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Dashain had us feasting till we couldn’t budge and now as we prepare for Tihar we have a million things to do that leaves us with little to no time to exercise. But we know we must move our bodies, not just to shed the holiday weight but to keep our bodies fit and agile in the long run. Here’s how you can squeeze in some exercise into your daily routine despite the festive frenzy.

Dance to a song

Play your favorite song and dance to it. Do it first thing in the morning as this will not only get exercise out of your way but also set a nice tone to your day. There are also dance workouts on YouTube that you can follow. But you also don’t need any guidance for this and that’s the good part. Simple dance your heart out.

Walk or jog on spot 

A quick walk or a jog can complete your exercise quota of the day but if you find yourself unable to go out because it’s raining or too sunny, then walking or jogging indoors, on spot, can solve your problem. The good thing is you can do this at any time and in bursts. Simply set a timer for three or five minutes and get moving.

Play with your pet 

If you have a pet, then this idea is like killing two birds with one stone. It’s a great way to cheer up as well as get some much-needed exercise. Get into the habit of playing with your pet every morning and evening. Take them for a run or grab a ball and play fetch. Just make sure it’s not too hot out when you do this.

Chair workouts

If you find yourself stuck at the office or working for long stretches at home, then chair workouts can come to your rescue. You can do seated leg lifts, where you just raise your heels up from the floor, shoulder shrugs, where you simply move your shoulders up and down, and many other such easy exercises without getting up from your seat. There are plenty of apps that can guide you.

Full body workout

Make a list of five exercises you can do in quick succession like jumping jacks, squats, push ups, high knees, and the plank and do each of these for a minute. You can customize your own set of exercises making sure you get a full body workout. This might sound easy but trust us you will be sweating in no time.

Curiosity, it seems, is an integral part of Dashain. As relatives gather, it’s inevitable that they will ask intrusive questions because they are ‘curious’ or ‘concerned’. And these are more often than not directed at the young girls in the family—questions and comments about their career, marriage, and even weight gain are unavoidable. ApEx spoke to some young girls to find out how they deal with this situation. 

Anjali Machamasi, 21 

I don’t like people gossiping so I ignore them. I just walk away. But some are really persistent. I’m slim and fit but people always say that I’m too skinny. It bothers me a little because I’m not conscious of my body but people try to make me feel out of place. People don’t realize that comments about body type and weight can have a negative impact and make you insecure. This can also affect your relationship with others. I try not to take the comments seriously but it can become a little harrowing during Dashain as there is no escaping rude and uncalled for remarks. However, I try to keep a positive mind and not let what others think or say define me. People will gossip and pass judgements but it depends on you whether or not to let it affect you. 

Jeli Shakya, 25

I usually just listen politely and don’t engage much in gossip, especially since it’s often the elders talking. Out of respect, I don’t confront them, but I also try not to add anything to the conversation. I’ve been the target of gossip during festivals. People often comment on my weight, saying I’m too thin. It’s strange because those who are healthier than me are called ‘moti’ and given unsolicited diet advice. There is no escaping criticism no matter what so you just have to buckle up for it, I guess. I have to admit that it makes Dashain a bit stressful. However, I want to ensure that I don’t partake in such situations and break the cycle by showing empathy and encouraging conversations that uplift and inspire. 

Sajira Shrestha, 26 

Festivals have always been a space for gossip and conversations among family members and relatives. Some of these exchanges are lighthearted and help create a cheerful mood. However, others disguise hurtful comments as casual gossip. Since childhood, I’ve been rebellious. I never hesitate to confront my relatives when they speak negatively about others, or even about me. Unfortunately, whenever relatives come to my home, they often make comments about my body, telling me I need to go on a diet and exercise because I look fat. Lately, they’ve also started asking when I plan to get married and whether I have a boyfriend. What should be a friendly get-together often turns into an upsetting experience for me. When conversations feel like personal attacks, insecurity and doubts creep in. I believe if you feel uncomfortable, it’s better to confront those who ask meaningless questions.  

Everyone has a smartphone and everyone is taking pictures on it. But if we are to be honest about it, not everyone knows how to take good photos on their phone. However, there are some basics that can help you turn a random shot into a masterpiece. You just need to pay a little attention to some small details and then take it from there. 

Clean your lens

You might scoff at this but you’d be surprised at how many of us don’t get good shots simply because our camera lenses aren’t clean. So take a bit of lens cleaner or a wipe made for glasses and give your phone camera lens a wipe down before taking a photo. Get into the habit of cleaning your phone regularly to ensure your photos aren’t blurry.

Make use of natural light

Have you noticed how the flash always makes your photos look a little off? If you can, try to take photos in natural light. They always come out looking much better than photos in artificially lit spaces or with the flash on. Avoid harsh overhead lights or midday sun which create strong shadows. However, there are different forms of natural light and over time you will slowly come to understand how they affect the quality of the photos you take. 

Learn the right framing technique

Many people take off looking photos because they just point and shoot without considering the frame of the photo. Framing is a technique that can make your photos look so much nicer. Use archways, trees, doors, or windows to create visual borders around your subject. This draws your eyes to the subject and makes it look appealing. It also provides depth and context to your photos. 

Play with angles and composition

Don’t just point and shoot. Look at how you can try different angles to take a photo. For portraits, slightly above eye level works great. Low angles create a dramatic effect. Make sure you consider the background and keep it as clutter free as possible. If you are taking photos in a crowded space, move around to get the perfect shot. Turn on the grid in your camera setting so that you can place your subject along lines and intersections to ensure they are aligned properly. 

