Return to Nepal a sweet experience for Aanchal
Covid-19 made Aanchal Dutt realize she needed to be closer to her parents in Nepal so she left New Delhi after graduation and opened The Cake Shop
Aanchal Dutt is one of a very small minority of Nepalis who are immigrating to the country instead of emigrating. But her/their story is important to hear if Nepal is to slow the now torrential flow of people leaving the country for what they hear are better opportunities abroad.
Since I’ve been working on the revamped Nepal Now podcast, I’m quite sure that Aanchal is the only young Nepali I’ve met who hasn’t wanted to migrate and has actually returned here. The Cake House is now thriving, as a family affair, which I’m happy to say I witnessed when I was in Surkhet. (Btw, if you need a recommendation, the favourite sweet is cheesecake).
Aanchal has also fallen in love with an alternative school that practises an holistic approach to learning, and is teaching English there. She says she understands why young people are leaving the country, but passionately urges them to return to help build a better Nepal.
Aanchal’s full story is the latest issue of my podcast, now called Nepal Now: On the Move (since it focuses on migration, of all sorts, to and from Nepal, and within the country). You can listen to it on all podcast apps or on my podcast website.