Illuminating the World, one Junkiri at a Time – a Reflection on our First Meetup Event

Last Saturday, the Rising Junkiri team in Nepal got together with members, for the first ever Rising Junkiri Bloggers meet-up event. It was our first ever attempt to bring together this creative community we have been curating and cultivating online over the last few years. 

We met at Genesis Cafe, and our hope was that writers, artists, and bloggers from all around Kathmandu would come together, and share their creative selves with us.

The event started with introductions — we were beyond excited to share our story — how we started, where we began, where we stand, and where our future lies. What followed was one of the most important aspects of the day, a chance for participants to share their experience — long and short, English and Nepali — everyone shared their stories. 

Below, we share a short poem that fellow writer Satya Joshi shared with us –

जुनकिरी, 

जुनकिरी झै ज्याेती बाल्न तम्सीएका छाैं हामी, 

शब्दहरूकाे सागर मा डुब्न लम्कीएका छाैं हामी, 

धन्यवाद छ जुनकिरीकाे उज्यालाे लाइ, 

नेपाली हरूका शब्द हरूलाइ चिनाउन झम्सिएका छाैं हामी, 

जुनकिरीकाे उज्यालाेकाे साँथ हिडाैं, 

सबैले मुटुमा माया बाेकि, एकताकाे साँथ हिडाैं, 

मलाइ लाग्छ अवश्यनै पुग्ने छाैं अन्त सम्म, 

बाटाे डाेर्याउन अगि बढेकाे छ जुनकिरी,

वरिपरी हेर्दा जुनकिरी जस्तै देखिएका छन सबै, 

अाफ्नाे गन्तव्यमा पुग्न मरिहत्ये लम्किएका छन सबै, 

राहत काे अाश छत केवल त्याे जुनकिरिकाे,  जुन अगि अगि उज्यालाे छर्दै बाटाे डाेर्याइ रहेकाे छ ।

In addition to writers, we had two innovaters inspire participants with their success stories. A social service community which evolved into an NGO, and an Arts and Crafts startup that began from a small investment and humble beginnings.  

We also received feedback from participants about what was lacking for writers and artists in Nepal. Together, we came up with quite a few creative answers, and although difficult, everyone agreed that the problems could be solved to build better platforms and opportunities.

Our favorite part of the event, however, was the open mic session. Several writers expressed their most treasured pieces of writing. We were excited to hear these stories and hope to create more experiences like this, bring together writers, share a cup of tea or coffee — while listening to and sharing deeply personal stories.

We also heard your feedback, and will soon be coming up with some positive changes and exciting announcements. Stay updated and follow us on Facebook to know about our next event.

Also, read about our event coverage on myRepublica!

Our event was sponsored by Nimbus Nepal’s Byanjan Oil and location partner was The Genesis Cafe. The event was supported by The Pizza Cutter, Kar.ma Coffee, Nepal Driving License, UNO Explorer, Fiyodo Handicrafts, SSTC International and Working As Angels.