Thursday, September 14, 2023

विवश सम्पादक र साहित्यिक पत्रिकाहरू - लीलासिंह कर्मा

 


अभिव्यक्तिका लागि शब्द चाहिन्छ । यसलाई राम्रो शैलीमा उनेर प्रयोग गर्दा यो सभ्य र सुसंस्कृत भएर शालीन हुन्छ, जसबाट अभिव्यक्तिको खास अर्थ सार्थक हुन सक्दछ । अन्यथा, त्यो अभिव्यक्ति गालीका रूपमा परिणत हुन जान्छ ।

शब्द र शैली छनोट र त्यसलाई शालीन बनाउन साहित्यले सहयोग गर्न सक्दछ । यसका लागि साहित्यको अध्ययन, चिन्तन र मननको आवश्यकता पर्छ र यो आवश्यकताको पूर्ति विशेषतः साहित्यिक पत्रिकाबाट हुने गर्दछ । तर, हामीकहाँ साहित्यिक पत्रिका भने ‘राजबाथ’ले कक्रिएर थला पर्न बाध्य छ, दुःखको क्षण यहाँबाटै प्रारम्भ हुन्छ ।

नेपालमा साहित्यिक पत्रिकाको गरिमामय इतिहासको थालनी ‘शारदा’ मासिकबाट भएको मानिन्छ (यद्यपि, नेपालीमा सर्वप्रथम वि.सं. १९५५ सालमा ‘सुधासागर’ मासिक प्रकाशित भएको थियो ।) एकतन्त्रीय राणाशासनको वि.सं. १९९० को दशकजस्तो अत्यन्त प्रतिकूल अवस्थामा साहित्यको माध्यमबाट भाषा र संस्कतिप्रति जागरूकता ल्याउने उद्देश्य लिएर प्रकाशित ‘शारदा’ साहित्यकारको र पाठकको संख्या बनाउने एउटा छहारीयुक्त ‘चौतारी’को रूपमा प्रतिष्ठित थियो ।

सुब्बा ऋद्धिबहादुर मल्लजस्तो दूरदर्शी र साहित्यको पारखी सम्पादकको सम्पादनमा प्रकाशित ऐतिहासिक पत्रिका ‘शारदा’ प्रजातन्त्रको प्रादुर्भावसँगै किन विलीन हुँदै गयो भन्ने बुझ्न सकिएको छैन । यस विषयमा सम्पादक सुब्बा ऋद्धिबहादुर मल्लका सुपुत्र प्रसिद्ध साहित्यकारद्वय गोविन्द ‘गोठाले’ र विजय मल्लले खुलस्त गरिदिनुभए हुने थियो । आशा गरौँ, उहाँहरूबाट आवश्यक जानकारी प्राप्त हुनेछ । त्यसो त बनारसबाट काशीबहादुर श्रेष्ठले ‘उदय’ प्रकाशित गरेर साहित्यको सेवा गर्ने क्रम यसै समय सुरु गर्नुभएको थियो ।

वि.सं. २००७ सालमा प्रजातन्त्रको प्रादुर्भावपश्चात् ‘प्रगति’ले नेपाली साहित्यमा ठूलो हलचलका साथ भाषाको क्षेत्रलाई प्रगतिमा डोर्यायो । त्यसको मुद्रण, रचना छनोट र वितरण गर्ने व्यवस्था उत्कृष्ट थियो । त्यो पनि सुन्दर सपनाजस्तै भएर केही अंकको नियमित प्रकाशित हुँदै बन्द भयो !

पञ्चायत व्यवस्थाको सुरुवातसँगै ‘प्रगति’ प्रकाशनमा लागेको ऋण तिर्न र दाल, भात, डुकु (महाकवि देवकोटा जीवनलाई यसै भन्नुहुन्थ्यो)का लागि त्यसका कुशल सम्पादक नारायणप्रसाद बाँस्कोटाले प्रचारप्रसार विभागको ‘डाइरेक्टर’मा जागिर खानुपर्यो । एक प्रकारले त्यो जागिर र त्यसका बाध्यता नेपाली साहित्यका निम्ति दुर्नियति नै थियो र त्यस्तै भयो पनि ।

