The RAMRI ALERT feature is back after one whole year and during this time away, I thought a lot about whether I should continue RAMRI ALERT and THITO ALERT. For me one of the biggest reasons why I chose to continue this was to bring a variety of faces and people that are good looking to me. Growing up in the UK since 2000, I have been surrounded by Caucasian faces. White, blonde, light eyes were majority of what I saw when I grew up and pretty soon I found that sexy and appealing as that was on TV, magazines and films. However, there is change taking place albeit slowly. It’s becoming more common to see people of different colours, shapes, sizes and tongues in the West and just like that, I want to continue this section to share the diverse Nepali faces BUT now with stories that I hope packs more of a punch.
Though this post doesn’t boast of high quality photos like you may have seen on previous Ramri Alert features, it definitely has better questions. Of course, some of us will always enjoy the questions where I ask people if they prefer this or that actor but I decided to give those fun and forgettable questions a break and dig slightly deeper. Enjoy this RAMRI ALERT feature with Sareeta Shri Gyawali!
LEX: Hi Sareeta, Thank you so much for making some time for the blog. First off, you are a face that many wake up with every morning on Good Morning Nepal, how has the ride been so far?
SAREETA: Thank you Lex – for this opportunity to answer few of your questions for Ramri Alert and making me feel beautiful. Feels great! Talking about Good Morning Nepal, we are almost a year old and will be celebrating our one year anniversary on Dec 16th. It has been a great journey so far. Having to wake up at 5AM every day and going live is not something that I thought I was capable of but awesome co-workers and the platform where we can share our views and opinions on concurrent issues and hot topics makes it very intriguing. The fact that media plays a vital role in changing the society and us being able to contribute to it is very exciting.
LEX: I don’t envy the early wake-up call! As it’s a live show, can you share any hiccups or hilarious moments that have happened when you’ve been on?
SAREETA: Oh My God! Tell me about it! First of all, I am a very laid back and take it easy kind of person from what I have heard from my family and friends. My presence makes any formal event informal. So now you can imagine a person like that on national television going live every morning! Small glitches happen almost every day which we laugh off as our show is not scripted. But the worst one was when I said, “Namaskar and you are watching Good Morning America” Yikes!! Not once but twice. “So, you still think you are in America”, was the comment made by boss, Mr. Bhushan Dahal when he met me. After that I made sure I always said Good Morning Nepal and have been doing a good job so far!
LEX: That’s actually hilarious! Outside of the TV box, you are also the Principal of Corona School. How did this come about?
SAREETA: I have been the principal of Corona School for the past eight years. This happened after my husband and me decided to move back to Nepal for good and we thought what could be better than sharing our knowledge and experience that we learned abroad with smaller children. It feels like I am a mother of not jut two kids at home but also of 400 kids at school. It is a big family and I am loving it. The best part is when we share something to a child we are not just sharing it with them. They go home and they share it with their parents, grandparents and their relatives. This way we are sharing and educating the entire community. It feels awesome to be able to raise the globally compatible next generation of our country.
LEX: In terms of education that one receives in Nepal, what do you believe can be counted as a strength of students in Nepal?
SAREETA: I personally believe that the quality of high school education here in Nepal provided by the private sector is in fact better than most countries in the world. I wish I could say this about the overall condition. Knowing the fact that good education is the basic right of a child, the government lacks the effort in public schools. However, awareness about the importance of education and good teachers and teaching materials has increased drastically in later days and here’s to hoping that not only the private sector but also the government schools and education sector are equally compatible. Since we are mark sheet/result oriented, I think Nepali students are academically strong/book strong.
LEX: Staying on the area of education again, this happens to be one area that many people strongly believe in needing a major improvement. What do family, friends, teachers need to do in order to make wholesome students that go onto become a fine young adult in your view?
SAREETA: More practical learning is what we lack. Parents/ teachers are happy as long as they have good marks on their tests and exams. I think it makes it difficult for a student to enter the real world with just the book knowledge. Student exchange/interns/practical should be a part of learning to prepare our students for tomorrow. At the same time, updated teaching materials and regular teachers training should be provided to the teachers as they are mentors of these kids who have access to internet and smart phones these days.
LEX: Ramri Alert – as a feature often makes one think of beauty and beauty only. What makes you feel ramri or ramro?
SAREETA: Being content with who you are makes you ramri/ramro. Good attitude toward the rest of the world makes you feel good. Good looking face nice physique, good fashion sense is obviously an icing on the cake!
LEX: As a woman who works, is a mother and a family person – you are in the group of women that are juggling these different roles and making it happen. What else do you aspire to achieve in the coming days?
SAREETA: As Shakespeare said this world is a stage and we all are the characters playing our roles, I think that’s all what I have done so far as a woman at work, a mother and a family person doing my things and fulfilling my responsibilities. But if you ask about me personally, I have yet to live my life. I am a dreamer, a believer and haven’t really done anything yet! Hopefully in the days to come I will make myself and family and my country proud of me.
LEX: The accessibility to social media today has brought much good and bad. Unfortunately, many feel pressured to be beautiful, to have a flawless skin, a good body, muscles, to be fair, to have bigger eyes – whats your perception on beauty?
SAREETA: It is totally up to you on how you take things around you. Either you rule otherwise your surrounding will rule your world. This pressure has always been around. Nowadays it is social media but there has always been society, family and friends. I was raised as the only tanned skinned kid in my family and my entire family happened to be fair. Everyone who came to visit us mentioned “lau chori chai kali bhayechha, chora kasto goro”. But I never let those comments get to me and have never used fairness creams. I felt bad when people passed those comments but soon I realised how blessed I was to have this skin! Again it all depends on how you see the cup, half empty or half full?
FEATURED ON RAMRI ALERT
SITARA WEBSTER . SUSHMA KARKI . ASMEE SHRESTHA . SADICHHA SHRESTHA . SHIVANGINI RANA . NEELAM CHAND . PRAKRITI SHRESTHA . ANISA GURUNG . REBINA RAI . MIRUNA MAGAR . NEHA BANU . SURABHI MANANDHAR . SANDHYA KC .
FEATURED ON THITO ALERT
PRITU BASKOTA . RAKESH LAMA . SHRIJAL RUPAKHETI . BISWAS THAPA . AYUSHMAN DS JOSHI . SUSHIL SHRESTHA . SANGIT SHRESTHA . SUGAM SINGH .
Please feature Indira Joshi also.