<img width="1360" height="680" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114091156/6372037e9c7e80680e0b2811jpeg.jpg" alt=""/>Ours is the Age of Angst. It is an era of anger, apprehension, fear, confusion, division, polarization, and an increasing distrust in and disdain for institutions. Thanks to the proliferation of digital technologies, we are both spectators and gladiators. We can switch roles in the blink of an eye, whizzing back and forth between the audience seats and the dry, dusty arena. Social media platforms have become the Colosseum of the twenty-first century. In these digital arenas – small and large, local and international – <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/the-social-media-contagion/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">a new fight is staged almost every day</a>, and though the contenders tend to change often, the language of loathing and mistrust remains constant. But whereas the ancient Romans were entertained by their brutal and bloody spectacles, we moderns are only made angrier by ours.The etymology of the word is important. Anger comes from the Old Norse angr, which connotes distress, affliction, sorrow, agony, hurt. Anger is directly related to pain of a kind that so many of us, East and West, now feel, though we might not express it in those terms. Underlying the shouting matches and pervasive silences, driving them, is the simple truth that we are hurting.Not that long ago, the world felt like a different place. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, optimism abounded. But it was an optimism that verged dangerously on complacency. History, many commentators maintained, could move in only one direction: linear, forward. Its arc would inevitably bend toward justice. Back then, we easily used expressions such as ‘being on the right side of history’. The underlying assumption was that tomorrow would be more democratic, inclusive, egalitarian, and interconnected than yesterday.The biggest optimists of those days were the techno-visionaries. Their buoyancy knew no bounds. Whenever they left Silicon Valley and took part in international conferences or cultural and literary festivals, they confidently assured us that information had become pure gold. It was all we needed to build a better future. With more information, and then even more, people would surely make the right political choices. The speedy spread of information would topple dictatorships and bring about much-needed social change.Sound and furyThe <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/nepals-e-conomy-rapidly-goes-digital/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">growth of digital platforms</a> would carry democratic ideals to the farthest corners of the world. Even those countries that were lagging behind in democratisation would sooner or later have to join ‘the civilised world’. At the beginning of the Arab Spring, this mood was so prevalent that many took it for granted that Facebook was having a positive impact on the world. Pundits and experts <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2010/06/evaluating-irans-twitter-revolution/58337/">hailed</a> the post-election uprising in Iran in 2009 as the ‘Twitter Revolution’.Around the same time, a young Egyptian couple <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/Egypt_Christiane_Amanpour/egyptian-names-baby-facebook-sites-role-revolution/story?id=12964978">named</a> their newborn daughter ‘Facebook’. A few months later, a family in Israel <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-13417930">named</a> their third child ‘Like’. I often think about those kids, Facebook in Egypt and Like in Israel. What kind of a world have we given them?The spread of information of course neither guaranteed nor generated democracy. Today, there is far too much information (let alone random misinformation and malicious, systemic disinformation), but very little knowledge and even less wisdom. They are completely different things, and in focusing solely on information, we have neglected knowledge and abandoned wisdom.Information is about speed, discrete snippets of data, numbers. Between ‘numbers’ and ‘numbness’ there is more than rhythm and rhyme. When we are bombarded with so much information, we do not process what we read or what we hear. A constant overload of information gives us the illusion that we have knowledge about anything and almost everything.Little by little, we have forgotten how to say, ‘I don’t know.’ If we are unfamiliar with an issue, we can easily Google it, and in the next five to ten minutes we will be able to come up with something to say about it. And if we take a few more minutes, we can even convince ourselves that we are experts – even though those snippets of information do not amount to knowledge.How can we decrease the amount of information we deal with on a daily basis, but increase our knowledge and ultimately our wisdom? For knowledge, we need to slow down and beware of dogmas, not least our own. We need to get up and leave the audience seats and the dry, dusty arenas. Knowledge requires books, reading across disciplines, slow journalism, in-depth analyses, nuanced conversations, avoiding hasty judgment. And wisdom requires us to unite the mind and the heart. For wisdom, we need not only purely rational analysis but also emotional intelligence, empathy, a sense of humility, and compassion.We need to hear each other’s stories and pay attention to the silences.The Roots of WisdomAt the beginning of the pandemic, when Londoners were allowed to go out for walks in public parks, I started noticing signs placed here and there. ‘When all this is over, how do you want the world to be different?’ they asked. Beneath the question, passersby had scribbled their own answers, using their own pens. Someone had written, ‘When all this is over, I want to live in a world where I can be heard.’It is a sad irony that in an age when we were all supposed to have a voice thanks to digital platforms and the inevitable, unstoppable spread of liberal democracy, almost the opposite has happened. Millions of people around the world feel voiceless. Amid the deafening cacophony, they know that they are not being heard.Our daily lives are replete with negative emotions that we do not know how to process or where to channel. But we do not like to talk about it, certainly not in the United Kingdom, my adopted land, where expressing emotion is considered a sign of weakness. And certainly not in my homeland, Turkey, where many absurdly presuppose that women are emotional beings whereas men are more rational.Human beings of all ages and genders are emotional creatures. When we connect with each other, we do so through stories and emotions. What we believe in or fight for depends on stories and emotions. And what we remember and take with us even when we are uprooted and deracinated, we remember through stories and emotions.I have always regarded every emotion as a source of raw energy, like a mineral that can be processed into various forms, a metal that can be sculpted into different shapes. Rather than trying to suppress our emotions, it seems healthier, and perhaps a little wiser, to recognize their existence, talk about them openly, and create inclusive spaces where we can understand and explore how our mental health is strained.It is okay not to be okay in an age such as ours. It is okay to feel worried or displeased in the face of all that is happening. The crucial question is not whether we are angry or distressed, fearful or frustrated, but what we will do with these feelings. Can we turn raw emotions into something positive and constructive, both for ourselves as individuals and for our communities and societies?Liquid TimesAt the end of the day, if there is one thing that is far more destructive than any emotion, it is the lack of all emotion: Numbness. Indifference. Lethargy of the spirit. The moment we become so desensitized to the deluge of information that we barely register what is happening in another part of the world, or just next door, is the moment we are completely severed and disconnected from each other. And that is a far more dangerous threshold. We are at a crossroads. The decisions that we make today will have long-lasting consequences for the planet, for our societies, and for our individual and collective mental health. This might be the Age of Angst, but from here to the Age of Apathy is but a short and fateful step. We need to make sure we do not take it.Many years ago, when I lived and wrote my novels in Istanbul, I was interviewed by an American scholar who was in the city researching ‘Women Writers in the Middle East’. We had a nice conversation, and in passing, with a soft, amiable smile, she told me that it was understandable for me to be a feminist: I was Turkish, and I was in Turkey. The way she spoke made it clear that she saw no reason why she should be a feminist: she was from America, a country where women’s rights had already been achieved, and where democracy was solid, stable, and safe.Yet ever since 2016, this dualistic view of the world has become incoherent. After Brexit, the election of Donald Trump, the rise of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/the-message-is-the-medium/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">populist nationalism </a> across Europe and beyond, the erosion of liberal democracy, and the emergence of ‘illiberal democracies’ flirting with authoritarianism, this deep-rooted duality has lost its purchase in the minds of even