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On returning from London after graduation, Deeya Tamang tried to pursue different career paths—working at an event management company and even on television for a while—but none of it satisfied her. She wanted something to call her own.

Back in 2017, there were very few online shops in Nepal and only a few of them sold clothes. That was when Tamang, who was in her early 20s, decided to step in with ‘T’s Armoire’.

“I was always very passionate about fashion and clothing,” Tamang shares. “So I thought I’d do something on this line,” says Tamang, who took a few months’ fashion course at IEC College before venturing into her new business.

T’s Armoire was one of the first online stores in Nepal to bring in-house models to showcase their products professionally. “I wanted to be concise when it came to the content we put out,” Tamang shares. “I learned early on that you have to be transparent with your customers.”

Today, there are few young adult women in the valley who haven't heard of the brand. T’s Armoire is popular for its unique and edgy products that push the boundaries of Nepali fashion. Aside from its quality products, Tamang’s brand is also appreciated for product displays on in-house models rather than on mannequins or lush carpets like other online stores.

“I wanted people to know exactly how the clothes would look on their bodies,” she shares. It was a decision that completely changed her brand’s look. Today, she has multiple models with different skin colors, ethnicities, and body types to advertise her clothing.

Along with in-house models, the brand also has two in-house designers, including Tamang herself. Even though she prefers comfortable casual clothing, she isn’t afraid to glam it up. And in her designs, she follows the same blueprint, glamorous but comfortable.

Gone are the days when she had to rely on wholesalers and import crews. Today, T’s Armoire makes its own designs and sends them to tailors in Nepal, Bangladesh, and even China.

“I want to experiment with more Nepali textiles and ingredients,” the entrepreneur tells ApEx. Much of her shop’s products are Western fashion for women but she wants to take the Nepali style to global markets.

And she believes her plan will work because she sees many orders coming from foreign countries. But Tamang says success didn’t come to her easily. “I’ve made a lot of mistakes in this journey,” Tamang says. “But I learn from each mistake and never repeat it.”

It took a long time for her to gain her customers’ trust—especially in a society that bought cheap clothes from retail shops and only after trying them on. Now, Tamang feels she has earned that trust.

But her ambitions know no bounds. Her purpose has begun to take shape and she wants what many dream of but few achieve—global recognition. Her failures have taught her far more than has success. “I was fired from the event management company I worked for and until a few years ago, I was just a young dreamer who had started a shop with the little savings she had,” she shares. “And today I have my own successful company.”

“I think I’m the definition of self-made,” Tamang says. “No one believed in me at first and I had to prove myself to them.” With the brand’s outlet in Jhamsikhel turning into one of the most sought-after fashion hubs in the Valley and the online store amassing over 108,000 followers on Instagram, Tamang feels like she has.

As the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic hit Nepal, governments at all levels were under pressure to make quick decisions to save lives. Perhaps local government representatives who are directly in contact with people day to day were under most pressure to help the infected and save terminally ill patients. While some mayors made tall promises and failed to deliver, others led from the front to fight the pandemic. ApEx talked to the heads of nine local bodies asking about their experience managing the crisis.      

Bidur Kumar Karki
Bardibas Municipality

When the second wave of Covid-19 infections hit Nepal and the supply of oxygen needed for treatment was scarce, Bardibas Municipality didn’t have any oxygen plants. As patient numbers began shooting up, the town faced another scarcity: that of trained human resources and medical equipment. 

But Mayor Bidur Kumar Karki didn’t give up hope. His team fought the pandemic making the most of available resources. Karki’s most effective program has been ‘Ghar Gharma Swasthakarmi’ through which a team of medical officers visited every house informing people about the disease. 

Free swab collection for Covid-19 testing at Bardibas Municipality

When the total positive cases hit 98, the city also enforced a tough lockdown--most citizens abided by it. Karki is thankful to every citizen of his city following prohibitory orders. Thanks to the measures, the number of Covid cases in the town has gone down significantly.

But that doesn’t mean the town should let its guard down, says Karki. “We need to prepare for another wave,” he says. “We realized that If we had a hall in every ward, we would have done much better,” Karki says. “So, our municipality has proposed a plan to construct multi-purpose halls in every ward in the coming fiscal year.” 

Bhim Neupane
Panauti Municipality 

Because of its proximity to Dhulikhel and Banepa hospitals, Panauti Municipality never felt the need to set up its own hospital. But this pandemic has taught them a lesson. 

“We will immediately build a hospital in our area,” says Mayor Bhim Neupane, whose team has worked relentlessly to help save lives at the local level.

