Submit your Article

‘A bunch of film enthusiasts who make satirical comedy based on contemporary situations’—that’s how they describe themselves online.

YouTube channel Fun Revolution TV hit 100K subscribers earlier this year, a milestone reached eight years after its establishment. Core members Anish Jung Thapa, Nimesh Shrestha, Isha Thapa and Sanjana Maharjan are now the faces of one of the most entertaining Nepali YouTube channels—a rightful honor after countless night shoots, script rewrites, reshoots and bloopers.

The channel wasn’t always called Fun Revolution TV. In its fetal stage in 2012, they had named it Stambha Entertainment, a channel that inconsistently uploaded skits and comedy videos once in a while. It was only after they met another popular creator, SuperMandip, in 2016 that Anish Jung Thapa and Nimesh Shrestha came up with the channel name that has now garnered more than 11.3 million views. Isha Thapa and Sanjana Maharjan joined them at the end of 2017 and mid-2018, respectively.

Popular for their nuanced Nepali satires, Fun Revolution TV makes all kinds of original content, ranging from comedy skits and short films to serials and mocumentaries. Their videos are built from scratch, with their own members writing scripts, directing, producing, acting, filming and editing. All four members act. The rest of the work is divided among themselves as well.

Isha Thapa

The youngest of the team, Isha Thapa, at 21, has already been in dozens of Fun Revolution TV videos. Currently studying Bachelors in Filmmaking, Thapa sees herself acting and writing for the rest of her life.

“I grew up with films and cameras thanks to my brothers,” Thapa says, referring to her older brothers who also studied filmmaking. “And I’ve always been interested in stories—consuming them on a daily basis through anime and novels.”  Before becoming a core member of this team, she was usually seen on SuperMandip’s channel, acting in his vines.

Besides acting, Thapa is responsible for much of the scriptwriting, and resists from turning anything into content unless she can give it some newness. “We value authenticity,” she tells ApEx.

Sanjana Maharjan

Sanjana Maharjan, 25, met the team behind Fun Revolution TV during their first workshop in 2018.

“I never thought acting or video-making would be something I would do,” Maharjan shares. “But I had just finished my Bachelors in Information Management and was looking to get out of my comfort zone.”

Even before joining the YouTubers, Maharjan was a huge fan of their work. So when the opportunity knocked, she took it without hesitation. Today, she writes scripts and acts in videos for the channel.

“I’ve always been shy and had a hard time speaking in front of people; being a part of this channel has helped me a lot,” she admits.

Also read: Yozana Thapa Magar: Overcoming her nature to make people laugh

Nimesh Shrestha

Shrestha always knew that filmmaking was for him.

“I’ve always wanted to do movies,” Shrestha confesses. “And after finishing my Bachelors in Filmmaking, I started chasing it.” He worked for a few companies as a freelancing cinematographer and cameraman. He too yearned to create something of his own.

Thus he reached out to Anish Jung Thapa, and together, they started the journey. Among the fans, Shrestha is popular for his charm. Over the last few years in which the channel has garnered fans, Shrestha is known as ‘that one guy with the long hair who acts really well’.

Beyond acting, Shrestha also looks after production and business . Between editing and directing the videos, he’s also running a small business with his wife.

Anish Jung Thapa

Co-founder of Fun Revolution TV Anish Jung Thapa—a filmmaker, producer, director, writer and all in all, a man of many talents—is the one leading the channel to its height today.

At 18, Thapa was “sure” about joining the military. But luck would have him pursue filmmaking. He was aware of its limitations—unstable income, late-night/early-morning shoots and so on—yet, he found himself wanting to go on. He began a small company with Shrestha called Stambha Entertainment, which didn’t fare well financially.

After its failure, both Shrestha and Thapa pursued their passion individually—Thapa trying to sell his scripts and Shrestha freelancing. One day, they came across SuperMandip and restarted making videos for their channel. Thapa was reluctant to get back to YouTube after Stambha’s failure, but Shrestha convinced him to give it another try. In 2017, they rebranded their company.

