In the middle of the first floor of the Rasa Lila exhibition at the Nepal Art Council is a model of Patan’s Krishna Temple made of Jenga blocks (pictured above). Inside the temple is a red holographic Radha, dancing. The temple here represents Vraja, a realm that lies far away from the universe in the heights of paradise. This mystical place is the setting of the Rasa Lila: a long lyric poem in the 10th book of the Bhagavata Purana that describes Krishna’s circular dance of love with his female devotees. So the choice of material makes sense: Vraja, much like buildings made out of Jenga, is more an impermanent zone where players dance with focus and balance.&nbsp; Read also:<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/my-sweet-lord"> My Sweet Lord</a>, Sewa Bhattarai Rasa Lila is put together by Priyam Pradhan and team and is made up of various media, including paintings, sculptures, songs, and films.&nbsp; The exhibit spans two floors of the Bagmati Art Gallery atop the Nepal Art Council in Baber Mahal. The first floor is about the Rasa Lila (Rasa: divine dance, Lila: divine play). The start of the exhibit plays with the story of Shiva being stopped from entering the Rasa Lila, because he is nine feet tall and not a woman. So he takes a dip into the Yamuna River and emerges a beautiful lass ready to take part.&nbsp; Referring to this story is Gopeshwar Mahadev, a sculpture made out of concrete hands and feet joined by rods of carbon steel. The pre-dip hands are masculine, and the post-dip feet, adorned with ghungroo beads, are feminine.&nbsp; Next is a river of letters that represents the Yamuna River and contains the initials of the team who worked on the project. Explains Pradhan: “I want visitors to the exhibit to feel like Mahadev, crossing the river into Vraja." A description reads, "The Yamuna is a bridge spanning the celestial and physical realms, and bathing in its waters is the final act after which the Gopis return to everyday life." Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/swasthani-lecture">Swasthani lecture</a> Next to this piece are two large wiry structures of Gopis in dance. They have black metal rod skeletons and wire bodies: one red, and one yellow.&nbsp; Inside an alcove in the gallery is a five minute film on loop titled ‘There is no perfection, only life’ made by Urza Acharya. It depicts the life of a Gopi after participating in the Rasa Lila. She is initially struck by depression and lethargy, but slowly finds the motivation to dance and be creative again.&nbsp; The short movie describes the fleeting nature of transcendental moments of pure creativity, and how most other moments are boring and mundane. Reads the description: ‘The banality of everyday, in fact, is what fuels those exceptional moments.’ &nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024072812074_21e2b50f2ac9f7a30a596f110d957ede1f9569e59c716688bf63b6befcb01447.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="2024072812074_21e2b50f2ac9f7a30a596f110d957ede1f9569e59c716688bf63b6befcb01447" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1125" loading="lazy" alt="Vastraharan NT"> <figcaption>'Vastraharana,' a scene from the Mahabharata where the Pandavas gamble away Draupadi's honor </figcaption> </figure>  While the first floor was about the Rasa Lila, the second floor depicts scenes from the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/being-good-is-not-easy">Mahabharata</a>, especially ones where Krishna features heavily. Vastraharan (pictured above) is a striking piece of a female figure in a white dress in the middle of a gambling board. Rectangular dice lie on the board and instead of a head the sculpture has a red light. The story depicted is from the Mahabharata of a game of chance between the Pandavas and the Kauravas where Duryodhana cheats the Pandavas out of all that they have, to the point where Yudhishthira puts up the Pandavas' wife Draupadi, promptly losing her too.&nbsp; Duryodhana orders his Kaurava brother to disrobe Draupadi in the court, and although the game has clearly gone too far, nobody in the court, not even Bhishma and Drona, intervene. The clear identical masks represent their shared passivity.&nbsp; As her sari is being unravelled, Draupadi has no other option but to pray to Krishna, who saves her by extending her sari infintiely. Yet she is still ashamed and angry, represented by the red light.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/the-violence-of-violation">The violence of violation</a>, Sewa Bhattarai In the next room is a blue angular metal sculpture of Krishna waking up on a bed of coins.&nbsp; “Coins represent Lakshmi, who is present wherever Krishna is,” explains Pradhan. “To make the sculpture we first 3-D printed a mould, then laser cut metal sheets and welded them together.” The last piece in the exhibit is a large painting of Krishna’s mother Devaki, a divine, pure figure who kept giving birth to divine incarnations even when locked up in a dark murky jail by her brother Kansa.&nbsp; The exhibition follows a cohesive theme overall and is well timed for the upcoming Krishnashtami festival which this year falls on 27 August. &nbsp; Rasa Lila Nepal Art Council Baber Mahal 10AM-5PM, until 3 August

Vishad Raj Onta

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Deity, devotion, and divine dance

