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Birth: 1972, Lalitpur
Death: 4 October 2021, Lalitpur

Laba Khatri, a former FIFA referee, dedicated his life to football.

Khatri was an avid follower of the game since his school days, and with constant support of friends and family, decided to pursue a career in it.

Stepping into the field at the age of 17, Khatri played for the Kathmandu-based Friends’ Club. He then played top division football for Brigade Boys Club, Jawalakhel Youth Club, and Three Star Club. Besides Nepal, he also got to showcase his footballing skills with different clubs in India.

Khatri’s passion for football fluttered as he got more opportunities at the Three Star Club, and  he started playing more national and international games.

His career took a new turn when he got injured while playing in India 1997: having sustained major injuries to his left leg, he had to stop playing to avoid further damage. But that could not take him away from football. After 10 years of playing, he decided to become a referee as he already had the experience of refereeing a couple of games even in his playing days.

In 2005 he completed his AFC Elite referee course from Bangladesh and went on to run games for some of the strongest clubs of Nepal like Tribhuvan Army Club, Manang Marshyangdi Club, Nepal Police Club, and Three Star Club.

Also read: Gadulman Rai: The repository of Kirati culture

After three years, he participated in FIFA referee training and started refereeing at FIFA games. In 2008, he would run the opening match of Aaha! Gold Cup.

He was easily one of the country’s best referees. Being able to be present on the field and run the game despite his inability to play made him happy. He continued contributing to football in one way or the other throughout his lifetime and his love for football never disappeared.

After refereeing for 17 years, he retired following his final match on 31 December 2017.

He believed refereeing was a thankless job. But he acknowledged that it taught him loyalty and dedication, and he earned immense respect of players and fans. He was grateful to have left the field with such appreciation.

Khatri passed away at the age of 49 on 4 October 2021 after collapsing in his bathroom and hitting his head whereupon he lost consciousness. He later died in the hospital. Khatri is survived by his wife and son.

Birth: 21 August 1948, Khotang
Death: 22 September 2021, Bhaktapur

Gadulman Rai, a teacher and researcher, devoted his life to promoting the Kirati culture. Born in Ratanchha, Sakela Rural Municipality-2, Khotang, Rai’s formal education ended after grade 10.

But that didn’t stop him from continuing various forms of education and promoting Kirat literature. In 1968, two years after starting his teaching career, he took part in a 10-month teaching training. At various times, he also trained in community forestry, village development, and linguistics. 

Yet teaching for him was not a one-way street. He was involved in training other teachers to teach Kirat language to grade one students in different districts and had an instrumental role in the establishment of the Shree Panchakanya primary school in Ratanchha in 1988.

In addition to writing textbooks for grades one to five in Chamling language, Rai translated textbooks for mathematics, science, health and physical education, social studies, and creative arts into Chamling. 

Having done so much, he decided to retire from his event-filled teaching career in 2000. Rai was then elected ward chairperson of Ratanchha-8 VDC where he introduced significant reforms in budget management.

Also read: Ramesh KC ‘Mattare’: A life dedicated to acting

Rai was actively involved in publishing various works in Chamling language, including the ‘Chamling Ardahbaarsik Mukhpatra’ (volumes 1, 2, and 3). He was the researcher behind the book ‘Chamling Sanskar, Sanskriti, and Myth’ and compiler and editor of the Chamling dictionary. He also wrote  Kirat Sanskar (Chamling-Nepali), the definitive book on the birth-to-death rites of Chamling Rais as well as the ‘Chamling-Nepali Experimental Vocabulary’.

In 2002, he was elected secretary of the Kirat Rai Chamling Khambatim committee for five years. In appreciation of his contribution, Kirat Rai Yayokkha conferred on him the 'Chhatra-Vishnu Rai Kriti Samman-2064' and Nepal Pragya Pratishthan honored him with 'Nepal Pragya Matrubhasha Sahitya Puraskar-2072'.

In 2016, he won the Rashtriya Pragya Puraskar for his contribution to Chamling language and literature.

Rai passed away at the age of 73 in Bhaktapur on September 22 while undergoing treatment for cancer. He is survived by his wife, four sons, and two daughters. 

Birth: 1952, Lalitpur 
Death: 2021, Kathmandu

Entertaining the Nepali audiences, most famously in his comic mien of ‘Mattare’, Ramesh KC contributed to the Nepali theatre and film industry for nearly 50 years. 

