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 CRJ200 has a proven safety record with over 1,000 of various varients built, and the model was purchased by Mitsubishi in 2000. 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;

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Unsafe skies

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;

Vishad Raj Onta

18 dead in Nepal aircraft crash

<figure><img width="2048" height="1365" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230208140212/63e3a0229c7e80680e0d7022jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Photo: RSS</figcaption></figure>A Yeti Airlines ATR72 aircraft from Kathmandu to Pokhara on Sunday morning crashed near its destination. The plane had 68 passengers on board and four cabin crew led by senior captain Kamal KC. Six of the passengers are children, 15 foreigners, of which five are Indians, and 53 Nepali nationals, including eight members of a single family.The 72-seater took off at 10:30AM from Kathmandu before it crashed into <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/setis-gorgeous-gorges/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the Seti gorge</a> between the old airport and the Pokhara International Airport in Ward 15 near Sitaram Bridge. The plane was engulfed in fire immediately after.An eyewitness video showed the nose-up plane seemingly in a stall, banking in a steep dive before crashing.According to rescuers, 32 bodies have been recovered so far. But onlookers say it is unlikely anyone survived the crash given the accident site being in a deep narrow gorge. Nepal Army, Nepal Police and Armed Police teams had not been able to douse the fire even 2 hours after the crash.A crowd of spectators at the crash taking photos and videos with mobile phones have made the rescue more difficult and added to traffic in the area. <figure><img width="640" height="1241" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230208140212/63e3a0269c7e80680e0d7023jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img width="750" height="796" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230208140212/63e3a02a9c7e80680e0d7024jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>This is a rare instance where a plane on a trunk route crashed during a good weather. The plane was landing at Pokhara's new international airport that was only inaugurated on 1 January 2023. One aviation expert who did not want to be named, told Nepali Times: "It is too early to pinpoint the cause of the crash, but from the eyewitness video the plane appears to be in a nose-up altitude prior to a stall."The expert said what needs to be determined is what caused the stall: either a bird strike, mechanical issue, or a steep nose-up that bled air speed at low altitude.One of the reasons the inauguration of the new airport was delayed was because Pokhara's landfill site, which is located in the Seti River near the runway, posed birdstrike danger to landing aircraft. <figure><img width="843" height="483" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230208140212/63e3a02c9c7e80680e0d7025jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img width="2048" height="1536" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230208140212/63e3a02f9c7e80680e0d7026jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img width="2048" height="1536" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230208140212/63e3a0339c7e80680e0d7027jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img width="2048" height="1536" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230208140212/63e3a0379c7e80680e0d7028jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Meanwhile, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-opposition-less-parliament/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal</a> and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane who had visited Kathmandu airport's control room for the details are going to Pokhara on Sunday itself. Dahal had previously called an emergency meeting of the Council of Ministers while Lamichhane has directed authorities for immediate rescue and relief. Nepal is one of the most challenging countries in the world for aviation because of treacherous terrain and weather. It has seen 67 fatal air crashes in the last 60 years. <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/pokhara-jomsom-flight-with-22-missing/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The most recent accident</a> was the May 2022 Tara Air flight from Pokhara to Jomsom crash killing 22 passengers. But the nature of Saturday's tragedy would make it a crash with the highest number of casualties on a domestic flight in Nepal's aviation history. <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/60-years-of-living-dangerously/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">See: 60 years of Nepal's aviation history</a>. Most <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/60-years-of-living-dangerously/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">aviation accidents in Nepal</a> between 1952-2022 were caused by planes flying into mountains hidden in clouds, known as Controlled Flight into Terrain (CFIT). But this was in broad daylight, in good weather, near a new airport with modern navigation facilities.

Pokhara bound flight crashes in Nepal

<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111412118/6372226b9c7e80680e0c02f5jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"/>Most aviation accidents in Nepal between 1952-2022 were caused by planes flying into mountains hidden in clouds, known to air crash investigators as Controlled Flight into Terrain (CFIT).Major air crashes in 60 years: 67Total CFIT: 30Total air crash fatalities in 50 years: 818CFIT fatalities: 752 (92%)What is it about air crashes in Nepal that very similar accidents tragically keep happening again and again in the same kind of terrain and weather?A Nepali Times analysis of plane crash data from the past 60 years shows that 92% of the fatalities have been in accidents categorised as Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT) in which an airworthy aircraft slams into a mountain hidden in cloud.<iframe style="border: none;" title="Major Air Crashes" src="https://e.infogram.com/a785f44f-2a06-49cf-b0da-f03c9d5ae54e?src=embed" width="700" height="900" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe><a style="color: #989898!important; text-decoration: none!important;" href="https://infogram.com/a785f44f-2a06-49cf-b0da-f03c9d5ae54e" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Major Air Crashes</a><a style="color: #989898!important; text-decoration: none!important;" href="https://infogram.com" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Infogram</a>Nepal is the most challenging country in the world for aviation because of <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=19696">treacherous terrain and weather</a>. Short runways carved out of mountains add to the challenge. Weak regulatory oversight, commercial pressure, failure to follow procedures by flight crew are cited as reasons for most crashes. These sentences from past air crash investigations in Nepal all point to only one type of malfunction:‘Crew made incorrect judgment of the deteriorating weather condition’‘Violation of regulation to fly in VFR at all times’‘Probable cause was continuation of the flight despite unfavorable weather conditions’‘Ineffective safety and crew training by airline’‘Inappropriate and insufficient crew coordination’‘Crew’s over-confidence, casual non-compliance of SOPs about VFR.’Nearly all major crashes in the past 60 years have occurred on mountain routes. Most mishaps were in the monsoon or during winter rains. Very few were caused by mechanical failure, loss of control, or bird strikes. There have been no fatal crashes on Tarai trunk routes in that period (see map, above).After every CFIT, investigation reports have pointed to the same reason: failure to abide by Visual Flight Rules (VFR) while flying in the mountains in poor weather. Most cockpit crew, including the ones flying the Tara Air Twin Otter that crashed near Jomsom on 30 May, appear to have been caught unawares by a sudden change in en route weather.<iframe style="border: none;" title="CFIT" src="https://e.infogram.com/4ec28607-1b5b-48f3-b6ec-7b2c033470bc?src=embed" width="900" height="658" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe><a style="color: #989898!important; text-decoration: none!important;" href="https://infogram.com/4ec28607-1b5b-48f3-b6ec-7b2c033470bc" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">CFIT</a><a style="color: #989898!important; text-decoration: none!important;" href="https://infogram.com" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Infogram</a>Aviation safety experts say this means pilots need to be mindful of not just the weather at the origin and destination airports, but also have precise real-time information of conditions along their flight path. A past crash report recommended equipment to beam live weather conditions on accident-prone routes like Pokhara-Jomsom. The equipment was never installed.The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) ought to take a lead by coordinating with the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology to use existing and proposed Doppler radar stations, locating them along dangerous air routes.Webcams at critical waypoints like Lamjura, Ghorepani, Lete, and Virgin Pass could stream live images of visibility and cloud. Such weather cameras have proved their worth for bush pilots in Alaska and other far flung areas of the world. Following the latest <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/pokhara-jomsom-flight-with-22-missing/">crash near Jomsom that killed 22 people</a>, flights are now required to have go, no-go clearance from air traffic controllers of en route weather. This requirement has grounded most Pokhara-Jomsom flights.Read more: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/crash-course/">Crash Course</a>, EditorialThis rule pre-supposes that CFIT incidents are mostly due to pilot error, and therefore hands the decision to controllers who may actually have even less information about en route weather.It is the flight crew which has visual reference to conditions along the way, and are in the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/crash-course/">best position to make a judgment</a> to fly on or turn back.Capt Prabhakar Ghimire was a former air traffic controller with 30 years of experience flying Twin Otters and knew the terrain like the back of his hand. Initial reports of the 29 May crash say he made a steep banking climb to remain VFR and avoid cloud before impact.Handing flight clearance based on en route weather to controllers may lead to needless cancellations, or increase pressure on pilots to fly even when the weather along the way is bad.More loss of lives can be reduced with VFR training compliance for crew, and real-time visual en route weather information.<h3>Serial tragedies</h3>In 1962, a C-47 on a flight from Kathmandu to Delhi <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/why-missing-planes-are-so-difficult-to-find-in-nepal/">went missing</a>. The plane with 10 passengers, including Nepal’s ambassador to India, was only found a week later.A MI-17 helicopter carrying mountaineering guides disappeared in pre-monsoon clouds in 2002 on a flight from Makalu Base Camp to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/lukla-plane-chopper-collision-kills-3/">Lukla</a>. It has never been found.In 1991, two Airbus 310s crashed within two months of each other during the monsoon while on final approach to Kathmandu airport, killing a total of 280 people.Another MI-17 helicopter slammed into a mountain below Kangchenjunga in 2006 in bad weather, killed 24 people that included Nepal’s pioneer conservationists.A US Marine Corps Bell UH-1Y Venom evacuating survivors of the 2015 earthquake impacted on high terrain obscured by cloud cover in Dolakha, killing all 13 on board. In 2008, a MI-17 chartered by UNMIN flew into a mountain in Sindhuli killing all 10 passengers.Two <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2016/02/24/twin-otter-crash/">Twin Otters</a> from the same airline on the same route flying in similar weather crashed at nearly the same place along the Kali Gandaki gorge about eight years apart.Read more: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/why-missing-planes-are-so-difficult-to-find-in-nepal/">Why missing planes are so difficult to find in Nepal</a>, Nepali Times

