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Birth: 18 November 1928, Kathmandu

Death: 21 January 2022, Kathmandu

Laxmi Das Manandhar was one of the seven salt traders selected to establish Nepal’s first public salt trading center, the Salt Trading Corporation Limited, in Kalimati, Kathmandu.

Not only a businessman and industrialist, Manandhar was also an educationist and social worker who made significant contributions as a National Assembly member.

Born as the youngest son to Purna Maya Manandhar and Laxmi Narayan Manadhar in Thahity, Kathmandu, Manandhar learned ­to read and write at his uncle’s house and continued his formal education until middle school. At the age of 15, he started working as a telephone operator at a call center in Tripureshwor, Kathmandu.

Coming from a Newar family with a business background, he knew the tricks of the trade early on. In 1950, he visited India and started importing salt to Nepal. He was into the business to sustain his family when the government took notice.

Also read: Kumar Subba obituary: The crooner from Darjeeling

Manandhar, from the very beginning, aimed at extending salt trading as he knew salt was one ingredient no kitchen is complete without, and therefore, should be easily accessible and affordable. In 1963 the Salt Trading Corporation Limited was established with partial investment of the government and support of other public and private salt traders.

Alongside, he started another small business of importing clothes from Japan to sell them in Nepal. In 1960, this small venture transitioned into Nepal’s first sock-manufacturing company called ‘Badhchap’, helping the country be self-reliant on socks. It had also become a household brand loved by locals.

From 1973-86, Manandhar, through the corporation, established a number of businesses and industries in Bhairahawa such as a petrol pump, Siddhartha Cold Storage, Nepal Plastic Industry, and Siddhartha Food Industry, among others, which are still in operation.

He served as a working committee member of Nepal Chamber of Commerce, an umbrella body of Nepali businesses. He later held the posts of treasurer and adviser of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

Business was in his blood but his destiny took Manandhar into politics. He had been indirectly involved with Bampanthi (leftist) politics since 1958. In 1991, he had become a common candidate in the National Assembly election but was defeated. But 10 years later, in 2000, he got elected into the National Assembly representing the CPN-UML.

Besides politics, Manadhar was also an educationist and a social worker. In 1950, he became a founding member of Shanti Siksha Mandir School in Thahity. He also founded and became the Chairman of People’s Campus in Thamel, Kathmandu.

In his lifetime, he traveled to over 40 countries, carrying the responsibility of promoting Nepal. He was honored with several awards from national and international organizations for his efforts.

Manandhar breathed his last on 21 January 2022 at his home in Kathmandu. He was 93. Someone who made a significant contribution to Nepal’s economic development, his legacy will be carried on by the establishments he leaves behind.

Birth: 11 December 1951

Death: 15 January 2022

Kumar Subba gave his voice to over 500 songs, including the most celebrated ones like ‘Hey Phool Chudera Laanu’ and ‘Sarangi Ko Taal Ma Mero Man Le Geet Gaucha’ that have left an indelible mark in the heart of listeners of Nepali music.

Born and raised in Darjeeling, West Bengal, Subba was a lover of music from a young age. While learning the fiddle and the harmonium, he used to spend whole days experimenting with the instruments. Although he grew up in India, Nepali rhythms had struck a chord with him.

 His singing career took off when a member of the audience at the Gangtok Auditorium, where he was singing, heard him and offered to fund the recording of ‘Kati Bujhaun’ and ‘Samahala Pachyari Tyo Latrisakyo Bhui Ma’. The songs were recorded in the HMV studio of Kolkata. Then, in 1968, he started working as a senior singer in Akashvani FM in Kurseong.

 He became better known among the people of Nepal and North-East India after lending his voice to Man Bahadur Mukhya’s famous drama ‘Ani Deurali Runcha’.

Also read: Prof. Dr. Chabi Lal Gajurel obituary: Catalyst of Nepal’s education system

 ‘Deurali Ko Thiti Haru Nakkal Parnu Pardaina’ and ‘Hey Phool Chudera Laane Ho’ made Kumar Subba a household name.

 The songs also impressed the chairman of the Ratna Recording Studio, whereupon he got an opportunity to record three songs including ‘Sarangi Ko Taal Ma Mero Man Le Geet Gaucha’.

 He also sang in Radio Nepal as well as in other radio stations in Kurseong, Gangtok, Guwahati, and Darjeeling.

 Subba was also invited to Nepal to perform in a program called ‘Paleti’. In 2012, Bengal government honored him with ‘Sangeet Samman’, which he later renounced during the 2017 Gorkhaland agitation.

 After returning to Darjeeling from Nepal in 2012, he had a stroke and he never fully recovered. The stroke paralyzed the left part of his body and he lost his voice. That’s when he had to stop singing and start living with his daughter in Siliguri. With timely treatment, his health started improving, and he slowly went back to singing.

 Unfortunately, he passed away after a heart attack on 15 January 2022, still in the course of his treatment. He was 70. Thousands of people lined up on the streets of Darjeeling to pay their last respects . He is survived by a wife, two daughters, and a son.

Birth: 1939, Kathmandu
Death: 7 January 2022, Kathmandu

Prof. Dr. Chabi Lal Gajurel dedicated his life to building a strong foundation for the field of chemistry in Nepal.

