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The history of pubs can be traced back to first-century Roman taverns in Britain. The modern pub concept, meanwhile, took off in early 19^th century among the countries and regions under the British influence—even as London became the global pub center. So perhaps it’s fitting that Kathmandu too should have a pub dedicated to the famous city in the form of London Pub at Durbarmarg. “We wanted to establish a proper pub culture in Nepal,” says Bhuwan Shrestha, the pub’s operation manager, when asked of the rationale behind opening London Pub back in November 2019.

When you visit the pub, you are at once struck by the influence of British pop culture on it: Walls filled with jerseys of English football clubs; a screen running videos featuring different parts of London; British rock music. (The pub has daily live music after 2 pm.)

The pub is not the only thing that catches your eye when you’re inside the 1D Durbarmarg premises. London Pub owners have also opened the Japanese-themed Matsuri Tokyo next door. “This is a specialty Japanese restaurant where the food is categorized based on different Japanese festivals,” adds Shrestha. There is also a stall dedicated exclusively to ramen noodles. You get authentic Japanese food at Matsuri Tokyo, with all ingredients brought from Japan, Shrestha informs. Even the guests are welcomed in Japanese.

The combined establishment was closed during the seven months of the lockdown and even now, not all its clientele is back. Around 120 visitors used to come every day before the lockdown. Now, it has around 70 visitors a day, with the number climbing to 200+ during weekends.

Shrestha informs of another themed outlet that is being planned but the details of which the management is unwilling to divulge. They will select another global city, pick a unique specialty or culture from there and introduce it here.

Phone

01-4220256

Opening hours

London Pub: 1:00 am-12:00 am

Matsuri Tokyo: 10 am-10 pm

Nepal received a million doses of Astra Zeneca-Oxford’s Covishield vaccines from India in donations last week. Russia and China also want to supply vaccines to Nepal. But many Nepalis seem unaware of such imported vaccines, or skeptical about their possible side-effects. On Nepali social media, many have vowed never to get vaccinated, while some have adopted a wait-and-see approach. Meanwhile, a few would immediately get a jab if they could. Vaccine-skepticism runs particularly high among the relatively younger folks. We talked to a diverse bunch of people aged 20-30 to seek their views about Covid-19 vaccination. Here is a sampling of their answers:

Surya Shrestha, 27, Businessman

No, I am not going to get vaccinated. It does not matter which country is helping Nepal with vaccines. Until and unless WHO gives its approval, I will not take a Covid-19 vaccine. People in different countries have witnessed severe side-effects of coronavirus vaccines, which make me skeptical that these vaccines will do me any good. I will need some convincing that getting a vaccine is a better option than not getting one.

Govin Shah, 23, Vegetable wholesaler

If the new and stronger variant of the coronavirus starts spreading in neighboring countries and ultimately in Nepal, I will get vaccinated. If not, I risk my own health, as well as the health and wellbeing of my loved ones. Better to get vaccinated myself and save them from harm.

Yamuna Thapa, 20, Front-desk officer, Ashirbad Paints

Unlike the PCR testing, which I was against, if our government offers the Covid-19 vaccines for free, I will get the shots. I strongly hope there are enough vaccines available. But I also don’t want to pay much for it. So my decision depends on the vaccine’s cost.

Subodh Budhathoki, 25, Junior Officer, Nepal Multipurpose Cooperative

I won’t risk it with the vaccines still in their trial phase. The vaccines gifted by India are also under trial. I believe more in developing immunity against the coronavirus. Vaccination criteria seem arbitrary and they also seem to have side-effects. Moreover, no vaccines is 100 percent effective. So, I will skip it.

Anisa Magar, 21, Student, Nobel College

I won’t get vaccinated. At first, I need to be crystal clear about the safety of the Covid-19 vaccines as well as their effectiveness. If I understand all potential side-effects and their treatments, then I could think about it. But until then I have no plan of getting vaccinated.

