Kids of Khumbu: Sherpa Youth on the Modernity Traial
Author: Kurt Luger
Category: Stories   
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About  .

The Book

The Sherpas: a Nepalese people surrounded by myth and mystery, at home in north-east Nepal's Khumbu valley and Everest foothills. They have captured the attention of anthropologists of the world over in the same way as North America's Hopi Indians, whose typical family - so runs the academic joke - consists of Hopi mother, Hopi father, Hopi children and an anthropologist. Like the Hopi Indians, the Sherpas are a small but colourful ethnic group with spectacular festivals, a mythology rooted in Buddhism, and numerous legends which shroud scientific research in a fine mist of fantasy.
In view of the large number of studies that have been produced, it is perhaps surprising that hardly any research was scrutinizing the Khumbu youth and their lifestyle, their hope3s and fears, their ambitions and pastimes.
This publication aims to contribute towards motivating a process of discussion and dialogue between the Sherpa generations. It will help the tourist to the Khumbu region to reach a deeper understanding of its people and their culture, and will encourage him/her to enter into discussion with Pasang, Khakpa, Mingma or Dawa, whatever the nameless porter's name may be. Stories, tragedies, and biographies full of life-force are hidden behind these happy faces, and they provide new insight into Nepal, allow a glimpse of its culture, and lead one to call into question ones own value system and the excesses of European or American civilisation. The young people's life stories help to bring the Himalaya a human step closer.


About the author:
Kurt Luger is Chairman of the Ingo Eco Himal based in Salzburg, Austria, and Kathmandu, Nepal. He is also a professor at the University of Salzburg for intercultural communication and tourism.