On Sept. 8 2025, Generation Zers of Nepal poured out into the streets protesting against corruption among other things. The protests resulted in toppling the Government of Nepal in less than forty-eight hours. Here's a very detailed and comprehensive AI-generated report on the subject.
Having grown up in Nepal, I know why Nepalis take pride in all the things they do and celebrate all the different things they do. But, returning to Nepal after almost twenty-five years abroad, most of my adult life, I discovered how much all of those things were holding the society and country back and how urgently Nepalis need to rise above them all.
This is a letter to my fellow Nepalis about all the many things we as a people must rise above now and why.
Nepali society is highly dysfunctional, hollow, and deeply flawed. There are many reasons behind that.
One is that Nepalis struggle greatly to empathize with fellow Nepalis even while they take pride in being born in the same country as the historical Buddha.
Another is that accountability for one's words and actions are virtually nonexistent. The reason? The level of education of the population is low, and even that education is of poor quality, the products of which are people unable to think and reason logically.
The caste system has corrupted the minds of a vast majority of Nepalis, if not all. This is yet another example of how it has corrupted the minds of the Hill so-called High Caste Hindus.
Blinded as they are by structural privilege and their sense of entitlement their social group has enjoyed for generations, they demonstrate subtle internalized casteism stemming from their unconscious belief in superiority and greater knowledgeability.
The pattern in Nepal's population distribution by single year age, whether one from 1961 or 2011, is peculiar! They have spikes and there's a pattern to them--two too! So the question is why?
Of course, such patterned spikes in age distribution data do NOT generally exist because there's NO reason to!
Nepali education system is so screwed up, schooling does NOT prepare you adequately for externally assessed terminal examinations. Furthermore, each stage of schooling does NOT prepare you for the stage that follow either. Instead, it requires that you get outside help to prepare yourself and continue your academic career!
What's the point of such an education system?!
Two of the many questions I had when contemplating returning to Nepal: "Will Nepal have me?" and "Am I even for Nepal?"
Having lived in as many countries outside as I had, I felt I could be accepted by any place and people. But will I be accepted in Nepal and by the Nepalis?
Dassain, a Hindu festival, is recognized and celebrated by many in Nepal as the biggest and most important national festival. As per the historian Bhagiraj Ingnam the festival has a dark history -- a history of past regimes wielding it as a tool to subjugate and control the indigenous population. As such, to many the festival is actually a symbol of oppression and suppression.
One of the many legacies of the long casteist history of the country is the major structural issues Nepal continues to face. Evidences abound! But I keep coming across hill so-called High caste Hindus who can't see or refuse to see the evidences for what they are.
This is about one such man, a professor at a medical college no less!
Religion does not have a monopoly over morality or ethics. In other words, you don't have to be religious or even be associated with a religion to be a moral or ethical person.
Many societies exist in the world which are considerably less religious than Nepal but, as far as I am concerned, are considerably more moral and ethical.