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In the 14th century, Nepali King Jayasthithi Malla levied a fine of five rupees (a hefty sum at the time) on those who cut trees along the roadside. Additionally, they would be sent to prison. The king is believed to have instructed his officials to encourage people to plant trees. In the 1900s, Rana prime ministers like Chandra Shamsher and Juddha Shamsher had hundreds of trees planted along Kathmandu valley roadsides. After the 1934 earthquake, Juddha Shamsher included tree plantation in the restoration process. But as the urban population grew, trees were cut down to make space for buildings, road expansion, and for obstructing traffic. It didn’t help that modern urban planning that started around 1960-70 was haphazard and preserving plantation was the last thing on the authorities’ minds.

But trees are important to make a city livable. Not only do trees make any space aesthetically pleasing, they also help regulate urban heat and are great filters for pollutants. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, one tree can absorb as much as 150 kg of carbon dioxide annually. It adds that when it comes to cooling urban areas, strategically planting trees can cool air by between two to eight degrees Celsius. Say the experts ApEx spoke to, one solution to air pollution could be increasing the number of trees and green spaces in urban areas.

Niranjan Shrestha, environmentalist, Environmental Services Nepal Pvt. Ltd., says a city shouldn’t just have concrete buildings and wide roads. It also needs elements of nature like birds and trees. But that isn’t the case in Kathmandu where the focus is only on road expansion and building construction. Big trees in the middle of roads and footpaths are being felled to facilitate movement. There are plantation drives being carried out but, Shrestha says, they are not thought through and thus have little to no impact on environment preservation.

Sanat Adhikari, chairperson of Youth Alliance for Environment, says lack of foresight is turning Kathmandu valley into a concrete jungle. The Nepal government, Adhikari laments, only focuses on concrete buildings and road expansions in its development projects. Worse, other cities are emulating Kathmandu’s plans and policies and slowly becoming as crowded and chaotic. The government has time and again tried to come up with plantation projects to offset the damage. In 2013, the Kathmandu Metropolitan City hatched the two-tree policy whereby every new house in Kathmandu would have to plant two trees if it wanted the blueprints to be passed by the authorities. But that wasn’t possible as many houses were built in tiny plots. Campaigns to plant trees either didn’t see the light of day or the saplings weren’t cared for after plantation.

The situation might be bleak but it’s still salvageable if the local authorities step up, says Adhikari. From creating special plantation zones so that every community has at least a few green patches, to buying small plots of land to build gardens and parks, the work must begin at the local level. It’s also imperative to factor in plantation in areas still undergoing expansion. In places like Pulchowk and Naya Baneshwor, there are various plants on road dividers. While these plants that are grown in small spaces might aid the area’s beautification, they don’t contribute much towards a thriving ecosystem.  

“We need studies and planned policies to bring back greenery in Kathmandu valley. If urban development continues as it is, ours will soon be the most unlivable city in the world,” warns Shrestha. Development that comes at the cost of the environment isn’t sustainable and we will, sooner or later, have to pay the price. Apart from reducing carbon emission, trees can absorb water and decrease the risk of urban flooding. In the past few years, many places in Kathmandu valley had knee-high water as rainfall ran into the rivers during monsoon. Few trees and more concrete roads and buildings can potentially lead to drying up of groundwater as well. Its effects can already be seen: Kathmandu valley’s water-table has been steadily dwindling.  

Activists have always protested the felling of trees for road expansion but the authorities’ stance is that development necessitates it and that there is no other way out. However, says Narayan Bhandari of Kathmandu Valley Development Authority, we must find ways to incorporate greenery in urban planning to balance runaway urbanization. The current plan, of leaving at least five percent open space while building a structure, hasn’t been enough to promote the kind of environment friendliness the valley requires. Bivuti Basnet, president, We for Change, a youth-led organization, says people, driven by economic gains, aren’t very environmentally conscious. The long-term effects of ignoring nature, and not living in harmony with it, can be devastating, she says, so what Nepal needs right now is an eco-sensitive development approach where the focus isn’t on cutting down trees but planting more.

But planting trees requires more than the commitment to do so. Experts say it’s important to study what can be planted where, with the soil quality, temperature and requirements of the space in mind. For instance, poplars and eucalyptus shouldn’t be planted near concrete structures such as pavements and buildings as their roots grow close to the soil-surface, cracking and damaging foundations. Bhandari of KVDA agrees that many trees were cut as they were unsuitable for the place they were planted. Either they were damaging the surrounding structures or their drooping branches were posing various dangers to those moving about.

“We need studies to determine which plants will thrive in which place in Kathmandu. Once that is determined, it falls on the local authorities to do the rest,” says Shrestha. However, that needs a team of experts—gardeners, botanists, environmentalists etc.— and the local authorities are strapped for manpower. That problem could be tackled by collaborating with concerned ministries, like the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport and the Ministry of Forest and Environment. And lastly, once planted, they need care and maintenance and someone has to be accountable for that.

How is a man loving a man or a woman loving a woman different to a man loving a woman? It’s still the same butterflies in the tummy, the same need for companionship, and the same desire to have a family of one’s own. But our black and white notion of what’s ‘natural’ and the homophobia that mindset leads to have made it difficult for the LGBTIQA+ community to live like the rest of us. There is no social and legal recognition of queer relationships and that makes love a tough terrain to navigate.

