<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230112100136/63bfd4bc9c7e80680e0d30b9jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3745" height="2303"/><figcaption>Wazir Khan Mosque in Lahore, Pakistan. Photo: HOMOCOSMICOS</figcaption></figure>Saba Karim Khan’s debut novel Skyfall begins like the book of Genesis: with a god. Like the Biblical All-father, Sherji too has put his words and intent to action – or, at least he thinks so – and out steps Rania. He is determined in his plot, inflated and Machiavellian. Yet, for the first six months, he is disappointed. Rania is a ‘misfortune’, his ‘grand trial’. Has her mother, Jahaan-e-Rumi, anything to do with it?Jahaan-e-Rumi too has her own scheme. In a kind of balancing act, she picks up a pen and paper in the hospital, and writes for Rania: ‘She will be no stubborn, malevolent lunatic, but the fiercest girl in all the galaxies – a tempest, but never unkind.’The scene shifts and we are whisked from Lahore to the Metropolitan Correctional Facility in Manhattan, where we find Rania is an inmate. The reason for this could be anything, but Khan does not dwell on them yet. All will be revealed in good time. For now, in the cold, solitary, and sleepy pace of the prison, Rania thinks back to her past, growing up in Lahore’s famous Heera Mandi, the shadows of Kashmir, and falling in love. Thus begins Skyfall.There is an uncanny mix of hope and dread from the very first page, which goes on to characterise much of Khan’s novel. Here, Henry David Thoreau’s quote 'The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation' from Walden, and its famously misquoted addendum 'and go to the grave with the song still in them' is central.Set in two seemingly disparate worlds, the novel moves fluidly across the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/the-women-left-behind/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">walled city of Lahore</a>, through the streets that switch identities every 12 hours, and later in starkly different New York. The times are desperate and dangerous, and the book raises questions on freedom and autonomy, while, under the lights, music and memories become the bridge between the past and the present, East and West.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230112100136/63bfd4c09c7e80680e0d30bajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="233" height="300"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Rania herself grows up in two different worlds. Sherji, her father, a resolute fundamentalist, sends out her mother and sister every night to dance and sing for, and sleep with, rich customers to make money for his madrasa. By day, she works as a tourist guide. The past is wonderful while the present cursed, and it is in music and a young Indian Hindu boy Asher that Rania finds refuge while she loathes her abusive father and her own incapacity to help her mother and sister.At the outset, the novel seems like a classic retelling of doomed romance. It checks all the boxes: violent families, star-crossed lovers, a historic and beautiful setting, mujra, India and Pakistan, Pakistan and America. But under the surface runs a searing fire. Skyfall is indeed a love story, with even higher stakes. The self struggles not just for its own independence but for an entire country’s, against injustice and violence.When Sherji finally sends Rania into the underworld because he is running out of money, it is strangely reminiscent of when God tells Abraham to sacrifice his prized son Isaac on Moriah. Things go well for Isaac, naturally, and Abraham is rewarded.But as Rania fights the men who throw her around the room, slapping her and trying to kiss her, no angel appears, no Ram. Between the two thousand years that separate Sherji from Abraham, faith is no longer a leap into the unknown but calculated and capitalist, sentenced by men, and women, in blindfolds, the innocents always under the yoke.Then later in detention, Khan pulls back the curtains on the delusions of the land of so-called freedom, as officers hurl questions at the racially profiled Rania that are leading to a conclusion drawn well before the interrogation. “Do you know the Quran by heart? Do you believe in jihad? Love jihad?” they ask. “Who forced you to fall in love with an Indian? Don’t you believe Hindus are non-Muslims?”For <a href="https://sabakarimkhan.