[caption id="attachment_55670" align="alignnone" width="1500"]<img class="wp-image-55670 size-full" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109151112/636bb5f39c7e80680e07bc32jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"/> Nepal has decided to live with coronavirus adhering to safety measures until the vaccine is developed. Photo: BIKRAM RAINepal confirmed its <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/why-nepal-must-watch-about-coronavirus-but-not-panic/">first Covid-19 case</a> in a student who had returned from Wuhan in January. For two months nothing happened, but after the second case was detected in a student returning from Paris, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-goes-into-lockdown-for-a-week/">the government decided to shut the country down on 24 March</a>. Six months down the line, some experts say the lockdown was started too early and without a strategy for testing, tracing and quarantine. Indeed, the fact that after lying dormant for the first three months, the number of confirmed cases and fatalities have zoomed up.Most of the increase happened after 21 July, when the government made the mistake of declaring “<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-ends-covid-19-lockdown/">lockdown lifted</a>” just as bordering states in India were seeing peaks. Since then, the virus spread like wildfire through the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-tarai-reels-under-covid-19-lockdown/">Tarai town</a>, and engulfed Kathmandu Valley.On Wednesday, there were 1072 cases, of which 637 were in Kathmandu Valley. There were 7 more fatalities on 23 September, 2 of them in Kathmandu, bringing the nationwide total to 436. Unlike the first four months of the lockdown, the number of symptomatic cases and those needing ICU have also gone up, meaning younger people are spreading it to family members and in the community. <iframe src="https://cdn.knightlab.com/libs/timeline3/latest/embed/index.html?source=1I948EK4KuJAZI4tKUFiZM_EKsPyyqGtr2GG7wqNWqlg&amp;font=Default&amp;lang=en&amp;initial_zoom=2&amp;height=650" width="100%" height="650" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>Since the first Nepali Covid-19 case declared in January, followed by the government’s decision to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepalis-from-hubei-quarantined-in-bhaktapur/">repatriate 175 students from Hubei, China on 16 February</a>, it looked like the Nepal government had things under control.Despite the horror stories in February from China and Italy, Nepal was going ahead with its <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/didnt-visit-nepal-year-2020/">Visit Nepal 2020</a> campaign. Tourism Minister Yogesh Bhattarai even went to Australia in the middle of bushfire season there to drum up business, declaring Nepal “<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/lets-call-off-visit-nepal-year-2020/">coronavirus free</a>” country.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/3rd-month-of-lockdown/">3rd month of lockdown</a>, Sonia AwaleHowever, as cases spiraled in China and later India, Nepal closed all mountaineering expeditions and trekking on March 13. Tourists hurried back to Kathmandu to try to get the last flights back. On 22 March, Prime Minister K P Oli declared a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/kathmandu-under-semi-lockdown/">semi-lockdown</a>, sealed Nepal’s international borders, and grounded domestic flights. The following day, as the second Nepali tested positive, a complete lockdown was announced initially for a week. It kept being extended multiple times for the next months.  [caption id="attachment_55673" align="alignnone" width="1030"]<img class="wp-image-55673 size-full" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109151112/636bb5f69c7e80680e07bc33jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1030" height="643"> Empty Kathmandu roads during the lockdown. Photo: BIKRAM RAIAs neighbouring India also declared a lockdown, leaving <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepalis-still-stuck-in-no-mans-land/">hundreds of thousands of migrant workers in the lurch</a>, Nepal was ill-prepared for the flood of returnees. At first it did not allow the workers in and tens of thousands were stranded for weeks at the border. Desperate, some even swam across the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/lockdown-limbo-in-no-mans-land/">Mahakali River</a> to get home.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/trumpism-in-nepals-covid-19-response/">Trumpism in Nepal’s Covid-19 response</a>, Sushil Koirala and Ben AyersThere was a surge of cases among returnees, and among men at a mosque in <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/the-india-connection-in-nepals-covid-19-status/">Udayapur, Morang and Banke</a> who had returned from a congregation in Delhi. But the government reacted swiftly with sealing off districts and contact tracing. Nepalis at the border were <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepalis-stranded-at-india-border-return/">finally allowed to enter Nepal</a>, but they were kept in poorly equipped quarantine centres, which themselves became incubators for the virus. <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/returnees-may-be-taking-coronavirus-to-rural-nepal/">Later, many infected people took the virus to their mountain districts.</a>The government also bungled by first getting <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-relying-on-unreliable-covid-19-kits/">unreliable RDT test kits</a>, which though quick gave a lot of false negative results. After kickbacks and corruption was exposed in the media, the Covid-19 Crisis Management Committee finally switched to RT PCR, but there were not enough reagents and kits for the kind of mass testing that was required.[caption id="attachment_55676" align="alignnone" width="1368"]<img class="wp-image-55676 size-full" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109151112/636bb5f89c7e80680e07bc34jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1368" height="912"> Unreliable RDT test. Photo: BIKRAM RAIThe CCMC is chaired by Defense Minister Ishwar Pokhrel and he was directly implicated in awarding the<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-to-test-covid-19-test-kits-from-china/"> RDT kit import contract to Omni Group </a>at inflated prices. Pokhrel then handed over the business to Nepal Army, but there were reports that Omni simply put up a front company to import from the same Chinese company that Omni dealt with.  <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/who-is-in-charge-in-nepal/">Who’s in charge in Nepal?</a>, Alisha SijapatiAs government revenue from taxes plummeted, Finance Minister Yubaraj Khatiwada announced a relaxation of the first lockdown on 7 May, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-partly-open-for-business/">partly opening businesses.</a> On 28 May, he <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-unveils-covid-19-budget/">unveiled the Covid-19 budget</a> of Rs14.74 trillion, setting aside Rs6 billion to manage the pandemic.While, Prime Minister Oli continued to argue for extending the lockdown, Khatiwada announced on 21 July that the lockdown was “lifted”, although  there were still restrictions. This resulted in tens of thousands of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepali-workers-returning-to-india/">Nepalis and Indians to stream back </a>just as India was seeing a peak.  However, by 18 August as the daily case load started to exceed 1,000, local  governments <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/kathmandu-lockdown-2-0/">prohibitory orders on 18 August</a> in Kathmandu and 44 districts as cases spiked. But given that impact on the economy, rise in joblessness and the risk of an <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/survive-2020-revive-in-2021-and-thrive-in-2022/">economic meltdown</a>, the government accepted defeat and decided to open up – telling the people they had to take precautions and learn to live with the virus. <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/24-march-24-august-2020/">24 March-24 August</a>, Alisha SijapatiLimited regular <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-allows-limited-international-flights/">international flights were allowed from 1 September</a>, and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepals-domestic-flights-resume/">domestic flights resumed from 21 September</a>. Businesses, restaurants and public transport were also allowed with some restrictions. All this while the daily number of new cases and deaths in Kathmandu continue to break records every day. [caption id="attachment_55510" align="alignnone" width="960"]<img class="wp-image-55510 size-full" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109151112/636bb5fb9c7e80680e07bc35jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="960" height="640"> Domestic terminal reopens for operation after being grounded for six months. Photo: BIKRAM RAIPublic health experts say that the government’s strategy from Day One was that it did not have a strategy. Policies were reactive and ad hoc, locking down and opening up were wrongly timed.  