Heritage champion, exponent of women’s empowerment, philanthropist and founder of <a href="https://www.dwarikas.com/our-story/">Dwarika’s Hotel</a>, Ambica Shrestha, passed away in hospital on Thursday after a brief illness. She was 92.&nbsp; Of her many accomplishments, the Dwarika’s Hotel which was named after her late husband Dwarika Das Shrestha stood as a monument to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HM6kNBEbJg">cultural and architectural preservation</a>.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024071811078_4e670c49f82675e42c25ced2adb251f0b8d22e7ddfe024c396d98b23c283de54.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="2024071811078_4e670c49f82675e42c25ced2adb251f0b8d22e7ddfe024c396d98b23c283de54" data-rendition-name="original" width="1094" height="1424" loading="lazy" alt="Ambica and Dwarika Das Shrestha"> <figcaption>Ambica and Dwarika Das Shrestha in 1972.</figcaption> </figure>  The unique multiple award-winning hotel in Kathmandu used carved wooden windows, columns, eaves and other priceless objects rescued from ancient buildings that were being torn down over the past decades to make way for modern structures. Many of the carved wooden architectural elements in Dwarika's Hotel are therefore museum pieces. The hotel served as a living <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/time-capsule-of-kathmandu">memorial to Kathmandu Valley civilisation</a>, and underlined the importance of heritage conservation among Nepalis. The construction of the hotel also revived Nepal’s ancient wood carving and construction techniques in building and maintaining the property.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240718110712_d83d18d655703d2cfb4b73697f7d73a8029db9dedb4e8962fa5ea874890befc0.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20240718110712_d83d18d655703d2cfb4b73697f7d73a8029db9dedb4e8962fa5ea874890befc0" data-rendition-name="original" width="1600" height="799" loading="lazy" alt="Dwarika's Hotel"> </figure>  Besides the hotel, Ambica Shrestha was the founder of Nepal Heritage Society, a strong proponent of gender empowerment and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/so-far-so-good/four-years-later-nepals-farmers-rise-from-the-rubble" target="_blank">women in business</a>, and led the <a href="https://www.bpwnepal.org.np/" target="_blank">Federation of Business and Professional Women of Nepal</a> (BPWN). She was the Honorary Consul General of Spain in Nepal, and was conferred the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/business/spain-award" target="_blank">The Order of Isabella</a> medal by the Spanish government in February this year. She also served as Chair since its inception in 1998 of Himalmedia, the company that publishes Nepali Times.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024071811078_346a6328f28b8fc6258a08fa4153b25ef9c8cdd930ae7174ba59ab7fe028bee2.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="2024071811078_346a6328f28b8fc6258a08fa4153b25ef9c8cdd930ae7174ba59ab7fe028bee2" data-rendition-name="original" width="1600" height="1019" loading="lazy" alt="Ambica Shrestha"> </figure>  She and her husband founded Kathmandu Travels and Tours, and entered the tourism business in the 1970s during the coronation of King Birendra, and built Dwarika’s Hotel, expanding it in installments over the years. Today, the company also runs a resort in Dhulikhel. Ambica Shrestha’s family was from Sikkim and she moved to Kathmandu after getting married to Dwarika Das Shrestha in 1955, and had three children. She is survived by two daughters, grand- and great-grandchildren. <a href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DreZU7utOln0%26fbclid%3DIwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR1MZTUnnVTS8VLQPDO00hH_vDCWLBqJwKU_SdGi5R_69E6y9mx1_kDZUv4_aem_nxpD2cG4ruLKtHfqea0jLA&amp;h=AT2f1qT8yFYATI51q6lK-Q3jFOEgCSGNravpZsSZZgxCUxp8_3R1oOjUH33-O97BMVjh-tNpNvngrsWYxUoamkr-ga4e1WJ-EPeD5nx7QmfwlBCkMht3NL4p82CtX4cMajO9Ag">Ambica Shrestha</a> used to say: “There is no shortcut to success, it is a long struggle to preserve our past for the future. And it helps if you ensure that no one in society is left behind.” Read also: <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=1181">Brick by brick by brick</a>, Aarti Basnyat Farewell and tributes from 8-11AM Saturday 20 July at Dwarika's Hotel.

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Ambica Shrestha, 92

“She’s gone” the choked voice of her daughter on the call from Auckland said it all. “Please can you tell her friends in Nepal?” As I caught my breath and gazed at the cloud-shrouded Annapurna peaks beyond the balcony, it dawned on me that a great lady had departed. Lady June Hillary died on 1 June 2024 surrounded by her daughters, grandchildren and great grandchildren in the Auckland care home overlooking the green fields and leafy avenues of Cornwall Park. A tireless friend of Nepal, June was a supportive wife to Sir Edmund Hillary and played a significant role in his life and work. In her own right, she served for decades as Nepal Honorary Consul-General to New Zealand and was patron of the New Zealand Nepal Society, promoting cultural understanding and ensuring that Nepal's rich heritage and traditions were celebrated and appreciated in New Zealand. She chaired the Himalayan Trust New Zealand for several years after Sir Ed’s death, 16 years ago.&nbsp; Dinesh Khadka, the current Honorary Consul-General in Auckland wrote: “Lady Hillary was an exceptional individual whose contributions to Nepal and the Nepalese community in New Zealand were immeasurable." The Himalayan Trust New Zealand farewelled her on social media: "June was involved in the Himalayan Trust since its beginnings through her friendship with Ed and Louise. She had a deep fondness for the Himalaya and the people of Nepal.”&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240605070652_b1aee69338867a35c7b1045c01784d1a0ff5e398eea3038f5405601c6893d5cb.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20240605070652_b1aee69338867a35c7b1045c01784d1a0ff5e398eea3038f5405601c6893d5cb" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="1333" loading="lazy" alt="Lady June Hillary NT"> <figcaption>Photo courtesy of Susan Hayman</figcaption> </figure>  As lamps were lit and pujas planned throughout the mountains, Himalayan Trust Nepal posted: “Lady June Hillary made significant contributions to the humanitarian initiatives to support the people of Nepal throughout her life. She was a very good friend of the Sherpas. Her dedication and compassion touched countless lives and will continue to inspire us all.” Effortlessly stylish in her trademark navy and flowing scarfs, never a hair dared escape her elegant silver chignon, even on remote trekking trails. From their home in Remuera Auckland, she accompanied Sir Ed on his punishing schedule of global public appearances, event openings and Himalayan Trust appeals. Perhaps most of all she will be remembered for her dogged dedication to the wellbeing of Sir Edmund Hillary, a great man in both stature and accomplishments who had been felled by the double disaster of losing his wife Louise and youngest daughter Belinda in the Kathmandu plane crash in 1975.&nbsp; June is credited with lifting her husband out of the devastation and deep withdrawal that followed this tragedy, Sir Ed’s saviour, his "steadfast support system". &nbsp;“June enlivened Ed's last decades, or maybe even more accurately she kept him alive after the accident,“ wrote Australian filmmaker Michael Dillon, who spent many months with the Hillarys.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240605070656_449daafceb96e7b336baf2a75e5e445cb329e78c153b10372226afed37ec9d41.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20240605070656_449daafceb96e7b336baf2a75e5e445cb329e78c153b10372226afed37ec9d41" data-rendition-name="original" width="778" height="1128" loading="lazy" alt="Lady June Hillary NT"> <figcaption>Sir Ed and June Hillary, Richard Blum, Elizabeth Hawley at the consecration of Thyangboche monastery 1993.</figcaption> </figure>  Raised a catholic in post-war Wellington, June was first married to Peter Mulgrew with whom she had two daughters, Robyn and Susan. A close friend of Sir Ed, Peter was a dashing figure, a mountaineer and yachtsman, who had both feet amputated after a climbing accident on Makalu. The foursome were close friends, travelled together and helped during the early years of the Himalayan Trust. In 1979, Peter was killed in the Mount Erebus air disaster, a sightseeing flight lost over the Antarctic on which he was the celebrity commentator, ironically as a stand-in for Sir Ed. It was perhaps inevitable after these catastrophes that Sir Ed and June found strength and solace in each other. At Sir Ed’s side, June accompanied him to New Delhi during his four-year stint as New Zealand High Commissioner from 1985 – her unwed status regularised as his Official Companion. They only married after their return to New Zealand in 1989. It was during his frequent visits to Nepal as Ambassador that I first got to know June. I loved her caring tenacity, her feisty humour and especially her acerbic wit. June’s fierce and gallant commitment to Sir Ed’s best interests were not always well understood or appreciated, but we knew Sir Ed could not manage without her.&nbsp; Sir Ed was a towering figure, but Lady June was equally staunch at his side, discrete, always there, ever watchful. No stranger to controversy, newspaper reports of which she did not approve would be dismissed as “wrapping for tomorrow’s fish and chips” with an unhappy shrug. But as a grounded Kiwi, she deftly navigated the privilege and pitfalls of being married to a national hero and “the greatest New Zealander”. After a fundraising dinner in San Francisco, June twinkled: “Quite fun, being seated between Warren Beatty and HH the Dalai Lama.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240605070656_a52200f895b5fc8d7116243c1aabd64b5664abf3785236a961b5b56856218e27.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20240605070656_a52200f895b5fc8d7116243c1aabd64b5664abf3785236a961b5b56856218e27" data-rendition-name="original" width="600" height="450" loading="lazy" alt="Lady June Hillary NT"> <figcaption>Sir Edmund Hillary and Lady June Hillary. Lady June deftly navigated the balance of public and private life with Sir Ed. Photo: LISA CHOEGYAL</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240605070656_f3f4d1e77fb4911ad911eefd18f78d02a9dc06d1838f3717fc0121952db86aef.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20240605070656_f3f4d1e77fb4911ad911eefd18f78d02a9dc06d1838f3717fc0121952db86aef" data-rendition-name="original" width="1280" height="844" loading="lazy" alt="Lady June Hillary NT"> <figcaption>Lady June with Sir Edmund Hillary, King Charles III and Helen Clark, former Prime Minister of New Zealand.</figcaption> </figure>  As Jim Edward’s guests at Tiger Tops they joined us to present Elephant Polo trophies and party at New Year’s Eve in Chitwan between diplomatic duties and philanthropic trips to the Khumbu. Together they opened Tiger Mountain Pokhara Lodge in 1998, and June returned to celebrate our 10-year anniversary. The 50 year anniversary of the first Sagarmatha summit, 29 May 2003, was a hot day in the splendid British Embassy residence gardens. Live broadcasts anchored by TVNZ presenter Mark Sainsbury linked the Sherpa dancing and celebrity interviews with events in New Zealand. Ang Dooly was there to celebrate and remember Mingma Norbu, Kanchha, Pertemba, Lhakpa Norbu, Ang Rita and many others. As the sun beat down and guests sipped drinks, June passed the phone to Sir Ed and he spoke to his son Peter on Everest. I suggested perhaps they would like a break and a shower. “We’re not like that” June laughed it off, always the trooper. “We’ll just carry on.”&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024060702060_ff8c84dd4383c443e7920bddb3aecf683ff41234a3001c92350426870fb65f0b.png" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="2024060702060_ff8c84dd4383c443e7920bddb3aecf683ff41234a3001c92350426870fb65f0b" data-rendition-name="original" width="640" height="391" loading="lazy" alt="Lady June Hillary"> <figcaption>Lady June in Nepal in 1961.</figcaption> </figure>  At Sir Edmund Hillary’s state funeral in January 2008, a visibly shaken Lady June sat swathed in black beside Prime Minister Helen Clark as the service was broadcast around the world. The iconic image of her touching the casket in farewell was entirely spontaneous, she told me afterwards. June had thought Sir Ed was being discharged from hospital, “but instead, he died that morning.” It was a moment she frequently recalled. Forever linked with Sagarmatha and the Sherpas, Lady June’s death comes just days after the 71st anniversary of Sir Edmund's historic first summit of Mount Everest with Tenzing Norgay, and a week before the centenary of George Mallory and Andrew Irvine’s disappearance high on the northern ridges of Everest in 1924.&nbsp; But Lady June Hillary deserves her own accolades and recognition, independent of the Burra Sahib. A “classic lady,” she is remembered as “wonderfully funny, with a tremendous sense of style” and her own special brand of purpose and destiny. It was an honour to have known her.&nbsp;

