Film Southasia Festival of Documentaries, which opened on 21 November by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/from-the-forgotten-army-to-bajrangi-bhaijaan">director Kabir Khan</a>, wrapped up on Sunday with the Best Film trophy going to <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt32590036/">6-A Akash Ganga</a> directed by Nirmal Chander Dhandriyal of India. The three-member jury noted that the documentary was 'a mesmerising tribute to the enigmatic Hindustani classical musician Annapurna Devi, whose genius shaped generations yet whose life remains shrouded in mystery.' 'It was directed with sensitivity and reverence, the film masterfully combines archival footage, intimate interviews, and rare performances to peel back the layers of a recluse who became a legend,” the Jury wrote.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241125111120_ac8cce1c9440427f2a55a34fae60d705a77c6584a8604886f710c3be0b2d3eea.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20241125111120_ac8cce1c9440427f2a55a34fae60d705a77c6584a8604886f710c3be0b2d3eea" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1333" loading="lazy" alt="Film SouthAsia"> <figcaption>Prateek Shekhar of India was one of the jury winners for his film Chardi Kala – An Ode to Resilience.</figcaption> </figure>  The Jury Award was split between two films <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt32058630/">Devi by Subina Shrestha</a> of Nepal and <a href="https://www.uni-goettingen.de/de/681329.html">Chardi Kala – An Ode to Resilience</a> by Prateek Shekhar of India, with the jury noting: 'The two exceptional films, each addressing the profound undercurrents of conflict in South Asia, are being awarded the Jury Prize jointly, standing together as equal bearers of the region’s most urgent stories.' This year, Film Southasia also honoured filmmaker India's Anand Patwardhan with the ‘Documentary Stalwart Award’ honouring his decades of films focused on social justice, humanity and memory.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241125111124_262cc63c1712584da7a433820e2f901fc8c345976add66bef54172d60c97aa06.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20241125111124_262cc63c1712584da7a433820e2f901fc8c345976add66bef54172d60c97aa06" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1331" loading="lazy" alt="Film Southasia"> <figcaption>Anand Patwardhan was recognised with ‘Documentary Stalwart Award’.</figcaption> </figure>  The Best Student Film Award went to <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt28266636/">Hello Guyzz!</a> by Samiksha Mathur from India. The Tareque Masud Best Debut Film Award went to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJYFwGgLfJo">Siege in the Air</a> by Muntaha Amin. The Best Film on Depiction of the Climate Crisis, sponsored by ICIMOD, went to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNxqvsMfRl4">A Flaming Forest</a> by Salman Javeed, Vivek Singh Sangwan and Satya Ambasta.&nbsp; This year’s edition of the biennial South Asian film festival featured 47 films from 9 countries, screened over 4 days shortlisted from over 2,000 submissions. With the theme, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/documenting-the-anthropocene">Documentary in Anthropocene</a>, this year’s festival focused on the planetary breakdown, including in South Asia, while also presenting many documentaries that touched lives across boundaries.&nbsp; The festival was also host to workshops and discussions, kicking off with a directing workshop with <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4rgSDu1sDw">Bollywood director Kabir Khan</a>. ‘Kathaharu’ and the ‘WOW Festival’ conducted masterclasses with Jane Mote, The Whickers, UK, and film editor Shweta Venkat, in collaboration with Film Southasia. Other discussions were held on the themes ‘Understanding the Anthropocene’, ‘The Evolution of the Nepali Documentary’’ and ‘The Sudden Runaway Success of Nepali Cinema’.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241125111124_4da31b5e8701ad4d53e41236bd83eba1d84166f6be6d0bd6e4a786d520292059.jpg" data-media-id="editor_11" data-image-id="20241125111124_4da31b5e8701ad4d53e41236bd83eba1d84166f6be6d0bd6e4a786d520292059" data-rendition-name="original" width="696" height="611" loading="lazy" alt="Kabir Khan at FSA"> <figcaption>Bollywood director Kabir Khan conducted a directing workshop at Film Southasia.</figcaption> </figure>  The jury mewmbers were Farjad Nabi (Lahore), Anitha Pottumkulam (Chennai) and Kiran Krishna Shrestha (Kathmandu). In their closing remarks, highlighted the importance and urgency of the theme related to human-induced deterioration of the environment, jury member Shrestha said, “This year’s theme—Anthropocene—is not just timely but essential. It is a stark reminder that what we share cannot be restrained by borders.”

