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Harshit Shah is a celebrated DJ and Bollywood music producer famous for electronic dance music and Bollywood dance music. Although Shah started his musical career more than two decades ago, his Bollywood breakthrough came much later with the song ‘Radhe Radhe’ from the 2019 movie ‘Dream Girl’ and chart toppers like ‘Ek Hasina Thi-Remix’ and ‘Roop Tera Mastana-Remix.’ “You just have to believe in what you do and do it will all the passion,” he says about finding success much later in his career. “Don’t give up just because a section of people tell you that it isn’t going to get you anywhere.” Shah’s journey into music began after his mother enrolled him in a harmonium class when he was just a boy. Prior to that, he wasn’t too keen about music. But since he was taking a music lesson, he thought he might as well try to enjoy it. And enjoy he did. “There was no looking back after that.” From harmonium, Shah moved on to the keyboard and started competing in music competition at his school. Music became an integral part of his life and he wanted to get deeper into the subject. His DJing career came much later in his life, right around the turn of the 21st century. Shah had developed a wide range of musical influence by then, mostly western artists from the boy bands of the time such as Backstreet Boys and Boyzone to the past experimental psychedelic rock group like Pink Floyd. In 2003, Shah entered the Times Music War of DJs in Kolkata. The decision, he says, was more out of whim than out of premeditated intention. “I just thought I'll participate after reaching the venue.” Shah showcased his talent with the CDs borrowed from his friends. He got selected for the finals and went on to win the second runner-up prize. This unexpected success encouraged Shah to further hone his DJing skill and experiment with other musical genres. And in this process of music discovery and experimentation, the 90s Bollywood music struck a chord with him. “There was this special connection,” he says. “I found out that I could do justice to the 90s Bollywood songs.” Having dabbled around in many musical genres, Shah finally found his groove. And so he began remixing Bollywood classics that many younger listeners were unaware of. Success followed Shah as he began playing them in clubs and concerts. Currently, Shah is producing some mixes for the music labels SAREGAMA and White Hill. He is also working on an original tech house track. “We are looking to shoot the video for which we are looking for locations,” he says. Shah wants to shoot one of his music videos in Nepal. “I have a very deep attachment with Nepal, as I have played lots of gigs there in the last 15 years,” he says. “Not many people are aware, but I was the DJ who opened for Bryan Adams when he played in Kathmandu.” For young, aspiring musicians, Shah has this to say: “This industry is huge and it has a place for everyone. As long as you have the fire in you, you will definitely make name and recognition.”

The Newar community of Kathmandu valley observed Gai Jatra on Aug 12. It is a festival held every year in the Nepali month of Bhadra to honor (and in memory of) the loved ones who passed away in the past year. On this day, families of the deceased send cows or family members dressed as cows to take part in a procession around town. The procession is accompanied by Newari traditional music, and locals offer milk, fruits, curd, beaten rice and money to the participants. By doing so, it is believed, the dead will find a passage to heaven. This week, I visited Basantapur Durbar Square and Bhaktapur Durbar Square to capture the ‘festival of the dead’. Gai Jatra celebrations in the two cities are starkly different. In Kathmandu, where the festival is said to have been started by King Pratap Malla to console his queen following their son’s death, the participants of the procession largely comprised of children, many of them dressed up, their faces painted and donning a headgear symbolizing a Gai (cow), a sacred animal for Hindus. Some of the participants were dressed as Lord Krishna, who grew up as a cow herder in the Hindu mythology, while others were carrying the pictures of their loved ones. In Bhaktapur, though, there were no children dressed as cows. Here, the festival participants were dragging bamboo chariots (Taha-macha) around the town with the pictures of their loved ones. The chariot procession ended after encircling the Bhairav temple. But the celebrations continued with music, dance and costume parades. All the pomp and ceremony for the departed ones, not to mourn their death but to celebrate the rich life they lived.  

