No place to play for Kathmandu kids

A generation of children is growing up in a city that has no designated place for them—hemmed in by construction, scolded out of lanes, and handed a phone in place of the space their bodies and minds need.

On a weekday afternoon in Koteshwar, 11-year-old Aayan Bikram sits near the window of his family's flat, watching the street below. His cricket bat leans against the wall. His friends are somewhere outside, he can hear them but he is not allowed to join them. Not today. Not most days.