Water scarcity and water management become big issues as the globe warms up and we edge closer to the 11th hour. A while back, I had the good fortune to accompany a few friends to see the Raj Kulo, a mediaval water system that brought water to the Kathmandu Valley. Astonishingly, the Raj Kulo still works where people haven't dug it up or sunk concrete foundations into the water sources. The "hiti" (Newari water spouts made of stone) of Patan and Bhaktapur are fed through this elaborate system in which the water is brought through canals all the way from Tika Bhairav. Knowing the meddlesome (and stupid) nature of modern people, the ancients devised a tantric secrecy around their water system. The tantric priests were the only ones who knew when the water sources were located, perhaps as a way to counteract acts of sabotage from warring neighbours. The water was piped in through an elaborate filtration system so good people still go to drink water from one particular spout ...

THE ESCAPE (2006) DIRECTOR: SUSHMA JOSHI 9 MINS, 16MM, BLACK AND WHITE PRODUCED AT THE NEW YORK FILM ACADEMY, LA FEMIS, PARIS, FRANCE Accepted to the Berlinale Film Festival's Talent Campus in 2007 A squad of young Maoists come to execute a teacher, who escapes and runs through the jungle for two days to reach help. A civil conflict raged in Nepal from 1996-2006. Education was severely affected. The Maoists, leading a People's War, killed schoolteachers and forced them to leave the villages for supporting political parties, teaching Sanskrit, or for suspected spying. Amnesty Internationa recorded cases of schoolteachers executed by the guerillas. Maoists pressured teachers to teach the Maoist curriculum, and to contribute half of their salary to the People’s War. The rebels held indoctrination meetings in schools. They abducted schoolchildren for periods of time, and pressured them to join the movement. The state security forces, including police and the Royal Nepal...