The journey of a confirmed Yatri

Krishna Shah Yatri had a fix on reading Balakrishna Sama's plays in his schooldays in Udayapur. And having grown up seeing lavish productions of mythological plays by the Newar community of Udayapur, Krishna started his own theater troupe, the JyotiPunja theater, and performed to crowds of thousands.

When in Kathmandu, he joined the Sanskritik Sansthan and learned the art of theater in depth. After graduating from there, Krishna again established the JyotiPunja troupe and performed a play each month where he directed plays written by Sarubhakta, Govinda Gothale and Sama, among others.

“The biggest challenge of my life came to me when I had to produce a play where all the actors were deaf,” remembers Krishna.This challenge turned out to be fruitful for Krishna because his play bagged both the best drama and best direction in the National Theater Festival of 2000.

Along with doing theater Krishna is also a prolific writer who has six books in his credit. All this in his bag, Krishna has recently hopped into a new boat, that of film direction. Although shy to announce which project he is working on, he is joyous to be exploring this new territory. Not that he is not prepared for it already, for he is a graduate of the now defunct National Studio of Film College but his entry into this new visual world is recent. Having already directed two music videos, one for Anand Karki and another for Uditnarayan Jha's upcoming album, Upahar part two, Krishna seems geared to his new role as a film director.

A person with a warm heart, Krishna says he feels most happy working with kids. Currently also a teacher of theater at Little Angels School, Krishna is awed by the tremendous interest and talent his students have for theater.

As a writer, Krishna likes to keep his themes in the realistic realm. “There is so much around us. All we need to do is just pick elements from there and put them together with integrity,” says Krishna about his writing style.

Whatever he does he does it with a heart that sees the varied aspects of being human. We only wish Krishna a fulfilling journey as he has come to a new bend and film directing has opened up to him. At a time when the film industry is starving for new talent, the entry of Krishna, with all his experience and depth will be welcoming. Bon voyage, Krishna!

(From: The Kathmandu Post)

Critical Discources on Gopal Parajuli

Gopal Parajuli is a postmodern poet in Nepali Literature. He has published hundreds of poems, plays, short stories,essays, interviews & articles in most of the leading magazines and papers from Nepal & E-magazines-Poettext (U.K.), Cubed (Canada), Paradesh (USA), Panorama (Canada), Peace Media (peacejournalism.com) (America), Freenepal (Mosco), News Blaze (US), Pressbox (London), Scoop (Newzealand) and News From Bangladesh (Bangladesh). Parajuli is currently the editor of ‘Garima’, Nepal’s foremost literary magazine.

Gopal Parajuli's other literary works include Samanantar Sadak (Parallel Roads), a play, Nayan Ishwarko Ghoshana (Declaration of a New God), an epic poem, Samayako Prasthan (The Departure of Time), an epic poem, Shabda Shatabdi (The Lost Century), an epic poem, Deshmathi Alekh (A Salute to the Nation), an epic poem, Arko Disha (New Direction), a collection of short stories, Himalmathi Alekh (Mark on the Summit), an epic poem, Dishahin Akash (The Broken Sky), a collection of short stories, Prithbimathi Alekh (The Mother-Figure), an epic poem, Sadakpachhi Sadak (Road After Road), a play, and Golardhaka Dui Chheu (The Two Extremes), a collection of one act plays.

“When he wields a pen, however, he becomes a changed man. He speaks with the voice of a prophet, and the words he sets upon the page breath fire.” writes Dr. Sanjeev Uprety. According to Michael Levy, Gopal Parajuli is a poet extra-ordinary, who composes ambrosial messages as though they were transmitted via God. Levy writes “His soul evokes true purpose of vitality”.

Recently, a collection of critical commentaries on Gopal Parajuli’s work has been published as “Critical Discources on Gopal Parajuli”. The book is edited by Susan M. Griffith-Jones. Susan Griffith-Jones has assembled a collection of commentaries by variety of authors familiar with Gopal's literary work. Some of them are Sandy Chilcote, Dr. Govinda Raj Bhattarai, Dr. Jaya Raj Acharya, Dr. Sanjeev Uprety, Dr. Shreedhar Gautam, Tek B. Karki, HB Bhandari Prabhat, Suresh Hachekali, Tulasi Prasad Acharya, Mukti Ghimire 'Pathik' and Kamala Sarup.

About Books: with Ashesh Malla

By Avash Karmacharya

Born in Dhankuta, writer and veteran theater artiste Ashesh Malla, 52, is the director of the Sarwanam theater troupe. An MA in Nepali Literature from Tribhuvan University, Ashesh wrote poems and stories from an early age. He started his career as an officer in Family Planning Commission and worked there for three years. Later, he joined Patan Campus as a lecturer of Nepali Literature. Today, he is an Associate Professor at Padma Kanya Multiple Campus. Malla, who has acted in over one hundred street plays and dabalis, started the theater group Sarwanam in 1982. An author of over twenty-two plays and books such as Sadaksamma (drama), Anadhikram (anthology of plays), Ardhabiram (collection of stories), Ashesh, once an avid columnist, has recently brought Eklo Ekanta (anthology of poems) from Sajha Prakashan.

