Min Bahadur Bham’s latest feature <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2EXOwDgrIg&amp;t=25s">Shambhala </a>was the first Nepali film to be selected for the main competition at the Berlinale this year, ushering in a new era for Nepali cinema.&nbsp; Thinley Lhamo won the<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iCvN6jHVMQ&amp;t=973s"> Boccalino d'Oro Prize for Best Acting Performance </a>at the 77th Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland last week for her role as Pema – the first not just for Nepal but for the whole of South Asia.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240826120816_53c0a88de3fd8d09e2b96702059fc1b2405d337d03dfbb6e8fc7566049a21cbc.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20240826120816_53c0a88de3fd8d09e2b96702059fc1b2405d337d03dfbb6e8fc7566049a21cbc" data-rendition-name="original" width="904" height="1200" loading="lazy" alt="Thinley Lhamo best acting award for Shambhala NT2"> <figcaption>Thinley Lhamo after winning the Boccalino d'Oro Prize for Best Acting Performance at the 77th Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland last week. Photo: SHAMBHALA /FACEBOOK</figcaption> </figure>  &nbsp;Shambhala was shot in Dolpo and is the story of Pema, who is married to Tashi and is also an accompanying spouse to her monk brother-in-law Karma. Tashi leaves for a trip to Lhasa, and Pema finds out she is pregnant. The legitimacy of the child is questioned, so Pema travels to find Tashi, an ultimate journey of self-discovery and liberation. “I didn’t believe I had done enough work to be called an actor, but the award definitely gives me confidence and assurance to be one,” Lhamo, 27, told Nepali Times on return from Switzerland. &nbsp; Polyandry used to be common among Nepal’s Himalayan communities, and is also a familiar theme in Hindu mythology. A woman taking on brothers as spouses was traditionally seen as a sensible way to keep small land holdings intact, prevent families from breaking apart, and save women from the stigma of widowhood.&nbsp; Like Pema, Thinley Lhamo’s personal life has also been a journey of self-discovery. As an artsy child, she always participated in extracurricular activities at boarding school in Boudha. She once dreamt of being a flight attendant, but realised she wanted to do something in the creative field. Her passion for dancing and singing led to her affiliation with <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/133059852287/">the Nepal Tibet Opera Association</a> (NTOA), she modelled and that brought her roles in the Nepali films ‘<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7230362/">Naka</a>’ and ‘<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8205082/">Hari</a>’ in 2018. She enjoyed the process but it also spoiled her because the films just fell into her lap. “I had no stage presence before joining the Nepal Tibet Opera Association and I used to make a lot of weird expressions while performing,” laughs Lhamo. “From controlling my expressions during the performance to travelling long distances to perform, and it all helped me adapt to the world of film.” There was a lull in film-making and Lhamo did a stint at an NGOs, but was on the lookout for a more meaningful acting role. When she heard about Shambhala being produced, she signed up for Anup Baral’s acting workshop to hone her skills. That helped during the audition for the part of Pema, but working with a perfectionist <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5336883/">director Min Bahadur Bham</a> where her character had to carry the entire film on her shoulders was tough. She quips: “The movie starts with Pema, continues with Pema and ends with Pema.”&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240826120840_0bb4eb60444089cea6072b26faadb9fe3fca1d4bb1697c7a56f41dbb4b152e18.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20240826120840_0bb4eb60444089cea6072b26faadb9fe3fca1d4bb1697c7a56f41dbb4b152e18" data-rendition-name="original" width="3024" height="1964" loading="lazy" alt="Thinley Lhamo as Pema in Shambala NT 2"> </figure>  It is a star-studded cast with <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm6358251/bio/?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm">Tenzing Dalha</a>, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm9661987/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1">Sonam Topden</a> and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4542007/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1">Karma Shakya,</a> but Lhamo soon got over the initial nervousness to give her character her best. Switching between Nepali and English she said, “I was mostly worried about portraying Pema earnestly, and to do justice to her character.” Despite early success, Lhamo is down-to-earth and also self-deprecating about her horse-riding ability. The entire crew spent two months acclimatising to the terrain and culture in Dolpo before actual filming started. And part of Lhamo’s training was to learn to ride her co-star horse properly.&nbsp; The actress also had to practice climbing slopes knee-deep in snow, and perform at elevations of 5,500m on Dolpo’s high passes. Some of the film crew got altitude sickness and had to be medevaced. But all this was not as difficult as the emotions she had to muster in some of the more gut-wrenching scenes in Shambhala. Lhamo says she learnt a lot from her more seasoned co-actors. “There were parts where I could have done better and there is always room for improvement but I believe I have done my part in playing Pema with empathy and honesty.” Bham himself is thrilled with the recognition his film has got in Berlin and now in Locarno. He said: “The best actress award means international recognition for Nepali cinema, and is inspirational for intelligent and aspiring young Nepali actresses from the Himalaya like Thinley Lhamo.” The film will be in theatres in Kathmandu from 13 September. Watch the trailer <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mz5WLB5l_A&amp;t=2s">here</a>.

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Nepal’s star shines in Locarno

