<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111410114/637205299c7e80680e0b289fjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1208" height="737"/><figcaption></figcaption></figure>The first popularly elected government led by B P Koirala enacted the Birta Abolition Act in 1959, that required zamindars formerly granted land by the state to pay full tax. <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/america-nepal-and-the-royal-coup/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/america-nepal-and-the-royal-coup/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1643077045608000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2B7iXxi6EQ44Yn6fvU7P8o">Feudal landlords opposed the move</a>, and it became one of the reasons why King Mahendra ousted Koirala in a coup d’etat on 12 December 1960.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/land-reform-in-cold-war-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/land-reform-in-cold-war-nepal/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1643077045608000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0_lFjeM84k9XkhIFJ4Ij_i">B P believed that only genuine land reform</a> would ensure that all Nepalis prospered together, and also deflect the Communism tide. But in <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/putsch-ek/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/putsch-ek/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1643077045608000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3728k40jtTzbzquYVdgXVu">justifying his coup</a>, Mahendra declared that Nepal’s first democratically elected government had to be overthrown because it had “failed to work in the interest of the poor”.Today, more than six decades later, BP’s Nepali Congress that espoused social democracy is leading a governing coalition. <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/dance-of-democracy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sher Bahadur Deuba</a>, who once led the party’s student union, is prime minister for the fifth time.Yet, 1.5 million families representing a quarter of Nepal’s households, are still landless or have land issues. Some 53% of Nepal’s farmers own only 18% of the total cultivable land.After ousting B P, King Mahendra continued the भुमी सुधार land reform to retain international support and quell domestic discontent. But the effort was half-hearted: the landed kept their land. Mahendra and his son <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/if-birendra-was-alive-nepal-would-still-be-a-monarchy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Birendra</a> ruled through a partyless Panchayat system for the next 30 years.Ironically, unequal land ownership (the very reason that pushed Mahendra to stage his coup) became one of the factors that led to the People’s Movement and the downfall of the Panchayat in 1990.But even after the multi-party system was restored, there was only tokenism for land rights. In 1991, a commission set up to resolve the issue was dissolved even before it could complete its work. In the past three decades, 18 more land reform commissions have been formed by democratic governments, only to fizzle out.Land ownership and rights have been weaponised time and again at election time since 1990 to win votes, but there has been no real change on the ground. The Nepali Congress, UML and Maoists are all guilty of making false promises to the landless.The Maoists made land to the tiller and just land distribution a major point in their 40-point demand to Deuba in 1996 during his first tenure as prime minister. Their main slogan to recruit young men and women to take up arms was to promise land.After all this, the landless have stopped trusting politicians who promise land. Disputes over land make up one-third of all cases in Nepal’s courts.Various factors have changed the dynamics of land today. While educated Nepalis do not want to farm and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/high-risk-remittance/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/high-risk-remittance/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1643077045608000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0fa06zRhqJSxyBT6Zn3rB4">migration is leaving arable land fallow</a>, remittances fuel the market in real estate, the price of which has risen exponentially.This unorganised and uncontrolled buying and selling of land has once again concentrated ownership in the hands of richer Nepalis, who have grown pheonmenally richer as property values escalate. There is a whole class of new-rich who have made their fortune through real estate speculation.This is why we have the farce of the Baluwatar real estate scandal that involves the mightiest in the land, even while a quarter of the country’s population is landless.The Gorkha empire’s expansion in the 18th century was financed by land, generals and soldiers were granted ownership of portions of the land they conquered. During the Shah reign, the royalty and courtiers could take what they wanted. During the Rana period, at least one-third of the total cultivable land in Nepal was distributed among those close to them. The Birta system may have been repealed six decades ago, but it is still intact in other forms through landlords, traders and brokers owning most property.Real estate today is booming business, and a major source of revenue for the state from taxes. <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/kathmandu-creeps-up-surrounding-mountains/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/kathmandu-creeps-up-surrounding-mountains/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1643077045608000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1sT_kl8lVvxjzEaQecolxh">Urban land value appreciation</a> has made it possible for some Nepalis to become fabulously rich overnight.It is not productive when real estate speculation becomes a mainstay of the economy. It does not create jobs, and it exacerbates inequality. Private property rights effectively legitimise past injustices that parcelled out large swathes of the country to the privileged. It perpetuates discrimination and inequality, laying the seeds for future conflict.To be sure, distributing land to the landless alone does not solve their problem, nor does it erase historical discrimination. Self-respect comes from belonging to the land, giving them a sense of purpose and responsibility. It is a start. But it should be without any condition, it cannot be a publicity stunt, or ploy to pad up vote banks.If we are to safeguard the gains of the 2017 Constitution and build the pillars of the federal democratic republic from the ground up, we must pick up where B P Koirala left off 61 years ago.Translated from an Editorial in the January-February 2022 issue of <a href="https://www.himalkhabar.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.himalkhabar.com&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1643077045608000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0kZ1Nz-GpmZwGP7z3MsKDm">Himal Khabarpatrika </a>dedicated to the issue of land.

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Ground reality of landlessness in Nepal