Krishna Sharma, 26, Public Relationship Officer, Regional Blood Transmission Center

I won't get vaccinated now. The vaccines from India are in the experiment phase. And vaccine manufacturers say patients will be themselves responsible for any consequences. Moreover, I am also seeing on social media that at first prisoners and the old people are getting vaccinated. This makes me skeptical and I am planning to wait and watch. If the vaccine experiment gives a positive result, only then will I think of it.

Kabita Shah, 24, Student, Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science

I won't take Covid-19 vaccines at the beginning. Countries the world over are experimenting with the vaccines. So why should I become their guinea pig? I won't get vaccinated until I carefully research the kind of vaccine, manufacturer’s detail, composition and consequences.

Dikshya Bista, 24, Receptionist, Omkar TV

No way! I am not getting vaccinated. For me, Covid-19 is nothing more than common cold that can be cured by home remedies. And most of the people are recovering themselves. If it is like flu, I see no reason to get vaccinated in the name of Covid-19. I am not taking a vaccine, no matter where it comes from.

Rabina Chhetri, Social activist

No, I am not taking the vaccine until I am assured about the side-effects. In news, I see and hear of the deaths of many people abroad. I don’t think it is good to vaccines without full assurance. And the vaccine companies are also not ready to take responsibility for the consequences. How can we trust them then?

Sukharaj KC, 28, Cook, Sangri-La Hotel

I won’t take a vaccine. Only a dose is not enough. Two doses are required with a time-gap. And, after getting vaccinated, we have to keep following safety procedures like wearing masks and social distancing. Moreover, there is no guarantee that our body will be fully immune. Why get a vaccine if I can’t feel safe even after getting it?

Rohit Rajak, 21, Actor

I am not taking the Covid-19 vaccine at any cost. I think a human is the most powerful creature on this planet. The human body can beat any disease using its own immunity, including Covid-19. My belief in human immunity is the main reason that I am not taking vaccines.

Rakshya Baral, 25, Accountant, Fair Mount Beverage

I knew nothing about any kind of vaccines coming to Nepal before APEX asked me of them. I am not much into social media, you see. But when I start to think of the Covid-19 vaccine, I believe I will take it. Almost every vaccine inoculates against a disease. I believe this vaccine is made for the same purpose and there is no harm in getting vaccinated.

Bikash Sharma, 26, Lab technician

At present, I won’t get vaccinated. I don’t believe in medicines or vaccines that are in the trial phase. I will wait and watch for some days. If the overall vaccination result is positive, I will get myself vaccinated; if not, I will desist. I have heard and seen on the internet that Nepal is being used for trial-and-error by vaccine manufacturers.

When scrolling your social media feed you may these days encounter posts of an initiative to clean Nepali highways under the catchy slogan of Ma Badlinxu Ani Mero Desh Badlinchha (“After I change, my country changes)”. Alongside, you will see plenty of praise for KP Khanal, a 21-year-old social activist.

It was on January 11 that Khanal and his team started the Maina Devi Foundation, a non-profit, to work on the environment, and launched the Highway Cleanliness Campaign under it from Kailali district of far-western Nepal. The campaign’s goal is to deter people from casually tossing out their waste on the highways by making them aware of their folly.

The foundation, with a core team of nine (and expanding), hopes to broaden the cleanliness campaign to cover the whole country. Another goal is to put pressure on the government to take pollution and environmental issues seriously.

Born on 11 January 2000, in Achham district, Khanal is often labelled ‘the youngest social activist’. Indeed, a student of social work at Texas International College, Kathmandu, Khanal started social activism from an early age.

After his parents migrated from Achham to Kailali, he began his education in Lamki municipality. There, aged 13 and studying in Grade VII, he started a radio program Bal Bahas (“Children’s debate”) on Radio Namaste, a local station in Tikapur. The program on child rights featured discussions and interviews. “That was when I started to seriously think about social work for the first time,” he recalls. He continued his radio work for three years until his Grade X exams.

