Sujan Ratna Shakia is a Nepalese currently residing in South Korea. He arrived in Korea in 2010 and worked as an honorary ambassador with great enthusiasm, carrying his bold wish to raise awareness of Nepal’s traditional culture. He is well-known for his role as a cast member in Korea’s prominent JTBC talk show named Non-Summit, and as the writer of the book Utmost and Personal Nepal.

His book Utmost and Personal Nepal provides a lot of information to us like a tour guide would, regarding many aspects of Nepal, its history and culture such as Namaste and the Kumari. He also explains many things related to the life of the Nepalese, the relatively complicated internal political or historical situations, and societal issues there. He also tells readers about some natural phenomena such as flash floods and landslides that are causing severe fatalities. The book definitely will satisfy the readers’ curiosity about the country and deepen their horizons regarding Nepal by providing a new lens to view it through.  

In the book, Sujan demonstrates the Nepalese’ humanistic way of treating others with acknowledgment of their dignity. The book will help people view Nepal as a country with mixture of various wildlife, wonderful natural sites and mountains. However, most importantly, readers will meet people living there and be introduced to their unique culture.

As you know, Nepal is well-known for its diverse culture shared by approximately 125 ethnic groups. However, Sujan says readers will feel immediately what kind of people the Nepalese are if they know the meaning of Namaste. As explicitly revealed in their greeting gesture and the Nepali phrase “Guests equal god,” people in Nepal bear the moral duty to treating others, including foreigners, with formal greetings and etiquette.

As they think that humans are the representations of gods or deities, Nepali people show great respect towards all people and their spirituality. This encourages them to provide a warm reception towards strangers and become genuinely pleasant when strangers reach out for help. If there are people in an emergency or in desperate need, Nepali people would be always there on the spot to supply what they need and keep them safe.

Sujan also added that Nepali people usually suppress their hot temper or bad emotions and cope with their anger by practicing yoga. This seems to be in stark contrast with the hectic lives we live in the middle of individualism and rigid hierarchy.

Sujan says in the book, “I don’t think it is necessary to put the same things together and put different things together and try to mix them together. This is the reason why Nepal has never had a fight over ethnicity and religion. People do not forcibly mix with one another but they do not repel one another, either.” This is the gist of his book Utmost and Personal Nepal. Nepali people’s hospitality and their sincere attitude toward other people must be obviously very impressive to the readers.

While learning about the religious tension in Nepali society and Nepalese’ warm-hearted attitude toward other people showcased in the description of their daily lives, the readers of the book will be touched by their innocent and heartfelt attitude toward everything in the world and they will crave to learn more about Nepal and Nepali people’s genuinely caring and heartwarming view of life.