Their growth, slow and steady, was a result of teamwork and perseverance. It took Thapa eight months to write the script of ‘Boka Haru’. But after it blew up, and the channel started getting more recognition, their hard work started paying off.

“I’ve always valued quality and originality over anything else, and I’ve instilled that notion in all my team members,” he says.  

While he is grateful for all the love Fun Revolution TV has gotten, he believes it has a long way to go.

Birth: 12 March 1936, Kolkata
Death: 11 September 2021, Battisputali

Born to the late Nepali Congress founder, political leader, and former Deputy Prime Minister of Nepal Subarna Shumsher Rana during his exile in Kolkata, businessman Rukma Shumsher Rana got his school education at The Doon School, Prince of Wales, and North Point.

Rana’s father and his uncle were fairly successful businesspersons, despite living in exile. As a result, he and his brothers lived a comfortable life. But Subarna Shumsher was worried his sons would grow up spoilt, and this prompted him to send them to boarding schools at a young age.

Rana went to St. Xavier’s College in Darjeeling for his Bachelor’s degree. He then earned his Master’s degree in Modern History from Calcutta University.

Although Rana, the youngest son of the family, grew up in India, he always knew his roots, and the family returned to Kathmandu after the restoration of democracy in Nepal in 1950.

Upon returning, he, along with his brothers, started looking for business ventures in the country. Back then, there were only a few companies in Nepal and even fewer with factories of their own. Rana invested some money in the then Hetauda Leather Factory. The venture wasn’t successful but it gave him a taste of investing in Nepal.

When he approached the Indian health care company Dabur, the executives were hesitant to step in the Nepali market. However, Rana convinced them, saying that if they wish to expand into the international market, their neighboring country should be their first choice. A decade later, Dabur went on to become one of his most successful businesses in Nepal as he was named a partner in the company and Managing Director of Dabur, Nepal. Besides this, his family also invested in real estate in Kolkata.

A diligent and hardworking man until his last breath, Rana was also interested in sports. He served as National Sports Council (NSC) member-secretary twice between 1993 and 1999. In 2003, he went on to become the chairperson of the Nepal Olympic Committee (NOC), of which he was recently appointed honorary chair. Rana served as acting president of the All Nepal Football Association (ANFA), the president of the Nepal Taekwondo Association as well as of the Nepal Athletics Association. His participation in sports often had him traveling to many countries—especially SAARC countries—and, despite the enjoyable experience, he had to spend considerable time away from his family, which he found challenging.

To him, his family’s happiness was the benchmark of success. That was the reason he considered his time away from home as a sacrifice. Nonetheless, his travels helped him establish personal networks around the world. Partly as a result, he served as Nepal’s ambassador to India from 2009 to 2011.

His father had once advised him that other’s opinions shouldn’t matter because you know what you are and no one can take that from you. Rana only took offense when people questioned his intelligence. He was an open-minded, communicative, and well-respected businessman who treated others well and expected to be treated the same way in return.

Rana was battling kidney-related ailments, diabetes, and hypertension for some years and had been undergoing dialysis after a kidney transplant when, on September 11, he suddenly suffered health complications at night. He passed away at his residence at Battisputali. He is survived by his wife and a daughter.

Lakshya lives in a rented apartment in the national capital with his wife. On occasion, he visits his parents who have their own home nearby. In his article for the online news portal KMAG, of which he’s also the founder, he writes of how leaving home to raise children with their own set of values is a practice as old as humanity. His article got a lot of reaction on social media, especially from 20-somethings Kathmanduties who found solace in his words.

Akash Dahal, 23, manager at KAT Centre Nepal, was one of them. “There is a large generation gap between us and our parents. We’re always told to adjust our lifestyle to theirs,” he says. “When we should be figuring out life, we also have to include our parents and consider what they think about our choices. It’s just additional stress.”

