Wife in protest, Nepali guide helps climber scale Manaslu
Times of India | 13 September 2025
Kolkata: Even as violence raged through Nepal, climbing guide Bikram Karki (35) trudged along rocky, snow-covered mountain tracks, helping a climber from Alipurduar summit Manaslu in the Mansiri Himal range of the Himalayas.
Karki knew he had to be calm and composed to assist Rita Lakhotia Agarwal (51) as she aimed to climb the eighth highest peak in the world at 8,163 m. But he wasn't oblivious of what was happening in the valleys far below. His wife is an active participant in the protests.
Karki and Agarwal had left Kathmandu for Besirsahar on Sept 6, five days before the GenZ protest led to clashes with the police leaving 34 dead. His wife, he told Agarwal, was at the forefront of protests that led to the fall of the K P Oli government.
Though concerned about her safety, he had refused to suspend the climb.
"It was sudden but long boiling. Corruption is an ingrained problem, and people were angry about it, but the ban on social media and the killing of 19 people that day (the toll has since risen to 34), including a 12-year-old, angered people even further," Karki told TOI over a WhatsApp call from Manaslu base camp.
According to Karki, the situation appeared to have calmed down a little now, and they are eyeing Sushila Karke, Nepal's former Chief Justice, to lead the interim government.
His wife is his only contact with his city and son right now.
Far from protest and curfew amidst the calm of the mountains, the climbers are getting their daily dose of news from their guides. Agarwal, a fifth-time visitor to Nepal, said that Manaslu was fairly empty around this time of the month. The trekking crowd streams in in Oct. "We are all talking about the news and we do interact with other climbers, but are not worried.
This is also because of the attitude of our guides. Bikram Dai (elder brother in Nepali) has been not only helping with the climb but also informing us of the present situation.
I came to know that flight services have started and things have calmed down a little," Agarwal said. Although most of the climbers are not thinking of it much as the climb would probably end by the end of Sept, by then they hope that things will get settled in the country.