 “The LGBTIQA+ community is treated differently and that leads to many problems. Not allowing us to marry who we want leads to emotional trauma,” says Pinky Gurung, president of the Blue Diamond Society. Moreover, this violation of their basic human rights robs them of a dignified life. Gurung says she has seen many cases of fraud and even abuse because there are no laws governing gay, lesbian or transgender relationships. A year ago, Sunita Lama, LGBTIQA+ rights activist, was cheated out of her life savings. Her partner of 14 years emptied Lama’s bank accounts and took off. Lama filed a complaint but the authorities said there was nothing they could do as her partner had no legal obligation towards her.

 “This kind of thing can happen to anyone but it happens all too often in the LGBTIQA+ community as without legal recognition of relationships, it’s easy to take in new or multiple partners. There’s no sanctity of relationships,” says Lama. What her partner did has left Lama bereft and unable to trust anyone. She has had a few romantic interests but each time she has taken a step back, told herself not to give into her emotions. She feels she’s setting herself up for hurt and disappointment by being romantically involved. “Unless our rights are secured and marriage in our community is protected by law, we will continue to suffer,” she says.

To love and be loved is a basic human need. It’s all the more important for people of the LGBTIQA+ community in Nepal as many of them are shunned by their own families. Their parents, siblings, relatives, and friends want nothing to do with them and so they crave acceptance. This reality, Gurung says, makes them vulnerable to exploitation. Someone only has to show them a little love and they are willing to do anything that person says to make sure s/he sticks around. But due to lack of societal acceptance and legal binding, these relationships soon fizzle out. Even those in serious relationships are sometimes unable to deal with family pressures and leave their partners. 

“Many LGBTIQA+ youths have been forced to marry people their parents choose for them,” says Gurung. This ruins two lives. Often, it leads to domestic violence and even marital rape. Gurung says such members of the community suffer from depression and other mental conditions. There have been several cases of attempted suicide. “Our society doesn’t care about our happiness as it doesn’t value us. But we have the right to live life on our own terms. They shouldn’t get to decide what is right or wrong for us,” she says.

The constitution grants equal rights to marginalized communities and states that LGBTIQA+ people fall in that category. Their rights are guaranteed in Articles 12, 18, and 42 but the constitution doesn’t explicitly mention same-sex marriage. Marriage equality (a political status in which same-sex marriage and opposite-sex marriage are recognized as equal by the law), however, is an essential part of the constitution’s anti-discrimination provision. Yet biases run deep in the system and despite many attempts to legalize same-sex marriage, there has not been much progress.

The state’s reluctance to make laws for marriage equality and implement them creates uncertainty. That, in turn, breeds fear, not allowing the LGBTIQA+ community to live and love freely. Rubina Tamang, a trans-woman who has been in a relationship for four years, says she and her partner hesitate to plan for the future as they know they have no rights as a couple.

Tamang’s parents, time and again, try to ‘talk sense into her’. They want her to leave her partner and return home. Many things hinge on whether or not they will be able to marry and be granted the same rights as other married couples. Legalization of same-sex marriage or marriage within the queer community would address other issues like access to IVF for lesbian couples and the possibility of adoption. “It would give us some sense of stability and safety. We would be able to be a family,” says Tamang.

Neelam Poudel, make-up artist, model, and transgender rights activist, says relationships can be fickle for members of the LGBTIQA+ community and it’s best to be cautious when deciding its course. Poudel has been in tumultuous relationships in the past. The joys of acceptance, she says, were always limited to the confines of their private space. As a trans-woman, none of the men she has dated have had the courage to openly accept their relationship. “A man might claim to love you but he won’t hold your hand in public,” she says. “It’s disheartening and humiliating.” 

But before blaming the government for failing its citizens, Poudel says the community should evaluate itself as well. She says there is a somewhat warped notion of love among the LGBTIQA+ people. Most of them are quick to fall in love because they are desperate for some semblance of normalcy. Many give expensive gifts to their partners with the hope that it will make them stay. Poudel says there are many people who want to ‘try out new things’ and experiment and for that get into relationships with transgenders. They quickly get bored and move on, oblivious to the fact that they have emotionally scarred another person.

“LGBTIQA+ relationships are fragile and people of the community are often mistreated as there are no rules to protect our rights,” says Bhumika Shrestha, vice-president of the Federation of Sexual and Gender Minorities, Nepal. Policy makers are concerned about LGBTIQA+ marriages contributing to a sharp decrease in population and ending lineages. There’s also the fact that society still doesn’t accept them despite quite a few years of pretending to do so. That, Shrestha says, is why their issues are always sidelined—nobody really cares. “We are humans and must be treated like everyone else. Only societal acceptance will allow us to live and love freely,” she says.

There was a time when coffee table books and guidebooks made the major chunk of annual book sales. Bookstores catered to tourists and the occasional local, making the book business a seasonal one. Even until the pandemic, the vast majority of Nepalis were only reading popular bestsellers (think Paulo Coelho and Chetan Bhagat) and those mandated by their curriculum or career. Reading for pleasure or self-improvement wasn’t the norm but the Covid-19 lockdowns changed that, say those in the book business. Now, Nepalis are reading more than ever and their reading tastes are varied. Book businesses have had to up their game to cater to the demand.