Moving out of parents’ homes isn’t a new thing in urban cities of Nepal. We’ve all witnessed joint families breaking up after a son decides to move into his own home to start his family. Nuclear families have been around for decades now. And many young people live alone to live independently.

When Suprabha Bhusal, 23, a radio presenter at Radio Nagarik, started staying at a girls’ hostel, it was purely out of necessity. Her parents had moved to India and despite having a house in New Baneswor, she wasn’t sure that she could handle the responsibility.

But after two years in the hostel, Bhusal is confident that even if her parents move back, she won’t live with them again. “You become responsible and start figuring things out for yourself,” she tells ApEx. “I didn’t know the real value of money until I started living away from my family. I never understood the importance of having a career, diversifying income sources, eating healthy, and saving before I became financially independent.” Bhusal believes the past two years have taught her far too many things for her to go back to living with her family.

Theory and practice

But some are hesitant, not because they don’t want to be independent, but because they don’t know how to take the first step. Twenty-one-year-old computer engineering student Aagab Pant says that while the idea of moving out sounds great in theory, with no proper education or experience to meet his financial needs, it’s also impractical. “Yes, while living with your parents, it’s sometimes difficult to navigate the generation gap and you don’t have as much freedom as you could have by living alone. But being able to focus on studies without having to worry about money—is that such a bad deal?”

Seconding his statement is 17-year-old Smriti Roka. “Without work experience, we will probably end up doing labor jobs or working in customer service, which wouldn’t be a problem if we had dignity of labor,” she says. “Young people can’t be expected to work in low-paying jobs with no benefits while also doing well academically and maintaining sound mental health.”

But even with stable, better-paying jobs, leaving home isn’t easy. Says Yasaswi Dhungel, 29, senior field officer at CREPHA, an environment-related NGO, “Circumstances change as you grow older. You can’t afford to be as naïve and carefree as you were in your early 20s,” he says. “In a city like Kathmandu, it’s difficult to find a good place to stay independently without spending a large chunk of your salary on rent. It's better to discuss the option of having a floor for yourself rather than leaving home completely.”

There are also those like Rozina Baral, copywriter at eCdemy Nepal, who would rather go abroad. “I want to move out, I want to experience life on my own terms and face the burden of my responsibilities alone, but I can’t do that here,” she says. Baral, 24, who’s living with her mother in a rented home in Shantinagar, is already paying her share of the bills. But going abroad, she reckons, would help her be more self-dependent.

18 and free

“Nepalis have the habit of cuddling their children and turning their families into a safety net,” she says. “No matter how old you are, you stay home with your parents, where you will always be the child,” Baral says. By the time you learn to think, you also have to think for the rest of your family, your spouse, your children, their children. “Look at the people in developed countries!” she says. “They learn to be self-sufficient by 18. No wonder they’re so far ahead. Most of us here haven’t even learned how to look after ourselves by our mid-20s.”

Darshan Parajuli, a student at Asian College of Journalism, agrees with Baral. As a 27-year-old who’s lived in Kathmandu since he gave his SLC exams in 2011, he believes going abroad is a good choice. “I’ve had friends over the years who left the country and returned as completely different people. Being responsible for yourself comes with challenges and it changes your perspective too,” he says. “However, independence shouldn’t be your only intent for leaving. Go out to explore and learn—freedom will come with it.”

Sapkota, however, says that everything the West has to offer, we can find in our own country. “There are opportunities here,” he says. “You just have to know your way around the society.”

Says Rojisha Shahi Thakuri, a psychologist at Healthy Minds Nepal, “In my personal opinion, the culture of staying in a joint family, or staying with your parents doesn’t mean you can’t be successful as a person, or as a country.” She gives the example of Japan, the East-Asian country that is similar to us in family dynamics and yet has achieved global dominance.

