From shepherding in Nepal to an Open University degree – London man’s journey

Posted on 3 December 2025 • Student stories

Barnet Borough councillor and semi-retired businessman Lachhya Gurung could never have predicted his journey of discovery from a teenage shepherd in a remote Nepalese village to a London home and now an Open University degree.

The former Gurkha was the fourth of five sons who were born and brought up by their parents in scenic TangTing, situated 1,685m above sea level and a two-hour drive northeast from the nearest city of Pokhara.

It was a simple life for former Barnet deputy mayor. Then there were no roads to drive there nor electricity. Lachhya wore his first pair of shoes at the age of 14 and saw a car for the first time when he was 12.

“It was a tough life,” admits the 64 year old who recently collected his OU degree in social sciences (politics) watched by his proud wife and three grown-up children at London’s Barbican.

At the age of 19, he joined the British Army’s Gurkhas, a path well-travelled by many in his village, and served for 19 years. He left the force with the rank of Staff Sergeant when Hong Kong, where he was based, was handed back to China.

His service qualified him to settle in the UK, which he did in 2005. Since then, he’s supported his children through degrees while building up a business. He is part of a consortium of Nepalese ex-pats running a large grocery firm catering for fellow Nepalese people in the UK.

It was only after he had stepped back from being managing director of the company that he realised he had more time to devote to himself, and he became a local councillor representing the Edgwarebury ward.

“I found out that most of the local councillors are professionals. Many with different backgrounds but it appeared I was the only one who didn’t go to university,” he said.

Motivated to want to know more about politics, he signed up for his course at the age of 58 and discovered how age was no bar to education. He found inspiration in two classmates that were in their seventies.

Now the newly minted OU graduate admits it was “sometimes tough” but that he had now fulfilled a dream to study: “Because I didn’t have the opportunity to study when I was young.”

Main picture is Lachhya Gurung in his graduation robes; inset – him as a young Gurkha in the British Army