Birth: 23 November 1964, Lalitpur
Death: 18 October 2021, Lalitpur

Ramesh Maharjan, a renowned businessman who later stepped into social work and politics, believed that underpinning every successful business is creativity.

Maharjan grew up in Lalitpur and completed his schooling at Namuna Machhindra High School, after which he attended Patan Multiple Campus for further studies.

He always had an eye for beautiful gems. So Maharjan spent eight years abroad, learning and exploring the manufacture, refining, and selling of diamonds. When he came back in 1997, he founded RB Diamond Jewelers. At first, it started with a small team and a corner shop at Pako, New Road. In the 24 years since, with his creative mindset and high ambitions, he enlarged his small business into one of Nepal’s biggest sellers of diamonds.

In order to make the ornaments sector a major part of the national economy, in January 2013, Maharjan founded the Federation of Nepal Gold Silver Gem & Jewelry Associations, which was the first national-level organization to facilitate the trading of gold, silver, gems, and jewelry.

As founder and president, Maharjan believed in unity, cooperation, and coordination among businesses.

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Besides working as executive member and adviser to the International Chamber of Commerce and Nepal Chamber of Commerce, he also served as the chairman of the Nepal Gem and Jewelry Council. Also the President of the Nepal-Sri Lanka Chamber of Commerce, Maharjan was in leadership roles in over a dozen social and business associations.

Maharjan was also an avid social worker. In 2009, he founded Maya Foundation, a non-profit that works with local communities to provide career counseling to youths from marginalized communities. After the 2015 earthquake, through his foundation, he envisioned and led the reconstruction of about 100 houses in Patan under the Newa: Architectural Reconstruction and Tourism Promotion Project.

He later stepped into politics, believing that the current political system was out of date and the country desperately needed a new political set-up. He thus became a founding and central member of the Sajha Party in 2017.

Maharjan tested positive for Covid-19 on October 10 along with his whole family and was later admitted to the Mediciti Hospital in Lalitpur for treatment. He passed away at 11 am on October 18. He is survived by his wife, a son, and two daughters.