Kathmandu valley has long been a melting pot of diverse cul­tures and traditions. Traders from Tibet and Persia traveled and lived here as far back as the first century AD, perhaps even earlier. Hinduism and Buddhism flour­ished side by side. With the val­ley repeatedly raided by Mus­lim rulers from India, there was also some influence of Islam. Catholic Christians came later, ear­ly in the 18th century. Yet before King Prithvi Narayan Shah’s con­quest of Kathmandu in 1768, the valley was a hub of a flourishing Newar civilization, particularly during the reign of the Malla kings between 13th and 18th centuries.

Some historians believe the Gorkh­ali kings left the valley’s native cul­tures and traditions largely intact. Other historians reckon Kathman­du’s takeover by the Shah kings, and its amalgamation into Nepal, started a process of the gradual decline of the native Newari culture and heri­tage. What is less in doubt is that the subsequent prioritization of Nepali language—a trend which reached its apogee with King Mahendra’s pro­motion of ‘one language-one dress’ in the 20th century—helped margin­alize other regional languages and customs in Nepal.

One of the best examples of this kind of cultural marginalization is the bastardization of the tradition­al Newari names of the places in Kathmandu valley: “Than Bahee” became “Thamel”, “Nwakhusicho” became “Thapathali” (just because some Thapas came to later reside in the area), “Khuntoo” became “Naya Baneshwor” (See main story, Page 7). With the overthrow of monarchy and heralding of a republic, Newa activists now want to reclaim the lost names and thereby also their rich heritage.

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 The Kathmandu Valley—one of Nepal’s oldest civilizations— has for centuries been a melt­ing pot for people from different ethnic, cultural and geographical backgrounds. The ancient towns of Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Patan have a history of ancient civilizations dating back at least a 1,000 years. And it was the indigenous Newar community that traditionally shaped the valley’s cultural mosaic. The reign of the Malla confedera­tion, the historic rulers of the valley, ended with King Prithvi Narayan Shah’s conquest of Kathmandu in 1768. With this started the pro­cess of undermining Kathmandu’s indigenous heritage, the historians APEX talked to for this article said. Later, the Rana Regime (1846-1951) made Nepali the de facto official language of Nepal, a change that was later given legal approval by King Mahendra. This has a profound impact on Kathmandu.

“The declaration of Kathman­du as the country’s capital and enforcement of Nepali as official language started the process of neglect of the unique Newari dialect and script,” says Kashinath Tamot, a historian and script specialist. Although the Newari dialect is still much in use, the Newari script is on the verge of disappearing.

Migrant tongues

With the spoken dialect limit­ed to the community and cultural encroachment of the multitudes of migrants who made later Kathman­du their homes, the ethnic names of the small towns and villages within Kathmandu also changed. “Mod­ern-day place names like Thamel and Ason are shortened and cor­rupt versions of the original Newari names,” Tamot says. “With time, people started mispronouncing and shortening the original names, and now some of the names are unrecog­nizable,” says Tamot.

It is normal for the names of plac­es and festivals to change or short­en with time, Tamot adds, but the derived names can often mislead. The stories and the histories behind these places are lost and the short­ened names give wrong meanings. “Khwopa: became Bhaktapur or Bhadgaon, the latter name derived from a combination of Newari, Sanskrit and Nepali dialects. Similar­ly, the Bishwagat Ketu jatra became Bisket jatra, losing the original meaning,” he says.

“The Newari names of places around Kathmandu are not just nouns, they are adjectives as well. If you understand the meaning behind the name, you know the story behind the place as well,” says Alok Siddhi Tuladhar, a documen­tarian of Kathmandu’s traditional culture. “The names given to var­ious ‘toles’, ‘bahals,’ ‘gallis’ and towns define the places based on their unique characteristics.”

He gives the example of the modern-day Thamel, whose origi­nal Newari name is “Than Bahee,” roughly translated as “the small temple above.” (As the Bishnu­mati river settlement by the side of Thamel is at a lower altitude, Thamel is referred to as being ‘above.’) “There are many more instances when the original names and the meanings have been com­pletely changed just because people from ruling communities found them difficult to pronounce,” Tuladhar complains.