After the exams, at the age of 15, he ventured to India and worked as a dishwasher in a Mumbai hotel. “People told me that I was unsuited for the job. But I enjoyed it and it was a wonderful learning experience,” Khanal says.

He returned to Nepal after the publication of his exam results and joined management faculty in Grade XI. This was when the budding radio presenter of the area turned into a serious social worker: by organizing a local cleanliness campaign with the help of some friends. They started cleaning the locality and requested people not to tie their cattle on the road. After a year of the program, he wanted to expand his social work outside the village. “I targeted the municipality with another campaign called Dasha Lageka Lai Dashain in the first phase of expansion,” he says. It was an attempt to feed the poor and helpless during Dashain, Nepal’s biggest festival. That was also when Khanal discovered the immense power of social media for welfare works. 

At the time, Khanal urged people to donate money from what they had set aside to play cards or to indulge in various kinds of entertainment during the annual festival. He requested for help on Facebook and managed to collect around Rs. 250,000. “It was a lot more than we had expected in such a short time,” he says. Khanal celebrated that Dashain by helping around 50 families with food, grocery, and stationery items. His work now started getting noticed. “This only made me more determined to give continuity to my social works,” Khanal says.

One day, he heard of accidental deaths of some people from Humla; they had been travelling to Bajura to get salt and rice. Khanal immediately wanted to help their family members, as well as Humla’s other poor folks. Along with his friends, he this time raised around Rs 300,000. With the money, they went to Humla and helped 20 families there with food and groceries.  

Khanal’s social work and activism did not stop in Kailali. He continued even after he came to Kathmandu, when he was only 17. In Kathmandu, he was greatly dismayed by the sight of garbage and all-round pollution. “I had a feeling that people like us should also be responsible for cleaning our environment, not just the government,” he remembers. After a month’s preparation, he started a campaign called “Clean Kasthamandap”. Around 1,700 people from governmental and non-governmental sectors, schools, colleges, and locals joined the cleanliness program on the Tinkune-Maitighar stretch. 

The main goal of Clean Kasthamandap was to persuade people not to throw their waste carelessly. The Clean Kasthamandap team has since regularly cleaned up streets and public places, sometimes even at night, says Khanal. 

While the cleanliness campaign continued, he came to know of some orphans in Bajura district who didn’t have anywhere to go. He went there, studied the situation, and decided to help build shelter homes for them. The team succeeded in collecting around Rs 500,000 in a year through a social media campaign, with which they built three buildings of four rooms each.

To maintain transparency, the names of all donors and their donations were listed on social sites (as the team does in all its campaigns).

Even the pandemic could not deter Khanal from social work. “This time I helped people of the far-west build toilets in their homes,” Khanal adds.

Khanal says no one should hold back from doing good for the shortage of funds. “Selfless social work always gets support,” he says, the support in his case coming from different organizations, business people, the public, and Nepalis living abroad.

When asked about the difficulties, Khanal says he focuses on his work not on difficulties. Yet sometimes, some people are skeptical about his work because of his young age, Khanal rues. 

The biggest reward is self-satisfaction, says Khanal. “I sleep in peace,” Khanal says with a smile.

His suggestion for Nepali youth? “We should think about how we can contribute to social welfare rather than always blame our political leaders for everything,” he answers.

Says the recipient of the National Youth Council and Nepal Tourism Board’s National Youth Lead Award (2019), and The Rising Twinkle Foundation, New Delhi’s Youth Icon Award (2020): “Others may feel pity when they see those in difficulty. I get inspired to do something for them”.

According to Oxford Learner’s Dictionary, homelessness is the state of having no home. Unlike the common perception, it is also true that not all homeless people need help with food, clothes, and shelter. “We for our part help those struggling to meet their basic needs and who are living on streets and public places,” says Suman Bartaula, Secretary, Manab Sewa Ashram, the preeminent NGO working for the rehabilitation of the homeless in Nepal.

