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Dr. Deepak Simkhada

Deepak Shimkhada was born in Darkha, a remote mountain village northwest of Kathmandu. Because of its secluded location, Darkha was devoid of schools during Shimkhada’s youth. He thus spent his early childhood learning from his father and from the empirical study of the environment in which he lived. At the age of ten, he descended to Kathmandu to live with his older brothers.

In Kathmandu, he attended Juddhodaya High, from which he graduated in the first division. He attended Saraswati College, a night school, while he worked in the Department of Agriculture as a commercial artist designing propaganda posters for the department's U.S.-aided projects. After earning an intermediate of arts degree in economics from Saraswati College, Shimkhada was awarded a fellowship from the government of India to study fine arts in Baroda. There he spent eight years earning B.F.A. and M.F.A. degrees, and traveling widely throughout India. It was there that he learned to read, write, and speak Hindi and Gujrati. While still a student, Shimkhada exhibited in many local, national, and international art exhibitions. His works have been reviewed, published, and hung in homes and galleries. He is also the author of many internationally published articles and papers. Soon after his return to Kathmandu in 1971, he was recruited by Tribhuvan University to prepare a curriculum for the newly-formed Institute of Fine Arts. However, he resigned from the post when he received a Fulbright award to come to the U.S. to study art history, an invaluable opportunity. Since 1972, Shimkhada has lived in the U.S. as a graduate student and now a professor of religious studies. He combines art with teaching religion, a paradigm whose time has come, and one that is now gaining ground in American colleges and universities.

In addition to establishing himself as a scholar in his field, Shimkhada has been active in both the American and South Asian communities. He has served as president of America-Nepal Society of California, and he was the founding president of two organizations: Himalayan Arts Council at the Pacific Asia Museum, and the Foundation for Indic Philosophy and Culture in the School of Religion at Claremont Graduate University. He has been listed in the Who's Who in California; Marquis's Who's Who; and ABI's International Authors and Writers Who's Who. He has been appointed as a fellow on the Board of Visitors of the School of Religion at Claremont Graduate University, and was recently elected as vice president of Asian Studies on the Pacific Coast, a regional chapter of the Association for Asian Studies. He was Chair of the Asian Studies on the Pacific Coast 2005 Conference.

On the art front, he has curated several exhibitions, including Nepali Art in Montgomery Gallery at Pomona College; Man, Woman, and Nature in Asian Art at Scripps College; Folk Art of India at Palos Verdes Community Art Center; Indian Miniatures from the Collection of Harriett Von Briton at the Pacific Asia Museum; Woven Jewels: Tibetan Rugs from the Collection of Southern California at the Pacific Asia Museum. His publications are numerous. He is the author of many articles in professional journals published from Asia, Europe and the United States and is a contributor of many papers to several edited books, including Hinduism and Feminism; Vijayanagara: The Vestiges of a Hindu Kingdom. He is also the editor of several books, including Himalayas at the Crossroads: Portrait of a Changing World, and currently is editing The Constant and Changing Faces of the Goddess: Goddess Traditions in Asia; and Sylvain Levi's two-volume book Le Nepal.

He has been the recipient of several grants in support of his research and classroom instruction by the American Institute of Indian Studies, the Irvine Foundation, and the Association of Buddhism in North America. Most of his research and publications have been on the subject of Nepal and its connections and relationships with South Asian countries, namely India and Tibet. As an academic advisor, he continually guides both undergraduate and graduate students in their research. One graduate student who defended her M.A. thesis recently under his guidance wrote, "You have been such a great teacher, advisor, and mentor to me, not only in my thesis process, but also in every other aspect. You truly define what it means to be a mentor. I am forever grateful to you." Shimkhada believes that expressions of this kind are more gratifying than financial reward. "If one is totally committed to one's goal and excellence, everything is possible, and I am living proof of that. Look at me, I was born in a remote village of Nepal and did not go to school until I was ten, and am now in the United States teaching at a prestigious private college in California. All is possible," he says with a smile.

We should be all proud of this Nepalese son. We take this opportunity to include him as a member of 'Nepalese Hall of Brain'.