<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141156/636d035c9c7e80680e0a36ccjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="960" height="641"/><figcaption>PHOTOS COURTESY OF ANI CHOYING DROLMA </figcaption></figure>After taking Nepal by storm with her popular songs and chants, <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=7229#.YVVcFC8w3u0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ani Choying Drolma</a> is now a hit also in Tibet, the land of her ancestors.Not just Tibet, but her <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=501#.YVVcAi8w3u0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">melodious mantra</a> are also loved by tens of millions in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and southeast Asia.Following a concert in Lhasa before the pandemic, Ani Choying Drolma had just returned to her hotel room when she was visited by a group of monks who had become fans.“They told me that they thought I was just a good singer, but after my concert they said they believed I was also a seeker,” Ani Choying says in a recent article in Himal Khabar magazine.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141156/636d035f9c7e80680e0a36cdjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="960" height="640">Ani Choying Drolma is a <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=7229#.YVVcFC8w3u0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">household name in the Nepali-speaking world </a> because of her breakthrough song “फूलको आँखामा” which has got over 2 million views on YouTube. Her soothing voice and uplifting lyrics have  amassed a dedicated fan base in Nepal and abroad.Her Buddhist mantra chants also have a wide crossborder fan base, especially in China where there is a growing spiritual revival. A well known Chinese singer is quoted in the media as saying: “Before I listened to Ani, I used to think I was among the number-one singers in China.”There are <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=18559#.YVVb7y8w3u0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">many such stories</a>, and each is as humbling for Ani Choying as it is inspiring. Tán Dùn, the Grammy-winning composer of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, asked her to perform for him last year. Unfortunately, the concert could not be held because of the pandemic in Hong Kong.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141156/636d03619c7e80680e0a36cejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="960" height="640"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141156/636d03659c7e80680e0a36cfjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="961" height="640">Hong Kong holds a special place in her heart because she opened a concert marking the British handover of the territory to China at the Asia-World Arena in 1997. She sang the main Awalokiteswar mantra to an audience of 14,000.“I have performed in Hong Kong many times, but it was that concert that made the biggest impact on my career,” Ani Choying says.Even when Chinese tourists visit Nepal, they sometimes visit her nunnery in Pharping, buy her CDs in Thamel, ask about her concerts, or sometimes recognise her on the streets and take selfies.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/featured-videos/nt-studio-in-conversation-with-ani-choying-drolma/">NT Studio: In conversation with Ani Choying Drolma</a>, Sahina Shrestha“Once I was in Baudha when I saw a person running towards me, and he asked to take a picture,” Ani Choying recalls. “The man said he was an actor back home and asked me if I knew that I was very famous in China.”They exchanged WeChat contacts, and she later found out that he was none other than Chen Kun, the famous Chinese actor from The Knot and Love Story in Shanghai.Ani Choying credits this affection and admiration in China to her many guru. Fans flock to her after concerts to thank her for the courage and hope that her songs provide them.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/coming-soon-ani-choying-the-movie/">Coming soon: Ani Choying, the movie</a>, Alisha Sijapati<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141156/636d03679c7e80680e0a36d0jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="960" height="640">Once at the Jumeirah Himalayas Hotel in Shanghai, the owner of the hotel recounted how Ani Choying’s songs helped her through labour pains during the birth of her first child. When she heard the music, she felt so relieved as though the pain had vanished by half.Ani Choying’s music has <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/from-nepali-press/Ani-choying-drolma-in-UN,2911" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">boundless reach</a>, can hold many meanings to many people, but most of her devout followers say it calms their minds, soothes their souls.A Taiwanese singer recently approached her manager asking for permission to rearrange and perform one of her Buddhist mantra. Her reply: “It is a holy chant, anyone can sing and get solace from it.”In Nepal, Germany, or China, compassion has no borders, and that is the underlying message in all her songs which are delivered in concert halls where there is complete silence.<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=18218#.YVVb8C8w3u0">Ani's school</a>, Tsering Dolkar Gurung These are mostly traditional Buddhist chants and mantra. But her Nepali songs mostly have lyrics by Durga Lal Shrestha and music by Nhyu Bajracharya, and have been consistenly popular because they are based on Buddhist teachings.Ani Choying’s Tibetan roots means that she has to keep a low profile while performing in China, and she labels herself as a ‘Himalayan Buddhist from Nepal’ and renders her spiritual songs of compassion.She thinks the reason for her popularity in China is that with the country’s meteoric economic rise, more and more people there are yearning also for spiritual upliftment that her songs help provide.She says: “Nepali artisans like Arniko are renowned in China for their craft, and I am just carrying on that tradition with my music.”Read also: <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/kundadixit/2017/11/05/anis-song/">Ani's song</a>, Kunda Dixit

