मैले दुइदिन अघि नै क्यालेण्डरमा ३१ मार्च २०१८ –लाई दाग लगाएर राखेको थिएँ। यसदिन पहिलो दार्जीलिङ साहित्यिक भेट २०१८ (1st Darjeeling Literary Meet 2018) सिलगढीको होटल मैनाकमा सम्पन्न हुनेभएको थियो अनि यसै साहित्यिक भेटमा कवि राजा पुनियानीको दुईवटा मल्टिमिडिया कविता भ्रम पहाड अनि इन्काउन्टर स्क्रिनिङ हुनगइरहेको थियो। हुन त मैले यी दुवै कविताहरू पहिल्यै हेरिसकेको हो, दुईपटक युट्यूबमा अनि एकपटक सिक्किमको जोरथाङमा, कफी कवितामा। तर पनि म मैनाक होटल जान उत्सुक थिएँ। किनभने राजाको कविताले हाम्रो वर्तमान, हाम्रो सपनालाई सम्बोधन गरेको छ, म अनेपालीहरूमा यसको प्रतिक्रिया कस्तो हुन्छ भनेर जान्न चाहन्थें।
म मैनाक होटल पुग्दा बङ्गला नाटक, बङ्गला कविताहरूमाथि अलग अलग कोठामा सङ्गोष्ठी भइरहेको थियो। महँगो होटलमा भुँईंमा बस्ने आम मान्छेहरूलाई साहित्यमा कसरी सम्बोधन गरिने चर्चा भइरहेको थियो। हो, यहीं त फरक छ हाम्रो साहित्यमा, औपनिवेशिक संस्कारमा एकथरीले हाम्रो झर्रो जीवन भोगेका हुँदैनन्, महङ्गा होटलमा बसेर टाडाबाट नै हाम्रो गाला मुसार्न चाहन्छन्। हामी यसको ठीक विपरित झर्रो जीवन बाँच्छौं, अर्ग्यानिक कुरा लेख्छौं अनि आम मान्छेलाई साहित्यमात्र होइन व्यवहारमा अँगाल्छौं, किनभने हामी आफैं नै उपनिवेशवादको ढुङ्गाले चेप्ट्याएको भुँईं मान्छे हौँ।
केही क्षण अघिमात्र यस कार्यक्रमलाई पर्यटन मन्त्री गौतम देवले आरम्भ गरेर गएका रहेछन्। अब मैले भन्न परेन राजाले कस्तो स्थानमा कवितामा रौँ ठाडो हुनेगरी माटो र सिङ्गो पहाड देखाउन गइरहेको थियो। उनीहरूको ठूलो जमघटमा हामी केवल पाँचजना मात्र थियौं, म, राजा पुनियानी, समीर शर्मा, छेवाङ योन्जन अनि विजय काफ्ले। राजाको मल्टिमिडिया पोएट्रीका छायाङ्कन निर्देशक पल्लव आएका थिए तर कुनै कार्यले बाहिरिएका थिए।
राजाले मल्टिमिडियामा कविता देखाउँछसम्म थाहा थियो त्यहाँ उपस्थित भीडलाई, यो उनीहरू मध्ये धेरैलाई नयाँ प्रयोग थियो, यसैले हेर्न उत्सुक थिए। तर के देखाउँछ, देखाइने कुराको कन्टेन्ट के हो भन्ने कुराबाट केवल भीड होइन आयोजक पक्ष पनि अनभिज्ञ नै थिए। स्क्रीनिङ अघि राजाले मञ्चमा गएर कवितामा आम मान्छेको चासो मर्दै गएको देखेर नै आफूले कविता अनि यसको प्रभावलाई जिउँदो राख्न मल्टिमिडियाको सहयोग लिन थालेको बताए। यस कार्यमा उनका सङ्गीत पक्षका सहयोगी समीर शर्मालाई पनि मञ्चमा बोलाएर परिचय गराए।
हलको बत्ती बन्द गरियो…, शुरू हुन्छ “भ्रमपहाड”…, बज्छ भ्रम पहाडको साइरन उपनिवेशवादीहरूलाई होशियार गराउँदै।
कविताको प्रत्येक लाइनले मुक अँध्यारो चिर्दै थियो, “सुनमायाको पहाडी गर्भमा चे ग्वेभाराको खनाती छ…” अङ्ग्रेजी सब-टाईटलले त्यहाँको वातावरण चिसो बनाउँदै लग्यो। “चौरस्तामा घिसिङ, बिमल, मन र विनयहरू लीला नाच्दै गर्दा टोल-टोल अस्तित्व युद्धको नाटक खेल्छ हन्ड्रेड डेज, इन्दिरा आवास, प्रधान मन्त्री ग्राम सडक योजना…” दर्शकले बुझ्दै थिए, आन्दोलन रोकिएको होइन केवल बिसाएको हो भनेर।
“हजुर के दर्शक बोल्न पाउँछ? …चुप साले….” सबै चुप थिए। यो प्रस्तुति पहाडमा भएको भए जाडो महिनामा पनि वातावरण गर्मिएको हुन्थ्यो होला तर सिलगढीमा सबै चिसिँदै गएको थाहा लाग्दैथियो।
