BIZstyle MAGAGINE | THE REBOUND EDITION| VOL IV ISSUE I

Editioral Note

This journey would be the revival of the COVID shock; a step toward, as we called it, "normal." We would proudly like to present to you our first physical issue after COVID, BIZstyle vol. 4 issue I, with more insight about entrepreneurs' ventures where they not only survived but flourished in the COVID era and are adapting to new market scenarios. In this edition, we include savvy young entrepreneur stories that can really question your life choices, and it's jarring for young people to be more productive and full of mind. The issues feature assorted OGs from industries like hospitality, fashion, NGOs, banking, technology, photography, and luxury. You will find some bold statements that might be triggering.

CHEERS! to our BIZteam for completing this magazine that was born out of labor of love, to our readers, well-wishers, our contributors, and everyone who has been or has been associated with the magazines. Also, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Someone said to me, "hey,life is like not about praying for the storm to Pass but it is like learning to dance in the rain."

Managing Director OJASWI PUDASAINI

Chief Executive Officer AASHIKA SHRESTHA

Chief Financial and Technical Officer SMARIKA THAPA

Editor in Chief & Creative Director SAMIKSHYA SHRESTHA

Chief Operational Officer PRITHVIRAJ SINGH BOGATI

Chief Business Officer DIKSHYA KHADGI

Director of Photography LISHAN TAMRAKAR

Editor Team PRITHVIRAJ SINGH BOGATI, LUNA SHRESTHA, DIKSHYA KHADGI, SWECHHYA PRADHAN, ABHISHEK DHUNGANA

Event Managers SHRIJAN TAMRAKAR, SMARIKA THAPA

Event Team LUNA SHRESTHA, LISHAN TAMRAKAR, DIKSHYA KHADGI

Photographer SAMAN THAKURI

Guest Editors Academic, BIBHAV ADHIKARI (LACM Faculty), SHILPA DHAKAL, ISHAN DUTTA MISHRA (LACM Faculty)

COVER PAGE/ BIZshot

Entrepreneur RICHA GHIMIRE

Photographer VISION STUDIO

Makeup Artist ADORNBYNISTHA

Accessories by Orabelle Wardrobe Y.N.T.

SUPPORTING MEMBERS

Saurav Shrestha, Reason Mudvari, Diwas Chapagain, Abhishek Bhattrai, Biva Pyakurel Dibyashwori Karki, Kamal Raj Neupane, Ayush D. Singh

CONCEPT, DESIGN AND LAYOUT: RAKESH TWANABASU, Hyupa Studio Contact: 9851117969, E-mail: hyupastudio2018@gmail.com

All rights reserved in respect of all articles, illustration, photography etc. published in BIZstyle magazine. The content of this publication may not be reproduced in whole or in any form without the written consent of the publisher. The opinion expressed in contributor are not necessarily those of the publisher who can’t accept responsibility for any errors or omissions. All editorial inquiries and submission to BIZstyle Magazine must be added to biz.style@lacm.edu.np BIZstyle Magazine, Little Angels' College of Management (LACM), Hattiban, Lalitpur Volume 4| Issue 1| December 2022 01-5250123

Interview with Kiran Kumar Shrestha

CEO, Rastriya Banijya Bank

Kiran Kumar Shrestha is a prominent name in the banking industry with a long history in the renowned banks like Nepal Bank Limited (NBL) and Rastriya Banijya Bank Ltd (RBBL). Starting as an assistant branch manager he worked his way up to the General Manager of NBL and currently the CEO of RBBL. He played a vital role in various departments and also along with coordination with international organizations like World Bank in the Financial Sector Reform Program. The banker also had a teaching career giving knowledge and inspiring young minds. His professional life has been quite a journey, giving him a chance to work and learn in various sectors which has helped to mold him into a skilled banker with a hands on knowledge on banking sector. We know more about this banker we asked him some questions

● In a corporate world, you have too many demands on your time, and they all seem important. So, how do you prioritize?

This is a problem faced by many management heads, in my starting so did I. Sometimes even a simple email/ message or just a phone call can suffice the urgency of the matter and save a lot of time. However, sometimes there are matters in hand you need to look at right away, for example if the pressing concern is from the Central Bank or the Ministry of Finance (MoF), and might have to reschedule lots of matters. But as you work on you start to know yourself which topics you should really look into, additionally you need to learn to schedule your time and my secretariat team has really helped me in this matter.

● Currently banks are facing a liquidity crunch & there is also a macroeconomic downturn which has hit the BFIs hard on a global scale. How do you cope with the situation ensuring not only the survival but also growth of your company?

Today the entire global banking and financial sectors have faced a punch in the stomach. High rise in inflation, economic recession and rise in liquidity crunch has even brought some finance companies to their knees. Growth in this environment under the watchful eyes of the central bank is not an easy task. And as a banking institution we have to look at the growth of the company as well as focus on the economy to thrive. We have a strong initiative to provide loans to the productive sectors which can bring good returns for us and the economy by generating tax revenues and employment opportunities in the market. To increase the loanable amount we are focusing on increasing deposits. We are focusing on increasing the remittance through our banking channel by giving better initiatives to the senders and as well as senders families on the remittance amount. We have firmly focused on maximum utilization of all of our technological, financial and human resources. But we have to be pragmatic as well. Under this present condition we can’t expect to see growth like in the past.

● Stagnancy in terms of company growth can sometimes be seen due to strategic myopia. How do you avoid this in the executive level of a corporation?

Strategic myopia usually occurs when the executive heads and Board of

Directors (BoD) fail to understand the opportunities for a long term return and benefits. To avoid this, the top level of the organization should not only be focused on short term growth but also look at the company goals and vision and incorporate tactical strategies for a better competitive advantage. They should be provided with proper forecasts of the strategic plans, and they should not focus only on cost incurred in the short term but what the strategies can bring in long terms along with intangible measures like creating brand image, referral customers, retention of big clients and employees etc.

● A CEO might be considered as a mediator between all of the stakeholders of the company, each of whom have different demands from the company. How do you satisfy all these and ensure harmony?

First of all you should be able to distinguish between the internal and the external stakeholders of the company as well as their influence, their engagement, and power they have on the company. Then we have to know whether the demand is a need or a want. And it is vital to understand if demand is based on their personal agendas, it should never be considered above the company’s agendas. The top management should be able to cooperate and coordinate with the stakeholders, listening to their needs and fulfilling them under limits. Negotiation also plays a crucial role where top management has to ensure that fulfilling one’s demands doesn’t affect the other. Last but not

the least if the stakeholders have a large influence on the company, for example the government, we should follow them but also find a way to negotiate with them with cooperation with other companies in the sector, so that new policies and laws don't harm the company and the industry too much.

How important has technology become in the banking industry? And how successful has RBBL been to adapt to changing technology?

Technology has never been more crucial in the banking sector than today. We can see a recent rise in demand from the customers during and after the lockdown period for better technological services. Technology is playing its role to be a competitive advantage for various banks and a means to attract more deposits in the bank. Banks provide various technological options like mobile banking, online banking and registration, credit card and debit card facilities, ATMs with deposit options etc which can also facilitate e-Commerce in the market. Banks are incorporating CBS in their bank for their clients. In regards to adaptation of technology, RBBL is in competition with all other banks in the market. But the main concern isn’t about the availability of technology, you can get your hands on almost any technology if you have the money; but what RBBL is concerned about is the manpower with the skills to successfully and efficiently use this technology. We are lacking competent manpower due to brain drain in the foreign countries. Currently in RBBL

we have employees of average age of 35, which are considered to be technological adept and we are going under process with coordination with the Public Service Commission to add more human resource to our company with better technical skills. We are also providing training and development programs to our teams so that we create better managers and employees who can work as better financial service providers.

● What lies in the future of RBB as per your strategic vision?

Currently, we are the top 1 bank in terms of return. But the ongoing merger and acquisition (M&A) process is gonna increase the capitalization for most of the banks creating larger single competitors in the market. This is surely gonna affect our performance in terms of the competition in the future. But we still plan to remain in the top 3 most profit making banks in the future. But as per my vision, I don’t want us just to be a profit making bank but to change the corporate image of RBBL in the eyes of the general public. Government banks are always seen as bureaucratic organizations filled with red-tapism, dull environment, and poor service quality. I want RBBL to be a bank which provides better quality service than current private banks by overhauling the poor service quality environment in my organization. And to do this we are trying to remove the cycle of mediocrity in our organizational culture, by focusing on better hiring and recruiting methods, training and development programs, budgeting with main themes on better service

quality, and leading by example. And for this to succeed we also have to bring our attention to the human factor with warmer relationships with our customers, employees, and the general public.

● What do you think is a must quality for a good leader to have ?

It is a hard question to answer. But let us summarize it in a simple way. A good leader must be able to make the right decision for the company and keep his/her personal agendas away from the company. They should be transformational leaders for the company and also the decision should be analytical and based on experience.

Shrestha is a bonafide leader and as every leader he wants to leave a legacy of his leadership for upcoming managers and his successors to look up to. He has brought growth in the company and ensured effectiveness and efficiency by maximum utilization of resources. With main priority for integrity he has piloted the company towards its goals under the values the bank withholds. His professional journey from the ground below has provided him with the knowledge and hands on experience to be a corporate leader. And with his leadership we can surely see a drastic change inside RBBL and people's perceptions about the government banks for days to come. And coming days will surely show how this banker sails his ship in these financial turmoil.

- Prithviraj Singh Bogati Editorial Team

Barhasinghe is well-balanced premium dry-hopped lager brewed with pure spring water, imported German malted barley, and aromatic hops. It was founded by Nepali entrepreneurs without the involvement of any foreign capital, making it genuinely possible to be identified as a Nepali beer brand. Although certain multinationals have dominated the beer industry in Nepal, Barahsinghe has performed well after three years of operation. It offers a wide variety of beers, including pilsner beer, Dunkel Weizen, pale ale, and many more.

In this context, we interacted with Mr. Muskan Shrestha, the co-founder of Barahsighe. Following is the summary of our conversation with him:

What was the primary motivation behind entering the brewery industry, and how successfully has gained a strong foothold in the market?

We are already in the alcohol industry. We, therefore, had extensive knowledge of the alcohol industry and a solid distribution network, enabling us to reach dealers, distributors, and retailers easily. We also saw 15-20% growth in the beer industry. Similarly, the industry only had a small number of global companies, and the beer market lacked variety. We were thus inspired to enter the beer industry after identifying the market's missing segment.

1. There is much competition in the market, and many companies have already established themselves. What challenges has this created and how is Barahsinghe overcoming them?

There is intense competition in the market. Multinational corporations and other Nepalese businesses have dominated the need for more than 30 years. The market was monopolized mainly, and consumers readily accepted whatever the companies produced. This condition has presented problems, but we are working to transform how people think about beer by introducing a wide range of high-quality beer categories.

Interview with Muskan Shrestha

Co-Founder of Barahsighe

2. What distinguishes Barahsinghe apart from its competitors?

The distinct differentiation that we have from our competitors is that we have brought varieties of beers to our customers, including pilsner, which was not available in the market; similarly, we also got Dunkel Weizen, hazy IPA, etc. Another critical factor is that we emphasized the quality of the raw materials. Because, raw materials produced in low temperatures are pretty tasty, we import our raw materials from Europe and use the spring waters of Nepal to make the beer.

3. In your opinion, how important is branding, and what initiatives has Barahsinghe taken to build itself as a brand?

Branding is essential and it's a long-term investment. Since we are in our starting phase, we have yet to invest a considerable amount of money as other multinationals have. We have focused on mass as well as our targeted customers. We have prioritized branding media, Facebook, Instagram, restaurants, and event planning. We've analyzed different sorts of techniques, and we're being extremely tactful about it.

4. In what ways is Barahsinghe expanding, and does it intend to do so internationally?

We have focused on sales all over the nation. We've also started exporting to Australia and Japan. Moreover, we are also exploring other parts of the world. We are actively promoting the Nepali beer brand globally.

5. Beer tastes vary widely among consumers; people frequently stick to a limited selection of breweries. How has Barahsinghe segmented its market to attract consumers with a wide range of tastes?

Beer choice typically changes based on the consumer's income level and desire for the amount of alcohol in the beer. As a result, we have produced beers based on these diverse preferences, creating beers with different categories.

6. What are the significant challenges Barahsinghe has faced in the brewery industry?

We encounter difficulties everywhere. One of the main challenges in this industry is competing with the large multinational companies already present in the market. Secondly, our neighboring countries are also large manufacturers of beers with low prices. This situation squeezes our needs to some extent. Not to mention, the government raised taxes by Rs. 30 per liter. Additionally, despite the difficulties we experienced during COVID-19, there was no government support.

7. How have you managed everything together, considering that you are also involved in other successful brands like 8848 and old durbar?

We have a long history in the alcohol industry, as I just indicated. Consequently, we do have access to the distribution network. Since we can use the same distribution method, it has been an excellent supplement. We even have employees with similar experiences, making it more straightforward for us to work concurrently. However, we are overcoming our obstacles based on different circumstances.

8. In these years of experience, is there anything you would like to say to those youths who want to set their career as job creators and investors?

We need to look into the enormous possibility that Nepal offers. While working experience is beneficial, once we have some, it is always better to be an entrepreneur. These days, the majority of the youth are going aboard. This status isn't bad, but in the end, we should come back to our nation and contribute something to it. Nevertheless, this us to create a long-term legacy. Challenges are always there, but we should tackle them step by step, and one day, we will succeed.

- Swechhya Pradhan Editorail Team

1. Currently, all industrial sectors are facing a liquidity crisis and there is an economic slowdown too, which is hugely affecting industries world wide. How are you going to face the situation of ensuring not only the existence of your company but also its growth?

Yes, for some time we could see a liquidity crisis. But Nepal is such a country, despite the liquidity crisis and economic slowdown in different countries, Nepalese industrial businessmen with their high willpower are protecting their company and its history. This time too, with the desire to face fewer crises, the compulsion of industrialists to work accordingly has emerged. Despite many problematic situations, there is always an opportunity to walk towards growth of the company and build its existence in the market. We have planned to face challenges and lead our company towards growth by mobilizing those opportunities and our technical competencies. We do have a team with strong willpower, so with this trust we are planning to move forward.

2. In the context of company growth, sometimes stability can be seen because of lack of foreseeing of political aspects? How do you prevent such a situation from the level of industrial execution?

Before implementation of any policies, rules and planning, we thoroughly perform discussions about every aspect so that these decisions won’t be a disadvantage

Interview with Surendra Kumar Goel Chair Person of Shivam Cement

for the company. It is our tradition to implement rules, policies and planning only after proper discussions. Therefore, it is untrue that, by the estimation, the company will be affected by strategic aspects and will be unsuccessful.

3. How has your professional journey helped you to be the person you are today?

I am a person who always believes in hardship and faith, and works with honesty and positive thinking. There is no contribution of a single person only to the operation of the company. However, there are contributions from shareholders, high level authorities who are expertise on different subjects and areas as well as because of the contribution from the experienced person, this company has been able to be successfully established as a leading industry. I work as the Chairman of this company and under my leadership the company operates. My personal life is not that big a topic to discuss, but I have never thought of how my identity is appreciated because of my association with the company.

4. According to you, what are the important leadership qualities?

Every person of the company in a leadership position should always put forward collective and company’s benefits instead of their personal benefits. During planning, decision making or implementing, the person in a leadership position should discuss seriously as well as with the related person and be able to help to create an environment to bring appropriate conclusions. Similarly, while working or assigning work, the leader should always keep the company as a first priority and check whether the best option is chosen

or not and, according to the need, make a quick decision in every area and create an environment for the better implementation. These qualities should be possessed by a leader in leadership. Late decisions lead to late outcomes. They should be aware of this aspect. I believe that quick decision making and its implementation is one of the core factors for the success of the company.

5. What is your strategic perspective for this company?

According to the nature and time context of business, the policies and rules of the company should be made. Most importantly, we have been working by giving first priority to the quality production of our product and customer satisfaction by providing quality product and services, and we are planning to adopt a neat and tidy management style for brand image, corporate image to protect our customers in this competitive environment while keeping our shares in the market and moving forward.

6. With the increase in competition in the market, how will you strategically face strategic planning?

There is always competition in the market. There are various brands and different features of the product on the market. The most important thing is to know which customer looks for which product and why. The topic of building a home is once in a lifetime or twice in a person's life. Shivam Cement is produced in Nepal and produced of high quality. Customers seek quality products. Thus, Shivam cement with distribution of knowledge of customer production and consumers have decided various products in the market.

Rainbow Bakes

The dessert industry is estimated to be worth more than $ 415 billion globally by Fortune Business Insights. Rainbow Bakes has entered to take its share in this market with its glorious bright colors. When filled with boredom and anxiety during the lockdown, an experiment in the home kitchen to treat herself to a delicious chocolate cake, Anita Gurung, the founder of Rainbow Bakes, surely found her calling. She was delighted with baking so much that she found it to be something she would really love doing professionally as well as teaching the fellow deaf team members of her previous project - Happy Hands Nepal alongside. Anita took about a month to plan, conceptualize and execute the Rainbow Cheesecake Jar Aka Jar of Happiness into action which to date is their best seller.

Rainbow Bakes is inspired by the concept of a Rainbow Baby. A Rainbow Baby is a baby born after a miscarriage. The arrival of the conceived baby symbolizes hope and the light it brings to the parents’ life after their dark time. As

a parent-to-be to a Rainbow Baby back in 2018, Anita wanted to commemorate her pregnancy which coincidentally was around the time of her golden birthday with a rainbow cake. Born on the 30th, Anita’s golden birthday took place when she turned 30. Seeking a Rainbow cake in Kathmandu back then was a letdown as obtaining the same was either super expensive or no one wanted to execute the same. Hence, when she set foot in the dessert industry during the pandemic, the emphasis was on the rainbow theme so as to spread love, hope, and happiness to different lives during the dark difficult times.

