| Username |
Post |
| BDM |
Posted
on 28-Mar-02 07:47 PM
Samrat Upadhyay knows what sells in the US. That's right folks, S-E-X. 3 out of the first four stories that I have read so far are basically about sex.
First story: The Good Shopkeeper. The protagonist, who is married, bangs a slut whom he spontaneously meets somewhere in a park or whatever due to his despondency.
Second story: The cooking poet. No sex involved.
Third story: Deepak Misra's Secretary. The protagonist's wife, Jill, who is a foreigner, wants a divorce. To vent his frustration, he starts humping his secretary.
Fourth Story: The Limping Bride. The main character is a father whose son is a drunkard, and whose wife has just passed away. He feels that his son might become a better person if he gets married. So he arranges his son's marriage with a bride, who is a langadi. At one point, the dumb father actually sucks his daughter in law's nipples.
One phrase that I find to be really funny, lol:
" his penis firm and standing like the tower of Dharahara........."
bahahahhaha. Man, I laughed my ass off after reading this sentence.
I wonder what his next book, "The Guru of Love" is about.... More sex I bet.
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| NK |
Posted
on 28-Mar-02 10:44 PM
That particular line had made me pause when I was reading the book. I did not find it that funny. I just found it coarse. Not because of the fact he was talking about an erected penis but because of the lack of poetry in this image. Sonded harsh and clincal...
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| bhasu |
Posted
on 29-Mar-02 11:00 AM
There was another posting, I couldn't find it today but it was about Taranath Sharma and Samrat Upadhya .... and it was posted by Ashu, the enlightned leader of Sajha :)
Anyway here is what I think about that:
While it is true a lot of Nepali Sahityakars are arrogant and self-righteous, it is also true that most of Sahityakaars worldwide have self-fulfilling egos (as if there are any other kind of egos!).
I sympathize with Ashu’s opinion on older generation of Nepali Sathityakars but we have to be fair about it. I prefer to take a different approach and I don’t real care how Tara Nath Sharma (who my father has met) is or how Samrat Upadhya (who I have met) is. I think they both have their places in our society.
But I’d like to pose a question. How do you define a Nepali Sahityakaar? I think Samrat Ji a great writer but he is an English Sahityakaar of Nepali origin, whereas Tara Nath Sharma is a Nepali Sahityakaar. I don’t know whether Samrat Ji has published anything in Nepali language but for him to be considered Nepali Sahityakaar, as opposed to Nepali born English sahityakaar, he has to be writing in Nepali.
To give a very simplistic example, I’d loosely compare Tara Nath Sharma with J.R.R. Tolkein whereas I’d compare Mr. Samrat Upadhya with Harold Robbins.
Any comments guys?
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| Puru Subedi |
Posted
on 29-Mar-02 12:47 PM
Bhasu, here is the thread that you were looking for. It is in the Literature section:
http://www.gbnc.org/sajha/html/OpenThread.cfm?forum=4&ThreadID=4104
Yes. Samrat ji is English Sahityakaar of Nepali origin as you point out. I may not be aware of his contribution to Nepali Sahitya. It looks like he selected KTM, Sex and modernization as plot/themes for his stories.
I also feel that the works of Nepalese working on English literature should be compared with the works of their counterparts in English literature. They don't have to write about Nepal/Nepali/Culture etc. to demonstrate their expertise.
If they want to contribute to Nepali literature, they can do it by translating or critiquing Nepali literary works or writing in Nepali.
These are my personal views.
I am still reading Samrat ji's story collection.
-PS
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| body hammer |
Posted
on 29-Mar-02 01:39 PM
Suffice it to say that Samrat's contribution to Nepali Literarature is what Miracle-Gro is to a potted plant. It put literary criticism right back into the Nepali Menu. A healthy one to be sure, If the staunch stalwarts of Nepali Literature such as Ta Na Sharma are guarding the essence of Nepali expression...there is always a risk that it is going to be permanently age in some old grand father "sanduk" in a danky attic. To them, now is sort of a rude awakening to find out that "it" has all changed outside. I think increasingly the literary motif in a metropolis like Kathmandu is going to be psychological and physiological perversion of individual brought about by the traditional and modern dichotomy of Nepali life. And perhaps increasing alienation with the sort of values that forms the basis of what Tana Sharma and the old dogs espouse.
I remember a time when any literary criticism in Nepal sufficed if you inserted "aadhunik" or "paaschatya", it was as if inclusion of these two words would be enough to purge you of your lack of contribution and the utter absence of oriniganility... and firmly planted you in the traditionalist loyalist bank that were impeccable.
Yet traditional, even if somewhat rabid criticism, of nouveau trend and developments have its place. A whole hearted and blind endorsement is as much bad in misdirecting people as it is good for the healthy growth of confidence. I agree that what Nepali writers write now should at least make an effort to connect to the world at large, that in the end as human beings we share the same temptations, joys, failures and dissociations. But while they do that should they dilute it so much that it is no different than a dime a dozen novels you can pick up at any drugstore and completely "coca colize" the cultural nuances and the evocation thereof.
Finally it Samrat is a success in his own right. And perhaps it is grossly unfair to put the lierary decay and floundering of the previous years only on his shoulder. What remains is that a fantastic platform has suddenly appeared in the haze. Tana sharma and the old dogs and Samrat and the new ones are merely but two pegs holding it up. Let's see who else brings what else new.
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