Titled “In Conversation with Prabal Gurung”, the program was organized by Shikshya Foundation Nepal, of which Gurung is one of the founding members. The proceeds collected from the program will go to CNN Hero Pushpa Basnet’s Early Childhood Development Center (ECDC), an organization dedicated to educating the children of imprisoned parents in Nepal. [break]
Ashutosh Tiwari, the Head of WaterAid Nepal was the moderator of the conversation, which was attended by hundreds of enthusiastic audience who was keen to see Gurung live and learn about the designer, whose list of clientele includes high profile Hollywood stars, along with the First Lady Michelle Obama.
When asked to share about his childhood days, Gurung opened up charmingly, “I was a bit different from my classmates and even my siblings from early on. I liked doing things my way and was always interested in doing creative works, like sketching. When I told my associates that I was interested in fashion designing, they advised me to take up something else as the profession in Nepal wasn’t much heard of or looked up to then. It was my mother who encouraged me to follow my dreams and assured me that being myself was perfectly fine.”
Prabal Gurung (Right) in conversation with Ashutosh Tiwari at the Army Officer’s Club in Sundhara on Friday.(Bijay Rai/Republica)
Gurung attributes his current position to the nine years of education on fashion designing in India and years of experience and practice in the US. To the youngsters aspiring to reach the heights of success in their career, he advised, “There’s room for everyone. All you need to do is believe in yourself, be yourself and work hard to achieve your dreams.”
Present at the event, Apeksha Ghimire, 13, a student of Kaasthamandap Vidhyalaya in Mandikhatar, shared, “I’m very glad to have come to this event because listening to Gurung’s success story has motivated me a lot. Being a Nepali, he has reached such great heights and it boosts me up as a student to strive harder to reach my goals too.” She further said the cause behind the charity event encouraged her to be a part of it.
Sharing her excitement, Pushpa Basnet shared, “Success is a result of continuous hardwork. These and many other life lessons are what the attendees of today’s event taking back after listening to Gurung’s success mantra.”
She further added that since the proceeds of the event will go to the education of her children from ECDC, the program has served two noble purposes.
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