Lisa Choegyal

Lady June Hillary 1931 - 2024

James Harris (‘Jim’) Simons, the mathematician and billionaire philanthropist who set up a foundation to improve Nepal’s healthcare system, died in New York on 10 May, aged 86. Jim Simons was an award-winning mathematician who pioneered quantitative investing and gave away much of his billions to support mathematics education, scientific research and various humanitarian causes. But his life was marked by family tragedies. His elder son, Paul, was killed in New York in 1996 in a traffic accident, and his younger son, Nick drowned in Bali in 2003 after a volunteering stint in Nepal.&nbsp; Nick Simons had written letters home from Nepal about his experience in rural health posts, and was determined to become a physician so he could help the underprivileged in poorer parts of the world.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240511120528_08e9e9ec5b9faa6a852fb5a4b5a8586526935cb8a9c8c61fd329fb8e4d7466e4.png" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20240511120528_08e9e9ec5b9faa6a852fb5a4b5a8586526935cb8a9c8c61fd329fb8e4d7466e4" data-rendition-name="original" width="596" height="812" loading="lazy" alt="Nick Simons"> <figcaption>Nick Simons with a friend in Nepal in 2003. He died soon after while swimming in Bali.</figcaption> </figure>  After Nick’s tragic death, Jim Simons and his economist wife Marilyn travelled to Nepal several times to set up the <a href="https://www.nsi.edu.np/overview" target="_blank">Nick Simons Institute (NSI)</a> to back up government hospitals in rural areas with training, equipment and budgetary support. Since it was established in 2006, NSI has invested more than $100 million in Nepal’s health sector and now supports 45 district hospitals and health facilities. Most of the institute’s work is behind-the-scenes and not visible to the public, like its help with training nurses and anaesthesiologists, maintaining biomedical equipment, and in retaining qualified medical staff in remote rural hospitals by topping up salaries. <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=11436" target="_blank">Jim Simons once told Nepali Times</a>: "Rural health care is not a new problem in Nepal, and there are lots of people addressing the issue. What makes NSI unique is that it will do this job better than it has ever been done with an emphasis on quality and training.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240511020552_a9bbf2070d0ace34db48799e7c76f8f18a221750b5f2bcb5fda3a87b2eb97769.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20240511020552_a9bbf2070d0ace34db48799e7c76f8f18a221750b5f2bcb5fda3a87b2eb97769" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Jim Simons NT"> <figcaption>Marilyn and Jim Simons in Nepal in 2012. Photo: KUNDA DIXIT</figcaption> </figure>  Indeed, the Simons made several visits to Nepal in 2003 soon after their son died, talking to health experts to see where support would be most catalytic and meaningful. They decided to do this not by running their own hospitals, but by working with the government in developing sustainable solutions in rural healthcare and scaling it up. "With the establishment of the Nick Simon's Institute in 2006, Jim was clearly a game changer for enhancement of rural health in Nepal. &nbsp;Also what is unforgettable about Jim was his amazing sense of humor in telling a story, his sharp intellect, and how he did not suffer fools lightly," says <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=18356" target="_blank">Buddha Basnyat</a>, a physician who is in the executive committee of NSI. The Simons often said they would probably never have been involved in Nepal’s health sector had it not been for their son Nick, who had found fulfilment helping Nepalis and wanted to return to live and work here.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240511020556_761b7ed7926bbf26b24c5e8ab06df077019280451bc1d4efc5bd3c5d44e740bb.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20240511020556_761b7ed7926bbf26b24c5e8ab06df077019280451bc1d4efc5bd3c5d44e740bb" data-rendition-name="original" width="904" height="1382" loading="lazy" alt="Jim Simons NT"> <figcaption>Marilyn and Jim Simons in Nepal in 2023 with Patty Weisenfeld of Nick Simons Foundation. Photo: KUNDA DIXIT</figcaption> </figure>  Jim Simons went through three phases in his life: as a mathematician, an investor and a philanthropist. As a maths professor, he found solutions that are still used to solve problems in physics and astronomy. He then set up <a href="https://www.rentec.com/Home.action?about=true" target="_blank">Renaissance Technologies</a> that used his talent in mathematics to analyse complex financial data and forecast global share markets. That is how he made billions, much of which he re-invested in improving STEM education in American schools, in exploring the universe, or trying to find the causes of autism.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240515170536_5ea1f3742ee715ce95ee11a82dfcc6991be56b827f5dff8d6c58824f836763e1.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20240515170536_5ea1f3742ee715ce95ee11a82dfcc6991be56b827f5dff8d6c58824f836763e1" data-rendition-name="original" width="1001" height="784" loading="lazy" alt="Jim Simons"> <figcaption>Health expert Aruna Uprety at a school algebra class in western Nepal.</figcaption> </figure>  After the death of his sons, Jim Simons sought solace in solving mathematical puzzles in his head. One morning at the leafy Summit Hotel in Kathmandu, the proof came to him in a flash of a puzzle that had bedevilled him for a long time.&nbsp; ‘Jim was an exceptional leader who did transformative work in mathematics and developed a world-leading investment company,’ the <a href="https://www.simonsfoundation.org/2024/05/10/simons-foundation-co-founder-mathematician-and-investor-jim-simons-dies-at-86/" target="_blank">Simons Foundation</a> said in a statement announcing his death on Friday.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240515170536_e4c458bcc5f9daf7d8833bb0bffc98304224be100b88cde3ade7c7ae41067cd5.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20240515170536_e4c458bcc5f9daf7d8833bb0bffc98304224be100b88cde3ade7c7ae41067cd5" data-rendition-name="original" width="2008" height="1396" loading="lazy" alt="Jim Simons"> </figure>  Besides NSI, the <a href="https://www.nicksimonsfoundation.org/" target="_blank">Nick Simons Foundation</a> was involved in other health-related activities in Nepal, including building the new <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=15138" target="_blank">maternity wing at Patan Hospital</a> and supporting <a href="https://www.nyayahealthnepal.org/" target="_blank">Nyaya Health Nepal (NHN)</a> that runs <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-s-rural-lifeline" target="_blank">Bayalpata Hospital in Achham District.</a>&nbsp; Jim Simons once said: “Nick opened up a whole new world to us. We have met so many wonderful people who otherwise we never would have known. Nepal is a gift that Nick gave us.”