<figure><img width="1310" height="834" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110131156/636cf53b9c7e80680e09da16jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>A gory battle scene from the Mahabharata depicted in a Nepali painting from the 1800s. Photo: harekrsna.com </figcaption></figure>Even eleven years after it was first published, The Difficulty of Being Good by Indian author <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gurcharan_Das" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gurcharan_Das&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1624856018937000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFSPA3za-pll0LYf5joq4b13sXZ_A">Gurcharan Das</a> is more relevant than ever. Two-thousand years after it was written, so is the Mahabharata.For those who want to read the Mahabharata but are intimidated by the very thought, Das’ interpretation of the epic is well worth the time. Das does not just go to the holy city of Banaras, but to the Regenstein Library in Chicago with its fabulous collection of South Asian text, to explore the Hindu classic.  His ‘academic holiday’ of several years there resulted in this magnificent and riveting book. Das felt that places of learning in Banaras, the natural choice, would discourage him from ‘interrogating’ the text, but that the University of Chicago with its Sanskrit scholars like Sheldon Pollock and Wendy Doniger, would be more suitable. And indeed, the book proves that this was the right decision. The Mahabharata is made up of almost 100,000 couplets, and is seven times longer than Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey combined. But it is just as gory. Besides the length, the big difference with the Greek classics is that every time there is a showdown in the Mahabharata, amazingly, there is a battle-stopping discourse, and the warring parties weigh in and discuss moral pros and cons of the violence they are unleashing on each other. The Iliad, on the other hand, just gets on with the action. Like many religious texts, the Mahabharata also has its share of wacky stories. For example, the Kaurav brothers, who are fighting their Pandav cousins, create an impenetrable military formation called the ‘Chakra Vyuha’ on the twelfth day of the Mahabharata war to kill Pandav warriors like Yudhishthir. When Arjun, from the Pandav side, is fighting elsewhere in the battlefield, his son, Abhimanyu, successfully penetrates the military formation and stops the Kaurav’s menacing advance towards Yudhishthir. However (and this is the incredible part) Abhimanyu had learnt about how to enter the Chakra Vyuha when he was in his mother’s womb, as Arjun was describing it to her. Unfortunately, she fell asleep before Arjun could explain how to exit the treacherous mêlée.As a result, Abhimanyu did not hear about the exit strategy from this battle formation and so he is trapped and mercilessly killed by the Kaurav generals including Karna, Drona and Ashwastthama. Another riveting episode in the Mahabharata is Pandu, the father of the Pandav brothers. He is actually not their biological father because he has been cursed to die if he has coitus. Kunti, his wife, being a resourceful woman, utilises a gift from the ill-tempered sage Durvasha whereby she could invoke any god and have a child by him. And this she does.Gurcharan Das’s book shows us how the Mahabharata differs from other sacred texts, chiefly because rather than handing the reader a clear-cut cook book of instructions for the entry criteria to heaven, it bewilderingly asks more questions than it answers. Almost confirming that the ultimate truth may not even be available here on earth, it shows us that we can only have intimations of the truth -- a core belief in sophisticated Vedic thinking.   <figure><img width="640" height="437" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110131156/636cf53e9c7e80680e09da17jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The Mahabarata is also true to life with flawed characters populating the text, quite unusual for a holy book. For example, Yudishthir’s weakness for gambling, Duryodhan’s jealous streak, Karna’s status anxiety, Krishna’s guile  -- all add up to make it more human and readable.  In fact, as Das points out, the Mahabharata almost humanises the Kaurav (who are the bad guys) in an attempt to portray the good Pandav guys with empathy (Tat Tvam Asi), to kindle a universal moral sentiment. In contrast, the Ramayana, the other Hindu holy text from an earlier era has more black and white answers with an idealistic Ram and an evil Ravan.   The climax of the Mahabharata is when Yudhishthir is about to enter heaven. Indra, heaven’s gatekeeper, comes in his celestial chariot and requests Yudhishthir to please get in so they can ride into heaven together. The self-effacing Yudhishthir, looking a bit puzzled, asks Indra’s permission if they can also take in a stray dog who has been following him for a few days.  Indra initially declines, Yudhishthir pauses, looks around and says, “My Lord Indra, in that case I will forgo heaven.” This little episode with the dog was actually Indra’s test of compassion for Yudhishthir, which he passes with flying colours and he enters heaven with the stray. Das posits that the editors of the Mahabharata may have been influenced by the Buddhist concept of 'karunamaya', or compassion, as the book was written much later (between 400 BC – 300 AD) than the actual Mahabharata war in Kurukshetra (950 BC). In fact, the author asks a very important question: what would have been the outcome at Kurukshetra if Arjun’s charioteer had been Gautam Buddha instead of the clever Krishna? The Difficulty of Being Good is replete with graphic, lyrical, and evocative prose, as this passage by Das illustrates:  In the summer, I returned to India to visit my mother. On the way, the train stopped at a very sleepy station, about a hundred miles north of Delhi. I stepped on to the platform and discovered that this was no ordinary station: it was historic Kurukshetra where the Mahabharata’s futile war of annihilation had been fought. In the burning heat of the summer afternoon, I began to imagine the brutal magnificence of the raging, ruthless battles. I saw a dithering Arjun, the greatest warrior of his age put down his Gandiva bow and refuse to fight -- leaving his debonair and confident charioteer, Krishna, who is also God, with a problem on his hands. I visualised ruthless Drona grinding the exhausted Pandav armies into the dust. Suddenly he turns anxiously to his pupil, Yudhishthir to ask if the rumour about his son’s death is true. Yudhishthir -- who has never spoken false -- tells a white lie and his fabulous chariot, which always traveled slightly above the ground, sinks into the dust.  In a sense, this is a book review of The Difficulty of Being Good, which itself is a book review of the Mahabharata 2,000 years after it was written.  As we put down the book, it is hard to erase the image of Arjun folding his hands in front of the flamboyant Krishna, refusing to fight, while the ruthless Drona and remorseful Yudhishthir are carrying on a conversation in the heat of battle.  Buddha Basnyat is a physician at the Patan Institute of Health Sciences. Disclaimer: Gurcharan Das is his phuaju, uncle.The Difficulty of Being Good: On the Subtle Art of DharmaPenguin Paperback, 2012 ₹ 499.00by <a href="https://www.amazon.in/Gurcharan-Das/e/B001HD010S/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amazon.in/Gurcharan-Das/e/B001HD010S/ref%3Ddp_byline_cont_book_1&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1624856018938000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHo1HTL86FzCkDyhd98zvMw0xvEKw">Gurcharan Das</a><a href="http://https://www.amazon.in/Difficulty-Being-Good-Subtle-Dharma/dp/0143418971"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110131156/636cf5419c7e80680e09da18jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="313"></a>