Tired of working a desk job that left her physically and mentally drained, Dutch citizen Hana(pictured, below) planned a trekking trip to Nepal in 2021. As soon as she reached Pokhara, all her tiredness seemed to slip away, and she felt as though her life had changed.&nbsp; “I was drawn to Pokhara’s mountains, the nature, and the climate,” says Hana who was in Nepal to do the Annapurna trek. “But once here, I discovered the healing benefits of yoga and meditation.” Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/pokhara-comes-alive-at-night">Pokhara comes alive at night</a> Hana is back in Pokhara for the third time in three years, and spends time in daily meditation and yoga. She says, “Pokhara is so peaceful and beautiful, it is the perfect yoga destination.”&nbsp; Like Hana, there are thousands of ‘meditation tourists’ visiting Pokhara during what used to be the monsoon off-season for visitors. Many yoga retreats have sprung up in and around this scenic city, and instructors advertise private meditation classes in hotels.&nbsp; One instructor is Maheswar Man Shrestha (pictured, below), who grew up as a sickly child in Kathmandu and was often hospitalised, missing school for months at a time. When modern medicine did not work, his father, himself a doctor, sought ayurvedic treatment and combined it with yoga and meditation. Shrestha soon got miraculously better. &nbsp; Read also:<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/practicing-mindfulness-in-schools"> Practicing mindfulness in schools</a>, Basu Gautam Now in his fifties, Shrestha is a true believer in the power of yogic healing. “I went from medication to meditation, I am living proof that yoga ensures physical and mental wellbeing,” says Shrestha who teaches yoga to overseas tourists at his Purna Yoga Retreat.&nbsp; Being both<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/the-other-abc-trek"> the start and end point for treks</a> makes Pokhara perfect for tourists to combine physically taxing Himalayan hikes with a soothing recovery. But even outside the trekking season, its lush monsoon greenery, the lakes and cloudscape make Pokhara the ideal place to decompress from the material world. “Pokhara’s proximity to nature and relatively clean environment makes it great for tourists to come here to learn yoga,” Shrestha says. Indeed, Nepal’s travel industry has lately discovered that blending <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/getting-up-close-and-personal-with-the-mountains">mountains</a> and meditation is a popular combination. After all, the Buddha was born in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/lumbini-is-not-a-buddhist-disneyland">Lumbini</a>, a seven hour drive to the south of Pokhara, and for many a trek in Nepal is already also a pilgrimage. Rishi Raj Lamsal (pictured, below) worked for a travel agency outfitting and guiding trekking groups. Once, on a hike to Poon Hill, his clients gasped at the panorama of Dhaulagiri and Annapurna at sunrise, and they promptly took out yoga mats and started doing asana and pranayam.&nbsp; It was there and then that Lamsal (pictured) realised that tourism had a spiritual aspect that Nepal’s travel industry had largely ignored. As soon as he returned to Kathmandu, he started designing meditatiton tourism packages. Lamsal also learnt yoga and has been an instructor based in Pokhara for many years, teaching not just foreign visitors but also Nepalis from all over the country.&nbsp; “I have been to 42 districts, but there is no place like Pokhara, its geography is ideal to mixing tourism with spiritualism. It is natural beauty that draws people initially, but once here they also find inner peace,” Lamsal says.&nbsp; Deepa Basnet initially took up yoga to reduce weight, but is now pursuing a degree in yoga and is also an instructor on the side. “I wanted to increase my knowledge of yoga beyond the basic asana to ayurveda,” she explains.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/yoga-unites-the-world">Yoga unites the world</a>, Yugeshwor Koirala Pokhara’s fame as a yoga city has been boosted by the Indian Embassy holding the International Day of Yoga on 21 June every year in partnership with local organisations. The city’s strategic location between sacred Hindu and Buddhist pilgrimage sites of Muktinath and Lumbini also help. Ekraj Rokaya was working in Australia, and while there he began to ruminate on impermanence, suffering and human existence. He returned to Nepal a changed person, and began to practice and teach yoga and meditation, changing his name to Raj Karmayogi (pictured, below).&nbsp; Seeing the benefits of meditation, he wanted to share its value with others and set up a yoga school in Pokhara six years ago. “Pokhara is a yoga city just like Rishikesh in India, it can be associated internationally with yoga,” he believes.&nbsp; Indeed, with better road connectivity yoga centres are no longer concentrated in Pokhara city, but have been established in the surrounding mountains which command a stunning panorama of the Annapurnas. &nbsp;&nbsp; Pokhara was the venue for the International Yoga Festival in March last year with 50 overseas participants, and a four-day repeat of the festival is planned for October in which renowned instructors will be taking part.&nbsp; While individuals and instructors are promoting Pokhara on their own, they lament the lack of interest on the part of the government and the Nepal Tourism Board in marketing the city as a yoga hub internationally.&nbsp; “There is zero interest from the government to promote yoga tourism,” states Manohar Shrestha, of Purna Yoga Retreat Centre which takes tourists on hikes in the nearby mountains with yoga and meditation sessions in the mornings and evenings.&nbsp; Since India has branded the International Day of Yoga, Shrestha and Lamsal suggest Pokhara could be promoted as an International Meditation City, and the Nepal government could set aside an annual commemorative day for it, which the provincial and municipal government can then peg events on. “Nepal and the Himalaya are where the Buddha and numerous Hindu sages meditated, these mountains are the spiritual home of both religions. There is no better place to honour them by rediscovering yoga,”says Lamsal.&nbsp; But like all other sectors in Nepal, there is a lack of regulation, and fly-by-night yoga retreat operators are giving the city a bad reputation. It is not only Nepalis involved, foreign trainers also bring clients and take private classes without paying taxes, local retreat owners say. Only certified instructors should be allowed to train and proper protocols should be in place for yoga tourism, they add.&nbsp; Krishna Prasad Bhandari of the Pokhara Tourism Council adds: “Yoga and meditation must be developed such that it becomes synonymous with Pokhara, but we should not kill the goose that lays the golden eggs in the process.” &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Tired of working a desk job that left her physically and mentally drained, Dutch citizen Hana planned a trekking trip to Nepal in 2021. As soon as she reached Pokhara, all her tiredness seemed to slip away, and she felt as though her life had changed.&nbsp; “I was drawn to Pokhara’s mountains, the nature, and the climate,” says Hana (pictured, below) who was in Nepal to do the Annapurna trek. “But once here, I discovered the healing benefits of yoga and meditation.” Hana is back in Pokhara for the third time in three years, and spends time in daily meditation and yoga. She says, “Pokhara is so peaceful and beautiful, it is the perfect yoga destination.”&nbsp; Like Hana, there are thousands of ‘meditation tourists’ visiting Pokhara during what used to be the monsoon off-season for visitors. Many yoga retreats have sprung up in and around this scenic city, and instructors advertise private meditation classes in hotels.&nbsp; One instructor is Maheswar Man Shrestha, who grew up as a sickly child in Kathmandu and was often hospitalised, missing school for months at a time. When modern medicine did not work, his father, himself a doctor, sought ayurvedic treatment and combined it with yoga and meditation. Shrestha soon got miraculously better. &nbsp; Now in his fifties, Shrestha is a true believer in the power of yogic healing. “I went from medication to meditation, I am living proof that yoga ensures physical and mental wellbeing,” says Shrestha (pictured, below) who teaches yoga to overseas tourists at his Purna Yoga Retreat.&nbsp; Being both the start and end point for treks makes Pokhara perfect for tourists to combine physically taxing Himalayan hikes with a soothing recovery. But even outside the trekking season, its lush monsoon greenery, the lakes and cloudscape make Pokhara the ideal place to decompress from the material world. “Pokhara’s proximity to nature and relatively clean environment makes it great for tourists to come here to learn yoga,” Shrestha says. Indeed, Nepal’s travel industry has lately discovered that blending mountains and meditation is a popular combination. After all, the Buddha was born in Lumbini, a seven hour drive to the south of Pokhara, and for many a trek in Nepal is already also a pilgrimage. Rishi Raj Lamsal worked for a travel agency outfitting and guiding trekking groups. Once, on a hike to Poon Hill, his clients gasped at the panorama of Dhaulagiri and Annapurna at sunrise, and they promptly took out yoga mats and started doing asana and pranayam.&nbsp; It was there and then that Lamsal (pictured) realised that tourism had a spiritual aspect that Nepal’s travel industry had largely ignored. As soon as he returned to Kathmandu, he started designing meditatiton tourism packages. Lamsal also learnt yoga and has been an instructor based in Pokhara for many years, teaching not just foreign visitors but also Nepalis from all over the country.&nbsp; “I have been to 42 districts, but there is no place like Pokhara, its geography is ideal to mixing tourism with spiritualism. It is natural beauty that draws people initially, but once here they also find inner peace,” Lamsal says.&nbsp; Deepa Basnet initially took up yoga to reduce weight, but is now pursuing a degree in yoga and is also an instructor on the side. “I wanted to increase my knowledge of yoga beyond the basic asana to ayurveda,” she explains.&nbsp; Pokhara’s fame as a yoga city has been boosted by the Indian Embassy holding the International Day of Yoga on 21 June every year in partnership with local organisations. The city’s strategic location between sacred Hindu and Buddhist pilgrimage sites of Muktinath and Lumbini also help. Ekraj Rokaya used to be a migrant worker in the Gulf, and while there he began to ruminate on impermanence, suffering and human existence. He returned to Nepal a changed person, and began to practice and teach yoga and meditation, changing his name to Raj Karmayogi.&nbsp; Seeing the benefits of meditation, he wanted to share its value with others and set up a yoga school in Pokhara six years ago. “Pokhara is a yoga city just like Rishikesh in India, it can be associated internationally with yoga,” he believes.&nbsp; Indeed, with better road connectivity yoga centres are no longer concentrated in Pokhara city, but have been established in the surrounding mountains which command a stunning panorama of the Annapurnas. &nbsp;&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240817120824_c38be59a8ca83ce85c0d1277e248c25855a188474b1c3a4bb4e0642a0901413b.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20240817120824_c38be59a8ca83ce85c0d1277e248c25855a188474b1c3a4bb4e0642a0901413b" data-rendition-name="original" width="1280" height="960" loading="lazy" alt="Medication to Meditation yoga and tourism in Pokhara NT 5"> </figure>  Pokhara was the venue for the International Yoga Festival in March last year with 50 overseas participants, and a four-day repeat of the festival is planned for October in which renowned instructors will be taking part.&nbsp; While individuals and instructors are promoting Pokhara on their own, they lament the lack of interest on the part of the government and the Nepal Tourism Board in marketing the city as a yoga hub internationally.&nbsp; “There is zero interest from the government to promote yoga tourism,” states Manohar Shrestha (pictured, below), of Purna Yoga Retreat Centre which takes tourists on hikes in the nearby mountains with yoga and meditation sessions in the mornings and evenings.&nbsp; Since India has branded the International Day of Yoga, Shrestha and Lamsal suggest Pokhara could be promoted as an International Meditation City, and the Nepal government could set aside an annual commemorative day for it, which the provincial and municipal government can then peg events on. “Nepal and the Himalaya are where the Buddha and numerous Hindu sages meditated, these mountains are the spiritual home of both religions. There is no better place to honour them by rediscovering yoga,”says Lamsal.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/peak-season-in-the-nepal-himalaya">Peak season in the Nepal Himalaya</a>, Vishad Raj Onta But like all other sectors in Nepal, there is a lack of regulation, and fly-by-night yoga retreat operators are giving the city a bad reputation. It is not only Nepalis involved, foreign trainers also bring clients and take private classes without paying taxes, local retreat owners say. Only certified instructors should be allowed to train and proper protocols should be in place for yoga tourism, they add.&nbsp; Krishna Prasad Bhandari of the Pokhara Tourism Council adds: “Yoga and meditation must be developed such that it becomes synonymous with Pokhara, but we should not kill the goose that lays the golden eggs in the process.”&nbsp; <h2>Spiritual scams</h2> Katherine is an American yoga teacher and practitioner who signed up for a 300-hour training course at a yoga centre in Pokhara. It was a two-month course specifically tailored for trainers and instructors, and Katherine paid $2,800 after arriving in Nepal.&nbsp; She was deeply disappointed. Nothing was what was promised on the website, and she filed a complaint with the Nepal Tourism Board.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240817120816_63135505a5c57153a6b647ee24bed17cf3e28f52b59b267f8a70f6b6a24316c5.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20240817120816_63135505a5c57153a6b647ee24bed17cf3e28f52b59b267f8a70f6b6a24316c5" data-rendition-name="original" width="5184" height="3888" loading="lazy" alt="Medication to Meditation yoga NT 2"> </figure>  “The trainer was not qualified and the training lacked &nbsp;international standard. I feel cheated,” said Katherine (name changed). “I &nbsp;wasted the flight cost and course fee, it all went down the drain.” As Pokhara gains popularity as a destination for yoga tourism, there are also reports of others like Katherine being scammed.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-malaysia-nepal-migrant-scam-nexus">The Malaysia-Nepal migrant scam nexus</a>, Ramu Sapkota and S Vinothaa Spiritual ‘wellness’ centres have sprouted like mushroom along Pokhara’s Lakeside. Some promise 200-hour teacher training, others have 300 hours sessions and some are 21 days long. The lack of regulation and strict enforcement of guidelines for instructors and certification of ashrams is the main reason for the increase in fraud in the business.&nbsp; “Some individuals and organisations offer training and classes without understanding the depth and importance of yoga and meditation,” says instructor Maheswar Man Shrestha. “There are instructors in hotels who are responding to demand but lack &nbsp;knowledge and training to teach others.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240817120820_581167e11418f3f29220d98cee5fc4e2c975544a4c44377f6822cd06c4cc0b40.jpg" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="20240817120820_581167e11418f3f29220d98cee5fc4e2c975544a4c44377f6822cd06c4cc0b40" data-rendition-name="original" width="1440" height="810" loading="lazy" alt="Medication to Meditation yoga NT 3"> </figure>  It should be up to the Nepal Tourism Board and Gandaki Province Ministry of Industry, Tourism, Forest and Environment to prevent Pokhara from getting a bad name for cheating foreign yoga students. &nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/embossed-plate-company-involved-in-scam">Embossed plate company involved in scam</a>, Ramesh Kumar Pokhara Mayor Dhana Raj Acharya admits there are some unscrupulous establishments, and says his municipality is coordinating with the Gandaki Province government to crackdown. He adds, “The reason is that the spiritual wellness sector is relatively new and we have not been able to play catchup with regulatory mechanisms.”&nbsp; &nbsp;Nepal Tourism Board’s Nabin Pokharel says he understands the need to standardise yoga and meditation centres with some regulatory guidelines. He admits: “If we don’t do something about it, it can give a negative impression of Pokhara.” If Katherine’s experience is any indication, that is already happening.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240817120820_fa6a5c3ac5b22b18e17221e187c696a38ffab83fcf3cd11381bfd508a07a26d6.jpg" data-media-id="editor_12" data-image-id="20240817120820_fa6a5c3ac5b22b18e17221e187c696a38ffab83fcf3cd11381bfd508a07a26d6" data-rendition-name="original" width="785" height="889" loading="lazy" alt="Medication to Meditation yoga and tourism in Pokhara NT 4"> </figure>