In the end, the government realised that saving the economy was more important because <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/workers-return-to-jobless-nepal/">jobless and hungry people </a>would die in greater number than from the disease.As the northern hemisphere prepares for a second surge with the winter flu season, Nepal is once more ill-prepared. Hospitals in Kathmandu are already full, and there are not enough ICU beds and ventilators.  The only silver lining is that even as the numbers in Kathmandu Valley continue to surge, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/covid-19-lessons-for-kathmandu-from-the-tarai/">the Tarai towns appear to have peaked.</a>Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/youth-led-feeding-campaign-spreads-across-nepal/">Youth-led feeding campaign spreads across Nepal</a>, Nunuta Rai<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepali-workers-stuck-in-no-mans-land/">Nepali workers stuck in no man’s land</a>, Nepali Times

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Nepal has decided to live with Covid-19

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101136/636b75679c7e80680e0623e9jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1440" height="811"/><figcaption>The Nepal Airlines Airbus 330 at Wuhan airport on 16 February to bring back 175 Nepali students. All photos: ABIHINAV SHRESTHA</figcaption></figure>When Abhinav Shrestha, 23, saw the Nepal Airlines Airbus 330 jet finally land at Wuhan Airport last week, flying the proud sun and moon flag of his country on its tail, his heart swelled with pride. Only later, after boarding, did it sink in that he would soon be going home after three weeks alone in his dorm room in Jingzhou in China’s Hubei province.Shrestha was halfway into his one year MBBS internship at the Jingzhou No. 1 People’s Hospital, when news came of the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/why-nepal-must-watch-about-coronavirus-but-not-panic/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan</a>  three hours drive away. Doctors at the hospital advised all students to remain in self-quarantine for two weeks.Read also: <a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/a-nepali-in-beijing-during-coronavirus-scare/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A Nepali in Beijing during coronavirus scare</a>, Rastraraj Bhandari<a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/covid-19-both-danger-and-opportunity/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Covid-19: Both danger and opportunity</a>, Marcia ChenAlthough the uncertainty was harrowing, being the son of a physician back in Nepal and a medical student himself Shrestha knew that <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/when-panic-goes-viral/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the virus had a low fatality rate</a>  He was in constant touch with his father, who reassured him, advising him to take necessary precautions and urging him not to worry.“I knew the elderly were most vulnerable, and was aware of what to do to protect myself from the virus, but there was nothing to protect me from the boredom and loneliness of those three weeks,” Shrestha told Nepali Times over the phone on the fifth day of his quarantine at Kharipati near Kathmandu.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101136/636b756a9c7e80680e0623eajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="750" height="1000"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Of the 182 students in Hubei province who signed in to be flown back to Nepal, six had fever and were returned to hospital from Wuhan airport. Shrestha says that among their Chinese peers it was a matter of great pride for the Nepali students that their government had sent a plane specially to take them home. Many African students and those from other Asian countries are still in lockdown in various cities in Hubei.“It was surreal seeing the big Nepal airlines jet taxiing in to the empty terminal in the snow,” Shrestha says. “Whenever I travelled between Nepal and China, it had always been in a Chinese airline.”Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/when-panic-goes-viral/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">When panic goes viral</a>, EditorialShrestha had been back to Nepal just twice during his six years in China, and it was finding himself at the epicentre of the epidemic that brought him back home for the third time. After completing his studies at Yangtze University in Jingzhou, he was interning at the Gastroeterology Department at No. 1 People’s Hospital when he first heard about the coronavirus outbreak.Shrestha and other students had their temperatures checked five times during the three hour bus ride to Wuhan airport, where they had a through medical exam one more time before boarding.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101136/636b756d9c7e80680e0623ebjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2320" height="3088"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>After the five hour flight to Kathmandu, Shrestha and his fellow passengers were taken to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepalis-from-hubei-quarantined-in-bhaktapur/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">quarantine at a converted NEA training facility at Kharipati</a>  where he shares a room with two other Nepali students.“It was great relief to be back home, and although our movement is restricted we feel much freer here than during lockdown in China,” Shrestha says. “It is like being in a college hostel again, and the food is superb.”The evacuees have been spending time hanging out with friends sunning themselves on the terrace and using the free SIM cards provided by the government. They play sports and watch movies.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-media-feels-chinas-wrath-in-coronavirus-fallout/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nepal media feels China's wrath in coronavirus fallout</a>, Kunda DixitShrestha has also been studying at night, in case he can go back to complete his internship and the exams at the end of it. However, there is uncertainty about when his university is going to reopen.Shrestha and other students say they also miss China, which has become a second home to them. Many of them speak Mandarin, which has allowed them to make Chinese friends that they left behind.“I really miss China,” says Shrestha, who is trying to see if it is possible to complete his internship in a hospital in Nepal.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101140/636b75709c7e80680e0623ecjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1080" height="1440"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>His experience has strengthened Shrestha’s conviction in his choice of profession. He witnessed firsthand how patients had to be sent back home in the early days of the outbreak despite Chinese health officials’ best efforts, because there simply wasn’t enough space to treat everyone. But he saw that the patients did not lose hope.“They would wait outside the hospital all night,” he remembers. “My father is a doctor, so I had always wanted to be one too, but in those moments I realised how much people expect from doctors.”Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/coronavirus-outbreak-may-curb-wildlife-trafficking/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Covid-19 outbreak may curb wildlife trafficking</a>, Sonia AwalePreliminary test results of all 175 students evacuated from Hubei have come back negative for COVID-19. The evacuees will undergo another round of testing after the 2-week quarantine period is over before being given the all-clear.Shrestha cannot wait to see his family. He points out that since the news from China was mostly focused on the deaths from the virus and not the recoveries, his family had been really concerned. He adds: “The joy I will feel when I see them after the quarantine is over will be very different to the joy I felt when I previously came back home from China.”