its staunchest advocates.Now we know that there is no such thing as ‘solid’ countries. We are all living through liquid times, to use a term <a href="https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Liquid+Modernity-p-9780745624099">coined</a> by the late sociologist and political thinker Zygmunt Bauman. History does not necessarily advance in a linear way. If these are liquid times, it feels like the current has accelerated with the pandemic, the climate crisis, and the widening and deepening of inequalities – social, digital, racial, gender, class-based.This is a moment when we need global sisterhood, global solidarity. We need feminism everywhere, just as we need to care about human rights and freedom of speech and minority rights everywhere. Whether we are dentists, students, engineers, or poets, whatever we do and wherever we live, we do not have the luxury of apathy. From the possibility of another pandemic to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/climate-change-is-a-disaster-in-the-nepal-himalaya/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">environmental catastrophe</a>,  from cyber-terrorism to refugee crises, we have massive global challenges ahead, none of which can be solved with the rhetoric of nationalism, isolationism, tribalism, or group narcissism.We must connect with nature and understand our responsibility to our planet. We must connect with each other and strive to become engaged, involved, knowledgeable, and wise citizens. Connecting is our only way forward.While stories bring us together, untold stories and entrenched silences keep us apart. Our voices might not be heard by those in power. But we are not powerless, and we are not voiceless. We are capable of changing the world. © Project SyndicateElif Shafak is one of Turkey’s bestselling writers. Her books include <a href="http://www.elifsafak.com.tr/books/23">The Bastard of Istanbul</a> (Viking, 2006), <a href="http://www.elifsafak.com.tr/books/31">Three Daughters of Eve</a> (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2019), and, most recently, <a href="https://www.elifsafak.com.tr/book/the-island-of-missing-trees">The Island of Missing Trees</a> (Viking, 2021).

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The Alchemy of Angst

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108181144/636a95ad9c7e80680e05dc1fjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="629" height="420"/><figcaption>Photo: ERICK KABENDERA/IPS</figcaption></figure>Using armies of online fans, trolls and, automated ‘bots’, the world’s authoritarians and populists are increasingly using the web to drown out opponents and swing public opinion and elections their way, a new study says.<a href="https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-net/freedom-net-2018">The Freedom on the Net report</a>, compiled annually by Freedom House, a US government-funded research group, confirms the fears of many online activists and paints a bleak portrait of how the internet is straining democracies.The 32-page document, released earlier in November and titled <a href="https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-net/freedom-net-2018">The Crisis of Social Media</a>, found that more than half of the world’s 3.8 billion web users live in countries that censor the internet and use pro-government trolls to manipulate the online realm.Freedom House President Mike Abramowitz warned of online propaganda and disinformation spreading ahead of elections in 24 countries. The group assesses web freedom in 65 countries that host 87 percent of the world’s webusers.“Governments are finding that on social media, propaganda works better than censorship,” Abramowitz said in a statement. “Authoritarians and populists around the globe are exploiting both human nature and computer algorithms to conquer the ballot box, running roughshod over rules designed to ensure free and fair elections.”Researchers found that officials had worked with celebrity yes-men, business titans and semi-autonomous “online mobs” to spread clickbait, conspiracy theories and misleading memes from “marginal echo chambers to the political mainstream”.The report spotlights Brazil, where Jair Bolsonaro’s presidential election win in October 2018 was preceded by misleading news, anti-gay rumours and doctored images being spread by the right-winger’s fans via YouTube and WhatsApp, researchers said.In Egypt, the government of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi blocked some 34,000 websites to stifle debates about whether el-Sisi should be allowed to hold power until the end of 2030 ahead of an April referendum, the report said.Hundreds of thousands of online trolls spread fake news to swing voters behind two main parties in April-May elections in India this year, it added. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘NaMo’ app was reportedly relaying users’ data to a private analytics firm.The world’s two biggest economies — the United States and China — come in for special scrutiny. In the US, much like in the 2016 presidential election that brought Donald Trump to power, online trolls spread “disinformation” during the November 2018 mid-term vote and during the confirmation process for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.Meanwhile, US immigration officials are increasingly demanding access to the mobile phones and laptops of visitors and snooping on immigrants’ social media feeds, operating with “little oversight or transparency”, the report says.China remains the “world’s worst abuser of internet freedom” — a title it has held for four consecutive years, and where a phalanx of online commentators known as the 50 Cent Army pushes government messages online.Beijing clamped down harder on web users ahead of the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre on 15 April and got tighter still in the face of ongoing anti-government protests in Hong Kong, the report says.Adrian Shahbaz, the group’s research director for technology and democracy, warned that even governments of smaller economies can now afford large-scale “advanced social media surveillance programs”.Last month, Facebook sued NSO Group, an Israeli surveillance firm, for using the WhatsApp messaging service to hack the phones of some 1,400 dissidents, journalists, diplomats, officials and others for their clients, understood to be governments and spy agencies.“Once reserved for the world’s most powerful intelligence agencies, big-data spying tools are making their way around the world,” said Shahbaz. “Even in countries with considerable safeguards for fundamental freedoms, there are already reports of abuse.”Researchers noted that officials in 47 countries, armed with such sophisticated web-snooping tools, had arrested web users between June 2018 and May 2019 for posting political, social or religious messages online.“The future of internet freedom rests on our ability to fix social media,” said Shahbaz.“Since these are mainly American platforms, the US must be a leader in promoting transparency and accountability in the digital age. This is the only way to stop the internet from becoming a Trojan horse for tyranny and oppression.” (IPS)

Online trolls, bots & snoopers imperil democracy

<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141116/636a56e29c7e80680e0547adjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="439"/>The surest sign that Nepal has already become an online society is the spreading practice of ‘digital detox’, where <a href="Nepal%20is%20becoming%20a%20nation%20of%20net%20addicts" target="_blank" rel="noopener">addicted users</a> completely abandon connected devices, or at least take steps to drastically limit their online time.When checking, then rechecking, devices becomes such a daily distraction that it starts to disrupt our work, sleep or relationships, it is time to take a step back and evaluate the benefit of clicking yet another link to reveal the umpteenth bit of information for the day and ask: ‘Is it really necessary?’To be sure, there are many benefits also of the digital world for Nepal. The internet has democratised information flow, levelled the playing field, and in many cases turned citizens into actors and content providers themselves. #occupywallstreet morphed into <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2013/04/06/solidarity-for-justice/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#occupybaluwatar</a> and the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepali-women-take-to-media-to-expose-abuse/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#Metoo movement</a> encouraged long suppressed revelations about sexual assault in Nepal.Whether we see <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/how-nepals-media-landscape-is-being-transformed/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">growing digitalisation</a> as positive or negative, one thing is sure: it is both, and Nepal will be even more digitised in the coming decades. A recent survey showed that 90% of Nepalis now own mobile devices, with half of them producing smartphones when asked, 95% of households have mobile phones for an average 2.5 devices per home<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/facebook-nation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">, 88% of us use Facebook frequently</a>, and a whopping 8.5 million Nepalis are on the platform today. 