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Mishal Moktan


Mishal Moktan shops for vegetables one evening during load shedding. Before she came to Kathmandu, Mishal says she was very fat because she had to do a lot of manual labor. She estimates her weight then was 60 or 65 kg.

Malai Chitta Bujhdaina. I' Not Satisfied.


Mishal Moktan is originally from eastern Nepal and arrived in Kathmandu about five years ago. In that time, she has been unable to find a steady job. Many young women compromise their dignity or sell their bodies in some way to find employment in Kathmandu, Mishal says, which is something she is unwilling to do.

Mishal completed a diploma course in fashion design and now studies at a college in Baneshwor. She is supported in part by an American family friend. Mishal recently traveled abroad for the first time to work as a costume designer and coordinator for a series of music programs in Singapore and Malaysia. She is hoping she will be able to continue doing this kind of work.

Mishal has lived alone for many years in a rented room, though her father has recently joined her for an extended stay.