<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101140/63720d619c7e80680e0b78bejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1200" height="1600"/><figcaption>Reunited after 12 years: Sajita Lama with her mother in her home in Nepal.</figcaption></figure>I first came to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepalis-caught-up-in-beirut-blast-recount-horror/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Lebanon</a> when I was 18 years old. I lived in the country for 12 years as a domestic worker. Of the 12 years, I was only paid my salary for 1 year and 9 months.My case is unique because unlike others, I did not realise that I was being cheated through most of my stay there. I got along well with the family that I worked for.When they said they were saving up my wages in the bank, I believed them. Why would I not? They were like family, or so I thought. The idea of taking home a lump sum of money all at once was very appealing to me. After all, I had come to Lebanon to earn money to support my family back home in Nepal.Now I realise that I was too trusting, and it was naive of me to believe that we were like family. They were just exploiting me, and trying to squeeze as much work from me as possible without paying for any of it.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepali-in-saudi-arabia-rescued-after-13-years/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepali in Saudi Arabia rescued after 12 years</a>, Upasana Khadka and Marty LoganIt is easy to fall prey to such a trap like this if you believe, like I did, that people are decent. A kind word here, a pat there, and sometimes, a bakshish is all it takes to motivate you.But all of that turned out to be just selfish actions by my employer to derive as much value out of me as I <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=16350#.YiwChi2B3ow" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">slaved</a> for them. Everything was fine, and I was treated well as long as I was willing to be a domesticated domestic worker whom they could tame.The minute they realised that I was also someone with a family that I had to care for back home, with my own feelings, opinions, preferences, they completely switched on me. This was in 2021, the minute they realised that I was determined to go back to Nepal after a decade in <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/homes-away-from-home/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Lebanon</a>, the trouble started.For over a decade, I had patiently obeyed all their demands, even though I was technically working for two employers and should have been paid more. My employers and their parents lived separately, and I was made to work in both the homes.Despite the double work, I realised I was <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/wage-theft-of-migrants-during-pandemic/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">not being paid</a> even my basic wages let alone anything extra for the endless hours of work. I had to get up at five thirty every day, and it would usually be midnight by the time I got to bed. All day I would be busy with all kinds of household chores in both houses.If I had not been too trusting, I would have figured out much earlier in just how much trouble I was in.For over a decade, I believed my Madam's father was kind to me. He used to give me bakshish once in a while which I used for my personal expenses like toiletries and such, but also on food for the family or for clothes for her children.It came naturally to me that this was the way families behaved. I genuinely had a soft corner for the elderly couple. I helped with their medications, cleaning, cooking etc, and even accompanied the old man’s wife to hospital when she had to stay overnight. But now, in retrospect, I realise that it was all just a put-on to use me.I remember wanting to come home after my first three years of my stay in Lebanon. My Madam cried as the family at that time was wholly dependent on me. I took care of their ailing mother, of their little children.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/female-migrant-workers-hold-up-half-the-sky/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Female migrant workers hold up half the sky</a>, Sahina ShresthaAfter five years, once again I said I wanted to return. The same thing happened. I relented because they were treating me well, and I trusted them that my salary was being deposited in the bank.Finally in 2021, I realised I had had enough. It was time to come home. They tried to silence me by falsely assuring me that they would send me home as soon as they got a replacement.Months passed, and they would not bring anyone. How many “next month, I promise” would I have to believe? As I got increasingly impatient and started voicing my desire to go home, they started behaving cruelly to me.When it was evident that I was no longer willing to be their puppet and my <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=18140#.YiwCcy2B3ow" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">longing for home</a> was too strong this time, they showed me their true colours.They said things like "I hope your plane crashes”, or "You are worth nothing”. These inhuman words ring in my ears to this day. Even then, they would not let me go no matter how much I insisted.I started losing my appetite and getting depressed. I had a feeling of being trapped without any way out. I felt as if I was suffocating. I remember calling my sister and mother in Nepal out of desperation with the words: "Either get me out of here or be prepared to receive my dead body." This is exactly how I felt.Read also: <a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/diaspora-diaries-1/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Diaspora Diaries 1</a>My uncle managed to get hold of a Nepali in Lebanon, and requested him to help rescue me. That man put me in touch with the Nepal Consulate in Beirut, which tried to help me but couldn’t do anything for months.I also lost my nerve. At the Consulate office, my employer's father shed tears and I felt so bad that I assured the people who were trying to help me that everything was okay. We agreed to give them a month or two after which they would send me back, but they did not do that. I felt like a fool falling for the tears of the old man.On the side, the Nepali man my father introduced me to also reached out to the activist organisation <a href="https://thisislebanon.work/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://thisislebanon.work/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1647132892467000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3f8DkRJsFvnx-AlNxViqlf">This is Lebanon</a> which helps <a href="https://thisislebanon.work/case-of-kafala-abuse/farouk-khoder-enslaves-salmo-for-a-decade/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://thisislebanon.work/case-of-kafala-abuse/farouk-khoder-enslaves-salmo-for-a-decade/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1647132892468000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3BEsf20kRI6NI8kgzmuDel">migrant domestic workers like me</a> in the country. It would turn out to be my saviour.