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Solo Woman Travel Challenge or Swo-Yatra, a competition which gives women a chance to win a grant for their solo travel anywhere in Nepal, gets between 400 and 500 applications every year. An initiative of NepaliTravellers, an NGO, 42 women have both won grants and traveled solo through this four-year-old competition. It lets women come up with their own itinerary and gives them short self-defense and first-aid training before they embark on their trip. With so many applicants, it is clear that more and more Nepali women want to travel alone. APEX tried to find out what else these women are looking for. In 2018, 417 women applied for this competition, 28 of whom spoke to us. As many as 16 viewed this competition as a way to convince their guardians to let them travel on their own. “My parents never let me go anywhere alone. Even though Nepali society has progressed on many fronts, it still has not changed much in terms of giving women more freedom. In a way, this competition was a chal­lenge to myself and the society I live in,” says Prasamsa Shrestha, 23, an applicant this year.

Menuka Gurung, 24, is one of the Swo-Yatra 2018 winners. She recently returned home after completing her Bachelor’s in Thailand, but is finding it difficult to adjust in Kathmandu. “My parents would not let me travel alone anywhere. I did not need anyone’s per­mission to travel around when I was in Thailand. It’s been a year and a half since I am back in Kathmandu. Only through this competition was I allowed to travel solo,” she says. And now that she has finally traveled alone in Nepal, she hopes her parents would give her more freedom in making future travel decisions.

 Definitely not crazy

Asmita Rijal, 20, who participated in the competition this year, says apply­ing to this competition helped change her parents’ perspective on women solo travelers. “The sheer number of women applying convinced them that I’m not the only ‘crazy woman’ who wants to go around the country alone.”

Jason Shah, co-founder of NepaliTrav­ellers, says that this was not meant to be a woman-empowerment project. “We do not teach women how to travel solo. We only help those who already want to do so.”

Shah says he wanted to create a big impact with the small resource at his dis­posal. “There are many women who have later traveled alone with their own funds after they won the competition. Each year, videos of women traveling solo are uploaded and parents watch those inspir­ing videos and learn about travelers. Such videos let them know that their daughter is not the only one traveling solo and that there is a support system in place.”

Shah adds that if the applicants had everything they needed to travel alone, they would not have applied. “I think most of them are looking for money. But even those who do not win become inspired after going through the application process and meeting like-minded women.”

He says that parents, after seeing the month-long application process involving multiple rounds of interviews, understand that their daughters are not acting on a whim but have a well-thought-out plan.

 An initiative of NepaliTravellers, 42 women have both won grants and traveled solo through this competition

Will she be safe?

Menuka Devkota, 23, another applicant this year, agrees. “If I had won, I would have been allowed to travel alone. The competition allowed me to convince my parents to let me travel alone. Seeing my dedication to the application process and my willingness to go through any hardship impressed them a lot.” She says she feels lost at times and by traveling alone, she wanted to learn to be more independent, know about herself, build self-confidence and relieve stress. When asked why she was not allowed to travel solo, she says that parents were worried about her safety.

Preety Kulung, 19, agrees. “Had it not been for this competition, I wouldn’t have traveled solo, because the idea of women traveling alone is indeed new for us. News of so many rape cases has created fear among women and parents.”

There have been instances when Nepal­iTravellers has faced difficulty in sending women for solo travel. “In our second year, two winners couldn’t travel because they were not allowed to by their guard­ians,” says Shah.

“It is not a big deal for men to travel alone. It should be the same for women, but our society has not reached there yet. We want more women travelers—traveling solo or in group. It makes travel more inclusive.” Shah believes that if travel is safe for women, it would be safer for everyone else.

Other women we spoke to stated ‘money’, ‘training’, and ‘an opportu­nity to explore oneself’ and ‘to gain self-confidence’ as top reasons for applying. We also spoke with wom­en who have traveled alone with their own money. Faija Parween, who recent­ly went on a solo trip to Europe, says, “I think solo travel is empowering. It is an opportunity to go and see the world with your own eyes and without anyone else to color your views. It makes people, particularly women, more deci­sive and stronger.” She says that compe­titions like Swo-Yatra are just one way for women to travel solo.

A young boy who writes songs on his guitar and plays them while loll­ing about in his living room is encouraged by his mother to record and release his homespun songs. He does. Then, he uploads his music on YouTube and becomes an overnight singing sensation. Well, not overnight. That only happens in the movies. But the metamorphosis of a boy-next-door to a singing celeb­rity in just over two years would be no less dramatic. And this is exactly what hap­pened to him, says 22-year-old Sushant KC.

