Tag Archives: travel

Rendezvous with an Entrancing Beauty

Posted on August 28, 2012 | 8 comments

This article was published in +977 (a Nepalese Lifestyle Magazine in Australia) in July-Aug 2012 issue.

It was really nice to have opportunity to interview Samriddhi Rai 🙂

We are always very proud when we see the name “Nepal” in any International arena and we felt be a prouder still, when a few months ago as Miss Samriddhi Rai was successful in bringing home the title of Miss Personality from the Miss Tourism Queen International 2011 held in Xi’an, China.

Many of you may already know Samriddhi Rai as Miss Tourism Queen Nepal 2011. She was also a participant in Miss Teen Nepal and in Miss Nepal. Some of you may know her as a writer or an editor for well know publications or even as a national level basketball player, an aspiring singer or a TV anchor or a Voice on RVL Radio.

An intrepid blogger, she is not afraid to express her opinions and feelings instead of writing what is politically correct. It is very heartening to see her speaking her mind about events in Nepal like the Miss Nepal 2012, Bryan Adams’ concert, etc., in her blog samriddhirai.blogspot.com.

Living with her motto, “Laugh.Love. Live.”: Samriddhi has achieved, in a short time frame, what many of us have only dreamed of. Even though she has been in the public eye form her teenage years, she has never forgotten her roots and has always stayed grounded. She is a great inspiration for today’s youth.

A Self-confessed serious Facebooker, she is so loved by the young generation that the number of friends in her Faceebook personal account maxed out, forcing her to create a Facebook Page instead, to keep in touch with her fans. One of the best things about following her on Facebook and Twitter is that she actually responds to the comments, unlike so many celebrities who just post their photos and never bother to respond to the comments people leave for them.

“For some reasons though, I happen to love my struggles. I believe it has made me tough and although it breaks me down from time to time, it has unfailingly pushed me to bring out the best in me.” These are her words describing her experience from Miss Tourism Queen International. When she was picked by Group of Event Entertainers, the team that conducts Miss Tourism Queen Nepal, to represent Nepal in China she was told she had to fund everything on her own. For any other girl it could have been the reason to desist from the journey even before it begun but not for Samriddhi. She was determined to do whatever it would take to reach her goal. She organised a concert to raise money and at the same time looked for sponsors to help fund her trip to Xi’an to represent Nepal. The road to China was bumpy but with courage and determination she was able to bring a second international beauty pageant crown home to Nepal. It was one of the proudest moments for Nepal and all Nepali.

Here is our conversation with the young, talented and beautiful Miss Samriddhi Rai.

You are into so many different fields, how do you want to be known?

Honestly, it would be awesome to be known as Samriddhi Rai – Jack of all trades, Master of some (laughs) but yeah I will forever be a writer at heart. I express myself best when I am writing so that is one thing that will always be with me. Soon though, I am coming out with my album so yeah, the title of Samriddhi Rai- singer, songwriter, blogger would sound perfect to live by for the rest of my life.

When did you think of entering beauty pageants and did you face any difficulties?

It was not a conscious decision, you know. I had just completed my 12th grade and I had some time to spare. I saw an ad calling for Miss Teen Nepal and I just entered it, thinking it would be fun. If you knew me well, you’d know that I am just that kind of a person – spontaneous and extremely random. I managed to discover the singing talent in me, wiped out fear of public-speaking, to that extent, I have pageants to thank for bringing out the writer in me too as everything  I was learning was just too difficult to be contained within me, I had to share it with the world. So yeah, I have a lot to thank these pageants. By exploring the many vistas of these hard-core contests, I got a chance to explore the many vistas of me. Those were time well-spent. 

 Please share your experience from Miss teen Nepal and Miss Nepal. 

