Shadow Over Shangri-La

By Durga Pokhrel

This is the true story of a woman who rebelled against her upper-caste Hindu upbringing by joining Nepal's underground democratic movement. Her stubborn fight to bring freedom to her country resulted... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1574880616
• ISBN13: 9781574880618
• Release Date: January 1996
• Publisher: Potomac Books
• Length: 354 Pages
• Weight: 1.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.5" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

Shadow over Shangri-La:

For most people, the country of Nepal (nestled between India and Tibet) conjures up images of magnificent Himalayan peaks. Nepal is an incredibly wonderful country of great contradictions - breathtaking beauty against a backdrop of poverty and political and social injustice. Shadow over Shangri-La is the true story of one woman's experience in this country on the top of the world.Durga Pokhrel was born into wealth and privilege in Katmandu's educated upper class, but as a young woman her conscience led her into Nepal's underground democratic movement. As a university lecturer and a prolific writer (with an opposition printing press), she worked tirelessly for political change in her country. Arrested for her activities, Pokhrel was thrown into a medieval-like prison "where women were hung by chains from beams, beaten mercilessly and left to die." Eventually adopted as a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International, Pokhrel was freed from prison but death threats against her continued. She left Nepal and found safety and good friends in Minnesota and eventually received an advanced degree from Harvard, married and had a family.The years spent away from her native country only strengthened her resolve to return to Nepal one day and be an effective agent for change. Today, the political tides have turned in this now fledgling democracy and Pokhrel and her family have returned to Nepal. More passionate about her politics than ever, Pokhrel has recently been appointed as the director of Nepal's newly formed Commission on Women.

A Vision for Nepal

I am surprised I have not heard of the author's name before: Durga Pokhrel... what an amazing woman! She presents this book to the world as a plea for consciousness, and once you read it, you can't help but want to do something to help advance her cause. In this enlightening book I learned about modern Nepalese culture, it's "dharmic" Hindu roots and its disentegration as modern leaders gave up their responsibility for leading and protecting the people, and instead have victimized the weakest members of the population to maintain and cover up their greed, criminal activities, and lust for power. Durga herself became one of these victims, falsely accused of attempting to kidnap and/or kill one of the royal princes. Although her status as a political prisoner, and as a person of the Brahmin caste gave her some protection, she suffered from extremely poor conditions of nutrition and cleanliness in the places she was imprisoned. She saw horrible tortures perpetrated against other women inmates, also falsely imprisoned. The image she presents of imprisoned women in tattered rags, worn day and night and washed only once a year, with their hair matted with filth and lice, of so-called demented women living in concrete rooms without even a mat to sleep on, huddled together, trying to keep their feet out of piles of excrement, women hung from pillars for days on end, their female organs protruding from their bodies because of ghastly violations perpetrated against their bodies... this is unforgettable, and totally inexcusable. Durga's book is a call for enlightenment and action...not only on the part of the world community to learn from Nepal's mistakes, but for Nepal itself to face its failings against its people and against its spiritual roots. Durga ends the book with an incredibly intelligent, thoughtful, and spiritual vsion for Nepal. She lays out a plan for government change, the role of the monarchy in developing a spiritual "dharmic" community, for the course of tourism, conservation, education, human rights, agriculture, and economy. Her vision of a country resurrected from the shadows into a true Shangri-La seems impossible to achieve as long as people continue to be greedy and corrupt, but Nepal would do well to heed this wise woman. Since finding refuge in America, I wonder what Durga Pokhrel is doing now, and if she herself will ever end up in a position of leadership in Nepal. Nepal should be grateful to her.