| Username |
Post |
| Biswo |
Posted
on 16-Dec-00 06:55 PM
After reading Samrat's "The shopkeeper",I silently praised his
writing skill,but then suddenly in my mind came another story
that was published several years ago in Madhupark.
The story ,titled "parajaya pachhiko safalataa" published in
Madhupark of either Bhadra or Ashwin 2048,and if I remember
correctly in page 50, is a "laghukathaa".I don't have the
magazine in USA now,so I am writing everything from memory,and
the story goes like this:
An unemployed person ,in Pokhara ,goes here and there in search
for job.Doesn't get (as is typical in Nepal), and in desparation
thinks of suicide by jumping in Phewataal.(The person is from
Pokhara).But he sees fisherman catching and selling fishes.Being
a son of Lama,he previously had some hesitation regarding killing/
selling fish,but he becomes seller of fish anyway,giving up his
thought of suicide.
(Those interested in further research please try to read the
story .)
Samrat's story is very long,and very nicely written.The story
goes like this:
The protagonist becomes unemployed.Looks for job everywhere,but
doesn't get.Thinks of suicide by jumping in Rani Pokhari.He
hates to become shopkeeper which his wife often insists on.But
after hobnobbing with a seller of peanut ,the protagonist
decides to become shopkeeper.He gives up thought of suicide!
Samrat puts computer and sex in his story.Also adds some Karate
and Kungfu.But the story is pretty much in the same frame,as
long as I can remember.
**********---------------****************-------------------------
I thought for somedays before writing this comment here.I don't
think the small story was something people could read and copy.
It was just a small story there,a debut from the writer.It may
be just a coincidence that Samrat's and the story's plot looked
alike.
Then I remembered an article by Dr Ishwar Baral in Madhupark of
I guess Poush 2044(I used to be avid reader of Madhupark then,
but this date , I can't write for certainty now),in which he
compared the story of Rup Narayan Shrestha's 'Didi ko Dewar ' with
one Hindi story by something 'Bhramar'.A lot of people later
dismissed his comparison of those two stories,because they were
related very flimsily.Dr Baral never recanted,however,because
he believed that the stories were akin!I think I risk being
follower of Ishwar Baral for some,but the only purpose of writing
this article here is to draw attention!!
Wishing Samrat good luck!
|
| ashu |
Posted
on 17-Dec-00 10:48 AM
Biswo,
I have forwarded your posting to Samrat himself
in Ohio. He may or may not reply, I don't know.
I, for one, know that Samrat is creative and smart
enough to beautifully craft, that too in English,
an original story, -- based on his experiences, observations,
readings, intuition and imagination -- to be
"troubled", as it were, by any putative
resemblance of his prize-winning story with
one published in Madhu Parka.
oohi
ashu
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| Biswo |
Posted
on 17-Dec-00 02:32 PM
Hi Ashu:
Glad you did it.I was really troubled,before I wrote it,and
the only exit from that was to write it down.
As I wrote it down,the story plot are similar,but that was
a short story,this is a long and very nicely written,so nice as
to gain national prominence!But it will be unethical for me to
not point it out.Together with that,I have written that I ,myself,
don't believe that he could have read and expanded upon it.
Thanks a lot.I think Samrat should reply something,after all the
question is already raised!!If it is possible,you can read
the Madhupark also.
It is after you published about the book that I bought it in
Amazon,and read the story.Just imagine my ardour,when I found
the plot just a banal and predictable enough!
Thanks alot.
|
| Trailokya Aryal |
Posted
on 17-Dec-00 06:56 PM
Dear Bishwoji,
What book are you talking about? Is it about the collection of short stories. I thought it was coming out sometimes next year.
Trailokya Aryal
|
| Biswo |
Posted
on 17-Dec-00 08:01 PM
Hi Trailokyaji:
We are talking about the famous story of Samrat Upadhyay,which
was selected in "the best stories of 1999" in USA along with the
stories of other famous of this years like Jhumpa Lahiri ,Spencer
etc..
The book can be bought in amazon.com.The best stories of..etc
is a series publication started several years ago to publicize
recommended stories by an author.They change editors each year,
and Amy Tan(of Korean/American origin)is the editor for this year.
The story plot has a strange similarity with "Parajaya pachhiko
Bijaya" published almost eight years ago in Madhupark and I
compared the two stories in the first posting of this thread.
Biswo
|
| Biswo |
Posted
on 17-Dec-00 09:13 PM
Sorry,Trailokya.
The name of the original story is "Parajaya pachhiko safalataa".
Sorry for otherwise.
Biswo
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| samrat |
Posted
on 21-Dec-00 08:19 AM
Hello everyone:
A friend of mine forwarded the current exchange to me, thinking that it would be of interest to me as it is my story that is being discussed. And it is, especially since some "troubling" questions have been raised regarding "The Good Shopkeeper," who, in my normal angst about my writing--its usefulness as well as its power--I have resorted to calling "The Dubious Shopkeeper."