<img width="640" height="694" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110131128/636ceef49c7e80680e09ae5cjpeg.jpg" alt=""/>Twenty years ago on 1 June, 2001, Nepal witnessed an unimaginably shocking tragedy. King Birendra, Queen Aishwarya and eight other members of the royal family were killed during regular monthly family dinner at the Naryanhiti Palace.People at the centre of Kathmandu all heard the sound of automatic gunfire at 8:45pm, and feared that the Maoists were attacking the palace. It turned out that Prince Dipendra had killed his father, mother, brother, sister, an uncle, aunts, and other relatives before killing himself.The massacre shocked not just Nepal, but the world — a regicide, patricide, matricide, fratricide, sororicide, multiple homicides and a suicide -- all within minutes.Nepal was in the midst of the Maoist insurrection which had the aim of abolishing the monarchy, and the monarchy itself had imploded. Within five months, the rebels attacked the Royal Nepal Army bases, intensifying the conflict which was to drag on for another five years with much loss of life. Dipendra was in a coma for four days, and proclaimed king. After he died, his uncle Gyanendra became king. Nepal had three kings in four days. On Tuesday, it will be exactly 20 years since that fateful Friday night. Many who knew King Birendra still mourn him, and say that perhaps Nepal would still be a constitutional monarchy today if he had not died. <figure><img width="574" height="713" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110131128/636ceef79c7e80680e09ae5djpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>For some, he was “Maharaj Sarkar”, to others their beloved “Biren Dai”, Birendra was the perfect gentleman king, and for many Nepalis he was also an incarnation of Vishnu. From palace colleagues to civil servants, relatives to politicians most have nothing but nice things to say about the man. Since he was a child, Birendra was always known for his calm demeanour, mild manners, and a soft-spoken kind hearted personality. Educated in Darjeeling, Eton, Harvard and Tokyo, Birendra was never comfortable being an absolute monarch. So, when the first People’s Movement of 1990 took place, he relinquished powers to be a constitutional king despite misgivings from hardliners in the palace, including his own family.He was devoted to his country, and wanted to make things better. His leadership skills differed from all the preceding kings as well as his brother who succeeded him to the throne. A man of frugal tastes, he wanted nothing but peace and development for his country. But critics say he was not assertive enough to follow through, and get things done. Bhekh Bahadur Thapa was Nepal’s ambassador to India when the massacre took place. He found out from breaking news on television at the Barakhamba Road embassy residence in New Delhi. In interviews with the media the next day, he broke into tears.Even after two decades, Thapa’s voice falters when he remembers the king who appointed him to be Nepal’s youngest ever Finance Minister. He remembers how deftly Birendra defused the crisis of the People’s Movement in 1990, and his state visit to India on Republic Day in 2001 when it was clear that he was a man without airs or arrogance. "He had made peace with the idea of taking a back seat,” Thapa recalls. “King Birendra hated war and violence, and knowing that the Maoist insurgency was on the rise, he was keen on finding a peaceful solution. He was actually working on a peace plan when the massacre happened.”   <figure><img width="640" height="993" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110131128/636ceef99c7e80680e09ae5ejpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>King Mahendra instructed Thapa, whom he had brought back from college in the United States to become the governor of Nepal Rastra Bank, to have weekly sessions with Crown Prince Birendra to instruct him about the country’s economy and development.“One of the most memorable things he said to me once was, ‘You know, I am not like my father, I have my own vision for my country’. That sentence still rings in my ears till today,” Thapa recalls. As crown prince, and after returning from abroad, Birendra travelled all over Nepal in disguise to understand the socio-economic situation of his people. Thapa says, “In his mind, he knew that there was Nepal beyond Kathmandu and his love and devotion for his people showed in his deep sense of patriotism.” Vivek Shah worked with Birendra as his military secretary for more than 27 years, and has similar memories of the king. He remembers King Birendra as being very calm, someone who did not get flustered in a crisis.  <figure><img width="960" height="640" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110131128/636ceefb9c7e80680e09ae5fjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>“He did not speak much, but when he did, it was deep and considered opinion, and he showed great compassion to people around him,” Shah recalls. “He loved and admired the Nepali people and worried constantly about the country’s resource limitation in moving forward.”Shah remembers King Birendra always had a strategy in handling any grave situation, and he regarded the Nepali people as his family. So much so that he perhaps did not devote as much time to his own family.Shah says, “If King Birendra was alive today, Nepal would still be a monarchy and he would have devoted all his time and energy to confront a challenge like the Covid-19 pandemic.” Ketaki Chester, first cousin"I have never met a more genuine person than King Birendra. As a person, he was a wonderful, good human being.  He was kind to everybody. I seldom heard his voice raised in anger. There was a stage in our lives, when we climbed in the garden and we got into a lot of trouble for it. As a young boy, he was quite naughty. We have two-and-a-half years of difference. He was very friendly with all of us cousins.  <img width="400" height="300" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110131128/636ceefe9c7e80680e09ae60jpeg.jpg" alt="">Once he had become the reigning monarch, he was a very popular person who everyone loved, and I am sure the country would have been in much better hands today had he still been around. I was wounded in the massacre and even 20 years on, I have to live with the terrible memory. I was hit in the shoulder. It seems like a bad dream. I was hit in the shoulder. I have not forgotten even the tiniest detail of that night." Rajni Singh, first cousin"King Birendra and I have roughly 10 to 12 years of age difference. He was either in school or college when I was growing up. Of whatever I can recollect of him, he was a very calm and good-hearted person. During those days, we had a trend of collecting autographs, and I remember how sweetly he signed an autograph for me and drew my sketch. Not everyone knows that he was a very good artist, too. He often took us for drives when I was a child. He didn’t talk much, but was a good listener. We used to be on the same flight to school in Darjeeling as well. <img width="640" height="592" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110131128/636ceeff9c7e80680e09ae61jpeg.jpg" alt="">He always made sure that he came along for dinner and movie sessions with our grannies and whenever he returned from his trip abroad, he always brought presents for the whole family. I was lucky to receive a few presents. He was a very thoughtful person and quite different from the rest of the family."Bhekh Bahadur Thapa Former minister and diplomat. "He was an excellent human being. A nationalist and a decent gentleman. His approach to people and country was of a very high order. When he asked me to be his Cabinet Minister, I politely refused the offer but suggested that he wanted someone with a specialisation in economics and finance to help him. It was then I got to know him, and when I was in the Planning Commission, King Mahendra asked me to have sessions with him. So, I started getting in touch with him on a weekly basis. During those meetings, he once mentioned  ‘My father has his own vision and I have my own’. I developed a strong sense of respect for him after that, and it is still very fresh in my mind. <img width="400" height="263" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110131128/636cef029c7e80680e09ae62jpeg.jpg" alt="">King Birendra was devoted to the national interest, and was very mild-mannered, and he must have been under pressure from his family and society. His mild manners meant that some in his family and core advisers may not have taken him as seriously as they should have. The moment he succeeded his father, he started the process to know people and the Nepali landscape. He believed in seeing things for himself rather than relying on others. Instead of listening to experts, he started listening directly to the people."Vivek Shah, King Birendra's military secretary"If the tragic massacre had not happened, perhaps Nepal could still be a constitutional monarchy and the state of the country would have been far different from what it is now. I worked with him for over 27 years and he was so down to earth, simple and kind-hearted. Working with him for so long, there is one thing that he always abided by: "Whatever it is, I have to do everything in my capacity to be there for my people." Nepal was not just his homeland, it was his whole reason for being. He often worried about the lack of resources to develop the country, and the political turmoil and insurgency. Violence and war really troubled him. <img width="175" height="251" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110131128/636cef039c7e80680e09ae63jpeg.jpg" alt="">After the 1990’s movement, King Birendra was very well aware that things were not going too well, but he wanted to do the best he could to bring peace. The only goal he had in mind was to end the conflict with a political resolution. He was always looking for solutions, he wanted to bring change to the country and for that he knew the country needed to be at peace.Towards the end, he had a lot of things in mind. He was under a lot of stress, but he was always working towards his end goal. As a person King Birendra was a devoted family man, but he regarded all Nepalis as his family. And perhaps he did not give as much time to his own family that he wanted to. I remember during the People's Movement of 1990 how violence had gone beyond control, and how difficult it was for him to handle it all. He wanted a truce, and later when the conflict started he worked tirelessly to bring about a peaceful resolution."