Kunda Dixit

60 years of living dangerously

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111412118/637222659c7e80680e0c02f3jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3648" height="2736"/><figcaption>Photo: KUNDA DIXIT</figcaption></figure>It has been two weeks since the latest avoidable tragedy in the skies above Nepal. <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/pokhara-jomsom-flight-with-22-missing/">Twenty-two people perished</a> when a Twin Otter on a flight from Pokhara to Jomsom hit the side of a mountain on 29 May.This was the 64th major air crash in Nepal in the past 60 years, in which more than 818 people have been killed. Some 92% of them died when their plane flew into mountains during bad weather. The tally does not include smaller accidents.Like all statistics, these numbers are numbing. When disasters become frequent, compassion fatigue sets in, and people tune out. But each crash is an <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/ashna-isnt-coming-home/">enormous tragedy for scores of families and friends</a> of passengers and crew. The country has also lost prominent professionals in every field. Nepal’s ambassador to India was among 10 who died in a crash in 1962, and a rescue plane that went to the site also met with disaster, killing an eminent physician. Some of the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=13985#.YqsBcOxByrc">country’s top conservationists were killed</a> in the helicopter crash in Ghunsa in 2006. The <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/individual-tragedies-and-a-national-loss/">2018 crash of a Bangladeshi plane</a> at Kathmandu airport cost the life of Nepal’s foremost brain surgeon, and that of 10 promising students who had just graduated from medical school.There is an unfair asymmetry in media reports of air and highway accidents. Plane crashes get much more media attention than <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepals-other-pandemic-road-fatalities/">road traffic accidents</a>, even though 3,000 people are killed on highways every year in Nepal — more than tuberculosis, malaria and HIV combined. (One result of the pandemic was that the death toll on Nepal's roads was much lower in 2020 because of lockdowns.)Read also: <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/lack-of-trauma-centres-along-nepal%E2%80%99s-highways-worsened-fatality-rate,1383">Highways of death</a>, Sunir PandeyThe reason for this disproportionate focus on aviation is that people in upper income brackets are involved, and the impact of a poor air safety record on tourism. For an industry that has such important bearing on the economy, one would have thought the government and private operators would have tried harder to improve air safety standards.Maybe it is not so surprising when there is such a glaring lack of political will to clean up extortion and corruption in the migration sector -- even more important for the country's economy because of remittances from Nepalis working overseas.An investigation committee is formed after every plane crash. A report is quietly released a few months later recommending safety measures. It goes on a shelf, its warnings and suggestions gather dust. The committees overlap, and sometimes have the same members.Analysis of data from the past <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/from-nepali-press/over-loading-sita-air-crash,720">air crash investigations</a> in Nepal show that most of the accidents have taken place in poor weather when perfectly airworthy planes slam into mountains. Only a few of these crashes have been due to mechanical failure. There were also no serious accidents with fatalities in the last 60 years on trunk routes between the capital and Tarai cities.We know what the problem is (planes flying into clouds that hide mountains) and the solution (regulatory scrutiny, enforcement of Visual Flight Rules (VFR), crew training, better forecasting for en route weather).So it is shocking, but not surprising, that these deadly disasters keep happening.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/why-missing-planes-are-so-difficult-to-find-in-nepal/">Why missing planes are so difficult to find in Nepal</a>, Nepali TimesTwo nearly-identical crashes of the same type of aircraft belonging to the same airline on the same route in similar weather, and almost at the same location prove that flight deck instrumentation and age of aircraft are not major factors.A <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2016/02/24/twin-otter-crash/">Tara Air Twin Otter</a> hit a mountain above Dana in February 2016 while flying from Pokhara to Jomsom, killing all 23 on board. Six years later on 29 May 2022, another Tara Twin Otter crashed up the valley, killing 22.The plane in 2016 was a brand new upgraded Viking Air version of the Twin Otter that showed virtual terrain to pilots on the glass cockpit. The Twin Otter in this year’s crash was 43-year-old with an analog flight deck. Both planes were flown by captains who had 30 years of experience flying Twin Otters in Nepal.Yet both hit mountains in cloud. There is something else at play here. A culture of laxity, negligence and fatalism are underlying causes. Poor oversight by regulatory agencies and airline companies also play a part.Making real-time en route weather available to pilots would help, together with stricter compliance to VFR.Ultimately, Nepal needs more accountable leaders and better governance for this carnage in our skies to stop.Read more: <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=19695#.YqsCk-xByrc">A safer sky</a>,Vijay Lama

