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 The editors present at the prime minister’s residence in the Feb 4 get-together at Baluwatar were all struck by a sudden change in the PM’s voice-tone. Normally given to hectoring his audience, that evening, he seemed to be in a mood to listen. His replies were mild too, gone the acerbic edge. It was easy to guess why. PM Oli is soon undergoing another kidney transplant. He fears that as his mobility and functioning could be restricted in the case, it would be wise to placate or neutralize his enemies before he reenters active politics.

KP Oli is in no doubt that, boosted by a new kidney, he will be at the helm for another three years of this government’s remaining term, as he admitted to the editors. He must also be feeling quite humiliated at having to make big political concessions to his co-chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal. For instance, despite his old stand against the election of Agni Sapkota as the new speaker of the federal parliament, he had to bow down before an un-budging Dahal. He has also faced a lot of flak from inside his party over the American MCC compact, again largely from the ex-Maoists.

Oli seems to realize he can only lose by going on the offensive when his political hand is weakened and his health is again iffy. He rather appears minded to bide his time. This is perhaps why he has of late been unusually soft spoken, even with the press folks he usually takes to task. Maybe this is also why he agreed to the leak of the photograph that shows him playing a bansuri, to suggest that the hardheaded politician also has a ‘soft’ side.

KP Oli has made astounding political comebacks even when all hope seemed lost. He had developed a debilitating kidney ailment much before he became the party chair, much less a two-time prime minister. So his determination to make yet another comeback should not be taken lightly.

But will his charm offensive work? He may have removed some doubts of the participating editors at his Tuesday meeting. But the doubts will soon start resurfacing as he will remain the executive prime minister who presides over an ineffective government, whether or not he can rule from Singhadurbar post-operation. His time-buying tactic could come to be seen as another cynical ploy to cling to the PM’s chair. Besides, he has his hands full with the unfolding Lalita Niwas fiasco

The week-long Nepal Communist Party Central Committee meeting that kicked off in Kathmandu on January 29 was overdue. The party statute provisions for the CC meeting every six months. But the ongoing meeting is only the second since the formal unification of the two largest communist forces in the country some 20 months ago. On paper, the 441-member Central Committee is the party’s second most powerful decision-making body, after only the General Convention. Yet the committee was virtually defunct as the two NCP chairmen, among them, made nearly all important decisions. What they could not agree on, they got done via the nine-member Secretariat.

The Central Committee plays a vital role in strengthening the party organization and in energizing the grassroots. But the NCP Central Committee could not convene, first, because the two chairmen and the Secretariat did not consider it necessary. Second, the former UML and Maoist members could not settle their differences. Twenty-long-months after the formal unification, the NCP is still a divided house. One notable division is over the American MCC accord, which is sure to create a stir in the Central Committee meeting too. The ex-UML leaders, for instance, are more amenable to the accord’s parliamentary endorsement than are the ex-Maoists.

It will be interesting to see how such ideological debates play out on the CC floor. Another big ideological debate concerns whether the new party has gone too far down the capitalist road and whether the time has come to rein in the excesses of its senior leaders. Maintaining party control over the functioning of the federal government, which is widely seen as underperforming, will be another area of focus.

Perhaps the leaders and cadres of the newly minted NCP can take comfort as the main opposition, Nepali Congress, is arguably even more divided and chaotic, and the NCP has no serious electoral challenger on the horizon. But that isn’t saying much. The CC meeting would have achieved a lot if it can send out a clearer message of unity, an assurance that the bitter divisions between the UML and Maoist parties of the yore have been narrowed if not bridged altogether. (Announcement of the ‘Unity General Convention’ for April 7-12, 2020 could be step in that direction.) In that case, many other issues will sort themselves out for the political behemoth with 800,000 active members.

Q. Which living person do you most admire the most, and why?
A. I don’t have one person that I admire the most. Different kinds of people that offer varying aspects, traits and personality, are always inspiring me.

Q. Nikon, Canon or something else?
A. Always ‘The Canon Guy.’

Q. What is your favorite cuisine
A. Nepali Thali with some mouthwatering sukuti.

Q. What is the most difficult part of your job?
A. Things that seem to be the worst are the best at the same time, like being independent and self-sufficient or knowing that everyone is a photographer today or at least takes pictures, which makes a difference.

Q. What is the biggest project you’ve been a part of?
A. My biggest projects have been Bryan Adams, Mohit Chauhan and Farhan Akhtar concerts.

