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The front cover has a picture of a raccoon, a taxidermized raccoon to be exact, with outstretched arms and a huge grin. The blurb has raving reviews from Neil Gaiman and Brene Brown. It’s a book that instantly grabs your attention. And I’m glad it did as I was having quite the reader’s slump when I came across it. This book got me out of it and how. It was funny, insightful, and educational. In ‘Furiously Happy’ Jenny Lawson explores her lifelong battle with mental illness. The title is based on her #furiouslyhappy movement which trended on Twitter. The theme of the movement was that people take their lives back from the ‘monster of depression’. She wanted to be furiously happy to make good moments amazing. It’s not a sequel to her first book, ‘Let’s Pretend This Didn’t Happen’ but rather a collection of bizarre essays and random thoughts. Lawson talks about her depression and anxiety and makes you laugh. You feel guilty for laughing but Lawson is witty and you just can’t help it. But that doesn’t mean she isn’t empathetic. She gives mental health its due. She makes you mull over just how important talking about depression and anxiety is so that people don’t shy away from getting the help they need. At times you forget you are reading a book on an important issue. It feels like you are witnessing an argument between the author and her husband, Victor, or watching her make a fool of herself in the cutest way possible. But Lawson’s stories are inspiring. She is also very real and honest about some personal things. And, whenever she can, she lives her life, furiously happy. Reading the book makes you realize that you too should go out there and be furiously happy. The least you can do is try to fill your memory bank with good stuff so that you can deal with the hard times. I’ve watched my family and friends struggle with mental illness. While I’d like to believe that I’ve always extended the support they needed, reading Furiously Happy has given me a much deeper understanding of just what they might be dealing with. Her book is an important read to normalize and destigmatize mental illness. It gives readers an insider’s perspective. There were a few chapters that I didn’t enjoy because Lawson has no filter and her language can come off as offensive. But that doesn’t mean someone else won’t be able to see themselves or their loved ones in those moments. I wish I had read this book sooner. Now, I wish for everyone to read it. Four stars Non-fiction Furiously Happy Jenny Lawson Published: 2015 Publisher: Picador Pages: 329, Paperback

Prashant Aryal is a prominent journalist and editor who has worked with various media houses in Nepal. Currently, the 54-year-old is not affiliated with any news organization. Instead, he’s exercising his journalistic instincts as a freelancer. Try as he might, Aryal confesses he cannot stay away from journalism, a career he fell in love with in 1988 as an intern reporter for Suruchi Saptahik, a weekly tabloid where he served for two years as employee. As a young man with no idea where his career was headed, Aryal says, this opportunity became a driving force for him to become a journalist. In his active news reporting days, he worked on political and anti-corruption stories. “I have always been a person who likes to take up new challenges,” he says. After his internship with Saptahik, Aryal joined Mahanagar, an evening daily that came out at 3:00 pm at the time. Reporting during those days, Aryal says, was a struggle. He remembers reporting anecdotes of the 1994 World Cup that took place in the US while working at the daily paper. “I used to stay up all night watching the matches, and then I’d have to write and send the articles to the newspaper in the morning,” he says. Even though it was a tedious job, he says, he enjoyed every bit of it. In 1996, he became a reporter for Kantipur Daily. “My interests have always leaned toward politics,” he says. He worked on political stories before becoming the sub-editor for the daily. He worked at Kantipur for four years before joining Space Time Dainik, a Nepali daily broadsheet at the time. After a brief stint there, he went on to join Himal Khabar, where he worked for a year. After years of working as a journalist, Aryal took a break and became a media communication analyst for an NGO. But he couldn’t stay away from the newsroom for long. He returned to his calling by joining the Nepal magazine published by Kantipur Media Group. “I like to keep changing my workplace,” says Aryal. He says that working the same job for years can be mundane, which in turn might affect one’s drive and future. He further adds that he is committed to seeking different opportunities that give him diverse experiences as well as help him in advancing his career. Despite that, he was one of the longest-serving editors of the Nepal Magazine (he was there for 10 years), which unfortunately shut down due to financial turmoil during the Covid-19 pandemic. Aryal joined Kantipur TV as the chief editor, where he worked for three and a hlaf years and joined Galaxy 4K, where he worked for a years before