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Sajjan Raj Vaidya finally released his new single Parkhaai on Friday, July 9, and the response so far has been overwhelming. Within two days of the release, the official teaser for the song’s music video has garnered over 120,000 views on his Instagram. 

Following its release on YouTube, Vaidya’s video has received more than 300,000 views, with most of the feedback being positive. For fans, this has been a much-awaited release. 

In the teaser of Parkhaai, Vaidya writes, ‘This song is about making promises, in full awareness and consciousness, and withholding those promises against all odds and amidst full uncertainty, with one’s voice within himself that says, ‘Keep waiting!’”

The show must go on, says theater artist Bijay Baral. It’s with this mindset that Mandala Theater in Anamnagar, Kathmandu, has been holding acting classes and workshops as well as producing plays after the lifting of the initial lockdown last year.

Theater, Baral says, is an important part of the society—it helps put things in perspective and it can be therapeutic, for actors and audiences alike. Covid-19 might have stopped people from heading to theaters but artists are still optimistic about its future.

Ghimire Yubaraj, artistic director, Shilpee Theater, Battisputali, says it’s definitely a challenging time but art, he says, is always evolving and theater too must adapt and change. Ghimire believes the pandemic led to a much-needed discourse on theater’s use and exploration of the digital space. Artists and theater groups now need to expand on that idea to be a part of people’s lives in a way that doesn’t necessitate their physical presence.

In recent times, Shilpee Theater has showcased two plays virtually. This is their way of providing their team of artists a platform to cope with the pandemic, keep them enthused and try to emerge from the crisis. Mandala Theater too has been putting up plays online. While some are recordings of old plays, there are several new acts too.

Play: Marriage Proposal, Director: Nabraj Budhathoki 

However, most theater artists ApEx spoke to weren’t solid on the idea of showcasing plays online. They believed it could be a temporary arrangement but not a viable long-term solution. The most common argument was that the charm of theater is in its live audience and without an audience to react to what is happening, stage performances are pointless.

Over at International Center for Social Theater (ICST), Nepal, Gopal Aryal confesses that he doesn’t see much scope and future of theater unless the pandemic is over. He isn’t enthusiastic about virtual performances, claiming that by changing the basic module of theater we run the risk of robbing it of its essence.

Saraswati Adhikari, program coordinator at Shailee Theater in Ratopul, feels theater is all about close contact and observation. The emotion, sound, and light feel different when you are watching a live play. The effect just isn’t the same when it’s recorded.

The upside of going online, however, is that there is greater reach, she says. Shailee Theater held poetry recitals and essay competitions online as well as participated in a virtual Children’s Theater Festival last year. Their audience consisted of people across the nation—those who wouldn’t have been able to make it to the theater to watch the performances. The feedback they received was mixed but the majority of the viewers said they wished they had been able to attend the programs in person.

Play: Marriage Proposal, Director: Nabraj Budhathoki

The revival of theaters is at least two years away, agree artists and, during that time, theaters must find a way to stay in people’s minds and survive. That is exactly what Ghimire is intent on doing. He plans to put up four online shows a day of the play ‘No Exit’ starting a few weeks from now. Only this time around, he is also exploring options to monetize it.

“I think theater’s success in the digital sphere depends on how well we are able to execute it,” says Ghimire. He adds that many are worried that the nuances of theater will be lost on a virtual medium. Better equipment and fine-tuning of various technological aspects will largely take care of that issue. But there’s no denying that for theater to grow that option must be explored. Ghimire believes it had to be done sooner or later and that the pandemic only expedited the matter.

This isn’t the first time theaters in Nepal are dealing with such problems and having to assess their situation and modus operandi. After the 2015 earthquakes, the theater industry took a big hit. Fearful of closed spaces, it was only after two years that there was a steady trickle of people and theater artists could finally heave a sigh of relief.

Things seem to be headed the same way this time too, say artists. With a virus that is getting stronger with each round, it’s going to be a while before people are remotely comfortable with the idea of being in close proximity to others, even after being fully vaccinated, which, in itself, might take some time.