Q. If you could wish for one and the only thing, what would it be?
A. Live and work freely without any stress.

Q. What is the strangest thing you’ve ever eaten?
A. Asked for bacon burger but unknowingly ate my friend’s Gordon Ramsay beef
burger

Q. One gadget that’s been in your wish-list?
A. Evo II Pro Drone or Airblock

Q. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
A. Vienna, Austria or Santorin, Greece

In an interview, Isabel Allende said that she wrote ‘In the Midst of Winter’ in 2016 just when she was coming out of a divorce after 28 years of marriage and her agent, three close friends, and dog had all died. It was during these trying times that she came upon a quote by Albert Camus: “In the midst of winter, I finally found there was within me an invincible summer. For the summer that we all have inside to manifest we need to open the heart and take risks.” And that’s what the book is about: Three trau­matized people trapped in a snow­storm in Brooklyn, New York facing a life-and-death situation. By choos­ing to support one another and being kind, they ultimately discov­er the invincible summers that lie within them.The book opens with a minor car collision, between 60-year old schol­ar Richard Bowmaster and Evelyn Ortega, an undocumented Guate­malan refugee. This incident sets into motion a chain of events which forces the two and 62-year-old Lucia Maraz, a visiting professor at NYU, who is also Bowmaster’s coworker and tenant, to deal with a situa­tion that, to begin with, is not their problem, and which seems to be spiraling out of control by the min­ute. While ‘In the Midst of Winter’ mostly focuses on Richard, Lucia, and Evelyn’s seemingly ordinary lives, mystery and intrigue simul­taneously weave their way into the story, making what would otherwise have been a slow narrative into a gripping can’t-stop-till-I-know-what-happens-next read.

Lucia and Evelyn sometimes feel like extensions of Allende’s personal history as the author has said, time and again, that, for much of her life, she’s felt like a foreigner. And it seems here, through them, Allende is taking the liberty to make her readers understand what the immi­grant experience is like. Though there can be no better time to tell immigrants’ stories, you sometimes wish the writing were a little less flowery, allowing you to focus on the character’s lives instead of getting stuck in the imageries it manages to conjure.

Also, ‘In the Midst of Winter’ feels a little awkward because something doesn’t seem right and the ending too is a bit off. But, all in all, Allende deserves to be read because her sto­ries get you thinking about the many things you tend to take for granted in life.

On the first day of his Great Himalayan Trek, photographer Sudin K.C. was lost in the jungles of Chyang Thapu. It was dark and raining in the jungle, he had to suffer leech bites, and somehow make it through the deserted, spooky night. Starting from the Eastern region, K.C. trekked to the Far Western region, in 100 days, clicking pictures of people of different cultures. Of his hundreds of such photos, 12 are currently on display at the Himalayan Java Café, Mandala Street, Thamel. One photo in the exhibi­tion is of an old Kulung Rai man who is a high-altitude shepherd and lives near his livestock. The shepherds wear a traditional jacket called “phenge” made of stinging nettles. In the oral history of the Kulung village, Lord Shiva wore one of these jackets after the creation of the universe.

“I wanted to know how Nepalis live in various cir­cumstances. There are many cultures buried behind these mountains and hills. This trek’s main motive was to cap­ture these cultures in photos. I wonder if these culture will be in existence forever but my photos will surely be there,” says the photographer.

Another photograph is of woman carrying wood from the Birendra Lake in Manaslu glacier. “I thought I’d help her and offered to carry it till her house but the basket was so heavy that I could barely lug it for five minutes. After that she let me know that she got this and carried it home herself,” says K.C.

While he was on the trek, K.C. was unable to bathe for 17 days. Despite smelling ter­ribly everyone he met on the way was helpful. “The people welcomed me as if I was their own. They even allowed me to stay in their home. This shows true nature and hospitality of Nepali people. In such a short time I felt a strong bond of with those people.”

The photo exhibition will run till the end of the first week of February.

 Who’d have thought the residential area of Dhapashi would get its own multi-cuisine restaurant that also serves blended coffee and imported pre­mium liquor? Well, the owners of the Maze Family Garden and Restaurant just did, and opened up a lavish venue right in the center of Dhapashi. Located near Triyog School (on the way to Greenland Chowk from Dhapashi), Maze is probably one of the biggest properties that serves as a restaurant and bar in the area. Indoor and outdoor seating options and ample parking space give Maze the advantage no other prop­erty in the area has. A little off-key location wise, the restaurant looks to capitalize on the purchasing power and the needs of Dhapashi residents. They won’t have to drive down to Maharajgunj or Lazimpat anymore; they can experience fine dining right next door.