Kunda Dixit

Jim Simons' gift to Nepal

Five-time Everest summiter and climate activist David Breashears died on 14 March at his home in Massachusetts in the United States, aged 68. Breashears shot the IMAX film Everest about the 1996 tragedy when eight climbers were killed, and also <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z01ve9gV4y8" target="_blank">co-produced the movie Everest</a> in 2015 starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Josh Brolin about the 1996 deaths. While shooting another documentary in 2015, he had to be rescued by helicopter from Camp I when an avalanche triggered by the earthquake killed 19 people at Base Camp. <div class="embed-block"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/z01ve9gV4y8?si=MvVVH0MERMdK_qia" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></div> Breashears specialised in repeat photography of old images of the Alps and the Himalaya to visually document the impact of climate breakdown, and through his group GlacierWorks took part in the multimedia <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/page/living-through-the-himalayan-thaw" target="_blank">Climate+Change exhibition</a> in Kathmandu in 2014. The exhibition had Breashear’s before and after photography of Himalayan glaciers, comparing pictures taken in 1921 by George Mallory of the Rongbuk Glacier on the north side of Mt Everest to show how much it had shrunk by 2009.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240316030312_6d5b0461ee77deda302ea6f97ed3da6ab23f94cfdc326c863a2a59c894139a2d.png" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20240316030312_6d5b0461ee77deda302ea6f97ed3da6ab23f94cfdc326c863a2a59c894139a2d" data-rendition-name="original" width="998" height="976" loading="lazy" alt="david bearshears"> </figure>  Breashears was worried what the Himalaya would look like in 100 years, and <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/interview/What-will,423" target="_blank">told Nepali Times in an interview</a> ten years ago: ‘Those of us who have climbed Everest for the past 33 years have seen the changes taking place under our own feet. Now our crampons scrape and scratch across hundreds of feet of exposed rock and the snow arête that Hillary climbed no longer exists. The route is entirely on rock.’&nbsp; Himalayan glaciers are <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/here-today-gone-tomorrow" target="_blank">retreating and shrinking</a> much faster than what was forecast ten years ago, and just as Breashears predicted garbage and bodies of dead climbers are being <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nepali-times-buzz/climbing,424" target="_blank">exposed by thawing ice</a> high on the mountains. In the spring climbing season, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMKRC7oZhpY&amp;t=51s" target="_blank">a river now runs through Everest Base Camp</a>. <div class="embed-block"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iMKRC7oZhpY?si=qi36WvBaA8Texx1U" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></div> <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nepali-times-buzz/climate-change-exhibition-icimod,1248" target="_blank">Reviewing the Climate+Change</a> exhibition at the Nepal Art Council in 2014, Nepali Times wrote: ‘It was the top floor, with <a href="http://nepalitimes.com/page/living-through-the-himalayan-thaw" target="_blank">GlacierWorks</a>’ sweeping Himalayan vistas … which really brought home the reality of climate change in Nepal – a veritable Damocles’ Sword if there was one.’ In a brief statement to <a href="https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/everest/david-breashears-dies/" target="_blank">Outside Magazine</a>, Breashear’s family said: ‘It is with tremendous sadness that we share the news of David Breashears’ untimely passing. David was a beloved brother, uncle, father, friend, and colleague and a caring, impassioned advocate of adventure, exploration, and the health of our planet.’ The statement added: ‘What fulfilled him the most – where he’d want his legacy to lie – is his non-profit organization, GlacierWorks, which he founded in 2007 to highlight the Himalayan glaciers through art, science, and adventure. He used his climbing and photography experience to create unique records revealing the dramatic effects of climate change on the mountain range.’ Breashears once said in a Reddit interview: "Nepal is my favourite place on earth."

Climber-activist David Breashears, 68

Götz Hagmüller, the Austrian architect who made the preservation of Kathmandu Valley’s cultural heritage his life’s work died on Friday in Bhaktapur, the town he helped restore. Hagmüller died peacefully in his sleep at Kuthu Math, the former pilgrim’s guesthouse in Bhaktapur which he helped restore and where he lived for most of his life in Nepal. He was 85. Hagmüller first came to Nepal in 1979 to help with the Bhaktapur Development Project, the German government initiative that over two decades helped restore the crumbling town and upgrade its facilities.&nbsp; He never left. After Bhaktapur, Hagmüller went on to be involved in the restoration of Kaiser Mahal’s Garden of Dreams, the Patan Museum and the restoration of the Patan palace, as well as numerous buildings in Bhaktapur including the unique 8-cornered Chyasilin Temple and the Kuthu Math. He also helped restore the house that would become <a href="https://www.expedia.com/Bhaktapur-Hotels-Milla-Guesthouse-Bhaktapur.h92473444.Hotel-Information?semcid=US.UB.GOOGLE.PT-DSA-c-EN.HOTEL&amp;semdtl=a115386231949.b1135483319172.g1dsa-1395323010651.e1c.m1EAIaIQobChMIk8aNnN2OhAMVeqhmAh1XnQzzEAAYASAAEgLx9fD_BwE.r1.c1.j19070019.k19070016.d1660853990790.h1.i1.l1.n1.o1.p1.q1.s1.t1.x1.f1.u1.v1.w1&amp;gad_source=5&amp;gclid=EAIaIQobChMIk8aNnN2OhAMVeqhmAh1XnQzzEAAYASAAEgLx9fD_BwE" target="_blank">Milla Guest House</a> in Bhaktapur.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240203090236_94149caf4a2b8f520f36a07d71f328a86a87e9676608c09ce44a0d549b53302f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20240203090236_94149caf4a2b8f520f36a07d71f328a86a87e9676608c09ce44a0d549b53302f" data-rendition-name="original" width="1517" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Götz Hagmüller NT"> </figure>  He made the 300-year-old <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=19497" target="_blank">Kuthu Math</a> pilgrim’s rest house his home, &nbsp;spending three decades restoring the courtyard’s architecture that <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/style-and-substance" target="_blank">retained the original look </a>and feel of the Kathmandu Valley civilisation that was being steadily overtaken by urban expansion. The restoration of Patan Museum, Bhaktapur and Kaiser Mahal are models of heritage conservation, and an inspiration for architects not just in Nepal but around the world. Kuthu Math’s courtyard with its moist greenery is a serene oasis in Bhaktapur’s urbanscape, and murals that were discovered in the interior walls during restoration have been carefully preserved. “It is my determination to preserve the spiritual core of the Valley that keeps me motivated,” Hagmüller once told Nepali Times. “Kuthu Math is aesthetically pleasing, and remains as practical to live in as it is beautiful.” The young Hagmüller studied architecture at Technische Universität in Vienna, and discovered early on that he was much more fascinated by aesthetics and beauty than engineering calculations. Later, he was involved in conservation work in Angkor Wat in Cambodia and Luang Prabang in Laos before he came to Nepal to work for the Bhaktpur German project in 1979.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240203090236_bc300643137a0eb900bf640b0b5a3382e36ea1f009def3386c3b821d626dd232.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20240203090236_bc300643137a0eb900bf640b0b5a3382e36ea1f009def3386c3b821d626dd232" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Götz Hagmüller NT"> <figcaption>Kuthu Math, the former pilgrim’s guesthouse in Bhaktapur. Photo: THOMAS KELLY</figcaption> </figure>  The legacy of Hagmüller’s life’s work in Kathmandu was not just to preserve its cultural legacy, but to make his projects sustainable. Having worked with the Nepal government, he understood that maintenance and sustainability were weak points — it was not enough just to restore a heritage site. He ensured that <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/patans-museum-piece" target="_blank">Patan Museum</a> and Garden of Dreams had local trusts that would be its custodians. Patan Museum, for instance, gets more than 50,000 visitors a year and the entrance fees are ploughed into upkeep and expansion work. Towards the end of his life, with memory failing, Hagmüller would worry about what was happening to his beloved Kathmandu Valley with its population explosion and haphazard growth.&nbsp; “A lot has changed. Some of the buildings I cannot recognise anymore as I walk through the old streets of Bhaktapur," <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/The-guardian-of-the-shadows-%20G%C3%B6tz%20Hagm%C3%BCller,3352" target="_blank">Hagmüller told Nepali Times in 2017</a>. “But personally I’m very content with my own work, I wouldn't have done anything differently.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240203110232_cf1b5767bac04cfc04da5903355113eeff3ff654a3c2640cca281d56542c9fcc.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20240203110232_cf1b5767bac04cfc04da5903355113eeff3ff654a3c2640cca281d56542c9fcc" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="400" loading="lazy" alt="Götz Hagmüller"> </figure>  In 2001, Hagmüller was conferred the Gorkha Dakshin Bahu national medal by <a href="http://nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=11394#.V2JNsrt97IU" target="_blank">King Birendra</a> in recognition of his preservation work. The <a href="http://www.bundespraesident.at/en/functions/rights-and-responsibilities/decorations-of-honour/" target="_blank">Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art</a> was also awarded to him at a <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/G%C3%B6tz-Hagm%C3%BCller-awarded,3099" target="_blank">ceremony in 2016</a> in the Patan Museum courtyard, which he helped restore. “It is very very special for me to get this award from the Austrian government at the Patan Museum, which was Austria’s first big contribution to the cultural preservation in Nepal,” <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYRvihUH8t4" target="_blank">he said after the award</a>. Despite failing health, Hagmüller worked on the two-volume <a href="https://www.wolf.at/produkt/a-picture-book-of-my-life-2-volumes-set-signiert/" target="_blank">A Picture Book of My Life</a> that was published in 2017, and is available in Kathmandu bookshops.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240203110236_9acb180ab80363319130ab45e27fc403e6f727e938e3a4af8198bef6b0982dab.jpg" data-media-id="editor_13" data-image-id="20240203110236_9acb180ab80363319130ab45e27fc403e6f727e938e3a4af8198bef6b0982dab" data-rendition-name="original" width="1200" height="1600" loading="lazy" alt="Götz Hagmüller"> </figure>  Watch <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYRvihUH8t4" target="_blank">video clip</a> of the Austrian Cross award ceremony.

