In the last decade, Nepal cricket has leaped far ahead in world cricket. Although it has not won major tournaments, the team has established itself as the “cardiac kids.” World cricket is talking about them.
But what about football? It was once deeply rooted in Nepal. Where is Nepali football now? A few questions often come to my mind: Where is our football going? Why don’t we have spectators in our leagues or tournaments anymore?
Let’s go back to the early 90s, the days when I started playing, watching, and following football. If you go through my old blogs, you will find how football has been a part of my life. Even today, I try to take some time to play futsal at least once a week.
In my childhood and youth days, we had many prominent players who ruled football in Nepal—players like Ganesh Thapa, YB Ghale (I heard his name but never got to watch him play), Mani Shah, Dhirendra Pradhan (who was once praised for his game in China), Raju Kaji Shakya ( I miss his long throw in) and Ajar Adhikari.
One of the iconic monuments of Kathmandu Valley, Rani Pokhari was also damaged by the 2015 A.D (2072 B.S ) earthquake. It took 5 years to renovate, and there were too many obstacles during the renovation.
When FIFA announced the goal projects for Nepal, I had thoughts that Nepal’s football will just turn upside down in a blink of an eye. That was what my initial thoughts and Mr. Ganesh Thapa was the president of ANFA. I had some crazy thoughts after that, at least Nepal will be a powerhouse of South Asia in a decade or so as I felt Nepalese love football more than any other south Asian country besides Bangladesh.
Prime Ministers of Nepal (Picture collected from different sources)
The first Prime Minister that I know was Late Mr. Marich Man Shrestha. It was during my primary school days that one of the teachers ask us “who is the Prime Minister Of Nepal” and the class said, Mr. Marich Man Shrestha. At his time we saw blockade from India. I still remember staying in the queue for kerosene, sugar, and salt.
It’s been more than 2 months we are in lockdown. I got the opportunity to visit Bhaktapur this time. Whenever I introduce Bhaktapur, I call it “Living History” as I see the traditional house and still old people wearing a traditional Newari dress.
It’s been almost 2 months that we are under lock. Few weeks back I got the opportunity to visit Bouddha, Swayambhu, and Patan Durbar Square and took some pictures of those heritage sites. This week I was able to visit Kathmandu durbar square.
Lock down a.k.a house arrest. It has been more than 50 days now. Many family have been financially struggling and more families will soon face financial hardships. Good thing is that there is still good supply of basic daily necessities like food and medicine.
I support Local Empowerment. So, I’m sharing this Everest Base Camp Trek to promote a new way of trekking where trekkers can empower the local service providers like lodges, guides and porters by booking services directly through them. #empoweringthehimalayas #freetriptoeverest
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