Medication to Meditation in the Mountains

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131124/637234459c7e80680e0c4925jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"/><figcaption>A typical landscape of yarsa, alpine meadow above treeline and below snowline. Pictured here is Manang’s Chuli Peak. All photos: ACHYUT TIWARI</figcaption></figure>A young girl in the Ray-Ban sunglass is singing along to the tune of a song playing on a portable woofer she is carrying. She has just come out of Yak Kkharkha lodge in Upper Manang and is on her way to collect yarsagumba for the day.Throughout the yarsa-picking season from March to June, Tashi Gurung has been going to the meadows daily to pick the valuable caterpillar fungus. She is happy about how much she has collected this season.“I feel energised and happy when I manage to gather 50 or more pieces a day but when we pick only a few, me and my friends have to go hungry,” says Gurung.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/mushroom-trekking-in-the-himalaya/">Mushroom trekking in the Himalaya</a>, Sarah Watson<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131124/637234489c7e80680e0c4926jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1126"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Highly prized in traditional Chinese medicine, yarsagumba is supposed to have health benefits and can fetch up to $110,000 per kg in Beijing. It is extensively hunted across the Himalayas and in Nepal, caravans of people from rural villages move to the higher elevations to follow the pre-monsoon yarsa gold rush every year. Demand has gone up during the pandemic due to the belief that the fungus has therapeutic properties.They do not get anywhere near international prices, but the lucrative hunt has largely lifted many parts of rural Nepal from poverty, allowing them to afford food, healthcare and education.This year the price of yarsa at the collection site is Rs300-350 per piece depending on the quality, but the caterpillar fungus can get harvesters up to Rs1,000 if it’s larger and golden yellow in colour.Local contractors usually buy the fungus from collectors as soon as it is picked. This rids collectors from having to clean and dry it as well as prevents theft and bargaining.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/eastern-nepals-mundum-landscape/">Eastern Nepal’s Mundum landscape</a>, Achyut Tiwari and Ramesh Kumar Rai<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131124/6372344b9c7e80680e0c4927jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="624"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>“We have more than 1,000 collectors this season in this area and over half of them are from Gorkha,” says another collector Dhan Bahadur Gurung.Dwindling harvests of the 'Himalayan viagra' can lead to conflict. In 2009, seven pickers from Gorkha were killed in Manang's Nar Phu region in a dispute with locals. Six local people were convicted of the murders.Tashi Gurung of Manang’s Nagawal is among more than 20 local contractors involved in Yarsagumba trade from Upper Manang and has a target of trading 10kg of yarsa worth Rs20 million this season.But over-harvesting and rapid environmental change in higher elevation areas of the Himalaya have meant that this unique Himalayan fungus is in steep decline.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/its-yarsa-picking-time/">It’s yarsa-picking time</a>, Alton C Byers<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131124/6372344f9c7e80680e0c4928jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1126"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131128/637234539c7e80680e0c4929jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1998"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>As it is, very little is known about the life cycle of this composite species which is a fungus that grows out of a caterpillar hibernating underground. Now, intensified human activity during collection such as digging and trampling, and increasing day temperature and early melting of snow have affected the regeneration of the fungus.Unseasonal spring blizzards due to climate change could also be affecting the life cycle of the fungus, which is sensitive to the duration and extent of snowfall.For example, heavy snowfall on the last week of May at Upper Manang earlier this year was unusual for the season and halted the yarsa hunt of over a thousand local collectors who were stranded in their shelters.Yarshagumba Ophiocordyceps sinensis is commonly called the Chinese Caterpillar Fungus. The formation of Yarsagumba is due to the parasitism of larvae of swift moths, resulting in the development of fruiting bodies which is a highly popular herbal remedy.After the germination of larvae by a fungus, the latter kills the insect and mummifies it. From the fruit body, a dark brown colour emerges from the dead insect and stands upright, taking the form of yarsagumba.Yarsagumba is found at 3,500-5,000m above sea level in Himalayan meadows of Nepal, Bhutan, India and Tibet. In Nepal, it is collected from more than 12 districts including Darchula, Dolpa, Jumla, Mugu, Bajang, Rukum, Myagdi, Manang, Gorkha, Rasuwa, Sindhupalchok and Sankhuwasabha.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/why-is-it-vital-to-protect-the-chure/">Why is it vitall to protect the Chure?</a>, Achyut Tiwari<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131128/637234579c7e80680e0c492ajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="751" height="1000"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Yarsa from Nepal is exported to the high demand countries such as Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Burma, Thailand, Singapore, and Japan.Harvesting and selling of yarsagumba was banned until 2001 in Nepal. But the government later re-allowed it as long as collectors paid a royalty. it can now only be collected and traded after getting annual local and national approval.This year there was a steep increase in the number of registered collector in the Annapurna Conservation Area Project with 1,000 permits issued. The steep increase in the numbers is due to a pause during the last two years of the pandemic.Achyut Tiwari is plant ecologist at the Central Department of Botany at Tribhuvan University in Kathmandu