Crash Course

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110914114/636ba5769c7e80680e0736c9jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1660" height="1229"/><figcaption>Ang Tshiring Sherpa, Nepal's most innovative and self-effacing tourism entrepreneur in Marpha in 2016. Photo: LISA CHOEGYAL</figcaption></figure>One side effect of the silent skies over past months, other than tipping tourism and aviation into freefall, is that Nepal’s air safety record is greatly improved.Last week marked the sombre anniversary of the Thai International crash <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=12597#.XzD6Booza70" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D12597%23.XzD6Booza70&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1597133076295000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGI_x30GhvRWctX7wr7jB1g2gzi7Q">in heavy monsoon rains 28 years ago</a> which took the lives of so many Nepali families, friends and residents.Almost exactly two months later, a PIA Airbus piled into the opposite end of the Valley at Lele, the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=5616#.XzD6iYoza70" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D5616%23.XzD6iYoza70&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1597133076295000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHyUzWCPsevoR4oEf4zHHU-B_xPbA">nation’s worst air disaster</a>. This time, 167 souls were lost, mostly tourists arriving at the beginning of the season -- so close that the specialist international forensic team were still in-country analysing the confetti-sized Thai aircraft wreckage.Exasperated with devastation and grief at yet another catastrophe, I volunteered with the British Embassy to help look after distraught relatives of the PIA victims.Nepal’s dramatic Himalayan terrain and fierce weather patterns make a deadly combination. The deplorable data confirms that the dozens of air accidents since the1992 double carnage occur <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=2412#.XzD544oza70" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D2412%23.XzD544oza70&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1597133076295000&amp;usg=AFQjCNH2LGp7o4Cs_euspbcs3o_agoB1dA">mostly during the turbulent monsoon months</a>, and involve helicopters as well as fixed-wing aircraft, both international and domestic flights. Usually the pilots have something to do with it and almost all are weather-related, regardless of the season.Early last year <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/helicopter-carrying-tourism-minister-crashes/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/helicopter-carrying-tourism-minister-crashes/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1597133076295000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFk0ky2IPjMzTYcM76aAyS7XtiJiQ">we lost an inspirational tourism minister</a> when the chopper he was travelling in tried to take off from a socked-in hilltop temple intending to dive into clear weather, got caught in a freak updraft, and was <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-last-journey/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-last-journey/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1597133076295000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFC_RMwxp-AlbE3AHGhvyGO9gH4iQ">slammed sideways against a cliff</a>. There were no survivors and the industry is still reeling from the tragedy.Along with the minister was Nepal’s most imaginative and daring tourism entrepreneur, Ang Tshiring Sherpa, managing director of Yeti and Tara Airlines amongst his many other ventures. It should never have happened, of course. Known to be fanatic about safety, on that fateful day, 27 February 2019, Tshiring allowed his usual strict flying rules to be compromised.It is still hard to accept the chill reality that Tshiring is not coming back. He was only 54. Never again would he drop by our house sitting under the garden cherry tree or casually greet me as he crossed Dwarika’s courtyard to lunch. Never again would I be summoned into his expansive office, glowing with carpets, polished wood and glass, and asked my advice in his serious calm manner.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110914114/636ba5799c7e80680e0736cajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="480"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Never again would I see his wry sideways smile as he gently rubbed his stubbled head in that curious distinctive way, attentive, nodding, self-deprecating. Never again would we dine together off the candle-lit polished tables at Le Sherpa restaurant with clients and relatives he wanted me to meet.Tshiring never wasted words, and I learned to listen carefully. Not once did I see him riled or angry, or indeed anything but thoughtful and measured. Even when I could tell he did not agree with my recommendations -- to refocus the family brand, consolidate companies, or add value by improving service standards -- he was unfailingly polite and patient. “Thank you, madam,” he would smile. He always liked to call me madam, with irony, no doubt.Tshiring was Nepal’s most innovative and wildly courageous tourism operator, striding fearlessly into deals with a sure instinct and confidence, trusting his powers of persuasion. His office team of competent henchmen and array of associated family members managed his Kathmandu-based empire of airlines, travel agencies, hotels, restaurants, remote lodges, wildlife camps, trekking and mountaineering companies.It was part of his quiet charm that he did not always get things right, had trouble navigating family politics, learned from mistakes, courted controversy and often moved in mysterious ways.I admired his business panache, but was most captivated by Tshiring’s persuasive rags to riches story, his ascent from humble origins in the Himalayan hamlet of Pangom to creator of Nepal’s major tourism conglomerate.“Let’s make a film about you,” I suggested. The narrative sweeps from a Solu Khumbu kitchen boy, the lowest rung of a trek team, running away to Kathmandu with Rs300 in his pocket (the exact amount is debated), to building the Yeti Group. He out-manoeuvred opponents with canny golf course diplomacy at Gokarna and invented champagne helicopter breakfasts with a view of Everest.In between, as a Sherpa sirdar he led treks throughout Nepal and during the summer worked in French alpine chalets. With typical modesty Tshiring was reticent about a movie, but liked the idea of a book for his extensive and extended Sherpa family.Mindful of those less fortunate than himself, philanthropy motivated many of Tshiring’s travel ideas interwoven with commercial interests. Every air ticket sold planted a sapling and each boarding pass donated five rupees to one of his charitable CSR causes. He embraced community development, and <a href="https://nepalitimes.atavist.com/rebranding-tourism-with-remodelled-plane-" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://nepalitimes.atavist.com/rebranding-tourism-with-remodelled-plane-&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1597133076296000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHKMIrxHm64H7Kug8jxiAInJaXirA">painted the Great Himalaya Trail logo onto his mountain aircraft.</a>He proposed a STOL airstrip at Lake Phuksundo to benefit the locals, homestays to restore the crumbling village of Braga, and a string of high altitude ecolodges to bring tourism to new areas of the Himalaya. Pilgrimage hotel projects ranged from the Lumbini Hokke at Buddha’s birthplace to Mokshain Jomsom, rising after the earthquake for Hindus visiting Muktinath. He never forgot his origins nor his spiritual roots.In 2016 at Chuksang we sat on plastic chairs in deep shadow under the apple trees, breakfasting on sweet tea and Tibetan bread. Tshiring had joined our recce to introduce high-end tourism to Mustang, quietly sharing his vision at a simple local lodge. His gentle demeanour fitted in anywhere, belying his relentless energy and appetite for business.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110914114/636ba57b9c7e80680e0736cbjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="480"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Early one blustery morning in 2010, bad weather defeated us from reaching Tsum, whose remote pristine landscape he had wanted to show me, but instead the  helicopter dropped us into Langtang where he was working with the community to construct a trekkers’ lodge.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110914114/636ba57d9c7e80680e0736ccjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="480"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>It was on that trip that I realised how cautious Tshiring was about flying, obsessed with Nepal’s air-safety, committed to carbon neutralising his airlines, and campaigning for UN and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-airlines-has-new-planes-but-no-new-plans/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-airlines-has-new-planes-but-no-new-plans/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1597133076296000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHg1hAc6M4zRgeZRSgG6ZTaTUFoxQ">EU certification</a>. A near-miss in Lukla involving his brother Sonam shook him greatly.The seventh day ceremony was in full swing when I arrived at his home, with a vast gathering of mourners and monks, the family weary with sadness amidst the incense and chanting.“He looked after me so well in life, I must look after him in death,” his wife Chanda smiled bravely. Nyima, his sister married to Tenzing Norgay’s grandson, took my hand and led me upstairs to the prayer room, wringing  her hands in sorrow and denial.Destiny had consigned Nepal’s most self-effacing tourism magnate to become yet another statistic in our <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/So-far-so-good/never-fly-clouds,855" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/So-far-so-good/never-fly-clouds,855&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1597133076296000&amp;usg=AFQjCNG8Mpc2W6BBxVKvs3lAIAUDIw7g6Q">wretched record of flying</a> in the mountains.