Many permanent residents of Kathmandu will be surprised to know that the original name for Thapathali was “Nwakhusicho”. The name was changed after the Thapa families in the area rose to power. Similarly, the Durbarmarg we know of today was called “Jamala Khwata” before the Shah dynasty took over Naaran Hitii (traditional water sprouts of Newa settlements) to the north and built the Narayan­hiti Royal Palace that still stands today. The area with the Parliament House in New Baneshwor was called “Khuntoo,” a name that is now used only by some senior citizens of Yala (Patan), specifically residents of Gachhen, Chyasal and Lunkhusi.

“With the loss of the original names of our localities, we’re slow­ly losing our identity. The only hope of reviving our history is raising awareness and making the govern­ment aware that the kind of cultural encroachment we are witnessing will one day completely banish the history of the Newar community,” Bajracharya says. Tamot agrees that the state should take the lead in preservation and revival of ethnic names of localities. “They call Nepal a republic but where is the prior­ity to indigenous communities it entails? Why are provincial languag­es so neglected?” he asks.

History and origin

Newa activist Rukshana Kapa­li, who also runs a Facebook page called “Reviving native names in Nepa Valley & Nepal Mandal,” has a more radical view on the ‘standard­ization’ of traditional Newari names. “It is a part of the ethno-lingual hegemony started by the foreign rul­ers in Kathmandu. There is a history of systematic suppression of indige­nous people in Nepal,” Kapali says. “For a long time they made the use of our language illegal and with that our names fell out of common use.”

Although Kapali admits that many localities have had Sanskrit names side by side, the old names have been systematically and intentional­ly replaced. “The Newar names are also associated with the history and origin of the place,” she says. “But people have given new names to these places which have no relation to their origins. For instance, Thimi is being replaced by Madhyapur, a name that has got nothing to do the rich history of the place.”

The cost of modernity has been the loss to Kathmandu’s rich tradi­tions. While talking to many peo­ple of the Newari community for this story, we found many of them were dissatisfied with the “suppress­ing” of their culture and tradition. From people expressing their open hostility to the proposed “mod­ernizing and beautification” of the Newari heritage sites destroyed by earthquakes to community leaders working to preserve the Newari fes­tivities that are becoming extinct due to lack of funding, the Newar community of the Nepa: Valley final­ly seems to be in a mood to reclaim their lost heritage. 

Aditya Seth is a recognized name in Indian television, corpo­rate movie and documentary domains. Based in Mumbai, India, Seth got the Best Documentary award at the prestigious Dada Saheb Phalke Film Fes­tival for his documentary ‘Bahadur-The Accidental Brave (2011)’ based on the link between HIV and Nepali labor migration to India. He is also an academic and teaches filmmaking and related media. Seth was recently in Kathmandu to conduct a week-long filmmaking work­shop for aspiring Nepali filmmakers at the Sarwanam Theatre, Kalikasthan. Sunny Mahat of APEX caught up with him to talk about ‘Bahadur’ as well as his larger film-making career.

How did ‘Bahadur’ happen?

I got hired to work for a radio pro­gram that was being made by an international development agency. The program, being produced from Kanchanpur, Kathmandu and Mum­bai, was geared at Nepali migrants to India and safe sex practices. At that time, incidents of HIV among Nepali migrants was very high. Since it was a floating population, there was no way to focus on them and teach them safe sex practices.

The far-western region of Nepal was sitting on an HIV epidemic. So when I started interacting with the community in Mumbai, I felt this is something the world doesn’t know about and it is a story that needs to be told. I came to Achham in 2009 and started shooting.

How difficult was it working in remote Nepal?

Security-wise, it was not difficult because the insurgency was just about over. But we did face problems. Access to the place was limited. There were no proper roads to the villages we travelled to. Electricity was scarce too.

As far as the people are concerned, it was quite easy to work with the locals. There was a tacit acceptance of death as an inevitability. As men will go for work, they will stay away from their wives for long, they will go to the brothels, they will practice unsafe sex, they will con­tract HIV and they will die eventually. That was something they had accepted. Women had been affected too and at the time we were shooting, around 2,000 people had already died of HIV in far-western Nepal. It was strange that there was easy acceptance but again, there was lot of apprehension of people who go to India to work. At the same time, the Nepali ministers and govern­ment officials were not ready to talk about the issue.

