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As we celebrate the Rato Machhindranath Jatra, the biggest and longest festival of Patan, it is worth pausing to recognize that this festival is not merely celebration and fanfare, but carries a much deeper meaning, carefully embedded by our ancestors.

The story behind the Jatra goes that saint Gorakhnath once came to the valley seeking alms during planting season. The residents, busy with their work, paid him no attention. Enraged, he meditated and trapped all the nagas of the valley. Since nagas were closely associated with rainfall, the Kathmandu Valley saw no rain for several seasons, leading to famine. To remedy this, the king and a renowned tantric devised a plan to bring Gorakhnath’s own guru, knowing the saint would rise to pay respect, releasing the nagas in the process. 

The king, tantric, and a porter traveled to bring Karunamaya, also known as Lokeshwor or Machhindranath. The all-merciful guru, moved by the suffering of the valley’s people, agreed. His essence was transferred into an idol and carried in a chariot procession. Upon seeing his guru, Gorakhnath immediately rose and released the nagas, bringing rain back to the valley. This is why Rato Machhindranath is revered as the god of rain and provider of food.

Woven into this story is one of the most powerful demonstrations of the valley's culture-based water management, or the Hiti system. Though commonly referred to as dhunge-dhara in Nepali, the stone spouts are only one part of a larger network. The Hiti system encompassed state canals (rajkulo), ponds (pokhari), natural aquifers, pipes, and stone spouts, working together to ensure year-round water access, enable groundwater recharge, and reduce urban flooding.

The Jatra itself is deeply tied to this system. Before the chariot procession begins, all major ponds in and around Patan must be filled with water. Since the procession takes place during the dry months, the only way to fill them is through the state canals—meaning their maintenance must be completed every year before the Jatra begins. The procession route, too, reflects this connection. It begins at the strategically located Kamalpokhari of Pulchowk and rests at Purnachandi Pukhu of Gabahal, then at Nuga-Hiti (Sundhara), Langa-Pukhu (Lagankhel), and finally ends near Jawlakhel Hiti and Pukhu.

Each resting point carries ritual significance. At Nuga-Hiti, water from the spout is used in the daily ritual of Lord Machhindranath, as it is at Tangah Hiti, Lagan Hiti, and Jawalakhyo Hiti. In effect, the Jatra cannot proceed unless all Hiti infrastructure is sound and functioning. By embedding water stewardship within religious practice, the festival transforms maintenance from a mundane task into a sacred act of devotion, generating genuine community ownership.

The wisdom embedded in the Jatra goes even further. Beyond annual upkeep, larger maintenance works are needed periodically, and this too is woven into the tradition: every twelve years, major water works are carried out, mirrored by the renewal of the chariot itself, which is built anew and pulled all the way from Bungamati to Lalitpur.

The Jatra also served as a vehicle for intergenerational knowledge transfer. Young people learned where water came from and why it mattered through participation, not textbooks.

Modern urban development in Kathmandu has largely abandoned this integrated approach. Ponds have been filled for construction, underground canals severed by roads, and recharge zones overlooked in land-use planning. Water is now treated as a commodity delivered through pipes, rather than a system sustained by nature and culture together. The consequences are visible: falling groundwater levels and growing dependence on distant, expensive sources.

Learning from our ancestors, Kathmandu must move toward a more sustainable water future. Traditional systems should be recognized not only as heritage monuments but as active components of urban water strategy. Protecting ponds, mapping underground canals, promoting groundwater recharge, and safeguarding aquifers must become integral to development and land-use planning. Equally important, the cultural practices tied to water must be preserved alongside physical restoration—they are the social fabric that ensures long-term care. Recognizing that earlier societies managed scarcity through balance rather than extraction can help reshape the development mindset of today.

As we celebrate the Rato Machhindranath Jatra this year, let us also pause and reflect on the profound wisdom of those who came before us.

Human thinking is largely constricted today, with many people thoughtlessly running behind money, market, merit, masculinity and muscle, along with a deep-rooted sense of ‘me’, ‘my’ and ‘mine’.

For most of them, the most important thing, perhaps, is to ‘earn’ popularity, rather than to ‘learn’ the reality—the reality of the self and innate nature. Learning of ‘thoughtfulness’ and ‘cognizance’ have been an elective list in many. Human thinking, thus far, is not instinct-rich regarding the “purpose of a profound life” and the corresponding “purity of intention”. Thankfully, a few are precisely thinking about materializing inner energy, stillness, introspection, intellect, insight, thought and forethought. 

