Creator of the successful Shangrila hotel group, with properties in Kathmandu, Pokhara, and soon in Chitwan and Begnas, renowned tourism veteran Shyam Bahadur Panday died last week after a long illness.&nbsp; In a double hit for Nepal’s tourism industry, we lost <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/ambica-shrestha-1933-2024-9kaynjv7">Ambica Shrestha</a> the same week, another giant of first wave tourism entrepreneurs. Next generations of family carry both their legacies into the future.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240730120756_5fe83f58816944a200d05cceb23cb8d3dca994df8353a5dab43f3af0e6160580.png" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20240730120756_5fe83f58816944a200d05cceb23cb8d3dca994df8353a5dab43f3af0e6160580" data-rendition-name="original" width="1030" height="830" loading="lazy" alt="Shyam Bahadur Pandey mugshot NT"> <figcaption>Shyam Bahadur Panday 1936-2024, one of Nepal's pioneering tourism entrepreneurs</figcaption> </figure>  Shyam had a pioneering vision for hotels that reflected the spirit of Nepal, and had the foresight to hire many of Kathmandu Valleys best expatriate artists and designers to realise his dream.&nbsp; Cleverly spotting a space in the market between Kathmandu’s five-star properties and the budget lodges that were moving from Freak Street to Thamel, he was able to procure a license due to King Birendra’s coronation. Shyam charged <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/So-far-so-good/the-lyrical-life-of-Desmond-Doig,1052">his friend Desmond Doig</a>, to design the perfect mid-level Kathmandu hotel. It opened on 1 July 1979.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024073013070_eca3189ae138fca1b1249b826c0083f9556bedcaa1356a379e46a6905a69e9a1.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="2024073013070_eca3189ae138fca1b1249b826c0083f9556bedcaa1356a379e46a6905a69e9a1" data-rendition-name="original" width="1366" height="620" loading="lazy" alt="1979 inauguration of Shangrila Hotel NT"> <figcaption>The 1979 inauguration of Shangrila Hotel by Shyam Bahadur Panday (left), his daughter Millu and mother.</figcaption> </figure>  Desmond was an editor, author, painter, designer, photographer, expeditioner and conservationist, a Renaissance man who delighted in the Valley’s vibrant living artistry. Retiring to Nepal in the 1970s after a lifetime in journalism in Kolkata, ‘Des-la’ adapted his talents to architecture and landscape design.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/so-far-so-good/remembering-des-la-at-shangri-la">Remembering Des-la at Shangri~la</a>, Lisa Choegyal&nbsp; Utpal Sengupta, the curly haired member of Desmond’s original entourage, managed the hotel with flair and imagination for 20 years. Former employees who cut their teeth at the Shangrila can still be found running travel agencies, resorts and restaurants in Kathmandu and beyond.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240730130724_ce4f4a5d5cc1bbcb21d907698ee1641f74868b00be5af8effe4daab0827c7501.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20240730130724_ce4f4a5d5cc1bbcb21d907698ee1641f74868b00be5af8effe4daab0827c7501" data-rendition-name="original" width="3029" height="2412" loading="lazy" alt="Shangrila Hotel plans 1979 NT"> <figcaption>Desmond Doig (left), Elizabeth Hawley, Boris Lissanevitch and Sir Edmund Hillary looking at the Shangrila Hotel plans 1979. Shyam Bahadur Panday requested the talented Desmond to design the original Shangrila Hotel and garden.</figcaption> </figure>  <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/In-memorium-of-Dubby-Bhagat,3180">Writer Dubby Bhagat</a>, artist Robert Powell and designer Chino Ronchoroni were amongst those who contributed their special style in upgrades and additions. Shyam, and later his sons Prasidha and Prabin, maintained a watchful eye over the decades.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/book-review-of-Down-History%E2%80%99s-Narrow-Lanes-andMy-Kind-of-Kathmandu,2413">Saving what is left</a>, Sonia Awale The Shangrila Village Pokhara at Gharipatan followed and a site was secured in Meghauli in Chitwan. Pranay Panday proudly showed me the resort at Begnas he was building, overlooking the lake and the Annapurna peaks, faithfully following his grandfather Shyam’s original concept. Shyam’s ‘Shang’ became a fixture for many of us local residents, as well as a friendly base for tourists, trekkers, journalists, consultants and film crews. We would often encounter Shyam lurking in the lobby, a gentle smiling presence always with time for a chat or a laugh, usually on his way to a government or industry meeting.&nbsp; Following a career in the civil service and a Masters’ degree from University of Southern California, Shyam realised his talent for business. After establishing the Shangrila group, he became instrumental in developing responsible tourism policies and regulations with the government, HAN and PATA amongst others, recognised with a lifetime achievement award in business leadership.