<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181116/636be0969c7e80680e083dffjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2544" height="1298"/><figcaption></figcaption></figure>Outside my window this Saturday morning, the Seattle sky is a typical November grey. But it is such a momentous day of brightness in hope. For the first time in almost four years I breathe with ease and comfort , a deep soothing sigh of gratitude and emotional relief for myself, my family and our country.Today, a good man and a good woman won. Deservedly. Faith in the substance of character and decency, ethics, integrity and sincerity of purpose for public service, true patriotism and dignity in the office of our highest house is rekindled. Hopefully, we have exorcised the demons of negativity that saturated our daily air these torturous four years. It’s done now and we all have to heal.<a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/ununited-states-of-america/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">(Un)United States of America</a>, Kunda DixitWe are still in the midst of the worst pandemic of our lifetime. Daily infections are raging to unprecedented levels and sees no end. This is what Joe Biden has inherited. Along with severe economic recession and political and social rancour, the likes of which we never have seen.But for now, there is jubilation in the streets, even in the knowledge that the road ahead is challenging and paved with distrust, chaos, conflict and division. We have placed our destiny in the hands of someone steady, someone who has survived the long odyssey of death and defeat, the loneliness and pain of separation from his loved ones and the humiliation of public scrutiny.He is here because he never gave up and takes this pedestal as a position of grave responsibility and not as an entitlement. He will not give up on us and nor will he cast blame or make excuses.There is much anger and frustration and rightly so. America seems to have changed in so many ways these past four years and we seemed to have seen an agitated shift in our nation’s demeanour. It felt for so long that we’d lost our moral moorings in a vile invasion of all our democratic values of social inclusion, compassion and empathy for the less fortunate and a return to extreme tribalism.We are a deeply wounded giant but we will recover quickly, revive and regain. For that is how the great heroes and great champions bounce back from aberrations and anomalies. And today is day one.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181116/636be09a9c7e80680e083e00jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="683"><figcaption>This photograph by Evan Vucci of Associated Press of a defiant Donald Trump at the White House refusing to concede went viral.</figcaption></figure>Just for now our moral outrage at what we endured can now exult into a catharsis of celebration for normalcy, even if momentarily. Let us cherish this moment and remember well what it felt like to almost lose it.Camelot is not a place, but an experience - one that we can all aspire to again and create. Where truth is again valued and not mocked and where we can all come together to do what make sense for all of us and not just for me.<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/The-winter-of-our-spring,1331" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/The-winter-of-our-spring,1331&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1604884839999000&amp;usg=AFQjCNE8v50QRCMcAWtbiZ1Yle6coE2y1w">Tashi T Sherpa</a> is Creative Director and CEO of Khangri Sourcing based in Seattle.

