For the Sherpa people who live below Mt Everest, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/margins/songs-from-chomolungma">Chomolungma </a>means ‘mother god’. And as a young girl growing up below it, Lhakpa Sherpa gazed up at the mountain with awe and reverence.&nbsp; <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/pasang-lhamu-sherpa-the-film">Pasang Lhamu Sherpa</a> was the first Nepali woman to reach the summit in 1993, but she died on the way down. Lhakpa remembers the funeral in Kathmandu, and says she sensed Pasang Lhamu’s soul enter her at the cremation.&nbsp; Since then, Lhakpa holds the <a href="https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/most-ascents-of-mt-everest-by-a-woman#:~:text=At%20the%20age%20of%2048,at%206.15%20a.m.%20local%20time.">Guiness World Record</a> for having climbed Mt Everest ten times, the most by any woman anywhere, and breaking her own record several times. Lhakpa Sherpa seeks Chomolungma’s blessings and forgiveness before and after every climb. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/the-rise-and-fall-of-nims-purja">The rise and fall of Nims Purja</a>, Pradnya Pradhan “I respect the mountain like my mom,” she says in the new Netflix documentary Mountain Queen: Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa.&nbsp; The film is as much about Lhakpa’s skill and stamina as a high altitude climber, as about her courage to stand up to an abusive husband and the strength to raise three children as a single mother working in a Whole Foods Market in the US state of Connecticut. &nbsp; Directed by Lucy Walker who excels in documenting real life characters, the 104 minute film provides viewers with an intimate glimpse of Lhakpa’s home, conversations with her daughters, and some spectacular footage of her climbing in Everest’s Death Zone. Walker removes layer upon layer of Lhakpa’s life to introduce us to the real person that she is.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240910120952_549f2ebdc425038deb78854480449122da0890957389aa86b6a612bf91d33ec3.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20240910120952_549f2ebdc425038deb78854480449122da0890957389aa86b6a612bf91d33ec3" data-rendition-name="original" width="450" height="630" loading="lazy" alt="Mountain Queen Lhakpa Sherpa NT2"> </figure>  As a girl Lhakpa was a headstrong girl, and says her mother used to call her “too tough, too tall and very, very bossy” – and that is exactly how she comes across in the film. But behind the toughness and cheerful smile, Lhakpa is a soft-hearted person who has been in search of love and healing all her life. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/on-screen-mountains">On-screen mountains</a>, Sahina Shrestha Lhakpa was a social misfit, but found her true calling in mountaineering. She started out as a porter carrying up to 100kg on her back -- double her body weight. She had to pretend to be a boy since women did not get jobs with expeditions back then. Then, she was promoted to be a kitchen boy, cooking for the climbers in base camps.&nbsp; She needed money to climb but nobody at the time was sponsoring a woman. A chance meeting with King Birendra and Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala got her the sponsorship she needed in 2000 to lead an all-women Nepali Everest expedition. She reached the top for the first time, the only climber from her group to do so. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/streaming-the-himalaya-on-film">Streaming the Himalaya on film</a>, Pinki Sris Rana Her goal achieved, that should have been it. But Lhakpa was hopelessly hooked to the thrill of climbing. She met the Romanian-American mountaineer George Dijmarescu who encouraged her not to just be a porter, and join him in climbing Everest from the Tibet side.&nbsp; For the next several years the two became climbing partners, the ultimate power couple in Himalayan mountaineering. She emigrated to the United States and gave birth to daughters Sunny and Shiny. It was not long before Dijmarescu showed his true self, and Lahkpa was trapped in an abusive marriage in a foreign land. As a girl child in Nepal, she was never sent to school and had no other job except climbing. The fairytale had ended. She was featured in a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/31/sports/lhakpa-sherpa-everest.html">New York Times</a> report, training for her 10th ascent of Mt Everest carrying boxes of vegetables and fruits at Whole Foods. In Mountain Queen, Walker directs a highly personalised profile of Nepal’s &nbsp;almost-forgotten mountaineering legend, digging up her troubles and triumphs with sensitivity and care. Walker does more than tell the story of perseverance and resilience that go hand-in-hand with climbing, she also tells the story of a matriarch who has to be strong for her family. &nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/why-we-climb-mountains">Why we climb mountains</a>, Damien Francois After her 10th Everest ascent, sponsors line up to fund an expedition to even more challenging K2, which Lhakpa climbed last year. Pasang Lhamu’s soul burns brightly in Lhakpa Sherpa, and she sums up her own journey: “I’ll give my life to the mountains, keep climbing until the day I die.” Mountain Queen: Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa Directed by Lucy Walker Netflix, 2024 104 minutes&nbsp;

