Tune into an inspiring conversation with Sally Orange MBE and Felicity Ashley, two remarkable British athletes and cancer survivors who travelled to Nepal in May 2025 to take on the Tenzing Hillary Everest Marathon â the worldâs highest marathon. đïžđȘ
In this episode, hosted by Juliana, they open up about:
âš Their journey to Nepal
đș Experiences and challenges of women athletes
đ§ Facing mental health challenges
đïž Battling and surviving cancer
đ And what it means to keep moving forward when life gives you lemons.
This episode is part of the British Council's Culture Connects programme, in collaboration with the British Embassy Kathmandu and Friends of Nepal UK.
đ§ Tune in for a story of resilience, purpose, and cross-cultural connection.
Episode 2 of Shringaar Stories
In this episode, we dive deeper into the "why" of certain aesthetic practices in Nepal's Newa and Tharu communities. These practices have survived the test of globalisation and modernisation and women remain to be the living historians of keeping these traditions alive.
Along with signifying the unspoken bond between mother and daughter, these practices symbolise indigenous identity and are important for the community to continue thriving. Even though at risk, intangible culture in indigenous communities in Nepal still have the hope of survival with the current generation's curiosities and efforts.
The podcast has been supported by the British Council Nepal Gender Grants.Â
Produced by Juliana Shrestha Â
Edited by Suraj Shakya
First episode on the Shringaar Stories Series
This series is very personal to us. As we grew up away from our mothers when they were working to provide for our families, we felt a void in the bond we could have and the stories of our indigenous cultures that we missed out on.
Most young people growing up in Kathmandu are undergoing an identity crisis. Women, especially mothers, are the primary holders of information on cultural norms and practices and expected to pass on the knowledge to younger generations. The modern day challenge for mothers to maintain a career - family balance means that most of this knowledge transfer is missing or lost.
The first episode of the series highlights the significance of aesthetic symbols that women in Nepalâs indigenous communities use to signify mother-daughter bonds that were in place to transfer traditional cultural knowledge from one generation to another.
Thanks to Shanti Napit, Indu Tharu and Shanti Rai for sharing their stories with us.
The podcast has been supported by the British Council Nepal Gender Grants.Â
Produced by Juliana Shrestha
Edits by Suraj Shakya
Shringaar Stories is a podcast series that attempts to archive intangible cultural heritage of Nepalâs diverse ethnic communities - a curiosity of womenâs indigenous identities - an appeal for tradition to thrive.
A Tharu woman's hand-poked tattoo induced with mother's breastmilk, a Newa girl's coming of age celebration with her first "alaa" and two young women travellers' exploration of their indigenous identity growing up away from their mothers - this podcast series documents how women's aesthetic symbols signify a deeper mother-daughter bond from the womb to the afterlife in indigenous Nepali communities, with the aim to archive intangible cultural practices.
The podcast has been supported by the British Council Nepal Gender Grants
Produced by Juliana Shrestha Â
Edited by Suraj Shakya
In this episode, we catch up with Madina from Khan Quest, who is on a world tour with her husband Kyle. They came to Nepal after learning about the country from a server in Dubai and when her #tiktok comments were off the roof with people asking her to come to Nepal. She started travelling just before the pandemic with her husband and their channel has been growing since. In this episode, Madina shares about how contrary to popular belief, marriage brought her freedom and what life is like travelling with her husband and being recognised on the streets as an influencer. We also dive deep into the realities of full time travel and how Madina has had a range of experience when it comes to women's everyday life realities around the world.
Make sure you listen till the end for a fatafat rapid fire with Madina!
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In this episode we have an economist and scholar Juni Singh joining all the way from LA. Juli and Juni chat about experiences of travelling the world while building a career in academia, making different cities her own and travelling Europe with her sister. Don't forget to catch the fatafat rapid fire at the end!
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In this episode, duluwa Juli caught up with Eileen to talk about how Eileen balances working for 6 months in London and travelling South Asia for the rest of the year. As women, the added social obligations could restrict us from living our travel dreams. Eileen is living those travel dreams and goals, but we seldom hear the realities behind the dreams - this episode brings you exactly that! Eileen shares about her experiences as a Westerner in South Asia, and the challenges of being a travel writer as well.