Rainbow Bakes is an online dessert shop that offers various Rainbow-colored desserts. It also offers a combination of seven different flavors of a dessert representing the seven colors in the form of a rainbow in a box. The dessert shop proudly offers a diverse range of cakes, tarts, cookies, Swiss rolls, cheesecakes, cupcakes, brownies, and many more to come.

Being born and brought up in Singapore and well-traveled in and around different parts of Asia, the dessert menu has different flavors of the Asia continent such as Pandan Cake, Kaya Jam, Durian Custard, Rainbow Mochi, Pineapple Tarts which are a few Singaporean desserts offered by Rainbow Bakes. In addition to the standard menu, the boutique online dessert store also takes in orders for customized desserts. From the colors to the taste to the textures to the shapes; you can have a wide range of personalized desserts made for either personal or professional gatherings.

A normal work day for the founder and her team actually starts a day prior

whereby they plan for the next day's orders or deliveries as an update from different cafes and restaurants with whom they have collaborated is sent to them the night before. Based on the next day’s orders or deliveries, Anita and her team set out to work right from procuring the premium ingredients to prepping the orders to dispatching the same.

Rainbow Bakes believes in not just delivering delicious desserts to their current clientele or prospective clients but also it is more about giving them an eased-out experience of ordering a cake or any dessert for that matter. For this very same reason, Anita ensures to personally respond to all queries at the earliest. As much as most of their orders are online, Anita aims to give every client a personalized touch in trying to best understand their expectations as well as building a friendly and warm relationship together. Thanks to Anita’s professional experience in the hospitality industry, this personalized yet professional interaction of Anita’s has definitely helped Rainbow Bakes to gain new clientele as well as retain the current clientele too. Not to forget, Anita strongly emphasizes the importance of having a great customer service attitude toward the market be it online or offline.

Rainbow Bakes is built on the basis of its 3 core values i.e., Commitment, Collaboration, and Community. These values of Rainbow Bakes have not only helped them but other businesses they’ve collaborated with as well.

Rainbow Bakes aims to help restaurants and cafes focus on their food menu while they help them to excel equally in their dessert menu too. Rainbow Bakes currently offers its products at Cafe De Tukuche, Lazimpat; Born and Bread Company, Lazimpat, Rumi’s Bistro, Mandikatar, and HideAway Restaurant located at Bhimsengola.

Community being one of its core values, Rainbow Bakes aims to give back to the community in any way it can. As a

part of giving back to the community, Rainbow Bakes has hired two deaf individuals and had also collaborated with Angel Maharjan aka Blessed Hero to celebrate Women’s Day and just happiness in general by giving out Rainbow Cupcakes and Rainbow Swiss Rolls on different occasions respectively.

It is believed that in order to see rainbows, one must be able to face the rain. Anita’s voyage toward the rainbow has not been easy, and she may face downpours and high tides in the future as well. But as a determined leader of her ship; alongside the support of her team and family members, have surely sailed on to become the currently trending and growing online dessert/baking store with an increasing number of options of its heavenly desserts to the market. With that said, have you tried a dessert from Rainbow Bakes?

- Smarika Thapa & Prithviraj Singh Bogati Editorial Team

MINT UNISEX SALON

Finding the right place for your hair and beauty services in Kathmandu valley can be a hassle. In this competitive industry, multiple salon businesses exist, ranging from community-based barber shops to high-end salon chains for you to choose from. If you are looking for a positive and uplifting experience while pampering yourself, Mint Unisex Salon is the answer. Mint Unisex Salon, located in the heart of Jhamsikhel, established in 2020, is committed to providing hygienic, fresh, and quality service to all its clients. The salon has a crème de la crème of experts for each of your hair care needs, a specialty that the salon is proud of. To keep it that way, Mint won't let any trainee or interns even touch your hair because they believe that your hair needs the best available care, and the employees have experience of a minimum of 5 years. Most salons in the valley treated

through call or text or visit the salon. A representative will try to know you and your needs. After understanding your condition and problem, the representative proposes the available solution and options for your needs. The salon provides unbiased consultation service, the right path, and the best price possible. After you receive your beauty service, Mint advises you on how to take proper care of your hair/nails and also takes feedback from you so that it can provide better service in the future. Compared to the price of most of the salons out there, Mint is a little steep for most of its targeted customers, but this salon promises to give its customers an experience worth every penny spent there. Mint salon provides a wide range of services, from hair care and color to nails, pedicure-manicure, facials, and other beauty services. But what makes it different from other businesses in the industry is the focus on hygiene and cleanliness, the expertise of highly experienced employees, and the focus on creating a warm, welcoming environment for all their clients. Ujen, the owner of Mint Salon, enjoys starting different businesses. Currently, the entrepreneur owns Mint salon and Mint audio studio with her husband. Despite her several roles, Ujen has been gracefully balancing the various aspects of her life. Inspired by her Canadian friends, she follows the western approach of hustling on the weekdays and taking the weekends off. Since Ujen has been on her professional journey with her multiple businesses, we realized it is worth knowing her experience and insights in startups and entrepreneurship.

1. Every individual has their strengths and weaknesses. In this entrepreneurial journey, are there any strengths that boosted you?

Similarly, are there any weaknesses that you think have held you back?

Weakness doesn't pinpoint to just one.

I have so many flaws. For instance, I am not a perfectionist.I'm a little messy. But I am a multitasker who likes to work fast. I have completed 4-5 projects in a single time frame. While this is a strength of mine, I have also realized that sometimes I lose quality which is one of my most significant weaknesses.

2. Indian work culture is different from that in Nepal. Growing up in South India, how did the environment influence your personal development?

Unlike the entrepreneurial trend in Nepal, India highly emphasizes a 9 to 5 job. I was more attracted to the 9 to 5 work culture and climbing the corporate ladder in the earlier days. I used to be burnt out from work. The tight, inflexible deadlines there have implanted the work-fast culture in me. I find blending the Indian work influence with the Nepali culture of entrepreneurship to be much more productive.

3. As an entrepreneur with multiple businesses, when does one know their business is self-sustaining?

The entrepreneur should embed the core values and business ethics set to staff. The manager is your representative for the business, so hire and train someone who reflects your vision, is highly trustworthy and dependable, and can steward your employees and business operations. Employees should be kept happy with the feeling of the company as their own family.

4. The digital marketing concept is relatively new to the Nepali business world. Marketing is still considered an expense rather than an investment in the bigger picture. How important do you think marketing is to any business?

Six years ago, I worked in a digital marketing firm in India where the market had already understood the importance of digital marketing. In contrast, Nepal should emphasize digital marketing more. At that time, the Indian market had already understood

the importance of digital marketing. I have found that there needs to be a specific budget allocation for marketing in Nepal.Similarly, digital marketing agencies need to provide creative content as well. Some of the youth-owned businesses have incorporated digital marketing well. By creating innovative and influential content, we can see many businesses booming from the TikTok platform. Businesses and digital marketing companies should step up their game when it comes to marketing efforts.

5. What do you suggest and share with upcoming entrepreneurs for their startups from your experience?

If you want to start a startup, earning money should be something other than your business's ultimate goal; you need to have a solid value to guide it. Wait to build a startup, but try working a 9-5 job for some time. This will help your personality development and help you gain professional experience for your upcoming business. While working, joining a startup is more beneficial as you look closely at a company's sections, from marketing to sales to finances to customer relations and human resources, and interact with top management and the CEO. Similarly, market research is a crucial point for any business. Knowing that entrepreneurship is a journey and shouldn't be ended with only one company but rather seek self-growth in multiple sectors is a guide to starting one's entrepreneurial journey on the right foot. Whether looking for that natural look or trying something unique and bespoke, Mint provides the freshness you desire. As a customer in Mint, you don't have to worry about the damages or drawbacks of beauty care, as the professionals here create an experience personally tailored for you.

- By Smarika Thapa and Prithviraj Singh Bogati Editorial Team

Orabelle

If you are looking for high quality, sophisticated and sustainable, yet affordable everyday jewelry, Orabelle may just be the best up and coming jewelry brand in the business in that regard. This company was founded in 2020 by three close friends aiming to be an inclusive online retailer for fashion statement pieces currently targeted to the 18-25 age group. Orabelle creates durable, quality pieces that are sustainably made at prices that wouldn’t make you lose your mind. The instagram based business aims to be the leading sustainable and affordable jewelry brand.

The story of Orabelle begins from 2020, just a few months before the global pandemic hit Nepal. The founders were first year Information Technology students with a drive to do something bigger than themselves. They utilized their semester break to anticipate the prospects of owning their own business. Since none of them were from a business background, they started researching, reading and deriving inspiration from every source they could find. In a matter of weeks, Orabelle hit the Nepali instagram business market. At that time, the company offered fashion jewelry imported from foreign countries. Even though unique and quality pieces were imported, the company faced the problem of jewelry tarnishing. As replating is not common in Nepal, the company could not provide this service. “We didn’t want to sell ephemeral products to our customers.” says Arju Adhikari, one of the co-founders of Orabelle. The founders relentlessly involved in searching for the solution. After months of research, they decided, instead of importing products, they would manufacture sustainable, recyclable and handmade products in Nepal itself.

A year after the inception, Orabelle rebranded itself and started the sustainability journey. The transition

was not easy with one of the 3 friends leaving the venture. Arju Adhikari and Mavira Bhattrai spent days searching for artisans in the streets of Kathmandu. After rebranding, the customers had a problem related to the product as well. Through collaboration with different social media influencers, content creators, and word of mouth from the few initial customers, Orabelle got back on track. Their jewelry is made from panchadhatu (an alloy of five metals) or brass, and coated with 24 carat gold. Each piece is handcrafted and marked by a very manual production process using traditional Nepalese techniques. The rebrand started with the Dawn Collection, and to this day, they have launched five different collections of rings, earrings, pendants, and bracelets. The products are packaged in aesthetic pouches inspired by traditional Nepali ‘thailo’. The pouches are made of cotton or jute to promote sustainability in their packaging as well. But it is not just the products Orabelle wants to stand out for, it is the feeling of community and inclusiveness they want to provide to their customers. Love wins, which both Arju and Mavira claim to be their best collection was their attempt to reach people of every gender and sexual orientation by potraying the different kinds of love through their products.

“Orabelle is like our baby. We have been so involved in starting and operating this business that we are emotionally connected to it.” says Bhattrai. Without a single idea of how

to operate a business, three college students embarked the journey of entrepreneurship. In the beginning, they were manually involved in every single business process from content creation to modeling to interacting with customers and packaging the products. Today, the company has employed artisans, social media handlers, and delivery personnel. Even though, Orabelle has collaborated with a delivery company, they have one in-house rider standby in case of emergency. Mavira Bhattrai, cofounder of Orabelle, is involved in the jewelry designing process. As a jewelry enthusiast, Bhattrai researches designs that speak to her and adds her personal touch to them. But in their next collection, we may be viewing the designs of an in house jewelry designer. While Bhattrai is more involved with the products, Adhikari indulges herself in the business aspect. With increasing demand, the company is in the process of including additional members.

As students, business owners, and other different roles they play in their life, we might as well say that the founders of Orabelle have cracked the time management skill. According to them, the cheat sheet includes prioritizing activities for each day, communicating with their partner and time chunking. Sometimes this may have been hectic but not taking work as a burden is their key to a balanced life. Both Bhattrai and Adhikari feel blessed to have supportive friends and family who have made this journey easier. Working with a friend who has a similar passion, willingness and motive in life has made professional life for the two young entrepreneurs quite pleasant. The quiet and ambivert nature of Bhattrai is perfectly complemented by the extroverted personality of Adhikari. While Arju speaks out with people, Mavira is an observer. That being said, they claim to have always separated their professional and personal aspects of life.

The two young entrepreneurs regard their team to be a core part of the company. In Orabelle, the well-being

of the employees is highly emphasized. These young business owners believe in the motto,“ Employees are the representatives of the company. When employees are happy and motivated, they ensure that the customers are too.” While communicating with the social media representative, you may notice the reflection of their treatment in the form of the warmth and human touch they intend to add along with the text messages. They aim to make every potential customer feel like they are a part of the Orabelle family. As the company grows, they intend to keep the sense of community with both employees and customers. “We were nothing before Orabelle. We made Orabelle but in some way, Orabelle made us. While growing Orabelle, we ourselves have had sustancial growth as well.” says Bhattrai. For her, the things she gained from this experience are countless. Adhikari, on the other hand, is grateful to meet and interact with different people with a vision similar to hers. One thing that the duo could completely agree on is the delight of being able to provide employment opportunities to people.

In BizStyle we believe that, "Fashion fades, but style is eternal." In a similar sense, Orabelle is continuing its effort to bring the latest fashion for your innate style. If you don't believe us, why not try it for yourself.

- Smarika Thapa Editorial Team

Think about your wardrobe while you are reading this. How many clothes do you possibly have in it? How many clothes have you properly used? How many old and unused clothes are just lying there? Can you possibly make better use of them?

When we talk about waste and discard them, we often forget to consider the waste that exists due to the fashion industry. More importantly, we do not even realize that we as consumers have so much clothing waste accumulated with us. These clothing wastes are not just the ones that are old withered and damaged items, but also the ones which we barely use and are staying idle in our wardrobe.

The principle of reducing, reusing, and recycling has been a very familiar bandaid for the issue of managing waste, even for the waste caused due to fashion. Within these concepts lie the concept of upcycling. Although new, the concept has been gaining momentum over the globe. Upcycling is the process of creatively transforming by-products, useless or unwanted materials of production, into something new and desirable in a new form.

Re-कृित (Rekriti) is an upcycling brand that gives new life to discarded jeans by transforming them into high utility bags. As the name reflects the meaning, Re stands for Reused, Repurposed & Recycled, and कृित (kriti) means Work of Art. Founded by a business graduate

and sustainable lifestyle enthusiast Nasana Bajracharya, Re-Kriti brings together the skills of local women artisans to bring environmentally friendly upcycled products which are fashionable and of high utility. Before starting the brand, Miss Bajracharya was curious about the clothing waste that she witnessed after every Dashain sale in

experiments of building prototypes, she decided to launch her brand Re-कृित with upcycled denim jeans products in February 2022. Now, Re-कृित is being led by Miss Bajracharya along with her business partner Himanshu Shrestha.

Re-कृित aims to give customer a joyful experience of making an environmentally friendly purchase, provide products that reflect the hard work of women artisan who make them, and deliver high functioning durable products that are made to sustain for a long time. They retail a growing range of products which include drawstring bags, travel/makeup pouches, laptop sleeves, coasters, table mats, and a lot more. Products use post-consumer jeans, post-industrial jeans fabrics, discarded packaging plastics, and used flex banners as raw materials.

Taking the customer’s experience of making an environmentally conscious purchase a step further, Re-कृित has introduced upcycling service. With this service, customers can choose to upcycle their own old unused clothes into the product of their choice. They have a full-fledged customization option in terms of size, design, number of pockets, along with a free

pickup service. With this service, customers can get a custom-made bag that specifically fits their needs. It is for everyone who loves to have an organized bag and extra pockets as their best friends, or those who want to own a one-of-a-kind statement bag that people cannot find in the market (literally).

Choosing upcycled products and upcycling own unused items not only reduces the immediate waste in the landfills, but also reduces the carbon footprint of the entire production cycle of a new product from sourcing the raw materials to distributing the products. To know more about Re-कृित’s products and how you can be a part of their movement, you can check their social media handles on Instagram and TikTok: @re.kriti.

- Nasana Bajracharya

- Samikshya Shrestha, LACM

The girl born and raised in Kathmandu, with a middle-class background, startled the world with her gracious work and won millions of hearts. She achieved the titles of CNN Hero in 2012 and CNN Super Hero in 2016. She is also the founder of the Early Childhood Development Center (ECDC) and the Butterfly home. She is none other than Ms. Pushpa Basnet. We had the honor of talking with her, so this is how things went.

Before her career started, she was doing her diploma at Kathmandu University, where she got her chance to visit the children in the fieldwork and built a strong bond with them. Then and there, she saw the living conditions of the children born and raised behind bars. The triggering event inspired her to help the children compelled to live with their parents behindbars. There she started her journey and hasn't stopped since. At that time, she never imagined her journey would be this successful. We all are human beings, and like everyone’s journey, she had her hurdles and troubles She says, "Until and unless you encounter yourself,

nothing will work out." She always felt privileged to have a family who supported her and wanted to help others. She believes that just because of parents' deeds, no one should get treated as children living in bars.

The challenges she initially encountered were from her parents. You know the looks we get from our parents when we want to do something different than others? Our perspective on life would differ from theirs; we can all relate to that. We must prove to everyone that what we do is the right thing in life. She claims the only justification is to be your-self and have faith in them.

It is a long journey to become a butterfly. Starting from an egg in the beginning; followed by a caterpillar, a chrysalis, and finally reaching to become a mesmerizing beautiful butterfly. She also believed that children needed all the care and nourishment they could get to be good flying butterflies. She named her foundation "the butterfly home," where kids get love and warmth from their mother figure (the stability needed for their growth). During this journey, she believes that every day

is a new experience; dealing with kids is like learning something new every day. She claims that there is a system to run an organization. It must be systematic, and dealing with the government presents some difficulties. The government changes frequently and it must justify its actions. It's challenging, and many people believe that things can change instantly and have high expectations. Another challenge is the responses from the children's parents; it is a significant responsibility for her to justify what she is doing. She gives updates on the kids to their parents. She has to explain fund providers, too, like what they are spending money, where the cash flow is directed towards, and how efficiently and effectively funds are being provided.

Early Childhood Development (ECD) is a crucial factor for the children’s cognitive skills, so the butterfly home ensures the children get an everyday life as normal children should. And she ensures they bring everything they need and an environment where they feel safe expressing themselves. She provides a good living standard for the child and believes the self-esteem and confidence of a child depends on what kind of childhood they have. And she feels blessed to be referred to as the mother of every child residing at the butterfly home.