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Khan</a>, who teaches at New York University in Abu Dhabi, Skyfall is the soul of a Sufi love song and an attempt to imagine a world where coexistence is the currency. In the pages, the victory of light over darkness is in fact be possible, and we can outdo our starting points."Literature becomes even more important in an increasingly polarising milieu," she says, "not least of all because it allows us to address uncomfortable issues without pedaling or peddling an agenda or reducing things to a headline ticker." In fact, it is rather an act of co-creation between reader and writer, an invitation to go for a walk or dance or recite a piece together.As such, Skyfall is an entirely enthralling book. It weaves the reality of brutal violence with love and hope: engaging and beautifully written, interspersed with Urdu verses, following the journey of a young singer from the mohalla half-way around the world. As one delves deeper, the reader reckons with injustices fuelled by cults and mobs, by governments and families. Adds Khan: "I didn't want to downsize the problems but also didn't want to craft a world without the glimmer of hope and possibility."Skyfallby Saba Karim KhanBloomsbury, 2021290 pagesPaperback: INR599<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230112100136/63bfd4c29c7e80680e0d30bbjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="666" height="1024">Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/look-back-deal-with-our-past-and-learn/">“Look back, deal with our past and learn”</a>, Ashish Dhakal<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Kathmandu-wont-let-go-of-me-samrat-upadhyay,3649">“Kathmandu won’t let go of me”</a><a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/novelist-returns-to-non-fiction/">Novelist returns to non-fiction</a>, Sewa Bhattarai

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Let the sky fall

<figure><img width="700" height="367" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108151128/636a67fc9c7e80680e059a08jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>India Airlines Airbus300 that was hijacked on 24 December 1999 at Afghanistan's Kandahar airport.</figcaption></figure>The world was waiting with bated breath for all kinds of catastrophes to befall humanity as the decade of the 90s, the century of the 1900s, and the millennium drew to a close. But there was a different kind of disaster in store in Kathmandu.It was on Christmas Eve of 24 December 1999, and an Airbus300 of Indian  Airlines had just taken off from Kathmandu for New Delhi. Twenty minutes into the flight five gunmen stormed the cockpit and forced the plane to divert first to Amritsar. It was refused landing in Lahore by turning off runway lights, then to Dubai, and on to Kandahar in Afghanistan. The gunmen demanded the release of fellow-militants, including Maulana Masood Azhar, in an Indian jail. Read also: <a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=8241#.Xgs0pVUzaUl" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hijack diary</a>Among the 171 passengers was Sanjay Dhital, who had just got married to Rosina, and worked with Afghan refugees for AMDA (Association of Medical Doctor of Asia) based in Peshawar in Pakistan and ran clinics in Afghanistan. The couple spent eight harrowing days inside the plane, not knowing whether they would get out of the ordeal alive.“The worst part of life is the long wait to die,” Dhital recalls, 20 years later in his Bhaisepati home where he lives with his parents, wife and two children. “But time heals, and many of the details get blurred with the passage of the years.”However, he does remember a few things he had not revealed during his <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=8241#.XgsyO9Iza70">first interview with Nepali Times on the first anniversary of the hijacking in 2000</a>. He had come to Nepal on a month’s leave to get married, and the newly married couple were going to fly out on Pakistan International Airlines. But due to the new year rush they did not get ticket, so the travel agent routed them to Peshawar via Delhi and Lahore.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYEY9xjzcxo&amp;feature=youtu.be“There were many other Indian honeymooners on the flight,” Dhital remembers, “The flight attendants had just started serving food when someone shouted ‘head down, don’t move’. There was commotion on the plane.”There were masked men with knives and pistols threatening passengers in English and Hindi. The pilot then announced that the plane was being hijacked. Night fell, and the passengers felt the plane circling, landing and taking off, they did not know they were already in Kandahar.The hijackers announced that they were Kashmiris, and if the Indian government did not release their friends, they would kill all the passengers one by one. But passengers were relieved to hear that a UN team was flying in from Islamabad to negotiate.“One of the passengers was a large man named Gajendra Tamrakar, and the hijackers would make him imitate Bollywood hero Amjad Khan, and make us all laugh, and we would for a moment forget our own predicament,” Dhital remembers. <figure><img width="640" height="693" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108151128/636a67fe9c7e80680e059a09jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Sanjay Dhital and his wife Rosina immediately after being released. Photo: NT ARCHIVE</figcaption></figure>The negotiations failed, and the hijackers asked all passengers to raise their hands for their last meal because they were all going to be killed. No one raised their hand, Dhital recalls, only Tamrakar did, and he ate an entire chicken. A Japanese passenger was so stressed she kept smoking and taking pictures, and the hijackers confiscated all cameras.Dhital went to the business class area to deposit his camera, when the hijackers found Pakistani money in his bag. They asked him if he was Pakistani, and when they found out he had an Afghan visa, he was taken to the head hijacker in the cockpit. Dhital’s wife was convinced he was being led off to be executed, and started crying. But all the hijacker wanted to do was to talk to him, and thank him for his service in Pakistan. He told his comrades to treat the Nepali passenger well.