45% are on messenger, 35% use IMO for instant messaging and 34% are regularly on YouTube.Read also:<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=32527&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> So, you want to quit Facebook?,</a> Reeti KC <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=32537&amp;preview_nonce=96e6eb44eb&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nepal’s new digital landscape,</a> Sonia Awale<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=32431&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Message is the Medium</a>, EditorialThese trends already have a major impact on where Nepalis get their information, what information they believe, and how that affects the trust between individuals and the institutions at the heart of a democratic society, including media and government.The survey found most Nepalis still consider mainstream media as generally reliable, as opposed to information on the Net, which very few believed. But as recent cases of Rabi Lamichhane, protests against heritage destruction, violence against women and corruption have shown: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/from-the-nepali-press/social-media-and-democracy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">social media content is now driving mainstream media coverage</a>. It is setting the agenda, and with it the potential for manipulation is growing.The Nepali Net is affecting politics because the young middle-class is now wired. Half of Nepal’s population is under 21, and this networked youth bulge will have huge political implications in the 2022 general election. Where new voters get their information, how they get it and what kind of information it is, will determine who rules Nepal and how in future. If the information is correct and credible, exposes wrongdoing, is fair to all concerned, and lets voters make up their own minds, the New Media will strengthen Nepal’s fragile democracy.If not, expect to hear more cries of ‘fake news’ and the growth of a digital media landscape that is likely to fuel the ‘digital detox’ trend.Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepalis-are-drifting-to-digital-media/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nepalis are drifting to digital media</a>, Madhu Acharya and Bhumiraj Chapagain<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/how-nepals-media-landscape-is-being-transformed/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nepal's changing media landscape</a>, Sharecast Initiative<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/new-news/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New news</a>, Editorial

Digital detox

<figure><img width="1400" height="1042" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108111152/636a358d9c7e80680e0482b7jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Nepal Media Survey 2019</figcaption></figure>When enumerators from Sharecast Initiative Nepal fanned out across the country in January, they asked more than 4,100 respondents if they had mobiles on them — 91% produced phones. Of these, half were smartphones. Eighty-eight percent of them said they used Facebook, and 45% were on Facebook Messenger, and 35% on IMO which uses less bandwidth, many to communicate with relatives and friends working in the Gulf.Read also:<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=24696&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Facebook nation</a><a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=24646&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nepalis are drifting to digital media</a>, Madhu Acharya and Bhumiraj ChapagainInformation technology is changing Nepali society faster than many of us realise. It is rapidly transforming the ease and speed of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/landline-to-online/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">communication</a>, and where we get our news and information. The changed <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/from-the-nepali-press/social-media-and-democracy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">media</a> consumption pattern has created a crisis for Nepal’s mainstream media, which has found that the revenue model has collapsed. The subscription and paywall methods do not work, online advertising is limited and has low yield, and the Nepali Net has a long tail of new portals vying for the same ads. Four years ago, there were less than 4 million Nepalis with <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/face-to-face-with-facebook/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Facebook</a> accounts, today it has more than doubled. In last year’s Sharecast survey, 81% of respondents who used the Internet said they used Facebook, that number has risen to 88%. Even usage of the Nepali app HamoPatro has increased from 1.3% last year to 4% in this year’s survey. Read also:<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=24724&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nepal is becoming a nation of net addicts</a>, Sabina Devkota Facebook is not only used to exchange holiday pictures among friends and relatives, it is also increasingly the main source of news and information about local, national and international happenings. As the results of the Sharecast survey in this edition show, it is a one-way street. Most Nepalis do not seem to post much local news on their walls. Also, while they use Facebook a lot, they do not seem to trust the content on the platform very much. The other surprising finding is that the most trusted source of news and information for most Nepalis is not the media at all, but their neighbours, friends and family. More than 64% of respondents said they relied on that network for local news, and one-third depended on acquaintances for even national and international news. Interestingly, Province 2 ranks highest for its dependence on family and friends as a source of news, with half the respondents saying they depend on them for news and information. YouTube use has soared dramatically from almost nothing last year to 34% in this year’s survey. The Facebook-owned platform Instagram is used by a much lower proportion (4.2%), although that increases among urban educated youth. Twitter usage is almost negligible (1.2%) even though the media fraternity and some politicians seems to think it is hugely important. In response to a multiple choice question, 99% of respondents said they do most of their Interneting on mobile phones. Only 6% of Nepalis use laptops or tablets to browse the Net, and less than 1% use PCs. As smartphones and mobile data packages get cheaper, Internet use is going to grow.  Read also: <a style="background-color: #ffffff; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/how-nepals-media-landscape-is-being-transformed/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nepal's Changing Media Landscape</a>, Sharecast Initiative Today, about 60% of those who use the Internet on their phones have mobile data, 34% use wifi. Despite this, there is still a yawning digital divide: asked how often in the past six months they had used the Internet, 67% of 4,125 respondents said they had never logged on. Interesting also is the number of people who said they had not read a hard copy newspaper in the past six months – over 73%. And even more revealingly, when asked why they do not read physical newspapers, an overwhelming 57% said it was because the papers never got to their area, or delivery was unreliable. Only 3% said it was because they rely on some other medium for news and information. Mainstream media owners and editors blame the Internet for the loss in readership, but maybe they should be blaming their distribution departments. Of those who said they still follow the mainstream press, 94% were still reading the paper newspaper, 14% read it on apps, and 6.4% went to their home pages online. Nearly all survey respondents found newspapers and magazines trustworthy.  The take-home message from the survey for the Nepali media and public is that the mainstream press still has a check-and-balance role in our democracy. Internet usage is growing rapidly, but that is not the reason people are not reading newspapers less.  Facebook may be omnipresent, but most users are sceptical about its content. As in most countries, <a style="background-color: #ffffff; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-new-reality-of-nepals-virtual-celebrities/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">social media</a> platforms will be dissemination tools, Internet sites will be more and more entertainment-driven, and it will be the portals with the higher credibility and exclusive multimedia content that will be rewarded with clicks. 10 years ago this week The page 1 item of the #446 edition of Nepali Times of 10-16 April 2009 delved into Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s thin skin for criticism: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal appears to be increasingly frustrated with the delays and has been trying to use his deft negotiating skills to try to convince the leaders of the UML and NC to smooth things along.   The prime minister has been barely able to hide his frustration. A day after returning from a week-long visit to Norway and Finland, during which he assured leaders there that he was serious about protecting democracy and the free press, he lashed out publicly using abusive language at his colleagues in the NC and UML. The next day, he turned his aim at the media, accusing publishers of being “smugglers” and under the control of “feudalists, capitalists and reactionary forces”.

