"Human beings can think, if you think right way; you can go nearer to God" - says RSS chief in New York ::::::: "Those who say, if you obey us, we will protect you, they are Rakshashas (monsters)"

Was he trying to make a veiled attack on the US foreign policy ??? 

 "Human beings can think, if you think right way; you can go nearer to God" - says RSS chief in New York. 

At the US event, Mohan Bhagwat went onto say: "If you think wrong way, you go nearer to animal kingdom". He gave the example of a cow grazing grass till its tummy is full. 

But it does not have the thinking power to preserve it for tomorrow. 

"Nar karni karey to Narayan ban jae ... ulti karni karey toh kya ban jae," he said amid thunderous applause from the audience. Hence he added: "A direction is important...".  

"You are in America. You live in America. You earn in America. So you are America, and you should behave true to America," he told the audience. 

This he said while underlining the Indian community's sense of duty towards their "karmabhumi (place of work)".

The RSS chief said therefore, Indians must remain loyal to the country where they live and work. The RSS chief the human kind has been blessed with the power to think; and that is why if they think rightly -- "they can sustain the whole world". In this context, he referred to what Indian ancestors have been trying. 

"Everyone searches pursuit of happiness, that is common for all.  So, two types of people went in search of humanity ... there were two groups on the basis of tendencies. One tendency is Live and Let Live. Another tendency is Live and let only those Live who Obey Us".  

"Those who say, if you obey us, we will protect you. Those will be protected who only obey ... they are Rakshashas (monsters)," he said yet again again applause. 

Was he trying to make a veiled attack on US foreign policy since 1970s or not by this reference is not quite sure.   

Quoting Swami Vivekananda, he said every nation has its own unique destiny. Bhagwat said Bharat's role was to realise the principle of unity in diversity and help the world understand it.  

"We are one. And due to diversity, that oneness is decorated. So, diversity has to be celebrated," he said. 

The RSS chief also maintained - "Those who say no matter you obey us or not ... you hear (listen) to me or not. What is your opinion ? What you think about me, how much useful you are to me ? These are very minor things. Major thing is we are all human beings. We are to sustain the world and we are to live in fraternity. So I will take care of you. He is Deva (God or here the most relevant word will be virtuous)".  

Underlining the importance of Satisfaction, he said - there is a limit of Material achievements and glories. 

Giving the example of a common life in New York, he said - "How many Donuts I can have at a time, I don't know." 

A donut (or doughnut) is a sweet, deep-fried or baked piece of dough usually shaped into a ring or filled with cream, custard, or jam.

"I am a diabetic," he said and then added, "may be in one sitting, I take 50 of them .. and after that he (the person) will not be able to see the Donut itself."  

To drive home his point of 'limits' of materialism; he said - "Donut is the same, what changed ?"   

Then he pushed his real missive == "the material happiness is Transitory. If abundance of material happiness is there .... that people learn by experience". 

 

"We belong to each other," he emphasised.  

"In Bharat, the concept is you have been given life to utilise it to obtain the truth".  "Atmanon mokshanom (That will liberate you)".  The purpose of human life is Jagat Hitayocho (welfare of the entire world)". 

"Human life is no coincidence". This lesson of doing by action for 'welfare' of the world is something India and Indians must do across the world. 

"And they should do it not merely by preaching; but by practice" 

Dharma, according to ancient Indian wisdom and principle, is not religion. "It is beyond worship .... it is the rule by which the universe is sustained".  The ideal way 

"It is the rule though which human beings can manage dualities of life. It is the balance that sustains everything". 

Bhagwat also said - there is no case to push an argument that an individual can progress when the society is suppressed or the society can progress only when individuals are suppressed. 

The ideal way - the environment around, the individual and the society has to progress together.  

"When discussing the United States of America, one word that frequently comes up in conversation is 'pluralism'. On the other hand, when referring to Bharat, the phrase most often discussed is 'unity in diversity'. 

For the people of Bharat, both this unity and this diversity are ingrained in their very DNA," he said.

ends 

Sunday Spl ::::: What was the reason ... - 74% of Muslims portrayed in Hindi films are shown "strongly religious and honest" ... most corrupt politicians would be Brahmins ::::: "Kya Kashmiri Pandit ko apne ghar jaane ka mauka milega?"

Nearly 80 years since independence. 

It is a long period for a country. It's same for the money-spinner film industry too. 