Tell us about the books you're currently reading…
I've just finished reading John Nobbs' Frankly Acting and have started Abhinash Shrestha's Indrakamal Ra Andhakamal.

What genre/s do you prefer to read?
If I've access, why would not I go for all? I also can't deny that we've so many choices today to pick from and read. But I enjoy reading books that are related to my profession. So I mostly pick theatrical philosophies.

Who inspired you to pick up the reading habit?
My father is an avid reader. I still remember the time when I was very young. My father always had a book in his hand; and even in his ascending eighties now, he reads like anything. During that time, having books at home in a place like Dhankuta was a great deal. We had a sort of home library. I was never forced to read. But I loved to see my father's attachment with books. Therefore, I was influenced by him and started reading. After coming to Kathmandu, I got a chance to dive into varieties of books.

One interesting reading habit that you have…
I strongly believe that books are also living beings. They can feel sorrows and happiness. So I simply hate those who fold books and mishandle them. I don't even like people writing here and there on books. When I read, I make a point to underline important things by pencil and erase the lines once I'm over that thing.

Who is your favorite writer and why?
I'd say BP Koirala and Gopal Prasad Rimal. I find it stupid when people say we don't have good writers in Nepal. I must say they haven't read Nepali Literature to this day. BP's Modiain alone is sufficient to tell what a good literature is all about. Similarly, Gopal Prasad Rimal's poems are full of life and realities. The way he presents feelings in his lines are simply awesome. He has been a great source of inspiration to me.

What are the books that have touched you deeply? Can you name a few of them?
I finished reading Indian writer Mohan Rakesh's Aadhe Adhure in one hour and re-read it immediately. Now one can understand how beautiful that book is. Likewise, I read BP's Modiain twice. And no matter how many times I read this book, I always find something new and interesting to learn. I was deeply touched by Karna Shakya's Soch, Dhruba Chandra Gautam's Alikhit and Peter Brook's Empty Space too. Honestly, so many books are touching. But today, people have become so commercial that books with actual essence remain behind the curtain.

Which comes first in reading — knowledge or entertainment?
Undoubtedly, knowledge. I know that people also read for entertainment. But that seriously never happened to me. I always try to relate my reading with my profession. Perhaps, that is why I read books to attain more knowledge.

With the growth of cinema, television and so many other forms of entertainment, do you think books have been overshadowed?
I agree that the ratio of reading books has certainly come down. But there's no substitute for books. When films were introduced, people thought theaters would shut down. Did that happen? In the same manner, nothing can replace book reading. An Israeli friend told me it's not how many books people read; what matters more is one genuine person reading your book.

When you write a book, you mainly write about…
I write about people's sufferings and the nation. In a country where people don't even have access to water and salt, they dehydrate and die. What's the point in writing about how big are the mountains and how beautiful are the flowers here? That's why I make point to write about human sufferings.

How much time and money do you spend on books?
Books have always been one of my basic needs. When I go abroad, I see my friends busy in buying fancy dresses, and I, “a boring person” in their words, get myself into bookstores.

A word of advice to readers…
Books are the only true source of knowledge. So you don't have an escape.

Your favorite saying on reading...
“See yourself as the audience sees you.” - John Nobbs.

(From: The Kathmandu Post: http://www.kantipuronline.com/kolnews.php?&nid=136403)

Encounter with Padam Gautam

Padam Gautam, one of the promising young poets of Nepal, is nowadays more interested towards writing essays. He started writing poems, and later turned to composing Gazal. Gazal has been very popular among the young writers. Padam says, “It takes less time to compose Gazal than other genre. Similarly, young generation is more inclined to this type of writing, as it is blended with love themes”.

Though Gazal was old genre in Nepal, the young people like Padam Gautam revived Gazals through writing it in lyrical meter. Writing in meter seems more classical, but for Gazal, it has been appeared as modern. Padam said, “Gazal is not only for reading, but is mainly for listening. Writing in meter helps to those who want to sing.”

Padam looks quite optimistic towards the young writers. He said, “They are crazy to do something new, and doing well. Naturally, the younger are smarter always.” Padam plans to do some serious writing in the days to come.

Simple Convictions

Reviewed by KRISHNA SHARMA

The greatest lesson Nepal’s incumbent Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala learned in his entire political career spanning 60 years must be a one-liner from the movie 'The Godfather' by director Francis Ford Coppola. In that epic movie, the main protagonist Don Vito Corleone, played by Marlon Brando, has this advice to his son: Keep your friends close but your enemies closer.

It is the fruit of that ‘Corleone diplomacy’ which helped Koirala not just to recapture his ‘lost political image’ but also to liberate the nation from the bloody hands of its autocratic king Gyanendra who had come to power after the infamous royal massacre of June 1, 2001.