He rues not getting any assistance from the provincial or central government. “Our municipality and citizens feel left out,” he says, due to the sheer negligence of the authorities who should be acting like our parents. Yet with the help of civil society and non-profits, we are doing our best, he adds.

Neupane and his team built an isolation center in the town so that patients could get basic treatment. Provisions were also made to rush terminally ill patients to Dhulikhel or Banepa. 

“We have enough isolation centers,” Neupane says with confidence as the municipality prepares to fight a possible new wave.

Dilip Kumar Agrawal
Rangeli Municipality

Rangeli municipality didn’t have money to fund its campaign against Covid-19 when the second wave struck. 

The city under Dilip Kumar Agrawal stopped all its development works and funneled the money to combating Covid-19. He faced a lot of criticism for making such a bold move.

“We can build roads later,” Agrawal says. “But right now we need to save people’s lives.” There was a small hospital in their district and a new emergency ward was being constructed when the first wave hit. Agrawal and his team turned that emergency building into a treatment center for infected patients. 

As they didn’t have enough doctors, the city hired more doctors from nearby districts. The municipality brought in oxygen cylinders and PCR test kits from all over the country. 

“Those pieces of equipment were expensive but we didn’t get a dime from the federal government throughout the second wave,” Agrawal says. Budget relocation is going to hurt the municipality’s development but the mayor sees no other option.

Khadga Bahadur Khatri
Kamalamai Municipality

For Kamalamai Municipality, the biggest difficulty was finding a place to isolate sick people. Lack of preparation hurt the town badly and it took time for everyone to come together and build a place for the patients to isolate themselves.

“Finding an appropriate place to set up an isolation center was difficult,” says Mayor Khadga Bahadur Khatri. He and his team allocated a budget for a proper place to keep the patients and a new hospital to treat Covid-19 patients was also built. In addition to the hospital, a total of 47 isolation centres have been set up across town.

Khadga Bahadur Khatri, mayor of Kamalamai Municipality, inquiring about the health of home-isolating people

Following the construction of the new hospital, the city has also installed an oxygen plant to overcome the problem of oxygen shortage. 

As only a small number of vaccine doses have been distributed by the federal government to outlying districts, Khatri has ensured that only eligible people get them. The pandemic’s situation has greatly improved in the municipality and Khatri is confident he and his team are better prepared for another wave.

Laxmi Narsing Bade Shrestha
Banepa Municipality

When the pandemic was at its peak in Banepa, says Mayor Laxmi Narsing Bade Shrestha, they didn’t receive any help from the federal government to manage the crisis.

But that didn’t stop Shrestha from taking action. The municipality’s officials raised funds by diverting the money set aside for the people’s representatives’ allowances. Similarly, budgets for other activities were also diverted. Almost Rs 10.5 million has now been allocated for the health sector.

“A separate hospital for Covid-19 patients has been built,” Shrestha shares. “It has the resources we didn’t have six months ago. We weren’t prepared when the first wave hit. But now that we’ve seen how the worst consequences can be averted, I believe we’re a lot more prepared for action if another wave were to come.”

A group of experts and first-responders has been formed to coordinate efforts against the virus and prepare for future waves.

Nar Bahadur Thapa Magar
Ramechhap Municipality 

Managing quarantine centers for people coming from Kathmandu and other parts of the country was one of the biggest challenges Mayor Nar Bahadur Thapa Magar and his team faced during the second wave of Covid-19. In addition, conducting PCR tests and contact tracing were also difficult due to the shortage of test kits.

Ramechhap Municipality established an Emergency and Disaster Management Fund and designated a committee of experts to run it. Committee members included representatives of the municipality, head of police, CDO, civil society representatives and hospital officials. The committee set up isolation centers in different parts of the city and made provisions for antigen tests to isolate people infected with Covid-19.

When the city faced an oxygen shortage, Magar worked closely with the district hospital to secure supplies. 

Nirsal Sah
Malangwa Municipality 

When the second wave of Covid-19 infections emerged in Malangawa, the city was faced with an acute shortage of oxygen. 

It was then that Mayor Nirsal Sah understood the importance of setting up an oxygen plant at the municipality. The city has now awarded the contract to do so. 

“The oxygen plant that is being installed will come into operation soon,” says Sah, who is disappointed with the federal government for not supporting local officials to manage the Covid-19 crisis. 

But that hasn’t stopped Sah from proactively trying to save lives. Despite the challenges, the city has arranged oxygen and ventilators for the ill. It also has plans to build an isolation center by collaborating with neighboring municipalities. Plus, the mayor has plans to rope in more doctors, experts, and medical personnel to work in his area.

