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We Nepalis are lovers of rice and if that rice comes to our plates in long grain, with exquisitely cooked meat gravy and garnished on top with saffron and coriander, we just might go crazy.

The Hyderabad House at Bhatbhateni (50 meters towards the Bhatbhateni Temple, opposite the Bhatbhateni Supermarket) has been titillating the taste buds of Nepali foodies with its big-portioned biryanis and other rich titbits. Hyderabad House gives you the taste of true Indian and Mughlai cuisines and surprisingly with a small collection of Chinese dishes too.But you might not want to order Chinese there. You’re better off with platefuls of kebabs, dumpukht biryanis, Hyderabadi soups called marag and other spicy, succulent Indian royalty like dishes.

Just a little reminder the dishes, tasty as they are, are a tad expensive at Hyderabad House. If that is no problem, you won’t regret a visit, we tell you.

THE MENU

Chef’s Special:

- Chicken Afghani Kebab

- Biryani

- Kebab Platter

Opening hours: 11 am - 10 pm

Location: Opposite Bhat Bhateni

Cards: Accepted

Meal for 2: Rs 3,000

Reservations: 4443839

Schools in Nepal have to run classes for a mini­mum of 220 days in a year, according to official rules. But most community schools in Mugum Karmarong rural municipality of Mugu district open for only 80 days. In winters, schools remain closed for around three months due to extreme cold. Teachers return to the schools in May after the win­ter break. In June and July, students and teachers are busy collecting Yarsagumba, a treasured Himalayan herb. Then, there is hardly 1.5 months left for studies, after which Dashain festivities start. Students complain that schools remain closed most of the time, and even on the days they are open, all classes do not run. Many teachers do not teach properly and ask the students to read the book themselves while they sit out­side in the sun.

Monitoring reports show that among the 16 schools in the area, only one has satisfactory educational status

Monitoring reports show that among the 16 schools in the area, only one has satis­factory educational status. Chief District Officer Uma Kanta Adhikari, who also coordinates the monitoring committee, says that most stu­dents in the rural municipality cannot even read properly. He adds that there is reason to question the very existence of the schools.

“Community school teachers also take up other jobs, run NGOs and get involved in political activ­ities, thus hampering the smooth operation of schools,” says Adhikari.

The absence of teachers has even led to the closure of some schools in the rural municipality. Chief of Educa­tion Development and Coor­dination Unit Surya Bahadur Khatri says action will be taken against such schools.

“We have leaders in authoritative positions who complain about teachers getting more involved in personal and political work than in schools. Elected repre­sentatives now need to bring about change here,” says Sonam Karmarong, a local who is also involved in the monitoring process.

‘How do we go to school with charred books?’

BISHNA NEUPANE | Kalikot  

 Children of Khad­agaun of Kalikot’s Palanta rural municipality have been unable to attend school after a fire on the night of Dec 23 wreaked havoc on their commu­nity. Children’s books, bags and uniforms were some of the stuff destroyed by the fire that engulfed 87 houses. Locals have demanded the supply of essential educational items so that students can go to school again.

Bhagwati Neupane, a Grade VIII student of Ganesh Adharbhut School, lost her home in the fire along with her notebooks, clothes and other valu­ables. Now, she is unable to attend school. As many as 130 children of the area have been unable to go to school since the fire broke out. “All my clothes and books were destroyed by fire. How do I go to school now?” Bhagwati asks.

Dana Devi Neupane, deputy mayor of Palanta rural municipality, claims that the situation has now returned to normal. She says that after the distribu­tion of some relief materials in the first phase, arrange­ments were made for fire victims to stay at other houses or schools in the village that were unaffected by the fire.

Q. Your best and worst pur­chase

A. Best purchase would be my car and worst purchase would be the pair of shoes I bought for Rs 12,000 thinking they were genuine. They were not.

Q. Alternate career choice

A. What I am doing right now is my alternate career choice. My dream career was to join the army.

Q. ‘Call Kantipur’ or ‘It’s my show’

A. Right now, ‘It’s my show’. 15 years ago, it would have been ‘Call Kantipur’

Q. Someone you want to interview

A. Former King Gyanendra

Q. Most difficult to interview

A. Guests who answer with a “yes” or “no” to a long ques­tion and people who are shy to open up in front of the camera

Q. The quote you live by

A. ‘Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have great­ness thrust upon them’ by Shakespeare. I get con­fused by this quote. Was I born great, am I doing great or was greatness thrust upon me?

