<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181144/636be7229c7e80680e0877e0jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="593"/>In a week when Mt Everest <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/mt-everest-grows-by-86cm/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/mt-everest-grows-by-86cm/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607590316160000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEDzpUR4IreP83wMTrZvrqa6m_knw">grew by nearly one metre</a>, we lost <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/doug-scott-a-giant-among-giants/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/doug-scott-a-giant-among-giants/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607590316161000&amp;usg=AFQjCNG_BLvaOp7Z_18YEJA3tvzQxEtZjg">Doug Scott</a> who with Dougal Haston was the first to scale the formidable southwest face of the world’s highest mountain. He was one of the earlier proponents of climbing Alpine style -- ascents without bottled oxygen, fixed ropes and porters, not expeditions that are executed like military offensives.Among the people Scott and his generation of ‘clean climbers’ inspired were <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuvK--x9wQk" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3DRuvK--x9wQk&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607590316161000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEnG_1EEuXo03THJQsQu7uDy2zxjQ">Élisabeth Revol </a>and her climbing partner Tomasz Mackiewicz, Nirmal (Nimsdai) Purja and Voytek Kurtyka. Their adventures in the mountains are relived in three recent books that are tales of triumph and tragedy in the Himalaya.On 25 January 2018, Revol and Mackiewicz reached to the top of <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=19081#.X9BUE2UzaUk" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D19081%23.X9BUE2UzaUk&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607590316161000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEQ-rBDNaE7XPeII5CB-Ev3Kg9KqQ">Nanga Parbat</a> (8,126m) the world’s ninth highest peak in the Karakoram. This was the second winter ascent of the mountain, and Revol was the first woman to do so. It was already dark when they got to the summit, Mackiewicz became snow-blind, and had severe altitude sickness and frostbite.Revol’s book <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Live-Fighting-life-killer-mountain/dp/1839810173" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amazon.co.uk/Live-Fighting-life-killer-mountain/dp/1839810173&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607590316161000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFZf14YLsrQjA3dcyi0JagMLik8Kg">To Live: Fighting for Life on the Killer Mountain </a>tells the story of her heroic rescue from the Nanga Parbat by two Polish climbers who were on K2 at the time, and the trauma of not just the harrowing descent, but also of having to abandon Mackiewicz in a crevasse at 7,280m on Nanga Parbat’s northwest face.Called the ‘killer mountain’, this enormous pyramid of ice and rock has been claiming climbers’ lives for the past 140 years. The first two Nepali casualties in a Himalayan mountaineering expedition were with British climber Albert Mummery in 1895 when they fell to their deaths on Nanga Parbat.Six more Nepalis were among nine killed in a German expedition in 1934, then 16 others were killed in an avalanche three years later. German climber Heinrich Harrer was captured in 1939 at Nanga Parbat by the British, later fled to Tibet, and wrote Seven Years in Tibet about his adventures and friendship with the young Dalai Lama.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181144/636be7259c7e80680e0877e1jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="796" height="482"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>To Live is Élisabeth Revol’s attempt to come to terms with the loss of her climbing partner, relive the three nights she spent on the mountain waiting for the rescue, and two years later, rationalise for herself why she descended alone.Revol’s account is almost like stream of consciousness diary entry, re-experiencing the thrill of climbing, the shock of discovering that her partner had gone blind on the summit, and carrying him down a treacherous slope of black ice in the dark.This is an extreme saga of survival against all odds. The book reads like the other mountaineering classic, Annapurna, written by Revol’s compatriot Maurice Herzog about the first ascent of an eight-thousander 70 years ago.After staying at 6,780m for a helicopter rescue that does not happen, Revol decides that instead of waiting to die, she would risk going down the Mummery Spur despite severe frost bite, hunger, thirst, fatigue, the darkness and no climbing gear.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuvK--x9wQkThis is also adventure literature at its most spellbinding:‘Everything seems improbably, unreal. I’m descending at night, without a head torch, on a route I don’t know, without any equipment; no ice axe or belay device, no French prusik, no ice screws or dynamic rope. Without having a drink for 55 hours at least. Almost sleepless for 80 hours apart from my daydreams and last night’s hallucinated torments.’This is not a spoiler, since the whole world knows the story: the rescuers arrive.‘Suddenly a beam of light from the slope below pierces the darkness. They climbed up? My God, they climbed up, they climbed up! The beam of the head torch shines on me and I hear: “Adam I have her”.’To Live is a very personal account in which Revol shares the terror of the descent, her friend’s obsession and spiritual bond with Nanga Parbat, and she ends her book with a letter to Tomasz Mackiewicz that is a farewell, and also a personal closure.‘Tomek had freely decided to be free, to make the purity of the mountains his noble passion ... Thank you, Tomek, for being what you were.’As a child in France, Revol had a poster of Mt Everest on her bedroom wall. So, a year after the tragedy on Nanga Parbat, while still wrestling her demons, she decides to climb Everest. She negotiates the traffic jam in May 2019 to descend to the South Col, and also re-climbs Lhotse. She describes the feeling:‘The sunrise over Nepal and the Valley of Silence is magnificent. What luck! I indulge myself in my kingdom, far away from the world, in my element, in solitude. The mountain welcomes me with kindness for the time being ...’