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101140/63720d649c7e80680e0b78bfjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="853"><figcaption>Screenshot of Sajita Lama’s phone where she was being helped by activists from This is Lebanon to geolocate her employer’s house.</figcaption></figure>When Dipendra Upreti from This is Lebanon first started reaching out to me, I would be scared and used to hang up on him. But slowly, he convinced me that he was there to help workers who were in trouble like me. Indeed, he had been in touch with my family in Nepal, the Consulate, the Nepali community in Lebanon to plan my rescue.Back in the house of my employers, I was getting more and more paranoid. It felt like the employers were always plotting something to get me jailed so they could get out of the arrangement without paying the salary they owed me.By this time, This is Lebanon had already reported my employers on my behalf and were <a href="https://thisislebanon.work/case-of-kafala-abuse/a-decade-of-bondage-at-richard-and-rana-khourys-home/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://thisislebanon.work/case-of-kafala-abuse/a-decade-of-bondage-at-richard-and-rana-khourys-home/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1647132892468000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0jZXcrKGls6HSl4co-Nglt">naming and shaming my employers</a>.Finally the police rescued me from my employer's home after an order from the General Prosecutor. At the police station, the employer tried to come up with a settlement of $1,800, with a promise that he would send the rest later.I did not agree. How could I trust them to send the salary they owed me, when I have already left the country? This time, I was not  going to budge unless they paid all my dues.Read also: <a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/diaspora-diaries-2/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Diaspora Diaries 2</a>At the police station, they brought my clothes, my phone charger and earphones but not my phone. They knew how to mess with my head. But I kept quiet. The Consulate sent his driver to pick me up after which I was sent for quarantine and then to a shelter run by Caritas.In both these places, I would not eat, I just could not stop crying. I was stressed beyond words, and all the memories of the past year would haunt me all the time. I was in such bad shape that they decided to send me home, and This is Lebanon bought my ticket to Kathmandu.When I left Lebanon and landed in Kathmandu airport on 15 February, I did not have any money on me. I was relieved, but also very weak and tired. I felt like I would not make it. Perhaps I had returned to Nepal just to die, I thought.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/nepali-migration-in-the-2020s/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepali migration in the 2020s</a>, Upasana Khadka<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101140/63720d679c7e80680e0b78c0jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2302" height="1194"><figcaption>Sajita Lama was enslaved by her employers for 12 years in Lebanon until she was rescued by an activist group. Screenshot from the homepage of This Is Lebanon that exposed the abuse.</figcaption></figure>How I got to Nepal is a blur, but the moment the plane landed I could not stop crying in the plane and in the arrival area of the terminal. It did not matter that people were staring at me as I wailed loudly, I was beyond being concerned about अरुले के भन्छन, what others would say.At immigration and every step of the way through the airport, I would be weeping loudly, and the officials would just let me pass through. I had only one goal at that moment. I had made it this far, and if I was going to die, it would have to be after I finally saw my mother’s face.I broke down when I finally saw my mother, and hugged her. Among all the emotions I felt, for some reason, as I held on to my mother, all I could say was “मैले केहि पनि ल्याउन सकिन आमा” I didn’t bring you anything....sorry Ama, I couldn’t bring anything for you."As she held me tight in her embrace, I remember my mother telling me that she did not need anything, everything was okay and having me back was enough for her.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/diaspora-diaries-3/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The loneliness of a long-distance driver</a>, Diaspora Diaries 3Twelve years is a long time to be away from home and family. My Nepali is not as fluent anymore because of my isolation, and I keep mixing Arabic with my Nepali when I speak, and I do not realise that I am confusing people. They have to correct me.I have a lot to recover from. My physical, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/mindful-of-migrants-mental-health/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">mental and emotional state</a> is very fragile. I took a walk today around the neighbourhood, but quickly returned home. What if I faint along the way? I have so much to recover from.I do not know what future awaits me in Nepal. For now, there are people who have been helping me and rallying for me, including financially. I appreciate all the help from the bottom of my heart. However, my fight will end when I get my employer to pay back salary he owes me.It is my money that I earned by working from before dawn to midnight for 12 years. Only when I get hold of it, will I be able to feel that justice has been done. The thought of all those 12 years boiling down to nothing financially eats me up every waking moment of every day.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101140/63720d6a9c7e80680e0b78c1jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1200" height="1600"><figcaption>Sajita Lama with the Rs5 note that her sister-in-law gave her when she left Nepal, which she has brought back to Nepal.</figcaption></figure>When I had first left Nepal in 2010, I had a 5 rupee note with me given to me by my sister-in-law. I kept that red bank note with me throughout my time in Lebanon.And that is all the money I brought home with me. I have now laminated the 5 rupee note. I will not forget this Nepali money because that is all I left with, and that is all I returned with.https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=34&amp;v=brF-iDT5jy8&amp;feature=emb_logoWatch this video (above) prepared by the activist group This is Lebanon of Sajita Lama’s homecoming at Kathmandu airport and interviews with her Lebanese employers. Parts of this video may be distressing to some viewers. To help her get back on her feet: Sajita Lama, Mega Bank Woman Account 1980050018887.Translated from a conversation in Nepali with Sajita Lama. Diaspora Diaries is a regular column in Nepali Times providing a platform for Nepalis to share their experiences of living, working, studying abroad. Authentic and original entries can be sent to editors@nepalitimes.com with ‘Diaspora Diaries’ in the subject line.