“Human beings can go without food, but they cannot do without water. We were always thirsty in the plane. Fellow passengers would ask me what I would do once I was released, and I remember thinking I will drink an entire bottle of water,” Dhital says.The five hijackers all had code names: Manager, Shankar, Bhola, Burger and Doctor. Of the lot, Doctor seemed the nicest, but his job was to lecture to us about the inevitability of death, and to be prepared for it.On the seventh day, there was panic. The hijackers went through the cabin and said the talks had failed and the Indian government did not want to save the lives of their nationals on board. “We will now start executing you one by one, no one should cry, just take Allah’s name,” he said.Two of the hijackers appeared with AK-47s. Dhital wondered whether they would start killing the passengers from the front or back, and when their turn would come because they were in the middle. The newly-wed couple hugged each other and wept, waiting for certain death. The hijackers stabbed an Indian passenger with a knife. <figure><img width="700" height="472" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108151128/636a68009c7e80680e059a0ajpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Sanjay Dhital with his wife Rosina in Pakistan a month after the plane hijack incident. Photo: SANJAY DHITAL</figcaption></figure>But soon, it was announced that the talks had been successful, and the passengers were to be released. The hijackers asked for forgiveness. They also asked for a memento and passengers raised Rs71,000 for a model of an Airbus300, and Dhital was asked to donate the rest to the hospital in Kandahar.The couple returned to Kathmandu with the other Nepali passengers to a tumultuous welcome. After two weeks the couple flew on PIA to Peshawar, and Dhital had a model of an Airbus made in Lahore  and gave it to his staff to pass it on to the Taliban, and he gave the Rs23,000 to the Peshawar Hospital.   “I am often asked what did it feellike. I cannot put it in words, you have to live it yourself to know,” says Dhital, who is now 52 and his wife is 41. “I was convinced we were not going to make it out alive. But the experience made me less selfish, less ambitious. After that I decided to return to Nepal and work here.”

Remembering IC814

Nepal has shut down dozens of social media platforms in a move that is widely seen as an effort to tax the revenue they generate in the country, and to control content critical of government. The sites were blocked as of midnight on Thursday, 4 September and affects all Meta products including WhatsApp and Messenger, Threads, and others. Although YouTube, Google and X are also on the government’s list, they were still working as of Friday midday.&nbsp; The government says it took the action after repeated warnings to the platforms to open offices in Nepal, a Cabinet decision last month setting a deadline, as well as a 17 August Supreme Court ruling also requiring them to register and pay requisite taxes. However, the Bill cited in the ban, ‘The Operation, Use, and Regulation of Social Media in Nepal’ has not yet been passed by Parliament. Some social media platforms which were already paying taxes in Nepal even though they are not officially registered, have also been blocked. The move is the latest in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/big-beautiful-bills" target="_blank">a slew of draft legislations</a> designed to undermine Nepal’s open society. A Bill amending the Print and Publications Act would allow district bureaucrats to shut down media. Another draft Bill would allow political appointees to head a new Media Council with the power to revoke the licenses of journalists.&nbsp; A counter-intelligence Bill would let just about anyone in government to arbitrarily tap phones, read emails and trail citizens. On Wednesday the government announced new immigration requirements that would allow it to track the movement of all foreigners in the country. Yet another draft Bill has been set to Parliament to dissolve the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=10675" target="_blank">Social Welfare Council (SWC)</a> and move registration and monitoring of non-governmental organisations, nonprofits and charities to the Ministry of Social Welfare. Seen in this light, the blockage of social media platforms this week is seen as the latest government attempt to constrict freedom of press. Nepal is one of the few remaining open societies in Asia, and now appears to be drifting towards authoritarianism. The government’s sudden shutdown of social media has been greeted with howls of protest on platforms that still remain open, like Viber and TikTok, as well as in Nepal’s mainstream press. Even senior members of the ruling UML-NC coalition have sharply criticised the move, asking if the government is trying to “turn Nepal into North Korea”.