Currently, she is running a juvenile home too. It has been six months since the juvenile home opened. It takes much responsibility, but she feels good about it. She believes in taking one step at a time, which keeps her grounded even when she achieves success. She sees how things turned out at the end of the day and trusts the process, the mission, and the vision she set for the day.

“Believe in yourself - everything is not about social media. Whatever you have in life, be respectful to it and be happy. Have a family time.”

“I always respect the present and learn from the future”.

Pramila Thapa is a student of Nursing and Public Organization with Masters Degrees. She completed her schooling level from Gorkha district and completed her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Nursing from Dr. MGR College, Tamil Nadu, India and her Masters in Public Administration and Education from Tribhuvan University, Nepal. Amid the course of her proficient career, Pramila Thapa has been involved in different organizations such as: Deputy Dean at PurvanchalUniversity,Nepal. Founder Member/Board of Director of Green City Hospital. Founder Campus Chief of Yeti Health Science Academy. Mrs. Pramila Thapa has been an incredible inspiration to most Nepalese people, especially to women. We had an incredible opportunity to sit down and talk with Mrs.

Pramila Thapa where she talked about her

childhood, challenges, compromises etc.

Q1. How did you find your way to the role of being registrar?

“I started out being involved in various roles like management, administration, hospital project management, etc. I’ve already had experiences in many roles. My career started as a department head. Then I started working as a Campus Chief in Hope International college. After that I got a chance to work as a Founder campus chief in Yeti Health Science Academy. While working at Yeti Science Health Academy, I had a chance to send a proposal to start Green City hospital as a founder/ director. After that I got an offer at University level. I had to start my own University level college and I had the opportunity to work as a deputy dean. I find myself lucky as I got many chances and opportunities as a deputy dean. I was the founder Campus Chief at Constitute College of Nepal Purbanchal University in medical faculty. In my total four years of appointment, I got an offer of registrar by the Rt. Hon’ble Prime Minister of Nepal Pushpa Kamal Dahal. This is how my academic achievements came to light and success”.

Q2. Challenges you faced as a woman.

“Working as an academic in my field as a woman is a challenging task. But amid the challenges, there are lots of opportunities as well. In my case, thankfully I’ve not faced a huge challenge. I've gotten more opportunities than I had to face challenges. I always stayed true to my routine, my responsibilities, my commitments and honesty.”

Q3. Compromises you made on your journey that man would not have to make.

“In our society, women have responsibilities

Interview with Dr. Pramila Thapa

Former Registrar of Purbanchal University

as a mother. We cannot ignore what is expected from us women. I believe that a lot of women have to compromise a little bit of everything while being on the same journey as me. Talking about me, I luckily with the support of my family did not have to compromise a lot. But there definitely were days when I questioned my decisions on this journey. Questions such as, am I missing out on my role as a mother, as a wife, as a daughter in-law, as a daughter to my parents, as a sister to my siblings? Am I being selfish?, etc did dwell upon me from time to time. But I never let those questions consume me. I never let being a woman stop me from achieving my goals.

Q4. Looking back in your career, what were the key drivers that kept you going?

“Every stage we face in life has its own ups and downs. I think that up until now the key driver that got me up to this point is my educational background and my competency. I always respect the opportunity I am given. I find my purpose while focusing on my present”.

Q5. What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced in your career?

“I have faced many challenges along the way. During the starting of my journey I had little to no competency at decision making. I had little experience and no leadership skills. Apart from that, there were a lot of challenges I faced as a woman. Our conserved society does not want a leader who is a woman. So that was definitely challenging.

Q6. How do you turn challenge into opportunity?

“Failure is your best teacher but fear of failure is your worst enemy. I’ve failed many times. I’ve struggled many times. But I’ve never let those circumstances get in the way of my goals. I’ve never pointed to my past and I have never hoped for the future. All I ever did was focus on my present. That way I’ve created challenges into opportunities”.

BIZPersonality

Q7. Describe the management style you prefer.

“I prefer a transformational management style. In this era, I believe this style works as a thriving role. In this age, people prefer the power of the subconscious mind. People should prefer mind management over time management. I respect 4 elements: Idolize influence, Expression motivation, Intellectual stimulation, and Individual Consideration. With the combination of these four elements I believe that we can perform leadership in any place. I believe that a leader is made, not born”.

Q8. While managing your professional life, did you feel like you are losing your personal life? How do you manage your professional life and personal life?

“When my son was just 3 years old, I had to go to India for my studies. At that time, my husband was in the military field during the time of conflict. During that time I had to be with them but I was in India completing my studies. I do regret not being a part of my son’s childhood. I still talk to my son about missing his childhood. There are some regrets but I see this as an opportunity to do better.

As per managing my personal and professional life, I am always strict to my routine and my schedule. I plan my day while giving priority to both professional and personal life so that I get to be actively involved in both”.

Q9. Message you would like to give to all of the working women out there

“People believe that women have limited skills. Men and women are two sides of the same coin. No one is stronger or weaker. Don't let being a woman stop you from achieving your goals. Let’s focus on the present and not regret the past and appreciate you. Women can have it all”.

- Dikshya Khadgi Editiorial Team

The Nepalese Ministry of Industry, Commerce, and Supplies (MoICS) is a governmental body of Nepal that oversees and directs the nation's industrial sectors. The ministry's pivotal duties include fostering an environment favorable for business growth and investment promotion, regulating and facilitating domestic, international, and regional commerce, and safeguarding and constructing industrial infrastructure and intellectual property rights. Six departments make up MoICS: the department of industry, the department of commerce, supply, and consumer protection, the company registrar's office, the department of mines and geology, the micro, cottage, and small industry promotion center, and the department institute committee board. We got an opportunity to speak with Mr. Bishwo Babu Pudasaini, state Secretary from Bagmati State Government (MoICS), regarding various roles of MoICS in emphasizing the Nepalese industrial sector.

While discussing the primary responsibilities played by MoICS in nurturing the development of the industrial sector in Nepal with Mr.Pudasaini, he noted that the organization had taken a proactive role in fostering the growth of indigenous production and employment. Additionally, the administration's responsibility is to empower people to become independent businesspeople and successful industrialists. The administration has also focused on creating the industry's essential infrastructure, technology-related cooperation, and various training and engagement programs. Despite efforts by the ministry to maintain a clean and healthy market, it has yet to make much progress in the commercial sector.

Moreover, Mr. Bishwo babu Pudasaini added, "Based on Industrial Infrastructure Development, MoICS has Identified Two Industrial Zones and is Continuously Moving

BIZPersonality

toward the Construction of Those Industrial Zones."The administration is focusing on creating the industrial sector because industrialists have had trouble operating their businesses in private spaces, and the industry has not been booming for a long time. In Sindhuli and Makwanpur, respectively, the ministry has advanced two industrial projects. Along with this, it has developed more than 20 industries in this province, which has further helped improve the business atmosphere.

Overall, increasing domestic production in the industrial sector has been the foremost priority of MoICS. In essence, the ministry is keeping up with how to digitize the overall administrative work. The ministry fosters a climate conducive to Nepal's businesses and industrial sector.

- Swechhya Pradhan Editiorial Team

Interview with Bishwo Babu Pudasaini Ministry of Industry, Commerce, and Supplies (MoICS), Nepal

The World we live in

Dr. Mitra Bandhu Poudel Principal, LACM

Introduction

This paper will discuss the complication of some suggested areas of interests and interdependence between those areas. Following pairs of inter-dependencies have been discussed in this paper. Prior to the discussion of the effects of the pairs, the paper will briefly touch upon the effects of COVID-19 in global economy.

1. Food and natural environment

2. Communication and virtuality

3. Demography and energy supply

4. Technology and security

5. Demography and ambition

Covid-19 and its effects

The world has been suffering from unprecedented COVID-19 disease caused by corona virus which was emerged in the city of Wuhan, China by the end of 2019. On December 31, 2019 Chinese authorities alerted the World Health Organization of an outbreak of the virus(Science daily, March 17, 2020). The analysis by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs(DESA) said the COVID-19 pandemic is disrupting global supply chains and international trade with over 100 countries closing national borders during the past month. Economic Times further state that the global output would contract by 0.9 percent instead of growing by 2.5 percent in 2020, further adding that the scenario is based on demand side shocks of different magnitudes in China, Japan, South Korea, the US and the EU with the 50 percent decline of oil price against the baseline of US Dollar 61 per barrel (Economic times, April 20, 2020). The OECD predicts that the global economy

will still grow in 2020, although growth predictions have fallen by halt due to corona virus. Duffin (2020) states that should the Covid-19 become a global pandemic, most major economies will lose at least 2.4 percent of the value their GDP over 2020. It is sad to note that there is US$ 810.7 billion loss in global business travel revenue due to this deadly virus as of April 03, 2020. Global change in flight frequency in the week of April 20, 2020 dropped by 66 percent. Mahar (2020) argues that World’s topmost economies such as US, China, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Japan and many others are at the verge of collapse. In just a week 3.3 million Americans applied for unemployment and a week later another 6.6 million people started searching for job. Experts believe that the world has been experiencing the most difficult economic situation since the World War II (Mahar, 2020). As of April 23, 2020(3.50pm), according to covidvisualizer.com there are 1740902 active cases of Corona virus infected people in the world. The total number of deaths reached at 185059(6.97 percent) and total number of recoveries is 727844(27.43 percent). So, the world we are living has gone through a painful period of Covid-19 pandemic.

Lets discuss on the inter-dependencies of the pairs.

1. Food and natural environment

As the world population has expanded, the demand for food, energy and water (which are referred to as the ‘nexus’ of sustainable development) has seen a rapid increase (Ritchie & Roser, 2020). The authors further state that not only has demand for all three (food, energy and water) increased, but they are also strongly interlinked. Water and energy are required for food production. Traditional energy production demands

water resources and agriculture provides a potential energy source.

Ritchie and Roser(2020) claim that food accounts for over a quarter(26 percent) of global greenhouse gas emission and half of the world habitable land is used for agriculture. Similarly, 70 percent of global fresh water withdrawals are used for agriculture. And, 78 percent of global ocean and fresh water eutrophication (pollution of waterways with nutrient rich pollutants) is caused by agriculture. This justifies the environmental impacts of food and agriculture.

2. Communication and Virtuality

Gisby (2016) states that with regards to communication and virtuality, intensified competition within and across industries is very likely to happen in terms of shortterm effects because firms become increasingly more agile and responsive to market opportunities. He further argues that in terms of long term effects, new business models are likely to be necessary. Businesses are likely to be the most powerful ones if they are extremely well networked and fully exploited their knowledge or intellectual capital.

Carmichael (2010) argues that there is some evidence in the literature of the utility of virtual reality applications for the development of business communication skills, particular through socially immersive and networked environments (as cited in Gisby, 2016).

By paying particular attention to the relevant psychological implications, Liber (2010) comments that virtually networked businesses have been recognized and that the collective wisdom in their employees will keep them one step ahead (as cited in Gibsy, 2016 p.4). Personal and shared communication technologies can be used to support the growth and functionality of social networks (Suh & Kim, 2011).

Wallace (2020) states that the complexities can easily be solved by modern b2b e-commerce platforms and now, business to business brand of all sizes are looking to optimize their e-commerce

channel for sustainable growth over the next decade. A 2018 survey found that 48 percent of companies now conduct 50-74 percent of all corporate purchases online. There are about 23 percent of companies do 75 percent or more of their purchasing online. By the most recent report, as of 2018, global B2B e-commerce had already surpassed $ 10.6 trillion in revenue (Wallace, 2020).

World Bank (2020) has come up with the resource list by its EdTech Team for remote learning, distance education and online learning during the Covid-19 pandemic, however, virtual learning platforms have been available since many years. Learning management system such as Canvas and canvas network, Moodle and Google Classroom are widely used platforms. Traditional academic institutions are also using these learning management system side by side. In addition to these platforms video conference system such as Google hangouts, Google Meet, Zoom and Microsoft Teams are contributing a lot at the time of corona crisis.

3. Demography and energy supply

According to Science daily(2015), as global population grew from about 500 million in 1560 to more than 7 billion, energy usage outpaced population growth. This in effect increased the world carrying capacity and allowed population to grow exponentially. The world is growing at an amazing rate. Currently the earth’s population is growing by 60,000 people every eight hours which means two children born every second somewhere around the globe.

Experts believe that if we continue to grow at this pace, we need 50 percent more energy to sustain humanity by 2050. More people means we need more food, water and shelter putting a strain on our renewable resources (Fisher, 2020).

Avtar, Tripathi, Agrawal and Kumar (2019) state that resource extraction and land management activity involved in energy infrastructure development and human management of such development

systems have long-term and sometimes unforeseen consequences. Energy production is still highly dependent on fossil fuel even though alternative energy sources are being explored. Further, land productivity, land cover, human migration and other factors can potentially be affected by energy production (Avtar et al, 2019). Thus, land use, energy choice, infrastructure development and the population for which such facilities are being developed must be cognizant of each other, and the interactions between them need to be studied and understood closely(Avtar et al, 2019,p.1).

Zabel(2009) shows that there are three general scenarios that the world’s energy future may take their effects on population will be radically different. They are,  Continued fossil fuel growth,  Fossil fuel decline and no sufficient substitute

 Fossil fuel decline and a new source of energy.

With the first scenario, fossil fuel consumption continues to grow and population grows as projected by the United Nations to reach 9.7 billion in 2050. If oil population is close to reaching its peak, a much larger share of world’s population growth will have to be driven by coal population. Zabel (2009) signals the threat that unless carbon sequestration technologies quickly become viable, this will have detrimental effect on climate change. Further, natural gas will play a much smaller part than coal. Zabel (2009) states that 3.2 billion people that are dependent on oil in the sum of energy population model are in seriously jeopardy in the next fifty years as the world’s remaining oil resources are consumed, and world population could suffer a precipitous decline. However higher quality energy source could lead to further productivity improvements, reducing the pressure on existing resources and further raising the ceiling on population size. But a lower quality energy source like solar or wind

power is less efficient (Zabel, 2009). Also, to replace diminishing oil and gas that currently provides the world with 60 percent of its energy resources, with nuclear power (5.6 percent of the energy resource) would not only require huge amount of capital but would require vast amounts of high quality energy. Perhaps new high quality source of energy will be found and that would then add a new energy component to population growth (Zabel, 2009).

4. Technology and security

Schneier (2018) argues that security is a tradeoff, a balancing act between attacker and defender. Changes in technology affect both sides. Society uses new technology to decrease scope of defection and attackers use new technologies to increase it. Schneier (2018) further sheds light on the benefits of technology for defenders. For instance, finger print technology allows police to identify suspects after they leave the crime scene and does not provide any corresponding benefit to criminals. The author provides examples of immobilizing technology for cars, alarm systems for houses and computer authentication technology which are beneficial for defenders. Similarly, the radio allows street policemen to communicate remotely, that increases our level of safety more than the corresponding downside of criminals using remotely endangers us (Schneier, 2018).

Gisby (2016) states that there are likely to be an increasing number of serious breaches to corporate and personal security due to cybercrime in term of short-term effect. More resources to be allocated by organization to combat cyber security. Clear protocols, consistent standards and high levels of security are extremely important for the interests of the majority of the country (Gisby, 2016, p.3).

Tsai, Chou, Lee, Lin and Hwang (2013) confirm that the most important overall control in IT related risks is data input/ output control. Disaster Recovery Plans

(DRPs) also are considered important along with a variety of other relevant controls (as cited in Gisby, 2016).

Zhao and Whinston(2013) suggests that firms are often impelled to make inept investments in IT- related security management systems considering system in inter dependency risk. Mallik(2004) state that in an increasingly inter-dependents world with national boundaries becoming irrelevant for most international businesses, balancing technology priorities with security perceptions will be crucial for the success of the arms control process in enhancing international security. He further states that ever poorest sections of society are well aware of the security and prosperity that can be achieved with modern technology. New technology options from fields such as micro-electromechanical systems, nanotechnology, biotechnology, bionics and artificial intelligence as well as advance energy generation concepts could lead to revolutionary changes in the future (p.138). So, effective management of security and technology is essential.

5. Demography and ambition

Gisby (2016) states that it might be expected in an ever globalized world, that ambition levels of both individuals and countries will increase exponentially in line with increasing levels of general influence.

Fensom (2019) highlights in an article entitled ‘Dangerous Demographics: China’s Population Problem will Eclipse its Ambitions’ that if demographics are destiny, then China is facing its biggest challenges in decades with no easy longterm solution in sight. Fensom (2019) further signals that China’s demographic contraction will reduce its GDP growth rate as well as its ability to fund its foreign ambitions such as Belt and Road Initiatives. Meanwhile the combined workforce of India, Indonesia and the United States are expected to keep expanding through at least 2060. A high birth rate and strong immigration levels should see the US population increase from 324 million in

2017 to 390 million in 2050, while India’s population will be over-taking China’s by 2027.

TOTAL (2020) states that there are 7 billion people on earth. In 2040, there will be 9 billion, 1.3 billion people today still do not have access to electricity due to a lack of financial resources or their geographic isolation. When poverty prevails full time ambitions become difficult. Energy poverty is especially prevalent in the developing world.

Conclusion

With the above discussion, one can argue that human civilization is in a very difficult situation now due to Covid-19. In the meantime, the world population has increased demand for food, energy and water also has increased. Environmental impacts of food and agriculture seems apparent. Personal and shared communication can be used to strengthen social networks. The delivery of education needs to focus on the virtual networks such as canvas and moodle. Higher quality energy source can lead to further productivity improvements reducing the pressure on existing resources. Cybercrime and other IT related risks needs to be mitigated through collective efforts. New technology such as nanotechnology and artificial intelligence can change the development pace. However, it is a huge challenge to note over a billion people are out of electricity due to poverty. So, collective efforts are essential to eradicate poverty and fight against disease like Covid-19 pandemic for better future of our world.