New news

The Himalayan mountains are also known as the Third Pole because it is the largest repository of water stored as ice outside the two polar regions. However, it is divided by political boundaries that nature does not recognise – be it the air pollutants that flow or migratory birds that fly over the peaks. The Himalaya is also a geopolitical and climate change hot spot. In these geopolitically and environmentally challenging times, it becomes even more important to create oases of conversations, where candid and future-oriented discussions can take place at a people-to-people level. Platforms dominated by inter-governmental agencies have been able to do little. The Himalayan Future Forum (HFF) aims to be a platform that stands at the crossroads of climate, community, and connectivity, fostering dialogue and promoting citizen-led action. Growing up in the Indian Himalayan town of Kalimpong and spending the nascent stages of my career helping in setting up offices of the award-winning Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP) that fostered community involvement in conservation, I have witnessed transformations both good and bad.  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260205070244_6e2087b11fff0cc6704eebaee6f169848a9cfd57c4a02d7d1fd45db2526d2f67.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20260205070244_6e2087b11fff0cc6704eebaee6f169848a9cfd57c4a02d7d1fd45db2526d2f67" data-rendition-name="original" width="5559" height="3711" loading="lazy" alt="HFF 2026"></figure>  There are initiatives like Nepal’s forest cover doubling in 30 years, or Bhutan’s drive for high-end sustainable tourism. At the same time, I have seen landscapes destroyed by bulldozers and tall buildings competing for air and sunlight in expanding cities. From crony capitalists patronised by political leaders engaged in plundering natural resources to citizen-led initiatives on cleanliness drives and waste management, the Himalayan region is full of stories from both ends of the spectrum of disappointment and hope. Life is about observing and, in one’s little sphere of influence, taking baby steps towards catalysing positive transformation. This is why, Nepal Economic Forum (NEF) had been hosting the Himalayan Consensus Summit in Nepal from 2014 to 2020 following which the Himalayan Future Forum (HFF) was incubated since 2023. HFF is an initiative to encourage multi-faceted dialogues on the topics of climate, community, and connectivity in the Himalayan region by bringing together leaders, experts, institutions, and practitioners from different countries and sectors.  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260205070244_a7e673507dcdb6e265cb6f76f2890f17af36f17006a7f6d0f2f0e1a288c89a09.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20260205070244_a7e673507dcdb6e265cb6f76f2890f17af36f17006a7f6d0f2f0e1a288c89a09" data-rendition-name="original" width="5364" height="3581" loading="lazy" alt="HFF 2026"></figure>  In this year’s edition, there are a series of sessions on 6 February with 34 speakers including ten international panelists. On day two the Himalayan Haat aims to showcase a variety of local, indigenous, and sustainable products. As in 2024, it is believed that the conversations and interactions at the HFF will lead to more partnerships and collaborations from climate financing to managing disasters to taking Himalayan brands global. YOUNG FELLOWS Beyond this, there are sessions on topics such as geopolitics and the Himalaya, as well as on migration which are especially relevant considering the past few years that have seen many events which impacted the global world order. One of the key features of HFF, guided by our ethos of bringing together experts, experiences, and enthusiasm, is also to ensure stronger youth representation through the HFF Youth Fellowship. This year, following a rigorous screening process, youth fellows were selected out of an overwhelming response. Those chosen will be able to attend the events as well as collaborate in future research and publications. Selected fellows will also be provided with full scholarships to the public policy program at Takshashila Institution, an independent centre for research and education in public policy in Bangalore. In a region where half of the population is under 25 years, it is important to get the future generations also in the room.  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260205070244_3416bd14d5249afeb357b11f760f49b0cd1d77feeac71d820406b2d9e86696bc.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20260205070244_3416bd14d5249afeb357b11f760f49b0cd1d77feeac71d820406b2d9e86696bc" data-rendition-name="original" width="5273" height="3520" loading="lazy" alt="HFF 2026"></figure>  Nepal presents an ideal location to hold meetings such as this, where no-holds-barred conversations can take place face-to-face. The country has good air connectivity and one of the most liberal visa policies in Asia. And while Davos is a good example to follow for convening global voices, we need not have so many private planes burning fossil fuel, as we can have participants take scheduled commercial flights or have regional participants simply take a road trip. Ultimately, the Himalayan region is also about festivities. No exchange of ideas is complete without immersing in art, culture, culinary experiences, and music. This is why HFF envisages graduating to a Himalayan Jatra, rooted in a region where people smile from the heart, and teach the world to smile with them. Join us at HFF 2026 as we move closer to this vision. See the schedule <a href="file:///Z:/%231297%20February%206/pix/page%209/HFF%202026%20Program%20Schedule%20(1)_compressed.pdf">here</a>. Sujeev Shakya is Chair of Nepal Economic Forum and Convenor of the Himalayan Future Forum.