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025090508098_a2ab330e403e8418a7006cd5e915607382628dd6984524332bf7b99c74743656.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="2025090508098_a2ab330e403e8418a7006cd5e915607382628dd6984524332bf7b99c74743656" data-rendition-name="original" width="4280" height="5187" loading="lazy" alt="social media ban in Nepal"> </figure>  The Regional Director of the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) Beh Lih Yi said in a statement: ‘Nepal’s sweeping ban on social media sets a dangerous precedent for press freedom. Blocking online news platforms vital to journalists will undermine reporting and the public’s right to information. The government must immediately rescind this order and restore access to social media platforms, which are essential tools for exercising press freedom.’ Besides undermining press freedom, blocking social media platforms will also hurt commerce and the economy since so many small and medium business trade through Instagram, Facebook and other platforms. Nepal’s vibrant social media has also been a boost or citizens to assert identity, build solidarity against injustice and play an adversarial role when the mainstream media does not do it. Social media platforms have also become the tenuous link for Nepali families scattered across the world to keep in touch with each other — its importance growing with the increasing size of the diaspora. The government wants social media platforms to register, pay taxes and remove posts on their sites that ‘undermine the national interest and Nepal’s territorial integrity, disturb social and religious harmony’.&nbsp; In response, rights activists have said while there is need for the government to regulate extreme content and hate speech, officials appear to be more intent on clamping down on free speech and trying to force platforms to share the revenue. On Friday, the government had allowed WhatsApp back online, but there were reports that it had instructed the Nepal Telecommunication Authority (NTA) to instruct mobile and internet service providers to block by Friday night all platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn, Reddit, Threads, Snapchat, Pinterest, Signal, Clubhouse, Rumble.&nbsp; Platforms that have registered and are allowed include TikTok, Viber, Nimbuzz, Popo Live, WeTalk, Global Diary and the Nepali portal Hamro Patro. TikTok was banned last year for ‘disturbing social harmony’ and it was lifted after the platform registered its office in Nepal. But even while it was banned, many users simply switched to VPN. Telegram was also banned for ‘financial crimes’ and it has since also been allowed back. NTA officials confirmed that some Asia-Pacific regional offices of platforms, including Meta had been in touch overnight inquiring about the registration process.&nbsp; Nepal is not alone in regulating social media. China bans most Western platforms, Russia and Turkey regulate their and require platforms to locate their data servers in the country. Gulf countries allow social media but keep a tight control on dissent.&nbsp; Experts have said even the government will not dare close down YouTube since so many Nepali individuals and companies make money with posts on that platform, and closing it would also impact on Google and Gmail. Facebook had also just launched a monetisation scheme for videos and reels, and Nepalis uploading content would lose revenue.&nbsp; Blocking the platforms has already hit content creators, influencers and cut small businesses from reaching customers. A survey of social media use in Nepal by Sharecast Initiative showed that 94% of those with smart phones used YouTube, followed by Facebook (92%) while TikTok was in the 50-60% range. X and Instagram were in the single digits. A YouTube ban will also hurt the mainstream media since up to 20% of the revenue of Nepal’s main tv channels came through YouTube. Some 11.1 million Nepalis watch YouTube content every day, the survey showed. ‘For global giants like Meta or Google, Nepal is a small market, and they may not even flinch — but for millions of Nepalis, these platforms are central to daily life, livelihoods, and connections across the world,’ wrote AI consultant Naresh Newar in a LinkedIn post. Some experts said the government’s sweeping ban on social media networks was untenable and the government would be forced to rollback sooner or later. Said editor Shiva Gaunle: “The platforms had given citizens a voice and broken the monopoly of the government, legislators, the courts and journalists over public opinion. This is an effort to reassert that monopoly, but Nepal can never be turned into a North Korea.”