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Diaspora Diaries 4

<figure><img width="568" height="948" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110914110/636ba4bf9c7e80680e073683jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Photo: @RalphUNICEF</figcaption></figure>Some of the estimated 2,200 Nepalis in Lebanon, most of them <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/nepali-times-search/?q=Lebanon+workers" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/nepali-times-search/?q%3DLebanon%2Bworkers&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1596685656892000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHflopolWpkFd-pwL93a9xg_HfMAw">female domestic workers</a> in Beirut, have been injured in the massive blast on Tuesday that killed at least 80 people and injured 4,000. However, Nepalis on social media groups in Lebanon report that most are safe, and even the ones with injuries do not need hospital admission."From the window, I saw the first explosion but I did not make much of it. But the second one was huge and it felt like the building would collapse. It felt like a huge earthquake,” recalls Sanju Waiba, who was in a church. “Something hit me hard and I could not tell what was happening. I went down seven floors and a Lebanese friend drove me to hospital.”Since her injury was not severe and the hospital was dealing with many serious patients, Waiba was sent to a pharmacy which bandaged the injury on her arm.”Waiba was taken to hospital by Nepali domestic worker Pramila, who also remembers the the first explosion as not being so loud. “But the second one was so big it shook my house,” Pramila said on the phone. https://youtu.be/UY5lXqBWf_sRita, another domestic worker, who lives near the explosion area said: “The explosion was the loudest I have ever heard, I still cannot hear properly. My hands are still shaking. The glass in our windows are all broken. My employers were also afraid, and thought there would be another explosion.” Lebanon was already in the midst of a pre-coronavirus economic crisis which was exacerbated by the lockdown, and has impacted migrant workers more than the pandemic itself. There have been street protests, and migrant workers were already struggling because of the collapse of the Lebanese pound which has lost over 80% of its value against the dollar. Ashok Thapa, Chairman of the Non-resident Nepali Associaiton of Lebanon told Nepali Times: “The pandemic is a secondary concern for workers here given the relatively low number of cases, although things have deteriorated in the past week.” Lebanon re-imposed the lockdowns last week after cases started rising. Not all Nepali workers are similarly impacted. Those who earn in US dollars are relatively better off, although there are some who are working for reduced salaries. But Nepalis workers earning in local currency have been hit hard by the devaluation. Nepalis who work part-time in multiple households and live in rental accommodations have been worst affected by the economic crisis. Thapa adds, “At least those who live-in with the employers or work in companies do not have to worry about rent or food expenses.” <img width="640" height="853" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110914110/636ba4c19c7e80680e073684jpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="640" height="853" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110914110/636ba4c39c7e80680e073685jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figure><img width="960" height="720" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110914110/636ba4c69c7e80680e073686jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Photos of the aftermath of the explosion taken by Nepali worker Chandra Kala Joshi.</figcaption></figure>Rama, a live-in domestic worker is aware that she is lucky to have an employer who treats her like family. “When I heard my employers talking about not being able to afford basic foodstuff, I asked them whether I should start making plans to go back to Nepal. But my employer assured me that they can afford to keep me,” she said. Rama describes that supermarket visits are different these days with limits on the quantity of items that can be purchased owing to shortages, such as only one packet of rice or two soaps per visit.  Pramila is undocumented and lives with <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/migrating-for-domestic-work/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/migrating-for-domestic-work/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1596685656892000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHcughCXXDvDj2My1WjO8y51BVf1Q">fellow Nepalis</a> in a rented apartment. “As live-out, part-time workers during a pandemic, employers are reluctant to hire us for fear of the virus,” she says. “The price of rice has tripled, and we have reduced our meals. I don’t have much of an appetite these days anyway.” Pramila is one of the 30 Nepalis in Lebanon who have <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-plans-to-reintegrate-returning-workers/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-plans-to-reintegrate-returning-workers/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1596685656892000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFf1HnA08cxJBF9PWcJqJ1-B9VFwA">registered to return home</a>, and it will be a struggle to pay the $700 air fare. This is a smaller number than other countries because of the lack of jobs and the spreading coronavirus back in Nepal, as well as the high air fare amid the Lebanese currency crisis. Others are stuck with employers who are not in a position to clear their dues. Many Nepali women have come to Lebanon despite <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/lift-the-ban-on-female-domestic-workers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">a ban on domestic workers</a> going to West Asia, some had not been able to go home for several years to see their children and families because of the fear that they will not be allowed back out. However, last year the government allowed current workers — many working in Lebanon — to return to their jobs after home visits. Some names have been changed.