The ashram, established in 2012 in Hetauda, currently serves 15 districts across all seven provinces. Its Samakhusi branch in Kathmandu has, according to Bartaula, tried to rescue as many people living in streets and public places of the national capital as it can. Yet not all of them want to be ‘rescued’ or to lead a confined existence.

The people who actually need institutional help are those who have no homes, no ones to look after them, and those who suffer from various mental and physical ailments. “They are our primary concern. We rescue them as soon as we hear of them and find them,” adds Bartaula.

Another group is comprised of those who have been homeless for long and even enjoy their status. They are mostly men aged 16-40 and they mainly engage in begging or menial work picking plastic. Some are addicted to drugs and alcohol. “We try to rescue them too, but in most cases, they don’t want to be looked after. They often run away. That is why we are now focusing on the truly needy ones,” he informs.

Bartaula’s claim was verified by two people found in the Pashupatinath Temple area on a recent day. Rabindra Karki, 45, doesn’t know where he was born. He has been living in Pashupati area collecting garbage for 24 years. He sleeps anywhere he likes, mostly in the open with little to keep him warm. The ashram had tried to shelter him too. But Karki didn’t like it there. “That life was suffocating,” he says.

Similarly, sleeping under the open sky in the Pashupati area is Krishna Bahadur Karki, 36. Born in Kavre, he came to Pashupati after his father and siblings died and his mother abandoned him. He too had been taken in by an organization. “What I need is not rescue but a job. I don’t want to depend on anyone,” he says. Karki hopes to land a job when the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic die down.

Bartaula of the ashram says, eventually, everyone needs help. The people who are willingly homeless are not living healthy lives, and their physical and mental health deteriorate with time. They need help thereafter. “Of course, we are always there if they ever need our help,” Bartaula says.

Among those the Kathmandu branch of the ashram caters to are mostly women, the elderly, those with mental problems, orphans, and children abandoned by their parents.

“Homelessness is a vicious cycle,” argues Ishwor Man Dangol, Spokesperson, of Kathmandu Metropolitan City. “You rescue one person and another homeless person has already come to the street. So you can only manage homelessness, not do away with it entirely.”

Kathmandu Metropolitan City in 2017 came up with a plan to relocate the willing homeless of Kathmandu to the ashram and started a campaign to make Kathmandu “homeless-free”. “Of the 1,400 homeless people identified by the campaign in the previous fiscal year, we reunited 300 with their families,” informs Dangol.

The ashram currently shelters 1,068 people of the 4,907 it has rescued thus far. Out of those rescued, 1,513 were reunited with the families, 1,950 were re-established in their communities, while 376 died. Of those currently in its Kathmandu shelter, 357 are women (age 16-40), 352 are men, 271 are senior citizens, and 98 are children.

Bartaula claims that currently there must be only 1,000-1,500 homeless people in the entire country who need help but have not received it. And the ashram is making a renewed effort to reach even these few left behind.

“Presently our National Rescue Program team is on a Mechi-Mahakali tour and it has already rescued 350 people,” he informs.  

The ashram rents five houses in Kathmandu to look after the homeless and is planning to add more with government help. The KMC is helping the ashram on this.

Nepali politics has entered a new phase of turmoil following Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s dissolution of the federal lower house and call for a fresh election. Soon after, the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) split, after only 31 months of merger, with both KP Oli and (Pushpa Kamal) Dahal-(Madhav Kumar) Nepal factions now claiming to represent the authentic NCP.

The NCP’s student wing, the All Nepal National Independent Student’s Union (ANNISU), is similarly divided. Following the 2018 merger of CPN-UML and CPN (Maoist Center), the two student wings had also formally started the unification process. Yet the mother party has now been split even before the merger of the two student wings could be completed.