Giving yarsagumba a chance for regrowth

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161124/636d186a9c7e80680e0ac7c6jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1080" height="525"/><figcaption>All photos courtesy of PEMBA NORBU SHERPA</figcaption></figure>Till two years ago, Pemba Norbu Sherpa was a happy-go-lucky <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/where-have-all-the-guides-gone/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">trekking guide </a>from Phakding on the Everest Trail. Things were looking up, he was getting trekking clients to guide and would travel to Langtang, Annapurnas and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-other-abc-trek/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">other trails in Nepal</a>.He made many international friends, and endeared himself with his joyful outlook on life. After a day’s hard trek, he would pitch tents, get the food ready, and the next morning would build a plump snowman. Pemba Norbu’s joie de vivre and humour were infectious.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161124/636d186d9c7e80680e0ac7c7jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="980" height="980">After the 2015 earthquake his trekking business had started to pick up again. He set up his business and had already saved up some money to build a new house for his elderly parents.All of that <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/virus-fear-closes-everest-treks-again/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">changed with the pandemic</a>. “Before the lockdown, I had a high-quality life,” he recalls. “And before that, I had a beautiful carefree childhood. Covid killed the business.”Some of Pemba Norbu’s childhood friends were infected, and he could not see them because of the lockdown and the need for physical distancing. A few of them and their families died.Not only was Pemba cut off from his friends and family, but the dream of a new house for his parents is also now a thing of the past. He lost his job, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/livelihoods-matter-restart-trekking-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">cutting off his income completely</a>.  “Due to Covid, all my treks to Everest and Mustang in the past two years were cancelled,” Pemba explains.Before the pandemic, tourism was Nepal’s fourth-largest industry by employment, with over a million people directly dependent on it. While revenue from tourism contributes only 7% to the national GDP, here in the remote mountains of Nepal, entire villages depend on income from trekking and climbing expeditions.The <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/survive-revive-thrive/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">collapse of tourism</a> also had an indirect impact. Locals had no market any more for their produce like potatoes, vegetables and poultry products. Hotel staff, cleaners, cooks were all laid off. Guides and porters have had no work for two years.“I spent the second lockdown in the mountains and the people here don’t have a job or money or anything,” says Pemba. “One of my clients from France helped me financially to distribute rice and salt to the families in Phakding, but there was nothing else I could do to help my fellow villagers.”<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161124/636d186f9c7e80680e0ac7c8jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="225" height="462">Finally, there seems to be good news. New Covid infection cases and fatalities are falling across Nepal, and with the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-begins-covid-19-vaccination-drive/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">vaccination drive</a><a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-jabs-and-jabnots/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> </a>picking up, tourism is expected to pick up speed by next spring. Everyone has their fingers crossed that there will be no third wave.“We want to restart our business, but we also need to be vaccinated so that when we are with our clients we can work without any fear of infection,” says Pemba. “We are going through a lot, but we have always been neglected by the state and its incompetent leaders.”Indeed, although nearly 23% of Nepalis above 18 are now vaccinated, most of them in the cities and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-jabs-and-jabnots/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">remote areas of the country have yet to get adequate doses</a>. As long as the vaccine is not distributed equitably, the threat of the virus, especially among local Sherpa guides who have to work closely with travellers will be at heightened risk.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161124/636d18729c7e80680e0ac7c9jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1080" height="810">Following <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-relaxes-entry-for-tourists/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepal’s revised immigration entry protocol</a>,  tourists can now get visas on arrival and those fully vaccinated against Covid with the second dose 14 days before the date of travel, will no longer have to quarantine after landing in Kathmandu. In addition to vaccine certificates and a negative PCR test report, visitors also need to fill out an electronic form.Some travellers did come back in the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/spring-returns-to-nepals-mountaineering/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">spring of 2021 </a> after the government relaxed the lockdown. But it was not enough to revive local economies. “We got some 300 tourists who were here to climb Everest,” says Pemba. “It didn’t help much with the income as much as it created fear of the virus with some patients at the base camp.”Back in Phakding, independent travelers have started to trickle in, but there is also a new phenomenon of Nepali trekkers who are exploring their country in ever larger numbers after the lockdowns.In fact, most trekkers these days in the lodges of Phakding are Nepali. Pemba is regaining some of his cheerfulness and hope for the future. He says: “Things are starting to get better even if marginally, tourists are returning. I might be able to build a new house for my parents after all.”

Trekking in Nepal is open for business

<figure><img width="2500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111015118/636d06609c7e80680e0a5f5cjpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Prolonged winter drought caused nationwide wildfires in Nepal, and this was followed by destructive floods at the start of the monsoon. Photos: NABIN LAMICHHANE/RSS (left), AMIT MACHAMASI/NEPALI TIMES (right)</figcaption></figure>After being ravaged by unprecedented <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-is-going-up-in-smoke/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">nationwide wildfires</a> and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/disasters-in-nepal-come-in-waves/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">deadly monsoon floods</a> this year, Nepal appears to be too busy dealing with disasters made worse by climate change to pay much attention to cutting emissions.Back-to-back calamities this year have coincided with the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-braces-for-monsoon-pandemic-double-hit/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Covid-19 pandemic</a>, and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-is-a-hotbed-of-virus-and-politics/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">political paralysis in Kathmandu</a> that has delayed vaccine procurement.The disasters hit Nepal even as a l<a href="https://www.sciencealert.com/someone-leaked-the-next-ipcc-report-here-s-how-experts-are-reacting" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">eaked report by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)</a> showed that the impact of the climate crisis on melting ice and extreme weather will intensify in the coming decades even if governments meeting in the UK for a climate summit in November agree on ambitious carbon cuts. This year’s UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties, COP26 for short, is scheduled to be held in will be held in Glasgow from October 31 – November 12. World governments will try to agree on further action on the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).The four goals for the summit are to secure global net-zero by mid-century and cap global average temperatures within 1.5°C by reducing carbon emissions drastically, and mobilising resources to help low-income countries deal with the impact.“If we do not take this chance to keep 1.5°C alive, it will slip from our grasp ... every fraction of a degree makes a difference,” says Alok Sharma, president-designate for COP26, who visited Nepal earlier this year. “COP26 simply can’t be another talking shop.”The 1.5°C target is especially important for the Himalaya which scientists say is warming between 0.3-0.7 °C faster than the global average. Even if the 1.5°C target is met, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/a-terrifying-assessment-of-himalayan-melting/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the Himalaya will lose one-third of its ice</a> by the end of the century, scientists predict, and three-fourths if carbon emissions continue to rise at the present pace.  <figure><img width="1496" height="1113" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111015118/636d06639c7e80680e0a5f5djpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>The Himalaya is set to loose more of its ice than previously predicted, even if carbon emission cut targets are met. Photo: KUNDA DIXIT</figcaption></figure>South Asian countries like Nepal and the Maldives, which suffer disproportionately from the impact of the climate emergency even though their per capita carbon emission are low, will be lobbying in Glasgow for resources to reduce risk from ice melting and sea-level rise.In 2009, industrialised countries promised to raise $100 billion each year by 2020 to help developing countries tackle climate impact. The actual funding fell well short of the target, and developing countries will be bringing up the issue strongly at COP26.When Alok Sharma visited Nepal in February, he travelled to Mustang to see for himself the rapid shrinking of Himalayan glaciers. He had flown over some of the wildfires that were starting at the time, and the same trans-Himalayan districts are now being battered by deadly floods and landslides.As of now, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/nepal-can-lead-in-zero-carbon/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepal and its international development partners</a> are working on a $7.4 billion Green Recovery Support package for the country to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/build-back-greener/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">‘build back greener’ </a>following the pandemic. The package will support investments in clean energy, water, and climate change prevention, funding for sustainable forestry, and green job growth.Nepal also recently made a national commitment to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050, and will further its climate action plan in Glasgow with the country’s delegates representing the interests of the Himalayan region at the summit. The receding glaciers of the Himalaya do not just affect Nepal, but nearly 1 billion people downstream in India, south-east Asia and China. A warming atmosphere is believed to be causing more more <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-hit-by-disaster-during-climate-talks/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">unpredictable and extreme weather events</a> in Nepal such as the prolonged winter drought that caused this year’s wildfires, and cloudbursts which unleashed floods and landslides this monsoon season.At <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-hit-by-disaster-during-climate-talks/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">a virtual conference last month</a> preparing for COP26, Nepali delegates raised concern that the vulnerability of mountain ecosystems was not getting enough priority in the summit agenda. They also urged more help for Himalayan countries to adapt to climate risk.“Even if we are successful in limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C, it will be equivalent to a 1.8°C rise in the Himalaya, and we will be losing 36% snow by the end of the century,” Arun Bhatta of Nepal’s Ministry of Forests and Environment told the meeting. After his visit to Nepal in February, Alok Sharma said he had seen for himself the impact of climate change on the mountains, including people being forced to abandon villages, and he pledged to amplify the voices of those most vulnerable to the climate crisis. <figure><img width="1305" height="1266" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111015118/636d06679c7e80680e0a5f5ejpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>COP26 president Alok Sharma with the President Bidya Devi Bhandari in Kathmandu in February. Photo: THE PRESIDENT'S OFFICE</figcaption></figure>The leaked IPCC report painted an apocalyptic picture of ‘species extinction, epidemics, unsurvivable heat waves, ecosystem collapse, cities menaced by rising seas’. Experts say the report is important because it paints a much more catastrophic picture of climate impact ahead of the Glasgow summit.The IPCC is a grouping of the world's climate scientists, and its reports are supposed to be read by the world’s government so they can take timely action. Its leaked report says that even if the 1.5°C target is met, the climate crisis would ‘fundamentally reshape life on Earth in the coming decades’.Ever since the Working Group 2 report was outed, the beginning of the northern summer has seen record-breaking summer temperatures in the Canadian northwest, unprecedented ice loss in the Arctic, and huge tundra fires in Siberia.The report calls for drastic action, saying that just converting gasoline fuelled cars to electric vehicles will not prevent a climate meltdown.

