21-year-old Januka Shrestha confesses of being quite excited about the ‘dar’ that’s being organized at the institute she’s enrolled in for a diploma in fashion design. According to Shrestha, Teej is what she considers to be the ‘biggest festival for Nepali women’ and she feels the buzz leading up to the festival is an important aspect of it.

Way before he learnt to walk Rasik Regmi’s family tell him he would crawl towards animals. And in his household there were many. Rasik’s family loved animals. When he was growing up, they had cows, chickens and lots of dogs. Among them, Rasik particularly loved dogs. Before he finished high school, he had a dog farm of sorts of his own. He would pick up dogs from the streets and bring them home. In the last three decades, Rasik says he has had over a hundred of them.

Snacks, or “khaja” as it’s generally called in Nepal, are important for Nepalis. We converse over “khaja” and it usually tides us over till dinnertime. Cookies and noodles might be the staple snacks these days but we recommend you substitute these with some traditional Nepali snacks that are filling and delicious. The good thing is, though their origins differ, they can be found locally almost anywhere today.

For most of us Nepalis, dumplings are everything. We don’t need an occasion to devour momos from our favorite restaurant. It’s the food for any day and every day. Moreover, we all already know that dumplings don’t get to the stomach, they go to the heart. To cash in on the dumpling-mania that has been going on forever in Nepal, restaurants have begun to serve different types and kinds of dumplings, taking inspiration from all over the world.

Home décor doesn’t have to be an expensive affair. Simple tweaks, changes, and additions can work wonders in keeping things interesting. However, when you are out of ideas it can be difficult to update your space and give it a fresh appeal. So we searched the internet for some inspiration to help you explore new styles and spruce up your space.

“We spend a lot of time in our homes. So it’s important to keep it well maintained and decorate it appropriately,” says Pradeep Bohra founder of the online home decor company Bora Home Store. Bohra who developed an interest in this field during his teenage years launched the company in 2014 as Maya Bedding and Décor. It was, he claims, the first online-based interior design store in Nepal.

Tara, who uses the alias Silent River, published her first book – a collection of poems – titled The Silent River this February. Tara – who prefers going by just her first name as she doesn’t want her surname to define her identity – has loved writing since she was in school and has always dreamt of becoming an author. Before her book was published, she believed publishing a book was an impossible feat that only a few people could achieve. Here she talks about why she writes and how publishing a book has changed her.

Ishan Raj Onta doesn’t believe in doing just one thing. Life’s too short and special for that. As a musician and full time lawyer, Ishan divides his hours between music and his work as a corporate lawyer, and does so with much finesse. Hard as it may seem, he is thriving and enjoying being at the heart of what he loves and what he is passionate about. “I’m at a great position in life and while dealing with two professions is a challenge, it’s a challenge I’m very much willing to take up,” he says.

Dora Aljoofri, founder of Hang with Dora, a company that sells handcrafted items like plant hangers, nanglo wall decorations, and tassel bag charms to name a few, worked in the publishing industry (writing about fashion) for over a decade before making a career change to full-time crafting and freelance writing.

A road rage incident a few months ago compelled me to face up to my anger issues. The incident in question didn’t involve me – I witnessed it from afar – but being a spectator to the ensuing eruption of rage and hot tempered exchanges, I couldn’t help but recognize myself. I’ve got a problem with anger – being both easily irritable and also susceptible to angry outbursts that almost always seem to come out of the blue.