 “We have more books coming in than ever before,” says Rishab Sharma of Pilgrims Book House. “Our selection is based on what’s popular internationally as well as publishers’ recommendations.” Fiction, he adds, seems to be an all-time favorite while self-help and business-related books are right up there. Manish Sharma Ghimire, founder of Book Corner Nepal, agrees with Sharma and says there are more people reading self-help these days because it helps them make sense of these turbulent times. “People are also recommending books to their friends as tools to cope. We have many people looking for certain books that they heard about from their friends. ‘Atomic Habits’ by James Clear is one book that became popular by word of mouth,” says Ghimire.

 Social media, especially Instagram and Tiktok, seems to further fuel people’s interest and curiosity in books. The book/reading communities in these platforms have shone the spotlight on many authors and their works. Fantasy series by Cassandra Clare, Sarah J. Maas, and Leigh Bardugo are a few examples of books social media helped popularize. Dhan Bahadur Lamsal, proprietor of Fewa Book Shop in Lakeside, Pokhara, says in the recent years he has had to tweak his business module to include promotions on Instagram and other social media. His daughters handle this aspect of the business because without promoting reading and his bookstore on social media, he might as well as shut shop permanently. “A lot of youngsters come to our store asking for books they have heard about on Tiktok. We need to be abreast of what’s popular and trending,” he says.

 According to bookstore owners, the readership is primarily in English. Books in Nepali don’t sell many copies though there is a niche crowd that reads literature in our native language. Fiction sells more than non-fiction and even in fiction, fantasy seems to be the preferred genre. At any point of time, there seems to be a crowd-favorite. Ghimire says books adapted into Netflix series are widely popular. People often read the book before watching the show or if the show was good, they pick up the book expecting it to be better. Uday Agarwal of Books Nepal says collectors’ editions of such series have a good market as people want to own a piece of their favorite fantasy world.

 Madhab Maharjan, owner of Mandala Book Point in Jamal, Kathmandu, says people are finally getting into reading. Many teenagers and young adults started reading during the pandemic as they had all this extra time that they didn’t want to waste. They were looking to improve their skills and learn about new things. “Today, our education system is multidisciplinary and isn’t limited to textbooks. That, I feel, has made reading compulsory,” says Maharjan.

However, he laments that ours isn’t a conducive environment for reading. There aren’t good public libraries and not everyone can afford to buy every book they want to read. Sharma of Pilgrims Book House says books have become expensive internationally after the pandemic because of labor shortage. Books that earlier used to cost around Rs 600-700 are now priced at Rs 900-1,000.

On a brighter note, there are some establishments that let people borrow books for a nominal fee. Book Corner Nepal lets you borrow two a month for a monthly membership fee of Rs 500. Sanu ko Pustakalaya in Manbhawan, Lalitpur, a memorial library founded by Priyansha Silwal, is open from 11 am to 6 pm from Monday to Saturday. You can borrow two books at a time for an annual membership of Rs 1,000, excluding a refundable deposit of Rs 500. Silwal says people seem to prefer fiction more than non-fiction. Those who read non-fiction gravitate towards self-help, books on startups, and psychology, she says. The biggest challenge of running a library, she says, is definitely preserving the paperbacks. Apart from maintaining the books, Sanu ko Pustakalaya wants to work on its children’s section as a lot of parents come searching for books for their 10-to 14-year-olds.

This culture of parents choosing books for their children worries Maharjan. “Many parents still don’t bring children into bookstores. They will buy the books for them but letting children roam around books and choose for themselves will foster a love for books and reading,” he says. Children, he adds, should be encouraged to maintain a reading journal. It will help cultivate a writing habit as well as develop their analytical skills from early on. However, Maharjan admits the change he has seen in people’s perception of books and reading is a hopeful one. People want to discover new writers and voices, he says. He believes access to the internet has made it possible for people to know about upcoming authors and prize winners. Hearing authors talk about their books makes them more intriguing, he says.

The good thing is that while earlier Nepalis had to wait a long time to get their hands on new releases, that isn’t the case now. Sharma says books used to be first published in the US or the UK and then the Indian edition would come out months later. Since Nepal gets books mostly from Indian publishers, that set us back at least a year. But now books are being launched simultaneously in the US, the UK, and India and publishers also take pre-orders which makes them available on release day or soon thereafter.

Sujan Chaudhary of Books Mantra says Nepali publishing houses are also getting the rights for popular titles and printing the books here. There are currently over 25 books being reprinted in Nepal. “We definitely have to work on the paper quality but this system has made books cheaper and more readily available,” says Chaudhary. Maharjan, on the other hand, believes the media can play a crucial role in

further popularizing books and reading. “Book reviews and discussions can spark an interest in those who have yet to discover the fascinating world that is reading,” he says.

The earthquakes of April and May 2015 had Kathmandu valley residents running towards open grounds. For the lucky ones, it was an empty plot in their locality or a friend’s house with a big garden, while for thousands of families, places like Tundikhel and Naryan Chaur became refuge. The importance of open spaces was evident. But as things started getting normal and people moved back into their homes, land encroachment continued, leaving the city with less usable open space than ever before. If Kathmandu doesn’t prioritize creating more open spaces, a future earthquake could leave a bigger calamity in its wake, say the experts ApEx spoke to. Moreover, without enough open spaces a city also loses its aesthetic value, impacting the mental health of its residents, they add.