After all those years in main­stream television, advertis­ing, and corporate film making, have you quit all of them to focus solely on documentaries?

If I get an opportunity, I’ll still work on these industries because I have to make a living. But my interest ever since I became a filmmaker was non-fic­tion and documentaries.

It’s just that initially I wanted to explore different types of filmmaking so I went to Mumbai and started doing television. I did all kinds of shows from soap operas to dramas to comedies and thrillers. Eventually, I stopped enjoying television.

Then I took a departure from TV and took up other work. I went on to do corporate movies and advertising and whatever I earned, I put into documen­taries. For the past 15 years I’ve been doing only non-fiction.

What is your analysis of the Nepali film industry?

Let me talk about lack of understand­ing or the lack of professionalism in Nepal. Although a few film schools exist here, from what I’ve seen, they’re not very professional and proficient.

Why do you think that is the case?

There are two things as far as Nepal is concerned. One is that the industry is still very small because the investments are not very high. Also, it doesn’t seem to be a very robust or commercially ori­ented industry. Although I’ve heard of a few successful films, how many films reach that level?

India has been successful because it has been able to constantly grow and improve its market. They also spend as much if not more in marketing and distribution in comparison to production. I think that part is lack­ing in Nepal. I think the emphasis is more on production rather than on how to reach new audiences as well as the diaspora. Focusing on dias­pora is important because Nepal is a remittance-based economy and many Nepalis are settled abroad.

To add to the part about profession­alism, one reason I came to Nepal is also to promote my upcoming film academy in Delhi which is start­ing in a month. The academy will conduct trainings on film­making and media disciplines in an extended workshop model. I want students from Nepal to come there and gain from what­ever experiences I’ve had. They can bring back those experiences and develop their film industry in Nepal. It’s called the Indian Academy of Shots and it will be affordable to Nepali students.

The 13th edition of the biggest automobile exhibition in the country, the NADA Auto Show, concluded on September 16, with a record Rs 5 billion worth of trans­actions. Taking part in this extrava­ganza were more than 70 automobile importers, dealers, distributors, and manufacturers spread over around 135 big and small stalls at Bhrikuti­mandap in Kathmandu. The six-day expo, jointly organized by the Nepal Automobiles Dealers Association (NADA) and the Global Exposition and Management Services, show­cased the latest two- and four-wheel­ers under the same roof. Making their presence felt at the event were major automobile brands such as Honda, Jeep, Mahin­dra, Isuzu, KIA, Ford, Hyundai, Tata Motors, Toyota, Hyundai, Renault, Nissan TVS, Bajaj, Royal Enfield, NIU, Miyama, and Vespa, to name a few. Besides new vehicles, there were also stalls for spare-parts, tires, lubricants, garage equipment, bat­tery, and other auto accessories.

Although the total number of vis­itors (65,000) this year was not a significant increase from last year’s (62,000), the transaction amount this year doubled from last year’s Rs 2.2 billion. The sales at the NADA 2017 had been partly affected by a liquidity crisis, with commercial banks tightening hire-purchase loans. But with increased liquidity, sales this year soared.

“There are many other factors behind the increase in sales,” says Krishna Prasad Dulal, vice-president of NADA. “First, this time Nepali consumers showed more interest in purchasing bigger and more expen­sive crossovers and SUVs compared to smaller passenger cars. Also, their purchasing power seems to have increased and a culture of changing and upgrading cars has been estab­lished.” Dulal explains that in terms of quantity, sales of smaller hatch­backs and sedans are higher but in terms of revenues, crossovers and SUVs contributed significantly more to the total pot of Rs 5 billion.

“Our streets are becoming less maneuverable for smaller cars with low ground clearance and the SUVs have also become more affordable due to high competition,” says Dulal. “Take the Jeep for example, a new entrant in the Nepali market that nonetheless notched up satisfactory sales in the NADA week.”

As for the consumers, their expec­tation of reduced import taxes and excise duties did not come true this fiscal too. In fact, the government increased taxes on both two- and four-wheelers. Says Saurav Nepal, an automobile enthusiast and journal­ist, “As always, NADA succeeded in creating an extravagant affair, show­casing a wide range of automobiles. I was particularly impressed by the new electric vehicles, Jeep SUVs and Harley Davidson motorcycles that were on display. But unfortunately taxes make them unaffordable.”

