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Senior communist leader Krishna Raj Burma, who died last month at the age of 93, had played a significant role against the autocratic Rana regime and the partyless Panchayat system. 

Born in Saptari district to an ordinary farming family, Burma learned to read and write from his father, who hailed from Nuwakot district, and later studied in local school. Originally of the Khanal caste, it was his father who had adopted the family surname ‘Burma’.

Burma had a political awakening while working as a schoolteacher during the Rana regime. He had said in an interview that his decision to be part of the anti-Rana movement was inspired by the political literature he had read while working as a teacher. He was only 17 at the time.

At the height of the 1951 democratic movement, Burma left his home to be a part of the revolution. He joined the underground revolutionaries in India where he met leaders like Gajendra Narayan Singh.  

After spending some time in India, Burma returned to Nepal and started mobilizing political activists in Spatari. To resist the Ranas, he formed a loose group of youths from farming and working class backgrounds. 

Burma joined the communist party only after the Ranas were ousted from power.  

According to his own account, though he had joined the anti-Rana movement led by the Nepali Congress, he had joined the cause only to topple the autocratic regime. He had no qualms about joining the communist party.  

As a communist leader, Burma had several run-ins with the Panchayat government and was jailed multiple times. Burma said in an interview that he spent his prison life reading newspapers and books.     

He was initially associated with the Communist Party of Nepal, which later split to become the Communist Party of Nepal (Rayamajhi Group), led by Keshar Jung Rayamajhi. 

Burma was one of the party’s five politburo members. The other members were Rayamajhi, Bishnu Bahadur Manandhar, Kamar Shah and Krishna Prasad Shrestha. Another party leader Manmohan Adhikari, who went on to become Nepal’s first communist prime minister, was in prison at the time.

The party, however, underwent many divisions during the Panchayat-era, and Burma formed his own party, the Communist Party of Nepal (Burma). His party was part of the ‘Unified Left Front’ during the 1990 people’s movement. 

The party merged with the Communist Party of Nepal (United) after the 1991 parliamentary elections, only to split again and reform the old group. In 2001, Burma’s party merged with the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist). 

Besides politics, Burma was also interested in reading and writing. He has written a book on the political movement in Tarai titled ‘Madhes Ra Madhesi Aandolan’. 

Communist leaders remembered Burma as a great hero whose contributions shaped Nepal’s social-democratic and communist movement.  

Burma had for long been suffering from a nerve disease. Lately, he was being treated for pneumonia in Hams Hospital, Kathmandu when he passed away. He is survived by his wife and their three sons and three daughters. 

Birth: 1929, Saptari

Death: 3 March 2022, Kathmandu  

Radheshyam Saraf, luxury hotel pioneer of Nepal who established Yak & Yeti and Hyatt Regency in Kathmandu, passed away on March 22. He was 92. Born in the city of Guwahati in the Indian state of Assam, Saraf made his name and fortune in Nepal.  

Saraf, who lost his father at the age of 12, entered the world of business after moving to Kalimpong, West Bengal. In 1947, he and his brothers inherited their aunt’s trading business—when Saraf was only 17.

The brothers traveled through the Himalayan region selling goods like clothes, watches, cement and steel to Tibetan traders and customers. They later expanded their trade to Kolkata and Sikkim in India as well as in Bhutan.

Saraf wanted to travel far and wide from a young age. He loved visiting new places and learning about foreign cultures and traditions and had developed a special love for Tibetan culture and language.

In 1963, he moved to Kathmandu, which would become his home for the rest of his life. Within six years of his arrival, Saraf was trading internationally in countries like Korea, China and Japan.

He launched Hotel Yak & Yeti in Kathmandu in 1977, in what was the first World Bank-funded private-sector project in Nepal. Saraf also founded Asian Hotels Ltd. and Saraf Hotel Enterprises, both consortiums involved in hospitality and tourism around the world.