Interested in singing and song-writing from his child­hood, Sushant, motivated by his mother, released a few songs on YouTube, which eventually led to a 2016 album called “Blue Figments”. A song in the album, “Aama”, caught fire online (it currently has over six million views on YouTube). Sushant then left for Australia for further stud­ies. The year 2017 was quiet as he took time to settle in a for­eign land and he was under­ground the whole time.

It was after he got back to Nepal, when he took up sing­ing and YouTubing again, that his stardom soared. All his releases started becoming instant YouTube hits, most of them crossing the cov­eted “1 million” mark. His songs “Aama”, “Satayera”, “Mayama” and “Muskuray­era” have been trending on social media and has earned him more than 166,000 sub­scribers on YouTube alone.

“I made music just for myself. Never thought it would become so famous,” says Sushant, who is in Nepal till February and has been performing in sold-out shows across the country. “I uploaded a few songs on You­Tube and suddenly, I started getting subscribers by the hundreds and then thousands. Right now, my subscribers are increasing by 1,000 a day.” He beams with pride.

Sushant’s music is heavily influenced by the modern Electronic Dance Music and R&B (rhythm and blues ini­tially but now a mixed genre that combines elements of pop, soul, funk, hip hop and electronic). His lyrics are usu­ally based on others’ lives and experiences that he listens to and puts in simple Nepali, which is one reason his songs are so popular among young­sters. Without elaborate and expensive videos needed to support his music, Sushant’s YouTube channel rather has simple lyrics videos that above all highlight his musicality. The time and effort he puts into every creation is another recipe for his success.

Working from a home stu­dio, Sushant writes, arranges, sings and does the mixing and mastering of his own songs, something that otherwise calls for a whole team of profes­sionals. And he is a self-taught musician who learnt to do everything on his own.

“It has basically been trial and error for me so far. I am still learning and after I complete my bachelors [in commerce], I plan to take up music as an academic field,” he says.

Although his musical career has spanned over three years, Sushant is new to the art of performing live and when asked how difficult it is, com­pared to recording in his home studio, he says there is essen­tially no difference. “As I have always been playing guitar and singing, I found the tran­sition to playing live easy,” he says. “I use my guitar and loops for playing live, which I need some getting used to. Otherwise it’s just like singing at home.”

Sushant is flattered that most attendees of his live shows sing along, almost word for word. For him there is no better energy-booster. “Most of my listeners are very young and the follow­ing from my female fans is overwhelming. They recog­nize me even on the streets and public places and come talk to me or to take selfies. This love and support makes me want to continue making music—forever”.

 Ballet, as a dance form, is attributed to Ita­ly around 1500; soon after adopted into the French (royal) court. The Paris Opera, founded in 1669, went on to include classical ballet, and became known as the Paris Opera Ballet. Sometime later, ballet made its way across the Channel to Britain, with the Royal Ballet (Lon­don) only being established in 1931. However, this does not detract from the fact today that the Royal Ballet is globally among the most renowned troupes, along with the Paris Opera and the Bol­shoi Ballet in Russia. Recently I met Alizé Biannic, Managing Direc­tor of One World Theater and the Director/ Founder of Solis Performing Arts, in Kathmandu. Although I have known Biannic for a few years I never sat down to talk about her life or her work in Nepal until now…

Born in France, Biannic joined the Paris Opera at the age of 10 to study ballet. Such was her talent that at the age of 12 she was awarded a scholarship in Berlin to study the Nureyev tech­nique. Gaining her first job as a ballet dancer in Barcelona aged 14, Biannic went on to join the Royal Ballet in London, where she remained for four years. However, ballet is tough on the body and Biannic developed a knee problem which meant she had to retire from this prestigious troupe. With great spirit, she went on to study drama which lead her into the theater and mov­ie world in the UK. Appearing in ‘Skyfall’, a Bond movie with Daniel Craig, was a positive outcome of this transition into films. A negative outcome was the realization that the movie world requires (for women) more than talent to get ahead (#metoo). Somewhat disillusioned, Biannic arrived in Nepal in 2013.

