KATHMANDU, OCTOBER 29
Saigrace Pokharel is a popular Nepali storyteller who has been winning the hearts of millions of Nepali fans the world over with his captivating stories.
Stories with themes ranging from love, marriage, caste issues, foreign employment, impacts of modernity, life struggles, and life under the COVID-19 pandemic, along with stories of philosophical inclinations are what Pokharel writes and narrates via his YouTube channel.
What captivates his listeners is the way this charismatic storyteller tells stories in his soft voice, adding emotion to the storytelling.
Pokharel, who has been living in Spain for several years now, was recently in the Valley when he shared that his storytelling "started back when I was in Class IV".
Born in 1987 in Dhading, Pokharel was raised in Kathmandu Valley from where he completed his school education and higher studies. When his school had organised a comedy championship, "for the first time I narrated a funny story before a mass, and it was liked by all. This was when I noticed my storytelling prowess, which led me to actively take part in such programmes regularly at school".
He started earning fans after he narrated a story "on human life and the importance of helping each other before 1,500-strong audience in Pokhara at the National Youth Conference in 2012. I received a good response from the audience and earned fans too".
After completing his BBS from the Valley, he went to Denmark in 2015 to pursue his Master's degree in Strategy Management.
"After completing my studies, I started an event organising company named Saigrace Production in Denmark, which also deals with photos and videomaking for customers and corporate houses.
Then I started creating my own stories from the company," he said.
Pokharel shifted to Barcelona, Spain on completion of his studies in Denmark to pursue Master's in Digital Marketing in 2018 and since then has been living there from where he continues to make/tell different stories.
A story that made Pokharel an overnight sensation was his short video tilted 90's kid which he released last year on his YouTube channel.
"I made the story to take the audience back in time to the 90's when things were so different as compared to the recent times when technology has taken over our lives. The video touched the audience and it got lots of views on social media," he shared .
This was followed by Adhuro Prem - a love story which received millions of views on YouTube and other social media platforms, as per Pokharel. Then a flurry of stories on diverse themes started popping up one after another, which helped Pokharel become a celebrity among Nepali fans. Pokharel himself writes the scripts of his stories and narrates them on his YouTube channel.
Asked about the motivation behind his beautiful stories, Pokharel credited Sri Satya Sai Baba of whom he has been "a disciple since childhood".
"My parents have long been devout Sri Satya Sai Baba followers and I too have been touched by His divine grace since my childhood days.
This is the reason why my parents named me 'Saigrace'. My stories include love for humanity - as taught by Sri Satya Sai Baba."
The pandemic too didn't affect his work "since I create my stories indoors. I was also able to connect with my fans through video conferences from Spain".
Pokharel also shared that he has been narrating a wide range of stories sent to him by fans through his new audiobased show Saigrace Sanga Mann Ka Katha "started several months ago".
"I started the show to give space to stories sent by fans and the stories have been well-received."
Sharing that his stories are mostly centred on social issues and human values which offer important messages of love for humanity, he aims to "highlight the ground reality of Nepalis in the country and their struggles through my stories to bring about positive change(s) in their lives".
According to Pokharel, storytelling should combine both art and science to make the stories impactful, "which I have long been doing".
Apart from storytelling, he has also been a part of several social welfare activities in the country such as Bagmati clean-up drives, food and blanket distribution for street people, blood donations, organising rural medical camps, among others "and also donated money to supply oxygen and food for needy COVID-19 patients last year during the pandemic".
With such involvements, Pokharel says his audiences' love from the initial days has kept him going and "it is satisfying to make them happy through my stories".
He will be bringing out more stories in the coming days "and I also plan to record a song in the near future for my fans".
Pokharel will go on a live storytelling country tour from November 8 to 27 and head back to Spain in December.
Pokharel lives with his spouse Sarita Adhikari (Srita) in Barcelona. His parents and a younger brother live in their home in the Valley.
A version of this article appears in the print on October 30, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.