Nepalis caught up in Beirut blast recount horror

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141120/636a57b79c7e80680e0547f8jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="731"/><figcaption>Betty Hasan, Undersecretary of Policy Division at the Ministry of Human Resources of Malaysia with Ram Prasad Ghimire, Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security of Nepal after signing the agreement last week in Kuala Lumpur. Photo: MINISTRY OF LABOUR EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL SECURITY</figcaption></figure>In what could be a major step forward in safeguarding the welfare of migrant labour, Nepal and Malaysia have rewritten the rules for work contracts.After <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/kleptocrats-of-kathmandu-and-kualalampur/">a major crossborder investigation by this newspaper</a>, Himal Khabarpatrika and Malaysiakini last year that exposed collusion between corrupt Nepali and Malaysian officials and private companies to charge workers exorbitant fees, Minister of Labour Gokarna Bista stopped Nepalis from going to Malaysia for work in May 2018.There are about <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Nepali-migrants-hounded-out-Malaysia-,3036">400,000 Nepalis</a> working in Malaysian palm and rubber plantations, factories and service industries. The investigation revealed powerful Malaysian businesses with political protection in the Barisan Nasional coalition of former Prime Minister Najib Razak worked with influential politicians, bureaucrats and middlemen in Kathmandu to cheat Nepali workers.The Malaysian government, private companies and their Nepali affiliates took more than Rs5 billion (US$ 450 million) from over 600,000 Nepali workers between September 2013 and April 2018, the investigation showed. This did not include recruiters’ fees and plane tickets the workers also had to pay.After that expose, Minister Bista signed a landmark MoU with his counterpart, Malaysian Minister for Human Resources M Kulasegeran, in 2018. The agreement required employers to pay for visa fees and air tickets of Nepali workers, who will now be guaranteed salary payments the first week of every month. However, it was not until the technical details were worked out by a Joint Working Committee in Kuala Lumpur last week that the door has opened for Nepali workers to resume working in Malaysia.The major sticking point last week was Nepal’s demand to increase the 37 institutions the Malaysians had recognised for medical tests for workers to 122 all over the country. The Malaysians will send a team to audit the additional facilities in November. During the negotiations, it was also agreed that Nepali security guards would also get the same deal – a point that had stalled previous talks.“Our overall migration governance effort is to reduce the unnecessary burden on migrant workers while providing a level playing field for all private stakeholders,” explained Joint Secretary Ram Prasad Ghimire of the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security. “We wanted to decentralise medical tests to make it more convenient for our workers.”Ghimire, who led the second Joint Working Group Meeting in Kuala Lumpur last week said the flow of Nepali workers to Malaysia could now resume.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141120/636a57b99c7e80680e0547f9jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="480"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The Nepali team persuaded the Malaysian side that it was unfair that <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/undocumented-Nepali-migrant-workers-in-Malaysia,3958">workers</a> had to spend up to eight months of their two-year contracts just to pay off fees and ticket cost to get to Malaysia. Nepali recruiters will now be paid half-month salary of the workers as finder’s fee by Malaysian employers.The Malaysia-Nepal agreement has set a precedent for migration related reforms in Nepal and the region, and laid the basis for agreements that Nepal signed recently with the UAE and Mauritius.Indeed, a writ petition to the Bangladesh Supreme Court against a cartel of 10 recruitment companies sending workers to Malaysia cites <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/kleptocrats-of-kathmandu-and-kualalampur/">the Nepali Times article</a> last year by Ramu Sapkota and Alyaa Alhadjri that exposed collusion between Malaysian and Nepali officials and companies in overcharging workers, and recognises the Nepal government’s efforts to break such syndicates. In its recent verdict, the Court instructed the Bangladesh government to create an inter-ministerial committee to investigate why only those 10 firms were allowed to send workers to Malaysia.Nepal’s Minister for Labour, Employment and Social Security Gokarna Bista told Nepali Times: “There are very few countries with such iron-clad safeguards for workers, and this Nepal-Malaysia agreement could be a model for migrant worker agreement in other countries as well.” (See full interview below)However, experts say that despite the agreement the real challenge now is to implement the agreement in letter and spirit so that <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/stay-home-Nepal-Malaysia-migrants,3037">Nepali workers going to Malaysia</a> are not cheated again.Legacy policies, past practices, deep-rooted vested interests and political pressure from recruiters and private companies involved in the visa and biometrics racket could still render this well-intentioned policy ineffective.Recruiters who have not been able to overcharge workers going to Malaysia for a year could be waiting to resume cheating to recoup their losses. Nepali workers could also lose out if Malaysian employers do not have to bear the cost of workers from labour-supplying countries like Indonesia or Bangladesh. Nepali workers may be forced to pay fees in order to keep their jobs.A concerted effort with strong monitoring from both governments will be necessary to implement the MoU, acknowledged Minister Bista, adding: “Ultimately our goal is secure, safe, and exploitation-free quality jobs overseas for our citizens. We are not going to be driven by how many go abroad to work, but how much they earn and how well they are treated.”<h2>“We want Nepali workers to spend less on fees, earn more and be treated well”</h2>Minister for Labour, Employment and Social Security Gokarna Bista spoke to Nepali Times about the renegotiated labour agreement with Malaysia, and his other efforts to ensure welfare of Nepali migrant workers. Excerpts:<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141120/636a57bc9c7e80680e0547fajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Nepali Times: How important is last week’s agreement with Malaysia?Gokarna Bista: Nepali workers were being cheated by middlemen, not only was that unjust, but it made the poor poorer and the rich richer. Both Malaysia and Nepal had seen a change of government, and after I became minister we started negotiations with my Malaysian counterpart, Malaysian Minister of Human Resources M Kulasegaran who was aware of labour rights and the need to safeguard them. We shared a good rapport, and both of us wanted a mutually beneficial arrangement for Nepali workers in Malaysia.So why did it take so long?Our MoU was a broad agreement, but the Joint Working Group had to sort out technical details. It was not easy to break the syndicates running medical tests, and we recommended that 122 new test centres to be approved all over the country for transparency and to decentralise testing. We mutually agreed to include security guard category in the agreement which was originally not in the scope of the MOU. They are now sending a team to audit these new centres outside Kathmandu to ensure that they meet their parameters.How difficult