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 The first thematic production of Karman, “Klesha: Ananta Pida Ko Jal”, tries to unearth the reasons for our misery and tribulations. The play, based on rural Nepal, has chapters of the epic creation of sage Valmiki, “The Ramayana”, but without its religious aspects.
 

Writer Pratikshya Kattel tries to explore the multiple ways Ramayana fascinated her. She says she used to ask herself: What caused the bloodshed? Why did Lord Ram and Ravan play the game of life and death? Kattel arrives at the conclusion that the only reason for this hostility, and in fact all hostilities in the world, is misery.

The set features a typical Nepali terrain and the characters dress in daura suruwal and guniyo cholo. The play starts as a group of characters descend on the stage with flaming torches in their hands, accompanied by the sound of live music.

The villagers are livid with their Mahanta Devdatta (Pratik Maratha) for his unjust decision against their common daughter Kaanchi (Ruju Sharma). Kaanchi is a young Nepali girl who falls in love with Devdatta’s brother Anuj. A section of the play displays their love story; their story ends on a sad note as Anuj deceives her when she gets pregnant.

In fact, Anuj beats Kaanchi so badly that she miscarries. The pivotal character of Kaanchi does not have many dialogues and is yet able to amply express her agony through her phenomenal acting skills and expressions. Plotting on a revenge against Devdatta and his family, the villagers kidnap Bhumi (Surakshya Panta), Devdatta’s wife, who is completely unaware of what is happening around her.

The play also comprises of humorous characters like Balram (Swapnil Ghimire), who becomes the veritable Hanuman from the epic as he acts as a messenger for Devdatta and Bhumi. Vidhan (Toofan Thapa) and Jitbahadur ( Jivannath Paudel) time and again light up the mood of the auditorium.

Klesha is all about the agony of Kaanchi, the selfishness of Anuj, the ignorance of Devdatta, the innocence of Bhumi, the fury of Rudra, and the joyfulness of Balram. In the process of taking revenge, the villagers get trapped into a vicious circle. The 1h 45mins play at Mandala Theatre runs till June 23, at 5:30 pm, every day except Mondays.

 ‘Sabin Rai and the Pharaoh’ released their first studio album “Dhanyabad” this week at Tangalwood and the band’s fans can’t thank them enough for the music they’re distributing for free through Facebook and other digital music platforms.

The seven-track album is an ode to the band’s fans and supporters, the band says, and it has been made completely free to reach out more to their audience. “We do not want to reserve the album and wait for our listeners to buy it,” says Binod Lama Tamang, drummer and manager of Sabin Rai and the Pharaoh.

“We want our fans from all over the world to listen to it right now.” The band took over a year to complete the album amid their packed schedule of shows and tours, Binod informs, and all the recording, mixing and mastering was done locally in multiple studios.

In this album, Sabin Rai’s music has advanced technically and it completes his metamorphosis from a pop icon to a rock star. With accomplished musicians in the Pharaoh, Sabin’s style of singing and performing has evolved in virtuosity and the audience can feel the power he packs with the band in his recordings as well as live performances.

Comprising the Pharaoh are John Shrestha on guitars and Jeevan Lama on bass—both good students and educators of music—along with the versatile Nikesh KC on guitars, accompanied by Binod, who is one of the steadiest hands on the drums in the current music scene.

Just two and a half years of playing together as a band has brought them unprecedented success with the band already touring all over Nepal and extensively in India, UK, Bahrain and Australia. “This is the best lineup I have ever performed with,” Sabin tells APEX.

“The guys are extremely talented and supportive. We understand each other perfectly and hence have been able to give our very best in this album”.

 Amid the chaotic frenzy of Narayan Gopal chowk, Chakrapath, the Thaili Café (from Thaili, a small bag-like purse) and Lounge housed in the very first building of the main intersection (towards Basundhara) is like an oasis in the middle of a desert.

Enter Thaili and you’ll be greeted with cool, air-condi­tioned atmosphere, far removed from the heat and dust outside. Not only will you get a cool place to rest, you also get to choose your favorite dishes from Thaili’s multi-cui­sine menu. Sip on various alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages while you wait for the food.

For night prowlers, the Thaili also doubles as a lounge and local talents take the stage to woo the audience while they indulge in the good food there.

THE MENU

Chef’s Special:

- Mongolian Chicken

- Spicy Korean Momo

- Thaili Chicken Stir fry

Opening hours: 8 am to 10 am

Location: Narayan Gopal Chowk, Maharajgunj

Cards: Not accepted

Meal for 2: Rs 1,500

Reservations: 9844375951

 For most folks, Narayan B.S Dangol, 78, is a Nepali aviation expert. Or the designer of the Nepali sky. But for this young reporter, Narayan is a man with a story to tell, too young for his age. With unflinching passion for his work and field, he still has the energy of a 20-year-old. Perhaps passion does not age as bad as we humans do? As much as he may have later contributed to aviation, as a youth Dangol didn’t dream of entering the field. Ever ambitious, he had con­tested the Sandhurst course for the British Army after dropping out of his Bachelor’s program, only to be rejected because of his Newari back­ground. Then, aspiring to be a pilot, he entered aviation. After several relocations, he finally ended up as an air traf­fic controller.

After rigorous training in Thailand, Dangol joined the then poorly maintained Tribhuvan International Air­port in 1963. “When I started, the control tower was a two-storey hut. We used to lean out of the windows to see planes coming and leaving”. He expedited several changes, from infrastructure to secu­rity, during his time at the TIA, modernizing the institu­tion. But changes only hap­pened after “banging tables”.

From carrying a stack of paper to the palace to facil­itate training for traffic con­trollers to calling in a favor with the chief of Delhi Airport, Dangol always took his work seriously. He told me about his many feuds with ministerial secretaries, TIA officials, and even ministers.

Many changes he suggested had gone unnoticed at the time, and are being imple­mented only now. “After my visit to Heathrow Airport, I had suggested an under­ground tunnel to direct the flow of traffic at the TIA. It didn’t happen and we are fac­ing the consequences now,” he added.

From leading crash investi­gations to participating in high level courses and seminars, Dangol has represented Nepal all over the world.

On the career prospect of air traffic controller, Dangol says it is lucrative. He remem­bers his first salary was Rs 475 back in the 60s. “Later I found out Rs 475 could buy one tola [11.33 grams] of gold”. Today, an air traffic control­ler can earn well above Rs 100,000 a month working at the TIA. “The beauty of the job is you get to travel all over the world.” However, he adds, the work of an ATC is physi­cally and mentally challeng­ing. “It’s easier to be a pilot. Our boys need rest after every 1-2 hours”.

Even after quitting as ATC over 20 years ago, Dangol is still involved in the field. Right now, he serves as the Director at the Helicopter Association Nepal. Towards the end of our conversation, while talking about the new parking expan­sion at the TIA that he is also involved with, Dangol pulls out a document detailing the project from a stack of other papers. His attachment to avi­ation is unwavering as ever. “I used to tell myself I am chosen by god to make things better. And that’s how I always kept ahead”.