Boju Bajai

Resharing this episode from 2020 where our guests Shailee and Pallavi challenge the boundaries and definitions of what it means to be a Nepali. Happy Constitution Day!

In this episode, @shaileeism and @PayalPallavi take over Boju Bajai and talk about what it means to be a Madhesi, a Nepali, and a Madhesi woman in Nepal.

Disclaimer - This episode contains two un-beeped expletives, ध्यान दिएर सुन्नुस् होला :)

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter Cold Takes by Boju Bajai for a roundup of news and feminist views from Nepal and the Nepali internet.

Read and subscribe here: https://bojubajai.substack.com/welcome

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 @Bojubajai on social media for more laughs and guff gaff:

Instagram: www.instagram.com/bojubajai/

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bojubajai/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BojuBajai

YouTube: www.youtube.com/c/BojuBajai/

Boju Bajai theme music by Flekke

Disclaimer: This episode contains foul language and is intended for 18+ listeners.

In this episode, we talk to wildlife researcher turned social entrepreneur Priya Joshi about her professional and personal journey, her complicated relationship with motherhood, and her attempt at creating a nurturing, kind online community for young Nepali mothers like her.

Priya Joshi started her career as a wildlife researcher and later switched gears to start MakerKT, which organizes workshops to spark a DIY culture among Nepali women and kids. She also runs the Instagram page Ama Mama to share resources on parenting, as well as stories and struggles of parenting.

You can follow Priya Joshi and her work on Instagram:

Maker Keti https://instagram.com/maker.keti?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Priya https://instagram.com/chyantulimyau?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Aama.Mama https://www.instagram.com/aama.mama/?hl=en

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter Cold Takes by Boju Bajai for a roundup of news and feminist views from Nepal and the Nepali internet.

Read and subscribe here: https://bojubajai.substack.com/welcome

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 @Bojubajai on social media for more laughs and guff gaff:

Instagram: www.instagram.com/bojubajai/

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bojubajai/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BojuBajai

YouTube: www.youtube.com/c/BojuBajai/

Boju Bajai theme music by Flekke

Boju Bajai in conversation with writer Shivani Singh Tharu. In this episode, we talk about Shivani’s journey from tv to writing and her relationship with Kathmandu and Kathmandu’s elite institutions as a Tharu woman from Nepalgunj. She also speaks candidly about the struggles of being a full-time writer in Nepal, her creative process, and dabbling across different genres of writing.

Shivani started her career in tv as the host, producer, and scriptwriter for  ‘Mero Geet Mero Sandesh’ and ‘Mulyankan’ on Nepal Television. She later went on to write the critically acclaimed play ‘Virtual Reality’ and also worked as a scriptwriter/director for the radio drama ‘Katha Mitho Sarangiko’ produced by BBC Media Action.  

She used to be a columnist for Wave Magazine and is a regular contributor to Kantipur Koseli and Naya Patrika. Her debut novel ‘Kathmandu ma Ek Din’ was published in 2018 and she was honored with the Sundar Prasad Shah 'Dukhi' literary prize the same year..

  

Listen to Boju Bajai Reads featuring Shivani Singh Tharu, reading an excerpt from her piece महुवा published in Naya Patrika: ⁠https://link.chtbl.com/bbreadsftshivanisinghtharu⁠ 

You can follow Shivani Singh Tharu on Facebook and Twitter: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/shivanisingh.tharu.3⁠ 

⁠https://twitter.com/shivanitharu⁠ 

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter Cold Takes by Boju Bajai for a roundup of news and feminist views from Nepal and the Nepali internet.