If Birendra was alive, Nepal could still be a monarchy

<img width="640" height="694" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111152/636b86ee9c7e80680e06787fjpeg.jpg" alt=""/>Twenty years ago on 1 June, 2001, Nepal witnessed an unimaginably shocking tragedy. King Birendra, Queen Aishwarya and eight other members of the royal family were killed during regular monthly family dinner at the Naryanhiti Palace.People at the centre of Kathmandu all heard the sound of automatic gunfire at 8:45pm, and feared that the Maoists were attacking the palace. It turned out that Prince Dipendra had killed his father, mother, brother, sister, an uncle, aunts, and other relatives before killing himself.The massacre shocked not just Nepal, but the world — a regicide, patricide, matricide, fratricide, sororicide, multiple homicides and a suicide -- all within minutes.Nepal was in the midst of the Maoist insurrection which had the aim of abolishing the monarchy, and the monarchy itself had imploded. Within five months, the rebels attacked the Royal Nepal Army bases, intensifying the conflict which was to drag on for another five years with much loss of life. Dipendra was in a coma for four days, and proclaimed king. After he died, his uncle Gyanendra became king. Nepal had three kings in four days. On Tuesday, it will be exactly 20 years since that fateful Friday night. Many who knew King Birendra still mourn him, and say that perhaps Nepal would still be a constitutional monarchy today if he had not died. <figure><img width="574" height="713" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111152/636b86f19c7e80680e067880jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>For some, he was “Maharaj Sarkar”, to others their beloved “Biren Dai”, Birendra was the perfect gentleman king, and for many Nepalis he was also an incarnation of Vishnu. From palace colleagues to civil servants, relatives to politicians most have nothing but nice things to say about the man. Since he was a child, Birendra was always known for his calm demeanour, mild manners, and a soft-spoken kind hearted personality. Educated in Darjeeling, Eton, Harvard and Tokyo, Birendra was never comfortable being an absolute monarch. So, when the first People’s Movement of 1990 took place, he relinquished powers to be a constitutional king despite misgivings from hardliners in the palace, including his own family.He was devoted to his country, and wanted to make things better. His leadership skills differed from all the preceding kings as well as his brother who succeeded him to the throne. A man of frugal tastes, he wanted nothing but peace and development for his country. But critics say he was not assertive enough to follow through, and get things done. Bhekh Bahadur Thapa was Nepal’s ambassador to India when the massacre took place. He found out from breaking news on television at the Barakhamba Road embassy residence in New Delhi. In interviews with the media the next day, he broke into tears.Even after two decades, Thapa’s voice falters when he remembers the king who appointed him to be Nepal’s youngest ever Finance Minister. He remembers how deftly Birendra defused the crisis of the People’s Movement in 1990, and his state visit to India on Republic Day in 2001 when it was clear that he was a man without airs or arrogance. "He had made peace with the idea of taking a back seat,” Thapa recalls. “King Birendra hated war and violence, and knowing that the Maoist insurgency was on the rise, he was keen on finding a peaceful solution. He was actually working on a peace plan when the massacre happened.”   <figure><img width="640" height="993" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111152/636b86f39c7e80680e067881jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>King Mahendra instructed Thapa, whom he had brought back from college in the United States to become the governor of Nepal Rastra Bank, to have weekly sessions with Crown Prince Birendra to instruct him about the country’s economy and development.“One of the most memorable things he said to me once was, ‘You know, I am not like my father, I have my own vision for my country’. That sentence still rings in my ears till today,” Thapa recalls. As crown prince, and after returning from abroad, Birendra travelled all over Nepal in disguise to understand the socio-economic situation of his people. Thapa says, “In his mind, he knew that there was Nepal beyond Kathmandu and his love and devotion for his people showed in his deep sense of patriotism.” Vivek Shah worked with Birendra as his military secretary for more than 27 years, and has similar memories of the king. He remembers King Birendra as being very calm, someone who did not get flustered in a crisis.  <figure><img width="960" height="640" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111152/636b86f69c7e80680e067882jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>“He did not speak much, but when he did, it was deep and considered opinion, and he showed great compassion to people around him,” Shah recalls. “He loved and admired the Nepali people and worried constantly about the country’s resource limitation in moving forward.”Shah remembers King Birendra always had a strategy in handling any grave situation, and he regarded the Nepali people as his family. So much so that he perhaps did not devote as much time to his own family.Shah says, “If King Birendra was alive today, Nepal would still be a monarchy and he would have devoted all his time and energy to confront a challenge like the Covid-19 pandemic.” Ketaki Chester, first cousin"I have never met a more genuine person than King Birendra. As a person, he was a wonderful, good human being.  He was kind to everybody. I seldom heard his voice raised in anger. There was a stage in our lives, when we climbed in the garden and we got into a lot of trouble for it. As a young boy, he was quite naughty. We have two-and-a-half years of difference. He was very friendly with all of us cousins.  <img width="400" height="300" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111152/636b86f99c7e80680e067883jpeg.jpg" alt="">Once he had become the reigning monarch, he was a very popular person who everyone loved, and I am sure the country would have been in much better hands today had he still been around. I was wounded in the massacre and even 20 years on, I have to live with the terrible memory. I was hit in the shoulder. It seems like a bad dream. I was hit in the shoulder. I have not forgotten even the tiniest detail of that night." Rajni Singh, first cousin"King Birendra and I have roughly 10 to 12 years of age difference. He was either in school or college when I was growing up. Of whatever I can recollect of him, he was a very calm and good-hearted person. During those days, we had a trend of collecting autographs, and I remember how sweetly he signed an autograph for me and drew my sketch. Not everyone knows that he was a very good artist, too. He often took us for drives when I was a child. He didn’t talk much, but was a good listener. We used to be on the same flight to school in Darjeeling as well. <img width="640" height="592" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111152/636b86fa9c7e80680e067884jpeg.jpg" alt="">He always made sure that he came along for dinner and movie sessions with our grannies and whenever he returned from his trip abroad, he always brought presents for the whole family. I was lucky to receive a few presents. He was a very thoughtful person and quite different from the rest of the family."Bhekh Bahadur Thapa Former minister and diplomat. "He was an excellent human being. A nationalist and a decent gentleman. His approach to people and country was of a very high order. When he asked me to be his Cabinet Minister, I politely refused the offer but suggested that he wanted someone with a specialisation in economics and finance to help him. It was then I got to know him, and when I was in the Planning Commission, King Mahendra asked me to have sessions with him. So, I started getting in touch with him on a weekly basis. During those meetings, he once mentioned  ‘My father has his own vision and I have my own’. I developed a strong sense of respect for him after that, and it is still very fresh in my mind. <img width="400" height="263" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111152/636b86fd9c7e80680e067885jpeg.jpg" alt="">King Birendra was devoted to the national interest, and was very mild-mannered, and he must have been under pressure from his family and society. His mild manners meant that some in his family and core advisers may not have taken him as seriously as they should have. The moment he succeeded his father, he started the process to know people and the Nepali landscape. He believed in seeing things for himself rather than relying on others. Instead of listening to experts, he started listening directly to the people."Vivek Shah, King Birendra's military secretary"If the tragic massacre had not happened, perhaps Nepal could still be a constitutional monarchy and the state of the country would have been far different from what it is now. I worked with him for over 27 years and he was so down to earth, simple and kind-hearted. Working with him for so long, there is one thing that he always abided by: "Whatever it is, I have to do everything in my capacity to be there for my people." Nepal was not just his homeland, it was his whole reason for being. He often worried about the lack of resources to develop the country, and the political turmoil and insurgency. Violence and war really troubled him. <img width="175" height="251" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111152/636b86ff9c7e80680e067886jpeg.jpg" alt="">After the 1990’s movement, King Birendra was very well aware that things were not going too well, but he wanted to do the best he could to bring peace. The only goal he had in mind was to end the conflict with a political resolution. He was always looking for solutions, he wanted to bring change to the country and for that he knew the country needed to be at peace.Towards the end, he had a lot of things in mind. He was under a lot of stress, but he was always working towards his end goal. As a person King Birendra was a devoted family man, but he regarded all Nepalis as his family. And perhaps he did not give as much time to his own family that he wanted to. I remember during the People's Movement of 1990 how violence had gone beyond control, and how difficult it was for him to handle it all. He wanted a truce, and later when the conflict started he worked tirelessly to bring about a peaceful resolution."

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181120/636be2269c7e80680e083e90jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"/><figcaption>Narayanhiti Palace Museum reopens after eight month long closure during the Covid-19 crisis. Photos: BIKRAM RAI</figcaption></figure>Since March, Nepal’s museum curators have been in deep despair due to the extended Covid-19 lockdown, and the ban on public gatherings.But finally, some museums opened their doors from Sunday after the Cabinet decision to allow visitors into the facilities. Especially benefiting from this will be children who have also <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/some-schools-re-open-in-remote-rural-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">not been able to go to physical classes</a> for most of 2020.<a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/patans-museum-piece/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Patan Museum</a>, Nepal’s world-renowned establishment and a premier repository of Hindu-Buddhist devotional art, is set to reopen later this week.“We are really excited about reopening, without visitors, a museum is dead,” says Suresh Lakhe of Patan Museum, who is working on a temporary photographic exhibition in collaboration with the Kartik Nach Preservation Committee that will also be open to the public this week.The closure of museums like Patan, Chhauni, or the International Mountaineering Museum in Pokhara has also meant a loss of revenue, and financial strain in the upkeep of the facilities. All museums have adopted health protocols with limits on the number of visitors in the display areas, open windows, as well as mandatory masks.Since the government gave the green signal, the Nepal National Museum in Chhauni opened to the public on 20 November, but there were not too many visitors since most did not know about it.On Sunday, the Narayanhiti Palace Museum also reopened with vistors allowed into <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/preserving-king-birendras-family-home/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Shree Sadan</a>, the private residence of King Birendra, for the first time in 20 years.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181120/636be2299c7e80680e083e91jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181120/636be22c9c7e80680e083e92jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="427"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181120/636be22f9c7e80680e083e93jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="427">There is a lot of anticipation about the opening of the new wing where King Birendra lived with Queen Aishwarya and Prince Nirajan and Princess Shruti. <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/page/royal-massacre-Nepal-15-years-later" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">All four were killed in the 2001 palace massacre</a>.The rooms have been kept intact, just as they were on 1 June 2001. Prince Nirajan’s room still has his college class timetable stuck to the wall, the alcove bar has a bottle of the king’s favourite brandy, and the cot where Birendra’s favourite dog slept is exactly where it was 20 years ago.Museum chief Bhesh Narayan Dahal and his team have worked right through the lockdown to make Shree Sadan ready for public viewing. There were up to 150 people waiting in queue even before the museum opened its doors on Sunday morning at 10am.Said Dahal: “Public response so far has been phenomenal, and there are more people interested in Shree Sadan than the main Narayanhiti Museum.”Although the government has also allowed art galleries and exhibitions to restart, some are not taking any chances yet because of the sustained surge in coronavirus cases in Kathmandu Valley.At <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nepali-times-buzz/taragaon-museum-boudha,1609" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Taragaon Museum</a>, Roshan Mishra’s hands are full. He is busy with the archives, documentation, and renovation of the museum that is run by the Saraf Foundation. He says he is in no rush to reopen the exhibition space, keeping in mind the risk it might bring to the visitors as well as employees.“If we open the museum now, we’ll just have about three to four people walking in every day and it’s not really feasible, so our focus is more on documentation and archives until we reopen possibly in January,” says Mishra.The lockdown has actually been a blessing in disguise to curators like Mishra who would otherwise be too busy for research, and design new shows.Even though the museums were locked up for eight months, staff there also worked on renovation and maintenance. The National Museum in Chhauni has finally finished reconstruction of a wing that was damaged in <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/kundadixit/2015/05/27/a-month-that-felt-like-a-year/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the 2015 earthquake</a>.“It’s time we get back to operations, this is the new normal, and for how long can we stay idle?” asks Jayaram Shrestha of the Chhauni museum. “The Cabinet decision was good, better late than never.”<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181124/636be2339c7e80680e083e94jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1724" height="894"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Keeping in mind the Covid crisis, mandatory precautions will be put in place such as <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/prevention-while-searching-for-a-cure/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">wearing masks, hand washing and sanitisation</a>. The museums are required to be decontaminated every morning and evening. Visitors are also required to maintain physical distance, and at Shree Sadan, for example, only 10 people will be allowed to enter certain sections of the museums at one time.In Pokhara, International Mountain Museum has been receiving 10 to 20 queries every day about when it will reopen. Shankar Bahadur Gautam at the museum says, “This is such a huge relief, museums are for gaining knowledge and have an educational function. So, if we strictly follow the Covid protocols, there is no harm to re-open.”Siddhartha Art Gallery at Baber Mahal Revisited has been shut since March, and did not opt for online exhibitions like other galleries. <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/sangeeta-thapa-siddhartha-art-gallery,1999" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Siddhartha’s Sangeeta Thapa</a> explains: “Collective viewing and physical presence is important for the visual arts and the difference between government museums and private art galleries is that museums are bigger and can ensure physical distancing. We do not have that kind of space, and we cannot compromise on the safety of the artists, our gallery staff, and the visitors.”The gallery is planning to open its doors by mid-January with an exhibition of artists Jagadish Moktan and Priyanka Singh Maharjan. Thapa is also gearing up for the mammoth <a style="font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/art-on-the-city-kathmandu-triennale,3607" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kathmandu Triennale</a> that was to begin next month, but has been postponed to 26 October-26 November 2021.Thapa adds: "Since the festival is for both locals and the international community, we cannot take the risk now. Which is why it has been postponed till next year.”

