Her family wouldn’t understand. She didn’t expect them to, either. But, at the same time, she wouldn’t let it bother her growing curiosity and interest in tattooing.
Sabita Maharjan, 19, is your sweet soft-spoken girl with specs. But there’s more behind this placid façade. As an amateur tattoo artist at Tik’e Jhya of Basantpur, learning the tricks of the trade, Sabita is willing to see it all the way through.[break]
After completing her +2 education, she didn’t set herself for any career track. But along came Prahlad Shrestha, himself a struggling tattoo artist, who not only became Sabita’s boyfriend but also her guru and career instructor.
“I’m very strict with Sabita when it comes to work. But the progress she’s making in this learning phase makes me proud as a teacher,” shares Prahlad.
It was only a few months back when she made her first tattoo.
“After I had my first experience of the whole tattooing process, I realized that this was where my interest lay and it grew with every tattoo I made,” says Sabita. Now with almost a dozen tattoos in her credit, she also looks forward to make animated portrait tattoos, as they are challenging.
There’s no doubt that Sabita has a lot more to learn, and coming from a conservative middle class family, a lot more disapprovals to face as well. But with determination and support from her colleagues, she isn’t looking back.
And though her family may be dreaming and worrying about her marriage, it’s her tattooing dreams that she follows; and those are the dreams that matter to Sabita.
Lensman painter
As a kid, Navesh Chitrakar, 26, loved to see his paternal uncle Gopal Chitrakar’s photographs published in the Kantipur daily. He would run around the neighborhood proudly showing off the photographs to his friends, saying, “My kaka took this and that photo.”
Today, his own photographs occupy the space of The Himalayan Times, and when he sees his byline on the paper, and though he doesn’t run around showing them off, he definitely feels happy and proud.
Before photography, Navesh had no fixed plans. “I was never too good at studies and hadn’t thought of doing anything in particular,” he says.
But photography changed all that.
He had started working in his uncle Shyam Chitrakar’s photography studio. There he discovered his interest in photography. After two years of work experience, he joined the newspaper, and now he is set on photography.
“Photojournalism demands a lot of effort, time and perseverance. I realized that opportunities are many, but first you have to work hard and prove yourself.”
Though the young photographer loves the challenging aspects of journalism and has focused on capturing intense moments rather than developing feature stories, his artistic side is still drawn to cultural photography. So while the viewers are struck by his daring news photography, Navesh has also been capturing breathtaking shots of Nepali daily life and Nepal’s cultural festivities.
In the long run, Navesh wants to be working for international agencies, and also try his hands at cinematography. He also dreams of having his photo exhibition one day – when he has something different to show to the world.
For a youngster once lost and confused, the lenses have not only presented him a job, it has rewarded him with a name for himself, future aspirations, dreams and a sense of direction to lead his life.
Talking technology
Ram and Laxman Rimal arrived in Kathmandu after their SLC examinations, and since then, life has changed for these Nuwakoti brothers. The twins, 29, working to providing better security to people have come a long way since they first invented their Automatic Water Motor Pump.
“We were living in this room in Tangal, Kathmandu, and we had to make sure that the water tank was full all the time since the water pump’s switch was in our room. We used to get calls from the landlord if the tank was empty.”
The twins then hatched an idea of making a device and designed a simple mechanical motor controlling device named RamLaxman Machine which would inform them of the water level. The device was a hit!
“It was two years of straight struggle, and we made our own devices and marketed it by sticking pamphlets at the electricity bill counters.”
Nineteen years later, the twins now provide all kinds of security services, like the Community Siren System, Bank Security System, Telephone Encoder, Panic Alarm System, and their GPS system is the latest addition. The Rimal brothers have donated a GPS system to the Police Control Room at Rani Pokhari which alerts the cops before anyone calls, and the rescue can be quicker.
“The GPS system is worth Rs 10 million and we’re currently testing it,” said the twins.
The achievement is great for the twins because none of them has studied technology. Both learnt it all online and they are in a continuous learning process.
“My brother Ram is in Singapore right now to work on an explosive detection device with other people from the technical fields from all around the world,” says the younger Laxman.
The Rimal brothers have been nominated for Ashoka Changemakers 2010 and received fellowship from the Foundation for Young Social Entrepreneur.
