AKRON, Ohio _ It's an unlikely place to catch a glimpse of the Himalayas.
Inside a nondescript storefront, up the stairs and down a hall covered in old, gray industrial carpet and lined with a few vaguely inspirational posters, there's a small room with an extra-large poster reading "Himalayan Music Academy," with pictures of traditional instruments underneath the title. Next to it is a corkboard with a colorful flier touting an upcoming Cultural Event 2017 at North High School.
In this, the academy's main classroom, a group of girls ages 6 to 9 were learning about their culture. Their tiny shoes and socks haphazardly lining the hallway, the girls were trying to follow their teacher as he showed them a traditional Nepalese dance.
As the thumping, uptempo song blared, instructor Bikram Gurung, a small, thin, lithe man, led the cadre of youngsters. The dance was smooth with a slow and deliberate combination of flowing arm and hand movements coupled with careful steps and small skips and hops; it sometimes resembled a low-key Bollywood number in slow motion.
Periodically, Gurung shouted out instructions in Nepalese and the dancers seemingly complied, but getting 10 girls to move in perfect unison is more of a noble goal than a reality.
When one or two messed up, Gurung playfully mocked them, everyone smiled and laughed and the whole group reset from the top. Nearby, a couple of parents sat in chairs lining the wall and smiled at each run-through.
"It's very good. Good to see," one mom said, nodding and gesturing at her little one, elegantly spreading her arms like a blooming flower while rocking mismatched socks.
Though Gurung spoke to them in Nepalese, many of the students were born in America. In addition to teaching traditional and contemporary dance and music, the academy also offers free basic Nepalese language classes for anyone, so the kids can learn to communicate with their elders.
Meanwhile in the other classroom at the school, Indra Subedi, an adult who drives from Erie, Pa. every Saturday, sat on a Persian rug on the floor learning the rhythmic intricacies of the tabla from instructor Josh Sherman. Within the next few hours, there would also be an improv class, a classical guitar class and harmonium instruction.
BRAINS OF THE OPERATION
The person behind all this activity, cultural exchange and education is Puspa Gajmer, 32. Gajmer first came to America in 2011 with his wife, Shanti, landing in Illinois where he worked and furthered his studies at Black Hawk College in Moline.
"It was very hard to figure out things there, because it was a new place and the [Nepalese] community was very small," Gajmer said, sitting behind his corner desk in the academy's offices. The small room also houses a keyboard and a full drum set.
After the birth of their son Amir, now 4, the growing Gajmer family was looking for a more welcoming environment.
"We had lots of people here, some of our friends, our relatives, and they told us this was the good area, so we came to Akron," he said.
They arrived in 2013 and Gajmer soon began giving music lessons to the Nepalese community out of his house. His students and friends suggested he get a place "so it will be more professional," he said.
But rather than simply rent a room in the back of a music store, Gajmer dreamed big and founded the Himalayan Music Academy in 2016, gathering a staff of talented instructors from Bhutan and Nepal, and a few Americans too.
The academy allows him to fulfill his desire to teach and share the cultures of Damphu, Bhutan, where he was born, and of Nepal, where he grew up in a refugee camp.
In the early 1990s, Gajmer's Nepalese family was forced to leave Bhutan along with around 100,000 others, due to prejudice and ethnic cleansing by the Bhutanese government. He was only about 5 years old.
"My memories of my home country are like a dream," Gajmer said, and growing up in a refugee camp was "very difficult, stressful."
During the 20-plus years he spent at the camp, he learned English and studied classical guitar, earning a bachelor of arts degree from Tribhuvan University. He taught music and language classes to his fellow refugees and at nearby schools.
Gajmer now works full time as a medical interpreter at the nearby International Institute of Akron, and at Asian Services in Action Inc. in Cleveland and the Vocalink Language Service. He's also studying music at the University of Akron.
He spends most of his off-time at the school teaching, drumming up community support and organizing Saturday's show, which he considers a coming-out party for the school, a way to reach out to the burgeoning Nepalese population and the Akron community at large.
"We are excited about all of these things. We have so many different programs here. And this isn't just for our community, it's open to all. We hope to help everyone in the community," Gajmer said.
IMPROV EXERCISES
Later that day, Katie Beck, founder and artistic director of the Gum-Dip Theatre, was surrounded by five shoeless young men.
Beck led the group in improv exercises such as the Hi-Ya game, the freeze game and "What are you doing?" Between threatening each other with imaginary weapons, acting out dreams about dancing cats, and warding off girlfriend-stealing ghosts, they were honing their dramatic and comedic skills, flexing their English and just having fun expressing themselves.