“Understandably, many young people want to move out of their homes,” she continues. “This generation is largely aware of the significance of mental health and understands that the home environment deeply affects our quality of life.” Family issues are one of the most discussed subjects among her own clients, Thakuri shares. Youths today know they don’t have to stay in unbearable circumstances that jeopardize their mental wellbeing, she further adds, they understand the dehumanization that comes with toxic relationships with family members and they’re more outspoken about it.

They’re also more open about exploring newer ideas, which is where the Western influence comes in. It is not imperative that you move away unless the environment is extremely toxic, Thakuri says. Address the issue and communicate with family rather than leaving impulsively. Running away to a different country for independence is counterproductive for mental health. “Moving isn’t going to magically solve all your problems. You have to deal with the loneliness that comes with it. You can’t be impulsive with life-changing choices.” 

This is why Dahal says he wants to move out only when he is financially stable. “Family is necessary, no one is saying it isn’t,” says Dahal. “But they can be just as important from a distance. We can look after our parents and explore our lives at the same time.”

Moving doesn’t mean we love our parents any less, Sapkota adds: “If I can be in Australia and my love for my parents isn’t questioned, why is my love questioned if I’m living a few miles away?”

A growing majority

In a survey among 30 individuals in their 20s, ApEx asked if Nepalis should also adopt the culture of children moving out at 18. Twenty of them replied in the negative while 10 were all for it.

But when asked if they wanted to move out of their parent’s house and live independently, three answered ‘maybe’, five answered ‘no’, and 22 said ‘yes’. Lastly, asked whether they will be living away from family if they are financially stable, seven voted ‘no’ and 23 voted ‘yes’.

Minesh Ghimire, assistant professor of sociology at Tribhuwan University, says that one reason why parents are so insecure about their children leaving is because of the absence of social security for older folks. “Old-age homes are frowned upon,” he says. “And parents, rather than saving money for their retirement, tend to spend it all on their children.”

While the culture of moving out at 18, or moving out at all, is a western idea that we’ve imitated as a result of globalization, it isn’t completely without logic. “Our children will learn how to be self-sufficient and responsible at a young age if they know there’s no safety net to cover their old age,” Ghimire says. But many parents here have the idea that ‘if I struggle and help my child be the best, they will take care of me when I’m old’, and that puts the child under pressure. “The child, knowing that they’ll have to take care of their parents until their death, already feels bogged down by this responsibility and is desperate to escape.”

Sapkota says parents should not consider their children’s decision to move out as a betrayal. “If someone were to move to Kathmandu from Jhapa in search of a better life, would their parents feel betrayed? How is it any different when youths in Kathmandu want to do the same?” he asks. “No one should feel trapped in their own homes,” he says.

When Nepal Idol Season 4 announced a new panel of judges on August 20, Subani Moktan wasn’t that surprised at being picked as one.

“When I got a call that I had been shortlisted for the judge panel, I kind of expected to get it,” Moktan says.

And she did. On August 20, the show’s producers announced she’d be the female judge replacing Indira Joshi in the singing competition, and would sit in the panel alongside Shambhujit Baskota and Sugam Pokharel. While the sudden change came as a surprise to many fans, it was hard to question Moktan’s entry into the core team.

Not only did Moktan grow up in one of Nepal’s illustrious most musical families—she’s the daughter of Sila Bahadur Moktan (a musician and lyricist) and Kunti Moktan (the famed singer)—she’s also an accomplished musician, singer, songwriter, and arranger in her own right. Subani has lent her voice to countless projects, including movies and music videos. Oh, and she is also the voice heard on NCell’s intercept messages.

Moktan, who started learning piano at six and won the All Nepal Singing Competition organized by Bal Mandir aged seven and got to record her first song at Radio Nepal as the prize. She always knew music would play a big part in her life.

