Manjul the essayist

By Laxman Gnawali & Rajani Dhakal

Born in Gogane village of Bhojpur district on the 30th Phalgun, 2003 Bikram era with the auspicious Full moon in the sky and the colourful Holi festival on the land, Meghraj Upadhyaya is an established writer with his pen name Manjul. Inspiring familial setting, mother’s affection and Bhojpurean natural beauty moulded sentimental Manjul into a writer and for the last four decades he has been contributing to Nepali literature as lyricist, novelist, poet and essayist. The pioneer of Ralpha group Manjul, earlier fumed vehemently but now is mild and gentle, and is equally popular among readers of Nepali literature.

A progressive youth Manjul and another fervent artiste Raamesh formed Ralpha group in 2024 Bikram era as a consequence of their attraction to newness as opposed to strict traditionalism in writing and music, and as an attempt to establish new social and human values. Ralpha was a group of young writers and musicians who used writing and music to express their thought. Gradually Manjul was emerging out of the group as an individual identity. Popularly known as troubadour Manjul, once active as a progressive artiste, is now dedicated to enhance Nepali language and literature. Manjul has already contributed to Nepali literature about a dozen book size works and several songs, poems and essays. His major works include Sainlimorilai (songs 2024), Chhekudolma (novel 2026), Gayak Yatri (Poetry 2040), Ujyaloko Prashanshama (Translation 2041), Samjhanaka Pailaharu (Travelogue 2044), Manjulka Naya Kavitaharu (Poetry 2045), Jane Haina Dai Alapot? (Travelogue 2047) , Chokati Kavita (2055), Mrityu Kavita (2055), Siddhicharanharu (Poetry 2055), Gaunka Drishyaharuma Bandiyera ( poetry 2055).

Though he began writing at the age of ten when he was in class six, his formal entry in Nepali literature took place in 2019 with ‘Maidalko Kando’ in Swasnimanchheharu. In 2026, he published his novel Chhekudolma which came out in complete new style leaving behind traditional pattern of Nepali novel and embracing Ralpha thinking, as well as absurdism-existentialism. This novel has introduced a new aesthetic concept.

Manjul prefers to be called as a poet and his Romantic poeticity can be witnessed in his early poems where he presents nature as tranquil, soft and beautiful. His early poems show his expressionism and ideology of Ralpha movement, and are embellished with original artistic and stylistic beauty. However, this beauty later gets replaced by extreme simplicity when he acts more as progressive activist than Ralpha member. It’s with Manjulka Naya Kavitaharu (2045) he takes a new turn and starts writing experimental poems. Siddhicharanharu and Mrityu Kavita are famous as poems in series whereas Chokati Kavita is an experiment of shorter poems. Experimentalism in structure and philosophising in thinking are significant in his recent poems. His poeticity is the co-ordination of ideology and art, his expression is musical and humanistic.

Manjul turned to essays as an attempt to propagate the concept of Ralpha thinking. His journey as an essayist began with the essay titled ‘Ralpha’ in hand-written newsletter Bagar Mathiko Janabar Mrityu and Ralpha movement has 30 years to be proud of its creativity. More than six dozens of essays published in collections and elsewhere have brought Manjul an undying fame. Samjhanaka Pailaharu and Jane Haina Dai Alapot- the two travelogues in book size- are the most important works to earn fame for Manjul among Nepali readers. Samjhanaka Pailaharu is a collection of seven essays in first person narrative as the travel recollections written after music tour of Manjul and Raamesh to eastern hills around 2028-29 Bikram era. These essays present close observation of social life, lifestyle in the hills, geographical structure, human nature, natural beauty as well as different individuals, organisations and different contexts. In other words, the experiences on social, economic, geographical, cultural aspects of eastern hill area namely Ramechhap, Okhaldhunga, Diktel, Chainpur, Taplejung, etc have been presented in original and poetic language. Portrayal of nature, objective description, intellectual tenderness, personal presentation, interesting and picturesque phraseology of these essays have started a new dimension in Nepali essay writing and this collection has proved a landmark in Manjul’s literary journey. He sees a humanlike family in the different elements of nature. "The blows of the wind through the thickets and bushes were rocking the trees, small and big, as if they were babies in the cradle.’ (Samjhanaka Pailaharu p. 171). He personifies the April wind as his own sister in, ‘The April wind would tease us as we climbed up as if it were our sister who is over-joyed and would like to part our long downy hair and relish the joy of our face.’ (Ibid. P.6). Jane Haina Dai Alapot? is another travel essay collection written in the third phase of his literary journey. This collection too depicts the close observation of social life, geographical structure and human relations and contexts. The main objective of this collection seems to present the experiences that he gathered in areas surrounding Kathmandu in melodious, expressionistic and straightforward language. He visualizes folk men and women in the dale and hills as he goes about with a traveller’s eyes and observer’s mind. He says ‘... the foot-trails looked like the sashes (patuki) of Basnet mothers, terraces like parading riflemen and hill-tops like Sherpa shepherds.’ (Jane Haina Dai Alapot P. 73). Class consciousness and revolutionary consciousness of Manjul have now taken a turning to explore the inherent and unalterable human nature through Jane Haina Dai Alapot?. The depth in thought and artistic presentation are the significant aspects of this collection. By now
his progressiveness has taken a different form as independent progressive consciousness, not progressive ideology, appears developing in every next essay.