Ashish Dhakal

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Nepal’s singing nun is a hit in China

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxM6MEqCDOI&amp;feature=youtu.beGet up every morningTo chase a goalThat you don’t even know.Life is wilting awayIn the corner of a Sajha BusHave you done anythingTo make you happy?When <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/Thenamastegirl48" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bartika Eam Rai</a> released the first song <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7ZODxg0yyY" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Khai on YouTube</a> in 2016, it took Nepali cyberspace by storm. The song captured the existential angst of her generation: life wasting away in routine tasks as dreams are postponed. The lyrics were autobiographical, and the voice captured an inner emptiness.Rai composed the song to share with her mother and close friends, and was taken by surprise when it spread like wildfire in the Nepali diaspora on the Net.“My songs come from real life, from anger with social conditioning, identity crises, and existential questions,” the US-based singer said this week on a visit to Nepal. “A person is supposed to achieve certain things by a certain age, like getting a good job, being settled. These things apparently define us, and it was not working out that way. So I weaved my own confusion into music.”<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171144/6369369f9c7e80680e03fdeejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"/>But instead of revelling in her newfound fame, Rai did what she had always done to cope: compose another song. Shoonya was to become part of her second album.The singer is an accountant by day and composer by night. The voice is so original, the words so genuine that each song goes viral as soon as it is released. Khai won her two Hits FM awards: Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, and Song of the Year. She is in Nepal after almost five years on a concert tour.Rai jots down her feelings as they come, and only later slashes them into song lines that are distinctive from all other genres of Nepali modern music. She admits to being unsure at first about whether they would work at all.Read also:<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Ani%E2%80%99s-song-singing-nun-Nepal,4024" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ani's song</a>, Kunda Dixit<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Bipul-Chhetri-reviving-our-love-for-Nepali-folk-music,979" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The sound of our soul</a>, Ayesha Shakya“I was under the impression that Nepali audiences do not appreciate lyrics much, and are more into melodies,” she said. While many singers start with riffs and notes, I start with words. And the words are quite literary.Nepali audiences proved her wrong, and she gets over 4 million views for each song. The words and music seem to appeal to Nepali youngsters because they echo their own feelings. “My mother, a Nepali teacher, instilled a love of Nepali language in me,” Rai remembers. “When I was in boarding school, my friends’ parents would sneak in food, but my mother would leave letters for me.”One of the letters read afulai avalokan gara (observe yourself) – hefty instructions for a 9-year-old girl. Today, Rai carries on that tradition and includes Sanskrit words like pragadhor abhinaya, and the title of her first album is Bimbaakash which means ‘a sky full of images’.“I grew up singing and admiring classic Nepali songs, but in school I found out that everyone else was singing in English, and my self-esteem dropped,” she recalls, “Today I make a conscious effort to record in Nepali, because apart from commercial songs, I feel that we are not writing and recording in Nepali as much as we should.”Read also: <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Buzz-nuts,652" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nuts about Nattu</a>, Sunaina RanaRai’s songs reflect her intensely private persona. And after the success of her first album, she felt pressure from audience expectations. Her second album Taral feels more intimate, with Umer about her deceased father, and Anumati that gives a loved one permission to move on.But doesn’t she feel vulnerable exposing heart and soul to strangers? “Of course there is some negative feedback,” she admits, “people harass you for being a girl, make sexist remarks, and that does make me anxious sometimes. But in the grand scheme of things, these things do not matter.”What does matter to Rai is home, and she weaves the theme of homesickness into many of her songs, with nostalgia of school and childhood. Even her Nepal tour is called Ghar, but she now wonders where home really is.“Here in Nepal I was always surrounded by writers and musicians. In the US, I felt lonely, and many of my songs were composed in that dark, empty space,” she says. “I realised I wanted to be back home, but Nepal is changed every time I come back. It is not what I left behind. So, the question now is: what is the home that I really want to come back to?”She is here for a month this time, and despite the inner torment in her lyrics, Bartika Eam Rai’s songs leave listeners with hope:Look at yourselfHow long has it beenSince you laughed freely?Lived fearlessly?Go, be lost…Content in happiness,Find you in yourself…

nepali-musician

Nepal’s singing nun is a hit in China

A sky full of images