We look at the era of Dhundiraj Govind Phalke, who once said - "my industry has forgotten me". 

Time goes on -- Bollywood has seen legends like Hrishikesh Mukherjee, minority appeasement, drugs and also 'suicides'. 

This is a new spin and old finding. IIM Rohtak Director Dheeraj Sharma analyzed Bollywood movies from 1960 to 2010, and according to his report:

- 58% of corrupt politicians had Brahmin surnames.

- 62% of corrupt businessmen had Vaishya surnames.

- 88% of Sikhs were portrayed as laughable characters.

- 74% of Muslims were portrayed as strongly religious and honest.

'Chak De' is based on real life hockey player Negi - but in the film character is shown as a Muslim ... Was it plain art ? 

$$$$

IIM Rohtak studies find:

- 78% of promiscuous women had Christian names.

"Pakistan was featured in 20 movies, of which 18 portrayed Pakistanis as welcoming, courteous, open-minded, 

.... and courageous, even though this was far removed from reality."  

Amitabh and Vinod Khanna portrayed as 'sadhus' in 'Hera Pheri' 

In circa 2021 when the son of actor Shah Rukh Khan was arrested for consuming drugs at a party, the Sickular army did not think law should take its course.  They were pretty fast to jump that it was a motivated and deliberate move intended to tarnish a Muslim actor's image. 

Last few years also saw debate about nepotism especially after the death of Sushant Singh Rajput. It was a drama Bollywood would like to forget. 

All eyes on India’s film and television industry, which employs over a million people and thousands more indirect way. The industry albeit has admirers around the world and is a money spinner.  

Today, the charge is 'saffronisation' but the story was totally 'otherwise' for decades. Not only these, even Pakistani stars flourished in India quite easily ! Let us not go into Yusuf Khan - meaning Dilip Kumar era. 

In recent times, Zeba Bakhtiyar's first Bollywood movie was 'Hinna' and it is said the filmmakers spent months to 'discover' a suitable talent like her.

The storyline shows a large section of Pakistanis have 'good intent' about India and Indians. Fiction can be so far from truth !! A tryst with Falsehood, and there could be motives ? 

Meesha Shafi is Pakistani singer who has worked in “Bhaag Milka Bhaag” in 2013. 

Cricketer Mohsin Khan also tried his fortunes on silver screen in India. He had married Reena Roy, who later returned 'home'. 

Pakistani Saba Qamar played a key character in critically acclaimed 'Hindi Medium'. 

A few Muslim Bollywood stars fell from the grace in recent times due to their unpalatable remarks on India. 

Naseeruddin Shah has let down his admirers. He has not only done some memorable works in India; he also acted in Pakistani films that include Pakistani super hit 'Khuda Ke Liye' in 2007. The film also starred Pakistani stars like Fawad Khan, Shaan and Iman Ali.

Naseeruddin also made into headlines in 2026. Among other Indians who worked in Pakistani industry has been Sara Khan. She featured in ‘Ye Kaisi Mohabbat Hai’ with Pakistani actor Noor Hassan. Om Puri too has acted in Pakistani films.

Before Shilpa Shukla became popular as flamboyant hockey player 'Bindiya' in Shah Rukh Khan’s 'Chak De India', she had made her debut with Pakistani film 'Khamosh Pani'. 

Blogger : Always a fan of Rekha and Big B 

However, Bollywood portrayed India's internal affairs, its society, judicial system, and various castes and religions in an extremely stereotypical and biased manner.  

In most cases, a child in a movie after disasters like floods and dacoit-attacks is adopted by a pious Christian .... some aunty Fernandes, Bare-chacha !! 

Where was the pious Hindu on screen ....he was shown as a crook in 'saffron' a Sadhu or a temple priest who connives with brigands !!

And, they also had a song, "Ganpati Bappa Moriya Pareshaan Karen Mujhe Chhoriya".   

Under Narendra Modi. one likes it or not - this is the season of 'patriotism' and hence we must recall the movies of Manoj Kumar and his Bharat angle and characters.

More recently, films like 'Uri - The Surgical Strike' have gone down as an immensely successful.  

'Dhurandhar' - already two editions are commercial success and the films unhesitatingly "expose" Pakistani ISI and even Indian Sickularism. 

In 2022, 'The Kashmir Files' written and directed by Vivek Agnihotri presents a fictional storyline centred around what happened to Kashmiri pandits in Jammu and Kashmir. 