was it to face political pressure in Nepal against the deal? We had to work hard to iron out the details. There was a lot of money going to the pockets of middlemen in both countries for levees, visa fees, medical tests. Both sides agreed that it was unfair for the workers to bear these costs. From now on the workers do not have to pay for their roundtrip tickets, visa fees, they will get their salaries by the 7th of every month, they will be paid overtime, have social security benefits, they get tickets to go home every two years, they get paid leave for 15 days if either parent dies, work-related accidents will be compensated, and <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/disproportionate-number-of-deaths-of-Nepali-workers-in-Malaysia,2812">if workers die</a> employers will bear the cost of the repatriation of their bodies. We have made sure that Nepali recruiters are paid a small fee by the employers of up to half a month salary.There are very few countries with such iron-clad safeguards for workers, and this sets a precedent for other labour-exporting countries. The Nepal-Malaysia agreement could be a model for migrant worker agreement in other countries as well.But can this agreement be replicated? We have a similar agreement now with the UAE and Mauritius, and are about to sign a labour pact with Oman that will also ensure worker rights. We are in negotiation with Qatar. We are also talking with higher quality labour markets like Germany and Portugal for Nepali workers.We have signed a deal with Japan for workers in 14 job categories, and the first caregivers will be going this year. They had opened up the worker quotas for only seven countries, but after much lobbying they added Nepal, the only South Asian country.How about female domestic workers who cannot come home because of the ban? I spoke to the Parliamentary Committee, and we agreed that it was inhumane and unjust to stop the workers to come home on holidays to be with their families because they were afraid they could not go back to their jobs. It is true that domestic work is risky for Nepali women but I argued that current domestic workers would not go back anyway if their jobs were not satisfactory. But we have to ensure more protection before we allow new female domestic workers to go.What other reforms are you working on?We will now allow all seven provincial capitals to renew Labour Permits so migrant workers do not have to travel to Kathmandu to get travel documents. Nepali missions abroad will also be allowed to renew Labour Permits. Ultimately, all documentation will be online. Once Bhairawa and Pokhara airports are built, many workers will not have to come to Kathmandu at all.Ultimately our goal is secure, safe, and exploitation free quality jobs overseas for our citizens. We are not going to be driven by how many go abroad to work, but how much they earn, and how well they are treated. We want to equip them with the skills so they do not have to do the dirty, difficult and dangerous jobs. We also want Nepalis to come back with knowhow so there is technology transfer.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141120/636a57bf9c7e80680e0547fbjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1750" height="1313"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><h2>Nepal allows female domestics to come home for Dasain</h2>Ambika is a <a href="https://www.google.com/url?client=internal-uds-cse&amp;cx=011870630917993763279:opm7uqsat-4&amp;q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/homes-away-from-home/&amp;sa=U&amp;ved=2ahUKEwiFuK_Mx9DkAhU67HMBHfswA00QFjAAegQIBRAB&amp;usg=AOvVaw2Z_5XlFtoqQcK72T4Knbs8">Nepali domestic worker in Beirut</a>. For four years, she has not been able to go back to Nepal to see her three children. The reason: a Parliamentary Committee’s ban on Nepalis to work as domestics in West Asia because of <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/women-migrant-workers-with-babies-face-double-stigma,2580">stories of abuse by employers</a>.That left thousands of women like Ambika stranded overseas because they feared they would not be allowed to return to their jobs if they went back to Nepal. Some who had to return home for family emergencies had to pay up to Rs200,000 to middlemen to smuggle them back to Lebanon through India.This week, the Nepal government decided to allow stranded women to come home for the upcoming Dasain festival to see their families, after which they can return to their employers in West Asia. There are an estimated 15,000 Nepali maids in Lebanon, 5,000 in Jordan and more thousands in other Gulf countries. Many continue to go to there by-passing the ban travelling overland to India and flying from there.Ambika told us on the phone from Beirut that she was thrilled that she could go back, but there have been so many false alarms that she is still cautious.“We are waiting for a couple of fellow Nepalis we know to go and return back safely. I may not make it to Nepal in time for Dasain,” she said. Stories of Nepali domestic workers who have started receiving labour renewals is floating around in social media, but that is not enough to assuage her fears.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141120/636a57c29c7e80680e0547fcjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="985" height="553"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Other women in Lebanon are also taking a wait-and-see approach to let bolder women take the lead and return safely before they decide to go.“I have not yet told my children I am returning home soon. I do not want to raise their expectations too high,” says Ambika. “Last Dasain also there were rumours of the ban being lifted, and they were so excited. I do not want to disappoint them.”She is one of the many domestic workers who had been torn between holding on to her job, or holding her children again. Many Nepali domestic workers <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/ban-the-ban/">send money home</a> so their children can afford a good education.The impact of the ban is especially felt during festivals or personal emergencies such as sickness of family members when domestic workers are torn between saving a job and meeting their loved ones, often for the last time.“This is too good to be true,” exclaimed Dhana, another domestic worker in Lebanon, who could not go back to Nepal for her father’s funeral.Now, the ban on domestic workers has been partially lifted for current domestic workers who want to renew their labour approvals to legally return to the same employers. The domestic work sector has been <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/caring-for-nepals-women/">a contentious sector for migrant workers</a> from Nepal. A series of partial and blanket bans have been implemented in this highly regulated sector.This has had an unintended consequence on current domestic workers who have had a favourable migration experience. The stories of stranded migrants spurred the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security to request the Parliamentary Committee to reconsider the ban on current domestic workers. (See interview)“I have been home only once in nine years,” says Sundari, another domestic worker in Lebanon. “The last time I was making plans to return home for a two-month vacation, we heard about the ban. I was crushed because I had already started dreaming of being with my family.”Sundari hopes it will not happen again, and this winter she can really go home. She is grateful to the government and everyone who lobbied to have the ban lifted.She laughs on the phone: “Better late than never.”It is uncertain when and if the larger ban on new domestic workers going to West Asian countries will also be lifted. But for now, this Dasain will finally see thousands of reunions in families across Nepal.

