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Fair Trade

Tree-Free Bodhhi Leaf Journal

Handmade Nepalese paper is a product sustainably made from the bark of the Lokta bush, an evergreen shrub found in the mountainous parts of Nepal. The shrubs are ready to be pruned four years after they sprout, and the stalk is cut at least eight inches above the ground so the heart of the plant is not destroyed and it can easily grow again from its embedded roots. This journal comes with a dried and pressed Bodhi leaf on a traditional Nepalese cloth cover. The Bodhi tree is the tree that Buddha is fabled to have sat under for years on end until he gained his enlightenment. In the Nepalese culture the leaf is thought to bring patience, enlightenment and well-being to those who possess it.
5.5” x 7” – 50-page journal – $10 from Nepalese Paper Company, whose premier papermakers are women

Handmade Paper – Bodhi Leaf Boxed Invitation Set

Wedding and party boxed invitation sets, 4.5″ x 6″.
Each box contains 25 Bodhi leaf cards that close with a bamboo stick, sending envelopes, RSVP envelopes, diffuser sheets, full size 8 1/2 x 11 stationery sheets and card stock sheets to print your invitations and RSVP cards on.
By tradition in Nepal, no one writes on the card – it is considered to be part of the gift. Senders write on the enclosed sheet and continue to replace it over and over again, while the card travels on. The more worn the card becomes, the more valuable it becomes, because of all of the giving that has been associated with it on its journey. When it is finally worn out, it is framed and hung in the home as a sign of good fortune.
Additional matching card stock is available for wedding programs or direction inserts.
$65 for the set – from Nepalese Paper Company
(At $2.60 per invitation these cost less that even the most inexpensive handmade invitations on the market. PS….The leftover empty boxes, when stuffed with goodies, make excellent bridesmaids gifts!)
Books

Fiction

(2000, South Asia Books)
The author is a key figure in the literary arena of Nepal – one who made Nepali poetry popular among the Nepalese as well as other readers interested in the country and its culture.  This play weaves a tale of Madan who goes to Lhasa to pursue an honest dream of bedecking his beloved wife, Muna, with ornaments of gold and of fulfilling the final wishes of his ailing mother. But on his return home, Madan falls sick.
“…a story of migration, of a movement outside the mind, the geo-political compulsion of moving out to labor and coming back to live to the rhythm of the Himalayan Hills.”  from the Foreword, by Yuyutsu R.D.
Recommended by staff at One Heart World-Wide
Himalayan Voices: An Introduction to Modern Nepali Literature
(Voices from Asia) by Michael James Hutt (1991, University of California Press)
While many books take place in Nepal, very little Nepalese literature has translated into English. Himalayan Voices provides readers with an overview of twentieth-century Nepalese literature.  An introduction to the two most developed genres of modern Nepali literature – poetry and the short story – this work profiles eleven of Nepal’s most distinguished poets and offers translations of more than 80 poems written from 1916 to 1986 as well as 20 of the most interesting and best-known examples of the Nepali short story.
“Hutt, lecturer in Nepali at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London, has translated with great sensitivity … While Nepal is one of the poorest countries of the world, Hutt has amply demonstrated that there is a depth and breadth of literary activity of world stature.” – Donald Clay Johnson, U of MN Library, Minneapolis, Library Journal

Non-Fiction

 The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen 
(2008, Penguin Classics)
In 1973 when Peter Matthiessen set out with field biologist George Schaller from Pokhara, in northwest Nepal, their hope was to reach the Crystal Mountain — a foot journey of 250 miles or more across the Himalaya — in the Land of Dolpo, on the Tibetan plateau. They wished to observe the Himalayan blue sheep, and undertook their trek as winter snows were sweeping into the high passes. Five weeks were required to reach their destination.
For Peter Matthiessen, a student of Zen Buddhism, there was a crucial inner journey as well. In Inner Dolpo, said to be the last enclave of pure Tibetan culture left on earth, the Lama of Shey was revered as an incarnation of Milarepa’s teacher, the great twelfth-century Lama Marpa. He had been in seclusion when a scholar of Tibetan religions reached the Crystal Monastery seventeen years before, but it was Matthiessen’s hope that they would find him.
“A beautiful book, and worthy of the mountains he is among” – Paul Theroux

