English Comment–criticism–Review

    English Comment–criticism–Review

A Text by Gopi Sapkota, literary critic, published on Sunday Despatch, (Weekly Newspaper in English Language) March 5–11, 2000.

It is good to know that we still have writers who along with getting satisfaction from writing, try to correct the wrong words by their pen. However, it is an irony that these write–ups are hardly read.

It is a known fact that we cannot have a utopian society except wishing for that. But again, we can no longer be satisfied with the system of life we are condemned to live. When pains of dissatisfaction grow mature writers, can n longer remain silent. So has vijaya Chalise don in his newly released anthology of short stories entitled 'Bhagna astha ko Khandahar '.

The book has a lot to say. It has a lot to share. And they are nothing new but the problems we have been facing.

It seems Chalise, an already established writer and Journalist, has purpose in his writing like that of Mathew Arnold who propounded the idea of art for the sake of society. Chalise coincides his feelings and experiences of this mundane society with that of general people and thus orients the readers towards their feelings and experiences.

The book, with a total of 18 short stories in it, portrays a true picture of the contemporary Nepalese society. It's a pure reflection of existing social and political anomalies and aberrations. The stories in the anthology not only inform but also leave an impression of a mundane society in which we are condemned to survive with a sigh of dissatisfaction.

The first story of the collection 'Yug yug ki Janaki 'talks about a mythical character to portray the state of women. The story is about sita, a mythical character of the epic Ramayana .It x–rays the mental agony of Sita when she was being imprisoned by Ravana, the demon king. Sita remembers the incident when the demon king's sister, Suparnakha, had proposed Ram, Sita's husband to marry her when his brother Laxman had cut off the nose and ears of Suparnakha because she had taken Sita as her rival .By then, Ram's dedication towards her had made her feel an immense sense of happiness. But now, she realizes that Suparnakha was also a woman and the case of Suparnakha at that time was similar to hers.

 In this story, the author has projected the feministic approach to look at the society. The story articulates the existence of women in the society from the very beginning. The society has started women as a ' thing ' and not as a human being. Each woman in the society, whether she Sita or Suparnakha, is like an object. Women are compelled to accept the physical and mental torture created by men. Both sita a Suparnakha are women, and are the victims of men.

Paru, another story of this anthology, has to talk about how traditional our society is .The story is about cast discrimination. Paru, the main figure of the story, belongs to so called untouchables. Hari, a man from upper caste society, falls in love with her. Since Hari pertains to superior level of society, his so-called relatives became barrier to their love.

The story is written on flash back technique and the plot is very strong. This is the reality of the women in the Nepalese society. Most of the people in the village are bound to face this situation .It is because they can neither speak against so-called cultural values nor can go against them.

Another story 'Harke kehi Bujdaina '(Harke doesn't understand anything) again is a big satire against the functioning of the government and bureaucracy and their biasness for the rich only. The story speaks for the poor and suggests the policy makers to think of poor before making plans and decisions.

The title story, meanwhile, talks about how truth, intelligence, responsibilities, peace and faith have disappeared and falsehood has ruled the society.

Many Chalise's stories like 'Nirdosh Prashna ' (An Innocent Question), 'Sampurna kranti ' (A Complete movement), ' Charkeko ghar  '(Wrecked House) etc. can be studied from Marxist point of view .For Marxism, society is everything and art should for the society and it should be for the society and it should be able to direct it. Chalise's choice is society. The subject matter on which he writes is about society and the purpose he writes is to bring change in it

His stories also talk about movements and police tortures. They also speak about corruption and other social injustices.

Portraying the present day human miseries, the author aims to generate awareness regarding social absurdities .By creating awareness on those social absurdities, he trys you make people to get up from a sleep of Rip Van Winkle and fight against existing social maladies.

Furthermore, Chalise's stories exhibit the injustices subsisted in the society and the partiality. However, there is no diversity of thought in his stories. Many stories serve the same taste to the readers –the conflict between two classes. Having depicted the minor aspects of events in a lucid but effective manner chalise has revealed his expert hand.

The language used in his short stories is very simple and lucid. This may be because of his journalistic background.

Chalise a journalist by profession and a novelist, essayist and a story writer by career also writes for the children as well .He has already written six books on different genres like novel, essay, short story and six more books on children's literature. Altogether 13 books of Chalise, including the present one, have been published so far.

Book Review

A Text by Raj Kumar KC, Journalist, literary critic, published on The Rising Nepal, English daily, March 6, 2004.

