- Sunday, 24 August 2025
Aashish Mishra
Destroyed Phalcha, displaced god
An indistinct brick-and-cement platform across the street from Patan’s famous golden water spouts at Sundhara. An inconspicuous quadrangle at the bustling heart of the place named heart (Nugah) in the n
What Got Me Into Culture?
One of the first books I fully read that wasn’t part of my school curriculum or a fictional story that interested me was ‘Hamro Bagmati Sanskriti’ (Our Bagmati Culture) written by my great-uncle and noted author
Light Pollution
It is not an exaggeration to claim that modernity has brought with it environmental degradation. Our rivers are not as clean as they used to be, the air has become toxic and the land is polluted with our waste. But one form of pollution that evades our attention is the pollution of our night sky, the contamination of darkness by the unnecessarily large number of lights we have lit, the light pollution.
Holi revellers turn Kathmandu red
They say Spring is the king of seasons. If that is so, then Fagu or Holi is the crown that it wears. This festival, associated with King Bali, Lord Krishna, Prahlad and Holika and love and lust
Emigration of children leaves parents alone in old age
Ganga Devi Poudel, who turned 83 this week, has lived alone in her house at Dhunchepakha, Bhaktapur since her husband passed away three years ago. She wakes up alone, does all her chores alone, goes to bed alone and in her own words, “will soon die alone.”
Information On Heritage
The British historian Perceval Landon came to Kathmandu in the 1920s and was so taken by its charm that he wrote for the world: “The city has more temples than houses and more idols than people.”
Why can’t Kapalis have houses of their own?
Kapalis are an unfortunate clan within the Newa community. They were both sought for their mystical powers and shunned for their perceived ‘uncleanliness’. The rulers of yore brought them inside the core cities to ‘purify’ their kingdoms but, at the same time, prevented from keeping private homes.
Benefits Of Yoga
People in the cities of Nepal are increasingly gravitating towards Yoga for their exercise. Many separate an hour or two from their day to stretch their bodies and practise various postures that help them relax and exercise. It does not tire people out like conventional exercises and it also refreshes the mind and calms the soul.
Loss of Kathmandu’s inner-city open spaces impairs social life
Haku Maharjan remembers accompanying his father, as a child, to the space in front of the Kot Pati in Mangalbazaar, Lalitpur to sell vegetables. The brick-paved area became an open-air market on the weekends, the 67-year-old recalls. “Farmers came from all over the [Lalitpur] district to sell their produce here,” he said. The space has been turned into a vehicle parking lot.
Popularity Is Not Always Good
Gimmicks boost popularity. This is what everyone seems to think these days. That is why businesses to government establishments are tumbling head over heels to set something up that will make them unique, differentiate them from their competitors and attract customers.
Paucity of Purohit affects ritual observances
On January 23, 2018, Diwakar Sharma’s father passed away in his home at Tinkune, Kathmandu of old age. This Monday was the fifth anniversary of his passing and, as a Hindu, Sharma needed to perform a Shr
A Humble Presentation Of Self
important event that occurred during their lifetime. Again, without casting any doubt on the amazing lives lived and taking anything away from the fantastic accounts written about them, biographies tend to ‘Forrest Gump’ the people they
Ensure Aviation Safety
This week began in a way hopefully no other week ever will – with the worst domestic plane crash in Nepal’s aviation history. A Yeti Airlines ATR aircraft with the call sign 9N-ANC carrying 68 passengers and four crew members fell out of the sky on Sunday. This accident comes less than eight months after a Tara Air DHC-6 aircraft crashed in Mustang, killing all 22 people on board. Tara is a company owned by Yeti.
Rising prices of fast food leave consumers feeling sick
“Lunches seem to be getting more expensive by the day,” said Deepa Chitrakar, a teller at a bank in New Road.“Rs. 180 for a bowl of veg Momo, Rs. 230 for a plate of chow mein, over Rs. 300 for fried rice with a side of spinach,” she listed the price of various food items. “It’s outrageous.”
Winterwear
The freezing winter is here. So it is time for us to start keeping warm. Of course, the preferred way to do that would be to stay under a blanket all day and not leave our rooms. But, since most of us have jobs and daily chores, that is not possible. So, the next best thing is to wrap ourselves up in thick winter clothes.