The tradition of endless partying and incomparable hospitality of the lake city of Pokhara was continued this New Year’s eve, as the favorite destination of locals and foreigners alike celebrated the 20^th Pokhara Street Festival. Organized by the Restaurant and Bar Association of Nepal (REBAN) Pokhara chapter, with the support of Nepal Tourism Board, the 2-km stretch of the lakeside was cordoned off for vehicles and turned into a walking street for thousands of tourists from Dec 28 to Jan 1.

Restaurants, bars, hotels and other establishments joined hands to make the event a success, with the visitors getting to enjoy delicious food, discounted hospitality and live cultural programs. From folk concerts to bhajans and traditional lakhe dancers to rap and rock artists, the event had it all. One of the highlights was the performance of the popular band Mongolian Heart, which was celebrating its 25^th anniversary.

Proceeds from the event have been pledged for community development in Pokhara and also to support natural disasters affected communities all over the country. The Annapurna Media Network was an event partner.

In some democracies, lying under oath is a jail-wor­thy offense. English novelist Jeffery Archer was imprisoned in 2010 for lying in a libel case. More recently, Michael Cohen, American President Donald Trump’s lawyer, was sentenced to three years in prison after he lied to the Senate. In other democ­racies, like Nepal, the offenders tend to get away with it, as Minister for Tourism, Culture and Civil Aviation Rabindra Adhikari will be hoping.

Adhikari tried to mislead the parliamentary sub-committee investigating the opaque transac­tions related to the purchase of two aircraft from Airbus. Asked by the sub-committee on why he had sanctioned payment on behalf of the national flag-carrier even though the procurement process was riddled with flaws, the minister replied that he was acting on the advice of Auditor General Tanka Mani Sharma. But Sharma, appearing later before the same sub-committee, said that he had offered Minis­ter Adhikari no such advice. As Adhikari has refused to comment on Sharma’s denial, there are grounds to assume his guilt.

We expect better of a public servant. We also expect accountability. Will the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), of which the sub-committee was a part, now seek punishment for the lying minister? And what will happen to others like the Nepal Airlines Gener­al Manager Sugat Ratna Kansakar and over 25 senior government officials who in this case have been found guilty of violating the Public Procurement Act? Senior PAC leaders have already distanced themselves from the probe, perhaps because investigating it could earn them the ire of their party leaders. There is thus con­siderable doubt that the PAC will act on the recom­mendations of the sub-committee.

The CIAA, the country’s chief anti-graft body, can launch an investigation only after the PAC’s go-ahead. It is vital to get to the root of this mammoth corruption case. The sub-committee concluded that over Rs 4 bil­lion was embezzled during the procurement of the two aircraft, with the involvement of everyone from sitting ministers to the chiefs of the Citizen Investment Trust and the Employees Provident Fund. But with friends in high places, will they be prosecuted?

Prime Minister KP Oli has repeatedly assured his fel­low citizens that no corrupt official will be spared and no one will be allowed to come in the way of his pet national prosperity agenda. He now has a chance to prove just that.

 Manchala Jha, a member of the Truth and Reconcili­ation Commission (TRC), made a rather depressing admission in an interview with us last week. “I now think the conflict victims will not get justice,” she said. Of the 63,000 cases registered with either the TRC or the Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Per­sons (CIEDP), the twin transitional justice bodies, not one has been settled. Many now think the four years since the creation of these two commissions have been wasted. Their extended terms expire on Feb 10. It is unclear whether their tenure will be extended again, whether the two commissions will be restructured or if they will be replaced by a ‘high level mechanism’ comprising major stakeholders. Conflict victims are divided on the best way forward, as are human rights activists. But the longer these cases of alleged human rights violations from the conflict period drag on, the harder they will be to resolve, not least because vital evi­dence will be destroyed with every passing year.

It is unclear whether the two commissions’ tenure will be extended again

But as Jha hinted in the interview, the kind of strong political will needed to drive the pro­cess forward has always been missing. The former Maoists, now a vital part of the federal govern­ment, want none of their top leaders prosecuted, even in cases of grave rights violations. Ditto with the Nepal Army, which has as resolutely shielded its top officials who have been similarly implicated. Meanwhile, the leadership of the Nepali Congress, the main opposition, which was leading the government at various times during the 10 years of the civil war, is as happy with the status quo.

