‘Do you like Nepalese music tracks?’ I asked one of my pals of the capital Kathmandu. ‘I am an elite and how can I?’ replied my friend in Facebook chats. ‘Are elites not interested in Nepali music?’ I threw an immediate query. ‘Basically they are not. Nepalese music is all copied. They are not creative,’ was the response of my friend. Having this feedback, we diverted our music induced chats but my conscience was diluted with her harsh take on Nepali music. This Facebook conversation left me questioning what it is like being an elite in Nepal and what it takes it to be an elite. I surfed the dictionary definitions of elites. Dictionary definitions run like this, ‘be best of anything considered collectively’ makes an elite. If so, why are people of the upper class of society generally ignorant of what makes our society. Why are they so hesitant to identify themselves as Nepalese? These were questions propping up in my mind.

I consoled myself that an individual remark doesn’t represent the entirety of any section of society. Another side of my curiosity thought that to make an opinion on any topic is not only an individual issue. Our familial talks, cultures of our circle and personal experience are catalysts to create any concept. Despite a few exceptions, any kind of opinion made by an individual speaks for a section of sentiment shared by their company. Therefore, the internalized sense of ‘elite’ supremacy by my dude and her vocal expression on this paints a picture of what Nepali ‘elites’ think about themselves and how do they regard Nepalese music numbers. Having only a single Forbes-listed billionaire in Nepal doesn’t mean Nepal has a big millionaires’ club. If you are flying to Malaysia as a Nepali ‘elite’ tourist you will not be treated differently from low-wage Nepalese workers at airport terminals. The 2015 earthquakes did not leave you because of your ‘elite’ status in Nepalese society. You were out in the open asking for meals in tarps not considered to be an ‘elite’ living standard.

Likewise, the Indian blockade forced you to line up for cooking gas and refueling your vehicles. If you represent Nepal and stage your rap and heavy metal music tracks in the Western manner, yours will not be organic music for them. What they desire are typical tracks and Nepal’s folk and melodious music. If you pursue your interpersonal education, it talks of your social assimilation which is not possible without your touch with grassroots folks.