The beloved character from Shrestha’s songs (and books) will be brought to life at The Local Project Nepal, Le Sherpa on August 3, 2019 at an event hosted by Quixote’s Cove titled ‘Meet the Khyaa and its Friends’. 

If you grew up listening to children’s songs written by Durga Lal Shrestha then you must be familiar with Khyaa, the hairy simian creature that is featured in a few of his popular songs. A number of these songs were later turned into picture books in Nepal Bhasa (Newari). Last November, the Nepali translation of six of these books – Kukhura Ra Haas, Dhapla Khyak, Nyau Nyau, Aah Aah Junkiri, Hey Maaka, and Kamila ra Roti – were released by Safu Publication House, an imprint of Quixote’s Cove and produced by Srijanalaya for The Asia Foundation’s Let’s Read digital library platform, alongside the English translation two of the titles – Dhapla Khyak (The Great Hairy Khyaa) and Nyau Nyau (Meow Meow).

This beloved character from Shrestha’s songs (and books) will be brought to life at The Local Project Nepal, Le Sherpa on August 3, 2019 at an event hosted by Quixote’s Cove titled ‘Meet the Khyaa and its Friends’. The event, that will take place from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm, is specifically targeted towards children aged 4 to 12 years and there are a bunch of fun activities planned for them. You can create your own quirky bookmarks featuring Khyaa, learn basic calligraphy, solve puzzles, participate in narrative art and get your face painted among other things. During the read aloud session (featuring excerpts from Shrestha’s books), children can also enjoy a free serving of popcorn and lemonade.

“We’ve been hosting these events since the launch of the books on November 25 last year to promote Shrestha’s books in a way that encourages young children to read novels and story books in Nepali and Newari,” says Priyankana Bastola from Quixote’s Cove. Previously, Quixote’s Cove had partnered with The Children’s Art Museum of Nepal for a workshop that used themes from the books to encourage children to reflect on various things with empathy and identity.

Beside that, the Quixote’s Cove team also organized Safu Bwone Wa! (Come Read Books!) at Pitalun chowk that had activities like coloring, mask making, and puppet play based on characters from Durga Lal Shrestha’s books – as a part of Echoes in the Valley, a biennale music festival that strives to uncover, revive and make Kathmandu’s traditional music relevant in today’s times. They also conducted a similar session in collaboration with the General Store in Jhamsikhel a few weeks ago.

Although this is the first event of its kind being held at one of the outlets of The Local Project Nepal, Sachin Shrestha, one of the founders of The Local Project Nepal, mentions that he and his team are planning to organize similar events regularly at both branches of The Local Project Nepal in the future. “The event (Meet the Khyaa and its Friends) will also serve as an announcement to our customers regarding the fact that all of Durga Lal Shrestha’s books are now available for purchase at our outlets,” concludes founder Shrestha.

 
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