Category: made in Nepal
Traverse Nepal v2.0 Vlogumentary Intro
Some of my favorite Nepali brands
Here are a few of my favorite Nepali brands (brands that started in Nepal that cater to the domestic or international market or both) in random order:
Himalayan Java – Love the ambience, food/coffee, and service
Mheecha – Love the simplistic design, look, and style. I have two Mheecha backpacks.
RedMud Coffee – Love the burgers, coffee, and overall vibe
Dulla – Love the look, color, and style of their hand made leather products. I have a
Satchel office laptop bag from Dulla.
What are some of your favorite Nepali brands?
“AI for Transforming Business” conference
The British College is organizing an international conference titled “Artificial Intelligence for Transforming Business” on November 5th at Kathmandu, Nepal.
The main aim of this conference is to create a platform to bring together academics and industry experts, and allow them to share their research findings, experience, and expertise in the field of AI.
Logo taken from AITB International Conference website.
Nirmal “Nims” Purja, world record holder
In just 6 months and 6 days, Nirmal “Nims” Purja MBE has completed his challenge to summit Earth’s 14 tallest mountains, smashing the previous record of almost eight years and taking his place in mountaineering history. – Bremont Project Possible website.
What’s your ‘mandu?
Kathmandu is an oasis.
Here, you’ll find what you are looking for. Jazzmandu. Bookmandu. Shopmandu. Cafemandu. Bikemandu. And many other ‘mandus. We have our groups and communities based on our interests, age, gender, backgrounds and so forth. It’s hard not to find what you are looking for. Reach out to the community that’s already out there or build one.
The city is yours.
Himalayan Java’s story
I love going to Himalayan Java. I love the store’s ambience, customer service, and obviously their coffee/food. Having visited so many of their coffee shops around Kathmandu, I was curious to learn about Himalayan Java’s story.
Far Out: an ongoing read
Far Out Countercultural Seekers and the Tourist Encounter in Nepal by Mark Liechty is a comprehensive read on Nepal’s tourism experiences in the postwar era, hippie counterculture in the 1960s, and adventure destination in the 1970s.
I picked up Far Out when I attended its book launch at Martin Chautari. Having read about 100 pages so far, I’ve learned about how Nepal opened its doors to tourism in early 1950s, influential characters that shaped the early tourism crowd and much more. It’s quite interesting to learn about Nepal’s tourism history and whose identity has now been shaped by tourism around the world. I especially enjoyed reading about Boris Lissanevitch and Jung Bahadur Coapsingha – two important and pioneering characters of Nepal’s early tourism years. I can’t wait to read more.
Is there such thing as too much press in business?
Yes, there is!
I used to believe that getting a lot of press coverage for any business would be good. It would be great to create more buzz, more people would would know about it, more people would be ready to purchase the product, and ultimately there would be more sales. What could be wrong with that right? Well now, I have started to think that it depends where you are in the business stage (startup, survival, sustainable, growth and scale).
For a startup, getting buzz creates hype and excitement towards the company. That buzz can create demand for the product or service, get market feedback, attract talent to the company among others. Yet I have started to see the pressures and repercussion of too much press early in the business stage. First time founders are really excited and passionate about their idea and want to get it out there. It’s hard to resist getting that coverage when it is coming your way. However, when the idea is out in the media, more resource equipped people and companies can easily change their strategies and almost destroy that upcoming new business. Also, if the founder(s) don’t move fast in the market, the weight of the early press coverage/even awards can hold them back. The team dynamics and egos of various people can also be affected if not taken care properly.
It sounds almost counter-intuitive to not get too much press coverage and recognition early. This is definitely not the case for all businesses. However, I’m starting to feel and believe that for startups in Nepal that want to make an impact domestically and internationally, it’s best to extremely focus on your product/service (and resist press/other coverage until you are ready). The time will come when you need to market it, generate press, and grow your company.
Managing vehicle traffic in Nepal
Kathmandu faces an acute traffic congestion problem. News of traffic congestion worsening are not rare. The population density is increasing, more vehicles are being added on the road, construction happening almost everywhere etc. We can’t just wait for Dashain holidays to be able to drive comfortably in our capital when most people go to their homes to celebrate the festival. The problem needs solutions right now.
I started researching on how cities around the world are tackling traffic. A good overview can be found on World Economic Forum’s Seven ways cities around the world are tackling traffic. From electronic road pricing, electronic journey planner to integrative public transport model and active traffic management approach, big cities around the world are managing traffic and creating ways to increase their revenue while providing a better quality of life for their citizens/visitors.
Nepal government, concerned government and city agencies, private sector and all other stakeholders should proactively start working on solutions to improve traffic management in our capital. Better late than never.
The weight of awards
At a recent award ceremony, one of the pioneers of taking wireless technology to rural parts of Nepal, Mahabir Pun was honored with the Pioneer ICT Award. On stage, he gave a short speech where he made a humble request to the media and people present in the audience to not nominate him for any other awards going forward. He said the weight of the awards keeps him from moving his work forward.