यसको लगत्तै पछि अर्को मल्टिमिडिया पोएट्री चल्न थाल्छ स्क्रीनमा… “इन्काउन्टर”…। “सखारै इन्काउन्टरमा भाषा मारिएको खबर हेडलाइनमा छ आज र लावारिस लडिरहेको त्यो भाषाको लाशले पर्खिरहेको छ आफ्नै पोस्टमार्टम तारिख…” “बास माग्दा घर किन जलाउँछ, जस्टिस माग्दा टेरोरिस्ट किन भनाउँछ” राजाको कविताले जति चिच्याउन थाल्यो अघि नै चिसिएको त्यहाँको वातावरणमा काँडा उम्रिँदै गएको थियो।
केहिदिन अघिमात्र स्टुडियो साउण्ड ट्रेकका समीर भाईले युट्यूबमा अपलोड गरेको नेपाली साङ्गीतिक संसारका महान विभूति स्व० अम्बर गुरुङको निबन्ध ‘कहाँ गए ती दिनहरू’ सुनेको थिएँ। त्यसमा भएको अम्बर गुरुङको एउटा भनाई राजा पुनियानीसँग ठ्याक्कै मेल खाएको देखें। गुरुङ भन्थे, “स्रोतालाई आफूतिर तानेर पाएको तन्मयताको प्रतिक्रियात्मक प्रबलताले मात्र गायकले प्रभावको प्रभुत्व जन्माउन सक्छ”।
राजा गायक होइन, कवि हुन्, गाउने कवि हुन्। तर अहिले राजाले कविता पाठकलाई पठनको निम्ति मात्र नछोडेर सुनाउने अनि सुनाएर कविताले जन्माउन सक्ने प्रतिक्रियात्मक प्रबलताले वर्तमान सोच्न बाध्य पार्ने काम गर्दैछन् मल्टिमिडिया पोएट्रीको सहायताले। त्यसैको प्रभाव थियो, “पहिलो दार्जीलिङ साहित्यिक भेट २०१८” –को त्यो कोठा सिलगढीको गर्मीमा पनि चिसिएको थियो।
कविता सकियो। बत्ती बल्यो। करैले केही चिसा थप्पडीहरू बजे। उनीहरू मध्ये धेरैको मनलाई सायद यहाँ, यो कसरी भयो भन्ने प्रश्नले थिचिरहेको थियो होला। धेरैले सायद हाम्रो दुखाई बुझ्ने पहिलो अवसर पाएका थिए होला अनि त्यस्ताहरूको अघि हामी सही पाटोमा उभिएको पनि थियौं होला। हामीलाई केही अपेक्षा थिएन, हामी त्यहाँबाट निस्कियौं। कमै बजेको चिसो थप्पडीमाझ निर्धक्क उभिएको थियो पुनियानीको माटो कविता। हामी कम थप्पडीमा पनि ठूलो छात्ती बनाएर त्यहाँबाट प्रस्थान गऱ्यौं। पछि के चर्चा भयो त्यहाँ थाहा भएन….
मलाई विश्वास छ, त्यसपछि विचार गर्नेहरूको टाउको पक्कै पनि फनफनी घुम्न शुरु भयो।
Writes NIRMAL MANGAR Gangtok, June 20: The Nepali Sahitya Parishad here has announced the name of writer, poet and musician Birkha Bahadhur Muringla for Bhanu Puraskar, 2016, for his contribution to literature and music.
Muringla's name was finalised at a meeting of the selection committee on June 14.
The award will be conferred on him at the 202th Bhanu Jayanti celebrations here on July 13 . The annual award includes an anga vastra, tamra patra, certificate and cash.
BB Muringla conferred Vivekananda Kendra Institute of Culture Samman in 2014 - File Photo
"He had designed the Limbo syllabus for government schools," said the deputy director of the state HRD department, S.B. Subba.
The 73-year-old writer and musician is from Lingchom village in West Sikkim.
"The contribution of Mr Muringla to literature is outstanding. He may be referred to as the Balmiki of Limbo literature," said president of Sahitya Parishad, Rudra Poudyal.
Muringla was born on April 13, 1943. He studied in Tashi Namgyal Academy and Darjeeling Government College.
