English

After his essay collection A Wonderer Within, writer Dipesh Parajuli has come up with his novel Essence , the success of which remains to be seen. The novel steers clear of the criticism of lacking linguistic and grammatical refinement—one most commonly received by Nepalis writing in English. This may set Parajuli apart from many who try for fiction in English, but the young writer, in his twenties as yet, has yet to innovate in the domains of narrative structure and choice of themes.

Of late, travelogues have been making an appearance in Nepali literature in quick succession. A thorough scansion of a majority of them suggests a commonality in style—an exceptionally narrow range of stylistic variation, and a lack of unique thematic expression. Some carry a camouflage of linguistic intricacy that simply veil their thematic barrenness and utter monotony, while others present a photographic description of places visited that often read like tourist guide books or personal diaries.

Woman is a beautiful thing
From the moments of man's creation
Woman came before man
And she was the first
To look speechlessly at the stars
And to wondrously tread the earth
Then man followed her ways.
Right to the beginning of speech
God knows for how long
Man and woman walked speechless
Among fish, fowls and animals
Upon the luxuriant surface of the earth
Naked and clad to the sky
they searched their food and shelter
Together, upon the opulent planet
And slowly moved into holy act of copulation
In friction the language was born

Chakrapani Chalise bridged the two eras of Nepali literature—the romantic period represented by Motiram Bhatta and modern age beginning with Lekhanath Poudyal’s emergence. Motiram Bhatta’s period was indeed a beginning of the renaissance in the Nepali literature. During this period several writers revived and enriched the Nepali language and literature for which Motiram’s role and contribution was colossal.

[Translated by Kumar Nagarkoti]

"They say all nine planets are going to crash into one another and that the world is going to get submerged in water."

[Translated by Kumar Nagarkoti]

Nepali short story has achieved its present state of development in shorter time than other genres. This area of literature has already been enriched by a number of classic world-class short stories. The contribution of the figures such as Guru Prasad Mainali, Pushkar Samser Rana, Posan Pande, Indra Bahadur Rai, Biseswor Prasad Koirala, Bhimnidhi Tiwari, Bhawani Bhikshu, Paarizaat can hardly be exaggerated.

There are stars in the sky,
Why not on the earth? —for if there were
Full in the bucket I could carry those stars
To home
From the office
For small sons and daughters

With his new collection of 18 stories, Anamik Yatree, Mahesh Paudyal Prarambha has entered the galaxy of Nepali short-fiction writers. Paudyal already has half a dozen books on children’s literature, one on criticism, and several translations. With his latest book, he seems to be carving for himself a niche on exploring adult and child psyche, pursuit of self-awareness and rustic experiences. His characters, most of whom are beset by unfavourable life circumstances, narrate their own tales like the protagonist of title story Anamik Yatree.