Being good is not easy

<figure><img width="1310" height="834" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121152/636b94819c7e80680e06f207jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>A gory battle scene from the Mahabharata depicted in a Nepali painting from the 1800s. Photo: harekrsna.com </figcaption></figure>Even eleven years after it was first published, The Difficulty of Being Good by Indian author <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gurcharan_Das" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gurcharan_Das&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1624856018937000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFSPA3za-pll0LYf5joq4b13sXZ_A">Gurcharan Das</a> is more relevant than ever. Two-thousand years after it was written, so is the Mahabharata.For those who want to read the Mahabharata but are intimidated by the very thought, Das’ interpretation of the epic is well worth the time. Das does not just go to the holy city of Banaras, but to the Regenstein Library in Chicago with its fabulous collection of South Asian text, to explore the Hindu classic.  His ‘academic holiday’ of several years there resulted in this magnificent and riveting book. Das felt that places of learning in Banaras, the natural choice, would discourage him from ‘interrogating’ the text, but that the University of Chicago with its Sanskrit scholars like Sheldon Pollock and Wendy Doniger, would be more suitable. And indeed, the book proves that this was the right decision. The Mahabharata is made up of almost 100,000 couplets, and is seven times longer than Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey combined. But it is just as gory. Besides the length, the big difference with the Greek classics is that every time there is a showdown in the Mahabharata, amazingly, there is a battle-stopping discourse, and the warring parties weigh in and discuss moral pros and cons of the violence they are unleashing on each other. The Iliad, on the other hand, just gets on with the action. Like many religious texts, the Mahabharata also has its share of wacky stories. For example, the Kaurav brothers, who are fighting their Pandav cousins, create an impenetrable military formation called the ‘Chakra Vyuha’ on the twelfth day of the Mahabharata war to kill Pandav warriors like Yudhishthir. When Arjun, from the Pandav side, is fighting elsewhere in the battlefield, his son, Abhimanyu, successfully penetrates the military formation and stops the Kaurav’s menacing advance towards Yudhishthir. However (and this is the incredible part) Abhimanyu had learnt about how to enter the Chakra Vyuha when he was in his mother’s womb, as Arjun was describing it to her. Unfortunately, she fell asleep before Arjun could explain how to exit the treacherous mêlée.As a result, Abhimanyu did not hear about the exit strategy from this battle formation and so he is trapped and mercilessly killed by the Kaurav generals including Karna, Drona and Ashwastthama. Another riveting episode in the Mahabharata is Pandu, the father of the Pandav brothers. He is actually not their biological father because he has been cursed to die if he has coitus. Kunti, his wife, being a resourceful woman, utilises a gift from the ill-tempered sage Durvasha whereby she could invoke any god and have a child by him. And this she does.Gurcharan Das’s book shows us how the Mahabharata differs from other sacred texts, chiefly because rather than handing the reader a clear-cut cook book of instructions for the entry criteria to heaven, it bewilderingly asks more questions than it answers. Almost confirming that the ultimate truth may not even be available here on earth, it shows us that we can only have intimations of the truth -- a core belief in sophisticated Vedic thinking.   <figure><img width="640" height="437" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121152/636b94849c7e80680e06f208jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The Mahabarata is also true to life with flawed characters populating the text, quite unusual for a holy book. For example, Yudishthir’s weakness for gambling, Duryodhan’s jealous streak, Karna’s status anxiety, Krishna’s guile  -- all add up to make it more human and readable.  In fact, as Das points out, the Mahabharata almost humanises the Kaurav (who are the bad guys) in an attempt to portray the good Pandav guys with empathy (Tat Tvam Asi), to kindle a universal moral sentiment. In contrast, the Ramayana, the other Hindu holy text from an earlier era has more black and white answers with an idealistic Ram and an evil Ravan.   The climax of the Mahabharata is when Yudhishthir is about to enter heaven. Indra, heaven’s gatekeeper, comes in his celestial chariot and requests Yudhishthir to please get in so they can ride into heaven together. The self-effacing Yudhishthir, looking a bit puzzled, asks Indra’s permission if they can also take in a stray dog who has been following him for a few days.  Indra initially declines, Yudhishthir pauses, looks around and says, “My Lord Indra, in that case I will forgo heaven.” This little episode with the dog was actually Indra’s test of compassion for Yudhishthir, which he passes with flying colours and he enters heaven with the stray. Das posits that the editors of the Mahabharata may have been influenced by the Buddhist concept of 'karunamaya', or compassion, as the book was written much later (between 400 BC – 300 AD) than the actual Mahabharata war in Kurukshetra (950 BC). In fact, the author asks a very important question: what would have been the outcome at Kurukshetra if Arjun’s charioteer had been Gautam Buddha instead of the clever Krishna? The Difficulty of Being Good is replete with graphic, lyrical, and evocative prose, as this passage by Das illustrates:  In the summer, I returned to India to visit my mother. On the way, the train stopped at a very sleepy station, about a hundred miles north of Delhi. I stepped on to the platform and discovered that this was no ordinary station: it was historic Kurukshetra where the Mahabharata’s futile war of annihilation had been fought. In the burning heat of the summer afternoon, I began to imagine the brutal magnificence of the raging, ruthless battles. I saw a dithering Arjun, the greatest warrior of his age put down his Gandiva bow and refuse to fight -- leaving his debonair and confident charioteer, Krishna, who is also God, with a problem on his hands. I visualised ruthless Drona grinding the exhausted Pandav armies into the dust. Suddenly he turns anxiously to his pupil, Yudhishthir to ask if the rumour about his son’s death is true. Yudhishthir -- who has never spoken false -- tells a white lie and his fabulous chariot, which always traveled slightly above the ground, sinks into the dust.  In a sense, this is a book review of The Difficulty of Being Good, which itself is a book review of the Mahabharata 2,000 years after it was written.  As we put down the book, it is hard to erase the image of Arjun folding his hands in front of the flamboyant Krishna, refusing to fight, while the ruthless Drona and remorseful Yudhishthir are carrying on a conversation in the heat of battle.  Buddha Basnyat is a physician at the Patan Institute of Health Sciences. Disclaimer: Gurcharan Das is his phuaju, uncle.The Difficulty of Being Good: On the Subtle Art of DharmaPenguin Paperback, 2012 ₹ 499.00by <a href="https://www.amazon.in/Gurcharan-Das/e/B001HD010S/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amazon.in/Gurcharan-Das/e/B001HD010S/ref%3Ddp_byline_cont_book_1&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1624856018938000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHo1HTL86FzCkDyhd98zvMw0xvEKw">Gurcharan Das</a><a href="http://https://www.amazon.in/Difficulty-Being-Good-Subtle-Dharma/dp/0143418971"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121152/636b94889c7e80680e06f209jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="313"></a>