यसपछि श्यामप्रसाद शर्माले ‘साहित्य’ र शशिकला शर्माले ‘स्वास्नीमान्छे’ प्रकाशित गर्नुभयो । नेपाली साहित्यको दशा यथावत् थियो । त्यस कारण ती दुवै साहित्यिक पत्रिका पनि जोईपोइको झगडाको चपेटामा पर्यो र ‘नौलो छउञ्ज्याल नौपुला गाँस, रहँदा बस्दा जगल्टोको नास’ भयो । पुष्कर लोहनीको सम्पादनमा ‘बगैँचा’, पुरुषोत्तम बस्नेतको सम्पादनमा ‘मुकुट’ र भुवन कोइराला (अहिले ढुंगाना)को सम्पादनमा ‘त्रिफला’ पनि उच्च साहित्य लिएर बजारमा आए, तर ती सबै उज्यालो लिएर आएको भए तापनि विभिन्न कारणवश अन्धकारको गर्तमा परे । यसै बेला ‘धरती’ र ‘सिंहवालोकन’ जस्ता प्रसिद्ध पत्रिका पनि घामछाया हुँदै ओझेलमा परे । सम्पादकको कुशलता र पाठकको चाहना हुँदाहुँदै पनि साहित्यिक पत्रिकाले किन बन्द हुनपर्यो, त्यसको लेखो पनि आजको पिँढीले गरे राम्रै हुनेछ ।

त्यसपछि नेपाल अधिराज्यको राजधानी र मोफसलका धेरै उत्साहीबाट साहित्यिक पत्रिका प्रकाशित हुने गरेका छन् र बन्द पनि भइरहेका छन् । यो क्रम आज पनि छ र भोलि पनि कायम नै रहला ।

यस किसिमको दुर्नियति र अनिष्टका बीचमा पनि आशा र विश्वासको किरण छर्दै सजधज र नियमिततापूर्वक ‘रूपरेखा’ प्रकाशित भयो । यसले पनि ‘शारदा’ले सरस्वतीका वरदपुत्रको संख्या बढाएझँै साहित्यको भरोसा लाग्ने रूपरेखा स्थापित गर्यो । शंकरप्रसाद लामिछानेजस्ता नयाँ शब्द र प्रभावशाली शैली भएका ‘लेखक’लाई चिनायो । तर, त्यो पनि प्रकाशनको रजत वर्ष पुग्दानपुग्दै जोईपोइको मनमुटावलाई डोर्याउँदै साथीसाथी बालमुकुन्ददेव पाण्डे र उत्तम कुँवरको मत–मतान्तरबाट बिलाउँदै गयो ।

साहित्यलाई अभीष्टले छोडेको थिएन । त्यसकारण ‘रूपरेखा’ पनि ‘कहाँ जान्छस् बिलाउने हराउनको देशमा’ गयो, जसबाट नेपाली साहित्य र पाठकले ठूलो क्षति व्यहोर्नुपर्यो । र, त्यसको पूर्ति हुन सक्ने छाँटकाँट पनि अहिलेसम्म कहीँ दृष्टिगोचर हुन सकेको छैन ।

वि.सं. २०१८ सालतिर मौलिक शब्द र शैलीबाट नेपाली साहित्यलाई ‘पाइन’ लगाएर चमक्क पारेर उच्च स्थानमा पुर्याएरै छाड्ने दृढताका साथ युवा जोसले परिपूर्ण रोचक घिमिरेले ‘रचना’ द्वैमासिकको प्रकाशन प्रारम्भ गर्नुभयो । आफूसँग भएको पुँजी, आफ्नी पत्नीको पेवापात र गहना अनि ऋण सापटबाट प्राप्त रकमले लगातार २४ वर्षसम्म ‘रचना’लाई उत्कृष्ट बनाएर प्रकाशन गर्नुभयो । तर, ऋण सापटको तिरोभरो गर्न गाह्रो पर्दै गएपछि उहाँको जाँगर पनि सेलाउँदै गयो । र, पुनः प्रजातन्त्रको प्राप्तिसँग ‘रचना’ पनि बन्द भयो ।