Miss Teen Nepal and Miss Nepal were two experiences I totally cherish. But I may have enjoyed Miss Teen Nepal more (laughs), considering I had no plans to win anything but came out clinching the 2nd runner up title. On the other hand, I joined Miss Nepal fully knowing that I had to win it. And even though I got nothing from it except for my placement in the top-5, with time I realized that winning a title was not so important after all. That, winning people’s love and earning memories and experiences was more valuable. Soon after my bout at Miss Nepal I was offered a job as an editor for a youth’s magazine, I became a weekly columnist, I was offered the title of Miss Tourism Nepal , hundreds of people showed up at my fund-raising concerts and I came back home winning a title on behalf of my country. So you see, winning or losing is for the mere entertainment of the audience. I may have lost at Miss Nepal, but I never felt defeated. To be in the presence of both success and failure and be equally happy in both experiences- is what these pageants have taught me.

 We know that your journey to Miss Tourism Queen International 2011 was not smooth as you had to fund your own way there. Tell us more about your experience from the beginning to winning the crown for Best Personality.

I broke down a few days before I had to leave for my contest. But I can assure you it was only a momentary lapse (lol). But I really couldn’t get my sunny side up when everything came crashing down for a while- when people who promised to sponsor my tickets backed out and my designer friends refused to give their best gowns. It was disheartening and overwhelming. All the while I kept thinking, “Oh my god, I am representing my country here, why isn’t anybody helping me out?” and then, I came back to my senses. I realized people were not helping me because the universe was asking me to help myself and be a strong girl and that is what I became. Oddly enough it was a bunch of strangers who helped me in a big way. Stranger designers, stranger airline officers- to whom by the way I am indebted for life and I still keep in touch with them. And I finally made it to China. The journey thereafter was the most fun I have ever had. Being called out by my country’s name was a thing of immense pride. “Hey! Nepal, come here. Hey! Nepal sings so well.” I am all smiles even as I share these moments with you. When NEPAL was called out to receive the title of Miss Personality, I was so happy. Tears of joy rolled down my cheeks and I couldn’t stop thanking my judges for finding me worthy for the title. Finally, thank you +977 for helping me relive those moments all over again. I’d describe my journey to Miss Tourism Queen International as one of the most beautiful chapters of my life.

 There is a term in Australia called Tall Poppy Syndrome which means people of genuine merit are resented, attacked, cut down, or criticised because their talents or achievements elevate them above or distinguish them from their peers. Do you think that exists in Nepal as well? Did you ever suffer something similar?

Tall poppy huh! Well I’d say that is true anywhere in the world and honestly, if I tell you that I have in fact been attacked and resented then I would also be calling myself a person with genuine merit – and that my friend, would be fuelling my “resent-ers” to resent me even more (lol). But yeah in all honesty, as the number of people who like you grows, with it grows the number of people who might dislike you as well. When I was collecting my funds for the pageant, there were people making remarks claiming that was acting like a “beggar”, to one paper even publishing that my contest was all fake and I had duped people through my fund-raising concerts. Phew! Initially it hurt a lot, but I started getting used to it. Then I was like, as long as my rumours keep people in Kathmandu entertained, I am up for anything that makes people happy (lol) and I let it go.

 For girls planning to join beauty pageants, what do you think are the important preparations that they should make in order to maximize their chances?

Well I feel I very lucky to have gotten in, considering I am only 5’ 6”. My height is not even average in beauty pageant terms; 5’ 6” is very, very short. So yes, my 5 inches heels never came off during my international contest (lol) and that way judges never saw me as someone short. The four crucial preparations for any Nepali beauty pageant representative going for an international pageant, according to me would be: (1) Armed with lots of super-high heels, (2) lots of make-up and hair styling accessories- one must also be well-trained in its application, (3) well thought out wardrobe including several beautiful gowns by designers and (4) ONE significant talent to help one stand out from a batch of hundreds of contestants.

 Did you ever feel discouraged in life and if so, what thoughts made you overcome those feelings?

Discouraged? NEVER! If something goes wrong for me, I am quick at moving on and finding something that is right. I don’t believe in dwelling in despair; my god, life is too short for that. To tell you a lesser known secret though, I sometimes consciously drown myself in sadness only at those times when I want to write some hard-core emo songs for my upcoming album (lol) other than that, nah! I just like to see the brighter side in life. That is just who I am.