Kunda Dixit

Nepal and Malaysia rewrite rules for migrant labour

<h2>Female domestic workers in Lebanon cannot visit families back in Nepal because of a travel ban that prevents them from returning to well-paying jobs</h2><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110710118/6368cb0a9c7e80680e02f34djpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="933"/>Along with <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/women-migrant-workers-with-babies-face-double-stigma,2580">horror stories of abuse</a> of female domestic workers, housemaids from Nepal here have a different worry – they cannot go back home for holidays because a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/ban-the-ban/">Nepal government ban on female migrant workers</a> would prevent them from returning to Lebanon to their jobs.Many women who travelled to <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/lifeline-of-Nepal-economy-threatened-by-conflict-in-West-Asia,2842">West Asia</a> before the ban went into effect in early 2017 have not been able to travel home to visit children and families even though their employers are willing to pay for roundtrip travel to Kathmandu.Niru has been a housemaid for the same family in Lebanon for ten years. She has developed a daily rhythm that she is comfortable with, and spends Sundays with other Nepali friends. Niru had gone back to Nepal hoping to migrate to Europe, but when that didn’t work out her Lebanese employers asked her to return.“It was quite a scene when I landed in Beirut airport. My employer came to receive me with flowers and hugged me, and when I got to my old room it felt like home,” Niru recalls. Since then, her only worry has been not being able to go back to Nepal on paid leave every two years. Her employer compensates her financially in lieu of the air ticket, but Niru misses not being able to see her aging parents in Taplejung.Dipa has been working for a family in Lebanon for the past decade, making about $600 a month, most of which she saves. Her siblings back home in Nepal barely make Rs15,000 a month and don’t save much of it.“I am very happy here and so are many other Nepali domestic workers. Why is the government punishing us by not letting us go home?” asks Dipa, who could not even visit when her father passed away recently.<iframe src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/435866844&amp;color=%23ff5500&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false&amp;show_teaser=true" width="100%" height="166" frameborder="no" scrolling="no"></iframe>Unlike other migrant workers, domestic help is an intimate and complex partnership where both the employers and employees are inside the home.There are cases of abuse and exploitation, but there are also many Nepalis who are treated well and are happy in <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/nepali-caregivers-in-israel,3809">well-paid jobs</a>. Employers here said they prefer Nepali housemaids, citing trust, cooking skills, relationship with their children, and the bonds they have developed.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110710118/6368cb0d9c7e80680e02f34ejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="1221"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Niru’s employer told us: “She takes care of me like my daughter. I don’t have to tell her what to do, and have told her the house is yours. My children adore her. She is really one of us.”Krishna’s Lebanese employer says she wants her to go back to Nepal every year to spend time with her son, Ajay. But Krishna doesn’t want to take the risk of not being allowed to return. “I feel guilty because I cannot do anything about it,” says Krishna’s employer.Dhana has been working in the same household in Beirut for ten years. Her employer has in the past arranged paperwork through the Nepal Embassy in Cairo for her to go back to Nepal on leave. But Dhana doesn’t want to be stuck in Nepal and lose her job. Says her employer: “Dhana has a right to go home and come back.”Nepali migrants here say home leave every two years paid by the employer are a strategic time to renegotiate salaries and benefits as employers are more open to having these discussions since there is an incentive to bring back the workers.<iframe src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/435871455&amp;color=%23ff5500&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false&amp;show_teaser=true" width="100%" height="166" frameborder="no" scrolling="no"></iframe>There are also many Nepali domestic workers in Lebanon in part-time jobs, living in apartments with fellow migrants. Not all employers, especially those without elderly or small children in the household, require full time live-in support. Many workers also prefer to live independently.“My Madam refers me to her friends and colleagues so I have enough work every week,” says a part-time Nepali domestic. This shadow gig-economy has evolved over time in Lebanon, and sometimes involves undocumented workers some of whom get up to $7 per hour, better than what live-in workers earn. But they have to pay living costs with that, and live in fear of detention by authorities.It is difficult to quantify what proportion of Nepali domestic workers have positive relationships with employers. Confined within households, many domestics silently endure abuse. Unlike other overseas contract work, the demand for domestic help in West Asia is expected to grow due to an ageing population, and as more families become double-income households.Read Also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/ban-the-ban/">Ban the ban</a>, Upasana KhadkaDespite the ban on female Nepali domestic workers going to West Asia, many Nepali women are still travelling after paying off airport officials in Kathmandu or flying out from Delhi or Mumbai – making them more vulnerable to exploitation by traffickers and recruiters.Women who went away before the ban are also affected because they have husbands, children and families back in Nepal whom they have not been able to see for years.Many are unable to let go of good employers and return, or to take the risk of returning through expensive, unauthorised channels.To be sure, <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/page/women-migrant-workers-are-doubly-vulnerable">not all employers are sympathetic</a> to concerns of their housemaids, and see them as property bought from an agent. Domestic work must therefore come under labour laws of host countries, which can be implemented and monitored via government-to-government agreements so that Nepal embassies have up-to-date records of each migrant and household. However, while women from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Ethiopia and Philippines can ask their embassies here for help, Nepal does not even have an honorary consul general in Beirut.