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When the Covid-19 pandemic reached Nepal, the government had no option but to follow other countries and close down its schools and cancel students’ remaining examinations. Most of the lockdown measures have since been lifted, but schools remain closed, leaving students stuck in their homes.   

Aarav Tandukar, a 9-year-old from Kathmandu, misses being at school and around his friends. He says, “At home, I enjoy playing games on my gadgets, but my parents won’t allow me to play for long. Yet when I try to read a book, I get bored, and that’s when I really miss my school.” 

Srijan Khatiwada, a Grade X student from Inaruwa, explains that online classes are not compelling enough for him. He prefers being in the classroom, and learning face to face.   

Some schools have started online classes but many doubt the viability of these classes. So far, anecdotal evidence suggests online classes have not been very effective for Nepali students, deepening the doubts about this new form of “learning”. 

Sujan Shrestha, a psychologist and faculty member at St. Xaviers College, says school closure has interrupted the process whereby children learn by observing and interacting with teachers and friends. “Live demonstrations and face to face teaching is always the best. As children’s attention span is limited, it is normal for them to get bored when they have to sit in front of a screen for long periods. Plus, staring at a screen is never healthy for children,” he says.

Children’s capacity to socialize is also being impacted, Shrestha points out. “In school, they get a chance to interact with both their peers and teachers, allowing them to build those necessary socializing skills. Losing this opportunity can make children aloof and decrease their capacity to navigate social situations and settings,” he adds. 

Bidhyanath Koirala, an educationist, criticizes the way in which both the government and teachers organizations are handling the situation. He also fears children who are in their homes the majority of the day will get addicted to electronics. “If children are exposed to videos or images that are unsuited for their age groups and thus harm well-being, who will take responsibility?” he questions.  

He claims the government and education system are not well-equipped to handle the loss of an academic school year. “When old students whose studies have now been disrupted resume their studies, the education system will have to accommodate both them as well as the new students,” Koirala says. “This won’t be easy, on the system as well as on the students.” 

Separately, as children are being forced indoors, the feeling of being caged is growing. “Many children are getting angry, irritated, and violent,” adds psychologist Shrestha. “It is the parents’ duty to reassure their children at this difficult time, and help them understand that what they are feeling is perfectly normal, while also suggesting ways to calm those anxieties.”

Psychologists stress the importance of children engaging in creative activities, such as art projects, music, and learning new cognitive skills, while they are confined in their homes.  

According to UNICEF, more than a billion students are still out of school due to lockdowns around the world. But over 70 countries have announced plans to reopen schools and hundreds of millions of students have already returned to their schools in recent weeks. And yet, for Nepali students, there is no clear path back to their classrooms anytime soon. 

While the world celebrated “International Tiger Day” on July 29, challenges for sustainable conservation of the endangered Royal Bengal Tiger have only increased. Due to growing conflict between humans and tigers, lack of food and habitat, and the threat of poaching, conservation of tigers in Nepal has become more challenging.

Tigers—considered an indicator of the well-being of the ecosystem—are growing in numbers in Nepal. At the Global Tiger Summit 2010 held in St. Petersburg, Russia, Nepal had pledged to double the number of tigers in the world by 2022, as the species was on the verge of extinction. Nepal has also shown its own interest in tiger conservation. By 2018, there were 235 Bengal tigers in Nepal including 93 in Chitwan, 87 in Bardiya, 21 in Banke, 18 in Parsa, and 16 in Shuklaphanta National Park.

Annath Baral, chief conservation officer of Bardiya National Park, says the increase in the number of tigers has added challenges to their conservation. The threat of poaching, growing conflicts with humans, as well as cramped habitats and food shortages, have been major challenges for tiger conservation in recent times. With the increase in the number of tigers, there is an increase in their movement to buffer zones and forest areas. “Development of intermediate zones and encroachment of forest areas has become an issue for the tigers and their habitats.” Baral says. Furthermore, the growth rate of their prey has steadily decreased as the grasslands have substantially depleted in recent years.