Master Mitrasen Thapa Magar (1895 -1946) (Nepali/नेपाली: मित्रसेन थापा मगर (१८१५ – १९४६)) Indian Gorkha folk singer, lyrics writer, dramatist, social worker and a Freedom Fighter who took part in World War-I Master Mitrasen Thapa was born on the 29th December 1895 in Village Totarani, Bhagsu /Dharamshala. He was called master because in those days, the society called writers and musicians as Masters. He is the only Gorkha who has been felicitated by a postal stamp by both India and Nepal. He was concerned about the quality of the Gorkha society and his works are dedicated to the people. Besides his great talent, Master Mitrasen discovered and employed three major tools in communication to the masses.
One was humor, second, easy-to-sing and pick-up songs in melodious tunes and the third, the usage of simple Nepali householders‟ language. Thus, instead of sermonising in seriously, Mitrasen Thapa used the medium of humour, drama, singing and dance. His songs first mesmerised the audience who then continued to sing them again and again. The messages got repeated in the process. Mitrasen realised the community needed to come together and get united all across. Through his creative work in the Nepali language and travelling, Mitrasen united all Gorkhas from Nepal to Darjeeling to Punjab. Mitrasen also highlighted the weaknesses of the society which could affect the future. He wrote against extravagant living and excesses of drinking.
Master Mitrasen Thapa Magar Indian Gorkha folk singer, lyrics writer, dramatist, social worker and a Freedom Fighter who took part in World War-I
He wrote about the upliftment of women, and also the importance of high thinking and simple living. He wrote and spread in Nepali, the messages of Gautam Buddha, Bhagvad Gita and Mahabaharata for the Nepali masses to understand and imbibe in their daily lives.. He was always concerned about the quality of the Nepali society and most of his works are dedicated to the people. Instead of sermonising in serious tunes, Mitrasen Thapa used humour, drama, singing and dance to communicate his messages. There was time when everybody from Darjeeling, Sikkim, Dehradun to Dharamshala was all singing Master Mitrasen Thapa‟s songs. This was his way of uniting them all. It is said that during his travels, he found Nepalis speaking different dialects, along with the highly Sanskritised Nepali bhasha. He realised that he had to develop a simple common man‟s Nepali language which could be understood by all. He then decided to write in simple Gorkhali, easily understood by all. Like they say the proof of the pudding is in the eating.
Lahure Ko Relimai - Master Mitrasen Thapa
Today as our society stands at crossroads, a revival of Master Mitrasen‟s works will again create the same magic. Nine of his songs are there recorded in his own voice and with his own music group. His writings have been compiled by several authors. 35 of his original Pandulipis are there. Out of which only a few have been published. A museum has been dedicated to him at his residence „Mitra Jhupro‟ in Totarani, Dharamshala /Bhagsu. The museum could do with funds and management for better care, but nevertheless it still houses his work, his costumes, his stage jewellery, his harmonium, his medals and all that he possessed in his humble life of fifty years. It is painstakingly run alone by his only daughter-in-law Smt Devkanya Devi Thapa, widow of Master Mitrsen‟s only son Late Digvijay Singh.
Her message this morning to me was “Jole Mitrasen Thapa lai prem garcha unsang yehi vinti chha.. Unko Jyot hamesha jali rahos. Yo jo mitra jhupro chha yo hamesha chamchama rahos. Ma ta aba pachharti saal ko chhu. Ekley sambhali rahu chhu. Roj Dhoopbatti jalai dinchu. Saal ma ek baari unko janam din ma sabai la khana khilai dinchu. Aru ma kya kari sakhum? ” (Those who love Master Mitrasen Thapa, should ensure that the light of the flame of his work continues) Extracts translated from some of the books written on Master Mitrasen Thapa
1) Mitrasen: A monograph by Magan Pathik on the Nepali author. Sahitya Academy, New Delhi (1994). First edition 1989. Second edition 1994. Amongst the many Gorkhas who made major contributions to Gorkha society was Master Mitrasen Thapa. Magan „Pathik‟of Dharamshala in his Bhartiya Sahitya Academy published book „Mitrasen‟, hails Mitrasen‟s lifetime as the golden period of Indian Nepali literature history. During this time, the country was astir with spiritual, social and political thinking. After the contributions of Vivekananda, Ramtirth and Lokmanya Tilak, great men like Gandhi‟s non-violence Satyagraha made a major impact on people. These great people were very inspiring to the people.