Protest grows against Nepal’s social media ban

Unlike many countries, there is not much incentive in Nepal for the private sector to fund charities and non-profits. Donations and grants are not tax-deductible.
Yet there are corporate entities that have Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in their portfolio of activities through foundations that they have set up. Some do it loudly to gain public relations mileage, while others are quiet about their <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/norway-supports-himalayan-climate-research?mdrv=www.nepalitimes.com&amp;=1">generous support</a>.
The CSR outlay of factories and manufacturing companies is regulated by Industrial Enterprise Act (IEA), while the Nepal Rastra Bank oversees grants banks and financial institutions contribute and requires them to set aside 1% of their net profit for CSR activities.
The guideline requires banks and financial institutions to donate to activities covering education, health, environment and financial literacy, among others. Recently, the Supreme Court directed the government to formulate a Bill in the parliament to standardise and regulate the private sector’s CSR activities.
“We receive guidelines from Nepal Rastra Bank and follow them,” says Pranisha Shrestha who heads the CSR Department at NMB Bank. “We have got a notice about updates on those guidelines, and we will adapt accordingly.”
<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/greening-nepal-s-tourism">Environmental sustainability </a>is one of the important components of CSR for Nepali companies, and there have been many initiatives aimed at urban renewal. One of the most visible is of the telecommunication company Ncell, which is among Nepal’s largest taxpayers.
Five years ago, Ncell adopted a 6km stretch of the Ring Road from Ekantakuna to Koteswor-Kalanki, planting 12,000 saplings. They have now grown into<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/seeing-the-forest-and-trees-in-nepal"> a thick forest</a> along the embankment of the road.
Not only is the lush greenery in an overbuilt part of Lalitpur soothing to the eye, it also helps in reducing temperature within <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/in-the-heat-of-the-moment-5xcycyot">the urban heat bubble</a>, and also contributes to reducing air pollution and traffic noise.
“We started a pilot project along 600m of the Ekantakuna section of the Ring Road during the pandemic,” recalls Bishakha Lakshmi Khadka, Director of Corporate Communications and Sustainability at Ncell. “It went really well, and after that we extended the<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/saving-cities-with-trees"> tree planting</a> and upkeep to Kalanki.”
Sustainability also means making younger Nepalis aware of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/natures-fragile-gift-to-nepal">the value of nature </a>and environmental sustainability, which is why Ncell has also undertaken a Green School initiative in and around Kathmandu Valley. Besides its One-Tree-One-Youth and 1 Million Trees campaigns, the initiative also aims at behavior change about littering with its waste hackathon in schools.
“The young students can be catalysts with a multiplier effect beyond their schools to society at large, and it has inter-generational impact into the future,” explains Khadka.
Indeed, while <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/tree-mendous">Nepal has doubled its forest cover </a>in the past 30 years to 46% of the country’s area, urban centres like Kathmandu do not have much open spaces and greenery left. And that is where companies like Ncell, Jawalakhel Group of Industries, and others have focused on CSRs.
NMB Bank also runs financial literacy programs for youth where they can learn more about social media safeguards, digital payment systems, with a focus on safety and security. Such training not only helps build skills for the future but also protects young Nepalis from online crime.
“<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/protecting-children-from-anti-social-media">Threats to young minds through social media</a> use are growing as platforms feed algorithm-driven content,” says Shrestha. “We felt media and digital literacy are important in all seven provinces not just to protect young people, but also give them the confidence to use digital financial systems.”
The bank has a special focus on women in leadership programs, and provides scholarships provided in schools across Nepal on environment and sustainability in higher education. Health is another sector where private companies have worked with donating medical equipment, sponsoring health camps and conducting blood donation drives.
CSR or PR?
Other companies heavily involved in CSR include NIMB Bank which contributes to heritage conservation and education, Buddha Air helps farmers in Morang to increase productivity, VOITH with its motto ‘Little things We Do’ provides scholarships to students and has gifted &nbsp;vehicles to hospitals and nature conservation groups, Dwarika’s Hotel promotes organic farming and zero waste initiatives, heritage conservation and helps revive traditional handicrafts.
