Danish Journalist Torben Brandt did not relax while he was staying with us.
Not only did he interview Annette for Danish National Radio program VITA. He also changed site and gave an interview to Kantipur Daily.
The interview was published in yesterday’s paper. What story was about is unknown to us. But its good to have in the scrap book.
Tings Kathmandu 
I wonder what I said – or rather, what they think that I said 😉
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Kathmandu Has Changed a Lot
After I finished high school, I was eager to visit some far away countries.
I was born in Svinninge which is 77 km west of, Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark. At that time I was 21 years old.
I decided to go to India, Nepal and Sri Lanka. It was in 1974 – and many from the Hippie generation went to India. But I did not want to appear as a hippie. So I trimmed my hair and wore a tidy dress so that I didn’t look like a Hippie. I got a lift with a young Danish farmer who wanted to drive to India in his Beetle Wolkswagen. After 13 days only, we reached Dehra Dun in Northern India where my friend were to start working with Danish cows in a local farm. At the farm they kept on saying that I was a hippie and that I should go and visit the other hippies in the holy town of Rishikesh nearby (at the foot of Himalaya, where Beatles had their guru). Finally I gave up and went there.
After that I went to Delhi for a month and then by bus to Nepal. I stayed around Kathmandu for one month. At that time there was no electric light, only candles and fireplaces at night time and I remember the Kings birthday. I spent a lot of time with a Danish photographer, Svend Åge Lorenz Christensen, who lived there, doing a photo book about small Nepalese children. Sometimes I assisted him, carrying his cameras. I felt like a tourist.But to others I was a hippie. I had a wonderful and easy life.
That was my first time in Nepal. I came to Nepal another three times. I was attracted by the friendly people and the beautiful nature.
My second time in Nepal was in 1989. Then again in 1992 – both times transiting on my way to and from Bhutan where I went to give training in Radio Services.
This visit is my fourth and last visit – so far. I know the Nepali journalists Bharat Koirala and the Kunda/Kanak Dixit brothers from earlier visits. And the singer Amrit Gurung I met during a visit to Denmark, where he stayed with me and my family in my summerhouse. The relationship between me and Nepal is like a family relation, I like the “spirit” of Nepal, just like I like Indonesia, where I have lived and worked several years. .
If I should live somewhere else, I could easily imagine living in Kathmandu. But I am worried about the pollution and the traffic.
When I first visited Nepal it was a peaceful and beautiful place, it still is beautiful but many things has changed.
I don’t know when I will return. But I hope next time I will find a clean Kathmandu with railway services and security for all Nepalees.that have returned ‘home’.
This time I’m on a the business trip. I’m doing a radio program in five parts. The programmes are about “MOBILE LIVING” about how the mobile phones have influenced peoples life. Now more than 4 billion people have a mobile subscription, and somehow you can say that the mobile phone has lost its innocence now that you can even call on your mobile phone from Mount Everest – the highest peak in the world. The past 20 years the mobile business has developed a lot. I see the invention of the mobile phone as the most influential technology man has created. This invention makes more changes than the invention of the car – no car has vere reached the peak of any of the worlds highest peaks, and will probably never do.
The invention of the mobile phone has reduced the geographical distances a lot, but also some families sees each other less, now that they can call each other several times a day. It boosts the business and widens the freedom of expression. Some places it has reduced the crime – other places the opposite. I’m collecting advantages and disadvantages in my radio documentary.
This time my visit in Nepal will only last for five days. On Saturday I will leave for Nairobi (Kenya) where the mobile banking has developed a lot – I want to learn more about that. From Kenya I continue to Beirut (Lebanon).
Through my Radio Documentaries the Danes (5 million people) will learn about the mobile habits of millions of people around the world.
57 years old Torben Brandt has been working for Danish National Broadcasting for 35 years.
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