Boju Bajai in conversation with singer-songwriter Bartika Eam Rai after nearly five years! In this लम्बेतान but super fun guff gaff we talk about Bartika's journey from her 'Khai' days (which turned 10 this year!) to Aandhii, Ityaadi, her musical inspirations, women in Nepali music to juggling a full time job and still making time for music. Phewww, we covered a lot!

This episode was recorded in November 2024.Thank you Bartika for taking the time out to spend your Friday evening with Boju Bajai, and indulging our never ending fangirling ;P

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Grateful for all the laugh, guff gaff and most importantly, for letting us into your world through your soulful music.

And folks in Australia, please go see her shows this month!

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Watch our guff gaff with Bartika from 2020    • #32 Guff Gaff with Bartika Eam Rai | Boju ...  

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Find Bartika Eam Rai on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/artist/0iK3Z8bWIvj3PKVcUoOwGM?si=LbmoTIuVR-ehH2r4qtQnNw

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Read and subscribe to our newsletter Cold Takes by Boju Bajai https://bojubajai.substack.com/p/take....

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Boju Bajai regularly works with reporters and researchers to bring compelling audio stories that center and amplify women’s experiences. If you would like to support our work, please consider being our patron here: ⁠ www.patreon.com/bojubajai⁠

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Follow us @bojubajai on all social media platforms

instagram.com/bojubajai

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facebook.com/bojubajai

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Find Boju Bajai wherever you get podcasts!

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Music credit:

Boju Bajai theme music: Flekke

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Bartika’s photo by Sworup Ranjit

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Video editor: Aayush Suwal

Nepal held its historic election on March 5, and today, on March 27 , former Kathmandu mayor/rapper/structural engineer, 35-year-old Balendra Shah aka Balen will be sworn in as the country’s prime minister, marking a generational break. #MillennialRepresent.

In this episode, we speak with journalist/researcher/urban studies graduate/rap music को ज्ञाता friend Nikita Tripathi for some chunaab chirfaar and discuss our hopes for a new Nepal.

We hope the new guard—overwhelmingly male (and as populist as they come) — which has promised a “Nepal 2.0,” will respect the constitution, mend its old ways by ensuring equitable and meaningful representation by making room for more women and people from marginalised to thrive in national politics.

Also, please less theatrics and more work and room for dialogue. We hope the geruwa effect from across the border doesn’t last beyond Balen’s swearing in ceremony. #SecularismFTW

Only then, will the Nepal’s fifty percent population (the Kylies, the sailis, the mailis et all ) might consider forgiving Balen for his not so savage verses about “sundress to undress to fundraise” 🙃🙃 IYKYK!

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Read and subscribe to our newsletter Cold Takes by Boju Bajai https://bojubajai.substack.com/p/take....

Boju Bajai regularly works with reporters and researchers to bring compelling audio stories that center and amplify women’s experiences. If you would like to support our work, please consider being our patron here: ⁠ www.patreon.com/bojubajai⁠ 

Follow us @bojubajai on all social media platforms.

instagram.com/bojubajai

facebook.com/bojubajai 

Find Boju Bajai wherever you get podcasts!

Music credit:

Boju Bajai theme music: Flekke

Savage by Balen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wk82ZJg0xE

Cover photo: Reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/Nepal/comments/1s3ycgb/stop_treating_balen_like_a_god/

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Today, we're releasing an old episode about dating apps (or as we like to call them over at Boju Bajai- 'sutne' apps) and how Nepali women are navigating a whole new world of swiping and matching. Because later this month, we'll be putting out a follow up to the 2021 episode, exploring swiping fatigue and the trends reshaping the dating app industry, like the rise of offline events to meet new people.

Sabai jana laai Happy Vyaaalentines Day hai ;p

Reported by Nikita Tripathi. Produced by Nikita Tripathi, Bhrikuti Rai and Itisha Giri.

Edited by Irina Giri.

