UN Secretary-General António Guterres addressed a joint session of Parliament on Tuesday as part of his four-day visit to Nepal. Guterres spoke about global conflicts, Nepal’s transitional justice process, and the impact of climate change on the Himalayas. During his remarks, Guterres described Nepal as “a promoter of peace, a champion of multilateralism, and a staunch supporter of sustainable development and climate action.” Guterres said he welcomed efforts to drive progress and find solutions in regard to transitional justice, and that the UN, “respecting Nepali leadership” stood ready to support Nepal. “We know that transitional justice has the greatest chance of success when it is inclusive, comprehensive, and has victims at its heart--when it centres on truth, reparations and justice,” he said. “When women participate fully. And when all victims of human rights violations can find meaningful redress.” Meanwhile, victims of Nepal’s decade-long armed conflict were gathered in front of Kathmandu District Court on Tuesday to demand amendments to the Transitional Justice Bill. Conflict victims' groups appealed to the government and political parties to ensure that the transitional justice process adheres to international standards, the Supreme Court’s verdict, as well as the concerns expressed by survivors.  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231031161024_7130d4b3f64d24ceb93ff0d2ad2076f4dba7d7a0d52446cad4c48de5c70d6499.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20231031161024_7130d4b3f64d24ceb93ff0d2ad2076f4dba7d7a0d52446cad4c48de5c70d6499" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Transitional justice"><figcaption>Conflict victims gathered in front of Kathmandu District Court on Tuesday to demand amendments to Nepal's Transitional Justice Bill. Photo: SUMAN NEPALI</figcaption></figure>  The UN Secretary-General then shifted focus to climate change and the need for “climate justice”, noting that although Nepal contributes negligible amounts to global carbon emissions, the country, especially the Himalaya have been significantly impacted by the climate crisis. He also added that he has proposed a Sustainable Development Goal stimulus that would release at least $500 billion a year in affordable long-term finance for sustainable development and climate action in countries like Nepal. Meanwhile, members of the civil society wrote to the Secretary-General to express gratitude for his stand on Gaza and the need for a humanitarian truce in the region, world peace, Nepal’s transitional justice, and the climate crisis. The letter also warned the UN Secretary-General about ‘national and international ‘spoilers’ wanting to foist a perpetrator-friendly ending to the peace process in the name of elapsed time and geopolitical expediency.’ However, the letter-- signed by former Commissioners of the National Human Rights Commission Gauri Shankar Lal Das and Sushil Pyakurel, MP and former Foreign Minister Bimala Rai Paudyal, activist Hira Bishwakarma, former advisor to the President Tika P. Dhakal, and writer/journalist Kanak Mani Dixit—also expressed disappointment at Guterres not having met with conflict victims. Wrote the signatories: “It is the victims, as the main stakeholders, who ensured through years of lonely struggle that opportunistic politicians and other players did not derail our transitional justice process. While you did meet the two erstwhile warring sides, you were not able to meet the victims of conflict even though representatives of five organisations had submitted a letter on the morning of 30 October seeking an appointment." Full text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres' remarks during the joint session of Parliament Your Excellencies, the two presidents of the two Houses of the Nepali Parliament, Excellencies, distinguished Ministers, Parliamentarians and Friends, allow me, before I start, to express my deep gratitude for the wonderful hospitality that the Government and the people of Nepal have provided to me during these three days. All the facilities that were put at my disposal have transformed this visit into an enormous success. I learned a lot and I commit to using what I learned to support Nepal in your struggle against climate change and for the development of your country. When I am here, I am twice at home. I have been astounded. Tthis trip has been no exception. What I have seen and experienced in the past few days will stay with me always. The sunlight hitting the Himalayas, the warmth of the people, the richness of your cultural diversity and, of course, the sanctity of Lumbini. I thank the Government of Nepal for your invitation, your hospitality and your welcome to me and to my delegation. Excellencies, we meet today amidst a world in turmoil. Decades of progress on poverty and hunger are being reversed in large parts of the world. Inflation is undermining households and national budgets. Families and countries alike face financial crises. Women are underrepresented and underpaid. I recognize the enormous effort that Nepal is making in the way for gender equality, full gender equality, and I praise your efforts and its results. Violence and conflict abound. While the conflict in the Middle East is thousands of miles away, Nepalis were among the many victims of Hamas' brutal attacks in Israel. I send my sincere condolences to the families of the 10 Nepalese students who were killed and express my best wishes for the safe return of Mr Bipin Joshi, who is missing. Distinguished parliamentarians, as geopolitical tensions rise, global divisions are becoming deeper and more dangerous. And smaller