The electric vehicles launched this year have managed to attract many consumers, as was evident at the NADA Auto Show, Dulal explains. But there is still a state of confusion among both the buyers and sellers about their future. The facilities for recharging and repairing electric automobiles are poor at the moment and as most EVs coming into Nepal are from branded companies, their costs are relatively high.

“Currently, the best option is to import relatively cheaper EVs from China. But the perception of Chinese products is not good,” says Dulal. “The other option is for the govern­ment to promote EVs by reducing taxes and facilitating the use of elec­tric vehicles” 

 For an economy saddled with a huge trade deficit (that bal­looned to Rs 1,161 billion in the last fiscal), any new production activ­ity at home is welcome news. With the continuous drainage of human resources to other countries, Nepal’s manufacturing has suffered, contrib­uting to import dependency for the smallest of consumer goods—includ­ing pencils. This is not to suggest there is pau­city of enterprising entrepreneurs in Nepal. Take the 29-year-old Nirmal Dahal. A resident of Damak, Jhapa, Dahal employs over a dozen workers in his native city. In the process he is helping reduce the monopoly of foreign products in Nepali markets. Not just that. He is protecting the environment too. He is doing all this via his Sagarmatha Pencil Udhyog.

“The idea came to me when I was working in the stationery department of a bank in Kuwait,” says Dahal. “I saw pencils made from recycled paper there and thought I should try and produce them in my own country.” Dahal returned home in 2017 and after a few months of research launched a small-scale industry.

The goal was not only to make something in Nepal, but also to cre­ate an eco-friendly industry, Dahal says. At present, the Sagarmatha Pencil Udhyog produces an average of 3,000 pencils a day and recycles around 30 tons of waste paper every month. Sagarmatha pencils are cur­rently sold in most eastern districts and they are being marketed in Kath­mandu too. “We have started selling from about 25 different stores in Kathmandu and business is slowly picking up.”

The main competitors for Sagar­matha pencils are established Indian brands that have monopolized the Nepali markets for years. In terms of operations, Sagarmatha still depends on manual labor for 40 percent of its production process, and hence the high production cost. “We are still selling at prices competitive with Indian pencils,” Dahal says. “The idea is not to compete against Indian companies but to create envi­ronment friendly products here and start a change in the country.”

Sagarmatha produces four differ­ent models of pencils at the moment and is planning new products and designs for early 2019. Due to its roots as a small-scale industry, the biggest challenge has been market expansion, Dahal says. “We are a small team and we are selling only on the basis of the orders we get. We have to penetrate new markets to be able to sell more,” he says.

Graphically designed to attract school children as well as other users, Sagarmatha pencils proudly bear the Nepali flag to distinguish them from imported products.

“We are importing millions worth of stationery products every year,” Dahal says. “I hope Sagarmatha Pen­cil Udhyog will help bridge the coun­try’s trade deficit, albeit only a bit. But hopefully other entrepreneurs like me will take note”

 The Nepali rupee this week hit an all-time low against the US dollar (1 USD equaled Rs 115.11 at the time of writing this report). This in turn fueled speculations on the future of the local currency, even as the trade deficit steadily mounted. The Nepal Oil Corporation has already announced a monthly loss of Rs 640 million partly as a result of a dearer dollar.

According to Nepal Rastra Bank, Nepal imported Rs 1.24 trillion worth of goods while exporting only Rs 81.19 billion worth in the last fiscal that ended mid-July. Pegged to the Indian rupee, the Nepali currency is depreciating in tandem with India’s. But while there has been much talk of the doom and gloom from the rapid devaluation of our currency, the upsides to Nepal of a dearer dol­lar have been comparably ignored.

“The increase in dollar rate at the start of the tourist season is good for us,” says Ganesh Bahadur Thapa, the owner of the 2-star Hotel Snowland in Lakeside, Pokhara. “Our rooms are priced in dollar and what little we purchase for our kitchen we can get locally.” Thapa explains that with the US dollar strong, tourism could be one industry that could help sta­bilize the economy.