 Suman Meher Shrestha, senior urban planner, says a city needs to be breathable and open spaces are vital for that. But uncontrolled urbanization has made Kathmandu congested, and it’s going to get worse as the population density increases. In places like Thimi, Sankhu, and Bungmati, people have realized the importance of community spaces and the local authorities are renovating and restoring old open areas like temples and courtyards. That needs to be replicated in Kathmandu too, he says, to preserve open spaces and therefore create a livable city.

 Ganesh Karmacharya, spokesperson of Department of Urban Development and Building Construction, says Kathmandu valley needs at least five percent open space while currently it’s only 0.48 percent of the total area. There is an urgent need to preserve what’s there and look into ways to create additional open areas.

 “Kathmandu is an old city and urban planning is a relatively new concept which is why it’s in the state it is. We didn’t give enough attention to proper city mapping,” says Karmacharya. He cites Tundikhel as an example. “If you look at old photos, you will see it was much bigger than it is today. Encroachment and haphazard construction around it has shrunk it.”

 Unfortunately, the same is true for any open space in Kathmandu valley, many of which are now being used for commercial purposes. The Kathmandu Metropolitan City is constructing a view tower at the Old Bus Park. The tower is supposed to have a recreation hall, a conference hall, a museum and a library in addition to financial institutions, robbing the nearby residents of an open space. Similarly, in Pulchowk and Satdobato, Lalitpur, a couple of schools have leased their lands to businesses and departmental stores and the students don’t have playgrounds anymore.

 Narayan Bhandari, deputy development commissioner at Kathmandu Valley Development Authority, says open spaces and greenery are the alveoli of a city. The KVDA is working on a 20-year masterplan to ease congestion in the valley and make it more habitable. Currently, it has identified 83 open spaces and is studying an additional 900-plus areas that can potentially be used in disasters. (According to a 2020 IOM report, only half of these sites are usable in emergencies.) The KVDA has a site in Balkumari, Lalitpur, developed with the help of Japan International Cooperation Agency, that is used to store equipment needed in case of disasters. It can also be used to house people when required.

Also read: What if… (local) elections cannot be held on time?

 But while disaster preparedness is a vital aspect of urban planning in Kathmandu, Bhandari says the focus needs to be on creating multipurpose open spaces like football grounds and parks that can be used all-year-round. “These areas can be used for recreational purposes and to host various national events while also providing shelter in case of an earthquake or other natural calamity,” he says.

 Experts are of the unanimous opinion that a city needs space—for children to play, elders to go on a walk and catch up with friends, and for people to just laze around. Many people live in single rooms or cramped apartments that get very little natural light and thus public spaces are also necessary for outdoor exposure. The lack of parks and public hangout locations force the youths to spend on coffee shops, restaurants and other such establishments.

If Kathmandu were to have more open spaces where people could gather, it would also foster a better sense of community, says Shrestha. Also, a designated open space within a certain radius can make even the most cramped places feel airy and pleasant. But Kathmandu, he adds, has many constraints and we need an integrated approach and different modalities to develop more open and public areas.

 But Kathmandu lacks open spaces, says Arjun Koirala, urban planner and former general secretary of Regional and Urban Planners Society of Nepal. It’s just that these potential public spaces are either neglected or misused. There are also lands that can be developed into parks and playgrounds but many of these haven’t been identified yet for various bureaucratic reasons. Currently, Koirala explains, plots of land are either illegally occupied or a space looks unused but it might be private property and there is no way of knowing which is which. There are also public-private partnerships through which plots of land that should have been public spaces have been leased out. “Kathmandu valley needs a better land management system and the government can start by formally identifying which land belongs to whom,” says Koirala.

The second step would be to determine the purpose of the open area, he adds. There are different kinds of open spaces, even the ones we conventionally don’t think of as an open space. For example, wide roads and pavements are a type of open space. The Bhadrakali-Singha Durbar stretch is an open space as there are wide footpaths. People can often be seen sitting and chatting on the benches along the path. Then, in crowded cities like Kathmandu, there’s also the matter of creating open space vertically. Balconies and rooftops, in that case, also function as open space. “To create more open space, we must first decide on its requirements and then plan accordingly,” he says.

 Shrestha says taking land inventory must be the starting point of the long and ambitious project of restoring Kathmandu valley’s lost splendor. Only when we know what we have can we decide what purpose it should serve and how to design it. However, he says there is also a need for proper policies and monitoring of construction projects to prevent land encroachment. There are apparently a lot of illegal structures turning Kathmandu into a denser concrete jungle.

 Even though there are rules and regulations, compliance is an issue. Shrestha says more often than not construction works don’t follow approved plans. That, he says, will in long run make the valley crowded and thus aesthetically unappealing as well as unsafe. “We must not forget the valley has a certain carrying capacity and uncontrolled development will have a ruinous impact. The only way we can negate some of it is by prioritizing open spaces,” he says.

The more we have, the more we want. But while upgrading our lives by buying better products, we are also filling our homes with things we will never use. Our hoarding habit is damaging the environment not only because we are consuming more of earth’s finite resources, but also because we are increasing our waste production.