countries fear becoming collateral damage in the competition between the great powers. And climate catastrophe is accelerating with a deadly force. In responding to this crisis, the world could learn much from Nepal. This country is a promoter of peace, a champion of multilateralism, and a staunch supporter of sustainable development and climate action. Nestled between two great powers, you have forged your own path to safeguard your sovereignty and your independence, and your journey over the past 20 years has been wonderful to see. A new republic, with a new constitution, with the UN Charter at its heart. You were quick to embrace the Sustainable Development Goals, and are making progress on many of them, independently of the difficult financial conditions that developing countries face in today's unfair world. Your country has successfully calmed the storms of conflict and moved from war to peace, a process the United Nations has been proud to support. Dear parliamentarian colleagues, Nepal does not stand still. Your dynamic story of progress continues today. Your graduation from the Least Developed Countries status is imminent, and the United Nations is committed to supporting a smooth transition. You are preparing the final stages of your Nepal-led peace process, healing the wounds of war through transitional justice. A process to bring peace to victims, families and communities haunted by questions and scarred by injustice, and one that will help put the past to rest. Transitional justice can play a vital role in securing lasting peace. But we all know it's not easy. By nature, it is a delicate and complex process. We know that transitional justice has the greatest chance of success when it is inclusive, comprehensive and has victims at its heart. When it centres on truth, reparation and justice, when women participate fully, and when all victims of human rights violations can find meaningful redress. I welcome efforts here in Nepal to drive progress and find solutions in this regard, and want to tell you you are not alone. The United Nations, respecting the Nepali leadership of this process, stands ready to support you, with your victim-centred process and its implementation in line with international standards, and your own Supreme Court's rulings. The United Nations and Nepal are old friends. Our cooperation runs deep. Nepal has long been a cherished member of the UN family and a powerful voice for developing countries, most recently as chair of the Least Developed Countries Group. This relatively small country, compared with the big powers, has made an outsized contribution to international peace. Of all the countries on earth, Nepal is the second largest contributor of troops to United Nations Missions, military and police. I am sincerely grateful to the Nepali people for their dedication, their courage and their service in peacekeeping. I would like to take a moment and ask for one moment of silence to honour those Nepalis who have lost their lives serving under the blue flag. Their memory will never be forgotten, and the United Nations is proud of the exceptional contribution of Nepali soldiers and police officers in our peacekeeping missions. Dear parliamentarian colleagues, on climate action, Nepal is a frontrunner. You are on target to reach net zero emissions by 2045. Thanks to extraordinary reforestation efforts, trees now cover almost half of the country. And you are one of the pioneers of the Early Warning Systems for All initiative, which aims to protect every person on earth by 2027. Yet global crises are hitting Nepal hard, as they are developing countries around the world. The lingering effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, inflation, and above all the climate crisis are threatening hard-won development gains and squeezing the funds available for investment. Nepal contributes a minimal fraction of a percent to global emissions. But monsoons, storms, landslides are growing in force and ferocity, sweeping away crops, livestock and entire villages, decimating economies and ruining lives. In August, landslides caused by heavy rains caused devastation and killed scores of people. And glaciers are melting at record levels. I was a witness. Nepal has lost close to a third of its ice in just over 30 years. The effect is devastating. Swollen lakes bursting. Rivers and seas rising. Cultures threatened, and mountainsides exposed, inflaming the risk of rockslides, landslides and avalanches. Threats will continue mounting. Himalayan glaciers provide fresh water to over a billion people. As they shrink, so do river flows. Now, we have too much floods. But one day in the future, Himalayan rivers like the Hindus, the Ganges and the Brahmaputra will have their flows severely limited. Combined with saltwater intrusion, that will decimate deltas in this region and beyond. That could mean low-lying communities and entire countries erased forever— millions of people on the move and fierce competition for water and land. Nepal is now one of the countries that is suffering the most. But other South Asian countries might become, in the future, terrible victims of the receding glaciers of Nepal. Dear parliamentarian colleagues, what is happening in this country as a result of climate change is an appalling injustice and a scathing indictment of the fossil fuel age. I am deeply concerned by those communities in Nepal facing the brutal impacts of the climate crisis. The United Nations stands with them. The world must do the same. That was one of the reasons why I took profit of my visit to the Everest Base Camp to issue a video for the whole world showing the drama