Neema Tamang, 20, is the oldest of the group and acts as translator between Beck and the rest of the guys when needed. Back home in Nepal, Tamang and his family had nothing. But in middle school, he found solace and creativity in acting.
Three and a half years ago, Tamang's family was forced to leave Nepal, coming to Akron with less than they had and no idea what or who they would find when they got here.
"It's a lot of difficulty, but it became common for us. But not our parents, who are still trying and learning to adapt here and there is still struggle, but they will one day," Tamang said after class.
Tamang once again picked up acting with a small group of friends who collectively founded the Suruwat Theater.
"I just wanted to do something creative. We were struggling to do something so we came to Himalayan Music Academy," he said.
Tamang and his crew met Beck, who helped them with acting and improv techniques, as well as focus and direction.
"Before, we didn't know anything. We'd get together and discuss about it, but we didn't know anything professionally," Tamang said. "But now she teaches a lot of things about the theater and it's really cool and I'm so happy and so glad to meet her."
Beck, a North Hill resident, met Gajmer at a cultural event at Cuyahoga Falls High in 2016. She brought some fliers translated by Google into the Nepali language, hoping to recruit interesting artists.
"Then I was introduced to Puspa. He laughed at my bad translations and we've been friends ever since," she said, noting she takes the Nepali classes to help her speak with her neighbors.
Several of the student actors are also appearing in Nepali Applause, a cross-cultural exchange and bilingual variety show highlighting the Nepali community the weekend of May 27 at the Exchange House Akron, which Beck and Gum-Dip are organizing. The students have left Beck impressed.
"I think they're fantastic! To be honest, I thought improv might be difficult as English-as-second-language speakers, but they are so creative and energetic that it doesn't matter," she said.
"Plus, with Nepal being the dance country of the world, these artists are incredible physical storytellers. They have a great sense of space and body so it allows their improv to be visually interesting."
FOLK SEXTET ADDS MUSIC
As part of the effort to share their culture and become part of the community, Gajmer and his Nepali folk sextet, Druk Fusion, play whenever they can.
Last summer, they performed Ukali Orali Haruma, a traditional Nepali song, with the Akron Symphony, and earlier this year they performed at the Big Love Festival. The band's short set mixed folk songs with a couple of contemporary Nepali tunes, and for maximum cross-pop-culture outreach, an instrumental take on My Heart Will Go On from the hit film Titanic.
Playing the melody on bansuri (a bamboo flute), Suhshil Bishwakarma imbued the treacly tune with a layer of emotion that even Celine Dion couldn't manage.
Bishwakarma is also an instructor at the academy, teaching flute and harmonium. Back in Nepal, he was an award-winning recording artist, performer, educator and songwriter who has had his compositions recorded by popular Nepalese artists; you can check out his 2000 album Music From Nepal (Peace & Harmony in Bamboo Flute) on iTunes and his YouTube channel.
He moved to Akron in 2016, leaving his wife and grown daughter in New York City, and his two sons are still in Nepal. When not teaching harmonium or flute, he works at Delta Systems in Streetsboro, which he admits is not quite as enjoyable as being a professional musician. But he enjoys every time he gets to perform and is looking forward to the big gig at North High.
"It will be good," Bishwakarma said, seated on the floor next to his harmonium.
His student, Jagat Subedi, first landed in Philadelphia which was "OK," he said, but too densely populated and without enough on-street parking. So he and a friend from Nepal decided to "find someplace better," and moved to Akron.
Teacher and student ran through a few songs, including one of Bishwakarma's originals that will be performed at the show by Nepali singer Pratap Subba.
RECITAL REHEARSAL
In the next room, Sherman and student Indra Subedi (no relation to Jagat) rehearsed for Subedi's first tabla recital at the show on Saturday. Sherman, who has studied the tabla for a dozen years, met Gajmer at the Bhutanese Community Center and was glad to help out at the academy. Sherman plays in several local groups and he and members of his kirtan band, Enchanted Heart, will be performing Saturday.
"Anybody interested that's serious about in learning tabla, it was hard for me so I can feel for that urge to learn, so I'm happy to try and pass along whatever I can," Sherman said.
Subedi, a quality supervisor at a plastics company, has been making the 140-mile drive from Erie each weekend for about three months and feels almost ready for his debut.
"Not for the good part, but I think what I've learned I might be able to express it well," he said.
Subedi's reason for four hours of driving each week is simple: "We don't have any music academies or anything like this," Subedi said.
"So I've had a lot of interest to learn music from my childhood, but when I was back home it was really hard and challenging for me because of financial issues. We didn't have financial aid to buy instruments like these. But we are able to here, and so I don't care about two or four hours of driving. I just love to come here and learn something."