References

Duffin, E. (2020). Impact of the corona virus pandemic on the global economy-Statistics & Fact. Statista. Retrieved from https://www.ststista. com/topics/6139/covid-19-impacton-the-global-economy/ Fensom, A.(2019). Dangerous Demographics: China’s Population Problem Will Eclipse Its Ambitions. The National

Interest. Retrieved from https://nationalinterest.org/feature/ dangerous-demographics-chinaspopulat ion-problem-will-eclipse-itsambitions-80961

Hannah Ritchie and Max Roser (2020) - “Environmental impacts of food production”. Published online at Our WorldInData.org. Retrieved from: ‘https://ourworldindata.org/ environmental-impacts-of-food’ [Online Resource]

Henriques, M.(2020). Will Covid-19 have a lasting impact on the environment? BBC-Future Retrieved from bbc. com/future/article/20200326-covid19-impact-of-coron avirus-on-theenvironment

Leopold, H., & Bleier, T. (2013). Safety & Security in Future Networks Will Need a New Internet Science. PIKPraxis der Informationsverarbeitung und Kommunikation, 36(3), 191-197.

Mahar, I. (2020). Impact of Covid-19 on Global Economy Structure. Modern Diplomacy. Retrieved from https:// moderndiplomacy.eu/2020/04/22/ impact-of-covid-19-on-globaleconomy-structure

Mallik, A. (2004). Technology and Security in the 21st Century: A demand-side-perspective. SIPRI Research Report No 20. Oxford University Press Inc, New York.

Sabates, R., Harris, A. L., & Staff, J. (2011). Ambition Gone Awry: The Long Term Socioeconomic Consequences of Misaligned and Uncertain Ambitions in Adolescence. Social science quarterly, 92(4), 959-977.

Schneier, B.(2014). How Changing Technology Affects Security. CNMN Collection. Retrieved from http:// www.wired.com/insights/2014/02/ changing-technology-affect-security

Suh, A., Shin, K. S., Ahuja, M., & Kim, M. S. (2011). The influence of virtuality on social networks within and across work groups: A multilevel approach. Journal of Management Information Systems, 28(1), 351386.

United Nations. Dept. of Economic and Social Affairs. (2004). World population to 2300 (Vol. 236). United Nations Publications.

United Nations. Dept. of Economic and Social Affairs. (2004). World Population Prospects: The 2015 Revision. United Nations Publications.

World Bank(2020). Remote Learning, Distance Education and Online Learning during the Covid-19 Pandemic.Retrieved from https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/ edutech/brief/edtech-covid-19

Zabel, G.(2009). Peak People: The Interrelationship between population Growth and Energy Resources.Resilience.Retrieved from https://www.resilience.org/ stories/2009-04-20/peak-peopleinterrelationshi p-betweenpopulation-growth-and-energyresources/

Zhao, X., Xue, L., & Whinston, A. B. (2013). Managing interdependent information security risks: Cyberinsurance, managed security services, and risk pooling arrangements. Journal of Management Information Systems, 30(1), 123-152.

RESEARCH QUESTION

: HOW IMPORTANT AND HOW TO FORMULATE?

Bibhav Adhikari Research Coordinator, LACM

Research paper writing always raises the question, what to research or what will be the paper's topic? There is no doubt; any study or research begins with a research question. Nevertheless, researchers need help turning valid and relevant issues into logical research questions. (Doody & Bailey, 2016). On top of that, despite the importance of the sound structure of these questions, there needs to be more support for creating innovative research questions (Sandberg & Alvesson, 2011). So, constructing practical research questions is a skill that only some people possess. However, researchers can cultivate it (Lipowski, 2008). This article aims to discuss the pursuit of appropriate research questions.

A research question commonly is a dilemma discussed in the study's conclusion through interpretation and data analysis (Bryman, 2007). Most studies use the research question to outline the study's various aspects, such as the population and variables to be studied. As the name implies, a research question is recurrently derived from research. Although many research projects focus on a single research question, there is also a tendency of using multiple research questions. As a result, they become dynamic, and researchers can change or refine them as they review related literature and develop a framework for the study.

Importance of the research question

The primary importance of framing

the research question is to narrow down the broad topic of interest into a specific study area (Creswell, 2014). It also acts as a research framework, clarifies the limitations of a study and ensures continuity. Hence, it influences the methodology, sample size, data collection, and research analysis (Lipowski, 2008). Moreover, the research question has a domino effect on the rest of the study.

Types of research question

There could be different styles of phrasing research questions based on the research type. So, knowing what type of research to do (quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods) helps determine the appropriate research question. Let's now discuss the common types research questions as suggested by Doody and Bailey (2016):

Quantitative research questions

Quantitative research questions are precise. These questions typically include the study population, dependent and independent variables, and the research design used. They are usually framed and finalized at the start of the study (Berger, 2015). A quantitative research question is often linked to a research design. Moreover, it is not answerable with "yes" or "no" responses. As a result, quantitative research questions do not use words such as "is," "are," "do," or "does." Quantitative research questions usually seek to understand particular social, familial, or educational experiences or processes

in a particular context or location (Marshall & Rossman, 2011). Quantative research question is used to describe the phenomena, compare and contrast the situations, or determine the relationship among the study variables.

● Descriptive research questions aim to measure the responses of a study's population to one or more variables or describe variables that the research will measure. These questions typically begin with "what."

● Comparative research questions aim to discover the differences between two or more groups for an outcome variable. These questions can also illustrate causality. For instance, the researcher may compare a group where a specific variable is involved and another group where that variable is not.

● Relationship research questions seek to explore and define trends and interactions between two or more variables. These questions often include dependent and independent variables and use "association" or

Qualitative research questions

Qualitative research questions may concern broad or more specific areas of study. Like quantitative research questions, qualitative research questions are also linked to research design. However, qualitative research questions are usually adaptable, non-directional, and more flexible (Creswell, 2013). So, studies using these questions generally aim to “discover,” “explain,” or “explore.” To classify qualitative research questions, Ritchie et al. (2014) and Marshall and Rossman (2011) have categorized qualitative research questions into:

● Contextual research questions seek to describe the nature of what already exists.

● Descriptive research questions attempt to describe a phenomenon.

● Emancipatory research questions aim to produce knowledge that allows for engagement in social action, especially for the benefit of disadvantaged people.

● Evaluative research questions assess the effectiveness of existing methods or paradigms.

● Explanatory research questions seek to expound on a phenomenon or examine reasons for and associations between what exists.

● Exploratory research questions investigate little-known areas of a particular topic.

● Generative research questions aim to provide creative ideas for developing theories and actions.

● An ideological research question aims to advance a particular ideology.

Mixed-method studies research question

Mixed methods research usually requires a set of both quantitative

and qualitative research questions. This type of research focuses on the importance and differences between quantitative and qualitative methods rather than the integrative elements of research. However, researchers can also create a single mixedmethod research question. For this reason, an integrated component of quantitative and qualitative research methods is required (Tashakkori & Teddlie, 2010).

Steps to Developing a Good Research Question

A sound research question should be relevant, decided, and meaningful (Stone, 2002). Creating a research question can be a tricky process, but there is a specific method you can follow to ease the process.

1. Start with a broad topic.

Broad topics provide researchers with many avenues to explore in their quest for a feasible research question. Techniques to help develop a topic into subtopics and potential research questions include brainstorming and concept mapping. For example, one can raise thought-provoking questions with friends and flesh out ideas from the discussions. These techniques can organize thoughts to identify connections and relevant themes within a broad topic. In this process, choosing a truly interesting study area is prudent when searching for a topic, as it will affect motivation levels throughout the research.

2. Do preliminary research to learn about topical issues.

Once the topic is selected, it is necessary to do a brief analysis of the research issue. This initial stage of research accomplishes two goals. First, a preliminary review of related literature allows us to discover issues currently being discussed by scholars and fellow researchers. This way, one

gets up-to-date, relevant knowledge on the topic. Second, a preliminary review of related literature allows one to spot gaps or limitations in existing knowledge on the topic. With a small amount of fine-tuning, these gaps can be used as the focus of the research question.

3. Narrow down the topic and determine potential research questions. When knowledge of the topic is gathered, the researcher can start focusing on a more specific study area. One option is to focus on gaps in existing knowledge or recent literature. Sandberg and Alvesson (2011) term this “gap-spotting.” This method involves formulating research questions out of identified literature limitations and overlooked study areas. Similarly, researchers can choose research questions that extend or complement the findings of the existing literature. Another way of identifying and constructing research questions is problematization (Sandberg & Alvesson, 2011). As a methodology for constructing research questions, problematization aims to challenge and scrutinize assumptions that support others’ and the researcher’s theoretical position. Lipowski (2008), on the other hand, emphasizes the importance of considering the researcher’s personal experiences in developing a research question. For instance, researchers who are also practitioners can reflect on problematic areas of their practice. Patterns and trends in practice may also provide helpful insights and potential ideas for research questions.

4. Evaluate the soundness of the research question.

The initial research and review of related literature will produced some interesting questions that seem worthy. In order to evaluate

research question, Hulley et al. (2007) suggest using a set of criteria- known as the “FINER”. These criteria assess feasibility, interesting, novelty, ethics, and relevance.

F – Feasible

A valid research question is feasible, which means that the question lies within the researcher’s ability to investigate. In reality, researchers should be realistic about the scope of their research and their ability to collect data and complete it with the skills and resources at their disposal. It is also wise to have a contingency plan in case problems arise.

I – Interesting

The ideal research question is interesting not only to the researcher but also to their peers and community. This interest boosts the researcher’s motivation to see the question answered. For instance, one can research student housing trends if it is right up their alley, as they change often.

N – Novel

Ideally, the research question should be developed to provide new insights into the chosen area of study. For instance, the question may confirm or extend previous findings on the topic.

E – Ethical

Ethics is one of the most critical considerations in making a research question. The research question and the subsequent study must be something that review boards and the appropriate authorities will approve.

R – Relevant

Aside from being interesting and novel, the research question should be relevant to the scientific community and people involved in the study area. If possible, the

research question should also be relevant to the public’s interest.

5. Construct your research question properly

Research questions should be written clearly to ensure clarity. There are a number of frameworks that ensures the proper construction of a research question. Some of them are highlighted as under:

PICOT framework

The PICOT framework was first introduced in 1995 by Richardson et al. Using the PICOT framework. Research questions can be constructed to address essential elements of the study. These include the population to be studied, the expected outcomes, and the time it takes to achieve the outcome. These elements make the framework more commonly used in evidence-based (applied/action) studies.

● P – population, problem (issue)

● I - the intervention or indicator being studied

● C – comparison group

● O – the outcome of interest

● T – timeframe of the study

PEO framework

This framework is more beneficial for qualitative research questions. This framework includes these elements:

● P – population being studied

● E – exposure to preexisting conditions

● O – the outcome of interest

Other frameworks commonly used for research questions are especially in applied research are SPIDER (sample, phenomenon of interest, design, evaluation, Research type) and CLIP (client group, location of service provided, improvement/information/ innovation, Professionals). These frameworks help researchers properly

structure research questions and improve research outcomes and the focus of data analysis.

Examples of Good and Bad Research Questions

Example no. 1

"How do social media affect people's behaviour?"

The research question above is vague and lacks specificity as it aims to study social media's impact on people's behaviour. Research questions should be specific and targeted. So, the restructured research question could be like this:

"What effect does the day-to-day use of Instagram have on the social engagement of adolescents between 18 to 20?"

Example no. 2

Has there been an increase in rebelliousness among undergraduate students in the past ten years?

This research question is not ideal because it's too simple and easily answerable with a "yes" or "no." It can be reformulated as:

What has been the impact of past schooling and home environment on BBA students' rebelliousness rate?

The research question is more complex and difficult to answer directly. So, the researcher must collect data, perform in-depth data analysis, and form an argument that leads to further discussion.

Important Points to Keep in Mind in Creating a Research Question

In order to conduct research, it is crucial to determine what the research question should be. Researchers may find the following points helpful in their pursuit:

● Developing a research question is

an iterative process that involves continuously updating one’s knowledge of the topic and refining ideas at all stages (Maxwell, 2013).

● Remain updated on current trends, state-of-the-art research studies, and technological advances in the field of study.

● Make the research question as specific and concise as possible to ensure clarity. Avoid using words or terms that do not add to the meaning of the research question.

● Aside from doing a literature review, seek the input of experts in the field, mentors, and colleagues. Such inputs can prove beneficial for the research question and the rest of the study.

● Finally, refrain from committing the two most common mistakes in framing research questions: posing a question as an anticipated contribution and framing a question as a method (Mayo et al., 2013).

References:

Berger, R. (2015). Now I see it, now I don’t: Researcher’s position and reflexivity in qualitative research. Qualitative Research, 15 (2), 219-234. https://doi. org/10.1177/1468794112468475

Creswell, J.W. (2013). Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing Among Five Approaches, 3rd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Creswell, J.W. (2014). Educational

Research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research, 5th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

Doody, O., & Bailey, M. E. (2016). Setting a research question, aim, and objective. Nurse Researcher, 23 (4). https://journals.rcni.com/doi/ pdfplus/10.7748/nr.23.4.19.s5

Farrugia, P., Petrisor, B. A., Farrokhyar, F., & Bhandari, M. (2010). Research questions, hypotheses, and objectives. Canadian Journal of Surgery, 53 (4), 278. https://www. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/ PMC2912019/

Lipowski, E. E. (2008). Developing great research questions. American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy, 65 (17), 1667-1670. https:// academic.oup.com/ajhp/articleabstract/65/17/1667/5128061

Marshall, C., & Rossman, G. B. (2014). Designing qualitative research. Sage publications. Google Books

Mayo, N., Asano, M., & Barbic, S.P. (2013). When is a research question not a research question? Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine, 45 (6), 513-518. https://doi. org/10.2340/16501977-1150

Patnaik, S., & Swaroop, S. (2019). Hypothesizing the research question. Indian Journal of Public Health Research & Development, 10 (11). http://www.indianjournals.com/ijor.

The Growing Trend of Electric Vehicles in Nepal

Following ten years of explosive growth, the number of global electric cars reached 10 million in 2020, a gain of 43% over 2019 and a 1% stock ownership. Twothirds of new electric car registrations and two-thirds of the stock in 2020 were battery electric vehicles (BEVs). The most fantastic fleet is in China, with 4.5 million electric cars, but in 2020, Europe experienced the most significant annual growth, rising to 3.2 million.

Since the Inflation Reduction Act extended EV tax incentives on qualifying models through 2032, many drivers have found EVs appealing due to rising petrol prices. The expansion of the EV market depends on efforts to enhance the EV charging infrastructure and increase the range of EVs. However, supply chain problems brought on by the pandemic continue to exist and present issues for the auto industry. The following graph shows the Consumers’ and governments’ spending on electric cars worldwide, 2015-2020:

● Consumer spending

● Government spending

● Share of government spending as a percentage of total

In Nepal, electric cars are becoming increasingly popular. Improving battery capacity or electric car range and removing outdated dogmas can contribute to this popularity. Moreover, the government’s tax and financial reforms have boosted Nepal’s market for electric vehicles.

Electric automobiles are becoming more and more common in Nepal for a variety of reasons. Increasing fuel prices, expanding battery capacity, and driving range of electric vehicles are one of the leading causes. The government has dispelled outdated myths about electric vehicles and is making it easier for residents to purchase them. Another significant

factor is that electric vehicles are gaining more popularity and acceptance. The third factor contributing to the rise in the popularity of electric vehicles is the government’s tax and financial reforms. Government assistance is helping the market for electric vehicles in Nepal expand.

In the past, Nepal’s access to electricity was quite problematic. However, it has since become interwoven across other domains and set apart from the rest of the globe. In terms of energy, Nepal has always been a completely independent nation. The ability to generate roughly 83,000 MW of hydroelectricity has been demonstrated in several papers. Electric cars are being built and finished in small quantities, but Nepal’s electricity usage is critical. Using electric vehicles would be beneficial in this situation. But at present, Nepal’s electricity usage is at a crucial stage. It is advantageous to employ electric automobiles in that situation.

To know about the existing market, we can categorize it into different segments based on price and features. We can segment the market into low-end, midend, and high-end, with defined price ranges for each segment:

Low end = Rs 20,00,000 - 40,00,000

Mid end = Rs 40,00,000 - 70,00,000

High end = Rs 70,00,000 and above

If you want to have one of the low-range electric vehicles, Nexon could be the better option among the mentioned ones. With a ground clearance of 205 mm, it could be a favorable electric vehicle for a geographically diversified country like ours. Also, it has a range of 437 Km at one charge with a charging time of 1 hr. using fast charging adaptors at an affordable price compared to other big giants like Hyundai and Tesla. Similarly, in the case of mid-range electric vehicles, MG-ZS could be one of your choices. The features like ground clearance of 205 mm, 400-500 Km range, and two hrs. of charging time with fast charging adaptors could be its competitive advantage over other mid-range competitors. Similarly, if you dream of buying a luxurious, high-end electric vehicle, the mentioned high-range electric vehicles available in the Nepali market will not disappoint you. The future of Nepal’s automotive sector is electric vehicles. Electric vehicles are becoming more and more popular every day. This can be attributed to improving battery capacity or electric car range and removing outdated dogmas. Additionally, government assistance with taxes and financing has boosted Nepal’s market for electric vehicles. The number of electric automobiles on Nepali roads has also grown tremendously due to government ease in tax and finance. Nepal should be able to use rivers’ ability to produce 83,000 MW of electricity. Electric automobiles and trucks will be a blessing to lessen the quantity of carbon released by diesel and gasoline engines. By pushing the two neighboring countries, which produce the majority of the world’s carbon emissions, to adopt electric cars, Nepal might also enhance the use of these vehicles. It may benefit the global environment, which is worsening.