of receding glaciers and the impacts that will have in the future. Nepal and other developing countries need far greater international support to aid development, accelerate climate action and weather the current global storms. I have proposed a Sustainable Development Goals Stimulus that would release at least $500 billion a year in affordable long-term finance for sustainable development and climate action in developing countries like Nepal. Member States welcomed the proposal at the General Assembly last month and committed to advancing it. I call on them to take action now to make this commitment a reality. Unfortunately in our world, many times people announce commitments and then do not implement those commitments. These commitments about finance for developing countries and climate action must be implemented. I urge leaders to act on climate without delay with the biggest emitters leading from the front. All countries must put the acceleration agenda I propose into effect to limit the rise in global temperature to 1.5°C, and they must make COP28 count with a strong outcome building on the so-called global stocktake. We also need to deliver climate justice. Developed countries must honour the promise of $100 billion a year to support developing countries in climate, and double adaptation finance as a first step of devoting half of climate finance to adaptation. Investment in the resilience of communities, in the resilience of infrastructure is today a must, because climate change impacts are not a problem of the future, they are felt today by the population—and it is today that developed countries must support countries like Nepal to do the necessary investments in that regard. The most vulnerable must be at the centre of efforts to build climate resilience. And all parties must operationalise the landmark Loss and Damage Fund at COP28 this year. There is loss and there is damage. You can see it in Nepal. There must be compensation for it. The Nepali people depend on it, for families that have lost their homes to storms, for communities forced to abandon their villages by rising rivers. Loss and damage is not a negotiating point or a bureaucratic abstraction. It is a lifeline. Dear parliamentarian colleagues, Nepal has long been a friend to the international system. And today their system is in dire need of refresh, revitalisation and reform. The world is in a state of flux. It is moving towards multipolarity. And that is a good thing. A multipolar world provides new opportunities for leadership and balance on the global stage. But this new dynamic requires strong multilateral institutions to maintain peace. History shows us that. At the beginning of the 20th century, Europe was multipolar. But without strong multilateral institutions, it descended into a war that engulfed the world. That is not a risk we can take. We need strong, international reformed institutions that reflect the realities of today. But ours, like the Security Council or the Bretton Woods system, mirror the world in a different way. Since they were founded almost 80 years ago. They correspond to 1945—they do not correspond to what is the world in 2023. That must change. Developing countries must have far greater representation in international institutions. I have called for reform of the outdated United Nations Security Council, and I have proposed measures to reform the global financial architecture so that it better represents developing countries and responds to their needs. And these proposals are gaining traction at this year's United Nations General Assembly and beyond. But of course, there is always the resistance of those that benefit from the present unfair systems. The United Nations Summit of the Future next year is an important chance to push further progress, and I count on Nepal's support to help make the change we need a reality. Dear parliamentarian colleagues, multilateralism must both reflect the world and respond to it. That means creating the institutions and tools we need to address new threats and seize new opportunities. Today, technology is an example of both. It can solve problems and spur development, or it can entrench divisions and inflame inequality. Today, it is doing too little of the former and too much of the latter. We need a global response to the technologies that are changing the world at a stunning speed to harness them for the good of humanity. And all countries must have a say, not only the most rich countries in the world that have more resources to develop those new technologies. My high-level board on Artificial Intelligence includes experts from G77 countries, the global source. It will report this year, so member states can consider global governance options for artificial intelligence. And it must also bring the benefits of technology to all and ensure that in a new technological era no one is left behind. This is the purpose of the Global Digital Compact the United Nations is proposing. It aims to bring together governments and industries to ensure that technology works for all and accelerate the Sustainable Development Goals. And I hope the Summit of the Future will be an excellent chance to push progress. As a steadfast champion of multilateralism, peace and developing countries' interests, Nepal will be a vital ally at the summit. Dear parliamentary colleagues, it has been my great pleasure to visit this extraordinary country over the past few days. What I've seen confirms a simple truth. Nepal is a friend of the world. So the world must be a better friend to Nepal, and the United Nations will never stop fighting to make that a reality. I thank you.