After prolonged negotiations over the weekend, Nepal’s new <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/madam-prime-minister-of-nepal">Prime Minister Sushila Karki</a> on Monday appointed three members to her Council of Ministers, but the youth group that put her in power does not like her choice. The GenZ group that initiated the movement that toppled Nepal’s government accused Karki of not being consulted about the choice of Om Prakash Aryal, a lawyer who was helping with negotiating with the Army, as the Home and Law Minister.&nbsp; GenZ’s purported leader <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/who-or-what-is-hami-nepal">Sudan Gurung</a> led a group of his supporters and families of youth killed in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/raising-nepal-from-the-ashes">last week’s demonstration</a> at a midnight protest outside the prime minister’s residence, demanding Karki’s resignation unless she listened to them. Aryal is also a legal adviser to Kathmandu Mayor Balen Shah, who has supported the GenZ movement but refused their offer to lead the interim government.&nbsp; The other two ministers include former Finance Secretary Rameshore Khanal as Finance Minister, and the popular former chief of the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) Kulman Ghising as the Energy Minister, Urban Development Minister, and Minister of Physical Infrastructure and Transport. They were sworn in on Monday. While Prime Minister Karki has said she wants competent and honest technocrats in the Council of Ministers, GenZ has been pushing for candidates that do not seem to meet her criteria — including a military officer and Mayor Balen Shah’s candidate.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025091511090_f7db633bbf56c5e2a43b6cd248e522365f56cd34578d65cdeca243c65d807f6d.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="2025091511090_f7db633bbf56c5e2a43b6cd248e522365f56cd34578d65cdeca243c65d807f6d" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1365" loading="lazy" alt="new ministers being sworn in"> </figure>  Karki’s list is said to include retired Lt Gen Balananda Sharma, &nbsp;Magsaysay Award winner Mahabir Pun of the National Innovation Centre, former Education Minister Sumana Shrestha who quit RSP on Sunday and Dharan Mayor Harka Sampang. Karki met the government machinery on Sunday at her Singha Darbar office. Speaking without a prepared text, she admitted that there had been a “huge loss” not just to government buildings but also to official and court records during the 9 September arson attacks. “I am ashamed to say that there has been a systematic targeting of sensitive and essential government institutions, we will track down the perpetrators and investigate them,” she said. Karki also assured officials that she had no intention of staying on as prime minister beyond 5 March, the date she has set for early elections. She added: “The destruction by criminal elements has added to our challenges, but we have to choose but to unite and rebuild. This movement was about ending corruption, improving governance and equality. Help me achieve those goals.” <h2>KNOW YOUR MINISTERS</h2> Om Prakash Aryal Home Minister, Minister of Law  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250915110916_6bbaa39c523979ea1a3e85bd496232fa0dcb6152718ede106078bb5f3d069c3c.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20250915110916_6bbaa39c523979ea1a3e85bd496232fa0dcb6152718ede106078bb5f3d069c3c" data-rendition-name="original" width="960" height="955" loading="lazy" alt="Om Prakash Aryal"> <figcaption>Om Prakash Aryal</figcaption> </figure>  Back in 2016, <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/do-gooders-to-watch-out-for,3435">Om Prakash Aryal</a> filed a writ petition against the appointment of all powerful Lokman Singh Karki to the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), paving way for the impeachment of the head of the anti-graft body together with Prime Minister Sushila Karki, who was then Chief Justice. An advocate at the Supreme Court, Aryal gained widespread fame for his work in Public Interest Litigation. Most recently, earlier this year he filed a petition against then Prime Minister K P Oli and Minister for Land Management Bala Ram Adhikari, among others, for their alleged role in the non-implementation of Supreme Court order in the Giribandhu tea estate land scam in eastern Nepal. Aryal came from Gulmi to Kathmandu to be a singer, but ended up pursuing a career in law instead. Aryal also served four years in the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), and was based in Geneva with the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ). Rameshore Khanal Finance Minister  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250915110916_1655aeec3a17a048663b95c0dec3ab302300c51d61f6aed682b17fe5c1532c58.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20250915110916_1655aeec3a17a048663b95c0dec3ab302300c51d61f6aed682b17fe5c1532c58" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="666" loading="lazy" alt="Finance Minister"> <figcaption>Rameshore Khanal</figcaption> </figure>  Former Finance Secretary Rameshore Khanal has over 30 years of experience in the civil service, and led reforms in government accounting and reporting, public procurements, tax policy and administration. He also served as Chair of the Board in Agricultural Development Bank and was Board Director in Nepal Rastra Bank, Rastriya Banijya Bank, Nepal Telecom Company, and Nepal Airlines. He also served as an economic adviser to Baburam Bhattarai when he was prime minister in 2013. In October last year, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-in-the-red">he led the government formed</a> the High Level Economic Reforms Recommendation Commission. The 440-page recommendation released last month included review of the fixed exchange rate with India and the provision for national political parties to receive grants so candidates did not have to depend on business donors at election time. He has announced that he is not going to take a salary, official residence, body guard or official car for himself. Kulman Ghising Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Minister, Urban Development Minister, and Minister of Physical Infrastructure and Transport  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250915110920_7704ba4dd27f06d423852bc9792610cc89acdbee6ff0b380904479c095d328ab.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20250915110920_7704ba4dd27f06d423852bc9792610cc89acdbee6ff0b380904479c095d328ab" data-rendition-name="original" width="1057" height="769" loading="lazy" alt="Kulman Ghising"> <figcaption>Kulman Ghising</figcaption> </figure>  The man credited for ending 18-hour-a-day loadshedding in Nepal was also considered for the post of Prime Minister before Sushila Karki was chosen by the GenZ movement on Friday. Ghising is a two-time CEO of Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) before <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/sacking-of-nea-chief-exposes-cronyism">his tenure was cut short</a> by the Oli-led governing coalition earlier this year and replaced by Hitendra Dev Shakya. Ghising’s removal was seen as being politically motivated, and outraged the public and commentators. Many expected Ghising to open his own party ahead of the 2027 elections two years later, but is seen to be close to the Maoist-Centre party. After being appointed NEA chief in 2016, Ghising cut off the dedicated electricity feeds to industries, and redistributed the saved power to the public — ending long power cuts. But he also imported electricity from India to ensure 24-hour supply during the winter dry season to meet demand. Several new hydropower plants came into operation during his tenure, and today Nepal had an electricity surplus.&nbsp; OTHER APPOINTMENTS Elsewhere, Sabita Bhandari Baral has been appointed Nepal’s first female Attorney General.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250915110920_4d60704a1e69309fdfb49a195f538c32159f27748fd2be88693c609ddb98d380.jpg" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="20250915110920_4d60704a1e69309fdfb49a195f538c32159f27748fd2be88693c609ddb98d380" data-rendition-name="original" width="730" height="506" loading="lazy" alt="Female attorney general"> <figcaption>Sabita Bhandari Baral</figcaption> </figure>  By Sunday, total casualties of the nationwide GenZ protests has reached 72. Prime Minister Karki has declared that bereaved families of those killed in the protests will be compensated while hundreds of those still receiving treatment in hospitals will be treated for free. &nbsp;