As is the case with top party leadership, student leaders are bitterly divided on recent events. Most blame the leaders of rival factions, and each is busy protesting its own case.

“It is crystal clear that Dahal-Nepal camp sowed troubles in the party as well as in the government under the influence of external actors,” says Birendra Rawal, central committee member, ANNISU. For him, election is the only way out of the current political logjam. “Why does the Dahal-Nepal camp want to get to power through the back door? Why isn’t it ready to go to the people and get their mandate?”

In sharp contrast, Jack Aryal, an ANNISU cadre from Gorkha, labels Oli’s move a “coup” and holds him entirely responsible for the current mess. “Oli affected this constitutional coup under the designs of India and the US,” he avers. 

It won’t be wrong to say that right now, instead of playing a constructive role—for instance in helping the two factions bridge their differences, or in shaping the post-split ideological debate—the rival student leaders are only parroting the top leaders they back. 

For Rachumani Luitel, ANNISU Kathmandu District Committee Member, KP Oli is the main culprit as well. “Oli wants to control both the party and the government and to impose an authoritarian rule,” he says. 

Blaming Oli for undercutting communist ethos and violating the national constitution, Luitel questions the need to dissolve the House. “Other avenues could have been explored. Yet Oli’s authoritarian mindset was not ready to seek the suggestions of others in the party,” he says.  

Sandeep Luitel, an ANNISU leader at Baneswor Multiple Campus, echoes Rachumani. He cannot understand how Oli could have dissolved the House when there is no constitutional provision to do so. “Dahal had only brought a proposal for party reform. And look how childishly Oli acted on it!” 

Student leaders supporting Oli faction say party split and House dissolution happened because the rival faction forced the prime minister’s hands. On the other hand, Ashmita Thapa, an ANNISU Central Committee member, thinks “impatience and irresponsibility prompted the split and House dissolution.”

Ujjwal Khadka, an ANNISU RR Campus Committee member, foresees turmoil in Nepali politics after the NCP split. Unlike other student leaders, he holds all top party leaders equally responsible. “The problem is, even the second-rung leaders succumbed to their greed for power,” he says. 

He says the future of the ruling party and Nepali polity are both in the hands of the Supreme Court.

Thapa says it was inevitable that the fission at the top percolated into the student union. But she thinks student leaders should not blindly favor their previous role model leaders. “The students should their raise voice against what is wrong, irrespective of who commits the wrong,” she says.

Students of neither faction were confident that the party could be put back together, or that the two sets of students can coordinate on anything immediately. “For now, protesting for our faction is the only way to be loyal to our leaders,” Aryal of the Dahal-Nepal faction adds. For his part, Rawal of the Oli faction says, “We did try to find a middle-way out with the other side, to no avail. Now, an election is the only way out.”

Khadka, one of the rare ANNISU student leaders caught in the middle, advises student leaders to work towards ensuring political stability in the country rather than getting themselves enmeshed in “some stupid power struggle”. 

Most student leaders APEX talked to said they believed in the power of student politics to bring change and added that it was their duty to raise voice against what was wrong. Whatever they say, the gulf between the two sets of student leaders appears as wide as the one between their senior leaders.

Nearly a year ago, sugarcane farmers from some mid-Tarai districts had come to Kathmandu to protest. They were asking for payment of their dues, some pending for six years, from various sugar mills. An agreement was signed with mill owners on 3 January 2020. Almost a year after the agreement, the still-unpaid farmers are back in Kathmandu. In total, around 20,000 farmers are yet to be paid.

Different political and apolitical groups have been supporting the farmer strike at Maitighar Mandala. Among the most noticeable ones are the youths with no political affiliations.

Youths from the renowned Facebook groups like MRR and Sisterhood Nepal (SN), as well as social organizations like 100’s Group and Hamro Team Nepal, are lending their support. They coordinate the protest and help farmers with foods, water, and warm clothes.

