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This time last year, we were busy drawing up a resolutions list—things we wanted to do, goals we wanted to accomplish, places we wanted to go, and changes we would like to make in our lives—determined to make 2020 better than 2019 and not let the latter bleed into the former. As desperate as we are to cut ties with 2020, pretend like it never happened, many of us have allowed it to set the theme for 2021. The lessons it has taught us are crucial.

Nayana Amatya Rajbhandari, chief operating officer at Knowledge Holding International Pvt. Ltd., says her action word for 2021 is ‘try’.

She will ‘try’ to be more flexible—with her plans, how she deals with family, and her daily work schedule. She will ‘try’ to cook more of what her family likes but also ‘try’ to spend less time doing so. She will ‘try’ to be more in the present. She will ‘try’ to be less stressed.

The past year has made her realize that while she can juggle multiple things simultaneously—home, work, children—there’s no way she can stay on top of her responsibilities all the time. The best she can do is cut herself (and others) some slack and try to be a better version of herself. 

2020 seems to have brought about a drastic shift in perspective. It has changed how we view ourselves, our lives, and the world around us. For many, resolutions this year come from lessons learnt in the past 10 months or so. And for many of these are inward-focused rather than goal or ambition driven.

There’s always a bright side

For Sunaina Saraf, co-owner at Innovations, an interior designer firm, 2020 was a year of incredible inner strength and positive energy. Most people, she says, might remember 2020 for the losses they have incurred but she’d like to think of it as a year that showed her many strengths.

“The past year has taught me to be kinder to people I work with and show more empathy,” she says adding that her one-to-one dealings with people, compared to group meetings earlier, have changed interpersonal dynamics.  

Saraf has also started seeing life a little differently. Today, she strongly believes something good can come out of every situation and she is learning to harness this powerful energy. She isn’t denying that there will definitely be fear and uncertainty in 2021 but she is ready to handle whatever new challenges the year might bring.

Ankeet Rajbhandari, who works at a life insurance company, says despite all the negativity of 2020, he too would like to focus on the positive aspects. In hindsight, the year taught him the importance of being disciplined, focusing only on what’s necessary thus letting go of little things, and the value that’s in being surrounded by family.

Don’t dwell on what you can’t change

Some people APEX contacted for this story were hesitant to talk about their 2020 experience. They felt their views and stories didn’t matter when the world was reeling under such catastrophe—with many people losing their loved ones, jobs, and simply struggling to survive. Having had the luxury to stay at home and not having to worry whether the lockdown would take away their livelihoods, they felt their issues were trivial and thus not worthy of being talked about.

But life has indeed been difficult, for all of us. In our own ways, we have suffered and felt lost as we grappled with the circumstances. Mental health issues have reared their ugly heads. Most of us have had to contemplate and rethink our priorities and goals as well.

Smriti Nepal, who lives in Sydney, Australia and has a doctoral degree, was supposed to get married in 2020. She was to spend three months hosting her beloved niece during her holidays. And her family were to be together to ring in the new year. None of these things happened. Each cancelled plan, she says, was accompanied by crushing disappointment.

“My biggest learning has been to not dwell on what I can’t change. Of course, I always knew this but 2020 gave me the opportunity to practice it. This mantra also keeps anxiety at bay,” she says.

Sneha Koirala, founder of the lifestyle brand Studio Sarcastic, says 2020 put life on hold but she also got the chance to reorganize her plans. She could finally do things she had wanted to for a long time but kept putting off for one reason or another. Turns out, all she needed was some time to gather her thoughts and courage.

Embrace change and live in the moment

What’s amazing is that despite all that 2020 has thrown our way, quite a few have managed to keep their faces to the sunshine. As trying as the year was, 2020 has taught us some invaluable lessons.

One of the biggest has been staying focused in the present and learning to take things one day at a time—which, many confessed, they didn’t do prior to the pandemic in their haste to accomplish one task or goal after another.

Pavitra Rana, program officer, FAITH, a non-profit organization working for socially marginalized and vulnerable populations, says Covid-19 might have put a halt to many of her plans but she has come to the realization that sometimes it’s okay to sit back and see how things unfold in your life rather than rushing into things just so you do them at the ‘right’ time (or as per the status quo). Keeping that in mind, she intends to let life take its course and be flexible in her approach to living in 2021.

“This year, I’d like to not be attached to anything—be it plans, dreams, or other materialistic pursuits,” she says. If there is one thing 2020 has made clear, she says, it’s that things will not always go according to your plan and you need to be okay with that.

Rajbhandari also feels 2020 has taught us to embrace change and learn to adapt to it and do so swiftly. This mentality, he believes, will help him tackle challenges more easily and efficiently this year.

One of our intrinsic flaws has been our inability to go with the flow. We plan and we expect everything to fall into place accordingly. It rarely does. And it’s never been more apparent than in 2020.