**It is also on Nanga Parbat that Nimsdai Purja begins <a href="https://www.nimsdai.com/beyond-possible-book" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nimsdai.com/beyond-possible-book&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607590316161000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGUTkoqqlu6VM_TbLEXHCMoYTMlgA">Beyond Possible: One Soldier, Fourteen Peaks – My Life in the Death Zone</a> with an account of his near-death experience after slipping on ice at almost the same point where a year previously Élisabeth Revol had made her second night’s bivouac on the Kinshofer Route. It was his presence of mind, acute situational awareness and survival instinct that allowed him to arrest his fall.In tone and content, the Revol and Purja books could not be more different. While To Live is about survival, Beyond Possible chronicles an ex-Gurkha commando’s never say die ambition to attain the impossible – climb the world’s 14 highest mountains in seven months. He ended up doing it in 6 months and 6 days, when the previous record by Korean climber Kim Chang-ho was 7 years, 10 months and 6 days. Labeling this kind of extreme mountain-hopping ‘Alpine style’ is not adequate, it demands the fitness of a Special Forces commando that Purja was, and the kind of mental drive and focus that only someone like him could command.Purja lives the Gurkha credo of ‘better to die than to live a coward’. He is out to prove everyone wrong, all those who ridiculed his idea, refused to fund his climbs because they said it was impossible. Which is why Purja called his mission ‘Project Possible’. Quitting is not in Purja’s blood, and more than anything else, his book is a chronicle of how this intrepid soldier-climber overcame every obstacle on his path.These were not just technical challenges on the mountains, but seemingly insurmountable fundraising, bureaucratic, political, hurdles every step of the way. There is money to be raised, climbing permits to be obtained, jealous and cynical skeptics to deal with.It almost seems like the summit is just symbolic, Purja’s single-minded pursuit of his goal and never losing sight of his destination is an inspirational message for everyone in every arena of life.Just like Revol, Purja also has to deal with judgemental social media users moralising from sea level, trolls and people who take extreme pleasure in being just plain cruel and vicious. Revol is accused of leaving her companion to die, while Purja’s purity is questioned for using bottled oxygen. But up there in the high thin air, both are above it all. It is just them and the mountain.Purja’s book, with its macho tone, pages peppered with obscenities and gung-ho accounts of alcohol and partying, can put some readers off. But it is probably an accurate reflection of his persona. What could be seen as self-promotion is also self-discipline – Purja’s credo of leading by example, of trailblazing.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181144/636be7279c7e80680e0877e2jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="512" height="365">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6obZhYgNuRsBesides Nanga Parbat, Purja very nearly comes to grief on Kangchenjunga, Annapurna, K2 and the Gasherbrums, showing us why this kind of climbing is so dangerous. Despite this, he abides by the strict military code of not leaving comrades on the battlefield. The end of the book has Purja’s ‘8 commandments’ on ethical climbing that could be applicable in every other sphere of life.On Annapurna, after summiting the first of his 14 peaks, he helps bring down a Malaysian climber despite being ‘knackered’. He rescues an Indian woman on Everest, and two more Indian climbers on Kangchenjunga. All of them were too far gone to make it, but the important thing is that Nimsdai did not leave them to die on the mountain.In fact, on the mountain Nimsdai Purja behaves more like a commando than a climber. His ‘ascents’ are ‘attacks’, it is either ‘death or glory’, he has to make Broadpeak ‘bomb-proof’, ‘nailing the peak’ is like clearing a minefield. After climbing Everest and rescuing a stranded climber, Nimsdai returned to his unit in Afghanistan, and writes:‘I was back scrapping with the military where I kicked in doors and took down bad dudes, counting off the days until it was time to climb another mountain.’He witnesses the crowds on Everest in May 2019, and his photograph of the ‘traffic jam’ at the South Summit goes viral, but he agrees with Karma Tenzing <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/most-days-its-not-so-crowded-on-mt-everest/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/most-days-its-not-so-crowded-on-mt-everest/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607590316161000&amp;usg=AFQjCNH6fk_VG3UeD_8DRFh65xsLfq_l6Q">who argued in this paper</a> against capping climbers on Everest, and instead vetting them for experience. With each climb, Nimsdai Purja see signs of climate change on the glaciers and slopes and uses his growing profile to become an activist to raise awareness about the melting mountains.Purja wonders if his international fame would have been greater if he had not been from Nepal. He writes:‘It’s highly likely that if I’d been a climber from America, Great Britain or France, then every outlet in the world have noticed the effort. I was also a realist. Those media companies with the biggest global outreach were mainly owned by western investors. The story of a climber from Chitwan and his attempts to scale the world’s tallest mountains in record-breaking time didn’t carry the same impact as a mountaineer working towards a similar goal from New York., Manchester or Paris. Even though I was technically a British citizen, my nationality had positioned me under the radar of almost everyone.’What’s next for Nimsdai Purja? What lies ‘beyond possible’? At the end of the book, he tries to answer this question. The mountains are there to be climbed, and he wants to pick ‘which ones to take and the style to do them’. Indeed, Nimsdai Purja is taking part in the K2 challenge and to repeat his climb, this time in winter.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181144/636be7289c7e80680e0877e3jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="360"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>In her book, The Art of Freedom, Bernadette McDonald calls <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/voytek-kurtyka-unleashed/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/voytek-kurtyka-unleashed/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607590316161000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHEEl3D-Urgg4Tq6iYXZwMzWCy4Gg">Poland’s Voytek Kurtyka</a> the greatest alpinists of all time for the purity of his climbs. Kurtyka was a fierce critic of military-style expeditions to ‘conquer’ the big peaks, he did not consider jumaring up fixed ropes to camps laid out by Sherpas, as climbing.And he practiced what he preached. For this ascetic climber, getting to the summit was not as important as how one got there. Many of his climbing partners like Alex MacIntyre, Jerzy Kukuczka, were killed on the mountains they were climbing. And now Doug Scott, with whom he attempted Nanga Parbat, has also passed.For Voytek Kurtyka, as it is with Élisabeth Revol and Nimsdai Purja, the quest is spiritual, a style of climbing in which a mountaineer meets a mountain one-on-one.