Every insightful notion, discovery, novelty, and great mission is stirred by profound thoughts. These sentient thoughts are the instinctive thoughts, which help foster greatness, ecstasy, silence, opulence and vastness, leading to a profound visceral connection. One thought—a conscious thought—cannot only re-attune your life but also rectify society, nation, the universe, and humankind. Your thoughts and mind substantially resemble who you are. Yet, you are not your thought. Neither are you in your mind. You may be your conscious thought. In essence, you are your consciousness, preaching some philosophies. Nevertheless, your thoughts will determine who you are going to be. How you think, how you act, and how you behave in the present are the major traits that cannot only recalibrate your life, but also define your ‘future you’. 

“What you think you become”, said Buddha in his teachings. Our becoming is largely directed or shaped by our thought, while “right understanding” comes first. Buddha’s Noble Eightfold Path begins from right understanding and right thought as: “From right understanding proceeds right thought; from right thought proceeds right speech; from right speech proceeds right action; from right action proceeds right livelihood; from right livelihood proceeds right effort; from right effort proceeds right awareness; from right awareness proceeds right concentration; from right concentration proceeds right wisdom; from right wisdom proceeds right liberation.” Subsequently, the precise understanding and conscious thought could lead to emancipation. 

We have been mastering our thoughts since we entered modern civilization. Every thinker and philosopher, since ancient times, believes that, “The human mind is an instrument that solves problems”, while many of them assert, “Quality of thought determines the quality of life”, writes D. Foroux in “Think Straight: Change Your Thought, Change Your Life”. When you observe life through a mathematical lens, your thoughts, actions and behaviors are the inputs to the function of your life. Even if the inputs are subjective, the output would be deterministic (as like computation in a machine). Sensibly, when positive thoughts, actions and behaviors are repeated in life, you are likely to get analogous output in every computation of your life processes, writes M. Tegmark in “Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence”. Conversely, when the negative thoughts are encoded as input to the mind, the outcome would go adverse or contradictory. The mind, however, loves to be in a visceral state of calmness and consciousness, but your diverse thoughts circumnavigate it into the waves of upheaval. 

Every objective phenomenon of your physical life (called the body) is controlled by an unseen subjective entity (called the mind). Your thoughts navigate the mind, while the mind controls the thoughts. The mind is again controlled by another mind—called “consciousness”, while the conscious mind is again believed to be navigated by “super-consciousness”. Whereas emotions are linked with the body and brain as well.  “Since there is intrinsic mind-body connection, your thoughts, feelings, beliefs, attitudes, and emotions can largely affect the overall bodily biological functioning—both positively and negatively” (Jimenez). The health of the physical body significantly influences the health of our mental state and vice-versa. Positive thoughts, feelings, beliefs and attitude in mind call for good health in the body; and the good health of body recalls positive thoughts, feelings, beliefs and attitude in the mind. This process goes on incessantly recursively as you feed on positive thoughts into your mind, while good thinking begets better thinking.

After all, thoughts control most of the mechanisms in your body such as raising or lowering the heart rate; improving or interfering the digestion; changing the chemical composition of blood; making you happy or sad, alert and aware, or distracted and depressed; making you positive and negative, well or ill, hero or coward, victim or victor, successful or failure, respected or ignored among others, writes B. Tracy in “Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life: How to Unlock Your Full Potential for Success and Achievements”. The actions governed by your thoughts determine your life. Prominently, the thoughts are entirely under your control.

Aristoteles, Aristocles and Siddhartha Gautam were not transformed into Aristotle, Plato and Buddha by fluke. They did not easily gain their introspection just by waking up the next morning; while their consciousness, self-examination, and their ability to think their ‘own thoughts’ were the result of owing their inner voices, writes M. Sigman in “The Secret of Life of the Mind: How our Brain Thinks, Feels and Decides”. People, perhaps, had less or no idea regarding thought, perception, reasoning and consciousness before Aristotle, Plato and Buddha. Their ideas, knowledge and thoughts have been transmitted across an infinite span of space and time, and across our minds, argues Sigman. Later on, Einstein revolutionized our thought and understanding of the universe, space and time; Karl Marx added dynamism in understanding the society and economy; while Mahatma Gandhi introduced a sense in understanding peace and humanity. Subsequently, we all have Aristotle, Plato, Buddha, Einstein, Marx and Gandhi within us today, and we can claim “there I am”. There are several others whose thoughts have significantly contributed in transforming the people, society, nation and the world in our generations too. This is certainly because of their astonishing contribution to human civilization. 

The structural aspects of human thoughts have been gradually transformed due to their input, which has subsequently shaped human civilization today. With time, people have started recognizing their own strengths, inner voice, intellect, potentials and innermost intelligence. 

