At 5pm on Christmas Eve, Swarnim clocked out of his eight-hour shift at a bento line in Nara Prefecture. Around him, the city was alight with holiday cheer, but he scarcely noticed as he hurried to catch a <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-train-project-struggles-to-stay-on-track">train</a> to Takasuki for another job from 9pm. Throughout that day, he had only got an hour-long break for lunch. By 8am on Christmas morning, he was in Kyoto, an 11-minute train ride away. His <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/life-after-death">graveyard </a>shift had ended two hours earlier, and he grabbed a meal and a brief nap in the waiting room at the station before boarding his train.&nbsp; “Tonight I have plans to go see Purna Bahadur Ko Sarangi,” said Swarnim. &nbsp;The Nepali film पूर्णबहादुर को सारङ्गी was being screened at Kyoto City International Exchange Hall. “It’s good to post a picture of yourself smiling, it makes you forget you’re stressed,” he continued, tallying up the likes and comments on his <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/facebook-nation">Facebook</a>. “It will also be a relief to those <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/diaspora-diaries/migrant-worker-returns-to-create-work-at-home">back home</a> who will see my photo and think that I am happy here.” What the Facebook posts of tens of thousands of other <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-s-hard-working-students-overseas">Nepali student-workers</a> in Japan do not show is how hard they have to work to afford the cost of living and school fees. Swarnim had spent 32 of the last 36 hours over Christmas on his feet. Ramhari, another Nepali on a student visa, cuts a frail figure as he wields a vacuum cleaner in one hand while holding up the belt of his loose-fitting pants with the other. He has lost 12kg since arriving in Japan three months ago. He looks like an entirely different person from the healthy, smiling young man in a phone photo taken 10 weeks ago when he arrived. He had made an ecstatic video call home: “I got a job within five days of arriving here!” The 25-year-old had been earning Rs35,000 a month at his banking job in Nepal, and the prospect of earning more in Japan had drawn Ramhari here. Nepali students earn more than Rs100,000 a month in Japan cleaning hotel rooms or in food packaging, but the pay is less than half of what is required for room rent, food and school fees. They also have to service the loan they took back home to come to Japan. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/japanese-yen-made-in-nepal">Japanese Yen, Made in Nepal</a>, Maheshwar Acharya With some exceptions, Japan is not the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/its-a-rich-mans-world">land of riches</a> that many Nepalis imagine it to be. It is relentless hard work, and the savings are not what they had expected. There are also cultural adjustments like punctuality and cleanliness for the estimated 200,000 Nepali students-workers in Japan, the largest South Asian group in the country. Milan Karki from Bhaktapur has worked as a supervisor in Kyoto for two years and says Nepalis in Japan face problems because they do not understand how much importance Japan places on being timely. Many Japanese companies pay workers by quarter-hour, and some even pay by the minute.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250217030236_f9274e78798e0d604bc2d79b717a196bbc1d6ddd8903e3b7a33db36233268315.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20250217030236_f9274e78798e0d604bc2d79b717a196bbc1d6ddd8903e3b7a33db36233268315" data-rendition-name="original" width="1496" height="2048" loading="lazy" alt="Milan Karki"> </figure>  “Nepalis often overlook the significance of time here,” says Karki. “Being one minute late for work is equivalent to being 15 to 30 minutes behind, which means one person can reduce the efficiency of an entire company.”&nbsp; At the meat factory where Rakesh works, the clock chimes every hour to let workers know how much time has passed since they punched in. On a recent visit to his workplace, as the clock announced the passing of an hour, the 27-year-old grinned. “That's another thousand yen in my pocket." Rakesh is a <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/yes-mughlai-cuisine-can-be-vegetarian">vegetarian</a>, even the whiff of meat was off-putting back in Nepal. Now, he works two jobs at a fish and beef packing company, and has got used to the smell. “I had never imagined I would be able to touch beef, but the money is in the cow,” he says, shrugging matter-of-factly. Unique, 22, from Lamjung has been in Japan for just over a year, and has been working in Kyoto at the Yamato company, Japan’s largest logistics and courier service provider. Many Nepali work at Yamato despite it being one of the most difficult jobs for students. They are at the loading docks or at the warehouse cataloguing and packaging goods.&nbsp; "I had to carry things heavier than my body weight on my first day,” he said. “I told myself I just had to survive that one night, and then I would never be back here again.” But the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/the-new-equaliser">prospect of earning</a> up to 1,700 yen ($11) every hour was too good to pass up. “I placed money over my own physical health, and chose to keep showing up at work,” added Rakesh who works seven-hour shifts at the company for four days a week. Japanese regulations stipulate that students cannot work more than 28 hours a week, so Nepali students mostly work part-time. Bringing in Nepalis and other nationals as ’students’ is also Japan’s way of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/brain-gain-into-brain-drain">calibrated migration</a> to fill service sector jobs which local people do not want to work in with cheap labour. Most places where students from Nepal work have Nepali ‘haken’ temporary employees who serve as interpreters between Nepali students and their Japanese counterparts and superiors.&nbsp; The <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/speaking-the-language-of-overseas-work">language</a> gap has also made it difficult for Nepalis to find less physically demanding jobs. “Nepalis here are working like mules, and they are more like manual workers than students,” said Milan Karki, a student. “If they put a bit more effort into learning Nihongo (Japanese), they could be getting much better jobs than the ones they are currently doing.” The irony is that Nepalis in Japan on student visas barely have enough time to study, let alone learn the language. Those who have lessons in the morning work during the evenings, and those who go to school during the evening work day shifts. It is rare to find a Nepali student here who does not work just to get by, and save enough to send home.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250216150240_118d23a0b50a8bb9010f0771bd9ef5a5e693bb3c1110805dca21ef6424d4f407.jpg" data-media-id="editor_12" data-image-id="20250216150240_118d23a0b50a8bb9010f0771bd9ef5a5e693bb3c1110805dca21ef6424d4f407" data-rendition-name="original" width="772" height="571" loading="lazy" alt="Japan 2"> <figcaption>Photo: SUJATA DHUNGANA</figcaption> </figure>  Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/japan-born-nepali-children-struggle-to-be-nepali">Japan-born Nepali children struggle to ‘be Nepali’</a>, Pinki Sris Rana Students mostly fall into exhausted sleep in their classrooms, or on public transport while they travel from classrooms to workrooms. Many students fake sick leave from school to work extra shifts, but are not allowed time off from their jobs when they actually fall ill.&nbsp; Often, months will pass with pending school fees, barely enough food, and just snatches of rest. All the while, they will be too busy to pick up calls from home, and when they do get a chance to talk to family, they find themselves making things up about their health and well-being. &nbsp; Many back home are envious of the students posting photos of themselves playing in the snow, walking by the beach, or like Swarnim watching Purna Bahadur ko Sarangi. The comments from folks back home are: ‘You must be having so much fun!’&nbsp; Little do they know. Names of some students have been changed.