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181144/636be72a9c7e80680e0877e4jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="416" height="624"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181144/636be72c9c7e80680e0877e5jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="387" height="585"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181144/636be72d9c7e80680e0877e6jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="405" height="581"><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Live-Fighting-life-killer-mountain/dp/1839810173" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amazon.co.uk/Live-Fighting-life-killer-mountain/dp/1839810173&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607600370665000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFU7v57Lf4mqRv4E1kjNY-plOzieA">To Live</a>Fighting for Life on the Killer Mountainby Élisabeth RevolTranslated from the original French Vivre by Natalie Berry<a href="https://www.v-publishing.co.uk/books/narratives/to-live/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.v-publishing.co.uk/books/narratives/to-live/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607600370665000&amp;usg=AFQjCNG9GNKnZobFsagcdb12QMyGClMFDw">Vertebrate Publishing, </a>2020154 pagesKindle Edition: <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/1839810173/ref=tmm_hrd_used_olp_0?ie=UTF8&amp;condition=used" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/1839810173/ref%3Dtmm_hrd_used_olp_0?ie%3DUTF8%26condition%3Dused&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607600370665000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGnWDfdNjLzdyLOcaHWjy48st0cVg">£</a>8.54    Hardcover <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/1839810173/ref=tmm_hrd_used_olp_0?ie=UTF8&amp;condition=used" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/1839810173/ref%3Dtmm_hrd_used_olp_0?ie%3DUTF8%26condition%3Dused&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607600370665000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGnWDfdNjLzdyLOcaHWjy48st0cVg">£</a>17.60<a href="https://www.nimsdai.com/beyond-possible-book" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nimsdai.com/beyond-possible-book&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607600370665000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGENSlTaz-IgNhYTYV1z71sKcizEg">Beyond Possible</a>One Soldier, Fourteen Peaks – My Life in the Death Zoneby Nimsdai PurjaHodder &amp; Stroughton / SAFU, 2020293 pagesHardcover: £17.18Softcover Nepali Edition: Rs 800<a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=art+of+freedom&amp;i=stripbooks&amp;ref=nb_sb_noss_2" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k%3Dart%2Bof%2Bfreedom%26i%3Dstripbooks%26ref%3Dnb_sb_noss_2&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607600370665000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFrtsMGyKAXnULsRwAkPRWCU73Gzw">Art of Freedom </a>The Life and Climbs of Voytek Kurtyka by Bernadette McDonaldRocky Mountain Books, 2017326 pagesHardcover $32

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Alpine style in the Himalaya

<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191112/636bee284b0ad905ca02ef29jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="593"/>In a week when Mt Everest <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/mt-everest-grows-by-86cm/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/mt-everest-grows-by-86cm/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607590316160000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEDzpUR4IreP83wMTrZvrqa6m_knw">grew by nearly one metre</a>, we lost <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/doug-scott-a-giant-among-giants/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/doug-scott-a-giant-among-giants/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607590316161000&amp;usg=AFQjCNG_BLvaOp7Z_18YEJA3tvzQxEtZjg">Doug Scott</a> who with Dougal Haston was the first to scale the formidable southwest face of the world’s highest mountain. He was one of the earlier proponents of climbing Alpine style -- ascents without bottled oxygen, fixed ropes and porters, not expeditions that are executed like military offensives.Among the people Scott and his generation of ‘clean climbers’ inspired were <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuvK--x9wQk" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3DRuvK--x9wQk&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607590316161000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEnG_1EEuXo03THJQsQu7uDy2zxjQ">Élisabeth Revol </a>and her climbing partner Tomasz Mackiewicz, Nirmal (Nimsdai) Purja and Voytek Kurtyka. Their adventures in the mountains are relived in three recent books that are tales of triumph and tragedy in the Himalaya.On 25 January 2018, Revol and Mackiewicz reached to the top of <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=19081#.X9BUE2UzaUk" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D19081%23.X9BUE2UzaUk&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607590316161000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEQ-rBDNaE7XPeII5CB-Ev3Kg9KqQ">Nanga Parbat</a> (8,126m) the world’s ninth highest peak in the Karakoram. This was the second winter ascent of the mountain, and Revol was the first woman to do so. It was already dark when they got to the summit, Mackiewicz became snow-blind, and had severe altitude sickness and frostbite.Revol’s book <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Live-Fighting-life-killer-mountain/dp/1839810173" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amazon.co.uk/Live-Fighting-life-killer-mountain/dp/1839810173&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607590316161000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFZf14YLsrQjA3dcyi0JagMLik8Kg">To Live: Fighting for Life on the Killer Mountain </a>tells the story of her heroic rescue from the Nanga Parbat by two Polish climbers who were on K2 at the time, and the trauma of not just the harrowing descent, but also of having to abandon Mackiewicz in a crevasse at 7,280m on Nanga Parbat’s northwest face.Called the ‘killer mountain’, this enormous pyramid of ice and rock has been claiming climbers’ lives for the past 140 years. The first two Nepali casualties in a Himalayan mountaineering expedition were with British climber Albert Mummery in 1895 when they fell to their deaths on Nanga Parbat.Six more Nepalis were among nine killed in a German expedition in 1934, then 16 others were killed in an avalanche three years later. German climber Heinrich Harrer was captured in 1939 at Nanga Parbat by the British, later fled to Tibet, and wrote Seven Years in Tibet about his adventures and friendship with the young Dalai Lama.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191112/636bee2b4b0ad905ca02ef2ajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="796" height="482"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>To Live is Élisabeth Revol’s attempt to come to terms with the loss of her climbing partner, relive the three nights she spent on the mountain waiting for the rescue, and two years later, rationalise for herself why she descended alone.Revol’s account is almost like stream of consciousness diary entry, re-experiencing the thrill of climbing, the shock of discovering that her partner had gone blind on the summit, and carrying him down a treacherous slope of black ice in the dark.This is an extreme saga of survival against all odds. The book reads like the other mountaineering classic, Annapurna, written by Revol’s compatriot Maurice Herzog about the first ascent of an eight-thousander 70 years ago.After staying at 6,780m for a helicopter rescue that does not happen, Revol decides that instead of waiting to die, she would risk going down the Mummery Spur despite severe frost bite, hunger, thirst, fatigue, the darkness and no climbing gear.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuvK--x9wQkThis is also adventure literature at its most spellbinding:‘Everything seems improbably, unreal. I’m descending at night, without a head torch, on a route I don’t know, without any equipment; no ice axe or belay device, no French prusik, no ice screws or dynamic rope. Without having a drink for 55 hours at least. Almost sleepless for 80 hours apart from my daydreams and last night’s hallucinated torments.’This is not a spoiler, since the whole world knows the story: the rescuers arrive.