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PG 09 | Wednesday, April 12, 2017
Retelling folktales
for this day and age
Professor Sundar Krishna Joshi’s collection of short stories Through the
Latticed Window was recently released in English. In this anthology, Joshi, who
previously served as the Chief of the Central Department for Nepal Bhasa at
Tribhuvan University, has included stories drawn from Newar mythologies, along
with his own real life experiences. In this conversation with the Post’s Samikshya
Bhattarai, Joshi talks about his book, the importance of translating indigenous
tales, and how that facilitates cultural exchange. Excerpts:
Tell us about your new book.
Maktub!
Through the Latticed Window is the
English translation of my book in
Nepal Bhasa-- Tiki Jhyaa. The
anthology has 16 stories that are
based on folklore, as well as supernatural encounters that my friends,
my relatives or I have experienced
firsthand. It is a blend of real life
experiences and myths based on the
oral tradition of Newari culture:
things that we have known of but
find it difficult to digest or share.
Even though the stories might
sound imaginary and unbelievable
at times, through the book I have
tried to explain how unseen, unnatural forces feature in our everyday
psyche and our society.
The book was translated from
Nepal Bhasa to English. Was your
goal to find a wider audience
because English is more widely
read?
Yes, the main purpose behind translating the book in English is to
reach a wider audience. That being
said, the translation was not pursued so as to make more profit.
When I worked as a professor, I
came across many foreigners who
wanted to carry research on Nepal’s
culture. But, till date we don’t have a
promising number of written
accounts on our folklores and oral
tradition, and the ones that exist are
in Nepali. This stands as hindrance
in cultural exchange and understanding Nepal. This book serves as
a peek into the Newar community
for anyone who wishes to grasp a
better understanding. I’m sure the
translation will help bridge the gap.
Do you think more books in
indigenous languages like Nepal
Bhasa need to be translated? How
would that help the language?
Of course, translation would make
a huge difference for books written
in indigenous languages. In Nepal,
it is easier to sell books in English
than it is in Nepali; books in indigenous languages are different stories
altogether. Indigenous languages
like Nepal Bhasa are often difficult
to read in, even for its native speakers. Through translation, the stories, myths, and beliefs of a culture
can be effectively communicated to
the people outside of the indigenous
community.
bookworm babbles
My takeaways
from Paulo Coelho’s
The Alchemist
Raman Budhathoki
Translation not only helps the
stories reach wider audience but
also attempts to conserve the indigenous language as it invokes readers to read the book in the original
language for an in-depth understanding.
A
nd, when you want something,
all the universe conspires in
helping you to achieve it.”
When we give our best to
something with all honesty, no
force can keep us from achieving it. It
is not an exaggerated philosophy but
a belief that has been assimilated by
over 84 million readers of The
Alchemist authored by Paulo Coelho
and perhaps reality lived by some.
Today, in his seventies, Paulo
Coelho de Souza, a Brazilian novelist
and lyricist, is one of the world’s
most celebrated authors. Coelho also
holds the Guinness World Record for
‘the most languages into which a
book has been translated.’
For readers like me, in their late
teens, his ideas are strong enough to
shape our visions and ideas.
After reading Coelho, I do believe that
faith, religion, spirituality, signs and
omen play important roles in our lives.
But dreams are the most important.
Had Santiago, the protagonist of
The Alchemist, not had recurring
dream about a child who tells him about
a hidden treasure in the Egyptian pyramids, he would have never travelled all
the way to learn so much.
Like Santiago, we need to sometimes listen to what our dreams are
Tell us about the translation
process; how easy or difficult is
it? Was it hard for you to find the
right balance with your
translators?
Translating a book is always a challenging endeavour because you are
not just translating the words but
also the emotions behind the words.
When translating a book, one needs
to understand the culture, geography and society in which it is based,
in order to extract the true feelings
and voice of the original book.
Thankfully, my translators, Arun
Shrestha, Rajendra Sakhya and
Bhuwan Lal Pradhan already had a
thorough understanding of the
Newar culture, as well as my sentiments related with the stories. This
protected the translated stories
against losing their true essence.
Your book delves into many
mythologies from the Newar
Society, why is it important to
retell these stories to the
younger generation?
In today’s time-and-age, with this
rapid development in technology,
our culture has taken a backseat.
However, culture is a part of our
identity and these stories help the
younger generation trace back to
history and understand where they
come from. Retelling the stories is
important because the younger generation needs to understand where
their roots lie.
The new generation is not as
naïve as the previous ones, they do
not follow things in blind faith and
question almost everything. This is
great, but most of our mythologies
sound like fantasy that young people are likely to discard as unrealistic. I have tried to give the ancient
stories in my book a realistic touch
so as to garner attention of the
young minds.
What books would you recommend to readers interested in
mythologies?
I would recommend the books by
Karnakar Vaidya to the readers
interested in mythologies and cultural short stories. His books give a
very good insight on the old civilisation with modern representation of
the folk stories.
telling us. We need to reflect and then
follow them. It is a cyclic process—
following and achieving our dreams.
Getting to our goals is all about the
journey we embark on. Once we play
our part in following our goals with
all sincerity, the goal itself starts following us back. To put it simply, let’s
refer to the Newton’s third law of
motion: the action we perform while
chasing our goals is equal to the reaction from our goals. Which means pursuing your goals will never go to vain.