Pinki Sris Rana

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Daughter of Chomolungma

<figure><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161156/636d1f129c7e80680e0af446jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Mountaineering legend Reinhold Messner in Kathmandu this week. Photo: AMIT MACHAMASI</figcaption></figure>At age 77, after having pushed the limits of what a human being can physically achieve, <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=3251#.Yck5sC8RqLc" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D3251%23.Yck5sC8RqLc&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1640666337895000&amp;usg=AOvVaw37oxnuMsF1Cvg5h_XDEbr9">Reinhold Messner</a> looks back at a life lived at the edge of life and death, and turns philosophical about the art of mountaineering. Messner started climbing in the Dolomites when he was five. On his first Himalayan climb in 1970, he lost his brother and seven of his toes on Nanga Parbat. In 1978 he climbed the mountain again solo, and became the first person with Peter Habeler to <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/climbing-everests-last-three-hundred-meter-without-oxygen,1817" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/climbing-everests-last-three-hundred-meter-without-oxygen,1817&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1640666337895000&amp;usg=AOvVaw35gc9hWKFSjo8YFFTMj48F">summit Mt Everest without bottled oxygen</a>. In 1980, he came back to Everest and solo-ed it too. He went on to climb all of the world’s fourteen 8,000m peaks in 1986. “We go to places we could die, but not die. Traditional mountaineering is the art of not dying,” says Messner, who has just got off a flight from Europe on yet another trip to Nepal that was delayed by the pandemic.People used to fear mountains, they did not approach dangerous places. It was only after the industrial revolution that early British climbers started exploring the Alps and ‘alpinism’ was born to <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=3249#.Yckz1i8RqLc" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D3249%23.Yckz1i8RqLc&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1640666337895000&amp;usg=AOvVaw16ilz_PNAQ-j-ZuMQ2HSR-">test the limits of human skill and endurance.</a>“Mountains are infinite in comparison to our lives,” the Tyrolean climber says. “Up on a mountain we are forced to contemplate eternity. Climbing is a useless activity, as absurd as life itself.” <figure><img width="1028" height="713" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161156/636d1f159c7e80680e0af447jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Messner has nothing but praise for Nirmal (Nims) Purja, the Nepali climber whose <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nims-purja-does-it/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nims-purja-does-it/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1640666337895000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2kEvjlTRBQfHD1C_gZ1ifd">ascents of all 14 of the world’s eight-thousanders</a> within seven months was featured in a popular Netflix documentary this month.  “I needed 16 years to climb all 14 peaks without oxygen,” says Messner, repeating what he said in the Netflix film. “For this, I give Nirmal great respect, he did it in such a short time. And after this, he <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/all-nepali-winter-first-on-k2/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/all-nepali-winter-first-on-k2/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1640666337895000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2fV04bVS-2V4FI6fHPcjLg">went back to K2</a> and became the first to climb it in winter. He is not just chatting, he is doing.” Messner worked with Purja to finish his latest book which is out in German, and defends the Nepali climber’s use of helicopters and oxygen for his climbs saying technology had made it possible to fly from one base camp to the other. And Purja’s team was also fixing ropes for others, carrying its own oxygen.  Messner is also glad that Nepalis are finally getting credit for helping western climbers attain the world’s highest peaks – starting with Gurkha porters on Nanga Parbat in 1895, and later with Sherpa guides. “Now, Sherpas and Gurkhas are no longer support staff, they organise expeditions around the world,” says Messner. “I am very happy that after 100 years the Sherpa have the economic possibility to organise their own expeditions.”https://youtu.be/EZBvVMaNYAIMessner then turns to his pet peeve: how <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=3249#.Yckz1i8RqLc" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D3249%23.Yckz1i8RqLc&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1640666337895000&amp;usg=AOvVaw16ilz_PNAQ-j-ZuMQ2HSR-">alpinism has turned into tourism</a> as hundreds of clients jumar up on fixed ropes to the top of Mt Everest. Indoor climbing walls in gyms also do not cut it for him.“Traditional mountaineering is the art of surviving where you can die, if you take away the possibility of danger, then it is not alpinism,” says Messner with messianic zeal during an interview in Kathmandu with Nepali Times. “Organising a safe infrastructure where someone takes you up and down a mountain is tourism.”Nepal’s economy has now come to be dependent on these large expeditions, aside from the revenue that Nepal collects every year from hefty climbing royalty. A switch to alpine style climbing would mean fewer jobs for expedition support staff.But Messner is a purist when it comes to mountaineering, and besides smaller lighter teams scaling peaks would be less damaging to the environment. He takes the message of pure alpine style climbing around the world through lectures, setting up a string of museums, as well as more films, including the latest semi-autobiographical White Out.   <figure><img width="3095" height="2098" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161156/636d1f179c7e80680e0af448jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Messner faced criticism for abandoning his brother on Nanga Parbat in 1970, but has often defended himself saying people at sea level should not be passing judgement about decisions of survival at 8,000m. He has made 31 expeditions in his lifetime to eight-thousand metre peaks, 18 of them successful. He dabbled in politics and was a member of the European Parliament for five years before deciding that he did not want to be a professional politician.During this visit to Nepal, Messner will inspect the new Sherpa Himal Museum that he helped build near Namche, adding to other mountain museums he has set up around the world. On Sunday, Messner and <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=3761#.Yck6ry8RqLc" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D3761%23.Yck6ry8RqLc&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1640666337895000&amp;usg=AOvVaw39PivMRXCHqH8lSYi4itec">Karna Shakya</a> inaugurated a new high-rise wing of the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=19686#.Yck63i8RqLc" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D19686%23.Yck63i8RqLc&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1640666337895000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3edUbHwnR-WPHeH1NRWgk_">Kathmandu Guest House</a> in Thamel, where he has always stayed since his first visit.  <img width="1618" height="1869" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161156/636d1f1b9c7e80680e0af449jpeg.jpg" alt="">We ask Messner why he is so impressed with Nims Purja, when he has been scathing about the young German climber Jost Kolbach who is attempting Mt Everest solo in winter up the west ridge this season. “It is all PR. He has said he has only has 1% chance, if that is so he should stay in the Alps, do smaller things successfully, or climb the challenging six or seven thousanders first.”About this year’s controversy about climbers on the fore-summit of Manaslu, Messner says it is clear which is the true peak, and remembers bringing down a piton in 1972 from an earlier Japanese expedition to the 8,163m summit as proof. But it is less clear which is the true peak on long ridges like Annapurna I, he adds.Messner has also been ridiculed about his belief in <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/sorting-through-history-for-the-yeti/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the yeti</a>. He clarified: “The yeti is logically a bear. It is a legend that is 1,000 years old that came with the migration of Sherpas, and describes a partly-white bear, and early British journalists 120 years ago  spread rumours about the snowman.”  Messner says <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/covid-climate-crises-hit-everest-region/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the climate crisis</a> is changing monsoon patterns and the jet stream which is making climbing in the Himalaya more dangerous. He says the whole system is out of balance due to industrialisation, cars and fossil fuels and consumerism. Messner is now helping to give back to the people of the mountains around the world where has climbed all his life, rebuilding hospitals and schools, and supporting students. He says, “After climbing the mountains, I came later to also understand the people, and I am thankful that I can give back to this country with tourism promotion. I owe my climbing success to Nepal."