 Who do you admire the most & why? 

I admire the values passed down by my parents the most. At the end of the day no matter what you become or where you go, it is the integrity, the teachings that one gets as a child that truly moulds a person. I can’t thank them enough for helping me become the person that I am today.  

What does “success” mean to you? 

Success is just an illusion. Happiness is the ultimate goal I seek. Pursuing my passion for music and writing makes me happy and that is all I need.      

How do you keep fit? Please share with us some of your formula for a healthy lifestyle. 

I guess you have come to the right person to ask that, as I only recently shed a good 8 kilos off of me haha. You see, I had always been a fit person, but then one day I watched the movie Step Up 2 and then I had to have those abs that the lead girl flaunted. Next 3 months in the gym and I was doomed. I gained more weight and I had set out to lose them. It took me a whole year of eating the right food and NOT-going to the gym but indulging in my regular games of basketball and a few running drills to get back into shape.

What is the proudest moment or the most memorable day of your life? 

“You are only as good as your last achievement”- said a wise man and going by that, it has to be my winning the Miss Personality for Nepal at the Miss Tourism Pageant. Yes it was the proudest I had ever been of myself; a moment I shall cherish until my death.

 What are your future plans?

Just continue doing the things I love like baking, playing basketball, singing, writing and joking around with pals and laughing a lot lot lot (lol). On a serious note, immediate plans are for a record album which I hope to release in the year 2013, as I was born on the 13th and my contestant number at Miss Nepal was 13. It’s just an important number for me. Let’s just see how that turns out. 

Is there anything else you would like our readers to know?

Ahhh… All that I have been blabbering about is already too much information. If I were the reader, I would be bored by now haha. But yeah, I would really like to say “thank you” for giving your time to read what I had to say. It means a lot. Also, one day I hope to come visit Australia; a huge fan of all Master Chef Australia episodes I wanna come there for the food and the picturesque sea shores that I have only gotten to see in well – pictures (lol). If you’re reading this as a Nepali from Australia, I really appreciate you making an effort to be in touch with updates from back home. Finally, thank you +977 for having me and thank you for hunting me down. Being in the media, not much media likes to cover me – it has to be that Tall poppy thingy eh! (Lol) So, really a genuine thank you to everyone. Wish you all a wonderful life ahead. Cheerio!

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London calling – Part 1

Posted on July 17, 2012 | 9 comments

I was really excited to go to London as I had heard so much about the city. As we had stayed with AS’s cousins we caught a train from Hove station to take us to London. The train was full so we had to stand near the doors with our luggage. After a while I was so tired that I sat on the floor :).

A lady came with a trolley selling tea, coffee, biscuits and cake like in an plane. This was something I hadn’t known would be available on the train. I guess that is good business as many people will need tea and coffee to wake up in the morning. The train dropped us at Victoria station and from there we planned to go to our hotel, which was near Hyde Park.

Experience with London tube

At Victoria station we bought the London pass as well as a day pass for the tube. One thing about the tube station we hadn’t know beforehand  was that in most of them, there were no lifts or escalators but there were plenty of steps everywhere. Both AS and I had a big suitcase each, a hand carry and I had a small bag as well so going up and down so many stairs was a nightmare. When we got on the tube from Victoria we meant to go to Notting Hill station to change for our next tube that was supposed to take us to our hotel but unfortunately something was wrong with the tracks and we had to catch another tube which meant we had to go through more stairs with our luggage. Poor AS had to go up and down several times with the heavy luggage as I couldn’t carry my suitcase up and down the stairs. After one more tube change we finally managed to get to Queensway Station which was near our hotel and were done with the tube for the moment.

We were booked into Central Park Hotel which was close to the city and next to Hyde Park. When we checked into the hotel, I was very disappointed with the size of the room. It was literally just a bed with a side table and a bathroom. It didn’t look very good either with plain white sheets and plain looking curtains but as we didn’t plan to stay inside much, it worked out OK.