‘Suddenly a beam of light from the slope below pierces the darkness. They climbed up? My God, they climbed up, they climbed up! The beam of the head torch shines on me and I hear: “Adam I have her”.’To Live is a very personal account in which Revol shares the terror of the descent, her friend’s obsession and spiritual bond with Nanga Parbat, and she ends her book with a letter to Tomasz Mackiewicz that is a farewell, and also a personal closure.‘Tomek had freely decided to be free, to make the purity of the mountains his noble passion ... Thank you, Tomek, for being what you were.’As a child in France, Revol had a poster of Mt Everest on her bedroom wall. So, a year after the tragedy on Nanga Parbat, while still wrestling her demons, she decides to climb Everest. She negotiates the traffic jam in May 2019 to descend to the South Col, and also re-climbs Lhotse. She describes the feeling:‘The sunrise over Nepal and the Valley of Silence is magnificent. What luck! I indulge myself in my kingdom, far away from the world, in my element, in solitude. The mountain welcomes me with kindness for the time being ...’**It is also on Nanga Parbat that Nimsdai Purja begins <a href="https://www.nimsdai.com/beyond-possible-book" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nimsdai.com/beyond-possible-book&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607590316161000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGUTkoqqlu6VM_TbLEXHCMoYTMlgA">Beyond Possible: One Soldier, Fourteen Peaks – My Life in the Death Zone</a> with an account of his near-death experience after slipping on ice at almost the same point where a year previously Élisabeth Revol had made her second night’s bivouac on the Kinshofer Route. It was his presence of mind, acute situational awareness and survival instinct that allowed him to arrest his fall.In tone and content, the Revol and Purja books could not be more different. While To Live is about survival, Beyond Possible chronicles an ex-Gurkha commando’s never say die ambition to attain the impossible – climb the world’s 14 highest mountains in seven months. He ended up doing it in 6 months and 6 days, when the previous record by Korean climber Kim Chang-ho was 7 years, 10 months and 6 days. Labeling this kind of extreme mountain-hopping ‘Alpine style’ is not adequate, it demands the fitness of a Special Forces commando that Purja was, and the kind of mental drive and focus that only someone like him could command.Purja lives the Gurkha credo of ‘better to die than to live a coward’. He is out to prove everyone wrong, all those who ridiculed his idea, refused to fund his climbs because they said it was impossible. Which is why Purja called his mission ‘Project Possible’. Quitting is not in Purja’s blood, and more than anything else, his book is a chronicle of how this intrepid soldier-climber overcame every obstacle on his path.These were not just technical challenges on the mountains, but seemingly insurmountable fundraising, bureaucratic, political, hurdles every step of the way. There is money to be raised, climbing permits to be obtained, jealous and cynical skeptics to deal with.It almost seems like the summit is just symbolic, Purja’s single-minded pursuit of his goal and never losing sight of his destination is an inspirational message for everyone in every arena of life.Just like Revol, Purja also has to deal with judgemental social media users moralising from sea level, trolls and people who take extreme pleasure in being just plain cruel and vicious. Revol is accused of leaving her companion to die, while Purja’s purity is questioned for using bottled oxygen. But up there in the high thin air, both are above it all. It is just them and the mountain.Purja’s book, with its macho tone, pages peppered with obscenities and gung-ho accounts of alcohol and partying, can put some readers off. But it is probably an accurate reflection of his persona. What could be seen as self-promotion is also self-discipline – Purja’s credo of leading by example, of trailblazing.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191112/636bee2d4b0ad905ca02ef2bjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="512" height="365">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6obZhYgNuRsBesides Nanga Parbat, Purja very nearly comes to grief on Kangchenjunga, Annapurna, K2 and the Gasherbrums, showing us why this kind of climbing is so dangerous. Despite this, he abides by the strict military code of not leaving comrades on the battlefield. The end of the book has Purja’s ‘8 commandments’ on ethical climbing that could be applicable in every other sphere of life.On Annapurna, after summiting the first of his 14 peaks, he helps bring down a Malaysian climber despite being ‘knackered’. He rescues an Indian woman on Everest, and two more Indian climbers on Kangchenjunga. All of them were too far gone to make it, but the important thing is that Nimsdai did not leave them to die on the mountain.In fact, on the mountain Nimsdai Purja behaves more like a commando than a climber. His ‘ascents’ are ‘attacks’, it is either ‘death or glory’, he has to make Broadpeak ‘bomb-proof’, ‘nailing the peak’ is like clearing a minefield. After climbing Everest and rescuing a stranded climber, Nimsdai returned to his unit in Afghanistan, and writes:‘I was back scrapping with the military where I kicked in doors and took down bad dudes, counting off the days until it was time to climb another mountain.’He witnesses the crowds on Everest in May 2019, and his photograph of the ‘traffic jam’ at the South Summit goes viral, but he agrees with Karma Tenzing <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/most-days-its-not-so-crowded-on-mt-everest/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/most-days-its-not-so-crowded-on-mt-everest/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607590316161000&amp;usg=AFQjCNH6fk_VG3UeD_8DRFh65xsLfq_l6Q">who argued in this paper</a> against capping climbers on Everest, and instead vetting them for experience. With each climb, Nimsdai Purja see signs of climate change on the glaciers and slopes and uses his growing profile to become an activist to raise awareness about the melting mountains.Purja wonders if his international fame would have been greater if he had not been from Nepal. He writes:‘It’s highly likely that if I’d been a climber from America, Great Britain or France, then every outlet in the world have noticed the effort. I was also a realist. Those media companies with the biggest global outreach were mainly owned by western investors. The story of a climber from Chitwan and his attempts to scale the world’s tallest mountains in record-breaking time didn’t carry the same impact as a mountaineer working towards a similar goal from New York., Manchester or Paris. Even though I was technically a British citizen, my nationality had positioned me under the radar of almost everyone.’What’s next for Nimsdai Purja? What lies ‘beyond possible’? At the end of the book, he tries to answer this question. The mountains are there to be climbed, and he wants to pick ‘which ones to take and the style to do them’. Indeed, Nimsdai Purja is taking part in the K2 challenge and to repeat his climb, this time in winter.