Sherpa was born in Nepal "to a Nepalese Sherpa father and a Tibetan origin mother." After completing his Bachelor's degree at Delhi University, he studied filmmaking at the Jamia Millia Islamia in Delhi from 1992 to 1993. He made various documentary films, including "Tears of Torture" in 1994, a 27 minute documentary about a Tibetan nun traveling through the Himalayan mountain passes to escape Tibet. In 1997, he made "The Spirit Doesn't Come Anymore," a documentary film profiling an old Tibetan shaman and his difficult relationship with his son, who would not continue the family vocation. This film earned him the Best Film Award at Film South Asia, 1997 (Festival of South Asian Documentary Films) held in Kathmandu, Nepal, and Best Indigenous Filmmaker of the Year at the Parnu Anthropological Film Festival in Estonia in 1998. This film was also shown at the Leipzig Dokfestival in Germany, Cinema du Reel in France, Hong Kong International Film Festival, Hong Kong, Telluride Mountain Film Festival in the USA, Fukuoka International Film Festival (Focus On Asia) and Yamagata International Film Festival in Japan.