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Good man and woman won

<figure><img width="1830" height="1178" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181112/636be02e9c7e80680e083ddejpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Many precincts that have the highest proportion of Covid-19 cases also voted for Trump.</figcaption></figure>America’s turmoil over the past four years and this messy election are a lesson in how to dismantle a functioning democracy in a few easy steps. This is an important warning for Nepal and countries in the region which are grappling with making their own electoral systems free and fair, and deliver accountability.Foreign policy experts say that the chaos that has followed this election is more reminiscent of the banana republics to which America used to lecture about freedom, democracy and human rights.America has projected hard power through its global military might, but also its value system through technology and US cultural products. But four years of Trump has cost America this moral high ground globally.“The US is divided like never before. This will have far-reaching consequences for the rest of the world and for South Asia that looks up to the United States as a beacon of democracy with proper separation of powers and moral authority to guide other countries on matters of electoral politics,” says Nishchal Pandey, Director of the Centre for South Asian Studies in Kathmandu. “Despite his poor handling of the pandemic and several erroneous decisions, President Trump has shown that his policies were admired by a substantial chunk of the population.”Indeed, the US election results so far prove how little facts matter even in a democracy in which the media has been relentlessly investigating Donald Trump’s wrongdoings. Even if Joe Biden wins, the results have shown that Trumpist disenchantment with the establishment is strong and he has managed to successfully convince his base that the ‘liberal press’ is out to get him with ‘fake news’. <figure><img width="640" height="969" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181112/636be0319c7e80680e083ddfjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Pandey adds that US voters have repeatedly shown that very few understand how electoral colleges work, and why the popular vote does not determine the winner.He told Nepali Times: “It is high time that the US introspects on the shortcomings of how its elections are conducted because its democracy instead of becoming an element of its soft power is becoming a travesty of sorts to telecast live all over the world.”For many Nepalis there is a strong sense of irony about an America that has been supporting human rights, inclusion and democracy in the country's post-conflict transition. Many remember former <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/from-nepali-press/Hopeful,299" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/from-nepali-press/Hopeful,299&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1604666072196000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFGrC8Q-KWicSzjuisoDwqtEONOTw">US president Jimmy Carter’s</a> multiple visits to observe elections here. It seems the services of his Carter Centre are now required more in his own home state of Georgia where the race is neck-to-neck, and there is deep disagreement about counting methods. <img width="1667" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181112/636be0339c7e80680e083de0jpeg.jpg" alt="">A possible Biden victory may also be good news to those applying for <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/editorial/The-ugly-american-donald-trump,3520" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/editorial/The-ugly-american-donald-trump,3520&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1604712623216000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHogGNpB4R8t2Pmk0RwO7w1KXx0TA">H-1B visas</a> who were barred from entry into America by Trump in June, which would affect up to 50,000 Indian professionals, and some Nepalis. A US court subsequently overturned the decision last month. Trump also banned the US <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=17620" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D17620&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1604712623216000&amp;usg=AFQjCNH57Yz28UPfsuHkPQowQQafbtrFdQ">Diversity Visa (DV)</a> lottery, and interviews for 2021 winners were suspended, citing Covid-19. Applications, however, have reopened for 2022. Many undocumented Nepalis in the US were also affected by Trump trying to end the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/temporary-protection-nepalis-in-trumps-us,4067" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/temporary-protection-nepalis-in-trumps-us,4067&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1604712623216000&amp;usg=AFQjCNE03jjUg8BD1eDQVV2xg-ONACLy7A">Temporary