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Travelling in Nepal with a disability is challenging - from the lack of facilities to people's demeaning behavior. Nirmala, a para-athlete and traveller shares stories of her travels around Nepal with a prosthetic leg, and compares them with her experiences traveling abroad. Her will power, courage and persistence to change people's perceptions of disabled people is inspiring! Make sure you listen till the end for a fun new segment of Duluwa Talks too ;)
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In this episode Duluwa Juli is joined by the podcast's edit team Shanti, Rejina and Binita to share their perspectives on some unpopular travel opinions. Enjoy this candid conversation with the team as they share their travel stories and some tips for your next trip!
As a child of mixed cultures, Catalina has travelled across Asia and Europe in search to belongingness, and acceptance. Growing up she struggled as a "half Thai half German" child, never fully belonging to either cultures. What does it mean to be "half" any culture? How does it shape one's identity? Why do we yearn to travel and experience cultures? This conversation between duluwa Juli and Cat is an exploration of these questions and more.
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In this episode, Dakshina Khadka, a tourism entrepreneur and avid traveller shares her experiences of working in Nepal's travel and tourism industry. From being involved with Ghumante then Honeyguide Apps and now starting her own venture, Dakshina shares her learnings and experiences along with how she sees the industry recover from impacts of the pandemic.
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In this episode duluwa Juli chats with Padma about how physical fitness correlates with headspace and her journey of being the fittest woman in Nepal. Padma shares how a small town girl turned her life around dedicating to physical fitness and strength, and continues her dedication even as a wife and mother.
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In this episode, our host duluwa Juli chats with Ovy about her solo camping and travel experiences across South East Asia and how she dealt with ethnic stereotypes. As an Indonesian in Taiwan she would often be approached as a labor worker and not just a traveller. Ovy and Juli delve into their experiences of ethnic stereotypes and culture shock in the UK as well, and how they deal with it as travellers.
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In this episode, Prakriti from India (folks on Instagram know her as @itisinthename) shares her journey of summiting Ama Dablam during her periods and how easy it is to travel as a vegan in South Asia. For someone who began her mountaineering journey less than a year ago, Prakriti recently summited Ama Dablam, being only the second Indian woman to do so and aims to climb more mountains in the future.
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Location credit: Hostel Nextdoor
In this episode, Sophiya shares about Yes Theory and how they have influenced her adventures. Our host Juli met Sophiya a couple years ago as a result of one of Sophiyaâs decisions to seek discomfort, and this episode is all about their journeys as members of Yes Theory community and how gendered it can be to say yes to adventures.
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Note: this episode is not sponsored by or associated with Yes Theory in any way.
This episode is a conversation between our teamâs Chevening scholars Juliana and Menuka as Juli completes her Chevening year and Menuka starts hers. Chevening is one of the worldâs most prestigious scholarships and weâre proud to have two Cheveners in our team! In this episode, Juli and Menuka discuss the realities of living abroad, from travelling during a pandemic to mental health living away from home and everything in between.
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This episode features an exceptionally inspiring woman's story of surviving a traumatic brain injury and finding solace and strength from the mountains. Jill shares about going from being an outdoor educator racing bikes in the Alps to getting hospitalized for 2+ years to climbing mountains with only 30% vision. She has been learning to find strength in her scars as she continues to adventure the Himalayas and inspires us all to conquer the mountains of our minds.
Content warning: mentions of eating disorders and PTSD
Check out Jill's blog: http://mountainsofmymind.com
Alongside Nepali youth migrating for work to Gulf countries, a big number of young Nepalis migrate for studies and seldom return to Nepal. Is the reason behind not returning just limited to lack of employment opportunities? The motivation to migrate goes beyond money-making opportunities and is deep-rooted in our social norms. In this episode, Sumita shares her story of migrating abroad, finding her traveler self, and relates to thousands of Nepali youth whose motivation to migrate is for a sense of liberation and freedom.
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For todayâs youth born and raised in Kathmandu, itâs common to have questioned âWhere is our âgaunâ?â as a child. In this episode, entrepreneur Sonika shares her journey from a young girl looking for her âgaunâ to combatting her fear of road travel, to building a business that empowers womenâs financial independence in the transport industry. Hear from her how financial independence has empowered women drivers of safa tempo in Kathmandu that she works with. To check out more about Sonikaâs business check https://www.aeloi.com/
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In this episode, our host Juli chats with Arati, as the two short hair women share experiences of facing gender stereotypes in their travels and how they deal with such situations. Arati sold all her belongings in London to go on world travel with her partner but has been locked down in Nepal due to the pandemic. She started her Instagram spottheyellow to share her travel stories wearing her yellow dress around the world.
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