becoming a freelance journalist. In his career as a journalist, he has spent more time editing than reporting. But, he says, a person cannot truly become a journalist without reporting. Although he mostly edited, Aryal mentions that he spent a fair share of his time reporting, which helped him understand where the media’s involvement stands in Nepal. He says his coverage of the impeachment motion filed against Nepal’s first woman Chief Justice Sushila Karki was one of his best works so far. Having reported on politics for a long time, Aryal says that political reporting is risky because politics itself is highly ambiguous and uncertain. According to him, one of the biggest obstacles in media is the possibility of misinformation, disinformation, and lack of clarity. Accuracy is a major concern that must be addressed during fact-checking and verification. “However, in rare circumstances, it cannot be ensured. Asking for forgiveness is the only option during times like these,” he says. He says Nepali journalism still lags in many aspects. “It lacks consistency and not every news article is trustworthy,” he says. Also, he adds that journalism and media outlets in Nepal are more focused on covering news related to celebrity, politicians, and advertisements, while the concerns of vulnerable groups are largely ignored, despite digital media making diverse storytelling possible. But he says he isn’t much concerned about the shrinking influence of traditional media with the proliferation and popularity of digital and social media. “I’m sure that journalism will thrive in different forms. It will evolve, progress, and exist forever.”

Ideological politics often arise in response to certain social or cultural issues or values. However, as these values change over time, the relevance and appeal of certain ideological positions may diminish. Then, it cultivates political polarization, cultural conflict, social discrimination, economic stagnation and complete division of the people among rival factions, and the politicians retain power among themselves. But it fails to adapt to changing circumstances to effectively address new challenges losing relevance and support initiating decay of its own. Additionally, changing demographics also impact patterns of political supporters—ultimately, forcing it to die out simply because of the failure of gaining enough popular support. Economic, social, or political crises are critical ingredients of any society. They can undermine the credibility of ideological movements and lead to their decline and implant a new dominant ideology that causes crumbling of the existing sociopolitical structures. Then people begin to question the incumbent system. Again, people also get fed up with the ideological conflicts among the leaders of conflicting ideologies. The ideological politics are mostly divisive and contentious, leading to social and political unrest wreaking havoc in people’s lives. Over time, generational changes immensely affect this process. Nepal has a complex and dynamic political landscape, with multiple parties and ideologies competing for power and influence. As the new constitution was promulgated in 2015, it ushered some changes and brought both new opportunities and new challenges. Nepal needs a gradual shift toward a more pragmatic, issue-based approach to governance involving a greater focus on addressing the country's economic, social, and environmental challenges, rather than ideological posturing and identity politics. The emergence of the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) in 2018 was seen as a sign of continued relevance of ideological politics in the country. However, the party was short-lived, and it split into two factions in 2020, with each faction accusing the other of deviating from communist ideology. The current political landscape in Nepal is characterized by a mix of ideological and pragmatic politics. While there are still parties that adhere to specific ideologies, such as NC, CPN UML, CPN (Maoist Centre) and Janata Samajwadi Party among others who have, to the larger extent, failed to charm the electorate. In South Asia, BNP, CPB and JIB in Bangladesh, DMK ADMK, CPI, CPI(M), INC, SAD among others in India, CPN-UML, NC, RPP and others in Nepal, ML-N, PPP-P and others in Pakistan, SLFP, UNP, SLMC among others in Sri Lanka all suffer socio-political and ideological stagnation. Many countries that have embraced communism, socialism, or other ideological systems have experienced economic stagnation, social unrest, and political instability. The rise of technology and social media has led to a fragmentation of political discourse and a growing distrust of established political parties and institutions. Some of the ideology-based political parties in some corners of the world are trying to preserve their destiny, while most of them are gradually dying out. Since the middle of the 20th century, Nepali people have been witnessing a sea change in socio-political, cultural and economic patterns of their life. They saw the expiry of the Rana regime that ruled Nepal from 1846 to 1951. It was characterized by