Protected Status (TPS). </a>On Wednesday, even as Americans were voting, the United States formally left the Paris Climate Agreement signed in 2015. In the past four years, Trump has <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/bypassing-trump-on-climate-action/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/bypassing-trump-on-climate-action/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1604666072196000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHdelwmaAN_gDopS7otGmQzDhf8XA">delayed action on the climate emergency</a>, and overturned other environmental legislation, appointed an oil lobbyist to head the Environment Protection Agency (EPA). Biden has said he would get the US back into the Paris accord the day after he is inaugurated, if elected. <figure><img width="640" height="638" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181112/636be0379c7e80680e083de1jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Four more years of Trump would unleash so much damage to the Planet, environmentalists say, that it would take decades to undo. Nepal's Himalayan mountains, which are already melting rapidly, will bear the direct impact of accelerated climate heating -- endangering the water supply to millions of people living downstream in India and Bangladesh as well.Geopolitically, the only difference for Nepal between Trump or Biden would be that at least Biden knows where Nepal is, and will not <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/classified-top-secret/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/classified-top-secret/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1604666072196000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFcGXBYk_4UZySIq8M8DujULx1LLA">pronounce it “Nipple”.</a> Neither president is going to stomach China extending its military, economic and political clout in Asia – even though Biden’s approach may be less aggressive. Last week in New Delhi, American and Indian foreign and defence officials signed a Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA) <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/covid-19-and-the-new-great-game/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/covid-19-and-the-new-great-game/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1604666072196000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEwdb3kIPFD0yxuFBj-IRElTAUupw">pact </a>seen by many as <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/covid-19-and-the-new-great-game/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/covid-19-and-the-new-great-game/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1604666072196000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEwdb3kIPFD0yxuFBj-IRElTAUupw">a military alliance</a> aimed at containing China. A Biden presidency would likely give continuity to this strategic alliance that has <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/from-mt-everest-to-the-indian-ocean/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/from-mt-everest-to-the-indian-ocean/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1604666072196000&amp;usg=AFQjCNH6ws6_4UtO66t386Uyh9kjDfEr3g">caught Asian countries like Nepal in a bind</a>. Biden will also likely stay the course on the Indo-Pacific strategy and QUAD naval exercises in the Indian Ocean this week. “It appears that Biden will largely follow the Trump approach to China and therefore to the Indo-Pacific in as much as this is a structural feature of current international politics and therefore has garnered bipartisan support in the United States,” says <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/GUEST-COLUMN/Repeating%20,110" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/GUEST-COLUMN/Repeating%2520,110&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1604666072196000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGxjUh4EKyVRxx-HKtIwWMWV9DGbw">Bhaskar Koirala</a> of the <a href="http://www.niiss.org.np/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.niiss.org.np/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1604666072196000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGOP3CNXeRaQ_p-YwPWbhrrYMZziA">Nepal Institute of International and Strategic Studies</a>. “Under a Biden administration, the US can be expected to play an increasing role as an off-shore balancer in Asia.”For Nepal, a Biden administration may place a greater emphasis on development and programs such as the MCC (Millennium Challenge Corporation) infrastructure project as a counter to China’s BRI (Belt Road Initiative). Koirala adds: "Biden may have a more general foreign policy objective to ensure that Nepal is stable politically and that it retains its independent identity."