“I’ve always been a singer, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to pursue it as a career,” she tells ApEx. This is why she completed her Bachelors’ in Business Studies and her Masters’ in Business Administration. After thinking about it for a while, she then enrolled into another Bachelors’ degree program in music, this time with the Indira Gandhi National Open University’s School of Performing and Visual Arts.

She studied at Kathmandu Jazz Conservatory (KJC) before she started teaching piano there. Unbeknownst to her, her years at KJC would shape her as a musician and a teacher.

After winning the Hits FM Music Award for Best New Artist at 16 and another award for Best Pop Vocal Performance: Female, she worked as an RJ and a VJ, hosting a weekly talk show where she invited Nepali musicians for long chats.

Today, she also works as a writer/assistant editor at Genius Reads, a bookselling company that also makes its own book summaries for buyers.

Moktan always knew that had she chosen not to pursue a career in music she would have been a businesswoman, who would then somehow have found a way to incorporate music into her career. “I probably would have opened a music store, or a franchise.”

But the singer has found another way to share her love for music—by passing on her passion to the next generation of musicians. Right now, Moktan is the proud owner and founder of Keerti Academy, a music school targeted at young children.

“We teach everything from guitar, piano, violin and have lessons on Western and Eastern voice, jazz, choir, and even personality development,” she shares. “Even though it’s mostly for kids, we also have a handful of adults coming in for lessons, who are always welcome.”

Moktan’s schedule is packed right as she works on these various projects while still maintaining a healthy life balance at home with her family and her dog, Muffin.  Shooting for Nepal Idol’s new season hasn’t yet started, but Moktan is gearing up.

She says she is looking forward to public reaction to her inclusion in the judge panel. Even though Moktan has been a part of the Nepali music industry for the past 15 years, she doesn’t know much about how the public sees her.

“Nepal Idol is a huge platform, not just for the contestants but also for the judges,” Moktan tells ApEx. “I have very big shoes to fill. I even sent Indira didi a text as soon as I got the position saying that I’m in no way trying to be her and was rather hoping for her guidance. And she was very supportive in her replies as well.”

But Joshi has warned her that with exposure, the singer might also get a lot of backlash from the audience who may not agree with her judgment. “But I’ll only understand this after the show,” Moktan says. “I hope I will be a good judge, and that I will be able to apply those judgments to my own music.”

Moktan is also working on another song, which will be out in October or November, and a big ‘religious project’ that she doesn’t want to reveal just yet.

“I hope that I can grow musically and that the audience will get to witness my growth over the next five years,” Moktan says. “My mother ruled the Nepali music scene during her time, and I hope to continue her legacy.”

Birth: February 1947, Dhanusha
Death: 23 August 2021, Lalitpur 

Even at the age of 74, Biswanath Prasad Upadhyaya didn’t seem to need rest. His colleagues say he’d always been that way. Born in Hariharpur, Dhanusha, Upadhyaya was thus one of the most hardworking and philanthropic lawyers.

Upadhyaya completed his schooling at Chandrodaya Madhyamik Bidhyalaya. A fairly good student, he tried his hands at journalism before stepping into the field of law.

In his journalism career, Upadhyaya worked until 1971 for a newspaper called ‘Nirmal’ and had become an integral part of its editorial team when he was only 24. But the paper soon shut down due to legal issues and Upadhyaya was forced to discover his other passion besides writing.

When the newspaper’s publication stopped, Upadhyaya went to Janakpur and studied to become a lawyer. Back then there was a popular law firm (Laxmi Bahadur Niraula’s Firm) in the city, where Upadhyaya would also learn the ropes in the field of law. He worked there until the late 1970s before opening his own law firm.

Upadhyaya was an active member of the CPN-UML and he even worked as a lawyer for his various party comrades.

Upadhyaya wasn’t a big foodie—he relished typical Nepali meals. He was also strict about not drinking or smoking. He nonetheless suffered from persistent hypertension. Known as one of the friendliest and most diligent lawyers in Janakpur, he was also an avid traveler.

