| Username |
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| Ruby |
Posted
on 16-Jul-03 07:20 AM
Fresh out of design school and in need of a change, Nandita Chettri left Delhi to seek her fortune in Kathmandu. Even with a sister in the Valley, she chose to live by herself. The initial hiccups of not knowing how to cook or budget her expenses are now just funny anecdotes. In a day Id called my sister countless number of times to ask her what brand of rice or detergent to buy, and how to fix a quick yummy meal for guests. Now the phone calls average two a day but I still try her patience!
Despite her mishaps, she assures us that generally living alone has been fun. Her home, an extension of her artistic personality, is strewn with colourful cushion covers, batik tablecloths and oil paintings that are all her own creations.
Her busy designers life is a series of deadlines and at the end of a workday, Nandita relishes her little home-alone time. In the throes of designing a full bridal trousseau, she smiles impishly, For someone who didnt know anything about running a house, I just took the plunge.
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| Ruby |
Posted
on 16-Jul-03 07:20 AM
Neelakash Gurung
Meet Neelakash Gurung, the DJ who rocks the ROX. He is, in his own words, happy go lucky, down to earth and a huge daydreamer. Starting off as a naturalist in Chitwan, Neil now enjoys another kind of wildlife as the in-house DJ at the Rox Bar & Restaurant at the Hyatt Regency, Kathmandu.
As a DJ, Neil is surrounded by people and at the center of a buzzing hopping Friday night. But like his workspace, a DJ booth set aside in a discreet corner, Neil takes on a low profile. A popular personality and perhaps Kathamandus best known DJ, Neil is a very private person. He needs his space, and a lot of it. In the past he tried sharing a flat but coming home to somebody elses clutter was not his idea of cool. His night owl work schedule was another reason for him moving quarters.
Neel is a good cook who dishes up Bhutanese delicacies with practiced ease but he dreads washing clothes, especially in the winter. He says living alone is not all fun. He sometimes wishes he had someone to talk to but he admits its a trade off. I want space. The lonely moments are the price I pay.
This DJs forthright candor is part of his charm. If you are very emotional and constantly need a shoulder to cry on or someone to nurse you, then stick to your parents hotel. But if you are daring and want to live by your own rules then living alone is the only way.
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| Ruby |
Posted
on 16-Jul-03 07:20 AM
This article is from wave magazine. I thought it was interesting b/c it tells us about the new yet slowing increasing trend of single men and women of kathmandu living by themselves.
Home Alone
by Vikash Pradhan
Wave Magazine - Issue 89
For many young Nepalis who choose to move out of the family nest, three is a crowd and two is one too many. The rising popularity of living independently is an alien concept in this society where parents have difficulty accepting that their babies want to check out of their parents hotel. Despite their objectionsand the inevitable speculations from neighbours about rifts in the family fabrica growing number of girls and boys are choosing to go solo.
Why live alone? Why leave the comforts of home? The reasons can be personal and/or professional, but moving out is not always an indication of independence, a means of defining ones space. It can also be a sign of withdrawal. And its not as glamorous as it soundsconsider the mundane chores of having to pay rent, electricity and water bills, buy groceries, cook and clean all by yourself. WAVE explores the rocky terrain of being home alone by talking to those who live it.
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| Ruby |
Posted
on 16-Jul-03 07:21 AM
Sraddha is not your typical Nepali girl-next-door. She has traveled extensivelySouth America is her dream destination, so its no surprise that she loves to Salsa and speaks fluent Spanish. This senorita is not afraid to experiment and has also tried her hand at wall climbing at Pasang Lhamu Mountaineering Foundation here in Kathmandu. Two months ago Sraddha moved cat, caboodle and pet dog into her own apartment.
Sraddha, a reporter for the English weekly Nepali Times, commutes to work on her mountain bike in keeping with her commitment to the environment. Although she misses the hustle and bustle of her family home, her pets Bali Sana (a boxer) and Kali the cat keep her company. As a vegetarian, Sraddha has already set down roots in a vegetable patch in the backyard.
She finds the abundance of space the biggest advantage of living alone but has yet to reconcile to laundry duty. I wish Kathmandu had laundromats, she laments, having discovered their convenience while living on her own in America and Australia.
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| Ruby |
Posted
on 16-Jul-03 07:21 AM
The voice that started many of your days on Good Morning Kathmandu (K.A.T.H. FM 97.9), Prerna Rai is all heart and soul, brains rather than brawn. Prerna lives alone at her one bedroom apartment in Sano Gaucharan. A spirited individual, Prerna values her personal space and takes pride in what she now calls home.
Raised on tea plantations -her father managed tea estates all over northeast India- Prerna was sent to boarding school at a young age. Being away from home at a young age taught Prerna to be self-reliantthe cornerstone of living alone. But at home for the holidays, Prerna led a sheltered and pampered life, with people at her beck and call. Life in a tea estate, with an entourage of attendants to do your bidding, created a false sense of security, recalls Prerna.
Now living alone for the last six years, Prerna is Communications Manager at the Hyatt Regency, Kathmandu. She remembers she first came to the city to visit her sister, and decided to stay when she secured a job at Tiger Tops (now Tiger Mountain). Before the Hyatt Regency, Prerna worked at the Raddison Hotel for three years and says, pursuing a career and achieving my personal goals has been more difficult than living on my own . But living alone does have its challenges, including bouts of loneliness. For such times, Prerna finds comfort in music, Everything gets better with music! No matter how clichéd that may sound - it is absolute . And the best part of living alone, she says, is doing it on her own terms.
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