Who's afraid of Nepali literature? 120 Classic Nepali books
Ashutosh Tiwari
In early 1997, I had an opportunity to spend an afternoon discussing
Nepali literature/sahitya with Khagendra Sangraula – a Nepali writer
in Kathmandu. In the course of our conversation, I requested him
to recommend classic Nepali literature books which one can go out, buy
and read in spare time . . .
Below appear his recommendations. Please note that this is only an
informal list for the interested . . .
Hope this list will prove useful to you, fellow-sahitya-premi -- as it
has been to me over the years.
oohi
ashu
**************************************************
Classic Nepali books of EPICS and POEMS
1. Bhanubhakta ko Ramayan
2. Badhu Sickchya by Bhanubhakta
3. Bhakta Mala by Bhanubhakta
4. Tarun Tapasi by Lekh Nath Poudyal
5. Ritu Bichar by LNP
6. Buddhi Binod by LNP
7. Chiso Chulo by Bal Krishna Sama
8. Aago ra Paani by BKS
9. Sakuntal by Laxmi Prasad Devkota
10. Sulochana by LPD
11. Muna Madan by LPD
12. Prometheus by LPD
13. Maaha Rana Pratap by LPD
14. Bhikhari by LPD
15. Manoranjan by LPD
16. Urbasi by Siddhi Charan Shrestha
17. Nirjhar by SCS
18. Gauri by Madhav Ghimire
19. Rajeswori by MG
20. Paapeeni Aama by MG
21. Rastra Nirmaata by MG
22. Kinnar Kinnayri by MG
23. Aaama ko Sapana by Gopal Prasad Rimal
24. Ghoom Nay Mech Maathi . . . by Bhupi Sherchan
25. Lek by Mohan Koirala
26. Surya Daan by MK
27. Nadi Keenaar kaa Maajhi by MK
28. Mohan Koirala kaa Kabita by MK
29. Paari Jaat ka kabita by Paari Jaat (edited by Iswor Baral)
30. Bainsalu Bartamaan by Paari Jaat
31. Dwarika Shrestha kaa kabita by Dwarika Shrestha
32. Krishna Bhakta kaa kabita by Krishna Bhakta
33. Tulsi Diwas kaa Kabita by Tulsi Diwas
34. Bairagi Kainla kaa Kabita by Bairagi Kainla
35. Aagaa ka ful-haru hoon; Aagaa ka ful-haru hoi.nan by Iswor Bhallav
36. Sajha Kabita: published by Sajha Prakashan
37. Pacchis Barsa Kaa Kabita, published by the Royal Nepal Academy.
*********************************************************************
Classic Nepali books of SHORT-STORIES
1. Roop Narayan Singh kaa Katha
2. Naso by Guru Prasad Mainali
3. Katha-Kusoom, edited by Surya Bikram Gyawali
4. Doshi Chasma by Bisheswor Prasad Koirala
5. Swet Bhairavi by BP Koirala
6. Kathai-Katha by Gobinda Bdr. Gothalay
7. Katha Sangraha by GBG
8. Ek Baato, Anek Mode by Bijaya Malla
9. Parewa ra Kaidi by BM
10. Naya Sadak ko Geet by Ramesh Wikal
11. Birano Desh maa by RW
12. Feri Arko Tanna Ferin.cha by RW
13. Urmila Bhauju by RW
14. Sab, Saalik ra Sahasra Buddha by RW
15. Euta Budho Violin by RW
16. Aadim Desh by Paari Jaat
17. Sadak ra Prativa by PJ
18. Saalgi ko Balatkrit Aansu by PJ
19. Badh-Shala Jaanda Aunda by PJ
20. Gauthali Goond by Shankar Lamichanay
21. Kathastha by Indra Bahadur Rai
22. Bipana Kati-paya by IBR
23. Parasu Pradhan kaa Katha by Parasu Pradhan
24. Dhruba Chandra Gautam ka Katha
25. Pahenlo Goolaaf by Prema Shah
