It is so amazing that my mother, Ratna Devi Shrestha, just turned 90 few days back. I am blessed to be her daughter, along with my elder brother Vijay and sister Neelam. My mother has taught me so much, even though she didn’t get an opportunity for formal education. Everything that I know today, I learned from her.

One common query we receive from people living outside Nepal is “Can I send gifts to my family in Nepal from Australia? (or USA, France, Germany, etc.) The answer is yes! Let’s walkthrough how you can order Aji’s online gift shop from anywhere in the world for delivery in Kathmandu.

Grandmothers and knitting are as intertwined as the knitted products they make. That’s why even our logo features a ball of yarn and knitting needles! In fact, the inspiration for Aji’s came from a grandmother and her knitted socks. Here we put together a list of hand-knitted woolen products made by grandmothers in Nepal that you can purchase to support their work.

As Father’s day approaches in Nepal, we thought we’d put together this gift guide to help you with your shopping. All of Aji’s products are handmade by our inspiring home-based elderly makers. You can order these gifts online for deliveries in Kathmandu via our order form. For international orders, please visit our Etsy store.

Written by: Ravi Vaidya, 70 years old yoga practitioner and teacher

In my younger days, I practiced various exercises such as boxing, karate, tai chi, and weightlifting. These exercises helped me work on my physical body and learn different fighting techniques. But they didn’t strengthen my inner body as much. I really wanted to strengthen my mental and emotional health and that is when I discovered yoga.

As we enter month two of this COVID-19 lockdown, we at Aji’s have been creating new ways to continue our mission of empowering the elderly to live happy and healthy lives. While sales of our products have completely vanished, we’ve switched our focus on producing podcasts, videos, and blogs to keep our community of elders and their grandchildren engaged.

We asked our community on Facebook and Instagram to share pictures of how their grandparents were spending their time during this month-long COVID-19 lockdown. Below is what we received. Thank you to to everyone who contributed!

Recently BBC Reel published a video titled “The ancient practice of self-isolation” about the Lhasa Newa ritual of quarantine for merchants returning from Lhasa. This particular picture (see above) caught our attention because it featured the 87 years old Jagat Ratna Tuladhar who was on the first episode of Aji’s Podcast to speak about his Lhasa journeys!

Kon (कों) is a traditional face and body scrub made of natural and edible ingredients which are easily available in any Nepalese kitchen. Kon has been around for a long time as an alternative for soap in Newari culture. The main ingredients that make up this traditional scrub are orange peel, barley, rice, lentils, chickpea, beaten rice which are dried up and beaten to fine powder.

After a successful knitting and crocheting workshop at Nirmal Batika Academy last year, we organized another workshop this year on February 15, 2020 at Paropakar Orphanage Girls’ Hostel in Bhimsensthan, Kathmandu. Paropakar Organization which manages Paropakar Orphanage Girls’ Hostel is one of Nepal’s earliest NGOs founded by social worker Daya Bir Singh Kansakar.

It’s mid-december and christmas shopping is in full swing. Below are some great suggestions of meaningful and useful gifts that’ll help decorate your home and keep you warm. As with all Aji’s products, these wonderful handmade items are made by home-based elderly makers in Nepal.

The Nepali Dhaka fabric is most prominently seen in the Dhaka topis (hats) worn by men in Nepal along with their traditional daura surwal attire. The Newari community in Kathmandu has made this versatile fabric their own by wrapping it in a layer of soft muslin cloth and using it to create a variety of different products. Given the long history of this fabric in Nepalese culture, it is no surprise that this is the fabric of choice for many elderly makers of Aji’s community.

On September 12, 2019 we organized our very first knitting and crocheting workshop at Nirmal Batika Academy in Kathmandu taught by the skillful makers of Aji’s community. We had 74 year old Nina Pathak, 73 year old Sushila Sthapit, 64 year old Ram Oyaru Shrestha, and 58 year old Shakuntala Rana teach 25 girls and boys from grade 7 and 8. This event was made possible by a generous grant we received from IFAD Staff Help Fund for which we are very grateful!

Our elders have a wealth of knowledge to share, particularly the traditional skills which are in danger of being forgotten and lost. As a way to pass on these skills, we here at Aji’s collaborated with #MakerKT to kick off our first of many workshops called Legacy Series. The first one was on Yomari making and took place on 25 August 2019 at Raithaane.

A frequent question we get asked by friends visiting Kathmandu is “What unique Nepali gifts or souvenirs can I buy to take home with me?” Please allow us to offer a few suggestions. What makes these gifts unique? They are handcrafted products that are rooted in our history and culture, and you know exactly who made it: home-based elderly makers with incredible life stories.

Written by Aji’s Maker Pragya Shakya

यो गीत एउटा लबस्टोरी को गीत हो | म ११/१२ वर्ष को हुँदा "ख प्याखं" भनेर टोल टोलम़ा मंच बनाएर नाच देखाउने चलन थियो | त्यतिखेरै टिपेको गीत यो हो | यसको रचनाकार को हो मलाई थाहा छैन, यो गीत को सिर्सक के हो पनि मलाई याद छैन | शब्दहरु चाही याद छ | म प्रज्ञा देवी शाक्य हो | म श्रीबहालमा बस्छु |

We have received many messages asking how one can involve their parents and grandparents with Aji’s. So we thought we’d lay it out for you in this post.

In the short time that we got to know her, she left a lasting impression on all of us, including Aji’s team members, the journalists that interviewed her, people who bought her Mheecha pouches, and people who got to know her through videos and articles about her.