Rabindranth Tagore, Saratchandra, Jayshankar Prasad, Maithilisharan, Premchand, Dr Iqbal, Hasrat Muradabadi, Akbar Illhabadi and Josh Malihabadi, etc are considered the blessings of this time period, to the world of literature in the languages of Bangla, Hindi and Urdu. During that time the writers of the Nepali language included Dharnidhar Sharma, Surya Vikram Gewali, Paras Mani Pradhan, Thakur Chandra Singh, Bahadur Singh Baral and
2) Master Mitrasen ko Sanchhipt Parichay by Trilok Singh Thapa Magar, Master Mitrasen Thapa Smriti Pratisthan, Kathmandu. Family background: Enriched with Multitalented virtuoso, Master Mitra Thapa Magar was born on 29th December 1895 in India, Himachal Pradesh, Kangra District, Bhagsu Dharamshala, village Dhaarakhola. He is a Sijali Magar. His original home is from Western Nepal, earlier Banglung (now Parbat zilla), and Rakhupulla village. It is said that his grandfather Santsen Thapa (Santu Thapa) in the 18th century, came via Kumaon, Garhwal and Dehradun, to Bhagsu.
After military commander Amar Singh Thapa returned to Nepal, many Gorkhali soldiers settled near the Kangra fort area. Here was born Manver Sen Thapa Magar. Mitrasen was the son of Manversen Thapa and Radha Thapa. Despite born and brought up in India, Mitrasen has made great contribution to Nepal and Nepali language through his literature, folksongs, folk theatre, and folk lore. In 1936, he started wearing Nepali daura suruwal to create awareness of the Nepali dress. He was a great writer, director, actor, singer and producer. Nepali theatre and diary writing, humour and travel writing Mitrasen‟s contribution have been hailed as immortal.
Brief life history:
Master Mitrasen studied till class 8 in the Urdu medium as was the medium then in the Himachal schools. At a young age he also learnt music. From 1912 till 1920, he joined the 1st/1st Gorkha Rifles as per family tradition. During the 1st World War he was engaged in operations in Europe and Africa. The war‟s blood, gore, violence and hatred touched his soft heart. He entertained them with hare, rode, swarthy, Baja, chudka, played with his harmonium. Maruni dance, Phusungay dance, Horitakko phaag-dance. Being of creative bend, he was not much interested in his signalling work.
In 1914, he went with his troops to France and reached the island of St Marseilles. After one year, his troops reached Mesopotamia. There they fought against the Turk army for three years (1916-18). In the WW, lakhs of people died. Lakhs of people got injured. They included many of his friends. Therefore on returning from abroad, he resigned from the army in 1920. After that he devoted himself completely to the spread of the Nepali language through the mediums of plays, story writing, drama performances, social reforms and spread of dharma for the next 24 years of his life.
Nepal Tour In 1933-35
Mitrasen undertook a long tour of Nepal and different parts of India. First he reached his family home in Nepal at Banglung. After seeing the social condition there his work is seen to have veered towards jaati sudhaar and social reformation. Towards the end of 1933, he travelled through Palpa, Gulmi and Kathmandu. With a troupe of six members he presented his prowess in drama. Then he took the same troupe and reached Calcutta. There he recorded his plays “Dhuv” “Draupadi Charitraharan” on gramophone. In 1936, while touring Kathmandu, he advised Master Ratnadas and Melva Devi that music should have Nepaliness. His last trip to Nepal was in year 1944.
At that time Folk Theatre In 1936, Master Mitrasen established the Himalayan Theatrical Company. He performed in Hindi, Urdu and Nepali plays and earned name and fame. In Nepali language, his famous unrecorded plays are „Satyawadi Raja Harishchandra (8 parts), „Satyavaan Savitri‟, etc. In Hindi and Urdu, his works include plays „Badshah Tower‟, „Darde Jigar‟, „Noor kin Putli‟, „Mashoor ki Hoor‟, etc.
Nepali Folk songs He performed in the Kathmandu‟s durbar plays, dramas, songs and shamans. He was highly felicitated for the same.
Gramophone Disc Records (Recorded in Calcutta)
1) Malai khukrukkay paryo jethan timro bahini le.
2) Dhaan ko Bala jhulyo hazoor deshei ramailo
3) Lahureko reli ma pheshun ramrod
4) Aba ta jau kanchhi ghara, baato chha Ukali Ourahli
5) Bhana Gorkhali Daju bhai Jai Gorkhali
6) Swami na jao chhari bidesh
7) Kina garchha tanataani dui din ko chha jindagani
8) Chui chui chukiney jootta
9) Chhatre topi dhalkai dhalkayi khukri chamkayi Out of his 63 songs, only 23 have been recorded.