Literature, art, culture, language, Nepalese society are the subject of his writing. Best of his essays include ‘Atma Vigyapti: Mirzamaibhako Namma’; ‘Kavita Lekhne Mesotir Lagda’; ‘Paula Meri Shikshika’; ‘Bhana Na Manjul Timile Guitar Kaslai Diyau?’; ‘Kehi Swedish Balakharu’; ‘Angreji Skultira Modida’; ‘Nepal Hamrot Hudai Gairaheko Bela’; ‘Ti Pakistani Driver’; ‘Mero Manma Prashna Uthirahanchha’; ‘Meri Ama, Meri Adhyapika’; ‘Manjulko Ankhama Manjul’ ‘Lunavla: Kehi Taranga Kehi Tarana’. To state in brief, written on diverse subjects and with purpose, Manjulean essays are simple melodious, poetic, interesting and beautiful. And the basic significances of his essays are fascinating portrayal of nature, symbolism, honesty in feelings and expression, recolletivity and expressionism.

(Essay on Nepali literature appears in the first week of every month and is coordinated by Literary Association of Nepal)

Bluff calls !?!

When we talk about bluff calls, there is one person whom we can consider the real culprit. He is no other than Alexander Graham Bell. With the invention of the telephone, communication has become much easier and the concept of a global village has come into shape. Lives are saved because of telephones. Yet, the major misuse of telephone is the bluff calls.

From the dawn of civilization, we, human beings have the tendency towards dominating others. Every single war, battle, empire building is the consequence of such tendencies. May be the Darwinian theory, Survival of the Fittest, explains the logic behind such a tendency. This tendency has both negative and positive sides. Sexual harassment, child abuse, work place harassment, bluff calls, etc are its negative parts. We can find plethora of research in sexual harassment, workplace harassment, etc but there is very little research done on bluff calls. When we talk about "bluff calls" we cannot take it in terms of a black and white entity; and it doesn’t always only have a bad consequence.

Nepal has suffered from the phenomenon called bluff calls for the last three/four decades. Over the years, telephone subscribers have increased and so has the number of bluff calls. In the past, bluff calls were centred in big cities, but today we can find such cases coming from small towns also. Bluff calls, today, have become a serious problem. There even are a number of cases in the Mental Hospital, attributed to bluff calls.

As stated above, there is hardly any research done on this topic, so we the students of Kathmandu University did a research to find out the reason behind the bluff calls gaining momentum in our country. The research is also focused on the psychological and social impact.

Our analysis has shown that there is a strong relationship between bluff calls and education, bluff calls and gender, and bluff calls and availability of entertainment sources. It was also discovered that more than 30% of respondents like receiving bluff calls. We also came across people who had made friends through bluff calls. They amount to 43% of the total respondents of 100. But our interview with the director of the Mental Hospital, Lagankhel, shed some light on the negative sides of bluff calls. It has already treated a number of patients suffering from the phonophobia. Even if the number of people suffering from phone related illnesses is less, this fact cannot be ignored. Still, people do not take bluff calling as a problem instead as a means of entertainment.