Gaining her first job as a ballet dancer in Barcelona aged 14, Biannic went on to join the Royal Ballet in London, where she stayed for four years

Naturally someone with such a background does not sit still for long and soon she was integrating herself into the art scene in Kath­mandu. You may have seen Biannic in Gross Indecency, The Diary of Anne Frank, Arjuna’s Dilemma, or Café de Flore, to name just a few productions. Her desire for perfection, her ded­ication to the art of dance, and her love of Nepal led her to open Solis Performing Arts which runs dance classes, from ballet, and contemporary to jazz and hip hop, from Bollywood to Klaphirati. In addi­tion, Solis offers classes in acting techniques, physical theater, and singing.

Open to current and aspiring actors and dancers, and those who are more enthusiasts than stars, Bian­nic explains that “I want to increase and improve the standard of art in Nepal. There are several barriers in the way of achieving this: financial insecurity—per­formers do not earn a living wage here—and their ego—performers often do not understand the depth their art demands, nor are they dedicated to improving and growing through hard work. With Solis offering dance and theater together, I want to increase their drive, teach the basics of dance and of anatomy to improve their body awareness and decrease incidents of injury. My main aim is to bring the talent in Nepal up to international standard. My dance company and students know this can only be done with hard work. And Pilates,” Biannic says with a laugh.

Biannic is currently working on bringing three pro­ductions to Nepali audience: a dance extravaganza called Hip Hop Coppelia taking place from Jan 17-20 in the Russian Culture Center; an adaptation of The Little School (true stories of political conflict in Colum­bia circa 1960), and The Plight, about trafficking in Nepal. Not content with confining her talents to the stage, Biannic is also working on a television series set in Nepal. Collaborating with writers from Nepal, Australia and the UK, and talent such as actor Namrata Shrestha, production on this will start in early 2019.

For further information, facebook.com/ solisperformingarts

Dysfunctional traffic lights are one of the main reasons for bad traffic of Kathmandu. “If only the lights at the main junctions were working,” says Sumesh Gautam, a 33-year-old micro-bus driver, “there would be much better traffic flow.”

Especially during rush hours, there is a lot of jam. If a traffic police is absent at a junction even for 10 minutes, a chaos quickly ensues. “So why are traffic-lights not being fixed?” Gautam asks. Other drivers, and even traffic police personnel, pose similar questions.

“If there were working traffic lights, first, our human resources could be better utilized,” says DSP Krishna Dutta Bhatta of the Metropolitan Traffic Police Division (MPTD). “Second, it would be easier for the general public to follow traffic rules.” Around 1,450 traffic police personnel are deployed to control the traffic of Kathmandu alone, he adds. “An average of four traffic officers are required to handle traffic at a single junction.”

A normal shift of a traffic officer at a post is of around four hours, and some may stand at a junction for over 12 hours a day in various shifts. In case of conferences and special escorts where VIPs are involved, they have to spend up to 18 hours a day on the streets. “We still lack enough human resources to be able to change shifts. Thus during special programs a traffic officer has to continuously be on duty for 15 hours,” Bhatta says.

The MPTD has been pushing the Department of Roads (DoR) to install traffic lights around the city, according to Bhatta. Around eight months ago, they submitted proposals and sent written letters to DoR, as well as to Lalitpur and Kathmandu municipalities, for the same.

Dip Barahi, a senior divisional officer at the DoR, says there were plans to install 35 smart traffic lights around Kathmandu at an estimated cost of Rs 750 million. (In a smart system, traffic lights at different junctions are synchronized to ease traffic flow.) But later the department found out that actually it would cost a lot more. Bahari informs that the software that analyses traffic at different junctions and set timings for smart traffic lights alone would cost Rs 10 million. There were other problems too.

“There are no Intelligent Transport System (ITS) experts in Nepal,” says Barahi. “In fact there are just 14 ITS experts in the whole world. So installation of smart traffic lights in Nepal will take time. But we are still consulting some foreign experts.” Instead, the department is now planning to install eight regular traffic lights at the main junctions of Kathmandu, the tender for which has already been given.

“Within a year traffic lights at Singha Durbar, Bagbazar, Kalimati, Tinkune, New Baneshwor, Mitrapark, Thapathali and Gaushala junctions will be in operation,” Barahi assures. “Also, we are slowly starting to repair old traffic lights,” says Barahi. hatta of the traffic police hopes the traffic lights are being installed strategically. “There will continue to be traffic jams so long as lights at all main junctions are not working,” he warns.