From now on, Rupam Shrestha, who works at Sipradi Trading, intends to have long term projections as well as short term goals. This, he believes, will help you to maintain focus and direction when things aren’t going as you expected them to.

Isha Karki, assistant brand manager at Rohto-Mentholatum Nepal, swears she will always have a plan B—because you never know when you might need it.

Connections and kindness

For Alok Thapa, senior radio program producer and presenter at Hits FM 91.2, the year 2020 was of prioritizing what mattered. Thapa is glad he got to spend quality time with his parents, listening to their stories of ‘old’ Kathmandu. He also connected with his neighbors—something he wishes he had done sooner.

“I think 2021 isn’t going to be any less challenging. It will still require a lot of prioritizing and patience. But after a year like 2020, I feel nothing is off limits,” says Thapa.

2020 has forced us to slow down. And in doing so, we have had the opportunity to realign our lifestyles with our values. So, taking care of one’s mental wellbeing, learning to live with less, and finding balance between home and work seemed to be the top three resolutions for the new year. The focus is more on ‘being’ than ‘having’.

A US-based Nepali medical doctor, who saw Covid-19 claim many lives, says that 2020 has made it evident that life can change in the blink of an eye and that sometimes there is nothing you can do about it. Faced with the fragility of life, you are bound to reconsider all that you believe to be true and let go of grudges. Be a little kinder than necessary, if you may, she says.

According to Nepal, the Sydney-resident who works in drug prevention/mental health research, 2020 has shed light on the importance of connection and resilience. In 2021, she hopes to be a better daughter, partner, sister, and friend. This, she says, comes from the fact that she couldn’t see many of her family and friends in the past year.

Prita Malla, mother, wife, and business analyst at Spire Energy, a public utility holding company based in Missouri, US, wants to be more mindful of her actions and live each day to the fullest while making self-care her number one priority.

“I think we have to accept that this coronavirus is here to stay and tweak our perspective of what’s ‘normal’. We must also let go of what’s not in our control and focus on things we can change. That’s the best way to move into the new year,” she concludes.

Nepal’s hotel industry, badly hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, is trying to recuperate and is getting ready to welcome tourists with the arrival of the Gregorian New Year. In the previous years, a big mass of tourists entered Nepal from India and other countries to celebrate New Year, making December-January one of the busiest periods for Nepali tourism.

Nepali hoteliers have adopted elaborate physical distancing and other health protocols in the hope of attracting more tourists to New Year celebration events. Hotel entrepreneurs from Pokhara, Chitwan and Kathmandu have unveiled attractive packages targeting the New Year. The star hotels Soaltee, Hyatt, Yak & Yeti and Shangri-La in Kathmandu valley are all preparing for an increased number of guests. The recent closure of Hotel Annapurna—one of the oldest five stars in the country—highlighted the vulnerability of Nepal’s hotel industry.

“Until last year, the number of foreign tourists coming to Nepal to celebrate New Year was very high,” says Vinayak Shah, senior vice-president of the Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN). Shah informs that this year hotels plan on welcoming mostly domestic tourists, with international arrivals not expected in the immediate future. Hoteliers had made similar preparations for Christmas, but the returns were not satisfactory, Shah adds.

Despite the failure of Christmas to boost their businesses much, hotel entrepreneurs are still pumped up for New Year. They have introduced multiple discount packages to cater to all types of domestic tourists. Shah hopes people who have stayed at home all through the year will come out to celebrate—on the New Year day, and weeks thereafter.

Of late, the Gregorian New Year is celebrated like a festival in all major cities of Nepal. Families have made it a custom to go out to celebrate at hotels, restaurants and picnic spots. Hence New Year is considered a lucrative time for hotels and restaurants. So despite Covid-19 destroying most business opportunities this year, the New Year is still expected to bring some respite.

“The young generation no longer fears Covid. They have started going around and they have also added to the vibrancy of night life,” says Araniko Rajbhandari, president of the Restaurant and Bar Association Nepal (REBAN). Rajbhandari adds that the hotel and restaurant businesses have greatly benefitted from the withdrawal of odd/even vehicle rule. There is also more hope with almost all private and government offices coming back into operation. For restaurants, Christmas-time sales were satisfactory, Rajbhandari says, hoping the same is the case for New Year.

Rajbhandari also informs that entrepreneurs expect around 60 percent occupancy in the New Year. However, the Thamel area—the main tourist attraction in Kathmandu—remained quite deserted on Christmas Eve, making otherwise hopeful entrepreneurs a little skeptic. So REBAN has requested police administration to be more lenient to late night businesses with New Year celebrations in mind. On New Year Eve, most events and activities are conducted till late night or early next morning.