Our initial hypothesis was, bluff calls have only negative aspects and people are sick and tired of such calls. Though our findings proved the fact, the percentage in favour (which amount to more than 30%) could not be ignored. In response to the question asked that considering the money and time involved whether making bluff call was worthwhile, 35% said yes, while 50% said no, and 15% had no comments to give. Similarly when asked if they would love to receive bluff calls, 33% said yes and 67% said no.

Keeping in mind the time and money being consumed, people have to think twice before making such calls and a proper government body has to take action to minimise such calls. It is rightly said, "your freedom stops there, where my nose starts". So our recommendation to the general pubic would be don’t engage yourself in bluff calls when the recipient is not interested. During our research we found out that there is an instrument in the market known as callers ID. This instrument shows the number of the caller. If NTA gives a green light to use this instrument then most of the complaints of bluff calls can be solved. The data analysis showed that there is a strong relation between the bluff calls and availability of entertainment sources. People are involved in bluff calls because of the lack of entertainment sources. 54% of the respondents feel that the lack of an entertainment source is the real cause. So increasing the number of entertainment sources can also lead to a cessation in bluff calls.

(By Deepa Dhital, Preeti Basnet and Swatee Rizal)

Overseas employment : Close observation

Let us take you back to the time when one of your relatives left Nepal to seek greener pastures abroad. We are almost certain that you did not have to go too far. This tendency has been gaining increased momentum lately. It is sad for the patriotic citizens to know that the educated and professional resources are using their capabilities for the good of some other country. The problem of resource drain is not new to the world. Dedicated governments like those of Canada and even India are constantly working towards re-diversion of brain drain.

In order to throw some light on this grave matter a group of MBA students from The Kathmandu University, School of Management successfully conducted a research. During this course the group sadly accepted the fact that there is virtually no data, with the government of Nepal, regarding the number of valuable educated citizens working abroad. Even if such data existed, young enthusiastic researchers had absolutely no modem of access. The team is highly interested to conduct further scientific research in this matter. With the guidance and inspiration of Dr Shakti Rana, the team went to great length to minimize various biases in order to maintain the high standard of the school of management. But due to the financial and time constraints a research was done with a sample size of only 200 educated individuals (graduates and above) who were chosen randomly. The team is proud to share some of its major findings.

Opinion is almost equally divided regarding the necessity seeking foreign employment. Patriotism seems to be the dominant factor inducing Nepalis to stay in Nepal. A high degree of patriotism was noticed among 80% of the subjects. During an on air programme on FM one person gave a suggestion that if all the people going abroad spend the initial cash that they carry with them in some vocation at home, they will be able to reap much higher benefits then if they were to go abroad. He said that he did not study much. There is a saying in Nepali that an educated fool is far more dangerous than an uneducated one. Perhaps this relaying of the poor soul’s feelings on the FM will make you wiser.

It was found that age and gender had no impact on tendency to seek foreign employment. Married subjects were more motivated to work abroad than the unmarried ones. This might be due to inability to maintain the standard of living, which is directly related to the level of income and inflation. Moreover the subjects ranked level of income as the most important variable inducing foreign employment. This can be seen from the bar diagram below.

The sample consisted of 48% graduates, 47% masters, and 5% doctorates. Among the graduates 57% disagreed that it is good to seek employment opportunities abroad. The ratio decreased to 40.47% among postgraduates and was least (20%) among doctorates. This shows that as Nepali citizens attain higher levels of education, they have an increasing tendency to seek employment opportunities abroad. It also means that the present state of the economy has less room for specialized human resources.

The research team made a major finding regarding the relationship between the current status and foreign employment. Self employed and civil servants were highly motivated to seek opportunities abroad. On the contrary, those who were unemployed and those working in private sectors were less inclined to foreign employment. The concerned bodies in the government should be really worried about increasing the level of dissatisfaction among civil servants.