Himalayan Futures Forum 2026

Kathmandu Valley alone now has over 700 cafes serving mugs made from freshly ground beans. ‘Americano double shot’, ‘Cappuccino’ and ‘Mocha’ have entered the Nepali language. It has also become a cash crop for thousands of farmers with near-perfect growing conditions along the Himalayan foothills.&nbsp; Yet, annual coffee production has declined by 15% to only 550 tons in the past years, and this meets only a fraction of the domestic demand of 6,000 tons.&nbsp; Nepali coffee fetches $22 per kg in the international market, but Nepal only exports 3% of its crop. If cleverly promoted, the international demand for Nepali coffee can be 8,000 tons. “Coffee is all about story-telling,” explains <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/business/Gagan-Pradhan-and-Himalayan-Java,1076">Gagan Pradhan, founder of Himalayan Java Coffee</a>. “Nepali coffee has brand value because it is grown in the highest elevations on earth and is a cash crop for cooperatives and small farmers. There is tremendous potential for growth.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260205100216_1f366d8a85cc133fedee0ee72d7768d3a23bf51f8d43edbdadf98443bc0c01ba.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20260205100216_1f366d8a85cc133fedee0ee72d7768d3a23bf51f8d43edbdadf98443bc0c01ba" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1518" loading="lazy" alt="coffee culture in Nepal"> </figure>  The reason for the decline in coffee production lately is attributed to erratic weather caused by climate change, but mostly it is because it is manual-intensive, needing initial capital and patience for a return on investment. The strategy that makes most sense for <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/make-way-for-makalu-coffee">Nepal’s coffee industry</a> is to sell it as a rare, specialty product.&nbsp; Says Raj Kumar Banjara, master trainer at Nepal Coffee Academy and originator of the Himalayan Arabica brand: “There is no better crop for Nepal because we have the ideal soil and weather to grow specialty coffee, which can be exported to third countries directly instead of sending it through India like with ginger, cardamom, or tea.” These favorable conditions are at altitudes between 800m to 1,600m along the mid-mountains and temperature not exceeding 22°C, which allows cherries to &nbsp;develop slower, giving it a denser taste with complex flavours of fruits and nuts.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260205100216_35e470381d258d9598d30165d0dbb6b4294c389c61695bf8c47d72d2273b4629.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20260205100216_35e470381d258d9598d30165d0dbb6b4294c389c61695bf8c47d72d2273b4629" data-rendition-name="original" width="3872" height="2592" loading="lazy" alt="coffee culture in Nepal"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260205100216_f7ccb42d7a7fb656dadc7ba5132a6243b8f99a28f7877875172411b7a4c96bc0.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20260205100216_f7ccb42d7a7fb656dadc7ba5132a6243b8f99a28f7877875172411b7a4c96bc0" data-rendition-name="original" width="1024" height="768" loading="lazy" alt="coffee culture in Nepal"> </figure>  This is ‘Arabica’ coffee, and it is also considered ‘organic by default’ because farmers have limited access to chemical pesticides and fertilisers, adding to its premium. All of Nepal’s coffee is grown in only 4,300 hectares total, and this is just 0.36% of the area suitable for coffee farming. Still 31,000 households across 44 districts depend on this cash crop.&nbsp; Challenges include out-migration, limits on land ownership, and climate breakdown leading to colder, drier winters, droughts and heat stress. Shreeyanch Shrestha is the founder of Samparka Cloud Loyalty, a startup that helps businesses retain customers by giving them insights about customer behaviour. Among the services offered is a digital loyalty card for coffee shops, one of his biggest clientele.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260205100216_c80e17ac78016ae5a90f4b27105e16af6c39d1422665f9f9c9b1d8404e5e7d54.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20260205100216_c80e17ac78016ae5a90f4b27105e16af6c39d1422665f9f9c9b1d8404e5e7d54" data-rendition-name="original" width="1280" height="960" loading="lazy" alt="coffee culture in Nepal"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260205100212_968c5b264ec2fb65014dc3ebc2777f0bf19f596a4152c59f9cad9d99dee79df7.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20260205100212_968c5b264ec2fb65014dc3ebc2777f0bf19f596a4152c59f9cad9d99dee79df7" data-rendition-name="original" width="1200" height="900" loading="lazy" alt="coffee beans"> </figure>  Shrestha is also a coffee enthusiast, and recently collaborated with Baato Maps on the playfully designed ‘Kathmandu Coffee Map’.&nbsp; “This was a marketing campaign but also a way to pay tribute to cafe owners we worked with,” he says. “A new generation of coffee farmers, processors, roasters and consumers seem to want to invest in upgrading their coffee experience.” COFFEE CULTURE Operators such as Raj Kumar Banjara have been in that game for over 30 years, even earning a PhD in Coffee Agriculture, running farms and teaching roasting and barista courses. Now, he makes short how-to videos on social media. Banjara’s Academy is run by Specialty Coffee Association certified Q Graders and Authorised Trainers.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260205100216_22433d3a8b71224cd8cb38105b9eb5502a104e03ccec2e3864c8b23efc9f3fc6.png" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20260205100216_22433d3a8b71224cd8cb38105b9eb5502a104e03ccec2e3864c8b23efc9f3fc6" data-rendition-name="original" width="3612" height="2028" loading="lazy" alt="coffee culture in Nepal"> </figure>  Also promoting a coffee culture through social media is Santosh Shah of Bariko Coffee. He documents his process on Instagram, from hand picking and processing coffee cherries to brewing.&nbsp; Nepal appears to be riding the Third Wave of Coffee (see box) as the beverage moves away from the café chain culture to one that values knowledge of the cherries, beans, the roasting process and brewing -- right from the plant to the cup.&nbsp; Along the way, there are tales to be told about where the coffee is grown, who grows it, and how farmers get a fair price for the product. Coffee then becomes a shared social experience that directly connects the consumer to the producer. Nima Tenzing Sherpa returned to Nepal from the United States to start Lekali Coffee Estate in 2018, and produces fine single origin coffee beans so that the quality of the product improves the quality of life of the growers.