The film talks about cultural genocide.

"Kya Kashmiri Pandit ko apne ghar jaane ka mauka milega? Is this justice?" The refrain so far has been to not ask these uncomfortable questions.

There also came yet another era of angry youngman, Amitabh. 

Minority appeasement of political leadership had become a trend.

Can we have some other Gods meaning from other religions? 

In 'Deewar', Amitabh does not believe in God, questions God Shiva !! But see the coincidence, he is saved from bullets by 'number 786'.

In Hindi films, a nice person who comes to help the hero or his family or a kid is mostly - if not always - a Muslim or a Christian. 

In blockbuster 'Sholay', among all the villagers, it is the Imam who says he is ready to sacrifice his son ! 

Occasionally Sikhs may be lucky !! But Sardarjis are also ridiculed in Hindi films !! In a virtuous Karan Johar's movie, a sardar kid is shown counting stars !

A Hrishikesh 'creation' 

Maestro Satyajit Ray stood out for his height, commanding tone and good works.

In Mumbai, people might have forgotten someone called Dhundiraj Govind Phalke.

His films based on religious icons laid the foundation of building up the world's largest film industry. Films like 'Lanka Dahan' and 'Raja Harishchandra' were run away success. 

Not to forget the fact that the images of Hindu Gods -- now moving on screens, destroying evils and teaching morality - instantly struck a chord with the viewers.

There came different era - many years later. The works of filmmaker Hrishikesh Mukherjee. 

He provided a window to Indian middle class life - the frustration of the middle class, the wit of a lover boy who did not like his father-in-law.

Deven Verma tells his girl friend in 'Kissi Se Na Kehna'

 

--

Antique means --- "Ghisi-hui, purani, bekaar si cheezen — jaise tumhare pitaji (“Old, faded, useless things — like your father”).

The social context of the time also were well reflected in dialogue from comedian Keshto Mukherjee - who says - 

"Yeh milavat aur banavat ka hee zamana hae (This is an era for pretense)".

 

There came an era of films like 'An Evening in Paris' made by Shakti Samanta where the heroine is in a revealing swimsuit 

Raj Kapoor had emerged as another icon and much popular in India and also the erstwhile USSR. 

But among the 'high priests' of culture in London or New York it was Satyajit Ray.

He became a national icon showcased to the world "in a way that no Indian art personality ever had been" - said 'India Today' in 2000.

Ray's works got regular article-length reviews in 'The Times' and even PM Indira Gandhi organised private screening of the maestro's films for foreign dignitaries.

ends 

Simple thing Gen Z 'commoners' need to understand that in terms of getting political authority and entering Parliament ---- the first battle is against POLITICAL DYNASTS

 We are talking extensively talking about next generation Politics. But look at these statistics. Between the age group of 25 and 29 - we have only 26 MPs in Parliament this year.  

Why the age bar - 25 is important; that is the minimum age in India when one can be elected to the legislature - either state assembly or Parliament.  The Article 84 of Indian Constitution defines qualifications for MPs, including citizenship, age limits for Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, and other prescribed criteria.  

To qualify as a member of the Rajya Sabha, a person must:

Be at least 30 years of age

Achievers of their time: Kapil Dev, Lata ji, Mohinder Amarnath, Rajiv Gandhi, Sunil Gavaskar 

Now among 26 MPs in Parliament between the age group of 25 and 29 -- there are 13 political dynasts coming from political families. In other words, in these cases, the credit for their parliamentary debut goes to their 'birth' more than their own hardwork and any other qualification. 

In Lok Sabha, the Gen Z has only six members. In fact, here as many as five are 'well connected' ones - that is 'dynasts'. 

Across India, data shows there are 20 state assembly MLAs in the Gen Z category. Out of these 8 are from political families. 

Take another figure == below the age group of 40 there are altogether -- 384 elected representatives (that is MPs and MLAs) and out of them - 145 are dynasts. 

Those born in 1986 or after - make about 65 per cent of Indian poulation and that way 'representations' in assembly and both houses of Parliament is fairly less.  

The BJP has 9 MPs below 40 years. Five are dynasts. 

Samajwadi Party of Akhilesy Yadav - has total 37 MPs in Lok Sabha. Of these as many as 7 fall under below age bar of 40. Interestingly, but not surprisingly - six of them are dynasts (coming from political families).  