Read and subscribe here: ⁠https://bojubajai.substack.com/welcome⁠ 

Boju 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 

Follow @⁠Bojubajai⁠ on social media for more laughs and guff gaff:

Instagram: ⁠www.instagram.com/bojubajai/⁠ 

Facebook: ⁠www.facebook.com/bojubajai/⁠ 

Twitter: ⁠https://twitter.com/BojuBajai⁠ 

YouTube: ⁠www.youtube.com/c/BojuBajai/⁠ 

Boju Bajai theme music by Flekke

Reading list

Shivani’s Kathmandu, Nepali Times ⁠https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/shivanis-kathmandu⁠

महुवा, Naya Patrika

 ⁠https://jhannaya.nayapatrikadaily.com/news-details/419/2019-08-10⁠ 

भुइँतला : डेरा–संसारको पाताललोक, Kantipur

⁠https://ekantipur.com/koseli/2020/11/27/16064814304432906.html⁠ 

नाकको भूगोल, Kantipur

⁠https://ekantipur.com/koseli/2022/01/29/164342883582051896.html?author=1⁠ 

कोरोनाकल्प, Kantipur

⁠https://ekantipur.com/koseli/2021/07/03/162527663132599220.html?author=1⁠ 

कविता : सहर गायब भएपछि, Kantipur

⁠https://ekantipur.com/literature/2020/05/03/158849493718083446.html?author=1⁠ 

मान्छेको रङ हजार, Setopati

⁠https://www.setopati.com/blog/4069⁠

This is the second installment of Boju Bajai Reads where we get our favorite writers to read their writings. And this time, we are thrilled to have writer Shivani Singh Tharu read her piece ‘महुवा’ published in Naya Patrika.

Oh, and mark your calendar cos our episode ‘Guff Gaff with Shivani Singh Tharu’ is releasing on August 2.

Read the full piece published in Naya Patrika: https://jhannaya.nayapatrikadaily.com/news-details/419/2019-08-10

Boju 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

Follow @Bojubajai on social media for more laughs and guff gaff:

Instagram: www.instagram.com/bojubajai/

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bojubajai/

Twitter: twitter.com/BojuBajai

YouTube: www.youtube.com/c/BojuBajai/

Music by https://www.lukefaulkner.com/music

Boju Bajai in conversation with Akanchha Karki, who is a theatre director, performer and educator. She runs Katha Ghera, a theatre collective in Kathmandu, and has directed several plays including the Nepali version of The Vagina Monologues, Private is Political, Line, The Giving Tree, Harek Babal Kura, and Animal Farm. She is also an aspiring filmmaker and directed her debut short film 'Sanai' through the British Council Gender Film Grant. She was a fellow at the Gograha filmmaking residency in 2022.

Her work focuses on mental health, gender sensitivity, and social justice. She challenges problematic structures, encourages unlearning of internalised prejudices, and facilitates difficult conversations that promote empathy and healing. She believes in creating safe spaces and sees vulnerability as a source of strength.

You can follow her and her works on Instagram: https://instagram.com/akanchhakarki

https://www.instagram.com/kathagheraproductions/

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter Cold Takes by Boju Bajai for a roundup of news and feminist views from Nepal and the Nepali internet.

Read and subscribe here: bojubajai.substack.com/welcome

Boju 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

Follow @Bojubajai on social media for more laughs and guff gaff:

Instagram: www.instagram.com/bojubajai/

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bojubajai/

Twitter: twitter.com/BojuBajai

YouTube: www.youtube.com/c/BojuBajai/

Boju Bajai theme music by Flekke

Welcome to Episode 6 of Care at the Centre: Voices from the Majority World.

At the heart of this series is care - the life-affirming, life-sustaining practice which honours our interconnected relationships and our commitment to the wellbeing of ourselves, our environments, and each other.

As the world becomes increasingly hostile towards feminist activists and women's movements, Urgent Action Fund for Women's Human Rights, Asia & Pacific, aims to bring to light the stories and experiences of women, trans, and gender-nonconforming human rights defenders who work tirelessly in the margins through this six-part series.

In the final episode of the series, we reflect on the findings gathered from regional perspectives. We explore how activisms can respond to the concerns shared by activists featured in this series, and envision the future of activisms.