Kathmandu’s legacy is Götz Hagmüller’s legacy

In April 2011, Himal Khabar published a list of 51 bills and 10 treaties and agreements registered in the Parliament Secretariat, questioning the effectiveness of the Speaker in Parliament. The Speaker was Subhas Chandra Nembang.&nbsp; The report concluded that the Constituent Assembly and the Legislative Parliament were not constructive as Speaker Nembang had not been able to hold CA members accountable for their wrongdoings.&nbsp; Nembang, to whom the magazine reached out routinely for comment, did not refute the report, or even address it in public. &nbsp; In his 42-year-long political career, Subhas Chandra Nembang was known for his politics of consensus, cooperation, and communication. His personal philosophy of tolerance and accommodation extended not only to politics but also to the media.&nbsp; The UML vice-chair and former Speaker of the House passed away early Tuesday morning due to a heart attack at his Baluwatar residence. He was 71.&nbsp; In an interview about state restructuring, Nembang said in 2009, “It is wisest to analyse Nepal’s circumstances objectively and protect our achievements. Those who are uncompromising in their positions may soon find themselves having missed the forest for the trees.”&nbsp; Many were critical of Nembang’s moderate politics. But over time, his analyses of Nepal’s politics would mostly come to be on the mark. &nbsp; Nembang had the ability to present disagreeable topics in a dignified manner, something that has become uncommon in Nepal’s political leadership. It would not be wrong to call him a gentleman of Nepal's politics. &nbsp; He was among a rare breed of Nepali politicians who understood the dynamics between politics and the press, expressing his respect towards media freedom even when journalists were critical of him. &nbsp; When called on the phone for a quote, he would respond with, “It is much better to speak in person.” &nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230912160912_df1d51cc05a1dcba55b1a4eaa9aac9389af9af6fdd00133c10b1d5511b8aaf00.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20230912160912_df1d51cc05a1dcba55b1a4eaa9aac9389af9af6fdd00133c10b1d5511b8aaf00" data-rendition-name="original" width="3594" height="2396" loading="lazy" alt="2015 constitution promulgation"> </figure>  Over the years, during meetings at his office in the Parliament building in Baneswor, the Speaker’s residence in Baluwatar, Singha Darbar, the UML party office in Balkhu or his Pioneer Law Associates, the gist of his conversation would always be the same: “Himal, Pahad, Tarai need to unite. There is no alternative to consensus.”&nbsp; Nembang was a shrewd communicator, often telling media personnel during conversations: “Quote me on this, and attribute the rest to ‘sources’”.&nbsp; Nembang was born in 1953 in Ilam’s Suntalabari village. He was politically active in the UML since his student days in 1971 at the Ilam Multipurpose Campus when he was elected chairman of the All Nepal National Free Students Union.&nbsp; Nembang, whose father was a district judge, followed his footsteps into law. As a lawyer, he was general secretary of the Nepal Bar Association in 1987. He was also a faculty at the Kathmandu Law Campus.&nbsp; He was first elected to parliament from Ilam’s second constituency in 1991, and a second time in 1999. He also served as the Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs in communist Prime Minister Manmohan Adhikari’s government.&nbsp; Nembang served as the Speaker of the House in 2006 and as chair of the Constituent Assembly in both 2008 and 2014. He was also the Speaker in 2015. With his constitutional and legal background, he is also credited with contributing significantly to the promulgation of Nepal’s 2015 Constitution. He became the UML vice-chair in 2018. In November 2022, he was once again elected to parliament from Ilam’s second constituency. He was subsequently the UML nominee for Nepal’s President but lost to coalition presidential candidate Ram Chandra Paudel during the presidential election in March.&nbsp; During his four decades in politics, Nembang cultivated an image of an easy-going, approachable leader, and was seen as a non-confrontational politician who often took the initiative to resolve deadlocks in disputes within the UML, while also crossing ideological lines to mediate among Nepal’s feuding political parties.&nbsp; In an age of cynical, kleptocratic and regressive politics, Nepal will miss Nembang’s gentle ways.&nbsp;

The gentleman of Nepal's politics is gone

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131128/637234af9c7e80680e0c4948jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="854"/><figcaption>Hubert Decleer with rhesus monkeys in Swyambhunath. Photos: SIERRA GLADFELTER</figcaption></figure>These past weeks I have been thinking a lot about <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Himalayan-passages-tibetan-and-newar-studies-hubert-decleer,1966" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Hubert Decleer</a>, who died a year ago at age 81.I vividly remember when he related his cancer diagnosis via video call in early 2021, his remarkable wife, poet Nazneen Zafar, sharing the cramped screen and the awful news.But Hubert was happily himself when we spoke that day, me in Washington, DC, and Hubert and Nazneen at home in Chhauni in Kathmandu. As I teared up, Hubert was gently pragmatic.With a wry smile he said that “the end must come to each of us”. He was grateful, grinning, for “the very good life” that he had lived, and expectant, eyes bright, in preparing for the next great journey. At his death on 25 August 2021 at home near the glorious, self-emergent chaitya of Swayambhu, Hubert was still the teacher and consummate connector of people that he had been for decades.In these times of darkness and separation, half-truths, untruths and ignorance let us refresh our human connections with friends, with idiosyncratic mentors, with poets, musicians, and even neighbours. These connections to unique minds and hearts are what make us human and push us to new, uncharted places — as Hubert Decleer did for so many.Hubert read widely in Buddhist texts, translating and annotating works that literally traced journeys: of Buddhist pandits, translators and pilgrims, and the transmission lineages and pith instructions they spread.A traveller himself, he came overland from Belgium to Asia in 1963, continuing for dozens of trips afterward, often at the helm of a tour bus wending through Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan before reaching India.He particularly loved ancient biographies and pilgrimage guides, partly because they showed us what many 11th-century Newars, Biharis and Tibetans already knew — and we often seem to forget at our peril — that the world is awash with artistic and spiritual borrowing, copying, trading. Humans are eminent cross pollinators.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131128/637234b39c7e80680e0c4949jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="427" height="640"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Hubert would trace references, footnotes, oral legends across centuries, as if they were the clues to a completely current mystery: Bengali and Kashmiri pandits who passed through the Valley en route to Tibet, or an eminent Tibetan reincarnate Lama, down from the cold plateau in the mid-18th century, writing praises to the ‘Lord of the Plain’ (our Great Black One of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/kathmandu-loses-its-open-spaces/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Tundikhel</a>).Hubert was absolutely an old-school intellectual, researcher and digger into texts. But his feet firmly planted on the ground, and he loved a good yarn being himself a master storyteller. He used that gift as an educator: in print, in formal lectures and in private conversations with students.As a teacher, and powerfully well-read and reflective individual, Hubert could be intimidating. Formidable. He wanted to hear not only what you thought, but how … what kind of a person are you?Hubert watched you. He listened. He noticed. I found that unnerving. But there was no pretence, instead a quick readiness to admit the things he knew “nothing about” (though that wasn’t usually true). He expected authenticity and integrity without ever using those exact words — because he lived in that space.He seemed to ever be bringing his students to questions, goading them to ask, and pursue the unknown. He believed that young people, a priori, could do original research contributing to what we all could learn, something his students at first found hard to believe about themselves.Most of all, Hubert wanted people to leave their bubbles:  travel, truly observe the world and the people you meet, and treat them with deep respect. He was interested in what the so-called ‘ordinary', working people did. What taxi drivers, porters and dishwashers thought.We both shared a love of the old Hindu and Buddhist trope of the hidden yogi, a figure who enlivens a good tale and serves as cautionary reminder about the pitfalls of mistaking appearances for truth. The dakini sitting on the bus. The camp cook, or shepherd, or the kid next door,  who is actually a siddha — if you could just see.Hubert also had a profoundly tender side, and either it grew over the years or he let me notice it more: memories of him feeding huge rhesus mama monkeys, his head slightly turned away, arm extended with a bit of old potato, as the whole troupe surrounded him.Travelling to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-salt-of-the-earth/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Tibet</a>, he was (rightly) often more concerned about whether drivers and local guides had eaten enough and had warm clothing than he was about the American students in tow. When you needed something, he would literally jump up from his seat and set about finding you this book or that manuscript, or recommending a local expert you really should meet.And I will never forget his great compassion when I brought up a difficult conversation to him on a visit back to Nepal ten years ago, or more now. I had feared his judgment, and found love and openness instead.He was curious about so much beyond the texts he pored over and translated. His love for music, visual arts and history made his face gleam and the talk flow.Conversations, especially from 1999–2009 when I lived in the Valley, could range from a new film I must see, his “very limited” (in fact, quite the opposite) experience of learning the sarod, to the things I, as an anthropologist, “must know something about,” for instance the contemporary Native American cultures and experiences in the US, what history did we learn in U.S. schools and had I visited “reservations”? Could I explain American obsessions with the end times and the “rapture”, which led to long digressions on millenarian movements across societies? And, of course, what was happening all around us in the Kathmandu Valley, in Nepal and in the wider Himalayan region? Hubert was a seasoned traveller, but from 1980 until his death, Kathmandu was his only home.Hubert did not ever seem to complain. He expected challenges, and he expected work. He was one of the greatest exemplars of the cumulative powers of certain daily practices: reading and translation, exercising powers of observation, working with self-doubt, appreciating unexpected small joys.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131128/637234b59c7e80680e0c494ajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3776" height="2520"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>What was better than Hubert laughing, eyes lit up, over a stupid pun? Or humming along, punctuating the air with mouth-trumpet sounds, as he listened to a Delta blues track he couldn’t believe I didn’t know. And Hubert and Nazneen shared one of the greatest romances and partnerships that I have ever witnessed. Wonderful hosts, constantly bringing different people together at their table, but also a complete universe unto themselves.Hubert Decleer died as he lived: never wanting to make a fuss, always looking after others, and very aware of his surroundings. That he passed away sitting up, with his body unmarked by any signs of decay for three days after his heart stopped (during Kathmandu’s monsoon season), is both utterly remarkable and, somehow, not.A man who lived so simply, whose only true possession was a room (or two) of books, his passing was the expression of his life and his daily practices. To teachers, mentors and friends of the heart like Hubert: we keep you with us. We gratefully remember.Peter Moran was the Executive Director of the binational Fulbright Commission in Nepal 2005-2009 and is currently the Director of the Humphrey Fellowship Program for the Institute of International Education in Washington, DC.