The 84-year-old Koirala, the leader of Nepali Congress, one of the nation’s largest political parties, reveals in the book that Corleone’s diplomatic advice was the hard earned mantra that facilitated him to re-shape the democratic future of Nepal. The Himalayan nation has been marred by 12 years of bloody Maoist violence and political conspiracies that were continuously hatched by a regressive monarchy. If he had not learned and practiced this diplomacy and had continued to underestimate the communist forces, which he had been doing almost all his political life, the popular uprising of April 2006 may not have been a success story. Koirala’s self-damaging remark in 1990 at a mass meeting had demonstrated his uncompromising stance on ideologies and perhaps an utter lack of diplomatic skills and political maturity at that time. He had uttered then: “All denominations of communist parties and a criminal gang of the royal family are the same.”

But in recent years Koirala leapt far ahead of his contemporaries in his political and diplomatic bearing to become a national hero. In fact, he began to emerge as an introspective and an compromising leader during the past decade or so.

In his ‘last political struggle of life,’ to cite his phrase, he displayed political prudence and diplomacy by establishing and nurturing ties with previously sworn enemies, such as the ultra-violent Maoists and the oft-conspiring royal family members, as well as his skeptical friends in the international community.

However complicated his political and diplomatic relations with others as mentioned above, Koirala asserts in the book that they were merely his ‘simple convictions.’ And if we judge them from what he said during his last struggle for democracy in 2006, we would be fairly convinced that he, in fact, has simple convictions – the conviction that the 21st century is not going to be a playground for autocratic rulers like king Gyanendra, that the king will have no business being anything other than a constitutional monarch, that democracy is the answer to the country’s problems, that the Maoists are misguided rebels who need to be brought into open politics by means of a revived parliament, and that peace is the priority of the moment for the people and the nation.

Koirala says in the book that he realized that guns and violence would never solve the problem. So he resolved that the Maoist problem could only be addressed through dialogue. He became convinced of the need to defend democracy from the guns of both the Maoists and the king so there would be no need for future generations to fight for democracy like he had to. This was the decisive struggle of his life.

It was Koirala’s own critical decision to develop ties with the then underground Communist Party of Nepal -Maoist (CPN-M) at a time when the latter was senselessly killing and kidnapping people, including party workers of Koirala’s own Nepali Congress as well as his associates. The aging Koirala single-handedly took all the responsibility of negotiating with the Maoists and he did it on the basis of what he calls his rock-solid but ‘simple convictions.’

It may not have been easy for the country’s longest serving Prime Minister (i.e., Korala), to convince the rest of the other political parties and their leaders that the dissolved parliament should be revived. His simple conviction— his ability to persist on his resolutions— might not have been that simple to others. But eventually his wisdom paid off because his detractors finally saw the validity of his conviction under the circumstances and the king also had to yield to the popular will.

And that is the essence of “Simple Convictions: My Struggle for Peace and Democracy,” published recently.

The book is in fact a compilation of his 24 speeches and statements delivered during the period between October 2002 and March 2006. It also includes the 6-point and the 12-point understandings reached between the Seven Party Alliance (SPA) and the CPN-M. The book subtly emphasizes Koirala’s departure from conventional diplomacy and the practice of Corleone diplomacy.

And that was the diplomacy that was felt but not foretold by many Nepalis. The introduction to the 117-page book is written by Kanak Mani Dixit, a noted journalist . Dixit writes that during the period covered by the pronouncements of Girija Prasad Koirala contained in this volume, Koirala evolved as a national figure, beyond being leader of the Nepali Congress party.

The extempore speeches from Nepali are translated into English by Devendra Dhungana. Although the readers may find many redundancies in terms of content, oral speeches by nature are like that. Also the theme of the speeches also reflect the discourse of a particular time, which again can be repetitive.

In his conviction, Koirala, the youngest brother of Nepal’s noted political thinker of the century, BP Koirala, demonstrates his capacity to pull together with others despite differences and to serve as glue holding diverse views together on the road map from the struggle for democracy to the interim constitution to the constituent assembly (CA).

One of his recent assertions-- nowhere in the world have kings returned after their exit-- may become a reality or not after CA elections or the possible establishment of a republican Nepal, but as long as Koirala continues to feel the pulse of the nation rightly and adheres to his democratic stance, he may also emerge as a noted Statesman of Nepal.

Yet another daunting challenge before Koirala is to read what is inside the mind of Prachanda, the ambitious president of the CPN-M. It is time now to be cautious as to whether Prachanda's ‘aim of becoming the president of Nepal in five years’ is guided by rightful political choices or by vested interest in total political powers or his desire to return to violence.

Ultimately, a compilation of speeches does not necessary cover the entire gamut of a person’s political attitudes and values. One can only hope that Koirala will some day write his memoirs to help readers to more authentically and thoroughly understand not only his newfound convictions but also the motivations behind them. And given that the peace process still hangs in balance and there is much more work to be done and more rebels to be wooed or befriended (particularly in the Terai), it is also important to note that perhaps it is too early to assess the long-term impact of Koirala’s convictions.

(From: http://www.nepalmonitor.com/)