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Nepal museums reopen after 8 months

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110914110/636ba4e59c7e80680e073690jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1125" height="844"/><figcaption>King Birendra designed this three-storey cottage named Shree Sadan for his family when he was Crown Prince. It will soon be open to the public, and has preserved the rooms exactly like it was when the entire royal family was killed in a massacre in 2001.</figcaption></figure>When <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=18278#.XyvRz4gzbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D18278%23.XyvRz4gzbIU&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1596794292205000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEMDOjs0Q__r5yzqk3y4KnEOM3DbQ">Narayanhiti Palace</a> was opened to the public in 2009 soon after Nepal was declared a <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/nepal-from-royal-to-republic,3736" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/nepal-from-royal-to-republic,3736&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1596794292205000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFzk-FZmp9_uF7TZbIDq9ksZbxx5Q">republic</a>, Nepalis flocked in to see what daily life of the royals looked like. They were not impressed.Many thought they would also see Tribhuvan Sadan, the building where the 2001 family massacre took place in which<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=18246#.XyvKMYgzbIW" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D18246%23.XyvKMYgzbIW&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1596794292205000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEqs-7ecqRU__rrDrjApuAv6iFXXw"> ten members of the royal family were killed</a>, and which was later demolished.The pink pagoda shaped building with a tower designed by American architect Benjamin Polk was a ceremonial structure for official functions, and there was not much to see there about the private life of royals.Now, the Narayanhiti Palace Museum is set to open Shree Sadan, King Birendra’s private family residence, which has been kept intact since the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=8338#.XyvJuYgzbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D8338%23.XyvJuYgzbIU&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1596794292205000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEOCPm9GlBmc0iJNiguhP4cCLSrZw">massacre at 8:45 PM on Friday, 1 June 2001</a>.Nepali Times got an exclusive sneak preview of Shree Sadan this week, and it is like a time capsule – <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=10777#.XyvMSIgzbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D10777%23.XyvMSIgzbIU&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1596794292205000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGvrL28ueQ0BKNZpuFCX6fQ8gIBeQ">Prince Nirajan</a>’s room still has his class timetable stuck to the wall, the alcove bar has King Birendra’s favourite brandy, and in the bedroom is a small cot where the king’s beloved German Shepherd, Jit, used to sleep.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110914110/636ba4e89c7e80680e073691jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="960" height="720">“Everything is the same as it was 20 years ago, we wanted it to be as it was, a place where our king, queen, princes and princesses walked, this place holds attachment, and tampering with the memories would be a disservice to Nepal’s history,” says Buddhi Bahadur Gurung as he walks through the dark and slightly musty-smelling rooms.This is an emotional project for 54-year-old Gurung, who worked closely with <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=8412#.XyvLKogzbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D8412%23.XyvLKogzbIU&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1596794292205000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGeCUSJ9L4IT2nNkCNxYQQBL4UGPQ">King Birendra</a> ever since he was employed at the royal palace at the age of 21. He is now entrusted with sprucing up Shree Sadan so it can be added to the Narayanhiti Museum once the COVID-19 lockdown is fully lifted.Despite the coronavirus restrictions, workers have used the past four months preserving the artefacts in Shree Sadan, while taking care not to disturb anything in the rooms. The building lies  between the current museum and the Republic Memorial to the east.<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=8252#.XyvM0YgzbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D8252%23.XyvM0YgzbIU&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1596794292205000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGc1b0k3_N99uTD9MCTxraR1yAFxA">At Chhauni, 1-4 June 2001</a>, Dr Upendra DevkotaEntering the lush driveway, visitors will be reminded that this was the route King Birendra took every day as he went to and from his office with Jit. There is a deep stillness in the air, and Shree Sadan has a raw and foreboding look.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110914110/636ba4eb9c7e80680e073692jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="960" height="720">Gurung remembers King Birendra as a simple man with plain tastes, and did not want an ostentatious building: “He preferred it this way, he loved the natural charm of the brick and tiles.”<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/from-nepali-press/A-suitable-prince,2423" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/from-nepali-press/A-suitable-prince,2423&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1596794292205000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFNAjv0Qh-bv9vVdDIYVbjwsnV8Cw">Crown Prince Dipendra</a> did not live in Shree Sadan because royal tradition demanded that he stay separately from his parents once he turned 18. He had moved to Tribhuvan Sadan, where the shooting of the royal family took place in 2001 during a regular royal family dinner gathering.Birendra had also moved out of the home of his father, King Mahendra, when he turned 18. That is when he built the 3-storey and 12-room Shree Sadan for himself.The main door leads to a red carpeted hallway and a double staircase with a portrait of the extended royal family on the left. The shelf centres a painting of King Birendra’s mother, Queen Indra – her immaculate beauty captured on a crystal frame. In contrast, the hallway also has some grisly taxidermy heads of bears, deer and mountain goats along the wall, a life-size mirror reflecting them.<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/issue/293/Headline/11506#.XyvRLYgzbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/issue/293/Headline/11506%23.XyvRLYgzbIU&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1596794292205000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEDVIynu33aH-wFZUGVAi689ZtDTA">Cut and cleanly</a>, Kunda Dixit<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110914110/636ba4ed9c7e80680e073693jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1250" height="1610">The ground floor has the study of King Birendra and <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/issue/293/Headline/11506#.XyvRLYgzbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/issue/293/Headline/11506%23.XyvRLYgzbIU&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1596794292205000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEDVIynu33aH-wFZUGVAi689ZtDTA">Queen Aishwarya</a>, which was Crown Prince Dipendra’s bedroom before he moved out in 1988.The living room has portraits of Dipendra, Princess Shruti and Prince Nirajan, and the dining hall has a large brown marble table under a blue ceiling where only the family was allowed.Off the dining area is a small alcove bar where King Birendra sometimes hosted his brothers for after-dinner drinks and a cigar. He would pour himself a brandy, and fix drinks for Prince <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=8986#.XyvKzIgzbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D8986%23.XyvKzIgzbIU&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1596794292205000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEWT3vGN0LEwDCPH13w01gNtUPADA">Gyanendra</a> and Prince <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=8999#.XyvO-4gzbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D8999%23.XyvO-4gzbIU&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1596794292205000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHFL_bPTVkhGRlrqRqbPAFtSR7pMQ">Dhirendra</a>.Upstairs, the first floor leads to the King and Queen’s personal chambers and the hallway has oil-on-canvas paintings of landscapes and wildlife by Princess Shruti, an accomplished artist herself.<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=18278#.XyvRz4gzbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D18278%23.XyvRz4gzbIU&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1596794292205000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEMDOjs0Q__r5yzqk3y4KnEOM3DbQ">Tyaha raja rani hunthyo</a>, Rabi ThapaTo the left is a common living room, with blue themed walls and furniture. There is a bulky cathode-ray Sony tv set and a stereo with cassette tapes in a corner. This area leads to Queen Aishwarya’s vanity room where there is a small dressing area with a three-sided mirror table, a partition for changing. Adjoining it is a puja kotha (prayer room).<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110914110/636ba4f09c7e80680e073694jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="750" height="1000"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110914110/636ba4f39c7e80680e073695jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="1334">The living room, bedrooms, dining hall and even the bar alcove show the king's simple lifestyle and plain taste.To the right on the first floor is the personal room of the King and Queen which is modest, almost frugal. A 1990s National tv set faces a king-sized bed attached to a mirror that goes up to the ceiling. The side table has a dial telephone along with a framed image of Khaptad Baba. The bathrooms are simple with pink tiles, a bathtub, a small mirror and ordinary sink.Next to the door is a small cot for King Birendra’s favourite pet, Jit the German Shepherd. Jit died soon after the royal massacre. “It was depression,” Gurung says.Princess Shruti and Prince Nirajan lived on the second floor. To the right of the hallway is Nirajan’s chamber: his study room, bedroom and a small terrace with a punching bag, where he often practiced boxing. Nirajan was 23 when he was killed.The Prince’s study room had stickers of cartoon characters Goofy and Mickey Mouse. He has a collection of Laughing Buddha figures on his shelf, and picture frames on the wall. Everything is as it was 20 years ago – even Nirajan’s class schedule for Kathmandu Management College pinned to the wall and a weekly schedule printed in dot matrix: ‘Wake up at 6.30 and head to bed by 23.00. Friday wake up at 10 am and FRIDAY NIGHT from 19.00 to 23.00.’<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=8339#.XyvJpogzbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D8339%23.XyvJpogzbIU&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1596794292205000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHPR-EtIoIq_0AKcb1_9edSsYIErQ">If truth to be told</a>, Kunda Dixit Princess Shruti’s room is different. She was two years older than Nirajan, and it is more feminine: pink flowered closets, family portraits, single bed, study table with VCR tapes which she often shared with her brother. In the driveway below Shree Sadan are three small toy cars -- black, red and white – in which the three siblings often played when they were children.The opening of Shree Sadan has been delayed by the pandemic and bureaucratic hurdles. But Director of the Narayanhiti Palace Museum Bhesh Narayan Dahal says they are being sorted out: “Yes there were a lot of delays and mismanagement, but we don’t want to wait any further. There is much more of an <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=8985#.XyvLRYgzbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D8985%23.XyvLRYgzbIU&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1596794292205000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEyddHjnjp-HWHCTi9M4ERmYsvxCw">emotional connection</a> with the royal family in Shree Sadan and it is a searing memory of the tragedy.”<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110914110/636ba4f69c7e80680e073696jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="720" height="462"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110914110/636ba4f89c7e80680e073697jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="606" height="500"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Because of his links to the royal family, Gurung was disappointed that visitors were not happy with the ceremonial palace and its exhibits. But he is confident that Shree Sadan will be a much more intimate addition to the museum.There are other sections of the palace that are still out of bounds. Trishul Sadan to the east of the main palace has a salon, medication room, gymnasium, indoor swimming pool and private rooms of the prince and princesses. It has not been opened because it is part of the Mahendra Manjil, still the private residence of<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=17847#.Xyui1IgzbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D17847%23.Xyui1IgzbIU&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1596794292205000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEOb-DHNL1YqctviEnpu2KOrQykuA"> Queen Mother Ratna</a> who is now 92, and was allowed to live there after 2008.<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/nepal-from-royal-to-republic,3736" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/nepal-from-royal-to-republic,3736&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1596794292205000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFzk-FZmp9_uF7TZbIDq9ksZbxx5Q">From royal to republic</a>, Shreejana ShresthaGurung says that although King Birendra had winter and summer palaces in Chitwan, Pokhara and Nagarjun, his favourite was always  Shree Sadan, a place where he truly felt at home and where he liked to relax while gardening and reading.Narayanhiti is named after the Malla-era water spouts near the Narayan Temple. Prime Minister Bir Shumshere Rana, who had his daughter marry King Prithvi Bir Bikram Shah, made a palace for the king as a dowry in the late 19th century.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110914110/636ba4fa9c7e80680e073698jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1347" height="750"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>However, that neo-classical palace was destroyed in the 1934 earthquake and King Tribhuvan rebuilt the house called Tribhuvan Sadan -- the building where the massacre took place.Says Buddhi Bahadur Gurung: “We look forward to welcoming visitors to this museum after the COVID-19 crisis. We have put our heart and soul into it to preserve it just as it was two decades ago on the day of the tragedy.”Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.atavist.com/three-kings-in-four-days-nepal-massacre">Three kings in four days</a>, Kunda Dixit

