| Username |
Post |
| Biswo Poudel |
Posted
on 14-Jan-02 01:38 AM
Prince Harry took weeds, and drank unconscionably. It is news these days. We,
freshly acquainted with the enormity of such bad habit in prince, can do nothing
but helplessly wish he would be a good citizen in future. Meanwhile, since we still
have the prince whose penchant for these execrable things are still subject of
discussion in this cybertown, we hope our king will handle this matter as responsibly
as Prince Charles did. Prince Charles himself can serve as an example for our new
prince, since Charles also was the man Britons loathe very much in the past.
********----------------***************------------
Some one said none of our 47 ministers ever went to the Maoist-infested districts.
I don't know if that it true. But I am inclined to believe that accusation,because in
these democratic days of our Nepal, we have lost faith in those people who lead
us. It is a sad truth.
In Samrat's story 'the limping bride', a beautiful girl is married off to a perennially
stuporous loafer. The loafer sees the face of the girl, which his father had all
along emphasized,and agrees to marry.When he discovers the limping feet of his
bride, he becomes disenchanted. His father, who was supposed to take care of
the bride, meanwhile gets tempted by the wife, and enjoys her when he gets
chance without hesitation.
I don't know the writer's intention, but it is so much comparable to our democracy.
The leaders always chanted virtues of multiparty democracy, but didn't tell people
that 'multiparty democracy' is not the end in itself, democracy is not the solution
in itself, it is the mean, and should be handled properly. Its shortcomings were not
told properly, but only its beauty was emphasized. And when people got
disenchanted with its shortcomings, the same people who were supposed to
safeguard it started ravishing it.
Unlike the limping bride, no idea when this sad story is gonna end.
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| Not Me |
Posted
on 14-Jan-02 04:47 PM
Biswo,
I did not like Samrats U.'s book at all. I liked the analogy in your posting better than the book itself. By the time I came to that story, The Limping Bride, I was so tired of his amaturish way of story telling I just threw the book in the passenger sit thatI still have not picked it up (yes, I was reading it in the car).
Really, how many people out there think Samrat is a good writer? Forget about the nationality for once. Just be honest and objective.
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| A Nepali |
Posted
on 14-Jan-02 08:16 PM
Will the following news give some message to our King and his son who is shortly visiting England?
ETON, England -- British police have refused to rule out taking action against Prince Harry over his cannabis smoking and underage drinking.
The 17-year-old prince would be treated "exactly the same way" as any other youngster following the revelations, said Superintendent Mandy Evely of Wiltshire police force, western England.
Source:
http://asia.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/01/14/uk.harry/index.html
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| nepali69 |
Posted
on 14-Jan-02 08:28 PM
hi
i personally don't read lots of books esp. novels,story or..i got this book thru friend of mine and at that time it was one of the best selling books and as a contribution for a fellow countryman i read this book but most of the stories are so much like nepali "lok katha" in my opinion. he is probably a great nepali writer but after reading this book i think he is just trying to make his resume better. and this book brings most of the old stuff that are familiar to almost all nepalis.sorry but i m unable to magnify those old stuff. anyway we should admire him as a nepali writer who suceeded to compete with other native writers.
naive nep
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| Nepe |
Posted
on 14-Jan-02 08:57 PM
A Nepali wrote:
>Will the following news give some message to our King
>and his son who is shortly visiting England?
>ETON, England -- British police have refused to rule out
>taking action against Prince Harry over his cannabis
>smoking and underage drinking.
>The 17-year-old prince would be treated "exactly the
>same way" as any other youngster following the
>revelations, said Superintendent Mandy Evely of
>Wiltshire police force, western England.
I don't think so. However, Nepali people certainly should get some message out of this.
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| SnowMan |
Posted
on 15-Jan-02 04:10 AM
Hi all,
I do not read lots of books. While I heard about Samrat's (A NEPALI'S) book I could not wait to buy and read that. But while I read first story of his book all my excitment was gone. I read four of his story but I couldn't find anything rather than people are have sex in a fivestar hotel, a narrow room in Ason't Galli, or Nepali girl in USA. Samrat is not good writer. He doesn't have the skill to facinate his book readers. He should learn something from other writers like JHUMPA LAHAR (I recommend all to read JHUMPA Lahari's " Intrepretner of maladies"- the best stories of her).