Some youths who have been to the Maitighar Mandala are themselves sons and daughters of struggling farmers. Arjun Gaire, 28, who lives in New Baneswor, goes there on a regular basis and stands with the farmers for a couple of hours, if not the whole day, carrying a pamphlet.

Gaire sees many political leaders and cadres visit the site and give speeches in consolation. “Frankly, they seem to come for their own vested interests. I hope the support of independent youths like me will give the protest greater legitimacy and profile,” he says. Gaire adds that he is himself encouraged by active participation of other selfless youths.

Young people from Tarai districts have also come to Kathmandu to express their support for the aging sugarcane farmers who are protesting. “I am from a farmer family and I live in a farming community,” says Nabin Yadav, 25, from Sarlahi. An MBBS student in Bangladesh, Yadav has been on an extended ‘pandemic leave’. “I thought, what better way to spend my spare time than by supporting these farmers whose struggles I have personally witnessed.”

Nabin Yadav

He sympathizes with the protesting farmers who are catching Kathmandu’s biting cold. Yadav is also unhappy with the number of youths supporting the movement. So is Bablu Gupta, 22, the founder of 100’s Group, a youths-led social organization, whose members have been protesting with the farmers at Maitighar Mandala from Day One. Both Yadav and Gupta rue the fact that while youths are quick to join protests with political agendas they seem to ignore important social agenda like justice for poor farmers.

Bablu Gupta

Gupta says he is working as a coordinator to bring together different youth groups. “Besides feeding the sugarcane farmers, our group also encourages others to support the farmers’ fight for justice.”

Nabin Bhandari, 21, an active member of Mens Room Reloaded (MRR)—the Facebook group with around 45,000 Nepali males from all parts of the globe as its members—has been also been volunteering in the ongoing protests.

In a symbolic gesture protesting government apathy towards sugarcane farmers, MRR regularly conducts the ‘Ek Muthi Chini Daan’ program at Maitighar Mandala. In the program, some farmers and protest participants each symbolically donates a fistful of sugar. The sugar-bag is then handed over to concerned authorities. Bhandari reckons all fair-minded people should support the farmers’ movement.

Nabin Bhandari

Similarly, Sisterhood Nepal (SN), an active Facebook group of young Nepali women, has joined the protest and it is also providing protesting farmers with trousers and warm hats. Lhameen Lama, 23, an active SN member, says she came to add her voice to the protest. “It is our duty. If we keep mum on these important issues, how can we call ourselves conscionable Nepali youths?” she asks.

Lhameen Lama

According to the farmers, among the various sugar mills that owe them are: Rautahat-based Annapurna Sugar Mill (Rs 300 million) and Shreeram Sugar Mill (Rs 350 million); Nawalparasi-based Lumbini Sugar Mill (Rs 100 million), Indira Sugar Mill (Rs 80 million), and Bagmati Khandsari Sugar Mill (Rs 4 million); and Sarlahi-based Mahalaxmi Sugar Mill (Rs 60 million).

Of these, following the protests and as of this writing, Shreeram Sugar Mill had deposited Rs 164 million in the farmers’ accounts and promised to clear the rest of the dues by December 23. Lumbini Sugar Mill has issued a notice informing that its payments would start on January 15. These mill operators were forced to cough up after the District Administration Offices of Sarlahi, Rautahat, and Nawalparasi issued arrest warrants against offending mill owners.

Hamro Team Nepal, another youth-led social organization, is helping farmers with lodging, food, banners, sitting mat, and water, according to Bimal Pant, its chairman. The group is also helping with the management of the protests.

Bimal Pant

Pant says things should never have come this far; farmers should not have to stage protests to be paid. “We youths have the voice to make a change, and we should use our voice,” he adds.