Preserving King Birendra’s family home

<img width="1000" height="500" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101132/636b74059c7e80680e06236ejpeg.jpg" alt=""/>The careers of many journalists of <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=6041#.XjzSCi2B3-Y" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Durganath Sharma</a>'s generation spanned the technology transition. We started out as reporters in the age of cold type and letter press, graduated to Linotype, then in the 1980s came photocomposition and offset printing, after that we got rid of film and went straight from computer to plate, and now there are digital presses. Us reporters filed our stories by postal mail, dictated them on landline phones, telex machines, fax, dialup, and finally email and internet apps. We saw our stories being laid out with photographs in zinc blocks. Durganath Sharma, who died at age 72 on Wednesday in Kathmandu, was a celebrated and celebrity <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=6241#.XjzZoS2B2t8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">television journalist</a>. But he started out in Gorkhapatra in the age of the letter press. He went on to the broadcast studio and his “Yo <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/nepali-radio-nepali-awaj,3728" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Radio Nepal</a> ho. Aba Durganath Sharma bata samachar sunnuhos” was the most recognised voice across Nepal as he read the morning news on the short and medium wave bands. <img width="640" height="500" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101132/636b74079c7e80680e06236fjpeg.jpg" alt=""><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101132/636b740a9c7e80680e062370jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1184" height="284"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101132/636b740c9c7e80680e062371jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1184" height="622"> <img width="640" height="454" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101132/636b740f9c7e80680e062372jpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="640" height="453" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101132/636b74119c7e80680e062373jpeg.jpg" alt="">Later, when Nepal Television started relatively late in the 1984, he was the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=3591#.XjzSEC2B3-Y" target="_blank" rel="noopener">chief news anchor</a> and set the standard for camera presence and audience connection. The joke then was that he should say “Aba Durganath Sharma bata samachar hernuhos”. Durganath Sharma travelled across Nepal, often accompanying King Birendra on his annual inspections of development in remote areas. Because of his frequent reportage from the field, close friends had given him a moniker ‘Durgam Kshetra’ (Remote Area) by playing on his name. But even in radio, Sharma presided over a rapidly changing technology from analog shortwave, to AM (amplitude modulation) and witnessed the spread of FM (frequency modulation) and finally satellite radio and digital broadcasting. He worked through the evolution of television technology from the age of video parlours to terrestrial broadcasting, and on to cable to direct to home dish. From cameras that were so large and heavy they had to rest on burly shoulders to the Sony Handycam and finally mobile phones that could take videos.   <img width="602" height="1122" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101132/636b74149c7e80680e062374jpeg.jpg" alt="">Durganath Sharma was the screen persona telling Nepal what was happening around the world. This was the age of Panchayat, so domestic news had to be taken with a pinch of salt. The democrat in Durganath Sharma valued the freedom of press, but it was just a job. He later used his reach on Nepal Television to start Biswa Ghatana (World Events) program that catapulted him to stardom.In the age before Twitter provided instantaneous notifications about what is going on, Biswa Ghatana became a window on the world for a whole generation of Nepalis. As anchor, he did not just list the news line-up but also explain the background and context that drove events like the Israel-Palestine conflict, Chernobyl, Security Council debates and the fall of the Berlin Wall. <img width="640" height="403" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101132/636b74169c7e80680e062375jpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="640" height="558" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101132/636b74199c7e80680e062376jpeg.jpg" alt="">In later years he taught media studies and penned several handbooks for journalists. He had a bypass surgery 15 years ago, but continued to teach and write columns in Kathmandu newspapers. He died of cardiac complications on Tuesday, and with him we lose a media practitioner with institutional memory of Nepal’s political transitions and the evolution of information technology over the past decades.