साहित्यको पत्रिकासँग प्रजातन्त्रको के अभीष्ट छ, त्यसको खोजी भने कसैले गर्न आवश्यक ठानेको छैन । तर, रोचक घिमिरेजस्तो योग्य र उत्साही युवाका गति पनि शिथिल हुँदै जाँदा हाम्रो समाजमा साहित्यिक पत्रिकाको मर्मबोध गर्न कोही छैन जस्तो लाग्नु स्वाभाविक हो । नत्र भूपि शेरचनजस्ता कविलाई उद्घाटित गर्ने त्यो पत्रिकाको अवस्था त्यस्तो नहुनुपर्ने थियो ।

परिष्कृत र प्रतिष्ठित लेखकसँग लेख–रचना बल्लबल्ल प्राप्त गर्यो अनि त्यसलाई आफ्नै पुँजीबाट छपायो र पुनः त्यो पत्रिकालाई पाठककहाँ उपलब्ध गराउन आफ्नो जुत्ताको तलुवा खियाएर श्रम गर्यो । तर पनि जस र प्रोत्साहन कसैबाट नपाएपछि जस्तै युवा हृदय पनि थकित हुनु स्वाभाविक हो, यसमा रोचक घिमिरे पनि अपवादमा रहन सक्नु भएन । ‘रचना’को मुद्रण, लेख–रचनाको छनोट, छपाइ र नियमित प्रकाशन सुन्दर र उत्कृष्ट भए पनि ‘ढुंगाको भर माटो र माटोको भर ढुंगा’ नै हो । अर्को आवश्यक कला नै थिएन, किनभने चाकडी, चाप्लुसी र चुक्लीमा खप्पिस थिएनन् । तर, हाल रोचक घिमिरेले पुनः साबिककै उत्साह र उमंगका साथ ‘रचना’को प्रकाशन गर्न थाल्नुभएको छ । बोलीको मात्रै त मेरो पनि शुभकामना छ, तर यसबाट हुने त केही होइन । ‘खानापिना कुछ नहीँ नमोनारायणका ढेडी’ जस्तो हो मेरो शुभकामना । हेर्दै जाउँ उहाँको नयाँ प्रयासबाट कहाँसम्म पुग्दोरहेछ, ‘रचना’ पर्खौँ । यसका लागि प्रतीक्षा नै गरौँ हुन्न ?

रचनाको प्रारम्भिक प्रकाशनतिरै अर्को एउटा साहित्यिक पत्रिका मोटो आकार र प्रकारबाट ‘हिमानी’ले चाँडै बजार लियो र साहित्य र साहित्यका पाठकलाई आकर्षित गर्यो । तर, नेपाली साहित्यको दुर्भाग्यका कारण कविवर व्यथित मन्त्री हुनुभयो अनि ‘हिमानी’ पनि मन्त्री पदसँगै सती जान बाध्य भयो । साहित्य र पाठक पुनः ठगिनुपर्ने अवस्था कायम नै भयो । सम्भवतः नेपाली साहित्यको यो दुर्नियति नै हो क्यारे ।

नेपाली साहित्यको माध्यमबाट अगाडि बढ्ने जमर्को अर्का युवक नगेन्द्रराज शर्मा प्रत्येक ऋतुमा ‘अभिव्यक्ति’ प्रकाशित गरिरहनुभएको छ । अटुट रूपमा २६ वर्ष नेपाली साहित्यको सेवामा संलग्न हुँदा पनि ‘जस’ दिने मान्छे देखिएको छैन, बरु उल्टै ‘खै, मैले त अचेल ‘अभिव्यक्ति’ नै पाएको छैन’ भन्ने गुनासो बाटोबाटोमा सुन्नुपरेको छ सम्पादकले । मानौँ, पत्रिका प्रकाशित हुनेबित्तिकै सित्तै भए पनि सम्पादकले उसको घरमा पुर्याउनैपर्छ ।

निःशुल्क पढ्नेको पनि यो दाबी भएपछि साहित्यिक पत्रिकाको विकास कसरी हुन्छ ? खोजेर, किनेर पढ्ने पाठक जहाँ छैनन्, त्यहाँ यस्तो स्थिति त हुन्छ नै । तर, रोचक घिमिरे र नगेन्द्रराज शर्माहरू अथक रूपमा अगाडि बढ्दै जानोस् ! कुनै दिन त शिखरमा पुग्नुहोला, नभए पनि आत्मसन्तुष्टि त प्राप्त हुने नै छ । त्यसैलाई साहित्य–साधनाको सफलता मान्दा पनि के नै घाटा हुन्छ र ! नहुनु त हात लागी छँदै छ, होइन त ?