This series has been informed and guided by the Urgent Action Fund Report “How Can We Ground Ourselves in Care and Dance Our Revolution”. You can read the full report at rootingcare.org where you can also listen to podcasts from the Urgent Action Funds.

You can listen to all the episodes of Care at the Centre: Voices from the Majority World here:

Episode 1

https://on.soundcloud.com/4jgJb

Episode 2

https://on.soundcloud.com/7AWVp

Episode 3

https://on.soundcloud.com/qBLEK

Episode 4

https://on.soundcloud.com/XPCYa

Episode 5

https://on.soundcloud.com/oL8kW

Credits:

Production: Boju Bajai

Hosts: Bhrikuti Rai and Itisha Giri

Music and Sound Design: Rajan Shrestha and Irina Giri

A special thanks to the voice artists from Nepal featured in Episode 1 of this series.

Welcome to Episode 5 of Care at the Centre: Voices from the Majority World.

At the heart of this series is care - the life-affirming, life-sustaining practice honouring our interconnected relationships and our commitment to the wellbeing of ourselves, our environments, and each other.

As the world becomes increasingly hostile towards feminist activists and women's movements, Urgent Action Fund for Women's Human Rights, Asia & Pacific, this series aims to bring to light the stories and experiences of women, trans, and gender-nonconforming human rights defenders who work tirelessly in the margins.

In this episode, we bring you the voice of Brindaalakshmi K. They are a queer feminist researcher and advocacy professional working at the intersection of gender, sexuality, human rights and technology. Brindaa’s advocacy is informed by their work as a peer supporter and activist working with LGBTIQA+ community.

You can follow them on Twitter @brindaalakshmi

This episode explores digital rights, digital privacy, and the digital divide and how these issues affect the queer community in India.

This episode was recorded in October 2022 therefore some references to specific laws and legal provisions might have undergone changes since the date of the recording.

This series has been informed and guided by the Urgent Action Fund Report “How Can We Ground Ourselves in Care and Dance Our Revolution”. You can read the full report at rootingcare.org where you can also listen to podcasts from the Urgent Action Funds.

You can listen to all the episodes of Care at the Centre: Voices from the Majority World here:

Episode 1

on.soundcloud.com/4jgJb

Episode 2

on.soundcloud.com/7AWVp

Episode 3

on.soundcloud.com/qBLEK

Episode 4

on.soundcloud.com/XPCYa

Episode 6

https://on.soundcloud.com/rnazk

Credits:

Production: Boju Bajai

Hosts: Bhrikuti Rai and Itisha Giri

Music and Sound Design: Rajan Shrestha and Irina Giri

Welcome to Episode 4 of Care at the Centre: Voices from the Majority World.

At the heart of this series is care - the life-affirming, life-sustaining practice honouring our interconnected relationships and our commitment to the wellbeing of ourselves, our environments, and each other.

As the world becomes increasingly hostile towards feminist activists and women's movements, Urgent Action Fund for Women's Human Rights, Asia & Pacific, aims to bring to light the stories and experiences of women, trans, and gender-nonconforming human rights defenders who work tirelessly in the margins.

In this episode, we bring you the voices of Maya Gurung and Dolma Sherpa - two amazing activists who work at Adhikaar, a New York based, women-led community organization that serves the needs of the Nepali speaking community and organizes low-income workers to promote social justice and human rights.

We discuss their work with the Nepali community in New York during the pandemic and conversations about self-care and protection of activists to ensure their wellbeing.

Maya Gurung works at Adhikaar as a senior case coordinator helping community members to resolve issues ranging from wage theft, immigration issues. Dolma Sherpa is an organiser at Adhikaar and has been part of several campaigns to support and address the needs for nail salon workers.

You can learn more about Adhikaar’s work by visiting their website: https://adhikaar.org/

This series has been informed and guided by the Urgent Action Fund Report “How Can We Ground Ourselves in Care and Dance Our Revolution”. You can read the full report at rootingcare.org where you can also listen to podcasts from the Urgent Action Funds.