Kunda Dixit

What next for Reinhold Messner?

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111152/636b866d9c7e80680e067853jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="817"/><figcaption></figcaption></figure>Scroll, scroll, scroll your mouse, gently down the screen. Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a scene.Ever since the first lockdown, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepals-qfx-cinema-needs-a-happy-ending/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">cinemas have remained mostly shut</a>. Movies did return to our lives with a bang – but with a deep “ta-dum!” and that dramatic red N on the monitor.Enter <a href="https://www.netflix.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Netflix</a>: our quarantine companion, late-night friend and biggest supporter of procrastination, with its ‘next episode’ auto-plays and daily notifications of the movie or new season.After getting disenchanted by regular cable tv and learning about how entertainment has moved to OTT (over-the-top) media platforms that thrive on a strong Internet connection, we started asking our friends and relatives living abroad to share their Netflix account with us, so that we could enjoy entertainment that our rupee couldn’t afford. They willingly or unwillingly obliged.But now, with the new $500 allowance per credit card per year from a Nepali bank, you can independently purchase your own memberships to multiple streaming platforms, offering endless entertainment at your fingertips, with remote controls that now come with bright red built-in ‘Netflix’ buttons. This button is proof that tv viewing has changed forever.Back in 1997, Netflix started as a simple DVD-by-mail rental service. In 2007, it launched a movie streaming service, which led to a cultural explosion that turned it into the biggest international streaming giant, with more than 207 million members who pay decent money for unlimited access to quality movies and tv series every month.Users pay from $8.99 (single screen streaming) to $15.99 (up to 4 screens per account at a time) per month for curated feeds that are designed to intuitively offer content that are suited to your personal taste, based on your viewing history.Netflix used to be exclusively for watching movies, but lately it strategically shifted its focus to tv and web series, investing billions of dollars in original content, including record-breaking shows like <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6468322/">Money Heist</a>, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5071412/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ozark</a> and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2442560/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Peaky Blinders</a>.Netflix also bought 83 hours of <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108778/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Friends</a>, episodes of which people across ages enjoy watching on repeat, along with other popular programs that people used to follow on traditional box tv sets.There are also award-winning documentaries like <a href="https://www.netflix.com/title/81045007" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">My Octopus Teacher</a> and one-hour comedy specials like Hannah Gadsby’s <a href="https://www.netflix.com/np/title/80233611" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nanette</a>. Additionally, Netflix offers offline viewing, a feature that is precious to those who want to plan their binge-watching when travelling or entering areas without WiFi.Besides Netflix, there are a few others worth spending on, but in Nepal we may require a VPN to view some of these. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Movies/b?ie=UTF8&amp;node=2649512011" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Amazon</a> is at a similar price point, and trying to beat Netflix’s movie collection with its own. Amazon charges $8.99 per month for a Prime Video membership without any additional Amazon shopping perks.For premium movies, Prime requires you to rent or buy them separately. Currently, Prime Video has roughly 24,000 movies and over 2,100 shows under its belt. Prime also offers select content in 4K Ultra HD quality, making investing in a 55-inch LED Smart TV totally worth it.<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Movies/b?ie=UTF8&amp;node=2858905011" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Prime Video</a> is compatible with all browsers and devices, but the best part is, it offers a 30-day free trial (credit card required) so you can explore all you want before investing in it. From Amazon original award-winners like the latest <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Sound-Metal-Riz-Ahmed/dp/B08KZCFW1C" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sound of Metal</a> to all-round entertainers like the classic whodunnit <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8946378/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Knives Out</a> and everybody’s beloved <a href="https://www.amazon.com/T-Extra-Terrestrial-Henry-Thomas/dp/B009GN6DT4" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">E.T.</a>, Prime makes sure that once you’re in, you will not run out of movies to enjoy.While Amazon Prime is popular in South Asia, <a href="https://www.hulu.com/welcome?orig_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Hulu</a> ranks second-best in the USA. Hulu’s most basic plan costs $5.99 a month, but without ads it is double. For those with deeper pockets, there’s also Hulu Live TV, a premium service with 60 channels that offer sports, news and entertainment, along with standard content for streaming. Grey’s Anatomy, Modern Family, The Simpsons, Seinfeld, Homeland and American Idol are just some of the hit TV shows that you can happily binge-watch on Hulu, which is more oriented towards TV viewers than movie fanatics. The one downside is that Hulu only allows two streams from the same account at the same time, making it difficult for an entire family to share.The ultimate family-friendly streaming platform