Shristi Karki

From Hubei to Kharipati

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101132/636b742e9c7e80680e06237djpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="1050"/><figcaption>Pangolin that escaped from a community forest in Sankhuwasaba district in June 2019 rolls into its scales for safety before being released back into the wild. Pangolins are the world's most trafficked mammals and are also smuggled from Nepal to China across the Himalaya. Photo: SUJAN BAJRACHARYA/RSS</figcaption></figure>China is world's biggest market for the illegal trade in wildlife for food and traditional medicine, and its blanket ban announced this week may actually save some endangered species from extinction.The Chinese government said the ban on selling wild animal in markets would be in force ‘until the end of national epidemic’. However, conservationists including Chinese academics, are pushing for a permanent ban and believe the outbreak can be an opportunity to conserve endangered Asian and African wildlife.“A temporary ban does not address the larger problem, there will always be a risk of infections like coronavirus as long as there is demand for wildlife in China,” says Tulshi Laxmi Suwal of Nepal’s Small Mammal Conservation and Research Foundation who did her PhD on pangolins from National Pintung University in Taiwan.Read also: <a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/why-nepal-must-watch-about-coronavirus-but-not-panic/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Why Nepal must watch Coronavirus, but not panic</a>, Sameer M DixitEarly studies have pointed to bats as the source of the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/why-nepal-must-watch-about-coronavirus-but-not-panic/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2019 novel coronavirus</a> -- now named Covid-19 -- and scientists are trying to figure out how it jumped from animals to humans. The origin of the epidemic has been traced to a seafood market in Wuhan that also sold wild animals.However, other Chinese researchers on Friday said that <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/protecting-pangolins-from-being-eaten-to-extinction/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pangolins</a>  the world's most trafficked mammal, might be the missing link between bats and humans.African and Asian <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/lesser-known-endangered-species/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pangolins</a> are hunted for the meat, considered a delicacy by locals. Its scales are used extensively as an ingredient in Chinese traditional medicine. All eight species of the mammals found in Asia and Africa are on the endangered list."Bats alone are known to carry anywhere between 40-200 different viruses. Eating meat of wild animals or close interaction with one can transmit the virus to humans," says Sanjan Thapa who is pursuing PhD on bats at China’s Quangchau University.Read also: <a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/a-nepali-in-beijing-during-coronavirus-scare/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A Nepali in Beijing during coronavirus scare</a>, Rastraraj BhandariWhatever the mode of transmission, the latest outbreak has once again brought to the forefront the rise of zoonotic diseases and its critical association with flourishing illegal wildlife trade, especially in China.There is a fear that the Covid-19 epidemic will push many in China to resort to powdered rhino horn as a cure for the flu. Rhinos poaching in Africa and India already feeds the demand in traditional Chinese medicine.Covid-19 has killed at least 1,300 people as of Thursday, more than SARS in 2002-2003, despite its lower fatality rate of 2.2% against 9.6% for SARS. The newer virus, however, is the more contagious and has spread to 28 countries with over 60,000 confirmed cases.Before <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/a-nepali-in-beijing-during-coronavirus-scare/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Covid-19 epidemic</a>, there were SARS and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) that also originated from animals. The SARS virus moved from bats to civets and then to humans. Camels were the source of the MERS virus in 2012 in West Asia. Ebola outbreak (2013-2016) was also traced to bats.Experts believe that the coronavirus scare will also lead to decline in poaching and trafficking of wildlife in Nepal, which is on the traditional route for trafficking of endangered species from India to China and has <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/better-nepal-china-connectivity-helps-wildlife-smugglers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">flourished as a transit hub</a> for smuggling of pangolin scales, rhino horns, tiger and leopard skin and elephant tusks.“Once the demand in China goes down, poaching and smuggling here in Nepal will also decline. Conservation efforts in Nepal will gain a lot if a permanent ban on wildlife trade is placed in China,” adds Suwal. “This is also a good time to create awareness about the higher risk of zoonotic diseases on those involved in the illicit trade so that they are discouraged to continue.”According to District Forest Office Kathmandu, 1,798 body parts of 10 wildlife species destined for China were confiscated in the last eight years. Of those, 1,468 belonged to different species of birds, 94 to <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/city-for-transshipment-of-wildlife,3424" target="_blank" rel="noopener">red pandas</a>  92 to leopards and 42 to pangolins. Nepal Police has filed 880 cases against poachers in the past 18 years.Says Sindhu Dhungana of Ministry of Forest and Environment: “National and international coordination is essential to control wildlife crime and impossible to do so without a cross-border collaboration between Nepal, India and China.”With additional reporting by Mukesh Pokhrel.

