Arrive & listen
We sit together and talk about childhood, family, education, transport, work, hardship, rituals and the small details of everyday life.
Katha Hijo Ko · Stories from Yesterday
Before a memory disappears, we listen.
Katha Hijo Ko preserves the lived memories of Nepal’s elders through long-form conversations, photography and film—while offering practical support with dignity whenever we can.
History is not only in monuments. It is also in the people who remember.
Where it began
One lost recording made the mission urgent.
I’m Sujan, and the first version of Katha Hijo Ko began in 2014, when I recorded my grandfather. Those early files were later lost. After he passed away, I understood that when a person goes, an entire library of ordinary history can disappear with them.
During COVID, I was finally able to restart the idea properly. I began with about AUD $1,600 in savings, early support from Sukha e.V. in Germany, and a small volunteer team. At one point, eight active members were working with us, with others helping behind the scenes.
The project grew from a personal regret into a promise: record the voices while they are still here.
What we actually do
Slow documentary work, not quick content.
We travel to communities, spend real time with elders—often people aged 75 and over—and build enough trust for memories to surface naturally.
Record living memory
Photography, video and conversation turn firsthand experience into an archive future generations can see, hear and feel.
Care beyond the camera
Where possible, we also provide essentials such as rice, lentils, salt and sugar, and sometimes small financial support.
“A story that sounds impossible today may have been someone’s ordinary Tuesday.”
Why this matters
Nepal’s everyday history is under-recorded.
For much of the 20th century, cameras were expensive and uncommon. Visitors often photographed mountains and monuments, while the daily lives of ordinary Nepalis were far less documented. That leaves a fragile gap in visual memory.
Some elders remember walking for days to obtain salt. One recalled the King of Nepal coming to his village to recruit men into the army. Firsthand memories like these show how much a country can change inside one lifetime.
Preservation
Respect
Community
Authenticity
Stories carried by Nepal’s elders
Nepal
The archive today
The database is part of the story now.
Instead of treating the About page as a static brochure, this section reads the current public archive directly from the site’s SQL tables. As elders, posts and team members are published, these figures update with the website.
0Elder profiles online
0Published posts
0Public team profiles
How we choose to work
Trust before clicks.
What makes Katha Hijo Ko different is not a camera or an editing style. It is the amount of time we are willing to give a person.
Dignity before drama
We are not chasing a viral reaction. Elders are people first and subjects second. The conversation should feel human before it feels cinematic.
Time creates truth
A rushed interview gets answers. A full day can reveal memories, relationships, pauses and details that would otherwise never reach the camera.
Preservation has a future
A recording that feels ordinary now can become invaluable decades later—for families, researchers, filmmakers and future generations.
Funding transparency
Support goes back into the work.
Katha Hijo Ko began through personal savings, support from my wife, early assistance from Sukha e.V., and later a GoFundMe campaign. There is no personal profit from contributions.
- 1Travel & fieldwork: reaching villages and spending the time needed to document stories properly.
- 2Food packages & practical help: basic support offered to elders where possible.
- 3Preservation & production: storing, editing and gradually publishing the material already recorded.
What comes next
Build an archive that outlives us.
The long-term goal is to preserve at least 1,000 elder stories, publish collected stories in book form, organise exhibitions and screenings, and grow kathahijoko.com into a deeper digital archive.
- Record and preserve at least 1,000 elder stories across Nepal.
- Publish a book that carries selected memories beyond the screen.
- Organise exhibitions and screenings in Nepal and abroad.
- Expand the digital archive so stories remain searchable and accessible.
A note about the unpublished interviews
Many interviews already recorded are not yet online. Approximately 60 elders have been documented, and the files are safely archived.
Each interview can take several days to edit, while the project is balanced alongside full-time work abroad. The delay is real, but the stories are not lost. They will be published gradually.
You can be part of this
You may know the next story we should preserve.
Nominate an elder, share a story with someone younger, volunteer your time, or help fund the travel and care that make this work possible.