When the country went into its first lockdown on March 24 this year, everything was shut: schools, salons, gyms, swimming pools, hotels, restaurants, bars and every other service that the government deemed unnecessary. People stayed put in their homes. As lockdown restrictions waxed and waned, for over six months people were alternately scared, confused, bored, frustrated and angry.

When the restrictions were finally lifted in the first week of September, Nepal went back to normal as if the virus had suddenly disappeared. Despite the rising number of cases, ‘covid fatigue’ made most folks shun all health protocols and rush back, pell-mell, to their daily lives. Hotels, restaurants, bars and clubs reopened in all of the country’s major tourist hotspots. Only this time, they were mostly filled with internal tourists.

The rebound against the roughly six months of lockdown was so strong, our sources tell us, tourist cities of Pokhara and Chitwan were full of domestic tourists in September and October, especially around Dashain and Tihar.

Lakeside's Rolling Stones Rock bar on Dec 22, Tuesday

It is only natural that hotels and restaurants see 2021-eve as an opportune time to revive their businesses that were battered by the covid contagion. With the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation proposing two-day weekend to promote domestic tourism and the number of internal tourists increasing regardless, tourism entrepreneurs are now hopeful of surviving till the world gets back to normal.

Festive streets

Domestic tourists have of late been flocking to the lake city. Yet the announcement of the Restaurant and Bar Association Nepal (REBAN) Pokhara’s 22^nd Lakeside Street Festival was still a surprise. After the lockdown starting March and concomitant restrictions barring over 25 people from gathering at a public place, the upcoming street festival, scheduled for December 30-January 1, could be Nepal’s best attended entertainment event of past nine months.  

The days of the festival have been cut from five to three and fewer participants are expected compared to previous years. Yet Pokhara’s tourist entrepreneurs are pinning their hope on the festival to give a new boost to their flagging businesses.

Bikash Bhattarai, general secretary of REBAN Pokhara, assures top-notch anti-covid measures during the three-day festival. “The festival is our effort to light a candle in the pitch darkness that has descended on our business,” says Bhattarai. “And we will take every measure to give attendees a sense of safety.” Bhattarai says REBAN Pokhara has already conducted training sessions on physical distancing and sanitization measures in the restaurants and bars in the Lakeside area.

The street festival will also cut short its list of activities deemed unsafe even outdoors. For instance, live concerts and sports activities including the annual tug-of-war have been cancelled in the fear that they could defy physical distancing protocols. The focus this year will rather be the various Lakeside restaurants showcasing their culinary skills in safe outdoor environments. Instead of musical concerts and crowded sports events, the festival will have small cultural programs and other activities that don’t involve big crowds. There will be health desks and coordinators who will monitor visitors and offer sanitization services.

“Recent trends suggest even domestic tourism can help us not just sustain but even earn a little profit,” Bhattarai says. “The popular restaurants and bars are back to doing up to 70 percent of their pre-covid business, which is a good indicator.”

Contrasting fortunes

For decades now, the Lakeside has been to Pokhara what Thamel has been to Kathmandu—an indicator of the city’s tourism and tourism-related economy. But while the outlook for Thamel, the older hub, is bleak, with many known establishments closing down forever, Lakeside offers a rosier picture. Bhattarai informs that not even five percent of restaurants and bars in Pokhara have remained closed and among those that have not reopened, more than half are getting back to business starting with the street festival. This was made possible with many landlords waving off all rents of some establishments till December. Other landlords waived off 50 percent rent and eased payments to help the outlets retain their spaces and the Lakeside its vibrancy. Unfortunately, the same coordination between landlords and tenants is absent in Thamel.

The Paschimanchal Hotel Association Pokhara (PHAP)—which is also conducting a campaign under the slogan “Jaaun Hai Pokhara” (Lets go to Pokhara) in major Tarai cities like Birgunj, Janakpur, Biratnagar and Chitwan—is also bullish on domestic tourists. As the lockdown restrictions were lifted and people’s mobility increased, Pokhara hotels saw up to 80 percent occupancies, albeit at vastly discounted rates.

“Domestic tourists are now the backbone of our tourism,” says Bikal Tulachan, hotelier and president of PHAP. “Every year, we have been getting more and more. The challenge for us is to maintain that momentum in this difficult post-lockdown phase.” At a time when international arrivals have virtually ground to a halt, Nepali tourist-related ventures have no option but to rely on and cater to domestic tourists, Tulachan says.

Irish Pub Pokhara on December 23, Wednesday

Citing the example of how well-off Nepalis spend millions of rupees vacationing abroad, Tulachan suggests local businesses improve infrastructure and customize businesses to cater to these tourists and keep the money in the country. While most businesses in tourist hubs were formerly focused on international guests, Tulachan suggests a change in approach.