Lisa Choegyal

The silent skies

<img width="1600" height="1063" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110811114/636a29909c7e80680e0458d5jpeg.jpg" alt=""/>A Nepali working for the <a href="https://www1.wfp.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">United Nations World Food Programme</a> is among the 157 people killed in the second crash on 10 March of a new model Boeing 737 in five months.The flight from Addis Ababa to Nairobi came down shortly after takeoff from the Ethiopian capital on Sunday morning. It was carrying people of 35 nationalities, many them travelling to attend the UN Environment Assembly in Nairobi.The Nepali was identified as Ekata Adhikari (pictured below), and she worked as a Supply Chain Officer at the WFP office in Ethiopia, and was flying to Nairobi to take part in a meeting of her agency.  The UN said 19 UN staff perished in the crash. The World Food Programme lost seven of its staff, two staffers of the Office ofHigh Commissioner on Refugees and International Telecommunications Union (ITU) were among the staffer. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the International Organization for Migration in Sudan, <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/">World Bank</a> and UN Assistance Mission in Somalia (<a href="https://unsom.unmissions.org/">UNSOM</a>) each lost one staff. Six staff from the UN Office in Nairobi were also killed. Adhikari, originally from Gorkha, worked for WFP in Nepal and later in Papua New Guinea. She had taken up the job in Addis Ababa only in September last year. She had worked for WFP for nearly four years.  <img width="391" height="391" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110811114/636a29939c7e80680e0458d6jpeg.jpg" alt="">The UN  Secretary-General António Guterres said <a href="https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/statement/2019-03-10/statement-attributable-the-spokesman-for-the-secretary-general-the-ethiopian-airlines-crash">in a statement</a> that he was “deeply saddened at the tragic loss of lives” , as reports emerged that UN staff were also among the dead.Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP) David Beasley tweeted  that “the <a href="https://twitter.com/WFPChief/status/1104778794710298624">WFP family mourns</a> today”, adding that “we will do all that is humanly possible to help the families at this painful time. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers”, he said.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/what-can-nepal-learn-from-ethiopia/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">What can Nepal learn from Ethiopia</a>, Kunda Dixit <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/individual-tragedies-and-a-national-loss/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Individual tragedies, and a national loss</a>, Monika Deupala<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/1-year-after-us-bangla-crash-fingers-point-to-pilot/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">1 year after US-Bangla crash, fingers point to pilot</a>, Kunda Dixit

Nepali among 19 UN staff killed in Ethiopian crash

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108101152/636a273b9c7e80680e043a5ejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1728" height="1224"/><figcaption>SHOCK AND SADNESS: The body of Tourism Minister Rabindra Adhikari arrives at Kathmandu Airport on Thursday afternoon. He will be cremated in his hometown of Pokhara.</figcaption></figure>The tragic irony of the helicopter crash on Wednesday was that among the seven dead were a civil aviation minister who was striving to improve Nepal’s air safety record, and the country’s foremost airline executive.Minister of Tourism and Civil Aviation Rabindra Adhikari was one of the few members of the NCP government with a clean, can-do image. He <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/does-nepal-need-a-4th-international-airport/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">revived the construction of two languishing international airports</a> in Pokhara and<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/boom-time-in-central-terai/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Lumbini</a>, improved and removed bottlenecks at Kathmandu airport. He was involved in important air route negotiations and was lobbying to remove Nepal from the EU blacklist. He was set to attend the ITB Berlin next week to promote the Visit Nepal 2020 campaign, for which he had set a target of 2 million tourists.Ang Tshiring Sherpa was the founder of Yeti Airlines and also owned the Air Dynasty helicopter that struck the side of Pathibhara mountain in Taplejung during a snowstorm on 27 February. He was the Nepali partner of Himalaya Airlines, a joint venture with Tibet Airlines and managed hotels in the Khumbu, Gokarna Resort and Kasara in Chitwan.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108101152/636a273e9c7e80680e043a5fjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="990"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/helicopter-carrying-tourism-minister-crashes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Helicopter carrying Tourism Minister crashes</a> <a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/does-nepal-need-a-4th-international-airport/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">“Nijgad airport will be a game changer” - Rabindra Adhikari</a><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108101152/636a27409c7e80680e043a60jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="720" height="540"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Pilot Prabhakar KC had reportedly radioed Suketar Tower reporting heavy snowfall. Although it is too early to speculate, former CAAN director Triratna Manandhar says having a minister and his own boss among his passengers may have put undue psychological pressure on KC to get them out of the 3,800m mountain top shrine.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108101152/636a27439c7e80680e043a61jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2048" height="1365"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Minister Adhikari himself is said to have had misgivings at an earlier airport inspection stop in Tehrathum about the deteriorating weather, and was reluctant to fly to Pathibhara. Eye-witnesses said the Airbus Helicopter H125 crashed 1 minute after taking off in heavy snow, hitting the side of a cliff. Whether it was controlled flight into terrain, or icing on the rotors will have to await an investigation.Adhikari’s hometown of Pokhara is in shock, and the minister was set to be cremated in Kaski on Thursday. The crash has cost the lives of the prime movers of Visit Nepal 2020, and Nepal Tourism Board CEO Deepak Raj Joshi is devastated. He told Nepali Times: “This is an irrecoverable loss, he was devoted to the campaign, and worked tirelessly to improve aviation infrastructure.”It was also a tragic reminder of <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=12534#.XHfU0MAzbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">another disaster 25km away in September 2006</a> in which 24 people were killed when a helicopter hit a  mountain soon after takeoff from Ghunsa in bad weather. Nearly all of Nepal’s conservation pioneers perished, including <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=12572#.XHfVK8AzbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Harka Gurung</a>, <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=16569#.XHfVSMAzbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chandra Gurung</a>, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/fixing-what-aint-broke/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mingma Sherpa</a>, and <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=10375#.XHfVa8AzbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tirthaman Maskey</a>. <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=12575#.XHfVscAzbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jillian Bowling Schlaepfer and Jennifer Headley of the WWF also died</a>, as did Pauli Mustonen, the Finnish charge d’affaires in Kathmandu (below).<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108101152/636a27469c7e80680e043a62jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="856"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Read also: <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=18587#.XHfUzMAzbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Their souls march on</a>, Bhrikuti Rai and Stuti Sharma<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108101152/636a27489c7e80680e043a63jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1492" height="964">An investigation then had showed that the Russian pilots of the MI-8 were unfamiliar with local terrain and may have been under pressure from the State Minister of Forests Gopal Rai to get back to Kathmandu.- Ramesh Kumar and Gopal Gartaula