Saraf Hotel Enterprises initiated the opening of Hyatt Regency in New Delhi, India, in 1980. Then, in 1996, the group also launched the construction of The Grand, New Delhi, which was known as Grand Hyatt New Delhi then. The construction of Hyatt Regency, Kathmandu, began in 1997.

The group also opened Hyatt hotels in Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Raipur in India.

In over seven decades of his career, Saraf played a significant role in bringing foreign investment to Nepal through his contributions in hospitality and tourism. He was twice conferred the Gorkha Dakshin Bahu—first by king Birendra and later by king Gyanendra—for his works.

Saraf was a noted educationist as well, founding the Modern Indian School at Chobhar, Kathmandu in 1979. Today, the school is considered one of the best in Kathmandu valley.

Saraf had been suffering from some health issues of late and was being treated at Medanta Hospital in New Delhi, India, where he died of a cardiac arrest. His body was brought to Kathmandu and cremated at the Pashupati Aryaghat.

He is survived by his wife and their two sons and three daughters.

Born: 13 October 1930, Guwahati, India

Death: 22 March 2022, New Delhi, India

The Russia-Ukraine conflict has driven up global fuel prices. Petrol price in Nepal has reached Rs155 a liter while a liter of diesel costs Rs138. Looking at the current trend, with no sign of a letup in the war, oil prices are expected to further increase. Priyanjali Karn of ApEx talked to Chandan Sapkota, an economist, on Nepal’s oil dependence and the national economy’s future.

How does the hike in fuel prices increase overall inflation?

Twenty percent of our total import is petroleum products. So whenever fuel prices go up, it has a ripple effect throughout the market. Higher oil prices lead to higher transport costs. This, in turn, drives up the prices of goods and agricultural products, again because of high transport fares. And the same applies to airline and public vehicle fares. 

Likewise, plants and factories rely on generators for production if they do not have adequate voltage to operate. They need fuel for this. Increase in petroleum prices, therefore, could also affect their production cost.

Fuel is connected to every industrial sector and to our everyday life, so the increase in its price directly contributes to inflation.

Nepal Oil Corporation has declared itself bankrupt. What is the government role here?

The corporation is a government-owned agency. So, whatever happens to it, the government has to bear the cost. This means that its losses will have to be covered by the taxpayers’ money.

Until 2014, the corporation was at a loss. Later, even when the fuel prices had decreased in the international market, it didn’t decrease the rates in Nepal, raking in additional profits. Still, it has continued to be at loss.

The rate at which the NOC sells petrol is much lower than the rate at which it buys. This has also resulted in an enormous debt. It is up to the government to rescue the state oil monopoly. 

How is the Russia-Ukraine war affecting our oil prices?

Russia produces 12 percent of the world’s oil, and Ukraine 5.2 percent. No other countries can replace what these countries provide to the world. So the Russia-Ukraine war directly affects global petroleum prices.

How can Nepal reduce its dependence on fossil fuels?

The best solution is to opt for a green economic recovery. We have the resources for this too. This is also the right time to transition to a green economy.

To decrease our dependence on petroleum, the government should think of ways to make electricity cheaper. This can be done by improving supply chains and transmission lines, by reducing taxes, and by opening more charging stations. 

This will not only be a better and cheaper alternative to petroleum products but also help our environment.

How do you envision our economy’s future?

Our economy is in a difficult position. Fuel links almost all sectors, and we have too many problems at the same time. And with the elections coming up, economic activities may further slow down. 

Recovering from this loss is a long-term process and a lot needs to be taken into account. Tourism is slowly picking up, but not much compared to the pre-pandemic level. Our private sectors are also weak at the moment owing to high interests on loans. It is hard to have high expectations when it comes to economic prosperity. 

But we have the right ingredients to fix the economy. We have the resources to replace petroleum products. 

Aditi and Harry Goyal, couple and co-founders of e-learning platform Learn Infinity, grew up frustrated with the Nepali education system. 

Aditi Goyal was 16 when she was expelled from her high school six months before the board exams. She turned to YouTube and other online education sites to prepare for the test. She aced the finals with flying colors, scoring 96 percent. The experience only reinforced her belief that the country’s education system was deeply flawed.    

