Author: S. Thapa
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I Love You Too
I was sitting alone on a Sunday evening watching the Super Bowl. I know very little about football. I watch it once a year, just enough to follow conversations the next day at work. It is one of those American rituals that feels important even when you do not fully belong to it. The game…
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History Repeats, But This Time She Leads
From Pamphlets to TikTok: Nepal’s Movements Across Generations By Sanman Thapa | 9/15/2025 —***— Demonstrators gathered outside Nepal’s Parliament in Kathmandu on Monday. One organizer said events this week escalated out of their control. Prabin Ranabhat/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images I originally wrote this piece as an op-ed right after September 12, when The Guardian…
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A Photograph I Found in an Old Album
While looking through an old album, I found a photograph of my factory brothers in Kathmandu — a reminder that Labor Day is not just about rest, but about dignity, memory, and the unseen hands that shape our world.
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Labor, Loss, and Resilience: An Immigrant’s Journey You Haven’t Heard Before
We weren’t asking for higher wages or shorter hours. All we wanted was a small stove, some tea leaves, and a little sugar to make it through the night shift. But when dignity is denied in small ways, it chips away at your spirit. That’s when we realized—it was never just about tea. It was…
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Holding the Story in My Hands – Reflections from the LA Times Festival of Books
After months of pushing through the noise of marketing fatigue and self-publishing pressure, I found a moment of peace and purpose behind my book table at the LA Times Festival of Books. This post reflects on what it meant to share A Fight for a Cup of Chai with readers face-to-face—and why slow, authentic growth…
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A Fight for a Cup of Chai: A Journey Through Labor, Loss, and Hope
In A Fight for a Cup of Chai, the author takes readers on a compelling journey through the resilience and solidarity of garment factory workers in 1990s Nepal, set against the backdrop of political upheaval and social transformation. At the heart of the narrative is a young worker navigating the grueling realities of factory life,…