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Justice delayed, justice denied

UN Secretary General António Guterres who is on a 4-day visit to Nepal has pledged to raise global awareness about the impact of the climate crisis on the Himalaya at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai next month. He flew by helicopter from Kathmandu to the shrinking glacier below Mt Everest on Monday to record a warning to the world that the planet is in grave peril. He also vowed to take up the cause of countries like Nepal that are vulnerable to climate impact in Dubai to raise money for adaptation, and a fund for loss and damage. “Nepal is an example of a country that does not contribute much to the climate crisis but is in the first line of impact of its consequences. And I’m here to show Nepal to the world and show how dramatic climate change is,” said Guterres following a visit to the Everest Base Camp (EBC) and Syangboche on Monday morning. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/antonio-guterres-agenda-in-kathmandu">António Guterres' agenda in Kathmandu</a>, Editorial  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231030111020_250b078bd5f5d6f6e3fb6e39303c6604dc27fa1cda4744357f2f2f5796c345c8.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20231030111020_250b078bd5f5d6f6e3fb6e39303c6604dc27fa1cda4744357f2f2f5796c345c8" data-rendition-name="original" width="1920" height="1280" loading="lazy" alt="UN Sec General"><figcaption>Photo: RATNA SHRESTHA/RSSRSS</figcaption></figure>  He further noted that it was disheartening that countries like Nepal are experiencing consequences disproportionately. He added: “At COP28, we have to urge countries to reduce emissions and double contributions for adaptation and the loss and damage fund. It is not generosity, but their duty.” The UN Secretary-General spoke with the local community in Nepal’s Khumbu region about everyday challenges they face, including weather extremes, shrinking glaciers, the depletion of water sources, and climate-related disasters like glacial lake outbursts floods and avalanches. He also discussed solutions like clean energy, and residents asked for support for micro-hydro projects. Guterres later took to X (Twitter) to write: ‘Today from the base of Mt Everest, I saw for myself the terrible impact of the climate crisis on the Himalayas. As temperatures rise, glacier melt increases - threatening the lives and livelihoods of entire communities. #ClimateAction can’t wait.’ <div class="embed-block"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Today from the base of Mt. Everest, I saw for myself the terrible impact of the climate crisis on the Himalayas. As temperatures rise, glacier melt increases - threatening the lives and livelihoods of entire communities.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ClimateAction?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ClimateAction</a> can’t wait. <a href="https://t.co/Ih12Qb8roi">pic.twitter.com/Ih12Qb8roi</a>— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) <a href="https://twitter.com/antonioguterres/status/1718900241615736901?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 30, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div> The Secretary-General flew on Monday to Pokhara, and on Tuesday will visit the base camp of Annapurna, another 8,000m Himalayan peak where the snowline is also receding dramatically. Guterres announced he will also be visiting Antarctica in November to highlight the thawing of the polar ice caps and the result this will have on seas level and weather patterns. At Annapurna Base Camp Guterress will be accompanied by glaciologists who will show him evidence of Elevation Dependent Warming which means that the Himalayan mountains are warming at 0.7 degrees Celsius higher than the global average. Even if atmospheric temperatures worldwide were to be capped at 2.0 Celsius by 2025, the Himalayan would be 2.7 Celsius. At that rate, two-thirds of Himalayan glaciers will be gone during this century. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/antonio-guterres-meets-nepal-s-leaders">António Guterres meets Nepal’s leaders</a>, Nepali Times  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231030111020_4dbe27e0a919a04af43b45f2c457bf5f270a8b08392b96be17f738ad1f63a8a4.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20231030111020_4dbe27e0a919a04af43b45f2c457bf5f270a8b08392b96be17f738ad1f63a8a4" data-rendition-name="original" width="1800" height="1350" loading="lazy" alt="UN Sec Gen"><figcaption>Photo: RSS</figcaption></figure>  From there he will fly to Lumbini to the birthplace of the Buddha in southern Nepal to send a message of peace and compassion to the world. Guterres will be the sixth UN Secretary General to visit Lumbini. Back in 1967, Burmese Buddhist Secretary-General of the United Nations, U Thant, visited Nepal and flew to Lumbini for a pilgrimage. Seeing the ruins, U Thant during his meeting with King Mahendra in Kathmandu discussed restoring the nativity site and later set up a UN Committee to turn Lumbini into an international centre for peace. Another issue on the agenda for Guterres is Nepal’s long-standing commitment to the UN peacekeeping, the country is the second biggest contributor to the operations. Guterres told UN staff at a gathering in Kathmandu on Monday: “Nepal is an example of a country that is not only able to make peace with itself but also contributes to peace in conflict regions around the world.” Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/climate-change-is-a-disaster-in-the-nepal-himalaya">Climate change is a disaster in the Nepal Himalaya</a>, Sonam Choekyi Lama

