Mahesh Paudyal is emerging
name in the field of literature, literary criticism, critical theories and
translation. He was born on 15 February, 1982 AD. He had completed his BA in
English (Honors) being Gold Medalist from Manipur University, India. He had
also completed MA in English from Tribhuvan University and MPhil in English
from Pokhara University being Gold Medalist consecutively. Presently he is
teaching at Central Department of English, TU and Post-graduate students at
Pokhara University. He has written 12 books for children, more than 30 school
textbooks of English language and grammar and also translated and edited more
than 40 books.
Our colleague Rajesh Natamsha
has taken exclusive interview with Mahesh Paudyal on the burning issues of
English-Nepali literature, linguistics and academic field. Here, The edited
portion of that interview:
What are you doing nowadays?
I am doing a few, eclectic
things: writing school textbooks, translating some children's and adult's
literature, and above all, I am collecting and translating poems that are rooted
in Nepal's indigenous and original knowledge. The same will be published and
disseminated across borders.
How about your movement
'Kavitama Nepal'? How's it going?
Kavitama Nepal is getting an
overwhelmingly encouraging response. People from many regions-both at home and
abroad-are expressing their solitarily. We are holding series of workshops at
various places in Nepal. The media has been so supportive to us.
Why is this movement required
for the present literary scenario?
If you observe trends in world
literature, after every long phase of realistic writing, there comes a phase of
romantic renaissance. Nepal has written a lot of protest literature and
realistic, political literature for more than half a century now, with a few
interstitial writings of other hues in the middle. So, it's time for a romantic
renaissance. I am fascinated with the word 'romantic' here, because, no other
school of thought catches up the past and mythical glory as much as romanticism
does. Second, when we are deeply impatient about internationalizing ourselves,
we need to identify, excavate and articulate knowledge that is indigenously
ours so that international readership has something uniquely original thing to
read. So, this movement has been launched to encourage writers to shun what is
foreign and overworked, and to turn to something that is originally ours and
yes, perenially fresh. It's time to say, 'local is global', you know!
Many literary figures blame
that Mahesh Paudyal is trying to teach the poets. Why are they making such
blames?
No one has directly blamed me
that I am 'teaching' them. If they have talked in my absence, they are very
weak commentators. Moreover, I am not dictating them any theme, and this I have
said in the public domain. If poets find themselves uncomfortable with my idea,
they have all liberty to continue with what they had been doing hitherto. What
I am saying is that, poets can pick up any theme, any issue they like. I am
only telling that in order to play their themes, it will be a good idea to
choose the route of local, untapped and unexplored metaphors that are
exclusively Nepalese. It has been long that we have said, our cultural
diversity is out strength, but practically, we have used it nowhere, except in
dividing ourselves along narrow political and ethnic lines. Poetry can show the
strength of our cultural richness. This is to encourage poets to save
themselves from choosing dead and over-worked metaphors, and therefore, to
explore the nascent gem. If that invites any blame, I am ready to face not one
or two, but millions of them. Nothing
will deter me, for, I already have a number of scholars and youths working with
me.
What is the position of
Nepalese Literature in Global phenomenon?
It's not very encouraging.
Browse through the curriculum of universities outside Nepal and see how many
Nepali poets and writers are taught. Find international literary journals and
see how many research articles are on Nepali literature. See researches abroad,
and find how many of them are on Nepal's literary issue. Check international
book stalls, and international best-selling list, and see what percentage of
them are represented by Nepali books. Barbara Stoller Miller in 1994 published
Masterworks in Asian Literature under a Columbia University project, and
there's no Nepal. Paul Brians, in 2003 brought out Modern South Asian
Literature from Greenwood Publication, and Nepal is sadly missing in his work.
Rosemary M. Canfield Reisman, a Charleston Southern University professor in
2012 published the book Asian Poets from Salem Press and there's no Nepal. I
can name several other works like this. Think what the position of Nepalese
literature in the global is. Our Diasporas do not seem to be penetrating into
the mainstream literary worlds and universities in their host countries; they
have developed Nepali literary ghettoes there, and their literary and critical
exercises are limited to the ghettoes.
What should be done for the
upliftment of present field of Nepali literature?