Harry had this revelation while working as a teacher. He noticed that students were being taught outdated syllabus from which they had little to benefit in future. He didn’t like the way Nepali education system prioritized exam grades over knowledge and skills.   

When the couple met they learned how they both shared a common view about education in Nepal, that it didn’t prepare students for life. Thus began their mission to improve the teaching-learning quality. 

Learn Infinity is an online platform that offers various courses, training and mentorship for students as well as for professionals.

“We offer skills and lessons that are actually useful,” says Aditi.

The courses the platform offers include the subjects that aren’t taught in schools and skills like personal finance, leadership, communication and storytelling. It also has a host of lessons on designing, illustration, presentations and many more.

The price of signing up for these courses range from Rs 1,200 to Rs 5,000. On average, a course includes around 8 to 12 sessions, each spanning from 60 to 90 minutes.

“We regularly update the lessons and courses based on the needs of our target group,” says Harry.

Learn Infinity was launched in July 2020 amid the Covid-19 pandemic and it was an instant success.  

As co-founders, Aditi’s focus is on providing the students with courses and modules that promote their overall growth not just in academics, and Harry’s role is to identify student needs and create engaging lessons. The company also has 15 other staff members who design courses.

Learn Infinity also provides special package courses called for schools and companies that cater to the needs of students and company employees.

The idea behind these special courses came when the company was tapped by WASH Alliance, a European organization working in the field of water, sanitation and hygiene, to develop an online course, which is now being used in countries like Bangladesh, Ethiopia and Uganda. 

With their success with WASH, the company introduced similar training packages targeting Nepali companies and schools. It started with a program designed to offer emotional guidance and mentorship to school children.

“I was shocked seeing how badly today’s teenagers need guidance just to get them through their daily lives,” says Aditi. “There are 13 year olds who are dealing with self harm issues and living with emotional traumas.”

She says the mentorship program has helped many children. Learn Infinity has provided its services to Euro School, Sanskriti International School, Euro School Chhauni, Kathmandu World School, Malpi Institute, Aksharaa School and many more. It has also worked with various corporate houses and companies in Kathmandu valley.

“Learning and development were not the priority of Nepali companies in the past. But that is slowly changing,” Harry says.

“Online training courses benefit trainees as well as the companies they work for. They are cost- and time-effective, and they are easily accessible.”

Within a short span of time, Learn Infinity has offered its services to more than 2,000 people and collaborated with dozens of schools and companies. When the company was just six months old, it won the ‘Best International Startup in South Asia’ in a contest organized by Lemon Ideas of India. It was also awarded for innovation by the Nepal Chamber of Commerce. Similarly, Aditi was honored with ‘Summit Woman of the Year 2021’ under entrepreneurship category by Open Space Network.  

Learn Infinity co-founders hope to work and collaborate with more companies and schools across the country in future.

“Our ultimate goal is to expand the e-learning market in Nepal and beyond,” says Harry.

If you are into TikTok, chances are, you have spotted this guy on your feed, showing his cooking skills in stylistic slow-motion videos.

Subash Shrestha, who goes by the username @subasx on TikTok, has racked up 911k followers. One of his recent videos clocked 177 million views and 8.2 million likes.

Son of a restaurateur couple, Shrestha is a trained chef who’s worked in Abu Dhabi and Macao. He fell in love with cooking when he was a young boy, having spent most of his childhood in his family restaurant and at home watching cooking shows on TV.

Shrestha says he was a chubby kid who loved eating, and inspired by his parents, it didn’t take him long to learn to cook.

“I started helping out in the restaurant kitchen from the time I was a kid,” shares the now 28-year-old. “My mother loved my cooking and she used to tell me that I’d one day become a great cook.”

After completing his plus-two in computer science, Shrestha got enrolled into a Bachelor’s degree program in Information Technology. But he soon realized IT was not his cup of tea.