is probably <a href="https://preview.disneyplus.com/unavailable/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Disney Plus</a>, with movies only up to PG-13 ratings, further emphasising that its focus is on kids’ entertainment. If you are a Marvel movie fan, Star Wars nerd or animated movie enthusiast, this OTT platform is perfect for you. Pixar movies and theatrical productions are also in Disney’s kitty, but it is the Disney classics in its vault (including The Little Mermaid, The Jungle Book, Aladdin and the new age favourite Frozen) that make it a no-brainer for anybody with children. All this for just $7.99 a month, with full access to its library and no ads.Another platform that is clearly aiming for family audiences is <a href="https://www.apple.com/tv/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Apple TV</a> Plus, with a very small content library of over 30 Apple Originals, a variety of content across genres. Apple TV Plus has a fairly generous family sharing plan, allowing up to six family members to use the same account. Even better, they can use their own logins, so you can quietly keep your embarrassing password to yourself.Despite being a big brand, Apple is aggressively pricing its OTT platform at just $4.99 a month. Apple spends on quality, backing big budget productions that provide fresh, original content only, such as the Jennifer Aniston-starrer The Morning Show.Apple hasn’t yet convinced audiences with mind-blowing content yet, but cross-product sales offers do help increase its subscriber base; within 3 months of purchasing a new iPhone, you can avail the offer of a one-year free Apple TV Plus membership.There is one tiny inconvenience: besides Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, which can be accessed from Nepal, the rest of streaming platforms listed above can only be accessed via VPN, so before subscribing to them, you might want to consider spending $5 per month on average on a high-performance VPN (Virtual Private Network).A VPN is beneficial even for Netflix and Amazon Prime viewers because it gives access to a slightly different, wider content feed that, say, viewers in the USA get to see.What exactly does a VPN do? It connects you to a proxy server, becoming an intermediary between your device and the Internet and successfully hiding your IP address so that you can view content that is not accessible to Nepal or the region. VPNs let you break through geoblocks and keep your real location protected, so you can get your hands on all kinds of content, apps and services across borders with unlimited bandwidth. Exciting, indeed!The most highly recommended one that offers good value for money is <a href="https://www.expressvpn.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">ExpressVPN</a>, the top-rated VPN of the year 2021. ExpressVPN has thousands of servers across 94 countries that ensure smooth, lightning-fast streaming and excellent data security. Moreover, 30-day money-back guarantee also makes it a risk-free decision. Other excellent VPN options for Nepali users to explore are <a href="https://nordvpn.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">NordVPN</a> (best budget option), <a href="https://privatevpn.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">PrivateVPN</a> (most secure connection), <a href="https://surfshark.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Surfshark</a> (rising in popularity), <a href="https://www.cyberghostvpn.com/en_US/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">CyberGhost</a> (best for beginner users) and <a href="https://www.ipvanish.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">IPVanish</a> (great for HD streaming).THIS WEEK ON NETFLIXIf you want to dive deep into a movie and feel every moment: <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5727208/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Uncut Gems</a>, an Oscar-worthy performance by Adam Sandler that makes you sweat, stress and worry as much as the rich, shady characters of the diamond district of New York, shown in the movie.If you want an animated movie that takes you on a fun family adventure: <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7979580/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Mitchells vs. the Machines</a>, a Sony Pictures production that gives solid competition to Disney and Pixar with its lovable wannabe filmmaker teenager Katie. Shoutout to her technologically challenged dad, who is, let’s face it, all our dads.If you love a bittersweet dramedy that tells the story of a dysfunctional family through realistic, intelligent writing and relatable adult characters: <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5536736/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Meyerowitz Stories</a>, directed by Noah Baumbach of Marriage Story fame. Watch Dustin Hoffman play the father’s role with panache.If you want to get inspired by excellent salesmanship (with questionable ethnics) and enjoy the story of how Ray Kroc made McDonald’s the biggest, most successful burger chain in America: <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4276820/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Founder</a>, starring Michael Keaton as a conniving business fox, based on a true story.If you like the idea of a French movie that is funny and far from sophisticated or depressing: <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6857988/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">I Am Not an Easy Man</a>, an out-and-out comedy led by a shameless chauvinist who has a tough time navigating his life when he wakes up to a world where women and men have reversed gender roles and the changed power dynamics make for an entertaining watch.If you miss watching a thrilling Bollywood movie at the movie theatres: <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7212754/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ludo</a>, featuring a brilliant cast (Abhishek Bachchan, Aditya Roy Kapur, Rajkumar Rao, Pankaj Tripathi, etc.) that intertwines four totally different stories bound by fate, chance and crime.