Remembering Hubert Decleer

<figure><img width="720" height="480" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101124/63720a179c7e80680e0b5580jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Paul Farmer visiting Bayalpata Hospital in Achham run by Nyaya Health Nepal on its third anniversary in 2012. Photo: DEEPAK BISTA/NHN</figcaption></figure>When we were in 11th grade, my friends and I wanted to bring healthcare services to an impoverished village near Pokhara, my hometown. The best solution we could imagine was what is colloquially called a ‘health camp’: show up in a village with a doctor and some medications, go through hundreds of patients in a few hours, and leave.  We believed that since doctors and medications were expensive, and the poor could not pay, a health camp was the best we could do. In college, my anthropology professor introduced me to the <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2000/07/10/the-good-doctor" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2000/07/10/the-good-doctor&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1645761874284000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3b9WqU9uyWoWQXT8nuhnk4">work</a> and writings of the physician and medical anthropologist Paul Farmer, who described relegating the poor to such meager services as, quite simply, a ‘failure of imagination’. His influence transformed my thinking regarding the most vexing problems in global health: the poor are not to blame for their economic condition and its attendant health challenges. Rather, the blame falls on our collective lack of imagination, which is rooted in, to borrow another phrase from Paul, ‘the idea that some lives matter less’. And that is how Paul began to live in my mind, as he did for thousands of others interested in healthcare.  Paul provided the requisite vocabulary to make sense of deep inequities, and he inspired with his actions. He and his team at the non-profit, Partners in Health, have brought life-saving healthcare services to indigent populations by supporting 230 healthcare facilities in 12 countries.  His work inspired me to go to medical school and co-found the non-profit organization <a href="https://possiblehealth.org/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://possiblehealth.org/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1645761874284000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0lctDu7mtRSz9-LxQCCK2B">Possible</a> with other like-minded medical students, all of us committed to expanding high quality healthcare in rural Nepal.  We had no track record, credibility, or adequate funding but Paul supported us. Graciously, he joined our Board, advised and mentored us, helped make connections, and let us leverage his credibility to raise funds. On the Partners in Health website, he <a href="https://www.pih.org/pages/mission-partners-supported-projects" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.pih.org/pages/mission-partners-supported-projects&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1645761874284000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0QSINhU0jOZ6rB98WFGhQo">included Possible</a> as an organisation expanding the mission for high quality care for the poor.  He shared his expansive platform by including <a href="https://www.pih.org/article/mental-health-in-nepal" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.pih.org/article/mental-health-in-nepal&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1645761874284000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3_FbKTKhT2o1BEL7JLC2RV">Possible’s work</a> alongside his. His generosity could have cut into his own fundraising efforts, but he always rejected the belief that the pie is small, and we should fight over it. He inspired us to fight for a bigger pie, and he willed that world into existence. Back in Nepal, we began with a small clinic in Achham, where 250,000 people had no access to even a single doctor. We faced many detractors, and sometimes we doubted ourselves. But his words, spoken clearly and earnestly, helped us form our moral compass and inspired a determination that would not countenance failure.  Because more funding was available for HIV programs, many advised us to open an HIV clinic, but we knew that Achham needed comprehensive services beyond strictly HIV care. Well-meaning supporters lamented, sounding much as my friends and I had in high school, that the best we could do was a series of health camps. Surely, they fretted, there was no money for anything long-term.  People seemed to have an unspoken collective agreement that when it comes to serving the poor, there are not enough resources. Paul had a phrase to describe this social myth: ‘socialisation for scarcity’. The reality is, he taught, there are enough resources in the world to provide high-quality health services to every poor person, but we fail to make this a reality. We back away from this challenge, simply because we assume it is not possible.  A well-wisher suggested that we build something in Kathmandu rather than in rural Nepal because people in Kathmandu can pay for services. This time, we thought of another phrase that Paul popularised as a reminder that the system needs to be built to serve those with the greatest needs. He called this ‘a preferential option for the poor’.  In 2009, we established <a href="https://www.nyayahealthnepal.org/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nyayahealthnepal.org/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1645761874284000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2daT7Rc6LOR2LKA2EjC2hS">Nyaya Health Nepal</a>, a Nepal-based sister organisation to Possible, and collaborated with the Nepal government to expand to <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=17650#.YhaPTejMKPo" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D17650%23.YhaPTejMKPo&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1645761874284000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3m5v35ikDhKesjhvT5U0Tp">Bayalpata Hospital</a>. In 2012, Paul <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2012/06/22/dr-farmer-comes-to-nepal/?fbclid=IwAR2CfOIxGCHSF4JfjKrloDWHXpBJfI9sZLjtj88cWvajfHhPs9si9iCa7Tk" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2012/06/22/dr-farmer-comes-to-nepal/?fbclid%3DIwAR2CfOIxGCHSF4JfjKrloDWHXpBJfI9sZLjtj88cWvajfHhPs9si9iCa7Tk&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1645761874285000&amp;usg=AOvVaw201XBVs_ztoxyj50hJZze8">visited Bayalpata</a>, rounding on patients with the local clinicians, teaching and inspiring with his intellect and humor. He expressed genuine admiration towards the healthcare workers living and serving in rural Nepal.  He somehow managed to express more gratitude than he received, in a way most people would not expect from someone with his level of accomplishment. After the 2015 earthquake, our team expanded to Dolakha, and at its peak, was overseeing three permanent hospitals with 350 staff: a long way from sporadic health camps. A few years ago, I was in a small global health conference and we were waiting for Paul Farmer to speak. As most busy speakers do, we expected him to sweep in, give a talk, and jet off to the next event. I felt a tap on my shoulder. It was Paul. I was surprised to see him with the audience. We hugged. He asked me how I was doing and wanted to know how he could help with our work in Nepal. I thanked him for having highlighted the importance of mental health in high-profile global health meetings.  He thanked me for working in mental health, <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Neglect-of-the-neglected,3157" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Neglect-of-the-neglected,3157&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1645761874285000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0auYYYnEoYwjjdnKwxAe0y">a persistently ignored area</a>. He then walked around the room, surprising and personally checking in with several people who were working in different parts of the world. Later, the organisers told me that Paul had asked for the list of attendees so he could check in with the people he knew were doing similar work in global health.  He did not need to do any of this. He had a way of being present with you, listening, inspiring, and building solidarity for his commitment to the most vulnerable. On 21 February, 2022, Paul passed away in his sleep in Rwanda, where he had been teaching and seeing patients at the University of Global Health Equity, a <a href="https://ughe.org/the-story-behind-the-university" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://ughe.org/the-story-behind-the-university&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1645761874285000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2OnM0VBt6sfqmNWZknDP__">world-class university</a> that he helped to establish. He was 62. He left behind three children and his wife, Didi Bertrand Farmer, a medical anthropologist from Haiti.  As Bill Gates <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2022/02/paul-farmer-obituary-bill-gates/622876" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2022/02/paul-farmer-obituary-bill-gates/622876&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1645761874285000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2pWB2FnOg2yFeVjuBWHH4X">wrote recently</a>, the void Paul left cannot be filled by anyone. But I know that although he is gone, his work will continue through how he influenced us, through his incisive writing and inspiring legacy. He will continue to live in my mind, urging us not to succumb to failures of imagination, and instead to fight against socialisation for scarcity to boldly build a preferential option for the poor.Bibhav Acharya, MD is a psychiatrist, an Associate Professor at University of California San Francisco, and co-founder of <a href="https://possiblehealth.org/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://possiblehealth.org/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1645761874285000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2uxxH-GIR4y6Vtn4zPKdmr">Possible</a>, a nonprofit organization that has been working to improve health care in Nepal since 2007.<a href="https://twitter.com/BibhavAcharya" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.com/BibhavAcharya&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1645761874285000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2b7VkvX7y7Myrrsnt6EM7o">@BibhavAcharya</a> <img width="77" height="109" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101124/63720a199c7e80680e0b5581jpeg.jpg" alt="">Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/at-the-covid-19-frontlines-in-rural-nepal/"> At the Covid frontlines in rural Nepal</a>, Priti Thapa