Kunda Dixit

(Un)United States of America

<img width="1245" height="844" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109141132/636bac859c7e80680e077f38jpeg.jpg" alt=""/>Like many cities around the world, Kathmandu is struggling to find ways through the ever-shifting coronavirus landscape.
Business and residents need, and want, to get back to normal. But in Nepal and across neighbouring India, COVID-19 cases are increasing, not dropping.
Nepal’s health planners may want to look to the experience of states in the United States, many of  them where Nepalis also live in large numbers. Cities there show that, as much as it might seem that virus is really ‘no big deal’, there is a real danger to opening up too fast.
The virus is as deceptive and relentless as ever. Case numbers can explode in a matter of days, and set back the return to normal by months.
Joplin in the state of Missouri sits right in the middle of the USA, between California and New York and between Minnesota and Texas. Earlier this spring, in lockdown to prevent coronavirus, the small city closed businesses and schools.
After a month, thinking that the pandemic had come and gone, it reopened earlier than other cities. Life returned to normal, it seemed. Residents relaxed. Then the storm hit, this time for real.
COVID-19 is especially dangerous because it moves silently, invisibly. And without physical distancing and masks, it moves fast. In just a few weeks, cases in Joplin jumped 20 times -- from 60 to 1,200. It is now <a href="https://www.joplinglobe.com/coronavirus/joplin-emerges-as-nations-top-spot-for-covid-19-growth-rate-over-past-seven-days/article_79ef275a-b311-11ea-b70d-af450b3f6338.html">one of the hottest areas</a> in one of America's fastest growing coronavirus ‘hot spots’. The storm is hitting hard, and despite the extra time to prepare, the city is not ready.
Kathmandu, take note.
A few coronavirus cases were detected in March in Joplin, a city of 50,000 people. The city ‘battened down the hatches’ for a big outbreak. Hospitals set up special sections for coronavirus cases. They postponed non-essential surgeries. Health workers braced for trouble. In early April, Missouri's governor shut down schools, closed businesses, and banned events and meetings across the state. Joplin's residents had to stay at home.
But then little happened. The number of case numbers dropped. Hospitals saw no surge. That was good news, of course. The stay-at-home orders and other preventions worked.
But people misunderstood, and reached the wrong conclusions. They began to think that all the health warnings were exaggerated -- "overhyped" according to one observer. The dreaded pandemic, the Washington Post reported, seemed ‘more rumour than reality’.
“It seemed like the wave was gone. It had passed us by,” said Rob McNab director of the coronavirus centre at one of Joplin’s two hospitals. McNab started considering closing down his hospital's special COVID-19 isolation unit.
On 4 May, after a month long shutdown, Missouri's governor reopened the state. Residents jumped into normal life. Businesses opened. People flocked to bars and restaurants.
In June, after a few weeksof silent spread, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/a-small-missouri-city-thought-it-had-dodged-the-coronavirus-now-its-hitting-home/2020/07/03/fd1c3778-bc7e-11ea-80b9-40ece9a701dc_story.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">new coronavirus cases multiplied</a>.  A factory saw a huge outbreak, almost 400 cases. A home for seniors was hit hard. Broad community transmission started.
The disease spread without people realising it, many did not develop symptoms right away. Some never do, but they can spread the disease nonetheless. That's what makes COVID-19 so tricky, so dangerous.
Joplin's hospitals are now close to overflowing. New cases show up faster than ever. Freeman Hospital has tripled the size of its coronavirus unit. They will soon enter uncharted waters, near capacity. "We’ve never been in a situation where we can’t meet the needs of the community.” says McNab.
Joplin shows how difficult it is, after reopening, to regain control over the virus. People grew tired. They longed for normal life. As the Post reported, Joplin’s residents ‘long ago grew weary of making sacrifices to confront an enemy that seemed to exist only in theory’.
Joplin's health situation is now much worse than in March but residents are doing far less to fight it. Case numbers are much higher, but the city remains open. People are less vigilant, and less careful. "People are almost numb to it," says a local leader.
People may grow tired but the virus doesn't. Other American cities and states reopened quickly, thinking that COVID-19 was behind them and that economic problems required more attention, but now face big crises, health and economic.
<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/once-upon-a-time-there-was-an-america/">'Once upon a time there was an America'</a>, Sophia Kalantzakos
Texas reopened quickly, and now is <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/06/politics/military-medic-personnel-texas-coronavirus/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">facing a deep health crisis </a> that has forced it to slow down and even backtrack on its reopening. Businesses that opened have closed once again. Customers afraid of the virus are staying at home. Cities like Houston, with many Nepalis living nearby, face dire threats.
As of 7 July, total number of confirmed cases in the United States had cross the 3 million mark, with 133,000 fatalities. Public health experts are expecting another surge after the July 4 weekend.
More Nepalis have died of COVID-19 around the world than in Nepal itself. Of the 130 Nepali who have died abroad from the disease, 17 are in the United States, and 67 in UK.
Although the extra time provided by the lockdowns earlier this spring should have been a chance to take extra preparations, that opportunity was wasted. A recent New York Times headline reads: As Coronavirus Slams Houston Hospitals, It’s Like New York ‘All Over Again’.
In these places, it appears that the goal to return to normal to protect businesses and jobs has backfired, actually causing deeper and longer term economic problems. Sick populations make for sick economies.
Young adults have been particularly disappointing. Many have been going to bars and beaches and parties. Few fall victim themselves to the disease, but they spread it to others who can, and do, die.
European countries that didn't rush reopening are now able to safely restart businesses, restaurants, schools, and sporting events. They did it right, making sure the disease was really behind them before moving forward.
But in the US, infection rates are climbing, not dropping. Each day we read tragic stories of unnecessary, preventable illness and death. One 72-year-old woman in the intensive care unit in Houston, Texas got sick because she cut back physical distancing.
“I took it seriously,” she said of coronavirus. But after the state reopened, she went to her granddaughter’s birthday party. Only eight people were there. But one brought the coronavirus. Now this grandmother is in a hospital bed, fighting for her life.
Coronavirus spreads without us being able to see it. Testing and tracing can make it more visible, but few places have the resources and training to do so properly. Relentless vigilance is the need of the hour: careful physical distancing, frequent hand washing, and proper mask wearing. These measures are inexpensive, but take a commitment by individuals, communities, and political leaders.
<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/how-chitwan-was-opened,4159">Tom Robertson</a>, PhD, is researching the environmental history of the Kathmandu Valley. He writes the column, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/how-nepal-eradicated-the-smallpox-virus/">History of Disease</a> for Nepali Times.

