Mausami Gurung Speaks Out

Looks like things are going really great lately for the talented Mausami Gurung who is one of the most sought after female singers in the country today.

Some months back, she had gone on a tour of Australia along with other Nepali artists and it has just been a couple of weeks since she come back after a series of events in the UK. While she was busy performing abroad, some of our readers got back to us saying that "Mausami, instead of singing Nepali songs to Nepali audience abroad sang Hindi Bollywood numbers. Quote, “If we wanted to hear Hindi songs why would we call her here!". We often hear about Nepali artists entertaining their audience with Hindi numbers while touring abroad; not that we want to make an issue out of it. After all, artists are required to entertain the crowd and give them their money’s worth irrespective of what language they sing in. Nevertheless, since it was one of the burning issues plaguing some of our readers, we decided to talk to Mausami herself and get her thoughts on it.

She admits that she did sing a Hindi number ("Dummaru Dum") while she was performing in Australia. She says, "Music is something which is very broad. My opinion is that at the end of the day music is music. It is not something which can be chained by a nationality or language. It is so diverse and everyone should be open about it. I did sing that Hindi song since the audience was asking for more encores from me. I had sung "Changba Oi Changba" a zillion times and I thought they might get bored of it. James Pradhan who was also performing at the same event asked me to go ahead with it and I saw no reason not to. There are people who like me or anyone else for that matter, singing a Hindi number and there are people who don't like it. Now what are we supposed to do? As I said before, music is music and people should be open about it!" It’s loud and clear Maushami! Hope you are reading this from Australia.

Now, that our questions were answered, more so of one of our readers from Australia, we decided to change the subject and ask her about her next project. She says, "Well, I am working on my second album and I have made an effort to make it different from my previous venture 'Unforgettable'. My plan is to release this new album by the end of January. It has different flavors of songs on it starting from Latino to selo, romantic to R&B. I am also doing a duet with Sugam Pokhael. The song is called "Lyauna Ta". This song was incorporated in my first album as well but this time round we have made many changes on it!" Way to go Maushami! Keep it up and good luck with your second album!

Nepathya Tour

Nepal's leading folk rock band 'Nepathya' is all set to make their traditional tour of the Nation again. This time they will be touring to 15 places during a span of 40 straight days. "It feels great to be reaching to our fans and well wishers around the country again. Nepal beyond Kathmandu has always been dear to me," says Amrit Gurung, front man / lead vocalist of the Band.

As in the past, this time too 'Nepathya' is associating themselves with a social cause. "Giving continuity to Nepathya's past association, this time too, 'Nepathya' will be speaking for the children of the Nation." adds Kiran Krishna Shrestha, team leader of nepa~laya, the organisers of the tour and managers of 'Nepathya'. As in the past years, 2002 and 2004, the tour will be called – Nepathya "Education for Peace" Tour 2063 as well.

"As peace has prevailed, we thought of advocating another theme – but having recently travelled to places in the nation and visited many community schools all over, I felt - children in schools and the education sector still need an encouraging voice. Children are still vulnerable to political and other exploitations. Thus, we decided to continue with our slogan – Education for Peace." justifies Amrit. "Children in schools should not be used for any objectives by any groups. They are like tender buds – let them blossom freely and they shall be creating a better and peaceful New Nepal." he adds.

The entourage is set to leave Kathmandu on December 21and will be back for the final show in Kathmandu scheduled for January 31.

The tour will take them through Narayanghat, Damak, Dhankuta, Lahan, Hetauda, Butwal, Dhangadi, Surkhet, Sandhikharka, Tamghas, Pokhara, Besi Sahar, Trisuli Bazaar, Jiri, and then finally wind up in the Capital.

"In addition to regular ticket bearing audience, we have also made arrangements to reach audiences who have been deprived of such access to entertainment due to social, physical or financial reasons." explains Kiran Shrestha.

"Our shows which include Shantiko lagi Sikchya Tour in 2002 and 2004 and Sundar Shanta Nepal during 2003 and 2005, have always been well appreciated by people all over. We expect similar cooperation and support from all to make this National event a success." requests Kiran.

After two rounds of visit to all these places, nepa~laya had decided on the local organisers, which mainly include community educational institutes, and local social organisations. This time too, major proceedings from the ticket sales will be contributed to local welfare purposes through local organisers.

'Nepathya' has been working strongly with various social sectors during the past. It is also known as the most earthy and social Nepali band of recent times.

"During the past year, we have performed in many events both here and abroad, but reaching out to our own people is always a moment I crave for. I really look forward to the tour." says the humble front man of the band, Amrit.

Sallu bullied by Don's name!

Salman Khan is in trouble again. This time he is charged with threatening people by using underworld gangster Chhota Shakeel's name. As a result he has been asked to reopot at Mumbai Police Crime Branch cell.

The actor will also be interrogated today by Unit 1 of Crime Branch in the Bharat Shah case.

While Sallu was away, his father Salim Khan told a leading daily that he is not aware of Salman being summoned and have received no intimation so far.

