Some 76 years ago, in Aathrai, Eastern Hills, there was no proper education and transportation facility. One had to travel three to four hours by foot to reach the nearest school. Because of such poor conditions, many people were deprived of education. Even in such difficult times, the family of Prajapati Prasai decided to send him to a school that was very far from home.
As Prajapati Prasai, alias PP, began attending school, his interest in studies continued to grow. He passed the School Leaving Certificate (now Secondary Education Examination) on the first attempt, which was a big deal back then. After completing SLC, he did not want to limit himself to that level of qualification; he wanted to come to Kathmandu for further studies, so he asked his family to send him to Kathmandu.
His family was surprised as sending Kathmandu was not an easy thing, especially for those who had fewer connections in the city. The family was worried about his accommodation, food and other necessary things. However, he convinced his family by saying that he would not only study but also find a job that would benefit the entire family.
In 1965 he arrived in Kathmandu. He did not have anyone in Kathmandu, neither relatives nor someone he knew. Then he began to search for a job. One day as he was strolling around Basantapur, he encountered a foreigner. The foreigner asked, “Can you help me?” Then with basic knowledge of English, he described the foreigner about Durbar Square. The foreigner was very happy with him and PP was also delighted to have helped. It was his first time speaking with a foreigner.
It was the time when tourists from other countries started to come to Nepal. Gradually, Kathmandu was becoming popular among foreigners. Seeing all these things PP realised that there was a wider opportunity in the tourism sector.
At that time, Dwarika Das Shrestha and Ambika Shrestha had just opened Kathmandu Travels, a travel agency. PP got a job there.
After working for some time in Kathmandu Travels, PP wanted to start his own business. At that time there were a handful of travel agencies in Kathmandu, that used to serve foreign tourists.
Due to his experience in the travel agency, he thought that starting a travel agency would be a good idea for him and his family. Then he moved ahead to learn about the procedures for starting a travel agency.
And, one fine day in 1967, he opened Natraj Tours and Travels, his travel agency, near Ghantaghar, Kathmandu.
Currently, Natraj Tours and Travels is in its 57 years. Over time, Natraj Tours and Travels became the leading travel agency in Nepal and the most popular travel agency among international tourists. It’s all because of his hard work, loyalty and friendly nature.
On September 5, 1999, PP travelled to Pokhara for official work. While returning to Kathmandu from Pokhara in the aircraft of Necon Air, the aircraft crashed upon arrival in Kathmandu, resulting in the deaths of everyone on board, including PP.
At that time, PP’s son Shikher was studying in Australia. After the crash, Shikher’s sister Shika called him, informed him about the accident, and asked him to come to Nepal immediately.
When Shikher asked Shika for more details, she cried and replied, “We lost our father.”
At first, he could not process the news. He felt a heavy weight in his heart, and tears fell, but he managed to control himself. And on the next day, he returned to Nepal.
Shikher had a hard time comforting his mother, Sharada, and his sister, Shika. Sharada is likely the first woman to have obtained a government tourist guide licence.
Shikher completed the rituals, but afterwards, he was uncertain about what to do next in his career. He had no option except to run Natraj Tours and Travels. So without completing his higher education, he took responsibility for Natraj Tours and Travels.
He thought that he needed to take care of the family and continue the legacy of his father and take Natraj Tours and Travels to another level.
For the past two and a half decades, Shikher has been running Natraj Tours and Travels, continuing his father’s legacy. He has worked tirelessly to advance the organisation.
“Natraj Tours and Travels would have achieved another height if my father was alive,” says Shikher. “It took me a long time to understand the organisation. I was very young when I started to work.”
He always misses the presence and guidance of his father.
“I had a plan to work together with my father after completing my education,” he says.
Although Shikher did not complete his university degree in Australia, he believes that the experience and knowledge he gained from working at Natraj Tours and Travels surpass what any university could offer.
Shikher also became secretary and president of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) -Nepal Chapter. He also worked on the working committee of the Nepal Association of Tour Operators (NATO), Nepal Mountaineering Federation, Young Presidents Organization-Nepal Chapter, Rotary Club and other organisations.
With two and a half decades of experience, Shikher feels that Nepal has not yet been fully promoted in the international tourism market. He believes there is still much work to be done in developing the tourism industry.
“Due to lack of infrastructure, we haven’t been able to bring sufficient numbers of tourists,” says Shikher. “Along with backpackers, we should also focus on luxurious tourists as soon as possible.”
The tourism business started by his father through manual methods is now being transformed into a digital operation by Shikher. He undertook this modernization with an eye on the future generations.
Shikher has recently launched Trip Turbo Nepal to digitise Natraj Tours and Travel’s work. This Trip Turbo Nepal digitally does all tourism-related work like air service, cargo, tours, hotel, trekking, mountaineering and others.
Its mobile app has also been launched and it has been downloaded 40,000 times on Google Play Store.
“The tourism business that my children will do will be digital. The thing we did manually will be done by a click,” says Shikher. “I hope my father is happy seeing whatever we have been doing.”
