Dhritarashtra: Winner of Madan Puraskar 2073

Remember Dhritarashtra (धृतराष्ट्र)? What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you remember Dhritarashtra, a pertinent figure in the epic Mahabharat? I bet he isn't one of the characters you respect or adore. You probably despise him for his role in Mahabharat but what if I told you there is an alternate perspective to it? Have you ever been in Dhritarashtra's shoes and tried to understand things from his perspective? You don't have to go through the trouble, Poet Ghanshyam Kandel in his masterpiece धृतराष्ट्र has done that favor for you. 

I came to know about Ghanshyam Kandel's Khandakavya Dhritarashtra after it was awarded Madan Puraskar 2073, one of the most prestigious literary awards in Nepal. I was fascinated by the title and wanted to read it, read it I did. Here are my undiluted thoughts after reading the book as my persuasion on why everyone should read this book. I haven't even read the foreword by Prof. Dr. Madhav Prasad Pokharel and views of Dr. Ram Prasad Gyawali while writing this. I just wanted to put on my first impression after reading this "book of the year." 

1. Unique Storytelling: Telling a story in itself is tough, imagine telling a story in poetic form. Let that be an epic loved by many and pick one of the most despised characters as your narrator. Now, dismantle how people know the entire story in less than 60 pages. If pulling this off isn't a literary miracle, I don't know what is. How and what I know Dhritarashtra has changed after reading this book without my prior projection of him offering any resistance. 

2. Understanding Disability: This book does have a social message on disability. The discrimination in Mahabharat against Dhritarashtra based on disability is the epicenter of everything that followed. This alternate narrative is fascinating and justifiable. I am very touched by the following two lines which will help us understand disability better than any two two lines put together as an effort. 

3. Redefining your Mahabharat heroes and villains: Let Ghanshyam Kandel redefine your hero 'Krishna and Co.' and villains through his narrative. Several other books have offered an alternative narrative to the epic Mahabharat, but nothing is brutal than poem destroying our perceptions. 

4. Horrors of War: Wars offers nothing of value to humans but why is war inevitable? Poet closes with philosophical question and discussion on why we resort to wars after all its terrors and horrors we know it invites. Ghanshyam Kandel's pick Dhritarashtra is an ideal narrator to reflect the horrors of war. 

5. A gem: I remember an essay by Laxmi Prasad Devkota के नेपाल सानो छ? while reading Dhritarashtra. It is a not a long read but is powerful, thought provoking and has an embedded social message. This book is an art, modern art maybe...why? You'll know once you read it. 

Disclaimer: This is not a book review but is my reflection upon reading it. The post does not intend copy right infringement with the photos of the part of the pages from the book. 

We Know, but We don't care.

Most of us from Nepal share quite a few features; I am not writing to claim this I am different, as I too fall into the same category of citizens. I would like to discuss one of such feature which is frequently witnessed these days. I would like to name the feature as: "we know, but we don't care". There are so many instances which reflect our 'we know, but we don't care' feature. I would like to list of some of the most pertinent events, and instances that show how embodied is the feature with our way of life.

             i. Most of us agree that Dr. Govinda KC's demand for reform in medical education and health sector is a legit demand. We know this, but we don't care (at least most of us don't).

           ii. We know corruption is institutionalized in almost all sector and Nepal is somewhere in the top of the list of the most corrupt countries. We know, but we don't care.

         iii. Our political leaders have failed us more than once and in the most visible way of political betrayal. We know they are not fit to govern the country considering the experience (political trauma). We know, but we don't care. (If we did you'd have another batch of leaders by now).

        iv.   Kathmandu is getting more and more shitty and dangerous to live in. You might die early due to dust and pollution or immediately by falling into a pit on the road. We are going backward in terms of urban development. We know, but we don't care.

          v.  More than 1500 healthy youth migrate to middle east and Malaysia each day through TIA departure, and more than three dead bodies arrive in TIA arrival each day. We know our brothers and sisters are being exploited and abused abroad where they seek employment. We know, but we don't care.

        vi.   We pay the said amount and receive bad service from most of the service provider. The internet, the restaurant, the taxi, the school, the hospital and the list can go on for ever. Even after paying the quoted price we don't get proper or satisfactory service. We know, but we don't care.

      vii.  We are being taught by those who have been alleged of plagiarism and might not be qualified to teach. We know we deserve better regarding academic prospects. We know, but we don't care.

    viii.  Kathmandu has become one of the most expensive city to live in for no justifiable reason. We know, but we don't care.

        ix.  We pay ridiculously high vehicle tax, road tax, a lot of other taxes. The car is at times 8-10 times more expensive than in other countries without any justifiable reason. We know, but we don't care.

          x.   Often INGOs and foreign representatives are alleged for interfering with our internal matters. The allegation might be true, our priorities, after all, may not be our priorities. We know, but we don't care.

        xi.  Our religious sites, our culture, our identity, our language is diminishing. We see it in front of our eyes. We know, but we don't care.

      xii.   If our country isn't a failed country yet, with this pace, it soon will be. We are going nowhere this way. We know, but we don't care.

You and I can come up with other things to add to this list to help us conclude that "We know, but we don't care." It isn't a hard argument that I am trying to make. It's something seen everywhere, and it's really worrying.

But why don't we care? We know it right? Even after knowing everything, why don't we start caring about it? What's your reason for not caring about all sorts of wrongs that have become new normal in our country?

The closest figurative representation I can think of:

What we think:

What is going on:

Have you ever wondered why you don't care? Oh! I know there are people who do care. To those who do care, thank you so much you are the beacon of hope. To those who don't care, do you have any clue why???