The Minutiae
It is in the minutiae that we find the flow of history.
It is in the minutiae that we find the flow of history.
October 2024
I am not being hyperbolic when I say, Nepal is one of the most beautiful countries I have been to. Its description demands the use of cliches such as; magical, awe-inspiring, mystical, and vibrant. I wake to the sun rising over the Himalayas. Orange-clad monks and incense wafting out of ancient temples color my day. Even the mundane necessities of life feel more intense here, more meaningful.
While I appreciate all of the above, I have also become more aware of another reality playing out in Nepal, and how this reality contrasts with my experience. On a local and political level, Nepal is fraught with upheaval, struggle, and wavering hope. Like its physical counterpart, this landscape is compelling and full of lessons. The social fabric of Nepal is woven with the effects of regional and global power games, self and national narratives, and the beauty and danger of religion and its practitioners.
Living in Nepal allows for an incredible sense of freedom. Within reason and legalities, I can do what I want, get what I want, and live how I want. I indulge in trekking trips, yoga courses, healthy food, and meditation classes. My lifestyle lends itself to healing, self-reflection, and personal development.
While my experience of Nepal is standard for expats, backpackers, and tourists, it is not a typical experience for the average Nepali. Given the relative weakness of the Nepali economy, people coming from Western countries have tremendous spending power. Money is not everything, but there is a correlation between spending power and freedom. As of 2024, one US dollar is equal to 134.47 Nepali Rupee. Food in a basic restaurant costs between one and three dollars, and street food is less than a dollar. Accommodation is just as cheap; nice hostels are no more than three dollars a night and private rooms start at six dollars. These prices are not because everything is cheap, they are cheap because Nepal is poor.
Nepal is ranked as one of the poorest countries in the world, coming in at 165. It only costs a few hundred dollars to stay in decent accommodation, eat out, and travel. However, the monthly income for Nepali citizens is around 250 US dollars a month, depending on the source. Those are the lucky ones—20% of the population come in below the poverty line, living off less than 550 US dollars per year. The economic conditions that make Nepal an accessible destination for many also make a basic standard of living difficult for locals.
One of the results and causes of a struggling economy is a distinct lack of opportunity for young people. My neighbor Nisha, a 16-year-old girl who has lots of ideas, told me how the majority of her classmates hope to leave Nepal and find jobs abroad. They are not unique; the majority of young people in Nepal aspire to work abroad. Over 14% of the Nepali population are working in the Gulf states, Malaysia, or India. The money these workers send home has become important to the economy. Over 28% of Nepal’s GDP comes from remittance, making the country dependent on exporting its labor. For Nisha, this is a tragedy.
“I also want to suggest to teenagers like me that they stay here, in our own country, to build something. If we all did it, then nobody would have to go abroad to earn money and settle down there…If we start doing something here, if we make a group or a project, we can make lots of improvements.” –Nisha
Nisha was not the only person to talk to me about the need to work abroad. During my first month in Nepal, I traveled to the remote mountain village of Gandruk. While here I stayed in a guest house owned and operated by two generations of a local family. Sandesh, the son, took care of my stay. He organized my food, gave me trekking advice, and kept me company while I sat next to the fire in the evenings. Over a few days, Sandesh told me about his experience working in Bahrain.
“I was in the Bahrain Defence Force (BDF) a few years back. I served as a royal guard in different royal palaces in Bahrain. After serving 1.5 years as a soldier I started having anxiety, a sleeping disorder, and depression too. And with a heavy heart, I had to resign from my military career for my own health. And it was hard for me to shift my military career after coming back to Nepal.
During that period of my life, I didn’t feel like myself at all because I was so depressed, couldn’t sleep properly for like one and half years. And due to my job in Palace Security, we Nepali soldiers were not allowed to go outside our camp just like quarantine. So I felt like a prisoner. For the first time in my life, I had suicidal thoughts that time. But now I think of it as an unforgettable experience in my life which I want to share with those who are depressed and fighting with their anxieties that time heals everything. And I also want to state that we have to talk and spread awareness about mental health as much as our physical health.” –Sandesh
His family expressed disappointment and called him a failure for quitting the military. For them, he was passing up the opportunity of a lifetime. He will never make that kind of money in Nepal. Regardless of the money, Sandesh seems happy with his decision.
