Khem Aryal's Kathmandu Saga and Other Poems

Reviewed By DR SHREEDHAR GAUTAM

Poetry is primarily concerned with feelings and attitudes. All great poems try to recreate human experiences that involve the readers emotionally and intellectually. However, in today’s world, most people have become so obsessive with their personal affairs that they have neither the interest nor the time to imagine something beyond the materialistic values. The majority of people do not feel pained by the growing immorality and inhuman tactics pursued in society for gaining narrow goals. If politicians are lost in the lust of power, ordinary people are hankering after money and prestige, forgetting the basic purpose of life and social responsibility. In this context Khem Aryal, a young poet, has done a praiseworthy work by producing a collection of poems under the title "Kathmandu Saga and Other Poems."

The book under discussion contains 35 poems written on different occasions on a variety of topics, and is illustrative of the poet and his mission. Through innovative logic and humanistic appeal, he has made a point and drawn everyone’s attention. Starting with a philosophical poem "The Wonder Man," the book takes the reader through the intricacies of human life and the problem resulting from political corruption and immorality. The poet is particularly concerned about the two-pronged violence resorted to by insurgents and security personnel, and that has plagued the country for long.

However, the focus of the book is on showing the mysterious and illusionary world and the people’s miserable life. The book reveals the poet’s deep and mature experience of life, and appeals to sense of moral values. The poet raises various common issues, including the deceptive nature of love and friendship, loneliness of human life, greatness of mother’s love, and the shock from the betrayal of dear and near ones. These are experiences commonly felt, but very few can give a philosophical touch as exemplified by Aryal.

Though some poems reveal the poet’s sense of humor, other poems are written with the seriousness of their meaning. The book has blended the poet’s spiritual outlook as well as his sense of responsibility to the country. He makes appeal to the readers to realize the omnipresence of God in all lives and places, and conveys a meaning that God can be realized not by merely following rituals and outdated tradition, but also by rendering services to the needy and showing social protest to all political evils and social discriminations prevailing in society.

The book gives stress repeatedly on understanding the value of life and developing spiritual awareness with social responsibility by referring to the life and deeds of great seers like Buddha and Socrates. For the poet, being spiritual does not mean being contented with the graveyard-like silence in society, but arousing and awakening people to realize their potentiality that can transform the lives of individuals as well as the entire country. He goes to the extent of explaining the benefit of meditative life, not for personal pleasure alone, but to change oneself and then pursue the goal of changing the life of others living in a hell-like situation, not realizing their own strengths and energies. Giving a message of universal brotherhood and oneness of humanity, the poet abhors the insulting behavior shown to the downtrodden by some people under the egoistic influence of their materialistic prosperity. He holds the present socio-political system as responsible for the growing number of alienated and fragmented people. The poet exhorts that it is the responsibility of right thinking people to change the quality of human life with collective as well as individual efforts. The book is written with a purpose, as the poet does not seem to believe in the theory of art for art’s sake.

The poem "Kathmandu Saga" beautifully shows the poet’s vision. The city presents a pathetic scene for all as it still does not look like a city ruled by the people’s representatives, worrying for the people. The city does not symbolize a place of democratic and human rights even after the passage of over fourteen years after the limited restoration of parliamentary democracy. Like in the totalitarian Panchayat system, still lovers of democracy and human rights are fighting for the cause of people. The title of the book "Kathmandu Saga" is appropriately chosen as it exhibits the poet’s deep understanding of life as well as the political situation of the country. The rhetoric used by the freedom fighter as reflected in the poem is inspiring and thought provoking. The fighter prefers death to slavery and suppressed life, and wants the streets cleared off security personnel creating a sense of horror around.

For the fighter, the city has been turned into a military barrack where people cannot have free movement of life and free flow of speech. The fighter laments that this is the same city that saw the assassination of a king and a queen in the early hours of the night, despite the deployment of a large number of security personnel around the palace.

Now he feels that the city has lost its earlier solemnity and purity. It has become a paradise for a few and a restricted place for many. Freedom fighter is unhappy because he no more hears the beautiful songs over the sky of Kathmandu, but hears regularly either speeches of protest or political slogans in the corners of city, now a metaphor of Nepali plight.

However, the poem ends with the optimistic assertion of the fighter that very soon the city will regain its earlier glory and then people will have freedom to express freely and fearlessly. The Society of Nepali writers in English has done a good job in the production of this book, which could have priced much low considering the people’s capacity to purchase. The main essence of the book lies in the poem entitled "Kathmandu Saga" as it covers various aspects of Nepal’s socio-political life. The poet has captured the plight of the whole people within the single poem artistically. Some of the poems are not focused on the given topics. However, the book is quite readable, informative and relevant in the present context of the country. On the one hand, it raises philosophical issues related to human life. On the other hand, it sheds light on the current socio-political situation of the country.