Nabaraj Budhathoki, chairman of Shailee Theater, says they were just four plays old when they had to shut the doors, albeit temporarily. Now, as they are looking to open up and work on previous scripts and projects, he realizes they will have to follow an entirely different system, at least for a while, accepting that the very nature of theater and its audience has changed. For one, the plays they now produce will have to be a lot shorter than before, he says.

“We are planning to come up with new plays every three months but the shows will be small-scale, meaning short, and with limited people in the audience. We’re toying with ideas at the moment,” says Budhathoki.

Play: Seto Kapal

Theater Village Nepal, on the other hand, has no plans of reopening soon. Assistant artistic director Dilip Ranabhat says unless there is mass vaccination across the country and the threat to public health is mitigated, theaters cannot function properly. The team at Theater Village Nepal has held multiple meetings to discuss possibilities but they have been unable to come up with feasible solutions.

Not only does Ranabhat think online shows don’t hold much appeal, he also doesn’t see theater flourishing that way as many people they cater to don’t have access to the internet. Even those who have access to the internet, he says, have problems with it. He thinks there are far too many glitches to remove to take the theater online successfully.

Deepmala Pariyar, group coordinator at ICST-Nepal, differs. She says something is better than nothing and that, right now, anything that allows theater to produce good content and artists to perform shouldn’t be disregarded.

Much like other forms of art, theater is cathartic and artists, Pariyar says, need that outlet more than ever before. She adds theaters can also make situational dramas that can help viewers make sense of what’s happening and address mental health issues many people are facing today.

Theater artist Pashupati Rai says many involved in the field are doing whatever they can to keep the spirit of theater alive. But they could have fared better had the government paid a little more attention. Theater, she says, has always been neglected but now is the time to use it for information dissemination and awareness.

Play: Bhusko Aago, Director: Nabraj Budhathoki

Ghimire, on the other hand, says the government only looks for financial gains and thus doesn’t invest in arts, which aren’t always profitable. But arts, he believes, are even more important during crises. Apart from their emotional benefit, they can help document history too. Unfortunately, there is no acknowledgement of that. Government’s involvement is definitely needed for theater’s survival and development, adds Ghimire, but that doesn’t mean the industry won’t do everything in its capacity to thrive on its own.  

“I wrote my first line of computer code, in QBASIC programming language, when I was 11. That same year, I failed in my school computer class,” recalls Yogesh Ojha. Now 24, Ojha is a prolific programmer and security researcher whose feats are being globally recognized. Currently in Bangalore, India and working as a Research Engineer for TRG Research and Development—a Cyprus-based technology company—Ojha’s primary focus is on building intelligent cyber solutions that help secure people’s lives in the virtual world. “My dad, a school teacher, did not take the failing well and I was punished. This became a motivating factor for me to pursue computer science,” Ojha narrates.

Growing up, Ojha was fascinated by how computers worked, mainly how behind-the-scenes codes created programs that everyone could run. He remembers playing GTA Vice City in 6th grade when he opened the Gta.exe file with a notepad and saw some cryptic letters, a bunch of numbers, and lots of special characters. He was mesmerized. He then began exploring the secret world of computer codes and also tinkering around with hardware.

Having worked as a security analyst for Tata Consultancy Services—one of the largest IT companies in the world—Ojha has also presented his knowledge and skills in global technology events like Hack the Box, Abu Dhabi; GreHack, France; KazHackStan, Kazakhstan; Open-Source Summit China and North America, to name a few. Ojha has also been selected to present at the Black Hat USA 2021, a prestigious global event for the cybersecurity community. “I am also presenting at DEF CON 29, which is one of the largest and most reputed hacker conventions in the world,” adds Ojha. “As per my knowledge, no Nepali has ever presented at both these events before.”

Born and brought up at Dhangadhi, Ojha’s journey from Dhangadhi to Kathmandu and then to Bangalore for further studies coincides with his interests turning from programming to cybersecurity. “I believe curiosity is what drives us, humans, towards innovation, plus the desire to achieve something different. I guess that happened to me as well,” says Ojha. The computer science graduate started exploring the realms of hacking and cybersecurity while in college, also managing to hack the Mi Fitness Tracker and presenting the findings at an international conference in Singapore.

Ojha’s biggest achievement for far, as he describes himself, is his automated reconnaissance framework called reNgine that he released after months of hard work in July 2019. In layman’s terms, reNgine is a framework that helps read and identify security issues with any web application, doing reconnaissance work to identify possible threats on websites.