Now, he is running his family’s guest house with his new wife and their son. While he expressed contentment, he has not suppressed his ambition to pursue a better life. On multiple occasions, he talked about his desire to immigrate to countries like the US or Germany. He did so without any real hope that it would happen.
Nisha and Sandesh’s perceptions sit in striking contrast to my own. For me, Nepal is a place of rural beauty and mental healing. My life here is better than it would be if I were working an hourly job in the US. However, Nisha and Sandesh experience a lack of opportunities in Nepal. While Nisha has committed herself to staying, she is frustrated with the corruption, sexism, and poor education that directly affect her and her future. Although Sandesh appreciates his community and his country, he is still looking for an opportunity to move his family abroad. The best picture of the future is moving to the United States.
Some might be tempted to attribute this contrast to, ‘the grass is always greener on the other side.’ Others might argue that Sandesh and Nisha are unaware of ‘the decline of the West,’ or they are comparing their country to a fictional image. There are elements of truth in these arguments, however they miss the point. The grass is not equally green regardless of which side you stand on. To make this argument, we could compare standards of living, life expectancy, education, or several other things. For now, I will point out that with my United States passport, I can easily go to Nepal and stay there for six months, no questions asked. Neither Sandesh nor Nisha have the freedom to travel to the United States when they like, let alone live there.
As Nisha said, much of Nepal’s economic struggle is due to the government’s incompetence and corruption. However, it must be acknowledged that the Nepali government is in a difficult position. Nepal went through a decade of conflict followed by a devastating earthquake. On top of that, Nepal is sandwiched between China and India, both of whom treat Nepal like a playground in their fight for regional dominance.
Nepal has to perform a delicate balancing act, working with both, while not pissing either off. This dynamic is a complication, but not inherently limiting. Like a child of divorced parents, Nepal has the potential to play China and India against each other for its own benefit. To that end, Nepal joined China’s Belt and Roads Initiative (BRI) as a means of gaining some independence from India. It also accepted the US’s MMC grant, which reduced its need for Chinese money. While Nepal has managed to play the game well enough to maintain its autonomy, its political structures are unstable. India and China regularly interfere in domestic politics through cohesion, bribes, and propaganda.
Chinese and Indian criminal organizations also take advantage of Nepal’s geographical position and corruption. They use its extensive land borders to engage in transnational crime, such as human trafficking, drug smuggling, and terrorism. These mafia-like organizations fund and perpetuate corruption within the Nepali government, further weakening its institutions.
Another interesting product of geography and geopolitics is the Tibetan issue. There are thousands of Tibetan refugees in Nepal. Their existence has become an international issue, that China, India, and the United States are all invested in. I learned about this dynamic while visiting one of the refugee villages in Pokhara. If you want to read about the village and delve further into the American, Indian, and Chinese power dynamics playing out in Nepal, read Himalyan Games Of Power.
While Nepal’s economy is based on agriculture, tourism plays a crucial role. This encourages positive attitudes towards obvious tourists. By ‘obvious tourists’ I mean white people. A white person in Nepal is most likely a European or American tourist who speaks English and has plenty of spending money. As an obvious tourist, I find it easy to make connections. Lots of young people want to practice their English, and even more are curious about my country. I am often invited into people’s homes, engaged in conversation, or given tea. This generosity, compounded by low crime rates, has allowed me to relax. Even as a woman, I feel safe. Whether walking in the mountains alone or exploring bars in Kathmandu, I enjoy nature and people without fear or anxiety.
Though I am grateful for my sense of safety, I have come to understand that local women do not experience the same level of social or state protection. While Nepal’s constitution has guarantees of equal rights, it is still a deeply patriarchal country. To be truly Nepali by tradition and law, your father has to be Nepali. This was intended to protect national identity and keep Nepal distinct from India. The result was a codification of the traditional mentality that women are less valuable than men. Boys are prioritized and their sisters are often deprived of education and medical care. This law has also created a growing population of stateless people.
There was an amendment to this act, but it did little to rectify the situation for women. Under the new law, a mother can pass citizenship to her child if she declares the father “unidentified.” Which is kind of better. The need to declare this is still problematic given the social stigma for not knowing who the father of your child is. If the mother lies about her knowledge she could face prosecution. If the father is a foreigner, the child will not receive citizenship. Men do not face any of these issues.
