This is the reason that the results declared so far have shown that many of the 10 million or so voters have been able to register their disappointment with the political parties and leaders who have ruled the roost since 1992.Those parties and their leaders led the people astray, made outlandish promises they never kept, and yet they were re-elected time and time again. Not this time. They could not fool all the people all the time.Nepal’s voters said enough is enough. And they have used their adult franchise to give many leaders the boot, handing over the reigns to young and independent candidates a chance to set things right.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-poll-results-signal-upset/">Nepal poll results upset</a>, Sonia AwaleAs of now, independent and Rastriya Swatantra Party candidates had won 7 seats, and were leading in 1 more. Popular rebel candidates who had been refused tickets by their parties managed to oust those who had.To be sure, the governing NC and the opposition UML have still come out on top — repeating the scenario of much of the 1990s. The Maoists have been punished for bad behaviour, corruption, and incompetence, especially as part of the 5-party coalition since last year.Candidates advocating a return to monarchy and those espousing an anti-secular stance have been mostly rejected by voters. The Madhes-based JSP and LSP have been penalised by Tarai voters for squandering the gains of the Madhes Movement and becoming offshoots of made-in-Kathmandu parties.All this gives us hope that despite shortcomings, Nepal’s federal democracy is on track. Nepalis have once more endorsed the ballot over the bullet, they have given fresh new candidates the chance, but most of all, they have punished non-performing, inept and corrupt leaders.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/lower-than-usual-turnout-in-nepal-polls/">Lower than usual turnout in Nepal polls</a>, Sonia AwaleBut this elections also exposed the need for urgent reforms that need to be planned way in advance of the next polls five years from now.Although voters are now much more savvy and are aware of their rights and choices, political parties still get away with manipulation, creating confusion among voters. Forming a coalition to share seats is a form of rigging. Coalitions are supposed to be formed after elections, not before.The high proportion of invalid votes is proof that voter education needs improvement. It should be an ongoing process in the years between elections.Nearly 5 million Nepalis are working, studying or living abroad. The Supreme Court ruled that they should be allowed to vote, but successive governments have dragged their feet because they fear those abroad are anti-incumbent — which they probably are.Absentee balloting should be allowed. A quarter of voters are disenfranchisaed because they are abroad or cannot travel to home districts to vote.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/caste-vote/">Caste vote</a>, Chandra KishoreIn this day and age it should be a simple matter to allow voting by mail. Early voting should also be allowed, and public transport made to ply to make it easier on election day to get to voting booths. The whole country does not need to come to a standstill on E-Day.This election showed that candidates and parties do not have to spend a whole lot of money to get votes. Those whose campaign spending was less than even the threshold stipulated by the EC have beaten those who spent tens of millions to buy votes. The quality of representation cannot depend on cash, and the time has come for political parties to be funded by public money.The root of corruption in Nepal is campaign funding of candidates by big business. We have now got to the point where Nepal’s richest men are themselves standing in elections, further blurring the lines between business and politics.The infusion of new blood in this election does not guarantee that the stranglehold of discredited big parties in the country will be broken any time soon. Coalition politics is not necessarily bad, but horse-trading and pre-paid positions that it comes with may mean that not much will change.The young independents will need a steep learning curve to adapt to parliamentary politics, being accountable and transparent and ensuring that all boats rise with the tide.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/voters-cynical-about-electoral-alliances/">Voters cynical about electoral alliances</a>, Namrata Sharma