The last journey

<h2>As the sun sets on 2018, Nepali Times takes you back to the most popular videos of the past year on its YouTube Channel, the ones that readers viewed and discussed the most:</h2>		
		1. A Kiwi takes to GundrukMost Nepalis love gundruk, it is almost our national dish. But it's rare to find a foreigner enjoying its strong aroma. New Zealand journalist and writer Thomas Heaton didn't just make gundruk sandheko from scratch, but also relished eating it. This video was the most widely shared and commented in 2018.<a href="http://bit.ly/a-Kiwi-takes-to-Gundruk-nt" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Read story here</a>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0qar21iDPA		
		2. US-Bangla plane crash A US-Bangla Bombardier Q100 aircraft from Dhaka to Kathmandu crashed at Kathmandu airport on 12 March killing all 67 passengers and crew. Among them were Nepali medical students returning to Nepal after completing their studies. This recording of the conversation between the pilot and Kathmandu air traffic control shows that the Captain was incoherent and disoriented during the flight’s last moments. The clip was shared by over half a million readers, and generated vigorous debate about the nature of the crash.<a href="http://bit.ly/Us-Bangla-plane-crash-analysis-nt" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Read story here</a>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDAvHQJZK_M&t=17s		
		3. Fire and IceThis video of the Khumbu by Kunda Dixit presented dramatic proof of the impact of global warming on the glaciers below Mt Everest. The film was widely shared among the international scientific community, mountaineers and gained a lot of attention.<a href="http://bit.ly/thin-ice-in-khumbu-nt" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Read story here</a>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTnxJKo97DI&amp;t=67s		
		4. Bartika RaiYouTube sensation and US-based singer-songwriter Bartika Eam Rai was in Kathmandu for her first Nepal concert tour, and spoke to our reporter Sewa Bhattarai about her new full-length album, her childhood, the therapeutic power of songwriting and her future plans. Her fans were delighted, and flooded the Nepali Times feed with best wishes for the star.<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxM6MEqCDOI" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Read story here</a>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxM6MEqCDOI		
		5. The Boy Gods of Kathmandu We have all heard of Kathmandu's Living Goddesses. But much less visible than the Kumari, are the male gods Ganesh and Bhairab who are also worshipped and join the chariot procession of the Living Goddess during Indra Jatra. Sahina Shrestha followed the Boy Gods of Kathmandu on their daily routines at school and home, and in the festival.<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="http://bit.ly/The-Boy-Gods-of-Kathmandu-nt" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Read story here</a>  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIXDttAce0g

Viral videos of 2018

Family, friends and relatives of those who perished on 12 March, 2018 US-Bangla plane crash in Kathmandu gather for candlelight vigil at Maitighar.Of the 67 passengers and four crew members on board, 49 have been declared dead. Among the deceased, 28 were Bangladesh nationals, 22 Nepali, many of whom were MBBS students returning home after completing their studies, and one Chinese.Photos: Gopen Rai<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221104141140/6365165d9c7e80680e02c20ejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"/><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221104141140/636516609c7e80680e02c20fjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1001"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221104141140/636516639c7e80680e02c210jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221104141140/636516669c7e80680e02c211jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221104141140/636516699c7e80680e02c212jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221104141140/6365166c9c7e80680e02c213jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221104141140/6365166e9c7e80680e02c214jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221104141140/636516719c7e80680e02c215jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221104141140/636516749c7e80680e02c216jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221104141140/636516779c7e80680e02c217jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000">