The perception of women as inherently less-than has left women vulnerable. Nisha expressed her frustration with this situation, telling me she wanted to encourage women to fight for themselves. She wants women to know that their voices matter. Her sentiments are mirrored by Nepali activists who work to empower women through education and help them forge paths to independence.
There are two interesting distinctions between the way I think about women’s issues and the way Nisha and the activists talked about them. For Nisha and the activists, helping women was a ground-up issue, starting with women themselves. If women were educated, if they knew their worth, if they chose to speak up, they would change their society.
When I look around, a bottom-up approach makes sense. Women do everything. They do hard labor jobs as well as manage a house, and the family business, and raise children. Everywhere you go in Nepal, you see women working along the road, on mountain paths, in fields, restaurants, and shops. If you want to change society, look to women. My observations are supported by several analyses. Women are the “backbone of agriculture,” although their labor is often unpaid.
During one of my walks in the mountains, a group of women, taking a work break, invited me to join them in the shade along the road. They gave me some fruit and I tried to make conversation via Google Translate. When I asked them who they were; one woman looked at me as though I was stupid. With a sweeping gesture, she said, “We are workers.” Not mothers or wives, or Nepali, or even women. They are workers.
Nepal is one of the top spiritual tourist destinations in the world. Religion and its practice are evident throughout the country. Statues honoring various gods or the Buddha dominate public spaces. Small shrines and Tibetan prayer flags color streets, country roads, and remote trekking trails. In every direction, there are Monks collecting donations and offering prayers and legging-clad yoga practitioners sipping vegan lattes. Hand-drawn mandalas and Sanskrit words cover walls, rugs, and alleyways. The vibe screams enlightenment and demands that you “find yourself,” or at least talk about a moment of self-revelation.
Nepal is the birthplace of Siddhartha, the Buddha, and a spiritual mystique defines the atmosphere of the country. It is no surprise that tourists come for spiritual experiences: yoga courses, retreats, and monastery stays are all popular options. However, even in the land of the Buddha, spiritualism has a dark side.
The commodification of belief, the political weaponizing of religion, and sexual abuse are all prevalent in Nepal’s spiritual landscape. None of these issues are limited to any specific religion or spiritual practice. Abuse and manipulation go hand-in-hand with systems that require faith, sacrifice, and hierarchy. While they might not be on the same scale as the Catholic church, Buddhist monasteries, spiritual gurus, and Hindu leaders are no exception.
During my first month in Nepal, dramatic headlines covered local and international news. Buddha Boy, a famous spiritual leader in Nepal was being charged with allegations of sexual abuse. Several articles I read described the situation as “shaking” and “scandalous.” Possibly my local friends are more jaded than most of the society, but when I asked them about it they shrugged and said it was typical. If they are jaded they have a good reason, gurus being outed for abuse is like politicians being outed for corruption.
One eye-opening conversation I had on this topic happened over a coloring secession and iced coffee. The cafe was tucked away off the Main Street. I must have passed it a hundred times. Once I made it inside, I kicked myself for missing it. The room was cozy with tables covered with art supplies and a full library. While I rummaged through books the owner came over and introduced herself to me. A few moments later I was three colors deep into an outline of a mandala and fully engaged in the woman’s story.
Several decades ago, she moved from the UK and took up residency in a Buddhist monastery in Nepal. She told me about the drama of monastery life. Like any other field, sex is used to climb the hierarchy and breeds a toxic environment of jealousy and hostility. While her stories were interesting, they were not shocking. There are multiple accounts of monks engaging in sexual activities and stories of monasteries hit with outbreaks of sexually transmitted diseases.
Our conversation took a darker turn when she told me about her nephew, who went to live at a monastery and trained under a monk. Being smart and attractive, he became one of the favorites. Over time, preferential treatment turned into abuse. He tried to leave on his own but was unsuccessful. When she learned about the situation, the cafe owner and her partner drove to the monastery and demanded that he be released.
In this case, the child was able to express his distress and his aunt was able to intervene on his behalf. Not everyone is so lucky. Many families do not maintain close contact with their children in monasteries and others do not have the means to retrieve their child. Some Nepalis send their sons out of tradition, but more often it is so there is one less mouth to feed.