&nbsp; He told Nepali Times: “Specialty-grade beans are the only future for Nepal’s coffee industry. I am continuously hunting for the best coffee origins in Nepal.” &nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260205100212_e08ba44d6396eb75da868404dd8cf2a26b71cd6d90ab3afaf7175790c111d21e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20260205100212_e08ba44d6396eb75da868404dd8cf2a26b71cd6d90ab3afaf7175790c111d21e" data-rendition-name="original" width="3000" height="4000" loading="lazy" alt="coffee beans"> <figcaption>Photo: LEKALI COFFEE ESTATE </figcaption> </figure>  HISTORY OF COFFEE Human consumption of coffee began in Ethiopia when herders found their goats became perky after eating beans from a wild Arabica bush. The first commercial cultivation of the brew began in Yemen 600 years ago. &nbsp;&nbsp; Nepal’s coffee history is much younger. A holy man is said to have brought coffee seeds from Burma in 1938, and planted them in Gulmi, the district in the mid-mountains where the first coffee nursery was set up in 1981. The Nepal Coffee Company was founded in 1983 by Krishna Ghimire in Manigram near Butwal which educated farmers about the crop and recruited them to cultivate it. He then roasted the beans, and convinced the BhatBhateni stores, which had just opened, to sell it. The company still supplies coffee to cafes and has its own brands and farm. It supplies green beans to those who want to self-roast, or build a brand. In the 1990s, the National Tea and Coffee Development Board was established, and Himalayan Java Coffee (Nepal Made, right) opened its first shop in Kamaladi before moving to Thamel. Itr now has nearly 100 franchises across Nepal and overseas.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260207030236_1908f4a4246d373f51affa8ac48be90129e888f1222b8f10e5cd25421e931dd8.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20260207030236_1908f4a4246d373f51affa8ac48be90129e888f1222b8f10e5cd25421e931dd8" data-rendition-name="original" width="2052" height="1455" loading="lazy" alt="coffee map"> </figure>  What is the Third Wave? First Wave: Profit-driven, mass marketing, air tight containers and instant coffee. Consumption of coffee worldwide starts growing.&nbsp; Second Wave: Artisan-driven, origin and roasting style become important, epitomised by Starbucks and espresso. &nbsp; <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Nepali-specialty-coffee,4106">Third Wave</a>: Characteristics of the beverage take centre stage: origin of the beans, consistent processing techniques, and roasting style. Independent coffee shops demonstrate craftsmanship and knowledge of coffee beans from plant to the cup, promoting ethics and transparency.&nbsp; Coffee Districts Coffee is grown in over 44 districts of Nepal (see map, above). In the last fiscal year, Nepal produced 550 tonnes of Bourbon, Typica and Yellow Caturra varieties of Arabica coffee. The total plantation area in Nepal is 4,300 hectares, a fraction of the total suitable land. &nbsp;

Caffeine buzz

When I landed in Kathmandu last November, I arrived with a Diwali hangover. Not the festive kind, but the coughing, dust-coated, throat-scratching kind gifted by North India’s winter air. After a decade of breathing in Delhi’s seasonal gas chamber, my lungs were in an open revolt. But within days of landing in Kathmandu, my cough vanished. It felt almost miraculous. The air was crisper. The Air Quality Index was kinder, and the Himalayan peaks rose on the horizon.&nbsp;
But by the third week, the familiar grey veil returned. First as a faint blur, then peak by peak the Himalaya began to disappear. Locals said it had been getting worse every year.&nbsp;
Much of this haze is not Kathmandu’s doing. What drifts into Nepal each winter is a toxic spillover from the plains of North India and Pakistan: black carbon, brown clouds, and fine particulate matter carried across borders by seasonal winds. Kathmandu’s bowl-shaped valley simply traps what the region exhales.
Abid Omar, founder of the <a href="https://pakairquality.com/" target="_blank">Pakistan Air Quality Initiative</a>, put it bluntly: “We often view air pollution and climate change as separate silos, but in the Himalaya, they are one and the same.”
Black carbon is essentially soot from diesel emissions, brick kilns, and crop burning. It may be short-lived in the atmosphere, but when ash settles on snow and ice, it reduces reflectivity and accelerates melting.&nbsp;
Omar adds, “Black carbon is a threat to the water security of the entire Indus and Ganges basins.”
What burns on both sides of Punjab do not stay in Punjab. It ends up on glaciers that feed rivers, sustaining hundreds of millions of people downstream.
In November 2024, AQI levels in New Delhi hovered near 500 and about the same time Lahore briefly became the world’s most polluted city, with the AQI count crossing 1,100. These numbers are not abstract.
According to the <a href="https://www.stateofglobalair.org/resources/archived/state-global-air-report-2024" target="_blank">State of Global Air 2024 report</a>, India recorded more than 2 million deaths attributable to air pollution in 2023. Bangladesh and Pakistan each saw over 200,000 deaths. Air pollution is now one of the leading causes of premature death across South Asia.
Nepal, often imagined as cleaner by default, tells a sobering story of its own. Air pollution in Nepal led to an estimated <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2025/06/17/air-pollution-is-the-number-one-health-risk-factor-in-nepal#:~:text=Vehicle%20Emissions:%20Continuing%20to%20electrify,airflows%20carry%20pollutants%20across%20borders." target="_blank">48,500 premature deaths</a>, with the loss of more than 1.4 million disability-adjusted life years. The University of Chicago’s <a href="https://aqli.epic.uchicago.edu/post/nepal-capital-chokes-as-wildfires-rage-en" target="_blank">Air Quality Life Index</a> estimates that particulate pollution cuts 3.4 years off the life of the average Nepali. In the Tarai region, life expectancy drops by nearly five years. In Kathmandu, residents lose 2.6 years.
Says infectious disease specialist Anup Subedee: “Air pollution is killing at a far higher rate than Covid-19 did during its worst years in Nepal. People are dying in their twenties of cancer, or having heart attacks and strokes in their thirties and forties.”
Nearly <a href="https://www.icimod.org/press-release/kathmandu-choked-on-polluted-air-for-75-of-the-last-90-days/?utm_source=chatgpt.com" target="_blank">40 per cent of winter particulate pollution in the Kathmandu</a> valley originates outside Nepal. Black carbon carried from Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh in India, besides parts of Pakistan, rides the winds north, settles on Himalayan snow, and accelerates glacier melt by absorbing heat.
“The pollutants travel across borders within shared airsheds, creating one gigantic plume of polluted air over India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Pakistan several times a year,” says Subedee.
In some Himalayan regions, <a href="https://www.icimod.org/success-stories/chapter-2/black-carbon-and-glacier-melt/" target="_blank">scientists estimate</a> that black carbon can increase localised melt rates by up to 30%. Yet global climate negotiations continue to treat glacial loss primarily as a carbon dioxide problem.&nbsp;
CHINA’S APPROACH
The South Asian story is transboundary, and more immediate as well as more preventable. This is not only about emissions. It is about coordination, and China offers an instructive contrast.
Since 2013, China has dramatically improved its air quality by declaring a '<a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2025/12/12/what-new-delhi-can-learn-from-chinas-war-on-air-pollution#:~:text=In%20the%20following%20years%2C%20Beijing,29.3%CE%BCg%2Fm%C2%B3%20in%202024." target="_blank">war on pollution</a>'. A major air pollutant, suspended PM2.5 levels fell sharply through strict controls on coal, vehicles, and industry, massive investment in renewables, and legally binding national action plans.