Young lives cut short

In the black and white photograph, General Wangdu smiles broadly in front of the dusty cactus garden in Kathmandu’s Annapurna Hotel. With an ill-fitting jacket and shaggy hair he looks benign enough, but this was the last leader of the Tibetan freedom fighters who led the resistance against the Chinese from their remote mountain hideouts in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/comings-and-goings-in-mustang">Mustang</a>. Five months later, Wangdu was dead. Snapped in March 1974, I had only recently arrived in Nepal. How did I meet this legendary fighter? Possibly with his devoted camp follower, Lynne Klapecki, and probably in the Om Restaurant near Freak Street which was the preferred <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/hippie-trail-nostalgia-in-kathmandu">hippie hang-out</a>. Om Lobsang and his brother Yeshe were <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/page/earthquake-brings-back-memories-of-camps-for-tibetan-refugees">refugees from East Tibet </a>whose cafe offered a friendly welcome and<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/momo-loco"> the best momos</a> - they became my in-laws after I married their eldest brother Tenzin, but that was a decade later.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_4573b34282b0f5395c007243d6bef12c7ba76bfd520419e994cdcea048d795a1.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="2025052403054_4573b34282b0f5395c007243d6bef12c7ba76bfd520419e994cdcea048d795a1" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="1583" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>Photo: LISA CHOEGYAL</figcaption> </figure>  Wangdu’s English was enthusiastically rudimentary, but even riding around town with him on the back of an aging <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/kathmandu-s-new-motorbike-museum">motorbike</a>, he was a commanding presence. Always flanked by armed outriders, impressive scars marked his forearms and a pistol hung from the cord around his neck. A charismatic guerrilla leader, Wangdu was celebrated by his followers for his tough commitment and respected for his measured pragmatism. He seemed so young to have shouldered such a responsibility of command, leading hundreds of hardened <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/50-years-after-the%20raid-into-Tibet,1012#google_vignette">Khampa combatants </a>through what had been a particularly <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/heavy-snowfall-over-nepal-himalaya">brutal winter in Mustang</a>, the last bastion to hold out against the Chinese invasion of their Tibetan homeland.&nbsp; The freedom fighters of Tibet, known as the Chushi-Gangdruk, had emerged to resist the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/territorialism">Chinese takeover</a> of Tibet during the 1950s. Estimated to be 80,000-strong at the time of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/what-or-who-after-the-dalai-lama">the Dalai Lama</a>’s final escape to India in 1959, the sheer number of Chinese deployed into Tibet eventually forced the Chushi-Gangdruk to retreat to Mustang, From this high Himalayan stronghold, they continued cross-border raids on the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) throughout the 1960s.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_8a4a935ba25ae79dc3a63bb5c14626927020e5ec098093c45ccb9a5982e009fd.jpg" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="2025052403054_8a4a935ba25ae79dc3a63bb5c14626927020e5ec098093c45ccb9a5982e009fd" data-rendition-name="original" width="1114" height="676" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>Guerrillas known as the Chushi-Gangdruk emerged to resist the Chinese annexation of Tibet during the 1950s. Photo courtesy: MIKEL DUNHAM</figcaption> </figure>  Their Kathmandu base was a small discreet lodge in a back lane near Rani Pokhari. Sipping sweet tea from a blue mug with a chipped lid, I sat bemused in a corner of the Mustang Hotel room whilst Wangdu and his cohorts received a battered brown suitcase from their CIA connection, a tousle-haired American in a leather jacket. Heaved onto the dingy bedspread that covered the thin mattress, it was clicked open to reveal piles of neatly stacked dollar bills.&nbsp; I cannot think why Wangdu allowed me to witness this handover but I was clearly no threat, a newly arrived world traveller with no understanding of the stakes nor any Nepali or <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/tibetan-music-in-nepals-sacred-valley">Tibetan language</a>. Despite armed guards in the corridor,Wangdu radiated confidence and bravado, and there was a practiced familiarity to the tense transaction. This deadly dance for many years had been funded by the Americans, tolerated by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-kingdom-within-a-republic">Mustang’s residents</a>, and permitted by King Mahendra and the Nepali authorities who it suited to turn a blind eye.&nbsp; But Mahendra died in 1972, and times were changing. Richard Nixon’s ping-pong diplomacy thawed the cold war and signalled a fresh entente with China. Nepal’s yet-to-be-crowned <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/if-birendra-was-alive-nepal-could-still-be-a-monarchy">King Birendra </a>was under pressure to curb the irritating incursions against the PLA launched from the Nepali territory of Mustang. Keen to appease his northern neighbour, on several occasions the King summoned Wangdu for peace talks but, despite increasingly overwhelming odds, Wangdu refused to surrender.