Nepal, it’s no time to let your guard down

We have long speculated on the moment when the shift of global leadership from the United States to China would take place. From Washington to Beijing for the political power, from New York to Shanghai for the economic one. It seems that we are witnessing it now.Some saw the Beijing Olympics (2008), others marked the Asian Investment and Infrastructure Bank (2015) to replace the Bretton Woods system, a fundamental pillar of North American hegemony.Presidents Obama and Xi Jinping confirmed a de facto bipolar global regime manifested in the two leaders’ pact on climate change that made the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/kundadixit/2017/04/12/horror-story-of-a-climate-calamity/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2015 Paris Agreement</a> feasible.However, with the arrival of Donald (Make America Great Again) Trump there was an escalation of this quarrel for global leadership. The trade war between the two countries, with the World Trade Organisation held hostage, or the open battle over the control of 5G, with the Huawei controversy at its the core were two recent examples.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-climate-connection-to-covid-19/">Climate connection to COVID-19</a>, Rastraraj Bhandari<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121120/636b8d9a9c7e80680e06b357jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1200" height="800"/><figcaption>President Donald Trump's visit to China in 2017.</figcaption></figure>China is on a full-fledged offensive to increase its presence and influence in the multilateral system to fill a vacuum left by the Trump administration, by obtaining important positions to influence these institutions. The US administration has vacated for more than three years the position of ambassador in Geneva, a city with most diplomatic activity in the world.China stepped in by appointing a new high political-profile ambassador in November last year. However, the positions of the battles for the future of the WTO or the leadership of the International Telecommunication Union (key in the management of satellite orbits, the management of radio space or digital world governance) were already well advanced at that time.Then, in November last year something happened in the Huanan market in Wuhan. But it was not until 31 December that an ‘outbreak of an unknown pneumonia’ in this city was reported to the World Health Organization (WHO).<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/pompeo-accuses-who-of-failing-in-basic-duty/">Pompeo accuses WHO of “failing in basic duty”</a>, Kunda DixitThe Huanan market was closed down on 1 January. The following day the new virus was confirmed, with the technical name of SARS-CoV-2. On 16 January, Japan reported its first case, on the 17th it was Thailand did. Taiwan and the United States reported first cases on 21 January, and France on 24th.On 30 January the WHO declared an International Public Health Emergency, the same day that Italy reported its first case. The next day it was Spain at the same time that the virus was already spread in India, Russia, the Philippines or Australia. On 11 March the WHO declared the global pandemic and, while the world trembles, global leadership transits.On 20 March, while the White House or Downing Street were still flirting with denialism in relation to COVID-19, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced a plan to support 82 countries in their fight against this virus.Two weeks later, as the virus wreaked havoc on hospitals on both coasts in the United States, and the British Prime Minister was admitted to the ICU, 18 countries in central and western Africa had already received hundreds of tons of Chinese donations of medical supplies, and 17 more were waiting to receive them in a matter of days.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/a-covid-19-third-wave-in-the-third-world/">A COVID-19 third wave in the Third World?,</a> Ed Holt, IPSPakistan, South Korea, Spain or Italy are other countries that have received help. In the latter, this help was not only of material, but accompanied by experts and medical staff.Putin’s Russia also took advantage of the pandemic in the first weeks to project its role as international power by sending military personnel to Italy – in a context of astonishing silence and blockage of the European institutions -- or aid in health supplies to his ‘friend’ Donald Trump.And even as COVID-19 spreads through Moscow and other cities and regions of the Federation these rather symbolic activities continue. Turkey also tried, by responding to Spain’s NATO urgency request, but soon changed its policy once they realised how the situation was deteriorating in Ankara and Istanbul itself.It is too early to evaluate the full scope of COVID-19. In fact, no one can really assert at this point what the evolution and global impact of the pandemic will be, neither in terms of public health, nor in its humanitarian, social or economic dimensions.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/climate-covid-19-and-china/">Climate, COVID-19 and China</a>, Rastraraj BhandariThe outlook is not good, and particularly worrisome is the uncertain effect that this pandemic will have in less developed countries, considering how it is affecting higher-income ones.However, it is quite clear that this will be a turning point in terms of global governance and hegemony. Once again, the arbitrariness of history precipitates change. The strategists, the intelligence agencies, the think tanks that for years have debated and conspired from Langley through Georgetown, Xijuan or Gouguan had not foreseen what would end up igniting in a provincial market in Wuhan.But what does seems plausible is that, in the midst of such drama, we are witnessing the handing over of global hegemony.<a href="http://www.ipsnews.net/author/manuel-manonelles/">Manuel Manonelles</a> is director of the Foundation for a Culture of Peace in Barcelona.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121120/636b8d9d9c7e80680e06b358jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="94" height="134">

COVID-19 and the global power balance

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;