In Focus | The exoticness of Alev
Kathmandu gets a taste of exquisite Middle Eastern cuisine with the newly opened Alev Kebab Sultanate at Naxal. The posh restaurant offers a fancy fine dining experience in its strikingly decorated indoor premises in Tangalwood, which also offers plenty of parking space to save you the hassle of finding a wheel-lock-free place to park.
The menu at Alev consists mostly of Turkish delicacies, with authentic names as well as their English translations to guide you through. Also guiding you will be its well-trained waiting staff, making for a rich Mediterranean hospitality. A bit on the higher side in terms of price, Alev’s food and service experience makes up for it.
Tangalwood, Tangal
Opening hours: 8am to 10pm
Location- Tangalwood, Naxal
Cards- Accepted
Reservation- 01-4427343
Chef’s special:
Karisik Izgara- Mixed grilled platter
Kiymali Pide- Pita bread with minced meat
Karides Sis- Shrimp shish kebab with pineapple
Meal for 2: Rs 3,000
Panorama: Washed up
Washed up: The Tribhuvan International Airport and Boudhanath Stupa seen from Tarebhir, Budhanilkantha after heavy rainfall in the valley on April 10 | Pratik Rayamajhi
Editorial: Ominous 2078
We know it is coming. Yet we seem to have given up even before the dreaded second Covid-19 wave arrives. There is zero trust between the government and the citizens it supposedly represents. The presence of enormous, unmasked crowds at various party venues to bring in 2078 BS, all over the country, suggests people either don’t believe the new Covid-19 contagion is serious enough or they don’t give a damn. Rather than trust an incompetent, lying government, they would take their chances. Rather than stay cooped up in their homes like caged animals—and for what, they might ask after their previous lockdown experiences?—they would live freely to their last breath.
The government response has been blasé. It has shown no commitment to screen the thousands of people who have been streaming into Nepal from India on a daily basis. Since India placed restrictions on its nationals from traveling abroad from Indian territories following the new Covid-19 wave, many of them are making a beeline to Kathmandu in order to fly to third-country destinations. Most of them admit to evading border surveillance mechanisms that would have meant lining up for Covid-19 screening for hours. Similar apathy has characterized government efforts to import vaccines. Not even a tenth of the population has been jabbed till date.
Private school owners meanwhile are reluctant to shut down their institutions, willfully ignoring a clear evidence of spread of a dangerous variant of Covid-19 among young students. Unlike the previous variant that afflicted mostly the elderly, this one hits the youth the hardest. Hospital beds are quickly filling up. A more credible government should have had no problem making the school owners see sense. But as the Oli government battles for its very survival, it has been badly distracted from the growing virus menace, and its credibility is crumbling fast.
There is confusion all around. Even amid a severe shortage of vaccines, those who remain to be vaccinated are already having second thoughts after hearing of severe side-effects of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines. The government has done a very poor job of communicating why getting the vaccine is worth the risk, or if people should really hold back. As it vacillates, people are coming to their own conclusions. The previous year in Bikram Sambat was a forgettable one for Nepal. The omens are ominous for 2078 BS as well.
Breakfast, brunch and dessert
Only this week, a popular newspaper editor posted about Over Easy BnB on his Facebook page. “It’s a hidden gem in Bansbari. Excellent breakfast,” he wrote, alongside a picture of what he called a ‘satiating Saturday morning breakfast.’
This is exactly what we have been hearing about Over Easy at Bansbari. The quiet little place nestled between suburban houses on the way to Dhapashi from Bansbari road has had people raving about its breakfasts, brunches and desserts, not to mention its peaceful outdoor seating,
Not that Over Easy only serves breakfasts and brunches though. It is open for late lunches, dinners and drinks as well as live music on the weekends. A jazz duo called Nanashi is performing this April 9, which would be the perfect time for you try out the place if you haven’t already.
Over Easy, Bansbari
Chef’s Special:
Mountain madness,
Buddha Bowl,
Opening time 7:30am - 10:00pm
Cards: Accepted
Reservation: 9841587695
Meal for two: Rs 1,500
Tika Bahadur Shrestha: The man behind Beni ko bazara
Birth: 26 April 1945, Myagdi
Death: 25 March 2021, Butwal
His biggest claim to fame came on Democracy Day 1963, in the company of then royals and other high-ranking government officials. The song he sang that day at the Rastriya Nach Ghar during in what was an inter-zonal competition had beat the entries of 13 other zones.
