By Ishwar Chandra Jha, Kathmandu, Jan. 20: A lad dressed in Nepali formal dress -Daura Suruwal and Dhaka Topi- is seen interviewing people in streets of Down Town, one of the busiest parts of Toronto, Canada, on how much they were informed about Nepal.

A man in a group of two, to whom the question was asked, said that he didn’t know anything about Nepal, but the girl next to him said that Nepal was an Asian country, which bordered with India.

Chandan Upreti, 24, a Nepali national, staying in Canada, has started a new campaign of letting the Canadians know about Nepal and Visit Nepal Year (VNY) 2020.

Upreti makes videos by asking pedestrians about Nepal and then shares the video on series basis, on YouTube.

“This campaign would increase curiosity amongst foreigners about Nepal,” said Upreti. “The denizens would also be informed about Nepal and VNY 2020.”

I believe that I was able to help Nepal government to some extent to promote VNY 2020, said Upreti.

Toronto city is filled with diversities, people from all over the world live in this city. Hence, I believe that my campaign would inspire at least a few of them to visit Nepal.

Until now, Upreti has released two interview videos of the series, from a channel named ‘Ktm Keta’.

On the first video, Upreti had asked denizens about the geographical placement and identity of Nepal while in the second video, Upreti, was seen singing and dancing with the Down Town pedestrians, by being clad in Daura Surwal and Dhaka Topi.

Upreti said that he had to struggle a lot while asking questions to the pedestrians.

“Almost 50 per cent of the people deny to take interview,” he said. “However, those who agree for the interview answer the questions easily and they also seem curious to know more about Nepal.”

Majority of the people in Toronto city recognize Nepal as the country that hosts Mt. Everest.

The pedestrians also thank Upreti at times for letting them know more about Nepal.

“There are various ways through which we can make the Canadians know about the Nepali art, culture, lifestyle, geographical and cultural diversities and so foth.”

“We will be catering all the information about Nepal to the Canadians in our upcoming videos,” he said.

“While staying in Nepal for six months in 2008, I had explored various places of Nepal,” Upreti said. “Since then, I thought it was important for the entire world to know about the geographical and cultural diversity of Nepal.”

This is the major reason behind my campaign, he added.

 The number of Canadians visiting Nepal, of late, has been increasing. According to the department of immigration, 12,491 Canadians visited Nepal in 2016. Likewise, 15,125 in 2017 and over 17,000 Canadians came to Nepal in 2018.