Another Milestone in Mass Media

Until the last couple of years, the Nepalese people were less aware that the media could bring about changes in the society. Everybody now seems to have realized how mass media can change the people's attitude. However, the clouds of confusion still loom large over the mass media. Amidst this heightening degree of confusion, many people have misinterpreted the role of media. Lack of clarity of thoughts seems to have engulfed the bright prospect.

Vijaya Chalise, a senior journalist and literature who has been penning for the last two and half decades has made another attempt to unveil the role desired from mass media to contain conflict and terrorism.         

The book Mass Media, Conflict and Terrorism authored by Chalise contains a number of important topics such as terrorism and violence, social conflict and violence, terrorism in the new millennium, State of Emergency and violence, Emergency, Communications and Legal provision.

The author who has written number of books on mass media has clearly defined how terrorism has devastated this world in the recent years. Besides outlining the reasons for the unabated growth of violence and terrorism, the author in the first chapter has stated the role of mass media in violence. The author in his analytical twist has said that media occupies a big space in violence and terrorism. But there are ways to disseminate information in order to inform the public.

The mass media according to the author should be neutral and based on facts. The author cotes Clapper as saying "In the normal case mass communication has to be seen neither as prerequisite nor as adequate condition for effects." In addition to this the author has stated that 'terrorism would be impotent without publicity.'

If the media do not cover the news about violence and terrorism, it would make no sense at all. But one should not forget about the facts, the author believes. Tje second chapter is about the social conflict and violence, in which the author has clearly stated as to how the social conflicts emerge due to the lack of ethnic balance.

There are various factors that trigger social conflicts. The media should always be aware about   maintaining social harmony and transparency for the consolidation of democracy. The author as a working journalist has suggested maintaining that degree of balance for healthy society. The third chapter is about the 'Terrorism in the New Millennium' in which the author has described various reasons for the emergance of various terrorist activities. This chapter is mainly about the September 11 incident and terrorist attacks in different parts of the globe.

The state of emergency and terrorism is another topic in which the author has elaborated the situation that emerged after the dissolution of the Deuba-led government some two years ago. In his personal observations, the Nepalese media suffered following the announcement of emergency. Even though, the state of emergency does not exist. the Nepalese press is still not comfortable.

The fifth chapter is about the State of Emergency and legal provisions. The author in this chapter has explicitly defined the real situation being faced by the Nepalese media in the recent days. Apart from this the author has cited various legal provisions relating to the communications in the emergency period.

Chalise, an executive editor of the Gorakhapatra Daily sounds confident in describing the real situation of the mass media in Nepal. Above all he has tried to give a message that the media has an important role in containing the globle terrorism and violence. It is of course; true that mass is responsible in contracting and expanding the domain of terrorism.

Chalise's unrivaled writing style reflects his literary personality as well. The book in totality is a milestone in the field of Nepalese media. The book covers a wide range of readers including students, journalists and teachers. However, the author seems to have ignore some minor grammatical mistakes. Apart from this the over compressed text brings some difficulties in reading. The book would have in much better if the authoe had presented his personal opinion as conclusion.

Keeping some of these minor flaws aside, the book is marvelous. Readers may expect such books of the author in future. The endeavors of the publisher should be well appreciated.   

A Text by Raj Kumar KC, Journalist, literary critic, published on The Rising Nepal, English daily, July ?, 2004.

New Rays of Optimism

Writing fiction is not an easy task.

A Text by PNK(PremNath Kakkad, Journalist, literary critic, published on The Rising Nepal, English daily, Nov. 5, 2004.

Educative & Entertaining

Children's literature are very far and few in Nepal. Only A few magazines are in circulation to meet the desires of children among with Muna, a publication of the Gorakhapatra Corporation is a prominent one. The dearth of children's literature had made the children depend on foreign publications to meet their desire to read stories, novels or such.

Of course, anything other than the mother tongue makes it difficult for the children to comprehend the matter. The cultural differences too create a big difference between the words and sentence read and the underlying meaning. As a matter of fact, material rooted to one's own soil and culture and traditions have a deeper and meaningful effect on the tender minds of the children.

It is only in recent times that there is a growing awareness among interested writers that thought must go to creating materials that can benefit, entertain and educate the children if nth national languages as well as other languages of the country. This realization augurs well for the development children's literature in Nepal. The real life situation must be the inspiration for such literature while harping on monsters, dragons, and horror inspiring creations are not appropriate.