Saniaa Shah

How to Netflix and stay safe during lockdown

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101156/636b79b49c7e80680e06471ajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"/><figcaption>Nepal has seen an explosive growth in YouTube use – up from virtually zero in 2018 to 34% last year, and then almost doubling to 60%. Photo: BIKRAM RAI</figcaption></figure>The <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/this-is-a-test/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">COVID-19 scare</a> has prompted a worldwide trend in working from home. #StayHome, #SelfQuarantine and #workingfromhome are among the most trending hashtags on Twitter. Since January, the video conferencing company Zoom has seen a doubling of new accounts and Microsoft’s Team registered a 500% jump in remote conferencing.Following the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/kathmandu-under-semi-lockdown/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">semi-lockdown</a> from Monday, Nepal has also seen a big surge in home Internet use, putting a strain on the bandwidth offered by service providers. A Nepali Times reporter working from home tried all afternoon on Sunday to upload a photo feature before giving up.“Working from home is the right step to arrest the pandemic but people working from home are not using the Internet only to work and communicate,” says Keshav Nepal of WorldLink Nepal who says 80% of Internet traffic is generated by watching video entertainment.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-closes-land-border-with-india-china/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nepal closes land border with India, China</a><a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/global-thinking-and-local-action-on-coronavirus/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Global thinking and local action on coronavirus</a>, Anil ChitrakarUnlike in the past when Internet use spiked in the evenings as people watched YouTube channels from home, every time of the day or night is peak hour now as people stream movies, play games or scroll social media. Nepal has seen an <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/mobile-nepal-is-hooked-on-youtube/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">explosive growth in YouTube use</a> – up from virtually zero in 2018 to 34% last year, and then almost doubling to 60%.Nepal’s Internet infrastructure is made up of the international gateway and local networks. The international links are through underground fibreoptic connections that internet service providers (ISP) have with India’s Airtel and Tata. Another fibreoptic link with China is still being tested.The domestic network is made up of local caches for YouTube and Google, for example, that use <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/bringing-silicon-valley-to-kathmandu-valley/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">artificial intelligence</a> to ‘pre-fetch’ trending content in local servers so they do not have to depend entirely on international links. In fact, a third of all downloaded content in Nepal today is from Google and most of that is YouTube.“Even under normal circumstances the Internet in Nepal is considered slow, mostly because our ISPs do not have a strong backbone and we do not have enough cache servers, which are centralised and shared by ISPs,” explains Sujan Shakya of Vianet Communication Nepal. “With higher consumption as we are seeing now, the aggregate traffic is close to our limit, leading to a bottleneck that affects all the users.”As for international connectivity, there are limitations regarding Internet backhaul equipment (ISP routers). These can be upgraded by buying more bandwidth, and while costs are coming down they are still expensive given Nepal’s low local Internet subscription rates.Read also: <a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/this-is-a-test/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">This is a test</a>, Editorial<a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/what-is-novel-about-the-novel-coronavirus/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">What is novel about the novel coronavirus</a>, Buddha BasnyatNepal’s ISPs have what they call ‘stock bandwidth’ which allocates capacity lower than that of their routers. However, when everyone is watching videos at the same time, the bandwidth is overstretched and the connection becomes slower. And the decrease in office Internet use does not seem to compensate for a rise in home use, since the peak Internet hours in Nepal have always been early morning and late evening from home.“I do not see a bottleneck in the international gateway because ISPs can always buy extra bandwidth, but for local networks it is difficult to upgrade routers and switches when they are choked with saturation demand,” explains Sanjib Rajbhandri of Mercantile Communications.With about 1.5 million Kathmandu residents having gone back to their home districts, the demand in the city has reduced and Internet use is spread more evenly across the country. However, most out-of-towners are using mobile data, and that has created another bottleneck.Phone companies are not used to handling such a surge in capacity, and upgrading towers is more expensive and takes more time than upgrading ISP routers. Most customers with fibreoptic ISP cable to homes are not facing the same bandwidth issues as those who rely on routers.Only 26% of respondents in a recent media landscape survey by Sharecast Initiative said they used the Internet every day. In a multiple response question, among those who did, 75% said they used mobile data to access the Internet against 30% who used broadband connection.Says Sharecast’s Madhu Archarya: “It is still too early to tell for sure, but the  coronavirus shutdown and people going online from home will increase Nepal’s  Internet penetration rate, and there will be a further rise in those using mobile data.”Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/mobile-nepal-is-hooked-on-youtube/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mobile Nepal is hooked on YouTube</a>, Kunda Dixit<a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/nepals-new-digital-landscape/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mobile phones</a> have also become useful during the pandemic for contact tracing infections in other countries, although it has not been fully used yet in Nepal where there have only been two confirmed cases. Geolocation of mobile phones are also a useful tool for the government to track the mass movement of people, for instance the emptying of Kathmandu this weekend before the ban on long-distances bus services went into effect.Says Keshav Nepal of Worldlink: “We can upgrade our bandwidth capacity but this takes time. So the best thing right now is to use the Internet responsibly and prioritise what we surf on the net.”

Sonia Awale

Coronavirus and the World Wide Web

Who is accountable for teacher-student relationships?

Of the nearly 19 million eligible voters in next week’s election in Nepal, an estimated 5 million are abroad and cannot cast their ballots. Many others within Nepal must travel to their home districts, and might decide not to because of the cost.
Flights into Kathmandu these days are full of global Nepalis returning just to vote, but almost as many are leaving for overseas jobs. Most of those coming or going are in the 20-40 age group, and a majority want Nepal to see a change in leadership.
Bangladesh held an election this month in which citizens overseas could vote by mail.&nbsp;
“Bangladesh made maximum use of technology not just for campaigning but also for polling itself. We could have also managed this, so people within Nepal did not have to travel to their home districts to vote,” says Mohna Ansari, former head of Nepal’s National Human Rights Commission who was an election observer in Bangladesh.
A 3-day holiday has been declared so people can travel to their home constituencies to cast ballots. Even if there was not enough time to manage ballots for overseas Nepalis, it could have been done for Nepalis within Nepal.
Former Chief Election Commissioner Bhojraj Pokharel reckons that physical voting in countries with a large Nepali diaspora would have been a logistical nightmare, but in the PR system, using electronic voting machines or paper ballot could have been piloted in some places. It is not possible to manage the entire voting process until we introduce the internet voting system.
“First of all, there needs to be political will to bring the policy and be ready to undertake that level of investment and it is not a one-time cost,” Pokharel says. “A government formed by the GenZ could have atr least issed an ordinance ensuring this right, piloted out-of-country voting where possible, which could have built pressure for the future Parliament and the government. It would have given people hope. It is a lost opportunity.”
All major political parties called for voting rights for global Nepalis in their manifestos, but these very leaders blocked legislation allowing it despite a 2017 Supreme Court ruling out of fear that it would be anti-incumbent.&nbsp;
<h2>Why so late?</h2>
Bangladesh delivered election results in just one day, but the final results of Nepal's last local polls in 2022 including that of Kathmandu constituencies took nearly a month.
Acting Chief Election Commissioner Ram Prasad Bhandari said this week that the results of the First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) ballot counting would “likely” be published within 24 hours of the poll closing at 5PM on 5 March. But many are skeptical.
“I wonder if we lack the capacity or know-how to announce results as quickly as possible,” says Mohna Ansari.
Former Chief Election Commissioner Pokharel says manual ballot paper counting in Nepal is inherently slow because of the large numner of political parties and/or candidates on the ballot, the counting mechanism, the political behaviour of the candidates/parties and some managerial issues during counting.
“Our present policy is to count all the ballot papers at the returning officers' officies, located at the district headquarters. It requires collecting ballot boxes safetly first. This takes time, and there have been cases of ballot boxes being damaged or stolen during transport. In a few highly difficult, geographically remote polling centres, we use a helicopter or transport. But sometimes, accommodating the party and candidates' representatives remains challenging,” explains Pokharel. A solution could be counting ballots at the very booths where they are cast.
Another reason for the delay is simply the number of political parties, and the need for each ballot paper to be examined by booth representatives for consensus. In close races, the smallest difference can lead to tense situations, further delaying results, even though counting centres are protected by metal fencing so there is no disruption.
After this, then it is the turn of Proportional Representation (PR) ballots to be counted. Weeks pass by the time the results of candidates and parties are tallied and verified. But the most common delay is because election officers think ballot counting is a nine-to-five job.&nbsp;
“The efficiency of poll station officers is most important, and they are incentivised for this,” says Ansari, adding that counting can even start within an hour after voting closes.
In remote areas, local resources could be mobilised to make counting quicker, but there is a crisis of trust, adds Ansari.&nbsp;
That could be easily solved with electronic voting which the EC implemented in the 2008 polls but discontinued because political parties felt the machines could be hacked or manipulated.