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“You must be having so much fun there!”

Last year, 775,000 Nepalis left for employment abroad, and another 100,000 students flew out to study overseas. Nearly a million young Nepalis left in 2021-22, and that figure does not even include those who went to India.&nbsp; This is the largest mass exodus of young Nepalis in the country’s history. No country can sustain such a sustained haemorrhage.&nbsp; There are few Nepalis left in villages, and those in cities seem to be mostly waiting for documents to leave. Every day, 3,000 Nepalis leave on student visas from Kathmandu airport. The 2021 census put the country’s absentee population at 2.1 million, and that appears to be a gross underestimate. “The youth are not keen to stay at home, and their parents do not want them to stay here either,” says sociologist Ganesh Gurung. “It seems as if the entire nation is on the move.” Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/migration-not-a-wish-but-necessity-for-nepalis">Migration not a wish, but necessity for Nepalis</a>, Shristi Karki <div class="embed-block"><iframe src='https://flo.uri.sh/visualisation/14955345/embed' title='Interactive or visual content' class='flourish-embed-iframe' frameborder='0' scrolling='no' style='width:100%;height:600px;' sandbox='allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-scripts allow-downloads allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation'></iframe><div style='width:100%!;margin-top:4px!important;text-align:right!important;'><a class='flourish-credit' href='https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/14955345/?utm_source=embed&utm_campaign=visualisation/14955345' target='_top' style='text-decoration:none!important'><img alt='Made with Flourish' src='https://public.flourish.studio/resources/made_with_flourish.svg' style='width:105px!important;height:16px!important;border:none!important;margin:0!important;'> </a></div></div> An increasing number of Nepalis are leaving to study while working: primarily in Australia, Japan, Europe, and North America. Those who leave face bureaucratic hassles trying to get no-objection certificates, and when they come back they get the run around trying to obtain an equivalency for foreign degrees so they can work here. Last month, six young Nepalis from Rasuwa left their studies, jobs, and businesses to seek employment in Croatia. “With luck, I can get a PR (Permanent Residency) in some other European country, Croatia is just a stepping stone,” said Bhuvan Neupane, one of the six. Elsewhere in Nuwakot’s Bidur village, Binod Poudel is hoping to go abroad and has handed his passport to a foreign employment agent. “All my friends have left Nepal,” he says. “What am I supposed to do here?” Aakriti Timilsina is a high school graduate, and has given up on college in Nepal and is preparing to study in either Canada or Australia by working part-time there. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-s-hard-working-students-overseas">Nepal’s hard working students overseas</a>, Sonia Awale <div class="embed-block"><iframe title="Studying Abroad " aria-label="Map" id="datawrapper-chart-0JsdR" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/0JsdR/4/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border: none;" width="900" height="483" data-external="1"></iframe></div> A recent study by the online platform Studyportals revealed that Nepali students make up 14.3% of international students across the world. Sociologist Dinesh Prasain notes that a lack of employment and meaningful earnings are the primary reasons for the young to leave. Basic items have become unaffordable even in fixed-income households. But there are other push factors as well: peer pressure, falling living standards, and a growing hopelessness that the future will be better because of corruption and political disarray.&nbsp; At the end of the Maoist insurgency in 2006, there was expectation that stability would yield a peace dividend. But Nepali politics remains in the stranglehold of tried, tested and failed leaders. Volatile and populist behaviour of new elected leaders has disappointed many young people, while some parties resort to religion and bigotry.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/inconvenient-truths">Inconvenient truths</a>, Editorial  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230908040920_e0cbd240a58b106e912ff5929f838821076ca23de511298525fc5a6fb19da0d1.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20230908040920_e0cbd240a58b106e912ff5929f838821076ca23de511298525fc5a6fb19da0d1" data-rendition-name="original" width="1333" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Page 1"> </figure>  Young Nepalis enthusiastically voted for alternative candidates in the 2022 local and federal polls, but mayors Harka Sampang and Balen Shah have been more adept at posting inflammatory comments on social media than actually delivering on election promises. This week Shah made outright threats to burn down Singha Darbar because the car carrying his wife was stopped for speeding. The post got millions of shares and likes before he took it down. Many also took the outburst as a sign that the Kathmandu mayor offers no real hope of reform. A series of corruption scandals from fake refugees, the Baluwatar land scam, gold smuggling and politicians trying to protect each other by transferring police investigators has added to the public disillusionment. “Nepali society has lost faith in politics and the leadership to make things better,” explains sociologist Dinesh Prasain. “Nepali parents &nbsp;would rather their children go somewhere better, and youngsters do not want to remain in what they see as a sinking ship.” Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/guest-editorial/false-equivalence-in-nepal-academia">False equivalence in Nepal academia</a>, Aastha Dahal <div class="embed-block"><iframe title="No-Objection Certificate for students" aria-label="Column Chart" id="datawrapper-chart-c67xC" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/c67xC/2/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;" height="450" data-external="1"></iframe><script type="text/javascript">!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r=0;r<e.length;r++)if(e[r].contentWindow===a.source){var i=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";e[r].style.height=i}}}))}(); </script></div> Nepalis are lining up to fight in foreign armies, and even recruited themselves into both sides of the Russia-Ukraine war because of the promise of earnings and citizenship. This movement is helping keep Nepal’s economy afloat. Remittances contributed significantly to lowering Nepal’s poverty rate to below 17%, but over the long-term the cost of losing such a large proportion of the working age population is incalculable.&nbsp; Some 65% of Nepal’s total population is in the 15-64 age group, and Nepal is losing this demographic advantage. The country has only one-and-a-half decades left to take advantage of an active youth workforce. Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/news/in-a-federal-kleptocratic-republic-of-nepal">In a Federal Kleptocratic Republic of Nepal</a>, Shristi Karki <div class="embed-block"> <iframe title="Population by age group" aria-label="Split Bars" id="datawrapper-chart-3L11U" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/3L11U/2/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border: none;" width="600" height="595" data-external="1"></iframe></div> Sociologist Dinesh Prasain describes the exit of young Nepalis as a moral crisis: “It is a failure of the political leadership. A country without its youth has lost its soul.” Meanwhile, Nepal’s politicians are just mouthing platitudes. Finance Minister Prakash Sharan Mahat last week urged young Nepalis to “change their mindset”, even arguing that Nepali students should be barred from studying abroad. Economist Pushkar Bajracharya says that there has to be a step-by-step strategy to create opportunities for Nepalis at home in order to prevent a brain and brawn drain: “If out-migration continues to grow as this pace, we are not only looking at a socio-economic crisis but also a threat to our sovereignty.”&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/high-risk-remittance">High-risk remittance</a>, Upasana Khadka

Push factors driving Nepalis out