authoritarianism, repression, and the concentration of power in the hands of a small ruling elite. Growing public discontent, external pressure, internal power struggles and rise of democratic and progressive forces dismissed it mercilessly, and the multiple party democratic system was introduced. Then the Panchayat system which was established in Nepal in 1962, following a coup led by King Mahendra, again concentrated power in the hands of a small group of elites. However, the popular discontent, economic stagnation, international pressure and the rise of democratic and progressive forces toppled the 30-year-long direct rule of monarchs in Nepal—a turning point in Nepal's history that paved the way for the country's transition to a more democratic and inclusive society. Though it emphasized industrial development, promotion of agriculture and rural infrastructure, including roads, schools, and health facilities leading to an increase in agricultural productivity and a reduction in poverty rates in rural areas, it could not survive longer. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Nepal saw growing popular discontent with the monarchy, which was seen as corrupt, autocratic, and out of touch with the needs and aspirations of the Nepali people. Nepal's monarchy was increasingly isolated on the international stage, with many countries and organizations criticizing the government's poor human rights record and lack of democracy. The decentralization of power, fiscal decentralization, promotion of local entrepreneurship, agriculture development, social development, and employment opportunities could not sustain the system and it perished. The Maoist insurgency that began in 1996 posed a significant challenge to the monarchy's authority and legitimacy, and the government's harsh response to the insurgency further fueled public anger and resentment toward the monarchy. In 2006, a mass popular movement led by political parties, civil society groups, and student organizations succeeded in toppling King Gyanendra's authoritarian regime and restoring democracy in Nepal. Following the success of the popular movement, political parties negotiated with the monarchy to transition Nepal to a federal democratic republic. Later, Nepal abolished its monarchy in 2008 and established a federal democratic republic. However, the rise of populist politics also promotes polarization, disruption of political institutions and practices but also enables simplification of complex problems. It can erode trust in institutions and defend the corrupt and self-serving elite, but encourages greater political participation and civic engagement of the previously marginalized segments of the demography. Thus, an increasing number of voters have now broken the chains of all ideologies—the heroism of the sovereign citizen and the beauty of democracy. No political power is comfortable anymore without a direct link to citizen-life through good governance and public service delivery. Legacy politics, nepotism or any form of favoritism have no longer been enough to win people's votes. Now the voters believe those who have greater knowledge of contemporary global communities and true apprehension of the country, the people at home and abroad, and those who have yet to be tested. Common citizens are attracted to new parties and faces. Misfortune looms large over the fate and longevity of existing ideology-based political parties in Nepal.

Disclaimer: Contains minor spoiler The male characters in films directed by Ram Babu Gurung share some similarities with those written by Imtiaz Ali. They are often portrayed as man-child who feel more comfortable around their male friends than in the presence of females. However, unlike Ali's characters, they lack the sufiness (madness) and romance, and their responses to women are often filled with anger. The mention of Gurung is relevant here because Upendra Subba, who wrote and directed Jaari, also co-wrote Kabaddi, a popular franchise that started and remains the archetype story for such male characters. Like Imtiaz Ali’s films, both Jaari and Kabbadi, despite being political and social at heart, are love stories. In Jaari, Dayahang Rai portrays Namsang, a character who, like Kaji, expresses himself through anger and irritation. He doesn’t hesitate to insult his wife Hangma (played by Miruna Magar) by comparing her to an infertile buffalo. In the opening scene, Namsang even slaps and nearly kicks Hangma which causes her to leave and vow never to return. The story follows their journey over the next few months.  