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Vox Populi

<img width="800" height="565" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114111128/637218ec9c7e80680e0baa6fjpeg.jpg" alt=""/>Although Nepal’s established parties battled it out among themselves in local elections, independent candidates won the mayor races in critical cities — Kathmandu, Dharan, Janakpur and Dhangadi.
This represented a seismic shift signified disillusionment with cynical coalition politics that fielded common candidates and a rejection of traditional parties who have failed to deliver better living conditions.
Independent candidate Balen Shah, 32, and UML candidate Sunita Dangol, 29, secured enough of a lead to be elected mayor and deputy mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City. 
Voters in the two cities made it loud and clear by electing youthful leaders that they reject Nepal's archaic establishment parties and their ageing political leadership. Given the choice, other cities municipalities may also have voted for younger candidates and independents.
Indeed, this political shift should not be a surprise to those who followed the results of the 2017 elections where the alternative parties, Sajha and Bibeksheel, would have won if they had been united. 
Just like them, the support for rapper and engineer Balen Shah not just in Kathmandu but from all over Nepal was a protest vote. Indeed, independent candidates were also elected in three other sub-metropolitan cities— Harka Raj Rai in Dharan, Manoj Kumar Shah Sudi in Janakpur, and Gopal Hamal in Dhangadi. 
“This election has shown that Nepal now has a critical mass of  middle-class, especially in the cities,  and that this collective is beginning to reject conventional politics,” explains political analyst Punranjan Acharya. 
There were 145,010 candidates in local elections held nationwide on 13 May, and 64% out of 17,733, 733 registered voters cast their ballots — lower than previous elections.
In the Nepali Congress stronghold of Bharatpur, the party’s voters helped Renu Dahal of its coalition partner the Maoists to her second victory. There was much bad blood between district Congress leaders and Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba about giving the city to the Maoists in a platter.
Similarly in Pokhara, Dhanaraj Acharya of the CPN (Unified Socialists), who ran on a coalition ticket against a rebel Nepali Congress and UML candidates, was elected mayor. 
Vote counting has been delayed by archaic procedures, but with most votes now counted, the Nepali Congress has won 327 chair and 300 deputy positions in municipalities. Out of 753 units, NC contested independently in 415 units, out of which it won 202 local government seats. The party formed an alliance for the remaining 338 units, out of which it has won 124 top positions.
Acharya notes that while the NC won in numbers, the results proved that the electoral alliance among members of the governing coalition was not really necessary for the party. Instead, it had to sacrifice sure wins for its mayoral and deputy candidates in Bharatpur, Pokhara and other important cities. 
However, it did give the Maoists much-needed political space which stand it in good stead for provincial and federal elections in November. It also legitimised Madhav Nepal's newly-minted Unified Socialists with its wins in Pokhara and Hetauda, although it did not fare well elsewhere.
But the coalition has worked to the detriment of the JSP and the newly formed Loktantrik Samajwadi Parti, which lost key cities like Janakpur and Birgunj in Madhes Province.
The opposition UML, which swept the 2017 local elections in an electoral alliance with the Maoists, won 204 chief positions and 237 deputy positions despite having to battle five other parties single-handedly.
“The UML scored a respectable performance, and has largely maintained its popular vote,” notes Acharya.