Below Mt Everest, António Guterres urges climate action

‘One early morning, we heard the ambassador’s wife cry out, “Ram, Ram, Ram!” A disaster has befallen Nepal!” She had heard on the radio that a fire had consumed Singha Durbar." This is not about the arson attack on 9 September 2025, but the one on 8 July, 1973. It started in the South Wing of the then single-largest building in all of Nepal. It took two days to bring the blaze under control, requiring the use of explosives to demolish one wing to protect the imposing western facade. As Bhekh Bahadur Thapa recalls in the English translation of his memoir A Life in Public Service: Nepal from Autocracy to Democracy, he was then on leave from the Nepal government serving with the IDRC in Ottawa.&nbsp; He had already served as Nepal’s Finance Secretary at age 25, went on to be Finance Minister and Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank. He was already younger than some of the GenZ ministers in Nepal’s present RSP government. Thapa, now 89, was at the launch of the book in February which was attended by former diplomats and bureaucrats. After speeches by panelists, there was a question from the audience about how Thapa had managed to be the diplomat he was, managing Nepal’s international relations on the world stage.&nbsp; Writer and journalist Akhilesh Upadhyay, who was moderating the panel, responded by going into the section of the book where we see Thapa as an ambassador to the US, playing tennis with White House officials, cultivating a network of contacts to project the identity and welfare of Nepal, and making it possible for a state visit by King Birendra to Ronald Reagan’s America. The book is full of anecdotes that suggest Thapa was a clever and strategic diplomat, always calm and unruffled, easily making friends in high places with his maturity and engaging sense of humour. Thapa’s memoir is heavy on details about Nepal’s administrative history during the years he was active in public service, serving as minister and ambassador under three kings: Mahendra, Birendra and Gyanendra, and alongside five prime ministers.&nbsp; Aside from an insider look on how certain treaties, development deals and research projects in Nepal came into fruition, Thapa goes into great detail about his personal and professional relationships with the kings, ministers, ambassadors, foreign leaders and politicians.&nbsp; As a reader, one is struck by the level of detail around the events that unfolded in Nepal over the years during Thapa’s tenure. Was Thapa recording a journal over the years of the events and the conversations that transpired, or were they committed to his phenomenal memory? Either way, the reader gets a glimpse of Nepal’s recent history from the early days of the Panchayat, through the People’s Movement and the democracy period, the Maoist insurgency, Royal Palace massacre of 2001, and Gyanendra’s coup of 2005.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2026041204048_125dc8ae300a1e33124f394abe724d42727f83e067b0201d2008b58d60c459a4.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2026041204048_125dc8ae300a1e33124f394abe724d42727f83e067b0201d2008b58d60c459a4" data-rendition-name="original" width="1584" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="How to win friends and influence nations NT"> </figure>  Not enough is said about the political parties of the time whose presence led to the way Nepal’s multiparty democracy came to be shaped. The book keeps its focus on the administration and the key figures around it, mostly those in the Panchayat era. Towards the second half of the book, we do start to hear about political parties, but not in great depth. Another figure whose presence in the book is conspicuously less prominent is that of his wife, Rita Thapa — the person who seems to have rescued him every time financial quandary or family care became a challenge. Yet, we do not see her as a full person. Perhaps because of the personal tragedies in his life, the children are also barely mentioned.