Our research has shown that 79% of the subjects believed that foreign employment is only a temporary solution to the problem of unemployment in Nepal. Foreign employment is only a temporary solution and does not solve the problem in the long run. On the contrary as the government promotes foreign employment, the cream of the workforce may work in foreign soil thus slowing if not hindering the process of national economic development. The foreign currency may block a few holes in our sinking boat-Nepal and the leaders may postpone its future. But it is high time to bring about an economic revolution and thus provide a new boat, however small, so that there exists economic stability and so that the foreign multinationals may view Nepal as a profitable destination.

During the unstructured interview with the current Minister of Labour – Mr Bal Bahadur KC, he said that the government understands that foreign employment is a temporary solution and has plans to phase out the trend of foreign employment in the long run. However in the short run when the problem of unemployment cannot be solved by the existing economy, the government feels that short run solution is mandatory. He however did not specify the time period that may be called a "short-run". All long-run breaks down into short runs. It must also be remembered that the short-run policies, however dandy, may worsen the problem in the long run. The team believes that true leaders go for the long-term benefit of the country. However it wants to leave the matter at hand for a "short-run".

(By Ashish Singh, Rajni KC and Shalav Risal)

National heroes of our country

By Narayan Uprety

Our country has a fertile soil not only for crops and vegetation but also for great people who have made great contributions in different fields. We remember them and respect their contribution. We also have a practice of celebrating their birthdays or important days of their life. They are our national heroes. The government has included, in the list of national heroes, people like King Janak, Sita, Gautam Buddha, Amshuverma, Araniko, Ram Shah, Prithvi Narayan Shah, Balbhadra Kunwar, Amar Singh Thapa, Bhimsen Thapa, Bhanu Bhakta Acharya, Motiram Bhatta, King Tribhuwan and Shankhadhar Sakha.

The Council of Ministers took a decision on November 18, 1999 to include Shankhadhar Sakha in the list of national heroes of our country. Shankhadhar was the founder of Nepal Sambat (Nepal Era) which started some 1120 years ago, on October 20, 879 (Kartik 1/2, 936 BS). On the basis of the information contained in Bhasa Bamsawali and Rajbhogmala Bamsawali, during the reign of Raghav Dev, a low-caste merchant called Shankhadhar freed the people of Kathmandu from their debts and started a new era called Nepal Era.

The famous historian Surya Bikram Gyawali writes in his Medieval History of Nepal Valley that Sakha started a new era called Nepal Era on 20th October 879 (1st of Kartik 936 BS).

According to a folk tale, King Ananda Malla of Bhadgaon (in about 1257 AD) had asked his servants to bring sand from the confluence of Bhachakhusi (Bhadramati) and Bishnumati rivers at Lakhu, following an instruction given to him by an astrologer that sand would become gold if taken out on a particular moment. Shankhadhar came to know this. When he saw that some people were carrying sand towards the palace, he bribed them by giving some money and asked them to take sand to his house. They carried sand to Sakha’s house, took the money from Sakha and went away. Now, Sakha became very rich because he had sacks and sacks of gold coins. He could have lived a happy life and left a huge property for his sons and daughters. But, he didn’t use it for his personal pleasure and luxury. With this huge wealth, he paid the debts of all the poor people of the Kathmandu valley and saved them from becoming slaves. It was a great occasion of historical importance for the people. To commemorate this great occasion he started a new era called Nepal Era.

Even if we don’t believe the story of the changing of sand into gold, it could have been possible that from his trade he earned a lot of money which he utilised in paying the debt of the poor. If such was the case then he deserved more respect and was really a great man to start a new era.

On the way from Singhsatal to Bhimsenthan, in Kathmandu, there is a place called Lakhu Falcha at which the people carrying a heavy load of sand had taken rest. The ruins of this resting place are still found. At the same time, Sakha had established his own stone-image side the temple of Pashupatinath, at its southern gate. This stone-image of Shankhadhar Sakha is still there at the southern gate of Pashupatinath temple to corroborate the story of his great deeds.

To be given a prestigious place like national hero (Rastriya Bibhuti) to such an important person like Shankhadhar is a highly appreciated work of the government. It invites some more explorations and interpretations. It has opened a field of research for the students of history and it is hoped that very soon all the details of his life and deeds will come to light.

