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Bibek Ojha is a 32-year-old writer from Tikapur, Kailali, who has published several short stories, poems, and two novels titled ‘Ailani’ and ‘Aithan’. His works delve into the deep rooted issues of Nepali society. Babita Shrestha from ApEx talked to Ojha where he spoke about what he hopes to achieve through his writings. What inspires you to continue writing? I grew up with my brother who’s a writer. When you genuinely love writing, you will naturally write for peace and pleasure. My brother’s advice to me was to try writing short pieces before working on a novel. I followed that advice to hone my talent. I also wrote poetry during my spare time. In 2006, my friends and I collaborated on a collection of poems titled ‘Yugal’, after which I worked alone on ‘Gazal’. However, my collection of short tales didn’t get published. So I pushed myself to learn more. Eventually, in 2017, I published my first novel called ‘Ailani’, and recently, in 2022, I released ‘Aithan’. So I guess you could say that my inner drive to improve my writing has motivated me to write. Can you tell us a little about the books you wrote? The subject matter of my first novel, ‘Ailani’, depicts the predicament of untouchability, oppression, abuse, and harassment faced by the Dalit community in Nepal. It draws attention to how little the government has accomplished. In Nepali, the word ‘ailani’ denotes ownership by no one. I sought to use the Badi community to represent the title metaphorically. The word ‘aithan’ means agony. It reflects painful experiences in the world and the sense of convulsions during a war. What are your techniques and strategy for writing a novel? My short stories inspired me to write a novel. The manuscript of my unpublished stories led me to publish ‘Aithan’. While writing a book, I put a lot of emphasis on developing characters through metaphors and images. To construct characters, I assemble various people’s personalities. I deeply examine the character’s viewpoints, and their way of thinking, and try to show that in the plot. I try to dive into the character’s emotions to understand the way they speak and think. I enjoy reading books with strong emotional themes. Additionally, the techniques that are most important to me are the delivery, coordination, and style of the plot, characters, and images. I carefully work on synchronizing rhythm and tone in the plot. Many authors draw inspiration from other writers and literature. Who inspires you? My brother, Sushil Ojha, has always been my inspiration from the very beginning when it comes to writing. Also, I enjoy reading the works of authors like Saru Bhakta, Amar Neupane, Narayan Dhakal, Dha Cha Gotame (Dhanush Chandra Gautam), Naba Raj Lamsal, Haruki Murakami, and many more. All these authors have influenced my writing style and motivated me to tell stories that matter to me. Do you think Nepali literature has a bright future? The future looks promising. But I believe it would be even better if the writings of Nepali authors were promoted through translation. I think Nepali literature has greater opportunities both economically and artistically if we can solely focus on the audience of our neighboring nations. Practically speaking, in the present context, that’s going to be quite challenging. But something must be worked out to make that possible. What advice do you have for aspiring novelists? Be sincere about what you write. To help yourself write better, try to grasp some fresh ideas by reading a reference book. Never let publishing houses that say no to publishing your book demotivate you since mistakes help you get better. If you receive criticism, try not to get upset about it but learn from it instead. Ojha’s Picks: Madhabi by Madan Mani Dixit Madhabi is a Nepali mythological novel published in 1983 by Sajha Prakashan. The book won the Madan Puraskar in the same year. Samaya Trasadi by Saru Bhakta Saru Bhakta is the pen name of Bhakta Raj Shrestha, a celebrated Nepali novelist, poet, and winner of Madan Puraskar. Samaya Trasadi is a work of non-fiction published in 2022. Ghamka Pailaharu by Dha Cha Gotame Ghamka Pailaharu is a novel that depicts the day-to-day life of people in a nameless town (similar to Birgunj) in the Tarai region of Nepal.  

A woman and her son died after falling off a cliff in Dhading on Monday. Police have identified the deceased as 19-year-old Apsara Chepang of Benighat Rorang Rural Municipality-2 and her two-year son Sajan. SP Gautam Mishra, Chief of the District Police Office, Dhading, said that the incident occurred when Apsara had gone to the forest near her home to collect fodder carrying her son on the back. Critically injured in the incident, both the mother and son died in the course of treatment at the Malekhu Teaching Hospital, said police.  

The 16th Republic Day is being marked nationwide by organizing several programs on Monday. The first-ever people-elected Constituent Assembly had proclaimed the federal democratic republican governance system in the country by officially abolishing the autocratic monarchy on 28 May 2008. The Republic Day is celebrated across the nation on Jetha 15 (May 29) every year in commemoration of the day the republican system was proclaimed on the backing of the historical people's movement of 2006 AD (2062-063 BS). The Republic Day is being marked commemorating the commencement of democratic republican system resting all state power on the people. On 24 April 2006, the then King Gyanendra Shah had reinstated the Parliament that was dissolved on 22 May 2002 The republic system was set up in the country on the backing of the 2006 April uprising.