The farmers at Maitighar Mandala are delighted with active youth support. Ramlal Kalwar, a 70-year-old farmer from Kapilvastu, comes and sits on the cold asphalt in protest every day. He is in no mood to leave Kathmandu without being fully paid. “The strong youth presence has attracted even more people to our protest. I am sure our collective effort will bear fruit in the near future,” Kalwar says.

As of 13 August 2020, the Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) data showed 278,101 active clients doing business with 59 listed broker companies. The same list on September 30 had 337,360 active clients. 

Similarly, as per the Central Depository System and Clearing Ltd (CDSC), Nepal’s sole depository, the number of Demat accounts—the online financial securities accounts—had crossed 1.8 million by August 25, from 1.5 million previous May and 1.2 million in April 2018. These datasets show the number of people engaged in the share market is increasing by the day. The fastest growing investor segment is comprised of those aged 20-30.

Pramod Khanal, an employee with broker Number 40, says that the number of young investors in the share market increased drastically after 2015-16. Before that, the 20-30 age segment comprised only 5-10 percent of all investors. Now the proportion has climbed to 25-30 percent. “Most recently, the covid pandemic has brought countless first-time investors into the Nepali share market.”

Kabita Shah, 24, a student of agriculture in Kathmandu, says she first got involved in the share market indirectly through her relatives’ accounts two years ago. “Once I was at a bank and was absolutely fascinated by a big throng that had descended to the place to invest in an IPO,” she recalls. She then started actively researching markets.

Kabita Shah

Shah says the share market is the perfect illustration of her life motto: “Work smart, not hard.” As a student, Shah rued having to depend on her parents for every single rupee. “So I thought, why not invest a little of own savings and make some money on my own?”

Santosh Sapkota, 30, from Kavre, says it has been seven years since he took the plunge. For him, it has since been a career-defining move. “This is how I hope to make my living,” he says. Sapkota these days spends most of his time investing, trading, technical analysis, and studying market behavior. 

Santosh Sapkota

Narayan Aryal, 23, from Palpa, for his part, considered the share market the perfect investment avenue for his middle-income family. When he started trading shares 3-4 years ago, most of his other family members were already in it.

Narayan Aryal

Manju Magar, 27, a secondary school teacher in Kathmandu, joined the frenzy eight months ago following a long research. Magar had heard a lot about the share market from her parents. “I had practically nothing to do during the pandemic-induced lockdown. I decided to join the share market with the belief that I could make some money on the side without having to exert myself too much,” she says. 

Manju Magar

Similarly, Rubi Suwal, 28, an accountant from Bhaktapur, has been trading shares for five years. He says he was interested when he heard of his friends and relatives buying expensive homes and vehicles with the income from the share market.

Junu Karki, 26, recently started investing in the share market as well, even though she is not very active. She says it was her husband, an active investor, who got her interested.

Junu Karki

For Laxmi Bahadur Pachhai, 25, from Jumla, who is himself a student of finance, the inspiration was his college seniors who just could not stop talking about the market. He also thinks it’s a good way to make money. 

Laxmi Bahadur Pachhai

Most responders APEX talked to said that though they were in it largely to make money, they were also enjoying the learning process.

Manju Magar says that investing is also an art, and that without patience and risk tolerance, you could soon lose all your money. “People lose money in the market owing to both greed and fear,” she asserts. 

Kabita Shah attributes her investment success to her rigorous research and financial analysis. 

Santosh Sapkota lost a lot at the start. He then started reading financial books and online articles on wise investing. “People think it’s easy. Actually there is a lot more to investing than choosing a company at random and putting your money into it. I learned that I needed to control my emotions and to ignore gossip if I wanted to succeed,” he suggests. 

For Narayan Aryal, “the most important thing is not to panic if your stock value decreases and not to get greedy when it spikes.”

Owing to the pandemic, the share market was closed for 98 days starting 24 March 2020. Since its resumption, the market has literally taken off.