Paul Farmer on my mind

<figure><img width="2082" height="1266" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141132/636cfdb69c7e80680e0a0bfdjpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>The newly developed ayurvedic 'centre of excellence' is nestled beneath the forests of Nagarjun, just half an hour from Kathmandu. The centre is a legacy of ayurvedic doctor Rishi Ram Koirala who passed away last week.</figcaption></figure>I had an appointment with Rishi Ram Koirala the day before he suffered his fatal heart attack. Last week Nepal has lost one of its most celebrated ayurvedic practitioners, the founder and medical director of the renowned <a href="http://The newly developed ayurvedic 'centre of excellence' is nestled beneath the forests of Nagarjun, just half an hour from Kathmandu. The centre is a legacy of ayurvedic doctor Rishi Ram Koirala who passed away last week." target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ayurveda Health Home</a>.
It was a fortuitous blessing that I was able to see him one last time, taking a friend for a consultation. Whilst we sipped glasses of tulsi tea in the clinic’s waiting area heavy with the scent of oil and powder, I struggled to find any bone fide complaints to waste his precious time.
Dr Rishi’s kind brown eyes seemed to sparkle with health. “It’s been years,” he greeted me. Wearing a voluminous green gown, blue hair net, surgical gloves, double masks and a face shield, the eyes were all I could see of his slight, sprightly figure. But enthusiasm and gentle wisdom shone through the clear plastic sheet.
“You are lucky to be so healthy at your age.” I muttered something about preferring to lose some weight and could feel his dismissive hidden humour: “It must be your inner nature. How are <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/dads-deception/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Tenzin and the boys</a>?” We caught up with family news and updates on his practice. I wish now the I had thought to ask him how he was.
Dr Rishi took my pulse in his little office across the courtyard of the Dhapasi clinic, flanked by two of his junior doctors similarly adorned in full PPE, learning skills from the master. On the walls were colourful renditions of the naked body showing ancient pressure points, chakras and energy channels. Stacked on shelves were rows of red-topped glass jars containing mysterious medicines of essential natural ingredients, herbs, tablets and dried plants.
“I’ve been busy, still lecturing all over the world via Zoom, and I’ve just submitted a paper on ayurvedic policy for the National Planning Commission and Ministry of Health.” His eyes sparkled. 
“And we are now producing our own medicines from home-grown herbs and plants on our land beyond Nagarjun. We are expanding our factory to process these, taking advantage of the government restrictions on importing pharmaceuticals and trying to break the stranglehold of the cartels exporting all <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-grass-is-greener-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepal’s best medicinal plants</a> to India.”
Dr Rishi’s reputation as a skilled and compassionate doctor, ayurvedic master and yogic practitioner with three decades of experience, extends across the globe. With degrees from Banaras and Kathmandu, his <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/the-return-of-the-baidyas,1623" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">ayurvedic expertise</a> was based on nearly 12 years of intensive studies. 
I ask about Covid-19, and Dr Rishi explains that ayurvedic remedies are particularly effective in its prevention, building up the body’s immunity, and to restore strength during the recovery period. Their 12 doctors and over 30 professionals do not provide healthcare for infectious diseases.
First established in 1995, the Dhapasi clinic was expanded in 2001 as a joint venture with Marilies Foerster, a German nurse who Dr Rishi describes as “our sister”. The extensive family partnership is anchored by Badri Koirala his younger brother, and their sons and daughters, some of whom have enriched the enterprise by combining conventional western medical qualifications with their knowledge of traditional techniques.
Dr Rishi and his family’s pioneering <a href="http://ayurvedacenternepal.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">panchakarma centre</a> in Nepal is unique in South Asia. Considered to be the essence of ayurveda, panchkarma is a holistic process designed for maintaining and supporting inner harmony. Consisting of cleansing, detoxifying, immune-enhancing, rejuvenating, and curative measures against disease, it restores harmony and balance to the mind, emotions and senses. Treatment programmes impart the benefits of pure natural products and holistic healing techniques developed from the subtle ancient knowledge of the Vedas.
Many foreigners and Nepalis have benefitted over the years with courses of therapy prescribed by Dr Rishi’s team of devoted trained professionals. Pre-pandemic groups of Europeans and Americans would arrive with a range of ailments, often staying for several weeks at a time. 
“Foreigners of 122 nations have taken our services, including high-ranking officials from Russia and the Middle East,” he said.
In anticipation of the return of this loyal international following, the Ayurvedic Health Resort is being developed as an ‘ayurvedic centre of excellence’ on a forested slope behind Nagarjun. Bordering on the national park and community forest, this sylvan retreat consists of a hotel of 28 rooms with wholesome vegetarian food and dedicated space for treatments, teachings, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/yoga-in-the-time-of-covid-19/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">meditation and yoga</a>. 
Nurseries and flower beds cultivate the finest quality herbal plants, and a production unit processes oils, potions and remedies according to the most efficacious medical tradition.
Huge picture windows at the comfortable new Nagarjun centre overlook the dense green cradle of forest that reverberates with life, birds call during the day and insects by night. An unseen river gurgles below the steep drop off below my balcony, and the occasional aircraft passes overhead. 
During our monsoon visit mists threaded the valleys, tendrils of clouds draped the hilltops and rain hammered the roof. Badri explains the building reflects the principles of vastu shastras, and it exudes peace and serenity from the moment we arrive. The weekend prescription plan of curative activities includes abhyanga massages, body scrubs, steam chambers, the oil flow of shirodhara and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/reclaiming-singing-bowls/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Himalayan singing bowl</a> therapy.
Kathmandu Valley is a spiritual melting pot of great healers. From all points of the compass the ancient therapeutic traditions converge in the shadow of the Himalaya – Ayurveda from India, Tibetan and Chinese. Some practitioners are a well-kept secret, revealing themselves only when necessary and only to those in need.
Rishi Ram Koirala was a quiet modest man, but his <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=10642#.YSHLzi2B2fQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">healing skills</a>, diagnostic expertise and extraordinary knowledge were widely respected throughout the world. His legacy will live on with the Ayurvedic Health Resort enterprise, but he himself will be sorely missed by many.

The good doctor

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141128/636cfcf99c7e80680e0a0bbajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2212" height="1368"/><figcaption>RajKumar Shakya with a model of the Bhairab under construction at the southern edge of kathmandu. Photo: NEPAL ART VILLAGE</figcaption></figure>Raj Kumar Shakya who died of Covid-related complications in June at age 54 was <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=15838&amp;fbclid=IwAR08cUD5kjOEeKVekuAE_IXLtXzZbV--CuvbZzBPksyH9KeKN_tS2-ta3xY#.YRXm0S8w3u1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the world’s foremost repoussé sculptors</a>, excelling in the craft of preserving traditonal methods of forging malleable metal sheets into devotional art objectsHaving met, known, and worked with Raj Kumar for nearly three decades, his short life is a lesson on what it takes to be a successful artist. This was a tragic loss to Nepal, and to the world, where his work is on display from Bhutan to Japan, from Shanghai to Munich.Raj Kumar was passionate about his art and craft, and set big goals. When it came to any assignment, no matter what the size or scale, Raj Kumar knew he could do it. He came across as supremely confident about his abilities, and there were few tasks that he could not fulfil.But he was also realistic, and knew his own capacity. However, he was always eager to take it to the next level to test his own limits. The colossal statue of <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/page/nepali-craftsmen-build-biggest-padmasambhavan-statue-in-bhutan?fbclid=IwAR0Gq5QRh25Gb3biTmwiBC0dLt5WhMX9fl4CVhtIp_L2Tm5Z0n9Ya58qvzo" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Guru Padmasambhava that Raj Kumar built in Bumthang of Bhutan</a> will stand as a testament to his talent as an artist and, yes, even his engineering and logistical expertise.Comparable in size and scope to the Statue of Liberty in New York, the Padmasambhava in Bhutan is also made from the repoussé method that Raj Kumar had perfected and scaled up during his short working life.<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/rebuilding-temples-a-chance-to-creat-jobs-and-to-revive-woodcarving-industry%20,2347">Carving out a niche</a>, Sonia Awale<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141128/636cfcfc9c7e80680e0a0bbbjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="750" height="500"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Raj Kumar succeeded because he had the passion, and he believed in himself. The time and effort it took to craft each of the masterpieces the artist has gifted to the world did not matter to him, because he loved what he did. He was dedicated to promoting and preserving the repoussé art form, and all the skills and techniques that went with it. The most important lesson of his life is that we must not be afraid to set big goals.Raj Kumar’s art did not exist in a vacuum. He was rooted in the community, and articulated his craft through traditional art of the Kathmandu Valley. He learnt from countries like South Korea and Japan that in any major project, human resource is the most valuable -- and the biggest variable.Therefore, he was always on the lookout for skilled people like himself, or <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/modern-day-arniko/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">young passionate artisans </a>whom he knew he could train. He inducted them into his team and then painstakingly and generously shared his knowledges and skills with them.For this, he knew trust was essential. It was this mutual trust that he was able to expand his work into the larger community, and the community reciprocated that trust and respect. Raj Kumar was always at the forefront, engaged in many community events, speaking there about the need to preserve tradition. He spoke clearly and persuasively, putting out his ideas as any good communicator.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/coming-out-of-the-woodwork/">Coming out of the woodwork</a>, Kunda DixitRaj Kumar Shakya was also a mentor, and this is his most important legacy – ensuring that his knowledge and skills were passed on to the next generation. He was worried that there were too few families left in Kathmandu carrying on the repoussé tradition. <figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141128/636cfcfe9c7e80680e0a0bbcjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="750" height="500"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>It is Raj Kumar’s efforts in the past 30 years that has revived the skills and talent not just to Patan, but to Nepal and beyond to the world.A whole new generation of successful artists in Patan have benefitted from working with Raj Kumar, where they started from scratch, making mistakes and learning along the way, under the watchful eyes of the master.As more and more work was generated, more young people returned to their <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/featured-videos/out-with-the-old-in-with-the-new/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">traditional craftmanship</a>. With economic growth in Asia and greater understanding of Buddhism and its significance, the demand for these skills will grow.Raj Kumar understood and applied science, technology and geometry to his work. The ability to open minds to new and relevant information, new tools, and techniques and to constantly be learning are the key characteristics of a successful person.Raj Kumar was one of the early users of computers in his work, employing CAD and mixing the latest technology to refine traditional craftsmanship. He insisted that his colleagues and protégé learn the science, be good with numbers – and he practiced what he taught.He could generate 3-D computer models of whatever he was working on, and use these perspectives also to teach. He felt that art made without perfect mathematical proportions did not do well in the market. This ability and dedication to combine the best of modern applied science with traditional art is what made his creations so successful. And once his work was scaled to large sculptures, these architectural and engineering calculations mattered more than ever.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141128/636cfd019c7e80680e0a0bbdjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="473" height="577"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Most artists do not know much about business, and some are even proud of the fact. The history of art is replete with geniuses who died paupers, and whose works today fetch millions of dollars in auctions.Not Raj Kumar. He was a good businessman, with a sense of the art market and knew how to promote his work. He had built a large network of suppliers, shippers and skilled workers who he could mobilise. He was good at raising money for large work, and sometimes invested his own earnings well – and this allowed his firm (<a href="http://onmetalart.com/menu/view/21" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">On Metal</a>) to expand. Many artists and smaller businesses benefitted from On Metal contracts.After finishing his famous Bhutan statue in Bhutan, Raj Kumar was working on other large orders when he died: a large Buddha statue in Lumbini, restoration work at Mahabouddha, and he had taken up his dream project of putting up the largest and tallest mask of the Bhairab at the southern edge of the Kathmandu Valley in the <a href="https://www.nepalartvillage.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepal Art Village</a> (NAV).If we really want to honour the legacy of Raj Kumar Shakya, his life and work this project must be completed. Fortunately, he leaves behind a new crop of traditional artists to carry on his work.Read also:  <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=37788&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Crafting a heritage,</a> Shriluna Shrestha