पाँच वर्षको गुप्तवासपछि पुनः प्रकाशित ‘रचना’मा सम्पादक रोचक घिमिरे आफ्नो सम्पादकीयमा ‘सरकार आफैले अघि सरेर सांस्कृतिक तथा साहित्यिक जागरण र पुनर्निर्माणनिम्ति समर्पित साहित्यिक पत्रिकाहरूलाई सहयोग गर्नुपर्ने हो । तर, साहित्य अथवा साहित्यिक पत्रिकाहरूमा लगानी गर्न अनुत्पादक ठान्ने पारम्परिक मनोवृत्तिले ग्रस्त आजसम्मका कुनै पनि सरकारले नेपालका साहित्यिक पत्रिकालाई लेश मात्र सहयोग गर्ने सदाशयता देखाएनन्’ भन्ने गुनासो गर्नुभएको छ । तर, म भन्दछु– तपाईंप्रति सरकारले सदाशय किन देखाउने हँ ! यसका लागि तपार्इंसँग योग्यता नै छैन, किनभने तपाईं गाली गर्न सक्नु हुन्न, नाता जोड्न सक्नु हुन्न अनि किन सदाशयता ! राजनीति र सत्ताको साहित्यप्रति कुनै आकर्षण हुँदैन । यसका लागि उसका निम्ति ‘साकुल्य’ हुनुपर्छ अनि तपार्इंको गुनासोको के अर्थ ? तपाईंले त्यो गुनासो गर्नु र काटिन लागेको भैँसीले कसाईसँग रुनु एकै छैन र ?

साहित्य र साहित्यिक पत्रिकाको संरक्षण, सम्बद्र्धन र विकास गर्ने कर्तव्य नेपाल राजकीय प्रज्ञा–प्रतिष्ठानको हो । तर, ऊ आफै साहित्यिक पत्रिका प्रकाशित गर्नमा व्यस्त छ । यदि, ऊ साहित्यप्रति उत्तरदायी भएको भए उसले साहित्यिक पत्रिकाका लागि खर्च गरिरहेको वार्षिक रु. ६ लाख निजी पत्रिकालाई अनुदान दिएर त्यसको विकासमा योगदान गर्न सक्थ्यो । तर, गर्दैन । उता, प्रजातन्त्रका नाममा मनपरी गर्दै भोज र भोजमै व्यस्त रहन चाहन्छ र उसले दिने पुरस्कारहरू कसलाई केका निम्ति र किन दिँदै छ भन्ने कुरा पनि खोल्न आवश्यक ठान्दैन । यस्तो पुरस्कार न लिनेलाई स्वाद हुन्छ न सुन्नेका लागि महत्व । पद पाउने र अधिकार लिनेमा मात्र प्रजातन्त्रको उपभोग गर्ने दिनको अन्त्य भएर हामीजस्ता सर्वसाधारणलाई पनि प्रजातन्त्रको बोध हुने पनि दिन कहिलेसम्म आउला कुन्नि !

यसलाई बढी नतानौँ, किनभने लहरो तान्दा पहरो गर्जिन सक्छ । यद्यपि, नेपाल राजकीय प्रज्ञा–प्रतिष्ठानको सञ्चालन सार्वभौमसत्तासम्पन्न जनताको रगत्–पसिनाबाट संकलित रकमका भरमा भए पनि काम–कारबाहीबाट ऊ सार्वभौमभन्दा धेरैमाथि नै देखिएको छ !

हुन त साहित्यिक पत्रिकाको प्रसारप्रसार र टेवाका निम्ति शिक्षा मन्त्रालयले पनि ध्यान दिन सक्ने थियो । नेपाल अधिराज्यका लगभग ५०० सार्वजनिक पुस्तकालय र क्याम्पसका पुस्तकालयका निम्ति एक–एकप्रति साहित्यिक प्रकाशनहरूको ग्राहक बनाइदिएर अनुदान दिन सकिन्थ्यो । तर, भाषा र साहित्यको विकास हुने र पढ्ने पाठकमा पनि सन्तुष्टि हुने यो कार्य गर्न शिक्षा मन्त्रालयले ध्यानै दिँदैन । अतः यो सुझाव पनि भालुलाई पुराण सुनाउनुजस्तै हो । तैपनि, विचार गरिदिए राम्रो हुने थियो । आशा गरौँ, तर भर नपरौँ !

