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You must have noticed Namuna Giri stopping by your Instagram feed once in a while, her heartwarming poetry videos with calming music at once grabbing your attention. In fact, the now 22-year-old had fallen in love with writing with her thoughts at a young age. 

Growing up, Giri and her family moved around a lot and she never found herself getting attached to a place. Yet, she says, she carries in herself every place she has lived in.

Over the years, on the outside, she taught herself to express only the good and obedient side of her. “I tried my best not to let people around me know if I am sad or angry,” she shares with ApEx. “That way, I bottled up a lot of emotions.”  

Again, writing was one thing that naturally came to her. Her friends and teachers noticed early that she had a knack for framing her words. “I never intended to write poems, yet somehow my writing turned out to be poetic,” she says with a bright smile. “I wouldn’t even realize my words rhymed.”

But Giri was not the kind of person who would naturally jot down her thoughts. Instead, she found comfort in talking to herself without even realizing it, and sharing whatever she thought as though she were writing with her own thoughts. She figured she could make sense out of this side of her by making videos of herself speaking out loud. “I made a record, and the words started flowing like magic,” says Giri. From then, she started uploading short 15-second videos on her Instagram to her small group of followers. 

At the same time, she had just finished her plus-two and had to decide what she wanted to pursue as a career. As a student of science, medical school was her first choice. But then she would spend more time lost in the ocean of novels rather than studying her course-books. She had a rethink.

As a lover of words, she dove right into every storyline she read. Coincidentally, nearly every protagonist of the books she read was a lawyer. “I took it as a sign and decided to also apply to a law school after researching some more,” she shares. “Strangely enough, it turned out to be the right subject for me, like it was meant to be”. 

Giri is currently doing her BA LLB from National Law College. Meanwhile, she has been making short poetry and storytelling videos of her writings on social media—her Insta fan-base has now grown to over 17,000 followers. She also shares her poetry and snippets of her life on her YouTube channel.

Giri finds inspiration in the people she encounters. All her life, she has been fascinated by little things happening around her. “When I’m walking on the street and I see someone, I can’t help but wonder about their life,” she says, her eyes lighting up. “I imagine myself in their shoes and try to channel their emotions through writing. That's how most of my poems come to life.”

Looking back, the little Namuna never thought sharing poetry on Instagram would take her anywhere. Yet she says that a part of her always knew. Poetry has helped her make sense of and understand herself better.

In the beginning, she wasn’t as confident as she is today. With the comments, criticisms, and judgments her words brought along with the growing number of views, there were times she didn’t feel good enough to do it. 

Also read: Biswas Timshina: Bye-bye engineering, hellow stand-up 

An overload of assumptions, expectations, and criticism dissuaded her. It was hard to come to terms with the things said about her words, and about the way she spoke. Once, she was so daunted she stopped posting. “The most challenging part of showing the raw and emotional side of me on social media was finding a space to fit in all the negatives with the positives,” she shares. With time, though, Giri has learned that when it comes to poetry, she needs to listen to her own criticism. 

She is at her happiest when she speaks to the camera about her thoughts, edits the shots, adds right music, and posts. It all seems effortless, and she plans on doing it for as long as she can.

Pursuing a career in law and writing poetry, Giri feels she has found the perfect combination to balance her real-world responsibilities and the endless world of her imagination. “I want to prosper academically, putting in all that it takes,” she says. “And I trust that poetry is something that can never be taken away from me”.

Giri also aims to write a book one day. “There is not much I can fit in one-to-four minute videos when I have so much to share,” she says. “I want to build a path through my book and explore where it takes me.” 

Over time, Pratap KC, born in Janakpur, has established himself as a well-known flute artist of Nepal. He has been dedicated to learning music since he was a toddler.

KC has worked with many renowned bands like ‘Rock Sitar’, led by the late Bijaya Vaidya. He now is the key man of Prana Mundi—a prominent folk fusion band—well-known for his diverse set of playing abilities.

He has also helped in the tourism field with his flutes as he brought Nepali folk to Europe and other parts of the world, promoting Nepali music. KC has performed on numerous major international stages and has accomplished his objectives of the musical journey. With his musical prowess, he also assisted 2015 earthquake victims by putting on a spectacle with many Bollywood stars to raise the fund.

KC is an inspiration to young music aspirants, as his priority relies on practicing fusion with young artists.

Biswas Timshina set a safe and straight career path for himself early in his childhood: finish school, study engineering, graduate, land a decent job and build a family home.

When he finished school, he started studying engineering as well, hoping to follow through on his plan. But the plan quickly began to unravel.

Born in Gangtok, Sikkim, Timshina grew up in a joyful and loud Nepali-speaking household. “If any teacher asked who tells the best jokes in my class, I would be the one everyone would point to,” says Timshina. “At home too, I was the one to crack jokes.”

In his first year of college, Timshina found himself more involved in writing scripts for mini-college documentaries rather than meeting assignment-deadlines. “I was enjoying the entire process of writing scripts, capturing videos, and putting them all together,” he shares. By the time he reached his final year, he realized he wanted to work with cameras and comedy rather than computers and calculators.

“My joyful and loud upbringing must be the source of my love for making people laugh,” shares Timshina, now popular in the Nepali-speaking world as BT Kancha.

His YouTube channel with the same name now has 170,000 subscribers, most of them from Nepal. Timshina, who has consistently been posting videos since 2017, explores ideas that resonate with Nepali-speaking communities around the world. Starting with parodies, some of which reached more than two million views, he moved to funny film reviews and even stand-up comedy.

