<figure><img width="1500" height="1125" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110814114/636a543b9c7e80680e05239ajpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Photo: DAMIEN FRANCOIS</figcaption></figure>Camping on the glacier, the snow fell softly all night, making the tent sag. But by dawn the stars were out when we set off along the steep snowfield, climbing with the sun. At the Col, we turned left and stepped on the 3,870m summit of Mont Blanc de Cheilon before noon.Under the dazzlingly blue summer sky the shiny peaks of the Pennine Alps rose like pointed clouds, with the fang of Matterhorn in the distance and the Lac Dixence reservoir a long way down. The euphoria of summiting must have made me careless as we descended: that night’s new snow had covered the slippery ice underneath.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/overkill-on-everest/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Overkill on Everest</a>, Damien FrancoisThe crampons did not hold, and in less than a second I was hurtling past the Indermühle brothers, Fritz and Urs. Both instantaneously dug their axes into the ice, and their combined strength on the rope arrested my fall with a jerk.‘We made it, of course — I wouldn’t be writing this otherwise…’ Robert Macfarlane writes about his own close shave on nearby Lagginhorn (4,100m) in the first chapter of his book <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Mountains-Mind-Robert-Macfarlane-ebook/dp/B003DX0HYA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mountains of the Mind</a>. What possesses human beings to climb mountains despite, but probably also because of, the fear and danger?Read also: <a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/not-just-another-book-on-everest/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Not just another book on Everest</a>, Kunda Dixit<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/nepals-grand-trek-road/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nepal's Grand Trek Road</a>, Kunda DixitThe book came out in 2004, but this passage is worth re-reading in the context of what transpired on Mt Everest this spring:‘What makes mountain-going peculiar among leisure activities is that it demands of some of its participants that they die… Life, it frequently seems in the mountains, is more intensely lived the closer one gets to its extinction: we never feel so alive as when we have nearly died.’As a boy, Macfarlane was inspired to climb after spending a summer in his grandparents’ library thrice re-reading Maurice Herzog’s <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-abcs-of-a-winter-trek-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Annapurna</a>. What possessed Mallory, Herzog and others to put their lives on the line? Macfarlane inserts his own adventures and near-death experiences in the Alps, Pamir and Himalaya to dissect the philosophy of mountaineering. We learn about the early Western fascination with mountains and their ‘conquest’, starting with Thomas Burnett, Charles Lyell and others. Charles Darwin, we learn, used his ability to peer into deep time to ponder not just the origin of species, but also the impermanence of mountains. Alfred Wegener showed peaks have a past and future and are constantly reshaped by continental drift.Read also:<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/highs-and-lows-of-sir-ed/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Highs and lows of Sir Ed</a>, Kunda Dixit‘To understand even a little about geology gives you special spectacles through which to see a landscape,’ writes Macfarlane in his elegant prose. ‘They allow you to see back in time to worlds where rocks liquefy and seas petrify…’So it is while trekking in Nepal. What seems to be stunning scenery frozen in time is actually just one frame in a timelapse video that began millions of years ago, and will continue for millions more as mountains rise and fall.The book devotes a whole chapter to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/nepals-grand-trek-road/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">mountains maps</a>, and how they ‘do not take account of time, only of space’. A flat map of mountains does not show the vertical scale. All maps of mountains should be in 3-D, and even depict the time dimension. For example, how to show that Everest Base Camp is now 50m lower than during the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-last-of-the-first/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">1953 Hillary and Tenzing expedition</a> because the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/on-thin-ice-in-the-khumbu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Khumbu Glacier has shrunk</a>? Swiss cartographer Eduard Imhof’s 1962 map of the Everest region shows glacial ice on Imja, where there is now a lake 2km long.After writing about the ‘upper world’ of the mountains, Macfarlane has just come out with <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Underland-Deep-Journey-Robert-Macfarlane-ebook/dp/B07JRCS6J5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Underland: A Deep Time Journey</a> employing the same methods of personal exploration combined with musings on our subterranean consciousness. The chapters on Greenland are especially relevant during this <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/weather-warning-for-climate-meeting/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">climate emergency</a>.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110814114/636a543e9c7e80680e05239bjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="667">Both books force us to expand our understanding of time, to time beyond our lifetimes, beyond the existence of our species, beyond cataclysmic meteorite hits. In that vast timescale, our day-to-day concerns, poverty and suffering, wars and genocide appear like a blip. The Anthropocene is a passing phase, and the Yellow Band on the summit of Everest will once more be at the bottom of a future ocean.Both books remind us of the insignificance and impermanence of our own species in the vastness of space time. Human beings have moulded and modified the surface of the Earth, in some cases irreversibly, but there are other worlds below and above us that are untouched and unknown.Macfarlane's lyrical prose lends itself to the spiritual message to humankind of looking at existence from a cosmic perspective — this is not at all reassuring when we are confronted with a climate apocalypse. But, somehow in a mysterious way, it is comforting to know that none of this really matters. Not petty nationalism, not fake news propagated by our leaders, not who wins Nobel Prizes, not overcrowding on Everest.At a book signing ceremony of Underland in Brooklyn’s Greenlight Bookstore recently (pictured right), I asked Macfarlane about <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/overkill-on-everest/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the traffic jam on Everest</a>.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110814114/636a54409c7e80680e05239cjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="375">“When I saw that photograph of Everest, I said to myself this is not climbing, this is not queuing, it is dying … these were people standing in line ready to fulfill what to me is a profoundly philosophical and problematic vision of conquest, of the need to be the highest, the need to take a summit selfie, that proves you have dominated nature. That is not supposed to be what all this is for.”<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110814114/636a54429c7e80680e05239djpeg.jpg" alt="" width="291" height="450">Mountains of the Mind: Adventures in Reaching the Summit by Robert Macfarlane Vintage, 2004 $17.95 306 pages<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110814114/636a54439c7e80680e05239ejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1200" height="1829">Underland: A Deep Time Journey by Robert Macfarlane W.W. Norton Company 2019 Hardcover $16.14 496 pages