Kunda Dixit

Durganath Sharma, 72

Architecture can be a powerful agent of change, shaping not just spaces but the way people live, connect, and experience the world.&nbsp; For Nepal, which is <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/natures-fragile-gift-to-nepal">gifted by nature</a> and rich in <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/ambassador-fund-cultural-preservation-nepal,2092">cultural heritage</a>, &nbsp;reviving rural architecture with modern amenities could hold the key to more <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/what-sustainable-tourism-means-in-practice">sustainable tourism </a>that benefits local people more. “<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/bayalpata-hospital-in-nepal-wins-global-design-award">Design and architecture</a> are amazing tools to create a unique experience for visitors,” says Spanish architect Tomeu Esteva of Esteva i Esteva Architecture Studio. “Difficult destinations have beautiful hotels with design and comfort.” Esteva was in Kathmandu with his colleagues at an event organised by the Spanish Honorary Consulate at Dwarika’s Hotel last week to showcase buildings which Nepali architects can adapt with local material and design inputs.&nbsp; Rural architecture holds a unique significance: it is more than a shelter and must reflect <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/inking-an-idenity">local identity, culture</a> and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/saving-humla-from-heritage-loss">heritage</a>. An area’s natural and cultural harmony can be upset by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/protecting-protected-areas-from-infrastructure?fbclid=IwAR1wK0MDFlFST_2EYb3f54LS4-fPt6rYfLG1DJ1JaQsU3w8-ezyXIxGOqzk">poorly planned development</a>, speakers at the event said, but the environment can be improved and revitalised by well-integrated structures.&nbsp; Another Spanish architect, Belen Moneo, has designed hotels at elevations of 3,700m in her home country Spain that supply natural spring water spas. “<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/lost-in-reconstruction">Creativity in construction</a> must be encouraged. Rural architecture always shows possibilities of what we can do better,” Moneo explains, adding that designs must enhance <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/the-healing-power-of-nature">the beauty of nature</a> and give a natural feel at a time when steel, glass and cement dominate <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/rebuilding-kathmandu-after-the-1934-quake">urban design</a>.&nbsp; This is why the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/weaving-nature-into-craft">use of natural products</a> such as bamboo, local timber, straw and rammed earth are in demand from customers who want a fresh eco-friendly look encouraged in construction of rural architectural structures. The demand for boutique hotels has increased world over, with &nbsp;more and more tourists favouring aesthetics, experience and comfort over price. While creativity is an important part of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/architecture-for-mountains">construction and architecture</a>, incentives to build and use <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Building,370">rural construction materials</a> still remain minimal, and Moneo emphasises the significance of design and execution.&nbsp; Esteva helped design the Vana Retreat in Dehradun that kept the natural environment in focus, with the structure giving an elaborate aesthetic experience to visitors. Another example is Hotel Las Mercedes in the Dominican Republic which was designed and constructed by Moneo and the company she co-founded Moneo Brock, respecting and revaluing the traditional architecture of the area. Hotels providing such experience could attract tourists and revenue. The Spanish ambassador to Nepal Juan Antonio March Pujol said, “The role of architecture and architects in developing tourism is crucial, not only in urban areas but rural settings as well.”&nbsp; The concept of rural boutique hotels gained traction in Spain during the 1990s, particularly in regions like Majorca with economic and environmental sustainability as the main focus. In Nepal <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/12-full-opinion/guiding-nepal-s-tourism-industry">the tourism industry</a> directly employs about 1 million people, and makes up about 8% of the country’s GDP. In Nepal, the stone homes of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/reviving-himalayan-vulture-and-culture">Mustang and Manang</a>, bamboo and mud structures of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-tarai-s-shrinking-forests">the Tarai</a>, and the Kathmandu Valley’s terra cotta tile skylines, graceful temples, and tranquil bahal courtyards are all examples of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-s-traditional-seismic-resistant-designs">Nepal’s traditional architecture</a>.&nbsp; Nepali architect Sarosh Pradhan has been working for the past eight years on the Brakka Village project in Manang Valley north of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/municipalities-want-to-manage-annapurna">the Annapurnas</a>. Other examples of this kind of rural architecture for high-end tourism are the Shinta Mani Hotel in Mustang and Khumbu Lodge below <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/mt-everest-pvt-ltd">Mt Everest</a>. Says Pradhan, “There are places in Nepal that radiate purity and embrace simplicity. Creating projects in such settings require deep reflection and thoughtful planning.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250421030444_a07a23f6b60fa89c0f35b9dc1aaf19937da4881e6bfb2e1858f3c27dff91729f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_19" data-image-id="20250421030444_a07a23f6b60fa89c0f35b9dc1aaf19937da4881e6bfb2e1858f3c27dff91729f" data-rendition-name="original" width="4608" height="2184" loading="lazy" alt="A new architecture for Nepal's tourism"> </figure>  Rural architecture is not easy, and sometimes more expensive. Inflation, energy efficiency, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/those-who-stay">the climate crisis</a>, and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/cost-of-living-in-a-big-city">increased costs of living</a> pose obstacles to sustainable rural architecture. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/forgotten-international-starchitects-in-nepal">Forgotten international starchitects in Nepal</a>, Anne Feenstra and Varun S Bapu Esteva says faith and trust between client and architect is necessary for any project to be successful. He adds that architects must practice being humble, the process of designing always involves learning and not imposing their ideas on clients. Nepal is uniquely positioned for the growth of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/hiking-up-the-benefits-of-tourism">rural tourism</a> because of its stunning countryside as well as its internationally renowned traditions in holistic wellness. Creating infrastructure that is small, thoughtfully planned and that respects both tradition and contemporary hospitality standards is crucial. “Projects in Nepal can be made cost effective by using materials from houses that have been brought down,” says Esteva. “Pilot projects involving <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/local-government-by-the-people-for-the-people-of-the-people">local people </a>and simple designing also helps the process.” <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/vacant-homes-become-homestays-in-nepal">The growth of homestays in Nepal</a> is a step in the right direction, but they are still a bit too rustic for the international traveller who also wants comfort and is willing to pay extra for it. Upgrading the facilities in homestays and ensuring that the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/an-archive-of-nepali-heritage">architectural heritage</a> of the locality is preserved using locally sourced building material could allow owners to charge more. Says Sangita Shrestha of Dwarika’s Hotel, “Our effort is to build upon rural architecture by empowering local communities and using what is available locally. We can fine tune and encourage indigenous design and training.” The vision goes beyond just boosting the economy, it is about building a future where tourism helps villages grow in a healthy and lasting way. Instead of using up resources, it gives back to the land and the people. It supports local communities by<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/staying-in-nepal-to-create-jobs"> creating jobs</a>, improving infrastructure, and protecting natural beauty. When done right, tourism can be a tool for <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/progress-and-or-preservation">preserving culture and nature</a>, not harming them. Architects must therefore see their work as more than just designing buildings, they also need to care deeply about people and places, especially in rural areas that can benefit the most.&nbsp; With global interest in sustainable and off-the-beaten-path travel increasing, Nepal stands at the cusp of a <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/missing-out-on-nepal-s-tourism-potential">tourism transformation</a> that values community-driven, eco-conscious hospitality. A mix of modern ideas and traditional knowledge could transform rural tourism in Nepal. Says Shrestha, “Young architects should spend time with <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/latest/the-unsung-heroes-of-conservation">local and indigenous communities</a>, listen to their stories, and learn from their <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/life-and-livelihood-in-remote-nepal">ways of living</a>. These communities have deep knowledge about the land, materials, and climate. If this wisdom is used in new designs, it can help create tourism spaces that truly benefit everyone.” &nbsp;