यता, प्रा. अच्यूतरमण अधिकारी ‘उन्नयन’ प्रकाशनमा रातदिन लागिरहनुभएको छ । मोटा–मोटा विशेषांक निकालेर ‘स्याबासी’ पाउन उद्यत हुनुहुन्छ । यस बाटोमा उहाँ कहाँसम्म पुग्न सक्नुहुन्छ, त्यो भने हेर्नैछ । ‘रत्नश्री’ भने कछुवाको चालमा भए पनि आफ्नो उद्देश्यमा अग्रसर रहेका देखिन्छ ।

जहाँसम्म मोफसलबाट प्रकाशित साहित्यिक पत्रिकाको कुरा छ, झापाबाट स्तरीय रूपमा ‘भानु’ र ‘जुही’ प्रकाशित हुन्थ्यो । त्यो पनि भवानी घिमिरेको राजनीतिको सेपमा ‘भानु’ परेको छ भने प्रा. चूडामणि रेग्मीले झर्रो नेपालीका नाममा हलन्त बहिष्कार गर्ने राममणिको व्याकरण अँगाल्दा ‘जुही’ पनि पढ्नै अप्ठ्यारो हुने चपेटामा परिरहेको छ । तैपनि, आशाको किरण भने बाँकी नै छ ।

अहिलेका लागि मदन पुरस्कार गुठीको मुखपत्रका रूपमा प्रकाशित ‘नेपाली’ त्रैमासिकले नेपाली भाषा र साहित्यको विकासमा मात्र होइन, संरक्षण र सम्बद्र्धनमा पनि योगदान गरिरहेको विश्वास हुन्छ । नेपाली भाषासेवक, अन्वेषक र साधक कमलमणि दीक्षितको कुशल सम्पादनमा प्रकाशित सो पत्रिका नेपाली भाषा र साहित्यका लागि निकै उपयोगी र ज्ञानवद्र्धक साबित भएको छ । अर्थाभावको चपेटामा पर्नुनपर्ने भएकोले यो पत्रिका दीर्घायु पनि छ र त अहिलेसम्म अटुट रूपमा १४७ अंक प्रकाशित भइसकेको छ ।

नेपाली साहित्य र भाषाको विकास चाहनेले ‘नेपाली’को उन्नतिको कामना गरे पुग्छ । उसका निम्ति अरू सहयोग चाहिँदैन पनि । किनभने, ऊ स्वयम् हरेक दृष्टिबाट सक्षम छ ।

अनि धर्म, चरित्र र नैतिकताले संरक्षण र सम्बद्र्धन गर्ने उद्देश्यबाट नयाँ आकारप्रकार लिँदै प्रकाशित धार्मिक पत्रिका ‘समुदय’ पाठककहाँ पुगिरहेको छ । गीता समुदाय प्रकाशनका तर्फबाट कुलशेखर शर्माको कुशल, निःस्वार्थ र समर्पित सम्पादनबाट प्रकाशित ‘समुदय’मा छापिने लेख–रचना र टिप्पणी निकै उपयोगी, ज्ञानवद्र्धक र रसिलो हुनाले अहिलेसम्म त्यो पत्रिकाको आजीवन सदस्य संख्या नै २०० को लगभगमा पुगिसकेको छ । अतः यसको आयुमा कुनै खड्गो आउला भन्ने शंका नहुनु स्वाभाविक हो ।

‘समुदय’ मा प्रकाशित लेख–रचना र टिप्पणी उत्कृष्ट हुने गरेकोले यो लोकप्रिय हुँदै जानेछ र समाजमा चरित्र र नैतिकता तथा परम्पराको विकास गर्ने कार्यमा पनि यो सक्षम हुनेछ भन्ने विश्वास गर्न सकिन्छ ।

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(‘समकालीन’ साप्ताहिकमा प्रकाशित प्रस्तुत निबन्ध लीलासिंह कर्माको निबन्धसंग्रह ‘मान्छे बन्नै सकिएन’बाट ।)

www.baahrakhari.com


Nepali literary magazines are going online, but there are some serious challenges - Nirvik Jung Rayamajhee



The history of Nepali literary magazines is both long and glorious. If one is to consider Sudhasagar, published in 1898, as the first milestone in the Nepali literary sector, one can say the history is 122 years long.

