These boys are “Chakachak”
They are young, they are energetic, they are groovy, they are “Chakachak”. Formed in early 2018, Chakachak is a one-of-its-kind Nepali band that records original music in the ‘nu-metal/rap-hardrock’ genre. Band members, aged 21-40, exude an enormous amount of energy not only in their recordings and music videos, but also in live performances. Chakachak stages a spectacle every time it is on stage, and as the audience, you can do nothing but bang your heads to its infectiously groovy music.
Two brothers, Biraj (guitars) and Bikrant Singh Thapa (drums), collaborate with Ashutosh ‘Multi’ Pandey (vocals), Sabeen Shrestha (bass), and DJ Vital on turntables, to form Chakachak. Inspired by international artists like ‘Rage Against the Machine’, ‘Limp Bizkit’, ‘Fever 333’, ‘Turnstile’, and our very own ‘Tumbleweed Inc.’, to name a few, Chakachak is all about spreading positive energy and vibe to its listeners, say band members.
“Chakachak, in Nepali, stands for positive hope/energy. We found this word representative of what we wanted to portray through our music,” says Biraj, the guitarist. “We used to play with different underground bands before this and connected through the local underground scene. We got together just to play this kind of music.” DJ Vital, the oldest band member, and a popular music producer in Nepal’s EDM circuit, was the final addition.
The band released its eponymous debut album in 2019 and has since been causing tremors in the local music scene. The audience has swiftly picked up songs like “Sabda,” “Damadol”, and “Netapal”. Chakachak’s latest music video “Gatibidhi” featuring rapper “5:55” has pushed it further into the limelight, from where its visibility is spreading to a larger audience.
But Chakachak is not here to attempt to ‘make a difference’. Rather, it wants to remain true to its music, and spread positivity with it. “We try to express ourselves in the most authentic and truthful way possible. We think speaking the truth is the seed for making a difference,” Biraj says. The band’s honesty and passion for its art can be felt in its lyrics and music. It speaks about what’s wrong in the society, creating awareness, and even warns those abusing authority, even while it sounds aggressively groovy at all times.
Usual hindrances that every band faces—personal commitments issues, lack of finances—does slow the band’s progress at times, but the highly committed band members pool their resources and manage time to take the music forward. The independent band has self-sponsored all of its audio and visual productions, without letting anything come between it music and its audience.
Even the Covid-19 lockdown since March has not ebbed its enthusiasm. “We do miss the energy of performing onstage and also hanging out with our friends, but we have been busy writing new material even during the lockdown,” Biraj informs. The band released music videos of its songs “Gatibidhi” and “Wake-up” during the lockdown and already has another music video in the pipeline. Still, live shows and concert tours are what the band looks forward to when the pandemic is over.
Comparatively a new entry in Nepali music, Chakachak is one of those bands that have made an impact within a short time. “We have been blessed with the most amazing response so far and are always grateful to our audience, friends and seniors,” Biraj says about their acceptance in the local music scene. “The family is getting bigger and stronger.”
Settlements in Karnali at grave risk as relocation plans shelved
Six people lost their lives in a landslide at Aulgurta, Nalgad municipality-12 of Jajarkot district. The incident eight years ago put the whole settlement at risk. A decision was made to immediately relocate 60 households to safer places, and yet nothing was done. This year, the settlement is in a danger of another flooding.
Five years ago, three people were killed in a landslide in the model Badi settlement in Dailekh district headquarters. Many houses collapsed. Local politicians promised to relocate the settlement soon. Again, their promises came to nothing. The 52 houses in this settlement are still at high risk damage from landslides.
Landslides take place every year in Haudi, Shubhakalika rural municipality of Kalikot too, endangering its 176 households. Another 25 houses have already been destroyed.
Dozens of settlements in Karnali region are at high risk of landslide. This year, landslides in Jajarkot, Kalikot and Rukum West have caused severe damage to life and property. The various plans that have been drafted, from the district to the central level, are again limited to paper.
According to local Red Cross activist Govinda Acharya, there is a tendency to make ambitious plans at the time of disasters, but then these plans are quickly forgotten.
Acharya rues lack of seriousness in relocating endangered settlements, resulting in the loss of precious lives. Khadananda Chaulagain, chairman of Shubhakalika rural municipality in Kalikot, complains that the limited budget he gets is insufficient to resettle homes.
Karnali MP Ganesh Prasad Singh, elected from Jajarkot, is currently in Kathmandu to knock on the doors of Singha Durbar. He says the problems of the landslide affected people were ignored. A landslide had killed 14 people in Barekot last July.