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Documenting South Asia on film

Indian film director Kabir Khan is a storyteller who started out as a journalist, made documentaries, then transitioned into an acclaimed director of Bollywood mainstream cinema. Known globally for his ability to fuse political narratives with humanistic stories, Khan is in Kathmandu this week for <a href="https://filmsouthasia.org/" target="_blank">Film Southasia</a> the documentary film festival where he won his first award in 1999. Twenty-five years later, he is back as chief guest and keynote speaker at Film Southasia this week.&nbsp; That Grand Jury Award was for one of his earliest works, The Forgotten Army, a compelling narrative about the Indian National Army’s fight for independence from Britain during World War II. “It was the first award I ever got, it really got me into serious film-making,” Khan told Nepali Times. At the time he used to work as a film director with the Indian journalist <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dviThpWKVQU" target="_blank">Saeed Naqvi</a> travelling all over the world. One visit was to Afghanistan in 2001, where an encounter with a Pakistani guerrilla fighting for the Taliban influenced his debut feature film, Kabul Express.&nbsp; Khan views his time as a documentary filmmaker as the basis, shaping his &nbsp;approach to cinema: “Documentaries teach you that what you hear on the news is not always gospel, it’s someone’s perspective.”&nbsp; This realisation influenced his cinematic language, focusing on the gaps between the evening news lineup, and the real-life stories that should have been. Entering Bollywood to make <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NG6PUj-TUfY" target="_blank">The Forgotten Army</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLu_05bHj8Y" target="_blank">Kabul Express</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iyfUDIsC6A" target="_blank">New York</a> and the blockbuster <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmUl0l8qBXw" target="_blank">Ek Tha Tiger</a> was a deliberate move to get deeper into the politics of everything at a time when Indian cinema in general avoided politics. “When I started, politics was taboo in mainstream cinema,” he explains. “But coming from a documentary background, I couldn’t separate stories from their inherent politics.”&nbsp; Each of his movies carried a strong political undertone, ingrained in real-world observations. Whether crafting documentaries or mainstream dramas, Kabir Khan remains, at his core, a storyteller.&nbsp; His films are inspired by personal experiences and perspectives, and continue to bridge divides in present day India, spark conversations, and celebrate the human spirit.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024112104118_239585e19a6f5c7a0de139e26cfa04cea758bd00f32225658e9e14ae2e88a5d8.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="2024112104118_239585e19a6f5c7a0de139e26cfa04cea758bd00f32225658e9e14ae2e88a5d8" data-rendition-name="original" width="878" height="1197" loading="lazy" alt="From The Forgotten Army to Bajrangi Bhaijaan NT"> </figure>  “At the end of the day, storytelling is about honesty, staying true to your own voice. If you can connect with your own story, chances are the audience will too,” he says, “I don’t consciously add politics to my films, it’s part of my worldview, my gaze on life.” Khan's films are known for a balance between humanistic narratives and larger socio-political contexts. The director says he does not intentionally look to balance them but the two are inseparable in storytelling. The approach isn’t about consciously creating characters and then fitting politics into them; rather, it’s about letting the story and characters evolve naturally.&nbsp; "A lot of it is instinct," says Khan. "I feel this is the right thing to say and hope people agree with me. It’s not about over analysing or over-constructing, it’s about going with the flow."&nbsp; This was evident in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/jul/19/bajrangi-bhaijaan-review-salman-khan-india-pakistan-movie" target="_blank">Bajrangi Bhaijaan</a>, where the film defied expectations, not only politically but also in the character of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nwAra0mz_Q&amp;t=26s" target="_blank">Bollywood action superstar Salman Khan</a>.