Some observations:
Shankhadhar’s work of freeing the people from debts during Raghav Dev’s reign and again during Ananda Malla’s reign doesn’t go together as there is a gap of about 300 years between the time of their rule. When we calculate the time, the rule of Raghav Dev seems to be more appropriate than that of Ananda Malla. In history, very often an important and an innovative work done by a person is interpreted to be of the king. So, it is no wonder that Shankhadhar’s work was attributed to King Raghav Dev.

Balchandra Sharma, in his Nepal Ko Ruprekha writes that Nepal Sambat was started during Raghav Dev’s reign. He quotes the findings of Prof C Bendall and A Cunningham and concludes that whoever started it, it began in 879 AD. This shows that Balchandra Sharma was not sure of the person who started it. He gave priority to the start of a new era rather than its founder.

Prof S Levi does not agree with Cunningham. His interpretation is that Nepalese were very superstitious. They used to regard figure ‘8’ as an unlucky number. So, they dropped the unlucky number 8 of the Saka Era 801 and thus, they retained number 1 which became a new course of time (Saka Era was started by Saka dynasty King of India).

Netra Bahadur Thapa in his A short history of Nepal writes that Raghav Dev found a ruling dynasty of Thakuri kings and the Lichchhavi rule came to an end in October 879 AD. To commemorate this important event of the end of the Lichchhavi dynasty and the beginning of the Thakuri dynasty rule he started a new era called Nepal Sambat.

Malla K Sundar, one of the exponents of Nepal Bhasa says that Nepal Sambat was introduced between 125 and 130 BS. According to its calendar, it contains 354 days on the basis of lunar calculations. So, every 3 years there was an extra month. The employees were to be given 13 months salary in every 3 years. So, the Rana prime minister, Chandra Shumsher, dropped Nepal Sambat and adopted Bikram Sambat as official calendar in 1960 BS.

While listing out of the names of national heroes, Bhimsen Thapa’s name has been dropped. So far, his name has been included in all general knowledge books, periodicals (magazines) and other related documents. Looking at the life and deeds of Bhimsen Thapa, his contributions were greater than many others in the list. His administrative reforms, constructions of Dharahara, Sundhara, etc being the first prime minister of the kingdom, working as prime minister for 34 years (the longest period in our history) under 3 kings, etc all these facts attribute him to be a national hero. The only act on which we comment was his committing suicide. It was not a surprising thing for a person like Bhimsen to prefer death to dishonour. For a hero, anything that undermines his dignity is intolerable.

At the same time, people like Tenzing Sherpa, Pasang Lhamu etc also deserve to be called ‘the great’, or could be included in the list of national heroes. Do we condemn Tenzing for changing his citizenship? Then, what about Arniko? When we sent him to China at the invitation of King Kublai Khan, he settled down there and never came back. But, still we regard him as our national hero. Compared to him Bhrikuti’s role was even greater for safeguarding the independence and sovereignty of the kingdom. A Hindu princess to be married with a Bhutia was a great sacrifice in those days. She took it for the sake of the country and the king.

There are a number of areas we need to look into a historic event and a historic personality. We need to calculate the pluses and minuses before arriving at a conclusion. We need to weigh their contributions on the scales of lasting effects and the benefits we derive from them. A proper analysis, without any political, personal or regional biasness, is a must before giving a national recognition to an individual. There can be many living legends and many living history as well. If proper recognition is given to them in their life time, that would be a greater respect to them than anything given posthumously.

We are at the 21st century. Let this new century as well as a new millennium bring positive thinking and appropriate inspiration for all of us. There are many hidden treasures in our country, we need to dig them out and expose them to the world that we are not far behind. There are a number of national as well as international heroes in our country. The sons and daughters of Nepal like sister Nirmala (successor of Mother Teresa) deserve international recognition. Gautam Buddha has already achieved international fame. Likewise, let’s expose others as well along with their great deeds, march forward on the path paved by them. Then only, will we be able to pay appropriate tribute to them and feel ourselves proud of being born in this country.