In Marpha, the winds are sharp and the landscape is rocky but the views are breathtaking and the brandy is strong. This is the land of the hardworking people, quite literally as ‘Mar’ means hardworking and ‘Pha’ translates to people. Marpha residents are a contradictory lot, laidback and easy-going but at the same time, hardworking and diligent.

Kirtipur, a quaint town located just 5km southwest of the Capital, for most people is the ‘fourth kingdom’. For me, this city is home. I grew up here, among the medieval temples that dot its streets, running carefree in the narrow gallis. I grew up observing people in and around the brick houses with intricate bay windows. I grew up listening to stories as women basked in the sun and the men huddled in Falchas that roar with laughter every now and then.