&nbsp; The movie looked into Indian-Pakistani relations through a story steeped in love and innocence. Despite its release while tensions were running high between the two countries in 2015, the film resonated with audiences on both sides of the border, becoming one of Bollywood’s highest-grossing films.&nbsp; “The fact that people embraced it showed they connected with its message of love and understanding,” Khan says. Asked about his most fulfilling project, Khan cites his sports biopic <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/aug/17/nobody-gave-us-a-hope-in-hell-83-the-feelgood-film-about-indias-underdog-cricket-team" target="_blank">83</a>, based on India’s historic 1983 Cricket World Cup victory where Kapil Dev scored a record 175 not out. “It’s not just a cricket story,” he explains. “It’s about a country coming of age, gaining recognition on the global stage.” Khan worked like an investigative journalist to dig up &nbsp;lesser-known facts about the players, fans and viewers, and the result was not just a sports movie but one that celebrated both individual determination and collective triumph. Khan is deeply embedded in South Asian stories, and follows the evolving global perception of the region’s narratives. While the diaspora has amplified regional voices, he says Bollywood’s international reach remains limited.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024112104118_5c5e50ed941297c73f6f42b3508bbc3ebc8824cd052ec5914534803f4587b06d.png" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="2024112104118_5c5e50ed941297c73f6f42b3508bbc3ebc8824cd052ec5914534803f4587b06d" data-rendition-name="original" width="918" height="1338" loading="lazy" alt="From The Forgotten Army to Bajrangi Bhaijaan NT"> </figure>  “Cinema is a reflection of its audience, and as our stories gain more visibility, so does our culture,” says Khan, who sees his role as a cultural ambassador for the region. “I never think about catering to an audience. As an artist, you have to make the film you want to watch,” he asserts.“I don’t shy away from expressing my views on subjects and issues in my films. If your work doesn’t reflect your ideals, what’s the point?”&nbsp; Post-Covid lockdowns, people have been streaming movies at home rather than going to cinemas, leading to declining theatre footfalls. While Khan acknowledges the challenges this poses for traditional cinema, he remains hopeful because “the collective experience of watching a film in a theatre is irreplaceable, filmmakers must offer spectacles that demand the big-screen experience”. The content of Kabir Khan’s work is also ever-evolving because film-making is a dynamic medium, each film is a reaction and portrayal of the time in which it is made.&nbsp; He says, “I’m not the same person who made New York or Ek Tha Tiger. With every film, my worldview and approach change.” Kabir Khan’s new film Chandu Champion about Paralympic boxing gold medalist <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murlikant_Petkar" target="_blank">Murlikant Petkar</a>, reflects his love for real-life stories, a trait he traces back to his documentary days.&nbsp; He says, “the film’s message is one of resilience and perseverance. It's a story of the triumph of the human spirit.” How about Nepal as a location for his next film? Khan says he would not just come to Nepal to shoot a song in the stunning landscape here because the connection between the story and location is inseparable. Kabul Express could only have been shot in Afghanistan, New York could only work in New York, and Bajrangi Bhaijaan needed the two sides of Kashmir. Says Khan: ”If I ever find a story that needs to be set in Nepal and can truly bring out its character, I would love to shoot here.” <div class="embed-block"><div><div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"><iframe src="//cdn.iframe.ly/api/iframe?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fembed%2Fb4rgSDu1sDw%3Fsi%3DppNiuE6ZsMrdgsNd&key=87ca3314a9fa775b5c3a7726100694b0" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;" allowfullscreen scrolling="no" allow="accelerometer *; clipboard-write *; encrypted-media *; gyroscope *; picture-in-picture *; web-share *;"></iframe></div></div></div> <a href="https://filmsouthasia.org/film-southasia-2024-schedule/" target="_blank">Film Southasia</a> Yalamaya Kendra, Patan Dhoka 21-24 November Tickets Rs50 per film

