The End

This blog is officially closed.

Katmandu to Kathmandu, Part I

For many years now, the way Kathmandu is misspelt by most of the international press core has been of great annoyance to me. I do not understand why so many in the international press core stubbornly continue to assassinate the fourth letter in the name of my home city and spell it as Katmandu despite the prevalence in Nepal and South Asia of the spelling that includes the letter h.

Five years ago, I wrote a letter to The Economist complaining that their spelling of Kathmandu as Katmandu was absolutely incorrect. But I never heard from them. As of February 9, 2006, they were still spelling Kathmandu incorrectly. I don't know what changed on March 23, 2006. But from that day onwards, they started spelling Kathmandu correctly. Much kudos to whoever was successful in making an otherwise fine publication correct this misspelling. New York Times and Washington Post: now it is your turn to rectify your erroneous obstinacy.

May 1, 1963

Today is the 43rd anniversary of the first American summit to Everest. See the post below for more.

On the Road to Everest

Maps From the First American Summit to Everest in 1963
Also the First Summit of Everest via the West Ridge

Long Before Into the Thin Air

Casualties: 1
Hospitalizations: 2

Kathmandu to Namche Bazar
























Namche Bazar to Everest Base Camp

Old Nepali Book

It is hard to elucidate well what it is about old Nepali books like the one depicted on the left that is so endearing. Obviously it's in tatters. Most likely, the material in it is quite irrelevant now. But to part with it is practically impossible. To preserve it in an archival quality plastic container seems like the only sensible thing to do. The reason, most likely, is that these books are part of our roots, our identities, and we at least realize that in our subconscious minds even if we never explicitly think about it.

And that may be the bond between today's modernity and pieces of history like this. And it certainly is not only books like this that we hold on to...

Who Knew It Was the Army!

From the April 26, 2006 issue of The Economist:

IT WAS Nepal's army that finally called time on King Gyanendra's disastrous attempt at absolutism. Faced with the prospect of either mowing down unarmed demonstrators or seeing the palace stormed, the generals went to the opposition and asked them to form a government on the eve of a huge rally planned for April 25th that would have been in violation of a near-total curfew.

Although foreign diplomats and others were involved, it was almost certainly the army that brought the news to Nepal's deluded sovereign that the game was up.

Darkness in Nepal

Advice Given to A Gurkha Recruiting Officer

In the May 2006 issue of The Atlantic Monthly, Robert Kaplan quotes Colonel John Philip Cross recalling an advice from a medical officer when he joined the British Army:

Don't forget: a woman for children, a boy for pleasure, but for real ecstasy, a goat.

For many years now, Colonel Cross has been living in Pokhara. Mr. Kaplan went there to visit him and then wrote an article about the colonel's experience with the Gurkhas and some other tangential observations related to the current Maoist insurgency in Nepal. Why Mr. Kaplan chose to quote this particular recollection of the colonel in his article even though it is completely unrelated to Nepal or the Gurkhas was a puzzle to me at first, but the last third of that advice took my mind back to the foothills of middle Nepal. After all, I too spent part of my life--some would say formative years--in Pokhara. Even if this quote seems superfluous at first glance, its placement in the article might be quite intentional. At least one Nepali from the pahari region has uttered almost those exact words to me and jokes about goats were quite frequent among some of my rambunctious guy friends in middle school. Perhaps Colonel Cross has heard similar utterances in some parts of Nepal during his travels and chose to recollect in front of Mr. Kaplan this advice he received long before he set foot in Nepal as a recruiting officer for the Gurkhas and even connect it to Nepal in some way. One wonders.

If There Ever Was A Cartoon Worth A Hundred Thousand Words ...