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101152/636b790b9c7e80680e0646dcjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1031" height="605"/><figcaption>Nepali students who went abroad to study in 2018.</figcaption></figure>When Pradyot Pandey took a semester off from his second year of undergraduate studies at Asia Pacific University (APU) in Japan in August 2019 to come to Nepal for an internship, he had planned to return to campus in late March.But as the COVID-19 pandemic exploded across the globe and Japan became one of the first countries outside of China to have multiple confirmed cases of the virus, Pandey has been unable to return to APU or receive clarity from APU about his situation.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101152/636b790d9c7e80680e0646ddjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="960" height="958"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>“I was in the process of having my visa renewed when the virus spread in Japan,” Pandey told Nepali Times in Kathmandu. “Both the immigration department in Japan and the university have halted the process and I am not sure when it will be approved.”Pandey is in Nepal but other Nepali students are stranded abroad and face uncertainty about their academic future because they have been asked to return home. They also have difficulty finding accommodation if they cannot return to Nepal.But after midnight Friday, Nepali students cannot come home easily even if they wanted to as the government has banned all travel from EU and West Asia. The restriction includes tourists as well as transit passengers.The flight ban also includes all travel from Turkey, Malaysia, South Korea, Japan as well as passengers transiting those countries. This means that effective midnight 20 March, all flights to Kathmandu will be cancelled except Singapore, Thailand and Nepal's two neighbours India and China.Subuna Basnet, a Chevening Scholar at the University of Essex in the UK, was not able to come home to Nepal due to a clause in her scholarship that prevents her from leaving Britain for more than one month.“I was panicking watching the whole situation unfold and in a situation like this when anyone is vulnerable, you want to be in your own country, in the comfort of your own home,” says Basnet. "Even though the university is communicating with its students, it is difficult when we cannot get any substantial assistance from them at a time like this."<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101152/636b790f9c7e80680e0646dejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1557" height="1367"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101152/636b79129c7e80680e0646dfjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1522" height="701"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Basnet is thankful that she receives a monthly stipend through her scholarship as many of her peers are on loans, and work service jobs to pay their university fees.Across the Atlantic in the United States, a national emergency has been declared and students of other nationalities packed their bags and headed home. But there are some Nepalis who cannot afford the ticket home, and also find rent expensive outside campuses which are closed.Not everyone is as lucky as Ishan Mainali, a junior at Hamilton College in New York, who was able to return to Nepal immediately as the university paid for his ticket, and allowed him to keep his belongings on campus.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101152/636b79159c7e80680e0646e0jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1536" height="2048"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>“I am lucky that my college provided the assistance that they did at this time,” says Mainali. “I know that others are in more difficult situations so I do feel blessed.”Mainali’s Facebook post in which he details his observations of Nepali migrant workers coming in from Qatar without health inspections during his trip, has been widely circulated on social media. Like most of the Nepali students who recently flew in, Mainali is self-isolating himself for two weeks.Ang Sonam Sherpa, a first year undergraduate student at Harvard University in Massachusetts also received support from the administration even though their response was delayed."I frankly thought sending everyone home was the best course of action that the university could have done in this situation given the need of social distancing," Sherpa told Nepali Times from the US. "The stakes are just too high as it is literal life and death for so many vulnerable individuals in the society."<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101152/636b79189c7e80680e0646e1jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1065" height="1065"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Nirupan Karki, a third year law student at NALSAR University of Law in Hyderabad in India was in a fix when the Government of Telangana issued a directive on 14 March for all education institutions to shut down by the end of this month. NALSAR asked all Indian students to leave campus within 48 hours and made an exception for foreign nationals, allowing them to stay but under strict quarantine.Karki quickly booked an expensive flight back to Nepal to avoid being stuck at the university and arrived home last week. But for those two days, Karki was in a state of panic.“The whole situation has left me deeply uncertain as I have a lot of unanswered questions,” Karki says. “Mostly I am worried about my studies as the semester has come to an abrupt halt. Despite having online classes for the remainder of the semester, I am unaware about the mode of examination as it is a major grading criteria in our campus.”<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101152/636b791a9c7e80680e0646e2jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1080" height="720"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Many Nepalis studying in China returned home in late January as the country sought to curb the spread of COVID-19. The Nepal government even sent <a style="background-color: #ffffff; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/from-hubei-to-kharipati/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/from-hubei-to-kharipati/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1584619579221000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEESKtW-75lw6bM-Eex96Medv_3WQ">a plane to evacuate 182 students</a> from Hubei Province on 16 February.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101152/636b791d9c7e80680e0646e3jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="853" height="1280"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Nishtha Rajbhandari, a high school senior at United World College China, along with other international students were asked to leave the country before the situation worsened as the pandemic spread rapidly around China.Rajbhandari says, “It is heartbreaking that I lost an entire semester, that too the last one of high school. There are a lot of emotions, and I don’t think anyone has been able to process it at the moment.”Rajbhandari says her class was looking forward to planning for the last semester. But she adds: “I am just grateful the situation in China is getting better and every person I know is safe, and I hope the whole situation settles soon and things get back to normal again.”<h2>A Florentine quarantine</h2><h6>A Nepali student in Italy shares what life is like under lockdown</h6><a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/ashna-comes-out-of-the-black/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/ashna-comes-out-of-the-black/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1584622644848000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGRC9RHLPLi_KOkk4HTBemDxlttkA">Aashna Lama</a> was set to graduate from high school in 2015 when the earthquake hit Nepal. Now, exactly five years the COVID-19 pandemic caused her college in Florence to close down as Italy went under complete lockdown.“I’ve accepted the fact that I’m not destined for a cap and gown ceremony and my friends in Italy are fervently planning a very Italian graduation for me, laurel wreath crown and everything,” Lama told Nepali Times over email. “I don’t think graduation and I mix very well for the world.”When the Italian government announced a country-wide quarantine, Lama along with most of the residents did not have much time to react. Lama could not decide whether to stay or to go back home to Nepal.“I am quite ashamed that I took the situation so lightly in the beginning and brushed it off as a simple flu,” Lama adds. “It was shocking to see how everything was happening so quickly.”<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101152/636b79209c7e80680e0646e4jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3024" height="4032"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Luckily, most classes are online so her studies are not as badly affected. But her job as a part-time bartender is suspended since all bars and restaurants in Italy have been ordered closed.Under lockdown, Lama felt restless at first. But now that more than a week has passed, she is getting into the schedule of doing freelance work, devoting time to her art, planning photo shoots, catching up on books and tv shows and practicing her Spanish and Italian.In the evenings, Lama joins her neighbours as they play music and sing from balconies. The mass showing of solidarity has amazed the art student who says it has boosted her morale during a very trying time. She too, blasted ‘Nessun Dorma’ by Pavarotti and ‘Libiamo ne’lieti calici’ from the Italian opera La Traviata from her window one evening this week.Lama says it is a shock to see the bustling streets of this historic town as empty as it is. As someone who has lived in the city for four years she says Florence isn’t the same without the tourists throngs.She adds: “But as we’re saying here, tutto andrà bene, and I truly believe it.”

