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1. Icy roads and deep snow made the two-day walk to Humde tough, but it added to the alpine spirit of the adventure.

2. Even when the participants got snowed out on their last day of climbing, organizers found other ways to keep the stoke high with other activities. Bishnu Tamang hangs from ice tools in a pull-up contest.

3. Saman Shrestha demonstrates a good stance as he cruises up his second ice climb.

4. Pasang Rinzee Sherpa checks out a route that Prem Gurung and his team, Anup Gurung and Vinayak Jaya Malla, established four years ago.

5. Rewat Tuladhar takes a swing at fresh ice.

6. IFMGA guide Prem Gurung coaches new ice climbers while advanced climbers explored the other lines Gurung and his team established nearby. Nima Samdup Gurung (left) learns to swing an ice tool.

Irish singer-songwriter, musician and record pro­ducer Damien Rice is all set to perform in Nepal, in what will surely be a luscious treat for his Nepali fans. Rice is an internationally recognized musician who began his musical career as a member of the 90s rock group Juniper. He began his solo career in 2002 with the release of his debut album ‘O’, which reached number 8 on the UK charts and won him many awards globally. With hits like “Cannon­ball,” “The Blower’s Daugh­ter,” and “Cheers Darlin’”, Rice’s blend of folk and indie-rock music is recog­nized worldwide and the news of his concert in Kath­mandu has created quite a buzz on the social media.

Search for “Nepali stand-up comedy” on Youtube and you will be flooded with suggestions of various chan­nels and comedians. One of them will invariably be Apoorwa Kshitiz Singh. Apoorwa’s mini superstar­dom in the stand-up comedy scene is rising, thanks to the ever increasing hits on the Youtube of his satirical take on KP Oli government’s porn ban and of his self-mimicry of ‘Being a Madhesi’.

“What we are doing is urban stand-up comedy, which is performed in limited space, for limited audience, and with the use of slang words and adult content,” explains Apoorwa Kshitiz Singh, 25. “This makes it different to the traditional stand-up com­edy performed by the likes of Madan Krishna Shrestha, Hari Bansha Acharya, Jitu Nepal and Daman Rupakheti.” Urban youths do not feel offended by slang and strong language, he says.

Apoorwa was initially inspired by the growing pop­ularity of stand-up comedy in Delhi during his student years. He realized he too could use stand-up to increase aware­ness on social issues back home, while he also enter­tained young audiences. Apoorwa has been in this “creative indulgence” since June 2018.

With the help of his stand-up comedian friend Dipesh Dahal, Apoorwa managed to land a comedy gig with Com­edy Circle, and soon became popular for his unabashed wit. He has also performed stage shows for audiences in Pokhara and Bhairahawa.

“I am happy with the way Nepali stand-up comedy is gaining momentum and youth support. Compared to past years, comedy is getting better with more creative approach, youth-centric agenda and more innovative use of words,” says Apoorwa.

Born in a village near Gaur, Rautahat, the stand-up comic spent most of his childhood in Sarlahi district. He was always inclined to entertain his friends, teachers and rela­tives by sharing jokes.

The majority of his audiences fall under the age-group 16- 30, and come from various walks of life

For Apoorwa stand-up com­edy offers a sense of relaxation and helps him escape the daily absurdities of life. The major­ity of his audiences fall under the age-group 16-30, and come from various walks of life. “If we can mix satire and social message, it is sure to be effec­tive,” says Apoorwa.

In his experience, modern stand-up comedy is getting its due recognition, but “our comedians are still wary of talking about politics, com­munities, religions, celebrities and feminism”. Yet he is also delighted to see more women participate in the stand-up comedy scene in Nepal.

“The comedy scene has changed drastically. The advent of social media and seamless video streaming on platforms like Youtube is a boon for the current genera­tion of stand-up comedians,” says Apoorwa.

Asked if stand-up comedi­ans in Nepal face censorship, Apoorwa replies: “There has been a paradigm shift in comedy with regards to audi­ences, contents, platforms and issues. Today, there is no censorship. Few years ago, comedians used to be arrested for their satire of the state and those in authority.”

Apoorwa hopes Nepali stand-up comedy will fur­ther improve with bigger audiences, more interactions between the comics and their audiences, and more income for the performers.

 In the five years I have spent in the Nepali film industry, it has progressed on many fronts. Due to growing professionalism and educated people taking acting as a career choice, there is new respect for actors. The graph of our Nepali movie industry looks like a wave. When I entered this industry, it was pro­gressing, probably due to the release of “Loot”, which was a landmark film. Then, the graph fell again. I think the problem with the industry is that when a movie does well, oth­ers want to make similar films. They do not want to take risk in the fear of commercial failure.

Thankfully, I can see Nepali film­makers focusing on good content now. With our audience getting smarter and more aware, there is a focus on investing in good scripts. Movies are playing a huge role in delivering social messages and rais­ing issues through visual arts, as you see with movies like “Gopi” and “Bulbul”. Even though most still want to make comedy films, as our audience seem to prefer this genre currently, there is still progress on creating creative content. There are many talented people in the field of literature and I think these people need to attempt writing scripts for films as well.

To carry out these scripts, the industry has some really good actors. In my opinion, many cur­rent films are successful due to these actors. Before, anyone with­out experience or expertise could be an actor but now due to many people entering acting, there is a healthy competition. The industry is also welcoming theater actors like Dayahang Rai and Karma Shakya. And with the field becoming more professional, actors do feel the pres­sure to get better at what they do. As this profession gains respect, even highly educated people are choos­ing acting as a career, so the indus­try is more liberal and progressive.

Female actors are also becom­ing safer within the fraternity. Five years back, I used to hear stories of women being victims of casting couch. Thankfully, I never faced it. And now, these horror stories have decreased significantly, thanks to the #MeToo campaign. I had strug­gles of my own, such as having to deal with low pay.

I would again say this field has become more professional in the past 3-4 years. And this is not just with actors but with the whole film fraternity, from concept develop­ment to screening of the films.

Additionally, due to technological progress, visual effects and camera work in Nepali films are getting bet­ter. The use of high-quality cameras has boosted creativity. Even though this has led to increased budgets, it has certainly improved the quality of the films being produced.

The demand for Nepali films is increasing globally. But even now Nepali films don’t do well in India, even as they are gaining in popular­ity in Sikkim and Darjeeling. Inter­national filmmakers are also search­ing for Nepali movies and watching them. This means new audiences for Nepali films. In Nepal, what I see is, the audience that watches one Nepali film is the same audi­ence that watches another Nepali movie, whatever the genre. And we have not been able to tap into new Nepali audience. We are progress­ing though and just one movie can change this trend for the better.

Surakshya Panta is a Nepali actor who has appeared in movies like Gopi, Changa Chet and Dhanapati