Gopal Magar left his village in Dolakha with his wife and their three children and came to Kathmandu in 1990. He was in his thirties and wanted to give a good life to his children. Magar had a tough childhood. He grew up poor in a large family, where the responsibility of looking after his younger siblings fell on his shoulders. When he moved to Kathmandu with his family, he was determined to make it big. “There comes a time in one’s life when whatever your friends tell you seems right,” he says. “So I followed the advice of my friends and came to Kathmandu with my wife and three children.” Magar landed a job at a hotel after arriving in Kathmandu. He worked there for a year before deciding to become a rickshaw driver. Magar is 67 now and he continues to drive rickshaw to this day. Over the last three decades, he says, his daily routine is more or less the same. He arrives at Thamel at five in the morning with a rickshaw, spends the day driving people around and returns to his rented room at six in the evening. A lot has also changed in Magar’s life in this period. His three children are all grown-up now and leading their own lives. His wife passed away in 2015. She was a life-long epilepsy patient, whom Magar cared for like a doting husband. His life in Kathmandu did not turn out like the one he had imagined when he left his village, but he is proud of what he has achieved. With the earnings he made as a rickshaw driver, he raised his family, sent his children to school, looked after the medical needs of his wife until her last days and even married off his younger siblings. Magar says he decided to become a rickshaw driver because he didn’t have any formal education to have other jobs. “But I have learned a bit of English after riding many foreigners around in my rickshaw,” he beams proudly. Magar earns around Rs 300 daily and Rs 150 of his earnings he has to pay to the rickshaw owner. Not many people ride rickshaws these days, he says, so the business is not good. “My earnings are just enough to pay for my rent and food.” Magar says most of his customers are foreigners, who want to hop on his rickshaw and go on a city sightseeing tour. He says most of his customers are kind and generous while some are mean. “They take a ride and then start bargaining for the fare,” he says. “These days, I have no energy to argue with them.” Magar knows he cannot ride a rickshaw all his life, but he doesn’t know what he will do or where he will go after he leaves the work for good. His health and strength is already failing and he knows he hasn’t got much years ahead or the strength in his body to be pedaling rickshaw all day. He is deeply attached to his work; after all, his rickshaw helped him raise his family, though they are no longer around. Riding the rickshaw gives him purpose—perhaps, an excuse to get out of his rented room, where he lives all by himself. Magar is a proud man. He says he does not want to depend on anybody, ever. Despite everything he has been through in his life, the struggles and the joys, he seems content and cheerful about life. “I will go on with what I am doing right now,” he says. “After that, who knows what happens.”

Wake Up Ali…Wake Up Now’, a novel by Sumit Sharma Sameer, was launched in Kathmandu amid function on Friday.

“I wanted to communicate the stories of our time, the stories that I feel are important and need to be told. The stories of so many Alis have to be spelt out,” author Sameer said while speaking at the program, adding, “Migration has been a permanent feature since the advent of human civilization. It got more accelerated during our age. That acceleration brought varied opportunities to mankind but yet dismantled the very fabrics of our lives.”

“I had always wanted to write something on this very constructive and destructive process connecting South Asia into one thread that could help produce many other stories,” he further said.

Celebrated Nepali author, Buddhisagar said “Ali’s (protagonist) internal journey, self-exploration and realization are three highlights of books which is evenly mixed in a whole story.”

He also said “the book is not merely about migration, but rather has a deep philosophical meaning. The book can be finished in one seating and overall I really liked the book.”

Saguna Shah, author and founder of bOOkahOlics, said the “novel explores the human psychic by exploring the constraints of relationships and desirs’. The content is far and beyond the concerns of migrant workers their status quo and their struggle in a foreign land, but also an internal journey of a protagonist. The book is about an awakening of the protagonist.”

Speaking on the occasion author and columnist Atul K Thakur said that “Nepal’s publishing industry is blossoming and Sumit’s novel reassures it. It is a pure piece of literary fiction with beautiful prose and narrative, should further make Nepal’s spot brighter in the publishing ecosystem.” “The writers and publishers in India and Nepal should enhance cooperation and work in unison, this will be another important pillar of bilateral relations. Sumit will be in great demand among the publishers,” he added.

Speaking on the occasion, Australian ambassador to Nepal Felicity Volk, who is also a celebrated author, said, “This is a migrant story from South Asia. Number of Nepali people migrating to south Asia has doubled in last five years and I’m struck how well the writer has depicted the migrant story. But, this is also a universal story, story of each one of us. Each one of us is traveler in our own struggle.”

Nepali Congress General Secretary and member of Parliament and former Health Minister Gagan Thapa, remembering his long time association with the writer said, “I have known Sumit for last 25 years and knew that he can write non-fiction, but he took me by surprise by writing fiction.”

He further added ‘this is a sociological fiction. This is about social structure, human relationships and individual relationship to the society. This is a story of migrants. Story of diasporas, struggle in the modern day society. The conflict between migrants and natives, the opportunity cost. How one has to disconnect with your loved ones to get connected to the larger world to grab the opportunities. I could see through the characters how the whole process of globalization on one hand bring people together and at the other, same time, makes them dysfunctional. The protagonist compares his life with the life of an ant, he struggles to find his place, his identity in the larger cosmic design. There is an ongoing conflict between the material world and spiritual thought process. It is a powerful book.”

The book was earlier published in Nepali under the title ‘Prawas’ two years ago and has been translated by Sushrut Acharya in English. The English version, ‘Wake Up Ali…Wake Up Now’ has been published in 2022 by Delhi based, Vitasta Publishing.