Nepali students abroad in pandemic limbo

The Himalayan mountains are also known as the Third Pole because it is the largest repository of water stored as ice outside the two polar regions. However, it is divided by political boundaries that nature does not recognise – be it the air pollutants that flow or migratory birds that fly over the peaks. The Himalaya is also a geopolitical and climate change hot spot. In these geopolitically and environmentally challenging times, it becomes even more important to create oases of conversations, where candid and future-oriented discussions can take place at a people-to-people level. Platforms dominated by inter-governmental agencies have been able to do little. The Himalayan Future Forum (HFF) aims to be a platform that stands at the crossroads of climate, community, and connectivity, fostering dialogue and promoting citizen-led action. Growing up in the Indian Himalayan town of Kalimpong and spending the nascent stages of my career helping in setting up offices of the award-winning Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP) that fostered community involvement in conservation, I have witnessed transformations both good and bad.  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260205070244_6e2087b11fff0cc6704eebaee6f169848a9cfd57c4a02d7d1fd45db2526d2f67.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20260205070244_6e2087b11fff0cc6704eebaee6f169848a9cfd57c4a02d7d1fd45db2526d2f67" data-rendition-name="original" width="5559" height="3711" loading="lazy" alt="HFF 2026"></figure>  There are initiatives like Nepal’s forest cover doubling in 30 years, or Bhutan’s drive for high-end sustainable tourism. At the same time, I have seen landscapes destroyed by bulldozers and tall buildings competing for air and sunlight in expanding cities. From crony capitalists patronised by political leaders engaged in plundering natural resources to citizen-led initiatives on cleanliness drives and waste management, the Himalayan region is full of stories from both ends of the spectrum of disappointment and hope. Life is about observing and, in one’s little sphere of influence, taking baby steps towards catalysing positive transformation. This is why, Nepal Economic Forum (NEF) had been hosting the Himalayan Consensus Summit in Nepal from 2014 to 2020 following which the Himalayan Future Forum (HFF) was incubated since 2023. HFF is an initiative to encourage multi-faceted dialogues on the topics of climate, community, and connectivity in the Himalayan region by bringing together leaders, experts, institutions, and practitioners from different countries and sectors.  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260205070244_a7e673507dcdb6e265cb6f76f2890f17af36f17006a7f6d0f2f0e1a288c89a09.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20260205070244_a7e673507dcdb6e265cb6f76f2890f17af36f17006a7f6d0f2f0e1a288c89a09" data-rendition-name="original" width="5364" height="3581" loading="lazy" alt="HFF 2026"></figure>  In this year’s edition, there are a series of sessions on 6 February with 34 speakers including ten international panelists. On day two the Himalayan Haat aims to showcase a variety of local, indigenous, and sustainable products. As in 2024, it is believed that the conversations and interactions at the HFF will lead to more partnerships and collaborations from climate financing to managing disasters to taking Himalayan brands global. YOUNG FELLOWS Beyond this, there are sessions on topics such as geopolitics and the Himalaya, as well as on migration which are especially relevant considering the past few years that have seen many events which impacted the global world order. One of the key features of HFF, guided by our ethos of bringing together experts, experiences, and enthusiasm, is also to ensure stronger youth representation through the HFF Youth Fellowship. This year, following a rigorous screening process, youth fellows were selected out of an overwhelming response. Those chosen will be able to attend the events as well as collaborate in future research and publications. Selected fellows will also be provided with full scholarships to the public policy program at Takshashila Institution, an independent centre for research and education in public policy in Bangalore. In a region where half of the population is under 25 years, it is important to get the future generations also in the room.  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260205070244_3416bd14d5249afeb357b11f760f49b0cd1d77feeac71d820406b2d9e86696bc.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20260205070244_3416bd14d5249afeb357b11f760f49b0cd1d77feeac71d820406b2d9e86696bc" data-rendition-name="original" width="5273" height="3520" loading="lazy" alt="HFF 2026"></figure>  Nepal presents an ideal location to hold meetings such as this, where no-holds-barred conversations can take place face-to-face. The country has good air connectivity and one of the most liberal visa policies in Asia. And while Davos is a good example to follow for convening global voices, we need not have so many private planes burning fossil fuel, as we can have participants take scheduled commercial flights or have regional participants simply take a road trip. Ultimately, the Himalayan region is also about festivities. No exchange of ideas is complete without immersing in art, culture, culinary experiences, and music. This is why HFF envisages graduating to a Himalayan Jatra, rooted in a region where people smile from the heart, and teach the world to smile with them. Join us at HFF 2026 as we move closer to this vision. See the schedule <a href="file:///Z:/%231297%20February%206/pix/page%209/HFF%202026%20Program%20Schedule%20(1)_compressed.pdf">here</a>. Sujeev Shakya is Chair of Nepal Economic Forum and Convenor of the Himalayan Future Forum.