26. Bhim Nidhi Tiwari ka Katha – Jetho, Mailo Bhaag . . .
**************************************************************
Classic Nepali books of ESSAYS
1. Laxmi Nibandha Sangraha by Laxmi Prasad Devkota
2. Daadeem ko Rookh.nay.ra by LPD
3. Ma, Timi, Tapai, Hajoor by Shyam Prasad
4. Lehak Kasari Bannay? by SP
5. Joonga by Hridaya Chandra Singh Pradhan
6. Tees Rupiya ko Note by HCSP
7. Abstract Chintan Pyaaz by Shanker Lamichanay
8. Namaste by Tara Nath Sharma
9. Belayat teera Baran.lida by TNS
10. Paatal Prabash by TNS
11. Saalik by Krishna Chandra Singh Pradhan
12. Jai Bhundi by Bhairab Aryal
13. Galbandi by BA
14. Khai, Khai by Keshav Raj Pindali
*****************************************************
Classic Nepali NOVELS
1. Roop Mati by Rudra Raj Pandey
2. Bhramar by Roop Narayan Singh
3. Ranay by Tulsi Ram Kunwar
4. Pallo Ghar ko Jhyal by Gobinda Gothalay
5. Anuradha by Bijay Malla
6. Sirish ko phool by Paari Jaat
7. (Aaadim Desh by Paari Jaat)
8. Bai.ens ko Manchay by PJ
9. Parkha Vitra ra Ba.hee.ra by PJ
10. Anido Pahad Sangai by PJ
11. Boni by PJ
12. Parivaseet Aaankha.haru by PJ
13. Teen Ghumti by BP Koirala
14. Narendra Dai by BPK
15. Sumnima by BPK
16. Manjari by Daulat Bikram Bista
17. Ek Paila, anekau Yaam by DBB
18. Cha.pai.eka. Anuhaar by DBB
19. Bhok ra Vitta by DBB
20. Jyoti, Jyoti, Maaha Jyoti by DBB
21. Khaireni Ghaat by Shankar Koirala
22. Ghaam kaa Paila.haru by Dhanush Chandra Gautam
23. Sunauli by Ramesh Wikal
24. Abiral Bagcha Indrawati by RW
25. Saagar Urlancha Sagarmatha Choona by RW
26. Maadhavi by Madan Mani Dixit
27. Daapi by Dhruba Chandra Gautam
28. Alikhit by DCG
29. Kattel Sir ko Chot-patak by DCG
30. Naya Ghar by Aahuti
****************************************************************
Classic Nepali PLAYS/DRAMAS
1. Prem-Pinda by Bal Krishna Sama
2. Amit Basana by BKS
3. Dhruba by BKS
4. Bhakta Bhanubhakta by BKS
5. Amar Singh by BKS
6. Mutu ko Byatha by BKS
7. Ganga Lal ko chita by Hridya Chandra Singh Pradhan
8. Bhoos ko Aago by Gobinda Gothalay
9. Kohee Kina Barbaad Hos by Bijaya Malla
10. Masaan by Gopal Prasad Rimal
11. Yo Prem by GPR
12. Ojel Parda by Bijaya Malla
13. Jemanata/Yama by Mohan Raj Sharma
**********************************************************
Classic Nepali books of LITERARY CRITICISM/ANALYSES
1. Sama.lochana kaa bato-tira by Hridya Chandra Singh Pradhan
2. Kabi Byathit ra Kabya Sadhana by Krishna Chandra Singh Pradhan
3. Saajha Sama.lochana, published by Saajha Praka.shan
.
4. Ghot.lain.haru by Tara Nath Sharma
5. Jhyaal Bata by Iswor Baral
6. Nepali Upanyaas kaa Adhar.haru by Indra Bdr. Rai
7. Ram Krishna Sharma kaa Sama.lochana.haru
8. Basudev Tripathi kaa Sama.lochana.haru
9. Abhi Subedi ka Sama.lochana.haru
**************************************************
--
oohi
ashu
************************************************
"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet.
