Nepal is making strides in the Human Development Index

From the Economist: "SINCE 1980 the country that has made the greatest strides in improving human development is Nepal, according to the UN’s annual Human Development Index (HDI). The index is a combination of three sub-indices covering wealth, health and education. The countries whose HDI has improved the most since 1980 are mainly in Asia. China and India have been helped by rapid GDP growth, but even slower-growing countries such as Nepal and Bangladesh have fostered human development by making progress in health and education. The countries where HDI has improved the least are mainly in Africa, with Zimbabwe at the bottom of the pile."

Tihar: The Festival of Lights

Tihar is the Hindu festival of lights where the goddess of wealth, Laxmi, is worshipped. Many houses and businesses are dressed up with the equivalent of Christmas lights. The countryside pulses with reds, blues, and greens at night. The last day of the festival is known as 'Bhai tika' when sisters give tika (colors on the forehead) to all of their brothers. Sisters travel to the homes of their brothers and put 7 small dots of color on each brother's head. Then a massive amount of food is exchanged for cash and everyone eats their share of sweets.

Preparing the colored powders for giving tika.

Dried flowers are also given to the brothers.

Giving tika.

Everybody gets involved.

After the brothers foreheads are painted the sisters also receive tika from the eldest brother.

An artist putting the finishing touches on a mandala on a crowded street in Thamel, Kathmandu.

The Mighty Bhote Kosi

A couple friends and I had a superb weekend away in Kodari in Northern Nepal. We were about 15 km from the Tibetan border in this gorgeous (or is it 'gorges') area. Running through the bottom of the gorge is the Mighty Bhote Kosi or the Rongshar Tsangpo River, which originates in Tibet.

The roaring river.

A friendly local who offered me the equivalent of a grapefruit (it was delicious).

Scattered all through the valley were seemingly endless intricately made stone stairs.

The tall mountains on the border with Tibet could just be seen to the North.

A worker taking down the rope swing gear (here's some more info) at the end of the day.

Prayer flags blowing in the afternoon breeze on the bridge spanning the river.

A man crosses the bridge after finishing a day of harvesting.

The Rice Harvest

Early November is rice harvesting time. From sunrise to sunset farmers and their family members, friends, coworkers, and rented hands are working away in the fields. In a matter of weeks the land has gone from wavy fields of green to flat expanses of dirt.

The rice stalks are cut and piled into hand-sized bundles.

The bundles are moved to the processing station.

The rented machine is jammed. This clever human-powered device quickly separates the rice seed from the stalk.

The machine is back in action.

The pile of rice stalks after having the rice removed. This circular piling method supposedly makes the remaining material dry faster than simply scattering it on the field.

Break time.

Having a good time of all the work.

WWE, Nepali Style

WWE style wrestling is immensely popular in Nepal. I get odd looks when I tell people I don't follow the body slamming moves of the Undertaker. Some people are also slightly confused and disappointed when they learn that WWE wrestling is not 'real.' WWE was quite real in Siddhipur last week. The Don Bosco School hosted a wrestling match.

The welcome poster.

The reigning champion.

It looked almost painful.

There were hundreds of people in attendance including many of my students.