&nbsp; The book is therefore less personal and more technical. Throughout, we learn about Thapa’s thinking as he navigated the world of diplomacy to win him the trust of those who mattered. There are tips here for a new generation of Nepali officials and diplomats about how much commitment and focus is needed to be good at one’s job and serve the national interest. This book adds to tomes that have been written on Nepal’s fragile relationship with India. ‘India has always wished for Nepal to remain dependent on it,’ writes Thapa, who served as Nepal’s ambassador to India and later in the Eminent Persons Group &nbsp;on Indo-Nepal relations that has been allowed to languish. The book has several insights into the Indo-Nepal trysts with diplomacy and agency.&nbsp; China’s role is also recorded, viewed through conversations during a visit to Beijing, but all that was before Nepal’s neighbour to the north emerged as a world economic and military power. The book also has such sudden instances of quirkiness and humour. For instance, we see a young Thapa in America explaining to a government official why he would like to return to Nepal instead of settling down in the US. “Because, Nepal is beautiful,” he said. The text is immaculate and does not read much like a translation, credit for which clearly goes to the team that put the edition together: translator Prawin Adhikari, &nbsp;Anagha Neelakanthan and Bhekh Thapa’s daughter, Manjushree. As Nepal enters a new era of governance and diplomacy, A Life in Public Service: Nepal from Autocracy to Democracy should be essential reading for students of political science, economics and foreign affairs who can gain a fresh perspective on the country’s trajectory.&nbsp; There are dozens of forgotten state secrets recorded in the book, but the reader must also remember this is a story told from one person’s perspective and there may be others.&nbsp; So, what really made Thapa the diplomat he was? I met him in 2004 at the Kantipur TV studio when he was serving as king Gyanendra’s foreign minister. He was there for a studio interview, and I was just done with my English newscast.&nbsp; He surprised me at the door: “Pratibha! I’ve been reading your articles in The Kathmandu Post. You must keep writing.” I thanked him, glad to have been noticed for my work by a stranger. That was perhaps one of the things that set Thapa apart — he excelled at staying close to those in power, while also noticing those who were not.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260412040412_213e706136a038ec9f5e2b8c6d7f7c1e9ceed9479e22fe2884872ad7bd20955f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20260412040412_213e706136a038ec9f5e2b8c6d7f7c1e9ceed9479e22fe2884872ad7bd20955f" data-rendition-name="original" width="1136" height="702" loading="lazy" alt="Book details"> </figure>

How to win friends and influence nations

This is the 91st episode of Diaspora Diaries, a Nepali Times series in collaboration with Migration Lab providing a platform to share experiences of living, working and studying abroad. I have still not come to terms with the reality that my daughter Ruby Thakur is now the Deputy Speaker of Nepal’s Parliament. Sometimes, when I am walking, the thought hits me, and I cannot believe it.&nbsp; Things changed for my daughter in a very short time. I had dreamt that the best my daughter could achieve was a good engineering job. Fate had bigger plans for her. She is no longer just my daughter, she is the nation’s daughter. Nepal’s daughter.&nbsp; My children’s education was always my foremost priority. That is the main reason I went overseas for employment. I realised the value of education while working in Saudi Arabia. In my office, colleagues with good education earn $8,000 per month working on computers. Those with low education toil outdoors in the heat for much lower wages. A good education or skills can change everything. I am in Nepal on vacation and will soon return to my job. Ruby is all set now. But I still have to take care of my other children's education. As the eldest son, I myself never got a chance to prioritise my own education. I dropped out in Grade 7 because I had to take care of my ageing parents and younger siblings. I have done all kinds of jobs. I worked in a landlord’s field for a share of the harvest. Even now my wife and I farm for the land owner and have to give away half of what we grow.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260413120444_051b61e01a5189af538aa1e011acd3e2b38d5f42825116b2afd325d93d0c519b.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20260413120444_051b61e01a5189af538aa1e011acd3e2b38d5f42825116b2afd325d93d0c519b" data-rendition-name="original" width="4032" height="2268" loading="lazy" alt="DD"> <figcaption>Sogarath Thakur during a break in Nepal with wife tending to his farm.</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260413120448_8a1c3ac3fd559026bc6f981cc8dc82cb8ad09a3a4f55fb9f6f7fd5f49c3d5571.