After chai wala, this Nepalese vegetable seller is breaking the internet

Fans believe the two internet sensations Arshad Khan and Shrestha would make a perfect couple

After social media made a dreamy blue-eyed Pakistani chai wala shoot to fame overnight across the globe, a Nepalese female vegetable vendor has become the internet's new darling.

Kusum Shrestha, 18, took social media by storm when a photographer shared pictures of her carrying crates of tomatoes at a local market. Soon after the pictures were posted online, the hashtags #Tarkariwali and #Sabjiwali - "vegetable seller" - quickly started trending on social media as admirers swooned over her beauty.

Hailing from a farming family in Bagling, Gorkha, some 55 miles west of the capital, Kathmandu, Shrestha was photographed by Rup Chandra.



The 18-year-old told BBC she is studying management and was helping her parents during the holidays when the pictures were taken at the Fishling suspension bridge between Gorkha and Chitwan.

Shrestha said she learnt of her overnight fame from a friend, "My friend asked me if I am the same girl whose photos became viral on Facebook but I didn't know."



She revealed that it was a candid picture. "Then she sent me the pictures and when I saw them, I found it was me. On that day, I came to sell the vegetables to help my parents. When I was on my way to sell the vegetables, RupChandra [the photographer] took my picture - but at that point of time, I didn't know that I was being photographed."


When asked if she would like to take up modelling as her career like tea-seller Arshad Khan, she responded excitedly, "Yes, I will go."

Her father shared that she wishes to be a nurse in the future. "She is my only child. I should educate her to the extent possible," [sic] he said. "But I also have to consider my financial situation. I could not admit her into a nursing college though she wanted to study nursing," he said.

TWITTER

Here's how some reacted to her pictures:

After Pakistani #ChaiWala , here comes beautiful #Tarkariwali from #Nepal pic.twitter.com/tgcg0u3DZY

— Javeria Siddique (@javerias) November 3, 2016

https://twitter.com/_Rckless/status/793786067853860864

Simple beautiful and hardworking #nepal #tarkariwali pic.twitter.com/hxuejFLhxs

— MAN 🇳🇵 (@mymutoo) November 2, 2016

https://twitter.com/ec9724d04b8e4af/status/793476061619036163

It's mixer of beauti and hard work from #Nepal #tarkariwali pic.twitter.com/3sG9vqXqIO

— gajanand sharma (@gajanand108) November 1, 2016

#Nepali #would #Tarkariwali now she is famous celebrity in internet people crazy about her beauty pic.twitter.com/QQggvWqgZi

— $Bubble 🫧🫧🫧 (@Prakashbudhat) November 1, 2016

https://twitter.com/AdkRamen/status/792314004676816896

Have something to add to the story? Share it in the comments below.