From The Forgotten Army to Bajrangi Bhaijaan

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

The Himalaya is not fragile

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

My father’s son

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

Sacred seed feeds boom

Dimar Chaudhary was born and raised in Old Padampur, the village inside what is now Chitwan National Park before it was dsignated a protected area. His Tharu community, as well as other indigenous groups, traditionally relied on Chitwan’s jungles and rivers for generations. Chaudhary himself had grown up collecting medicinal plants and wild vegetables, gathering wood, and grazing cattle in the forest. Chitwan, along with much of Nepal’s Tarai, was plagued by malaria until a US-supported DDT spraying campaign to wipe out the disease in the district in the 1950s. This opened the valley up to trans-migration of farmers from the hills. Before that, Chitwan was inhabited entirely by indigenous people: 90% of the district’s population was Tharu, and the rest were Bote, Mushar, Darai and Majhi communities. In 1973 Chitwan National Park became Nepal's first protected area and in 1996, the Nepal government introduced the Buffer Zone Management Rule under the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act to manage forests surrounding protected areas, and ensure local participation in parks management. Old Padampur was subsequently relocated outside the park. Ntional parks formed buffer zone user committees (BZUCs) to manage and oversee community forests. Hundreds of thousands of local people were directly involved in managing buffer zone community forests across the country. Over three decades, these forests have not only made conservation collaborative, but also helped to mitigate wildlife-related crimes and human wildlife conflict. In 2014, 2015 and 2016, Nepal achieved zero poaching for its three flagship species: rhinos, tigers and elephants. But while these user communities have made wildlife conservation participatory, the process hasn’t been inclusive of Nepal’s indigenous and underserved communities. In 2022, WWF supported Community Conservation Nepal to collect data on natural resources used by Tharu indigenous people before the establishment of Chitwan National Park. The project also looked into the inclusion of indigenous, women, Dalit and disabled communities in the Baghauda, Paachpandav, Meghauli, Mrigakunja, and Amaltari Buffer Zone User Committees (BZUC) as well as the Someshwor, Gardi Chure, Radha Krishna, and Baghmara Buffer Zone Community Forests (BZCF).  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251210141228_83a5b021c62b6c4a67888e5eee85d3fdcba3fd34d00e581996213d1ae10d6977.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20251210141228_83a5b021c62b6c4a67888e5eee85d3fdcba3fd34d00e581996213d1ae10d6977" data-rendition-name="original" width="1342" height="941" loading="lazy" alt="BZUC map"></figure>  BARRIERS TO INCLUSION The survey found that women are underrepresented in all the BZUCs despite women user groups being larger. Nepal’s Buffer Zone laws dictate that each BZUC has 13 members. Each BZUC is made up of nine units, and as many representatives are elected from those units. The elected members have the authority to choose the remaining four members. This meant that indigenous peoples, marginalised groups, and women have a far lower chance of being elected. Indeed, out of the total members, Paachpandav and Mrigakunja BCUZs had four women, Meghauli had three women, and Baghauda had only one woman, whereas Amaltari user committee had no woman member. In contrast, the BZCF are relatively more inclusive of women, with two out of four surveyed BZCF comprising half women members. Additionally, some grassroots user committees are made up entirely of women. Most women members of the user committees are not appointed through elections, but chosen by elected male members, and are not given positions of leadership. “Women have been the ones protecting the forests ever since the concept of forest conservation initially emerged,” one female participant told us during a focus group discussion. People would get angry when the women stopped them from cutting down trees and grass, and grazing cattle in the jungles, she recalled, adding, “We were dedicated to the user committees. However, we are no longer involved in the committees, nor are we invited to meetings.” When asked about the absence of women in the user committees, one BZUC chairperson responded, “There are only men here because they won the election. Women are unwilling to run for the election. How will they fit into the committee if no woman has ever run for election?” However, not only are women deprived of the chance to contest elections, the chances of them winning polls are also very low because a majority of the positions in the committee will already have been allocated by political parties to their male cadres. Women from marginalised communities face further hurdles.  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251210141228_7ee7dc43b925b4d6e97bfdc5a02df85d4d828e8a82eb00d3086217baf2438b43.png" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20251210141228_7ee7dc43b925b4d6e97bfdc5a02df85d4d828e8a82eb00d3086217baf2438b43" data-rendition-name="original" width="959" height="508" loading="lazy" alt="BZUC "></figure>  “No male member from the Musahar community has been elected in the user community, if they had, they could have suggested that women from our community be included in the committee as well,” said a female participant from the Musahar community. While the native Musahar and Bote people lack representation in the BZUC, indigenous people did make up the majority of the members in the committees, while Dalit members were included in some collectives. However, only one committee is led by an indigenous person. The others are chaired by upper-caste hill migrants. In addition, no committee had any representative with disabilities. One of the key reasons for the under-representation of marginalised communities in Nepal’s BZUC is its non-inclusive policy. When Nepal’s Constitution was promulgated in 2015, residents living in proximity to protected areas across Nepal had hoped that policies relating to buffer zones and their governance would be reformed to reflect Nepal’s new socio-political reality. But this has not been the case. However, this has not discouraged indigenous Nepalis, who have continued to demand buffer zone policy reforms that ensure the inclusion of women, indigenous and marginalised communities. In addition to policy revision, it is necessary to reform the buffer zone election so that it is more participatory for underserved communities. Reforms should also regulate the number of members in a user group. Similarly, the budget allocated for buffer zones must be used on activities that benefit conservation instead of local infrastructure development. Women, people with disabilities, indigenous and marginalised communities should be the primary beneficiaries of budget dispensation. Crop damage compensation, which currently is Rs10,000, can be increased by five times to Rs50,000. Policy revisions should ultimately guarantee the rights of indigenous communities like the Sonaha, Bote and Musahar to practice their culture and traditional livelihoods and receive a formal education. Buffer Zone User Committees must apply indigenous conservation practices for park management. Birendra Mahato is an elected member of the Ratnanagar Municipality Ward 6 and Founder Chair of the Tharu Culture Museum Research Centre in Sauraha.

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