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Born: 1943, Yorkshire, England 

Death: 25 Jan 2023, Lalitpur, Nepal

Greta Rana, a celebrated poet, novelist and translator, died on Jan 25 at the age of 80. Born in Yorkshire, UK, Rana lived most of her life in Nepal with her late husband Madhukar Shamsher Rana, a prominent economist and former finance minister. Rana was a writer of the highest class, who produced several works of fiction, poetry and other literary works. ‘Les Misérables’ by Victor Hugo, ‘Wuthering Heights’ by Emily Brontë, and ‘Great Expectations’ by Charles Dickens were some of her all-time favorite books. Among the Nepali literary figures, she admired novelist Dhruba Chandra Gautam.

In 1991, Rana won the Arnsberger Internationale Kurzprosa for her short story ‘The Hill’, which was inspired by the Godavari marble quarry. She also translated ‘Seto Bagh’, a historical novel by Diamond Shumsher. ‘Hidden Women: The Ruling Women of the Rana Dynasty’, ‘Beneath the Jacaranda’, ‘Hunger is Home’, ‘Nothing Greener’, ‘Distant Hills’, ‘Guests in this Country’, ‘Hostage’, and ‘Ghost in the Bamboo’ are some of her notable works of poetry and fiction. Rana was also a founder member of PEN Nepal and a former chair of International PEN Women Writers’ Committee.

In 2005, she was awarded the Order of the British Empire by the British government for her contributions and achievements in the literary field. Besides literary career, Rana also contributed to children’s education in Nepal. She established Shakespeare Wallahs, a theater group, to raise funds for the education of children from the poor communities.

Rana was also passionate about conserving the mountain environment and the people living there. She was active in the development work of International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), where she worked until 2004. Sharing her vision for Nepal in this paper, she had said she wanted to develop towns in the mountains where all services are available, so that our youths don’t have to labor in foreign lands.

“The Himalayas of Nepal are full of micro-climates. We have a comparative advantage as we can grow anything here. We can grow fruits and vegetables when it is off-season for them elsewhere and then export them. This will give Nepal much-needed revenue.” Rana was also an advocate of an education system that incorporated job training. “We won’t get anywhere with the outdated curricula that simply don't contribute to our society,” she told this paper. 

Rana also dreamt of Nepal having enough electricity and running water for each home. She firmly believed that with proper governance, those things could be achieved within couple of decades, especially with mini and micro hydel potential in Nepal. Rana passed away while undergoing treatment for brain tumor at Nepal Mediciti Hospital in Lalitpur.

Fr. Casper J Miller SJ, an educator, Catholic missionary, and a part of Nepal Jesuit Society, has passed away. He was 90. Fondly known as Fr Cap by his students and well-wishers, he dedicated his life serving the ones in need. Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Fr Cap came to Nepal in 1958. He entered the Society of Jesus, also known as Jesuit, in the year 1951, and was officially ordained as a priest in 1964, India. He came to Nepal with a sole purpose of promoting education in rural as well as urban areas, and did so for 65 years. During his working days, he taught hundreds of students and was the oldest missionary to introduce Christianity to the Tamang community in Nepal. He also served as the principal of St. Xavier’s School, Jawalakhel, from 1967 to 1969, and St. Xavier’s School, Godawari, from 1969 to 1975. Fr Cap, who held a PhD in Anthropology, was also associated with Research Writer at Human Resource Development and Research Centre from 1976 to 1987.  He also authored ‘Faith-Healers in the Himalayas’, ‘Decision Making in Village Nepal’, and ‘To Yourself Be True’. “He was a kind-hearted man who loved trekking, cycling, and going on long walks,” Fr Amrit Rai, SJ said in his eulogy to Fr Cap. “He was very sociable and always left a positive impression on the hearts and minds of all who came in contact with him.” With growing age, Fr Cap’s responsibility dialed down a little in his 80s, when he became a student counselor for St. Xavier’s College, Maitighar, in 2018. He soon retired and stayed in Campion House, where he spent his free time as a community librarian and a writer. Although Fr Cap did not have any major illnesses, he was bedridden for over a month at St. Xavier’s Jesuit Community, Jawalakhel, Lalitpur, where he breathed last on 15 Jan 2023. Birth: 13 Dec 1933, Cleveland, Ohio, US Death: 15 Jan 2023, Jawalakhel, Lalitpur