A very interesting perspective. My hats off to him. It takes courage and guts to say that on stage and also makes us aware of the significance of awards to the work we do everyday.
AI Expo Nepal 2019
I’m thrilled to be a part of the organizing team for the upcoming AI Expo Nepal 2019 happening on Saturday, August 24 at Soaltee Crowne Plaza. The AI Expo Nepal 2019 is organized by Fusemachines and Artificial Intelligence for Development (AID).
The topic of AI has garnered a lot of interest from academia and industry globally. From movies, books, magazines, to conferences, workshops and talks, we hear of AI being talked about in all these places. Now for the first time ever, we’ll see what is possible in Nepal through AI prototypes that will be on display at the expo.
AI Expo Nepal 2019 will feature keynote speeches, panel discussions, display of AI prototypes, networking to name a few. If you are interested in the field of AI, want to see the possible AI implementations in Nepal or want to network with like minded individuals, hope to see you on August 24th at Soaltee Crowne Plaza.
Leading with vision
Dr. Sanduk Ruit is an ophthalmologist on a mission to restore sight to Nepal’s blind. He is the executive director of the nonprofit Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology in Kathmandu, Nepal, and has operated on more than 130,000 patients. He has adopted innovative surgical techniques for cataracts and often travels to perform operations, walking up to seven days hauling surgical equipment to reach patients who live in Nepal’s most remote villages. Why does Dr. Ruit do this? He lost family to treatable diseases and knows what it’s like not to have access to healthcare.
It’s the people
Once upon a time, I read somewhere “Most tourists come to Nepal for the first time to see the mountains, they return for the people.”
People are what makes Nepal a country that tourists want to come back (again and again). If you talk to tourists who have traveled to Nepal, most of them talk highly about the Nepalese hospitality, humility and the human experience. As we plan to make Visit Nepal Year 2020 successful, we need to highlight those human experiences to the incoming travelers. The memories, moments, and experiences are what the tourists will cherish most from their visit to Nepal.
Building the Nepali startup ecosystem
Since 2011, we have seen a lot of interest in young entrepreneurs to execute their idea and build their startup in Nepal. Now we are slowly seeing a few startups (Fusemachines, Grepsr, SastoDeal) that have scaled in that time period. There are obviously others who may be doing equally good or even better.
To build our Nepali startup ecosystem, there is still a lot of work that needs to be done. A good write up by Dipta Shah of 54i Ventures on How to address the funding gap and enable Nepali startups published on The Kathmandu Post.
What’s in your forest?
Recently, I attended a startup summit where a panelist stated that the word “ecosystem” is overhyped. Instead he suggested we should start using the word forest rather than ecosystem. Each forest is different-the soil, the territory, the trees etc.
What does Nepal’s startup forest look like at current? What are your thoughts?
Startup Summit 2019
“Startup Summit aims to build startup ecosystem in Nepal where every stakeholders would play the expected role in incubating ideas and translate these ideas into venture. With multi stakeholders presence, this summit is supposed to be a milestone in Nepal’s Startup Ecosystem building process. ” Taken from Startup Summit 2019 website: http://startupsummit.businesstvnepal.com/
I’m excited to attend Startup Summit 2019.
Nepal’s First and Biggest AI EXPO
AI Expo Nepal 2019 is a joint initiation by Fusemachines and Artificial Intelligence for Development (AID) aimed to showcase the best AI projects/papers from academia and industry.
Prerequisites for participation:
1. Minimum team members: 3
2. Maximum team members: 5
3. Each team fills out only 1 form with all the team details.
4. Status of project/paper must be disclosed.
5. Application form must be filled within the deadline.
Application form deadline: June 14, 2019
Selection announcement: June 24, 2019
AI Expo Nepal 2019 Application for Exhibition
For more information on AI Expo Nepal 2019, visit https://aiexponepal.com/
Visit Nepal 2020
To make Visit Nepal 2020 a definite success, all the stakeholders should consider how to attract, engage, and wow the tourists in their Nepal trip.
The easy part is for the government to announce Visit Nepal 2020. The real work happens before the flock of tourists start coming in for 2020. I believe first we have to really understand why tourists come to Nepal. Is it the mountains, the lakes, the culture, the food, or the people? Or it could be something else? Understanding why most tourists come to Nepal, then working to highlight those experiences will take Nepal to the next level. Second, we need to make the travel experience much better for the tourists. From the time the tourists land at Tribhuvan International airport to the time they head back to their native country, we have to deliver a WOW experience throughout their time here. Third, the Visit Nepal 2020 is a great opportunity for the government, private sector, and the public to work together to show the best that Nepal has. Let’s all do our part to make Visit Nepal 2020 a grand success.
Entrepreneurship Opportunities and Challenges in Nepal
The upcoming Venture Talk will feature Saurabh Jyoti, Director of Jyoti Group and the Chairman of Syakar Trading Company and Syakar Investment Pvt. Ltd. He will talk on the topic of “Entrepreneurship Opportunities and Challenges in Nepal.”