Across India - there are altogether 52 MLAs coming under 40 years of age. Total number of state legislators in India - now - stands at 662.   

Of these as many as 23 are from political families. 

As a background note, we may consider this : 

India’s political landscape has been shaped by numerous dynasties that have wielded significant influence over centuries. 

These families and ruling lines have governed vast territories, implemented administrative reforms, fostered cultural advancements, and left lasting legacies.

In Punjab, the Badal family has dominated politics for decades with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) founder and four-time chief minister, Parkash Singh Badal, leading the way.

His son Sukhbir Singh Badal is now the president of the party and had served as the deputy CM of the state between 2009 and 2017. Sukhbir has also been a Lok Sabha MP and was a union minister for a brief while in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led government that had a mere 13-month stint in 1998.  

Former Congress chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh also had his wife Preenet Kaur as a three-time Lok Sabha MP and she also served in the Manmohan Singh cabinet.

Sukhbir’s wife Ms Harsimrat Kaur Badal has served as a minister in the Modi government.  

– The Chautalas, Hoodas, Jindals and Bishnois are dynasts of Haryana. Devi Lal was once asked - why did you make your son Om Prakash Chautala as the chief minister. His response was more than mere tongue and cheek - "Toh kya Bhajan Lal ke chhore ko banata (Then, did you expect me to make Congress leader Bhajan Lal's son the new chief minister). 

Chautala becoming chief minister coincided with 'mayhem' in Meham constituency during his election.  

Former deputy chief minister of Rajasthan, Sachin Pilot, is the son of the late Rajesh Pilot — a senior Congress leader and a powerful Gurjar leader. Sachin’s mother, Rama Pilot, has been an MLA from Hindoli and an MP from Dausa.

The Scindias, originally of Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh, have a political lineage that not only cuts across the party divide but also state lines.

Matriarch Vijaya Raje Scindia was a prominent Jana Sangh and BJP leader. 

Her daughters Yashodhara and Vasundhara Raje have followed in her footsteps to emerge as key BJP leaders. 

Vasundhara Raje has been a two-time Rajasthan chief minister while her son Dushyant is a BJP MP.

Vijaya Raje’s son, Madhavrao, and grandson Jyotiraditya have tread a different path. The father and son have been senior Congress leaders as well as cabinet ministers in the central government. 

Madhavrao Scindia died in a plane crash in 2001. Jyotiraditya Scindia joined BJP in 2021 and has also joined the Modi cabinet. 

In East, former President, veteran Congress leader and former union minister Pranab Mukherjee passed on his Jangipur Lok Sabha seat to his son Abhijit for sometime.

Mukherjee’s daughter Sharmishtha too joined the Congress and unsuccessfully contested the 2015 Delhi assembly election from the Greater Kailash constituency.

In neighbouring Odisha, BJD leader and Lok Sabha MP Tathagata Satpathy‘s parents have been politicians. While his mother Nandini served as the chief minister of the state, his father Devendra was a Lok Sabha MP. 

Former chief minister Naveen Patnaik is son of illustrious Biju Patnaik. 

Lalu Yadav's family is well known from Bihar. When Lalu was to go to jail and had to resign. his wife Rabri Devi became chief minister. Their children are also in active politics. 

The list is pretty long. 

ends 

21 Indian nationals affected in Nepal floods 'land' in Delhi :::: 63 other Indiana working at Trishuli-1 hydropower project rescued

 

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Friday that 320 Indian nationals remained out of contact following the deadly floods in Nepal, while 400 Indian nationals on the Chinese side were safe.   

Around 100 persons of Indian-origin who hold other nationalities and may have travelled for Kailash Mansarovar Yatra remained out of contact.  "On the Chinese side, we have 400 Indian nationals, They are safe. They have been in touch with their family because phones, etc, I'm told is working on that side," MEA spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said.

Nepal flood toll climbs to 626 amid fear of fresh deluge; India ready to send NDRF teams if required

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority said rising water levels at the site of a devastating flash flood earlier this week increased the risk of another flood in the area.

"Our embassy has been in touch with several of them, in fact, with their team leaders and their travel agent. Many of their family members also contacted us through the helpline numbers that our embassy is running right now in Beijing...As I said earlier that it's a dynamic situation so we will give you updated figure later but at this point in time we are talking about around 400 people.

Addressing a bi-weekly press briefing in New Delhi on Friday, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated that 84 Indian nationals, including 63 Indian nationals who were working at the Trishuli-1 hydropower project, have been rescued so far. 