Yet people had no idea regarding the “working mechanisms of human thinking” nearly a century ago until the two psychologists—Sigmund Freud and Jean Piaget—developed a theory of human development (psychoanalytic theory and cognitive-developmental theory), writes M. Minsky in “The Society of Mind”. Then mathematicians—Kurt Godel and Alan Turing—propounded mechanical theory on computability of machines in the 1930s where they began to study an “abstract machine” that had all the capabilities of today’s computer. By combining these two theories, Warren McCulloch and Walter Pitts started theorizing on machine thinking and learning in the 1940s. 

The Boolean algebra enabled the modern researchers in bringing cognitive and information revolution to the present stage. The grammars or rules associated with logics and ideas are largely rooted in the Boolean algebra. The grammars in today’s highly algorithmic language, which are suitable for computational applications, are considered from the language of Sanskrit grammar formalized by Panini. This grammar is widely applicable for AI due to its ‘highly structured’, ‘logical’ and ‘unambiguous nature’, essentially to operate as a “programming language” for human thought. 

George Boole envisioned to analyze all the cognitions of today’s computer even before the invention of today’s computing devices, while the insights from Boole, Turing and Neumann to the modern understanding of information, thinking and intelligence itself is an amazing combination of Mathematics, Physics, Information Theory and Psychology, writes R J King in the article “Thinking about Thinking”. John von Neumann gifted the concept of mathematics along with Quantum Theory, Automata Theory (Mathematical model of computation in today’s computer), Economics, Defense Planning and Game Theory, which conceptually help invent digital computer (Neumann, Turing and Claude Shannon together materialized the idea of digital computer). 

Meanwhile Alan Turing proposed a mathematical machine called the ‘Turing Machine’ to model brain function, which turned out significantly useful in studying the ‘computability’ and ‘complexity’ of machines (Rosen, 2001). Turing Machines then could address the two important issues of today’s computer—“what can a computer do at all” and “what can a computer do efficiently”—known as ‘computability’ and ‘complexity’ of a computer respectively (Hopcropt, Motwani, Ullman, 2003). The research on machine intelligence started only in the 1950s, while John McCarthy coined the term ‘Artificial Intelligence’ at a Dartmouth Computer Conference in 1956 (Russell & Norvig, 2010). Since then the unprecedented pace of technological change has brought dramatic transformation in human thought, life and civilization.

Though humans have developed highly intelligent machines, their own sense of intelligence is, perhaps, in a critical juncture, today: will humans be able to shape the future of their mind (rationality and critical thinking) and ensure collective wellbeing? 

The second part of this article will appear next week

There are few institutions we trust as instinctively as schools. For most children, school is where life unfolds in a structured way. It is where they learn, grow, make friends and slowly begin to understand the world. It is also where parents place a deep and tacit trust: that their children are not only being educated, but cared for and kept safe.

That trust has to be earned. Because while schools are often safe spaces, they are not automatically safe systems. And when it comes to child protection, that difference matters enormously.

Schools hold a position unlike almost any other institution. They are one of the few environments where children spend consistent, structured time with adults outside their families, which means they carry a possibility that is easy to underestimate, becoming the first real point of awareness, safety and support in a child's life. For many children, a teacher is the first adult they learn to trust beyond home. And a classroom can be where they begin to understand their rights, recognize boundaries or find the language to express discomfort.

That potential, however, only becomes real when systems manifest it.

The numbers around child safety in Nepal make this urgent. According to UNICEF, violent discipline affects 82 percent of children between the ages of one and fourteen, with almost every child experiencing some form of it within their own home. A nationally representative study drawing on data from over 13,000 households found that one in every two children in Nepal is subject to corporal punishment. Furthermore, a cross-sectional study across 20 randomly selected schools in Kathmandu found that nearly 89 percent of students had experienced at least one form of abuse in their lifetime.These are not fringe cases. They represent the reality of childhood for many in Nepal.

Yet what stands out even more than the scale is how rarely it surfaces. The United States Department of State’s 2023 Human Rights Report on Nepal noted that while violence against children, including sexual abuse, was reportedly widespread, no reliable estimates of incidence existed, in part because reporting remains deeply inconsistent. Some cases surface. But many more do not.

I have seen this silence take a particular shape: a child speaks up, a school prepares to act, and then a family member intervenes and the case disappears. There is no report, no follow-up and no protection for the child. In a survey conducted in Nepal among 370 healthcare providers, although 87 percent showed positive attitudes toward child protection, only 13.5 percent were found to have ever reported any suspected incident of abuse. If trained individuals who are professionally involved in dealing with vulnerable children are reluctant to report, it is not difficult to understand how cases within schools and families quietly vanish.