More and more people are trading online, again partly due to the pandemic. According to NEPSE, 20.55 percent investors traded online as of August 13; the percentage had jumped to 36 percent by September 30. 

“It is on today’s youths to protect the environment,” says Tanuja Pandey, a 19-year-old law student from Kathmandu who has also been leading a youth environment protection movement for the past two years.

In her childhood, Pandey was fascinated by the eco-friendly cultures of indigenous communities of Kailali district (where she was born) and Jhapa district (where her family later migrated). “That impression stayed with me and I fell in deep love with nature,” she recalls.

Pandey grew up witnessing excessive extraction of riverbed materials, deforestation, and random road building in the otherwise environmentally rich Chure hills of Jhapa. She used to question herself time and again: What if our mountains melt? What if the Tarai gets converted into a desert? What if we become climate refugees? “The quest to find answers to these questions ultimately turned me into a climate activist,” she says.

Pandey founded Harin Nepal, on 14 April 2018, which is “still a loose youth alliance but more organized than during the starting days.” The inspiration was the ‘Fridays for Future’, an international movement of school students. When she saw that even children were acting as climate activists, she asked herself, “Why can’t I?” Thus Harin Nepal was born.

It is an alliance of environment-loving youths, with the objective of uniting the voices of Nepali youths in favor of climate justice. It also campaigns for greater environmental awareness and advocates sustainable development. And older folks are included too. “Though it is a youth-led organization, we have allowed older, intellectual people whose experience and knowledge help guide us on the right path,” says Pandey.

“Our core team has five members,” she adds, but any willing soul may join Harin Nepal that now is active on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. 

From the start, the organization focused on climate strikes and discussions on climate change. Climate strike is similar to Friday for Future. “It is like a call for action. Every Friday, we take to streets or knock on the doors of politicians and policymakers to give voice to our demands,” she explains.

These demands include declaration of climate emergency along with quick action against the contributors to climate change. In addition, the group defends the rights of indigenous groups and farmers who are on the front-line of the fight against climate change.

“We have also urged the government to rethink the Nijgadh airport project, which is lethal for the local environment,” Pandey says. “Our government cannot close its eyes and pretend everything is fine.”

According to Pandey, Harin Nepal conducts discussions on climate change among affected people, concerned authorities, and experts. Before the pandemic, schools and colleges were its preferred venues. “Now, we conduct our climate strikes and discussion programs digitally.”

Group members travel to different places spreading awareness. Recently, they visited Sindhupalchowk, a landslide-prone district in Bagmati Province. “We were there to suggest ways to minimize natural calamities by protecting the environment,” she says.

Pandey cites shortage of funds as a major issue. “Right now, we pitch in from our own pockets. Sometimes our friends abroad help as well,” she adds. It’s a tricky balance, as the organization does not want to be accused of working for vested interests. 

As it is, she adds, her climate-warriors get plenty of threats and discouragement, mostly from politicians and businessmen. The environment activists fighting the unmanaged crusher industry even get death threat. Pandey recalls how the 24-year-old Dilip Kumar Mahato of Danusha district was killed on January 10 when he protested against the illegal mining of construction materials. “Can you believe to date no one has been punished for such a heinous crime?” she asks.

Similarly, she says many politicians, including a government minister, blame Nijgadh campaigners for having a hidden agenda, being foreign agents, and hindering development. “We are ready to have a public debate on this,” she adds.

Pandey does not deny the importance of development. “We are not against development per se. We are only saying that our development process should be sustainable and climate-friendly. And our development certainly should not invite disasters,” she says.

Nepal is a disaster-prone country where floods and landslides have wreaked havoc in recent years. “The worst is yet to come if unsustainable exploitation of our nature continues unabated,” Pandey warns.

Pandey says her parents fear for her well-being as activism can sometimes be risky, as the case of Mahato suggests. Another challenge is more personal: having to juggle activism and study. “But I think I have enough willpower to pursue both simultaneously,” she adds.