| ashu |
Posted
on 13-Nov-00 01:20 PM
A few weeks ago, Himal (Nepali-language) magazine had published a list of 150 readable Nepali literature ko
books. That list was prepared by Khagendra Sangraula,
a respected Progressive writer in Kathmandu.
For many of us Nepalis, educated in the West, and trying to balance the best of the both worlds,
one unfortunate gap in our higher education has been our collective ignorance about the primary texts of
Nepali literature.
To remedy this, one idea has come about.
The idea -- originally borrowed from Arnico Pandey when he was telling me about a 'history initiative' taken
by his Korean friends at Harvard -- is to take one well-known Nepali sahitya ko book that's on the Himal
list, read it and then get together in a group to discuss it in full on one evening a month.
That is to say, at the rate of one book a month.
The point is to have an informal and loose group/coalition of smart, intelligent, opinionated, interested and definitely NON-sahitya Nepalis get together once a month to discuss a text in a sort
of a freewhelling 'graduate seminar' fashion at
Martin Chautari.
This way, those, like me, who have long been
interested in Nepali sahitya, but never really had
the time to get into it, will now have a chance to renew/deepen/enforce their acquaintances with the
masterworks of Nepali sahitya -- one book a month.
And those who consider themselves "pukka, serious sahityakaars" will have a forum where their
views/ideas and beliefs will be questioned/tested/challenged/attacked and torn apart by a group of smart, intelligent, opinionated, interested and definitely NON-sahitya Nepalis.
The overall result will be: More discussions, more ideas, more creative disorder BUT better
understanding of the classic texts.
The tone of the discussions will be: serious,
respecful yet informal.
Fortunately, Sangeeta Pandey and Manjushree Thapa,
both emerging writers of Nepali sahitya, have
expressed strong willingness to lead/manage these monthly discussions.
Mary Des Chene, Khagendra Sangraula and writer
C K Lal have voiced their desires to oversee the
REGULAR running of such an initiative.
If all goes well, the first of this Sahitya initiative will take place in early December in Kathmandu, and will be a regular feature from thereafter.
Let's hope that like the Film Archives thing, this sahitya forum too, over time, becomes a regular
institution.
oohi
ashu
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