A new architecture for Nepal's tourism

Extract from an addendum to Nepal's Two Wars, Chapter 2 in the updated edition of Essays on Nepal: Past and Present by Sam Cowan, a retired British Army general with a long association with the Gurkhas. The book was first published in 2018, and republished earlier this month by FinePrint exclusively on Amazon. The addendum details a one-to-one conversation the author had in the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=8884">Royal Palace </a>with the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=8371">King Gyanendra</a> in November 2002 just after he had taken his initial steps on the road that ultimately led to <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=14681">the abolition of the monarchy</a> in Nepal in 2008. In the early evening of September 16, 2002, in my role as Colonel Commandant of the Brigade of Gurkhas, I had my second and last official audience with King Gyanendra to give him an update on the Brigade’s activities over the previous 12 months. I had some 6 or 7 such audiences with <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/preserving-king-birendra-s-family-home">King Birendra</a>.&nbsp; These were official affairs with the British ambassador of the day present, along with key <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=12233">palace officials</a> and a representative from Nepal's Foreign Ministry. The two monarchs were very different in character and temperament, but both treated me with the utmost civility and made the audiences as relaxed and easy for me as possible.&nbsp; It is, however, worth recording that when the official business had been covered, King Birendra, with a twinkle in his eye, often ended by asking, “Now General, what’s the gossip in London?” The second audience with <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=8026">King Gyanendra </a>was my last official act in uniform. We came back to Kathmandu in the first week of November (after treks) to stay for a few nights with our Defence Attaché before heading back to the UK. Waiting for me was a message from the Palace saying that King Gyanendra would like to meet me informally: <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=6933">no uniform</a> and no ambassador.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250421080420_f9046f9882d4481781d14f2b64f18c7fbbea62562e1d74e3465de6d01fb43750.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20250421080420_f9046f9882d4481781d14f2b64f18c7fbbea62562e1d74e3465de6d01fb43750" data-rendition-name="original" width="1750" height="2406" loading="lazy" alt="Gyanendra crowned page 1"> <figcaption>Nepali Times Special Edition of 6-14 June 2001 with enthronement of Gyanendra. </figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250421080424_21333d6ae21828eb47fe3f849438d215fe2804460d47bb2896ef4aee4e895ad2.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20250421080424_21333d6ae21828eb47fe3f849438d215fe2804460d47bb2896ef4aee4e895ad2" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1857" loading="lazy" alt="Royal massacre"> <figcaption>Nepali Times 22-29 June 2001 covering the royal massacre after which Gyanendra became king. </figcaption> </figure>  Although I had no idea what the purpose of the meeting might be, events in Kathmandu since I last saw the king put me on edge. On October 4, 2002, Gyanendra had dismissed Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, allegedly for failing to hold <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/what-goes-on-in-nepal-s-elections">elections</a>. He had put in place a new prime minister and a cabinet personally selected by him. When I heard the news on my travels, the people I met were generally supportive of the king’s actions. There was a general view that something had to be done, the country was going nowhere, and the king deserved his chance, not least to solve<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/latest/14-years-after-conflict-no-closure-in-nepal"> the Maoist </a>problem. Back in Kathmandu, views were not so sanguine. The chosen prime minister, Lokendra Bahadur Chand, was a relic from <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/mob-movement-and-mayhem">the Panchayat period</a> whose party had failed to win a single seat in the last elections held in 1999. Some of the chosen cabinet ministers had, to put it mildly, dubious reputations, and others had no record of proven competence in any field. There was a fear that the king’s real motive in dismissing <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/deubas-denouement">Deuba</a> was to start to reverse the democratic gains made since 1990. I informed <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-britain-mark-centenary-of-1923-treaty">the British ambassador</a> about the invitation. He was strongly against accepting it, which was probably the clinching reason for my decision to do the polite thing and accept it. On the evening of November 7, 2002, I presented myself at the royal palace, alone and in civilian attire.&nbsp; As in the past, the Military Secretary, Major General Vivek Shah, met and escorted me into the presence of the monarch. This time, however, he was politely asked to leave the room and shut the door behind him. King Gyanendra greeted me warmly and invited me to sit down.&nbsp; Read also:<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/the-ghost-of-monarchy-returns-to-haunt-nepal"> The ghost of monarchy returns to haunt Nepal</a>, Shristi Karki  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250421080424_e382af945d0ad2a04ae41fabe5393f793dd10f54cb1220f111c7c9e7423eb558.jpg" data-media-id="editor_15" data-image-id="20250421080424_e382af945d0ad2a04ae41fabe5393f793dd10f54cb1220f111c7c9e7423eb558" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="993" loading="lazy" alt="Gyanendra coup"> <figcaption>Nepali Times 4-10 February 2005 after king Gyanendra's coup imposed media censorship. anendra became king. </figcaption> </figure>  I had wondered, and to be truthful, had worried, not just about the purpose of the meeting, but about how the conversation might start and develop. I reduced my resolve to two points: be polite but speak candidly. The latter resolve was quickly put to the test with the king’s opening words: “Sam, [in previous meetings it had been ‘General’, you walk the highways and byways of this land more than most, tell me what the common man is thinking?” &nbsp;“Your Majesty, I have no idea what they are thinking, but they are waiting.” “Waiting?” “Yes, Your Majesty, they are waiting to see whether what you did some weeks ago in appointing your own prime minister and cabinet ministers is going to make any difference to their lives or whether it is just going to be more Kathmandu hot air.” “Everything is going to be difficult and is going to take time, a lot of time.” “Your Majesty, time is the one thing you don’t have. You must act quickly and decisively to take advantage of the opportunity you have created. Everyone knows that you have appointed these new ministers. Why don’t you get them in here one by one and tell them that they have three months to deliver a programme in their area of responsibility that is going to make a difference to people’s lives? Most will fail to do so. Sack them! It will be a powerful signal of your strong intent to deliver real change.” I can express the opening of our conversation in this way because just about every word is still etched in my mind. The king’s response to my last quoted words was to challenge me to give an example of something that could be delivered quickly. I can give a verbatim record of what I said in response to this unexpected challenge: “Health posts, Your Majesty, there is no shortage of them throughout the country as building them has been one of the sources of local corruption, but very few have any medicine to issue at present or have skilled people to assess and meet medical needs. Your Majesty, children are dying for lack of a few pills. Given the right priority, over a period, say of six months, every health post could be fully stocked with medicine and manned with trained people. This is something I could help to lead for you as I know it would have strong international backing. At last, people would know that you mean business.” As I warmed to the theme, I could see no sign of the king having any enthusiasm for the idea, and I quickly disengaged as it dawned on me, as it had clearly dawned on the king, that the reason for the deficiencies in health posts was to prevent any Maoist combatant from gaining access to any <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/tech-away/nepal-s-health-tech-industry-is-here-to-stay">medical support</a>, and if this meant people suffering, so be it. The subject of the Maoist insurgency inevitably came up, and I took the opportunity to elaborate on what is written in the final four paragraphs of the article above. I advised King Gyanendra that, self-evidently, since there were three parties in the conflict—him, the Maoists, and the political parties—it was imperative that he form an alliance with one of them, preferably the political parties; otherwise, he would find himself isolated, as the other two parties would inevitably, at some stage, form their own alliance. However, it quickly became apparent that the king’s mind was on a totally different track. On the Maoists, he told me that he had channels open to them, but he was scathing about the political party leaders. He made it clear that they would be waiting for a very long time before he gave any power back to them, and that is a polite way of expressing the actual words he used, but “crawling through the door” is a phrase which has stuck in my mind.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250421080424_5403455ff6168f0d202a96cb53edea69136d74d59b989cfcc7cc4a1d57672cb5.jpg" data-media-id="editor_17" data-image-id="20250421080424_5403455ff6168f0d202a96cb53edea69136d74d59b989cfcc7cc4a1d57672cb5" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1317" loading="lazy" alt="fall of monarchy"> <figcaption>Nepali Times 28 April-3 May 2005 with cover image by Ajay Joshi of jubilant protesters after street demonstrations sidelined king Gyanendra, paving the way for a ceasfire and restoration of democracy. </figcaption> </figure>  As the conversation developed, it became ever clearer that King Gyanendra had decided to go in alone, relying on the misleading assurances he was constantly receiving from <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=14954">the army</a>, and no doubt his close advisers, that the Maoists could and would be quickly defeated militarily, and taken out of the equation. This would obviate the need for him to do any deal with the political parties.&nbsp; Thus, the way would be clear for him to establish a version of his father’s Panchayat system, under a constitution that would be granted to the people by him, their sovereign, as his father and brother had done in 1962 and 1990. As in those constitutions, ultimate power would have remained in the sovereign’s hands. This proposed direction of travel was very clear from what the king said to me. In sum, King Gyanendra was motivated by a desire to emulate his immediate predecessors by granting his people a constitution that would restore his father’s Panchayat system in a modern form and give him a central role in decision-making. What was particularly dispiriting was that beyond this single objective he had no plan worthy of the name, nor demonstrably did he have the people with the skills to implement an appropriate plan even if one had existed. Crucially and depressingly, there was little or no indication from the king that he realised that such a course of action could put Nepal’s monarchy into serious jeopardy, as indeed proved to be the case. <h2>King Twice</h2>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250420110436_315d519fe3d68d2406ebe1480fed54720fbf21b8907a4da5cde751fdc623d445.jpg" data-media-id="editor_19" data-image-id="20250420110436_315d519fe3d68d2406ebe1480fed54720fbf21b8907a4da5cde751fdc623d445" data-rendition-name="original" width="1302" height="632" loading="lazy" alt="“Tell me what the common man is thinking!”"> </figure>  <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=8371">Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah has been king twice</a>. In 1950 he was enthroned briefly as a child king (left, above) by the Rana Prime Minister Mohan Shumsher when his grandfather, King Tribhuvan, fled to exile in India. In 2001 he was crowned king again after the massacre in the royal palace in which his brother King Birendra and nine other members of his family were killed by Crown Prince Dipendra.&nbsp; During his second reign, Gyanendra gradually asserted power by sacking Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba in 2002, and then taking full control after the 1 February 2005 coup. He was sidelined after the ceasefire in April 2006, and became a commoner after the Constituent Assembly finally <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/from-nepali-press/Ftnp-abolishing,624">abolished the monarchy in 2008</a>. In the past year, Gyanendra has tried to exploit public dissatisfaction with the political parties to restore the monarchy.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250421080432_26ef4a4b0e3cee9fdc6794446702efe16550d293904b4f6dd46fe35d4d10c788.jpg" data-media-id="editor_22" data-image-id="20250421080432_26ef4a4b0e3cee9fdc6794446702efe16550d293904b4f6dd46fe35d4d10c788" data-rendition-name="original" width="1136" height="702" loading="lazy" alt="Essays on Nepal by Sam Cowen"> </figure>

“Tell me what the common man is thinking!”