It will be wrong to say
there's no translation, and there are no good translators. Many have come up
and exhibited world-class translation skills. In your own region, you have
extraordinary talents like Manu Manjil. But, translators can translate only
what is at their disposal; they cannot invent quality where it is originally
missing. And what has so far happened is, normally, those who write well have
no money to pay the translators and manage the publishing and shipping. Those
who can are not good writers necessarily. So, in most of the cases, wrong
literature is being translated. Bodies like the government, Nepal Academy and
our universities have never seriously
considered translating the best ever written works into English. So, these bodies should make objective
selection of what is really good, and ensure their translation and
distribution. Universities should enhance inter-university links to ensure
inclusion of Nepali works in curriculums across the world. What fresh
translators like us can do is encourage writers to write in a new pattern, with
fresh and ever-green metaphors, and translate such stuffs with originally local
and unique knowledge, and ship such stuffs abroad. And yes, people like us
should keep honking that writers should produce original, fresh and timless
stuffs, rooted in our original epistemic tradition.
Nowadays, the horizon of
translation is expanding. What do you think about the trend of translation?
Does it follow the way to prosperous future of literature?
Many people know I teach
English, and so they promptly ask, "Sir, please translate my work from
Nepali into English." But they never care to ask whether I am good at
Nepali. For translators, it is mandatory
that they are good in both source and target languages. But in Nepal, this has
seldom been the case. Pick any piece of translation available in Nepal and read
for yourself; you will instantly realize that most of our translations lack
standard, and are hopelessly literal and prosaic. Second thing is, the language
of our translated works is still very, very bookish and pedantic; we have not,
so far, been able to care how we can infuse colloquial and informal quality of
language in it, so that it sounds natural. In am not an exception. Even then, I
am aware, some wonderful translators have come, but they have so far been
treated like farmhands, and have not been deservingly employed and remunerated.
Yet, my hopes for future are bright.
What is and what should be
done by the government in teaching-learning of English language?
I have been observing Nepali
academia for a decade now-both as a student and a teacher. My conclusion is
that, government practically does nothing at all. Follow the media; students in
western hills do not even get textbooks.
Government schools, where teachers are trained every now and then, are
hopelessly lagging in delivering good quality. The government should shun
lip-profession and take up real task. It should train teachers not only from
government schools, but also from the private ones. It should ensure the
delivery of necessary materials in time.
What you see the attraction of
students towards English literature?
I have seen that they have an
overwhelmingly passionate attraction. But, one major complaint they have is,
they do not comprehend English texts very well. The reason is their weak school
base of English language. They also often fail to make the correct choice of
book that best suits their age and comprehensibility. Teachers can make a
difference here. Many believe, they can improve themselves by writing and
getting it corrected frequently. That, I think, is a wrong idea. My conviction
is that reading is the best therapy for improving.
Braindrain is the burning
problem of Nepal. What do you think about the departure of educated youths?
You are right. First thing,
going abroad has become a fashion. Second, the government has failed to ensure
that educated youths have placement and job opportunities here. I think, this
is a very, very unfortunate state of affair.
What should be done to stop
them from going abroad?
That day, when our government
starts feeling ashamed that its most hopeful manpower is leaving the nation, I
hope, it will start developing alternative job opportunities in agriculture,
industry, education, IT, and such other areas, and the trend will come down. As
long as a stable government doesn't take over and real development works do not
start taking shape, I see bleak chances of stopping the exodus.
In academic field of Nepal,
the faculty of Humanities is highly ignored. But in developed countries
Humanities is most favorable faculty. Few Nepalese students study Humanities
rather than other faculties. How do you evaluate this situation as a university
teacher?
In fact, at school and
intermediate or even bachelor's level, Humanities is no more an attraction. The
reason is plain and simple: Humanities has no job. At universities, we still
have a huge mass of Humanities students, but the number is sliding. If opportunities
for job do not boom, no one can stop the graph from dwindling further. This is
an unfortunate indication. If this happens, where will our future writers,
critics, media-personnel, sociologists, historians, political analysts, editors
and translators come from¿ The highest of all, human values and ethics will
touch their nadir, much to the detriment of the entire nation. I am deeply
pained to see Humanities being neglected.
Last but not the least, what
are your suggestion, advice and messages for the college students?
College students! If your
mother is sick, you don't sell her in the market and buy a new mother. Rather,
you treat her with love. Your motherland is sick; treat her from whichever
position you can. Second, instead of hollering and politicking at campuses, try
to make yourselves parallel with your counterparts in other South Asian
countries. Your curriculum is made by human beings, and other students of your
own age and caliber can penetrate it so well. If so, why can't you¿ Your every
wrong step today will cost something in future. The maxim 'Slow and steady wins
the race' doesn't hold good anymore. Only 'fast and steady' wins the race in
modern world. So, do not laze away; get to serious working today. Read a lot;
energize yourselves each day. You are going to lead us tomorrow. God bless you!
