In the mid-1990s, I was enrolled in a boarding school in Darjeeling, India, nearly 170 kilometers from my hometown of Biratnagar in eastern Nepal. Before each term, I would stockpile essentials -- dry food, stationery, toiletries -- that would last until the next holidays. This meant visiting multiple small shops.
Tea Leaves
Dreams go up in smoke along with a Nepalese supermarket
Gen Z rebels destroyed what for many was a symbol of access and opportunity
The charred skeleton of the Bhat-Bhateni Supermarket in the author's hometown of Biratnagar, Nepal, is seen after the building was torched during anti-government protests in September. (Photo by Ridhi Agrawal)
Read Next
Latest on Tea Leaves