We have inundated the Sisdol landfill site in Kakani, Nuwakot, by throwing away pretty much everything from old books and clothes to broken utensils and electronic gadgets. According to the Solid Waste Management Association of Nepal, of the 1,200 tons of garbage collected daily from Kathmandu and its surrounding areas, 65 percent is organic waste, and 15-20 percent is recyclable, meaning even that which is compostable and/or salvageable ends up in the landfill where it will take years to decompose.

The concept of zero waste, which is now almost a global movement, can help ease the landfill load and save the environment. The idea is to send nothing to the landfill by reducing consumption, composting, reusing what we have, and recycling what we can’t reuse. People around the world have reduced the amount of trash they generate in a year to fit in a single mason jar. How they do it is up for everyone to see on YouTube and other social media platforms.

In Nepal too, some are now trying to do the same. A 65-year-old lady in Pokhara, Shashi Tulachan, hasn’t produced more than a bucket of trash a year for the past eight years. “It’s possible if you are conscious about what you use and throw and how,” says Anjana Malla of Deego Nepal, a sustainable business providing eco-friendly alternatives. “The problem is many of us are into a zero-waste lifestyle because it’s become a trend and we are doing it all wrong.”

When people want to lead a more sustainable life, the first thing they do is throw away anything made of plastic. Plastic, we all know, “harms the environment”. But throwing away a perfectly good plastic container that could have lasted several years and buying a sustainable alternative in its place is counterproductive when the goal is to reduce consumption. Malla says the only way to drastically reduce waste is by cutting on what we bring into our homes.

Also read: What if… we could drastically reduce our waste?

It takes a little effort but then it’s quite easy to cut down on your purchases once you start weighing your actions and their consequences. “Don’t buy things on a whim. First look at what you have at home and see if you can repurpose things to fit your needs,” she says. And when you eventually buy new things, opt for quality stuff that will last long as opposed to something cheap that you will have to toss out after a couple of uses.

Anweeta Pandit, founder of Eco Artes Pvt. Ltd., and a zero-waste enthusiast, says we must go back to our roots and live like our grandparents and their parents back in the days. By that, Pandit means we should work on conserving resources by reusing things and only replace them when they can’t be repaired. For instance, before fancy bottles and pots took over the market, we used biscuit tins, powdered milk cans and various other jars to store grains and other essentials. We didn’t go hunting for matching glass bottles and stackable containers like we do now.

Pandit laments how zero waste is more about aesthetics today, creating more waste as we throw out everything that doesn’t match the lifestyle. “We have to be aware that our trash is a burden on the earth. We might blame industries for producing a lot of things but they are only catering to consumer demand. If there is less demand, there will be less production and subsequently less waste,” she says.

The market is saturated with products to suit different needs and tastes. Whenever we give in to our tendency to buy a new cup or a notebook when we have two unused, good ones at home, we are creating more waste. Kritica Lacoul Shrestha, senior manager at Jamarko, a company established in 2001 for environmental conservation and to provide jobs to the underprivileged, especially women, says it is imperative to change our use-and-throw culture and make our daily habits more sustainable.

We tend to disregard the effects of small, individual actions when something as urgent as the environment is at stake, she says. Instead, we blame the government for its inefficiency in tackling the waste problem. But small things like taking your own shopping bag and saying no to polythene bags or saving water while showering can add up if you do them regularly.

Also read: Kathmandu: City of Garbage

“Government policies on recycling and conservation of resources are important. But pollution is such a pressing issue that we must all do our part in reducing consumption and building eco-friendly habits,” says Lacoul Shrestha. Jamarko has been working to minimize paper waste, the long-term impact of which, she adds, will be conservation of our natural resources and habitats. Manu Karki, proprietor of Eco Sathi Nepal, a company that sells eco-friendly products, says you can start by doing whatever you can, whether it is carrying a shopping bag, your own water bottle, or taking lunch from home instead of ordering takeaway at work. The key, she says, is not to have eco-anxiety. “I have seen people try to overhaul their lives overnight and switch to greener alternatives by throwing away much of what they have. That path to a sustainable life isn’t sustainable and leads to stress and negative emotions,” she says.

A common mistake is trying to lead a completely eco-friendly life where they aren’t using anything made of plastic or entirely avoiding disposable items. There is no room for error. “There will be times when you need a single-use item like a straw, cup or a bag and that is okay,” says Malla adding you can’t let a mistake pull you down and deter you. The trick is to do what you can when you can and build on it. It should be a slow and steady lifestyle change rather than a drastic switch. “You have to understand that a zero-waste lifestyle is a process and not something you can discipline yourself into. You can never be perfect at it but you can be persistent,” she says.

Also, a complete zero-waste lifestyle isn’t practical or possible. Even if you use only what you absolutely need, you will inevitably have to discard things because of wear and tear. A zero-waste approach, however, helps you prolong the life of any object you use and thus be frugal with resources, whether it is by donating books and clothes you don’t need instead of throwing them away, or repairing the broken speakers or microwave and not buying a new one immediately. There will be things you can’t avoid but aiming for zero-waste will make you a more conscious consumer which, in turn, will translate into a lighter footprint on the planet.