In 2012, he dropped out and decided to take a diploma course in cooking at Master Chef Institute, Kathmandu. At the time, says Shrestha, cooking wasn’t a common career option in Nepal. Still, he thought there was no harm in getting trained in cooking, an important life skill.

During the eight-month-long course Shrestha not only honed his culinary skills, but also discovered that cooking was the career path he wanted to pursue.

After getting his diploma, Shrestha started applying for jobs at restaurants and hotels in different countries. In 2013, he got an internship offer at Andaz Capital Gate, a five-star hotel in Abu Dhabi.

Leaving home at the age of 20 to go work in a different country was a nerve-wracking experience, says Shrestha.   

But the risk paid off. “In Abu Dhabi, I learned what it was like to be a chef,” he says. “Watching senior chefs work with such patience and love for their dishes was inspiring.”

Shrestha worked and learned the tradecraft from senior chefs at Andaz Capital Gate for two years before he got a better offer from the Dubai-based Somewhere Hotel. There, he only worked for only six months but still learned a lot about Italian and Mediterranean dishes. Shrestha then worked at the Marriott Hotel for two years.

“Working in many places in Abu Dhabi taught me a lot. I got to learn, explore and experiment with different dishes, which would have been impossible had I stayed put in a place,” he says.

Shrestha’s spirit of exploration and experimentation took him to Macao, China. He had been working at Sheraton Grand Macao Hotel for 18 months when covid hit and he had to return to Kathmandu.

It was supposed to be a two-month leave. But international lockdowns and travel restrictions wouldn’t let him leave Nepal for the next two years. And it was during the lockdown that Shrestha’s TikTok journey began. 

He utilized the lockdown period to spend more time with his friends and family and treat them with new dishes.

“The idea of creating TikTok videos started as a fun experiment with my 16-year-old neighbor, Shashin Chamling,” Shrestha says.

The first video they posted was of Shrestha making a pizza that would go on to get more than 300k likes. Neither Shrestha nor Chamling expected the video to explode on TikTok.  

“I knew there were some TikTok creators who posted cooking videos,” he says. “But we weren’t interested in making regular cooking videos. We figured entertaining food content was what the Nepali TikTok-sphere was missing, and we gave just that to people.”

Chamling, now Shrestha's creative partner, vividly remembers the day they made the first video.

“It was Dahi Chiura Khane Din and we filmed the video on pure whim,” he says. “To our surprise, it went viral.”

They duo regularly post TikTok videos @chefsubasx. Chamling says he has learned a lot about videography while creating TikTok content with Shrestha.

 “I’ve known Subash dai all my life and it is fun to be around him,” he says. 

The popularity of the TikTok channel was an eye-opener for Shrestha, who is now exploring other social media platforms like Facebook and YouTube.

Now Shrestha is planning to go to the UK to work as a professional chef. His ultimate dream is to open his own restaurant.

“As a chef, I think about how I can enhance the food we eat every day,” he says.

Cooking for people gives Shrestha great joy. It also gives him the permission to be creative. TikTok was one way of expressing his creativity that he discovered fortuitously—for which he says he is ever-so-grateful.  

Birth: 1930

Death: 6 March 2022

Hasta Bahadur Thapa, who played an important role in the establishment of Nepal Police Band, passed away on 6 March at the age of 92.

Thapa was born in a small village in Syangja district. He entered the British Army in 1949 and was the band instructor to the British Gurkha Band. In 1972, he was the assistant music director in the British Gurkha Army when Khadgajeet Baral, the then Inspector General of Nepal Police (IGP), brought him to Kathmandu to train the Nepal Police Band.

Thapa played a crucial role to train and develop the Nepal Police Band. It was under his leadership that the band started the annual Beating Retreat ceremony in 1973. Thapa had also led the band to Scotland to perform at the Annual Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo.

Thapa had served in the British Army for 28 years before joining Nepal Police. He was appointed a police inspector in 1977 at the order of the then King Birendra. He went on to serve in the police force for almost two decades before retiring as a superintendent in 1997. During his time in the force, Thapa also helped in the development of the National Police Academy School of Music.