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Adventures in Robert Macfarlane’s Aboveworld and Underland

Samsung Nepal has opened pre-orders for the Galaxy A57 5G and A37 5G. Both phones run Samsung’s One UI 8.5, featuring AI capabilities like voice transcription, Circle to Search, and photo editing. They feature a 50MP triple-camera system, a Super AMOLED display, and six years of OS and security updates.

Galaxy A series

Know your Ministers

‘One early morning, we heard the ambassador’s wife cry out, “Ram, Ram, Ram!” A disaster has befallen Nepal!” She had heard on the radio that a fire had consumed Singha Durbar." This is not about the arson attack on 9 September 2025, but the one on 8 July, 1973. It started in the South Wing of the then single-largest building in all of Nepal. It took two days to bring the blaze under control, requiring the use of explosives to demolish one wing to protect the imposing western facade. As Bhekh Bahadur Thapa recalls in the English translation of his memoir A Life in Public Service: Nepal from Autocracy to Democracy, he was then on leave from the Nepal government serving with the IDRC in Ottawa.&nbsp; He had already served as Nepal’s Finance Secretary at age 25, went on to be Finance Minister and Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank. He was already younger than some of the GenZ ministers in Nepal’s present RSP government. Thapa, now 89, was at the launch of the book in February which was attended by former diplomats and bureaucrats. After speeches by panelists, there was a question from the audience about how Thapa had managed to be the diplomat he was, managing Nepal’s international relations on the world stage.&nbsp; Writer and journalist Akhilesh Upadhyay, who was moderating the panel, responded by going into the section of the book where we see Thapa as an ambassador to the US, playing tennis with White House officials, cultivating a network of contacts to project the identity and welfare of Nepal, and making it possible for a state visit by King Birendra to Ronald Reagan’s America. The book is full of anecdotes that suggest Thapa was a clever and strategic diplomat, always calm and unruffled, easily making friends in high places with his maturity and engaging sense of humour. Thapa’s memoir is heavy on details about Nepal’s administrative history during the years he was active in public service, serving as minister and ambassador under three kings: Mahendra, Birendra and Gyanendra, and alongside five prime ministers.&nbsp; Aside from an insider look on how certain treaties, development deals and research projects in Nepal came into fruition, Thapa goes into great detail about his personal and professional relationships with the kings, ministers, ambassadors, foreign leaders and politicians.&nbsp; As a reader, one is struck by the level of detail around the events that unfolded in Nepal over the years during Thapa’s tenure. Was Thapa recording a journal over the years of the events and the conversations that transpired, or were they committed to his phenomenal memory? Either way, the reader gets a glimpse of Nepal’s recent history from the early days of the Panchayat, through the People’s Movement and the democracy period, the Maoist insurgency, Royal Palace massacre of 2001, and Gyanendra’s coup of 2005.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2026041204048_125dc8ae300a1e33124f394abe724d42727f83e067b0201d2008b58d60c459a4.