Nepal interim government faces first hiccups

While protesters were torching the Special Government Attorney Office at Mandala on Tuesday, they shouted slogans <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-s-gen-z-protest-turns-deadly">denouncing government corruption</a>. They did not seem to know that in reality the Government Attorney’s office was carrying out active investigations and prosecuting multiple cases of government corruption. Their case files have now been reduced to ashes. While attackers ransacked the building room by room and and burnt it down, they said they were protesting the government’s inability to catch the person who raped and murdered of 13-year-old <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/justice-delayed-and-denied">Nirmala Panta </a>in Kanchanpur seven years ago.&nbsp; In reality, the District Government Attorney’s Office has been carrying out and directing<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/justice-eludes-many-rape-survivors"> investigations against rapists and abusers</a> whose victims were even younger than Nirmala. As an ordinary Nepali citizen before joining the Government Attorney’s Office, I had read about &nbsp;Nirmala’s story in the media. It was a major case that shook the nation, and the biggest rape case I had heard about.&nbsp; But once I was behind my desk as a Government Attorney myself, not a day went by when there was at least one new rape investigation file. This was a serial horror on a nationwide scale. The <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/incest-sex-abuse,2547">rapists were not faceless strangers</a>: many were fathers, brothers, stepfathers, teachers, drivers who knew the survivors. I found all age groups from all parts of Nepal on those charge sheets. And every file I carried to the courtroom was in the hope of at least someone who wanted the crime against them recognised and the perpetrator punished. Now, all those files are gone. The news from Singha Darbar that the government’s data centre was saved from arsonists this week was a relief. But we lost all our records. The evidence was never digitised, there were no backup files. They lived only on paper, in ink, in fragile white file folders with green strings.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250914120920_353c6e03fa2f4cea8992c5c02ede101b4ad9ccc102f5af8407f333f518ef7200.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20250914120920_353c6e03fa2f4cea8992c5c02ede101b4ad9ccc102f5af8407f333f518ef7200" data-rendition-name="original" width="5000" height="3333" loading="lazy" alt="The day justice died"> <figcaption>Photo: HEMANTA SHRESTHA</figcaption> </figure>  When the building burned, so did the only record of those crimes and the identity of the criminals.&nbsp; Imagine entire basements filled with such files: each representing a victim, a face, a life. More than 10,000 such cases are now smouldering heaps of ash. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/kathmandu-burns-despite-pm-resignation">Kathmandu burns despite PM resignation</a> Singha Durbar can be rebuilt brick by brick, just as it was after the earthquake. Who is going to rebuild these case files?&nbsp; The social media is cruel: it shows homes of politicians stashed with cash and charred dollar bills. But the media did not show an entire building full of criminal case files going up in flames. The smoke that filled Kathmandu’s sky on Tuesday carried away with it the hopes of<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-s-chance-on-transitional-justice"> justice of thousands of victims</a>, mostly young women. Our duty as Government Attorneys is to direct criminal investigations, prosecute criminal cases, plead in courtrooms, make appeals. On a normal busy day we prosecute at least five criminal cases involving survivors and perpetrators. THAT DAY On <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-s-8-september-massacre">8 September</a>, when the GenZ protesters were gathering at the Mandala outside, we were at the Police Club, attending the first ever Women Government Attorneys’ Conference. We wore our brightest blue sari uniforms and pressed blouses. Our heads held high, we celebrated our success as government attorneys who had led the prosecution of the highest number of cases involving <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/not-just-16-days-against-gender-based-violence">violence against women</a>. But the day had other plans for us. By 4 pm the program was halted after protesters were shot outside Parliament. The Attorney General directed us to go home immediately. As the hall emptied, a small group of us young women officers and one senior female advocate walked together through Bhadrakali towards our office. There was an angry mob approaching us. The moment they saw us in our official dress, they turned on us with verbal abuses — words so horrendous that it would have been enough to prosecute a slander suit.&nbsp; Heads and eyes lowered we walked on. They started spitting on us. Obviously, they were pouring out their <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/genz-and-aragalaya?amp=1">anger against the government</a> on us civil servants. But they had no idea that the senior female advocate on whose coat they spat had pioneered the law granting Nepali women equal property rights. To us, she was not just a lawyer, she was a hero and a figure we had worshipped in our law books. Her name appears across Supreme Court documents for setting a precedent.&nbsp; We ran to save ourselves from their wrath and reached our Special Government Attorney Office. The mob stayed outside. We waited two hours in silence, praying fervently until the street was calm enough for us to slip away and find our way home. The next day, 9 September, was much worse. The protesters had already torched Parliament, Singha Durbar and the nearby Supreme Court. Then they came to set the Government Attorney Office alight. As a Nepali, I can understand the anger. But as a Government Attorney, I carry a deep scar. There is an immense void and sorrow. This is not about the loss of a building, or being spat at. It is about the silent victims whose stories were stored in all those thousands of files. Many of the survivors do not even know that their <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/hunger-for-justice">struggle for justice</a> has ended.&nbsp; We are government employees never affiliated with any political party, doing our work honestly and independently. In the name of demanding justice, they destroyed the very place that delivered it. Mamata Shrestha is an Assistant District Government Attorney.

