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Akhanda Bhandari is a well-known name in Nepali media fraternity. Born in Bhojpur district of eastern Nepal, he gained recognition through his influential column ‘Voice of the Voiceless’ in Kantipur daily. Later, he joined Annapurna Post and was appointed as its Editor-In-Chief a few years later. He’s also known for his innovative storytelling particularly with graphic narratives. 

Bhandari made his debut in the world of literature with the novel ‘Malaya Express’ in 2013. The novel delved into the emotional and financial struggles associated with Nepal’s remittance economy. Now, after a decade, he has published his second novel, ‘Bora’, which explores the lives of elderly mothers in Nepal.

Bora, which translates to sack in Nepali, carries both metaphorical and literal meaning in the novel. It symbolizes the burdens shouldered by Yamuna, who labors tirelessly, carrying sacks of sand to finance her son Asal Sharma’s education. It also depicts a troubling scene where Asal and his wife, Nirjala Adhikari, discard Yamuna by packing her up in a sack.

The narrative weaves together the lives of its contrasting characters. Asal is raised by his single mother, Yamuna, after she is abandoned by her husband, Rudra Prasad Dahal. Although Asal grew up witnessing his mother’s hardships and holding her in high regard, he is influenced by his wife, Nirjala, and ultimately abandons her. Nirjala, raised in an affluent family in Kathmandu and a doctor by profession, ironically believes in superstitions. She labels her mother-in-law, Yamuna, as a ‘witch’ and conspires to abandon her. 

Bora is set in various locations—Dhankuta, Jhapa, Itahari, Biratnagar, and Kathmandu. It raises questions about familial bonds and societal values. It examines how Asal, despite being raised amid hardships by his mother and grandmother, succumbs to his wife’s pressure. It delves into the dynamics that lead Asal to forsake Yamuna and how his son, Nirjal, rescues his grandmother from an old age home on the premises of the Pashupatinath Temple.

Like Malaya Express, Bora also ends on a happy note. Both novels are set in the Koshi Province of eastern Nepal and emphasize themes of women’s empowerment. Both novels also talk about journalism. These recurring motifs reflect Bhandari’s passion for uplifting readers and his affinity for powerful female characters and the role journalism plays in our society.

Despite its strengths, Bora isn’t without flaws. There are noticeable inconsistencies, such as the character Rashmi Nepali being described as sipping tea in one instance and coffee in another. The use of English terms like ‘aunty’, ‘please’, and ‘okay’ in dialogues supposedly set in rural Nepal decades ago feels inappropriate.

Nevertheless, Bora is a captivating read. Bhandari has crafted a narrative deeply intertwined with the fabric of Nepali society.  The 471-page novel, priced at Rs 700, is an exploration of the silent sufferings of Nepal’s abandoned mothers and criticizes the tendency of elites to neglect elderly people. The novel also delves into the issues of fragmenting family traditions and the rise of elderly homes in Nepal.

Before the dawn of Nepal’s republican era, Prithvi Narayan Shah, the founder of modern Nepal, was an undisputed figure in Nepal's state narrative. After the declaration of a republican state on 28 May 2008, Prithvi Narayan Shah has been widely criticized mainly by communists, mostly by Maoists. Incumbent PM and Maoist leader Puspa Kamal Dahal established a narrative that Shah was an expansionist king. He was of the view that it was time to move ahead in the spirit of republican Nepal without marking important dates associated with Nepal’s kings, including King Prithvi, as public holidays and opting for state celebrations. Interestingly, Dahal fielded his candidacy from Gorkha district (PN Shah was the king of the princely state of Gorkha) in this year’s general elections. Having won from there, he surprised Nepali people with two interesting deeds. One, he appeared in Daura Suruwal, a traditional attire that he once portrayed as the attire of the ruling elite and a symbol of hill nationalism (Pahade Rashtravaad). Second, his cabinet declared a national holiday for the first time to commemorate the birth anniversary of King Prithvi on Poush 27 (January 11), something that had not been done for decades after the end of the Panchayat regime. This was a departure from his previous two stints as PM. From diehard admirers to firebrand critics, both have arrived together not only in a seven-party coalition government but also in giving a national holiday on the birth anniversary of Nepal-integrating monarch PN Shah. Discussions about speedy integration of local principalities and states by PN Shah are quite common and so are discourses on PN Shah's nature, liberal and iron-fisted both. However, not much discussion has taken place about the unique diplomatic prowess of the king. Divyopadesh (roughly translated as divine counsel) is testimony to a strong diplomatic understanding of the king (1742-1774). A collection of PN Shah’s wise words on various domestic, diplomatic and geo-political issues, Divyopadesh is also known as Nepal's first written law and is included in the official website of Nepal Law Commission. Good understanding of geopolitics PN Shah had a strong understanding of geopolitics. His understanding made it possible for the independent existence of Nepal as one of the oldest surviving sovereign nations. During his reign, the East India Company (the British force) was on the prowl in Nepal's southern neighborhood, annexing one after another principality of today’s India. While in the north, a weaker Tibet was under the suzerainty of the Chinese empire. Squeezed between these two great powers, the king did his best to integrate small states and principalities in his Gorkha state. He named it Nepal after the integration of the Kathmandu valley. PN Shah did not fight with the British empire in an offensive fashion. Rather, he fought for defense. For example, when the king was on his mission to annex Kathmandu, Jaya Prakash Malla, the king of Kantipur (Kathmandu), sought the East India Company's military support. Captain Kinloch marched from Patna with 24,000 troops and confronted Gorkha soldiers on 6 Nov 1767. Prem Singh Basnyat, Nepal's military historian, said just 800 of the 24,000 British troops were left alive after the battle of Sindhuli. Despite such a victory, the monarch did not order offensive moves. He rather instructed the noblemen to maintain a balanced relationship with both northern and southern powers. In his divine counsel, he says, “Nepal is like a yam between two boulders. Keep strong friendship with the empire of China; maintain friendship also with the emperor of the sea (the British empire).” In a way, PN Shah had foreseen Indian independence and said, “When Hindustani (Indian) people wake up, he (the British emperor) will find it difficult to stay there. PN Shah’s successor did not pay heed to his diplomatic teachings. They went for direct confrontation with the East India Company from 1814-16 and lost one-third of Nepal's sovereign land. Far-sighted in economic diplomacy  Economic diplomacy is at the core of all sorts of diplomacy in the contemporary world. PN Shah had extensively talked about its relevance in the 18th century with a main emphasis on exports. In Divyopadesh, PN Shah says, “Export our products and other herbs to foreign countries and earn cash in return. Always try to earn money through external trade. The palace will be stronger if our people become wealthy.” Nepal’s political palaces are rich, but the people are still lagging far behind in comparison to other South Asian countries, leave alone the world. Nepal's trade picture is very tragic where imports dwarf exports. Had PN Shah's teaching been utilized on Nepal’s national economic front, the country and the people would have fared much better.