- Abhishek Dhungana Editorial Team

Welcome to the Pleasure District Welcome to the Pleasure District

Pay for Sex

As Steve Martin once said, sex is one of the most natural, wholesome thing a money can buy; in our heldback society even talking about sex is considered to be a taboo. It is met with audacious reactions, even when sex is considered to be a basic human need. And I don't even know how much backslash I am gonna face after writing this article about legal commercialization of prostitution. In simple honest words, it surely is about creating a euphoric business industry of eroticism and pleasure. People will even refrain from touching this sensitive controversial issue with a ten foot pole. Surely reading about this will raise some eyebrows, and be perceived as blatantly teasing the modesty of the society.

To better understand this subject, we talked with with few prostitutes, and also some social workers who have been working to fight against women violence and sex trafficking. This allowed us to gain a diversified viewpoint in the field. Some of the sex workers are happy with what they do and would be willing to register if prostitution was legalized. In contrast, some told that they choose prostitution as having no other options to fulfill the daily needs; they further explained they were scared to contract STD as some customers we unwilling to wear protection, even suffer phy sically by getting beaten up by some customer and, as well as chances of getting blackmailed and shunned by the society. Law enforcement agencies from time after time raid hotels and guest houses so chances of getting behind prison bars is also high. The proponents of commercialization of prostitution claim that it will reduce crimes like rape, improve public mental

health, generate revenues, poverty alleviation, and a establishments of better lifestyle, and further claim in the presented contect for it to be a victimless crime, where all the parties involved enjoy the business with pleasure. Whereas, the social workers and majority of the general public find even the thought of it repulsive. It is considered an unethical practice and is an illegal venture. The criticism and the reluctance of the society is easily seen with expressing concern about rise in drug pimp, spread of

dream in this society for some very good reasons as well, even though voices have been raised in the past by some politician in the parliament is obviously in the muddy waters. Sex tourism has been a great source of income and revenue for some of countries like Germany, Thailand, Netherlands etc. And the worldwide estimated value of this industry is more than $186 million. So in a hypothetical situation let us imagine a situation where we have legalized prostitution. We would have to see the best possible way to regulate it, as uptaking such

STDs, hike in crimes like homicides, human trafficking for prostitution, rise in sex violence and rape. Furthermore, the possibilities of the exploitation of women due to poverty and increase forceful reliance on prostitution of daily survival. Well these statements if provided with evidence are surely immoral and inhumane. Moreover, we can see the rise in crime syndicate in prostitution, as well as repression of women by men. Currently, in Nepal trade of sex can lead up to 8 - 10 years in prison and a hefty fine. In some of Nepal's infamous illegal sex trade areas we can see the rise in the diversity of sex workers from transvestites, male sex workers, foreign countries prostitutes. This increases the availability of choices of customers as per their wildest fantasies. The price usually ranges from thousand rupees and above as per demand of the customer. Increase in online sex trade, escorting, and call girls are available as per the preferences. The future of legalizing it is still a long

an endeavor may take an abrupt turn to a worst possible scenario. We can learn from the countries with legalized prostitution. But looking at the policies and current social situation and economical ineptitude, we still lack proper infrastructure for an effective legalization and regulation. We have to focus on licensing and registration, taxation, regulations, intimidation and blackmail issues faced by sex workers, combat trafficking, responsibility for health and safety requirements, and criminalization.

It will surely take more than a few decades as per our principles to accept it as an ethical and moral move. We need to quantify it with evidence to expedite this controversial topic. But we have to understand that societal perception is not mercurial for such a drastic move that disturbs the entropy of the natural order of current society.

- Prithviraj Singh Bogati Editorial Team

Free Love-ism Or Taboo?

Pre-Marital Sex

Sex. A three-letter word is so powerful in its own way. ‘Taboo’, ‘explicit’, ‘vulgar’, ‘fun’, ‘exciting’, ‘intimate’, and many more. These are just some of the adjectives used to describe sex by different groups of people over the years. More so in the case of a conservative society like Nepal. People even tend to refrain from talking about anything sexual let alone sex before marriage. So, what exactly is the problem? Should two consenting individuals have sex before marriage as a form of “sexual liberation” or should it still remain a taboo?

The newer generation in our country has emerged as a more free-minded group of individuals who believe in having sexual liberation while there are still a big number of people of all ages that do not support the idea of free love. According to Nepal Adolescent and Youth Survey 2010/11, 17% of young unmarried people fall in love and this population is higher among boys. The average age of losing virginity among Nepali youths happens to be 17 years old. And, the number of people highly engaged in sexual activities in our country has to be somewhere between the ages of 10-24. The number is likely to go down from underage children to adults. But, is consent enough?

Many adults in our country are not bound by the law to have sex in private or in hotel rooms. Mind you though, a majority of high-end hotels try to avoid unmarried couples as much as possible to keep a good reputation of their hotels giving much consideration to the culture and modesty of the Nepalese society. Similarly, while a Nepali couple has all the freedom to enjoy sex in a smaller lodge

or a hotel, police raids are just as normal given that smaller hotels cannot afford fines or even bribery. One proving himself as a consenting adult won’t do much in his or her favor in this case. However, it is against the law to be engaged in prostitution of any sort. Although our society abstains from premarital sex, people are still engaging in it. What is wrong with this concept, whatsoever, is that children from ages 10-19 are having sex with consent but without any precautions which has been leading to degradation of the health of the female, early pregnancy, stress, exclusion from family, and in many cases, even suicide. Plus, as per the research on Premarital Sexual Behaviours among Secondary School Adolescents in the Kathmandu Metropolis (Ministry of Health Nepal et al., 2017), many teenagers or preteens have been touching each other’s genitals, kissing, and touching the female’s breasts while also having oral sex. Similarly, young people have become more open about their sex lives on TikTok. It is natural for people of age to get involved in sexual activities and that has always been happening since the earliest time known, while it had been more of a spiritual and reproductive factor in the earlier times, it eventually turned into a taboo that was restricted to be talked about and it has now become something that most people in this generation overtly express, do and talk about. We have to put a proper amount of emphasis on normalizing being open about premarital sex to an extent that people are aware of sex, doing it safely, and avoiding it to some extent(as and when it should be avoided). Sex is not

even a problem when you dive deeper into this topic but there is always a right and wrong way to conduct it. So how you conduct yourself is what is going to matter in the long run.

A majority of people have been normalizing the whole concept of premarital sex but there are still many who believe in modesty and consider having premarital sex equivalent to committing a sin. Hence, while many couples, precisely adult couples, have the freedom to enjoy sexual liberation and make love with whomever they please if the partner is also of age and consenting, the law of our country really is not as strong as it should be when it comes to the reproductive health of young adolescents. Many youths from rural areas have also been suffering and transmitting STDs otherwise known as

sexually transmitted diseases because of unsafe sexual practices and multiple sex partners which may also include sex workers. With extra precautions and a stronger law, many of these problems can be avoided.

Speaking for the adults, staying in a “live-in relationship”, having “friends with benefits”, sexually connecting, or making love with their lovers, are in fact something that Nepalese people are not yet familiar with but must be a little more open about. Free love-ism or as you might say, premarital sex is only right or wrong based on the context of where it is happening, with whom, and how old the individuals involved are at the time.

- Jessica Tamrakar

THE SHADE OF TOXIC FEMININITY

Hearing about the “toxic femininity’’ what thoughts come across your mind. I asked some of my friends and they told me “OH,you are writing about femi-Nazi?”or it is about Puseo- feminist

That one breed who hates men constantly for no reason (“but i can tell you many reasons'') and its wild to see people have such a mindset toward the word “feminist”. FEMINIST & FEMININITY IS TWO DIFFERENT

WORD. To those people who don’t know FEMINIST stand for a person who supports feminism; FEMININITY stands for qualities or attributes regarded as characteristic of women. There are so many traditional gender stereotypes for all genders.we can talk about those stereotypes all day long but it will not be enough.to be more specific we have some shade of toxic femininity.

I was surfing through the internet, found an

article written by the ROISIN LANIGAIN and it was like this “Hey, do you like listening to Lana Del Rey? What about Fiona Apple? Mitski, Hole, Melanie Martinez, MARINA? Can you recite the ‘cool girl’ speech from Gone Girl verbatim? Do you love that one Jacques-Louis David piece (''Portrait of a Woman in White”) not because you care about art, but because you like the broken female protagonists of Otessa Moshfegh’s literature? Do you have a favorite Lisbon sister (and is it Lux)? Are you still mourning the loss of Tumblr? Do you like to read Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita? Do you enjoy Catholic iconography? Pressed to describe yourself, or to have others describe you, would you be comfortable with adjectives like “toxic” or “manipulative”? If the answer to any of these questions is ‘yes’, then congratulations — you might be a femcel.”.So the word femcel in short for female involuntary celibate, which means that women who cannot get laid not by choice. And I was like ugh it is necessary to categorize women just because of the taste of music and books she read, and the lifestyle she romanticizes. I was kinda offended by it but Hey! It's the internet we are talking about the Internet aesthetic trends or she calls it toxic femininity.

and I noticed that a friend of my sister was always spamming her instagram stories with sad aesth lana del rey inspo quote of being sad and cool with it and so much of self hate & being overlooked by men and she is just 19 or something.

Someone who constantly surfs the internet, like me, can understand where Lanigan is catching on; there are people on the internet who create some of the saddest playlists you've ever heard, or the girl on Tik Tok Fyp may be the self-described "saddest person in the world."Fleabag girl or podcast girl, green juice, claw clip, or Emma Chamberlain— these women are obsessed with categorizing themselves and using Femcel as this aesthetic designator. According to Rayne FisherQuann, it's common for women to share their identities' thoughts as an artfully curated list that they consume or aspire to consume, and young women are guided by it's neurores to define their entire identity, and this is often implicated as the looking glass for public to

one's mental illness like depression, eating disorder, and different eating disorders.

Lanigan describes this niche interest in aesthetics as Femcel-Core. I might find myself enlisted in those categories, which is ironic and funny at the same time.

But the question is what leads women to deprive themselves of their own identity and adapt to the femcel tendency: is it the societal structure where they can’t come out of the

box, or are they the victims of misogynistic thought? In any case, the girl who lives in the shadow of toxic femininity does not fall into any of the normal categories.

And there's always a new culture and ideology of beauty and fashion impacting femininity.

- Samikshya Shrestha LACM

Richa Ghimire

Aperson who can be a student, entrepreneur, and social activist at the same time. A perfect combination of triple threats. We on the BIZstyle team are fortunate enough to feature such personalities in this edition. We would like to introduce Ms. Richa Ghimire as the face of BIZstyle Vol. IV Issue I. She works full-time for her company, "Youth n Trend," while also attending her college.

● Can we have a brief about your business through your looking glass?

Youth and Trend is an online store where you can purchase customized orders as well as premade hoodies and sweatshirts. YNT commissions local artists to create artwork, which is then printed or embroidered on sweatshirts and hoodies in limited quantities. Ynt is a growing brand for youth. There is always a stereotype that young people should follow trends, which is absolutely not correct. I believe that youth should not follow trends; they should like what they want, wear what they want, and be open to other people's opinions and tastes. It's all about providing people with various options.

● You chose this journey at such a young age. What possibilities did you see in the market?

While going for a movie with my brother, I discovered the embroidery work, which I found really time-consuming and also the work did not get the validation it needed. I took it as a possibility in the market and then the first thing I designed was a doraemon print

on a t-shirt and posted it on my social media (Instagram) and the rest is history. I was very young and naive due to which I made various mistakes at the beginning of my work and learned from them to get to where I am now. I had room to make mistakes because of my small circle. Initially, I began this journey to make my own money and be independent.

● Every individual has their own strengths and weaknesses. Are there any strengths of yours that helped you in this journey?Are there any weaknesses of yours that may have held you back in some ways?

I'm a very hard-working individual. I like to be very systematic at working, whether it's in business or daily life. One of my strengths is that I always schedule and complete my tasks on time. That's what keeps Y.N.T. going. Y.N.T. always has a sales goal in mind and understands what its customers want and demand, and won't stop until the goal is fulfilled. Consistency is the feature we must have because we don't get overnight success; I haven't reached that success yet, but being consistent with my work was my biggest strength which has helped my personal growth as well as Y.N.T. 's growth.

Life isn't always full of guts and glitz; we all face setbacks. There isn't always a profit; customer satisfaction may also fall short. My weakness that somehow held me back was my habit of pleasing people a lot and I am still working on it. My dad always says, "People who try to please people don't

please people."

At the time, I couldn't take criticism about what it did, but now I'm open to it. If I get 100 critics, I keep giving 150 reasons why it happened that way, which I consider as my weakness.

● YNT comes in fast fashion, and there is high competition in fast fashion. What is the perspective of YNT that is helping it to stand alone in the market?

I'd like to say it's a sustainable brand because we always try to keep the wastage to a minimum level. I have my own ethics and ground, where I learn to see competition as an opportunity and prepare for it. Even if you think

you're on top of the world, there will always be someone higher up. Initially, I was worried about my YNT Instagram followers because I was constantly stalking other brands. I also believed that it was less productive because YNT was more interested in gaining followers than in acquiring customers. Now I am stalking other brands to learn— not to feel insecure but to learn— and it's always important to be educated on what's happening in the market.

● What were and are the challenges for YNT? And how do you handle the fast growth and scale of your business?

The overwhelming volume of orders for the product, the traffic

in Kathmandu, and the locations of delivery points would be the main difficulties. There aren't any organized landmarks. Above and beyond the challenges at hand, YNT has a crew that cherishes and cares for YnT's reputation in a way that resembles a family and will go to any lengths to preserve it.

● How does Ynt function logistically and manage to build a successful customer base in this digital era? We follow a rigid work schedule. We are open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. We respond to all customer messages at such times, which you wouldn't disregard. Additionally, we have standby delivery personnel that take care of all product deliveries and are well versed in customer service. The delivery time is 2 /3 days.

● Do you have further plans to expand your business in the main steam market in Nepal?

Ynt has already expanded to 75 districts, and I'm currently working on developing Nepal's e-commerce, which will feature Nepali goods and products and will have a circle of Nepali community members, but the best part of my app will be the segment where a women-owned business will receive more promotions, offers, or

marketing. More money will be invested in YNT.

● The concept of digital marketing is underrated in the Nepali business world. Many people still fail to consider digital marketing as an investment. What is your perspective regarding digital marketing?

Digital marketing is actually a blessing. Who would have thought we could make money with computers by creating a website.

Digital marketing provides us with a platform from which we can select our target customers, whether based on demographics or spending capacity of the customer .The most common mistake people are making in digital marketing is choosing the customer.For me it is the subject of negotiation between the service provider and the customer. The service provider should understand what they are selling to their customer base. You cannot sell the product at a high price just because it's a Nepali brand. It's wrong and unethical. If it's luxury, then it should be Nepali luxury, and people should say it's worth it.In Nepal, especially in online shops, there is a culture where they get lots of bad reviews. The reviews I have been seeing on many online stores reflect expectations versus reality. People wonder, "Why are Nepalese products so expensive?"

● For a company to succeed, it requires the trust and satisfaction of the customer.So how is Ynt involved to gain the trust and provide customer care?

“Customers are always right and important—they are god” that's ethic Y.N.T follows

And we believe in the relationship between instant messaging and the intimacy of the customer. We always have a positive attitude toward customers. Sugarcoating is not ynt thing. We tried to be more affordable, and again, we like to have a connection where they can say, "Oh!" YNT has this product. I shouldn't look for others.

● What do you suggest to upcoming entrepreneurs before starting a journey similar to yours, from your experience?

My father always said, "If you put your heart into something, never question it again" - you do it, you fail it, it's okay to fail, but at least you tried. People do not attempt it. Because of the fear of opinions and criticism; just listen to them but never let them enter your mind.

Kris Jenner says “if somebody says NO , you are asking the wrong person-The answer is never NOyou have to go with those people that's going to give alternatives.”So go to the right place whether you need validation or any suggestion go to the right person .Do not go to somebody who doesn't try anything in life.and be organized.

"Consistency is everything; be consistent - be proud of what you are doing. If you're considering quitting, remember why you started. and just enjoy what you are doing.”

- Samikshya Shrestha Editiorial Team

REVIEW OF ZONTES

Because of their features, performance, and utility, dual purpose bikes are becoming increasingly popular around the world. As a result, the Nepali market is also being introduced to these fascinating motorcycles with multipurpose applications.The ZT155-U1 is a perfect example of this.Iron Monk Nepal introduced Zontes Motorcycles, a performance-oriented brand, to the Nepali market.

I recently had the opportunity to test ride this beautiful machine and was pleasantly surprised by the overall look of the motorcycle. To begin with, the ZT155-U1 has a distinct, enjoyable, and adaptable appearance. This bike has a stunning naked appearance, and the graphics and extraordinary nakeddesigned body parts give it a stunning naked appearance. I was immediately impressed with the passive keyless entry and anti-theft mechanism feature that this motorcycle provided. And also, the dual USB charging ports, and the LCD instrument panel, which displays all the necessary information, were quite fascinating.

I was completely blown away by the four-valve engine's performance, which produced 19.03 PS of power and 16 Nm of torque, which is perfect for the roads in Nepal. As an adventure lover, I was impressed by the performance that this bike delivered on both paved and unpaved roads. The disc brakes with dual channel ABS are the cherry on top, as they provide safety for both the rider and the pillion. The ground clearance that provided comfort on the roads is also a quite remarkable feature. The starting price of this bike is around Rs 5.39 lakh in the Nepali market, but the price may go up to around Rs 5.99 lakh if the crossspoke tubeless tyres are used. Overall, both the performance and the looks of this machine are remarkable, and it perfectly suits the roads of Nepal as an adventure bike. I had a great time riding this bike and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys both on and off-road adventures.