We were really hungry so we went out for a stroll and to have some lunch. In Queensway Street, there were lots of restaurants as well as many shops. We choose to try some Thai food. We ordered Thai curry and Pad See Wee. The food was ok but the portion size was huge. After lunch we went back to the hotel, freshened up and were off to explore London. London tube was excellent when you were not carry luggage and we made the most of it.

Ride on London Eye

The London Eye is a giant Ferris wheel situated on the banks of the River Thames, in London, England. The entire structure is 135 metres tall and the wheel has a diameter of 120 metres. It is the tallest Ferris wheel in Europe, and the most popular paid tourist attraction in the United Kingdom, visited by over 3.5 million people annually.

We had pre purchased tickets to go to the London Eye but we had to go and exchange out e-tickets for proper ticket from the counter. It was really fast as they have a special line for online tickets. From there we went and saw a 4D film presentation that showed London through the eyes of a child on the London Eye. It was quite interesting but I and AS were having fun watching people’s reaction to the 4D effects. There was a man in front of us who ducked every time a seagull seemed to come flying out of the screen towards us. It was a nice short movie overall.

From there we went to join the queue for advance ticket holders going up on the London Eye, moved pretty quickly.

We were lucky that we chose an afternoon with very little cloud and went early. We could see the whole city from the London eye and the view was magnificent. There weren’t many people in the pod we got into so we could move around and take heaps of photos from various angles. There was a lady in our pod who was scared of heights but she did manage to stand for a few photos.

When your pod reached the top, the view was breathtaking. Being an avid amateur photographer, this was a great way to see a bird’s eye view of London. The Houses of Parliament and Big Ben along with the Millennium Bridge looked just amazing from the top.

The ride takes roughly thirty minutes for one complete rotation. No food or drink is allowed on the Eye as far as I can recall. In all honesty, the money paid to experience the Eye was well worth it. It’s a splendid way to get a bird’s eye view of the city and take a few pictures. Make sure you buy them online which makes it easier and cheaper.

The Tower of London

The Tower of London is one of the busiest museums/historical sites. It is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England.

The outside area of the tower is easy to get around but inside it is really busy. It was hard to move around with visitors trying to get a glance at the  armours and other pieces. The best part of the tower is to watch a performance by Past Pleasures, a historical re-enactment and costumed interpretation company.  It was a ‘Dark Tales of the Tower’ story about an Jacobean Prisoner and the intrigue that surrounded his death.

Sir Thomas Overbury was imprisoned in the tower at the start of the 17th Century and there he was murdered.  A few years later Frances Carr the Countess of Somerset (previously Essex) and Robert Carr (Earl of Somerset) were found guilty of his murder by poisoning.  Their motive is believed to be a dislike of his attitude to and knowledge of their earlier affair (they married two months after his death).

It was a great act and the audience’ involvement made it more interesting.

The post is getting too long so I will continue  on next post.

Please click here for more photos.

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Stonehenge : England

Posted on July 11, 2012 | 7 comments

I had always been fascinated by Stonehenge as there is so much mystery surrounding it. So when we were in England, I made sure to go and visit it. We drove through the beautiful landscape of county of Wiltshire, 13km north of Salisbury and arrived at Stonehenge. The day was quite sunny , we parked the car and hurried towards the fence surrounding the henge to look at it closely. As we walked along the fence for a while, we couldn’t find the entrance. I had to ask one of the passerby and he showed me the way, which was next to the parking lot. All the people we had seen close to the fence were not planning to go inside so they were just looking at it through the fence.

While doing my research, I found that lots of people were disappointed that they were not allowed to walk among the stones. From what I read they were not happy that they were really far from the stones and but not so with me. I really loved the place.

As there were no queues to go inside, we paid £7.80 per person grabbed a couple of audio guides and walked through a tunnel under the road that separated the parking space from the henge and a staircase to go up to the Stonehenge. The audio guide can play in several languages and can be stopped and started at each point on the tour which worked well and allowed everying to go at their own pace. As it was a warm summer day, the place looked beautiful with this massive field of green grass around the Stonehenge. There were busloads of tourists everywhere and it was a bit crowed but me and my husband just took our time to look around. There was a path around the Stonehenge which had markers with number for the self-guided audio tour.