He considered his work to be his greatest legacy, which is why he regularly participated in social work and charity events. One of the lawyer’s greatest contributions was a dharmashala that he established in Narayani, Chitwan.

He and his wife had sold off their property in Janakpur and had been residing in New Baneshwor for the past three years. He recently had to go to Siraha to handle property matters and had been staying there when he fell in the bathroom and hit his head.

He suffered brain damage and was admitted to Mediciti Hospital for treatment. But his condition only worsened and he died on 23 August, at the age of 74. He is survived by his wife.

Avinas Man Napit was in his first year of college studying business when he was offered an internship at a TV channel in Kathmandu. His mother ran a cafeteria in the media house’s building and Napit used to visit her there after class.

“I had always been into drawing and used to doodle when I got bored,” Napit says. “One of the designers from Avenues TV, Sagun Manandhar, saw my sketches and offered to teach me motion graphics.” Thus began Napit’s journey in the field of motion graphics.

But he dropped out during his first year of internship and then worked for ad agencies until the first Covid-19 lockdown. The quarantine blues had him uploading videos on TikTok.

It wasn’t that Napit wasn’t a part of the TikTok community before. His uploads, while inconsistent, focused more on dance. A self-taught choreographer, Napit found the video-sharing platform to be a great exposure opportunity.

But it was his visual effects and motion graphic designs that made him viral. In April 2020, he uploaded his first edited video, which garnered more than 51,000 views—almost five times more than his earlier videos. Witnessing this sudden growth, he started uploading more, slowly getting more love and appreciation from Nepali audiences that had only seen these kinds of designs done by foreign artists.

“It’s not strange to believe these things can’t be done in Nepal,” he says. “When I first joined Avenues TV, I too was surprised to find many talented creators doing motion designs with ease. I always thought that media houses outsourced from developed countries. But many creators here in Nepal never get the recognition they so rightly deserve.”

Luckily, Napit isn’t one of them. With more than 173,900 followers on Tiktok, on average, he gets around 200,000 views a video. A big fan of the Marvel superhero movies, Napit’s Marvel motion graphic videos have earned him the most fans. His most popular Tiktok, with a whopping 5.3 million views and 375,000 likes, has him working behind the scenes of a superhero motion graphic edit he did.

Another TikTok with Bella Poarch’s song Build a B*tch in which Napit reenacts the singer’s music video with the help of green screen and visual effects has also had a million views.

After pushing himself to create more content, Napit’s following has been growing at speed and the visual effect artist’s YouTube channel is gaining traction despite his infrequent uploads.

It takes him at least a couple of days to create a video, he says. “It’s just a 15-second clip, but editing it takes days sometimes,” he says. The time he invests also depends on the effects he uses. “Making YouTube videos takes a lot longer and calls for more commitment, which is why I haven’t been as consistent there.”

With a full-time job at Kreativnepa, doing freelance motion graphic work, and often handling projects at Unx Studio—a dance studio at Nayabazar, Sorahkhutte he opened with his friends before the first lockdown—Napit has his hands full.

Continuing doing Tiktok has been difficult, but he’s determined to not let his page die. “Sometimes I shoot videos at one in the morning, edit them until 4-5 am, and then go to sleep,” he confesses. “I wake up, go to work, come home and continue editing until it’s complete. Sometimes I have off days—so that works in my favor too.”

Napit isn’t just compromising his physical health for his career. With a large fan following, he also gets hate comments that used to earlier take a toll on his mental health. “I’ve learned to filter the negative part of this,” he says. “But when I was just starting, it did get to me.”

On the other side of the coin, Napit has learned that there is a large mass of young people in Nepal who are curious about motion graphic designing. His TikToks that show the behind-the-scenes of his viral clips sometimes get more engagement than the actual videos. This also shows that his audience is willing to learn how these edits are made and what tools are required to create good visual effects on videos.

“I see a bright future for this field in Nepal,” Napit tells ApEx. “There are many creative minds out there, we just need to foster them and give them better exposure.”