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| ashu |
Posted
on 15-Jan-02 04:44 AM
How do you know whether a young scientist is a serious, EMERGING talent?
NOT because he is your brother or because he is from the same country
as you or because you say so, and so on.
But because you make judgments based on what his PROFESSIONAL colleagues/peers -- as ooposed to personal friends -- say about his work.
Sure, you may still disagree with professional opinions, and that's fine. But if you can give evidenced REASONS for your disagreements, then, you are taking
the debate further and adding to the common knowledge pool. Else, all we will
get in public is some people's half-baked opinions anonymously passed off as
some grand declarations.
That is why, rather than reading some cynically-critical-without-any-backing-up-with-evidence type of carping, I -- as a reader -- would rather let Samrat's
professional peers/colleagues/fellow writers OUT THERE to make judgment whether he is an emerging talent or not.
I'm no writer myself: but, for now, I am quite satisfied with this peer
recognition (for which the process was anonymously handled!) that Samrat
has gathered. This Whiting Awards, to me, sounds like some sort of Phi Beta
Kappa honors for young writers before they go on to graduate with, say,
with a summa.
Just my opinion.
http://www.literature-awards.com/whiting_writers.htm
oohi
ashu
ktm,nepal
|
| Fan_of_Samrat |
Posted
on 15-Jan-02 09:57 AM
First of all, before I make my opinion, let me confess one thing : I am not avid reader. I haven't read lots of stories. But I did manage to read Samrat Upadhya's book. I found, quite contrary to some of the posters, the stories there are very interesting. Right after buying the book, I was glued to it. That was my experiece. Since I have no knowledge of other stories written by other writers I cannot tell he is good one. Relatively speaking may be he is not outstanding. I just don't know. But we should not be so cynical and say he is not good writer.
Definately I wouldn't have read the book if he were not from Nepal. I admit that. I am eagerly awaiting publication of his next book which I heard( or read ) is about the teacher.
BTW, I don't see the anology of 'Limping bride" to democracy.
|
| Digital Maniac |
Posted
on 15-Jan-02 10:35 AM
>Biswo,
>
>I did not like Samrats U.'s book at all. I
>liked the analogy in your posting better
>than the book itself. By the time I came to
>that story, The Limping Bride, I was so
>tired of his amaturish way of story telling
>I just threw the book in the passenger sit
>thatI still have not picked it up (yes, I
>was reading it in the car).
>
>Really, how many people out there think
>Samrat is a good writer? Forget about the
>nationality for once. Just be honest and
>objective.
You read the book in a car? How you gonna like it? Do you really read books or you just chew on them?
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| Jwahar |
Posted
on 15-Jan-02 01:25 PM
Were you driving too while you were reading the book? :)
|
| Not Me |
Posted
on 15-Jan-02 02:21 PM
Of course. I will recommend it. Especially reading something like Samrat U's book. You don't need to pay much attention -) There is nothing to read anyway.:_) [A Crooked Smile]
|
| Biswo |
Posted
on 15-Jan-02 02:59 PM
Hi All:
I liked some of the stories in Arresting Gods in Kathmandu very much. They include
'The Limping Bride' and 'The room next door'(?).
I also spotted some inaccuracies in some of his stories. I don't remember all, but in
one story, he says Rana ruled for 108 years. But he tried to put a lot of facts
about Nepal in his stories in the way it didn't obtrude reader's attention, and yet it
could apprise readers of Nepal.
Most, if not all, of his stories are very tenacious and they rivet attention of readers
from the start. May be it was the reason why his book was chosen for Whiting.
The lack of originality of some stories ,however, is a fact, but it is his first attempt
and ,frankly, none of us(Nepali) have done any better in English literature, at
least until now.
We are all free to like or dislike books. Even Muna Madan doesn't get praise all
the time.Samrat's book is not The superb one, but it did a lot better than some of
highly hyped books of his contemporaries. Esp Manil Suri's "The death of Vishnu"
was a disappointment, eventhough it had received 'half a million dollar' signing
money and was promoted very heavily in Barnes and Nobels also.May be that's
why he was recognized among his contemporaries.
-
Btw, for serious readers, please check "The Correction". NK once suggested this
book here. This book is a definitely good book, and now, I also suggest this to
people with some free time.