Tika Bahadur Shrestha’s ‘Beni ko bazara, jata maya tetai cha najar’ became an overnight sensation. In 1974, in the process of collecting and singing folk songs, he recorded the famous track with Mana Chhantyal, at Record Nepal. Soon, the two developed an unbeatable chemistry. Shrestha would go on to marry Chhantyal as his second wife in 1978, eight years after his first marriage. (It was common practice at the time to take a second wife even with the first marriage still intact.)
The song helped establishing Beni, now a municipality, as a town of lovebirds. Moreover, this evergreen song has been able to create a loyal fan-base even among the youths.
An all-round instrumentalist, Shrestha loved collecting and recording songs but for the past one decade, he had been completely out of the music industry, and inclined more and more towards social work. Separately, Shrestha was also the first person to establish a boarding school in Butwal.
Shrestha, 75, a long-time kidney patient, had spent over half a century with his first wife, before her death in late 2020. He leaves behind a spouse, two sons and two daughters.
Taking to ApEx, Premdev Giri, a senior folk song collector and composer from Pokhara, said Nepal had lost an irreplaceable pillar of folk music.
Editorial: Struggling for breath
Whether or not the government labels it as such, the double whammy of Covid-19 and air pollution, both worsening by the day, has already created a national health emergency. Covid-19 infections are spiking in India, and we are importing them via the porous border. The number of those rendered gravely ill by the virus has shot up, as Nepali hospitals again run out of beds for new corona patients. Worryingly, health experts say the number of serious Covid-19 cases is higher this time compared to during the previous peaks.
Compounding the crisis, the quality of air has plummeted, with Kathmandu now consistently ranking as the city with the foulest air in the world. Every resident of Kathmandu is, in effect, smoking nearly 70 cigarettes sticks every single day. Nearly everyone has itchy eyes. Head and body aches have become as common. Even some of the fittest folks are having difficulty breathing. It’s worse for the elderly and infirm. Meanwhile, air pollution has worsened the health effects of Covid-19, increasing mortality rates among the elderly. And everyone’s lives are being cut short.
The biggest problem right now is that people have zero faith in their government. Last year, the lockdowns were arbitrarily imposed and as arbitrarily lifted. Corruption and delays have marred the import of Covid-19 gears and vaccines. Ill-prepared governments, at all three tiers, appear helpless in dousing the forest fires that have sprung up right around the country. At this time of a health crisis, the country does not even have a stable government.
Hopelessness is a dangerous thing and can easily morph into anger. The public, repeatedly lied to, is in a mood to defy the government should it declare another lockdown, or even impose much-less restrictive measures to limit the damages of the twin health crisis. The already troubling situation could get much worse. This is why it is important for the government to commit to measures to mitigate the Covid-19 pandemic and clean the foul air, lay out a workable plan, and to keep the public informed every step of the way. This isn’t something the government can solve on its own. It will have to be a collective effort. But for that the government must first be perceived as working in public interest. Failure to do so will cost lives.
‘Art for Charity’ fundraiser by Round Table Nepal
Kathmandu Metropolitan Round Table 4 (KMRT 4) is hosting a fundraising art exhibition at the Windhorse Gallery, Lalitpur from March 13 to April 3.
The art fundraiser is being headlined by the world-renowned artist Tsherin Sherpa and is adorned by the work of various upcoming local artists including Tulku Jamyang, Manish Lal Shrestha, Kapil Mani Dixit, Bharat Rai, Tashi Sangpo, Dawa Thulong, Sodhon, Dorje Karmarong, Diki Yuthok, and NB Gurung.
“As these artists take their path of intrinsic creative redemption, Round Table Nepal has come to aid in the process through their communal approach,” a press statement issued by KMRT reads. With the funds raised, Round Table Nepal aims at engaging in community service, with their major focus on building a greenhouse project at Cunina School in Sekha, providing physiotherapy equipment for Muscular Dystrophy Foundation Nepal, and supporting children’s education and school infrastructure.
Earth Hour Nepal held
The annual event of Earth Hour Nepal 2021, a global environment movement, was held digitally on March 27 due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. The event aimed at inspiring and empowering individuals, businesses, civil society organizations, and governments to take tangible actions for the planet.
The event had participation from a record-breaking 190 countries and territories marking Earth Hour online, generating over 3 billion social media impressions with #EarthHour and related hashtags trending across 37 countries on Twitter and Google search.
This year, Earth Hour Nepal focused on providing a key moment for people to unite and speak up for nature, showing how small acts can power big changes. During the event, Ani Choying Drolma was announced as WWF Nepal’s Goodwill Ambassador.
During the event, Shree Terse Secondary School from Sindhupalchowk was announced as the winner of the “Earth Hour School Innovation Challenge” for its work on renewable energy.