Seventy years ago, New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Nepali Tenzing Norgay Sherpa became the first humans to summit Sagarmatha on 29 May 1953. The British expedition made the two men household names around the world and changed mountaineering forever. Hundreds now climb the 8,849-meter (29,032-foot) peak every year, fuelling concerns of overcrowding and pollution on the mountain. AFP looks at the evolution of the Sagarmatha phenomenon. What is the mountain called? Initially known only to British mapmakers as Peak XV, the mountain was identified as the world’s highest point in the 1850s and renamed in 1865 after Sir George Everest, a former Surveyor General of India. On the border of Nepal and China and climbable from both sides, it is called Chomolungma or Qomolangma in Sherpa and Tibetan—‘goddess mother of the world’—and Sagarmatha in Nepali, meaning ‘peak of the sky’. How has climbing Sagarmatha changed? The 1953 expedition was the ninth attempt on the summit and it took 20 years for the first 600 people to climb it. Now that number can be expected in a single season, with climbers catered to by experienced guides and commercial expedition companies. The months-long journey to the base camp was cut to eight days with the construction of a small mountain airstrip in 1964 in the town of Lukla, the gateway to the Sagarmatha region. Gear is lighter, oxygen supplies are more readily available, and tracking devices make expeditions safer. Climbers today can summon a helicopter in case of emergency. Every season, experienced Nepali guides set the route all the way to the summit for paying clients to follow. But Billi Bierling of Himalayan Database, an archive of mountaineering expeditions, said some things remain similar: “They didn’t go to the mountains much different than we do now. The Sherpas carried everything. The expedition style itself hasn’t changed.” What is base camp like? The starting point for climbs proper, Sagarmatha Base Camp was once little more than a collection of tents at 5,364 meters (17,598 feet), where climbers lived off canned foods. Now fresh salads, baked goods and trendy coffee are available, with crackly conversations over bulky satellite phones replaced by wifi and Instagram posts. How does the news of a summit travel? Hillary and Tenzing summited Sagarmatha on May 29 but it only appeared in newspapers on June 2, the day of Queen Elizabeth’s coronation: the news had to be brought down the mountain on foot to a telegraph station in the town of Namche Bazaar, to be relayed to the British Embassy in Kathmandu. In 2011, British climber Kenton Cool tweeted from the summit with a 3G signal after his ninth successful ascent. More usually, walkie-talkie radios are standard expedition equipment and summiteers contact their base camp teams, who swiftly post on social media. In 2020, China announced 5G connectivity at the Sagarmatha summit. What are the effects of climate change? Warming temperatures are slowly widening crevasses on the mountain and bringing running water to previously snowy slopes. A 2018 study of Sagarmatha's Khumbu glacier indicated it was vulnerable to even minor atmospheric warming, with the temperature of shallow ice already close to melting point. “The future of the Khumbu icefall is bleak,” its principal investigator, glaciologist Duncan Quincey, told AFP. “The striking difference is the meltwater on the surface of the glaciers.” Three Nepali guides were killed on the formation this year when a chunk of falling glacial ice swept them into a deep crevasse. It has become a popular cause for climbers to highlight, and expedition companies are starting to implement eco-friendly practices at their camps, such as solar power. What is the impact of social media? Click, post, repeat—the climbing season plays out on social media as excited mountaineers document their journey to Sagarmatha on Facebook, Instagram and other social media platforms. Hashtags keep their sponsors happy and the posts can catch the eyes of potential funders. That applies to both foreign climbers and their now tech-savvy Nepali guides. “Everyone posts nowadays, it is part of how we share and build our profile,” said Lakpa Dendi Sherpa, who has submitted Sagarmatha multiple times and has 62,000 Instagram followers. Mountain of records? Veteran Nepali guides Kami Rita Sherpa and Pasang Dawa Sherpa both scaled Sagarmatha twice this season, with the latter twice matching the former’s record number of summits before Kami Rita reclaimed pole position with 28. There are multiple Sagarmatha record categories for first and fastest feats of endurance. But some precedents are more quixotic: in 2018, a team of British climbers, an Australian and a Nepali dressed in tuxedos and gowns for the world’s highest dinner party at 7,056 meters on the mountain’s Chinese side. AFP