I was not born blind. I got an eye allergy and when I went to the doctors, they gave me the wrong medicine because of which I developed glaucoma in my eyes. By the age of 16, I was completely blind.

How bad was the situation?

In the initial phase, losing my sight was not easy. I was completely shocked. It took me a while to accept that I was blind—I was in denial. My family took me to the hospital plenty of times and that kept my hopes up. But it was actually the questions that the society raised that made me uncomfortable: like I would’t have a career now, I wouldn’t be able to work and that my life was completely over. It made me extremely insecure and I started doubting myself and wondered if what people were saying were actually true. But I started feeling that my sight wasn’t that important anyway; I decided to never let my blindness be an excuse.

What was one of the biggest challenges you faced after you lost your sight?

Continuing on with my education was the biggest challenge of all. Private colleges refused to give me a place in their institution. So, when I finally joined Padma Kanya in Dilli Bazaar, I knew that I had to give it all that I had. I wanted to prove everyone wrong and show them that being blind does not mean I’m stupid. I became the college-topper in my intermediate level—I topped the TU Board. I also managed to get the top spot in my bachelors; in fact, I topped all of Nepal in Nepali Literature and won a gold medal, which was presented to me by the then Prime Minister.

We heard you’re quite the twinkle toe. When did you decide you wanted learn and teach dancing