This excerpt was translated by Amish Raj Mulmi. He is the author of 'All Roads Lead North: Nepal’s Turn to China' (Context/Westland, 2021). Dor Bahadur Bista (c. 1924-1995) was a Nepali anthropologist and social scientist. His most famous works include 'Fatalism and Development: Nepal’s Struggle for Modernization', and 'People of Nepal'. He was Nepal’s consul general to Lhasa between 1972-1975, and he founded the Karnali Institute. Sotala was first published in 1976.