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'Legend' informs, entertains
 Media Credit: Adam Masloski Anita Sedhain, Jyoti Thapa, Suman Parajuli and Sugan Prajapati perform a dance called Pauju ko cham-cham.
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Saturday, Nepalese students at SCSU celebrated their annual "Nepal Night," dedicated to the legend of the Gurkha's regiment, known for their courage worldwide.
"(They are) the bravest of the brave," said Major David Goetze of St. Cloud ROTC and chief guest of the event.
Nepal is a country in Asia sandwiched between India and Tibet. Unlike most of the Southeast Asian countries, Nepal was never colonized by Great Britain or any other foreign or western power. The Nepalese people credit this to the brave Gurkha armies.
"Soon after the British East India Company invaded India, the British marched to conquer Nepal (in order) to trade with Tibet," said President of Nepalese Student Association, Siddhartha Rai, a junior majoring in micro computer studies.
The Gurkha's primary weapon is the Khukuri, a foot-long knife. The soldiers used Khukuris along with arrows, spears, knives, sticks and stones against the sophisticated weapons of the British East India armies.
Rather than surrendering, Nepal signed the Treaty of Saugali, under which they lost one-third of its territory to the British East India Company. Afterwards, the Gurkhas became mercenaries for the British. Since WWI, they have fought and died wherever the British have been involved
"The Gurkha Brigade continues to fight and take active part in contemporary British military and the UN peacekeeping forces in East Timor, Kosovo and NATO peace support," Saurabh Chand, senior philosophy major said.
The audience was also informed by a video presentation of the famous "Battle of Nalapani" in 1814. In this conflict, the Gurkha armies, along with Nepalese women and children fought against the British East India Company.
After this historical presentation, the audience was entertained by cultural songs and dance presentations by students.
Participants wore traditional Nepalese dress; "sari" for women and "Deural surval" for men.
The program was followed by original poetry readings from students accompanied by live music. The poetry depicted the prevailing crisis affecting Nepal, describing it as a "war zone" plagued by the Peoples' War (Maoist Party of Nepal).
The readings reflected the concerns and sentiments of Nepalese students regarding the condition of their home country.
"It's like a pat on the head; it's time wake up and open your eyes," Rai said. "This message goes out to the Nepalese to tell them that their home country is in debris."
The present condition of Nepal is in chaos with Maoist insurgency all throughout the Nepalese Government. The Maoist party is trying to reach some agreement with the current democratic government.
Recently, the U.S. government donated around $20 million in aid to the Nepalese army.
"They (U.S. Government) can still do more than that," Rai said.
At the event, the audience was exposed to Nepalese culture and learned new things about the country while being entertained.
Coral Jentz, senior and community development major, thought the presentation about the early history of Nepal was very informative.
"I cannot believe that these Gurkha armies scared the British and didn't surrender, but signed the treaty with the British," Jentz said.
"I like the food. It is all new to me and I really learned a lot from this presentation," one attendee from Elk River said.
Nepalese students on campus were made to feel closer to their country. SCSU is home to more than 120 Nepalese students.
The Nepalese Student Association meets every Saturday in Atwood at 2 p.m.
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