- Reason Mudvari LACM

TRANSFORMED

The momentous journey of my life

Have you ever taken a moment to slow down and observe the people around you? Hundreds of people rush around, going on about their days, each with unique stories to tell… ‘Transformed’ tells the story of the author moving on through life and discovering new passions as life takes different turns and, more importantly, finding oneself as time goes on. The story began when Shyam Sunder left home, leaving everything behind to fulfill his dream of studying 'English' and doing something different with life rather than committing to the family's trading business. He fulfilled his dreams, traveling the world and achieving much along the way. The author also talks of his grandfather, Late Compounder Chandra Man, of how remarkable of a life he lived and of the bond they shared. The author also talks about the mysterious Dr. friend. Coming from a family of brave and heroic members, the author, too, went on ahead in his life, bringing changes and creating positive impacts on many fields in Nepali society. The book takes you to different stages in the author's life, where he dedicated his time to bringing change in other sectors; the health system is the most invested.

As you read through the pages of this book, it feels like having a warm evening conversation with an old friend over a cup of tea while also learning some valuable life lessons. A must read to transform towards a healthy lifestyles.

- Luna Shrestha Editorial Team

Mother

who taught me how to live

Mother as described by the book is supposed to be basically a memoir for the writer’s mother but reading this book put me through so many ups and downs of emotions that this book came out as a valuable life lesson. I was never a good reader meaning I never really read anything knowledgeable , I am a fantasy reader . I’m far away from reality , my expectations from people are impossible to reach so I just don’t really expect anything . After our principle gave me this book. I read a few pages immediately intrigued by this gift. Books are the best gift undeniably. Well after I read a few pages I realized how this genre of book is so not my thing to read so I neglected the book after reading 5 or 6 pages. One day however ( 2 days after I got this book) I had nothing on my plate to do so I read the book and what I read was actually living so close to me that I could not think of ways I could stop my feet and live the book as I read it. I’ve read dozens of books before but this was the first book I lived. I went down to Patan to read the book and feel it close to me and it did give me a feel of home away from home. During the first 100 pages I was annoyed by the cowardness the character showed how he would find reasons to hide behind his mother but gradually I started seeing myself in him. I would always find ways to crawl inside my mother’s arms too but

what hurts is He was merely a child but so much better than me, I never treated my mother as I should’ve . My anger issues and little to no patience always brought the worst in me even though I love every part of you mom I’ve made mistakes I can’t reverse no matter how much I wish for so to happen but Ghana Shyam wasn’t like me he would appreciate her , talk to her softly , he was honest, he was kind to her, he learnt goods and made the wrongs right for her, he understood her pain even as a child in a way most of us fail to even as adults.

This book isn’t about being nice and kind and an adult. This book is about acceptance. Acceptance of the world. How everything happening around the universe is gradually forcing you to be who you are . How every bad deed is returned , how doing good things without selfish expectations always returns as a gift. How goodness is always served. Ghana Shyam’s mother wasn’t perfect none of us are but it’s the beauty that lies behind every imperfect person . It was her good heart and intentions which made her so great in front of me and hopefully in front of everyone who reads this book . It was her beauty ( mother’s beauty) that has kept her still so fresh even after 51 years of demise.

This book didn’t just tell me about the sacrifices of his mother , it showed me the reality of my life too .

This novel, it was made out of love . She wasn’t a super woman , she didn’t know magic , she couldn’t fly it was his love that made his mother’s life sound so tragically epic

- LACM Student

Apprenticed to a Himalayan Master: A Yogi’s Autobiography

- NITESH KUMAR SHAH

Sri M, born as Mumtaz Ali in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, is a spiritual master, social reformer, author and educationist. He was born on November 6, 1949. He has written several books on yoga, mysticism, and Upanishads. He is also the founder of The Satsang

Foundation, the organization which initiated several noble deeds in the field of education, health and environment. He is regularly visiting as a key-note speaker to institutions like the World Health Organization, World Bank, the Indian Institute of Management and the Indian Institute of Science. He has also imparted his knowledge and experience to employees of Google and Yahoo in the US. He has received many awards and honors for his dedication to social service. He was honored with the Padma Bhushan in 2020, one of the highest civilian awards in India. Among many books written by Sri M, ‘Apprenticed to a Himalayan Master’ is his autobiography. This book explains the transformation of Mumtaz Ali into Sri M. He has also revealed many profound incidents of his life in ‘The Journey Continues’, which is the sequel to this book. Other remarkable books by the author are The Upanishads, Shunya and Wisdom of the Rishis. There are fifty chapters in this book where he explains his early days, his attraction towards yoga, his unusual first encounter

with his Guru in his backyard, and his learning with various masters. This book is full of stories which a normal mind cannot comprehend. The occurrences in the life of a spiritual person are so surreal that they are beyond the capacity of ordinary minds to grasp and believe. The author knows that the normal mind might dismiss the book based on its mundane logic, but he still took the risk for the sincere seekers. In the first chapter of this book he has explained about the city where he was born, his family and the compassion of his Guru Sri Maheshwaranath Babaji. He mentions that his Guru was his father, mother, teacher and dear friend to him. He states the important lessons given to him by his Guru. Like his Guru told him, keep things simple and direct. Never advertise your greatness and those who will come close to you will discover themselves. After reading the first chapter, one can know that the interest in spirituality cannot come all of sudden; rather, it is the result of searching for many past lives. The author explains his obsession with cross-legged posture. He states that the tendency to cross one leg over the other started from the time when he was just two months old and it can be seen in his childhood pictures. That tendency continued and he still loves and feels comfortable in this posture of yogi. It is said by the spiritual masters that gurus are very compassionate and they are always concerned about the true seekers. Capable gurus intervene and find the right womb for the soul of their disciple who is about to take birth. They

plan everything so that their disciple who has to evolve and create an impact in this world should not face even the slightest difficulties. In the second chapter of this book the author has explained how the Guru came in a strange way to his backyard to re-establish the link when he was just nine years old. But he could not narrate this incident to anyone. In the twenty-ninth chapter he explains about the Sarpa Loka. According to him, there is a planet which is entirely inhabited by highly evolved, hooded snakes. The serpents or the Naga Devatas were in regular contact with humans thousands of years ago when humanity was in its early stage of mental evolution. The worship of snakes is a tribute to the advanced Nagas, as they possess profound wisdom. These secrets that he has revealed with the permission of his Guru are only the tip of the iceberg. A lot of things are yet to be said but it cannot be revealed to the mass. That is why this knowledge is hidden and known only to few. Seekers who are highly evolved will get to know all which is untold with the grace of the Guru.

Whatever is stated in the book by the author is easy to understand as the language is simple. The purpose of the book is to give strength to the seekers who are hesitant to plunge. There will be many obstacles in the search for the ultimate truth, but books like this can be of great help. Moreover, the scope of the book cannot be limited only to spiritual seekers and it can help anyone who wants to introspect and find the true purpose of this precious life.

VALUE over PERFORMANCE -

Rippletech

Rahul Kayastha CEO- Rippletech

“Our objective is to not only fulfill the consumer’s need, but to also form an unconventional venture that everybody would appreciate”

Rippletech: Nepal’s Own OEM Laptop Brand, established in May 2021 is a recent startup moving forward with a transcendent objective of satisfying the goal of Nepalese individuals for gaming laptops. As the first laptop manufacturer of Nepal, Rippletech is moving ahead with the objective of providing high performing laptops to Nepalese individuals at affordable price, while being committed to empower the strata of Nepalese gamers by giving premium and cost-efficient laptops and custom-built PCs in reasonable price. In order to understand this visionary idea and get more insights into the brains off the company, we had an opportunity to interview Mr. Rahul Kayastha, CEO at Rippletech, who shared his stories,

struggles, and his journey behind the creation of Rippletech.

Q1. Can you share the story behind the creation of your company?

When I was in Malaysia for my psychology degree, I was in need of a Laptop. Since it was during the time of COVID-19, I had a hard time finding a suitable laptop there. In hopes of finding a suitable laptop, I stumbled upon Nepalese laptop market where I immediately noticed a vast difference in Nepalese laptop market and the Malaysian laptop market. I realized that it was very difficult and expensive to find authentic and high performing laptops in Nepal. Seeing that huge difference in Nepalese laptop market and the Malaysian laptop market, I decided to launch Nepal’s first laptop manufacturer who creates, designs, and assembles laptops, PCs, etc. to provide high performing products to people at a reasonable price. That is when the idea of Ripple came to my mind. I was highly inspired by a similar kind of System Integrator OEM in Malaysia named Illegear, who provided similar kind of services that I had in mind at that time. Seeing how Illegear was providing best performing laptops at a reasonable price in Malaysia, I thought the same thing would be possible in Nepal as well. Hence, by following and implementing ideas of Illegear, I saw a vision for my business and that is how Rippletech came to its existence.

Q2. What goals do you wish to achieve through Rippletech? What ideas do you acquire for future expansion of your business?

Purchasing a laptop in Nepal can be 20% to 30% more expensive than purchasing a laptop in the US. Our main goal is to provide high performance laptops according to the preference

and need of Nepalese people at very affordable rates.

Mr. Kayastha further explains, ‘As for our ideas for future expansion, we are continuously focusing on how we can develop from an electronics manufacturer level to an industrial level. For that we have a vision to implement and create affordable banking sectors, technological sectors, etc. in Nepal to help in our overall modernization and walk on the path of industrial capacity.’

Q3. Who are your targeted customers and how do you differentiate your laptop manufacturer to other laptop manufacturers?

We are primarily focused on gamers, creators, professionals, etc. who are in need of high performance laptops at affordable prices. We are slowly planning to move our target customers towards general consumers in the future but as of now our targeted customers are creators, gamers, and professionals like software engineers, architects, etc. While creating laptops, we have a design philosophy, i.e. Value over performance. Every business runs on their own motivations and philosophies. For instance, some laptop manufacturers deliberately makes lower quality laptop series just to increase reputation for their other series laptops. Mr. Kayastha adds, “Each and every business has their own cohesive brand image, product line etc. As for our philosophy, we believe in Price to Performance philosophy and that is what makes us stand out from the rest of our competitors. We focus on analyzing and using the best designs, best configurations, etc. that gives users the best performing laptops at the lowest price possible.”

Q4. What are your current marketing strategies for your company? What were the challenges that you faced during the starting phase of your business?

Marketing can be done in various ways. As for our company, we have both social media promotions as well

as physical promotions. We follow SEO marketing through Google, and do our marketing through YouTube. Not only that, we frequently sponsor events as a way to promote our company.

Everybody faces challenges when it comes to opening a business. For me, I mostly faced challenges while managing and maintaining logistics especially in the context of Nepal. I also faced challenges on customs and Nepalese legal framework which created a hindrance in our economic standpoint. Being a new company we faced difficulty in making ourselves known to people since we had little to no backup and support. It was a constant struggle to create a brand image and gather trust from people in the market. Those were the struggles we faced during our starting phase of Rippletech.

Q5. Lastly, which laptop from your laptop line would you suggest for the students?

As of now, we are yet to create laptops specially designed for students. But if I were to suggest one of our laptops for students, I would suggest Pandora Creator Edition which uses a 12th gen Intel processor. I think out of our laptops, this laptop would be the most suitable for students.

The overview of Ripple has surely given us a perspective of it being one of the pioneers in the OEM laptop manufacturing industry of Nepal, with a vision to provide better performance and quality products at more affordable price providing a better value for money for customers. The company has surely raised some eyebrows, and caught hold of the market wind through their pricing, product placement, and marketing skills, all while focusing on their target market segments.

- Dikshya Khadgi Editiorial Team

Technology has encompassed the world into a tiny village, and the internet has been one of the major contributors for this globalization. From the creation of ARPANET by the Department of Defense (DOD) in late 1960’s to the current state of the internet, engulfing almost every aspect of our lifestyle, it has surely travelled through major changes. And these changes have largely influenced the world in drastic measures. From phones to laptops to watches and even the sandwich toasters, everything is connected to the internet. Our modern world has surely become the internet of things.

But this love for the internet wouldn’t have been possible without the Internet Service Providers (ISPs), continuously trying to provide internet service to the users. Among one of the oldest private ISPs of Nepal is WorldLink. Starting their journey from providing email services, they are currently the largest private company to provide internet (FTTH) and the biggest network service provider of Nepal. WorldLink can be considered one of the leaders in innovation in terms of technology.

WorldLink’s prominent network technology, with its own VSAT uplink terminal, has contributed significantly towards strengthening its network structure and creating a better foundation for its brand name back in the starting days. With a widespread optical fiber infrastructure, this ISP provider has currently been providing high speed internet connection to its widespread target customers as per their bandwidth requirement.

WorldLink has been constantly

working towards its mission and vision of providing high speed internet to connect everyone with better service. The company surely is proud of its 2 hours customer service where they give a commitment to solve any of your network issues by their support and maintenance team within a short time. MyWorldlink app has surely made interaction with their home network and ISP easier than before.

A commendable service provider, WorldLink has been providing a unique service in the market, i.e. its Wi-Fi Express service, where any WorldLink customer can connect to “MyWorldlink” SSID Wi-Fi onetime and use the internet in almost 14000+ hotspots area of Nepal. And you are probably aware about the “Free_Worldlink_Wi-Fi” SSID Wi-Fi in cafes and public areas where everyone with a Wi-Fi connection can use the 500 MB of internet without paying a dime. And this has surely helped general public to quickly connect to high speed internet without having to use their mobile data and also keep themselves entertained while running their errands.

Worldlink has grown its roots deep down in the network sector of the IT industry, and it has planned to spread out its hands to provide the best network service in each and every corner of this Himalayan nation at affordable prices. Moreover, we’re here in eager anticipation to witness further new strategies and services that this ISP giant will hopefully innovate in due course of time.

-Prithviraj Singh Bogati -Smarika Thapa

GET VOCAL ABOUT LOCAL

‘Nude Superior Vodka’ is Nepal’s first rice-based vodka. Natural sweetness is said to be found in it as it is based on rice. Produced and marketed by The Nepal Distilleries Pvt. Ltd. it does not contain added sugar and it is gluten free and glycerin free. While designing the ‘Nude Superior Vodka’, it is said that the wishes and demands of the consumers have been kept in mind while being health conscious. Vodka is a ‘fun spirit’ among various spirits. Young people are primarily interested in such a drink. The Nepalese youth are dynamic, and they love some quality and contemporary, original flavours,’ the company said, adding ‘Nude Superior Vodka’ has been brought to the Nepalese market as a high-end vodka.’

For added smoothness and finesse, ‘Nude Superior Vodka’ is prepared by charcoal filtering in small batches. According to the company, Christopher Amers, an international blender with over 40 years of experience, has designed ‘Nude

Superior Vodka’ using 100% local ingredients. It has been told that drinking the said vodka nits does not cause additional burning sensation in the throat.

The work to develop Vodka in a unique and world-class manner started in 2019. The company noted that prior to the development of ‘Nude Superior Vodka’, a series of extensive testing and feedback was conducted among general consumers and restaurants.

Shubhash Lamichhane, General Manager, ‘The Nepal Distilleries’ said that the packaging of ‘Nude Superior Vodka’ is as unique as the taste and quality. ‘Nude Superior Vodka’ is packaged in a glass cosmetic bottle, which gives greater clarity to the liquid. The cap used in the bottle cannot be refilled like other brands from ‘The Nepal Distilleries’. He said that since premium quality vodka is produced in the country abroad, the need to import such a drink will be removed and it will help the national economy, even if it is a little.

GET VOCAL ABOUT LOCAL

- Smarika Thapa Editorial Team

SUIRO TEAS

Two entrepreneurs, Hong Mei Liao and Shrisha Pradhananga bring Siuro teas to your table to start and end every day with a hot, soothing tea. Suiro tea is a producer of the finest specialty teas in Nepal. The aromatic teas are a great way to start a fresh new day and a key to a healthier and positive way of life. There are no chemicals or artificial additives in the ingredients, so you can enjoy your perfect cup of tea relaxed, knowing that it is 100% natural. The farmers carefully pick the best leaf, buds, and herbs so that with every sip, you can feel the

powers of nature within yourself. Suiro teas offer various pure teas (loose leaf and tea bag), milk tea, herbal blends, and flower teas. Along with a dynamic and innovative range of natural teas, they also offer a modern interpretation of Nepali craftsmanship in the form of ceramic wares and teapot sets.

CHIYA NOTEBOOKS

Chiya notebooks are an artistic, creative, and innovative effort to add a personal touch to the typical notebooks that one carries. Each segment of notebooks is hand designed by Shriya

Shakya (Chiya), the co-founder of Chiya notebooks. The brand aims to connect with and inspire young minds. They offer notebooks such as mandala series, flora, silhouette, heroes, flask, harry potter, and many more. Each series has its own set of aesthetic designs and an inspirational quote on each one. The company intends to speak to diverse young minds and encourage them to embrace their individualities. Chiya notebooks are not just essential notebooks but an experience. Consumers connect with the story told by the product line. MK publishers and distributors and is available in their website as well as in Daraz, and also in various bookstores and stationeries both inside and outside the Kathmandu Valley.

Padelux Sanitary Napkins

Padelux is a premium sanitary napkin brand that intends to break the cycle of considering menstruation as a taboo. It is a Nepali product by Health and Hygiene Products Pvt. Ltd. designed to cater to women's needs during menstruation. Padelux protects from period leakage and inspires women to achieve their dreams. Intending to encourage women to live life to its fullest, even during periods, the sanitary napkin brand provides a feeling of dryness without any discomfort during menstruation. Utilizing advanced infrastructure and high-quality

Katunje Outgears

Katunje outgears

Are you preparing for your next adventure and need help finding good quality locally produced outdoor gears? Katunje Outgears brings the finest, simple, and most highly reliable Nepali equipment to the Nepali and the international market so you can freely enjoy and challenge yourself to a great adventure. All your travel necessities ranging from outfits, bags, trekking shoes, and shoe covers to travel cases for bikes, Katunje Outgears has got you covered. Located in Thamel, the heart of Kathmandu, the outdoor recreation gear company aims to be your trustworthy travel companion. The company gives back to the community

materials, Padelux is leading a journey towards improved women's hygiene and sanitation. Padelux is a step towards providing an affordable solution to the dreadful women's health and hygiene issues in a developing country like Nepal. Along with a wide variety of sanitary napkins, Health and Hygiene Products also offers baby diapers, adult diapers, masks, wet wipes, and panty liners. They intend to further expand their women's hygiene products to maternity products and support women in each natural stage of life.

in more than one way. They are involved in various social projects such as distributing educational materials to needy children, supporting disaster victims, and providing underprivileged kids an education fulfilling their CSR. By purchasing from Katunje Outgears, you can proudly experience your adventure knowing that you are a part of some child's bright and beautiful future.