You can listen to all the episodes here:

Episode 1

on.soundcloud.com/4jgJb

Episode 2

on.soundcloud.com/7AWVp

Episode 3

on.soundcloud.com/qBLEK

Episode 5

on.soundcloud.com/oL8kW

Episode 6

https://on.soundcloud.com/rnazk

Credits:

Production: Boju Bajai

Hosts: Bhrikuti Rai and Itisha Giri

Music and Sound Design: Rajan Shrestha and Irina Giri

Welcome to Episode 3 of Care At the Centre: Voices from the Majority World.

At the heart of this series is care - the life-affirming, life-sustaining practice honouring our interconnected relationships and our commitment to the wellbeing of ourselves, our environments, and each other.

As the world becomes increasingly hostile towards feminist activists and women's movements, Urgent Action Fund for Women's Human Rights, Asia & Pacific, this series aims to bring to light the stories and experiences of women, trans, and gender-nonconforming human rights defenders who work tirelessly in the margins.

In this episode, we bring you the voice of Nandar from Myanmar.

Nandar is a feminist activist, a storyteller, and a podcaster. She is the founder of Purple Feminists Group.

Nandar, a human rights defender from Myanmar, had to leave her home for an extended period of time after the military coup in 2020. Nandar talks about how she found herself having to reevaluate and revisit her work and her activism in the middle of political turmoil at home and a global pandemic and how these factors affected not just her work, but also her personal wellbeing.

To know more about Nandar and the work her organization does, please visit: purplefeminist.org

This series has been informed and guided by the Urgent Action Fund Report “How Can We Ground Ourselves in Care and Dance Our Revolution”. You can read the full report at rootingcare.org where you can also listen to podcast episodes from the Urgent Action Funds.

References:

“The Guardian view on Myanmar’s military: in power but not control”

- 6 December, 2022

You can listen to all the episodes here:

Episode 1

https://on.soundcloud.com/4jgJb

Episode 2

https://on.soundcloud.com/7AWVp

Episode 4

https://on.soundcloud.com/XPCYa

Episode 5

https://on.soundcloud.com/oL8kW

Episode 6

https://on.soundcloud.com/rnazk

Credits:

Production: Boju Bajai

Hosts: Bhrikuti Rai and Itisha Giri

Music and Sound Design: Rajan Shrestha and Irina Giri

Welcome to the second episode of Care at the Centre: Voices from the Majority World.

At the heart of this series is care - the life-affirming, life-sustaining practice which honours our interconnected relationships and our commitment to the wellbeing of ourselves, our environments, and each other.

In this episode, we bring you the voice of Rukshana Kapali. As a trans woman activist from the Newa Indigenous group, Rukshana’s work and her experiences are specific to Nepal’s socio-political and cultural context. She has been working at the intersection of law and language, and her work is centered on challenging and changing policies through legal activism.

In this conversation, Rukshana shares the specific challenges faced by Nepal’s trans community while reflecting on her own personal journey of navigating and accessing the educational system in Nepal as a trans woman.

This episode was recorded in November, 2022.

If you want to know more about Rukshana’s work, you can visit her website. www.minchyaameyju.wordpress.com/

This series has been informed and guided by the Urgent Action Fund Report “How Can We Ground Ourselves in Care and Dance Our Revolution”. You can read the full report at rootingcare.org where you can also listen to episodes from the Urgent Action Funds.

Listen to all the episodes of the series Care At the Centre: Voices from the Majority World here:

Episode 1

https://on.soundcloud.com/4jgJb

Episode 3

https://on.soundcloud.com/qBLEK

Episode 4

https://on.soundcloud.com/XPCYa

Episode 5

https://on.soundcloud.com/oL8kW

Episode 6

https://on.soundcloud.com/rnazk

Credits:

Production: Boju Bajai

Hosts: Bhrikuti Rai and Itisha Giri

Music and Sound Design: Rajan Shrestha and Irina Giri