Although some CSR activities have been criticised for masquerading as PR and for greenwashing, many Nepali companies are actually contributing to improve the situation for individuals in need and underserved communities.
It also brings a sense of accountability to the corporate sector so they look beyond shareholder profit with greater involvement in the public good. In Nepal, where government delivery mechanisms are not up to speed in the social sector and environmental sustainability, CSR is a vehicle for public-private partnerships.
Collaboration with the government is an important aspect of these initiatives since that allows localised campaigns to be scaled up by showing what is possible. For example, the three Metropolitan Cities of the Valley and other private companies are trying to emulate what Ncell has achieved on the Ring Road.
“The Ring Road plantation project has been massively successful,” says Khadka “We were recognised by the Lalitpur Metropolitan City and the Forestry Department for adding greenery to what would have been just an asphalt strip.”

Corporates responsible to society

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2fZXyjsE28" target="_blank">Yog Narendra Malla</a> became king at age 18, and ruled Patan from 1684-1705 — his reign marked by a cultural and architectural renaissance of the city state. He put up a statue of himself in the palace square with a little bronze bird sitting on the guardian serpent above his head. It is said he told his subjects that he would look after their welfare till the day the bird flew off. During<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/lessons-not-learned-from-2015-o2etq6zu"> the 2015 earthquake</a>, the pedestal collapsed and the statue was damaged. The bird was lost, only to be located in a pile of debris and reinstated when the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/piece-by-piece-patan-darbar-square-reconstruction,3782" target="_blank">statue was consecrated</a> two years later. <div class="embed-block"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/x2fZXyjsE28?si=jYfIb4p6zCLXYQ1T" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></div> History remembers Yog Narendra Malla as a wise king, but like most<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/preserving-king-birendra-s-family-home"> royalty of the day</a>, he had a weakness for women. He is supposed to have consorted with 30 queens and numerous concubines. At least 33 of them self-immolated themselves on the king's funeral pyre when he died, adhering to the prevailing <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/review/Jhola,947">practice of sati</a>. When Yog Narendra Malla’s favourite queen found out that he was carrying on with yet another woman, she got the local community of the Kwelachhi neighbourhood to stage a shadow sex play to quite literally expose his unfaithfulness. Actors enacted the explicit exploits of the king and his mistress, a bright butter lamp projecting the moving shadows of their lovemaking on a thin white drape to entertain those gathered in the square below. The queen made sure that the show was designed to face the home of the king’s paramour to shame them both. She also paid for a group to chant a bhajan with lyrics that ridiculed the king’s extramarital affair. The Jhyalcha Guthi community trust that the queen set up three-and-half century ago is still active to this day, and performs the annual shadow play in the same building in Kwelachhi the day before <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/the-legend-behind-the-myth-of-indra-jatra">Indra Jatra </a>every year. This year’s show is on Friday evening, 5 September. The opening lines of the chants that accompany the play are the same words approved by the queen all those years ago: “Raja Yog Narendra ya aparadh…” (King Yog Narendra’s crime…) The community leader of the Kwelachhi neighbourhood, 62-year-old Baburaja Awale, explains the importance of the event: “This Jhyalcha is our<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/saving-the-intangible,3303"> intangible heritage</a> and oral history. We do not have a written format, it has been passed down from generation to generation. Every word of the bhajan is the story of King Yog Narendra Malla.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250904070952_249e85b32cbd99bb8515151557e0ec1a65d44a34ef1aacabaaeb469622d12664.