Crucially, China shifted from city-by-city firefighting to a regional airshed approach. Provinces shared data, coordinated emergency responses, enforced unified standards, and tied environmental performance to political accountability. South Asian countries have done none of this.
Isolated national actions are insufficient when pollution itself ignores borders. India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Pakistan share the same airshed. Without cooperation, each country keeps breathing its neighbour’s mistakes.
“As the government representing the largest population affected by air pollution, India should lead this effort. Instead, the region has drifted away from cooperation, and the cost is becoming catastrophic,” Subedee says.
The haze over Kathmandu is not only Nepal’s burden. It is a <a href="https://sapannews.com/2024/12/27/could-climate-diplomacy-be-the-googly-a-gamechanger-for-regional-cooperation/" target="_blank">regional failure</a>. The melting of South Asia’s glaciers is not just a global warming story. It is also a local one, written in the smoke rising from our own fields, factories, and highways.
If we keep ignoring black carbon, the Himalayas will keep losing time, snow, and stability. The disappearing peaks of Kathmandu are not a metaphor. They are a warning.
And like the air itself, that warning is already crossing borders. ©Sapan News
Pragyan Srivastava is an Indian journalist and associate editor at <a href="http://www.sapannews.com/" target="_blank">Sapan News</a>. <a href="mailto:pragyan@sapannews.com" target="_blank">pragyan@sapannews.com</a>

Cleaning up the Himalayan airshed

This is the 82nd episode of Diaspora Diaries, a Nepali Times series in collaboration with Migration Lab providing a platform to share experiences of living, working and studying abroad. In September, under pressure from GenZ activists, Home Minister Om Prakash Aryal pledged to ensure that overseas Nepalis would be able to vote in the March election. The analysis from experts, election officials, and much of the public was that the Election Commission was not prepared to ensure out-of-country voting in such a short time.&nbsp; But just because the diaspora cannot exercise its franchise does not mean Nepalis abroad cannot influence the election outcome. The 2021 census said 2.1 million Nepalis lived abroad, but realistically three times more live, work and study overseas.&nbsp; Being breadwinners also makes them decision makers for families back home. Most have left because they could not get meaningful jobs and sought opportunities abroad, which means they are not happy with the way Nepal has been governed by the established parties and leaders.&nbsp; The diaspora is therefore mostly an anti-incumbent vote bank, which was one reason the political leadership blocked out-of-country voting for so long – despite a Supreme Court ruling that all citizens had a constitutional right to vote, wherever they lived. &nbsp; In the 2022 polls, overseas Nepalis had already shown considerable influence by backing newer and alternative candidates like Balendra Shah for Kathmandu mayor, and parties like the RSP. In the four years since, and especially since the GenZ movement, support for a political shakeup has grown even stronger. So has technological reach that enables the diaspora to politically organise from overseas. &nbsp;‘Technology has reduced the distance in communication, but has also lowered the barrier in a way that allows overseas Nepalis to pressure family members,’ author Narayan Wagle wrote in an op-ed on Setopati this week. Indeed, all it takes for family members to be convinced whom to vote for is an ultimatum that relatives will stop sending money. With less than a month to go for the 5 March election, many Nepalis overseas are campaigning remotely for preferred candidates, even if they cannot themselves cast ballots.&nbsp; The overwhelming feeling seems to be that younger candidates should be given a chance. &nbsp;&nbsp; Read what some Nepalis abroad have to say. NEPAL'S NON-VOTING MIGRANTS <h2>My Respected Parents</h2> Anil Gole, Romania [This letter is a letter to my parents ahead of the election. They are UML supporters, my uncle is for the Nepali Congress (NC), and my grandfather supports the Nepali Communist Party (NCP).] My Respected Parents, I hear that election fever has picked up in the village. New faces with new ways of thinking have emerged this time. I don’t really understand politics, so what I say may feel bitter. But Father, when I see the flag with the sun in your hands, I remember the heat of Qatar from 12 years ago, your sunburnt skin and mother’s cheeks wrinkled with worry. Perhaps Uncle, too, found the Saudi heat so intolerable that he returned home. That may be why while seeking shade, he found the NC tree symbol endearing. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Great uncle spent his whole life back home in the village, which is perhaps why he identifies with symbols like the plough, the sickle, and the hoe.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260206040236_669402ff85bdbd58360c12e10d23900ad99596b7a8dc196b8db1bcfe7e81e80e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20260206040236_669402ff85bdbd58360c12e10d23900ad99596b7a8dc196b8db1bcfe7e81e80e" data-rendition-name="original" width="1200" height="1600" loading="lazy" alt="Overseas vote bank NT"> <figcaption>Anil Gole</figcaption> </figure>  Even then, at any cost, vote for the same politicians. Vote for the same politicians who have not developed the country, who have not fed the poor, whose sons have not been shot.&nbsp; What if the country does not change? I have changed my country. When homesick, I have learnt what it feels like to suffocate in tears under a blanket. Now my younger brother is old enough. Send him here as well. We brothers will earn together. We will marry off our sister in a grand way. So what if the country does not develop? We will build a small, cute house with a big yard. You can play with the grandchildren there. And when they grow up, they too can migrate. But if you vote for the right people and the country gets good leaders, future generations will not have to sweat in foreign lands. They will not have to leave the comfort of a mother’s lap to spend nights abroad in unknown cities. No matter how hard things get, they will not have to lie in letters to their mothers,saying, “I’m doing fine, Mother.” I have not lost courage because of your blessings. My body is here, but my mind is always back home in Nepal. Your children are here, but my children’s future is in your hands. That is why vote for the same politicians whose hearts did not bleed even when the young were killed, the same politicians whose children have not come home in a box. Mother and Father, please take care of each other. Yours truly, Your fortunate migrant son <h2>Algorithm versus vision</h2> Ambika Paudel, Qatar I have been in Qatar for 18 years, and work in the facilities management, engineering, shipping and logistics &nbsp;industry. I get to interact with people from across the world, and they are closely connected with their embassies through online systems and communities. I lead the Nepal Expatriate Community that has multidisciplinary professionals and have observed the need to revise the narrative around migrants. We are here for our families. The sacrifices we make are for them. We are working for our own career growth and families because there were no opportunities back home. Many of us have achieved a good standard of living through our hard work and merit. When I send money to Nepal, it is for my family and the benefit to the government is a byproduct. It would have been good if we got to vote, too. That possibility and promise got lost somewhere in the policy confusion and lack of technical capacity. Overseas Nepalis are also deeply invested in the election, but it is largely algorithm based. We are not questioning the vision of the candidates.