Born in Imadol, Lalitpur, KC grew up with singing, dancing, and acting as his hobbies. After tying the knot with Lila KC in 1970, he started his professional acting career. In the beginning, he used to be involved with a yearly cultural program. 

His journey as an actor started with his role in a play called ‘Anjaan’. In the following years, he acted in other plays like ‘Ke Sakkali Ke Nakkali’, ‘Muna Madan’, ‘Prithvi Narayan’, ‘Modi Aain’, ‘AKN’, and serials like ‘Nautanki Maailo’, ‘Khotai Khatal’ and many more.

Again, he was most popular among the Nepali audience in his role of ‘Mattare’, a drunkard character, in the TV series ‘Khottai Khane’. Most recently, he appeared in ‘Ekadeshko Churifuri’ and ‘Harke Hawaldar’ TV shows.

Altogether, KC acted in more than 40 stage plays, over 3,000 street and radio dramas and above 20 TV shows. He also made appearances in 13 popular Nepali movies and in numerous music videos. Besides this, KC taught music, singing and dancing at Mahendra Adarsha School before retiring from the job in 2000.

He had taken up acting at a time actors had to spend their own money on the roles they played. In the past few years, KC had thus expressed his great pride in witnessing the Nepali theater and film industry modernize and practice different kinds of storytelling.

As an artist, he always stood up for preserving the country’s artistic heritage. He urged the government to invest and pay more attention to protecting different languages, cultures, festivals, dances, attires, and songs.

KC, who had for long been suffering from heart disease, passed away at the age of 69, on 19 September 2021 on the set of Harke Hawaldar. He is survived by his wife, two sons, and three daughters.

Birth: 12 March 1936, Kolkata
Death: 11 September 2021, Battisputali

Born to the late Nepali Congress founder, political leader, and former Deputy Prime Minister of Nepal Subarna Shumsher Rana during his exile in Kolkata, businessman Rukma Shumsher Rana got his school education at The Doon School, Prince of Wales, and North Point.

Rana’s father and his uncle were fairly successful businesspersons, despite living in exile. As a result, he and his brothers lived a comfortable life. But Subarna Shumsher was worried his sons would grow up spoilt, and this prompted him to send them to boarding schools at a young age.

Rana went to St. Xavier’s College in Darjeeling for his Bachelor’s degree. He then earned his Master’s degree in Modern History from Calcutta University.

Although Rana, the youngest son of the family, grew up in India, he always knew his roots, and the family returned to Kathmandu after the restoration of democracy in Nepal in 1950.

Upon returning, he, along with his brothers, started looking for business ventures in the country. Back then, there were only a few companies in Nepal and even fewer with factories of their own. Rana invested some money in the then Hetauda Leather Factory. The venture wasn’t successful but it gave him a taste of investing in Nepal.

When he approached the Indian health care company Dabur, the executives were hesitant to step in the Nepali market. However, Rana convinced them, saying that if they wish to expand into the international market, their neighboring country should be their first choice. A decade later, Dabur went on to become one of his most successful businesses in Nepal as he was named a partner in the company and Managing Director of Dabur, Nepal. Besides this, his family also invested in real estate in Kolkata.

A diligent and hardworking man until his last breath, Rana was also interested in sports. He served as National Sports Council (NSC) member-secretary twice between 1993 and 1999. In 2003, he went on to become the chairperson of the Nepal Olympic Committee (NOC), of which he was recently appointed honorary chair. Rana served as acting president of the All Nepal Football Association (ANFA), the president of the Nepal Taekwondo Association as well as of the Nepal Athletics Association. His participation in sports often had him traveling to many countries—especially SAARC countries—and, despite the enjoyable experience, he had to spend considerable time away from his family, which he found challenging.

To him, his family’s happiness was the benchmark of success. That was the reason he considered his time away from home as a sacrifice. Nonetheless, his travels helped him establish personal networks around the world. Partly as a result, he served as Nepal’s ambassador to India from 2009 to 2011.

His father had once advised him that other’s opinions shouldn’t matter because you know what you are and no one can take that from you. Rana only took offense when people questioned his intelligence. He was an open-minded, communicative, and well-respected businessman who treated others well and expected to be treated the same way in return.

Rana was battling kidney-related ailments, diabetes, and hypertension for some years and had been undergoing dialysis after a kidney transplant when, on September 11, he suddenly suffered health complications at night. He passed away at his residence at Battisputali. He is survived by his wife and a daughter.