<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Nepal-not-reforming-labour-laws,2687">Bilateral labour agreements</a> must be responsive to market needs like the trend towards part time household help that current arrangements do not address. This has created a parallel underground market that exposes workers to disproportionate risk.Nepal’s ban on female domestic workers was a temporary solution while abuse and exploitation were addressed. It is time to reconsider it. Or at least make special arrangements for domestic workers already abroad so they can make time off visits to meet families back in Nepal.*Support from the Nepalese community in Lebanon, the Lebanese employers and Sameer Karki in audio collection and compilation is gratefully acknowledged.<h2>The Risk Appetite</h2><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110710118/6368cb109c7e80680e02f34fjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="889">Overseas contract workers from Nepal tend to have a high threshold for risk because of the relatively better earning prospects and lack of alternatives back home.Aspirants are <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/caught-in-the-middle/migration-agency-exploitation,4003">often aware of the common risks</a> to be wary of in overseas employment because of the networks of former or present migrant workers, the social web, and reports in the press.Despite this, many continue to make risky decisions not always because of lack of information, but in spite of it. Mahesh, a seasoned diaspora leader in Qatar who has watched migrants flourish and has himself rescued many from inhumane conditions that bore resemblance to modern-day slavery, attributes this to the culturally fatalistic view that migration is a lottery.Sharmila agreed with her agent to go to Kuwait via India despite a Nepal government ban on female workers going to the Gulf. “How else would I travel?” she asked, admitting that she knew her journey was full of pitfalls.Her agent ensured that Sharmila was well-versed on the do’s and don’ts while crossing borders to avoid getting caught: “Only carry a handbag.” “Don’t make eye contact with anyone.” “If stopped, say you are visiting family.”If she only made it to Kuwait, she would be able to provide for her children. Sharmila’s journey took 24 days from Nepal to New Delhi to Sri Lanka to Dubai, and she got an abusive employer in Kuwait. She had no option but to escape and <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Nepali-migrants-hounded-out-Malaysia-,3036">return to Nepal</a>, distraught and without savings.When Ramesh agreed to go on a visit visa to UAE, he knew he was taking a chance by paying Rs250,000 to his agent and knew he was being overcharged, but there was that slim chance he could get a well-paying job.However, not only did his agent fail to find him a job but was verbally and physically abusive. Ramesh’s only memory of Dubai is the nearly three months he spent crammed inside an apartment with 22 other migrants.Shama is 24 and looks 16. She covers her face and laughs, showing the first page of her passport with a falsified legal age of 32. She couldn’t make it past immigration in Dubai and was sent back to Kathmandu which she initially avoided by travelling through India due to the ban. Shama believed her agent who lived above her room in her village because she had already successfully sent two others to Kuwait.Nepali workers are taking risks even when they get to the destination country. Ram’s job in Malaysia had no overtime, so he switched to undocumented status to earn more money – knowing fully well he would be deported if caught. He was caught, spent six months in detention and was sent back.He was among a group of other deported Nepalis at Kathmandu airport recently (pictured above), all were empty handed, clad in t-shirts and flipflops, walking out with other Nepalis who were pushing baggage carts with tv monitors.What makes workers like Ram, Shama, Sharmila and Ramesh take risks is the positive outcome for others. Unlike Ram, Kul earned $300 a month as a security guard, double of what he earned in his legal job at a furniture shop. Yet, he made it back safely with a temporary pass.The two women sent by Shama’s agents made it to Kuwait and have good employers who pay them well. Housemaids in Lebanon seem to fare well generally.Current migration policies which fail to respond to migrants’ aspirations and ground realities, such as blanket bans on domestic workers, <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2015/06/28/zero-cost-migration/">free visa free ticket policy</a>, or the inability to legally switch jobs at the destination, all help make foreign employment more like a lottery than a pathway out of poverty.In such a policy environment, general awareness and orientation programs can therefore be rendered inadequate because many Nepalis are also knowingly taking ill advised steps. And when there are first-hand failed migration attempts of members of a community, other aspirants attribute it to ill luck or fate. Unperturbed, they repeat the same steps in the hope that in their case the odds will be in their favour.Names have been changed<h2>Alliance with airlines can make migration safer</h2><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110710118/6368cb139c7e80680e02f350jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The Kotaraya quarter of the Malaysian capital comes alive on Sundays when Nepali migrant workers gather here to celebrate their hard-earned day off. The neighbourhood has over 65 Nepali restaurants, shops, remittance and travel agencies selling airline tickets catering to the Nepali diaspora population.A lot has been said about Nepali migrant workers <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/village-without-men-struggle-with-aftermath-of-earthquake,2238">propping up the home economy</a>, but Kotaraya on Sundays also shows how workers from Nepal support the Malaysian economy, its airlines and commercial activity in its cities as the 600,000 Nepalis there eat, shop, use phone cards and buy tickets back and forth from home. Three Malaysia-based airlines and two Nepali airlines link Kathmandu to <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/disproportionate-number-of-deaths-of-Nepali-workers-in-Malaysia,2812">Kuala Lumpur</a>.At one of the restaurants, a group walks around seeking donations (pictured, above) for a Nepali worker Ram Tamang, who had been injured in an accident on his way back from work, and did not have support from his employer for medical expenses.