When Gangadhar Hada joined Medha Secondary School, then Sabhik Kanya Secondary School, in 2005, the academic performance of students was dismal even by the standard of government schools. Students barely bothered to come to school, and the pass rate of 10th graders in the Secondary Education Examination (SEE) was extremely low. The entire school was in shambles. Soon the Education Ministry gave an ultimatum to the school management: either raise the student numbers and SEE pass rate, or downgrade to a lower secondary level. It was around this time when Hada took on the role of vice principal at the school and started making the much-needed reforms. He was soon appointed the principal and his mission to turn the school around only gained more momentum. Hada held meetings with parents to improve the students’ attendance rate. He also started offering extra classes for students doing poorly in their subjects, and introduced audio-visual teaching and learning. When Hada first joined the school, there were 80-odd students, and many of them had poor attendance records. His reforms not only improved the attendance rate, but also their performance. Here was a teacher who had single-handedly saved a school from the brink of failure. They say teaching is a noble profession, and Hada swore by this dictum. For him, teaching was a social service. It was all thanks to Hada, the SEE passing rate of Medha Secondary School rose up to 100 percent, which is rare for a government school. Fellow teachers and staff members say Hada’s vision and hard work transformed the school. In 2018, Medha Secondary School was named the top government school of Nepal. The government also awarded Hada with Prabal Jana Sewa Shree Award, one of the highest civilian honors, for his work in the education sector. A visionary teacher and a reformer, Hada died after suffering from cardiac arrest on 28 Dec 2022. He was on his way to school, the place he cherished the most. His colleagues say they have lost an inspiring figure without whom the school will never be the same. Hundreds of students, parents and teachers, even those from other schools, were among the people who paid their final respect to Hada. He is survived by his wife, and their two children. Birth: 23 Oct 1966, Bhaktapur Death: 28 Dec 2022, Bhaktapur  

Kishore Bahadur Singh, who served as a member-secretary of the Nepal Sports Council (NSC) from 2002 to 2006, has died. He was 73. According to family members, his cause of death was sudden cardiac arrest. Singh was one of the few people who came from a sporting background and reached the leadership position at the NSC. His life can be broadly divided into two parts—first as a professional athlete and second as an effective bureaucrat. Singh was appointed the 14th member-secretary of the national sports governing body after the restoration of democracy in 1990. Prior to that there was a practice of assigning the job based on his political affiliation. When Singh took on the job, he was someone who actually came from a sporting background, and a decorated one at that. Between 1972 and 1977, he was the reigning national badminton champion. He also represented Nepal at the 1970 Asian Games held in Thailand. Singh was part of the golden age of Nepali badminton. Singh was also exceptionally good outside the badminton court.  As a member-secretary of NSC, he made a reputation for being an effective leader. Sports journalist Himesh Ratna Bajracharya says as a member secretary of the sports council, Singh maintained a clean image. He ran his office in a transparent manner and took a series of measures to control corruption. Singh had made it a mission of his to make Nepali sporting field a corruption-free area. He also took many important steps to help the resource-strapped sporting sector of Nepal during his time at the sports council. “I am a player after all. I know how to handle pressure and challenge,” Singh used to tell his colleagues.   While he was serving as the member-secretary of NSC, Singh was also associated with Nepal Olympic Committee. But unlike his career in the sports council, his time at the committee was not so smooth. At one point his public image took a hit as a result of a bitter confrontation between the NSC and the committee. The conflict led to the uncertainty about Nepal’s participation in the 2004 South Asian Games held in Pakistan, says Bajracharya. Singh courted criticism from the sporting fraternity when he refused to accept the election results for the leadership of the committee. He would go on to feud with Rukma Shumsher Rana, former member-secretary of the NSC and the honorary president of the Olympic Committee, for a long time.