Sharada, Ruparekha, Indreni, Madhupark, Garima, Rachana, Abhibyakti, Janamat, and Dayitwa are a few of the other important literary magazines in Nepal. They have contributed to the making of many established laureates Nepal has known.

Literary journalist Rochak Ghimire is of the view that since it is the online age, online literary portals should be developed more and go with the flow of technology. Having said that, one should not stop focusing on the standard and accountability of the journalistic practice, says Ghimire, who has been the editor and publisher of Rachana for the past 50 years.

Professor Govinda Raj Bhattarai recalls the sad years of literary journalism in his words, “We had to put carbon paper underneath and send the copies nationwide. Today, we do not have to do it. All the writers and laureates should make the most of it.”

Meanwhile, literary journalist Ram Prasad Panta also accepts the effects of online magazines on Nepali literature. In the age of information, literature should also adopt the medium, he says.

Digitisation of literature

Lately, online versions of the major daily newspapers have already prioritised and made a separate beat for literature. Meanwhile, separate literary online portals have also been increased, some from within the country and some from outside.



About a dozen of online literary portals are in existence today: Majheri, Sahitya SanghrahalayaSatako SahityaKabita KoshSamakaalin SahityaAksharanga, Nepali Sahitya GharSahitya Post, and Kavyalaya, etc.

Established in 2004, Nepali Kala Sahitya Foundation is considered to be the oldest literary online portal. The portal, with Momila Joshi as its editor, is up and running and publishes Kalashree magazine as well as gives annual awards.

“During the establishment, we had expressed that we need to take the Nepali literary field to the international level. And, we could open the portal when there was no easy internet access for the public,” Joshi says.

Another online literary magazine is Aksharanga that publishes articles on a weekly basis. It has Raman Ghimire as editor and former vice-chancellor of Nepal Academy, Bishnu Bibhu Ghimire, as editor-in-chief. It has connected both laureates of past and present times.

Likewise, ‘The Gorkha Times is another regular literary magazine, registered in the United States of America. Editor Mahesh Paudyal says the magazine is the first English literary magazine focused on Nepal and is in the process to get itself registered in Nepal too.

Saatako Sahitya gets published in Australia with a history of 10 years. Its creator is Nishprav Saji. Kavita Kosh is published from India and has given equal importance to Nepali literary pieces and to other languages used in South-Asian countries. However, more archived articles can be found on the site rather than new creations.

Darjeeling-based online Publicnaamaa was first opened under the leadership of Raja Puniyani. It publishes articles in English and has given more priority to Nepali and Indian-Nepali literary pieces.

With its editor Ashwini Koirala, Sahitya Post online has been making regular updates of Nepali literary pieces.

Financial crisis

In 2019, Pravin Paudel and Ritesh Gurung started Kavyalaya under the mentorship of Shriju Saral. They started online with the aim to connect the youth to the Nepali literary scene. They first started posting things from home and then shifted to Jwagal of Lalitpur. In the one-and-half years of history, Saral informs, they have connected about 200 young writers to the site.


Photo: Pexels/ Cottonbro

But, for the site, though it had the writers and looked attractive, the main problem still remained the regular income source and lack of advertisement on site. When the lockdown was imposed, they shifted to home again.

In crises, these websites have been running with the individual efforts of the editors and publishers while some other websites get sponsors. For example, Ghimire’s Aksharanga is supported by Chaudhary Foundation. A few others are running with few advertisements, for example, Nepali Kala Sahitya has advertisements from private colleges of Kathmandu and NLG Insurance Company.

According to Saji, the website runs in his private efforts but its annual award is sponsored by an organisation, Innovative Associate.

Meanwhile, Koirala observes advertisers and investors both are less when it comes to literary websites and that becomes the reason for their financial crises.