A Beard in Nepal by Fiona Roberts

(2012, John Hunt)
This is the story of five months the author and her husband spent in a remote village in the Himalayas attempting to teach English to the village children. The book is an often humorous account of the challenges they faced – trying to teach the children in a small wooden hut, high up in the middle of a forest, without the benefit of water, electricity or toilet.
They faced a constant struggle with the debilitating effects of altitude sickness; the always present threat from wild tigers; a severely restricted diet; and journeys along some of the highest, most dangerous roads in the world.  The book highlights a number of interesting areas, not least the immense difference between the lives of the village children in Nepal and those of the children growing up in the West.
“Beautifully written – both humorous and poignant. They certainly have the hearts of the tigers they so nearly came into contact with to endure so much to help the people of Salle.” – Carmel
Films

Dying to Give Birth (2011 – nine minutes)

a TedEx Talk by Arlene Samen, founder of 
One Heart World-Wide
“In 1997, says Nurse Practitioner Arlene Samen, “I had the good fortune to meet His Holiness the Dalai Lama. He asked me to go to Tibet and help the women and children, many of whom were dying with no one by their side. At that time I didn’t know how to get into Tibet, and when I asked His Holiness he said to me, “On the path of service, all doors will open.””
Samen left behind her University of Utah clinical practice to dedicate her life to serving pregnant women living in the most vulnerable conditions. She spent years in Tibet working side by side with the local government to bring a safe motherhood project to women who were poor, uneducated, and living in remote mountainous areas on the roof of the world. Samen has received many awards, including being selected one of the 50 Unsung Heroes for Acts of Compassion in 2001, a Soroptomist Women Making a Difference Award and as a CNN “Hero” of the week in 2008.
Himalaya  – (1999 – one hour 43 minutes) purchase at Amazon  / rent from Netflix
Filmed over seven months in Nepal, Himalaya tells the story of a generational struggle for the leadership of a tiny mountain village between its proud old chief and a headstrong young caravanner. The balance of power shifts uneasily as they make their annual salt trek across the Himalayas. A visually striking and spiritually captivating portrait of life in one of the world’s most extraordinary places, Himalaya is both intense drama and a gorgeous tapestry of the fast disappearing traditions of Tibetan life.
Recommended by staff at One Heart World-Wide, this documentary was filmed in the Dolpo region, the most remote and rural of the two regions into which One Heart is expanding their program with support from DFW.
 
Tibet: Cry of the Snow Lion (2003 – 100 minutes) purchase at Amazon / rent from Netflix
watch online for free at Top Documentary Films
Ten years in the making, this award-winning feature-length documentary was filmed during nine journeys throughout Tibet, India and Nepal. Cry of the Snow Lion brings audiences to the long-forbidden rooftop of the world with an unprecedented richness of imagery… from rarely-seen rituals in remote monasteries, to horse races with Khamba warriors; from brothels and slums in the holy city of Lhasa, to magnificent Himalayan peaks still traveled by nomadic yak caravans.
“This documentary makes a valuable contribution to our understanding of a people that the world must never be allowed to forget, no matter how much their oppressors would prefer us to do just that.” – Toronto Star
Music

Nepathya

Nepathya is a popular Nepalese music band best known for its blending of folk melodies into new, youth-friendly pop and rock tunes about peace and harmony. Formed in Pokhara, Nepal in the early 1990s, Nepathya has gained consistent popularity and recorded nine albums.
The moving force behind this band is Amrit Gurung, son of a former Gurkha (Nepali officer in the British Military). Gurung is quite an eclectic personality – by hobby a photographer and a traveler, he has been to more than 70 of 75 districts of Nepal, most of them on foot. Nepathya has performed live in the UK, USA, Australia, Israel and Germany.

Kutumba (performing live in London, on YouTube)

Kutumba was also recommended in March 2013 by the Program Coordinator for our featured program, Her Turn.  
A folk instrumental ensemble of six professionals from Kathmandu, Kutumba distinguishes itself by staying true to Nepalese culture while simultaneously experimenting with music from all over the world. The word ‘Kutumba’ holds a special meaning in the Nepali language. It stands for a unique bond amongst community members. As their name, Kutumba is all about bringing together traditional folk tunes and instruments with new and improvised sounds and ideas.
 
A famous young contemporary singer from Nepal, Dhakal started his musical career in early childhood by singing famous songs by Narayan Gopal, the beloved Nepali maestro known as the ‘Emperor of Voice’.  Dhakal has released several very popular albums of modern songs, the most popular among them was ‘Aasha’.
RamKrishna Dhakal starred in a Nepali film, Aashirbad, based on his own personal story of struggle and his rise to fame helped by his god-father, a famous musician.  In addition to six albums, Dhakal has recorded music for a number of film projects.