Sah is happy with the help and support from civil society, citizens, NGOs, and donors. “They come to the meeting with suggestions and innovative ideas,” he says.

Rita Kumari Mishra
Janakpurdham Sub-Metropolitan City

When the government enforced a lockdown last year to contain the spread of Covid-19, Deputy Mayor of Janakpurdham Rita Kumari Mishra and her team organized a campaign to make people aware of the effects of the disease and to encourage them to stay home. 

“In addition to running TV ads and radio programs, we opened isolation wards for the sick as soon as positive cases started coming in,” says Mishra.

When the case-load started growing, the municipality encouraged people to isolate themselves. In emergency cases, they were provided with oxygen cylinders and other necessities rather than having their family members going around searching for them.

Officials of Janakpur Sub-Metropolitan City inspecting a local isolation center

“When someone tested positive, we shared medical experts and doctor’s phone numbers with them so that they could call them for guidance or information on their symptoms,” Mishra continues. “This quelled their paranoia and also created space in hospitals for patients who actually needed critical care.”

The local government has created a community to battle the virus. The community is divided into five teams, each visiting different wards and collecting information on which families have been infected, how many need assistance, what medical equipment they need and if they need to be shifted to isolation wards.

The second lockdown, however, hasn’t been as effective as the first one. “Daily wage earners are struggling to stay still as they have families to feed,” she shares. Most frontline and daily wage workers are using precautions to stay safe, so the municipality isn’t arguing with them, she adds.

Vaccine dissemination hasn’t been that good either. Frontline workers and a few older citizens have received the first dose but other than that, the majority is still at risk. The municipality is working to get more vaccines into the region so they can reopen again.

Vijay Kumar Sarawagi
Birgunj Metropolitan City

Birgunj is one of the biggest industrial and economic hubs of the country. This status became a curse for the city during the pandemic as it is home to the biggest border crossing between Nepal and India, the epicenter of the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Mayor Sarawagi and his team had learned their lesson during the first wave. Lack of testing at the border had allowed infection to spread like wildfire in the city. This time, the city was determined to do something about it.

“We established help desks and health desks at all entry points,” Sarawagi says. The city conducted antigen tests on returnees mobilizing its own resources.

Neither the central government nor provincial authorities helped Birgunj Metropolitan City directly, Sarawagi complains. The government only assisted hospitals and the district administration office. 

But Sarawagi is satisfied with the help the city got from the civil society, district administration, police, doctors, and everyone involved. The mayor is now lobbying with the government to provide vaccines to his citizens.

“The only way to save lives is to vaccinate people,” he concludes.

When Keshav Thapa was growing up, he liked dancing. But there was no one to teach him how to. The only option was to observe dancers and film stars and to come up with his own moves.  

“No one taught me how to dance, I learned it on my own,” says Thapa, Today, founder of Iris Dance Studio and lead choreographer for Miss Nepal pageants. “I wasn’t trying to copy anyone, I was simply doing what I loved, dancing to the tunes on reels and music cassettes,” Thapa remembers.

 “I grew up with little to no access to things that could help me improve my skills,” Thapa tells ApEx. “There was no internet back then. And we’d rarely get movies or music videos.” 

Little did he know that his hobby would soon become his career. It was only when he received a full-ride scholarship to attend a dancing school in Kolkata—for which he was selected after auditioning dozens of applicants—that he understood that he had it in him to become a dancer. After graduation, Thapa planned to head to Mumbai like the rest of his colleagues, but he understood that competition in a big industry such as Bollywood would be extremely tough. “I had no yearning to fight for scraps,” says Thapa.

Instead, he came home to Kathmandu, where he established his studio, started conducting workshops and choreographing for the Miss Nepal titleholders who go abroad for international pageants. As he continued working in the capital, he soon realized that Kathmandu was full of talented dancers, and it was areas outside the city that needed his skills.

His resolve was further bolstered after he participated in the reality television show Dancing with the Stars Nepal to dance alongside Sristi KC, a blind social activist advocating for equal rights for the visually impaired and the founder of Blind Rocks Nepal. Thapa did the choreography for most of their performances throughout the show.

“I was extremely hesitant to participate in the show,” he says. “When you’re a dancer and choreographer by profession, people expect you to win the title no matter what.” He felt the pressure from the audience from the very beginning. But his feelings changed after being paired with KC. “After being introduced to her, my goal to win morphed into a determination to enjoy the journey of the program. Teaching Sristi dance was a completely new experience for me.” He feels that, even though he taught Sristi to dance, he learned far more from her.

