| ashu |
Posted
on 02-Jul-01 12:50 AM
Reading the latest issue of Boston-based Samachar Bichar quarterly
this past week-end -- away from the hustle and bustle of the Valley -- was both a delight and a disappointment.
A delight because:
a) Two first-rate Boston Nepalis -- Arnico Panday and Swarnim Wagle -- have joined the SB team. Getting top-rate Nepalis, each with a mind of his/her own to work on a team is ALWAYS a difficult task anywhere (in part because their number is so damn low), and it's great that Bhupesh, the editor, managed to recruit the two additional heavyweights.
b) SB continues to give space to reprints from The Kathmandu
Post Review of Books so that ideas/thoughts of writers based
in Nepal are propagated all the more to readers in North
America and elsewhere.
c) Thanks to editor Bhupesh Karki's dedication and despite his busy schedule, SB continues to maintain its regular cycle of production and distribution. This is no easy achievment. (On another note, for the past three years, Bhupesh has also given space to one of my younger brothers help the SB Team with this and that, and for that I, for one, remain grateful.)
Now, the disappointing part:
Despite the presence of a number of heavy-hitters in
Boston and with GBNC connections outside of Boston, SB
seems to lag way behind in, what I would call,
'original content generation' (OCG).
Of the seven or so articles in this latest issue, except
for one -- i.e. Swarnim's piece on Sugauli -- ALL had been
FIRST published elsewhere.
I mean, reprinting one or two articles is always fine, but
I would urge my SB friends to look/push for ways to go for
'original content generation' from people in and out of Boston
so that SB's thought leadership on Nepali matters is all
the more solidified.
As an occasional editor of The Review of Books, I too know
that it's SO damn difficult to find Nepali writers who can
contribute solidly original pieces.
But SB can, for example, use this Web site to recruit new writers too: Biswo, Trailokya, Sally, Akhilesh and many others -- just to
give some names -- seem to have their areas of interest, and, if approached, they would surely think about contributing to SB
too. In fact, some of their postings too can be revised/polished
and elaborated to be good articles for SB . . .
Anyway, this is just a thought . . . to tell Bhupesh
and the Gang that though they are already doing a great
job (re: recruitment, production and distribution), now, as a
longtime SB well wisher, I hope now they focus on
'original content generation' for the next issue.
oohi
ashu
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