Submit your Article

Nepal: Then and Now juxta­poses historical and contem­porary photographs of Nepal to examine how the physi­cal and social landscape of Nepal has changed over time. The exhibit started on May 25 inside the premises of Bikalpa Art Center, Lalitpur. Bikalpa is a non-profit devoted to bring­ing art to the general public.

The photo exhibition shows the changes Nepal has under­gone in the past 100 years. The displayed photos repre­sent perspectives of eight dif­ferent photographers, each comparison representing dif­ferent interpretations of the theme of a Nepal in flux.

The participant pho­tographers were Shisang Khyungba Lama, Fritz Berger, Bipin Raj Tiwari, Katherine Cheng, Pablo Lopez, Shrijana Shrestha, Peter Gill and Ram Paudel. The exhibition ends on June 1.

When the ‘system’ is incapable of meeting people’s expecta­tions, even a puppet attached to strings starts raising its voice in revolt. This is the idea behind the name “Screaming Marionette”, the five-mem­ber band that makes metal core music and that is creating quite a name for itself in the underground scene.Screaming Marionette was formed in 2016 when the singer Nikesh Bhujel’s family shifted to Kathmandu from Pokhara, compelling him to quit his hometown band. On his arrival in Kathmandu, he enrolled at Sangeet Pathshala where he met guitarist Nabin Khadka, bassist Sulav Jung and drummer Sushan Gurung to form the current ensemble.

“We wanted to see how things would work out,” says Nikesh. “We started by playing covers of our favorite artists to check the chemistry between the band members.” All has since gone well for the band, besides a small change in the line-up with Sulav Jung leaving for abroad studies and Nimesh Nakarmi replacing him. And thus began the metal band’s musical odyssey.

But when the band decided to participate in the 13th Inter College Music Competition (ICMC) in 2017, they felt they were a guitarist short. That’s when Screaming Marionette recruited Pokhara-based gui­tarist Sajan Gurung and the band continues, with four members in Kathmandu and one in Pokhara.

There are obvious difficul­ties with this arrangement, but the band credits internet and technology to still being able to make music together despite the logistical chal­lenge. “We use the internet to add inputs to our music, share videos back-and-forth and to communicate, and it has been a relatively smooth ride for us so far,” Nabin, the guitarist, says. “For live shows, Sajan travels to Kathmandu a few days before the concert to practice with us.”

The band won the ICMC in 2017 and followed the suc­cess with the launch of its debut EP called “Corrupted Society” this year, “its greatest achievement so far”. “There is a lot of hard work, money and emotions involved in mak­ing an album,” says Nabin. “Many bands like us disman­tle even before launching an album; it’s something we can to look back upon proudly all our lives.”

At the launch of their album in Purple Haze, the band received enormous crowd support, a rarity for metal music in Nepal, the band says. Speaking about support, the band had the full backing of the families of its members. There was just one concern: their chosen genre.

“They asked us to sing songs that people actually under­stood,” says Nikesh, who does lead vocals for Screaming Mar­ionette in guttural growls that most people fail to decipher. “But they’ve given up now and have accepted the genre we’re doing,” add Nimesh, the bass player.

Financially, the band is still under stress. Reluctant to ask their families to fund their music, the band mem­bers, with the help of their day-jobs, bear all the expenses incurred in making and recording music.

“We have never asked for money to perform,” says Nabin. “But now that we have an album out, and one which is doing well, we hope things change. We want our music to cover at least some of our expenses.”

The band in the near future plans to complete its EP tour in eastern Nepal and to release its latest album online in various mediums like Spotify and Bandcamp. The goal is to get a little monetary support to be able to continue with their music.

Radio Annapurna Nepal 94.0 MHz celebrated its fourth anni­versary on May 29 by conferring senior singer Yogesh Baidya with its annual ‘Dirgha Sadhana Sam­man 2075’. The prize comprises of a commemorative plaque and a purse of Rs 25,000. Chairman of the Annapurna Media Network Captain Rameshwar Thapa con­ferred the honor on Baidya.

On the occasion, senior musi­cian Yadav Kharel lauded the AMN for honoring someone “who has tirelessly contributed to Nepali music for over five decades”.

AMN’s Group Editor Vijay Kumar Pandey said the AMN felt honored to be able to felicitate someone as accomplished as Baidya, who has not only enriched his field but also contributed to the strength­ening of nationalism. Likewise, Radio Annapurna Nepal’s Sta­tion Manager Thakur Belbase on the occasion informed that Radio Annapurna Nepal will soon be heard around the country via the 96.8 frequency “in the next two or three months”.

As their tokens of love, Suraj Thapa and Rita Maharjan, two young singers, sang renditions of two of Baidya’s songs.

For the first time in almost a mil­lennium, Dalits in the northeast­ern district of Dolpa have gained entry into the famous Balatripu­rasundari Bhagwati temple. Local priests claim that the shrine was built before the year 1057. Dalits, a traditionally downtrodden commu­nity, belong to the lowest rung of the Hindu caste hierarchy and continue to face discrimination even though the country’s laws ban any form of caste-based discrimination.

Local Man Bahadur Sarki says that Dalits had failed to gain entry into the temple despite repeated efforts to do so. Although there is a Dalit settlement adjacent to the temple, never before had they been able to worship in it.

“It was a huge struggle to make it possible for Dalits to worship col­lectively in the temple,” says Lila Tamata of Ked, a local NGO.

Local Dalits are extremely hap­py about the change. “In a district where caste-based bigotry is rife, the change marks an important mile­stone in the movement towards Dalit emancipation,” says Kali Chalaune, chairperson of the district interpar­ty women’s network.

BY TEK BAHADUR SHAHI | DOLPA