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_a8efd5cfb92cd997bd7cb74296a936fef46e2f7428f9cd642b03f1ac4ea11ecb.jpg" data-media-id="editor_14" data-image-id="2025052403054_a8efd5cfb92cd997bd7cb74296a936fef46e2f7428f9cd642b03f1ac4ea11ecb" data-rendition-name="original" width="1055" height="885" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>General Wangdu flanked by two Tibetan resistance fighters in Mustang in the 1970s. Photo courtesy: MIKEL DUNHAM</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_75969125a745847a2ef82b6fe8b9106c0b21a116d85b8efdf5d2ee89a347bb31.jpg" data-media-id="editor_15" data-image-id="2025052403054_75969125a745847a2ef82b6fe8b9106c0b21a116d85b8efdf5d2ee89a347bb31" data-rendition-name="original" width="1044" height="792" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>King Birendra with General Wangdu (right in dark glasses) taken in 1974 possibly in Mustang after one of their few attempts at negotiation. Photo courtesy: RAJRNDRA KUNWAR</figcaption> </figure>  While I naively rode pillion around Kathmandu in the spring sunshine, Wangdu was in the midst of what turned out to be his final round of negotiations with the Nepal government. Refusing to cease hostilities with the Chinese, Wangdu must have suspected the cost of his decision, making his cheerful smile in the photograph all the more poignant and brave. It was only much later that I appreciated the significance of the moment. Wangdu had been sent to replace the first resistance leader in Mustang, Baba Gen Yeshe, a much derided corrupt character who stole money meant for his troops and exploited fleeing refugees by seizing their treasures. Baba Gen Yeshe never forgave Wangdu,and sought revenge in May 1974 by betraying him and his commanders to the Nepal authorities. Renewed Chinese incursions from the north, active PLA collusion with the Nepali forces under the new King, and treachery from within the Chushi-Gangdrukranks combined to seal their fate.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_e0987a7c90d76431b0d7d5e6115ebfe3dbda7ab939e5941e079c18d722e884c0.jpg" data-media-id="editor_16" data-image-id="2025052403054_e0987a7c90d76431b0d7d5e6115ebfe3dbda7ab939e5941e079c18d722e884c0" data-rendition-name="original" width="1400" height="769" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>British television journalists George Patterson and Adrian Cowell embedded themselves with Khampa guerrillas and accompanied them from Tsum Valley on a cross border raid on a Chinese Army convoy in 1964. Photo: ESSAYS ON NEPAL / SAM COWAN</figcaption> </figure>  Mikel Dunham, renowned author of Buddha’s Warriors, writes: ‘It is possible that Wangdu was waiting for some cue from the Dalai Lama’s government-in-exile in Dharamsala, India. It is equally possible – during that last, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/the-human-cost-of-nepal-s-yarsa-gold-rush?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR31-Cqw8oyIwMPzf_35e4Skr0ululJvLf3_vDkzHn-AYG2h8uPw2rqqErg_aem_tGVn5coY1-jA7fze_xqhew">desolate winter </a>– that he made the decision to go out in glory rather than admit defeat. Over the last fifteen years, Wangdu had experienced Tibet’s organized resistance being squeezed and shoved around by every conceivable outside force.&nbsp; First they had been pushed out of their own country by the PLA; then they had been refused sanction while on <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/borderlines/nepal-india-trans-boundary-bonds?fbclid=IwAR0PpJ5zUEbwdug3g_U3ar6FUugngRY0S8Tl2v_7wqzrsHmXWcXsKjvL4t4">Indian soil</a>; then they were abandoned by the Americans because, apparently, Nixon wanted to make friends with Wangdu’s mortal enemies, the communists; then they had been betrayed by the vampiric Baba Gen Yeshe – a Tibetan and, even worse, a fellow Khampa; and now, finally Wangdu’s army was being evicted by the Nepalis. One thing was certain: Wangdu was a warrior. To imagine Wangdu simply giving up and settling down in the pacific squalor of a <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/elderly-left-in-bhutan-refugee-camp">refugee camp </a>was unthinkable.’  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_8fc1ffef4ae751628b90ae781b66e11e51e4fdde2787207c9042efbee345ce49.jpg" data-media-id="editor_20" data-image-id="2025052403054_8fc1ffef4ae751628b90ae781b66e11e51e4fdde2787207c9042efbee345ce49" data-rendition-name="original" width="500" height="746" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>The much derided Baba Gen Yeshe, the first Tibetan resistance leader in Mustang, who betrayed Wangdu for personal gain. Photo courtesy: MIKEL DUNHAM</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_b1d833cdb00d3ac4416b844d8730475cd88c238caaaf8da69889a584eea229a3.jpg" data-media-id="editor_21" data-image-id="2025052403054_b1d833cdb00d3ac4416b844d8730475cd88c238caaaf8da69889a584eea229a3" data-rendition-name="original" width="500" height="656" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>Aditya SJB Rana of the Royal Nepal Army whose team ambushed Wangdu and his cohorts at the top of Tinker Pass in Darchula, West Nepal. Photo courtesy: GAUTAM SJB RANA</figcaption> </figure>  By August 1974 the game was up. Wangdu and six of his exhausted party were killed on their horses by <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=7270">the Royal Nepal Army</a> on the brink of escape. The officer in charge, Aditya SJB Rana, cleverly predicted their route into India after they failed to silence a police radio in Yari. A carefully laid ambush trapped them near the summit of the Tinker Pass in Darchula,at 5,000 meters the highest military operation of its time. Wangdu’s body was helicoptered to Kathmandu, and a big show made of the royal Nepal victory.&nbsp; The Tibetan armed insurgency against China had reached its end.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250524030520_3ff9c6fc85a65bc9a2c3afe9736d9f5f9413de752e790a5d9dca0981ea94f9b4.jpg" data-media-id="editor_23" data-image-id="20250524030520_3ff9c6fc85a65bc9a2c3afe9736d9f5f9413de752e790a5d9dca0981ea94f9b4" data-rendition-name="original" width="1136" height="702" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> </figure>