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20250904070952_249e85b32cbd99bb8515151557e0ec1a65d44a34ef1aacabaaeb469622d12664" data-rendition-name="original" width="1750" height="1167" loading="lazy" alt="Sex and the city of Patan"> <figcaption>The statue of Yog Narendra Malla being reinstated after it toppled in the 2015 earthquake. Photo: GOPEN RAI/ NEPALI TIMES ARCHIVE</figcaption> </figure>  Jhyalcha Pyankha, as the ceremony is called, starts with a puja for the Bhimsen — the god of wealth and prosperity, a popular <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-homecoming-of-nepal-s-gods">deity in Patan</a> who has a temple dedicated just to him in the palace square. This is immediately followed by a bhajan of Bhairab performed with <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Buzz-house,670">traditional Newa musical instruments</a>. Community members serve snacks consisting of samay baji beaten rice, water buffalo chunks, soybean, green veggies, lentils, ginger, garlic and aila liquor. “In the first act of the shadow play, the man initiates the lovemaking, and in the third it is the woman,” says Laxmi Lal Awale, also a member of the trust that organises the show. The shadow action is all uncensored, but interspersed with <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/between-the-sacred-and-everyday">scenes of everyday life</a>: the woman is spinning a thread, the king is going about his royal chores, and the two sit down to share sanacha fermented pickle that is popular this time of year. <div class="embed-block"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qZ3twuG1wNQ?si=yRfkoC3A-X9cIl8r" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></div> “Back then, there was no tv, films or YouTube, and yet we managed to stage the shadow play using our own resourcefulness,” says Baburaja Awale. “It is important to continue the tradition.” The challenge now is to ensure that the<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/the-reign-of-the-god-of-rain"> younger generation takes over</a>, learning the lyrics of the ancient bhajan. The dafa khala group that performs all over Patan during festivals and religious events is now training teenagers to play the musical instruments and act in the shadow play. The Jhyalcha was staged even after the 2015 earthquake when the falcha where the bhajan is performed collapsed and they made-do in a tin shed. The structure was later rebuilt with a grant from the group, Photo Circle. Lalitpur Metropolitan City sets aside a budget of Rs50,000 to organise the Jhyalcha Pyankha every year, but this is not enough and is supplemented by individual donations. The performers including musicians and actors are all volunteers, and take part in it because it is their community duty. The erotic shadow play was way ahead of its time, not just in its graphic content but the use of contemporary local technology as well as improvisation and pure imagination. Says Laxmi Lal: “Whatever its origin in the legend of King Yog Narendra Malla and his queen, Jhyalcha also served as a medium of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/lets-talk-about-it">sex education</a>. In the past, women were discouraged from watching the shadow play, but today everyone is welcome, we all watch it together.” Jhyalcha Pyankha Kwelachhi, Chyasal, Patan 7PM onwards Friday, 5 September

Sex and the city of Patan

The world’s largest corporations now rival most governments – not only in terms of revenue and assets, but also in their ability to shape political outcomes. Their power is reinforced by the immense personal fortunes of billionaires, which enable them to wield disproportionate influence over <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/big-beautiful-bills">public policies, laws, and regulations</a>.
Crucially, extreme concentrations of wealth and power could not have developed without the active support of policymakers, whether tacit or explicit. Consequently, being an oligarch is inherently precarious.
Crony capitalism may grant enormous advantages, but it also carries built-in risks. Chief among them is <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/slapping-democracy">political change</a>: new leadership, whether elected or imposed, may not extend the same protections or privileges to elites favored by the previous government.
That danger is especially acute in authoritarian or personality-driven regimes, where leaders’ whims often override institutional checks. The <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/business/timeline-elon-musk-trump-x-dg">on-again, off-again bromance</a> between US President Donald Trump and Elon Musk is an obvious example.
As <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/the-geopolitics-of-nepal-s-politics">geopolitical tensions</a> escalate, however, oligarchs are no longer contending solely with domestic challenges. Increasingly caught in global power struggles, they have become convenient targets for hostile foreign powers seeking to pressure or undermine the leaders they support.
The <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/4/12/us-and-uk-announce-new-sanctions-targeting-russian-ultra-wealthy">sanctions</a> imposed by the United States and the European Union on oligarchs linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine are a case in point. While these measures have done little to change the course of the war, they have profoundly disrupted the lives and businesses of those affected.
Indian billionaires Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani have also found themselves in America’s crosshairs. Both have profited enormously from their ties to Prime Minister Narendra Modi – a fellow Gujarati – with their fortunes growing in tandem with his political ascent. This has made them useful bargaining chips in the ongoing trade negotiations between the US and India.