Sonia Awale

Coronavirus outbreak may curb wildlife trafficking

We were used to getting stuck in Kathmandu’s notorious traffic with gas fumes and horns blaring. We are still stuck in traffic, but now it is mostly the quiet hum of EVs, and street-level air is noticeably cleaner. Alongside Norway, Nepal has the highest combustion-to-EV conversion rates in the world. And we are not even a middle-income country yet. How did we get here?&nbsp; For the first time in Nepal’s history, 2025 saw an unprecedented turn of events: two back-to-back auto shows a week apart in August, independent of each other. This was timed for the warm up to the Dasain season. &nbsp;&nbsp; The first auto show 6-11 August was the <a href="https://naimanepal.org/mobility-expo" target="_blank">NAIMA Mobility Expo 2025 </a>by the newly established Nepal Automobile Importers and Manufacturers Association which saw 35 new models, many of them EVs with 50 participating brands like Toyota, BYD, Hyundai, Kia, MG, Mahindra, Omoda &amp; Jaecoo, Proton and Leapmotor.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025101711108_d8c03f5141f0086814d866543af4d95310f340a7191363e4705aedda8e4b73d0.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2025101711108_d8c03f5141f0086814d866543af4d95310f340a7191363e4705aedda8e4b73d0" data-rendition-name="original" width="1770" height="1097" loading="lazy" alt="Electric cars in Nepal NT"> </figure>  The exhibition had a strong focus on two-wheelers aimed at affordable and easy mobility in a town now known for long traffic jams (see report). NAIMA attracted a record 100,000 visitors in six days.&nbsp; The second one was the Nepal Automobile Dealer’s Association Auto Show 2025 (<a href="https://youtu.be/emSd0mUuMjU" target="_blank">NADA</a>) to address the growing demands for cars and two-wheelers. It was a natural expression of new market forces at work, on one hand, and popular taste, on the other — one influencing the other.&nbsp; This year’s NADA Auto Show was its 17th iteration, and carried a hefty legacy: exhibiting a contemporary lineup from manufacturers such as Tata, Suzuki, Xpeng and Nammi, but also classics for vintage car lovers like the 1928 Ford Model A and a rare 1955 Austin Princess Dm4 sedan.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025101711108_dda7d264ddb12448cc10d9b1cb699632eee975741fc4c56055e4df904579c34f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="2025101711108_dda7d264ddb12448cc10d9b1cb699632eee975741fc4c56055e4df904579c34f" data-rendition-name="original" width="1381" height="848" loading="lazy" alt="Electric cars in Nepal NT"> </figure>  It also showcased the Deepal eVTOL (a 2-seater drone), and a humanoid robot with dog. Curious onlookers at Bhrikuti Mandap thronged the show with footfall crossing 170,000.&nbsp; Earlier this year, I had traveled to attend India's largest auto show, the <a href="https://youtu.be/OgIIvXx6yOM?si=zNmMgklzCJpagTye" target="_blank">Bharat Mobility Global expo</a> in January in New Delhi. It was part of a <a href="https://youtu.be/GT6LBKiJvyg?si=r7YaxahjSAnsIfBY" target="_blank">roadtrip</a> from one capital to another with BYD Nepal on a Dolphin. The journey took three days through Bhairawa and then the Lucknow-Agra Expressway, covering a distance of 1200km one way.&nbsp; The drive through the horrid Narayanghat-Butwal corridor alone was testimony that EVs are no longer fragile and could handle a beating. And while both Nepal's economy pales in comparison to India, it was evident that the private passenger segment is well on its way to electrification. More than 70% of all vehicles sold in Nepal last year were electric. Sales representatives are unanimous: inquiries for EVs are at an all-time high and overshadow demand for ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) vehicles. Besides four-wheelers, a fast-growing proportion of scooters were also electric.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251017111016_e4cd988ca915ddd283a86d48fac332f22f98ff776b3d22391e10156ad56d7a1a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20251017111016_e4cd988ca915ddd283a86d48fac332f22f98ff776b3d22391e10156ad56d7a1a" data-rendition-name="original" width="1389" height="863" loading="lazy" alt="Electric cars in Nepal"> </figure>  I have spent the last two years <a href="https://youtu.be/256YQa37Ol8?si=Sv1wQ8EdvgMCiTM_" target="_blank">reviewing</a> many of these EVs. The days of batter-powered cars being small toy cars, with sub-par build quality and the range of golf carts have long gone.&nbsp; Fit and finishing in both Chinese and Indian EVs are comparable to established brand names even in Japanese and European markets. But most significantly for us in Nepal, battery technology and range have made inter-city travel on our highways imaginable. The media sometimes portrays Nepal as a prime testing/dumping ground for EVs due to lack of regulation and the proximity to the world’s largest EV exporter (China) and our tough geographical conditions. That is just a part of the story. What actually stands out is the incredible appetite for risk among Nepali buyers.&nbsp; Since the Covid pandemic charging infrastructure has spread across the country. My early trips between Kathmandu and Pokhara saw the possibility of topping up with just one charging gun at the <a href="https://rsr.com.np/" target="_blank">Riverside Springs Resort in Kurintar</a> – and I would have to wait in line, or the charger simply would not be working.&nbsp; These days, by the time I cross Kurintar from Koteswor in my Kona, I will have passed at least 10 charging stations with multiple guns. &nbsp; On my <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@casuallyannoyeddriver" target="_blank">YouTube reviews</a>, people from across the globe ask about range and handling EVs on poor road conditions like ours. The occasional skeptics also leave comments like: ‘If this works in the higher altitudes and mountainous roads of Nepal, then it should be a breeze down here in the flats of Australia and/or hills around Auckland!’  