Alisha Lamichane did not know much about cameras until a few years ago as she was worried over other things about her future. Now she is busy clicking pictures at various events, earning a decent living off it. Although the idea of women as photographers is still uncommon in Nepal, Lamichane is among a number of women who have of late taken up photography as their career. The credit for this goes to ‘Her Farm Films’ project of The Mountain Fund, a non-profit working for women empowerment.
“I was confused about my life, and felt like I had no purpose. With a camera in my hand, I now feel powerful. In the future, I want to train girls like me in the field of photography and videography,” says Lamichane.

With its programs based in rural Nepal, Her Farm Films encourages women to modernize their traditional farming skills and apply it to new commercial ventures. It also encourages them to learn modern and highly employable skills in the fields of digital and visual arts. It runs training workshops on film production and photography, and trains women to operate FM radio stations. These are saleable skills for women at the local level.

Eight women trained by the project are currently working as photo-and video-graphers. “There is huge demand for photographers for wed-ding and other events,” says Scott MacLennan, founder and executive director of Her Farm Films. “Pho-tographers from Kathmandu are not willing to go to villages, and hardly anyone there has the ability to use camera. Due to this, these women have to work more. Sometimes one photographer has to do three events in a day,” The organization boosts women’s financial empowerment by helping them take up careers beyond the stereotypes of tailoring and running beauty parlors often associated with them. “We aim to change the conversa-tion about woman’s empowerment from low-skill, low-paid work to high-skill, well-paid work,” MacLennan adds. MacLennan’s wife Sunita Sub-edi Sharma, director of the orga-nization’s Nepal Volunteering Pro-grams, recalls how she had to face many difficulties in life—from being an unwanted child in the family to enduring domestic abuse in an arranged marriage. “We established Her Farm Films to show that women can do anything and achieve success,” says Sharma. “I do not want any woman to suffer like I did. If I can pull myself up, why can’t they?”

“Media is a powerful tool to make people hear your story. We thus encourage women to get involved in mainstream media and to motivate others,” she adds. Her Farm Films is also serious about local self-sustenance. It has a guesthouse whose proceeds partially cover organizational costs. Women associated with the project work on the farm, do photography, and help run the guesthouse. They also have volunteers from different countries. 

 This is a cold-cold Nepali winter, with chilly days forecast well into the next few weeks. Sporadic deaths have been reported from the Tarai as those without concrete homes struggle to keep warm. In fact, this is a tragic yearly occurrence. This winter, eight people have lost their lives, en masse, for a different reason. To fight the cold, they had locked themselves into a room with a gas-heater on. The eight Indian nationals, including four minors, who were staying at a resort in Daman, Makawanpur, reportedly asphyxiated to their deaths.

Common sense would dictate that you never go to sleep with a heater on and all the doors and windows shut. In fact, the Indian tourists had no intent of doing so. But when the little children could not sleep because of the biting cold, they were forced to ask the hotel for a gas heater. Although they had booked four rooms, 15 people of the touring party had all huddled into two to keep themselves warm. But why weren’t there enough heating arrangements in a hotel at one of the coldest holiday destinations in Nepal?

This isn’t the first time foreign tourists have died from asphyxiation in Nepali hotel rooms. In December 2013, two Chinese tourists passed away in a hotel room in another popular tourist destination of Nagarkot on the outskirts of Kathmandu. A suspected cause was leakage of gas from a bathroom heater. Meanwhile, the Department of Tourism has set up a probe committee to find out whether there was any negligence on the part of the Daman resort owners where the eight Indians died.

In fact, this should be a wake-up call. A minimum requirement of warm blankets and (working) air-conditioners or some other heating alternatives should be mandatory for all hotels. Apparently, the electric blankets in the resort in Daman had failed to warm, whereupon the tourist party had to ask for a ‘big heater’. There can hardly be a frequent traveler inside Nepal who has not had to put up in cold and dank hotel rooms with filthy bedsheets and blankets. As more and more tourists are coming to Nepal, there is a risk of the hotels and resorts cutting corners to adjust more guests, often by compromising on safety and sanitation. Let this Visit Nepal Year also be the year that our hotels and guesthouses were made safe for all travelers, in all seasons.