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=1742">The legends still live</a>, Sraddha Basnyat Hotelier colleague Yogendra Shakya recalls his devotion to high class hospitality: “Shyam’s contribution to the tourism sector is unparalleled.” Lingering in the al fresco restaurant, lounging at the hiti pool, or enjoying a hot rum punch by the roaring fire in the lobby bar, one might have run into <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=19173">Tony Hagen the Swiss development pioneer</a> who walked the length of Nepal, Dudley Spain long-term British Embassy implant, UNICEF’s Gordon ‘Golden’ Temple before he decamped to Bhutan, Jim Edwards the indefatigable owner of Tiger Tops, or <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/hiking-with-jimmy">Col Jimmy Roberts</a> with his floppy-eared spaniels, the founder of trekking in Nepal.&nbsp; <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=10754">The legendary Boris Lissanevitch</a> regularly graced the kitchens as a special guest chef, bearing bottles of flavoured vodka and bones to make his famous borscht.&nbsp; Dame Freya Stark, Arabist explorer and British eccentric, was one of the first to stay at the Shangrila. Already in her 80s and rather forgetful, she declared on arrival: “I feel we must be somewhere east of the Euphrates.”&nbsp; We arranged two treks for her in the early 1980s with her favourite hill pony named Red Balls. Freya wrote in the Shangrila guest book: “This is the finest hotel I have ever stayed in with the nicest people in it.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240730130728_66048d35cc12a3818bd29b2ef833184a30d110b0734eb2f89dc0c3ac3024bf42.jpg" data-media-id="editor_12" data-image-id="20240730130728_66048d35cc12a3818bd29b2ef833184a30d110b0734eb2f89dc0c3ac3024bf42" data-rendition-name="original" width="970" height="688" loading="lazy" alt="Dame Freya Start NT"> <figcaption>British explorer, Dame Freya Stark was one of the first celebrity writers to stay at Shyam's Shangrila Hotel in 1980, with Lisa Choegyal</figcaption> </figure>  Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/so-far-so-good/adventurers-in-a-vanishing-land">Adventurers in a vanishing land</a>, Lisa Choegyal <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/highs-and-lows-of-sir-ed">The great burra sahib Sir Edmund Hillary</a>, an ardent Shangrila fan, was feted with a garden dinner by his Sherpa friends to mark the Everest Golden Jubilee 50th anniversary in 2003. Suites were named after him and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/was-tenzing-a-tibetan-nepali-or-indian-it-does-not-matter">Tenzing Norgay</a>.&nbsp; <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/what-next-for-reinhold-messner">Reinhold Messner</a> stopped by between 8,000m peaks. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/climber-activist-david-breashears-68-5jqz27nf">David Breashears</a>, maker of IMAX Everest documentary that put Sagarmatha on the trekking map, used the garden as a quiet haven to shoot interviews, &nbsp;including with British film director Stephen Daldry (The Crown and Billy Elliot).&nbsp; Writer and nomadic traveller <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/So-far-so-good/When-Bruce-Chatwin-was-in-Chitwan,1017">Bruce Chatwin </a>came as one of a long line of yeti-hunters en route to the mountains. American Mikel Dunham visited annually, author of Buddha’s Warriors and my co-editor of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/from-liz-hawley-in-kathmandu">Elizabeth Hawley’</a>s diaries The Nepal Scene, which covered the turbulent political and social history of Nepal from 1988-2007.&nbsp; Over the years Shyam’s Shangrila Hotel hosted local weddings, rites of passage and some remarkable celebrations. Desmond arranged Utpal’s marriage to Caroline (of Chez Caroline) in 1981 amidst the terraces, fountains and newly planted marigolds in that soothing garden.&nbsp; The Prime Minister attended the 1994 reception honouring the Himalayan chronicler, Elizabeth Hawley, with 35 years of service to Reuters. Always a stickler for accuracy, to our embarrassment she kept interrupting the regional boss’ laudatory speech with factual corrections.&nbsp; Kunda Dixit had survived as Miss Hawley’s youthful journalist intern: “The Shangrila garden reminds me of Desmond Doig who was pivotal to my early career.” As Nepali Times’ publisher, Kunda chose it to mark its twentieth year and one thousandth issue in July 2020. As befitted a celebration in the time of Covid, numbers were limited, the party was muted, and hugs and handshakes were replaced by knuckle taps, elbow embraces and namastes. It would be one of the last events held there. Read also:<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/1-000-weeks-of-nepali-times"> 1,000 weeks of Nepali Times</a>, Mark Turin Today the old Shangrila Hotel is a gaping hole in Lazimpath’s landscape, an empty space echoing with memories. Under the direction of Shyam’s two sons and their offspring, Kathmandu, Pokhara, Chitwan and Begnas are in preparation to launch under the prestigious Intercontinental (and Indigo) brands. Whilst the family hotel properties are reincarnated to meet the changing times, founder of the dynasty late Shyam Bahadur Panday’s inheritance will continue to set benchmarks for the future.&nbsp;

