The popular belief is that parents whose children leave the country are miserable and it’s almost as if their lives come to a standstill. But the actual reality is slowly changing from this age-old narrative. Parents reveal that they don’t actually mind their children living overseas and some even claim that they are enjoying the freedom and the lack of responsibility they get by living on their own.

A common belief among most Nepalis is that when young people leave the country to pursue their dreams, most of them won’t come back to Nepal. But today’s generation is proving this to be a misconception. Not only are many Nepali youths returning to Nepal after completing their studies and actually working here, they are also starting new companies on their own and bringing about innovative ideas that have not been implemented in our country before.

She thought social work meant living a life where you were content with the fact that you were doing whatever you could to help others. She got this idea by seeing her father’s foreigner friend who used to visit Nepal exclusively to volunteer and help people in need. That was largely why she took up social work for her bachelors’ degree in college. Little did she know that she would end up working for a cause where no matter how much she did, it would never feel enough.

The business venture AKUJ was founded back in 2008 and they started off with officially distributing Illy coffee – an Italian coffee brand that is shipped worldwide – in Nepal. Till date, they are the sole distributors of Illy coffee in Nepal. Sometime later, in 2013, they opened up a supermarket to accompany their coffee-selling business. However, the AKUJ team felt that the Gairidhara area in Kathmandu seriously lacked a good food hub so they decided to scrap out their supermarket and open up an eatery at the same place. So, Deli AKUJ was launched in 2015.

Teela, in the Tamang language, translates to ‘what’ in English. Bigya Ghimire, the spearhead of the Nepali lifestyle brand Teela, was searching for a word to represent this new company she had an idea about, when she came across this word and it depicted the image she was going for regarding the brand. Also Ghimire wanted a Tamang word to represent the brand because she claims that her husband Anupam Lama’s cultural background has always fascinated her.

Among the myriads of Nepali movies that are releasing this year, one that is being talked about quite a bit is the upcoming film from Silver Lake Picturez Production titled ‘Chi Musi Chi’. Scheduled to release on Shrawan 11, the movie is scripted and directed by Dinesh Shrestha and produced by Shivraj Karki.

Nestled in a relatively quiet alley at Durbar Marg in Kathmandu is the Nepali franchise of The Belgian Waffle Co. This Indian waffle chain that has over a 100 outlets in India is now branching out and the recent launch of Nepal’s outlet is how they decided to kick start it. And, in just a month, The Belgian Waffle Co has proved to be quite a hit among the Nepali masses.

Men could also experiment with makeup. Paint your nails, put on a prominent shade of lipstick or eyeshadow, put on mascara or fake lashes, highlight your cheekbones or nose – just about any kind of makeup would make you appear more androgynous. Longer hair or dyed hair also goes well with the look.

Before releasing their debut song, Bachna Deu Malai, in October 2016, The Midnight Riders (TMR), a Nepali rock band, performed an array of cover songs at pubs, music festivals and weekend events. Originally formed by Deep Shamsher Rana, the band currently has bassist Sunny Mahat, drummer Sanjeet Tuladhar, guitarist and vocalist Sanjeev BK, and lead vocalist, harpist, and acoustic guitarist Jigme Lepcha as its members. The band, that just recently celebrated their ninth anniversary, is not tied to any record labels and produces and releases their music independently.

Internet has made buying and selling things more convenient than ever before. While customers don’t have to go through the hassle of going to a store, waiting in line at checkout and then carrying their purchases back home, it has provided abundant opportunities for economical gain for the sellers as well. There are a bunch of companies and individuals who are selling everything from clothes and accessories to electronics and stationery products over the internet. But the one area that is not really covered is groceries. This is why Kalyan Adhikari, Adarsha Raj Pandey, and Sagar Dev Bhatta launched Kirana, an online and on-call grocery service – the first of its kind in Nepal.

Shristi Shrestha on being ‘Muna’ in Romeo & Muna

The #MadeInNepal movement has been very beneficial for local Nepali producers. Fortunately, it has also been a hit among both Nepali and foreign customers. To meet the growing demand for these products, many weekly markets and #MadeInNepal concept stores have been opening up in Kathmandu valley. One such store is Maya Ko Chino that was launched in November last year.

Azaa Regmi is gearing up to participate in the upcoming International Tennis Federation (ITF) Asia U-12 Team Tennis Championships being held in Kazakhstan in November. She got selected for the tournament after competing in the South Asian Regional Qualifiers in late April this year. While the 12-year-old is preparing for this tournament, her equally skilled 16-year-old sister, Alsha, unfortunately has to take a hiatus from international games because she is starting her first year of A Levels and wants to focus on completing her high school before she moves onto playing at bigger tennis tournaments.

In the recent years, the Nepali fashion scene has been upgrading its standard quite a bit and quite drastically to boot. It’s not just celebrities and fashion bloggers who are conscious about their style and fashion choices but the almost every millennial and generations that come after them too seem to taking a keen interest in it.

Stray dogs are often at the receiving end of abuse out on the streets. People pelt stones, hit them with sticks and, worse, even run then over while driving recklessly. While it’s quite common to buy dogs of ‘good breed’ and people spend a lot of money on it, the situation of stray dogs is pitiable. Considered a nuisance and potential rabies carriers, they are either completely neglected or hunted down and killed. Angeela Shrestha, founder of Project Humane Nepal, established the organization to tackle this very problem.

If you have seen the recent Nepali advertisements for Coke, you have probably appreciated the fact that Nepali ads are finally moving past cheesy dialogues and are being presented in a more sensible and creative way.

We didn’t set out to become travel bloggers. It just happened. We never thought about blogging until the end of 2016.

Aayusha Karki had just gotten back to Nepal when she came up with the idea of opening a contemporary jewelry brand. This was about a year and half ago and she had just returned home after completing her undergraduate course in public relations from a university in London. Karki was working at a company in Nepal where she met Sarvo Shakya, who now serves as the head craftsman at Meraki, and pitched the idea to him. They worked on it and launched Meraki soon after coming up with the concept.

As more and more books are being published in Nepal, the fundamental question that arises is: Do our authors and publishers match international standards? While some authors seem to think publishers could invest in better editors and thus refine the writing before publication, publishers, on the other hand, think authors need to work on their content more and not be driven by commercial success. As the debate rages on, is the written world being compromised? Anweiti Upadhyay reports.

Dawa Gyalwa has always been an athletic person. Even without prior practice, she used to ace almost every single category during sporting events at school. Right now, the 20-year-old runner is gearing up for the national selections. And with her track record, we bet she will go on to become one of the top athletes in Nepal.