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191112/636bee2e4b0ad905ca02ef2cjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="360"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>In her book, The Art of Freedom, Bernadette McDonald calls <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/voytek-kurtyka-unleashed/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/voytek-kurtyka-unleashed/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607590316161000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHEEl3D-Urgg4Tq6iYXZwMzWCy4Gg">Poland’s Voytek Kurtyka</a> the greatest alpinists of all time for the purity of his climbs. Kurtyka was a fierce critic of military-style expeditions to ‘conquer’ the big peaks, he did not consider jumaring up fixed ropes to camps laid out by Sherpas, as climbing.And he practiced what he preached. For this ascetic climber, getting to the summit was not as important as how one got there. Many of his climbing partners like Alex MacIntyre, Jerzy Kukuczka, were killed on the mountains they were climbing. And now Doug Scott, with whom he attempted Nanga Parbat, has also passed.For Voytek Kurtyka, as it is with Élisabeth Revol and Nimsdai Purja, the quest is spiritual, a style of climbing in which a mountaineer meets a mountain one-on-one.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191112/636bee304b0ad905ca02ef2djpeg.jpg" alt="" width="416" height="624"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191112/636bee314b0ad905ca02ef2ejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="387" height="585"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191112/636bee324b0ad905ca02ef2fjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="405" height="581"><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Live-Fighting-life-killer-mountain/dp/1839810173" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amazon.co.uk/Live-Fighting-life-killer-mountain/dp/1839810173&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607600370665000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFU7v57Lf4mqRv4E1kjNY-plOzieA">To Live</a>Fighting for Life on the Killer Mountainby Élisabeth RevolTranslated from the original French Vivre by Natalie Berry<a href="https://www.v-publishing.co.uk/books/narratives/to-live/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.v-publishing.co.uk/books/narratives/to-live/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607600370665000&amp;usg=AFQjCNG9GNKnZobFsagcdb12QMyGClMFDw">Vertebrate Publishing, </a>2020154 pagesKindle Edition: <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/1839810173/ref=tmm_hrd_used_olp_0?ie=UTF8&amp;condition=used" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/1839810173/ref%3Dtmm_hrd_used_olp_0?ie%3DUTF8%26condition%3Dused&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607600370665000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGnWDfdNjLzdyLOcaHWjy48st0cVg">£</a>8.54    Hardcover <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/1839810173/ref=tmm_hrd_used_olp_0?ie=UTF8&amp;condition=used" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/1839810173/ref%3Dtmm_hrd_used_olp_0?ie%3DUTF8%26condition%3Dused&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607600370665000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGnWDfdNjLzdyLOcaHWjy48st0cVg">£</a>17.60<a href="https://www.nimsdai.com/beyond-possible-book" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nimsdai.com/beyond-possible-book&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607600370665000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGENSlTaz-IgNhYTYV1z71sKcizEg">Beyond Possible</a>One Soldier, Fourteen Peaks – My Life in the Death Zoneby Nimsdai PurjaHodder &amp; Stroughton / SAFU, 2020293 pagesHardcover: £17.18Softcover Nepali Edition: Rs 800<a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=art+of+freedom&amp;i=stripbooks&amp;ref=nb_sb_noss_2" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k%3Dart%2Bof%2Bfreedom%26i%3Dstripbooks%26ref%3Dnb_sb_noss_2&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607600370665000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFrtsMGyKAXnULsRwAkPRWCU73Gzw">Art of Freedom </a>The Life and Climbs of Voytek Kurtyka by Bernadette McDonaldRocky Mountain Books, 2017326 pagesHardcover $32

India and Pakistan are twins separated at birth. Tensions between them have been at a hair trigger ever since independence and has erupted into full scale conflict at least four times in the past 80 years.
The 22 April terrorist attack in Kashmir that killed 25 Indian tourists and a Nepali citizen, threatens to escalate tension between the two nuclear-armed nations. India has squarely blamed Pakistan for the attacks, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given his military “operational freedom” to respond. Pakistan has said it has credible intelligence of an Indian military strike and its officials have promised a “full spectrum” response — a code for a <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/thinking-the-thinkable">nuclear retaliation</a>.
For Nepal, the killing of its national in the Pahalgam attack comes as another stark reminder that in conflicts from Afghanistan to Iraq, from <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/how-to-agree-an-armistice-in-ukraine">Ukraine</a> to Israel, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/10-nepalis-from-one-town-fighting-in-ukraine">Nepalis are getting caught in the crossfire</a>. The last time full-scale fighting broke out between <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/peacemongers-at-india-pakistan-border">India and Pakistan</a> on Kargil in 1999, at least 22<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/india-s-trial-by-fire-for-soldiers-from-nepal?%27%5C%22="> Nepalis fighting for the Indian Army</a> were killed in action.
Three of Nepal’s immediate neighbours (China, India, Pakistan) have nuclear weapons, and they do not have good relations. With China supplying weapons, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/war-and-warming">missile technology</a> and other support to Pakistan, this triangular friction could set off a regional conflagration.&nbsp;
<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s43016-022-00573-0" target="_blank">Research at Rutgers University</a> has calculated that even a week-long tactical nuclear exchange between India and Pakistan would throw up so much smoke and debris into the atmosphere that it would block out the sun for years, and lead to a collapse of the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/grow-nourish-sustain-together-world-food-day">global food system</a>. This does not take into account the radioactive fallout that prevailing winds would blow up to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/lives-on-the-line-in-the-himalaya">the Himalaya</a>, contaminating glaciers that are the sources of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/saving-what-is-left-of-himalayan-rivers">Asia’s main rivers</a>.
The impact of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/climate-breakdown-linked-to-thame-flood">climate breakdown </a>on High Asia was already ringing alarm bells about its <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/himalayan-icecap-melting-faster-than-thought">shrinking ice cap</a> reducing the dry season flow of water downstream. Water was going to be the next strategic commodity, geopolitical experts warned, and the next wars in Asia would be over water.