The Last Days of the Khampa

Starting 17 September Turkish Airlines will fly daily to Seville, one of Spain’s major tourist draws. This is Turkish’s sixth destination in Spain after Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Malaga, and Bilbao. Seville is in the Andalusia region on Spain’s south coast with a rich Moor history. There are approximately 30,000 Nepalis living in Spain.&nbsp;

Turkish to Seville

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

Digital protection for Nepal’s art

<a href="https://www.instagram.com/prabalgurung/" target="_blank">Prabal Gurung</a> left Nepal for New York in 1999 to escape years of bullying, sexism and homophobia, and to pursue his dream of becoming a fashion designer. He <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqN0VaoAI5w" target="_blank">realised his dream</a>, but did not escape discrimination and racism in the new world. Propelled by passion for fashion, Gurung overcame everything America threw at him. He has attained <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/style/story/prabal-gurung-recalls-his-first-met-gala-when-zoe-saldana-was-at-his-side?srsltid=AfmBOooy-H0oGgxMit864FnW_Pmw8mUnV8rYrh-co-f6OyYK6m2ip5hP" target="_blank">fame and recognition</a> for his haute couture dress designs while remaining true to his Nepali roots, and is even more resolute in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSmNauyzACk" target="_blank">fighting prejudice</a> in all its forms. Prabal Gurung’s newly-released memoir <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Audible-Walk-Like-Girl-Memoir/dp/B0DG11HCDQ?fbclid=IwY2xjawKZfpxleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHuZcIJO2OXyXcRm1oq1iG6wzeoF7VJFrQ7GXOFI0YxuZZ4id_CNvSZSZZIna_aem_pG_mOKG73RTnYvN8JaC4fA">Walk Like a Girl</a> is a saga of harrowing abuse in boarding schools in Nepal and India, only finding himself facing a different kind of bullying in the US. He prevails over it all to be where he is today: an award-winning American fashion designer with his own label. Walk Like a Girl was launched last week in New York at a time when everything Gurung fought for — tolerance, inclusion and diversity — are in retreat in his adopted country because of a president who has espoused a culture of bullying. The book is a searing, raw exposé of how cruel and abusive people can be even at a young age in school. On the other hand, it also shows that there are generous, compassionate and open-minded souls out there. In his book, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4le_uWX7YE">Prabal Gurung</a> calls out those who tormented and tried to hold him back (some of their names have been altered). The moral of his story is: resist, never stop believing in yourself, do not let others define you, never lose sight of your dream, and help those who have been kept out. “Walk like a girl” was a slur used by bullies back in school in Nepal and India for Gurung’s effeminate ways. He fought back then, and he is still resisting by turning those words into something to be proud of.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250519170544_4ffc9c3f565dd2cfa754d10b224816897b82bb31ebaee91b6d79d469fc96f14e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20250519170544_4ffc9c3f565dd2cfa754d10b224816897b82bb31ebaee91b6d79d469fc96f14e" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="1253" loading="lazy" alt="Prabal Gurung NT"> <figcaption>Prabal Gurung at home in Kathmandu in the 1990s.</figcaption> </figure>  “Living through it all was one thing, but writing about it is one of the hardest things I have done in my life,” admitted Gurung during the launch. “I broke down constantly during the six-year writing process.” He continues: “I did not want this to be a victim’s book. I did not want to burden my readers with my emotions. I wanted my struggle to be an inspiration for others facing what I faced. I am grateful to those who bullied me in school, they made me a stronger person ready to face the world.” Indeed, this book is a departure from his earlier one titled simply, Prabal Gurung (Abrams, 2019), which was a lush pictorial autobiography of his career in fashion. Walk Like a Girl is not a typical fashion book, it is an intimate tale of <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=16997">Gurung’s travails and triumphs</a>, and how he willed himself to succeed. Prabal pays a lavish tribute to his mother Durga Rana. We find out she is a descendant of the first wife of the eldest son of Jang Bahadur Rana who was banished to Palpa in the late 19th century. Prabal’s father served in the Singapore Police and that is where he was born before the family returned to Nepal when he was four. Gurung relates with brutal honesty about the violence his mother endured from his father. Durga raises three children as a single mother in Nepal, and Prabal credits her for his fierce determination to resist patriarchy and injustice, which in time manifests itself in his hyper-feminine and subversive dress designs. Writing the book has been a cathartic experience for Gurung, who says he is now relieved of the burdens of his past. It no longer haunts him, and he does not have to prove anything to anyone anymore. Walk Like a Girl has life lessons not just for the <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DJmOcSgxdWz/" target="_blank">fashion industry</a>, but for every other profession. How can my job serve a greater cause? Gurung tells us his work is <a href="https://asiasociety.org/blog/asia/why-designer-prabal-gurung-doesnt-want-just-stick-fashion" target="_blank">bigger than just making clothes</a>, it is about making the world a better place because it could do with a lot of improvement.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250519170544_d75296ad8bfdc00d88935f40d23543c6fea3d4d6a10e61a99d6cfc6127f2ee5b.png" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="20250519170544_d75296ad8bfdc00d88935f40d23543c6fea3d4d6a10e61a99d6cfc6127f2ee5b" data-rendition-name="original" width="1516" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Prabal Gurung"> </figure>  This story of chasing the American dream may sound familiar to many immigrants: knocking on doors for jobs, rejections, trying to survive from day to day on expensive rent, and dealing with subtle racism in white America. Gurung finds racism is rife, and he is often mockingly called ‘gaysian’. He writes: ‘There was a strong hypocrisy — this idea of independence felt like a marketting ruse … and for all the talk of feminism in America, these high society women were trapped by the patriarchy just like in Nepal and India.’ After a trek to the Khumbu region in 2013, Gurung is inspired to use the colours, palette and textures of Nepal for his collection exhibited on Manhattan’s 8th Avenue. A major buyer tells him bluntly: “Stick to making pretty dresses … if I need to see a collection like this, I could buy a copy of National Geographic.” The New York Times was equally dismissive: ‘The designer tries to draw connections between blistered techo-fabric used to construct it and the topography of his homeland, Nepal. But, at the moment, he has lost his map.’ One potential investor tells Gurung he cannot design for Americana because “you do not look American”. Gurung wants to use expletives, but restrains himself. After a fundraiser in New York for the Nepal earthquake in 2015, some belittled his effort, saying: “Here comes the saviour."&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/prabal-gurung-by-prabal-gurung">Prabal Gurung by Prabal Gurung</a>, Kunda Dixit The Gurkha DNA must be dominant in Prabal Gurung’s genes because he does not take such mistreatment lying down. When asked by a fashion publicist why he was designing clothes for fat people, he snaps back: “Because of people like you.” He joins the Black Lives Matter and #MeToo movements, launches the Shikshya Foundation charity in Nepal, and has powerful allies among celebrities who wear clothes he designed: Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Sara Jessica Parker, Kamala Harris, Deepika Padukone … it is a long list.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250519150556_48a5f4211991a23fa85b64bbd5377575ca7081d97309d7542035591dda5180fe.png" data-media-id="editor_12" data-image-id="20250519150556_48a5f4211991a23fa85b64bbd5377575ca7081d97309d7542035591dda5180fe" data-rendition-name="original" width="1114" height="1534" loading="lazy" alt="Being Prabal Gurung by design"> <figcaption>Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie wearing Atelier Prabal Gurung’s design for Met Gala 2025 in which the theme was ‘Superfine: Tailoring Black Style’. </figcaption> </figure>  “I don’t dress women to look beautiful, they already are,” Gurung says. “I try to bring out their innate strength and grace.” <a href="https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17908766880140171/" target="_blank">Admirers</a> tell Gurung he makes it all look so easy, but he used to put up a strong facade to not show his own vulnerabilities in public. “I was closed because of my childhood experiences,” he says. “I was always on guard to defend myself because I never knew where the next punch would come from.” But in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPVepzPA210" target="_blank">Walk Like a Girl,</a> Gurung comes to terms with his vulnerability, and bares his soul. It has not been easy, it took sustained will power and support from his mother, sister Kumudini and a circle of close friends. “I made unbelonging my power,” he says. “Nepal is where I still have my heart and soul. Nepal grounds you. It is where people go to find themselves. But I escaped.” Recently appointed vice-chair of the <a href="https://cfda.com/about-cfda" target="_blank">Council of American Fashion Designers</a>, Gurung says: “I can’t believe I am here, it feels like it is happening to someone else. Writing this book, the healing has finally begun.” <h2>‘Everything is better in color’</h2> The Met Gala was two weeks later, and my table was an example of everything I’d been fighting for all these years as my guests represented everything I believed in: dynamic, powerful, influential women who were unapologetically original and unabashedly graceful. I was grateful to Anna for inviting me to host and dress a table that reflected my ethos—and for her guidance in doing so. I was also aware of the privilege as one of the first-­ever Asian fashion designers—not just from Nepal, but from the entire continent— to get the opportunity to do so. That fact was not lost on me. I reached out beyond the expected Hollywood celebrities and well-­known socialites to curate a table of exceptional women who inspired me. I invited Deepika Padukone and Alia Bhatt for their first-­ever Met Galas, as well as Michelle Yeoh, Mindy Kaling, Camila Cabello, Ashley Park, Denée Benton, KiKi Layne, Quannah Chasinghorse, and Grace Elizabeth. Together we checked many boxes: Asian, Black, Latinx, and Indigenous, each woman undeniably chic and powerful, a dazzling array of skin tones and experiences that proved my decades‑in‑the-­making hypothesis: everything is better in color. Excerpt from Walk Like a Girl Viking © 2025 by Prabal Gurung  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250519170520_6b91d560e9f072c37d16876901058c073a51ffa05e7ad1b9461d19e1c9c28215.jpg" data-media-id="editor_16" data-image-id="20250519170520_6b91d560e9f072c37d16876901058c073a51ffa05e7ad1b9461d19e1c9c28215" data-rendition-name="original" width="1136" height="702" loading="lazy" alt="Prabal Gurung book details NT"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250519170520_345240c21be400e2ce2ec629b52bd82bb53890e5bd86fe95b48340d84b5f1748.jpg" data-media-id="editor_17" data-image-id="20250519170520_345240c21be400e2ce2ec629b52bd82bb53890e5bd86fe95b48340d84b5f1748" data-rendition-name="original" width="1136" height="702" loading="lazy" alt="Prabal Gurung book details NT"> </figure>  &nbsp;