MATAYA

THE HORN FESTIVAL

Patan, one of the most beautiful cities of Nepal, is the home to the finest craftsmen and artisans. Historically called as ‘Yala’ by the natives (Newars); the city nevertheless preserves much of its historic beauty along with its winding lanes, brick homes, and numerous well-preserved Hindu temples, Buddhist monasteries(vihars), and monuments. Culturally rich, newars in patan celebrate many festivals and jatras among which “Horn festival” popularly known as ‘Mataya’ can be observed in the ninth lunar month of Gunla (July- August).

Mataya is derived from two Newa words where ‘mata’ means lights and ‘ya’ comes from the yatra considered as a sacred journey. Horn, also known as ‘Neku’, has traditionally been regarded as a wind instrument with religious significance in this festival. Consequently, this festival is also known as “Neku Jatra''.

According to Shringaketu Jatak, the legend says that the queen of Sashipatan once built a small chaitya (a symbol of the relics of Lord Buddha) in memory of her deceased husband, she put one horn a top of it

and then turned the second horn (Neku), giving it a neck pipe made of bamboo to direct air into it. The buffalo horn produced a musical sound, much to her gratifying joy. She then played the buffalo horn for her deceased beloved husband paying tribute to the Chaitya. After much fruitless one-sided effort, the king finally responded. This music then graced into a message of relief and deportation. Thereafter this festival began by paying respect and praying for the souls of departed family members and holding parades throughout Patan. The city has been divided into ten blocks namely: Nakabahil, Mangal Bazar, Chakrabahil, Nagbahal, Bubahal, Haugal, Ukhubahal, Ekhalukhu, Kobahal, and Saugal; for this festival. Every year during the month of Gunla, each block organizes the event along with the Naubaja instrumental ensemble. Each of these blocks get their turn once in every ten years. In order to participate in this journey, people come from various places. A small group of Bajracharya priests lead the journey, which is followed by hundreds of devotees. The journey is a long path walking to worship major four Buddha stupas i.e., Bagmati Stupa, Pulchowk Stupa, Lagankhel Stupa and Imadol Stupa. All these individuals walk through every “galli”, “chuka”, “lachi”, “bahi'' and “bahal” where the chaitya

and buddha stupas are built. Some toles participate in this festival by sending a group of men, playing different traditional musical instruments like bansuri, dholak, khin, madal etc.The pilgrims offer rice, grains, vermilion powder, sweets, incense, camphor, ita, coins, and guru patra at the shrines. Additionally, some individuals gather in groups dressed in comical attire known as' ‘Lakhay' and ‘Khya’ to join this journey and entertain others throughout the journey. They sing, dance, and entertain others through satire and comedy drama.

Grand performance of the magnificent Nau baja performance takes place in Patan Durbar Square in front of Patan Museum during this day. The Nau baja consists of Dha, Kot, Dhancha, Dhime, Nayakhin, Dholak, Pachima, Kokhing, and Nagara, in total nine combined musical instruments. All these baja have a great traditional importance having unique folk music, played with different ragas.

Alika Maharjan & Swechhya Pradhan

Lens: Arya’s Photography

The other side of you

You scroll through your Facebook page. You come across things with different backgrounds and intensity levels. It’s almost as if you tend to never miss wishing people on their birthdays and anniversaries. But hey, take a pause please, would you? Ask yourself first, ‘Do I really mean what I say or am I doing it just for the sake of doing it’? Think again.

I do understand that I’m taking a risk of possibly sounding a bit pessimist and probably a little absurd as well. But I am not questioning anyone over their use of social media. All I’m simply doing is provide my opinion. Hope you have a wonderful read.

Over the years, I have witnessed a significant increase in the usage of a multitude of social media platforms. I understand they are there for us to express ourselves. But, have we not been expressing ourselves a bit more aggressively these days? We don’t seem to realize, but we have almost developed a social media persona of ourselves that differs significantly with our real-life. Just because I don’t post anything dedicated to mom and dad on mother’s and father’s day doesn’t mean I don’t care. I simply beg to differ with this bandwagon of maintaining a perfect social media image, even if reality differs far from it. One might be in a topsy-turvy relation with their parents, but just to give the world a different perspective, I have seen people write an entire page of a post dedicating everything to them. Oh! And not to miss the lovely couples. It’s indeed a nightmare for them. From posting about every single date they have been on to

writing a 500-word essay wishing each other on birthdays, anniversaries, and whatnot? I wonder what would happen if you skipped mentioning one of your several anniversaries on social media? Would the world end? Would your relationship end? Think about it. Social media, as the name purports, indeed has made us more social. We get to learn new things and also entertain ourselves. But somewhere I feel we have lost our originality. We have pushed ourselves into a race, competing with every one of our ‘friends’ on whose life seems more interesting by posting catchy images, star hotels, luxury vacations and what not? Until your budget permits you, no problem. But simply getting into the race with no motives will definitely pull you back some time or the other. If you are on good savings, travel across the world on your anniversary. But how justified would it be if to travel abroad taking financial loans just so you can get a nice social media post out of it? Celebrating any events abroad surely feels good. But how about the interest rates that constantly keep knocking your purse? Forget celebrations. People post pictures at funerals along with the deceased’s body. How fair is that?

I’m not justifying things here. I’m simply stating this bemusing reality that I’ve witnessed over recent years. It’s almost as if we’ve forgotten to live our real lives driven away by this constant pressure of maintaining an ‘interesting’ social media life.

We are human beings. We are social animals. Can we not lose ourselves in this race of life by pretending to be someone else? Think about it, that’s all I ask. Cheers!

- Avjit Thapa LACM Faculty

How to become a good listener?

On a scale of 1 to 10, how much would you rate communication as being a quality required for forging ahead in your job? In the age of endless means of communication, how often do we find ourselves understood? Or heard even? How many times has miscommunication been the reason for conflicts in your workplace or personal life?  Most of the times it is not about what you communicate but how you do it. When it comes to becoming a pro at communication, putting your points across certainly matters. More than so being a good listener takes you places. Either it is maintaining a cordial relationship with your co-worker or interacting effectively with the customers or getting the instructions correct to get the job done, the key is effective listening.  Avoid doing these if you want to become a “Good Listener.”

1. Being silent: We mustn’t confuse listening to being silent. Rather than just listening passively to what the other person is saying, try to get the insight of what the person is really trying to convey by asking questions. Asking good questions regularly during the conversation shows that you are genuinely comprehending what is being said and interested enough to wanting to discover more on the issue. This develops the speaker’s confidence in you and helps in building a good rapport. Also, asking questions will clarify things on both end as to what is the intention of the speaker and what had been understood by the listener. However, you would want to be careful on not disrupting the conversation by asking questions on the wrong times. The easiest cue to ask would be when the speaker is on pause and not when they are on a full flow.

2. Being competitive: More often we tend to get competitive in the conversation. As a good listener, you should avoid focusing on listening just to give a critical response. Your job as a good listener is to make the person feel heard and not go for identifying logical errors and start arguments over the reasoning of the speaker. Surely, you can state your opinions and disagreements but in a way that the speaker thinks that you are trying to show a different perspective and not win a debate competition. Furthermore, we frequently

incline to contend over ‘who has got the bigger problems?’ We might feel that sharing our own problems gives relief and support to the speaker but this is not the case. Remember it is not about us. As a good listener we should not divert the focus of conversation on our issues but remain centered on the speaker’s.

3. Being judgmental: In conversations, we listen to others and constantly scan their thoughts and emotions through our own frame of reference. We are very quick to evaluate either what they thought, felt or did was right or wrong. Really! Just put down your magnifying glass and simply acknowledge their reality. Do not try to judge their perspective as correct or incorrect. There is every possibility that whatever is right to you is wrong to them and vice versa. So, while listening to others we should try to understand their perspective and not to impose ours on them. A good listener is someone who validates the speakers’ concern. This is not to say that you are to believe or accept their concerns as true for yourself. Even if they are at odds with your convictions, you can accept them as true for your speaker. This is the fundamental rule of being empathetic and a key for being a good listener. Because all we want is for someone to simply listen to us and not criticize or give advice or suggest their tested formulas to solve our problems and so on.

4. Getting distracted: Distraction is a big No when it comes to being a good listener, the obvious reason being the fact that you cannot remember what the other person is saying. You might think you are a good multitasker and can listen and do other stuff at the same time, where is the harm in that? But think, what do you do when someone you are talking to is looking down at their phone or looking at their computer or just looking around? Most probably you slow down, do not elaborate on what you are saying or just stop talking. It is very important for the listener in conversations to SHOW that they are paying full attention to what is being said. We convey our sincerity to the speaker through our body language. Maintaining eye contact, leaning forward to the speaker, occasional nodding are some of the things we can do to convince the speaker that we are really willing to listen to them. Only if we are able to gain the trust, the speaker will confide in us.

Namita Subedi LACM Faculty

THE ADVENTURES BEHIND THE HANDLEBARS

Around the time the 2020 lockdown had eased down a little, my brother and I used to go cycling without a particular destination in mind. What started as a spontaneous pass-time activity, it drove my brother into being increasingly into cycling, and now he dreams of becoming a professional mountain biker someday.

In his earlier stages of learning new skills and training to race professionally, he participated in “MTB Uphill Challenge 2022”. Now, the world of mountain biking was utterly unknown to me at the time, and to be completely honest, I was a bit nervous as well, sending my brother off to race in the complicatedlooking trails. So, for his first race, I dropped him off at the starting point and later met him at the finishing point. As I waited for my brother to appear in the finishing line, I noticed the compassion, energy, and support each competing players had for one another. You would see people of all ages, gender, and nationality participating, cheering for one another. I can’t find a word to describe the feeling and the energy in the way the competing participants cheered for each other.

Witnessing the event’s first race, I knew I wanted to let more people know of the event and community of mountain biking in Nepal. A few weeks after the event ended, I met with the man behind the events’ success, Mr. Rakesh Manandhar, founder of Single Track Nepal, to

hear his views on the event and the close-knit community of mountain biking in Nepal.

When did you start cycling?

I started cycling in school, but I started cycling professionally in 2005. How did you start your

cycling journey?

My journey started in 1998 as a trekker. As I was working as a trekking guide, I met an Australian cyclist client in 2004. As I talked with him, he shared that if I enjoyed cycling, he had a friend in Kerala looking for an assistant. With his sponsorship, I headed to Kerala.

His friend, Michael, was originally from Manchester and was working on looking for cycling routes in Kerala. He guided and trained me regarding different riding skills, and I learned maintenance work that way as well. The two of us discovered many trails and routes there, not being limited to Kerela. We found trails in Darjeeling, Uttarakhand as well. I worked alongside him for a long time in a company (Mountain Biking Kerala) he later established.

It was around the year 2008/09. The Asian Championship Games were about to be held in Nepal. It happened in Chobhar. It was a considerable large-scale game about to be organized in Nepal. International trainers from UCI (International Cycling Union) came to Nepal to train the officials needed for the game. Similar to how FIFA works, UCI is responsible for mountain biking, road cycling, BMX… basically all kinds of cycling there is to exist.

Like games have referees, such officials are called commissars in cycling terms. They were the ones to train us to conduct the games as commissars in a proper mountain biking

format. After the championship had ended, the craze for cycling had increased so much. The kids who used to come to watch games have now become national-level riders. Even Rajesh Magar (National Downhill Champion) used to go and watch the game there.

I continued working that way, and right now, I own a company, Single Track Nepal, and we organize various cycling tours, and I also manage races independently as well.

Compared to when you first started cycling professionally, what differences have you seen in cycling trends?

When we used to cycle back then, there used to be very few riders. If we met them while riding, we could quickly tell where the rider was from, even without communicating. We see so many riders these days it’s, hard to tell where they’ve come from. Back then, if we had to change/ repair any component, we had to consider many things. We needed help finding the parts we needed. We would wait on foreigners to arrive and check if they’d sell for second hand. There are so many shops you could get all kinds of repair parts and additional components, so I think that’s a plus point for riders now.

Moreover, most young riders around the age of 20 prefer downhill cycling over other types of cycling. They like to perform jumps and tricks with their cycles and lean more towards recreational cycling.

Why did you start the Uphill Challenge?

You have to consider a lot of factors to conduct a race. It requires a lot of investment in time and financial support as well. You need to acquire permission from the traffic police and the locals from the area you’re about to conduct the race. Because of such factors and COVID, organizations were not conducting racing events at all. The riders were sitting idle, and cycle shops needed to be active. There was a shortage of cycle parts and cycles as a whole in the market. Many athletes and sportspeople turned to process as COVID restrictions didn’t allow them to use the gyms. This hiked the demand for cycles in the market so much that the suppliers could not meet such enormous needs. Shimano and SRAM supply most of the

cycle and couldn’t meet such a huge demand. And this led to cycle shops have little going on. So I thought of conducting an accessible format, non-profit cycle race to, include everyone and would be a ‘reason to ride’ for everyone. The race occurred in different stages on different trails within the valley. The race was conducted with the theme of ‘Race to Train. And this theme has unarguably been successful as well. The riders pushing their cycles along the track in the first race had improved and were entirely riding their bikes on the trails by the time they reached the last stage.

The challenge included the involvement and contributions of different cycle shops as well. As riders participated in the race, more cycles would be in, which meant they would also require equal maintenance cells. Similarly, riders could detect the faults in there and may bikes wish to upgrade their components. These would all be eventually beneficial to the cycle shops as well, and it would allow more

customers to be driven to them. This would go more activity to the cycle shops. Each stage of the challenge was conducted with the help of the participating cycle shops. The medal distribution ceremonies for the particular stage took place in the shop premises, allowing more riders to visit the shops.

Now the question remains, why an uphill challenge? It is because once you learn to ride uphill, you learn to ride correctly. Conducting the race uphill trained the riders and reduced the risk of injury. This made cycling uphill the best idea.

How would you describe the type of riders present in the challenge?

We had planned to include at least 12 categories that the riders could be a part of. Initially, we had classes for Junior- Men, Women, Elite- Men, Women, Master- Men, Women, Grand Master- Men, Women, Veteran- Men, Women, and Senior- Men, Women. We didn’t have a category for ‘youth’ at first. Because a young kid below the age of 12 was very enthusiastic about participating we included a new category- ‘youth’ to encourage such young riders. We also tried to include women riders, but unfortunately, we only had a few women riders, as many as men riders. We did have a few women expats and, foreigners participating, though.

We conducted the race entirely to encourage riders in the valley. As the stages progressed, we had an increasing number of riders attending. We had more riders above the age of 30 rather than young riders. Through this race, we’ve discovered that the riders above 30 used

to feel discouraged from riding and competing in races since they would have to compete with younger riders. But since this challenge had a massive presence of riders over 30, they felt more comfortable participating in the event.

(Ps. My brother competing in the junior category had shared with me that competing with riders over 30 in an uphill challenge felt so amazing because, as he saw, they had such fantastic stamina and strength and would be able to ride uphill without stopping to rest at all. Watching them made riding a steep uphill seems so easy when it wasn’t as easy as it appeared.

As an experienced rider, what would your message be to emerging enthusiastic riders?

Cycling brings health benefits and keeps you young. I am 42 years old, but my friends still compliment me by saying I don’t look 42. Being a part of this community allows you to socialize and learn from your peers and encourage you to remain down to earth. Regardless of your cycle, you should start learning through it. Slowly as you discover your strength and interests, knowing that way is more long-lasting and will stick with you in the long run.

I am grateful for this event and this sport as I witnessed my brother grows so much as an individual. Just as Mr. Rakesh stated, being a part of this community has helped him mentally and physically. The new session of the MTB Uphill Challenge, starting in December 2023, will open a new world for those with the same passion and enthusiasm as my brother. This event has done the same for him in the past

-Luna Shrestha

PAYA JATRA

Paya is the virtuous ceremony documenting the procession of devotees impersonating warrior deities, while wearing ravishing adornments, alongside Khadgas showcasing their enthusiasm, which relents to enchant those feasting the proceedings. The term “Paya” annunciates the elucidation from the expression concerning Newar community defining ‘Pa’ as war weapons used during ancient times such as axe or swords and ‘ya’ specifying the course of procession or festival. This festival obligates the community to fully involve themselves, which is gleefully showcased by their willingness to participate in the procession consisting of members from Newar community, who advance towards various areas of Nepal. In this prestigious ceremony, the elderlies are supposedly expected to lead the way in an amenable manner, alongside the participation of approximately 30 to 40 individuals parading closely in which later the parade is transitioned to be graced by the youngest members. The Jatra exhibits the triumph of victory gained over lies and deceitfulness, by truth and trust. This Glorious festival is acclaimed after the attaining of Maha Nawami , titled as Kala Ratri, reflecting the death of the demon attained by Devi. Forwarding towards the day after Kala Ratri –Dashami which is known to embody the victory of reputable Devi through honorary welcome filled with garlands and sacrifices delectable for her liking, which is the day the belief is recommenced into a procession.

The celebration transpires in salient places, in particular Kathmandu- Taleju, Bhaktapur, Banepa Panauti and Patan. Nonetheless, each place has its own formalities that fall under prioritization, emanating to differentiate the celebration from one another. This ancestral

ceremony lasts for approximately 8 to 9 days, starting from Durbar square in Lalitpur, then proceeding accordingly. The birth of this legendary procession originated from the very Licchavi period which lasted from 400 to 700 CE. Evidently, King Mandev has been deemed credible for accomplishing his desires to inaugurate such tradition in history. Thereby, the Jatra has been known to be associated with Goddess Man Maheshwari worshipped by King Mandev embodying the reasoning for the King commencing to showcase the gratitude he possessed for the goddess. The significance of the celebration is instilled till the date, thereby, the unique celebration has managed to entice and cumulate devotees from all around the region.