Remember the time when you entered that beautiful hotel room and something felt off from the start? You couldn’t pinpoint what exactly, but despite the gorgeous décor and lush sheets you didn’t want to be in the room for long. Manish Nasnani, vastu consultant, blames it on imbalanced energies in the room as a result of bad vastu. Before you brush it off as superstition, Nasnani invites you to understand the science behind this age-old practice. There was a time when he too didn’t believe in vastu shastra. Only when he started understanding how scientific it actually is did he begin to find it interesting.

“People wrongly associate vastu shastra with fate and dismiss it. If you too have been doing that, it’s time to give up those preconceived notions and begin afresh because vastu shastra is actually scientific,” says Nasnani. Vastu shastra deals with subtle energy and how the placement of objects affects this energy. To begin with, consider the earth as a big piece of magnet with two poles—the north and the south. With that, everything in it becomes smaller pieces of magnets.

Manish Nasnani, Vastu consultant

Our bodies too are bio-magnets with their own magnetic poles and magnetic fields (which we also know as aura and whose presence studies have proven time and again.) In our bodies, the part above the naval functions as the north pole and the part below as the south pole. Basic laws of physics dictate that like poles of two magnets repel each other but opposite poles attract. This is the principle that guides the rules of vastu shastra.

For instance, we are often told not to lie down with our head in the north, the reason being that the north pole of our body and the north pole of the earth repel each other. Your body spends a lot of energy in this, resulting in disturbed sleep. This apparently is believed to lead to fluctuations in blood pressure and can even cause heart problems. The risk of getting a hemorrhage or stroke goes up as well.

Our blood also contains a lot of iron and when you sleep with your head in the north direction, the magnetic pull attracts the iron which then accumulates in the brain. This is one reason a person who sleeps with his head on the north often wakes up with headaches. “Vastu shastra is all about balancing the interaction between the bio-magnet which is our bodies and the geo-magnet which is the earth,” says Nasnani.

Astrologer and expert in vastu shastra Dr Basudev Krishna Shastri, says vastu shastra is about how you can live in harmony with nature by balancing the effects of the five key elements (panch tatva)—earth, water, fire, air, and sky—that makes up the universe and everything in it, including us. Vastu shastra translates to ‘the science of architecture’ and it is basically physics. “It feels like superstition because you don’t see this energy,” he says, “but its effects are very real. The right kind of energy can fuel and recharge you, while the wrong kind can do a lot of harm.” 

Also read: What lies ahead for Nepal’s LGBTIQA+ community in 2022?

The focus on living in overall synchronization with nature and not resisting its powers is one of the key principles of vastu shastra. North and east are considered positive while south and west are negative. It’s not possible or even necessary to have zero negative energy. The idea is to make sure the retaining energy in any space is positive. Nature, Nasnani says, has everything in balance and we shouldn’t disrupt this balance in the name of design.

“Everything is made up of five key elements and different corners of your house represent different elements. The north-east corner represents water, the south-east stands for fire, the south-west for earth, and the north-west for air. The space at the center where these four corners intersect is space,” he explains. According to vastu shastra, compatibility of elements is important to balance out the energies which is why the kitchen (that represents fire or heat), for example, should be built in the south-east section of a house.

The disruptive forces of imbalanced energy and elements are immense. Apparently, a vastu dosha at the Maya Sabha in Indraprastha caused the epic Mahabharat between the Pandavas and the Kauravas. The dosha was a water trench at the center of the premises, an area of the element sky that should ideally have been kept open. Astrologer Anu Kumar Jha says there are some basic principles of vastu shastra that we need to abide by in order to create better energy in our surroundings. Though there are ways of reversing vastu doshas, it’s not as practical or effective as actual synchronization of elements or energies. “Vastu shastras’ basic message is that nature will help you thrive if you let it,” he says.

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Experts in the field say modern medical science too has evolved to incorporate natural elements for disease-prevention. The importance of cross ventilation was made evident during the Covid-19 pandemic. Our bodies produce Vitamin D as a result of sun exposure. The vitamin is essential for proper functioning of the immune system, brain and nervous system. Our circulatory system works the way it does because of the earth’s geo-magnetic energy.

Recent studies have confirmed that our brain is sensitive to orientation, position, and direction in space and that the brain physiology is different in different directions. And, much like medical science, vastu Shastra—a part of the Veda’s scriptures believed to be four to five thousand years old—is constantly evolving as practitioners discover new things. “So, to disregard a branch of science based on thousands of years of experiments and learnings can work to your disadvantage,” says Jha.

The reason why vastu shastra is sidelined or is considered quack science is because people don’t understand it, adds Dr Shastri. The goal of the vastu principles is to create a well-lit, properly ventilated, and aesthetically designed living space that can bring a sense of peace and calm. There are thus logical reasons for everything that vastu shastra mandates. For example, big trees at the main entrance of a house are considered bad vastu as they block sunlight and the roots can damage the foundation of the walls.

As energy is primarily thought to originate from the north-east corner, many rules are derived keeping this basic idea in mind. Nasnani says our lives are governed by multiple factors, many of which aren’t in our control. Rather than stressing about the things we can’t change, we can focus on the one thing we have complete control over to create a favorable environment for ourselves, and that is vastu shastra. 