Regardless of the genre, the foundation of his creative process lies in writing. “Everything starts with a blank piece of paper, and then comes the creative process of channeling the voice inside me,” he shares. “I think that’s what inspires me to create something on my terms.”

Offline, he started by performing stand-up comedy at open mics in Mumbai and, later in 2018, at home in Sikkim. In his journey as a stand-up, from one stage to the other, he taught himself to adapt and improve and hone his craft. He fell in love with the uncertainty: would people laugh at his jokes? He found the entire process of writing, practicing and performing both challenging and exciting.

Also read: Shilpa Maskey: Dancing out her dream 

Timishina decided to make videos in Nepali as it was the language that felt most natural. “Making funny videos in Hindi would have helped me grow my fanbase and number of views much faster,” he confesses. “But I never wanted to chase fame, I just wanted to make people laugh in my way, in the language I connect to the most.”

He posts two videos a month on his YouTube channel, taking around 10 days for the production. Alongside, he is also doing screenplays by writing scripts for different movies—he co-wrote the script for the Priyanka Chopra-produced Nepali movie ‘Pahuna’.

He also recently performed his first stand-up comedy show in Kathmandu, overwhelming the organizers who had expected around 20 people but had to accommodate over 200. Most of them were seated for the entire event as his was the final act of the night.

Timshina now plans to continue writing screenplays and posting funny review videos on his channel. He is also working on a mini-series and looking for sponsors.

For him, the most challenging part of writing scripts is coming up with an idea that clicks with him and his audiences. Writing screenplays, producing YouTube videos and performing stand-up become a hassle at times, but as all three involve pen and paper, he enjoys himself doing what he does best.

The little boy who once had his entire life planned out is now on unchartered territory, without a safety net. “Funnily, even after completing my degree, I never actually went to college to get that certificate,” he laughs. “I had come to know that engineering is not something I wanted to do in life, and when choosing film-making, I wanted to give it my all with no safety net to fall back to,” says Timshina.

Having no backup plans and deadlines make him remember why he decided to take the untrodden path: to have fun and enjoy the process

Shy and introverted, Shilpa Maskey transforms into a confident and expressive version of herself every time she steps onto the stage to dance. 

Maskey first found herself dancing as she watched her mother groove to the tunes on the radio. When she was five, she was already awing the audience with her performances. 

Born in Biratnagar to a nurse and a development worker, Maskey traveled with her family to different parts of Nepal, wherever her father worked. Until she was eight, she had spent most of her time in Khandbari, Sankhuwasabha. 

It was here that the now 30-year-old started dreaming of becoming a choreographer one day. “My mom always pushed me to take part in stage programs and festivals that were held in our village,” she shares. “I was known for my dancing in school and my love for it only grew with age.” 

When she was around nine, her family moved to Kathmandu, where she completed her schooling. After holding herself back from her hobby for a while in the new environment, she started dancing and winning competitions again. 

As an eighth-grader, Maskey already knew she wanted to become a classical dancer. 

After her 10th grade, she again took a contemporary dance class while she was applying to study in the UK. But then she decided to pursue a career in chartered accounting. The demanding curricula meant her dancing got lost between college and working at a restaurant. 

“I let go of my dream of becoming a choreographer for some time as I couldn’t afford dance classes,” she shares. “At least until I realized that studying CA didn’t make me happy”. She switched subjects and finished her three-year diploma in Business Management in the UK. 

Later, she had to return to Nepal where she would continue with her studies. She started modeling and did her first cover shoot for a magazine. In 2016, she got an audition opportunity for a dancing role in the short movie ‘Shooting an Elephant’ , and she wasted no time in applying. She was over the moon when she got selected. Little did she know that this would be a life-changing experience. 

“I hadn’t danced for four or five years at that point in my life,” she shares. “But the moves were always there with me, and with the sound of music, the magic just happened.” It was her first time on a film-set. The part of her that always held on to her love for dancing started falling for the world of films too. 

While trying to juggle between dancing and films, she went back to the UK. There she auditioned for a Bollywood company called Bollyflex that recruited dancers for movies. When she got selected as one of the 25 dancers she enrolled in a six-month-long training. “Stepping into the industry among all the professional classical dancers, there were so many instances I felt low, like I was not good enough,” Maskey shares. “But the thought of being able to dance on such a big stage kept me going.” 

Also read: Nimsdai: The man who went beyond the possible 

Bigger doors opened for her and she got the chance to work on many films as a side character. Being able to experience the industry up close, she got to learn from many people, to familiarize herself with the technical side of filmmaking and to keep dreaming. Her life was transformed again when she got a small role in the Marvel movie Dr Strange (2016), and the once-timid Shilpa suddenly became more confident and outgoing. 

She then joined an acting school. Maskey was learning Kathak and Odyssey dances on the side—all while working at a clothing store. 

It was a hectic life and London never felt like home. She soon came back to Nepal and landed her first lead roles in  ‘The Break up’ and ‘Kagaz Patra’, both of which came out in 2019. “Stepping into the world of acting helped me escape my comfort zone and discover an entirely new part that found beauty in vulnerability,” Maskey says. “It brought me closer to myself.” 

Her latest projects are ‘Kathputali’ and ‘Devi’, two soon-to-be-released movies. ‘Love Sutra’, a romantic-comedy web series, is also in the offing.   

Questioned about the roots of her versatility, Maskey answers: “My body is an instrument, I just need to feel it to play the strings.”