Also watching "A beautiful mind" will also be a good experience. The movie is
superb, and I think Russel Crowe will win another Oscar this time. This movie is
simply a great movie.
|
| sally |
Posted
on 15-Jan-02 05:08 PM
My guess is that Samrat’s editor got him to put in that occasional Intro To Nepal stuff. I understand the reasoning. After all, he’s trying to reach a public that doesn’t know much about Nepal. But then again, I don’t know much about Nigeria, and haven’t felt a need for a paragraph about British rule when reading Chinua Achebe or Wole Soyinka. I felt it broke the narrative flow.
What I love about reading literature from countries I’m not familiar with (which is how most people would approach Samrat’s work) is the window it gives on those places. And a window works most effectively without an essay about how to open it.
Anyway, I did enjoy the stories. Some more than others, of course. My main quibble is that he seems to use sex too much as a device for moving the plot forward, and that sometimes the sexual relationships were unconvincing. (The end of “The Limping Bride” being a case in point.) Of course, a writer’s got to use SOMETHING, and at least it wasn’t an impending death.
And I know this is picky, but am I the only person who was bugged by the jacket quote from Lee Abbott? The gist of it was that maybe, now that he’s got KTM out of his system, Samrat could turn his powers of description towards his new homeland. As if there aren’t enough writers doing THAT (such as, for instance, Lee Abbott). There we go again .... More Americans thinking America is the most important place in the world. Sigh.
Btw, Biswo, I liked the analogy of democracy and the limping bride!!!
|
| No_name |
Posted
on 15-Jan-02 05:11 PM
I also think this year's best actor Oscar will go to Russel Crowe. His acting is just superb. And usually academy is favorable to the actor/actress who play the abnormal characters ( eg. Forrest Gump, Shine, Rain man..etc).
Hey who wrote 'Correction'? BTW, Amitav Ghosh's 'The Shadow Lines' is very interesting. Haven't finished reading yet though.
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| Biswo |
Posted
on 15-Jan-02 07:41 PM
In deed, Sally, a serious writing doesn't need a backdrop of any particular place,
since it is created on the pedestal of basic human values. But again, if someone
does so,(Take Dickens The Tales of Two Cities, or Rushdie's Midnight Children, they leave no stone unturned to acquaint us to the cities and politics of the places
where the plots were based on), that may not necessarily be a malignant
diversion.
Does the good shopkeeper reflects the Nepali writing? I think so. BP Koirala's
impression is everywhere. The limping bride also loosely reminds BP's "Babu Aamaa
Ra Chhoraa".But the story collection also has some singular portryal of globe
trotting Nepalese, who were never afforded such a niche before in Nepali
literature.The story (This world?) about a Rana profligate boy has a unique theme
never before depicted in Nepali (and even in English) literature. For such story, a
brief background is good even for a Nepali reader like me.
As for Lee's comment, I actually didn't even notice that. The comments on cover
are often profusive with praises, and may even reflect the words the writer and
the publishers would like to hear from the readers.Why should we be influenced
unnecessarily? I read Amitabh Ghosh's comment though. Also, those comments
didn't influence my decision to buy the book , since I went there making up my mind
already:-)
|
| ashu |
Posted
on 15-Jan-02 09:12 PM
I, for one, do not think that there is any smiliarity whatsoever between that limping bride story and Nepal's democracy.
OK, I concede that Nepali democracy is a limping one. But that's so NOT because of the netas or of the leaders' innate moral khattam-ness or moral uprightness, but because of the way risk-and-reward and incentive schemes are structured in our political system.
Politics is a game: with risks, rewards and incentives. If we want to understand why politicians do what they do, perhaps we should look at what risks, rewards and incentive schemes they are responding to.
And so, if positive changes are to be brought, it's NOT the political personalties that have to change themselves, but the way they respond to incentives and attendant risk-and-reward schemes. As things are n Nepal, it's very easy for
even good people to be corrupted by Nepal's political system.
Broadly then, if there is a leadership vacuum in Nepal, that's because we always look for "time tellers" when what we really need is a group of "clock builders": people who can wrestle with the system, so to speak, and make it a better one NO MATTER who's in the system.
********
Do you know, for example, who the Chairman of the Republican Party in the US is?
You probably don't.
I don't either.
Whoever he is, it's not G W Bush.
Likewise, do you know who the Chairman of the Democratic Party in the US is?
You probably don't.
I don't either.
Whoever he is, it's not Al Gore or Ted Kennedy . . .