BIjaya Chalise is a well-known writer and has contributed much to children's literature and the collection of stories have proved to be very popular. It is his understanding fo the children's mental state that he has been ablf to write stories that include not only learning new ideas but also knowledge and information.

 Mustang ko Gupha (the xcave of Mustang) is yet another edition to children's literature from the pen of Bijaya Chalise. It takes the child readers on a tour of Mustang, a scenic district in western Nepal. Here is an opportunity for the little children to go on a tour of Jomsom and Muktinath and the worlds inside the caves and the evils in the form of monsters are subdued by Abhinav and Somu. The reality with a blend of fantasy is sure to spellbind the children.

The journey is planned as the school holidays for Dashain begins. Abhinawa is interested in visiting new places. His father is agriculture development officer and is stationed at Jomsom for the past one year. This set the stage for Abhinaw's travel to Jomsom. Then he embarked with his mother on a plane for the trip to J9omsom. On flight the scenes from the plane are enjoyed by the boy. His father is at ths airport to receive them. Abhinaw is excited on the meeting his father after such a long time. The Himalayan from  so near really impress him. Here he meets a new friend in Somu whose mother and sister run a hotel there.

Abhinaw and his mother go on a trip to Muktinath temple where he comes across many foreign tourists. The weather was cold but provision of heating in the h0otel did not make feel it. The boy feels everything as he had read in books about Muktinath temple including 108 spouts.

Abhinaw and Somu also visit a cave. They were fearful in the beginning but they found it full of bats and there was small shrine inside it. He is reminded of his geography lesson at school. It was a place to store a looted goods by the robbers. They save their life with difficulty. They, however, overhear the robbers' plans. The childrens' bravery and daring land the robbers in the hands of the police.

 It was adventure for the children together with their helping the law enforcement personnel that made their trip wonderful.

There are many things that the children can learn from this book. The writer has made the language and the as the rendering as simple as possible so that the readers would not find any difficulty in comprehending it. The writer's contribution to child literature must be welcomed and that more of his creation are published in the days to come for the benefit of children.

The reality

A Text by PNK(PremNath Kakkad, Journalist, literary critic, published on The Rising Nepal, English daily, Dec. 23, 2005.

Agnichakre

 A journalist by profession, Vijaya Chalise is also a name in the realms of literature. He has been offring reasers literary works including short stories, novel, journalism related books and so on. It must be realized that he has been writing for over three decades on a regular basis. Despite his preoccupation as the chief editor of the Gorkhapatra daily, his passion for coming with literary work has not diminished.

Agnichakra ( Fireball/Wheel of fire is his newest release. It is collection of short stories composed over the past seven years. It may be right to say that the stories offer a glimpse into the contemporary Nepalese life within this period. To be precise, the social and political life in the past one decade has witnessed many ups and downs. The moments of joys and sorrow intermingle in his stories as is real life. There are no stationary moments, it moves from one plain to another. It is a shifting movement that grips the readers and for the contemporary people it offers another insight into the unfolding realities. Therein lies the power of story telling. Reality is touching in the sense that life itself has its unique features and one person's viewpoint may contradict another's. This is the present time when logic also tries to defy the gravity.

The collection of stories contains sixteen stories. It may remember that since 1990 the country has been going through uncertainties. Their end has not arrived. The stories tell of the conflict and violence. One man's hatred for another is powerfully reflected in stories like 'Aafaisangako uddha'(battle with self), 'Shikar ra Shikariharu'(The hunt and the hunter), and 'Atripta Sapana Tairiyeka Ankhaharu'(Eyes with unfulfilled Dreams). Pathos arises from the situation where there is violence. The message is clear that bravery does not lie in killing others. A sense of compassion has to be kindled as human beings.

The other stories have their own issues that are related to the social life. Whether it is a talk ov salvery or of child rights or even the relations between the husband and wife, they all come live and do not escape the eyes of Chalise. It is the power of represent what plays in the mind into powerful portrayals in black and white. The choice of words and the sentences with plaintiff use of direct speech gives the write up more authenticity and representation of life as it is whether in the plains or the hills.

It must to read collection as it has been able to present the realities of life as it is rather than decorating it with unbelievable scenes, dialogue and characters. The characters are as one would met them in life. The layout and makeup is good and the cover itself is suggestive of the matter that is to be encountered as one reads the stories.  

Chalise's travelogue realesed

By A staff TRN reporter

May 3,2007:  

PNK, Impressive Reading (Book Review), TRN June 8, 2007.