It’s amazing what you can discover on YouTube. Some hilarious, some scary, gore and even shocking. But I bet an interesting video related to Nepal shot by foreigners would beat them all! And yes, I have found something of that sort.

Don’t ask how I came across it. The only thing that matters is that I did. Titled “Kathmandu 6 Decades ago” on the site, it is an eight minute long B/W footage documenting about Nepal and as the name suggests, was shot some 60 years ago according to what the user has claimed. The short film is called “Gateway To The Himalayas”.

When I went through the video for the first time, I couldn’t help but be fascinated because it’s not every day that you get to see the activities of our people in the country during the time you didn’t exist. This video sure is like travelling back in time. It also gives us an idea about how westerners perceived our cultures and traditions. Hence, I couldn’t be more grateful to the person who posted the visual.

Here’s what the user had to say about the video as its description:

“This is a video that introduced Nepal to the world. This 1954 film is one of the first videos made for the purpose of educating the Western World about Nepal. Interesting point to note is that videos like these played a major role in propagating misinformation about our Culture and Lifestyle as they were shown in schools. Although the video presents a biased western view which ridicules the Nepali customs and uses words like primitive and savagery to describe the Nepali culture, it is an interesting look at the life of people in Kathmandu during that era. Don’t take the video too seriously, don’t get offended and enjoy this rare footage that shows the Nepali People and Kathmandu during the 1950’s. I hope you guys enjoy it.”