Only through experiences of trial and suffering
can soul be strengthened, vision cleared,
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Helen Keller
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Before you buy.
Ashutosh Tiwari
From: k...@mthapa.mos.com.np | Block address
Date: Wed, 17 May 2000 09:34:20
What follows is from Manjushree Thapa in Kathmandu.
*********************
Ashu, excellent idea to distribute the reading list. Note that there
are only two women--Parijat and Prema Shah--and about three non-NBC
(Newar Bahun Chettri) men, which is not Khagendra [Sangraula's]
fault, but does say much about the insularity of Nepal's literature.
Also, there is no one writing in any of Nepal's other languages--so
it should be seen as a great conventional guide to Nepali-language
literature. M
*********************************
Kalyani Rai
I would like to thank Ashutosh for making the list of Nepali Classical
literature available to us. It really helped me get reconnected with
the books that I had read a while ago. Hope, we get to learn more about
Nepali literature in the future.
As I continued reading the list yesterday - I asked myself: Is it an
inclusive list? Certainly not. But, it is a good beginning. And then, I
became curious to know: Who decided that these are the classical
literature? Who sets the criteria? How are they being reviewed? I would
like to hear from you.
Peace,
--
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kalyani Rai, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Center for Urban Community Development
Milwaukee, WI 53203
Email: kaly...@uwm.edu
Phone: 414/227-3271 Fax: 414/227-3168
Ashutosh Tiwari
at Duke University in North Carolina.
*************************************
From: "Pramod K. Mishra" <p...@duke.edu>
Date: Wed, 17 May 2000 11:53:27 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Re: [kitab] Who's afraid of Nepali literature? 120 Classic
Thanks, Ashu, for this great list. It's good for all of us, even
though
many of us may have read or heard about many of these writers and their
works. As Manjushree pointed out, there are obvious gaps in the
preparation of this list. And in my view, the gap has come about for
two
primary reasons. One, Khagendraji either forgot or deliberately didn't
include some writers. In poetry, for example, Banira Giri is a major
omission. It's not that she's just a feminist and so deserves
representation but that her poetry represents, both in form and
content,
innovation, craft, challenge, and a deep human sensibility. But then
Ma
Bi Bi Shah and Chandani Shaha also are important for a number of
reasons.
During the Panchayat period, critics offered prasasti only. It is time
now that the general public read them and the critics historicized
them.
For all I know, they may have written some fine pieces.
In short stories, Bhawani Bhikshu's name is not there. It is not only
that Bhikshu represents the Tarai but that in Bhikshu one can find the
representation of life in the Tarai.
In the prose section, Tana sharma's Belayat tira Baralida and his
interesting travelogue about the US Pataal Prabaas deserve inclusion in
any list, whatever one's assessment of the writer's politics.
In drama, an unforgivable omission is that of Ashesh Malla, the young
playwright who, despite charges of plagiarism against him, kept alive
the
experimental theater in Kathmandu through his plays and his theater
group
Sarvanam.
This list needs to be widely circulated beyond the Kitab group. Could
you put this list and the comments on it together for TND? I'd highly
appreciate.
