THE HEMINGWAY POST

THE QUEEN OF TEEJ SONGS HARI DEVI KOIRALA: The legend lives on By LB Thapa Pokhara has always been renowned for being a center of innovation and dissemination due to its rich heritage of art, culture, and literature, which has been patronized by its kings throughout history. A very popular old Nepalese saying is "Go to Gorkha if justice is denied; go to Kaski to pursue education." As far as women are concerned, very few ever made a noticeable impact on the development of Pokhareli literature. One who did is Hari Devi Koirala. Photo: provided by Haridevi Koirala Hari Devi Koirala is a woman of few words, unassuming, and yet a genius with many talents. She has been doing her utmost to promote the folk-songs belonging to different tribes. Apart from collecting folk-songs she has a keen interst in poetry. Today she has succeeded in attaining a highly respected place in the field of Nepalese folk-songs. She was born in Baidam, Pokhara, in 1959 and from a very early age (not yet ...

  DR. NARAYAN PRASAD ADHIKARI A prolific author and translator of merit By LB Thapa A dedicated academician and the master of Nepali linguistics, Dr. Narayan Pd. Adhikari has made his mark in the domain of Nepali education and literature. His contribution to upholding Nepali education by writing several Nepali linguistic books for schools, colleges, and universities has simply put him in the highest stature of recognition.  Dr. Narayan Pd. Adhikari received his master’s degree in Nepali literature. He did also obtain yet another master’s degree in Eastern Philosophy from Agra University, India. Finally, he received a PhD in Buddhist Philosophy from Lumbini Buddhist University, Nepal.  “Ever since my childhood, I was deeply inclined to read books. Throughout my teaching and writing career, I was known for my wit, erudition, and dedication to academia. Now I am a retired professor from active teaching, but that does not mean I am retired from literary activities. Af...

  SOUL OF THE SOIL Dr. Yam Bdr. Kshetry Writing essays is an art. But art is not always for art’s sake. It is for the sake of human life. So, it should be so contrived as to create certain impressions about human life. In the modern world, essays should offer something valuable to readers. They need to be the sources of some sort of knowledge about science, plant life, the animal world, and the human world.    Mr. Chhabi Subedi, writing essays in his mother tongue Nepali, partly fulfills the above objectives. In some of his essays, he pleads with the rich to offer a handful of rice or corn every day so that the poor would find relief; such ideas may be romantic but not realistic. Though he is basically a writer, making the readers aware of their weaknesses, he advises them to reap the benefits of modern science and technology and avoid the demerits that are likely to result from them.   Here is an essay in which he ponders over the process of birth and reb...

  Is Poetry Only Academic? By Sushant Thapa “On our earth, before writing was invented, before the printing press was invented, poetry flourished. That is why we know that poetry is like bread; it should be shared by all, by scholars and by peasants, by all our vast, incredible, extraordinary family of humanity.” This is a quote by the poet Pablo Neruda. I have always felt that the purpose of poetry is not academic. Poetry should be for the common masses.  One can try to learn poetry inside the classroom, but the origin of poetry is subjective. Poets tend to reflect the world they see and understand. The elites might use reason and logic, but poetry springs from day-to-day living. Apart from mere tools and literary devices, poetry should delight the masses. The technicality of the poems should go hand in hand with the social depiction. No theory or academic lens should curtail the freedom of poetry.  We have the insanity of Edgar Allan Poe, who became a part of our st...

  An interview with Dan Bahadur Nepali A self-made poet and writer Dan Bahadur Nepali is a Pokhara-based poet and writer. He has been an active social worker and a dedicated party worker with NCP (UML). However, he prefers to be noticed as a poet and writer. He got into poetry writing from an early age. After having written a few successful poems, he tried his hands on prose writing. His first book, ‘Rokidainan Kharpasle Ichhaharu,’ was an anthology of poems. But later, two books, ‘Janshramma Pailaharu’ and ‘Charasari Akashma', proved his outstanding prose writing ability. ‘Janashramma Pailaharu’ is a memoir he wrote about his experience of working as a volunteer in Barpak, Gorkha.   During his engagement in the Barpark rehabilitation activities, he jotted down every single moment of his experience in a diary, and later, he elaborated on them in a book. Mr. Nepali has also published several articles on various topics in different print media. For his creative writing skil...

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...