PASSIONATE: Rajendra Kumar Thapa during a shoot.
Rajendra Kumar Thapa, a Nepali expatriate working as a driver, and his wife Kirti Thapa, who started working as a security guard, have been together in Qatar since 2014. The couple is getting popular among the Nepali expatriate community for their acting talent. They have paired up in different music videos shot in Qatar.
Rajendra started his life in Qatar in 2012 as a driver. Kirti has recently been promoted as a cashier. Rajendra takes more interest in shooting the video. He has so far acted in four videos and directed another four. Kirti recently joined him and acted opposite her husband in a video.
The Thapa couple comes from a middle class family in Kathmandu, capital of Nepal. They have a 10-year-old daughter, who is staying with her grandparents in Nepal. Rajendra was 24 and Kriti 17 when they married in 2006. Rajendra earlier tried his luck in Iran and other Middle Eastern countries before coming to Qatar.
Rajendra said, “When I came here, I had a very simple aim to earn some money and return after two years.” He added, “The environment here is good and I get respect for what I do, a rare thing in other countries where I had been earlier.” As his confidence grew, Rajendra brought his wife to Qatar.
Kirti, who has completed her high school education, carries a strong desire of becoming financially independent. The determined Kirti worked as a receptionist to fund her education after the marriage.
Kirti praised her mother-in-law and said, “She cared for me like her own daughter, which enabled me to come and work here with my husband.” She feels comfortable in Qatar and said, “I don’t feel inferior to men. I have equal rights.”
The couple has been managing to save half of their combined income and send some money to Nepal.
DETERMINED: Kriti Thapa
They want their daughter to become a medical doctor.
“If time and money is on our side, there will be nothing to stop our daughter from becoming a doctor,” Rajendra said. He has also been able to support the education of his younger brother in Nepal. He has also bought some land in Kathmandu.
Rajendra is a good dancer, too. He has performed during Qatar National Day celebrations as a representative of the Nepali community. He is the general secretary of Nepali Cultural Family (NCF).
He has directed many musical programmes and has already earned a lot of appreciation for his musical videos. Rajendra has a strong desire to work as an actor in the entertainment world.
Kirti also performs as a dancer in community programmes. The couple exemplify how one does not need to have a highly paid job to stay happy in Qatar.