The land there is now fragmented, the village itself at high risk of landslides. MP Singh has come to Kathmandu to draw the attention of the federal government even as the locals have left their homes and settled in open fields. “I have come to Kathmandu carrying the decision of the local and state governments to relocate the settlements,” Singh says. “If these villages are not shifted, another disaster looms.”
The Karnali state government has an integrated settlement program for the relocation of endangered settlements, and the budget for it was set aside in the previous fiscal.
Karnali Province Chief Minister Mahendra Bahadur Shahi says managing land for resettlement has been the main difficulty. “The local level bodies have been unable to arrange for the required land. At other places, the locals have refused to be relocated.”
The state government had allocated around Rs 500 million for the integrated settlement development program last fiscal, Shahi informs. The budget, however, was frozen due to lack progress. Shahi says the program has been given continuity in the current fiscal and will be implemented in Kalikot, Jajarkot, and Mugu districts after a detailed study.
Covid-19 pandemic exacerbates cyberbullying culture
Twenty-year-old Jack Aryal’s open admiration for Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’, the former leader of the decade-long Maoist insurgency, has earned him many enemies on Facebook.
“I often post my perspectives on Prachanda on social media. No sooner do I do so, people start bombarding me with hate speech and indecent language. I don't think most of them even read what I write," says Aryal, a resident of Gorkha district.
Aryal doesn’t get why people are so dismissive of his views when he has himself made it a habit to respectfully assess others’ opinions online. He shares his uncomfortable experience of having had to delete offensive comments to ensure his family members and relatives didn't see them. “I have been facing this kind of bullying on social media over the past 2-3 years. I don't react to most comments, but it does hurt to see yourself hated so much just because of your beliefs,” he says.
What Aryal has been facing is a kind of cyberbullying, a broad term that includes sharing rumors, threatening someone, posting sexual remarks or personal information, hate speech, and humiliating and harassing others over the internet.
Recently, an image of a female pillion rider on a motorcycle with a public number plate went viral online. The photo of the woman wearing a backless top generated a storm of criticism. It turned out that instead of roaming around the city in the motorcycle, as many people had assumed, she was on official work while the photo was taken. She later revealed how the image has caused her enormous psychological and emotional distress.
Similarly, popular Nepali actor Deepashree Niraula was bullied online when she questioned if the thespian Rajesh Hamal was really the Mahanayak, or the sole superstar of Nepali silver-screen. People were quick to criticize her, and began trolling and hounding her online. Many of these comments ridiculed Niraula's physical appearance.
Incidents of cyber-crimes (of which cyberbullying is a big part) in Nepal are increasing. According to the Central Cyber Bureau, in the first 13 weeks of the Nepali new year, Nepal Police had filed 968 reports/appeals associated with cyber-crimes. The last fiscal had witnessed a record 1,938 cases.
Ravi Raj Timalsina, a consultant psychiatrist based in Pokhara, cites five reasons behind why people engage in cyberbullying: Low self-esteem, history of being bullied themselves, difficulties within family life, lack of education, and tumultuous past relationships.
Timalsina says cyberbullying affects all those involved: the bullied, the bullier, as well as those who witness the act. He adds, “Those who are bullied may suffer from stress and depression, while those who bully are more likely to indulge in other offensive and criminal acts.”
Kriti Singh Bhandari, a lecturer at Nepal Law Campus, blames the state's failure to implement laws for the failure to contain cyberbullying.
Bhandari says that while the general public's complaints are likely to be kept pending, those related to famous public figures, politicians, and celebrities are rigorously pursued.
The chances of cyberbullying are especially high as people are spending a lot of time online while being confined to their homes during the lockdown.
Entrepreneurship in Nepal was hard. It's gotten harder
Nepal, a relatively youthful country with the median age of 24.6 years (Worldometers), is ranked 135 out of 190 economies for the World Bank's ‘Starting a Business’ index that tracks small and medium enterprises all over the world. In other words, Nepal is not exactly a business-friendly country.
But still, in the past few years, young entrepreneurs have been coming up with innovative business ideas. Among the hundreds of startups that have originated in the country in recent times some have even gotten global recognition and funding. Even with the domination of a few large industries in Nepal, small and medium enterprises have emerged, creating jobs, contributing to the economy, and providing consumers with a variety of products at fair prices.
