Fit and worthy

Nepali men have served as soldiers in foreign armies since 1815, originally for colonial India and then, after 1947, for independent India and the United Kingdom. Known as Gurkhas – an Anglicisation of 'Gorkha', the small state in the central hills of Nepal – they have long been considered one of the 'martial races', famous for their military exploits and seen as 'the bravest of the brave'. The British who faced them in the Anglo-Nepalese War of 1814-16 were sufficiently impressed that they later created a special regiment of Gurkha troops. Britain's demand for a steady supply of recruits – especially during the two world wars – was utilised by the Rana elites (the rulers of Nepal until 1950) to ensure Nepali sovereignty as the British gradually took control in northern India, the continuation of their autocratic rule, restoration of territory lost to the British following the Anglo-Nepalese War, substantial monetary payments, as well as honours and titles.

The issue of Gurkha recruitment has long been a subject of debate, viewed as the last bastion of colonialism in Southasia, yet valued for foreign currency earnings. These debates continue today. Despite this, the actual process of recruitment has never been open to public scrutiny, until now. It is in this context that the film Who Will Be a Gurkha, made by Nepali filmmaker Kesang Tseten, breaks fresh ground. With unprecedented access to a recruiting centre, Tseten traces the journey of hopeful applicants, following them from regional recruitment centres to the final selection trials at the British Gurkha camp in the city of Pokhara three months later. The film poignantly reveals the human face of the nationalist debates over recruitment, and also the colonial absurdities that persist in British military recruitment practices in a country that proudly claims that it was never colonised.