That water war is already happening. India retaliated to the Kashmir attack by suspending the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/24/world/asia/india-pakistan-indus-waters-treaty.html" target="_blank">Indus Waters Treaty</a> of 1960 mediated by the World Bank that has withstood at least three wars between India and Pakistan. The treaty gives India control over the three eastern tributaries of the Indus (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beas_River" target="_blank">Beas</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ravi_River" target="_blank">Ravi</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sutlej" target="_blank">Sutlej</a>), while Pakistan got water from the Indus and two of its western tributaries (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indus_River" target="_blank">Indus</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chenab_River" target="_blank">Chenab</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jhelum_River" target="_blank">Jhelum</a>.
Pakistan was assured of 70% of the annual flow, and India could use a reasonable amount of water for<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=15231"> irrigation and hydropower</a>. &nbsp;Within days of its threat, India stopped water flowing down to Pakistan from the Chenab river and is reportedly preparing to do the same on the Jhelum.
The sabre-rattling has reached a crescendo. Besides threats and counter-threats there are also symbolic drills, with the Indian Air Force practicing landing on an expressway in Uttar Pradesh by its Rafale, Su-30 and Jaguar fighter jets to demonstrate ‘operational readiness’. In response Pakistan test-fired its Abdali ballistic missile that can carry a nuclear warhead and has a range of 450km.&nbsp;
The danger is that with ultra-nationalist rhetoric and the beating the war drums by both sides, India’s government and Pakistan’s military may have to ‘do something’ to appease domestic public opinion. But any tactical strike, an artillery exchange, or territorial incursion could quickly escalate out of control.
Expecting an Indian retaliation for the Pahalgam killings, Pakistan is using<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/interfaith-collaboration-for-nuclear-disarmament"> nuclear deterrence </a>and warning of “catastrophic consequences”. The two neighbours came close to a nuclear exchange in 2019 after an attack on the Indian military in Kashmir, and prompt international intervention led by the United States cooled tensions.&nbsp;
This time, the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/trump-shock-wave-hits-nepal">Trump administration</a> is too distracted and not as engaged. Pakistan has denied it was responsible for the terrorist attack and called on Washington to stop a possible Indian retaliation. India and Pakistan have stopped overflights by each other’s airlines, and some international carriers have even stopped flying over Pakistan fearing an air war.
Washington, Beijing, the UN and the EU have all urged restraint. Iran, which has good relations with both India and Pakistan has sent its foreign minister to urge both countries not to go into a tit-for-tat war. Iran has its own nuclear flashpoint to worry about with tensions in Israel, &nbsp;Yemen and Syria.
India and Pakistan both share similar problems of joblessness, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/why-nepal-s-poverty-rate-is-stuck">poverty </a>and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/climate-change-new-threat-to-nepal-s-rhinos">environmental threats</a>. Neither side needs the threat of a senseless war, and we in the neighbourhood do not need it either.&nbsp;
Kunda Dixit
This Editorial is brought to you by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/" target="_blank">Nepali Times</a>, in collaboration with <a href="https://inpsjapan.com/en/" target="_blank">INPS Japan</a> and <a href="https://sgi-peace.org/" target="_blank">Soka Gakkai International</a>, in consultative status with UN ECOSOC.

Nukes in the neighbourhood

The newly-formed Himalayan Art Council is set to launch Nepal’s National Art Protection Platform that seeks to preserve <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/the-history-of-heritage">Nepal’s unique cultural heritage </a>using<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/artificial-censorship"> AI-powered tools</a>. The Council seeks to safeguard <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/nepali-art-going-places">Nepali art works</a> from neglect, theft and counterfeiting as well as preserve existing artwork and celebrate living masters by giving them a cultural space to continue the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/sacred-survival">sacred art traditions</a>. "We are introducing a new digital platform designed to preserve, verify and elevate <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-new-generation-of-alternative-artists">Nepal’s art for generations to come,</a>” says a statement from the Council, adding that the digital platform will use AI told for authentication and blockchain to keep track of works of art. Artists can now be protected by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/ayo-ai?fbclid=IwAR1uwmTVq4gUB70ljfRezjzukD9ArWXPuMnUikopeQ8PoiZMjicToPSwhKE&amp;=1">AI tools</a> that detect forgeries, identify their work even when unsigned, and ensure they receive proper recognition and credit. The archives will be searchable with translated inscription and interactive guides. Says curator Meena Lama: “AI and blockchains are tools that give us the power to detect fakes and identify unsigned paintings and track every piece. With these tools we can restore trust, secure authorship and give artists the dignity they deserve.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250514170544_2ab58f6313c0458f75114a692b0016bd9efb3b59d5f8f07f0da72e1e37b82f53.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20250514170544_2ab58f6313c0458f75114a692b0016bd9efb3b59d5f8f07f0da72e1e37b82f53" data-rendition-name="original" width="1300" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Artwork at the Traditional Art Exhibition at Patan Museum."> <figcaption>Artwork at the Traditional Art Exhibition at Patan Museum.</figcaption> </figure>  The Council is also holding an exhibition of Nepali cultural masterpieces with 50 historical <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Buzz-the-art,671">thangka and paubha </a>by past masters and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/between-the-sacred-and-everyday">contemporary works by current artists</a>. This curated collection is a living tribute to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/when-yaks-go-so-does-culture">Himalayan culture</a> with economic depictions of deities, mandala and sacred narratives. The exhibition at <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/a-portal-into-patan-s-past-and-present">Patan Museum</a> also provides an opportunity to meet painters and custodians of art and culture. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/golden-deities">Golden deities</a>, Sewa Bhattarai ‘The exhibition is only the first step in a long journey to ensure that Nepali art is no just seen but fully understood, <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Narratives-of-Faith-and-Memory-Remembering-the-Lost-Sculptures-of-Kathmandu-exhibition,987">protected and remembered</a>,’ the Council says. Artist Kailash K Shrestha of Artudio has spent decades promoting thankha and paubha traditions because of their beauty and devotional meaning. But he also says artists are underpaid, exploited and ignored. He adds, “AI and blockchain are not just buzzwords, they are powerful tools that can protect Nepal’s artists from fraud, verify authenticity and build a permanent record of provenance.” Traditional Art Exhibition Till 17 May Patan Museum