“The idea came to me when I was working as a security analyst and had to perform penetration testing on web applications all day,” says Ojha. “The process was repetitive and tedious. So I decided to automate it.” This automation saves hours and hours of work for cyber-security workers, saving energy and resources as well, Ojha claims. reNgine—abbreviated for reconnaissance engine—has the ability to customize scan engines and do end-to-end reconnaissance and vulnerability scan.

The best part of reEngine, however, is that it is created as an open-source tool and can be downloaded/customized absolutely free. “It has been downloaded by thousands of developers around the world and featured on the trending list in Github, a website for software downloads,” explains Ojha. “I could have sold it for several hundred thousand dollars, at the least, but releasing this as an open source has also become a reason I like to get up in the morning. So, I am happy with it.”

Nepal, one of the weakest countries in the world in terms of cybersecurity, has a lot to do to secure its internet, says Ojha. There have been quite a few attacks on both private and government websites in recent years where hackers took over websites and asked for ransoms or leaked the users’ private data.

This is happening primarily because Nepali companies and government allocate very little resources on security and threat management. Also, with its low income potential, professionals do not prefer cybersecurity as a career in Nepal. “But in the past couple of years, we have seen an increase in the number of people getting into bug bounty hunting. This is great news because this way, more Nepalis can join cyber security.”

Rijan Giri, 35, is among the rare people who have been able to make a career out of their passion.

You might know him as the voice behind the popular Nepali song, ‘Kamal Ko Ful’, or you might have heard snippets of his single ‘Sandhya’ on YouTube where Giri’s channel has garnered over 800,000 views.

Those YouTube videos weren’t exactly planned in Giri’s grand scheme of things. Giri studied medicine and was pursuing a nursing career in the US between 2006 and 2013 . But this was not quite what he wanted to do in life.

“You study, you graduate and you start earning,” he says. “These things happen and life moves on, but I wanted something more.”

At the back of his mind were memories of his younger self. Giri had learned how to play the guitar, and with his uncles singing Nepali folk tunes, he had also picked up harmonium and later trained in vocals.

When he finally decided to pursue music, he returned to Nepal in 2014 and recorded his first single.

“It’s not that you can’t record songs in the US,” he says. “It’s just that I wanted my songs to be produced in the place I was singing about. And it was also a much cheaper alternative.”

Recording a single song takes thousands of dollars abroad, but with that money, he could record more multiple songs in Nepal, and even some music videos. “I’d still have money left for my return ticket!”

But his trip home in 2014 turned out to be more than just a reunion with his family and a music-production trip—it also became a lesson. Only after the recording of his first song did Giri realize just how much he didn’t know about music.

“When you’re a kid, you play a few songs on your guitar and you think you know everything,” he says. “But music is like an ocean. The farther you go, the more you see things you never knew existed.”

After returning to the US, he signed up for western classical vocal classes and learned music theory. When he next came to Nepal in 2017 he had almost 30 pieces of lyrics. With the help of his friends and family, he turned them into songs, some of which have been filmed.

In 2019, he would return after every four or five months, spending nearly half the year in Nepal. And in these three years, he was able to roll out his first album, ‘Anageenti Sapanaharu’, and then his folk fusion album, ‘Mari Lanu K Cha Ra’.

Much of his music is easily accessible on online platforms—YouTube and Instagram being the primary ones—but his online presence is limited. “I’m not in it for money,” Giri tells ApEx. “And I want my growth to be organic.”

This is one reason he’s not partnered with video production companies or hired popular figures to feature in his music videos. “The only thing I’m earning from my songs is self-satisfaction and I’m happy with that because I’ll probably never stop making music.”

The pandemic put a dampener on his plans to come up with a new album in 2020. But he returned to Kathmandu this year and has already recorded six songs since the start of 2021.

“I was lucky enough to work with guitarist Hari Maharjan on my upcoming songs,” he tells ApEx. During the second lockdown, Giri has been spending time at one of his friend’s home music studio.

“This album is turning out to be everything I’d hoped for, a mix of jazz and rock and everything in between. And I look forward to dropping the songs one by one,” he says.