Nepal is the first South Asian country to recognize transgenders and the first in the world to include a ‘third gender’ in its census. It’s been a decade since the ‘third’ option was added to voter rolls and immigration forms. The constitution of 2015 addresses the LGBTIQA+ community in Articles 12, 18, and 42, granting them social and political rights. But, behind the glossy façade, say the LGBTIQA+ community and those lobbying their cause, there are plenty of unresolved issues.

Bimala Gurung, program officer at Mitini Nepal, an organization lobbying for the rights and dignity of lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, says one of the main issues right now is the paucity of constitutionally protected rights for LGBTIQA+ individuals. That makes them vulnerable to exploitation and abuse, she says, which is why Mitini Nepal will focus on stronger advocacy and awareness programs in 2022—besides lobbying for more economic opportunities for the LGBTIQA+ community. “Financial instability is one of many reasons people of the community are suffering. Providing them more career opportunities could fix some of the problems,” she says.

But Bhakti Shah, transgender activist, says they are so sidelined in every aspect that it’s disheartening and stressful. He says they aren’t even asking for special opportunities, just equal chances. The problem right now is that they are disqualified from the get-go because of their sexual orientation. “You can never compete when you don’t even stand a chance,” he says. The society puts up a pretense of acceptance while silently trying to wish their existence away and that complicates things even more. One reason Nepal looks progressive on paper but lags behind in reality are the many loopholes that make rule-implementation impossible.

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Bhumika Shrestha, vice-chairman of an organization advocating LGBTIQA+ rights, gives the example of acquiring a citizenship that, for most, is a birthright but for people of LGBTIQA+ community, it’s still a major challenge. It’s now possible to obtain a citizenship identifying as ‘others’ but there are issues that complicate the matter. The government requires a sex change operation certificate and not all can afford the expensive surgery. Many might not even want to undergo the procedure for personal reasons but it’s a compromise you must make if you want a citizenship. “So many people in our community couldn’t get the Covid-19 vaccine as they didn’t have the documents required to prove their nationality. The same thing happened when the government distributed food and other essential items to daily wage workers during the lockdowns. No identification meant no help,” says Shrestha.

Identity crisis and lack of self-worth are indeed huge issues in the LGBTIQA+ community, adds Shah. The foundation of every other right for the community lies in first establishing and accepting LGBTIQA+ identities. Everything else hinges on this, says the activist. “Once that issue is resolved, I believe we can fruitfully work on the rest,” he says. Shrestha too believes that unless their identities are firmly established, they will always be ignored. “Disasters are difficult times and it’s worse for us as we won’t get any government help. We have nowhere to go,” she says.

The citizenship issue is something the LGBTIQA+ community has been lobbying for almost 20 years, with little success, says Pinky Gurung, president of Blue Diamond Society. They are hoping the 2021 Nepal census will give them the data to finally put pressure on the government to include them in their plans and policies. “Policymakers have their own biases and agendas. They listen to us and agree to discuss things but nothing ever comes out of it. Hopefully, once we have data, we can get their attention,” she says.  

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The inclusion of third gender in the census is a hopeful start of some really imperative changes to come. But as many families still hesitate to reveal the true identities of their children, the data might not be entirely accurate. Greater sensitivity and understanding are needed for wider social acceptance. Shrestha says the main issue is that many still don’t understand homosexuality. There have been instances of school boys being taunted and harassed for ‘behaving like a girl’. Revising our school curriculum to include LGBTIQA+ stories and such could help foster a more inclusive environment and normalize things.

Marriage equality also needs to be prioritized, agree those ApEx spoke to. Not legalizing same-sex marriage means there is a lot of uncertainty in relationships and that, in many cases, has led to domestic violence. Our patriarchal and conservative society is a breeding ground for violence and the situation is worse in the LGBTIQA+ community where relationships are fickle because of lack of legal recognition. Shah says a lot of people have had mental health issues and even tried to commit suicide after their partners left them. “People in our community feel insecure in their relationships and that often leads to misunderstandings and physical and mental abuse,” he says.

Sunita Lama, LGBTIQA+ rights activist, says change must start at home. She says she feels disheartened by the lack of change in people’s mindset. But they can’t afford to lose hope, she says, as family acceptance is important if they are to ever feel safe and worthy. In the coming year, Lama hopes there is more societal acceptance as a result of families embracing their children irrespective of their sexual orientation. “Social acceptance is the only thing that can bring about policy level changes,” she says. Lama says lack of policies is the direct result of the authorities simply not trying to understand LGBTIQA+ issues because of their underlying biases.

The LGBTIQA+ individuals ApEx spoke to say their lives oscillate between stress and fear. With the odds stacked against them and no one to turn to, every day is a struggle. They have been lobbying for their rights for so long and have so little to show for it that they have lost hope of drastic change in their lifetime. But working today for a better tomorrow, so at least the next generation won’t have to go through what they did, motivates them to carry on. In 2022, like every other year, they hope to achieve a few milestones but, in their hearts, they know it’s going to be like every other year—one step forward, two steps back.

