Recently completed a book, The Gurkha's Daughter, by Prajwal Parajuly. I will not consider it a bad book although it could not meet my expectations. The book, in fact, is a good read. It tells the story of the resident as well as non-resident Nepalese. Their social as well as psychological changes and issues are wonderfully presented in the book and the characters mostly belong to the hilly regions of Nepal as well as India. Although the stories are good, the book, however, could not meet my expectation.
I expected the book to be a novel (a lack of knowledge in my part before starting the book) rather than a short stories collection. I expected it to depict the plights and pains, happiness and pride of being a Gurkha's daughter. But after reading the book, I found that the title was taken from one of the short stories, which although presented the social context and condition of the family of a British Gurkha soldier in Nepal, could not exactly captivate me.
I wanted to read a book that would keep me interested for a long time but while reading The Gurkha's Daughter, I easily got distracted. Were it a novel depicting the story of a Gurkha's daughter, it might have garnered my attention for a long time. I had wanted to read it the moment I heard its title but as it is said, don't judge a book by its cover, in my case, judging a book by its title didn't go so well.
Parajuly's writing reminded me of Samrat Upadhyay, who is famous for his short story collections such as Arresting God in Kathmandu, The Royal Ghost and The Guru of Love (books that had already found way into my reading schedule). I found many similarities in the writings of these two authors.
The first similarity of course was the structure of their books, short stories collection. Another distinct similarity is their choice of subject matter or the social setting of their characters. Most of their characters were of course Nepali, while Upadhyay's characters were from Nepal only, Parajuly chose his characters from Nepal as well as India (all having their origin as Nepali). The social setting or the economic and social background of the characters are more or less similar, usually upper or lower middle class. It probably was their own socio-cultural setting and background which inspired them for the stories. Although their writings were found to be similar, they are equally distinguishable, too.
Parajuly's character's were mostly based in Darjeeling or hill areas while Upadhyay's characters are always found in Kathmandu. Also, Upadhyay's writings were found to be more focused on relationships while relationships aren't major focus of Parajuly.
Both their works made me think whether our society is actually like how they both present it. Of course, their stories give us reflection of what and how Nepalese society is like, I cannot find comfort in the fact the our society has gone towards that direction. Well, who am I to comment on such broader issues like society and culture when I do not have proper understanding of my own culture and society? Nevertheless, living in Nepal and observing my surroundings and people, things, culture, relationships, etc. I find it hard to relate to the characters of Upadhyay's writings. However, I have found people and stories that are closer to Parajuly's characters.
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, author of Spanish novel Don Quixote had wrote "there is no book so bad...that it does not have something good in it." Indeed, every book is good in itself as it has something new and different to offer than the other. We learn something from every book we read and there is no such thing as bad book. It is only the matter of our individual (and sometimes collective) choice and perception that we categorize a book as good or bad.
I do not consider any of the books mentioned above as bad books, they are, in fact, good in the sense they give us new perspectives of seeing the society we live in. I would definitely give an 'OK' if anyone asks me whether they should read them or not, however, I shall not suggest them to buy them to add to their collection unless they have read it on their own. Moreover, what I have learned from my experience is that selecting a book on the basis of its review is not healthy all the time as different people have different taste and your taste might be completely different from those reviewers. Nevertheless, to learn about new book and stories, it is always advisable to seek reviews, if not online than from someone who shares similar interests. Afterall, at the end of the day, it is always a pleasure to sit on your bed with a good book in hand.