“Because the tiger’s habitats are being encroached upon, tigers have started living not only in the parks but also in the community and government forests in buffer zones,” explains Baral. In such cases, the park needs to manage food supply and safe habitat for them. Making grasslands, ponds and other habitats in the park alone may not be sufficient. “Therefore, it is necessary to properly manage food and habitat for wildlife even in community and government forest areas,” he adds. 

With the increase in the number of tigers, lack of food has created a situation of conflict between humans and wildlife. Baral says the park has been working every year for the conservation of tigers, grasslands, ponds, habitats and other food supplies. According to Baral, there has even been interaction at the community level, including awareness programs, to help mitigate the conflict with tigers.

Nine people have been killed and two others injured in separate incidents on the Banke-Bardiya Complex, a natural habitat of tigers, over a period of two years. As the number of tigers has increased, so has the loss of property.

According to Rabin Kadaria, a conservation officer of the National Nature Fund Bardiya Conservation Program, seven tigers died in the complex in the same period. Since 2018, one tiger has been killed in Bardiya and two in Banke by poachers. “One tiger was unfortunately killed in an electric trap in Patabhar of Bardiya. While two tigers died in a road accident on the highway. A man-eating tiger has died after being taken under control by park authorities,” he informs. 

“If we don’t pay attention to sustainable conservation of tigers, there is no point in immediate conservation," Kadaria adds. “Conflicts between human and tigers, food and habitat, as well as the threat of poaching are some of the hurdles we face.”

The ‘Harmonium Musicals and Sports’ store at Khichhapokhari, better known as Harmonium Musicals, is not an ordinary store selling all kinds of musical instruments. It’s a piece of history with a legacy that dates back almost a century.

Around 1925, Maila Tandukar, a local from Khichapokhari, opened a music store, then unnamed, which sold harmoniums, sitar, tabala, eshraj, and taanpura, among other Eastern classical and ethnic instruments. The family now claims that it was the first music store in Nepal, and there is probably no one to contest it.

At a time there was no music industry to speak of and the sales of musical instruments was not organized, Maila’s initiative brought him good business and recognition, including from the then royal palace and the Rana families. He was invited to the palace to repair and supply musical instruments, mainly the harmonium, which earned him the name of ‘Harmonium Maila’—a nickname which soon became a stuff legend among musicians of yesteryears.

When Maila handed over the business to his eldest son Ganesh Lal (GL) Tandukar in the early 1960s, the business took a different turn. “The Hippie Era had already begun when I took over and we started seeing many Western influences in fashion, art, music and the society back then,” 80-year-old GL recalls. “Western genres like pop, blues, jazz, and rock n’ roll were getting popular among the youth and that’s when I decided to try something new with the store.”

GL then officially established the ‘Harmonium Maila & Sons’ music store which would sell imported Western musical instruments “for the first time in Nepal”. Although import was next to impossible at the time, the Tandukar family’s reputation helped him import popular brands of musical instruments from as far away as Italy, Japan, UK, Germany, and Spain, among other countries. The store’s popularity catapulted among the youth of the time who had acquired a strong taste of Western music.

As Harmonium Musicals’ legacy got engraved into hundreds and hundreds of households that had bought musical instruments from them, a third generation of the Tandukar family prepared to inherit the store, making it inarguably the oldest running in the country. Mahesh Ranjan Tandukar (57) and Prajesh Raj Tandukar (38) took gradual steps into bequeathing the business from their father, starting in the 1990s. The store was again rebranded ‘Harmonium Musicals and Sports’. As the name suggests, it also started selling sports equipment, even though music was still their main business.

“Now we’ve not only taken over the business but are also trying to expand it in terms of import and availability,” Prajesh, the younger proprietor, says. “We have gained reputation for our quality products and services but the competition is high these days.” With increased competition, the family’s concern now is not just to maintain respectable existence but also to dominate the market as it did in the old days.

