Jaya Shambho! Shivaratri --Yes! Ganja/Bhang --No!

Photo: Kamal Pariyar

KAMAL PARIYAR

KATHMANDU, March 9: In view of the rampant trade of marijuana during the Maha Shivaratri festival, the government authorities have warned that sadhus found selling the drug to devotees on the pretext of offering prasad would be arrested.

त्यसै जाने भो राउटे जवानी

जनक नेपाल
काठमाडौ, फाल्गुन २५ -
राउटे समुदायभित्र उमेर पुगेका कन्या अभाव भएपछि मुखिया मैनबहादुर शाही अचेल चिन्तामा छन् । झन्डै एक दर्जन युवाहरूले बिहे नगरेरै ३५ वर्ष काटेका छन् । राउटे बस्तीमा किशोरीहरू हुर्किन नपाउँदै कसले बिहे गर्ने भन्ने तँछाड-मछाड हुन थालेको छ । यसले गर्दा केटा र केटीको उमेरमा ठूलो अन्तर त देखिएको छ नै, सानै उमेरमा केटीहरूको बिहे हुने क्रम पनि बढेको छ । केही महिनाअघि ३८ वषर्ीय प्रकाश शाहीले १३ वषर्ीया मिनुलाई भित्र्याए । त्यो पनि ठूलो कसरतपछि । 'तीन/चार वर्षदेखि मागेको । बल्लतल्ल राजी बनाएँ,' प्रकाशले भने, 'अब यिनलाई सुखले राख्छु ।'

७ परिवारको एउटै घर

Kashi Ram Dangi

खाना भिन्नै भए पनि सुत्न भने ७ परिवारका २३ जना एउटै कोठामा आइपुग्छन्
काशीराम डाँगी
रोल्पा, फाल्गुन २६ - सात परिवारको एउटै घर छ । त्यसमा पनि थोरै मात्र कोठा भएको सानो फुसको छानो । उत्तर-पश्चिमी इरिबाङ गाविसको बिसुनधारा गाउँका ७ घर बादी परिवारका लागि एउटै घरमा कोचिएर बस्नुको विकल्प पनि छैन । बिहे भई परिवार सदस्य थपिए, लालाबाला जन्मिएर संख्या बढ्यो तर पनि वर्षौंदेखि बादी परिवार एउटै घरमा बस्दै आएका छन् । सुकलाल बादीले ६० वर्षअघि बनाएको तीनकोठे घरलाई बाँडेर उनका ७ भाइ छोरासहित २३ जनाको परिवार एउटै छानामुनि बस्छन् ।

The Once and Future Kathmandu

Bansagopal Temple, from the 17th century, in Kathmandu’s Durbar Square. Photographs by Robert Polidori.

 After a glorious efflorescence as the link between Hindu India and Buddhist China, Nepal was isolated from the world until 1950. The result: Kathmandu Valley, where a medieval past is vibrantly present, architectural marvels are part of everyday life, and the sacred is pervasive. Amid thousands of temples, pagodas, monasteries, and other hallowed structures, the author salutes preservation efforts to bring Nepal’s magic into a third millennium.

by Lucinda Lambton

'The Chavez I knew'

Lucia Newman is Al Jazeera's Latin America editor.

Lucia Newman --Caracas, Venezuela: I must confess that it took me some time to take Hugo Chavez seriously. The first time I heard of him was in 1992, the day of his botched military coup attempt against Venezuela's then President Carlos Andres Perez. As I walked through the Miraflores Presidential Palace the next day, counting the bullet holes in the walls, I was quick to dismiss Lieutenant Colonel Chavez as a soldier with more illusions of grandeur and thirst for power than brains.

Seven years later when the obscure former military officer and paratrooper resurfaced to run for president – and actually got elected - I was more than surprised. Now I was really curious.

My Conversation With Hugo Chavez

Larry King

Larry King --It was September of 2009, during the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
That day I interviewed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president of Iran, in the morning. In the early afternoon, I interviewed Hugo Chavez, the president of Venezuela, and in the evening I interviewed Muammar Gaddafi, the leader of Libya.
It was a strange kind of day, a hectic day with three world leaders, all of whom were regarded as despots. I was surprised when I met Chavez. He was engaging. When he walked into the room, he was laughing and singing. He spoke English and we talked baseball for a few minutes. For someone who didn't like the American leadership or our country, he certainly followed American baseball and knew everything about it. For about five or ten minutes we chatted, while the crew finished setting up for the interview.

Hardy Survivor of a Vanishing Print Era Is Still Delivering the Newspaper at 93

Max Whittaker for The New York Times

Newt Wallace, who at 93 is thought to be the world’s oldest newspaper delivery person, distributing The Winters Express in Winters, a town in Northern California. He was the publisher of the 2,300- circulation weekly, which he bought shortly after World War II, until he turned it over to his son in 1983.

By CHRISTINE HAUGHNEY and MALIA WOLLAN