Thirty-five-year-old Shreya Rana doesn’t wear much jewelry. It’s not something she is particularly fond of. Even at family functions and other events, all she usually has on are the things she wears on a daily basis: Two silver rings (‘lucky charms’ she has had since college) and her simple ruby-and-diamond engagement ring. If she’s in the mood for it, she might add a pair of small earrings. She doesn’t feel the need to be all decked up in millions-of-rupees worth of gold and diamonds but that, in a family where people buy new jewelry to match every outfit and occasion, makes her a misfit. She says she can feel the contempt when her relatives pointedly look at her neck and ears. “Jewelry, I feel, has always been a representation of our economic status. It’s taken as a measure of success, which probably explains our obsession with it,” she says.

Nepal imported Rs 11.12 billion worth of gold in the first quarter of the current fiscal. Manik Ratna Shakya, president of the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers Association, says even at approximately Rs 93,000 a tola, Nepalis’ interest in gold hasn’t wavered. Gold and diamond jewelry are safe investments and our culture, he says, also promotes the popularity of gold. There are many rituals and occasions that mandate the use of the precious metal as it’s considered auspicious, he says. Different cultures also require special types of jewelry for various purposes so people buy them without hesitation. It’s also a case of people wanting to upgrade their lifestyles. In the hierarchy of needs, luxury items like gold and diamonds occupy the top of the pyramid, he says, and when people have money, it’s natural for them to want more than the basics.

When ApEx questioned some people who were shopping for jewelry in New Road, Kathmandu, most were found to be either looking for something new because they had some money saved up or they were there to exchange old items for trendier ones. Rabi Krishna Shrestha, one of the directors of Asri Jewelers Pvt. Ltd., says swapping pieces one had bought earlier for newer designs or bigger items is common. Most customers they get fall into that category. “I think that’s the appeal of jewelry. You will always get your money’s worth,” he says. Rashmi Tuladhar, 48, says she buys jewelry for herself now and then as she wants to have a sizable collection by the time her son and daughter are of marriageable age. “If I ever need a substantial amount of cash, I can always sell my jewelry,” she says. Tuladhar wanted to buy a gold choker, similar to what Deepika Padukone apparently wore during one of her wedding functions.

Rosy Shakya, proprietor of Lidhansa Lun Jyasa in Pulchowk, Lalitpur, says people’s preference for jewelry has always been largely driven by trends and what their family and friends wear. There was a time when everyone had to have a diamond broach. Now, layered neckpieces are all the rage, and the bigger they are, the better. “Earlier, bridal wear could be made with two to three tolas of gold. Now people are opting for a minimum of five tolas for a single set. We have also been commissioned to use 10 tolas of gold. If people have money, there seems to be no limit on how much they are willing to spend on jewelry,” says Rosy.

Karna Shakya, owner of Taremam Jyasa, near Rosy’s jewelry store, says he sees a lot of competition among families over who is spending how much on gold and diamonds. It isn’t unusual for people to want to outdo one another and wear the bigger or better necklace or earrings. That, he feels, is one of the driving forces behind people’s growing interest in jewelry. Though business surges during Teej, Dashain, and the wedding season, there is always a steady trickle of customers throughout the year, he says. People also bring in small gold items like rings, studs, and chains that they have lying around at home to the shop to extract gold from it and make a single statement piece. The focus, jewelers in the valley agree, is on large, stylish pieces and rarely ever on old, traditional designs. Jewelers ApEx spoke to say people are more likely to come searching for an item they saw someone wear at a wedding or on TV or social media like TikTok. Personal preferences are cast aside in favor of trends.

Thirty-eight-year-old Samrakshya Karki loves wearing jewelry. A sizable chunk of her salary, she says, goes in buying diamond neckpieces, colored stone earrings or gold ornaments every Dashain or Tihar. At other times too, she makes little purchases—a diamond ring here, a gold chain and pendant there. She says she gets her love of ‘gahana’ from her mother, whose accessories always had to perfectly match her sarees. Rana remembers her parents buying new ones for weddings and other elaborate social functions and now she finds herself following in their footsteps. “The best thing is you get to wear these beautiful accessories and you aren’t wasting your money either,” she says. Karki, however, has a lot of friends who don’t wear jewelry. They choose to invest in land, shares, and bonds. “Just because they don’t buy and wear jewelry doesn’t mean they don’t have the financial means to do so,” she says. “But our culture has become so warped that if you aren’t wearing big baubles, you are automatically placed in the lower rungs of the society.”

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Unfortunately, many people don’t pay enough attention to proper styling of these baubles and that takes away from their charm, says Rosy. She often sees people wearing accessories that don’t go with their clothes. Wearing too much—a heavy necklace, dangly earrings, and fancy bangles—can make individual pieces lose their allure. Young people are also wearing a lot of gold and diamond accessories these days, perhaps cajoled into it by their parents, she adds, and that can be off-putting.

“Jewelry seems to have no age bar but that shouldn’t be the case. We have become so embroiled in an economically competitive culture that we are disregarding aesthetics and what’s proper,” she says. Rana adds that she has seen children with heavy gold bracelets, chains, and even pendants pinned to their shirts. It horrifies her, she says, to think that parents have extended their insecurities onto their children. “I believe the purpose of jewelry is to make the wearer look and feel good. It’s supposed to have a physical and emotional allure. But today it seems to be a way to flaunt your wealth and make the gap between the haves and the have-nots more vivid,” she says.