In 1942, he wrote the „Buddhvaani‟ in Nepali language to spread the message of the
Buddha in a simple language. From 1940 till 1944, he wrote in Nepali, „Tirth Yatra‟, „Dharma Chhora‟, „Premma Bhagwan‟, „Teen Kura‟, „Teen Yogi‟, etc. „Premma Bhagwan‟ 3) Mitra ko Diary This edition contains Epics „Mahabharat ko Prahlad‟, „Parshuram Lakshman Samvad (73 lines)‟, „Bhakt Prahlad (702 lines), „Chandra Haas (107 lines), „Veer Abhimanyu (1120 lines), etc. For women‟s emancipation he wrote „Ekadashi Vratkatha (142 lines)‟, „Satyanarayan Katha (245 lines)‟, „Vitwamagal (1760 lines)‟, „Chandra hans (170 lines) and „Sant Sukhvai (330 lines), etc
Song writing: Master Mitrasen wrote his songs in a simple language which would reach the Gorkhali masses. For example: “Rajya Sukh bhog Nimti Phaaakeyma, yudh rachaune kina? Mero manle mandayina, Krishna sansar dubauna kina? Duniyalai kasth, dukh diyara garib ko ragat choosera Jansamuhlai masera mauz urauna kina?” Mahabharat In 1934-37 he wrote from the Mahabharat „Aadiparva‟, „Sabhaparva‟, „Viraat parrva‟, „Udyog parva‟in Nepali. 4) Buddha Baani by Master Mitrasen Thapa This book was published in 1996 by the Mitrasen Sahitya Sangeet Sabha, Bhagsu, Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, India with foreword by His Holiness.
May 7, 2016- Though I always deeply enjoyed reading literary works of Hari Prasad ‘Gorkha’ Rai and heard so much about him from my revered father RP Lama and his friends at Su-Dha-Pa (Surya Bikram-Dharnidhar-Parasmani) hall of Nepali Sahitya Sammelan in Darjeeling, I had the opportunity to interact with ‘Gorkha’ Rai-jyu just twice—once in New Delhi and the next time in Gangtok. However, both these encounters remained a rare occasion for me. I was struck by his simplicity and his inclusive views on life outside the geographies of Nepali-speaking communities like Sikkim and Darjeeling. In the course of our interaction, my major question was: how did he find life among the Nagas in Nagaland and Ahoms in Assam, and how could he produce so many literary works in not only Nepali literature but also in Assamese and other languages? He was candid and forthright when he said that Gorkhas, by nature, are a very friendly and jovial community and could go along with any community, particularly in a democratic set up. He further narrated how the Nagas and Assamese intermingled with the Gorkhas and extended social and political support for their upliftment. There are moments of apprehensions and misunderstanding but are largely overshadowed by the larger issues of peaceful coexistence and Indianness and more critically social cohesiveness. This was typical of ‘Gorkha’ Rai-jyu, a man who carried a halo of intellectualism in his ever-glowing face. His views are not different than what one hears from other Nepali literary figures in the North East region of India. They all nurtured a feeling of ‘regional oneness’, amidst huge diversity in their approaches to their day-to-day lives.
Hari Prasad ‘Gorkha’ Rai
‘Gorkha’ Rai-jyu stands among many distinguished writers of his generation, like Acchha Rai Rasik, Lain Singh Bandel, Siva Kumar Rai, Indra Sundas, Rup Narayan Sinha, and others. Oh! How I loved reciting his famous poem Kamp Uthyo in my college and university days. They always ended with loud chants of ‘once more’. ‘Once more’ not because of the style of recitation but the contents of the poem and high decibels of ‘encore’, not because of the enthralment this recitation generated but for the bourgeoning fascinations of the Gorkha youths towards their own literary traditions. Yes, he used attractively engaging common words and expressions. Many of our friends would actually cry and howl whenever there was an announcement of the arrival of Kamp Uthyo. I myself used to get goose bumps before I stepped onto the stage and held the microphone.
Another poem I frequently recited in public was Bairagi Kainla’s Mateko Mancheko Bhashan: Madhyarat Pachiko Sadaksita. We simply photocopied these poems in an old manual photocopy machine at a pretty high cost and distributed it. These recitations still echo in the lawns of the Fraser Hall of St Joseph’s College and North Bengal University in Darjeeling and the Mavalankar Hall of New Delhi. That was the late 1970s and 1980s when Indian Gorkhas across the country were struggling and collectively fighting for the recognition of the Nepali language in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution of India; the decades when the Indian identity of the Indian Gorkhas were brought to the political table and negotiated in the name of a separate state of ‘Gorkhaland’ comprising of Darjeeling and adjoining Dooars region of West Bengal. This was the time, when in the name of ‘foreigners’, a large number of Indian Gorkhas were inhumanly displaced and ousted in several North East States in the name of ‘cleansing their lands’. This was the time when the Indian nation state failed to protect their own hapless but true citizens amidst the parochial cacophony of ‘foreigners go back’. History will never forget these atrocities and discriminations against the Indian Gorkhas who valiantly fought and immensely contributed in India’s freedom struggle and in the building of modern India. Who will deconstruct the present history and reconstruct the more inclusive history is a question the Indian Gorkhas have been asking. We lost the game as majority of our political leadership who could take up these issues are literally uneducated, both in terms of acquired degrees and knowledge. This is a tragedy among the Indian Gorkhas.