The day justice died

A security guard with <a href="https://www.bbsm.com.np/" target="_blank">Bhat-Bhateni Supermarket </a>pleads with attackers not to destroy the store. In the widely-shared YouTube video, the mob can be seen surging ahead to ransack and set fire to the store anyway. Twenty-one of the 28 Bhat-Bhateni outlets nationwide were vandalised and looted, 12 of them were completely gutted. The one at Boudha was smouldering for three days till 12 September. Nepal’s biggest supermarket chain is a target in just about every political upheaval in Nepal. The Koteswor branch was looted in the royalist protest in March. This time, the destruction was much more complete and widespread. What began as a youth-led protest against corrupt leaders turned escalated into widespread looting and arson last week, and Bhati-Bhateni’s prominent blue highrise stores became prime targets.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250918110952_d60fbd65ee7fc18d2d0deb74ede8eb5b5f133f32eca13c9281b869e0bd479761.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20250918110952_d60fbd65ee7fc18d2d0deb74ede8eb5b5f133f32eca13c9281b869e0bd479761" data-rendition-name="original" width="1319" height="783" loading="lazy" alt="Bhatbhateni burning"> </figure>  Min Bahadur Gurung toured the ruins of his stores over the weekend, and said: “Watching the buildings burn felt painful to the core of my heart. But we will rebuild, we will rise again.” Born in Khotang, Gurung came to Kathmandu in the 1980s to open a small grocery. Gifted with a strong business sense, he expanded this into Nepal’s biggest retail empire, employing 20,000 people which became essential for consumer goods all over Nepal. Gurung was also admired as a symbol of success. A homegrown businessman who has invested in Nepal, creating jobs so people do not have to migrate, Gurung has also donated generously to many charities. He built a 72-bed emergency ward at the Teaching Hospital, funded scholarships for students from remote areas, and recently pledged Rs410 million to Bhagwan Koirala’s project to establish the Kathmandu nstitute of Child Health. But in Nepal, high profile success breeds envy, attracts threats and demands of extortion. To his loyal supporters, he’s a self-made visionary, but protester last week did not see it that way.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250918110948_1ec60e598ed202a4c4d68025707029bed12452121183433ad512d06fcb90964f.png" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20250918110948_1ec60e598ed202a4c4d68025707029bed12452121183433ad512d06fcb90964f" data-rendition-name="original" width="1583" height="1350" loading="lazy" alt="Min Bahadur Gurung"> <figcaption>Min Bahadur Gurung</figcaption> </figure>  By the evening of 9 September, Bhat-Bhateni stores were in flames inKathmandu and cities across the country. Whatever Gurung’s faults, it is his 20,000 employees, customers, and small vendors who paid the price. At least six bodies charred beyond recognition have been pulled out of the the Boudha outlet and three in Dharan. Some are said to be employees, others could have been looters trapped in the upper floors. But why does Bhat-Bhateni always end up being in the crosshairs? Some in online discourses say it is a symbol of elite privilege and unchecked corporate power. Others say the arson and looting spree was propelled by envy and greed.&nbsp; No matter the motive, the fallout is real: cashiers, stock handlers, managers, delivery staff have lost their income. Suppliers, transporters and small vendors lose sales, the national economy is dragged down, and the attacks could also drive more Nepalis to migrate for work.&nbsp; WIDESPREAD CONDEMNATION On-site, many Bhat-Bhateni staff cleaning up the debris and ash were reluctant to speak to us. It has been too much of a shock. But online, workers have been puring out their distress.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250918110956_749cb4ae348a15cfe5f11e4b821e7aeee06d7270e6b634065da3c1e42f2f186c.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20250918110956_749cb4ae348a15cfe5f11e4b821e7aeee06d7270e6b634065da3c1e42f2f186c" data-rendition-name="original" width="1600" height="1200" loading="lazy" alt="Bhatbhateni burning "> <figcaption>Photos: SANGYA LAMSAL</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250918110956_90930fa1218b07aa8e4043cd229ca7907c074bfd152559ad2b9799b8d83e2d12.