Himalayan Futures Forum 2026

Kathmandu Valley alone now has over 700 cafes serving mugs made from freshly ground beans. ‘Americano double shot’, ‘Cappuccino’ and ‘Mocha’ have entered the Nepali language. It has also become a cash crop for thousands of farmers with near-perfect growing conditions along the Himalayan foothills.&nbsp; Yet, annual coffee production has declined by 15% to only 550 tons in the past years, and this meets only a fraction of the domestic demand of 6,000 tons.&nbsp; Nepali coffee fetches $22 per kg in the international market, but Nepal only exports 3% of its crop. If cleverly promoted, the international demand for Nepali coffee can be 8,000 tons. “Coffee is all about story-telling,” explains <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/business/Gagan-Pradhan-and-Himalayan-Java,1076">Gagan Pradhan, founder of Himalayan Java Coffee</a>. “Nepali coffee has brand value because it is grown in the highest elevations on earth and is a cash crop for cooperatives and small farmers. There is tremendous potential for growth.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260205100216_1f366d8a85cc133fedee0ee72d7768d3a23bf51f8d43edbdadf98443bc0c01ba.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20260205100216_1f366d8a85cc133fedee0ee72d7768d3a23bf51f8d43edbdadf98443bc0c01ba" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1518" loading="lazy" alt="coffee culture in Nepal"> </figure>  The reason for the decline in coffee production lately is attributed to erratic weather caused by climate change, but mostly it is because it is manual-intensive, needing initial capital and patience for a return on investment. The strategy that makes most sense for <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/make-way-for-makalu-coffee">Nepal’s coffee industry</a> is to sell it as a rare, specialty product.&nbsp; Says Raj Kumar Banjara, master trainer at Nepal Coffee Academy and originator of the Himalayan Arabica brand: “There is no better crop for Nepal because we have the ideal soil and weather to grow specialty coffee, which can be exported to third countries directly instead of sending it through India like with ginger, cardamom, or tea.” These favorable conditions are at altitudes between 800m to 1,600m along the mid-mountains and temperature not exceeding 22°C, which allows cherries to &nbsp;develop slower, giving it a denser taste with complex flavours of fruits and nuts.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260205100216_35e470381d258d9598d30165d0dbb6b4294c389c61695bf8c47d72d2273b4629.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20260205100216_35e470381d258d9598d30165d0dbb6b4294c389c61695bf8c47d72d2273b4629" data-rendition-name="original" width="3872" height="2592" loading="lazy" alt="coffee culture in Nepal"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260205100216_f7ccb42d7a7fb656dadc7ba5132a6243b8f99a28f7877875172411b7a4c96bc0.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20260205100216_f7ccb42d7a7fb656dadc7ba5132a6243b8f99a28f7877875172411b7a4c96bc0" data-rendition-name="original" width="1024" height="768" loading="lazy" alt="coffee culture in Nepal"> </figure>  This is ‘Arabica’ coffee, and it is also considered ‘organic by default’ because farmers have limited access to chemical pesticides and fertilisers, adding to its premium. All of Nepal’s coffee is grown in only 4,300 hectares total, and this is just 0.36% of the area suitable for coffee farming. Still 31,000 households across 44 districts depend on this cash crop.&nbsp; Challenges include out-migration, limits on land ownership, and climate breakdown leading to colder, drier winters, droughts and heat stress. Shreeyanch Shrestha is the founder of Samparka Cloud Loyalty, a startup that helps businesses retain customers by giving them insights about customer behaviour. Among the services offered is a digital loyalty card for coffee shops, one of his biggest clientele.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260205100216_c80e17ac78016ae5a90f4b27105e16af6c39d1422665f9f9c9b1d8404e5e7d54.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20260205100216_c80e17ac78016ae5a90f4b27105e16af6c39d1422665f9f9c9b1d8404e5e7d54" data-rendition-name="original" width="1280" height="960" loading="lazy" alt="coffee culture in Nepal"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260205100212_968c5b264ec2fb65014dc3ebc2777f0bf19f596a4152c59f9cad9d99dee79df7.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20260205100212_968c5b264ec2fb65014dc3ebc2777f0bf19f596a4152c59f9cad9d99dee79df7" data-rendition-name="original" width="1200" height="900" loading="lazy" alt="coffee beans"> </figure>  Shrestha is also a coffee enthusiast, and recently collaborated with Baato Maps on the playfully designed ‘Kathmandu Coffee Map’.&nbsp; “This was a marketing campaign but also a way to pay tribute to cafe owners we worked with,” he says. “A new generation of coffee farmers, processors, roasters and consumers seem to want to invest in upgrading their coffee experience.” COFFEE CULTURE Operators such as Raj Kumar Banjara have been in that game for over 30 years, even earning a PhD in Coffee Agriculture, running farms and teaching roasting and barista courses. Now, he makes short how-to videos on social media. Banjara’s Academy is run by Specialty Coffee Association certified Q Graders and Authorised Trainers.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260205100216_22433d3a8b71224cd8cb38105b9eb5502a104e03ccec2e3864c8b23efc9f3fc6.png" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20260205100216_22433d3a8b71224cd8cb38105b9eb5502a104e03ccec2e3864c8b23efc9f3fc6" data-rendition-name="original" width="3612" height="2028" loading="lazy" alt="coffee culture in Nepal"> </figure>  Also promoting a coffee culture through social media is Santosh Shah of Bariko Coffee. He documents his process on Instagram, from hand picking and processing coffee cherries to brewing.&nbsp; Nepal appears to be riding the Third Wave of Coffee (see box) as the beverage moves away from the café chain culture to one that values knowledge of the cherries, beans, the roasting process and brewing -- right from the plant to the cup.&nbsp; Along the way, there are tales to be told about where the coffee is grown, who grows it, and how farmers get a fair price for the product. Coffee then becomes a shared social experience that directly connects the consumer to the producer. Nima Tenzing Sherpa returned to Nepal from the United States to start Lekali Coffee Estate in 2018, and produces fine single origin coffee beans so that the quality of the product improves the quality of life of the growers.