Behind the Smile: A Story of Unspoken Pain

Hello, Beautiful Souls.

My name is Rashmi Niroula. After staying away from WhatsApp for almost a month, I opened it again and found many messages waiting for me. Among them was a beautiful request from my dear friend, Shreebas Saakha—to write a story from my life.

I wondered, What should I write about?

Then one name came quietly into my heart—Sarita Basnyat.

She is no longer with us, but some people never truly leave. They remain in our memories, in our stories, and in the little corners of our hearts where time cannot reach.

So, I decided to write about her—not simply as a story, but as a small tribute to a beautiful soul I was lucky enough to know.

These may not be perfect words, but they come from a heart that still remembers her.

This is my story of Sarita—the beautiful lady who left this world, but never left our hearts.

Now let us begin the story.

Part 1:- Late Sarita’s childhood life story.

Before starting the story of Sarita basnyat, let’s give her some tribute:

Tribute for the most beautiful of this earth

The Beautiful Soul Behind the Smile

She Smiled Through the Pain

A Beautiful Smile, A Strong Heart, A Silent Goodbye

To the Woman Who Was Strong Even When Life harsh and struggling 

She Left Too Soon, But Her Beautiful Soul Remains

For Sarita — A Beautiful Soul, Forever in Our Hearts

Sarita Basnyat was born in 2017 B.S. in Thamel, Kathmandu, into the distinguished Basnyat family—the granddaughter of Pahal Man Singh Basnyat and the beloved daughter of Gyan Bahadur and Shakuntala Basnyat.

She was born in the old Thamel royal palace, a little princess surrounded by history, family, and tradition.

Her grandfather, Pahal Man Singh Basnyat, was a 19th-century Nepali military commander who served during the 1857 Indian Sepoy Mutiny. The Basnyats were among Kathmandu’s old durbariya families, alongside the Shahs, Pandeys, and Thapas.

But Sarita’s childhood was not only about history and palace walls. She grew up with her two elder brothers and younger brother, running through the corridors and verandas of Thamel, surrounded by friends from other noble families. Thamel was her little kingdom.

Her father, Gyan Bahadur Basnyat, was the chief of Jwalakhel Zoo. Sarita was the lively, loving, beautiful daughter of the family—gentle, disciplined, and full of life.

She later studied at Padma Kanya Multiple Campus, Nepal’s first women’s campus. Yet no matter how far life took her, her heart always returned to Thamel—the house where she was born, the corridors where she played, and the veranda where countless childhood memories were made.

She once laughed while remembering how she refused to go to school. Her father took her to a pond and made her stay there for the whole day. After that, she never refused school again!

There were many servants in the household, but Sarita remembered them not as servants, but as people who were part of her childhood—playing together, helping with chores, and even washing clothes.

During Dashain and Tihar, the old durbariya families would gather together, filling their homes with celebration, laughter, and tradition.

And somewhere in those beautiful memories lived Sarita—the little princess of Thamel, a loving daughter, a cherished sister, and a gentle soul whose childhood was woven into the history of a remarkable family.

She would often tell me stories about her grandmother—stories that seemed to belong to another world.

She said her grandmother knew the secrets of black magic, and possessed a strange, mysterious smoke. Whenever she made a wish, she believed the smoke carried her words into the unseen world, and somehow, her wishes came true.

But the most haunting story was about the Kumari. She remembered being told that, late at night, when the palace had fallen completely silent, the Kumari would appear and dance along the palace walls—quietly, almost like a shadow beneath the moon.

Whether they were magic or simply old palace legends, she told them with such conviction that, for a moment, I could almost see the mysterious figure dancing through the darkness.

What we have seen so far is only a small glimpse into the childhood of Sarita Basnyat—a childhood surrounded by palace walls, family legends, mystery, and memories that seem almost too extraordinary to be true.

But childhood was only the beginning.

Behind those beautiful memories lies another story—a story of struggles, challenges, choices, love, loss, and the unexpected turns of life.

But who was Kanxa Kanxi?
Did Sarita ever marry?
What dreams did she carry as she grew older?
What trials awaited her beyond the walls of the palace?
And what happened to the little girl whose childhood was filled with stories of princesses, magic, and the mysterious Kumari?

There is so much more to her story than what we have heard so far.

This is only the beginning. Her journey continues… and there is much more to come.