While the previous generations running Harmonium Musicals had been passively reaping the fruits of the pioneer venture, the new generation is aggressively reclaiming the portions of market it lost over time. To ensure quality and best prices, Harmonium Musicals has tied up with world famous international brands like Pearl Drums, Orange Amps, ESP Guitars, Sabian Cymbals, and Takamine Guitars. As exclusive authorized distributors for most brands that it imports, Harmonium offers genuine products at competitive prices and supportive after-sales services.

Also for the first time in its almost 100-year history, Harmonium Musicals has extended its service beyond its birthplace in Khichapokhari. The store has recently opened a branch in Jawlakhel, Patan (opposite Ekta Books) and has already had customers thanking it for the expansion, the owners say.

“This business of selling musical instruments is not as easy as it looks,” Prajesh says. “We need to understand the changing needs and demands of the customers and continuously stay updated.” He is thankful to the countless loyal customers who in turn have influenced the younger generations to visit the store.

With the Covid-19 outbreak that resulted in four months of lockdown, most of the marketing, promotion and sales plans were postponed, but according to the persistent owners, it is only a matter of time before things go back to normal. Of late, Harmonium Musicals has not only been selling music instruments but also supporting and sponsoring new us well as renowned musicians in the country.

“We will also be organizing workshops and seminars for musicians at our location when the situation normalizes,” Prajesh says. “And there’s plan to include more international brands in our portfolio.”

On July 9, government spokesperson Yubaraj Khatiwada had announced the Cabinet decision to resume the services of local public vehicles, including taxies, by adhering to health and safety protocols. According to new rules, apart from the driver, only two passengers and a child below the age of five, if from the same family, are to be allowed in the taxi. The same provision applies now that the odd-even number system is gone with the lifting of the Covid-19 lockdown.  

Following the July 9 announcement, taxi services resumed. With most public busses still out of operation, the taxi drivers should have benefitted, but that was not the case. Taxis are still short of passengers.

Fasta Bahadur Magar, 34, from Bhaktapur who started his taxi service a couple days after the Cabinet decision, is despondent. “Before, I used to get 4-5 trips a day but now it is one or two trips,” he explains. “Many people prefer take to foot if their destination is within 30-40 minutes walking distance”.

Mohan Shrestha, 42, from Maitidevi, another taxi driver, had been waiting for six hours for his first passenger when APEX caught up with him. Shrestha does not expect things to drastically improve so long as the airport is not back in full operation and hotels restaurants don’t reopen.

Similarly, Rinjing Sherpa, 34, a taxi driver from Boudha, states, “Now, I am earning Rs 600-700 a day.  Deducting petrol, maintenance, and owner’s share, I earn Rs 200 a day. How can I run my household on such a meager income?”

For his part, says New Buspark’s Dipak Bhattarai, 33, “Neither can we charge according to our will, nor do we get passengers. Things are difficult.” On the first day after the end of the nationwide lockdown, Bhattarai had made two trips till 2:30 pm, which was “a great improvement from the previous days yet hardly back to normal.”

As regards health and safety measures, all four taxi drivers keep hand sanitizer in their vehicles. They also claim to only allow passengers who are wearing masks, and request them to use sanitizer before entering their taxi. “When someone, in a rare case, comes without a mask I ask him/her to buy a medical mask, otherwise I refuse to go,” adds Shrestha. 

They are also asking the government to revise fares. The old rates are outdated, they complain.

Both Sherpa and Magar say the taxi owners have been supportive. They have waived off the daily fixed charges drivers owe the owners. Whatever is left is shared on a 50-50 basis.

In the case of the drivers who own their taxis, loan installments are a headache. “Resumption of taxi services has given banks and house owners an excuse to collect their dues from us,” says Shrestha. He was unaware of the recent Nepal Rastra Bank monetary policy that plans on easing loan payments for those hit by Covid-19. When informed about the policy, he replied, “Our government is quick with plans, but always fails in implementation.”

Thousands of taxi drivers make—there are around 11,000 taxies in Kathmandu valley—depend on daily wages to earn their livelihood. Most of them are struggling to make their ends meet.