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20260413120448_8a1c3ac3fd559026bc6f981cc8dc82cb8ad09a3a4f55fb9f6f7fd5f49c3d5571" data-rendition-name="original" width="4032" height="2268" loading="lazy" alt="DD"> </figure>  Then I worked as a barber, my family’s line of occupation. I went door to door cutting people’s hair and later worked in a relative’s saloon. Hairstyles were simple back then, and I got to keep half the fee. I also worked in a brick factory where I was paid weekly. &nbsp; I married when I was 16, and my wife was a year younger. As my family and responsibilities grew, I had to migrate leaving behind my three children including Ruby who was just three months old.&nbsp; I went to Qatar where I continued working as a barber. It was a large saloon and the standards for cleanliness and professionalism were higher. I had to hand over 70% of my daily earnings to the employer. I had to rely on my colleague to translate what the customer wanted. But I slowly became fluent in Arabic. I used to jot down words in Nepali and Arabic and memorise them. In Qatar, customers even came at night for haircuts, and people stayed up late. I would work till 3AM.&nbsp; Communicating with my family was one-way. I would go to Bismillah and ask someone to type out questions to my family about their whereabouts, how the harvest was that season. I would offer very little information about my life in Qatar because it was not easy. What was the point of getting them all worried? What could they do? I never received a letter in return, so throughout my time in Qatar, I never knew how my family was faring. When I appeared in the village after five years without any advance notice, it was a bittersweet reunion, and I had no gifts. I still remember how unfamiliar my village felt when I came home after so many years. I had to ask for directions. When I came home, Ruby was already in school. I had left her in my wife’s arms five years prior. I missed her growing up, and did not even see her pictures. My wife had to introduce her to me as her father. But it took just 15 minutes for her to warm up to me.&nbsp; The Arabic skills I had picked up in Qatar came in handy when I remigrated two years later to Saudi Arabia. I worked as a labourer in the desert heat, but once my company found out I spoke Arabic, I was hired for an indoor job as an office boy. The struggle in Qatar had paid off. I worked in an air conditioned office serving tea or coffee, doing bank runs or getting documents signed and photocopied. I have worked in the same company for the past 20 years, sending money home.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260413120448_f083fa873a6d77b19c8b0bdde623415c643a151fb550c57ff4e52b3c2431355f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20260413120448_f083fa873a6d77b19c8b0bdde623415c643a151fb550c57ff4e52b3c2431355f" data-rendition-name="original" width="5712" height="3213" loading="lazy" alt="DD"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260413120452_5ccd9a01ee05ce26b71381725108215d0f0d3806508b0cb482aabcfea09bbaef.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20260413120452_5ccd9a01ee05ce26b71381725108215d0f0d3806508b0cb482aabcfea09bbaef" data-rendition-name="original" width="4032" height="3024" loading="lazy" alt="DD"> </figure>  My wife is not just my children’s guardian, but also mine throughout the two decades I was away. I trust her with all my earnings, and she manages our household finances well. She makes sure that the children’s school fees and other expenses are paid on time. These days, with video calls, things have become much easier for me to stay in touch with home.&nbsp; When Ruby told me she wanted to do an engineering diploma, I was happy. Later, her friends inspired her to join politics so she started getting involved with Shram Sanskriti Party. I first found out she got the proportional representation nomination through social media while on my work duty in Saudi Arabia. I was so excited, but even more so when she was elected Deputy Speaker. I was back home in Dhanusha on my vacation at the time.&nbsp; We are overjoyed and waiting for her to come back to the village for a visit when she gets a chance so we can celebrate properly with everyone. I plan to go back to Saudi Arabia as originally planned, I have a good job and will work for maybe five more years. Ruby has taken 75% of the load off my back. She can help take care of her siblings.&nbsp; I sleep at 8PM every day and wake up at 5AM to exercise before my day in Saudi Arabia begins – I have stuck to the same routine for the last two decades and it has worked well for me and my health. I have a good rapport with my boss who is an Egyptian. My requests to resign have often been met with counter-offers to stay on. My honesty and hard work have won me the company's trust. I will go back and resume working as I have, despite my daughter’s huge achievements. I am still a farmer’s son, a simple man who has to fulfil his family responsibilities. My colleagues in Saudi Arabia are aware that Ruby is Deputy Speaker in Nepal’s Parliament, they are all happy for me and have congratulated me. This time, when I go back, I have promised them that I will throw a bakhri party to celebrate my daughter’s achievement.