“We have been able to reach other Malaysian cities through social media and Nepalis are donating through their bank accounts,” says Yam Magar who adds that the ‘Drive To Save Ram’ has raised $2,000 so far. The Non-Resident Nepali local chapter has covered his flight home.Stories of migrants who are injured, ill, jailed, duped or stranded are common, and many seek protection at Nepal Embassy shelters. In response, family, friends, the embassy, NGOs, NRNA or activists often step in to help with compensation and repatriation.However, given that there are so many Nepalis in Malaysia, the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/undocumented-Nepali-migrant-workers-in-Malaysia,3958">sheer volume</a> of vulnerable cases is overwhelming. The flight back can be a costly part of the expenditure for wounded workers like Ram Tamang, and that is where airlines which get a bulk of their business from the travel to and from Kathmandu could do more.In 2016, 3.5 million passengers used Kathmandu airport – at least 70% of them were overseas contract workers. Many of them come home multiple times during their stay abroad, adding further business for airlines.“The size of the aircraft used or the frequency of flights to and from Kathmandu are often dictated by migrant volume,” explains a travel agent here, who wanted to be identified only as Rita.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110710118/6368cb179c7e80680e02f351jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="360">Airlines serving the Gulf region and Malaysia operate up to 183 flights a week to and from Kathmandu. Nepali, Indian and Bangladeshi airlines offer about 104 flights via Dhaka, Mumbai or Delhi to the Gulf and Malaysia  which Nepali migrant workers also use because they are cheaper.Migrants also form an important employee base of the airlines. Many of the baggage handlers, cleaners, food packers, apron and terminal staff at Dubai, Doha or Abu Dhabi are Nepali.Airlines could therefore be doing more for the welfare of Nepali migrant workers, as part of their corporate social responsibility. Overseas migrant workers spend a bulk of their advance on recruiters, and much of their savings after working abroad on airline tickets.There are many cases of migrants who have been cheated by middlemen and sent back because of improper documentation, who could benefit from return support.Airlines could set aside some tickets every week for stranded migrants, provide last minute unsold tickets or issue discounted tickets for those who are in dire need of help. These could be based on referrals from embassies and rescue organisations like Pravasi Nepal Coordination Committee.Ramesh Niroula recently returned to Jhapa after spending 11 months unemployed in Dubai fighting a case at the labour court. He was not paid for six months at a restaurant that went out of business. When he realised that the court was a dead end, he borrowed money for the return ticket and headed home.An airline sponsor would have been exactly what he needed.Himalayan Airlines, for example, has direct flights to UAE, Qatar, Malaysia and is popular among migrants headed to Saudi Arabia with its Dammam connection. Helping stranded migrants could do its goodwill and branding.irlines can be important allies in making migration safer, plus it would be good for business.The planes themselves could be points for distribution of relevant information about the destination country through literature and in-flight video.There are pre-departure classes aimed at orienting migrants to life and work overseas which are monitored better now thanks to an online system that requires biometric authentication.However, pre-departure classes are often generic, do not address country specific issues, and are provided at a time when migrants are anxious, both because they are leaving their families behind and want the paperwork to go smoothly.On the other hand, problems with access at destination countries, scattered nature of work arrangements by individual agents, and post-arrival training is not seen as a feasible option except in cases like the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Korean-kafala-migrants-in-Korea,4025">Korea Employment Permit System</a> which is a government-to-government initiative. Nepalis going to Korea have a weeklong pre-departure training and a three day orientation on arrival.There are also initiatives such as Dubai’s Know Your Rights campaign with information kiosks and multilingual brochures at the airport aimed at orienting migrants about their rights after arrival. If those working on migration issues collaborated with airlines, country specific brochures relevant for that destination including rules, contact information of support services, embassy details, and testimonials of migrants from that country could be provided in-flight.Airlines can be an important and a natural partner in efforts to promote safe migration by moving from a transactional relationship towards social responsibility.It would also involve the private sector in a field so vital for Nepal’s economy.Read Also:<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/page/women-migrant-workers-are-doubly-vulnerable">Women workers are doubly vulnerable</a>, Rojita Adhikari

1250x600

Homes away from home

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