Unfortunately, the procession was declared to be halted for 24 years in Patan considering numerous justified reasons. The adversity was hugely burdened upon Mr. Samrajya Shrestha, the owner of Omega technology located in Dhobighat, a member of the community, despite not having the obligation to bear, his realization to enumerate his traditions on generational basis weighed immensely. Being a correspondence of ancestry residing from Licchavi period (direct ancestry of King Mandev), he felt the pledge to recommence the Jatra fall upon him. This contribution of his has been yet another triumphant the society has been gratuitously bestowed through. Consequently, leading our team for an elaborated interview with the respected and reputable Samrajya Sir, deliberating his experience with his business as well as the journey of resuming Paya Jatra.

INTERVIEW

1. Starting from introduction, what can Omega technology be identified as?

The originality of Omega technology advanced

Picture Credit: Bikash Khadgi

through consideration regarding the frequented loadshedding Nepal had been facing prior 13 years, understanding the requirements for eliminating or merely easing the issue, gave initiation to establish Omega technology, targeting and serving to solve the power backup and voltage regulation concerns of individuals residing in Nepal.

2. What intrigued the operation of such a business then, certainly a reputed one now?

Fascinated by the technical field my initial job after graduating was to perform computer assembling which was during 91 or 92 BS. The fascination later translated to become a choice of mine, during the initial stages however, admittedly the business faced numerous complications featured by various situational circumstances. Transitioning from a partnership operation to a solo one catered obvious hurdles , regardless , my gratitude remains for those days as now I acknowledge myself to be at a remotely stable stance.

3. Whirling towards the matter of struggles, what were the hurdles faced by the business during its establishment or initial stages?

The vision and expectations were the reasoning for my initiation towards establishment of the business which remains identical even today regardless of the circumstances. However, the regulation of the market has to be one of the most difficult portions that had to be understood properly in order for the business to flourish. During the beginning stages the company was determined for production which was possible through excessive import of raw materials narrowing down to a screw from India. The exorbitant cost had been an issue followed by the requirement for accumulating

enough stock for persistent production. This caused the business to rationally run under massive credits which definitely became brutal at times ,however learning consistently from the evolution of the market , we now regulate under controlled import , willingly purchasing from local vendors , fending to supply the products and services efficiently ,rather than mass producing.

4. Referring to the operation of the business, how is it promoted and what might be the Future catered by Omega technology?

Advertisements have been least of our priority, addressing the formation of our small/locally operated business. Considering the capital required to be segregated for the purpose alone which might be a boulder of burden to us, one on one dealings is the tactics, a traditional one at that but has worked the best out of all till now. However, we definitely engage in PRs which does enough promotion.

Innovation is something we decided to forward as one of our competitive advantages in future, being more service oriented and obviously rendering the ability to reach most difficult geographical distributions in Nepal has been a priority that is to be followed down the years.

5. Despite owning a sole proprietorship, your contributions for rejuvenating the Paya Jatra back to the community is undeniably plausible, How did you make it possible?

Restoring the culture has to be one of the proudest junctures I have accomplished for my people, which evidently wasn’t all rainbows and butterflies. For regulating these forms of Jatras it requires years of preparations, specifically highlighting my case; I had to first figure out the financing portion which had been a reasoning/ factor for the Jatra to get halted for such a long period-24 years. I alongside Kathmandu Valley Preservation Trust, precisely Ranjit Kant sir, we together worked religiously for generating funds required for the Jatra to resume. This proposition regrettably saw the end of a tunnel, leaving us with the dilemma to figure out a strategy to reinforce the agenda. I have to say Ranjit Kant Sir has to be one of the most dedicated individuals I have met, the history and legends had exhilarated so much admiration in him, he was willing enough to work furiously for the success. Fortunately, through the grace

of the deity, we happened to come across Chiri Bahadur Maharjan, an elected mayor who had just won, committed to recommence the Jatra, the hope was definitely re-stored and the urge to do our fullest magnified.

6. Proceeding towards your accomplishment, what sort of preparations are the community expected to perform before the Jatra?

Recommencing the Jatra requires massive preparations, particularly in the case of Patan, we had to restore the destroyed ammunition. The house which was solely dedicated for the Jatra had to be re-build considering it was demolished by the earthquake of 90s BS. Most of the ammunition were perpetuated under the assurance of the museum which had to be revived. The formal initiation was forwarded by myself, basically a fulfilment of my purpose and serving my traditions. This required full assistance whether it might be catered towards finance, physical or merely my presence. For years , I had to train myself to balance the circumstances considering I had a company to run alongside, which was responsible for contributing funds to its optimum capacity. Regardless of the persistence, the funds were falling short, which enlightened me personally on how being financially fulfilled was required specifically to serve the community and render it through certain changes. Nonetheless, this also was a reason for our organization “Man Manyathvi Paya Jatra '', an assemblage of funds or simply a Basket Fund to be introduced. The instigation to reconstruct everything which was recognized as an obligation by involved parties, was how the resumption of Paya Jatra started.

7. What purpose does “Man Manyathvi Paya Jatra” serve?

Systematic formulation of funds through which such Jatras can be conducted with ease is a decisive principal the Fund collection supports. The financial assistance forwarded by the collection is invested thoroughly towards exhilarating the authenticity of the tradition. It also documents the proceedings and financial contributions made by individuals, organizations or any other involved entities, presenting the possibility to regulate the Jatra in a more professional way. And conclusively, advances to urge the government to promote such practices , gracing them the recognition they deserve.

8. What forms of shortcoming did you fend through during the proceedings?

I, alongside other dedicated individuals falling from relatively unstable homes, were not immune to the sacrifices that were constrained during the preparation of the Paya Jatra. This rendered a debate within me, to the idea if the regulation of the Jatra itself was a justifiable reward for them. Unlike them, I at least had a business I could turn towards when in need, which wasn’t identical for most of the involved individuals. Despite, complications terrorizing us in each milestones the end results made it worth it.

9. Conclusively, what deposition would you want to forward for next generation hopefully following your steps?

Understanding the contemporary way, the new generation is fostered by, regarding the willingness they have, to experiment through eccentric cultures and trends, I would appeal to offer them an expedition on how distinct, beautiful, and dignified the culture laying outside their doors are. Through the hastiness of the advancements, youngsters forget the excitement and fascination that is relented when engaging in such cultures; however, they are accepted towards a completely divergent one. The easiness that courses within yourself knowing that the culture and tradition forwarded by your ancestors are being followed religiously is explicable. Being familiar with your traditions speaks a lot about how valuable you are as a person; the tradition ends up being associated with your identity differentiating you from the crowd. The knowledge forwarded by these traditions and cultures are unfathomable yet extremely required. However, the lack of attention segregated for stimulating the need to follow such tradition has been a default the country goes by each passing year, which can be considered as a reason for youngsters being completely oblivious to their existence. Therefore, urging to forward significance of such practices are to be mandatorily done, not only by the state but by the respected guardians as well, with heightened association the tradition will live long and serve to preserve the identity we have been forwarded by our ancestors.

- Dikshya Khadgi & Shrijan Tamrakar (LACM)

- Bibek Dhoj Thapa (LACM Alumni)

In the December of 2019 when the whole world was starting to hold its breath due to the emerging Covid-19 situation, a small group of investors at NEPSE took a sigh of relief. The index which was facing an overwhelming bearish run had seen a rise of about 53.24 points that month. Over the next couple of years, NEPSE would witness an unnatural charge from the bulls which would rally the index up to a historical high of 3227.11 points. This joy was short lived as the bears had had enough of it and started thrashing the index down through multiple psychological levels which has left many investors in dismay. So what are these ebbs and flows NEPSE shows across different period of time? To figure this out we may look at it through the lens of a “market cycle” analyst.

Market cycle is a wide term referring to trends or patterns that emerge during different markets or business environments. New market cycles form when trends within a particular sector or industry develop in response to meaningful innovation, new products, or regulatory environment. These cycles are often hard to pinpoint until after the

fact and rarely have a specific, clearly identifiable beginning or ending point which often leads to confusion or controversy surrounding the assessment of policies and strategies. However, most market veterans believe they exist, and many investors pursue investment strategies that aim to profit from them by trading securities ahead of directional shifts in the cycle.

A stock market cycle is the typical evolution of a stock's price from an early uptrend to price high through to a downtrend and price low. Richard Wyckoff, a prominent trader and pioneer in technical analysis, developed a buy-andsell stock cycle that occurs over four distinct stages: Accumulation, Markup, Distribution and Markdown.

Accumulation: Buying imbroglio

Around 2019, Nepse’s bearish momentum had slowed down as the index refused to stay below the level of 1100. There were multiple attempts to breakdown this level but each of them proved futile. But what caused the selling to slow down one might wonder. The answer, discounted prices and easing liquidity.

During this phase, overall market sentiment is bearish but valuation is very attractive. This is

NEPSE’s market cycle: 2020/21 was the party, NOW IT’S THE HANGOVER NO ONE WANTED.

what catches the eye of smart money and traders who may also be referred to as “early adopters”. As the media was preaching doom, those who had been holding gave up and sold. But for every seller throwing the towel there was someone to hold it in discount.

Initial Markup Phase: All aboard the bullish train!!

A sign of an early markup phase would be the market making Higher-highs and Higher-lows in terms of how it is moving along the index. The psychology behind it maybe said as the buyers slowly starting to overpower the sellers by defending against any major selling pressures which aim to push the market down. A change in public sentiment maybe felt as the market slowly starts creeping upwards.

We may say that NEPSE started this phase from the end of the year 2019 as it showed resilience against the sellers by staying put in the support zone of 1100s which changed into a burst of bullish rally as we moved into the year 2020. Some major factors which accredited to this turn of event could be NEPSE embracing online trading system, covid-19 and the lockdown which followed soon after. The lockdown which forced the economy to a standstill caused a major liquidity surplus in the financial markets which was funneled into the stock market which was up and running amidst all of this commotion.

basically just have something (mostly good) to say about the market. This is when the good times really start rolling.

During this stage, NEPSE saw a massive rise in the number of daily active traders all thanks to NEPSE adopting a fully automated trading software now known as NEPSE Online Trading System (NOTS). It paved an easier way for the late majority to jump in the band wagon due to the fear and greed of being left out of this hype train everyone else was getting on.

The volumes of shares and transaction amount started increasing substantially. Valuation started climbing well beyond historical norms and just as all of this was going on, logic and common sense finally had had enough and

Late markup phase: Fear Of Missing Out

If you don’t know what “Euphoria” feels or looks like, talk to a trader or investor during the market’s late markup phase. Its celebrations all around. They all have their own analysis, speculation or

decided to jump out of the window.

Distribution: The Last kiss

Amidst all the celebration going around, the regulator body of the stock market Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON), somehow thought that it would be a good idea to publish a statement which explicitly mentioned a list of 51 companies, citing that these companies were risky to get

involved with. Public sentiment was seriously hurt and the next day, a bloodbath ensued in NEPSE. Every company in the index had closed red. In the aftermath, the resilient bulls emerged victors but seriously maimed. NEPSE continued its upward move but this time it was much slower and pullback towards the downside were more frequent.

These frequent pullbacks are a major indicator of distribution phase. Laggards sitting on the sidelines see these pullbacks as a buying opportunity and jump in. But while these late majority players are getting in, smart money and insiders are unloading their holdings. It is at this stage, prices make one last parabolic move what is known as a selling climax in Technical Analysis where largest gains happen over a short period of time. But these gains are short-lived and the bears slowly start overpowering the bulls which pushes the market to the next phase of its cycle.

what’s happening before it has fully happened as generally this phase is in full swing when people come to realize the top has occurred.

On 19th Aug, 2021, NEPSE touched 3227 points, the highest in its history till now which many have dubbed it to be the index’s “Last Kiss”.

Markdown Phase: Falling Knife

This is the final stage of the market before it starts accumulating again and we may say that this is the very stage NEPSE is going through as this piece is being written. It is definitely the most painful stage of the market especially in a market like ours where the only way to profit is to buy low and sell high. As this stage proceeds, the lows become lower and many people decide to keep holding as their investments fall way below what they had initially paid for. Many people don’t realize

Most people who decide to hold have only seen green and force themselves into denial, thinking that the market can never go against them. A number of factors have lead NEPSE into this stage some more than others such as, a major liquidity crunch in the market, heavy outflow of the country’s foreign reserves a looming recession on top of a faltering economy, a loss of faith in the country’s political scenario and so on. Another notable factor could be some of the radical moves made by Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) the federal bank of Nepal to counter the aforementioned problems which had an adverse effect on the stock market’s sentiments notably the rising interest rates of banks. A lot of anxiety and frustration can be felt among the investors and traders as NEPSE has already lost more than one third of its value from what it was during its peak bullish phase. A lot of blame game is going on, fingers are weary, desperate to find someone to point at. But who really is responsible for where we have arrived? The answer a lot of people and at the same time nobody. We should take this as just another natural phenomenon. Just a river flows in its own rhythm the market dances to its own rhythm too.

Final Words: Morning star

In the stock market patience is a virtue. Despite all the anxiety felt because of where the market will go next, we must always remember even the darkest of nights eventually see dawn. The market will not forever go in a downward spiral there will eventually come a time when it has to turn around and start running the other way. Until then, keep looking for that morning star over the horizon.

RESTAURANT REVIEW

Established in 2072 AD, KRYSTAL FOOD CAFE is located in Shankhamul. Krystal Food Cafe has different outlets inside the valley and outside too. Some of them are Naava Resort and Retreat (Shivapuri), Dhulikhel Sunrise Resort (Dhulikhel), and Crystal Party Venue (Kathmandu). The place was very clean and tidy. The lighting and furniture arrangement were very warm and aesthetically pleasing. I would like to give 10/10 for that. They have both indoor and outdoor setups.

Menu & Food

They had a lot of normal varieties like momo, chow mein, burgers, and sandwiches. We had their famous garlic chicken wings and jhol momo. The garlic chicken was full of spices and seasonings. I'd give it an 8/10 while the momo was in the middle. They could do more with it, but the soup of momo was very tasty. 7/10

Service and atmosphere

The staff were not particularly pleasant. They were working very quickly and without proper coordination with us. Some of them were preoccupied with their phones, but the manager was pleasant and humble. The staff needed to improve their communication skills; otherwise, everything was fine.

Kajin Khayamali BHM , LACM

Name/location: The "STATEIIIktm" is a restaurant situated in the heart of Lainchour, Kathmandu (the busiest city in KTM). It's a nice place to hang out with a nice atmosphere.stunning ambiance along the road, good food, and good service. A happening place at Lazimpat where you can hang out throughout the day alone with a coffee and work or host a meeting with your team is where mostly trekkers and mountaineers gather most. Evenings are best spent with friends and family.

Atmosphere/decor: As you enter the place, the luxuries of modernity welcome you. Sitting at any table, you have a wonderful view of the workshop-like bar, where you can see the bartender working. For those who prefer a private space, they can also book a private room with a connected bar.

- Prashmi Maharjan BHM, LACM

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KRYSTAL FOOD CAFE STATE III ktm

WINTER COCKTAILS

Cocktail is the art of mixing alcoholic and non-alcoholic ingredients to make a beautiful drink. Balancing drinks with sweet & sour, bitter, cream and juice is hard. Hence, having a good knowledge and skill about these are important if you want to come up with a fine drink. Think of it as an art, i.e. to make a perfect drink, you need to have knowledge, passion & skill. Let me teach you how to make cocktails that are famous while equally easy to make as it simply requires basic bar and kitchen equipment and alcohol that can be found anywhere.

1) Hot Rum Punch

2) Mulled Wine

3) Sangria

4) Eggnog

1) Hot Rum Punch

● One of the most famous winter drinks in Nepal. Every bar and restaurants sell this drink during the time of winter. It’s also very easy to make it. Let me share the ingredients that is used to make this warm and comforting drink:

• Dark Rum

• Lime juice

• Honey

• Hot water

• Masala ( cinnamon, cardamom, star anise, black cardamom , cloves & nutmeg powder )

2) Mulled Wine

• Mulled wine, sometimes referred to as spiced win, is most often of a red wine variety, infused with various fruits & spices, which happens to be served warm. It was created by the romans in the 2nd century. They would heat wine to fight off the cold against winter. Later the drink became more famous as romans conquered much of Europe

• Let me share with you the ingredients to make this sophisticated drink. You will need:

• Dry red wine

• Brandy

• Fresh oranges

• Cinnamon

• Mulling spices ( cloves & star anise)

• Sweetener (sugar) which can be replaced by honey or maple syrup as per your taste

3) Sangria

• Sangria was invented in Spain & Portugal. Romanians used to drink red wines from Spain when they made wine based punches, i.e. Sangria. Later on, it started getting global acceptance and recognition due to its wonderful composition.

The ingredients needed for sangria are:

• Red wine

• Fruits

• Sweetener

• Orange juice

4) Eggnog

• Eggnog is a holiday cocktail that people usually drink during Christmas. Historically, Eggnogs are also known as milk punch or an egg milk punch when alcoholic beverages are added. Furthermore, it is also rich chilled & sweetened as well.

The ingredients needed for making eggnog are:

• 6 large egg yolks

• ½ cup granulated sugar

• 1 cup heavy whipped cream

• 2 cup milk

• 2 whole cloves

• Pinch cinnamon

• 1 tablespoon freshly grated nutmeg(lightly paced)

• 1 ½ tablespoon vanilla extract

• 60 ml rum or whiskey

• 4 egg whites, optional

With these cocktail recipes you can make cocktails on your own. So what’s the delay? Rush into your kitchen and serve yourself one as well!!

- Asis Maski, LACM