The nation’s daughter

At 6 feet and one inch, Hira Bahadur Ghalan was exceptionally tall for a Nepali. In 1936, when people came to his Tamang village near Tistung looking for porters, they recruited him on the spot. This was no ordinary job, Hira Bahadur would lead gangs of 30 or more porters to carry cars bought by Rana rulers from Bhimphedi to Kathmandu.&nbsp; Those were the days when the only motorable roads in Nepal were in Kathmandu, but the capital was not connected to anywhere else by road. So, before cars could carry people, people had to carry cars. More Nepalis had carried cars than ridden in one. The porters were paid Rs5 for the job, and sometimes the Rana owners gave Hira Bahadur a Rs25 baksheesh. One of the cars his community helped carry was a 1939 Daimler Benz gifted by Adolf Hitler to King Tribhuvan to woo Nepal away from the British. The rusted dusty vehicle is now in the Narayanhiti Palace Museum.&nbsp; Hira Bahadur hauled cars for 25 years until his knees gave way, he died at age 90 eight years ago — the last surviving car porters of Nepal from Chitlang Valley.&nbsp; Hira Bahadur Ghalan had three sons and three daughters, one of them is Maila Kaji Lama, who at age 68, is a chauffeur in Kathmandu. His son, Manjil Lama is a pilot with Summit Air, flying to remote Himalayan airstrips. Three generations of one family worked in professions that followed a century of transportation history in Nepal. &nbsp; After the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/the-long-and-winding-road-to-india">Tribhuvan Rajpath was finished in 1957</a> and the ropeway upgraded, Hira Bahadur was out of a job. He tilled the family farm, watching trucks and buses headed to and from Kathmandu on the hairpins.&nbsp; As a child, Maila Kaji was fascinated by cars and wished one day to be able to drive one. After he failed Grade 8, he came to Kathmandu in 1975 and got a Rs20/month job at a petrol station in Maiti Devi. “I watched King Birendra’s coronation and was impressed by the glamour of Kathmandu, and decided to stay here,” Maila Kaji says.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2026041816040_a1a41e47dec8500727702f700e43af625f059043cbcd283f13b247344b3a20aa.png" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2026041816040_a1a41e47dec8500727702f700e43af625f059043cbcd283f13b247344b3a20aa" data-rendition-name="original" width="1974" height="1608" loading="lazy" alt="car carriers"> <figcaption>Maila Kaji</figcaption> </figure>  Former minister Ramesh Nath Pandey used to bring his Volkswagen Beetle to the station, and Maila Kaji started taking care of his car. Later, he drove a Russian Jeep for former minister and geographer Harka Gurung. Along the way, he fell in love with the daughter of a Brahmin colleague, and married her. “My father back in Tistung did not approve of our inter-ethnic marriage, and not speak to me for five years,” Maila Kaji recalls. Manjil Lama grew up in Kathmandu, and did well in science in school. He had wanted to go the US to become a pilot like his friends, but was denied a visa.&nbsp; “The visa officer told him I did not earn enough,” says Maila Kaji, “so I sold some property and sent Manjil to flying school in the Philippines.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2026041816040_e9091162840baa6d182de2d7cc6f09e43ec9cfd9a9b6e71e7e7b14bc72da3537.png" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="2026041816040_e9091162840baa6d182de2d7cc6f09e43ec9cfd9a9b6e71e7e7b14bc72da3537" data-rendition-name="original" width="1434" height="1754" loading="lazy" alt="car carriers"> <figcaption>Manjil Lama</figcaption> </figure>  After returning to Nepal, Manjil Lama now flies Let 410s of Summit Air to difficult air strips like Lukla and Simkot, and has logged over 2,000 hours. He has to go to the Czech Republic regularly for simulator training. Says Maila Kaji Lama: “My father worked hard carrying cars to raise us, I started from scratch to become a driver to support my family, and my son is now a pilot with experience in flying in the world’s toughest terrain.” &nbsp; Watch <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvT3iTi8yw4" target="_blank">video clip from S Dillon Ripley here</a>.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260419020448_40f8b1bdaace08106ca5c24819b6e7a34fb2109a9a3ec5c6ac179b3309e686ed.png" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20260419020448_40f8b1bdaace08106ca5c24819b6e7a34fb2109a9a3ec5c6ac179b3309e686ed" data-rendition-name="original" width="900" height="1582" loading="lazy" alt="car carriers"> </figure>

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The nation’s daughter

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