Samikshya Adhikari, 20, was just thirteen when she first stepped into a recording studio in Kathmandu to record her debut song, Balapan Ko Umer, for the film Nai Na Bhannu La 5. The song became a runaway hit, catapulting her to early fame. Today, it has amassed more than one million views on YouTube.
As she entered the recording studio, she was overcome with joy. She was, after all, witnessing the moment her dreams began to take tangible shape. Having never before seen a studio filled with large recording equipment and gear, Adhikari stood there, poised to record her song.
The classroom song
Samikshya Adhikari’s musical journey began by coincidence. A team, including cinematographer Purushottam Pradhan, reached Lahachowk in Kaski, Adhikari’s village, to shoot the film, Chhakka Panja. The team set up the shoot at the school where Samikshya studied.
During that time, Purushottam Pradhan heard Adhikari sing. Her voice was completely natural, free from any artificiality. Pradhan made her sing a song in the classroom, which he recorded and uploaded to YouTube.
A short while later, the production team of the film Nai Nabhannu La 5 was in the middle of preparations. Since the film’s story revolved around child artists, they were searching for a child’s voice for a song. While searching for an appropriate voice, Adhikari’s vocals caught the ear of composer Basanta Sapkota.
Subsequently, under the special direction of Basanta Sapkota, Adhikari came to Kathmandu and recorded her debut song.
Caught for curiosity
After recording her first song, she returned to her village. The song was released on YouTube. She was eager to hear the song in her own voice, but there was no internet at home. Wi-Fi was only available at school.
Driven by the urge to hear the song, Samikshya gathered the courage to break the school’s code of conduct and secretly took a mobile phone to school. However, the teachers quickly found out. While she was going to the tap with a friend to drink water, a teacher caught her red-handed.
Samikshya faced physical punishment, and her mobile phone was confiscated for several days. Today, she finds it quite amusing to look back on that incident.
The overnight popularity
CD Vijay Adhikari, from the same village, became the winner of the reality show The Voice of Nepal. Following his victory, there was a notable presence of media personnel in the village.
It was then that Adhikari also caught the media’s eye. Soon, a crowd of YouTubers and journalists started interviewing her in the village. Videos showing what Samikshya does in the village, who her friends are, and her daily routine began to appear everywhere. In fact, Adhikari became popular overnight. When many asked her, “What do you want to be in the future?” she would confidently reply, “Singer.”
Success, struggles and comeback
From that time until today, Samikshya Adhikari has become one of the most sought-after and listened-to names in the Nepali musical field. She has recorded over a thousand songs and has done dozens of national and international shows.
However, as quickly as she climbed the ladder of success, she also had to fight through the darkest and worst times of her life. In one sense, Adhikari didn’t have to struggle much to start her career, but to protect and sustain that success, she had to engage in a harsh struggle with society.
At a very young age, she witnessed the peak of her life’s progress and also suffered through a deep pit of downfall. Yet, amidst this storm, she remained unshakeable. Instead, she continued to make herself stronger and more mature from within.
Digital resistance
Silence and tolerance are no longer Adhikari’s only weapons. Recently, she has launched a courageous campaign of “digital resistance” against cyberbullying and harassment on social media. Joining forces with singer Eleena Chauhan, she began a strong counter-attack by making public the IDs of harassers who slandered her private life and her past.
This step taken by Adhikhari, to turn society away from the tendency of cursing and abusing everything and toward rationality, is now receiving strong support from high levels of the state, fellow artists like actor Deepak Raj Giri, and ordinary citizens. By sending the message that one must stand up and face wrongs rather than endure them in silence, Adhikari has become a powerful icon not just for the musical stage but for justice and self-respect.
Nevertheless, Adhikari no longer wishes to open up much about those difficult times; she wants to forget them as much as possible. Instead, she simply wants to keep singing and remain immersed in her work. She possesses the strength and courage to return to her village and lead a normal life if, by some chance, this field gives her nothing more.
Perhaps Samikshya Adhikari has learned life’s most important lessons at a very young age. That is why today, she holds no arrogance from success, nor deep sorrow from grief.
She simply wishes to remain that same innocent, sweet, and graceful Samikshya who grew up in the village, no matter what happens or where she reaches, with a voice that possesses the same natural sweetness today as it did yesterday.
