The Evolution of Nepali Fiction  by Taranath Sharma

Short Story (continued from page 2)

But Bishweshwar Prasad Koirala is the first successful short story writer in Nepali to begin delineating psychological complexes specifically of women due to their unfulfilled sexual desires. This trend began in Nepali with his 'Chandra Badan', published in Sharada in 1935. 'Chandra Badan' was followed by other equally appreciable short stories by Koirala among which his 'Karnelko Ghoda' (the Colonel's Horse) is the best where where the youthful wife of an old colonel showers her affection on a horse as a rebellious expression of a total sexual estrangement and dissatisfaction with her legitimate spouse. A collection of his short stories entitled Doshi Chashma (the Faulty Specs) was published from Darjeeling in 1949. This collection established Koirala as a most accomplished short story writer in Nepali. Both in the selection of appropriate characters and in Nepali. Both in the selection of appropriate characters and in fathoming the depth of human mind Koirala achieved a height which still remains unchallenged.

Koirala wrote and published the above short stories before the Revolution of 1950-51 launched under his able leadership by the Nepali Congress Party against the Rana autocratic regime. He was completely absorbed in politics for a whole decade until the democratically elected government in his premiership was overthrown by a Royal coup and he was thrown behind the bars. When Koirala was dumped into the dungeon without trial and any justification for eight long years his literary fervor didn't let him remain inactive. A new wave of creative impulse swept him up his feet and he wrote six short stories, five novels, and an autobiographical book and a number of political articles. With the sole exception of 'One Night', a short story, none of his literary works directly deals with the contemporary political theme. As a political thinker and practitioner Koirala is a social democrat at heart, but as a writer he claims to be an anarchist, meaning he is not bound by any theoretical bias or limitation. In 'One Night', however, he has strongly advocated the cause of a young fighter for democracy and human rights. The Panchayati henchmen hang the newly married nonviolent freedom fighter, but the martyr's face haunts the police officer in such a formidable way that he sees it imprinted on his own son's innocent face.

Koirala's 'Shweta Bhairavi' (The White Angry Goddess), which is also the title of his second collection of stories (1977), is a brilliant analysis of a turbulent moment in the life of a youthful girl when she is completely under the uncontrollable sway of her won sexual urge. Koirala brings out the surging emotional heights of his characters with extraordinary skill and insight. His path was followed by Bhavani Bhikshu and later by Govinda Bahadur Gothale and Daulat Bikram Bista (1926), but when Koirala caught his characters at rare moments of emotional upheaval with his penetrating grasp of human psychology, Bhikshu, Gothale and Bista study most of their characters in a slow kaleidoscopic framework.

Bhavani Bhuikshu is remembered for his unusual ability to fathom the depth of female sentiments. His major short stories have been collected in three volumes, the study of which reveals Bhikshu's profound sense of respect for the fair sex. Gothale, Bista, Vijaya Malla (1925) side by side with Poshan Pande (1932) opened up new frontiers in the Nepali short story. All of them analyzed their characters in various mental situations.  Bista with his huge corpus of fiction went so far as to be dubbed as a writer of semi-pornographic short stories in the sixties. Ramesh Vikal (1932-), another contemporary short story writer, followed the trend and published a few short stories in the same vein for a time, but soon he revealed himself as a protagonist of the poor, the downtrodden and the destitute. It was his delineation of the orphans and the economically handicapped and degraded section of the Nepalese society that made him bag the prestigious Madan Award in Literature in 1961 for his collection entitled The Song of the New Road. Bista, a superior craftsman and writer of larger canvas, had to wait more than twenty-five years to get the Madan Prize, though he bagged the Academy Award for fiction before Vikal.  Poshan Pande and Bista are better short story writers among the second generation of authors closely followed by Kumar Gyanwali, Prema Shah, Harish Bamjan, Bal Krishna Pokhrel (1933-), Parashu Pradhan etc. Gyanwali writes brilliant short stories in a simple and succinct style with a superb psychoanalytical understanding of human character. Prema Shah's 'Logne" (the Husband) is an excellent example of the analysis of sexually deprived woman's complexes.

Some of the successful woman short story writers in Nepali language besides Prema Shah and Dev Kumari Thapa are Parijat (1973), Maya Thakuri, and Bhagirathi Shrestha. Parijat is interested to depict the shattered hopes of women who writes with a view to restoring faith and confidence in family life as does Maya Thakuri. Bhagirathi Shrestha's characters are mostly newly wedded wives in search of conjugal harmony in adverse circumstances or mothers highly conscious of their duties towards their innocent children.

Recent writers of short stories in Nepali showing signs of success include, among others, Indra Rai (1930), Madhav Bhandari, Kishor Pahadi, Bhruva Sapkota, Sanat Regmi, Govinda Giri Prerana, Mohan Raj Sharma, Bhruva Chandra Gautam, Manu Brajaki, Bhau Panthi, Hari Adhikari, Shailendra Sakar, etc.     

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©Taranath Sharma, 2005