Nepalis Select Who To Elect

On Saturday, Iran retaliated with missile strikes on Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Bahrain and Qatar, a region where there are an estimated 2 million Nepalis working to send money home. In addition, thousands of Nepalis were preparing to board flights to Kathmandu from West Asian cities this weekend to vote in the 5 March election. Many are said to be stranded at various aviation hubs. A Qatar Airways flight from Doha took off just before the air space was closed, while Air Arabia and Kuwait Airways have diverted or cancelled flights. Nepalis in the West Asian region said things were relatively calm where they were, although some heard loud explosions at about noon local time. In Dubai, some thought they were Ramadan fireworks.&nbsp; In Kuwait, nearly 2,000 Nepalis working in the US military base as security guards and cleaners were evacuated before the strikes. In Bahrain where the US Fifth Fleet naval base is located and which was hit by two Iranian missiles, workers contacted by Nepali Times said the situation was under control and the authorities had told everyone to stay indoors and not use highways. The conflict also coincided with the beginning of Nepal’s trekking and mountaineering season, and tourists were either on their way or planning to leave European and North American cities for Himalayan hikes. Most of them transit through Doha, Dubai or Kuwait and all three airports are closed. Turkish Airlines flights via Istanbul are still operating.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260228130212_ab5e132d56da1df6a3fb1b6919648f845a168ad2c51d79f7587fb85a6e913b97.png" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20260228130212_ab5e132d56da1df6a3fb1b6919648f845a168ad2c51d79f7587fb85a6e913b97" data-rendition-name="original" width="1864" height="826" loading="lazy" alt="Qatar and UAE airspace closed"> <figcaption>Qatar and UAE airspace closed. Credit: Flightradar24</figcaption> </figure>  However, the main impact for the world could be a spike in the price of petroleum products if the strategic Strait of Hormuz is blocked. China relies on Iranian oil for their refineries, and Nepal could be affected indirectly if the economies of its neighbours are hit. Nepal imports all its diesel, petrol, LPG and aviation fuel from India which sources it mainly from the Gulf, and until recently from Russia. Petroleum makes up 25% of the value of all imports, and that is more than Nepal earns from all its exports. Saudi Arabia this year overtook the UAE as the main destination for Nepali workers, with the number now totalling 400,000. There are said to be as many in the UAE, and another 350,000 in Qatar. There are another 100,000 mostly women in Kuwait, and 50,000 each in Oman and Bahrain.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260228130220_d24ae633ff84f283835434becdb2f1351f84c415ce87ca34378bd4e2669661b3.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20260228130220_d24ae633ff84f283835434becdb2f1351f84c415ce87ca34378bd4e2669661b3" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="West Asia Iran conflict"> <figcaption>Iran retaliated with missile strikes on Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Bahrain and Qatar on Saturday.</figcaption> </figure>  Nepal receives nearly $11 billion a year in remittances from overseas Nepalis (not counting India) through official channels, although the total is said to be much more. &nbsp;This makes up more than a quarter of Nepal’s GDP equivalent — one of the highest proportions in the world. More than half of the overseas remittances to Nepal comes from its workers in the Gulf, and it is the mainstay of the country’s economy. Nepalis in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE alone send home more than $3 billion a year, much of that helping support their families back home. An average Nepali worker in the Gulf sends home nearly $2,500 a year, and this is spent mainly for household supplies, children’s education and healthcare. There are also an estimated 7,000 Nepali caregivers and healthcare workers in Israel, and most of them are women. The Nepal Embassy has asked Nepalis in Israel to take caution and move to bomb shelters.