Writer and reviewer Raj Kumar Baniya pleads that everyone should support online literary magazines. He argues that online magazines and literary writers have shouldered the growth of Nepali literature. He says he is fond of the online literary pieces and argues they will motivate the new generation to write.

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www.english.onlinekhabar.com



nepali-an-important-archive - Pratyoush Onta

The first issue of the quarterly magazine Nepali was published in late 1959 by the Madan Puruskar Guthi. It has been published continuously since then. The first 225 issues of this magazine, published in the same size and format, were edited by the late Kamal Mani Dixit (1929-2016). Given its relatively large published corpus, I think the following few stories about Nepali are worth re-telling to mark the first death anniversary of its erstwhile editor.


The first issue of the quarterly magazine Nepali was published in late 1959 by the Madan Puruskar Guthi. It has been published continuously since then. The first 225 issues of this magazine, published in the same size and format, were edited by the late Kamal Mani Dixit (1929-2016). Given its relatively large published corpus, I think the following few stories about Nepali are worth re-telling to mark the first death anniversary of its erstwhile editor.

Realising the Madan Puraskar Guthi

The first important story is obviously about the founding of its mother organisation: The Madan Puruskar Guthi.  In December 1955, the Guthi was officially brought into existence by registering its danpatra at the Pota Registration Adda in Lalitpur.  Its regulations were passed the following year. These steps provided a sound legal and institutional foundation for Nepali.  

The Guthi had been endowed with a gift of Indian rupees three lakhs from Rani Jagadamba, a daughter-in-law of the Rana premier Chandra Shamsher (1901-1929). Its initial mission was to honour books written in the Nepali language annually in four different disciplines and genres: prose, poetry, philosophy/social science and science. Later its mission was revised to honour just one book deemed to be the best overall.

Four years after its founding, the Guthi started to publish Nepali. Intended to be a quarterly, Nepali was described in its first editorial as both a literary magazine and the Guthi’s mouthpiece publication, carrying its news and notices along with other contributions. The editorial claimed that since these double functions had to be fulfilled, the readers will see an “unusual gathering” in the magazine: “Araniko will be seen talking with Newton and Bhanubhakta will be rubbing shoulders with Bhaskaracharya. Jangabahadur will be seen with his friend Madam Curie and Kulchandra with Karl Marx.” 

The Preparatory Background

The second important story is related to the answer to the following question: If Nepali was also a literary magazine, one that published all wings of Nepali letters including non-fiction writings, what was the preparatory background that made such writing possible? As has been documented by many others, once Rana rule was ended in 1951, many newspapers and magazines were started by all kinds of people and entities. As historian of Nepali periodicals Shiva Regmi has documented in his book Atitka Pana (2007), many of these publications had short lives. Furthermore, as researcher Deepak Aryal has pointed out in a 2011 article, many of these periodicals were filled with the output of literary writers. These included all kinds of writings ranging from fiction to literary non-fiction, essays, travel writings, and research articles. Some of the early outputs of historians and other social scientists working in post-Rana Nepal were also published in these periodicals, making them the antecedents of academic journals which came to be published from within Nepal in later years.

While deeper research might suggest reasons to revise the following list of publications, my current knowledge says that periodicals published from Kathmandu during the 1950s such as the Nepal Sanskritik Parisad Patrika, Pragati and Dharati, prepared the proximate ground for the relatively long-form non-fictional essays and research articles that came to be published in the issues of Nepali.  

 

Contents  

The third important story is related to the actual contents of Nepali. Some 480 items published in the first 106 issues of Nepali were indexed by Purna Prasad Amatya in the late 1980s. That index covered the first 27 years of this periodical. I can only assume that in the approximately 30 years that followed, a similar number of items have been published in Nepali and the total has surpassed over a 1000 items.  

Although its first editorial had claimed that Nepali will accommodate “all wings of Nepali letters” in its pages, it has had a bias against creative fiction from the beginning. No short stories were published and although some poems were published in its early issues, they too were banished from its later issues. This magazine has, without apology, promoted the essay form in many guises: literary criticism focused on specific books or genres of Nepali literature; essays documenting personal travel, memoirs and family history; research essays on literary, local, political and social history; essays contributing to discussions in diverse fields of discourse such as agriculture, arts, folklore, language, law, philosophy, religion, and science; and various types of profiles of different people. Editor Kamal Dixit’s likeness for the essay form must have had an influence in the kinds of items he chose to publish in Nepali. 