Expressing doubt about the prospects of the proposed two-day weekly holiday and the ‘Internal Tourism Year 2021,’ especially after tourism minister Yogesh Bhattarai’s recent resignation, Tulachan urges a collective effort of all three tiers of government as well as stakeholders in tourism to boost domestic tourism.

Some happier

Hari Poudel, manager of Lakeside’s famous Paradiso Sports Bar, formerly known as Club Amsterdam, is optimistic too. “We opened fully from September and have done good business since. We would be more than happy if the present situation continues,” Poudel says. He seconds Tulachan that venues now have to adapt to domestic tourists, which means a change in food, ambience, and music, among other factors.

Recalling how the streets of Lakeside were filled with vehicles from Kathmandu during Dashain, Poudel expects the same during the street festival. As there has been ‘negligible number of covid infections’ in the area, Poudel believes the outdoor festival will send a positive message about Pokhara’s tourism industry to the rest of the country.

Paragliding pilot Trisha Bomjan does not share the optimism though.

A seasoned flier who has been working in Pokhara for six years, Bomjan says these are desperate times for paragliders in Pokahra. “We have been giving 60-70 percent discount on paragliding services, which leaves us with almost nothing after you cut our expenses, other fees and paragliding companies’ commissions,” Bomjan says.

The main paragliding clients are international tourists, Bomjan informs. But now the roughly 400 pilots in Pokhara are making do with what little they make flying domestic tourists at heavily discounted rates. Also the accident last month, when a pilot died and a passenger sustained heavy injuries, drastically decreased the number of local passengers, Bomjan says. From 1,000-1,200 flights per day, the number has come down to 100-200, leaving many pilots without any work.

This brings us back to Tulachan who says that Pokhara might still attract local tourists but only if it can do more than bare minimum for visitors. Besides restaurants and bars, adventure tourism as well as other tourist activities need an overhaul to cater mostly to Nepalis. Adventure sports like zipline, bungee and paragliding are still niche among Nepali tourists and mostly a one-time affair. Also, their food habits are vastly different to foreigners’.

This suggests that as with most other businesses, constant adaption is the new name of the game for Pokhara’s tourism-related enterprises.

The exalted seat of Ekantakumari, a living Goddess, is set to be vacant in Bhaktapur district after the incumbent Ekantakumari, Jivika Bajracharya’s Bel Bibaha—in which pre-adolescent girls are symbolically married to a bael fruit (wood apple)—was announced for the upcoming Shri Panchami (February 16).

Bhaktapur’s Ekantakumari automatically retires when she reaches 10 or when her Bel Bibaha is fixed, whichever comes first. As the search for a replacement is a difficult job, the Bhaktapur Taleju temple is informed of the impending wedding three months in advance.

Accordingly, Bhaktapur Taleju has been informed this time as well, says Jiv Chandra, the retiring Goddess’s father.

Jivika Bajracharya had been appointed Bhaktapur’s Ekantakumari in 2016. Narendra Prasad Joshi, the Chief Caretaker of Bhaktapur Taleju temple, informs that the search for a new living Goddess has already began. Girls aged two to eight from the Shakya or Bajracharya clans are appointed Ekantakumari.

But belonging to Shakya and Bajracharya clans is not enough to qualify as Ekantakumari, Joshi informs. According to him, the girl has to be a virgin with a pleasant and smiley face, have no flaw or cut in her body, and have a wide forehead, among other features. The family of the chosen one also has to give their consent.

As per tradition, the Goddess’s main caretaker starts looking for a replacement soon as the position becomes vacant. When a prospective match is found, the chief caretaker of Bhaktapur Taleju is informed. The chief caretaker checks all qualifications and if there is nothing wrong with the pick, he recommends the candidate to the central office of the Guthi Sansthan.

While the appointment of Ekantakumari was previously in the hands of the head priest of Bhaktapur Taleju temple, the responsibilities were shifted to the Guthi Sansthan after Nepal became a republic. The Guthi Sansthan provides a monthly allowance of Rs 3,710 to Ekantakumari.

Says Joshi, the Ekantakumari can stay home and lead a normal life, yet she also has to follow certain rules. For instance, she is expected to refrain from chicken meat and eggs. Nor can she partake of food that has already been tasted by others. Moreover, she cannot venture beyond Kathmandu valley and Banepa without the approval of the Guthi Sansthan.

The government also gives allowances to both incumbent and former Kumaris. The former Kumaris receive a monthly pension of Rs 5,600 while the incumbent gets Rs 3,185 a month. Among the former Kumaris who are still alive, only those appointed Kumaris after 2041 BS (1985) get pensions. Accordingly, of the retired Ekantakumaris, only Geeta Bajracharya, Padma Sumana Shakya, Neelam Bajracharya, Sajani Shakya, Shriya Bajracharya and Junisha Shakya are getting pensions.