Aja, my grandfather, often reminisces about Tanahunsur; “We’re aging, and so has our village, which has transformed from a lively hub to a silent place.” His words made me ponder my fleeting presence in this world. My Aja-Aji, both of my grandparents, left their village because girls couldn’t attend school. After my elder Nini was prohibited from continuing her education, Aja chose to move. Reflecting on this, Aji humorously noted: “If we hadn’t left, you would have just grown up there” prompting me to wonder how my life might have differed there. Driven by this curiosity, I traveled to Tanahunsur and saw their old home, now reduced to a single wall with crumbling bricks and overgrown bushes. The tree branches swayed wildly, reminiscent of how Aja described dancing through the village, enlivening the quiet with the sound of Madal. I felt the village’s stillness, the rustling of the bushes in the wind, and I could hear echoes of its once lively inhabitants. These experiences are my way of preserving their legacy and keeping the stories of my grandparents and Tanahunsur alive.
I'm a Media Studies graduate and aspiring visual storyteller, inspired by the power of photography to reveal untold stories. My photography journey began with AIESEC in Egypt in 2021, where I first felt the impact of capturing moments that resonate. Later, I created digital media for Falsebug Technology and Paradygm TV before fully immersing myself in documentary storytelling. Through workshops like the International Storytelling Exchange with PhotoCircle and Oslo Metropolitan University, I refined my craft, with my work published in It'ïs in Our Nature. Recently, I was a finalist in the European Union photography contest, exhibiting at the Nepal Art Council. Now, as a video producer at Nepal Tea Collective, I pursue freelance projects to tell stories that matter.