If you like our laugh and guff gaff, please do consider supporting our work on Patreon: www.patreon.com/bojubajai

You can also read our newsletter Cold Takes by Boju Bajai at bojubajai.substack.com

Follow Boju Bajai on social media for more laughs:
Instagram: www.instagram.com/bojubajai/​​
Facebook: www.facebook.com/bojubajai​​
Twitter: twitter.com/BojuBajai​​
YouTube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCNYRGvqtpi1aHAucXGcNWRw

Happy new year again time, since we just wrapped up Sonam Lhosar on Monday, and marked the beginning of Kirat Sambat 5086 on Maghe Sakranti last Wednesday. But new year’s resolutions and working on new goals with renewed josh jagar can wait until we change our Bikram Sambat calendar. New year, new beginnings can wait until April, re kya ;)But not if you identify as a Nepali man, who until recently was either a minister, a (rapper) mayor or a former ageing prime minister with tall claims about retiring from active politics cos it’s election season, yo!Listen to our bishesh tippani about how the new parties could reshape Nepal’s political landscape, and a recap of our 2025 and the long list of unaccomplishments ;) Read more about election fever in Nepal on the latest issue of Cold Takes by Boju Bajai https://bojubajai.substack.com/p/take....Boju Bajai regularly works with reporters and researchers to bring compelling audio stories that center and amplify women’s experiences. If you would like to support our work, please consider being our patron here: ⁠www.patreon.com/bojubajai⁠ Follow us @bojubajai on all social media platforms.

Boju Bajai in conversation with artist Bunu Dhungana. In this episode we talk about her journey as a multimedia artist and curator to explore and question the world around her.  Bunu’s background in sociology informs her photographic work, questioning notions of gender and patriarchy. In May 2025, Bunu curated ‘some things in the belly’, a multimedia exhibition, which delves into the divides and connections shaping mother-daughter relationships across generations.

Bunu was a 2020/2021 Visiting Artist Fellow at Lakshmi Mittal and Family South Asia Institute, Harvard University. She is associated with photo.circle in Kathmandu. 

This episode was recorded in July 2025.

• You can follow Bunu’s work on Instagram @bunudhungana https://www.instagram.com/bunudhungana/ 

• Boju Bajai regularly works with reporters and researchers to bring compelling audio stories that center and amplify women’s experiences. If you would like to support our work, please consider being our patron here: ⁠www.patreon.com/bojubajai⁠ 

• Follow us @bojubajai on all social media platforms

• Read and subscribe to our newsletter Cold Takes by Boju Bajai at bojubajai.substack.com

A lot has happened in Nepal since we released our last episode. The mind-boggling violence and acts of vandalism that unfolded since Gen Z protests left us all shaken, angry and sad. But at the same time, we are also cautiously optimistic of what the future could hold for Nepal. In this episode, we discuss about our fears and hopes for our pyaaro Nepal because us bojus lai dil se.. nai deshko chinta chha.

We been MIA over here because we've been lastaai busy on Substack. Please check out our newsletter and baasi takes on everything that's happened since the protests in September.

1. Take 70: Fake images and conspiracy theories swirl around Nepal's Gen Z protests https://bojubajai.substack.com/p/take-70-fake-images-and-conspiracy

2. Take 71: Is this the end of Access Journalism in Nepal?https://bojubajai.substack.com/p/take-71-is-this-the-end-of-access

3. Take 72: Will the real Nepali सक्षम महिला please stand up! https://bojubajai.substack.com/p/take-72-will-the-real-nepali-please

4. Take 74: What’s in a name? Everything! https://bojubajai.substack.com/p/take-74-whats-in-a-name-everything

Last Saturday was Father's Day in Nepal. So we are re-releasing this special birthday episode dedicated to all the wonderful, and sometimes rishuthdo fathers. Thank you for sharing your good and not-so-good dad stories with us. This episode is also double special since we feature a Nepali man and stories of several Nepali men. So next time someone tells you what about the men in Boju Bajai podcast, please share this episode with them.Happy listening, and subscribe to Boju Bajai podcast wherever you get your podcasts.Oh, and if you enjoy our laugh and guff gaff and would like to gift us some birthday presents (yes, we are shameless that way) please consider being our patron. More details here www.patreon.com/bojubajaiWe also have a newsletter! Subscribe to Cold Takes by Boju Bajai on Substack for a weekly roundup of news and feminist views.Read and subscribe here:

https://bojubajai.substack.com/p/take-33-all-about?utm_source=publication-searchBoju Bajai regularly works with reporters and researchers to bring compelling audio stories that centre and amplify women’s experiences. If you would like to support our work, please consider being our patron here: www.patreon.com/bojubajai