Another important side discussed
in Coelho’s The Alchemist is love.
According to the author, love holds a
special place in our lives and it
should be unconditional, but it
should always come next to our goals
in the priority list.
Santiago could have led an ordi-
nary life at the oasis. He would even
have been happy for some time with
the love of his life, Fatima, but eventually he would have regretted not
pursuing his goal. And Fatima would
feel that she is the reason behind his
failed dreams.
Hence love is important, but your
goal in life should always precede love.
In the book, Coelho also discusses
how we should value spirituality
over organised religion. Spirituality
is a broad concept relating to or
affecting the human spirit or soul as
opposed to materials or things. A
spiritual person knows they don’t
have to contribute to everything.
They are content with the silence. In
fact, most spiritual practices incorporate a practice of being content to
offer nothing to the noise.
Steve Jobs once said: “Don’t let the
noise of others’ opinions drown out
your own inner voice.” We can only
focus on our goals when we isolate
ourselves from external disturbances. Even as we refer to science,
according to thermodynamics, for a
system to be in equilibrium it should
be isolated; there should be zero
interaction between the system and
the surrounding. We can achieve
thermal equilibrium state and step
towards the goal only if we are isolated from disturbance.
The Alchemist is not only a fictional novel but a treasure trove of
life-changing lessons. It is a brilliant
piece of literature that teaches us
about developing focus and perseverance to reach our goals. It teaches us
about the attitude that you need to
succeed. It teaches us to dream, and
chase them, because, “There is only
one thing that makes a dream
impossible to achieve: the fear of
failure.”
Budhathoki, is an undergraduate
student of Mechanical Engineering at
Kathmandu University
Ephemeral
life
Sabita Chaulagain
Life and Paths
Prakriti Basyal
Turns the pages
Path of hate:
Summons the evil
And enslaves your mind
Path of love:
Illuminates the dark
And caresses your heart
Path of vanity:
Understates the brave
And nurtures the futile
Path of peace
Let goes of the past
Embraces the present
Path of fantasy:
Conjures up a whole world
So fresh, it thrives on thirst
What Path are you on
Where are you headed?
Path of revolution:
Thaws the cages
Roshan Thapaliya
C
hange in culture, language, and
food largely define the experience of studying abroad. Making
social errors, like not knowing
how to do that special handshake,
failing to understand slangs, wondering why food tasted so good back
home are all part of adjusting to the
new culture.
The first few weeks are fun because
they are also special; it’s a whole new
world and a whole new adventure.
Everything is an experiment,
everything is trial and error. For
instance, you order the Big Mac at
McDonalds and devour it first only to
find out later that the meat inside
was beef.
Ordering food at a restaurant can
be intimidating at first but you get
used to it. The system of unlimited
drinks at Subway or McDonalds
intrigues you. Yes, you can have as
much Cola as you wish to, while in
Nepal that only happens at family
parties. One of the first goals is to
Basyal is a recent +2 graduate from
Kathmandu Model Higher Secondary
School
Little did I know
The fire could engulf a
life
When her body gave in
to the flames
And my heart gave in
to the sorrow
As every bit of her disappeared
And every bit of me
died
Little did I know
Everything came to an
end
And everyone said
their goodbyes
When she left the world
As her spirit left her
body
Chaulagain is
currently pursuing
biology in the USA
A new land
Adjusting to a new life
while studying abroad
locate eateries with Indian cuisine.
The food will never be as good as
mum’s chicken curry back home, but
they do satisfy the taste buds that
have been craving homely flavours.
Every other plate of Chinese fried
rice, Mexican bowl or tortilla, and a
cup of Chai latte at Starbucks is a
reminder of the Nepali cuisine that
you so miss.
Your taste buds aren’t the only
things that set you apart though.
People love your accent, but you can’t
tell if they are also making fun as
they make you pronounce your name
again and again for the sake of the
ring it has. They say your accent
amuses them; mostly because they
don’t understand it.
Your classmates think you are a
genius, especially at math, because
you’ve already made your way
through Calculus, Differential
Equations or Linear Algebra in high
school. And your classmates giggle
when you fail to address your teacher
as ‘Professor’ and ‘Doctor’ as words
such as ‘Sir’ and ‘Ma’am’ slip out.
People compliment your Adidas
windcheater and your Nike sneakers—the inexpensive apparels you
bought at a random street store back
home. They find it amusing how you
are capable of playing soccer barefoot. They look at you like you are
insane when you take off your shoes,
fold your jeans and get ready for a
quick game of football.
This one time a friend asked: “How
are you livin’?” I thought she meant
‘leaving’ and replied: “On a plane.” It
was only after I referred to a slang
dictionary that I realised she was
asking about my well-being.
You’ll come across many similar
experiences which are both awesome
and awkward. If you are travelling to
a different country for further studies you are going to miss your family,
friends, and food dearly. However, you
will also have an adventure of a lifetime making new friends, braving a
new culture, and perhaps learning a
new language. At the end of it all, you
will have many fond memories and
interesting stories to share with your
friends and families.
Thapaliya is a student at Howard
University, Washington DC
C M Y K
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