We’ve seen fire, and we’ve seen rain

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111140/636b84239c7e80680e06777ajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1037"/><figcaption>A view of the project from across the Langtang Valley showing the receding Langtang Lirung Glacier, and the location of the intake, penstock and powerhouse. There is a drop of 300m, and the turbines generate 100kW of electricity. Photos: KUNDA DIXIT</figcaption></figure>From the edge of the terminal moraine of the Langtang Lirung Glacier, there is a 360 degree view of icy peaks, and below is the monastery town of Kyanjin blanketed in overnight snow.Towering above is Langtang Lirung with snow being blown off its 7,227m summit, with the jagged peaks of Kimshun standing like bodyguards with Tserko Ri, Yala Peak and Gang Chhenpo. And to the south is the rampart of the Naya Kanga ridge.“When I was a boy we brought the yaks up here to graze, and they could cross the ice from one side of the glacier to the other,” says Gyalbu Tamang. “This lake was formed only in the last 20 years.”<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111140/636b84269c7e80680e06777bjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1125"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>As climate change thaws the mountains, right across the eastern Himalaya in Nepal, Bhutan and southern Tibet, hundreds of new lakes have formed at the snouts of glaciers. Some have found outlets and emptied themselves, while others, like this one, swelled up dangerously.In the past 40 years, there have been 26 <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/langtang-copes-with-quake-and-covid/">glacial lake outburst floods on Nepal’s rivers</a>, and with newer and bigger lakes forming, they pose a serious risk to new roads, settlements and hydropower plants downstream.However, glacial lakes do not just need to be a threat, as has been shown by a unique project on the Langtang Lirung Glacier. This glacial lake at 4,100m is being drained to lower its level, and the water is used to generate electricity.The Langtang Microhydro Electricity Project was built three years after the 2015 earthquake-avalanche that devastated the valley, with help from the Hong Kong-based Kadoorie Charitable Foundation. The $534,000 scheme has a weir and spillway at the moraine, and the water is taken through a fibre glass-insulated penstock pipe to a powerhouse that generates 100kW of electricity, providing 24 hours of electricity to 120 households and tourist lodges in Kyanjin and Langtang.The project is a first-of-its-kind in Nepal to power a village, and holds promise for other remote Himalayan valleys where the risk posed by expanding glacial lakes can be mitigated, while at the same time providing electricity to tourism-dependent families.“It can be a plus-plus, you need to simply drive a glacial lake to turn a turbine while simultaneously lowering the water level and reducing the pressure on the moraine dam,” says energy economist and former Water Resource Minister <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/finding-the-nexus-between-water-food-and-energy/">Dipak Gyawali.</a>The only downside would be that most glacial lakes are at very high elevations where there are few settlements, and also the greater cost of transporting equipment by helicopter. But if the risk-reduction from glacial lake outburst floods is factored in, these multi-purpose projects would be cost-effective.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111140/636b842a9c7e80680e06777cjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1125" height="1500"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111140/636b842d9c7e80680e06777djpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1250" height="938"><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111140/636b84309c7e80680e06777ejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1125"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>There are other dangerous glacial lakes in Nepal like <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/from-nepali-press/Diverting-danger,3172">Imja</a> in the Everest region and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/human-face-of-a-himalayan-climate-crisis/">Tso Rolpa</a> in Rolwaling Valley, where the water level has been lowered at enormous cost, but the schemes have not added the hydropower component. Tso Rolpa had a small power unit to supply electricity to the project, but it is not in use. Imja was financed by the UNDP with funding from the Global Environment Facility, while Tso Rolpa was funded by the Dutch government.Glacial lakes have been used to generate power in the Peruvian Andes, and in the Swiss Alps existing reservoirs filled with glacial melt have been generating 4% more electricity because of accelerated melting. The Swiss are even <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/04/17/climate/switzerland-glaciers-climate-change.html">mapping future hydropower plants</a> on glaciers for a time when all the ice will be gone. In <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nclimate2185.pdf?origin=ppub">Bhutan, a pilot scheme</a> on a glacial lake at 4,200m is trying to lower the water level using siphons, and plans to also see if it is feasible to generate electricity.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111140/636b84349c7e80680e06777fjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1250" height="689"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Experts say that with a little more investment, the moraine dams on glacial lakes can be strengthened for a fraction of a cost of building a new artificial dam for electricity generation. For this, the Langtang Microhydro Project presents a working model for other glacial lakes in Nepal where there are plans to lower the water level."In previous decades it used to be expensive to build power plants on glacial lakes because they were so remote, but now that roads have reached many valleys, they are more feasible," says glaciologist Pradeep Mool.Gyalbu Tamang lost his parents and many relatives in the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/langtang-copes-with-quake-and-covid/">catastrophic earthquake-avalanche in 2015</a> that killed as many as 300 people in Langtang. But for him and other trekking lodge owners who used to depend on solar panels, the 24-hour electricity has transformed the quality of life.He says: “We can charge our phones, use appliances, the children can read at night, it is like living in a city.”Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/danger-nepals-glacial-lakes-are-filling-up/">DANGER: Nepal’s glacial lakes are filling up</a>, Nepali Times