He began his teaching career in 1963. Soon after, he went to the United States to pursue his doctorate in organic chemistry. His studies completed, Gajurel came back to Nepal in 1972 to see what he could do back in his own country. 

Once back home, he started spending his days in rigorous research to make the traditional Nepali teaching-learning skills accessible to more people.

In 1980, ‘Nepalma Paramparagat Prabidhi’, his first book, won Madan Puraskar, Nepal’s most prestigious literary award. The book helped spread traditional teaching-learning skills to the rural areas of Nepal as well as to other parts of the world. 

From 1974, Professor Gajurel started teaching at the newly established Central Department of Chemistry at Tribhuvan University, where he was department head from 1984 to 1985, and again in 1987. He retired from the department in 2002. 

From 1987 to 1991, he served as Member Secretary of the National Education Committee, then Nepal’s highest policy-making body. He was then instrumental in raising awareness on the importance of higher education and implementing relevant policies. It was his idea to take the ‘Plus Two’ level education to villages under the slogan ‘Higher education in the courtyard as if at home’. He was also involved with a number of scientific and academic organizations at the time. 

In 1989, King Birendra tasked Gajurel with the responsibility to open a science academy in Nepal during the inauguration of the ‘Physical Summer Classes’ conducted by Nobel Prize-winning Physicists Abdus Salam and Philip Anderson.

Also read: Roller X obituary: Virtuoso hip-hop record producer

He then worked for the establishment of specialized research laboratories in his home country. 

Gajurel believed research could never succeed without academic honesty. While fighting for the implementation of his research papers, he knew in his heart that it was a progressive path for science in Nepal. 

Two of his most famous research reports were ‘Establishment of Polytechnic Institute of Nepal, 1986’ and ‘Distance Education in Nepal, 1989’. In all, he wrote more than two dozen research papers as the lead author for both national and international journals. 

After his retirement, every year, the Central Department of Chemistry has been giving out the ‘Prof. Dr. Chabi Lal Gajurel Chemistry Award’ to a Nepali researcher who has published original work in an international journal. Gajurel set up the fund for the same. 

He has also published 17 books, including popular ones like ‘Nepalko Paramparagat Prabidhi’, ‘Nepalma Payine Dhatuharu’, ‘Rasayansastrako Bhasa’. His most recent book was ‘Immortal Stories’.

Professor Gajurel also contributed to the establishment of the Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST).

In the final 20 years of his life, Gajurel had immersed himself in learning. Studying, researching, and writing had become his daily routine. 

To his last days, he was concerned about the lack of quality in Nepal’s theory-based education and its inability to focus on experimental and practical learning. 

Gajurel passed away on 7 January 2022 at his home in Tinkune, Kathmandu at the age of 82. 

Birth: 18 July 1994, Kathmandu
Death: 26 December 2021, Kathmandu

Kshitiz Shrestha, best known as Roller X, made a mark in the Nepali hip-hop scene as one of the finest beat producers.

Growing up around music, even as a kid Shrestha was admired for his melodious voice. He had taken home the first prize in a singing competition while in the fourth grade, and since, music became a part of him. He also learned to play piano young. 

By 16, Shrestha found himself wholly immersed in music. In 2013, and only 19, Shrestha, his producer and rapper friends made a home studio in Kathmandu. At the start, he contributed photography and videography but soon learned to create beats. He also started his association with FL studio. 

He used to spend hours in the studio, watching other artists’ work, and learn from them. Simultaneously, he taught himself to play with sound mixing software like Logic and to experiment with beats. In 2014, the now 20-year-old, along with his circle of producers and rappers, opened their own record label ‘CassX Presentation’. Together, they worked to bridge the gap between emerging artists and the market. Honing his vocals alongside learning beats, Shrestha later worked as a full-time producer at ClassX Presentation.

With time, his stage name ‘Roller X’ became popular among Nepali hip-hop artists. Shrestha started uploading his creations onto YouTube in 2017, with hip-hop artist Mahesh Dong known as ‘Don Pablo’ debuting his beats. 

Also read: Prachanda Malla obituary: Born for the stage 

Ever since, Shrestha has been uploading his beats, cover songs, and collaborations with other artists on his YouTube channel ‘Roller X’. He soon became a household name among Nepali hip-hop aficionados. Through the years, he has produced a number of songs for hip-hop artists like Manas Ghale, Mahesh Dong, 5:55, and many more. 

He started off with hip-hop and gradually moved to producing R&B songs as well. He had a love for the beats and was fascinated by the art of making them, putting them together into a rhythm. As a beat producer, he fell in love with the sounds of every instrument he used.

Shrestha started working in ClassX Presentation as a part-timer, and gradually built his associations with other record labels. He also contributed to producing songs for American singer and songwriter of Nepali origin, Arthur Gunn.

Moreover, Shrestha had created a group called Working Mafia early in 2014, and had recently revived it as a platform for young artists. Most recently, Shrestha was working to establish his own record studio ‘Xitiz Studio’ and on releasing his debut album ‘Ghattekulo blood’.

Shrestha breathed his last at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, Kathmandu, on 26 December 2021. He was 27. The reason for his death was unclear at the time of this writing. Roller X’s passing away represents a “heartbreaking moment for Nepali hip-hop community,” hiphopzone.net wrote on its website.