Anil Chitrakar

Rajkumar Shakya, 1967-2021

A Saurya Airlines aircraft crashed immediately after it took off from Kathmandu airport this morning at 11:11AM. 18 of the 19 people on board died, all of them Saurya Airlines engineers and staff. There was a Yemen national among the dead, as well as the wife and child of an employee of the Airlines.&nbsp; The flight, with call sign 9N-AME, was undergoing a C Check, which is a comprehensive test that a plane has to pass on a regular basis. The plane was headed to a hangar in the Pokhara International Airport for a part check-up.&nbsp; It is unclear why a test flight was carrying so many passengers.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240724100712_f2a35a9b1d7f37e675f9b9f0b70508fb5cdaff06cbcb02c6c7d9a776e11f9dbc.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20240724100712_f2a35a9b1d7f37e675f9b9f0b70508fb5cdaff06cbcb02c6c7d9a776e11f9dbc" data-rendition-name="original" width="1029" height="1600" loading="lazy" alt="Saurya Airlines Nepal crash NT 1"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240724100712_533614914a383fb4659fe1ae09e617a6301fcdb3e37b05ad40a04fb78508bac5.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20240724100712_533614914a383fb4659fe1ae09e617a6301fcdb3e37b05ad40a04fb78508bac5" data-rendition-name="original" width="900" height="1267" loading="lazy" alt="Saurya Airlines Nepal crash NT 1"> </figure>  Footage shows the plane making it about 30 metres high before violently veering right and crashing east of the runway. It plummeted into the ground and burst into flames, skidding ablaze into a container. The plane body was incinerated.&nbsp; According to a press release by Nepal Police, 18 bodies were recovered and taken to Teaching Hospital for post-mortem. Captain Manish Ratna Shakya is the only survivor of the crash. Shakya sustained injuries to his eye and will survive. He is being treated at Kathmandu Medical College in Sinamangal, near the airport.&nbsp; Prime Minister K P Oli got to the accident site for further investigation. Domestic and International flights have since resumed.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240724100712_f97a09e697a4a64f4b9ddbe27d40383125e9c567ff2f901cafa2adf5bee8c553.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20240724100712_f97a09e697a4a64f4b9ddbe27d40383125e9c567ff2f901cafa2adf5bee8c553" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1333" loading="lazy" alt="Saurya Airlines Nepal crash NT 1"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240724100712_b99f25e7685804697067edef6a70198e87db6d92854e963e166a43bc4b529754.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20240724100712_b99f25e7685804697067edef6a70198e87db6d92854e963e166a43bc4b529754" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1333" loading="lazy" alt="Saurya Airlines Nepal crash NT 1"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240724100712_0ac6451e92c640559eba138e8cb795da97c6b7cb6dab911d89427966d8801ddb.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20240724100712_0ac6451e92c640559eba138e8cb795da97c6b7cb6dab911d89427966d8801ddb" data-rendition-name="original" width="1728" height="1152" loading="lazy" alt="Saurya Airlines Nepal crash NT 1"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240724100712_fee5bb0729632e6a1559eb4ef4a01edf5b2fae8bc764b817a1f635d6a333aed0.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20240724100712_fee5bb0729632e6a1559eb4ef4a01edf5b2fae8bc764b817a1f635d6a333aed0" data-rendition-name="original" width="1728" height="1152" loading="lazy" alt="Saurya Airlines Nepal crash NT 1"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240724100712_736c2572364c614da34dea93efc076f003f43a353cf37177ca40c4221980605e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20240724100712_736c2572364c614da34dea93efc076f003f43a353cf37177ca40c4221980605e" data-rendition-name="original" width="1728" height="1152" loading="lazy" alt="Saurya Airlines Nepal crash NT 1"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240724100712_e0115c81cd29196e6650360be19061a222a598883366b165d1ecc8f41967bbfe.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20240724100712_e0115c81cd29196e6650360be19061a222a598883366b165d1ecc8f41967bbfe" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1333" loading="lazy" alt="Saurya Airlines Nepal crash NT 1"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240724100712_5813c761b37a734a84dda64b9212f39f2a6cf29e04f98575c0656ead300fb1df.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20240724100712_5813c761b37a734a84dda64b9212f39f2a6cf29e04f98575c0656ead300fb1df" data-rendition-name="original" width="1728" height="1152" loading="lazy" alt="Saurya Airlines Nepal crash NT 1"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240724100752_c8e1494aa39d5b0df5c2620fbc1c341ee0e0202b4f1328ea3f644882e5119e73.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20240724100752_c8e1494aa39d5b0df5c2620fbc1c341ee0e0202b4f1328ea3f644882e5119e73" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1333" loading="lazy" alt="Saurya Airlines Nepal crash NT "> </figure>  &nbsp;

18 dead in Nepal aircraft crash

It would be a mistake to see this as simply a demand for more jobs. The quota movement, justified as it is, is simply the tip of the iceberg. A rampant government running roughshod over its people for so very long has led to extreme discontent.&nbsp; The quota issue has merely lit the fuse to this tinderbox. As citizens counted the dead and the injured, the prime minister fiddled, advising attendees at an aquaculture and seafood conference on tourism prospects in Cox’s Bazar. The original quota had been designed, shortly after independence in 1972, to be an interim arrangement to acknowledge the contribution of freedom fighters who constituted less than 0.25% of the population.&nbsp; Since a government known to be incredibly corrupt is responsible for creating the list of freedom fighters, over 50 years later the 120-fold allocation through a 30% quota has become an easy back door for party cadres to much sought-after government employment.&nbsp; Confirmation came through senior Awami Leaguers saying, ‘just get through the initial screening and we’ll get you through in the viva’ and more tellingly, ‘government jobs will only go to party people’. The resentment had resulted in protests in 2008 and 2013, but it was in 2018 that it gathered steam. When repressive measures failed to quell that unrest, the prime minister in a moment of rage, overstepped her authority and cancelled the entire system.&nbsp; This had never been a demand of the protesters, who recognised the need for positive discrimination for disadvantaged communities. There are plenty of other reasons for the unrest. The price of essential goods has skyrocketed over the years and people have their backs against the wall.&nbsp; Meanwhile, the Prime Minister herself publicly announces that her peon has amassed $40 million and only travels by helicopter. The peon is not the only one to travel by helicopter. Choppers were sent yesterday to rescue police trapped on a rooftop by angry protesters. 15th July 2024. It was reminiscent of 2018. The police van with water cannons and the long line of policemen standing at the Nilkhet corner on Monday made it abundantly clear that they were prepared. What were they prepared for?&nbsp; Certainly not the defence of unarmed students, or the general public. They failed to lift a finger when the students were being attacked. The armed goons of the Chhatra League (CL, ruling party’s student organisation) had been bussed in the previous night along with, apparently, youth gangs and leaders for hire. Their leaders had openly threatened the protesting students. CL was clearly the ones the police were on standby to defend.&nbsp; It was CL that the quota back doors were designed to favour. As it turned out there was little the unarmed students could do against the helmeted armed pro-government goons who had been left loose and the police were content to let the mayhem continue, stepping in only when the ferocity of people power took the goons aback.&nbsp; We walked past the blood and the strewn sandals in the streets. People stopped us to say the injured had been taken to Dhaka Medical College Emergency Ward. CL goons took positions around the ward where some of the injured were being treated while others marched around the wards, weapons in hand, the police conveniently stayed away. They continued to look away when CL goons went inside the ward to beat up injured students.&nbsp; There was no need to intervene. CL was not in danger. The nation was, democracy was, common decency was, the public was in grave danger, but that was not their concern. The fact that the protection of the public was their primary task, had never been part of the equation. Several were killed all over the country that day. “Justice will take its own course” is a common refrain of the law minister. The separation of the judiciary and the executive has never existed in Bangladesh. With this government, it has merged into one.&nbsp; It is used whenever the government wants to play good cop bad cop. The court enacts government directives. Credit is taken by the government. Blame goes to the court. The quota drama is no exception. Torture cells in public universities. Suppression of all forms of dissent. Jailing of opposition activists. The extra judicial killings, the disappearances. Huge concessions given to India, who have in return, helped prop up this illegal regime are all causes of anger.&nbsp; Abrar Fahad, the bright BUET student who had critiqued Indian hegemony in social media, was bludgeoned to death on campus by party cadres. The same cadres the quotas would provide back doors for. An entire generation of Bangladeshis is growing up hating India and the Boycott India campaign is gaining steam. Hasina is becoming a liability, even for our ‘friendly’ neighbour.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024072104078_3b92c0b66992ac238232667c7b3b83b4795e872e251d5eb03b42d669656d8c6d.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2024072104078_3b92c0b66992ac238232667c7b3b83b4795e872e251d5eb03b42d669656d8c6d" data-rendition-name="original" width="2226" height="1484" loading="lazy" alt="Bangladesh unrest"> </figure>  16 July 2024&nbsp; In a recent Facebook status, Abu Sayeed the unarmed student of Begum Rokeya University whom police had pumped four rubber bullets into, had written an ode to his favourite teacher Shamsuzzoha, a chemistry teacher at Rajshahi University, who had died in the hands of the Pakistani army in 1971 while trying to save the lives of his students. “Yes, you too will die, but while you are alive don’t be spineless. Support just causes. Come out to the streets. Be a shield for the students. It is then that you’ll be respected and honoured. Don’t fade away in the annals of time, through your death. Stay alive forever. Stay Shamsuzzoha.”&nbsp; No chopper had arrived, or indeed any attempt made at rescuing the hapless student. He became Shamsuzzoha. The televised murder is an indictment of a rogue government that has long lost its right to rule. The defiant outstretched arms of the young man, a televised murder that will remain etched in public memory. His body shudders after the first bullet, yet defiant he stands, then another bullet, and another and yet another. All from close range. The body crouches, then crumples and folds. His outstretched arms as he had faced the police will become the Tiananmen Square moment in Bangladesh’s history. 17 July 2024&nbsp; Border guards of Bangladesh, inept at protecting its citizens from becoming victims of the regular target practiced by Indian Border Security Forces, seem happy to turn their own guns towards unarmed students instead. The police were clearly lying when they claimed they had fired grenades to try and control unruly students.&nbsp; There were only four students at Raju Bhashkorjo. The only ones who had been able to get past the CL and police cordon. They wanted to hold a funeral for Abu Sayeed and other slain friends. When the police started shoving them away, they lay down on the ground in protest. They were surrounded by journalists. The police hurled a sound grenade which sent both the journalists and students scurrying. They then hurled further grenades at the journalists and bystanders left standing. That was when my colleague got hurt.&nbsp; The police were the only ones being violent. The entire space was encircled by hundreds of armed police. There were armoured vehicles. Water cannon trucks and even a prison van. I wonder which country has supplied our police with the 48 mm sound grenades (NF24. NENF24BP. MFG: 2022. Bangladesh Police/BP). The grenade was hurled directly at her. It was the first time she had joined a protest. At least she got to see how brave our police force is. 18 July 2024 A group of feminists who had planned to gather at Shahbag to express solidarity with the quota protesters, should not have posed a major threat. Police and government goons didn't allow them to gather, so they regrouped outside the Naripokkho office in Dhanmondi. They were attacked too. Safia Azim was injured, but did not require hospitalisation.&nbsp; The law minister, known for lying through his teeth, said earlier on BBC, that it was the protesters who instigated the violence. Meanwhile, the state-run &nbsp;BTV, the National Television Station, had been set on fire. Mobile data was blocked. Things were escalating. That night the Internet went down completely.&nbsp; Rumours spread about the military moving in. Fuelled partially by sightings of a convoy of APCs in the streets. Other sightings of 15 helicopters taking off from the Prime Minister’s official residence gave fuel to the rumours that the Prime Minister was trying to make a getaway. The sound of shelling and gunfire rang throughout the night. 19 July 2024 The Net had been down as had BTV the national television station. Over 50 have allegedly been killed. Pro government news outlets describe the protesting students as ‘miscreants’. A throwback to the term used by the Pakistani Army in 1971.&nbsp; There are other similarities. A flailing tyrant is lashing out to survive against an enraged public which has shaken free of its fear of a repressive regime. The attempt to disrupt the morning protest outside the Parliament Building in memory of Abu Sayeed, failed. Far too many protesters had gathered.&nbsp; The Net had been partially restored, but not BTV. That’s when news of attacks all across the country started pouring in. The left leader Zonayed Saki and other party members, had been badly beaten in Purana Paltan. The police backed vigilantes were desperately trying to quell the increasingly angry protesters. The desperate government offered a deal.&nbsp; The court would convene on Sunday, and they were prepared to engage in dialogue. ‘Not over spilled blood’ the students had replied. Fresh rumours of the military having been given magisterial powers and asked to intervene ‘In aid to civil power’, seems ironic. The people have spoken. The end is nigh. Shahidul Alam is an internationally-renowned Bangladeshi photojournalist and founder of Drik Picture Library and Pathshala photography training institute in Dhaka.&nbsp;