In recent times, no other writer has managed to make us care for such gray characters. Despite the characters repeatedly hurting each other, we don’t hate them and are always invested in their story. One of the main reasons why audiences feel empathy for the characters in Jaari is that it’s not an ‘issue’ film. Instead of going for a documentary-style exploration of the larger social impact of the Jaari tradition, the movie remains focused on the personal stories of the characters, particularly women, who are impacted by it. The men in the film behave callously, and the responsibility of taking care of the household always falls on the women. Women’s fate is determined by men who win them over in Palum or through kidnapping using brute force. Unfortunately, those whose fate is decided by their parents don’t fare any better. Hangma, whose marriage was arranged by her parents, is forced to live in a shed with her in-laws and work as a servant when her family can’t repay the ‘Jaari’. She's treated like a prisoner, fed enough to survive but not enough to thrive. Despite accepting it as part of their fate, the women do voice their concerns. Hangma leaves Namsang’s house after a fight, but their protests don’t come from a place of empowerment. It’s not a rebellion, but rather the act of a wife who’s had enough. The film is set in the 1990s, a patriarchal time that isn’t ready for their awakening yet. It’s ironic that over 27 years later, things haven’t changed much. After the success of Loot, Kabbadi popularized snappy, character-driven dialogues in Nepali cinema. It's an understatement to call these dialogues just ‘realistic’. The mix of Limbu and Nepali languages effectively captures the authenticity of the setting while maintaining the film’s pace. Although the dialogue has a sense of improvisation, it’s clear that a lot of thought went into the script as well. Unlike in the Kabbadi series, the dialogues in Jaari flow smoothly, allowing viewers to fully engage with the more serious moments. As a result, scenes burst open, generating both humor and pathos in a single moment. The script is just as impressive as the dialogue. The linear storyline sets the conflict of the story clearly from the explosive opening scene, even though we don't get to see the previous sparks that led to the conflict. The film’s most brilliantly written and staged scene is when Hangma, played by Miruna Magar, breaks down after meeting her brother. At this point in the story, she is working as a servant in her in-laws’ house because her family couldn’t pay Jaari. The scene is crafted so well that we anticipate her breakdown, but she manages to hold it together until the moment when she finally breaks down.  The camera slowly pushes in, and the background score intensifies the emotion of the scene. In the subsequent scene, Hangma’s brother vows to take her back, and the sunset in the background matches the mood of fury and broken-heartedness. Throughout the film, slow-motion shots (such as a close-up of Hangma’s feet entering and exiting the house) and push-in shots (captured by DOP Shailendra D Karki) elevate the dramatic tension of the scenes. In a more lighthearted moment, there's a visual gag (edited by Nimesh Shrestha) where Bijay Baral appears half-bent like a bull ready to mount a cow, coinciding with a pair of bovines seen mating in the background.  The impact of the moments in Jaari is not easily forgettable, thanks to the skillful writing. As Hangma begins to forgive Namsang, the hurtful words and past fights are not overlooked, as evidenced by the stains on the white walls. This allows the audience to empathize with the couple’s slow journey towards reconciliation, which is further complicated when Hangma’s brother arrives to take her back home just as Namsang tries to remove the stains. Upendra Subba’s writing in Jaari demonstrates his prowess as a screenwriter, building upon his earlier works that have a sense of groundedness, such as Kabbadi in Mustang. Jaari is perhaps his most personal work yet, as it is set in his birthplace of Angsarang-8, Panchthar, with characters that reflect his own Angdembe heritage. The film is steeped in Eastern culture, from the scent of Marcha and Jaad  to the casual use of curse words. Despite this, Subba avoids being overly nostalgic, creating a film that is both authentic and accessible. I have mentioned Kabbadi and Ram Babu Gurung many times in this review. It is inevitable, as Upendra Subba, one of the important figures of the Srijanshil Arajakta (creative anachronism) movement, has stated that he learned screenwriting from Ram Babu Gurung. Additionally, fulfilling the desires of film critics to connect the director's personal style and their screenwriting adds context to see if the latter simply capitalized on the themes of the former or truly has a personal touch. Upendra Subba has managed to create a heartfelt movie with minimal missteps. However, the opening scene, while explosive, is sudden and lacks context for their marriage or previous fights. This lack of setup affects the latter scenes, particularly when Hangma must decide whether to leave with the man who won her over in Palum. Additionally, repeatedly cutting back to the same scene in later parts of the film diminishes its impact. The similarity between the characters of Namsang and Kaji (of Kabaddi), both played by the same actor, creates a feeling of déjà vu in some scenes. Nonetheless, the actors’ performances mitigate these minor missteps. Jaari may be too small, delicate, and intimate to encompass the lasting impact of the Jaari tradition. Nevertheless, it serves as a reminder that a heartfelt apology can still go a long way and that atonement for our sins is possible if we are open to it.