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251017111016_8b4fbe59884538849be6428eb2ce9249627a8970ed9ef4cd3c792682bf26dbed.jpg" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="20251017111016_8b4fbe59884538849be6428eb2ce9249627a8970ed9ef4cd3c792682bf26dbed" data-rendition-name="original" width="1139" height="787" loading="lazy" alt="Electric cars in Nepal"> </figure>  SATURATION? However, both the NAIMA and NADA auto show also confirmed that we could be hitting a peak EV. From having just one car in one budget segment, there are now multiple alternatives stretching from the entry of below Rs3 million to the premium and high-end Rs 10 million price point.&nbsp; Furthermore, the price wars on EVs that started in China a year ago have also trickled across to Nepal. Models such as the <a href="https://youtu.be/3wFN2I81Tq0?si=T6L4SAfRpoyNNvYC" target="_blank">MG S5</a>, Nammi Vigo, BYD Atto 2 (and 1) and <a href="https://youtu.be/y214kWbWTc4?si=bIevanDZEPQdkEs4" target="_blank">Deepal S05</a> saw aggressive pricing schemes and discounts that disrupted pre-existing quotas. Consumers can suddenly afford a lot more cars, and travel a lot further for a considerably smaller price tag.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025101711108_276afec1bdbd37497572939a4eada4bef74c9d075cd5851892c4dd1985edb9c5.jpg" data-media-id="editor_13" data-image-id="2025101711108_276afec1bdbd37497572939a4eada4bef74c9d075cd5851892c4dd1985edb9c5" data-rendition-name="original" width="1953" height="1107" loading="lazy" alt="Electric cars in Nepal NT"> </figure>  However, booking numbers at both auto shows did not necessarily translate into actual deliveries. The fact remains that almost 80% of registered vehicles in Nepal are still two-wheelers, and GDP per capita stands at just $1500 — among the lowest in the world.&nbsp; This means that early first-adopters are first-time buyers, and the remaining customers in the market are more skeptical and less willing. But there are also those that are unlikely to consider the EV suitable to travel to off-road rural areas. For the average Nepali family, upgrading or purchasing a new car is no small decision. It happens in five years or more with resale values being a big determinant. The EV boom may be reaching saturation.&nbsp; Both NADA and NAIMA shows drove home the message that Nepal’s transport sector is on an electric fast-track, but the road ahead will be bumpy.&nbsp; Soon after the shows, the glacial debris flow on the Bhote Kosi knocked out the Rasuwa-Kerung border with China, and earlier landslides had already blocked the Koradi checkpoint. Manufacturers are now using the less convenient Korala border in Mustang. BYD, Leapmotor and Omoda &amp; Jaecoo have begun rerouting their vehicles to make up for delivery deadlines.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025101711108_62fd70a476656062005959c247b38178d8efabf8570c73929295c0a103ff4013.jpg" data-media-id="editor_14" data-image-id="2025101711108_62fd70a476656062005959c247b38178d8efabf8570c73929295c0a103ff4013" data-rendition-name="original" width="1438" height="1031" loading="lazy" alt="Electric cars in Nepal NT"> </figure>  Although the distance from the capital to the Korala border (470km) is four times longer than from Rasuwa (128km) &nbsp;and Tatopani (112km), it is still considered faster and more cost effective than shipping via India using sea routes.&nbsp; And then Nepal was engulfed in turmoil after the youth-led protests of 8-9 September and its aftermath. Many automobile showrooms around Thapathali including Tata, Hyundai and CG were vandalised and torched.&nbsp; Sushila Karki leads a caretaker government till elections are held in March, and the unsettled situation will affect the economy and investment climate as well as the automobile sector. Arnav Upadhyay reviews automobiles and promotes road safety under the handle Casually Annoyed Driver on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@casuallyannoyeddriver" target="_blank">Youtube</a>, <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@casuallyannoyeddriver" target="_blank">Tiktok</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/casuallyannoyeddriver/" target="_blank">IG</a>, and this monthly column Drive Line in Nepali Times.

Is Nepal reaching peak EV?

While the streets of Kathmandu were erupting violent GenZ protests that brought down the government, Nepal’s athletes were achieving different kinds of breakthroughs on Spain’s mountain trails and in the cricket qualifiers in the UAE.&nbsp; On 27 September, two weeks after the uprising back home, Nepal's cricket team stunned the sporting world with their first-ever victory against a full member nation — defeating two-time World Cup champions West Indies by 19 runs, then crushing them by 90 runs two days later to seal a historic 2-0 series victory. On that very day, 5,000km away in the Spanish Pyrenees Sunmaya Budha stood on a podium alongside American and European champions, clutching a silver medal from the 3rd World Mountain and Trail Running Championships. No Asian athlete had ever finished this high in the Long Trail competition at the World Championships. While youth back home showed they would not tolerate injustice and could carve their own future, young Nepalis were securing it on the global sports stage even in moments of national crisis.&nbsp; The Long Trail event at the 2025 World Championships was designed to break even the strongest athletes. Stretching 82km through the Spanish Pyrenees, the course features an unrelenting 5,413m of elevation gain and descent.&nbsp; Athletes faced everything from steep scree slopes to narrow ridge lines, from boulder fields requiring scrambling to precipitous descents demanding total concentration. One misstep could mean injury, one lapse in focus could cost precious minutes.