West Asia war and Nepalis

If you did not watch the understated movie उनको स्विटर / (The Woolen Sweater) after it was released in May last year, you missed a major turning point in Nepali cinema. Much-hyped films fall short of expectations, but here is an exquisitely acted and directed production with a strong underlying message of tolerance. What a contrast from formulaic melodramatic Kollywood fare — a love story so simple, cinematography so subtle in capturing the beauty of the monsoon on mountain pastures, and a background folk song accompaniment that evokes the flavour and tenor of multi-ethnic eastern Nepal. Since its release, Unko Sweater received praise in Nepal, but it was in multiplexes across Nepaliphone India where the movie became a rage. Positive reviews spread by word of mouth on social media, where the script, performance and camera work were praised for reflecting a genuine and unsullied rural Nepal. The movie is a layered portrayal of caste, ethnicity, gender and culture with the tender romance between the shy Dharanidhar Kafle (Bipin Karki) and Phool Gurung (Miruna Magar) in which the two, despite being soulmates, have to deal with societal norms and gossip. They do this without rebelling, in their own quiet way. In the first scene in a crowded jeep, people are seen discussing an election. An elderly greying Kafle is headed home, and the rest of the movie has back and forth flashbacks revealing the story of his unspoken affection for Phool. But there is an undercurrent of ethnic rigidity. When Kafle’s brother Dambar elopes with Iksha Limbu, the repercussions are borne by both families. Then Kafle’s uncle is banished for being an outcast.&nbsp; Miruna Magar as Phool, as an ebullient woman, is in contrast to the introverted Kafle, who does not say much but has a melodious singing voice. As the plot thickens, Kafle is shown to be bound by circumstances that pose obstacles to his love for Phool. The storyline delicately shows how life and situations constantly force people to shift direction. Despite underlying differences, the various castes and ethnicities in this fictitious village near the Sikkim border get along because they have to. There is an interdependence between highland farmers and other ethnicities living down the valley that is at the heart of Nepal’s ethnic harmony. Despite taboos about interethnic and intercaste relationships, people still have trust and faith amongst each other. There is no time reference to the story, but it does speak of a nostalgic era decades ago when rural Nepal was not yet connected by roads and phones, when people had no choice but to get along. Things have changed now with outmigration, and education has blurred ethnic lines. A QUIET LOVE Director Nabin Chauhan is not in your face with his message, giving viewers a hint of deep rooted traditional values that still govern society. Each character adds to the storyline, validating the way they behave, pushing the plot forward.&nbsp; There are many emotions that are intricately woven into the plot, and the most prominent, of course, is love. Not the showy, lustful way it is shown in flamboyant formula films, but a quiet bond that does not need words, a silence, a glance and a gesture conveying the universe of love. When Phool asks Kafle what he will do if they cannot be together, he says he will build her a house with a beautiful garden of flowers in the meadows where he herds livestock. He builds it awaiting her return, while Phool knits him a sweater, the symbol of their interwoven love. In screenings of the film in Nepal and India, there has not been a dry eye in the audience. The background score and music by Kobid Bazra and the powerful rendition by Jhuma Limbu of the ‘Kafle’ strike a strong chord. The cinematography by Chintan Rajbhandari does not glamourise Nepal’s rural landscape, it is shown in its raw misty beauty as a constant backdrop. The viewer is uplifted by the notion that love transcends social restrictions and orthodoxies.&nbsp; The ending is left deliberately unfinished, possibly to make way for a sequel which we can only hope will be as compelling as उनको स्विटर. &nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260301060348_42480e8b6934c9a5c518c44c2970748b341bbbf290c2b303b6aa6359d883567b.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20260301060348_42480e8b6934c9a5c518c44c2970748b341bbbf290c2b303b6aa6359d883567b" data-rendition-name="original" width="1280" height="560" loading="lazy" alt="Unko Sweater"> </figure>  उनको स्विटर / (The Woolen Sweater) Artmandu Nepal, 2025 Directed by Nabin Chauhan 145 minutes Available now on YouTube <div class="embed-block"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lCgtmgiII7M?si=MirwKOwKmxE3jLS6" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>

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