The problem, however, is not always indifference. It is the absence of a system that makes reporting the default, rather than a choice that can be overridden by fear, loyalty or social pressure.

Child safety cannot depend on individual judgment alone. When something concerning happens, the response cannot rest on personal discretion or informal decisions about what feels serious enough to act on. There has to be a clear expectation that concerns are reported without hesitation and without negotiation. When reporting becomes standard practice across teachers, school leaders, caregivers and all staff working closely with children, it removes ambiguity and the burden of isolated decision-making. Most importantly, it keeps the focus to where it belongs: on the child.

Additionally, child protection systems need clear, fast and accessible pathways for response. When processes are slow or unclear, harm is prolonged. According to UNICEF, although responses in Nepal are present, they are often ad hoc, short-term and far from being adequate for proper case management.

There is also the question of who is allowed to work with children in the first place. Working with children demands both trust and verification, and this applies not only to teachers, but to school staff, transport personnel, coaches, and professionals in healthcare and other sectors where children are regularly under adult care. Periodic criminal record checks and child protection clearances are one part of this.

Another critical step is mandatory certification on child safety laws, protection procedures and reporting responsibilities so that every adult in a child-facing role knows not just that safety matters, but exactly what to do when it is threatened. When violations occur, consequences must be clear and consistent, including the revocation of the right to work with minors. These measures are not extreme. They are the minimum requirement for ensuring systems that serve children.

None of this works unless children and families are a part of it. Children need to understand, in age-appropriate ways, what safe and unsafe behaviour looks like, what their rights are, and that speaking up will not make things worse. Families, too, need to be part of this awareness, so that when a child speaks up, the response is one of support rather than silence or an attempt to contain it.

Teachers sit at the centre of all of this. Not because they carry sole responsibility, but simply because the teacher interacts with the child on a regular basis. A teacher who listens without dismissal, who notices without ignoring, can change everything by giving the child that support they need. In most cases, it is not a system a child turns to first. It is a person who makes them feel safe and understood.

Nepal’s Constitution states that no child shall be subjected to physical, mental, or any other form of torture at home, school, or any other place. These words are unambiguous. But words do not protect children: people and systems do. And right now, too many children in Nepal are navigating harm in silence, in spaces that should be among the safest they know. That can change.

It changes when schools are reimagined not only as places of learning, but as spaces of protection. It changes when reporting becomes reflex rather than choice, and when every adult working with children understands that their responsibility does not end at the classroom door. Then, safety will not be something children have to hope for. It becomes something they can rely on.

On April 27, Finance Minister Swarnim presented the ‘Current Economic Status Paper’, a seminal diagnostic and visionary blueprint for Nepal’s economic structural rebirth. Transcending standard administrative reporting, this 24-page status paper serves as “white paper”, merging empirical precision with strategic foresight, reflecting a profound commitment to institutional integrity and fiscal transparency. Its analytical rigor rivals that of premier international institutions like the United Nations, multilateral financial institutions and bilateral development partners. 

By anchoring policy in exhaustive data, the document demonstrates exceptional intellectual leadership. This professional critique objectively examines the paper’s roadmap, aiming to bridge the divide between high-level policy rhetoric and Nepal’s material developmental realities.

Nepal’s place in the world

The paper highlights that Nepal is increasingly affected by global undesirable events. For example, conflicts in West Asia threaten the money sent home by migrant workers, which is a huge part of Nepal’s income. Additionally, being placed on an international ‘Gray List’ for financial weaknesses has hurt the country’s reputation. As Nepal prepares to graduate from the grouping of ‘Least Developed Countries’ in late 2026, it must urgently reduce corruption and improve its international standing to attract the investment needed for long-term growth.

Premature de-industrialization 

The paper also outlines that Nepal’s growth trajectory has been low and erratic, averaging below regional peers. The economy has shifted toward services without undergoing genuine industrialization, a case of premature de-industrialization. 

Agriculture remains dominant, while productive industries are weak. Hydropower, forests, and mineral resources remain underutilized, despite their potential to anchor transformation. Tourism, though rich in potential, has not yet become a year-round industry. Destination sites such as Lumbini and Kanchenjunga remain underdeveloped, and the tourism sector has failed to deliver significant economic returns.

Savings and investment dynamics

Gross domestic savings remain critically low, widening the savings-investment gap and limiting capital formation. This structural weakness undermines Nepal’s ability to finance development domestically. Revenue mobilization has slowed, consistently underperforming against targets. 