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025101909108_81152b4754331c4858ed2d0d28204e6a92559faf089fea9ebc84156766ff228a.png" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2025101909108_81152b4754331c4858ed2d0d28204e6a92559faf089fea9ebc84156766ff228a" data-rendition-name="original" width="977" height="731" loading="lazy" alt="World Mountain and Trail Running Championships"> <figcaption>The Nepal team at the World Championships 2025 with the final four: Sangge Sherpa, Sunmaya Budha, Suman Kulung, Man Kumar Roka Magar. Photo: PREETI KHATTRI</figcaption> </figure>  WOMEN'S COMPETITION Katie Schide (USA) - Winner • Time: 9:57:59 • Average pace: 7:18 per km&nbsp; &nbsp; <a href="https://www.facebook.com/sunmaya.budha.942">Sunmaya Budha </a>(Nepal) - Silver Medal • Time: 10:23:03 • Gap behind winner: 25 minutes and 4 seconds • Average pace: 7:36 per km Most recreational trail runners need 18-24 hours to complete this course, if they can finish it at all. Budha's pace means she was running at a speed that most casual runners could not maintain on a flat course, let alone while constantly climbing and descending mountains. MEN'S COMPETITION Jim Walmsley (USA) - Winner • Time: 8:35:11 • Average pace: 6:17 per kilometer (10:07 per mile) &nbsp; <a href="https://www.facebook.com/runnersumankulung">Suman Kulung (Nepal)</a> - 32nd Place • Time: 10:06:25 • Average pace: 7:24 per km • Finished 1 hour 31 minutes behind the winner • Best performance by an Asian male athlete &nbsp; <a href="https://www.facebook.com/rokamagarmankumar764">Man Kumar Roka Magar (Nepal)</a> - 37th Place • Time: 10:10:53 • Average pace: 7:27 per km • Finished just 4.5 minutes behind Kulung <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Yetimannnnn">Sangge Sherpa (Nepal)</a> - 116th Place • Time: 12:33:09 • Average pace: 9:11 per km  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025101909108_2255845b43e68b14d3b111099124f9c98898bbe9016299b9af278aca8b4377f7.png" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="2025101909108_2255845b43e68b14d3b111099124f9c98898bbe9016299b9af278aca8b4377f7" data-rendition-name="original" width="977" height="904" loading="lazy" alt="World Mountain and Trail Running Championships"> <figcaption>Sangge Sherpa organising himself post gear check in Can-Franc.</figcaption> </figure>  The men's winner averaged about 6:17/km on a course where elite mountain runners were struggling. Kulung and Roka Magar maintained a 7:24-7:27/km pace—faster than many recreational runners' easy flat road pace. They were faster than dozens of European athletes who train in the Alps. Even Sherpa's 9:11/km average pace over 12+ hours represents an extraordinary feat of endurance, maintaining forward progress on some of the most challenging mountain terrain in competitive trail running. “What set Budha apart was her exceptional descending ability. She recorded the fastest downhill speed among all women in the competition—a skill honed through years of training on Nepal’s steep mountain trails,” said her team director Ryan S Blair.&nbsp; Sunmaya Budha, ranked world 8th for 100km category events and 17th in the world by the International Trail Running Association (ITRA), entered the race having recently recovered from injuries to both legs.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025101909108_38d8bee04beaa6443480ecf4765e6b34f91d2d105128f292f73702072a820d25.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="2025101909108_38d8bee04beaa6443480ecf4765e6b34f91d2d105128f292f73702072a820d25" data-rendition-name="original" width="1600" height="1070" loading="lazy" alt="World Mountain and Trail Running Championships"> <figcaption>Sunmaya storming in 2nd position. Photo: WMTRC2025 CANFRAC </figcaption> </figure>  While American Katie Schide dominated from the front, Budha found herself in an intense battle for second place with Italy's Fabiola Conti, a specialised skyrace and mountain marathon runner. The two runners remained locked together through much of the course, running side-by-side at key checkpoints and pushing each other through the mountain wilderness. In ultra-trail racing, where climbs are often win by fractions of minutes, the ability to descend fearlessly and efficiently can make the difference between podium positions. Budha's technical prowess on the descents gave her a advantage over her European competitors. The decisive moment came in the final 20km. At the 65km mark, Budha held a 90-second lead over Conti. By 71.5km she had extended her advantage to eight minutes — a commanding gap she maintained to the finish. In a powerful display of national pride, she approached the finish wrapped in the Nepali flag, showing the world what Himalayan athletes can achieve on the global stage. Said Preeti Khattri, team lead for Nepal: "Standing right beside the USA and European peer. Proud. No Asian athletes have ever made it this far.” MEN, TOO While Budha captured headlines with her silver medal, the performances of Suman Kulung and Man Kumar Roka Magar were equally significant. Both athletes topped Asian athletes and numerous European competitors. Suman Kulung delivered a performance that demonstrated extraordinary mental toughness and racing intelligence. What makes his 32nd place finish even more impressive is that 1.5km he encountered a severe bottleneck on narrow technical trails.&nbsp; This critical delay pushed him back to around 92nd position—a devastating setback in a world championship race where every second counts. Many athletes would have been demoralised by such an early disaster.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025101909108_e2f358723ea8abaa262e749a4c6afb0a179cf9f3e0bb4eab1d973e25b9b00f09.png" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="2025101909108_e2f358723ea8abaa262e749a4c6afb0a179cf9f3e0bb4eab1d973e25b9b00f09" data-rendition-name="original" width="668" height="445" loading="lazy" alt="World Mountain and Trail Running Championships"> <figcaption>Suman Kulung coming through 65km Assisted Checkpoint. Photo: DR SIGRID FOUNDATION</figcaption> </figure>  But Kulung showed why he is Nepal's top-ranked trail runner: he launched a spectacular comeback. By the 30km mark, he had charged through the field to reach approximately 20th position — recovering over 70 places in less than 30km.&nbsp; His final time of 10:06:25 placed him ahead of runners from traditional mountain running powers including Switzerland, Austria, and Germany, and was the highest-finishing Asian male athlete in the competition.