Meanwhile, the Maoists benefited significantly from their alliance with the NC. Out of its 121 candidates who won mayoral and chief positions, 80 contested the election with support from the coalition, many of them in units with a significant NC voter base. 
Among other parties in the election coalition, Janata Samajwadi Party won 30 top local level seats, Madhav Nepal’s Unified Socialists won 20, and Rastriya Janamorcha Party won in 4 units.
"All coalition parties benefited from the electoral alliance," political analyst Indra Adhikari. “Madhes-based parties have expanded to the hills. Unified Socialists who do not even have a meaningful party structure were able to perform noticeably because of the alliance.” 
Analysts say Prime Minister Deuba feared that his NC party would lose to the UML, and Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal capitalised on that to persuade him to form an alliance by using the prime ministership as a bargaining chip. 
The poor performance of the Bibeksheel Sajha Party has shown that voters punished it for moving away from its social-liberal platform to a pro-monarchy, anti-federal one—for the wrong reasons. 
Party Chair Rabindra Mishra resigned on Wednesday "on moral grounds” and taking “full responsibility” for his party’s debacle. 
Across Nepal’s  6 metropolitan and 11 sub-metropolitan cities, four independent candidates have been elected, including Harka Raj Rai in Dharan,  Manoj Kumar Shah Sudi in Janakpur, Balen Shah in Kathmandu, and Gopal Hamal in Dhangadi. 12 independent candidates have emerged victorious in 2022, twice than that of the last election. 
But the biggest losers in these local elections have been women. The three biggest parties combined nominated 128 women for mayors and village chairpersons, but only 25 women — 13 mayors and 12 municipalities — have been elected.
More glaring: the number of women elected as deputy chiefs this year has gone down from 700 in 2017. Nepal's Local Level Election Act requires every party to nominate one male and one female to the position of chiefs and deputy chiefs.
But election alliances are not bound by the same rules. This provided a loophole for the NC and the Maoists to nominate fewer female candidates. 
“The fact that the electoral alliance gave an excuse for fewer women to be nominated to office is against the Constitution,” Acharya points out. 
But as the local election cycle comes to an end, there are some things to be optimistic about. 
Rukum West’s Chaurajhari Municipality elected Pushpa Badi as municipality chief, making him the first mayor from Nepal’s Badi community.
In Jumla’s Kanaka Sundari Rural Municipality’s ward number 8, a panel of leaders from the Dalit community ran as independents — out of which Dhan Bahadur Kami was elected ward chief, while Gol Damai, Kar Jit Sarki, and Chanaki Kulala were elected ward members. 
“We have found that the new generation of voters and candidates are not concerned with the system or with ideology, but with governance and delivery,” Acharya says. “The victory of young candidates has been a peaceful revolution conducted entirely at the polls.”
Despite the wins of independent candidates, Adhikari does not see this as a positive trend. She says: “Independent candidates running on activist platforms will not be able to  tackle problems from outside the political system.” 
The local election results will bolster the need for coalition partners to keep their alliance intact for November’s federal and provincial polls.  
Acharya warts that we should not read too much into local election results as a win for one party or the other. He says, ”Local elections are not meant to be politicised, they are meant to develop social capital.”
He also differentiates between two types of independent candidates: those like Balen Shah are from outside and cashed in on frustration with established. Then there are the independents in Janakpur and Dhangadi who are rebels from within established parties who did not get tickets.

