A Nepalese Scientist's "Chinese Dream"

On a sunny afternoon in Beijing a sacred Buddhist art known as Thangka from the Kathmandu valley of Nepal was glittering in an exhibition hall before a crowd of nearly 300 people. The “Belt and Road Initiative: Nepal Thangka Art Exhibition” has been organized by Art Kathmandu, an art gallery from Nepal and the China Nepal Cultural Exchange Center, to celebrate Nepali New Year 2076.

Distinguished guests during the opening ceremony included: Mr. Harischandra Ghimire, Minister Counsellor, Embassy of Nepal; Mr. Xue Deying, Vice President, China Investment Association; Prof. Zhang Shubin, Professor and Director, Nepal Research Center of Hebei University of Economics and Business; Mr. Li Bo, Director, China Nepal Cultural Exchange Center; and Mr. Bhusan Kayastha, research scientist at National Astronomical Observatories of China and CEO of Art Kathmandu gallery.

Mr. Kayastha explained to the audience the distinctive Newari Thangka paintings from Nepal’s Kathmandu Valley and how Newar artists today are using both the traditional and modern style of art to produce excellent creative pieces of Thangka art on canvas. He said he has been in Beijing for 5 years now and is living his “Chinese Dream”.

Bhusan Kayastha: A research scientist at National Astronomical Observatories of China and CEO of Art Kathmandu Gallery [Photo provided by Bhusan Kayastha]

Bhusan Kayastha is part of the Silk Road Project Team at the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC). This is an international group of scientists and students dedicated to computational studies of the evolution of planetary systems, star clusters, galaxies and galactic nuclei, black holes and gravitational wave emission. The Silk Road Project was established in 2008 at NOAC and is headed by senior German scientist Prof. Dr. Rainer Spurzem.

Bhusan Kayastha (third from the right, front row) and his mother with Chinese friends at his hometown in Bhaktapur, Nepal. [Photo provided by Bhusan Kayastha]

In response to our question, what is your "Chinese Dream," Mr. Kayastha replied, "From my childhood people have been asking me one question - what is your dream in life? During our school days when teachers asked the same question, my friends declared they dream of becoming doctors, engineers, lawyers, pilots, scientists, actors, etc. I, however, had no idea how I should answer that question. My mother always tells me, you should be a good man. So, I always replied - I want to be a 'Good Man'. In fact, I cannot define 'good man' but my dream in life is to be a good man. Now my 'Chinese Dream' is to be a 'Good Friend' of China."

At NAOC I conduct research with an international team of scientists. We collaborate with several countries, such as Germany, Ukraine, Korea, Kazakhstan, Poland, Pakistan etc. I am working on the topic "Realistic Models of Star Clusters and Their Gravitational Wave Emission". We are the astronomers who use supercomputers to solve the mysteries of the universe. In the past 5 years interesting new discoveries have been made - the detection of gravitational waves by LIGO and recently the first pictures of a black hole have been published. I feel confident that in the near future many new landmark astronomical discoveries and scientific inventions will come from China. I want to work as a bridge between China and the world to discover the beautiful universe together. (Author: Bhusan Kayastha)