Bengaluru, Sept. 10 -- Long before he became a household name as Kathmandu's mayor and a potential candidate for Nepal's Prime Minister, Balendra Shah was a young student in Karnataka. Known popularly as "Balen," the 35-year-old's journey from civil engineering classrooms to hip-hop stages and now the corridors of Nepalese power is as unconventional as it is inspiring.
Shah pursued structural engineering at Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) at Belagavi in Karnataka, immersing himself in rigorous academics while also absorbing the dynamic culture of the state, where technology, creativity, and youth energy collide.
Away from textbooks, Shah found his voice in music. The underground hip-hop scene in Nepal had long called to him, b...