Thapa is remembered for his contribution to modernizing the police band with the changing times, according to Senior Superintendent of Police Bishnu Kumar KC, who is also a Nepal Police spokesperson.

After retiring from the Nepal Police, Thapa was hired by the Armed Police Force (APF) to train its band. He worked as a musical instructor of the APF Band for seven years.

After working as a bandmaster and music instructor for the British Army, Nepal Police and the APF in a career spanning nearly six decades, Thapa dedicated his retired life to writing. He has written five books.

His most notable work is his autobiography ‘Mero Jiwanyatra’, where he has written about his musical journey in the security forces. In the book, he recollects his contributions to the three agencies, and about his experience traveling the world.

He passed away on the morning of 6 March from pneumonia-related complications.

Books:

*Mero Jiwanyatra (2019)

*Prathamik Sursamata Marga - part 1, 2, and 3 (2017)

*Aadharbhut Staff Notation Tatha Nepali Parva, Sanskar Ra Sanskritik Dhunharu (2017)

*Saral Sangeet Jhanmala

*Prampragat Bigul Dhun  

Suneera Regmi, Nepal’s first woman aerospace engineer, is still a rare female in a male-dominated arena.  

Regmi’s fascination with airplanes started young. Her uncle, who worked for Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC), used to take her to the airport.

“Seeing planes fly, I wondered how it was even possible,” she recalls. That curiosity would one day propel her into the rarefied field of aerospace engineering.

It was at Little Angels’ School in Hattiban, Lalitpur that she developed her love for math and physics. The two subjects, she says, helped her make sense of the world and everyday things happening all around. 

“When we were taught about gravity for the first time at school, I remember wondering how an aircraft could defy a force that tries to confine us to the ground,” says Regmi, who is now 34.

After completing school, Regmi went to India for higher education. She studied math and physics at Vivekananda Junior College in Tenali, Andhra Pradesh.

When she returned home after two years, Buddha Air had just announced a new cadet pilot training course. Regmi jumped at the opportunity and signed up for the course that also promised a guaranteed job.   

Nine trainees, including Regmi, were selected for the course. But the training was too expensive for her family. Regmi realized that her dream of becoming a pilot would not come true. But she remained unfazed and started exploring other career options within aviation.

Regmi shifted her focus and now decided to get a BTech degree in aerospace engineering. With that intent, she enrolled at the National Institute of Aeronautical Engineering in Dehradun, India.

Regmi says she was the only woman in her class to specialize in aeronautical engineering. In 2008, she returned home with her engineering degree and began an internship in the maintenance section of the NAC.

Regmi was 22 at the time. Back then, she says, Nepal’s aviation industry rarely opened job vacancies for aeronautical engineers.

“Around that time, my college friends were being hired around the world as aeronautical engineers. I, on the other hand, was working as an intern and getting increasingly hopeless,” she says.

Regmi wanted to get a license as an aviation maintenance engineer and work in the country’s aviation sector, but things were not panning out as she planned—until they did.

After interning for a year, the NAC called for a vacancy for an operational engineer, the first time it had done so in 18 years. Of the 23 applicants, Regmi was the only female.

“Even the examiner didn’t believe that I had come for the test,” Regmi says with a laugh. That was when she discovered that she was the first Nepali woman to apply for the position.

Regmi, who was 23 at the time, got the job, thus becoming her country’s first hired woman aerospace engineer. Her heart soared like a hawk when she broke into what was considered a male bastion.

“Being the only woman in the job certainly presents some challenges, but you must remember that you are a professional,” she says.  

Regmi worked as an operational engineer for five years before taking a study leave to pursue her Master’s. In 2015, she was selected for an M. Tech. course at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Mumbai, India.

Regmi completed the course and upon her return to Nepal, she was promoted to the post of senior flight operation engineer. She became the deputy director of flight operational engineering at NAC in December 2021.