Firstly, let me say outright that I was not aware of the story in Madhuparka Biswoji is referring to when I wrote "The Good Shopkeeper." As much as I like to keep up with contemporary Nepali literature, my professional life here doesn't allow me to read everything that's published in Nepal. As I mention in the contributor's note to The Best American Short Stories, I wrote "The Good Shopkeeper" in 1997, after a short visit to Nepal when I saw computers innundating Kathmandu's landscape. So, any resemblence to another story is entirely coincidental.
However, lest this turn into a writerly defense and denial, let me also state that actually I am not averse to the idea of my story, written in English, resembling another story written in Nepali. My feeling is that I don't have a monopoly on all the storylines that exist in this universe, and if my story resembles a story in Nepali, that shows to me that perhaps I am not too off the mark in depicting the struggles of an average middle-class person in Nepal. More importantly, this also indicates to me that perhaps there is a universal consciousness that links people to one another, a theory I've held for a long time and which I hope comes across in my work, even as they've never met and are not aware of each other.
Also, writers are frequently influenced by other writers, and that's another reason I'm not averse to the plot resemblence even as I'm not aware of the Nepali writer's work. In academic circles, this is known as "intertextuality," where one text in linked with another. Alice Walker of "The Color Purple" was greatly influenced by Zora Neal Hurston, and there are striking resemblences between the two writers' works. More recently, I was struck by the similarity between Chitra Divakaruni's "Mrs. Dutta Writes A Letter," published in the same Best American Short Stories, and Anita Desai's "Winterscape," published at least a year later in her story collection Diamond Dust: both stories about mothers who find themselves alienated in America/Canada among their "Westernized" children. At this point in the history of literature, all plot-lines have been exhausted, and we're basically recyling stuff that has already been written about before. The only difference is language, not the what of the story but how the story is told.
I want to thank all of you who have read and thereby supported my work. I am heartened to learn that people in the Nepali community here in the US, like Biswoji, have gone to the trouble of giving my story a good read after learning about it. I especially want to thank Ashu for being so supportive of my work over the years. Ever since I started writing seriously about a decade ago, I knew I was not merely writing for a Western audience, and I want to get feedback from Nepali lovers of literature about my work.
I will be going on a national author tour this coming fall, and will be in Los Angeles, New York, Minneapolis, San Franciso, and certainly Boston, where my publisher is located, for a reading. I will be delighted to see some Nepali faces in the audience there, and will welcome a lively exchange.
Samrat
|
| Biswo |
Posted
on 21-Dec-00 09:56 PM
Hi Samratji:
Thanks for your calm and informed reply. I already wrote that I
was smitten by the story, the only thing exceptionable I found
was the banality, because of the troubling resemblance with
"Parajaya Pachhiko Safalata".
I am not the one who can evaluate your story,I am just a reader.
Actually I am eagerly waiting for your next collection, the eager-
ness is more intense than the eagerness with which I waited
Rushdie's the Moor's last sigh.
And hey,before finishing, I just want to say that I don't wholly
agree that story plots are exhausted.With the creation of new
milieu because of inundation of new technologies, new frontiers
and new migrations in the world, we are appointed with lots of
new plots for fiction.Again,let's agree to disagree on this.I
don't want to perturb your literary mind with my dissent.I know
how tough it is to create a masterpiece story, and yet I believe
you are capable of doing this.
Best wishes for your next book and next tour.My city is not in
your itinerary,it seems.But it doesn't matter, we will be watching
you, as you gain more prominence.
good luck!
|
| story |
Posted
on 14-Aug-01 03:33 AM
Samratji's new book is out in the USA. Please take a look at it everyone.
|
| namita |
Posted
on 14-Aug-01 09:43 AM
Samrat,
I am glad you are coming to our city, Boston. Looking forward to your reading.
Namita
|
| sally |
Posted
on 14-Aug-01 10:58 AM
I noticed this is an old thread. Yes, the book is finally out--"Arresting God in Kathmandu"--and I just picked it up at Borders. Haven't had a chance to read it yet, although I read "The Good Shopkeeper" a while ago and liked it. If Samrat's publishers have scheduled his readings yet and someone can post it to this site, that would be great. I'm sure we'll find out through our various communities anyway, but if anyone knows the schedule already, do post it!
|
| spen |
Posted
on 15-Aug-01 09:51 AM
Samrat,
Will you be in Chicago?
|
| reader2 |
Posted
on 15-Aug-01 01:44 PM
Samrat's book was published by HoughtonMifflin. Check out their Website.
|
| Vademecum |
Posted
on 15-Aug-01 02:30 PM
People !!!!
I got book deal from houghton miflin. I got tha reviews NPR. Go buy my book and make me rich. Trying to do some free PR here. Got a few of my chela's makin' some noise so Y'all can go buy my book. Ladies make sure you come to my book signing. Peace love and unity ;-]
Sincerely yours
SU
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