Lisa Choegyal

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Shyam’s Shangrila

<figure><img width="640" height="427" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171132/636933d69c7e80680e03dfc0jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Gyakok can be modified according to guests’ choice: vegetarian or non-vegetarian, rice or noodles and types of meat and veggies.</figcaption></figure><a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=2257#.W-0waDgzbIU">Momo</a>, thukpa, laping, sha phaley, thenthuk, khapsey and few other delicacies from Tibet have been favourites among Nepalis for quite a long time. But one dish which has huge potential to be much loved, yet has not received a page in Wikipedia. That dish is Tibetan hot pot, natively known as gyakok.Gyakok is Tibet’s take on the Chinese, Korean and other East Asian nations’ familial stew that comes simmering in a copper pot with a chimney-like opening on top, and a burner at the bottom for a constant flame. You can drop your desired meat, vegetables, seafood, mushrooms, wontons, dumplings, tofu, or anything else, into the soup and eat it as it cooks. The dish is for those who want their momos and thukpas in one place and can share it with others.“For a few years, restaurants and hotels in Kathmandu have been promoting this indulgent Tibetan dish during winter. This year, it is <a style="letter-spacing: 0.15px; background-color: #ffffff;" href="https://hotelshangrila.com/">Hotel Shangri-La</a> in Lazimpat and its resort in Pokhara bringing out the pot first. They are relaunching Shangri-La Gyakok for the coming winter from mid November until the end of December.Gyakok can be modified according to guests’ choice: vegetarian or non-vegetarian, rice or noodles and types of meat and veggies. Guests can experiment with the taste and enjoy with a big group of friends or family”, say Shangri-La’s new executive chef Vikram Kumar. <figure><img width="640" height="693" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171132/636933d89c7e80680e03dfc1jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Shangri-La offers plenty of ingredients to add to the pot: mutton balls, shrimp or prawns, pork and chicken, boiled eggs, tofu and seasonal veggies. Side dishes include kimchi salad, garlic cucumber salad and mushroom bok choy. These can be paired with steamed rice, Tibetan momo (steamed bun), or chicken or vegetable momo too. Altogether, the dish becomes a hearty feast that checks all the nutrition requirements to get winter-ready. <figure><img width="640" height="427" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171132/636933da9c7e80680e03dfc2jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Chef Kumar had a taste of Gyakok 10 years ago, and wanted to continue Shangri-La’s annual gyakok promotion. It took him just few days to understand how much Nepalis love momo, and he hopes Tibetan hot pot will be adored equally.It has been just two weeks since chef Kumar came to Kathmandu, and this is his first endeavor outside of India. “I plan to introduce many rarely available foods, including my signature dishes, and a new menu”, says the chef. “But before that I have to identify with the food culture here and I am looking forward to guests’ feedback on the gyakok.”   Shangri~La Gyakok Festival18 November- 31 DecemberHotel Shangri~La, Lazimpat, (01) 4412999Shangri~La Village Resort, Pokhara, (061) 462222Read also: <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=19650#.W-0syzgzbIU">Shangri-La Kitchen</a>, Trishna Rana<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/buon-appetito/">Buon Appetito</a>, Sikuma Rai<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/a-new-chimney/">A new Chimney</a>, Sikuma Rai

Go Gyakok

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;

shangri-la-hotel-lazimpat

Shyam’s Shangrila

Go Gyakok

The Last Days of the Khampa

Turkish to Seville

Digital protection for Nepal’s art

Being Prabal Gurung by design