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-and-the-us-india-tariff-tiff">Nepal and the US-India tariff tiff</a>, Sudiksha Tuladhar
To be sure, Ambani’s Reliance Group had already mastered the art of leveraging political influence to advance its business interests well before Modi rose to power. But Ambani’s alliance with Modi has pushed Reliance’s dominance to new heights. Adani’s rise, by contrast, is <a href="https://thewire.in/political-economy/why-gautam-adani-is-a-factor-in-india-us-ties">inextricably tied to Modi</a>, dating back to the latter’s tenure as chief minister of Gujarat.
Both oligarchs, particularly Adani, have relied on their proximity to Modi to expand their business empires, benefiting from regulatory reforms tailored to their interests and <a href="https://www.cnbctv18.com/aviation/adani-winning-bids-for-six-airports-former-head-of-privatisation-panel-explains-key-policy-changes-15898141.htm">acquiring state assets</a> through lucrative privatization deals, often without a public tender. They have also moved into new sectors by <a href="https://www.freepressjournal.in/business/full-timeline-of-how-gvk-and-adanis-changing-fortunes-sealed-mumbai-airports-fate">purchasing successful firms</a> targeted by Modi’s administration, effectively neutralizing potential competitors.
Moreover, Ambani and Adani have enjoyed privileged access to publicly owned banks, receiving favourable loan terms that allowed them to <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/companies-bought-over-by-the-adani-group-got-haircut-of-96-to-42-on-loans-from-public-sector-banks-congress/article68606029.ece">restructure</a> their debts with minimal scrutiny. Their political connections, evidenced by frequent appearances alongside Modi during his international trips, have helped them secure <a href="https://www.newsclick.in/%E2%80%98Beneficiaries%E2%80%99-Modi%E2%80%99s-Globetrotting-Adani-Ambani">major contracts abroad</a>.
These political alliances have translated into lenient regulatory treatment. In Adani’s case, allegations that he has engaged in stock manipulation through opaque shell companies in offshore tax havens – exposed by US-based <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/india/adani-vs-hindenburg-research-what-you-need-know-2024-01-03/">short-seller Hindenburg Research</a> – were met with a muted response. Regulatory bodies like the Securities and Exchange Board of India declined to pursue a serious investigation.
Officially, Ambani has come under scrutiny for profiting from the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/09/business/india-russian-oil-ambani.html">resale of Russian oil</a>, effectively circumventing US sanctions, while Adani is being investigated for <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c748y8e4093o">alleged bribery</a>. But Trump’s actions appear to be a calculated attempt to pressure Modi through his inner circle. Adding insult to injury, they come from a US president whom Modi has long described as a “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/31/world/asia/modi-trump-india-tariffs.html">true friend</a>”.
Modi has claimed that his sole concern is protecting Indian farmers – a statement that would surely come as a surprise to the farmer protest movement, which his government has long vilified and suppressed.
Trump, for his part, insists that his priority is securing a better deal for American producers and workers. In reality, many of his key demands are aimed at advancing the interests of US-based multinationals and those of <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/property-/-cstruction/trump-calls-indias-economy-dead-but-trump-towers-earn-thousands-of-crores-from-gurgaon-mumbai-pune-and-other-cities/articleshow/123164276.cms">his own companies</a>.
But given Trump’s track record, it’s hard to imagine that personal grievances did not play a role. Relations between the two leaders have noticeably cooled since Modi <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/narendra-modi-trump-phone-call-pm-modi-makes-it-clear-to-trump-us-played-no-role-in-india-pakistan-ceasefire-no-talks-on-india-us-trade-deal/articleshow/121922239.cms">refused to endorse</a> Trump’s dubious claim that he helped broker the recent India-Pakistan cease-fire – a narrative Trump had hoped would strengthen his bid for a Nobel Peace Prize. Modi’s refusal to play along effectively derailed that effort.
Trump and Modi are both shrewd and self-interested enough to recognise each other’s true priorities. By attacking Modi’s tycoons, Trump may have found the most effective pressure point to extract significant concessions from the Indian government.
If Modi yields, it won’t just be a costly political blunder but also a tragedy with far-reaching consequences for India and the world economy. © Project Syndicate
Jayati Ghosh, Professor of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, is a member of the Club of Rome’s Transformational Economics Commission.&nbsp;

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