Nepal begins her eco journey—let’s echo her message
I am writing from Hyderabad, where I’m representing Nepal at the 72nd Miss World. I carry with me the voices of rivers, mountains, and winds—beings who have always journeyed with us. As an indigenous youth, I long to see the strengths of our heritage honored, and the wisdom it holds remembered. Nepal, and many indigenous communities across the world, carry practices shaped not by dominance, but by deep coexistence. In a time when snow caps are melting and climate disasters escalate, maybe what we truly need is to slow down—not rush forward.
I think of my grandfather cracking open walnuts while my grandmother peeled oranges, telling stories passed down from their elders—stories of birds, plants, and insects that once thrived around them. They sowed their own clothes, grew their own food, and lived within cyclical, respectful relationships with land and life. Whether such a way of living is considered viable today may be debated. But the sense of connection to land, food, and time is something anyone can feel. Perhaps it’s this disconnection where our solutions begin to fail.
As a climate activist, I’m not here to save the planet—but to stay with it, with love and reverence. This world does not belong to humans alone. It belongs equally to the more-than-human. Perhaps it’s time we re-listen to the stories they’ve always been telling.
My journey to Miss World is not a pursuit of a crown, but an offering—to remind us of the depth within the word “world.” The only way we can echo this eco journey is through one another. Not just through votes, but in the quiet moments when you remember me and listen again to the songs sung by our rivers, mountains, and winds. What do they tell you? Could you tell me too?