It was nice to know the history of the place. Around 8,000 BC, as the early humans discovered agriculture and farming, they dug five huge mastholes near what would later be Stonehenge.  Today, the Stonehenge parking lot covers the location of those mastholes and the only indication that prehistoric activity once took place at that spot is a round white circle which could very well be confused with a roundabout marker.

In 5,000 years, the early human civilizations advanced and developed.  They became nomads, conquerors, architects and sculptors.  They developed communities oriented around farming and hunting, domesticated ancient cows and buffalo, and wandered far across the earth to gather materials and equipment to celebrate their faith and beliefs.  And, it is around this time that the prehistoric humans in England discovered the circle.  Just as the ancient Egyptian monuments were mostly triangular and pyramidal, the henges are primarily circular or oval.

So, what is a henge?  A henge is identified by a circular ditch with an internal bank, with or without monuments in the center.  There are hundreds of henges scattered across England but the most famous are the ones in the Salisbury area.

Stonehenge was the centre of ancient Britain, according to a study which claims the monument symbolised the unification of eastern and western communities. A new study by researchers from five British universities suggests Stonehenge may in fact have been built as a sign of peace between people from the east and west of the country after a period of conflict.

The stones, which come from different locations as far afield as southern England and west Wales, may have been used to represent the ancestors of some of Britain’s earliest farming communities, researchers suggest.

As we follow the path when we got to the area where we could see the stone from closest point on the path, it looked amazing and I can’t even imagine how people thought of making something so massive. Stonehenge looked different from different angles and it still seemed so mysterious with its grand presence.

As we continue to circle around Stonehenge, we came across a large stone called the Heel stone. It is a 16 feet long tertiary sandstone.

 After we finish our walk around Stonehenge, we stopped in front of the exit and looked at it again. It feels as if I was looking at a piece of history which is so mysterious and at the same time so beautiful.

 Here are some facts of Stonehenge.

  • Stonehenge was built between 3100 – 1100 BCE.
  • The circle was aligned with the midsummer sunrise, the midwinter sunset, and the most southerly rising and northerly setting of the moon.
  • The ground plan and structural engineering of Stonehenge incorporate sophisticated mathematical and geometrical understandings on the part of its builders.
  • There were two types of stones used in its construction: the ‘bluestones’ (weighing as much as four tons and brought from 240 miles away) and the Sarsen stones (averaging eighteen feet in height and twenty-five tons in weight).
  • It has been estimated that the construction of Stonehenge required more than thirty million hours of labour.
  • More than nine hundred stone rings exist in the British Isles. Of these, Stonehenge is the most well-known.
  • The megalithic monuments of Britain and Europe predate those of the eastern Mediterranean, Egyptian, Mycenaean and Greek cultures.
  • The Druids had nothing to do with the construction of the stone rings. Druids are known to have conducted their ritual activities mostly in sacred forest groves.

Please click here for more photos.

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Dubai city, Souks , Marina, Dubai land & Deira City Centre

Posted on June 29, 2012 | 9 comments

One of the days we were in Dubai, we decide to do our own city discovery so early in the morning. We caught a cab and asked to be dropped in one of the souks. Souk means market in Arabic. The cab dropped us in a gold souk.

Gold, Spice and Utensils souk

One of the reason I wanted to go to the gold souk is because it was recommended by everyone on the internet. Even though I am not into gold, I was thought, if the place was reasonably cheap, we could buy a piece for my mom and mother in law but once I was there I was just overwhelmed.

The souk is located in the heart of Dubai’s commercial business district in Deira, in the locality of Al Dhagaya. The souk consists of over 300 retailers that trade almost exclusively in jewellery.

As soon as I got out of the cab, even at 9am in the morning it was humid and hot. Lucky we had some water with us. Once we paid the cab, an Indian looking man came over and asked if we want some bags, watches or t-shirt. From what I read from reviews, I knew he was trying to sell us fake stuffs so we declined and entered the Gold Souk.