Nepali runners score breakthroughs

Edmund Hillary once said that the Sherpa were the most researched, dissected and blood-taken ethnic group in the world. Living below the highest mountains in the world, the trans-Himalayan traders were genetically adapted to high altitude, their culture spanning both sides of the border, and with average per capita income of the Khumbu five times that of the rest of Nepal. But there are other less-known Sherpas in Nepal’s periphery: in the Langtang, Barun and Rolwaling valleys.&nbsp; Norwegian mountaineer Jon Gangdal’s latest book, Guilt &amp; Glory: Climbing with Sherpas is about his deep personal and four-decade long association with his climbing partners from Rolwaling. Guilt &amp; Glory reads more like Gangdal’s memoir and the mountains he has climbed, but it is also a tribute to the selfless friendship with fellow climbers from Nepal. It also exposes the inherently asymmetric relationship between expeditions and their employees in the Himalaya. Earlier mountaineering narratives overlooked the role of Nepal’s climbing guides in putting their clients on summits. But in recent years there has been increasing recognition that most expeditions would just not be possible without them. SUMMIT SUPPORT And that is where Gangdal’s book fits in: between the glory of a successful summit and guilt about not giving due credit to the sacrifice and professionalism of a people whose surname and ethnicity is now a synonym for support staff of G-7 Summits. After failure and tragedy on a 1994 expedition on Everest West Ridge in which his climbing partner Mingma Norbu was killed in an avalanche, Gangdal is tormented by guilt and supports his widow Ang Sona and her family. ‘The Art of Succeeding When You Have Failed’ was the title of his lecture series in which Gangdal became an outspoken critic of military-style assaults on Himalayan peaks, and self-seeking climbers on them. In a comment he wrote for <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/everest-dangerous-place-to-work,1316" target="_blank">Nepali Times in #704 in 2014 </a>after an avalanche killed 16 Nepali guides on the Khumbu Icefall, he argued that equality and safety of climbing Sherpas could only happen ‘if we turn the whole Everest pyramid upside down’. He wrote: ‘We can feel nothing but grief and pain with the families of the brave boys who gave their lives for … for what? For the glory of their nation, like at war? For the glory of their attention-seeking sahibs who have had the highest mountains in the world as their playground for more than a century? Or for what we all have to do: our daily duty to feed ourselves and our families.’ Guilt &amp; Glory expands on that theme, weaving in his climbing adventures. He realises that the egalitarian Norwegian approach in decision-making does not work in the East’ where the prevalent notion is that a leader should lead. Gangdal notes that with a few tweaks, the twain of East and West can indeed meet. In 1996 on the north face of Everest while a major tragedy was unfolding on the Nepal side, Gangdal tries to ‘play Sherpa’ hauling twice the load of his Sherpa companions and is knocked out with exhaustion and has to abandon the climb. Climbers have often justified not helping fellow climbers in distress in the Death Zone saying that ethics at sea level do not apply at eight thousand metres high on a mountain. But Gangdal quotes expedition doctor Morten Rostrup: ‘When you pass climbers who are sick or in danger on the way to the summit, you should always do something … continuing to the summit shows a lack of humanity.’ Foreign climbers are on top of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, and in a monastery below Manaslu, Gangdal once held a long one-sided discussion with the abbott on why people’s basic needs need to be met before higher aspirations can be pursued. The asymmetry in the relation between sahibs and porters is less glaring than it used to be. Many mountaineers have struck life-long friendships with bonds with their employees and their families in Nepal. And, as Gangdal writes, ‘Education … has helped reduce the asymmetry between the Sherpa people and us foreign climbers.’ Unlike other books about Himalayan mountaineering &nbsp;this one focuses on the Rolwaling, the less visited and wilder valley in the shadow of Gauri Shankar, and protected by the goddess Tseringma.&nbsp; Noted Rolwaling Sherpas include Chhiring Dorje who made the heroic rescue on K2 in 2008, Dawa Yangzum, the first Nepali woman to summit all 14 eight-thousanders, Tamting Sherpa who has also climbed all 8,000m peaks, TGemba Tsheri who became the youngest person to climb Everst at age 16 in 2001. <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/power-of-the-periphery/deep-ecologists/75228182BC490F8AC31C8E4C8335F435" target="_blank">Rolwaling also has a strong Norwegian connection</a>, it is where <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2009/jan/15/obituary-arne-naess" target="_blank">Arne Næss</a> who coined the term ‘deep ecology’, and mountaineer and eco-philosopher <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/norway-nepal-a-love-story" target="_blank">Sigmund Kvaløy</a> did their research and exploration in 1971.&nbsp; There is one interesting tidbit with contemporary non-mountaineering relevance from Guilt &amp; Glory: Næss and Kvaløy’s Rowaling research was bankrolled by Arne’s brother Erling Dekke Næss, a Norwegian shipping magnate. But Rolwaling was a restricted area in those days because of Khampa activity, and the Norwegians approached Prince Gyanendra who granted them permission in return for setting up the Royal Nepal Shipping Corporation. Gyanendra became chair of that controversial company and Erling Næss was adviser. Guilt &amp; Glory is not just about mountaineering, and is sprinkled with anecdotes and encounters with everything from Maoists to yetis. It is written with compassion and a deep respect for Nepal and its people.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251017111028_3fd1da00a1362a6c3f07807ec55b9e5d9163c11fb759aa09530a5ea486751d24.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20251017111028_3fd1da00a1362a6c3f07807ec55b9e5d9163c11fb759aa09530a5ea486751d24" data-rendition-name="original" width="1136" height="702" loading="lazy" alt="Guilt &amp; Glory book"> </figure>

West meets East in the Himalaya