“The pricier dollar is good for us too,” says the owner of a money exchange in Kathmandu. “People are enthusiastically handing us dol­lars in return for more and more rupees. The higher the volume of the exchange, the higher the com­missions for us.”

Albeit small in size compared to other businesses, the foreign IT-based companies that work from Nepal have been flourishing as well. “I make an average of $500 a month working as a copywriter for international clients. Of late my dollar income has increased,” says Nirman Pradhan, an IT worker in Kathmandu. Pradhan, like most IT professionals in Nepal, uses web-based platforms like Freelancer, Guru, Peopleperhour, Upwork to find international clients. They get paid in dollars that are deposited into their Nepali bank accounts.

Dinesh Karki, who runs an off­shore IT company based in Nepal, believes the country’s trade imbal­ance can be checked by the service sector that earns in foreign curren­cies. “When we talk of exports in Nepal, why do we only mean export of goods? After all, many advanced economies have grown largely on the back of their service industries,” Karki says.

He suggests one way out for Nepal could be a massive upgrade of the service industries. “If only the gov­ernment could see the importance of developing infrastructure and creating a conducive environment for IT professionals, we have enough talent in Nepal to bring plenty of foreign income,” Karki says. “But at the moment the government is far from helpful.”

IT professionals in Nepal have of late been complaining of various restrictions in their work. The gov­ernment has for instance banned trading in cryptocurrencies, a lucra­tive earning opportunity for IT pro­fessionals. The NRB also has strict regulations on international credit cards for Nepalis, restricting any form of online payment.

“How do we run our business when we cannot even make online purchases?” Karki asks. “It would be a lot easier for us if the government stopped treating IT professionals as money launderers

Altogether 186 Nepali sportsters are representing the country in 29 different sports at the ongoing Asian Games in Indonesia. While many national records
have been broken, Nepal has won only a paltry silver thus far. This is not to undermine the heroic achievement of the Nepali paragliders who bagged the country’s second silver, ever, at the Asiad. (Nepal’s only other silver medal came in Bangkok 1998, when Sabita Rajbhandari came second in taekwondo.). There is much room for improvement.

A quick question: How many sports do Nepalis play professionally? Cricket, football, taekwondo, karate, boxing, athletics… maybe a few more. But an astounding 207 sports associations are registered with the National Sports Council. Around 45 of them are for karate only. The council’s official website lists an association related to ice-hockey, even though there are no active ice-hockey players in Nepal.

Then there is the Nepal Zurkhaneh Sports Association which handles Iranian wrestling (again, zero players). There is also a Footvolley association and another equally obscure one for ‘Sepak takraw’ (an Indonesian sport). Moreover, the phone numbers of their ‘officials’ are mostly unavailable on the website, although this is a mandatory requirement. Even the few numbers that are listed are either switched off or unreachable.

“There is a curling association here. Do they even know what curling is? Where is the infrastructure to practice curling?” asks Dipesh Ghaley, a sports promoter and executive president of the Himalayan Outdoor Festival Pvt Ltd. (Curling is a European sport in which players slide stones on a sheet of ice towards a target area.)

“Sports is related to the youth and youth means strength. This is why political parties create these fake associations to enlist youths,” Ghaley says. He feels Nepali sports will progress only when these fake associations are shut and professional, non-political sportspersons are appointed to oversee the ones.

Among the better-established organizations are the Nepal Amateur Athletics Association, the Cricket Association of Nepal, the Nepal Badminton Association, the Nepal Boxing Association, the All Nepal Football Association and the Nepal Lawn Tennis Association. All these deal with sports that have a good number of players. “The rest are there to swindle the state and create holiday opportunities for the so called officials and their families,” says a veteran sports photojournalist on the condition of anonymity because he does not want the associations to bar him from taking photos. “There is a big racket in Nepali sports, a racket that enjoys government protection.”

The photojournalist says many responsible government officials are not even aware of how many sports are played in the country or how many of the (real or fake) associations are in existence. “These associations are nothing but cartels for paid vacations for those in power and sometimes even for human traffickers,” he adds.
According to the Sports Development Department under the Ministry of Sports, the sports associations need to be affiliated with international federations of respective sports and have to meet certain criteria to be eligible for registration with the council. They need to provide regular training to the players and conduct periodic tournaments and other related programs nationwide. These provisions are being openly flouted.