With such indifference of the political class, it is hard to see transitional justice make much headway in Nepal soon. This is dangerous. Those who lost their loved ones during the conflict deserve a sense of closure, however imperfect. The current strategy of the major parties seems centered on wearing them out. But if there is no justice even in the most heinous rights violations, the already troubling state of impu­nity in the country will further deteriorate. The government’s failure in the rape-and-murder of 13-year-old Nirmala Pant would shock were it not part of the continued indifference and inaction of the political class on law and order. This is a recipe for anarchy.

video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lg00XuqHApY&t=218s

Tsechu Dolma

 Changing lives in the mountains

“I am a Himalayan American,” says Tsechu Dolma when asked about her nationality. At only 25, Dolma’s work and achievements are mountainously high, just like the terrains she loves to work in. A graduate of Columbia University, Dolma was recently listed among the ‘Forbes 30 under 30: Social Entrepreneurs’ for her pioneering work with farmers of the mountainous regions of Nepal.

Jan Salter

The passing of a Nepali legend

Jan Salter, 82, passed away peacefully in her sleep at home in Lyme Regis, UK on April 29. To many, Jan Salter was both a marvelous and sensitive artist and the founder of the Kathmandu Animal Treatment Centre (KAT). Her paintings of different ethnic groups and peoples of Nepal, aptly entitled, “Faces of Nepal”, were taken from drawings she did while trekking around the country in the 1970s and ’80s.

Manohar Basnet

The lone pugilist

Manohar “Max” Basnet has lost count of how many tournaments he has won and how many times he has become the National Champion but, unfortunately, his dream of carrying the Nepali flag in international tourna­ments remained unfulfilled for a long time. The reason: his stubborn stand against corruption and his fight against the bureaucracy in Nepali sports. I took part in my first amateur bout at the age of 16,” recalls Basnet, now 32.

Deeya Maskey

What you see is what you get

Deeya Maskey is a popular name in Nepali film, theater and, recently, on the small screen. Right with her debut on the big screen with Bhusan Dahal’s ‘Kagbeni’, Maskey was able to establish herself as a potent movie actor. Today Maskey is one of the most successful Nepali actresses and also popular as a judge of the inaugural edition of Himalaya Roadies.

Sampada Malla

On Nepali media industry

Sampada Malla is an established name in Nepali media and entertainment industry. She is the creator of “Drishyansha” nationwide mobile filmmaking com­petition, as well as a journalist, writer, filmmaker and a board member of Sarwanam Theater. She is as well known in India as she is in Nepal. Most notably, she wrote the screen¬play for the popular Hindi tv serial ‘Ishq Ka Rang Safed’ that was broadcast in Colors TV.

Peter John Karthak

In his own words

Peter John Karthak, 75, a musician, writer and jour­nalist, has indeed had an eventful life. He was born in Shillong on December 12, 1943. In 1965, Karthak came to Kathmandu, where he spent the next 25 years as a copy editor, feature writer and columnist. ‘Kathmandruids’, launched in March 2018, is Karthak’s latest and the first original novel in English which was shortly followed by “Nepali Musicmakers” in November.

Senu Ranjit

Cracking open a male domain

A female chef is someone you rarely find behind the kitchen doors of your favorite cafes and restau­rants in Kathmandu. Senu Ranjit, the chef at The Yard (restaurant) by Oasis Garden Homes in Sanepa, is a welcome exception. Ranjit trained for six months in culinary arts in Lagankhel, Patan and then worked in New Zealand as a cook for a couple of years.

Bipin Karki

The ace actor in Kollywood

Bipin Karki is one the most versatile actors in modern Nepali cinema. Karki, who has acted in over a dozen Nepali movies, is best known for his role as the local goon “Bhasmey don” in the acclaimed movie “Pash­upati Prasad”. It also earned him his first National Film Award. It was Karki’s love of literature that inspired him to act. A hard-worker who never compromises with his work, Karki has a special way of preparing for his roles.

Indira Joshi

Never fear of failure

Indira Joshi is best known mostly for her peppy numbers like “Udhreko Choli” and “Relimai,” and her electrifying stage performance. The singer, who rose to fame as a reality show contestant, is also known for her role as a judge in the popular Nepali reality show ‘Nepal Idol,’ in which she has been featured in 2 consecutive seasons.

Kanta Dab Dab

Distilling the sound of the valley

To confine Kanta Dab Dab to a restrictive genre like “fusion” or “classical” or any other broad term would be to undermine the vast talent of this trio of versa­tile musicians. For Kanta Dab Dab’s music encapsu­lates no less than the tradition, culture and musical­ity of the livelihood of the Kathmandu valley. Sunit Kansakar on sitar, Rizu Tuladhar on bass and Nikhil Tuladhar on drums/percussions form Kanta Dab Dab.