Folk songs are flourishing in Nepal unprecedently, but the urban crowd looks untouched

For a significant part of the past decade, Nepali folk songs have dominated Nepal’s commercial music scene. You can hear them in busses, shops, weddings and now thanks to technology, even on TikTok . Its rise was quite evident during the lockdown when people were dancing to the song Soche Jhai Jindagi Rainachha , roughly translated to life is not how one thinks it is. Apart from that Pashupati Sharma’s Lutna Sake Lut , and Prakash Saput’s Galbandi have all done great on YouTube while people like Durgesh Thapa , even though controversial, have spread folk songs (lok geets) to the masses.

But, how did it get here? Folk songs, which were limited to villages in western Nepal, can now be heard everywhere in Nepal. People of all ages seem to have embraced it and enjoy it. The singers themselves have also adapted to globalisation as they have started to sing about modern issues. But, as good as it is doing, the urban crowd is yet to take it seriously or respect it.