READ 2B HAPPY

All photos by LB Thapa   Welcome to Pokhara—tons of garbage await your arrival! By LB Thapa Set aside the flowery adjectives once used to eulogize the pristine beauty of Pokhara. Today, the city presents a starkly altered face. The new Pokhara appears to offer little beyond mounting piles of garbage. Heaps of waste litter every nook and cranny, while the pervasive stench makes it difficult for residents to breathe freely or walk the streets without covering their faces. Adding to the distress, the city’s mayor has issued a directive requiring households to keep their garbage indoors, regardless of the odor it produces.  Now it is going to be two months that all people have kept garbage at their homes. At present the situation has turned much worse.  The stinky smell has begun coming out of the bags of garbage. It is confirmed that soon the city will experience the outbreak of all kinds of diseases.  Small kids and elderly people have already started showing early...

Chintan’s accomplishments make the Nepali Diaspora proud in England What you do and how you live abroad will create an image of the country and its people. In this regard, we can take the example of Indian people living abroad. Look around, and you will find many Indians holding up higher posts in the corporate sectors, teaching in colleges, and universities; and even some joined politics and made their marks. Many CEOs of excellent companies are Indians, and even Rishi Sunak, of British Indian origin, held the post of British Prime Minister. Kamala Harris, yet another Indian-origin American, fought the US presidential election.  The success story of the Indians is endless, and this achievement has painted a positive image of Indians abroad.   In this regard, now even Nepalese people living abroad are not behind. They are working hard to carve their niches in many sectors to make their presence felt, and they are very successful in their efforts as well.   Take the ex...

Popular Nepali TV actor and actress Dipak Raj Giri and Dipashree Niraula donated Rs.2 Lakh for the MRR Group. All photos by the MRR   THE MRR GROUP: WORKING FOR A CAUSE By LB Thapa Call them CRAZY boys, AMAZING boys or STUPID boys, no matter how you call them. They won’t mind, for sure. But one thing is pretty certain: you cannot ignore them. These boys, who crave no name, but believe in service and only service. Selfless and unassuming, their group works without hierarchy. In their group, everyone is equal, as there are no seniors or juniors. Guided by the spirit of benevolence, these boys, who call themselves Men’s Room Reloaded, want to keep their profile low-key. However, the body of work these boys have done can surprise any sane person of wit.   MRR activists with Nepali flags. Do you want to know more about the Men's Room Reloaded group and their unbelievable works? Here they are. Men’s Room Reloaded was the brainchild of four young boys in 2011. Gyan Malla Thakuri,...

  A good piece of news for Indian travelers in Nepal By LB Thapa In a recent development, it has now become possible for Indian travelers in Nepal to scan and pay directly from their mobile phones . This facility will definitely encourage Indian travelers to visit Nepal in greater numbers in the future. However, Nepalese travelers have to wait some more time to get the same facility in India.  Nepalese entrepreneurs related to the tourism sector look euphoric at the new developments initiated by the Nepal and Indian governments. This facility has enabled Indian travelers to shop in Nepal and pay the bills on their mobile phones.   Indian bike riders from left, Ajay Tiwari, Bhopal, Jasbinder Singh, Amritsar and Karan Sodhi, Dehradun, India. “This is absolutely a good move by the government. You will see that this very move will have a positive impact on the Nepalese tourism sector. Now it has become much easier for Indian travelers to make their payments in Nepal. They d...

  By DR. P RAVI SHANKAR Pokhara at the foot of the magnificent Annapurnas must surely rank as one of the most beautiful cities on Earth. My association with this beautiful city has been short but sweet! I first landed in Pokhara on February 8, 2000. Before coming, I surfed on the internet looking for more information about the place. The tourist guidebooks are fond of describing Pokhara as a ‘subtropical paradise’. Pokhara is a major tourist center and is the launching pad for treks to the Annapurna region. My good friend, Sanjay, a keen trekker and photographer had described Pokhara as a ‘paradise on earth’ may be partly inclined by the guidebooks and descriptions of fellow trekkers.   Many changes have occurred in Pokhara over the last eight years. Like changes elsewhere, they can be divided into the good, the bad, and the ugly. A noticeable improvement has been seen in surface transport. In 2000, we had the old Tata buses from India. Monsters belching smoke and carbon (in ...