Kunda Dixit

Nepal’s first hydropower from a glacial lake

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111140/636b83d99c7e80680e06775ejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1843" height="1000"/><figcaption>A frozen Imja Lake looking east from the outlet. Photo: SHARAD JOSHI</figcaption></figure>It is now looking doubtful if countries around the world can cut their greenhouse gas emissions as agreed in Paris six years ago, so that global temperature rise will be limited to 1.5 Celsius by 2050. The earth is going to heat up by more than that.Even if it is 1.5 Celsius, the average temperature in the Himalaya will go up by 1.8 degrees because of a phenomenon called ‘altitude effect’. The best-case scenario is that one-third of all remaining Himalayan glaciers will have melted during this century. However, if greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise at the present rate, two-thirds of Himalayan ice will be gone by 2100.All this will have a catastrophic effect on water supply for 1 billion people downstream on rivers that originate in the Himalaya, as well as throw off kilter weather systems.  It will also increase the danger of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepals-glacial-lakes-in-danger-of-bursting/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">glacial lake outburst floods</a> (GLOF) within Nepal.Till the 1960s, the Imja Glacier near Mt Everest had only a few melt-pools. Since then, the ice has been replaced by a lake nearly 2km long, 600m wide and up to 150m deep. The ice is receding 70m a year.As glacial lakes expand, there is a danger of them bursting due to water pressure, or because of earthquakes and avalanches falling into them. As the average temperature in the mountains rises by 0.056 Celsius every year, the threat of glacial lake outbursts will only grow.On top of the perennial risk of earthquakes, new hydropower stations, highways along rivers, bridges and towns will also have to take into account the threat of GLOFs. The flash flood near <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/non-climate-cause-of-nanda-devi-flood/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nanda Devi in India’s Uttarakhand state</a> in March washed away two hydroelectric plants that were under construction.There is a warning there for Nepal, which is building cascade projects on the two Bhote Kosi rivers that flow down from China, Tama Kosi, Marsyangdi, and the Arun. In the Gandaki Basin is the particularly dangerous Thulagi glacial lake below Himalchuli, which would directly threaten three major hydroelectric projects along the Marsyangdi River. Scientists monitoring Thulagi have found the glacier has receded by 2km since 1984, the ice replaced by a lake.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/tracing-past-glacial-floods-in-kangchenjunga/">Tracing past glacial floods in Kanchanjunga</a>, Alton C Byers<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111140/636b83dc9c7e80680e06775fjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1080"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>“If Thulagi were to burst, the flood would go down 100km downstream on the Marsyangdi and Narayani, taking out hydroelectric projects, highways and towns along the way,” says Pradeep Mool, a glacial scientist formerly with ICIMOD.A survey last year showed that GLOF risk is highest in eastern Nepal. There are 42 dangerous lakes on the Kosi basin alone, like Imja, Tso Rolpa, Lower Barun and Hongu. The bursting of any one of these would send a wall of water and debris downstream to the Kosi.There is also the danger of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/more-himalayan-tsunamis/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">transboundary GLOFs</a>. In the past, even the bursting of relatively small glacial lakes in Tibet have caused major damage in Nepal. The earliest recorded one was in 1934, when a flash flood from a glacial lake burst in Tibet caused destruction along the Bhote Kosi.In 1981, another glacial lake burst in China caused a flood on the same river in Nepal, damaging the Sun Kosi power plant and washing out a 25km section of the Arniko Highway, cutting Nepal’s only road to China for three years.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111140/636b83e09c7e80680e067760jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="1506"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Of the 47 very dangerous lakes that threaten Nepal’s valleys, 25 originate in glaciers in Tibet. Since 1977, there have been at least 20 GLOFs of which 14 were caused by glacial lakes in Nepal bursting, and the rest were in China.To understand what a GLOF looks like, we have the<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Anatom-of-a-Himalayan-tsunami,1330" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> Seti flood of 2012</a> which killed nearly 70 people north of Pokhara. Although not caused by a glacial lake burst, it demonstrated the destructive power of such a flood.Although Nepalis may not be responsible for global heating, it does not mean we can sit back and do nothing. While scientists try to figure out exactly how fast the glaciers are melting, Nepal’s policy-makers need to start planning to be prepared for floods that are bound to be unleashed.The danger of GLOFs are compounded by Nepal also being on a seismically active zone. Many of these fragile Himalayan glacial lakes could burst simultaneously during a large earthquake.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111140/636b83e39c7e80680e067761jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1369" height="630">This calls for hazard mapping, early warning systems through SMS or radio, as well as mitigation efforts like those carried out to <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/from-nepali-press/Diverting-danger,3172" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reduce water levels on Imja</a> and Tso Rolpa. The microhydro scheme on the Langtang Lirung Glacier that reduces the water level on a recently-formed glacial lake, and also generates electricity could be a model for other remote valleys in Nepal.Because glacial lakes are located at such high altitudes in remote roadless areas, lowering their water level can be expensive. Most of the equipment has to be flown in by helicopter, and work is often hampered by altitude and weather. The question is: who should pay for these risk-reduction measures?“Even if the water level is reduced they can burst and come down like tsunamis, we have to keep monitoring the lakes, and install effective early warning systems in Tso Rolpa and Imja to at least save lives if we cannot save the infrastructure,” says Sarju Baidya of the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology.There are no feasible methods to prevent a glacial lake from bursting, and it is not in our power to stop the lakes expanding. So the only thing Nepal can do is to reduce the level of the most dangerous lakes, design downstream infrastructure taking the dangers into account, and to have an early warning system.Says Pradeep Mool: “What we can do immediately is to install measurement stations and monitor them by satellite, prioritise the high-risk lakes for site inspections to gauge the strength of the moraines, and make a short list of the most dangerous ones for early warning, and mitigation measures.”Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/human-face-of-a-himalayan-climate-crisis/">Human face of a Himalayan climate crisis</a>, Rastraraj Bhandari

DANGER: Nepal’s glacial lakes are filling up

<figure><img width="1500" height="1125" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121156/636ce7b69c7e80680e0967dajpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Photo: KUNDA DIXIT</figcaption></figure>The Nepal Himalaya has seen a spurt in expeditions this spring, largely because of the backlog of the past years, and possibly because of the global publicity generated by the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nirmal-purja-on-his-viral-everest-photo/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">‘traffic jam’ photographs of 2019</a>.  Climbing on Everest, for instance, was affected in 2014 and 2015 due to the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2014/04/26/the-winter-of-our-spring/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Icefall avalanche</a> and <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2015/04/25/massive-earthquake-rattles-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">earthquakes</a>,  2016 was slow because of the lingering impact of <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2015/09/25/unofficial-blockade/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the blockade</a>. And 2020 was a wipeout because of the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/everest-trek-closed-open-closed-open-again/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">pandemic</a>.There are a record-breaking <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/mt-everest-city/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">42 expeditions with nearly 400 foreign climbers on Everest</a> this spring. But while Everest gets all the attention, there have also been 44 climbers on four expeditions on the north face of Annapurna I, and many of them are doing it in tandem with Dhaulagiri which has five expeditions with 35 members.Many of them started early in the season on <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/annapurna-base-camp,3697" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Annapurna</a> and have now moved on to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-clouds-are-lifting-below-dhaulagiri/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Dhaulagiri</a> to climb it before the monsoon arrives. There has also been the same siege-style commercial climbing of the two eight-thousanders that is more reminiscent of Everest, with guides moving up first to fix ropes and taking clients up the mountain. <img width="933" height="683" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121156/636ce7b99c7e80680e0967dbjpeg.jpg" alt="">In fact, there were so many relatively inexperienced climbers this year on Annapurna that even easier sections had to be fixed, which meant that the lead team ran out of rope high on the mountain. The expedition then radioed for a helicopter that dropped rope, oxygen, food and other supplies at nearly 7,000m on the north face of Annapurna. A helicopter also lifted a Taiwanese climber suffering frost-bite from Camp III to Base Camp.This use of helicopters has led to more criticism about the over-commercialisation of Himalayan mountaineering, and some climbing bloggers have contrasted it with the pure pioneering adventure of the French expedition of 1950 on Annapurna. But it was also this that allowed 68 people to summit the 8,091m peak by 16 April without a single fatality—all the more remarkable because Annapurna has the highest ratio (32%) of deaths on any mountain in the Himalaya. Of the 68 who got to the top this season, 14 were women, and among them six were Nepali.It helps that Dhaulagiri is just across the Kali Gandaki Valley and so close to Annapurna that climbers just moved across for the second climb. Most Annapurna summiteers are also on Dhaulagiri, where fresh snow had delayed climbing till early this week.While most, including 82-year-old Carlos Soria and the six Nepali women, are on the easier north ridge route, there are some veterans attempting the never-climbed northwest spur of Dhaulagiri which at 8,167m is the world’s seventh-highest mountain. Many of the climbers on the northwest ridge have tried to get to the top on this route several times in the past.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-other-abc-trek/">The Other ABC Trek</a>, Bimal Kadel

