Love-Hate Relationship with Nepali Literature

I really don't remember when I became addicted to books. In school, I was interested in reading and the trend continued. The choice of book that I used to read back then has changed drastically. What has not changed is my love-hate relationship with Nepali literature. Back then, I was the only one in my friends circle reading Nepali books. Reading Nepali literature was not a happening thing then and at least in my friends' circle, it still isn't.

Reading Nepali literature always amazed my friends as for them, Nepali was the most difficult subject in the whole curriculum. Back in schoo,l I never understood the reason why Nepali was so difficult for them. But now I know that Nepali was the only language used in one class during the whole day, as they spoke another language at their homes and in other classes, English was compulsory.

I think my first step into Nepali literature was through Muna, a children's magazine published by Gorkhapatra Sansthan. I then started reading books written by Parijat, B.P. Koirala, Guru Prasad Mainali, Bal Krishna Sama, Laxmi Prasad Devkota and poems by Haribhakta Katuwal and Bhupi Sherchan. The books written in Nepali weren't very expensive back then as I remember buying Guru Prasad Mainali's Naso, a collection of short stories, for just 34 rupees and Laxmi Prasad Devkota's the most read book in Nepali Literature Muna Madan for less than 15 rupees.

Nepali literature is interesting because after reading the books once, you can always go back to it and learn new things. The first experience of reading books like Sirish ko Phool, Sumnima and lately Radha by Krishna Dharabashi changes when you read it the next time, and in every passing year it makes so much sense. I wonder how people write books that would make sense for eternity.

I did not really like the English version of Palpasa Cafe although the one in Nepali is my all-time favourite. The writer has maintained the flow in such a way that it keeps readers' interest intact. The book also won the most prized literary award in Nepal, Madan Purashkar, but when translated in English to cater to the global audience, the silly grammatical mistakes and the word-to-word translation lost all its glory. In fact, I was annoyed with both the writer and the translator. As disapproval, I didn't read Mayur Times, the latest novel from the same writer.

The prices for Nepali literature have gone up and the design and layout of the books have also become more attractive. But I don't know if the flow of the writing that was in the past literary figures is still the same. There are some very creative writers whose works I love to read, but it seems that the trend today is to read less and write more, which is degrading the quality of the literary work. I don't like it when authors publish books with similar stories they have written in the past.

Most of the writers of English gain critical acclaim worldwide just because they are from Nepal and they can write in English. And I believe that these writers have potential to produce great works, but I think they are writing with their head and not with their hearts and are competing to produce volumes of works rather than quality—you can feel the emptiness in their writings. Having said that, I truly appreciate them for introducing Nepali literature to the world. Although, as a reader and lover of Nepali literature, I expect some courtesy towards those excellent Nepali literary pieces that don't deserve to be lost in translation.