He further stated that 96 Indian nationals who were stranded on the Chinese side have safely crossed into Nepal by land.  

On the situation of Indian nationals in Nepal, Jaiswal said, "First good news, 21 Indian nationals who had yesterday arrived in Kathmandu from the area that was affected by this flood, they have today landed in Delhi. They have just landed. These 21 Indian nationals, are from Tamil Nadu and they arrived by Indigo flight which just landed in Delhi. 

".. our Ambassador had met them in Kathmandu and inquired about their well-being. In addition to these 21 Indian nationals, yesterday I had informed you, we had given you an update about 63 Indian nationals who are working at Trishuli-1 hydropower project, they were also rescued yesterday."  

"In addition to these 21 and 63, we have learnt that 96 Indian nationals who were stranded on the Chinese side have safely crossed into Nepal by land and efforts are underway to have them evacuated. We shall be sharing with you details about them as and when we have more information about the particulars etc," he added.  

"As far as the number of people who we are not able to contact or who are missing, the figure at this point in time is 320. But, please do keep in mind that we are in a dynamic situation, so figures keep going up and down. Also, we have to reconcile several lists that we are dealing with. 

There are also around 100 persons of Indian-origin who remain uncontactable. So, these are people of Indian origin who may have gone for Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, but they hold other nationalities. Our MEA control room here is working round the clock as is the case with the control rooms in our Embassy in Kathmandu as also our Embassy in Beijing."  

The MEA spokesperson said that 400 Indian nationals who were on the Chinese side were safe and able to contact their families. He said that Indian Embassy in China has been working with local authorities to ensure evacuation of 400 people stranded on the Chinese side.   

"Our Embassy is in touch with local authorities in China and they are working out as to how these people who are there they can be evacuated but just to tell you that all these 400 people or plus people are safe," he added.

India has sent two aircraft carrying relief materials to Nepal and is coordinating rescue and evacuation efforts with Nepali authorities, Jaiswal said.

ends 

".. revenge is what our enemies want to reduce us to" :::: Naga killings by Kukis in Manipur :::: In one of the strongest condemnation in recent times, Global Naga Forum says ".. we have become a paralyzed nation" ::: Insists "we are done with condolences"

"We are sleepwalking toward a localized Rwanda, where systemic neighbor on neighbor elimination is normalized, and our leadership watches from high offices, paralyzed by careerism and factional cowardice, waiting to count the next round of bodies”  the Global Naga Forum (GNF ) said in a statement condemning the killings of Nagas allegedly by a Kuki ambush in Manipur on April 27.  

The Forum said - “Our institutional silence and our leaders’ endless appetite for accommodation with a sleeping or hostile state apparatus have reduced our sovereignty to a hollow phrase."  

Mourning - on Aug 27 

The GNF also questioned the security arrangements in Manipur, particularly the Suspension of Operations (SoO) framework involving Kuki armed groups.  

“We mourn with microphones and organize committees while our youth are slaughtered like animals on their own ancestral lands”. If a nation cannot protect its civilians traveling on its own roads, it is not a nation...".  

The GNF also says .... “because revenge is what our enemies want to reduce us to. But we equally reject the passive death of our people”.

“We are done with condolences. 

We are done with asking for permission to live. If our leaders, state, central, or our own, cannot guarantee that a Naga citizen can travel a road and return home alive, then they have forfeited their right to lead”, the GNF said.

“History will not judge us by how many statements we issued, but by how many lives we failed to save while we were busy writing them”.

The blood is not just on the hands of those who pulled the triggers. “It is on the ledger of an entire system that has institutionalized our helplessness”, the GNF further stated.

In its statement the GNF said, “We are writing this not to appeal to the conscience of New Delhi, for it has none to spare, or to trade polite grievances with neighbors who operate with armed impunity. 

We write this because the Global Naga Forum refuses to participate any longer in the ritual theater of grief”.  

The GNF then said, “Let us speak the truth that our own people whisper in secret: we have become a paralyzed nation. 

We have perfected the art of the press release, the grand funeral, and the recycled memorandum”.  

The GNF then said the Government of India maintains an overwhelming, hyper militarized footprint across Manipur. 

“Yet, this formidable security apparatus vanishes when ordinary Nagas are targeted”, it also said. Naga civil bodies have already put this pattern on record: security columns visible enough to police a Naga sit in, absent precisely where an ambush needs them stopped, the GNF stated. 

