Random hits on the keyboard

There is a thought that keeps returning to me whenever I walk through the Kathmandu Valley. This city is not built only with bricks and roads, but with thoughts. It is a manifestation of the collective consciousness of the people who live in it. Kathmandu did not become Kathmandu by accident. It carries centuries of shared memory and many layers of collective consciousness. Every narrow alley, every temple tucked into a street corner, and every festival we take pride in are the results of what our ancestors believed in and the values they shared. Tradition and culture did not merely decorate this city; they gave it life. Then came the years of building a “modern” Nepal. The priorities shifted toward physical infrastructure. I vividly remember our first mayor promising to turn Kathmandu into Singapore. What a tragedy. In that moment, the collective consciousness of the city pushed aesthetics and identity to the back burner and focused instead on roads and high-rise buildings, often at t...

As the Cartoonist Rajesh KC puts it, "I have a noisome odour around Bagmati and Bishnumati rivers".  I have the same issue. I smell terrible when I am around the river. The shrine river turned sewerage is teasing us. The rivers are holy rivers, which are identities of Kathmandu civilization. The rivers, that witnessed the 'development' of the city. The rivers that lead to heaven - once we leave our physical bodies. Now, only black water flows in those rivers - this is perhaps my sins and all other Kathmandu dwells. The rivers try to wash. But, it is me, I still smell terrible around the rivers.  I looked at Bagmati and Bishnumati - I remember my childhood. We used to swim in the rivers. But now, this pride has no meaning. What's the point? Bagmati and Bishumati are still flowing. It is not to blame Bagmati, it never was Bishnupati, who smell.  The rivers were part of almost every religious and cultural function. The river banks are turned into roads. A proud momen...