&nbsp; He told Nepali Times: “Specialty-grade beans are the only future for Nepal’s coffee industry. I am continuously hunting for the best coffee origins in Nepal.” &nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260205100212_e08ba44d6396eb75da868404dd8cf2a26b71cd6d90ab3afaf7175790c111d21e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20260205100212_e08ba44d6396eb75da868404dd8cf2a26b71cd6d90ab3afaf7175790c111d21e" data-rendition-name="original" width="3000" height="4000" loading="lazy" alt="coffee beans"> <figcaption>Photo: LEKALI COFFEE ESTATE </figcaption> </figure>  HISTORY OF COFFEE Human consumption of coffee began in Ethiopia when herders found their goats became perky after eating beans from a wild Arabica bush. The first commercial cultivation of the brew began in Yemen 600 years ago. &nbsp;&nbsp; Nepal’s coffee history is much younger. A holy man is said to have brought coffee seeds from Burma in 1938, and planted them in Gulmi, the district in the mid-mountains where the first coffee nursery was set up in 1981. The Nepal Coffee Company was founded in 1983 by Krishna Ghimire in Manigram near Butwal which educated farmers about the crop and recruited them to cultivate it. He then roasted the beans, and convinced the BhatBhateni stores, which had just opened, to sell it. The company still supplies coffee to cafes and has its own brands and farm. It supplies green beans to those who want to self-roast, or build a brand. In the 1990s, the National Tea and Coffee Development Board was established, and Himalayan Java Coffee (Nepal Made, right) opened its first shop in Kamaladi before moving to Thamel. Itr now has nearly 100 franchises across Nepal and overseas.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260207030236_1908f4a4246d373f51affa8ac48be90129e888f1222b8f10e5cd25421e931dd8.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20260207030236_1908f4a4246d373f51affa8ac48be90129e888f1222b8f10e5cd25421e931dd8" data-rendition-name="original" width="2052" height="1455" loading="lazy" alt="coffee map"> </figure>  What is the Third Wave? First Wave: Profit-driven, mass marketing, air tight containers and instant coffee. Consumption of coffee worldwide starts growing.&nbsp; Second Wave: Artisan-driven, origin and roasting style become important, epitomised by Starbucks and espresso. &nbsp; <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Nepali-specialty-coffee,4106">Third Wave</a>: Characteristics of the beverage take centre stage: origin of the beans, consistent processing techniques, and roasting style. Independent coffee shops demonstrate craftsmanship and knowledge of coffee beans from plant to the cup, promoting ethics and transparency.&nbsp; Coffee Districts Coffee is grown in over 44 districts of Nepal (see map, above). In the last fiscal year, Nepal produced 550 tonnes of Bourbon, Typica and Yellow Caturra varieties of Arabica coffee. The total plantation area in Nepal is 4,300 hectares, a fraction of the total suitable land. &nbsp;

Caffeine buzz

When I landed in Kathmandu last November, I arrived with a Diwali hangover. Not the festive kind, but the coughing, dust-coated, throat-scratching kind gifted by North India’s winter air. After a decade of breathing in Delhi’s seasonal gas chamber, my lungs were in an open revolt. But within days of landing in Kathmandu, my cough vanished. It felt almost miraculous. The air was crisper. The Air Quality Index was kinder, and the Himalayan peaks rose on the horizon.&nbsp;
But by the third week, the familiar grey veil returned. First as a faint blur, then peak by peak the Himalaya began to disappear. Locals said it had been getting worse every year.&nbsp;
Much of this haze is not Kathmandu’s doing. What drifts into Nepal each winter is a toxic spillover from the plains of North India and Pakistan: black carbon, brown clouds, and fine particulate matter carried across borders by seasonal winds. Kathmandu’s bowl-shaped valley simply traps what the region exhales.
Abid Omar, founder of the <a href="https://pakairquality.com/" target="_blank">Pakistan Air Quality Initiative</a>, put it bluntly: “We often view air pollution and climate change as separate silos, but in the Himalaya, they are one and the same.”
Black carbon is essentially soot from diesel emissions, brick kilns, and crop burning. It may be short-lived in the atmosphere, but when ash settles on snow and ice, it reduces reflectivity and accelerates melting.&nbsp;
Omar adds, “Black carbon is a threat to the water security of the entire Indus and Ganges basins.”
What burns on both sides of Punjab do not stay in Punjab. It ends up on glaciers that feed rivers, sustaining hundreds of millions of people downstream.
In November 2024, AQI levels in New Delhi hovered near 500 and about the same time Lahore briefly became the world’s most polluted city, with the AQI count crossing 1,100. These numbers are not abstract.
According to the <a href="https://www.stateofglobalair.org/resources/archived/state-global-air-report-2024" target="_blank">State of Global Air 2024 report</a>, India recorded more than 2 million deaths attributable to air pollution in 2023. Bangladesh and Pakistan each saw over 200,000 deaths. Air pollution is now one of the leading causes of premature death across South Asia.
Nepal, often imagined as cleaner by default, tells a sobering story of its own. Air pollution in Nepal led to an estimated <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2025/06/17/air-pollution-is-the-number-one-health-risk-factor-in-nepal#:~:text=Vehicle%20Emissions:%20Continuing%20to%20electrify,airflows%20carry%20pollutants%20across%20borders." target="_blank">48,500 premature deaths</a>, with the loss of more than 1.4 million disability-adjusted life years. The University of Chicago’s <a href="https://aqli.epic.uchicago.edu/post/nepal-capital-chokes-as-wildfires-rage-en" target="_blank">Air Quality Life Index</a> estimates that particulate pollution cuts 3.4 years off the life of the average Nepali. In the Tarai region, life expectancy drops by nearly five years. In Kathmandu, residents lose 2.6 years.
Says infectious disease specialist Anup Subedee: “Air pollution is killing at a far higher rate than Covid-19 did during its worst years in Nepal. People are dying in their twenties of cancer, or having heart attacks and strokes in their thirties and forties.”
Nearly <a href="https://www.icimod.org/press-release/kathmandu-choked-on-polluted-air-for-75-of-the-last-90-days/?utm_source=chatgpt.com" target="_blank">40 per cent of winter particulate pollution in the Kathmandu</a> valley originates outside Nepal. Black carbon carried from Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh in India, besides parts of Pakistan, rides the winds north, settles on Himalayan snow, and accelerates glacier melt by absorbing heat.
“The pollutants travel across borders within shared airsheds, creating one gigantic plume of polluted air over India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Pakistan several times a year,” says Subedee.
In some Himalayan regions, <a href="https://www.icimod.org/success-stories/chapter-2/black-carbon-and-glacier-melt/" target="_blank">scientists estimate</a> that black carbon can increase localised melt rates by up to 30%. Yet global climate negotiations continue to treat glacial loss primarily as a carbon dioxide problem.&nbsp;
CHINA’S APPROACH
The South Asian story is transboundary, and more immediate as well as more preventable. This is not only about emissions. It is about coordination, and China offers an instructive contrast.
Since 2013, China has dramatically improved its air quality by declaring a '<a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2025/12/12/what-new-delhi-can-learn-from-chinas-war-on-air-pollution#:~:text=In%20the%20following%20years%2C%20Beijing,29.3%CE%BCg%2Fm%C2%B3%20in%202024." target="_blank">war on pollution</a>'. A major air pollutant, suspended PM2.5 levels fell sharply through strict controls on coal, vehicles, and industry, massive investment in renewables, and legally binding national action plans.
