Farming, fairs, haymaking, and daily household chores. This is how Kalpana Kumari Singh's daily life was spent. When she had free time from these tasks, she would sometimes post simple videos on the social media TikTok. She made such videos only with the intention of being remembered. But this video has made her famous.

One day, while attending a fair, she made a video of eating noodles on a coconut leaf. The video has been viewed more than 28 million times. After this, she became known to millions of viewers as 'Humli Buhari'. Today, she is making Humla's culture, lifestyle, and local products known to the world through social media.

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Kalpana, a resident of Marsidhara, Chankheli Rural Municipality, Humla, makes videos of the surrounding scenes whenever she has free time. She also posts those videos on TikTok and Facebook so that they will last for later. One day, while attending a fair, she made a video of herself grinding millet and eating noodles on a coconut leaf after finishing work. She ‘edited’ this video and posted it on TikTok. The video suddenly went ‘viral’. Everyone liked the video, which she posted in the usual way. ‘I had posted it so that if I put the video and photo on Facebook, TikTok, I could watch it later,’ she said. ‘I never thought that everyone would suddenly like it so much.’ Her video has been viewed by more than 28 million people so far.

After the TikTok video became popular, Kalpana’s followers have increased suddenly. She said that Current Noodles also sent money and noodles as gifts. ‘I had made a video of a fair.’ She didn’t mean to promote anyone,’ she said, ‘The noodle company sent noodles and cash saying the video was very good.’ After this, Kalpana became known to millions of viewers. Social media has given Kalpana a discussion that she never imagined. She said that she was very happy to see the discussion of the

video and that many viewers loved it. There was even a ‘trend’ of making videos like hers on TikTok. After that, Kalpana started receiving ‘paid promotion’ offers for products from various companies. ‘Many people ask me to advertise my products,’ she said, ‘but I have said that I will not make videos without using the products myself.’ It seems like why should I hurt others if the products are bad.’ Kalpana says that earning money is not everything. ‘The audience has liked my rural lifestyle. If you want to earn money, you can go abroad,’ she said, ‘but it is very difficult to earn someone’s trust and love.’

Kalpana’s TikTok includes videos of her extracting oil in Humla in a traditional way, dancing with a headscarf on her head, working in the fields and wearing traditional clothes, eating noodles, picking apples from the fields, dancing at a wedding, grazing cattle in the lake, and photos with her children and husband. Her more than 230 videos have more than one million views.

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Born in a normal family in Jajarkot, Kalpana passed her SEE from LMSA. After SEE, she studied veterinary medicine from Taratal in Bardiya. After this, she also did a 3-month 'OJT' in Khalanga and Barekot rural municipalities. Since childhood, she had a desire to get a government job. She said that she also prepared for the civil service for some time. After getting married in 2075 BS, the civil service preparation was abandoned. Kalpana is living in Humla with her family. She said that although it was difficult to live in Humla at first, she gradually got used to it. 'I lived in Jajarkot and Bardiya. The dialect, lifestyle, food and working methods of Humla were all different. I gradually learned everything,' she said.

Kalpana did not use social media before marriage. After marriage, her husband opened a Facebook and TikTok account. Although she did not post videos at first, she gradually started posting videos of farming, livestock and cattle. She had reached 16,000 followers on TikTok. But suddenly her TikTok account became a band. She opened another account called ‘Kalpana4’. Many people liked her TikTok videos from that ID. Or rather, she gained popularity.

Kalpana posts videos of daily chores, lip-synching, as well as village weddings, pujas, rituals, and traditions. She even adds her own voice to the videos. ‘Traditions vary from place to place. When you post such videos, people send messages and comments saying that you are learning about them for the first time,’ she said. She feels happier than that.’

Kalpana says that she keeps her mobile in one place to record videos. She says that she edits and posts the videos in the evening after finishing her household chores. ‘Other times, I don’t have time, I have a lot of work. I don’t think about leaving work to make videos. So I edit in the evening after finishing all my work and going to bed. Sometimes I post it at night. Sometimes I post it the next day,’ she said.

Since farming is seasonal in Humla, there is very little free time. ‘There is very little time to chat and make TikToks.’ She said, ‘There is a lot of work to do like pressing oil (mustard and walnut), harvesting millet, chickpeas and sorghum,’ she said. ‘Milk has to be harvested 3-4 times in a season.’

She said that she did not leave work and did not go on ‘TikTok Live’. She remembered going on a live show when she was harvesting millet 1-2 times. She said that while she was on TikTok Live, singers/artists offered to make TikToks of her songs and even offered to pay her.

Kalpana also said that she earns a good income from the reels she posts on Facebook. She has 587,000 followers on TikTok. Similarly, she has 739,000 followers on Facebook. She said that the income from TikTok and Facebook has made it easier to run the house and buy the things she likes. She said that she bought a new mobile phone with this income only some time ago.

After she made the video, the discussion about Humla apples

Kalpana feels that social media has also been a great help to Humla. She said that when she came to Humla after getting married, the fruits of Barika were not sold and were rotting. She said that it was very heartbreaking to see that even after finally reaching the market, the apples were not getting the price. ‘Earlier, the apples would just go to waste.’ Apples were also stolen. It made me sad that it did not benefit the farmers except for sorrow,’ she said. Then, thinking that it would help her, Kalpana made a video of Humla apples and posted it on TikTok. She said, 'After this, Are apples available in Humla too? There were many people asking . People started sending messages saying they wanted to order apples from Humla . Gradually, people started coming to the village to buy apples . Gradually, trucks started coming to the village to buy apples .'

After this, she started promoting walnuts, beans and millet by making videos. 'Now, thanks to TikTok, it makes me happy to see that many people know that walnuts, beans, cooking oil, phapar, chinu, potatoes and walnut oil are available in Humla,' she said. 

She said that now, not only the vegetables and fruits produced by farmers, but also the vegetables found in the forest have started finding a market . 'Earlier, there was a lot of liuro (blueberry) . Even if the locals ate a little, it would be wasted . Now, every bit of blueberry from the village goes to the market .

She says that the demand for liuro (niuro) has increased significantly in Surkhet. Kalpana says that the use of social media, along with the convenience of transportation, has acted as a bridge to connect Humla products to the market.

The traditional Humla dress worn by Kalpana in the video is also being liked by viewers on social media. Which has helped a lot in introducing the culture there. Kalpana is playing a role in bringing Humla's lifestyle, local food, farming and agriculture, customs, traditions, and culture to the world through TikTok and Facebook. 'It makes me happy to see that people are learning about Jumla through videos,' she said. 27-year-old Kalpana says that she has received support from all her family members. Her husband is a teacher in the village. She has a son and a daughter.

Wants to stop wildlife hunting

Kalpana also said that she loves nature and birds. ‘I still want to visit all the beautiful places in my village through TikTok and Facebook and show them to everyone through videos,’ she said, ‘How many beautiful places are around the lake that have been overlooked. I want to attract more tourists.’ Kalpana says that these days, she wants to enjoy nature more and wants to stop wildlife hunting and dice rolling in the village.