Annapurna Dhaulagiri double-take

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121152/636ce6279c7e80680e096750jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"/><figcaption>Fresh snow blown off the tops of Kang Nachugo and Tsubugo in Rolwaling Himal is back-lit by the rising sun. Kathmandu photos by Kunda Dixit.</figcaption></figure>After a month in which the whole of Nepal was shrouded in choking smoke from unprecedented wildfires, the rains finally cleared the air and brought the mountains back into view from Pokhara, Kathmandu and other cities.The higher Himalayan regions witnessed rare April snowfall on Wednesday night. Humla, Jumla, Dolpo, Mustang, Manang and Langtang all got up to 40cm of snow in places. The rains in the lower valleys doused the wildfires, and washed the dust and ash from the air.With the haze gone, the sunshine will be unfiltered, bringing summer-like temperatures to Kathmandu as well as other areas of the mountains over the weekend. Meteorologists say there maybe afternoon cloud buildup in the higher valleys, with chances of a few isolated showers.These photographs were taken by Kunda Dixit from Patan in Kathmandu Valley on Friday, 23 April.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121152/636ce62a9c7e80680e096751jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><figcaption>Gauri Shankar (Chomo Tseringma) from 100km away in Kathmandu at sunrise on Friday morning.</figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121152/636ce62d9c7e80680e096752jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><figcaption>The rays of a rising sun from behind Gauri Shankar (Chomo Tseringma) and the Rolwaling peaks. The shadow of Mt Everest falls on atmospheric dust from behind Kang Nachugo.</figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121152/636ce6309c7e80680e096753jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><figcaption>The Jugal Himal range with Xixapangma in China, Gang Chhenpo, Gurkapo Ri, Dorje Lakpa silhouetted against the dawn sky.</figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121152/636ce6329c7e80680e096754jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="1500"><figcaption>Kathmandu’s skyline is dwarfed by the looming presence of Phurbi Ghyachu, 40km away on the Nepal-China border.</figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121152/636ce6349c7e80680e096755jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><figcaption>Gurkapo Ri, Dorje Lakpa and Gyalzen Peak are bathed in soft morning light above Kathmandu.</figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121152/636ce6379c7e80680e096756jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><figcaption>The morning sun catches the newly-built Dharara with Ganesh Himal on the northern horizon.</figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121152/636ce63a9c7e80680e096757jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><figcaption>Machapuchre, Annapurna III, Annapurna IV and II, and Lamjung Himal are reflected on the surface of a hotel swimming pool in Pokhara. Photo: KRISHNA MANI BARAL</figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121152/636ce63d9c7e80680e096758jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><figcaption>Photo: KRISHNA MANI BARAL</figcaption></figure>Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/langtang-copes-with-quake-and-covid/"> Langtang copes with quake and Covid</a>, Kunda Dixit

Fire and ice

<figure><img width="873" height="581" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111011110/636ccc8b9c7e80680e08bc2bjpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>A weir built 20 years ago reduced the level of the water by 3m in the Tso Rolpa glacial lake in Nepal, but it needs to go down by 20m to reduce the danger of a Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF). Photo: RASTRARAJ BHANDARI</figcaption></figure>It should not take a tragedy for the Himalaya to change its approach to mountain development. Yet every disaster that occurs is a poignant reminder that narrow solutions to short term threats are not the way forward.On Sunday, 7 February, a glacier near Nanda Devi was bulldozed by a massive rockfall which triggered a tsunami-strength rush of water, killing hundreds downstream. This  flood was yet another sign that the Himalayan region must take a broader view on climate action--one that addresses the drivers of glacial instability and considers the climate system as a whole.The climate crisis is particularly potent in the Himalaya, where the glaciers on the roof of the world are disappearing at an <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/06/himalayan-glaciers-melting-alarming-rate-spy-satellites-show/">unprecedented scale</a>, losing over a quarter of their volume in the last four decades alone. Mountain dwellers and more than 1 billion people living downstream will suffer from its consequences.One fifth of the world’s population is now at <a href="http://www.nepalpolicynet.com/new/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/EDITORIAL-INTRODUCTION_Pandey-et.-al.-2020.pdf">risk of water scarcity </a>as the frozen fresh water above them disappears, and downstream communities live in fear of being washed away in unpredictable floods. To make matters worse, ice melts to form lakes, which absorb heat and speed up the melting of the glaciers. <a href="https://www.icimod.org/new-glacial-lake-inventory-report-released-47-potentially-dangerous-glacial-lakes-ranked/">As of 2020</a>, Nepal alone held 2,070 of these glacial lakes, 47 of which were at high flood risk.There is a sizeable body of research on glacial lakes and their threats to downstream communities. Proposed solutions include risk knowledge and assessment, monitoring and early warning systems, and structural mitigation activities like <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/human-face-of-a-himalayan-climate-crisis/">construction of gated outlet channels</a> to control the release of water from swelling lakes. Yet, limited climate adaptation funding means that despite these potential solutions, returning to the example of Nepal, only two out of 2,070 lakes have had their <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepals-glacial-lakes-in-danger-of-bursting/">levels </a>reduced.If glacial lake outburst floods are such a pressing environmental threat, why is more action not being taken? Responsibility for managing future floods is passed like a baton from activists to scientists to policy makers and back, each group blaming something different for the lack of concrete action.We need more research, we have wasted too much time on research, we need more finance, we need science-based policy, why does the developed world not step in? And on and on. In this ever-changing blame game, no one takes responsibility, and it is the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/human-face-of-a-himalayan-climate-crisis/">most vulnerable who suffer.</a>The problem is not solely a lack of finance or research, but a flawed outlook on climate change itself. In a drought-prone region, it is costly and perhaps short-sighted to drain freshwater from natural reservoirs into the ocean through the Himalayan river system. The fact that there is not yet a way to safely harness glacial water should not serve as the end of our innovation.<a href="https://www.himalayanwaterproject.org/post/dr-alton-byers-podcast-highlights">Some experts have proposed </a>that these glacial lakes could work as dams to retain meltwater--which could be tapped to produce hydropower and help farmers in drought prone months. This is just one example of how innovation must look past immediate threats and solutions to address the broader systems of environmental change at work.For too long, the Himalayan region has overlooked the impact of their domestic policies and local environmental degradation, and instead blamed the west for the greenhouse gas in the atmosphere.Yet atmospheric carbon is not the only driver of ice loss. <a href="https://www.icimod.org/reducing-black-carbon-in-the-region-will-have-multiple-benefits-and-save-lives/">Black carbon</a> from fires, cookstoves and diesel engines is a growing threat to glacial stability lurking right in the Himalaya’s backyard. This regional pollution darkens the surface of the glaciers, accelerates melting, and cannot be blamed on faraway foreign governments.As sustainability has emerged as a key developmental agenda in response to climate change, the time has come to look beyond reliance on international finance and external blame It is time to reconceptualise the Himalayan region’s relationship with climate action and mountain development.The Himalaya hold a wealth of local and indigenous knowledge from communities who have lived in harmony with the mountains for centuries. Rather than relying on narrow technological solutions to the immediate threat of glacial floods, the way forward is to look at the Himalayan climate system as a whole. Local knowledge can point to a more thoughtful, effective path that taps into nature-based solutions and centers a systems science approach to climate action.We need an interdisciplinary approach that takes responsibility for our own contributions to the climate crisis while acknowledging our agency in creating regional results. We need to change the way we think about glacial melting and climate action in the Himalaya and introduce a broader view.It is time to end the blame-game, time to move away from narrow solutions that only address one aspect of the impact of the climate crisis on Himalaya. Glacial melting, ecosystem change, and water resource management are all connected and must be treated as such.Killian Dumont and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-climate-connection-to-covid-19/">Rastraraj Bhandari </a>are both research fellows at the <a href="https://www.himalayanwaterproject.org/">Geopolitics &amp; Ecology of Himalayan Water</a>Initiative at NYU Abu Dhabi.