In the US, and also in England, the only way you are accountable to people
and can thus wield overt influence over politics is by winning a seat in the
general elections. Sure, there are lobbyists and so on, but their influence
is covert and behind-the-secenes, so to speak.
But in Nepal . . . what amazes is that politicians who are NOT elected by the people to any legislative post call all the shots through their stupid and EXTRA-JUDICIAL and EXTRA-CONSTITUTIONAL entities called: Central Working Commitees.
The philosphically muddled Nepali Congress has such a committee, so does the revisionist RPP, so does the intellectually bankrupt UML and so does legislatively marginalized ML and even the Maoists -- despite their rhotoric of equality - have such an elite committee. The whole idea behind CWCs is a fundamentally flawed one.
It's like how Orwell made fun of communism: Some are more equal than others!!
Sujata Koirala, for instance, wants to be NOT an MP but a member of the Congress Central Working Commitee. Why? Because, as things are, her
incentives are clear enough. CWC is where al the unaccountable and arbitrary powers in our systems are.
And that is why, an MP from Jumla, for example, can't do much for Jumla becase often he's too busy towing the stupid party-line and obeying the CWC bigwigs in Kathmandu. And the result? MPs - the folks actually elected y the janata -- end up being MEANS for the CWC heavyweights to use and abuse for their own end.
At Martin Chautari last year, I had a debate on this with political scientist and Congress sympathizer Krishna Khanal, and I challenged him by asking whether there is any legitimate political role for CWCs in our democracy. He hemmed and hawed, and gave me a weak response which I understood to be: Well, some
older, senior Congress netas need to take care of the younger ones so that the
young ones do not do harm.
I mean, come on!!
To me, that was such an anti-democratically paternalistic attitude which, in
practice, HAS BEEN open to abuse or has done much to diminish the authority
of elected MPs.
And so, if we are serious about strengthening our democracy, the very first step toward cleaning up our mess is: Declare the CWCs for what they are: Illegal political entities. If people want to wield power, then they should go in front
of the general people and get a clear mandate as an MP from a certain constitiuency.
oohi
ashu
ktm,nepal
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| sally |
Posted
on 16-Jan-02 09:55 AM
Ashu, I didn't take the analogy of the limping bride and Nepal's democracy to be a slam on democracy for "limping." But here's what was interesting about it to me:
One important point in Samrat's story was the recognition that people are imperfect, and that the more we are acquainted with each other the greater our recognition of those imperfections can be.
All people limp a bit.
But for a marriage to work, the partners have to recognize the good in spite of the inevitable flaws. The same is true of democracy. It's not a golden, glittering prize, like a dowry. And it's not just that one moment of triumph that comes with victory, like a wedding night.
Democracy is a relationship. And so, like people, it tends to limp a bit.
The way that democracies limp is bound to be different depending on the people. Nepal's democracy limps in a way that reflects current Nepali culture. American democracy limps in a way that reflects American culture.
But Samrat's "limping bride" was not flawed in her basic nature. She was only imperfect, as we all are.
Of course, the story isn't an allegory, and I wouldn't want to make it into that!!! But I think Biswo has recognized in it an insight that is also essential about democracy: living with it is different than imagining it.
And that's OK. It's a constant struggle for improvement, and if the participants in a democracy accept and value that challenge, and don't promise what can't be delivered or try to hide the truth, the limp will fade. It may never go away, but it won't be such a big obstacle.
I guess the thing is to view it as a relationship--to debate what to do about the flaws, as you have at Martin Chautari, for instance--and not to see the "bride" as some kind of acquisition that was supposed to be perfect. Because then, she's bound to be a disappointment, and her limp will just look worse and worse by the day.
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| ashu |
Posted
on 18-Jan-02 12:29 AM
All right, Sally.
When you put it like that, there is no room for disagreement.
That said, I just want to emphasize that I still think that much harm to
Nepal's democracy has been inflicted by these various:
extra-constitutional
extra-judicial, and
totally unaccountable-to-the-people-at-large,
and repositories of flagrantly arbitrary powers
entities called Central Working Committees (CWCs) of all parties.
In our democracy, political parties (seemingly accountable NEITHER to the law of the land nor to the people at large) have become much more powerful than individual MPs (who are at least accounatble to the people eho elected them).
oohi
ashu
ktm,nepal
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