When Raju Shakya first landed in Melbourne, Australia, at the age of 20, there were only a handful of Nepalis living there. Living in a close-knit community determined to help each other in a foreign land, Shakya started making connections with people from his homeland.

He participated in countless community activities like NRNA programs, team building campaigns to traditional music festivals and Nepali movie marathons. Shortly, Shakya, who went to Melbourne to study information technology, became a prolific member of the small community of Nepalis there.

Being active in these groups kept him connected to his roots and even made him more passionate about his own culture. “My life was pretty boring after I graduated in 1997,” Shakya tells ApEx. “I worked for a software company as a programmer and project manager and got to travel around the world for my work—but something was missing.”

He continued doing community work right through his 15-year career as a software programmer. Strangely, only during these moments with people from his homeland did he feel a sense of joy. “People always say that your love for your country amplifies after you leave it—I can say that’s true,” Shakya says. “I loved all things Nepali—the movies, the music, and especially the food.”

But being allowed to showcase Nepali culture and indulging in it during community festivals were not enough for Shakya. So he opened Solangture (shorthand for ‘society, language, and culture’) with his friends Ranjan Vaidhya and Sudir Shakya.

Popular among Australians for its yearly Nepali music and food festivals, Solangture has made a name for itself with its local momo-eating contests.

“When we organized our first festival in 2017, we were shocked to see thousands of people in attendance,” he confesses. By 2017, a considerable number of Nepalis had migrated to Australia. What Shakya and his team hadn’t anticipated was that almost 40-50 percent of them were dying to get a taste of Nepal.

“We often underestimate the value of our culture,” the businessman says. “Everyone recognizes gyoza as Japanese dumpling, and bao as Chinese dumpling—but momo is rarely talked about, even when there is such a large market for it.”

This, Shakya says, is our fault, at least in part. “I see countless Nepali restaurants around Melbourne that claim they’re serving authentic Nepali cuisines but when you enter them you find they offer both Nepali and Indian dishes,” he says. This confuses people who are unfamiliar with our country, he adds, making them believe that Nepali cuisine has nothing unique to offer.

Nepali businessmen in foreign lands are afraid to embrace their uniqueness and instead place a safety net on their businesses—especially when it comes to food. And this has prevented the actual taste of Nepal from getting the love and recognition that it deserves.

When Shakya continued with the music and food festivals in 2018 and 2019, he saw even more interest, with almost 30,000 people attending the festival in three days each year. Solangture served its guests momo and brought in popular artists like Kutumbha to perform Nepali numbers.

But with the involvement of an unprecedented number of people also came complaints—mostly concerning the festival facilities. “Every year we tried to improve the facilities, and each time we were greeted with more people than we anticipated,” Shakya says.

Solangture was gearing up for the 2020 festival—which they were planning to hold not just in Melbourne, but also in Sydney and Brisbane—when Covid-19 pandemic halted their plans.

“We were still trying to find ways to serve quality momo to our customers when the lockdown started,” Shakya says. But in June 2020, Solangture started Momo Kingdom—an online shop to order frozen momo in Melbourne.

Within a few months of its establishment, Momo Kingdom was overwhelmed with orders. So Solangture came up with a system in which the staff make momo throughout the week but deliver them only on weekends. Yet, just during these two days, there are at least 50 orders from all over Melbourne. After seeing an increase in demand, the company has also diversified its menu, adding buff sukuti, goat meat, choila, fokso fry, bhutan, and chowmein to the list.

Solangture had to hire four additional staff just so they could cover the entire city. Aside from Nepalis, Solangture also finds itself delivering to other South Asians and Australians in Melbourne.

“Momo Kingdom isn’t exactly a restaurant and we are yet to decide what we’re going to do with it,” Shakya says. “But our goal remains the same: promoting Nepal’s authentic taste around the world.”