Digital protection for Nepal’s art

The streets of Patan are alive this month with lavender jacaranda trees under rain-washed skies as <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/the-red-god-rises-again-in-patan">the chariot of Rato Matsyendranath</a> is pulled across town. This is the festival of the rain god, and inevitably the heavens opened up and pre-monsoon showers pelted the chariot as it started being pulled in Pulchok last week. Thousands of devotees, onlookers and the chariot procession organisers thronged the streets on the first day last week. The rhythmic cymbals and drums exuded a vibrant energy as the enormous four wheels turned and the chariot lurched.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025051007050_81df97744db16f732a419dc1f1579d235ce3df37642b078f50b83bd4bd026688.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2025051007050_81df97744db16f732a419dc1f1579d235ce3df37642b078f50b83bd4bd026688" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="1503" loading="lazy" alt="Divine chariot"> </figure>  The<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Red-rain-god,3141"> red rain god</a> has Hindu and Buddhist antecedents, alternatively called Bungadya and<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/kathmandu-s-gravity-defying-chariot-festival"> Karunamaya</a> — reflecting Kathmandu Valley’s syncretic mixture of the two religions.&nbsp; “Bungadya is a profoundly <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/12-full-opinion/marketing-the-intangible">intangible form of heritage</a>,” explains heritage expert Monalisa Maharjan. “It embodies traditional knowledge,<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/reviving-nepal-s-craft"> artisanal skills passed down through generations</a>. Local communities and specific families have specified roles in being custodians of the heritage, ensuring their survival over the centuries.” There are many legends and stories about this annual tradition. Lichhavi king Narendra Dev is supposed to have brought Rato Matsyendranath from Assam to Kathmandu Valley to convince Guru Gorakhnath to lift a spell that created a two-year drought in Kathmandu.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250510050520_347a9a398f8a9abc4a7fb4e2774fde8264cccbdce8bdab23851ab3f0e73c3e8a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20250510050520_347a9a398f8a9abc4a7fb4e2774fde8264cccbdce8bdab23851ab3f0e73c3e8a" data-rendition-name="original" width="1503" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Divine chariot"> </figure>  Matsyendranath was Gorakhnath’s mentor, and upon seeing him, the serpents were released, unleashing the rains. The chariot festival honours the return of this life-giving rain. The deity is seen as an icon for thriving agriculture, t<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/before-the-next-monsoon">he arrival of monsoon</a> showers, and the welfare of the community. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/the-reign-of-the-god-of-rain">The reign of the god of rain</a>, Vidhu Prakash Kayastha Till this day, the Rato Matsyendranath festival is no ordinary celebration. Patan does not sleep for a month as the chariot is pulled through various neighbourhoods. It unfolds at a state level with the president (formerly the king) attending the climax of the Bhoto Jatra in Jawalakhel later this month.&nbsp; The intergenerational transmission of tradition is unique in the world, and the reason the festival is one of the most vibrant cultural expressions that thrives despite inroads of modernity. The other unique aspect is that it is a transnational festival, binding Patan with Guwahati in the Indian state of Assam.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025051005058_8bc685ada13045d863b28e3eed91c931da2b510714586af6fd7eb5d1e298a24a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="2025051005058_8bc685ada13045d863b28e3eed91c931da2b510714586af6fd7eb5d1e298a24a" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="1503" loading="lazy" alt="Divine chariot"> </figure>  “Unlike Nepal, where the deity commands grandeur and devotion, many in Assam are unaware of Rato Matsyendranath,” says Khagen Sharma of Gauhati University, which convened <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-assam-connection-revived">a symposium in February in Guwahati on the rain god</a>. Attending was a delegation led by Lalitpur Mayor Chiribabu Maharjan, organisers of the festival, and builders of the chariot. After the symposium, a committee was formed to explore and revive the tradition in Assam as well. Although the team had planned to visit Nepal this month, logistical challenges delayed the trip. Still, there are plans to build a Guru Matsyendranath statue in Assam to reestablish regular worship practices in the Guwahati shrine.&nbsp; The vines used to build the chariot in Patan are sourced from the jungles of Assam. But Sharma notes that in recent years unclear regulations have blocked the official import of the vines, although they are still brought to Nepal informally. The <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/makers-of-machhindranath,2204">chariot making</a> has also had a taste of modernisation in recent times. In the past, even a single nail or piece of steel was avoided. But over time, the wooden structure, particularly the shaft between the wheels, has been replaced with bronze. When that too proved unstable, metal clamps were introduced, which have become a pragmatic compromise.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250510050524_b2a819a5791612f14c81d30fc393dbd3f99f0c64b90a9110e8b0855d944bfa93.jpg" data-media-id="editor_12" data-image-id="20250510050524_b2a819a5791612f14c81d30fc393dbd3f99f0c64b90a9110e8b0855d944bfa93" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="998" loading="lazy" alt="Divine chariot"> </figure>  Another welcome change is the focus on safety. Builders climbing the chariot’s tower now wear harnesses and there are efforts in crowd control. The most visible change in recent years has been the involvement of Patan’s enthusiastic youth in the festival — the tradition is now passing to a new generation. Says Matsyendranath expert Vidhu Kayastha: “There is more energy, the young people in red t-shirts this year were very organised, these modern touches aren’t diluting our culture, they’re keeping it alive in new forms.” He adds, “We are <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/searching-for-a-homeland-away-from-home">reconnecting with our roots</a>, we have more resources, more awareness than ever before. We must not be swept away by western values that may not serve us, and in some ways, cause more harm than good. We must revive our own culture.”&nbsp;