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2026041204048_125dc8ae300a1e33124f394abe724d42727f83e067b0201d2008b58d60c459a4" data-rendition-name="original" width="1584" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="How to win friends and influence nations NT"> </figure>  Not enough is said about the political parties of the time whose presence led to the way Nepal’s multiparty democracy came to be shaped. The book keeps its focus on the administration and the key figures around it, mostly those in the Panchayat era. Towards the second half of the book, we do start to hear about political parties, but not in great depth. Another figure whose presence in the book is conspicuously less prominent is that of his wife, Rita Thapa — the person who seems to have rescued him every time financial quandary or family care became a challenge. Yet, we do not see her as a full person. Perhaps because of the personal tragedies in his life, the children are also barely mentioned.&nbsp; The book is therefore less personal and more technical. Throughout, we learn about Thapa’s thinking as he navigated the world of diplomacy to win him the trust of those who mattered. There are tips here for a new generation of Nepali officials and diplomats about how much commitment and focus is needed to be good at one’s job and serve the national interest. This book adds to tomes that have been written on Nepal’s fragile relationship with India. ‘India has always wished for Nepal to remain dependent on it,’ writes Thapa, who served as Nepal’s ambassador to India and later in the Eminent Persons Group &nbsp;on Indo-Nepal relations that has been allowed to languish. The book has several insights into the Indo-Nepal trysts with diplomacy and agency.&nbsp; China’s role is also recorded, viewed through conversations during a visit to Beijing, but all that was before Nepal’s neighbour to the north emerged as a world economic and military power. The book also has such sudden instances of quirkiness and humour. For instance, we see a young Thapa in America explaining to a government official why he would like to return to Nepal instead of settling down in the US. “Because, Nepal is beautiful,” he said. The text is immaculate and does not read much like a translation, credit for which clearly goes to the team that put the edition together: translator Prawin Adhikari, &nbsp;Anagha Neelakanthan and Bhekh Thapa’s daughter, Manjushree. As Nepal enters a new era of governance and diplomacy, A Life in Public Service: Nepal from Autocracy to Democracy should be essential reading for students of political science, economics and foreign affairs who can gain a fresh perspective on the country’s trajectory.&nbsp; There are dozens of forgotten state secrets recorded in the book, but the reader must also remember this is a story told from one person’s perspective and there may be others.&nbsp; So, what really made Thapa the diplomat he was? I met him in 2004 at the Kantipur TV studio when he was serving as king Gyanendra’s foreign minister. He was there for a studio interview, and I was just done with my English newscast.&nbsp; He surprised me at the door: “Pratibha! I’ve been reading your articles in The Kathmandu Post. You must keep writing.” I thanked him, glad to have been noticed for my work by a stranger. That was perhaps one of the things that set Thapa apart — he excelled at staying close to those in power, while also noticing those who were not.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260412040412_213e706136a038ec9f5e2b8c6d7f7c1e9ceed9479e22fe2884872ad7bd20955f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20260412040412_213e706136a038ec9f5e2b8c6d7f7c1e9ceed9479e22fe2884872ad7bd20955f" data-rendition-name="original" width="1136" height="702" loading="lazy" alt="Book details"> </figure>