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20250918110956_90930fa1218b07aa8e4043cd229ca7907c074bfd152559ad2b9799b8d83e2d12" data-rendition-name="original" width="1600" height="1200" loading="lazy" alt="Bhatbhateni burning"> </figure>  From Biratnagar, store employee Smritee Joshi shared a haunting video of the outlet still burning the morning after, writing: ‘This was just a supermarket for some of you, but it was more than home for every employee out there. It sears &nbsp;me to see tears on our team members.’ A user wrote in the subreddit r/Nepal on Reddit: ‘This is going to lead to a major crisis. Yes, Bhat-Bhateni might have insurance and might take care of employees for some time, but this is massive damage. It’s not just one branch, 12 branches have been have been looted and destroyed. Most employees will lose their jobs just before Dasain, and businesses are ruined, all at the time of Dashain.’ TikTok creator SpeakUp with Sandesh rushed to Bhat-Bhateni Kalanki as it reopened, posting a video saying: ‘You managed to burn down Min Bahadur Gurung’s store, but not his fighting spirit. Bhat-Bhateni is back in business!’ In Pokhara, employee Ansu Aana posted a tearful video saying, ‘Bhat-Bhateni gives so many young people jobs. Min Bahadur Gurung gave us a chance to earn for our studies and expenses. I don’t believe Gen Z did this – just before, many were urging not to vandalise. So how could the same people set it on fire? We don’t know who infiltrated the protests.’ Aana added: ‘Ministers and politics created no opportunities for youth in this country, and the one who did give us opportunities had his spirit burnt.’ In another video, she warned looters that CCTV and online evidence were being collected, urging them to return stolen goods before facing legal action. A TikTok page called ‘BhatBhateni Chor’ has nearly 400 followers, which has since exposed those who misused the protests to rob stores.&nbsp; Ironically, some protestors chanting against corruption just hours before were also caught stealing, a hypocrisy viewers and fellow demonstrators have sharply condemned online. Hundreds have taken to Facebook and other platforms to share their feelings. Noted conservationist Shailendra Thakali recalled the supermarket’s humble beginnings, posting: ‘Nearly 30 years ago, when my family lived in Naxal, we shopped at a small kirana pasal near the Bhatbhateni temple. None of us imagined that modest shop would oneday become Nepal’s largest retail chain.’ He adds: “Many of us still see the story, the struggle, and the incredible success behind it all. And we believe it deserves respect.’  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025091812090_d07cb4b5681f752235727500bdd20759bc2fa6b0f8785db21f906188298bdaea.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="2025091812090_d07cb4b5681f752235727500bdd20759bc2fa6b0f8785db21f906188298bdaea" data-rendition-name="original" width="1600" height="1200" loading="lazy" alt="Bhatbhateni burning"> </figure>  The Gurung community has rallied around Bhatbhateni. The Tamu (Gurung) Bouddha Sewa Samit stated: ‘Even after repeated attacks, the supermarket has continued its services uninterrupted. We strongly urge an immediate investigation.’ Likewise, Ekaa Kombucha, Nepal’s first GMP-certified Kombucha brand, declared support: “For countless small and medium businesses like ours, Bhat-Bhateni has been a vital platform, offering space, visibility, and the chance to reach millions across Nepal.’ ‘Amid rising unemployment and capital flight, Bhat-Bhateni has been providing employment to 22,000 youths, not only employment generation, it also significantly continues to contribute to the local economy,’ the Tamu (Gurung) Educational and Career Advancement Network (TECANET) wrote in a statement this week, urging immediate investigation into the destruction of Bhatbhateni and other public and private institutions.&nbsp; Meanwhile, newly appointed Finance Minister Rameshore Khanal visited the heavily damaged Koteswor Bhat-Bhateni on Tuesday, with Min Bahadur Gurung seen walking him through the destruction.