These essays were written by all kinds of folks. For instance several research essays related to Rana-era Nepal were published by the well-known historian Chittaranjan Nepali who was also one of the first awardees of Madan Purasakar (some of these essays were later included in the his 2013 book Jangabahadurko Katha). But the magazine also published great pieces by writers whose names are not usually featured in the standard histories of the essay form in Nepali. For instance, an essay, “Rain Basera” written by Janak Bahadur Rana was published in Nepali No 162. This essay—describing the author’s observations in the Kal Mochan Ghat—was so well written in a story-like manner that editor Dixit thought it was necessary to indicate in a note that it was not a story but an extraordinary essay. In issue no 176, Rana’s recall of a visit to the home of the polyglot Balkrishna Sama was published as “Tujuk, Samajimarka” and it makes for an excellent read. Not surprisingly, few of the essays came from women writers.

Editor Dixit also published letters from many individuals, some advancing discussions opened by specific contributions and others pointing out factual errors and the like. But not everything that was published in Nepali was top quality. In its later years, editor Dixit also showed the proclivity to print some letters/articles that had been written in his praise.  

Apart from the contents published in its main pages, Nepali also carried three other genres of texts. News about Madan Puraskar Guthi including its financial health and news and photos related to the annual Madan Puraskar award distribution ceremonies were published. Some of the speeches given during those ceremonies by the awardees, also reprinted in the magazine, are good sources for intellectual historians of contemporary Nepal. Also a short editorial, usually two pages long, was published commenting on some issue of importance to the world of Nepali language and letters. Such commentary was rarely about changes in politics although the editor did comment on the sasti suffered by the Nepali people during the recent blockade imposed by India. 

Also published were commentaries based on unpublished documents or published items held at the Madan Puraskar Library. Just to give one example, the resignation speech that was given by Rana premier Juddha Shamsher in 1945 is published in issue no 209 with an editorial note in which it is reported that this speech was not published even in the Gorkhapatra since its then editor most likely had to “balance” the transitory movement that saw the end of a powerful premier and the rise of a new premier. Commentary about unpublished documents usually drew the readers’ attention to under-utilised archives while commentary about published books was usually about something unusual about them: size, contents, or something else. For instance the size of “big books” for children is commented upon in “MaPuPu ko Pana” in issue no. 225, the last issue edited by late Dixit.

Hence Nepali’s main contents contributed for the most part by others and its side contents generated by the editor and functionaries of its mother organisation did manage to realise the magazine as an “unusual gathering” as promised in the first editorial.

Its contributions  

By being around for such a long time, Nepali and its erstwhile editor showed that exceptions were possible to the usual short lives of magazines in Nepal if some basic requirements were taken care of. These include the annual number of pages (usually under 200 pages total distributed in four issues), size (same), format (simple and unchanging), coverage of expenses (no advertisement with costs covered by the mother organisation) and the range of items published (limited to mostly five types). It also helped that neither the periodical nor its editor had to make a profit by doing this work.

In its early days, when Nepal lacked other robust forums of magazines and journals, I suspect that Nepali was a relatively more important platform of publication for both literature-minded writers/essayists and research-oriented critics/academics. In its later days, it had to share the print public space with many other literary periodicals and academic journals. Its potential contributors, not only had more options to choose from, but were also required for professional reasons to publish their work in specific disciplinary journals. In his later years, editor Dixit’s energy, while not diminished, had to been distributed among his many interests and responsibilities. Had he had better help in the editorial department, Nepali would have probably responded to the challenges of content generation in a more meaningful way.

The 225 issues of Nepali edited by late Kamal Dixit are best read as an important historical archive, one among many, of literary and intellectual output in post-Rana Nepal. It is useful to all kinds of researchers but I think those interested in the history of 19th and 20th century Nepal would especially benefit from engagement with it. For historians of Nepali print media and the associated public sphere, this publication is indispensable but it will also appeal to historically minded geographers and cultural historians who want to track down the relationship between Nepalis and the Nepal they learned to love during the 20th century. In other words, this particular archive has a lot to teach us about how we have tried to reinvent ourselves as modern Nepalis over the past several decades. 

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