What I like in Kamp Uthyo (literally meaning uprooting of a camp from his anthology of poems Babari published in 1974) is its depiction of a soldier’s life and its uncertainty; more critically the story of separation that underlines the entire narrative, the beautiful elucidation of a soldier’s dilemma who has made friends around the camps with humans, flowers and nature’s ecology. The soldier has reached Shillong from Darjeeling, and settles down in the military camp. The depiction of Gorkha soldier’s attachment with his roots in Darjeeling and his unparalleled ability to adapt to a new geography and society makes the reading both absorbing and powerfully touching.
Like in the past, the inimitable soldier has to leave Shillong now as they have to camp in some other frontier. By now, he has friends around with their names typical of a hill society, developed some mutual infatuation with a local girl named Sita and strong attachments with the societal practices, community living styles in Shillong. He realises and accepts that there lies uncertainty in his new destination but like a true soldier he is ready to bravely face death. A sense of sacrifice and unenviable attachment to their motherland prevails in him, something with which Gorkhas are born with. He imagines that flowers will bloom in his cemetery and passersby could assume it to be a magnificent garden. This is the way he personifies the life of a soldier who devours his physical being at the frontiers of battlefield—a superb personification where one is born to die but meaningfully like a Gorkha soldier.
Good bye Shanti! Good bye Bire! Good bye my friend Dhane! Good bye Manu! What do I say to you Never will come that day Good bye Hari Good bye to all of you! The symbols of quietness—my dear Sita You are like a Goddess Shall always wrap and unfold you into my own story My rude sister Maily Shall meet you during my dejected moments. do say my goodbye to that sister who accompanied me to Suna-Kurung falls Please count these goodies to the one who quietly peeped me from her window panes Oh now the bugle is sounding I have to go for a ‘fall in’ Where a Gorkha has not reached? everywhere whether ‘fall in’ or in no ‘fall in’ Against the grumping sound of boots Six tonner vehicle moved with noise We are moving to the next camp It’s just a recollection once again So many Mannus were killed in Marmma Many Danus were left behind in Burma Camp is uprooted once again I am on a move as a soldier Donot know what awaits us there in the unknowns, May be I will remain dead flat in the battlefield not seen now And there will blossom bouquet of flowers On the cemetery I will remain in Some stranger walking past could think it to be a garden My bare bones and other remains would then quietly narrate my story Chanting the gregarious call of Aayo Gorkhali (here arrive the Brave Gorkhas) I shall reach far beyond Good bye forever ! Good bye and again good bye My dear Sita Forever be near me and nearer me.
His short stories are absorbing and gives us fresh waves of joys and shocks of acute pain and of course, penetrating anguish. He is a deadly connoisseur at creating something that is beautiful. His short story Banani Banki Sundari (beauty from Banani forest, published in Bharati, Kalimpong, 1973) and reviewed in the prestigious Masterpieces of Indian Literature (National Book Trust, New Delhi, 1997) by this author refreshed memories about the rebellion in Mizoram. In this complex and chilling story, Lainsemi lived with her mother in Mizoram hills and had developed intense love for Captain Raj who was posted there to supervise the operations against the rebels. These rebels once forcedly took away Lainsemi from her home, took her to their camp and invaded her morals from her soul and sent her back bereft of physical value. On her way back, she meets her Captain-lover who was returning from Darjeeling from a short leave. And then she narrates to him all that happened.
‘Gorkha’ Rai-jyu will ever be remembered for many generation to come. Saraswati, one of his three daughters, took the cudgels of bringing together his memories and contributions in a volume. What is of critical importance for his family and friends is to recollect and re-document what he left for posterity as oral history and unpublished manuscripts. Somewhere in the preface of one of his books he wrote:
“I must confess that I have this habit of writing poems and singing them as songs whenever I get the right moment, theme and actors. ... I never took care of these papers which were drafted and corrected from all sides. Many a times I just tore them into several unrecognisable pieces and forgot them for all the time to come.”
Saraswati could revisit his papers and bring them to public purview as societal intellectual property. This phenomenon is universal among the Gorkhas all over. The ‘oral history’ programme, the ‘winter sojourn’ project and the ‘book discussion’ event and of course ‘Ethnicity and Biodiversity Museum’ which we initiated in the very first five years (2007-2012) of building Sikkim University, a national university, in Gangtok have been exactly aimed at realising these objectives.