OMG I was going crazy seeing so much gold on display in the windows. Seriously, the amount of money that costs to buy those jewelleries must be in the millions. Every shop display was filled in gold with big and chucky gold items. There were a few which had silver and diamonds but most of them were of just gold. I have seen gold shops in Nepal and India but they were nothing close to the ones in the souk. Also I realised that most of the bangles, jewel laden necklaces, rings were in Indian style.

After doing some window shopping for a while and being hassled by many more men to buy their fake product, we finally decided to go inside one of the shops. We had a rough idea on how much the gold was in the international market so I asked to see a 5gm gold coin. I realised that it was not as cheap as we expected. The price of the gold pieces is based on the price of gold by gram, plus the price of the workmanship. So AS and I decided that it was not worth buying anything from there for our mothers and left. In Nepal, they prefer ornaments made of 22carat gold but most of the ready-made items there were 18 carat gold.

For me, even if I didn’t buy anything, we were happy with my visit to the place and a few photos. After that we decided to find the spice markets. It was not very far from the gold market and surprisingly we also found a Utensils markets.

The Spice Souk, situated on Sikkat Al Khail Road, is in the locality of Al Ras. The souk comprises several narrow lanes which are lined with open and closed-roof stores that sell a variety of fragrances and spices from frankincense and shisha to the many herbs used in Arabic and South Asian food. In addition, several textiles, incense, rugs and artefacts are also sold in the Spice Souk. The air around the souk was very aromatic.

As we were walking away from the Spice Souk, without buying anything as Australia has strict quarantine rules and we didn’t want to get into the hassle of explaining every product, we stumbled onto a Utensil Souk.

I think we spent well over 2 hours in these souks and both of us were getting very tired and hot. For the first time, I could feel the heat of Dubai. Our initial plan was to go to Deira creek but we changed our mind and went to Deira City Centre. Yap more shopping. Just took a cab and went to the cool and air-conditioned shopping mall.

Deira City Centre

Deira City Centre is one of many malls in Dubai which has retail outlets, restaurants, entertainment facilities and a hotel. We went to a coffee shop and had a cake and coffee, rested for some time and then went shopping. In the end, we had our lunch there as well. It was an Arabic restaurant and the food was really good. In that restaurant for the first time, AS had a non- alcoholic beer. He was telling me that it tasted exactly like a normal beer but just didn’t have any alcohol in it.

Dubai Land

When we did a tour of Dubai, one of the places they took us to was Dubai Land. They are planning to make this big and amazing theme park and as it is going to be in Dubai, it is going to be the world’s biggest theme park when it is finished in 2020. It is estimated to cost 64.3 billion.

The project will feature cultural facilities with structures based on famous sites and the architectural marvels of the world, such as the Pyramids, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Eiffel Tower, the Taj Mahal and the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Spread over an area of 4 million square metres, it is shaped to represent the falcon, emblematic of the UAE’s heritage. In addition to that the project will consist of a full function Pharaohs Theme Park with multiple white-knuckle rides and roller coasters, Islamic Culture & Science World.

So basically after 2020, if you are thinking of going on a  holiday and can’t afford to go to Paris to see Eiffel tower, China to see great wall of China, Peru to see Machu Picchu and India to see Taj Mahal or any other wonder of the world, just go to Dubai land and you will be able to see the exact replica of everything in their original size. I really think Dubai is planning to take over the world’s tourism after 2020.

When I went to the room where there was the display of the model of Dubai Land, I was really impressed. –

Dubai Marina

We went to the Dubai Marina as a part of our tour as well. It is an artificial canal city, carved along a two-mile (3 km) stretch of Persian Gulf shoreline. It is the largest man-made marina in the world. It has a number of five-star hotels, commercial properties and residential area. There are so many outdoor cafes and restaurants and has a lively vibe that it’s remarkably pleasant to stroll down the pedestrian strip. The area has a stunning water feature that opens out in the widest part of the marina where you can eat al fresco capturing the excellent views and soak up the ambience.

