Alok Tumbahamphe

Pune

The Nepalese Students’ Association — Pune (NSA-P), a consortium of Nepali students pursuing higher education in Pune, Maharashtra, India, recently organised a week-long ‘Nepal Festival’ to promote Nepali culture and heritage in Pune.

The first phase of Nepal Festival was held on January 22 in Symbiosis Vishwabhawan and included screening of the famous Oscar nominated film ‘Caravan’, Nepali food festival and a cultural programme in the evening. Nepali students and members of the Gorkha regiment performed various Nepali dances, skits and songs.

The Festival was attended by hundreds of Nepali, Indian and foreign students, soldiers and their families from the 2/1 Gorkha Regiment as well as various dignitaries of Pune. Expressing pride in the Nepali students, chief guest Kargil war hero Vir Chakra Col Lalit Rai of the 11th Gorkha Rifles, said: “We Nepalis are famous all over the world for our bravery but we also need to move forward in other areas. It is a matter of great pride that Nepali students here are trying hard to promote our rich culture.”

For the second phase of the Festival, NSA-P invited the famous Nepali rock band 1974 AD to play in various venues. Their first performance was on January 25 at the 2/1 Gorkha Regiment. The concert was attended by over thousand people, mostly army personnel. This was the first time that 1974 AD was playing especially for army people and though army discipline was more than evident in the beginning, the music got the better of it in the second half. “I was taken back to my childhood in the hills of east Nepal,” said retired Col Joshi who served in the Gorkha regiment for 35 years as he shook a leg with the younger Gorkha jawans.

On January 29 again 1974 AD performed at Jazz Garden in Koregaon Park, the tourist hub of Pune. Some 300 people, especially Nepali students, attended the concert. Playing a mix of old and new numbers 1974 AD gave the crowd an unforgettable evening.

NSA-P is a non-profit, non-political organisation, which began in an informal manner in 1994 with a group of students who got together to interact with the increasing number of Nepali youth coming to Pune. The Association plays a key role in giving Nepali students here a platform to come together and get involved in various social activities as well as help promote a better understanding of Nepali culture among the large local and international student community in Pune which is gathering reputation as the Oxford of the East.

The NSA-P has a membership of 200 Nepali students and recently has been registered under the Ministry of Home and Internal Affairs of His Majesty’s Government of Nepal. NSA-P is also a member of the Symbiosis International Student Council (SISC), which has representatives from more than 42 different countries. It is a matter of pride that the current president of SISC Dipesh Man Shrestha is a Nepali completing his MBA from the Symbiosis Institute of Business Management.

Some of the sponsors of the event were Le Meridien, Bank of Kathmandu, Kumari Bank, Mayos Noodles, and the Destination Manang Campaign.

“We are really impressed that even being students, NSA-P thought more about promoting their country even though it is such a difficult task to organise an event of such scale,” said Nirakar Yakthumba bassist and leader of 1974AD. The band which usually charges over Rs 1 lakh per show came all the way to Pune and played absolutely free of cost.