The other reason for the gap has deeper sources toward which Manjushree
just hinted. One obvious source for this lack is Hinduism in general
and
Brahminism in particular, and this applies not just to Nepali
literature
but Maithili, Bengali, to some extent even Hindi and all other
languages
of South Asia that have come down from Sanskrit. Because literacy was
traditionally the sanctioned privilege of the Brahmins, it is for the
most part only the men among the Brahmins who formed the pool out of
which writers and intellectuals came. The situation is too obvious in
Nepali to deserve elaboration here. What was only religiously
sanctioned
privilege for the Brahmin men in India punctured to some extent by the
incursions of foreing cultures (Arabic, Persion, English), on the one
hand, and internal reform movements within Hinduism (Bhakti movements
and
the vernacularization of both Hinduism and Sanskrit), in Nepal this
privilege received political and legal backing in the hands of the
Hindu
rulers (Malla, Shaha and then Rana rulers in increasing intensity). To
make it short, because literacy and education were confined to the
high
castes, particularly the
Brahmins, writers also came mostly from this group. Even now, people
who
are not Nepali-speaking Hindu high castes do not generally identify
with
the Nepali language. And it's not just because they speak a different
language. It is primarily because they have been discriminated
explicitly by the Ranas and implicitly by the mandarins of the
Panchayat
system. There has not been a serious concerted movement (intellectual
movement I'm speaking here) to break this ideology of
discrimination--politically, intellectually, and religiously. Only a
religious hold over the language is enough (as in Maithili) to stifle
creativity, but when the political and intellectual structure ally with
the religious, only God or adversarial intellectuals can help. One of
the reasons why Christianity transformed Europe is by introducing
widespread
literacy, first in theory and then, with political transformations, in
practice. Before Christianity, there may have been Druids and King
Arthurs in Western Europe, but the ideology of widespread literacy
didn't
exist.
But now, in the era of globalization, the situation has become more
complex.
Pls feel free to disagree.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Neil Kendrick
Nepali speaker, I would be curious to know how much classic & contemporary
Nepali literature is available in (good) English translation. I know this is
a bit of a risky question that might deserve the response 'learn better
Nepali' or 'how much English literature is translated into Nepali?'.
I recall reading Blue Mimosa in an excellent translation.
Neil
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"Neil Kendrick" <e...@eldgroup.fsnet.co.uk> wrote in message
news:8g09dj$u7d$1...@newsg2.svr.pol.co.uk...
The Pretender
it may be), as you usually do.
"Ashutosh Tiwari" <ashu...@post.harvard.edu> wrote in message
news:8fshkj$7u0$1...@nnrp1.deja.com...
> Namaste everyone,
>
> In early 1997, I had an opportunity to spend an afternoon discussing
> Nepali literature/sahitya with Khagendra Sangraula - a Nepali writer
> 26. Bhim Nidhi Tiwari ka Katha - Jetho, Mailo Bhaag . . .
Ashutosh Tiwari
From: Martin Chautari <chau...@mos.com.np>
Date: Fri, 19 May 2000 14:02:51 -0400
Reply-to: ki...@egroups.com
Subject: Re: [kitab] Who's afraid of Nepali literature? 120 Classic
Read the list of must read books of neplali literature. Though i am not
au fait with nepali literatur, I was surprized that the list doesn't
contain a Madan Puruskar winning novel, Pagal Basti, by Sarubhakta and
not a single drama of his-ironically when he wants to be known as a
playwright. This only underscores the fact: Moffusil artists are a
neglected lot.
Just a stray thought.
Ajit Baral
Kathmandu
Sage
snideness.
Actually, I believe ashu was posting replies from others, perhaps which were
sent to him by email, not on the newsgroup.???
- Sage
Manoj Duwady
materials? As a lot of others have said it, the list is definitely not
conclusive, and can be bettered. It could be a good source for people who
want to know about Nepalese literature, as well as a nostalgic readings for
us Nepalis.
My kudos for starting this, but lets not stop at this.
MD.
"Ashutosh Tiwari" <ashu...@post.harvard.edu> wrote in message
news:8fshkj$7u0$1...@nnrp1.deja.com...
> Namaste everyone,
>
> In early 1997, I had an opportunity to spend an afternoon discussing
> Nepali literature/sahitya with Khagendra Sangraula - a Nepali writer
> 26. Bhim Nidhi Tiwari ka Katha - Jetho, Mailo Bhaag . . .