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260206040236_dc05b31d3abcf126360d923615a785a36de5b62a8695af9cbff000b586d0336d.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20260206040236_dc05b31d3abcf126360d923615a785a36de5b62a8695af9cbff000b586d0336d" data-rendition-name="original" width="1200" height="1600" loading="lazy" alt="Overseas vote bank NT"> <figcaption>Ambika Paudel</figcaption> </figure>  Our parents back home are the actual voters, and those overseas &nbsp;are talking to them. I don’t think they will be swayed just based on calls, and they shouldn’t be either. We are prioritising algorithms and words and social media boosts over vision, experience, and concrete plans. I am for the NC but I am not a blind supporter. Despite being at the forefront of every significant democratic change in Nepal’s history, the party has had lapses but it is currently on a new trajectory. Not all candidates of all parties are good so we have to elect competent leaders and question them. Whatever promises they make need to be examined for delivery and vision.&nbsp; There are also Congress loyalists who are swayed and influenced by the new, but I let it be — it is their right, their choice. Change requires vision and experience, it should not be based on hype, I remind them. Over online conversations, I tell them to vote wisely so they don’t regret it later. I returned from my break just recently so I cannot come home to vote as it will be too expensive. There are good human resources back in Nepal and in the diaspora which can be used. There are people in decision-making positions in their companies who are very capable and intelligent who could contribute to Nepal. These are missed opportunities in our policymaking and governance: Nepal needs to create opportunities for capable Nepalis.&nbsp; The new government can make the investment climate better through a one-door system so that services are accessible, quick and there is no need to go to multiple offices to start a company or pay taxes. This would also stop unnecessary bribes and other hassles. I don’t have plans to return in the near future. I have a good job and am earning well. I came to Nepal between 2016 and 2019 and remigrated again after things did not work out. <h2>The young need convincing</h2> Jeevan Kumar Dewan, Malaysia I have been living in Malaysia since 2001, and am an active member of the UML wing here. There is excitement about the upcoming election, but we are bound by contracts so cannot go home to vote.&nbsp; There was hope that we would be able to vote from overseas, but there were questions of security. Even though we won’t be able to vote, people are actively participating online and using social media to show their support to their candidates and parties of choice.&nbsp; Political parties prioritise organisational expansion overseas but there is no direct campaigning during elections. It is through conversations and social media engagement that people are participating, debating and expressing their support and loyalty.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260206040240_2ed54377199b995f0a19b7be98fff79004c13787c7a07185a47427467237277a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20260206040240_2ed54377199b995f0a19b7be98fff79004c13787c7a07185a47427467237277a" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1536" loading="lazy" alt="Overseas vote bank NT"> <figcaption>Jeevan Kumar Dewan</figcaption> </figure>  &nbsp;As a UML supporter, it is my duty to remind people to cut through the noise and to separate facts and truth. While elderly voters don’t need much convincing as they are loyal to the party, I do engage a fair amount with the young voters. I have to remind them not to get distracted by the videos shared in social media platforms. All new is not good just because it is new if there is no real political agenda. There is no doubt that we need change but being new is not enough nor can we overlook the contributions and experience of the old parties. All we can do is talk to the voters and try to get our message across. It is important to prioritise better managed migration and also to ensure migrants have proper guidance on how to invest their hard-earned money in productive sectors, even when it is not much, so they have something to fall back on after returning. I don’t have plans to return immediately, I go back and forth quite frequently. I have a stable job and I have seen how my friends who left secure jobs to return home ended up remigrating after their investment failed. I will stay here and continue with my job which I am happy with. <h2>The old need convincing</h2> Prajwal Poudel, Saudi Arabia I work as a data entry analyst in Saudi Arabia. People overseas have seen development, but have also experienced challenges of being away from home. Politicians are aware of this and didn’t want us to vote.&nbsp; When I was in Nepal, I did not care much about politics. It was not for me. But overseas we care about Nepal even more. Perhaps you don’t know the value of something unless you lose it. Perhaps distance makes hearts grow fonder. I am definitely more invested in Nepali politics after leaving.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260206040240_43ea30dfb58b873760e40177d84dca4bb34f1c9cdffdbc9a7c5a0c26b15e78b9.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20260206040240_43ea30dfb58b873760e40177d84dca4bb34f1c9cdffdbc9a7c5a0c26b15e78b9" data-rendition-name="original" width="738" height="1600" loading="lazy" alt="Overseas vote bank NT"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260206040240_dfbc2302411e1ae32a4ab048fa34d940147942c00845d82d9cf59574f5c2e0fe.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20260206040240_dfbc2302411e1ae32a4ab048fa34d940147942c00845d82d9cf59574f5c2e0fe" data-rendition-name="original" width="1080" height="1200" loading="lazy" alt="Overseas Nepali vote bank NT"> </figure>  So I have to make sure that family members back home make the right decision this election. My cousin is also with me in Saudi Arabia and I was talking to his parents and telling them to vote correctly. They have voted for the same faces for two decades. I said that if there had been changes we would not have had to migrate. That this time they should accept the masu-bhat and alcohol, say UML-Congress jindaawaad, take the money offered but finally stamp on Ghanti.&nbsp; My cousin posted a recording of that call spontaneously on Tiktok. It went viral perhaps because it resonated with the youth. We cannot vote but we have to make sure at least our close family members vote correctly. My mother also seems ready for a change despite her loyalty to the UML, but I tell her she does not need to change her party just change her vote this year.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260206040240_0234dfec6f97a726f67120124833bb3fdc84cbf794eee910736649c5624e7576.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20260206040240_0234dfec6f97a726f67120124833bb3fdc84cbf794eee910736649c5624e7576" data-rendition-name="original" width="1168" height="1556" loading="lazy" alt="Overseas vote bank NT"> <figcaption>Prajwal Poudel</figcaption> </figure>  We need to give the new ones a chance. But it’s also true that the new will not bring dramatic changes overnight. Conversations here are all about the election back home. We talk about who is getting elected from their areas. Who they think will win. But the hottest topic of conversation is of course Jhapa. For those of us abroad, the government should make our embassies stronger. Back home, I hope corruption will be curbed and that good roads will reach all corners of the country. This will allow people to develop the country themselves.&nbsp; I am the son of a Malaysia returnee. I even worked as a teacher in Nepal. I could not even afford decent clothes so I left everything and came here. I don’t know when I will return.