I also noticed that in the marina there were lots of yachts docked. Definitely a place for the rich and famous.

More on Dubai :

Let’s start with Amazing Dubai

Hello from the world’s tallest building: Burj Khalifa

Desert safari in Dubai

The Dubai Mall, aquarium and underwater zoo

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Posted in Travel, UAE

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Published : Let the Revolution begin!

Posted on June 18, 2012 | 2 comments

This article was published in +977 (a Nepalese Lifestyle Magazine in Australia) in May- June 2012 issue.

If you were in Kathmandu in the mid 90’s, you must have fond memories of the time when FM (frequency modulation) radio was first introduced in Nepal. It was one of the best things that happened in that decade for people like me, who enjoyed a wide variety of music. Choosing between various music stations to listen to was a great treat and stations like Kantipur FM,HITS FM, Classic FM, and Image FM paved the path for all other FM stations to come.

At that time, two brothers who called themselves Rhythm Brothers also made their impact on the FM front with their captivating voice, witty sense of humour and good personalities. It was their playful shenanigans that saw them climb to the top of the ratings chart and claim recognition as the modern day voice of FM radio.

I used to love them as they were presenters who could make you listen, rather than just hear and their programs were largely unscripted and instead, consisted of real chitchat and impromptu humour unlike some other programs in which it felt like the RJs were just reading from a paper.  I still remember the evenings with load shedding, when I had used battery operated radio just to listen to them; and Music Jam used to brighten up my evening. It was one of the best programs of its time and the brothers were able to make their mark on everyone’s memory.

Then I finished high school and decided to come to Australia. The day I came to Sydney, I missed a lot of things from home like my family, Nepalese food but I also missed listening to the show. It made me wish that it would have been so much better if I had an opportunity to listen to the show from here as well but unfortunately it was not possible.

Not until now that is. Yes you heard me right, now Asish and Prasan Syangden along with Manoj KC and Cabinet Shrestha have started a new radio station in Nepal and they named it very aptly, calling it REVOLUTION RADIO. In short it is also know as RVL Radio.

Talking to Asish about how they came up with this new concept for radio in Nepal, he said “Me and Prasan, and Manoj (from 1974AD) hit on the idea of online radio in Manoj’s room. We were just talking about radios and how things have become monotonous in this area and that we wanted to do something new.” As great ideas are always appreciated, they were joined by Cabinet Shrestha when he heard the concept and they expanded form the home studio to Moksh complex in Jhamsikel.

They worked really hard to convert their concept into reality and recently launched the radio station with a grand party called “Revolution at Moksh”. It was a black carpet (yes, not red carpet) event attended by many influential people of Nepal. It was a magnificent event introducing Revolution Radio followed by musical performances of Hemant Rana, Albatross, Subani Moktan, 1974 AD and Kathmandu Jazz Conservatory.

Revolution Radio has music for every taste from dance numbers, blues, metal, Nepali adhunik, Nepali folk, pop and rock music. They have live broadcasting from 7 am-11 am (12.15 pm to 4.15 pm Sydney time) everyday in the morning and the same time in the evenings as well. They are focusing not only on the audience in Nepal but also on people around the globe especially Australia,USA,UK and the Middle East.

I have been listening to them during my lunch breaks for a few weeks now and I’m loving it. The sound quality is really good and they play a great range of songs. It is easy to interact with them via Facebook, twitter or Skype. You can even have a peek at the studio from their RevCam.

The voices behind the revolution radio are:

  • Asish Syangden
  • Prasan Syangden
  • Samriddhi Rai
  • Elisha Scarlet Shrestha
  • Yanik Shrestha
  • Bhadrayo Chari
  • Sumeet Sigdel,
  • Sumita Gurung  and
  • Dj PhuCHheY
  • Monica Jha
  • Pretty Limbu

So don’t forget to tune in to Revolution Radio, I bet you will love it. Please visit their website www.rvlradio.com for more information.

They are powered by SUBISU Cablenet and partner with The Himalayan Times Kathmandu Conservatory, AGNI Incorporated Pvt.LTD.

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