Alarm bells from Nanda Devi

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

When Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) president Rabi Lamichhane was arrested in October on charges of defrauding depositors of cooperatives, the party’s vice president Swarnim Wagle gifted him Fareed Zakaria’s book, Age of Revolutions.
Since then, Lamichhane has been shunted around from Kathmandu to Pokhara to Chitwan and back to Pokhara to attend police investigations and court proceedings. He was being flown to Birganj via Kathmandu on Buddha Air on Monday. There is another pending case in Janakpur.
Human rights groups and civil society have criticised the government for hounding Lamichhane with inhumane treatment that borders on physical torture. The two parties in the coalition, Nepali Congress (NC) and the UML, see Lamichhane’s RSP as a potentially formidable challenge to their power.
Even if the fraud charges against Lamichhane are true, the Nepali public is increasingly looking at the government’s actions through the police and courts as political vendetta.
Despite all the travelling, sometimes by plane and often by road at night, Lamichhane appears to be in high spirits, waving to supporters who often gather if they know he is going to be driven around. A social media video shows him giving high fives to fellow passengers on a recent flight to Pokhara.&nbsp;
In the past weeks, streets in Pokhara have erupted with parallel protests by Lamichhane’s supporters as well as depositors of cooperatives who lost their savings to the scam.&nbsp;
Although family visits are allowed, prison officials in Pokhara told Nepali Times that not many people visit Lamichhane these days. He added, “When he does get visitors, he asks them to bring him books.”
Lamichhane is currently Nepal’s most high-profile public figure in custody, and highlights the stark difference between how influential prisoners are treated compared to ordinary inmates.
There are six prison cells at Kaski District Police Office’s two-story detention centre, three on each floor. And while authorities pack prisoners into already overcrowded cells, Lamichhane has an entire room on the second floor to himself.&nbsp;
He has also been allowed to call his family every few days. Other prisoners are not permitted phone calls except for emergencies.
Meanwhile, Lamichhane’s former business partner Chhabilal Joshi, an ex-Deputy Inspector General of Police with whom he established his Gorkha Media Network, is in custody under the same charges in the prison cell next to him.
Lamichhane is accused of siphoning off depositors' money to the tv network in which he was part-owner and anchor. &nbsp;
Both Lamichhane and Joshi are able to buy food from the police canteen instead of being served the regular meal like other prisoners. Joshi has also given his statement to authorities in Rupandehi and Kathmandu for his alleged role in the scam. Lamichhane is yet to be presented in Kathmandu for questioning.
While he was in custody at the Kathmandu District Police Complex, Joshi expressed his desire to sleep in a police officer’s office, reportedly assuring authorities that he would not run away and he was entitled to certain facilities as a former officer of the law.
“He seemed to be under the impression that he is still a police officer,” says a source at the Kathmandu District Police. “We made it clear to him that as someone accused of a crime, he was not entitled to special treatment.”
Former ministers Balkrishna Khand and Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, and ex-home secretary Tek Narayan Pandey, who were arrested in connection with the fake refugee scam last year, were similarly housed in the offices of law enforcement officials instead of prison cells. Khand has since been released after six months in jail.
While there is no legal provision to keep high-ranking officials in separate detention centres when they are arrested, authorities granting them special facilities is not uncommon. Law enforcement officials say VIP detainees expect preferential treatment while in police custody.
Among those is former Kosi Province minister Lila Ballav Adhikari, who was arrested from Biratnagar on 10 November over his alleged involvement in human trafficking and brought to Kathmandu. Adhikari had flown to Japan without government approval with three individuals on 29 October to attend a cultural conference, but had been sent back to Nepal from Narita.&nbsp;
His three companions were arrested at Kathmandu airport upon their arrival, but Adhikari was able to exit unscathed from the VIP lounge. Adhikari had resigned as the Kosi Province Minister for Internal Affairs and Law when it became public that his companions had been taken into custody, and was himself arrested shortly after. He has since been cleared by the courts.
Throughout his detention, Adhikari was kept separately from other inmates. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Basant Rajouri, head of the Bhadrakali complex, says that while there is no separate detention area for VIPs, some detainees are kept separately depending on the nature of their crime.
However, sources say that arrangements were made for retired judges and others to visit Adhikari frequently worked at the office of a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) during his time in custody.&nbsp;
“He used to constantly pester the authorities to let him sit outside in the sun, and to be able to use the police officer’s shower area,” added an officer.
Adhikari was released on 25 November after the government prosecutor’s office decided not to charge him in a move that was seen to expose the government’s double standards.
Over at Kathmandu’s Dilli Bazar Prison, former Kist Bank CEO Kamal Gyawali emerges from his prison cell into the courtyard of the prison’s ‘Ka (क)’ block every morning with a thick book in his hands, ready to give his daily sermon.
With his long beard, Gyawali, who is serving a prison sentence for banking fraud, looks the part of a religious guru as he implores his rapt listeners to “walk the right path, abandon bad thoughts and turn to scripture and spirituality”.&nbsp;
Afterward, the attendees gather to discuss politics and current affairs. Inmates at his daily sermons at the prison include other high-profile detainees, including former MP Ichchha Raj Tamang, who is in jail for money laundering and cooperatives fraud, former joint secretary Chudamani Sharma, who was convicted of corruption, as well as NC leader Chandra Bahadur Lama and Krishna Bahadur Upreti of the UML both of whom are on trial for embezzling billions of rupees.
Victims of the cooperatives scam that former lawmaker Tamang was involved in have made trips to the prison and requested visits, but he has refused to meet with any of them.
“Tamang often complains that the state has prevented him from returning the money to the victims by locking him up,” says a police officer at the Dili Bazar jail.
“All you hear every day from the VIP prisoners is that they have been framed,” adds the officer. “No one admits that they were involved in misdeeds.”
But while most high-profile prisoners complain about prison conditions, one exception is former provincial lawmaker Deepak Manange, who is serving a sentence at Dilli Bazar Jail for attempted murder.
“He is the happiest prisoner here,” says a warden. “Unlike the others, he doesn’t claim to have been framed, in fact he doesn’t seem to care that he is in prison.”
Manange is detained in the ‘Kha (ख)’ block of the prison complex, which he renovated at his own expense. The block previously housed female prisoners, but Manange used his influence to transfer them elsewhere. He faces no shortage of visitors, who range from political leaders to people from the underworld.
Along with Manange, other well-known prisoners in this block include Nepal Telecom Managing Director Sunil Poudel, and former executive director of the Surakshan Printing Centre Bikal Poudel, who are serving time for corruption.
Former prisoners at Dilli Bazar prison include ex-ministers Khum Bahadur Khadka and Shyam Sundar Gupta, NC leader Ganesh Lama, Maoist MP Balkrishna Dhungel, Nagarik Unmukti Party leader Resham Chaudhary, as well as former IGs Ramesh Chand Thakuri, Om Bikram Rana, and Hem Bahadur Gurung.
Section 54 of Nepal’s Prison Act assigns each prison’s internal administration the
responsibility of governing its prisoners, which means the more favourable the jail management is, the more comfortable it is for prisoners.
Dilli Bazar prison has been the prison of choice for many high-ranking prisoners, especially those convicted of white collar crimes, due to its more accommodating administrators. The prison, which has the capacity to house 700 inmates, is also less crowded than other jails.
Anuj Bhattarai, spokesperson of the Department of Prison Management, says that there is no legal classification in Nepal for felons to be assigned prisons based on the nature of their crimes.
“That Dilli Bazar Jail has a higher number of prisoners convicted of crimes like corruption is most likely a coincidence,” says Bhattarai. “There is no provision for influential people to be able to choose where they will be incarcerated.”&nbsp;
Translated by Shristi Karki from the Nepali original published in himalkhabar.com

What Nepal’s VIP prisoners do in jail

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.

himalayas