Crucially, China shifted from city-by-city firefighting to a regional airshed approach. Provinces shared data, coordinated emergency responses, enforced unified standards, and tied environmental performance to political accountability. South Asian countries have done none of this.
Isolated national actions are insufficient when pollution itself ignores borders. India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Pakistan share the same airshed. Without cooperation, each country keeps breathing its neighbour’s mistakes.
“As the government representing the largest population affected by air pollution, India should lead this effort. Instead, the region has drifted away from cooperation, and the cost is becoming catastrophic,” Subedee says.
The haze over Kathmandu is not only Nepal’s burden. It is a <a href="https://sapannews.com/2024/12/27/could-climate-diplomacy-be-the-googly-a-gamechanger-for-regional-cooperation/" target="_blank">regional failure</a>. The melting of South Asia’s glaciers is not just a global warming story. It is also a local one, written in the smoke rising from our own fields, factories, and highways.
If we keep ignoring black carbon, the Himalayas will keep losing time, snow, and stability. The disappearing peaks of Kathmandu are not a metaphor. They are a warning.
And like the air itself, that warning is already crossing borders. ©Sapan News
Pragyan Srivastava is an Indian journalist and associate editor at <a href="http://www.sapannews.com/" target="_blank">Sapan News</a>. <a href="mailto:pragyan@sapannews.com" target="_blank">pragyan@sapannews.com</a>

Cleaning up the Himalayan airshed

This is the 82nd episode of Diaspora Diaries, a Nepali Times series in collaboration with Migration Lab providing a platform to share experiences of living, working and studying abroad. In September, under pressure from GenZ activists, Home Minister Om Prakash Aryal pledged to ensure that overseas Nepalis would be able to vote in the March election. The analysis from experts, election officials, and much of the public was that the Election Commission was not prepared to ensure out-of-country voting in such a short time.&nbsp; But just because the diaspora cannot exercise its franchise does not mean Nepalis abroad cannot influence the election outcome. The 2021 census said 2.1 million Nepalis lived abroad, but realistically three times more live, work and study overseas.&nbsp; Being breadwinners also makes them decision makers for families back home. Most have left because they could not get meaningful jobs and sought opportunities abroad, which means they are not happy with the way Nepal has been governed by the established parties and leaders.&nbsp; The diaspora is therefore mostly an anti-incumbent vote bank, which was one reason the political leadership blocked out-of-country voting for so long – despite a Supreme Court ruling that all citizens had a constitutional right to vote, wherever they lived. &nbsp; In the 2022 polls, overseas Nepalis had already shown considerable influence by backing newer and alternative candidates like Balendra Shah for Kathmandu mayor, and parties like the RSP. In the four years since, and especially since the GenZ movement, support for a political shakeup has grown even stronger. So has technological reach that enables the diaspora to politically organise from overseas. &nbsp;‘Technology has reduced the distance in communication, but has also lowered the barrier in a way that allows overseas Nepalis to pressure family members,’ author Narayan Wagle wrote in an op-ed on Setopati this week. Indeed, all it takes for family members to be convinced whom to vote for is an ultimatum that relatives will stop sending money. With less than a month to go for the 5 March election, many Nepalis overseas are campaigning remotely for preferred candidates, even if they cannot themselves cast ballots.&nbsp; The overwhelming feeling seems to be that younger candidates should be given a chance. &nbsp;&nbsp; Read what some Nepalis abroad have to say. NEPAL'S NON-VOTING MIGRANTS <h2>My Respected Parents</h2> Anil Gole, Romania [This letter is a letter to my parents ahead of the election. They are UML supporters, my uncle is for the Nepali Congress (NC), and my grandfather supports the Nepali Communist Party (NCP).] My Respected Parents, I hear that election fever has picked up in the village. New faces with new ways of thinking have emerged this time. I don’t really understand politics, so what I say may feel bitter. But Father, when I see the flag with the sun in your hands, I remember the heat of Qatar from 12 years ago, your sunburnt skin and mother’s cheeks wrinkled with worry. Perhaps Uncle, too, found the Saudi heat so intolerable that he returned home. That may be why while seeking shade, he found the NC tree symbol endearing. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Great uncle spent his whole life back home in the village, which is perhaps why he identifies with symbols like the plough, the sickle, and the hoe.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260206040236_669402ff85bdbd58360c12e10d23900ad99596b7a8dc196b8db1bcfe7e81e80e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20260206040236_669402ff85bdbd58360c12e10d23900ad99596b7a8dc196b8db1bcfe7e81e80e" data-rendition-name="original" width="1200" height="1600" loading="lazy" alt="Overseas vote bank NT"> <figcaption>Anil Gole</figcaption> </figure>  Even then, at any cost, vote for the same politicians. Vote for the same politicians who have not developed the country, who have not fed the poor, whose sons have not been shot.&nbsp; What if the country does not change? I have changed my country. When homesick, I have learnt what it feels like to suffocate in tears under a blanket. Now my younger brother is old enough. Send him here as well. We brothers will earn together. We will marry off our sister in a grand way. So what if the country does not develop? We will build a small, cute house with a big yard. You can play with the grandchildren there. And when they grow up, they too can migrate. But if you vote for the right people and the country gets good leaders, future generations will not have to sweat in foreign lands. They will not have to leave the comfort of a mother’s lap to spend nights abroad in unknown cities. No matter how hard things get, they will not have to lie in letters to their mothers,saying, “I’m doing fine, Mother.” I have not lost courage because of your blessings. My body is here, but my mind is always back home in Nepal. Your children are here, but my children’s future is in your hands. That is why vote for the same politicians whose hearts did not bleed even when the young were killed, the same politicians whose children have not come home in a box. Mother and Father, please take care of each other. Yours truly, Your fortunate migrant son <h2>Algorithm versus vision</h2> Ambika Paudel, Qatar I have been in Qatar for 18 years, and work in the facilities management, engineering, shipping and logistics &nbsp;industry. I get to interact with people from across the world, and they are closely connected with their embassies through online systems and communities. I lead the Nepal Expatriate Community that has multidisciplinary professionals and have observed the need to revise the narrative around migrants. We are here for our families. The sacrifices we make are for them. We are working for our own career growth and families because there were no opportunities back home. Many of us have achieved a good standard of living through our hard work and merit. When I send money to Nepal, it is for my family and the benefit to the government is a byproduct. It would have been good if we got to vote, too. That possibility and promise got lost somewhere in the policy confusion and lack of technical capacity. Overseas Nepalis are also deeply invested in the election, but it is largely algorithm based. We are not questioning the vision of the candidates.