Bhat-Bhateni burning

Nepal’s internationally renowned ophthalmologist Sanduk Ruit has distanced himself from involvement with the Hami Nepal group that has taken the lead in the<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-s-gen-z-protest-turns-deadly"> GenZ movement last week </a>that toppled the Nepal government.
Ruit denied links between the <a href="https://barbarafoundation.org/" target="_blank">Barbara Adams Foundation</a> in Kathmandu where he is chair with the current movement, but added that it had provided workspace for Hami Nepal for relief work during the Covid lockdown five years ago.
“I want to reassure my well-wishers that my heart is clean,” Ruit said in a statement on Monday. “If everyone from all professions work with integrity it will not take long to transform this country. As for myself, I will always be striving to that end from my profession.”
The Foundation was set up by naturalised Nepali citizen Barbara Adams who lived and died in Nepal. Ruit said he had performed <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-far-sighted-eye-care">cataract operations</a> in both her eyes 25 years ago, and Adams was surprised that such procedures could be done in Nepal at the time.
“She loved Nepal and was committed to help its neediest people,” Ruit said, adding that she left a small endowment to continue the work of the Foundation when she died in 2016.
The Foundation works to uplift underserved communities throughout Nepal, fosters public dialogue and supports<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/investing-in-investigative-journalism"> investigative journalism</a> to improve governance.&nbsp;
At a press conference on Sunday, Barbara Foundation members denied providing any financial support to <a href="about:blank">Hami Nepal</a> or other youth groups, saying it is not allowed by its statute and Nepal’s laws to do so.
The Foundation said in a statement: ‘Some sections have taken advantage of the country’s present fragile and sensitive period to spread false news about us. We did help Hami Nepal during the Covid crisis because it was a youth-based nationwide group. We never had any monetary links with that organisation or its members. We urge the public not to fall for disinformation.”
"I have mentored thousands of young Nepalis, and I am proud of them if they carry on with their good work. But we are not involved in the present situation," added Ruit.
The Foundation clarified that it is fully transparent with its funding which mostly comes from Nepali philanthropists. It received Rs98 million from various donors over the past eight years, and has an annual budget of Rs 5million.
“Barbara Foundation does not have any current contact with Hami Nepal, and I have not seen Sudan Gurung for more than a year,” Ruit added.
Members expressed deep regret for the loss of life and condolences to bereaved families in the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-s-8-september-massacre">GenZ rallies</a> and its aftermath. The foundation also said it was distressed by the<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/kathmandu-burns-despite-pm-resignation"> destruction of public buildings, business and private property </a>last week.
Said Sanduk Ruit: “Every time there is a <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/what-next-nepal">political upheaval in Nepal</a>, they request me to take the lead. But I am clear: my commitment is to serve Nepalis and the sick all over the world with much knowledge, skill and time. I have always worked to spread the word about Nepal and Nepalis all over the world.”

mahabharat

Deity, devotion, and divine dance

Being good is not easy

Being good is not easy

Nepal interim government faces first hiccups

The day justice died

Bhat-Bhateni burning

Sanduk Ruit denies aiding Hami Nepal