According to the central bank's 2019 report titled ‘SME Financing in Nepal’, as of fiscal 2018/19, a total of 275,433 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) were registered in Nepal. The Industrial Enterprise Act 2016 defines small enterprises as businesses having up to Rs 100 million in fixed capital, and medium enterprises as businesses as having fixed capital between Rs 100 million and Rs 250 million. The SMEs contribute an estimated 22 percent to the GDP, while employing 1.7 million people.
Even with little government support, entrepreneurship was thriving in the unsteady Nepali economy. But then the Covid-19 outbreak hit and the lockdown took hold starting March 2020, destroying the hopes and dreams of entrepreneurs and their businesses. Mostly based in Kathmandu, Nepal’s young entrepreneurs are reeling under the pressure of exorbitant rents, high taxes, and other liabilities, even as their businesses have struggled with Covid-19 over the past six months.
Rohit Tiwari, CEO/Co-founder of the pioneer homemade food delivery service, Foodmario, has always had issues with government apathy of startups. Although Tiwari’s Foodmario can now be considered a successful business, the hazards of entrepreneurship have not spared him. Tiwari has also taken it upon himself to actively promote other new ventures, especially the ones taking big risks. Even access to global funding is hard, he complains, as the minimum amount for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is set at a rigid Rs 50 million.
Rohit Tiwari
Confused government, confounded businesses
“The startup environment in Nepal was already poor when the pandemic hit. Business shrunk by more than 80 percent for most of us during the four months of the lockdown,” says Tiwari who was this year on the prestigious list of ‘Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia’. “At Foodmario, we had to temporarily close down entire operation for three weeks and instead deliver vegetables and essentials to keep the business going,” he explains.
During the lockdown Tiwari had expected some government help for small and medium enterprises. No such help has materialized. “The government seems confused,” he says. The only ray of hope, he adds, is that consumers learned the value of online business during the lockdown.
Bilal Ahmed Shah, CEO and Founder of Latido Leathers, says he had expected the lockdown to last a while and planned accordingly. To ensure the safety of his staff and factory workers, Shah sent them back to their ancestral homes as Latido’s showroom and factory closed. Many of them are yet to come back.
Bilal Ahmed Shah
“Even as our expenses have been rising, we have not earned much in the past few months. There is no way to tell if and when we will be fully operational again,” says Shah, unaware at the time of another round of imminent lockdown in Kathmandu.
On the same website that ranks Nepal so low on ‘Starting a Business’, the country is ranked 79th in ‘Protecting Minority Investors’ and 94th in ‘Ease of Doing Business,’ which are again not very inspiring. Perhaps this is why their friends and families discourage young entrepreneurs from taking what are indeed considerable risks.
Neha Singh, originally from Birgunj, is one such aspiring entrepreneur who has fought all kinds of odds to try and establish a business in Kathmandu. Living by herself at the age of 22, Singh runs ‘Chhotusart,’ an online store for customized products that is yet to be legally registered. “I was just about to register when the lockdown started and all my business plans fell apart,” Singh says. Singh’s online store was the outcome of her creativity and a bit of pocket-money, but has grown into a sizable business, which now requires legal registration. “I managed to make enough to expand my business and also to have some savings, but now everything I saved is being spent on my living expenses, since I have had no income lately,” Singh says.
Panic and anxiety
Singh’s quest for financial independence through a steady business that would cover her living costs, as well as studies, is now in jeopardy. “Entrepreneurship is already difficult for women in Nepali society. Now this pandemic and the ensuing problems will push us back even further,” Singh says.
With her savings almost gone and no sign of the pandemic coming under control, Singh is anxious about the future of her business and fears that she might have to start from the scratch after the pandemic. Her biggest fear at the time of our interview was another lockdown. “Don't know what I will do if I have to stop my business again,” she had said.
Her fear, unfortunately, came true. This second lockdown, which could possibly be further extended, might be the final nail in the coffin for many of the SMEs in Nepal. Without protection from the government, which instead imposes heavy taxes and regulations, entrepreneurs and SMEs will either have to fend for themselves to survive the pandemic or lock their doors forever.
Latido's Shah is already in a panic mode after the announcement of the second lockdown. The previous lockdown had put a big dent on his production and sales. "We will still have to pay rent for our showroom and factory. An even bigger problem is that we will now be unable to prepare for the peak winter season," Shah says.
Rohit Tiwari sums up the hardships of a handful of businesses that were operational during the previous lockdown and subsequent restrictions. Discussing the disruptions to his food delivery business, he writes on his Facebook page: "Only if I could request Government of Nepal to allow smooth Delivery of essentials, Bakery, Dairy products if nothing more! Half of the time we have to call traffic police, ask someone for source Force, just to do simple business. Sad!"