"I have nothing to do with this case so am not aware of its details,” he adds.

Salman has cancelled his visit to South Africa, for which he was supposed to leave tomorrow.

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Third bronze for Nepal; Shakya is the winner

Ayesha Shakya won the third bronze medal for Nepal in the ongoing 15th Asian Games in Doha, Qatar.

Shakya had to be satisfied with the bronze medal in the 59-kg category of Taekwondo after she was defeated by a Vietnamese player Thi Hoai Thu Nguyen in the semi finals.

Shakya, a silver medalist at the Tenth South Asian Games held earlier this year, had reached semi finals after defeating a Chinese player.

She became the third Nepalese player to win a bronze medal in the Doha Asiad. Earlier, Manita Shahi had won the medal in 63-kg category while Deepak Bista had won the medal in the 78-kg category.

Meanwhile, runner Arjun Bahadur Basnet finished at the 11th place in the marathon tournament by clocking 2 hours 23 minutes and 55 seconds. A Qatari runner won the marathon 11 minutes and 11 seconds ahead of Basnet who had won a silver medal in the marathon at Tenth South Asian Games.

Bista bags second bronze for Nepal

Deepak Bista bagged the second bronze medal for Nepal at the ongoing 15th Asian Games in Doha, Qatar.

Bista bagged the bronze medal in 75-kg category by defeating a Kuwaiti player in the quarter final on Friday. He, however, lost to a Qatari player in semi final, in what the Korean coach Kwon Hyouk claimed as biased refereeing.

After Manita Shahi won the first bronze medal on Thursday, this was the second medal for Nepal.

Bista is one of the most successful taekwondo players of Nepal. He has already won gold medal thrice in the South Asian games. He had also won a bronze medal in the previous Busan Asian games held four years ago.

Meanwhile, on Friday, Kanchhi Maya Koju completed her 10,000 meter running in 37 minutes 59.76 seconds. A silver medalist at Tenth South Asian Games, Koju came last in the race in Doha, which was won by a Japanese runner.

Shahi bags first medal for Nepal in Doha Asiad

Manita Shahi became the first Nepalese athlete to bag any medal in the ongoing 15th Asian Games being held in Qatar, Doha.

Shahi won the bronze medal in the 63-kg category of Taekwondo on Thursday. She was defeated by an athlete from Chinese Taipei Wen Su Li in the semifinals. Earlier she had trounced Sangya Wangmo of Bhutan in a quarterfinal match after defeating Varsah Bende of India in the first round.

Shahi is a gold medalist at the Tenth South Asian Games held recently in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

However, other medal aspirants failed to win any medal on various categories of Taekwondo on Thursday. Among them include Ramesh Kumar Shrestha, Kumar Manandhar and Yan Kumari Chaulagain. On Friday also, Nepalese athletes will be taking part in Taekwondo competition. Taekwondo, karate and judo are few events in which Nepalese athletes are expected to bring home some medals.

Nepali Tara team finally to Kathmandu

After the audition at Dharan, Narayanghat, Butwal, Nepalgunj and Pokhara, the Nepali Tara 2 Team has finally arrived Kathmandu. The audition is taking place from tomorrow, on the 9th, 10th and 11th December, 06 at Studio4, Kupondole. The audition will be held from 8 am onwards. On the spot registration is required for participation or you can also use the forms printed in the “Annapurna Post”. The participants will be entertained on the first come first served basis.

After the Kathmandu selection, the National level competition will be held on Poush 21, 2063, where the selected participants from different places of the country will compete.

What are you waiting for? Go for the musical extravaganza.

Muna Madan in Hong Kong

Nepali students in Hong Kong performed Muna Madan on the occasion of Laxmi Prasad Devkota's 98th birth anniversary on 22 October. Directed by Supriya Gurung, the play was performed in PK College. Nepali studentsfrom various Hong Kong colleges also presented their own literary creations. (Devraj Rai, Hong Kong)

Raghav Live in Concert

'Raghav Live in Concert' finally happened yesterday at Hotel Yak & Yeti, Durbar Marg to a resounding success! But it did have its flaws. Though scheduled to begin at 7:30 PM onwards began only it only at 10 PM. Those who had already made their way into the venue, in the meantime were entertained by DJ Jwala.

Scores of Raghav fans were in by 7:30 and were pretty disappointed to have to wait for more than 2 hours before the charismatic singer from the UK made a grand entrance. However, the wait was worth it and as Raghav kicked off the show, disappointment vanished from the faces and people instantly started grooving to Raghav’s trademark music.

Presented by Samsung and the event managed by Mirage Entertainment, the show was indeed a memorable one with Iceberg Slim giving a fantastic performance and grabbing the headlines as well. He seemed to be equally popular among the girls with his unique showmanship. People do welcome an event of this magnitude and hopefully more are organized in the days to come. All in all, a great performance by the internationally renowned musician. By the time the show ended, you bet Raghav had added a few thousand more into his ever growing fan list.


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