The Annual Kathmandu Conference on Nepal and the Himalaya – Kathmandu, Nepal
Abstract: Natural disasters like flood, earthquake and landslides are common occurrences in Nepal. Along with the socio-economic costs, the bigger disasters have more often than not brought political consequences too. We choose the 1934 earthquake to argue that revisiting such a natural disaster through archival sources will not only provide a more nuanced understanding of …
1934 Earthquake Revisited: A View from the Archives Read More »
40 minutes long documentary is a first time portrait of architectural heritage, Buddhist sites and monuments in remote valleys of central Himalaya of Nepal, known as Tsum sbas-yul skid-mo-lung, sacred and hidden lands of happiness. The documentary follows a sudden arrvial of bulldozer (a heavy construction equipment) in the valley in September 2013 and construction …
MANI, The Hidden Valley of Happiness at a Crossroads (documentary, 40 mins) Read More »
Starting from a concrete episode of my fieldwork, in this paper I try to reflect on how consciousness of death may help us to shed light upon the ways in which people in the Sinja Valley of Jumla District (Western Nepal) include death in life in the attempt to make sense of existence, and in …
In post-1990 Nepal, it seems to be quite easy for an ethnographer to find the local sociocultural situation, within janajati societies among others, in which essentialistic praise of one’s own tradition and culture in the discursive level has coexisted with various attempts of sociocultural reform on the one hand, and easily observable sociocultural transformations on …
On ‘Thumcharu’: The Concept of ‘Tradition’ in Byans, Far Western Nepal Read More »
Abstract: Oral narrative or storytelling is an ancient cultural practice of making connections between past and present. This narratological (Homo Narrans) episteme of storytelling (somewhere poetic recitation or art painting) is elementary method of cultural connections, historical reproduction and understanding of transformation as well as diversity among the people of throughout generations. Maharae Gaune (Public …
This paper investigates what happens when an indigenous language is allowed into school for the first time. While Nepal’s constitution has guaranteed all communities the right to basic education in their mother tongues since 1990, implementation of this promise has been slow. I argue that language-in-education policies, rather than being technical solutions to solvable problems …
Suicide is one of the fastest-growing and least-understood causes of death, particularly in low and middle-income countries (WHO 2011). The institutions involved in the derivation of taxonomic categories used to define and report suicide deaths, importantly shape how the burden is understood, (un)validated, and responded to at varying levels of social authority (familial, community, national). …
Armed conflicts and other humanitarian crises impact mental health and psychosocial wellbeing. In contexts of overwhelming need and overstretched government health systems, nongovernmental organisations may play important roles. In this paper, we reflect on the role of Nepali nongovernmental organisations in providing mental health and psychosocial support services. In Nepal, nongovernmental organisations have provided a …
Kathmandu today exists in a conjuncture framed through multiple layers of overlapping moments: On the one hand, there is an evolving politico-economic landscape of municipal and local governance owing to projects of economic liberalization that might be termed ‘gentrification of state-spaces’ (Ghertner 2011); on the other hand, there is a changing aspirational landscape for the …
The scant academic work on Lesbian, Bisexual, Gay, Transgender and Intersex (LBGTI) community of Nepal concentrates on the LGBTI movement, their legal status after the recognition of LGBTI as the third gender by the Supreme Court of Nepal, and considerations to recognise gay marriage. This acknowledgement is considered historic for the community, ideally paving the …
‘Maybe it’s just a phase’: Parental Reaction to Non-heterosexuality Read More »