Welcome to Nepal, an enchanting country

I stepped into Kathmandu, Nepal in the middle of the biggest Hindu festival, Dashain, celebrating the victory of good over evil by the goddess Durga. We could still use her help. It is a big family holiday in the month of October, sort of like Thanksgiving and Christmas together over a period of a few weeks. Families get together for the celebration, many businesses close and families go to the Hindu temples and take pictures in their fancy attire. You can see the red paste, tika, that is put on their foreheads by their elders as a blessing. I saw an old woman without it. I guess she no longer has elders. Most people are Hindu, but some are Buddhist. At some of their temples they also include shrines from the other religion.

Even though I was boycotting the news on my trip, a couple of weeks before I came Nepal I heard some information about protests and riots. It was a revolution started by a supposedly leaderless Gen Z. It turns out over half of the population is Gen Z or younger. Classic case of haves and have nots. A huge percentage of young men must emigrate just to get a job to send home money to their family (like construction in Dubai). The government had placed a ban on some social media platforms and Gen Z rebelled. There were also upset about the “nepo kids”—the children of corrupt politicians who live lavish lifestyles while others suffer. There was a peaceful protest in front of the Parliament and the police began shooting. That led to violence across the city. More than 70 people died. The prime minister resigned and a Supreme Court justice—a trusted 70 year old woman—was named acting prime minister. Elections in March. At least that’s the story I am able to put together talking to people here. Who knows what’s next? Within a couple of days everything had calmed down and young people went on social media encouraging tourists to come. The economy relies heavily on tourism. At the guest house where I stayed almost all of their reservations had been canceled. I’m glad I came.

Like most Americans I knew little about Nepal. All of this information I have gleaned in my first 3 days here. We have a lot to learn.Read more