Nepal, Dec. 31 -- An uplifting story in the cold December of 2025 warmed many hearts: "From a thatched hut in Siraha to medical school in Dang, Satyanarayan Safi's journey inspires hope." The achievement is indeed inspiring. What the report either overlooked-or chose not to mention-is that Satyanarayan's father, Madhuri Safi, first learnt to imagine a different future after a stint as a migrant labourer, in a world where caste identity does not police one's aspirations. The story demands a larger recognition: Migrant labourers are not peripheral to Nepal's recent history; they are its protagonists.

Standing at the threshold of 2026, historians may quarrel over who shaped Nepal most in the first quarter of this millennium. Some will cite ...