“It's Kathmandu.” Just as the family was sitting down for one of its extended lunches, that jubilant cry was from François Driard’s grandfather announcing the next posting for his diplomat parents.&nbsp; Driard (pictured) was 18 in the summer of 1996,<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/suburban-tales/chasing-a-nomad"> a bit of a hippie</a> already, and his life was about to change forever with the magical word “<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/time-capsule-of-kathmandu">Kathmandu</a>”. “I was awed with that information from my grandfather, nothing else mattered … In France <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/tales-of-courage-and-suffering-cx95f89e">in the 1990s</a>, Kathmandu had a mythical aura,” Driard recalls. He came to Kathmandu for Christmas that year to visit his stepfather, the French Ambassador Michel Lummaux. It was to be the first of many visits during school holidays, before he decided to permanently settle down in Nepal. “Kathmandu, and Nepal, were very different then, it was magical, I liked the nature, the people, civilisation, temples, trees,” says Driard, who explored the country sitting on the top of buses. “Visitors talk about the crazy <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/cost-of-living-in-a-big-city">urbanisation</a>, traffic jams today, and all that is true. But Kathmandu has not <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/loss-of-soul-and-soil">lost its soul</a>.” After his stepfather’s tenure in Nepal ended, Driard worked as a business reporter for international publications but decided he did not want to be anyone’s employee anymore. In 2007 he landed in Kathmandu with €20,000 in savings to invest.&nbsp; He knew a few crucial things about himself: he liked food and nature, which is very much tied up with his upbringing--full of lively conversations during lunch and dinner at the family table between <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepals-yak-cheese-is-on-world-map">abundant cheese, wine and cigars</a>. So he decided it would be cheese, and registered Himalayan French Cheese and went to the French Alps for a month to learn how to make Tomme de Savoie. “<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/the-story-of-langtang-cheese">Cheese making is such an ancient craft </a>and so I thought I won’t need much money or studying which I hated and indeed, if you have a tamako bhado and fire you are set,” explains Driard. But Nepal’s temperature and humidity were not ideal, even at higher altitudes. The first customers for his cheese were the Hyatt Regency and Nina and Hager. But he needed to create a market for cheese in a country which only knew hard churpi in the north and soft paneer in the south. He started selling his cheeses at the Summit Hotel weekend market, expanding to his own 1905 Farmer’s Market which later moved to Le Sherpa in Maharajganj, where it is now, and also a market at Labim Mall in Pulchok. He had cow dairies in Nuwakot and Dhulikhel, and finally a yak cheese unit at 3,379m in Ramechhap. It was the yak blue cheese from here that went on to win a Gold Medal in France, putting Nepal’s French cheese on the world map. “People come and try our cheese at the market, they ask questions. There is a lot of education to be done about cheese,” adds Driard, who also has three cheese shops in the Valley. Driard now makes 25 types of cheese. The products are being noticed and every year he has French students coming to Nepal to learn the art of yak cheese making. “In France, one family or company makes one kind of cheese for generations. In that I’m very unique as a cheese artisan,” he says. “The students come in to learn but I tell them to also teach us something too, add another cheese to my collection.” Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/langtang-after-10-years">Langtang after 10 years</a>, Sonia Awale Being a foodie, Driard is now also dabbling in meat with his own charcuterie at Meatini with bacon, ham, sausage and pâtés. All of this is now served at his Emilio’s Pizza, a leafy hideaway in Lazimpat. His South Side in Moksh is probably the smallest wine bar in the world. “I call the process sublime,” says Driard of his ventures, which have grown organically. “You need the same temperature and humidity of 12°C and 80% for cheese, meat and wine.” Emilio’s speciality is the eight-cheese pizza (which has eight types of cheeses), and a pizza with bhutan topping (not the country but fried intestines and organs Nepali-style). He has opened a small branch at Courtyard in Pokhara.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250426070456_bacae302c040dc18eeecdeafda72ddf06a6d2cec138ea9be7e45fe94cdf8b5b3.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20250426070456_bacae302c040dc18eeecdeafda72ddf06a6d2cec138ea9be7e45fe94cdf8b5b3" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1125" loading="lazy" alt="8 cheese pizza"> <figcaption>Eight-cheese pizza</figcaption> </figure>  With two artisanal cheese units, two farmers’ markets, a <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-meat-of-the-story">meat processing unit</a>, a bakery, and wine bar he now envisions a vineyard so he can add Nepali wine to his repertoire. Another future plan is to start up an agri-tourism business where customers can drink, eat and work in peace. In the past 20 years in Nepal, Driard has not always succeeded in his ventures but this hasn’t curbed his enthusiasm. He is learning as he goes, and like an old wine, Nepal is growing on him. Its slowness suits his French art de vivre with eating slowly outdoors, having conversation, importing less.&nbsp; “I have proven that with even a little money you can do a lot of things in Nepal,” adds Driard. “In the West, they easily invest half a million euros on a cheese factory, I invested 10 times less.”&nbsp;

Fromage, vin et charcuterie Népalais

Bhuthan भुठान starts with Bishnu Bahadur KC played by <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/dhuwa-smoke-telefilm,2671">Hari Bansha Acharya</a> on a call, requesting to speak to the visa officer. By this point, he had <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-should-now-allow-visa-on-arrival">applied for a visa </a>to Bhutan 10 times, but was denied each time. KC was a <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-s-women-excel-in-sports-in-2024-z9ramyct">national football player </a>in Bhutan in 1988 before he and other Nepali-speaking Lhotsampa people were forced out of the country in the 1990s as part of the Druk regime’s ‘One Nation One People’ campaign. Over 100,000 Bhutanese Nepalis were forced out, driven across India and dumped in Nepal where they lived in seven<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/elderly-left-in-bhutan-refugee-camp"> refugee camps</a> supervised by the United Nations and other charities until they were resettled in the United States, Australia, New Zealand and some European countries starting in 2007. In the fictional movie with the satirical English title The World’s Happiest Man, KC has resettled in the state of Ohio in the US but wishes to visit his home country once before he dies. Between flashbacks, we learn KC has died without having fulfilled his wish. &nbsp; The drama then focuses on KC’s two families from two marriages as they debate whether to cremate him as per <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/from-nepali-press/muslim-hindu,2996">Hindu rites </a>or give him a Christian burial. A mediator played by Hollywood actor Bruce Dern urges them to take a firm decision before it is too long.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250430140420_b398a08091b866da2b0b8f6c1e6e26781609749aba896bfd2c68a10a519295c3.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20250430140420_b398a08091b866da2b0b8f6c1e6e26781609749aba896bfd2c68a10a519295c3" data-rendition-name="original" width="945" height="945" loading="lazy" alt="Bhutan, the movie"> </figure>  There are drawn out scenes of KC being baptised and when he is confronted by his first wife from Darjeeling played by Anuradha Majumdar, he says he changed his religion in the hope that he will be <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/bhutan-s-refugees-between-hope-and-despair">allowed back in Bhutan</a>.&nbsp; We find out KC has a second wife, a Christian Nepali played by Puja Chand. Dayahang Rai as the younger son doesn’t have much screen time to flex his acting chops. &nbsp; Acharya competently portrays a man that is equal parts haunted by the memories of and longing for his home country. KC’s pain and loss is acute when he is teaching football to Gungun but between mid-scene, he freezes, perhaps lost in memories of being in Bhutan’s national team. &nbsp; In another scene, KC recalls his mother singing a lullaby in Dzongkha. He also has a box filled with medals, photographs and a football which he deflates with a knife in a powerful depiction of his <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/searching-for-a-homeland-away-from-home?fb_comment_id=1506516030025634">complicated emotions about his homeland</a>. KC keeps checking his mailbox in the hopes that his <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=4977">visa application</a> has been accepted. He says in Nepali: “If a tree that has already struck roots in one place is shifted to another, it will not survive.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250430140420_4a9c27410326489576c04dedf40016bda3825e8f9663317f54fbfec4cbda6d34.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20250430140420_4a9c27410326489576c04dedf40016bda3825e8f9663317f54fbfec4cbda6d34" data-rendition-name="original" width="1422" height="2048" loading="lazy" alt="Bhutan, the movie"> </figure>  Dern’s character says that the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/nepal-s-transitional-justice-and-the-west-s-recalibration">western world</a> has become “lonely in pursuit of happiness”, another reference to Bhutan’s obsession with its Gross National Happiness index. Scenes shift quickly throughout making the story difficult to follow at times. The use of symbolism is a trite overdone. Nonetheless, भुठान is a nuanced depiction of raw pain and agony of losing one’s homeland. But one cannot help but leave the theatre feeling deflated. KC dies without having visited <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/small-bhutan-dreams-big">Bhutan</a>, but perhaps he does in his afterlife. It is up to the audience to create its own ending to this sad story of exile. भुठान Mad Monkey Films, 2025 Directed by Binod Paudel 102 minutes In cinemas in Nepal