Nepalis are no strangers to back aches. Yet seldom do they seek effective remedy before it is late and the innocuous aches morph into serious concerns. Nor does their attention go to preventing any such pain in the first place, by maintaining the right sitting posture for instance.  

Aziz Shrestha, 38, owner of BackJoy Nepal, was a victim of this ingrained habit. Shrestha suffered from a back issue as the second vertebrae of his spine wasn’t producing enough fluid for smooth spinal functioning. As a result, he found it hard to sit still for long. Physiotherapy helped him only a bit and he soon found himself scouring the market for products to help him. But he didn’t find any.

Then, during one of his trips to Thailand, a friend of his introduced him to SitSmart, an innovative American “sitting device”. SitSmart pushes the body to a mechanically correct posture by activating core muscles, tilting the pelvis forward, and allowing your spine to obtain the natural S-curve that relieves back pain. It supports your gluteus in a way that isn’t invasive and lowers the pressure on your tailbone.

It is designed specially to ease the pain of those with lower back aches and slouching issues; the product prevents spinal pressure and signals your body to sit up straight.

When he tried it, SitSmart took the pain off Shrestha’s back. On returning to Nepal, he realized how most Nepalis were unaware of a fairly affordable device that could prevent unnecessary suffering. Shrestha, together with his wife, Sadichhya, 33, espied a business opportunity and took the plunge.

They officially launched BackJoy Nepal at the end of 2019 and even opened a store for it. Business had just started trickling in when the Covid-19 pandemic hit. “During the first lockdown, our store was completely shut,” he tells ApEx.

The company then decided to go online, and Instagram and Facebook pages became their main medium for marketing and advertising. The devices were also made available on Daraz. Their products include SitzRight Seat Cushion, Inflight Neck Pillow, Perfect Fit Lumbar Support, Trigger Point Relief, Adjustable Massage Balls, FeelGood Kneeler, StandRight Comfort Shoes, and the aforementioned bestseller SitSmart.

Sales of SitSmart were fairly smooth even during the lockdown. As many were spending hours working on a desk inside their homes, complaining of body aches as they had no place to go except to the other room, the company advertised SitSmart as a work-from-home essential.  

In Shrestha’s experience, customers usually buy BackJoy’s SitSmart products for family members, mostly parents and grandparents who suffer from back pain. However, due to the device’s versatility and functionality, it isn’t just useful for the elderly or the sick. According to the company’s official website, SitSmart doesn’t just help with lower back pain, but also with back injuries, herniated discs, degenerated discs, compressed discs, hip injuries, neck/cervical pain, and sciatica, among other disorders. Effective for anyone between 55-135 kg, office workers also use it to instill correct posture habits and prevent future back issues. 

BackJoy Nepal’s products start at Rs 2,000. The SitSmart products vary in price, in line with their usefulness and material used. The venture offers four different kinds: Posture Core, Core Traction, Posture Plus, and SitzRight. The cheapest starts at Rs 4,500 while the most expensive one will set you back by Rs 7,500.

As these aren’t the things every Nepali household can buy for every family member and as they are usually bought one at a time, Shrestha wanted to make sure that people knew what they’re investing in. This is why BackJoy Nepal is also sending out SitSmart samples to potential customers before they purchase the product.

“Everyone who has approached us for samples has ended up buying,” Shrestha says. “There were a few who came back to return them—but it was so they could get a better version of SitSmart, and not for a refund.”

Samples and bought goods are delivered after orders from Instagram and Daraz. BackJoy Nepal’s products are directly shipped from Singapore, where BackJoy’s Asian headquarters are located, and prices of all products are consistent with prices across Asia.

So far, the biggest contributor to business has been through word-of-mouth recommendations. However, BackJoy Nepal is set to expand its clientele and the owner is in talks with popular malls around Kathmandu to set up shops.

“If things go as planned, more Nepalis can easily access these chiropractors and experts- approved products,” Shrestha says.