Yeti for National Animal

Unlike some of you on this mailing list, I am old enough to remember the Constituent Assembly in 2015 debating what Nepal’s national animal should be. After much haggling, elected Constitution-drafters agreed to keep the Cow.

Now, since everything decided before March 2026 is bad, we have to go through the whole exercise again. The RSP grabbermint under The Great Helmsperson has proposed that we change Cow to Rhino. Good move – it will show the world that we are thick-skinned and horny.

But I just wonder if we are being a little bit speciest here. Yes, the Rhino is endangered and all that, but are we deciding on a national animal based on meritocracy or charisma? And the Rhino lost much of its exoticism after they started trundling down the streets of Sauraha looking for ATMs.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not for Cow either. Keeping Cow is regressive and perpetuates the status quo, not to mention quo vadis and quid pro quo. It also reeks of gender bias – what about the Bull? Ain’t Oxen good enough? It also chews the cud, and yet we chose the udder one.

I hear there are other applications from the Animal Kingdom for the post of National Animal of the Republic. Sheep have a good chance because the Father of Democracy Ganesh Man Singh said Nepalis were like them. Downtrodden rodents have also applied, and the Rat has a strong case. If we really want to boost tourism, however, we should declare the Yeti as National Animal even if they are abominable and do not actually exist.

And since the Cabinet is so consumed by making strategic decisions in the national interest that have such far-reaching consequences for our nation, we might as well replace the National Bird while we are at it. The Daphne Impeyan Pheasant only lives above 4,000m and does not truly represent Nepal’s diversity. In the spirit of inclusiveness, the new National Bird should be the Crow. Approved by acclamation.

And since everyone from the PM down is wearing Bhadgaunle caps with the khukri icon, we should also declare the khukri the Knational Knife.

The Constitution Amendment Task Force is discussing other things the RSP wants overhauled in Nepal. This is what in technical parlance is called a ‘paradigm shit’ to start building this country from Square One.

Editor Sonia Awale takes the bull by the horns in her page 1 explainer on what the Task Force headed by the Prime Minister’s Adviser-in-Chief Asim Shah may be presenting next week in its report (Making Amends, page 1). And since we do not mix reportage with opinion, Ms Awale also pens the Editorial on page 2 (Don’t Fix What Ain’t Broke), arguing that for all practical purposes Nepal already has a directly-elected prime minister, and there is no sense abolishing federalism because the old parties made sure never to devolve power. ‘The way to fix a bad democracy is to improve it, not replace it with autocracy.’

Participants on a GenZ civic forum 100 Days Nepal were asked one question and one question only: ‘What do you want the next 100 days to be like?’ The answers are plotted in graphs and reveal the priority: jobs, jobs, and jobs (What Nepal’s GenZ Now Want, page 4-5).

There is a lot of talk around the world these days about data centres, and the discourse has also begun in Nepal. The country has clean energy, cool climate, and plentiful water (How Feasible for Nepal to Get on Data Centre Bandwagon? By Vishad Raj Onta, page 10-11). Ayusha Chalise writes in her latest column Cyberia that Nepal should not be a hub in someone’s cloud (The Himalaya As the Next Data Centre Arena, page 10-11).

This edition of Nepali Times also takes a look at transportation challenges. Shristi Karki interviews women drivers and entrepreneurs who ply 714 electric Safa Tempos carrying 100,000 commuters daily on Kathmandu Valley’s tertiary routes. Yet the government wants to phase them out (Four Wheels Good, Three Wheels Bad?, page 6-7).

Bhushan Tuladhar and Kanak Mani Dixit argue that rather than chase unrealistic and expensive dreams of rail mass transit, the government could start by first fixing the public bus network (First Public Transport, Then Mass Transit, page 6-7).

Then we trek off to the Khumbu with environmentalist Leïla Ezzat for a look at how the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee and Sagarmatha Next are fixing the region’s garbage problem (Cleaning up Mt Everest Top To Bottom, page 9).

Born in Nepal, Shovna Upadhyay has travelled the world to finally settle down in India where she has made a name as a noted wildlife photographer. Sudiksha Tuladhar profiles Upadhyay and reviews her latest book, Our Jungle My Stories (From Tiger Trails To Children’s Tales, page 12).

If I had a say in a directly-elected National Animal, my choice would be the Vulture. These raptors get a bad press, but no other animal or bird does as much to sanitise Nepal and keep it disease-free.

Before I go, let me remind those of you living in Kathmandu or Pokhara who would like to get the print edition of Nepali Times home-delivered every Friday morning about this attractive offer: Save Rs750 on the annual subscription and also get a smart travel umbrella. Nothing like curling up with the pet pooch on a cosy sofa while it is pouring outside, and opening up the Nepali Times centerfold spread. In a world of noise, choose nuance.

Kunda Dixit