Nearly 45 percent of revenue depends on imports and consumption, leaving the fiscal base vulnerable. The informal economy remains large, with only about half of transactions flowing through formal accounts. The paper calls for broadening the revenue base, expanding formal participation, and reducing reliance on import taxes. The paper critically assesses the saving and investment dynamics; provide a road map to improvements in future by fiscal measure.

Budgetary integrity and public debt

For the first time, the paper critically observes that Nepal’s budget size is detached from fiscal capacity and feasibility. Poor allocation, inadequate expenditure, and low-quality capital spending have hampered economic growth. Recurrent expenditure consumes nearly two-thirds of total spending, crowding out productive investment. The widening budget deficit has increased reliance on public debt, while pending liabilities remain high. Weak fiscal discipline has fueled irregularities. These structural weaknesses demand urgent reform to align budgeting with development priorities, particularly employment creation and industrial expansion. Public debt has risen to 43.8 percent of GDP, with debt servicing consuming a growing share of federal expenditure and revenue. 

In FY 2024-25, debt payments absorbed 24 percent of expenditure and 35 percent of revenue. This crowding out of capital investment threatens long-term growth. Without disciplined fiscal management, Nepal risks falling into a debt trap, especially as growth remains insufficient to outpace liabilities.

Fiscal federalism and foreign aid

Nepal’s federal structure reveals deep imbalances. Federal polity accounts for one-third of expenditure but contributes less than eight percent of revenue. Their dependence on federal transfers undermines fiscal autonomy. Weak spending capacity, limited technical expertise, and poor project implementation further constrain local development. Unless federal polity is empowered through capacity building and revenue devolution, the promise of federalism will remain unfulfilled. 

Foreign aid has declined as a share of the budget, falling from 21.5 percent to 14.6 percent over the past decade. Loans now dominate assistance, rising to over 80 percent, while grants have shrunk. Aid mobilization remains weak, achieving less than half of targets. Implementation of foreign-assisted projects is sluggish, with many failing to deliver meaningful returns. This reality underscores the need to reframe aid utilization toward genuinely productive purposes. Despite decades of aid, nearly half a million Nepalis continue to leave annually for foreign employment, raising questions about aid effectiveness.

Institutional integrity, financial stability and trade regime

The Status Paper candidly assesses Nepal’s fragile economic architecture, emphasizing an urgent need for modernization. Public enterprises currently drain resources through chronic underproductivity, making reform to international accountability standards a fiscal necessity. Monetary stability remains deceptive; while a domestic slowdown anchors prices, the rupee’s depreciation against the dollar reveals deep-rooted external weaknesses that only a robust export economy can fix. 

Furthermore, the financial sector struggles with sluggish credit expansion and rising non-performing loans despite high liquidity. Systemic risks from unregulated cooperatives and a burgeoning capital market necessitate specialized oversight to ensure long-term market integrity and investor protection. 

Nepal’s trade regime is structurally imbalanced. Exports remain narrow, dominated by re-exported edible oil, which adds little value or employment. Imports are skewed toward consumer goods rather than productive machinery. Remittances sustain external stability, but foreign direct investment remains weak. Infrastructure, education, health, and climate change challenges persist, alongside poverty, unemployment, and inequality.

Opportunities for economic transformation

The ‘Current Economic Status Paper’ of 2026 serves as a rigorous, data-driven diagnostic of Nepal’s macroeconomic landscape, offering a candid analysis of past fiscal failures rooted in poor implementation and fragmented prioritization. By blending empirical precision with a pragmatic roadmap, the paper seeks to bridge the gap between political rhetoric and material reality through disciplined resource mobilization and institutional accountability. This landmark paper in economic transparency provides the essential foundation for the upcoming budget of FY 2026-27, identifying critical sectors such as energy derivative economy, high-value tourism, farm-forestry value chain, climate economy, and digital technology as catalysts for economic development and growth. 

However, the paper cautions against viewing these opportunities as mere checklists; true transformation requires measurable policy coherence and aggressive anti-corruption reforms to reach ambitious targets, including seven percent annual growth and a per capita income exceeding three thousand dollars and one billion dollar GDP. 

Key strategic pivots include the expansion of small-business ecosystems and a sophisticated integration of climate and tourism economics. By utilizing agricultural and forest residuals for biochar and pellet technologies, Nepal can mitigate wildfires, enhance soil fertility, and enter international carbon markets. 

Furthermore, elevating destinations like the Kanchenjunga Conservation Area to global standards through UNESCO Man and Biosphere (MAB) declaration, trail upgradation, service standardization, and better infrastructure will transform natural capital into sustainable wealth. Finally, the paper calls for a comprehensive review of federalism and private finance to ensure that decentralization and capital allocation are directly aligned with job creation and national productivity.