We started documenting our rich but unrecorded intellectual heritage through ‘oral history’ (Maukhik Itihas) programme. Our teachers and students visited villages and rugged terrains looking for the custodians of this knowledge and interviewed them, recorded them and transformed them into documents and unusual sets of knowledge base and intellectual capital. In the past we steadily lost so much in terms of knowledge and wisdom when our parents and grandparents faded into oblivion. No one documented them and we lost the game. Whereas same traditional knowledge base was capitalised by the Chinese, Japanese and companies like Coca Cola to generate huge development resources and extend and ensure human security. Therefore, in order to connect the oral history programme with the societies and communities in and around Sikkim we simply said:
Baje Mare Boju Mareen, Duiwata pustakalaya lierai gae Aba yesto huna dinnau hai
Thereby meaning:
Grandfather passed away, Grandmother crossed the horizon, Along, took away two beautiful libraries, We shall not let it happen again
The ‘winter sojourn’ (Hiundo Yatra) project aimed at connecting the University and higher education with the communities. The students and teachers will go to a destination in Sikkim and around to study themes like water, brooms, cardamom, trafficking of women, cultural heritage, health, pastime games, forest, local women vendors, etc, from an inter-disciplinary perspective. This helped our students and teachers to understand and assimilate the issues within the locales of their university and also connecting the village folks and city dwellers with the higher education. This generated adequate researchable local and regional issues from within our geography, natural resources and communities so that we steadily move to ‘globalisation of locals’ (knowledge, culture, traditional medicinal systems, adaptation story of climate change, food, literary heritage, and also disaster management techniques etc) and not what is dominantly happening now the ‘localisation of globals’ (Jeans, Samsung, Apple, Pizza, Hamburger, KFC, Honda and Toyota). ‘Book discussion’ (Pustak Chalphal) event was designed to imbibe reading habits among the younger generation and take them nearer to their roots where language, literature, culture, music, sports and young talents profusely flourished in the past.
And finally in the initiation and building of Ethnicity and Biodiversity Museum the aim was not only to realign the locals, national and global citizens with the extravagant and prolific cultural heritage and biodiversity of this region but also make museum as a bastion of research and sustainable development discourses. This is perhaps the first such museum in the entire Eastern Himalayas which was designed by our own teachers and students and management staff with the help of National Museum, National Archives of India and British Council. Rather a proud moment for the hill folks around. There was public fund guzzler-political ‘leaders’ who do not value institutions as they live in the ideology of individualism and destruction of what nature have endowed. Sikkim University initiated all these programmes and built all these institutions blatantly ignoring and sometimes durably exposing this political class with myopic vision and chicken-like thinking. These are the ways forward for all of us who value culture, literature, heritage and renegotiating our children and communities to their glorious past. ‘Gorkha’ Rai-jyu’s writings and speeches very much allude to all these.
Lama is a professor of South Asian Economies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi; Also served as the Founding Vice Chancellor, Central University of Sikkim. Considered as the architect of the reopening of Nathu la trade route between Sikkim in India and Tibet Autonomous Region in China after 44 years in 2006, he is a member of Eminent Persons Group on Nepal-India Relations from India
Sahitya Akademi, Delhi and Nepali Sahitya Parishad, Manipur jointly hosted a one-day literary meet "Swatantratottar Bharatiya Nepali Kathako Pravriti" with a panel discussion on post-Independence Indian Nepali Literature, on 27th March, 2016. The program was held at Charhajare, a tiny Gorkha village in Senapati District bordering the hill district and the valleys of Manipur.
Shri Devendra Kumar Devesh, Officer on Special Duty (OSD), Sahitya Academy Delhi and Shri Prem Pradhan, Nepali Language Advisory board (Sahitya Akademi) attended the program as Guests of Honor. Shri Lok Bahadur Basnet, President-Nepali Sahitya Parishad, and Smt. Durga Devi, retired Professor D.M College, Manipur also attended the program.
Other dignitaries present during the occassion were P.V Shelman from North-East Centre for Oral and Tribal Literature (NECOL), Manipur University and Shri Biswajit Roy from Kolkata, Shri Arjun Pradhan from Darjeeling, Sukraj Diyali from Silliguri, and Gopichandra Pradhan from Darjeeling.
PROGRAM ON INDIAN NEPALI LITERATURE HELD IN MANIPUR
The discussion of the one-day program centered around the changing trends in post-independence Indian Nepali literature. Ms. Pushpa Sharma, Lecturer Presidency College, Manipur presented a paper on "Swatantratottar Bharatiya Nepali kathako prabriti", a discussion on the changing trends in Indian Nepali short story.
Dr Tankanath Khatiwada, Lecturer Presidency College presented a paper on "Swatantratottar Bharatiya Nepali Sahitya maa Yuddhha", a discussion on post-independence Nepali war literature.
Shri Milan Bantawa from Darjeeling presented his paper on 'Swatantratottar Bharatiya Nepali Katha ani Uttar Adhunikta', a discussion on post-modern elements in Indian Nepali Literature.