The animator
Laxan Kundan has exploded cars, cut mountains into half and created characters you wouldn’t meet in real life. Seventeen years in business, the animator and news media artist has forged a maze of multimedia that has transcended his dreams.
A childhood fascination into motion graphics in movies like Star Wars led into a profession when the 30-year-old started working for Cine Matrix, Nepal’s first digital studio, in 1993.
As his finished and unfinished projects rolled on his laptop, the soft-spoken man recalled his first project, the animation for Hatti Chhap Chappal, and the challenges the industry faced a decade ago.
“It took seven months to complete the 30-second project. Today, it would take 15 to 20 days,” Kundan said elaborating on the then lack of manpower and difficulties in digitalizing due to poor technology.
But he grinned and said he is happy to have chosen this profession, and with the experiences he has gathered.
“I’ve worked from analogue filmmaking to 2K camera technology. So the whole transformation phase has been an experience.”
But for Kundan, “it’s still a learning process” as he is delving more into the study of animation. As he paused and stressed his mind about his works, Kundan pointed out the animation for the movie Kusume Rumal and Yogeshwor Amatya’s music video “Laija Chari” as his favorites.
However, Kundan sees a long way to go. Though he has worked as a technical head in many multimedia companies, played with his skills in about 90 Nepali movies and worked on music videos of artists like Aastha, Cobweb, and Catch 22, he humbly said that his best is yet to come.
“Something like Lord of the Rings,” he said of his dream project. “We can certainly make it if there’s a good team with trained professionals.”
Enlightened illustrator
When his friends told him that he had a fantastic voice, he did not pay much attention because he was enthusiastic about Wushu, the Chinese contact sport. But when he came to Kathmandu to compete in one of the martial arts competitions, his life changed, and music took over him.
Hemant Rana, 26, entered the entertainment industry five years ago and has already released two albums, “Paap Punya” and “Laija Re”.
“When I came to Kathmandu for the competition, I met many music industry people. Neeraj Shakya, who really liked my voice, asked me to sing more and enter the music industry, and then everything just followed,” shared Hemant.
Kathmanduites also know Hemant as the Nepali Kailash Kher because his voice suits the Sufi music genre quite well. He’s been performing in and around the capital city singing Sufi music, mostly of Kher’s, and his album singles.
“I never thought I would do music, but now I can’t think of anything else but music,” said the enthusiastic singer. Five years down the line, Hemant has created a space for himself in the industry, and is already working on his third album.
“My second album got me more recognition, and it was number one on many Nepali singles charts, including that of Hits FM,” said Hemant.
The singer hails from Nepalgunj, and he entered Kathmandu at the age of 19. A degree holder in management, he originally wanted to do business, but his life took a complete U-turn with music in his veins.
“The youth today need to have faith in themselves and also enjoy what they do while honing their skills,” asserted Hemant.
Sing-along!
When his friends told him that he had a fantastic voice, he did not pay much attention because he was enthusiastic about Wushu, the Chinese contact sport. But when he came to Kathmandu to compete in one of the martial arts competitions, his life changed, and music took over him.
Hemant Rana, 26, entered the entertainment industry five years ago and has already released two albums, “Paap Punya” and “Laija Re”.
“When I came to Kathmandu for the competition, I met many music industry people. Neeraj Shakya, who really liked my voice, asked me to sing more and enter the music industry, and then everything just followed,” shared Hemant.
Kathmanduites also know Hemant as the Nepali Kailash Kher because his voice suits the Sufi music genre quite well. He’s been performing in and around the capital city singing Sufi music, mostly of Kher’s, and his album singles.
“I never thought I would do music, but now I can’t think of anything else but music,” said the enthusiastic singer. Five years down the line, Hemant has created a space for himself in the industry, and is already working on his third album.
“My second album got me more recognition, and it was number one on many Nepali singles charts, including that of Hits FM,” said Hemant.
The singer hails from Nepalgunj, and he entered Kathmandu at the age of 19. A degree holder in management, he originally wanted to do business, but his life took a complete U-turn with music in his veins.
“The youth today need to have faith in themselves and also enjoy what they do while honing their skills,” asserted Hemant.
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