| Username |
Post |
| ashu |
Posted
on 16-Jan-04 06:40 PM
Patrakar Shiva Adhikari passed away early this week.
As a reader, I did NOT know him at all nor have I read any of his books.
But there were obituaries and condolence messages in Nepal's newsapers, TV , radio
and even one on Sajha.com, posted by INLS members.
Everybody wrote that Adhikari was a great editor, a great patrakar and a renowned sahitya-kaar.
OK.
But SURPRISINGLY -- for someone deemed to have been such a great editor, a great patrakar and a renowned sahitya-kaar -- NONE of the obituaries, at least a dozen or so I have read, heard and seen so far -- DISCUSSED just what were Adhikari's unique contributions to journalism and Nepali sahitya.
Nor have I, again as a reader, gotten a sense of Adhikari's personality and life from any one of these obituaries.
In a few days, I am sure, honoring the great Nepali tradition of making Kantipur newspaper richer, a batches of PAID obituaries (or "sam.bay.da.naa" sandesh) will appear -- with passport photos and all -- in Kantipur and other newspapers . . . and
one will end up learning the NAMES of Adhikari's wife, children, grandchildren, in-laws
and relatives and so on . . . all the more.
But my fear is that still, as a reader, one would learn
NOTHING more,
NOTHING inspiring, and
NOTHING interesting about Adhikari's life.
And that's a shame.
So, two questions:
First, why is it that the practice of writing good obituaries so khattam in Nepal? I mean, the best we can do is pay a newspaper to publish a mini-genealogy of the deceased's family in the name of expressing condolence . . . What a way to honor the dead!
Second, if Nepali patrakaars and sahitya-kaars cannot write a detailed obituary about one of their own, could we expect anything more from these guys?
oohi
"thoroughly spoilt by having read too many great obituaries in The Economist and The NYT"
ashu
ktm,nepal
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| ashu |
Posted
on 16-Jan-04 08:34 PM
BTW, I had enjoyed reading this particular obituary of economic historian Mahesh Chandra Regmi by Pratyoush . . . and may we get to read such and more obituaries about other "well-known" Nepali scholars, writers, journalists and sahitya-kaars, artists and so forth -- so that instead of learning their grief-stricken family members' names
(not that there is anything wrong with that!) all of us can take inspirations from their remarkable lives.
oohi
ashu
ktm,nepal
****************
An extract:
"Some of the [newspaper] obituaries published since his death have lamented the fact that the wealth of insights Regmi had produced in his research works had not been used by the Nepali state. But Regmi hiimself was much more modest about the use of his work for Nepal’s development. This he made clear in a short write-up in Himal in 1993 titled “Why I write Economic History”: “I do not feel that there is any need for me to make an attempt to justify my research and writings on the economic history of Nepal in terms of their relevance to the mundane issues of economic development and political evolution. For me, far more inspiring and ennobling has been the feeling of participation, at whatsoever elementary level it may be, in the eternal quest for knowledge. In the course of exploring and recording a previously unknown and uncharted aspect of the history of the Nepali people and, therefore, of mankind as a whole, I have the feeling of having left my footprints on the sands of time”.
For more,
http://www.himalmag.com/2003/august/opinion.htm
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| decadence |
Posted
on 17-Jan-04 10:32 AM
i have been quite baffeled at times myself- reading some of the obtuaries they publish! i guess: someone is dead, so why not let everybody know?- seems to be the sole theme of all those!
and ur bhatbhateni coverage was good ashu ji.keep it up.
cheers
decadence
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| ashu |
Posted
on 18-Jan-04 08:02 AM
Decadence wrote:
>>>ur bhatbhateni coverage was good ashu ji.keep it up.
Thank you, decadence.
But please do tell me how I can improve all the more too.
BTW, Bhupal Man Singh Karki passed away two days ago. Karki was a formidable
presence in Nepal's political realms for many, many years.
So far, besides the usual saying "he founded a foundation worth several karod rupees a few years ago" NONE of the newsapers/media outlets in Nepal have run a detailed
obituary of Karki. I would expect Kantipur and other newspapers to be flooded
with condolence messages -- full of names of the living -- in about 10 days from
now, and NOTHING inspiring or interestig about Karki's life.
And so it goes.
oohi
ashu
ktm,nepal
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