Despite the cafe owner’s stories, she described her stay at the monastery as an amazing experience and encouraged me to visit. I would like to convey her sentiment: just because people within a religion do terrible things does not make the religion terrible. There is a lot of beauty and healing to be found in Buddhism and many other spiritual or religious practices, just don’t drink the Kool-aid.
A conversation I had multiple times was about how Nepal’s religions affected citizen’s political aspirations. In its extreme forms religiosity can leave people politically apathetic or nationalistic. Most religions emphasize the internal and the afterlife. This focus allows for and sometimes promotes, an acceptance of suffering and indifference to the world. “Life is suffering,” as Buddha said. We cannot make the world a better place, we can only change ourselves. Besides, this life is only temporary.
Without a doubt, life is short and full of suffering. However, when the majority of the populus embraces this mentality it results in an unchecked government and the stagnation of the status quo. We have seen this throughout history; Tsarist Russia, European feudalism, Dynastic China, and American slavery. Yes, suffering is unavoidable, but that does not mean it cannot be mitigated.
While I met several people who expressed religious-induced political apathy in Nepal, the more pressing issue is religious-based nationalism. For most of its history, Nepal maintained relative peace between its religious groups. This trend held till the last decade when there has been a rise of Hindu nationalism that has resulted in tensions between Hindus and the Christian and Muslim communities. Tensions escalated to the point of physical confrontations, violence, and death.
The Hindu nationalism, also known as Hindutva, found in Nepal is not entirely locally grown, but a copy of the nationalism found in India. Modi (the prime minister of India) has made the spread of Hindu nationalism a key part of his domestic and international policies. Nationalistic fervor is an easy fire to stoke if you want to inspire political action.
India has done just that in Nepal, using propaganda to encourage protests and rally support for political parties that align with Modi (allegedly). Hindutva propaganda takes the form of anti-Muslim and Christian rhetoric accompanied by a fun mix of conspiracy theories. These messages are touted by online influencers and politicians. The Nepali government is struggling to balance a desire to move forward as a secular state with the growing push to move back to a Hindu monarchy. The image of the communist ex-prime minister Oli attending the Hindu ritual of “aarti,” encapsulates this political tightrope.
My only brushes with Hindu Nationalism were the two or three times people warned me to not take Muslim taxis. Saying the drivers would rip me off or straight-up rob me. I ignored this tip as I have been ripped off by all sorts of people and I use InDrive (a transportation app) anyway.
Nepal’s allure is undeniable, with its breathtaking landscapes, rich spiritual heritage, and warm-hearted people. For many visitors, it’s a place of refuge, adventure, and healing. Yet beneath the surface lies a complex interplay of economic hardship, social inequality, and political tension shaped by both local and global forces. For the average Nepali, daily life presents challenges foreign to most tourists.
Traveling to Nepal, then, becomes an exercise in empathy and awareness. As visitors, we are temporary participants in a society that sustains itself amid a turbulent landscape. By recognizing this reality, we open the door for responsible and meaningful travel. With this perspective, we can appreciate Nepal not only as a place of personal growth and recreation, but also as a country with a complex social fabric and its share of good, bad, and interesting features.
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“Bhutan Makes Condoms Available to Monks to Stop Spread of STDs.” HuffPost, 29 Mar. 2013, https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bhutas-makes-condoms-available-to-monks-to-stop-spread-of-stds_n_2976401.
“Approximately 3.5 Million Nepalese (14 Percent of the Population) Migrate for Work in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and India.” MIDEQ, https://www.mideq.org/en/inequalities/inequalities-resources/nepal-brief/#:~:text=Approximately%203.5%20million%20Nepalese%20(14,(GCC)%2C%20and%20India.
Krishnamurthy, Rajeswari Pillai. “What’s Driving Hindu Nationalism in Nepal?” The Diplomat, 19 Sept. 2023, https://thediplomat.com/2023/09/whats-driving-hindu-nationalism-in-nepal/.
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Shrestha, Arun. “Nepal Spiritual Leader ‘Buddha Boy’ Jailed for Sexual Assault.” AP News, 21 Oct. 2023, https://apnews.com/article/nepal-spiritual-leader-buddha-boy-jailed-sexual-assault-77736e9c3a29f0e3f8862b9531e3a47f.