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260206040236_dc05b31d3abcf126360d923615a785a36de5b62a8695af9cbff000b586d0336d.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20260206040236_dc05b31d3abcf126360d923615a785a36de5b62a8695af9cbff000b586d0336d" data-rendition-name="original" width="1200" height="1600" loading="lazy" alt="Overseas vote bank NT"> <figcaption>Ambika Paudel</figcaption> </figure>  Our parents back home are the actual voters, and those overseas &nbsp;are talking to them. I don’t think they will be swayed just based on calls, and they shouldn’t be either. We are prioritising algorithms and words and social media boosts over vision, experience, and concrete plans. I am for the NC but I am not a blind supporter. Despite being at the forefront of every significant democratic change in Nepal’s history, the party has had lapses but it is currently on a new trajectory. Not all candidates of all parties are good so we have to elect competent leaders and question them. Whatever promises they make need to be examined for delivery and vision.&nbsp; There are also Congress loyalists who are swayed and influenced by the new, but I let it be — it is their right, their choice. Change requires vision and experience, it should not be based on hype, I remind them. Over online conversations, I tell them to vote wisely so they don’t regret it later. I returned from my break just recently so I cannot come home to vote as it will be too expensive. There are good human resources back in Nepal and in the diaspora which can be used. There are people in decision-making positions in their companies who are very capable and intelligent who could contribute to Nepal. These are missed opportunities in our policymaking and governance: Nepal needs to create opportunities for capable Nepalis.&nbsp; The new government can make the investment climate better through a one-door system so that services are accessible, quick and there is no need to go to multiple offices to start a company or pay taxes. This would also stop unnecessary bribes and other hassles. I don’t have plans to return in the near future. I have a good job and am earning well. I came to Nepal between 2016 and 2019 and remigrated again after things did not work out. <h2>The young need convincing</h2> Jeevan Kumar Dewan, Malaysia I have been living in Malaysia since 2001, and am an active member of the UML wing here. There is excitement about the upcoming election, but we are bound by contracts so cannot go home to vote.&nbsp; There was hope that we would be able to vote from overseas, but there were questions of security. Even though we won’t be able to vote, people are actively participating online and using social media to show their support to their candidates and parties of choice.&nbsp; Political parties prioritise organisational expansion overseas but there is no direct campaigning during elections. It is through conversations and social media engagement that people are participating, debating and expressing their support and loyalty.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260206040240_2ed54377199b995f0a19b7be98fff79004c13787c7a07185a47427467237277a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20260206040240_2ed54377199b995f0a19b7be98fff79004c13787c7a07185a47427467237277a" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1536" loading="lazy" alt="Overseas vote bank NT"> <figcaption>Jeevan Kumar Dewan</figcaption> </figure>  &nbsp;As a UML supporter, it is my duty to remind people to cut through the noise and to separate facts and truth. While elderly voters don’t need much convincing as they are loyal to the party, I do engage a fair amount with the young voters. I have to remind them not to get distracted by the videos shared in social media platforms. All new is not good just because it is new if there is no real political agenda. There is no doubt that we need change but being new is not enough nor can we overlook the contributions and experience of the old parties. All we can do is talk to the voters and try to get our message across. It is important to prioritise better managed migration and also to ensure migrants have proper guidance on how to invest their hard-earned money in productive sectors, even when it is not much, so they have something to fall back on after returning. I don’t have plans to return immediately, I go back and forth quite frequently. I have a stable job and I have seen how my friends who left secure jobs to return home ended up remigrating after their investment failed. I will stay here and continue with my job which I am happy with. <h2>The old need convincing</h2> Prajwal Poudel, Saudi Arabia I work as a data entry analyst in Saudi Arabia. People overseas have seen development, but have also experienced challenges of being away from home. Politicians are aware of this and didn’t want us to vote.&nbsp; When I was in Nepal, I did not care much about politics. It was not for me. But overseas we care about Nepal even more. Perhaps you don’t know the value of something unless you lose it. Perhaps distance makes hearts grow fonder. I am definitely more invested in Nepali politics after leaving.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260206040240_43ea30dfb58b873760e40177d84dca4bb34f1c9cdffdbc9a7c5a0c26b15e78b9.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20260206040240_43ea30dfb58b873760e40177d84dca4bb34f1c9cdffdbc9a7c5a0c26b15e78b9" data-rendition-name="original" width="738" height="1600" loading="lazy" alt="Overseas vote bank NT"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260206040240_dfbc2302411e1ae32a4ab048fa34d940147942c00845d82d9cf59574f5c2e0fe.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20260206040240_dfbc2302411e1ae32a4ab048fa34d940147942c00845d82d9cf59574f5c2e0fe" data-rendition-name="original" width="1080" height="1200" loading="lazy" alt="Overseas Nepali vote bank NT"> </figure>  So I have to make sure that family members back home make the right decision this election. My cousin is also with me in Saudi Arabia and I was talking to his parents and telling them to vote correctly. They have voted for the same faces for two decades. I said that if there had been changes we would not have had to migrate. That this time they should accept the masu-bhat and alcohol, say UML-Congress jindaawaad, take the money offered but finally stamp on Ghanti.&nbsp; My cousin posted a recording of that call spontaneously on Tiktok. It went viral perhaps because it resonated with the youth. We cannot vote but we have to make sure at least our close family members vote correctly. My mother also seems ready for a change despite her loyalty to the UML, but I tell her she does not need to change her party just change her vote this year.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260206040240_0234dfec6f97a726f67120124833bb3fdc84cbf794eee910736649c5624e7576.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20260206040240_0234dfec6f97a726f67120124833bb3fdc84cbf794eee910736649c5624e7576" data-rendition-name="original" width="1168" height="1556" loading="lazy" alt="Overseas vote bank NT"> <figcaption>Prajwal Poudel</figcaption> </figure>  We need to give the new ones a chance. But it’s also true that the new will not bring dramatic changes overnight. Conversations here are all about the election back home. We talk about who is getting elected from their areas. Who they think will win. But the hottest topic of conversation is of course Jhapa. For those of us abroad, the government should make our embassies stronger. Back home, I hope corruption will be curbed and that good roads will reach all corners of the country. This will allow people to develop the country themselves.&nbsp; I am the son of a Malaysia returnee. I even worked as a teacher in Nepal. I could not even afford decent clothes so I left everything and came here. I don’t know when I will return.