Yet the department claims it is doing all it can. “We have recently cancelled the registrations of 25 associations which failed to meet our requirements,” says Kul Bahadur Thapa, the department chief. “We have also issued warnings to more associations and will be strictly monitoring their activities in the coming days.”

With Nepal having won just 24 medals in the seven decades of its participation at the Asiad, the country’s record at the Olympics is predictably much worse. Nepal’s only Olympic medal, a bronze, came by the way of Bidhan Lama at Seoul 1988. (But since taekwondo was only an exhibition game at the event, the bronze was not recognized.) Otherwise, in the 13 editions of the Summer Olympics Nepal has taken part in, there has not been a single medal. What is worse is that Nepali athletes have not won a single match at the Olympics, with the sole exception of Bishnu Bahadur Singh who triumphed in a boxing bout in Seoul 1988.

As former professional boxer Kiran Thapa puts it, things are unlikely to improve unless the perverted incentives of those running Nepali sports change. Right now, the first criterion to be eligible to run these associations is to be a card-carrying member of a political party. The same rule applies for selection of coaches. “Seldom is merit alone enough,” he rues. (See Expert view below)

Right now the state of Nepali sports is as pathetic as the premises of the Dashrath Stadium, with its overflowing toilets and moss-encrusted rooms, that many of the sports associations, both real and fake, call home.

Keep politics away from sports

 I am one of the only two Inter­national Boxing Association three-star certified coaches in Nepal and yet I have not got­ten an opportunity to coach the national boxing team. This is because there is so much bureaucracy, nepotism and favoritism in Nepali boxing. This is in fact the problem with all the sports played in Nepal. You should either be affiliated to political parties or be loyal to the people running the different sports associations. Seldom is merit alone enough.

Even after being selected as the national coach for the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, I could not go because of the politics in the Nepal Box­ing Association. I have been training boxers for almost two decades. I have been with the AFP for 15 years and produced professional players who have represented the country abroad. But Nepal never does win medals in international box­ing because we lack profession­alism and infrastructure.

The goal should be to win medals, not just to come back with ‘experience’ or to break national records. Boxing is one of the oldest sports in Nepal and yet we don’t win. I have produced professional boxers even from a private fit­ness club. So you can do it. In order to produce athletes who can win at the international level, we should keep politics away from sports and focus on getting the best coaches for all the sports.

A gold medalist or an excel­lent player might not be the best coach. I think all the asso­ciations and the National Sports Council need to understand that. Get trainers who actual­ly know how to train athletes instead of giving coaching opportunities to retired players you like. I believe our sports infrastructure is also sub-par and there is no proper coach­ing-learning mechanism. It’s all ad hoc now.

(The author is former professional boxer and current head coach of the Armed Police Force Boxing Team)

Finally, the long wait is over. Team Nepal on August 29 secured silver medal in men’s paragliding team event at the 18th Asian Games being held in Indonesia, breaking a 20-year silver drought at Asia’s premier sporting event.

The last time Nepal had won a silver, its only silver in the Asian Games, was in Bangkok 1998, when Sabita Rajbhandari came second in taekwondo. Unfortunately, after the paragliding glory, Nepal may have to wait for a while to earn another Asian-level medal as worthy. 

Even in the case of the 2018 Asiad, Nepal failed to qualify for the event in over a dozen sports. This isn’t surprising. Besides the wildly popular football and cricket, the country has always had great promise, in martial arts for instance.

Yet Nepal has been unable to realize its potential due to pathetic state of sporting infrastructure and pervasive corruption in sports bodies. They say numbers don’t lie.

There are currently 207 sports associations registered with the National Sports Council, Nepal’s sports governing body.

The sport of karate alone has 45 associations. There are associations for curling and Iranian wresting, even though there are no players for these sports. Each of these associations has the backing of this or that political party. 

Whenever Nepal is invited to take part in a sporting event abroad, the prime concern is not to prepare the athletes but how to use the opportunity to arrange for all-expenses-paid foreign trips for association officials and their families. With such perverted incentives at work no wonder Nepal has punched far below its weight at international sporting meets.

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