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The book takes its readers deep into the intrigues of the Narayanhiti Royal Palace and provides an inside view into the momentous events of our times: the Royal Palace Massacre, king Gyanendra’s wresting of executive pow­ers, the Maoist armed rebel­lion, its genesis and the forces backing it, the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the mainstream political parties and the Maoists, the end of monarchy and the advent of republicanism in Nepal.

Written with valor and at great personal risk, the book is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand Nepal’s contemporary history.

At the launch of ‘Wit­nessing Palace, Power and Politics’ this week in Kath­mandu, author Shah said that many friends had requested him to translate ‘Maile Dekheko Durbar’ as soon as it was out. “Now that the translation has come out,” he says, “many people who didn’t have access to Nepali can enjoy the book.”

“The book is a living his­tory,” he adds.

The book is published by FinePrint in hardcover and is priced at Rs 1,012.

Can a phone call change one’s life? It just might. Just ask Jigmee Wangchuk Lepcha.

The musician and music educator, now 41, who was born and raised in Sikkim, India. Lepcha started singing in Sunday school—the church choir—at the age of eight. He soon moved up to the senior choir, to which he dedicated his teenage life.

He then began exploring various genres of music before settling on rock, which he particularly fancied. Lepcha became part of a local band, CRABH, and started perform­ing in various shows, which earned him praise. The pos­itive response brought him even closer to music.

That life-altering call in 2001 came from his cousin, Daniel Karthak. At the time, guitar­ists Binayak Shah and Imam Shah were just back from the US after completing their study, and they had plans to work in the field of music in Nepal. Karthak showed them Lepcha’s musical demo. Impressed, they rang him up to invite him for a musical show in Kathmandu. Little did he know that the phone call would separate him from his hometown, perhaps forever. Reminiscing about it now, Lepcha smiles: “It completely changed my life.”

His plan, when he arrived in Kathmandu two months before the show, was to return to Sikkim after its completion. But life had other plans for him. Because he was born into a Christian family, Lepcha was requested to record a Gospel album by Karthak, and he had to stay back in Kathmandu for a few more months.

During the recording, yet another offer knocked his doors. Legendary drummer Dev Rana and his team of musicians were preparing to perform at the Hyatt Regency. Lepcha was invited for an audition from the front-man and immediately earned a three-month contract. Three months turned to six and six to nine—the contract kept being extended and so did his stay in Kathmandu.

“I was happy with what was happening, the music scene here was totally different,” says Lepcha. “Back home in Sikkim we used to perform rock songs only. At Hyatt, we also performed soft, com­mercial numbers which were comfortable even dance to,” he adds. Lepcha was earn­ing much more than what his band would make in Sikkim at the time. After nine months at Hyatt, he was given the responsibility to arrange con­tracts and the line-up for the in-house band.

“Things were going well but after eight years at Hyatt, I started getting tired of doing the same thing over and over again,” says Lepcha. “So I ter­minated my contract.”

Lepcha then joined a local band called Strings and entered Thamel’s music scene—which he says was totally different from what he was doing. “Performing in Thamel meant performing the songs I liked, the music I grew up listening to as a young kid—rock—which injected me with new life,” says Lepcha. Strings at that time was a very popular cover band in the Kathmandu circuit.

While at Strings, as a side project, he was also involved with The Midnight Riders for various events and concerts. “The Midnight Rid­ers made good music and it was already one of Nepal’s most sought-after bands, although the band members were in it just for fun. Things took a dramatic turn when the band members decided to get serious,” says Lepcha.

That was when Lep­cha started composing and recording with The Midnight Riders, which culminated in the release of their debut album “Yaatra” in 2017. After cutting ties with the cover band Strings, Lepcha, for the past eight years, has been the front-man for The Midnight Riders, wooing audiences young and old with his high pitched vocals and energetic stage presence.