How to win friends and influence nations

Prime Minister Balendra Shah on Wednesday broke tradition and met with 17 foreign envoys collectively, a move that was a notable departure from how his predecessors operated.&nbsp;
Shah had already set himself apart by talking less, listening more, and delegating to trusted friends. But by meeting all ambassadors at one go in the presence of the Foreign Ministry, he signalled a paradigm shift in how he wants Nepal to be seen: no longer just balancing India and China, but as a country confident about its <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/guest-editorial/tripolar-contestation-over-nepal">strategic importance and place in the world</a>.
In just two weeks, the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/rsp-dos-and-don-ts">RSP has sprung into action </a>on multiple fronts to implement its ambitious 100-point, 100-days action plan. It has taken short-term measures to mitigate the impact of the Gulf war, as well as medium- and long- term measures to streamline the bureaucracy. A few high-profile figures have been made examples of to drive the message home.
Earlier this week, the government recalled six politically appointed ambassadors, the most notable being long-serving Shankar Sharma from New Delhi. The Kathmandu District Court issued arrest warrants against former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and his former foreign minister wife Arzu Rana on charges of money laundering and corruption.
Each ministry has been trying to clean up the accumulated rot from the past three decades: regulatory overhaul of microfinance, education, health and service delivery.&nbsp;
These actions widely disseminated campaign-style on YouTube and TikTok have made most Nepalis hopeful that the party they installed in power means business.
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BACKLASH
But such attempts to overhaul a long-entrenched political culture were bound to face backlash. In their impatience and enthusiasm to get things done, some of Prime Minister Shah’s ministers have over-reached.
It was common knowledge that government-paid advertising in the mainstream press was kickback-driven, but the PMO’s directive that official notices be published or broadcast only on state-run media has been denounced — especially as the media industry struggles to stay afloat.
More serious are some recent appointments by ministers of relatives and figures closely associated with the RSP to key positions. This has rankled because this party built its political plank on ending nepotism and graft.&nbsp;
News that Home Minister Sudan Gurung allegedly had not paid rent on leased land, which illegally encroached on the lake in Pokhara did not help. &nbsp;
Prime Minister Shah himself has come under scrutiny for appointing a kitchen cabinet full of male buddies from his time as Kathmandu mayor. To douse criticism he brought in as adviser investigative journalist Deepa Dahal, who has exposed corruption in high places of the previous coalitions.&nbsp;
Shah’s appointment of another political adviser Asim Shah to the head Constitution Amendment Task Force, is also seen as problematic. He is a filmmaker and former lawmaker, but does not have a background in constitutional law.&nbsp;
Even more controversial is the Cabinet’s decision to appoint RSP Chair Rabi Lamichhane’s legal counsel, Narayan Kandel, as Attorney General. Kandel used to be a UK permanent resident, and does not have as much experience practicing law in Nepal.&nbsp;
Kandel’s appointment drew flak and raised eyebrows, and with the pending legal cases against Lamichhane this appointment represents a flagrant conflict of interest.
Health Minister Nisha Mehta was also accused of favouritism after reappointing Junu Shrestha, wife of Labour Minister Dipak Kumar Shah, as member of the Health Insurance Board which had earlier suspended her. The Labour Minister’s rambling rant at the Board’s meeting on Tuesday has not helped the RSP’s image.&nbsp;
(UPDATE: On Thursday, Prime Minister Shah sacked the Labour Minister after the RSP found him in breach of the party's code of conduct and discipline. He served 14 days in the Cabinet, one of the shortest tenures for a minister in Nepal )
It is hard to know what <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/ball-in-balen-s-court">Balendra Shah is thinking</a>, and how Rabi Lamichhane is going to justify some of these moves. After all, making politics, governance, and bureaucracy a meritocracy has been the core tenet of the RSP, and it risks alienating its mainly youth base if these missteps persist.
But at least for now, most RSP supporters seem to be giving the party the benefit of doubt.

mountaineering-books

Adventures in Robert Macfarlane’s Aboveworld and Underland

Galaxy A series

Know your Ministers

How to win friends and influence nations

Nepal’s new government springs into action