“I was in Pokhara on vacation when I took this picture. I was at Mikes Restaurant in Lakeside having breakfast and chitchatting with a few tourists. As we were chatting they pointed me towards these kids. So without much thought I took this picture. After four months I came across this picture and I realized I had captured a moment. I thought I should send this in a photography competition and so I did and I won. My photography journey started with this picture. And my search for her begun. I contacted a few friends who lived in Pokhara and requested them to look around. They looked around and asked the fishermen around that area if they had seen her but no one seemed to have any information on her whereabouts. Time passed and the picture started to gain popularity in newspapers and went on to win many other competitions and was even turned into a painting. My search for her is still on. I have visited Pokhara several times in the last three years and spent time looking for her but she’s nowhere. When people admire the picture I wish I could let her know, tell her how people have liked her picture and what it means to me.”

– Rashik Maharjan, Kathmandu