The Suspension of Operations (SoO) framework has mutated from a peace pact into a license for terror, shielding armed cadres who use designated camps as staging grounds for murder, it further said, adding, 

“If New Delhi and its security architecture cannot secure a stretch of vital road, then the SoO is a fraud..".

The GNF then said, “You cannot preach peace while managing an arena where one side holds a loaded weapon and the other is told to offer its throat for the sake of political convenience”.  

The statement also said, “To those who claim political and moral leadership over the Kuki groups operating in these spaces: general appeals for peace are no longer enough, and you know it, because even Thadou Inpi, one of your own apex bodies, said the same the day after this ambush, naming individual commanders inside the SoO camps and demanding their arrest”. 

The GNF then said it asks “nothing more than what you have already asked of yourselves”. A name in a press statement is not a man in custody, it stated. 

“When armed elements sheltered within your territorial and political sphere go on killing unarmed Naga civilians while the commanders your own community has named remain free, the silence that indicts you is not the silence of words, but the silence of consequence”. 

The GNF then said, “If you desire political legitimacy, produce the arrests your own people have demanded. 

Anything less tells us that your political language, however sharply worded this week, remains a smoke screen for the same old ethnic dominance”.

ends 

Not just destruction, Nepal flood tragedy came despite "years of warnings" from scientists and civil society :::: It was initially mistaken for an earthquake .... mix of ice, water, rock, sediment and boulders the size of cars

Nepal’s flash floods expose something more fundamental: the problem is not the absence of a warning system – it is a climate crisis that is producing hazards that behave differently from those the systems were designed to detect.  

An enormous chunk of glacier around 2,000 feet wide sheared off Langtang Lirung mountain in northern Nepal, accompanied by landslide, according to satellite analysis. It sent a deadly mix of ice, water, rock, sediment and boulders the size of cars crashing 7,000 feet downward, causing such a powerful tremor, it was initially mistaken for an earthquake.

The warning system in the high-mountain Bhotekoshi valley illustrates the problem. The sudden, debris-laden flood destroyed upstream hydrological stations before they could register a rising water level and trigger an alert. 

The system was designed to detect a more gradual rise in water levels. 

This flood arrived as a massive surge of rock, mud and water, destroying the very instruments meant to detect it.

"Preliminary assessments indicate that a large glacial collapse triggered an ice-rock avalanche and debris flow, temporarily blocking the river before a massive surge travelled downstream," says an article in 'The Guardian'. 

The precise sequence is still being investigated. Whatever the final scientific explanation, the event shows how quickly hazards can cascade in a warming mountain environment.  

Nestled in the rapidly warming Himalayas, the country has long been a hotspot for flooding and landslides. But what happened on Wednesday “was of significantly larger scale than what we have seen in the recent past,’ said Prashant Baral, a cryosphere analyst at ICIMOD, a Nepali climate organization.  

The torrent of pulverized ice, water, rock, silt and sand — described by some as “liquid concrete” — surged through narrow gorges, wiping out homes, buildings, power plants, bridges and roads. 

Hundreds have died; many hundreds more are missing.

                      Water forms under Nepal's Khumbu glacier as the ice melts (Reuters/CNN) 

On 26 August, a wall of ice, water, rock and mud tore through communities, destroying homes, markets, bridges, roads and hydropower infrastructure in Nepal and Tibet. 

Hundreds of people were killed and many more remain missing. 

The devastation came with terrifying speed. For people living along the rivers and the tourists trekking in the hills, there was little time between the hazard emerging high in the mountains and destruction reaching the valleys below.  

A warning is useful only if there is time to act. 

It cannot stop a mountain of ice and rock from collapsing. It cannot protect infrastructure in an increasingly hazardous corridor. And it cannot bring back a home, a hydropower station or a livelihood once it has disappeared.

Adaptation has limits, too. For years, Nepal and other vulnerable countries have been ramping up efforts to adapt: by strengthening infrastructure, improving preparedness, and protecting livelihoods – but often without financial support from the countries that historically contributed most to the climate crisis through historical emissions.

Nepal needs much greater international support for adaptation: early warning, mountain monitoring, climate science, anticipatory action, resilient infrastructure and disaster preparedness. 

Because Himalayan hazards originate beyond national borders, this must also include stronger cross-border cooperation and timely sharing of information.