Divine chariot

Most Nepalis thought they had seen the last of it after <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/11-56-25-april-2015-wkc9q2an">the 25 April 7.8 magnitude </a>earthquake ten years ago. But the Himalaya had more surprises in store. On 12 May, another 7.3 magnitude tremor that some said was an aftershock, but was strong enough to itself be a major earthquake, struck Dolakha.&nbsp; Not many people had heard of Singati till then — a cluster of houses by the Tama Kosi River along a narrow gorge that is the roadhead to Rolwaling Valley.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250508110520_57b6e316656851f71eca56ca6f98d9bbcc820c1a00d62af3c990725b4361244d.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20250508110520_57b6e316656851f71eca56ca6f98d9bbcc820c1a00d62af3c990725b4361244d" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="1500" loading="lazy" alt="Climate magnifies earthquake risk in Nepal village NT"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250508110520_016534fb2b6a79957402281cda768efb83a146786377e39e11df3e251d37159e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20250508110520_016534fb2b6a79957402281cda768efb83a146786377e39e11df3e251d37159e" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Climate magnifies earthquake risk in Nepal village NT"> </figure>  It was here that dozens were killed on 25 April in the first earthquake. Hundreds of <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Singati-rising-from-rubble-rebuilding,3703">Singati survivors</a> had lined up for food and relief supplies in the morning of 12 May when the second earthquake triggered a rock slide that buried a nearby camp. At least 50 people were killed. &nbsp; Three hours later, a US Marine Corps UH-1Y Venom helicopter landed in a nearby cornfield to pick up the wounded, and flew off. The aircraft lost contact with air traffic control in Kathmandu and its wreckage was located high on Kalinchok four days later. Six American servicemen, two Nepal Army soldiers, and five wounded civilians from Singati were killed. Today, Singati bears little physical scar of the multiple tragedies that struck the town ten years ago. Most <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/bungamati-builds-back">houses have been rebuilt</a> as urban-style concrete structures, and Singati has become an economic hub on the road leading up to several hydropower plants and a<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/off-the-beaten-trek-in-nepal"> popular trekking destination</a>.&nbsp; The town looks less like a village and more like a suburb of the Dolakha district headquarter of Charikot, 47km away.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250508110520_196f341d1df1403ba133e5dfeb837eec20d7cbcb4c8c56b17cc5598810de5df2.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20250508110520_196f341d1df1403ba133e5dfeb837eec20d7cbcb4c8c56b17cc5598810de5df2" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Climate magnifies earthquake risk in Nepal village NT"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250508110524_ae66c4a92430f67db51b5e11e017059eedfbac4cb18c8e073f2a50cca1fe904e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20250508110524_ae66c4a92430f67db51b5e11e017059eedfbac4cb18c8e073f2a50cca1fe904e" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Climate magnifies earthquake risk in Nepal village NT"> </figure>  “The demand for construction material, cement, iron rods and bricks peaked after the earthquakes,” says Suresh Khadka, who owns a hardware business here and now supplies material to the 456MW Upper Tama Kosi hydropower project that is undergoing repairs after it was damaged by a landslide last year. The demand for cement boomed since most residents believe, not necessarily correctly, that <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/in-a-disastrous-state">cement houses are safer</a>. Although Khadka did well selling construction material after the earthquake, he worries that most new structures do not follow seismic-resistant building codes.&nbsp; The construction boom financed by bank loans has in turn forced many from Singati to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/making-overseas-migration-better">migrate overseas for work</a> so they can service their debt.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250508110524_50caa4530bd5ff9120cf7ab70a62173846d337ef448ff8bac339f3faa375a9e2.jpg" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="20250508110524_50caa4530bd5ff9120cf7ab70a62173846d337ef448ff8bac339f3faa375a9e2" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Climate magnifies earthquake risk in Nepal village NT"> <figcaption>Suresh Khadka</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250508110520_ef8b7d3993fc3b5df852bbf952feb3fbabc96d6883b0d5eb74ee5c60f4123b83.jpg" data-media-id="editor_11" data-image-id="20250508110520_ef8b7d3993fc3b5df852bbf952feb3fbabc96d6883b0d5eb74ee5c60f4123b83" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Climate magnifies earthquake risk in Nepal village NT"> <figcaption>Phu Doma Sherpa (right)</figcaption> </figure>  “My family had no choice but to borrow money to rebuild our home since the government compensation was not enough, and ten years later we are still paying off the loan,” says Phu Doma Sherpa, 60. Because of the shortage of qualified masons and proper seismic engineering, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/structural-problems">many of the buildings are of questionable building standards </a>and the traditional architecture has been abandoned, admits Kul Bahadur Budathoki, deputy chair of the municipality. “But these buildings were more expensive than what the government grants could cover, many people here are heavily in debt and the men have <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/every-day-is-closer-to-pay-day">migrated to the Gulf to pay their loans</a>,” Budathoki says.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250508110520_32f89e97b7e757fc9286c0bbb671f48ea8d4468e9634fa646d7247c650ad8480.jpg" data-media-id="editor_14" data-image-id="20250508110520_32f89e97b7e757fc9286c0bbb671f48ea8d4468e9634fa646d7247c650ad8480" data-rendition-name="original" width="1501" height="1079" loading="lazy" alt="Climate magnifies earthquake risk in Nepal village NT"> <figcaption>Kul Bahadur Budathoki</figcaption> </figure>  Singati is in a multi-hazard zone. The <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Singati,3091">12 May 2015 earthquake </a>could have led to the collapse of Nepal’s largest glacial lake, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/stairway-to-heaven">Tso Rolpa</a>, upstream. Due to global warming, the glacier has turned into an expanding lake 3.5km long, and its collapse would have unleashed a catastrophic Himalayan tsunami down the Tama Kosi Valley, with Singati directly in its path. Singati has literally risen from the ashes of 2015, with its residents beginning to recover from the trauma and financial toll. But it is not out of danger as <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/climate-breakdown-linked-to-thame-flood">climate breakdown </a>magnifies the risk from future earthquakes.

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Divine chariot

Climate magnifies earthquake risk in Nepal village