August is Women in Translation Month! In celebration of #WITMonth, let’s revisit our guff gaff on all things literary with writer Muna Gurung. We talk to bout translations, about women, often forgotten by Nepal's literary circle, and her amazing Lightroom Conversation series, where she speaks with some of the most interesting figures in Nepal's literary scene.

Read Lightroom Conversation series by Muna Gurung here: https://www.munagurung.com/lightroom-conversation

The task of the translator by Pranaya Rana https://www.recordnepal.com/the-task-of-the-translator

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Photo by Merit Maharjan @merit.maharjan

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Video footage sources

Nepal Literature Festival @nepallitfestNepali Times @nepalitimes Martin Chautari @martinchautari Shilapatra @shilaptranews Asian American Writer’s Workshop

Re-releasing this episode from 2019 since we are still juggling multiple long distance friendships across time zones. God, I really miss impromptu chicken chilly and beer bhetghats with my fraandz.

In this very cheesy episode, we talk about why friendship is important and how it shapes our lives. And why we need more deep portrayal of female, queer and all kinds of non-broey friendship in our books and movies.

Also, a big thank you to everyone who shared their friendship stories with us.

If you enjoy our laugh and guff gaff, please consider being our patron hai. More details here hai www.patreon.com/bojubajai

Follow Boju Baja wherever you are:

YouTube: youtube.com/bojubajai

Instagram:   instagram.com/bojubajai  Facebook:   facebook.com/bojubajai  TikTok: @bojubajaiTwitter: https://x.com/bojubajai

Introducing our series “Rewind with Boju Bajai” where we talk about all things nostalgia. And in this episode, we take a walk down memory lane with singer Sukmit Gurung, Nepal’s OG pop music icon. Sukmit Gurung talks about her childhood in Sikkim, getting a break as a teenager to sing alongside Om Bikram Bista, shifting trends in Nepali music and four decades of singing and performing for Nepali audiences around the world. गायिका सुक्मित गुरुङले सन् १९८१ मा ‘ओ मेरो प्रियतम’ गाउँदासम्म पनि पप संगीत के हो ? धेरैलाई थाहै थिएन । सुक्तिमअघि न पप गायनमा कोही सक्रिय गायिका थिए, न कोही यही विधालाई आफ्नो करिअर बनाउन चाहन्थे । त्यतिखेरसम्म केही गायक र पुरुषले नेतृत्त्व गरेका ब्यान्डहरु यो विधातर्फ लम्कँदै थिए । रेडियो नेपालमा दावा ग्ल्याम्होहरुलाई सुन्दै हुर्केकी सुक्मितको समकालीन कुन्ती मोक्तान, मीरा राणा, लोचन भट्टराईहरु आधुनिक गीततिर बढी ढल्किए । तर सुक्मितलाई पश्चिमा संगीतको गायन शैली र संगीतले तान्यो, अनि उनले जानी/नजानी पप संगीततिर कदम चालिन् । Also, please watch more episode of our series on nostalgia. - Where did Wave magazine go? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOg75WdVLqk&t=1s

- Raja Aau, for real? 🙃 The not-so-Royal Nepal of the 90s 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glhIs1vs5OI

Follow Boju Baja wherever you are:

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/bojubajaiInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/bojubajai/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bojubajaiTikTok: @bojubajaiTwitter: https://x.com/bojubajaiSupport us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/bojubajai-------Credits:Camera: Bikram Rai, Elite JoshiResearch: Reena MoktanVideo music: Good Days by Yung Logos / @yunglogos Video of Sukmit Gurung singing Pal Pal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2B42xKKSKvkVideo of Sukmit Gurung at Golden Kite Festival https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bV5AGPSid68Video of Sukmit Gurung singing “Timilai Hasera” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqlMUzXE2Go