Ask a pro to help 

Chances are that you know someone who takes really good pictures. That friend whose photos you always like on Instagram? Or a colleague who becomes the designated photographer at every event? Take tips from them. Ask them questions. Look at their photos. If possible, tag along when they are out to take photos. You will learn more by practicing than by reading or watching tutorials. 

Use your phone’s features 

Your phone comes with some preset features that can make your photos look nice. Try experimenting with the different modes and settings. Experiment with portrait mode for blurred backgrounds. If the object you are photographing is moving, use the burst mode. There are also options for shooting in both bright and dark areas. You could also use different filters to edit your photos. The key is to play around with your phone camera. 

Nepal today looks like a textbook case of “illiberal democracy.” The country holds competitive elections and changes governments through the ballot box, but core liberal rights—free expression, religious liberty, equal treatment before the law, and checks on executive power—are consistently narrowed or unevenly enforced. This combination of electoral competition and weakened civil liberties is what scholars mean by an illiberal democracy: a political system that is democratic in form yet illiberal in practice.

Start with the scoreboard. Freedom House rates Nepal “Partly Free,” with a 2024 global freedom score of 62/100, made up of 28/40 for political rights and 34/60 for civil liberties. The summary makes clear why: formal institutions exist, yet corruption persists, key rights are unevenly protected, and transitional-justice bodies remain unfulfilled. These are not the marks of a liberal rule-of-law state but of an electoral system that struggles to protect basic freedoms beyond election day.

Recent history shows how fragile constitutional norms can be. In 2020 and again in May 2021, then–Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli dissolved the lower house, triggering a constitutional crisis. Nepal’s Supreme Court ultimately reinstated parliament and ordered the appointment of a rival as prime minister in July 2021. The Court’s intervention was a democratic backstop, but the attempted dissolutions themselves were classic illiberal moves—executive bids to sidestep legislative constraints.

Freedom of expression illustrates the pattern even more starkly. Authorities have repeatedly used the Electronic Transactions Act (ETA)—a law ostensibly aimed at cybercrime—to detain or investigate critics and journalists for online speech. Human Rights Watch has documented arrests and called for reforms to stop abuse of the ETA, while the Committee to Protect Journalists reported in February 2024 that two reporters were arrested under Section 47 of the Act following posts about alleged police misconduct. The message such prosecutions send is chilling: criticism can be criminalized if it travels over the internet.

The trend accelerated this week. On Sept 4, Nepal announced it would block major social media platforms—including Facebook and, reportedly, others—that did not register with the government and appoint local compliance officers. Officials framed this as “responsible” regulation; opposition parties and rights groups warned it was a broad tool for censorship. No liberal democracy should be comfortable with a government switch that can throttle the main channels of public discourse.

Religious freedom is constrained by law in ways that are hard to square with liberal principles. Nepal’s 2015 Constitution proclaims secularism, but the 2017 Penal Code criminalizes “converting” another person and contains “blasphemy-style” offences that penalize outraging religious feelings, with penalties that can include imprisonment. The International Commission of Jurists has warned that these provisions are vague and open to abuse, chilling legitimate religious teaching and expression. Liberalism protects the individual’s right to persuade as well as to believe; criminalizing peaceful proselytism curtails that liberty.

Rule of law also suffers from pervasive corruption—another hallmark of illiberal systems where institutions are captured or politicized. Transparency International’s 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index gives Nepal a score of 34/100 and ranks it 107th of 180 countries. That low score signals weak safeguards and uneven enforcement, which in turn erodes equal treatment before the law and citizens’ trust that public power serves public, not private, ends.

Transitional justice remains a long, unfinished project, undermining accountability for grave abuses during the 1996–2006 conflict. Parliament adopted a new law in Aug 2024 to restart the process, but Amnesty International and others flagged serious gaps, and victims’ groups criticized the 2025 appointments to the two commissions as politicized. Human Rights Watch’s submission to Nepal’s 2025 Universal Periodic Review describes continuing impunity and warns that the social media bill would add new speech crimes with prison terms. A liberal order requires credible accountability for past crimes and robust protection for present dissent; Nepal is still falling short on both.

Citizenship rights show progress mixed with persistent discrimination. In May 2023, President Ramchandra Paudel authenticated amendments to the Citizenship Act, clearing a path to documents for hundreds of thousands—especially in the Tarai—who had long been effectively stateless. Yet rights groups note remaining gender-based discrimination, including limits on women’s ability to pass citizenship on equal terms, illustrating how formal fixes do not automatically produce equal rights in practice. An illiberal democracy often delivers partial reforms that leave basic inequalities intact.

To be fair, Nepal has also seen liberalizing decisions from its courts, notably the Supreme Court’s 2023 interim order enabling registration of same-sex marriages, with the first registration recorded that November. These are genuine steps toward a more open society, and Freedom House credits them as improvements. But those bright spots coexist with a broader environment where speech can bring handcuffs, religion is policed, corruption is entrenched, and executive power tests constitutional limits. Liberal democracy is not only about counting votes; it is about guarding rights. On that test, Nepal still falls short.

Nepal’s voters deserve better than a choice between instability and control. A liberal path is available: repeal or overhaul the ETA and any new social media law to protect legitimate speech; narrow or scrap anti-conversion clauses that criminalize peaceful persuasion; empower truly independent anti-corruption and human rights bodies; and make transitional justice credible, victim-centered, and insulated from political horse-trading. Until reforms like these take hold, the most accurate description of Nepal’s political system is an illiberal democracy: electoral, yes—but not fully free.