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The Lost Walkability of Kathmandu
Written by sushmajoshi
A road expansion campaign in Kathmandu has been initiated by Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai. This campaign has been ongoing since September 2011.The project has received mixed feedback. Praised for adding significant width to main roads in need of widening, it has also been criticized for its lack of planning, including the way roads […]
Author Archive
sushmajoshi
I am a writer and filmmaker from Nepal. Since 1998 (except for a 3 year break to get my Masters in cultural anthropology from the New School for Social Research in NYC), I have been working in South Asia on issues of social justice, gender equality and human rights. In 2010-2011, I was an Asia Fellow doing research on the Nepali diaspora in Myanmar and Thailand. I also write fiction since I feel that non-fiction and reportage often miss the essential human emotions and feelings which make up people's lives. My book of short stories "The End of the World" has eight stories about Nepal--many deal with issues of social inequality and social injustice. This book was longlisted for the Frank O'Connor Short Story Award in 2009.
Due to the lack of reliable publishing houses in Nepal, I started Sansar Media in 2010, and am now printing this book and distributing it in Thailand, Singapore, HK and the USA. It will also soon be available in Kindle on Amazon. I aim to print more books written by women authors from Asia and beyond.
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Open Government, Open Knowledge
Written by sushmajoshi
Open data systems are the only way of governance in the future. While Julian Assange caused a diplomatic incident by publicizing diplomatic cables sent by American embassies, there was a big furor. But instead of being illegal, perhaps his act was the first pioneering act to show a future in […]
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Monsanto and Genetically Modified Food Insecurity
Written by sushmajoshi
In Nepal, an announcement by the US Embassy on September 2011 that 20,000 farmers would be “trained” to use “hybrid” seeds from Monsanto, as part of a USAID aid strategy, met with a storm of protests from activists. Activists like Vandana Shiva have opposed the spread of genetically modified seeds in […]
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What We Can Learn From Burma
Written by sushmajoshi
We know a lot about Burma. We know of violations of human rights waged against the political opposition and ethnic minorities, recruitment of child soldiers, political prisoners, refugees, and forced labor. We also know about the ongoing struggle between the military junta and Aung San Suu Kyi and her many house arrests. […]
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Bangkok’s Neglected Water Wealth
Written by sushmajoshi
I was in Bangkok last mid-April when it started to pour heavily with rain. I was in Sukumvit Road, the heart of the commercial district. Trying to walk to my hotel, I found that my road quickly flooded with rain within a few hours. I returned to Kathmandu, and followed […]
