CHHABI SUBEDI: A DEDICATED POET AND WRITER

By LBTHAPA

Chhabi Subedi has been writing prose and poetry for the last decade or so. Mr. Subedi made his presence felt by his debut essay collection ‘Matoko Sandesh’ (The Message of the Soil) in 2001. The first part of the essay was about the contemporary issues of the country, and the second part of the essay was about the social issues based on social discrimination. He raised voices against those discriminations and asked for immediate solutions.

In less than two years, he brought yet another short essay collection, ‘The Heart of the Soil’ in 2004. As a prose writer, Mr. Subedi has shown more maturity in the present book. The essays were brilliant as they were in the debut book, but the language quality was much improved. He described the plot more vividly in the book, which was absent in his debut book.

Subedi is a village man. He has a little land in Parsyang, Pokhara, where he grows seasonal crops. Photo: The Hemingway Post

While working as a government servant, he was posted to Jajarkot to distribute Nepali citizenship. Photo: The Hemingway Post.

After a long hiatus, the author came out with an anthology of poetry, ‘Aama’. In this book of poetry, he dedicated all 45 poems to his beloved mother Rukmini. The death of his mother came as a shock, and that was an irreparable loss for him.

“We had a large family in Gyandi, Thulipokhari-7, Barjala, and Parbat. We belonged to a middle-class family, and we had enough to lead a peaceful life. But our own relatives cheated on our parents and encroached on most of our land, leaving us in the lurch. Our parents had a tough time raising five sons. I was the eldest son in the family, and there were four younger brothers. Being the eldest in the family, I know how much difficult time my mother had experienced raising us. I owe it to my mother. My mother was an epitome of kindness and love,” said Chhabi Subedi as tears welled up in his eyes.

With the late Ali Mia, a renowned Muslim poet and writer. Photo: The Hemingway Post

Writing the foreword for the book ‘Aama’, Narayan Parishrami, the publisher and the director of Progressive Writers Organization, writes: “After having been shattered by the loss of his mother, the author was at a loss as to how to pay tribute to his mother. Being a poet and writer, Chhabi Subedi thought of writing an anthology of poems and dedicating it to his beloved mother. This is the best form of tribute a son could give to his late mother.”

Though all 45 poems are well constructed and do justice to their subject, one poem, ‘Tuhuro Bhain’ (I Became an Orphan) is different from other poems. It can touch anybody’s heart. The wording of the poem is such that it can bring the readers to tears.

Marching in the birth anniversary procession of the late Lekhnath Paudel, a senior poet and writer. 

In the first poem ‘Swarthi bhai chundidiyo’ (plucked up by becoming selfish), the poet asks the almighty for being selfish when he took his mother from his family when the family needed their mother the most. This poem can bring every reader to tears who has also lost their beloved mothers.

The author returned with his yet new collection of essays ‘Mato Bolchh’ (Voice of the Soil) in 2015. The anthology of essays ‘Voice of the Soil’ received rave reviews. Many senior essayists and Nepali writers praised the book for its subject and literary merit.

‘Salam chh Jantalai’ (A salute to the people). This essay is different from other essays in the book. This essay does reflect the frustration and hopelessness of the people. He blamed the political leaders who guided a decade-long bloody battle against the state, but in the end, their mission was aborted as the leaders betrayed the people. All the leaders who showed a big dream for the people in the past are having a luxurious life today. The author has written this essay with a realistic description, and his command over language is commendable.

Kul Prasad Khanal, a popular essayist of Nepal, writes: “Writer Chhabi Subedi has come up to an age by writing ‘Voice of the Soil’. All 15 essays are well crafted, and they are worth reading by everyone who loves Nepali literature.”

A golden moment with the Nepali literary legend Madhav Prasad Ghimire. Photo: The Hemingway Post.

Yagya Prasad Bastola, the editor of Swatantra Sandesh, writes, “I am impressed with the name of the book. ‘Mato Bolchh’ here soil speaks and asks many questions. The author has taken up almost every social, economic, religious, and political issue of the time and wrote brilliant essays with impeccable language style.”

“Over the last two decades, I have known Chhabi Subedi growing as an author and poet—he was my past student. I was aware of his creative power, and he proved me right as he wrote brilliant prose and poetry of par excellence. He wrote what he experienced in life, and the author was honest in his description. His devotion to literature and erudition was such that even after he retired from the job, he joined MA in Nepali literature and eventually completed the degree course with flying color,” writes Professor Dr. Bishnu Prasad Paudel, head of the Nepali department, PN Campus Pokhara.

Chhabi Subedi’s debut novel ‘Soul of the Universe’ was published in 2016. The literary fraternity of Nepal has received the novel with a positive response. The author must be more than satisfied with the initial success of the novel. Good reviews and good sales are testimony to the fact that the novel has been a success.

The novel has exposed crook designs orchestrated by some political leaders who used innocent and marginalized Nepali people of remote areas for their vested interests. The novel has aptly described how the armed insurgency affected Nepali society and the mindset of the people and Nepali politics. In one development, the novel has also attacked caste and religion. A Chhetri boy and a widow Gurung girl marry against the wishes of their parents and thereafter wage a fight against social discrimination.

The author has asked questions through his characters that the entire universe is one, every single organism has the same soul, and therefore all of the living creatures are directly related to each other. The universal truth teaches us to live and let others live.

Professor Dr. Ramnath Ojha has freely eulogized the author for his devotion to the soil of the nation. “Chhabi Subedi has shown his intense love for the nation and for its soil. Whether it is poetry, essay, or novel, he has shown his unflinching attachment to the soil of the country,” writes Professor Dr. Ramnath Ojha.

Chhabi Subedi has proved his uncanny ability in writing poetry and prose by writing a classic anthology of poetry and essays and now a novel. Chhabi Subedi deserves much kudos for his selfless service to Nepali literature.

The present novel ‘Soul of the Universe’ is a fine novel that deserves more attention, and it should reach the hands of more readers at home and abroad. 

Thank you very much for reading this article. I hope you like it. I would be glad if you took a little time to comment on it. Your comment is highly appreciated.

LB Thapa is a freelance writer & author. 

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