The Bangladesh tinderbox

Another deadly air crash in Nepal has once more made headlines around the world, further corroding the country’s poor aviation safety track record, and prompting questions about why these tragedies keep happening. A Saurya Airlines Bombardier CRJ200 on a maintenance ferry flight to Pokhara crashed on takeoff at Kathmandu airport shortly before noon on 24 July, killing 18 of the 19 people on board.&nbsp; The tragedy raised immediate questions about why a plane on a routine C Check ferry flight was carrying staff, including some with families.&nbsp; Initial reports, including videos of the crash show the plane bank steeply to the right after takeoff from runway 02, descend rapidly and just starting to level off before impact on an open space east of the runway.&nbsp; The captain Manish Shakya appears to have survived because the plane broke in two throwing the front of the plane away from the main cabin which exploded in a fireball. The actual reason why the plane spun out of control immediately after takeoff will only be known once Capt Shakya gives his account, and after an investigation.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240724150756_f97a09e697a4a64f4b9ddbe27d40383125e9c567ff2f901cafa2adf5bee8c553.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20240724150756_f97a09e697a4a64f4b9ddbe27d40383125e9c567ff2f901cafa2adf5bee8c553" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1333" loading="lazy" alt="Saurya Airlines plane crash"> <figcaption>Photo: SUMAN NEPALI</figcaption> </figure>  Aviation experts say that despite the horrendous loss of life, Wednesday’s crash could have been much worse had the plane veered to the left instead, and hit the international terminal building or the apron which was full of big jets preparing for departure.&nbsp; It was also fortuitous that the plane fell within the airport perimeter in an area where the ground is being levelled for a new international terminal building, and not in the densely populated suburb of Thapagaun east of the runway. The Canadian-built Bombardier CRJ200 of Saurya Airlines with call sign 9N-AME was 21 years old, and the only one flying in the domestic carrier’s fleet. The carrier mainly served trunk routes to Biratnagar and Bhadrapur in eastern Nepal. Among the dead in Wednesday’s crash were most of Saurya’s senior management, and its technical crew, including a Yemeni national. The Saurya Air crash is an outlier in Nepal’s air crash history where most disasters have been blamed on CFIT (Controlled flight Into Terrain, in which a plane hits a mountain hidden in cloud) or pilot error. Nepal’s high terrain, extreme weather and basic navigation facilities make it a challenging place to fly. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/60-years-of-living-dangerously" target="_blank">An analysis by Nepali Times</a> of 74 fatal crashes in Nepal in the past 60 years with data from various sources shows that a total of 960 have been killed. Some domestic carriers have <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/how-to-make-nepals-skies-safer" target="_blank">lost most of their fleet</a> of aircraft.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240724150756_e3ffc6d8cc2d1e2b3c87fccd95ab06bb0573419e88ecfa3d1fc22362e1a37dff.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20240724150756_e3ffc6d8cc2d1e2b3c87fccd95ab06bb0573419e88ecfa3d1fc22362e1a37dff" data-rendition-name="original" width="2778" height="1708" loading="lazy" alt="Nepal aviation accidents map NT"> </figure>  The crash was similar to a Bangladesh airliner that crashed near the runway at Kathmandu airport in 2018, killing 49 and injuring 22. An investigation concluded that the captain of the US Bangla Bombardier Q400 was having an emotional breakdown.&nbsp; A Sita Air Dornier 225 flight to Lukla also crashed soon after takeoff from Kathmandu in 2013, killing 23 mainly foreign trekkers. A probe into that crash showed that one of the causes was that the plane was overloaded. The deadliest international crashes involved Thai and PIA Airbuses on approach to Kathmandu airport within two months of each other in 1992, killing a total of 280 people. <div class="embed-block"><div><div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"><iframe src="//cdn.iframe.ly/api/iframe?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fembed%2F78ZbecJ8BCE%3Fsi%3DEn14tig8xSaohj9C&key=87ca3314a9fa775b5c3a7726100694b0" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;" allowfullscreen scrolling="no" allow="accelerometer *; clipboard-write *; encrypted-media *; gyroscope *; picture-in-picture *; web-share *;"></iframe></div></div></div> Records show that 201 people have been killed in crashes in Nepal since 2016, 79 of them in three crashes in just the past two years, the most serious being the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/pokhara-bound-flight-crashes-in-nepal" target="_blank">Yeti Airlines disaster on 15 January 2022</a> at Pokhara airport which had been inaugurated just two weeks previously. The Saurya jet was flying to Pokhara for routine check after leasing the hangar there. Saurya used to maintain its aircraft at Buddha Air’s facilities in Kathmandu, but its hangar was not free. The last fatal accident in Nepal was a <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/chopper-hits-mountain-near-everest" target="_blank">Manang Air helicopter</a> that went down near Lukla last year which killed six. Nepal’s domestic air travel has seen a boom in the past two years because of the poor state of highways. Most roads have been blocked by landslides and floods during the current monsoon, and there have been a spate of bad highway crashes including a debris flow that swept two intercity buses into the swollen Trisuli River on the Mugling highway on the night of 12 July carrying 65 passengers. The buses have not yet been found.&nbsp;

obituary

Ambica Shrestha, 92

Lady June Hillary 1931 - 2024

Jim Simons' gift to Nepal

Climber-activist David Breashears, 68

Kathmandu’s legacy is Götz Hagmüller’s legacy

The gentleman of Nepal's politics is gone

Remembering Hubert Decleer

Paul Farmer on my mind

The good doctor

Rajkumar Shakya, 1967-2021

Ambica Shrestha, 92

18 dead in Nepal aircraft crash

The Bangladesh tinderbox

Unsafe skies