In 2004, Poet Durga Lal Shrestha asked me to translate 223 little poems from Newa into English. They were each written as sestet-- terse in their form but heavy in imagery and sentiment. The novice translator in me struggled to find the best way to convey his poetry in English-- but the process became a tour as I discovered my mother tongue anew. The highlight, however, was Shrestha’s handwriting. His calligraphy is immaculate. He had given me photocopies from the notebook he had written the poems in and each page looked as though they were freshly out of the press. The letters bore a consistency, unswayed by the emotions of his poetry. Sometimes, I would just stare at the handwriting in admiration.&nbsp; Someone else had been similarly besotted by his writing: “I met him 25 years ago in the UK when he was the chief guest at a Mha Puja event organised by Pasa Pucha,” recollects Ojesh Singh, writer and engineer. “We were roommates. I noticed he couldn’t stop writing.”&nbsp; Shrestha, an octogenarian now, was a teacher at Kanya Mandir School for many years, where his writing was admired by colleagues and students. Known as Janakavi or People’s Poet, a title bestowed on him by the Nepal Bhasha Parishad, Shrestha is also the recipient of the Jagadamba Shree Puraskar for his contribution to literature.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251021071052_b109f2ee6dbac911fb8002e8e8bb33a50a8f755d26662f333535d32c8573e782.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20251021071052_b109f2ee6dbac911fb8002e8e8bb33a50a8f755d26662f333535d32c8573e782" data-rendition-name="original" width="1600" height="900" loading="lazy" alt="Digitising the savant calligrapher NT"> <figcaption>From left to right: Suman Shrestha, Ananda Kumar Maharjan, Durga Lal Shrestha, Ojesh Singh, and Arbindra Man Singh. Photo: SUCHITA SHRESTHA</figcaption> </figure>  “He would write on anything he could lay his hands on. On tissue paper, envelopes, cigarette boxes. It struck me how neat and tidy his writing was,” says Singh. “The structure and size were perfectly in sync-- and as an aspiring graphic designer then, I fell in love with his writing. Later, whenever I read his books, I thought it would be nice to read them in his writing.” After sitting with the notion of turning Shrestha’s writing into a digital font for years, in 2024, he reached out to a small group of people who he thought might be allies.&nbsp; “It was during Ojesh Ji’s book launch that we met and talked about the possibility of turning Durga Lal Shrestha’s writing into font,” recalls Ananda Kumar Maharjan, who has designed the Durga Lal Shrestha font and is affiliated with Callijatra, an organisation promoting Newa calligraphy.&nbsp; For Singh, the desire to immortalise the poet's handwriting wasn’t only coming from personal admiration, it was also about preserving the writing of a language and literature leader and activist. He offered to fund the font project, which meant paying for Maharjan’s time and dedication. He also drew into the conversation Shrestha’s son Suman, who has been an integral part of the process.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251021071056_372dc34ac3ce3b70445128131a11ade8f321756c6cc7615825c4451e85f56374.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20251021071056_372dc34ac3ce3b70445128131a11ade8f321756c6cc7615825c4451e85f56374" data-rendition-name="original" width="616" height="728" loading="lazy" alt="Digitising the savant calligrapher NT"> </figure>  The others involved in the process were journalist Arbindra Man Singh, who had been scanning Shrestha’s writing for the book Hastakshar, a collection of poems printed in the author’s handwriting. Also an enthusiast of converting Shrestha’s writing to a font, Singh provided help in bringing together the scans, based on which Maharjan picked the best letter for each alphabet to create a complete set.&nbsp; “Doing this was different from other font developments I have done in the past,” explains Maharjan, who has also digitised his own handwriting into a font, called Anand. “To create Durga Lal Shrestha’s writing as font, I had to analyse his writing archive and pick the best.”&nbsp; He adds: “There was a book published in his writing, so there were scans and digital archiving done by Arbindra Ji, which became the foundation for my work.” He had to find a prototype for each alphabet based on the scans. He traced the letters on Illustrator and copied them to a MAC software called Glyphs where he had to enter each letter, using a traditional Devanagari keyboard instead of Unicode.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025102108100_2f6b8c0f3cf91682707ac356e11ad50b342a4198f56490ab68d041e875b15edb.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="2025102108100_2f6b8c0f3cf91682707ac356e11ad50b342a4198f56490ab68d041e875b15edb" data-rendition-name="original" width="818" height="766" loading="lazy" alt="Digitising the savant calligrapher NT"> </figure>  “I had to be very careful to keep it accurate. Conjunctions need attention,” Maharjan says. “There are half letters, saint letters, ligatures and open type features to pay attention to, this is more advanced than the fonts I’ve created in the past.” &nbsp; Maharjan has designed this font in three different variations that users can play with. “Writing changes with age. While young, people write better, but with age, it starts to change. Since Durga Lal Shrestha hasn’t been very well lately, his hand shakes when he writes. So, we had to pick the best of his writing from the records,” he adds. “People also tend to write in different styles depending on their mood so we took the best four of every letter and traced and picked one.”&nbsp; Handwriting is deeply intimate and in this day and age of tech, becoming lost.&nbsp; What bothers me about the day of phones is that I no longer know what the writing of those close to me look like. I no longer know how you press the pen between our fingers or how you tilt it against the paper or how you pause to write periods or how the nib makes a perfect tiny orb before you drag it just so, to turn it into a comma. The familiarity of the nuances of someone’s writing is lost on us.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251021071056_2c83ab2c3ed4cfa42e6a6a637d88fd879218fb5b7391e086ab5db1a8ec173654.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20251021071056_2c83ab2c3ed4cfa42e6a6a637d88fd879218fb5b7391e086ab5db1a8ec173654" data-rendition-name="original" width="992" height="1280" loading="lazy" alt="Digitising the savant calligrapher NT"> </figure>  Ojesh Singh agrees with me. He says it’s important to keep handwriting alive as people become more and more tech-dependent. People are likely to interact even less with letters on paper, but at least we can have fonts, he says.&nbsp; A set of six books by poet Durga Lal Shrestha is set to be launched on 31October. One of them, entitled, Kawa, is typeset in the Durga Lal Shrestha Font. The font will be made available to the general public after the books have been released. In July, I had visited Shrestha, who I also call Durga Lal Taaba, as many Newa people in my generation do. Seated in the quiet of his home, he conversed about literature and language with my father and my uncle. Coming out of Taaba, Newa, which has a utilitarian function for me to communicate with my parents, sounded more like a lyric.&nbsp; I asked him what he thinks about his handwriting being archived as a font. He replied: “This body is going to be gone eventually, so I thought maybe my handwriting could live on.” Suburban Tales is a monthly column in Nepali Times based on real people in Pratibha’s life.