Save villages, save Nepal

Time has come to think of viable ways to lure people back into our villages.

Last month, at the launch of an occasional magazine Sankathan , whose first issue was called “Gaun-Sahar”, eminent sociology professor Chaitanya Mishra said Nepal is not a country of villages anymore. For the Nepalis who like to live with the nostalgia of village life, Mishra’s statement could come as a crude reminder of our current reality, if not a shock altogether. So, for the nostalgic lot, Tourism Minister Sudan Kirati’s statement earlier this week that he is working on a plan to turn around 60 of Nepal’s villages into “heritage villages” should bring a sigh of relief. But turning ghost villages into boutique tourist destinations is easier said than done. Thankfully, the minister did not talk about rejuvenating all of Nepal’s villages, as leaders often do to go ‘viral’.