Regmi worked as the only woman aeronautical engineer at the NAC for a decade before another one was hired. She wants more women to join engineering and other technical fields, where women representation—and not just in Nepal—is dismal. 

“There are still many professions that are dominated by men,” she says. “We should strive to change the concept of such gendered jobs.”

To increase the number of women professionals in technical fields, there is a need to pique the interest of girls and young women in these fields and provide them proper education, she suggests.   

“I am glad I chose this profession. My love for the job I do drives me on, to do better,” says Regmi. “I want other women to pursue their dreams too. They do come true.”

Tanka Bahadur Vishwokarma is something of a raconteur. The 28-year-old, who runs Pyuthan Dai Ko Tapari Mo:Mo in Dhobighat, Lalitpur, has many stories and anecdotes to tell. For his regular customers, his tales are an indispensable aside to the delicious momos he serves from his tiny stall.

He is a gregarious, self-assured man. And yes, he is also a karate master, who has won several medals in domestic and international tournaments. His eyes light up when the topic of his martial arts career is brought up.

Vishwokarma, who hails from Hansapur, Pyuthan, says he dreamt of becoming a fighter all his life.

“I was a feisty little boy who got into many fights,” he says. “The only thing that piqued my interest at the time was action films.”

When he was just 15, he left his home for Delhi, India, to forge a professional fighter’s life. In Delhi, he found a hotel job and signed up for a local karate class.

“I used to work all day and take karate lessons in the mornings and evenings,” he says.

Vishwokarma stayed in Delhi for three years and returned home as a karate black-belt. After coming back, he took part in a local tournament, where he won a silver medal, which he says was a great confidence-booster.    

 “I had been training hard for years, but my actual launch pad was that tournament,” he says.

After the tournament, he went on to compete in the 2013 Delhi State Karate Championship, where he won a gold medal. He also bagged gold at the third Shito-ryu Kosho Kai Karate Championship, also held in Delhi.    

Vishwokarma’s exploits in martial arts made him something of a local celebrity in his hometown. He continued to train along with other karatekas under karate master Rajendra Ojha and to compete in tournaments.

In 2016, he and his fellow team members participated in the ISKU International Karate Cup in Gujarat, which had participants from Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Mali, Algeria and Canada. Once again, Vishwokarma proved his mettle as an accomplished fighter, becoming the only Nepali player to win gold in the men’s kumite 84kg category.

At around the same time, Vishwokarma started working as a karate instructor in his hometown.

“I started with 12 students and soon the number rose to 40,” he says. “I was doing well. Even the local government had noticed my work and offered me a job as a karate teacher in local schools.” 

Vishwokarma’s students say he was a doting yet strict teacher. “He could really push you to bring out your best. Giving up was never an option when training under him,” says Sanjay Samat of Darban, Pyuthan. Samat learned karate under Vishwokarma for two years.

Many of Vishwokarma’s students have competed in several domestic and international tournaments and won gold medals.

Sushant Gain says Vishwokarma taught him that karate was a discipline of self-defense not violence.

“He was patient with his students. Always smiling, never angry,” Gain says. “I have learned a lot from him—not just karate, but also the importance of patience and non-violence—and to lead a happy and contented life.”

Vishwokarma appears content even though he is no longer pursuing his martial arts dreams. He says the life he had imagined for himself was upended by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I had no way to earn a living as the classes were closed, so I came to Kathmandu in hopes of finding a job,” he says.

Outside of teaching karate, the only job experience he had was when he worked in India as a little boy. So he heeded the suggestion of his friends and family members and jumped into the momo business. 

“It’s been nine months since I opened this shop. It’s hard work but things are looking up,” he says with his characteristic optimism. “I had never imagined that one day I would be selling momos, but here I am.”

Vishwokarma has not given up on his dream though. He still wants to do something in the field of martial arts and recently started teaching karate at a school.

“I think I have got my second wind. One day I plan to open my own karate class in Kathmandu,” he says.

Absolutely. He’s still got the fight—and age—to pursue all his dreams.