Lepcha is currently work­ing as a music educator at a few schools in Kathmandu; even as he is still an active member of The Midnight Riders. Nearly 16 years ago, he had received that fateful phone call and was invited as a guest to Nepal. Now Nepal has become his permanent home. Lepcha is comfortably settled in Kathmandu with his wife, mother and a daugh­ter. He visits Sikkim once in a while to see his father and to keep up with the musical scene there

Kathmandu: Storycycle organized a walking tour along the traditional water route in Patan, taking in several stone water spouts, or taps, and com­munity water systems. Participants on the walk learned of the history of the water route and the significance of the spouts, many built over 2,000 years ago. The water spouts range from those used for healing purposes, those used by menstruating women, and those used for religious pujas, to the more mundane for everyday household use.

Traditionally using rainwater and gravity, the vast majority of these spouts throughout the whole Kath­mandu Valley are dry today. They are, however, still used by the com­munity as meeting places and water collection areas, as can be seen by the vast plastic water tanks now installed alongside the tradition­al, beautifully carved spouts and associated statues of deities. Interest­ingly, some of the spouts are being restored, while others are in a state of very poor disrepair.

Storycycle has been running for the past few years, with the mission of collecting grassroots and contem­porary stories and turning them into a digital museum showcase for future generations. They also run training programs focussing on innovation, collection and presentation of mul­timedia stories targeted at the next generation of storytellers.

For further information http:// www.storycycle.com

Books, bakes—cakes, pies, donuts, bread—organic coffee, bacon and eggs, fajitas and much more. Sounds like a foodie’s dream or a bookworm’s wonder­land and it always comes true at Bodhi Books and Bakes. Located in the quieter part of the busy Ring Road in Maharaj­gunj (around 300 meters from the Bhatbhateni Supermarket on the way to Dhumbarahi), this is a cozy favorite hangout of many regular customers, famous for its food, coffee, ambience and an assortment of books it hous­es. One can either sit down and read one of the books off-the-shelf from the rich collection there, or buy them for later read­ing at home.

The menu starts with a la carte breakfast options as well as English, American and Nepali breakfast sets, each given a unique touch by the skilled kitchen staff. Then the cus­tomers get to choose from the ‘Soul Food’ section. Intrigued? “The Soul Food section features the stuff that make your soul happy,” says Bipin­iti Pradhan, the manager at Bodhi. Indeed, smoky fajitas, burri­tos, saucy spaghetti, nachos, pan pizzas and other comfort foods really reach your soul.

For the more health conscious, Bodhi’s health food options are equally delightful. Buckwheat pan­cakes and crepes make for a healthy as well as tasty choice. But the most interesting dish on the menu is the 'Superfood Chia-seed Pudding' (chia seeds soaked in soya and coconut milk, topped with seasonal fruits and sliced almonds).

And for those with a sweet-tooth, Bodhi’s assortment of freshly baked brownies and cakes are a treat. Cheese cake, nutty choco­late oat bars, chocolate mud cake, Pumpkin cake topped with watermelon and flax seeds and chocolate fudge brownies are just dessert for any food connoisseur. And most of the des­serts are avail­able in gluten-free options. Talk about eating your heart out and staying healthy, Bodhi does that for you.

The freshly prepared meals at Bodhi come at moderate prices and given the ‘intellectual’ air the place projects, it has, in three years of its operation, become a favorite hangout of many famous writers, poets, artists, actors and other folks. “We have a strict policy of not dis­turbing our customers,” Bidushi Dhungel, co-owner of Bodhi says. “They can sit here reading for hours with only a cup of coffee and make themselves comfortable as if they are in their own homes. Most of our regular customers call this their second home.”

Another unique thing about Bodhi is that all of its eight staffs are cooks, cutting down the possibility of inconsistency should one or more kitchen staff be unavailable. So the food remains consistently good and this allows the returning customers to get the same taste, always.

So a complete package of ambi­ence, food and drinks, without breaking the banks, our team of reviewers highly recommend Bodhi Books and Bakes.