Nepal's local polls a rehearsal for federal elections

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

The Himalaya is not fragile

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

My father’s son

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

Lumbini gets the lion’s share

Singha Bahadur Lama worked for six years in Malaysia, but back home in Nepal he is now earning more than he ever did overseas. Here in his village 60km east of Kathmandu, Lama now harvests Buddhachitta seeds from sacred trees that grow in the mountains, and turns them into prayer bead necklaces revered in Tibetan Buddhism. The Buddhachitta tree (Ziziphus budhensis) is indigenous to Nepal and grows in the mountains of Kavre district, and demand boomed after the Dalai Lama proclaimed that the seeds found in Nepal were the best. People from Kavre had gone to Bodh Gaya 12 years ago and presented the Dalai Lama with Buddhachitta prayer beads. Not long after, while speaking in Taiwan the Dalai Lama told followers that the seeds from Nepal had special powers.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251209141220_dd1fddffc2f22652f57b0fdebe5d0612aa48c79c1e5c1a82da10b1d0a0af69b8.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20251209141220_dd1fddffc2f22652f57b0fdebe5d0612aa48c79c1e5c1a82da10b1d0a0af69b8" data-rendition-name="original" width="737" height="536" loading="lazy" alt="Buddhachitta NT"> </figure>  Lama shows a visiting journalist different types of Buddhachitta seeds. Single-faced beads are the rarest and most valuable, as are the smallest 8mm beads. A prayer necklace made of 108 beads would easily cost Rs1.5 million (over $10,630). “We cannot say if our trees will give smaller beads or even how many faces or clear eyes, it’s all natural,” says Lama, who now works as a consultant, advising people all over Nepal about planting the tree, and has since spread it across the country. Four years ago, a Chinese middleman made 7mm plastic cups to cover the seeds, hoping the trees would produce smaller pods. It did not work, and the trees died. Such is the demand for high-quality Buddhachitta beads that a group of 20 men employed by a Chinese dealer cut down a tree along the Rosi River last year. The harvest from that tree had made $212,600 the year before. With that kind of price, the trees are in danger of being chopped down. &nbsp; Lama himself used to make Rs10 million ($70,880) from the seeds of each tree. With this money, he built new houses and sent his daughter to Japan, all with Buddhachitta income. But the market for the seeds is volatile.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251209141224_0fd29cdc36db0c3ad5f5add513b8b220d0101760e1c42d5c54266eac7c2dfe75.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20251209141224_0fd29cdc36db0c3ad5f5add513b8b220d0101760e1c42d5c54266eac7c2dfe75" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1125" loading="lazy" alt="Buddhachitta NT"> </figure>  Lama invested Rs10 million when prices were high ten years ago, but he lost most of that when the prices collapsed for bigger seeds.&nbsp; He adds: “That year the demand was only for small seeds, and it has only been three years since the prices have risen again for seeds that make no sound when you shake them.”&nbsp; HISTORY Legend has it that Guru Rinpoche left seeds of Buddhachitta while meditating in the Temal region of Kavre district in the 8th century as a blessing. He is known in the Himalaya as the ‘Second Buddha’ whose birth was foretold by the Buddha himself, and spread Buddhism in Tibet. Now, almost every household from the Tamang community here has on average 50 trees. The tree thrives on gravel and sandy soil, needs to be protected from excess water, and can grow up to 10 meters high. It starts bearing fruit annually from its third year and one tree lives for 90 years. The fruits are handpicked every June and July, and then have to be processed by boiling the seeds to remove their hard outer skin. The seeds are then dried in the sun for a few days.&nbsp; “Our families have been growing Buddhachitta for generations, but it started becoming hugely profitable only about 12 years ago, it has become a cash crop and has even replaced staples like maize,” says Dev Lama, 55.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251209141224_7820e90f918489045c0668465190df37120167cc7d4401bb128adf931e156bc3.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20251209141224_7820e90f918489045c0668465190df37120167cc7d4401bb128adf931e156bc3" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1125" loading="lazy" alt="Buddhachitta NT"> <figcaption>Dev Lama</figcaption> </figure>  What helps is that Buddhachitta is not a high-maintenance crop, it just needs some weeding, watering, and protection from hailstorms and pesticides. Once it matures, it does not need much care, and farmers intercrop it with other grain.&nbsp; “You don’t have to work on it every year like maize, which needs to be planted year after year,” explains Shova Shrestha, 33. “We also continue to grow other vegetables and spices, all of which help to preserve soil nutrients.” Generally, farmers do not sell directly to Chinese traders but deal with local middlemen who take a cut before they take it to the Chinese traders who lodge in Kathmandu during the harvest season. But the bulk of the profit is made by Chinese wholesalers across the border. &nbsp; And now with the proliferation of the plant, and with nearly every family growing several trees, farmers sometimes struggle to find buyers and are often severely short-changed, as was the case with Maiya Tamang’s family.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251209141220_2d82949a8a32b272216e4f288e976c5af68abf65f52500947ba366526a9b2a2c.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20251209141220_2d82949a8a32b272216e4f288e976c5af68abf65f52500947ba366526a9b2a2c" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1125" loading="lazy" alt="Buddhachitta NT"> <figcaption>Maiya Tamang</figcaption> </figure>  “I wasn’t home that day two years ago, but my sons later told me that my husband sold an entire tree for just Rs1,500,” recalls Tamang, 60. “We asked him why he sold it for a price that wouldn’t even buy a sack of rice, and he just shrugged.” Tamang did make a profit two years ago, but last year’s crop was destroyed by a hailstorm. Despite this, the bead business has augmented the income of a family dependent on subsistence agriculture. &nbsp; A neighbour, Sonam Tamang, had a few Buddhachitta trees in his backyard and has bought saplings from a nursery to expand. Saplings cost Rs500, but it is double that for plants that give high value seeds. Says Sonam Tamang: “The middlemen sometimes cheat us by offering much less than the seeds are worth, and they don’t allow us to speak directly with the Chinese buyers. But even if we did, there would be a language barrier.” Meanwhile, Singha Bahadur Lama who started out as a Buddhachitta farmer now owns a nursery and is a dealer in saplings himself. Some Nepalis have tried to sell directly in China, but face added costs of travel and hotel while there. &nbsp; With contributions from Qian Sun, Global Voices.