The literary program was organized by Nepali Sahitya Parishad, Manipur and was supported by students, organizations and individuals from various Gorkha organizations across the state.
Calling the event a huge success, Kritimani Khatiwada, General Secretary stated that “this is perhaps the first time that a program of this scale was directly organized in collaboration with Sahitya Akademi, Delhi. The contribution of Manipur Gorkha scholars to Indian Nepali literature is immense and this is a fruitful recognition of the same.” While thanking all organizations and individuals and organizations for the success of the program, Khatiwada hopes that Manipur Gorkha community continues to witness more such programs in coming days and generate more interest amongst the youths and students towards the language.
POSTSCRIPT: In written records, the first Indian Nepali literature came out of Manipur as “Manipurko Ladaiko Sabai” in 1893 by Tulachand Aale . Nepali Sahitya Parishad, Manipur plans to hold an elaborate celebration of the literary milestone with its 125 years’ celebration in 2018. The proposal has been forwarded to Sahitya Akademi and the Parishad humbly request the support and wishes of everyone for this landmark celebration.
India Gorkha are the Nepali Speaking Community in India, hence, it is the duty of every Gorkhali to preserve the Neplai Language like other communities such as Pnjabi, Bengali, Marathi etc preserve their own . Gorkhas celebrate Bhanu jayanti not just for merry making or for entertainment. Birth anniversary of Adikavi Bhanu Bhakta Acharya should be observed as literary day by the Gorkha community in India. Bhanu jayanti is celebrated to remember that Great Poet who had used Nepali script for the first time to write a Nepali poem.
Bhanu Jayanti Celebrated By Indian Gorkhas
The First poem written by Adi Kavi Bhanu Bhakta acharya. भर जन्म घाँसतिर मन दिई धन कमायो नाम क्यै रहोस पछि भनेर कुवा खनायो घाँसी दरिद्र घरको तर बुद्धी कस्तो म भानुभक्त धनी भैकन आज यस्तो मेरा इनार न त सत्तल पाटी क्यै छन् जे धन र चीजहरू छन् घरभित्रनै छन् तेस घाँसीले कसरी आज दिएछ अर्ति धिक्कर हो मकन बस्नु न राखि किर्ती
ENGLISH TRANSLATION
He gives his life to cutting grass and earns little money,
he hopes to make a well for his people so he will be remembered after death,
this high thinking grass-cutter lives in poverty,
I have achieved nothing though I have much wealth.I have neither made rest houses nor a well,
all my riches are inside my house.
This grass-cutter has opened my eyes today,
my life is worthless if the memory of my existence fades away.
BRIEF LIFE SKETCH OF Adikavi BhanuBhakta Acharya:
Bhanubhakta was born in a very wealthy Brahmin family of Chundiramgha, Tanahu on B.S. Asar 29, 1871. His grandfather Shrikrishna Acharya who was very well known of his time.He received an excellent education with a strong leaning towards religion at home from his grandfather.
When Bhanubhakta was 22 years, he was influenced by a incident so much that made him to turn out a poet. One day he encountered a grass-cutter and in their conversation he found that the grass-cutter wanted to give something to society so that he could be remembered after death too. After listening to the grass-cutter answer Bhanubhakta felt ashamed of himself.It not only sparked literary creativity in Bhanubhakta but also inspired him to do something noble, which eventually resulted in his translation of the great epic Ramayana from Sanskrit into Nepali and he made it to accessible, readable and understandable for a wide range of Nepali people. And because of his noble work Bhanubhakta and Nepali language became synonym in Nepali literature.
Poet Bhanubhakta was not only a romantic but a satiric poet too. Other remarkable books by him are Badhu Sikshya, Bhakta Mala and Prasnottar Mala.
‘Hamro Duptin’ a Mirik based Nepali literary magazine is all set to release the second edition of its quarterly.
Hamro Duptin Nepali literary magazine
In a meeting held by the team members in Siliguri on Wednesday, Bishnu Kumar Baraily alias ‘Snigdh’, editor of the magazine said, “the second edition of Hamro Duptin has been completed, and is set to release on May 23 at the Bright Line Academy school hall. On the auspicious occasion, we will also felicitate the noted Kurseong based publisher Lasha Sherpa for his contribution towards Nepali literature in the Darjeeling region.”
Published by local veteran social worker, Capt Milan Subba alias ‘Chongmong’, the quarterly consists of various poems, articles, and stories written by both established and budding writers of Mirik, Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Kurseong, Siliguri, and also Sikkim.
“Hamro Duptin aims to inspire the students, and all young people of the district to be acquainted with Nepali literature. They should aspire to read and write in their mother tongue, or else we will have no one to write our history,” said Subba. (HS)
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