After the show, he headed to Surkhet and opened his dancing program there. What was even more surprising was the enthusiastic feedback he received during the process. Just during the first four months before the second lockdown, Thapa trained around 140 students. 

Among them, more than 70 were children. Since it would be difficult to start with the technicalities of dancing, he first started with cardio, Zumba, and simple dance movements. For the kids, he added more skills to his programs such as public speaking and personality development activities.

“That’s one thing I was never prepared for,” Thapa says. “I had always viewed celebrity life from the media’s lens. But once people started knowing me, it was never as glamorous. The trick is to be able to handle yourself in tough situations. You need to learn to compromise and have the work ethic that can pull you outside the bubble of constant pressure.”

Since the lockdown, pressure has eased a bit. Thapa hasn’t been unable to continue dance lessons in Surkhet. He conducted a few online classes for members of Blind Rocks Nepal. But the online classes proved to be difficult since he was only limited to verbal communication with blind participants.

But he has plans to continue the classes after the lockdown ends. Thapa will return to Kathmandu to prepare Namrata Shrestha, Miss Nepal 2021 for the international Miss World pageant and will also continue teaching at his Iris Dance Studio.

But his heart will still remain in Surkhet. .“I remember what I had to go through. As a dancer, I had no one to look up to,” Thapa says. “And I don’t want the next generation, no matter where they’re from, to not get to do something just because they didn’t have someone to teach them.”

“The problem with my career has been, people who know my songs don’t know my name. And people who know my name, don’t know the songs I have sung,” says singer Santosh Lama. Time and again, Lama gets queries like “Oh you sang that popular number? I didn’t know that.” Despite 15 years in the industry, people continue to confuse his identity.

Lama attributes this confusion to the paucity of his media appearances, which makes it difficult to stay popular and relevant in current times. The audience has too many names and faces to remember and they easily forget. Also, most of Lama’s popular songs have come out at a time music videos are more important and popular than actual music. For those audiences, the songs and the actors/models in them are easier to memorize than the singers or musicians themselves. Many singers are not recognized even though their songs are played in nearly every household, Lama says. 

“Still, I am preparing to release at least two or three songs right after the end of the current lockdown. They’re already in post-production,” says Lama, who has more than 300 songs, most in Nepali and some in Tamang, under his belt: hits like “China ko Rail,” “Behuli,” and “Dara Chhaina”. With a degree in classical music from Kalanidhi Indira Sangeet Mahavidyalaya, Lalitpur--which is affiliated to the famous Prayag Sangeet Samiti in Allahabad India--Lama entered the music industry as a pop singer. He has since also done playback singing for Nepali movies and lent his voice to songs of other genres

But he continues to be most famous as the winner of the iconic “Nepali Tara”—the mother of all reality shows in Nepal. Lama was the winner of the show’s second season in 2007 and quickly shot to fame. “I was barely 22 when I won Nepali Tara. Everything I did for music before that, I call it a learning experience more than a struggle,” says Lama who had participated in multiple competitions before the reality show and had to travel to-and-fro every time from his hometown in Dhading to Kathmandu. 

“My real struggle began after I won Nepali Tara,” says Lama. “You are the talk of the town when you do well in a reality show. You get instant fame and the audience and media always talk about you.” So the artists think the fame will last them a lifetime and start basking in its glory. That’s where they are wrong, Lama explains. All the hype and popularity gained in reality TV ends as fast as it begins and then the artists are left to fend for themselves in the real world. 

“Musicians have no business managers, no one planning their careers. The artists, still amateurs when they win reality shows, do not know how to deal with instant money and fame,” says Lama. “By the time they realize what is happening, they have already hit rock bottom and have to start from scratch.”

Now 35, Lama is less concerned about popularity and more about the quality of his music. His focus has always been on producing quality music that satisfies him, not catering to the ‘viral crowd.’ The curse of Nepali Tara has followed him though, raising expectations for trendy, catchy songs that can be consumed by the masses. But that had never been Lama’s goal. In fact, the first song he promoted from his debut album right after winning Nepali Tara was “Batuwa”, his personal favorite semi-classical number composed in the odd-time 7/8 signature. “People expected me to release a love song, but I released Batuwa with its philosophical lyrics,” Lama adds. 

Lama would like to continue singing for the rest of his life, without falling into the trap of publicity stunts and celebrity culture. “When I started as a singer, we did not create music for the audience to watch on YouTube, let alone make mimicry videos on TikTok. Music was solely for the ears, hearts and souls,” says Lama. “This is what I would like to continue doing.”