KATHMANDU: The French Embassy in Nepal, the Alliance Française and the Beed Management jointly organize a debate on “#BeingAlive”
In a series of debates designed to stimulate thinking and get the ideas and knowledge flowing, the French Embassy, the Alliance Française and the Beed Management came together again for a new edition of “Night of Ideas” panel discussion focusing on #BeingAlive on January 30th, 2020.
Panelists for this year’s edition included:
Alok Tuladhar, a documentary filmmaker with a special interest in the documentation of Nepal’s heritage, both natural and man-made.
He is also an activist who upholds the preservation of Nepalese cultural legacy for its great value in building a prosperous future. He previously worked in the field of computer software for more than two decades.
Bindu Bhandari, a climate change campaigner and policy analyst who has been involved in advocating, training and mobilizing young people in climate action over the last seven years.
Currently, she works at a not-for-profit think tank called Climate Interactive and is responsible for the global diffusion of interactive climate tools developed by the organization. Prior to that, she worked with other international and intergovernmental organizations like ICIMOD and CliMates.
Jagannath Lamichhane, an activist and columnist turned life coach and vlogger, he is the initiator of Juggernaut Mindset which aims to get people thinking about the lives they lead.
He talks about mental wellbeing, physical and mental health, relationship, self-support, motivation, entrepreneurship, happiness and more.
Swosti R Kayastha, a lecturer at Lumbini Buddhist University, Nepal and a scholar of Nepali Cultural Heritage.
She enjoys teaching Museum studies and is a dedicated professional in the field of art, culture, exhibition curation and museum education. She also follows her passion to write articles on topics of Nepali art and culture.
In his opening remarks, Ambassador Francois-Xavier Léger said how “In this global world of challenges & opportunities, ideas & projects are emerging across various themes; and being able to celebrate this string of ideas is what #BeingAlive is all about.”
Alok Tuladhar was of the view that “if you look at our history, sustainably was a key part of our civilization. Now, even the western world is looking into it. Thus, we need to realize our roots and believe in our indigenous technologies”.
Bindu Bhandari focused on “adding value to the society while making choices and that we should not forget our past when moving forward with them”.
Jagannath Lamichhane, focusing on mental health, viewed that although social media platforms help us interact directly with the audience, it is also a threat to the psychological & physical well-being of the individuals.
He considers personal, professional and social problems to be the traits of weak mental health and “while our society believes that mental health problems are incurable, being honest to oneself & the society about one’s suffering is what #BeingAlive actually means”.
Swosti R Kayastha strongly believed in preserving the cultural, traditional, heritage and ethical values while the changes occur in our lives and in society.
She questioned, “how much of our culture do we really know?” and advised all “to appreciate one own’s culture and delve a bit deeper to truly identify ourselves and hence the need to #BeingAlive at such transitions”.
For Leena Dahal, the youth should be taking meaningful and tangible initiatives to make an in impact in one’s community.
The goal of the Night of ideas (‘La Nuit des idées’) is to celebrate the stream of ideas between countries, cultures, topics and generations.
Every year, the Night of ideas gives the opportunity to discover the latest discoveries in knowledge and arts, to listen to the ones who contribute to bringing more ideas to their field and to take part in the discussion about the main issues of our times.
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