Dear friends,
I, Raj Basyal, am going to publish my first written novel "Khushi: In the line of sorrows" through this blog. I hope for your encouragement, reviews and healthy critics.
Khushi: In the line of sorrows
Foreword
It was the year 2002 when I was a fresh high
school graduate and had joined BSc. Microbiology at the Tri-Chandra College,
Kathmandu Nepal. I had written few songs, poems, 2 science fictions and a short
story. I was thinking about the prospect of writing a script so that I could
tell stories as a filmmaker.
I thought about this story of teenage
turbulence and the boy named Aakash who is in the quest for nothing but Khushi
(Nepali word), the happiness. I was a science student and English is not my
native language. My vocabulary and comprehensions were mediocre. I had studied
Grammar English in High School which seems insufficient for literature English.
But anyway, I ventured into this unknown territory of writing a novel cum
script not in my native language Nepali but English.
Writing three years, from 2002 to 2005, I
finished the first draft of a 42 page novelette named Khushi खुशी:
In the Line of Sorrows. To tell you the truth, the content of the 1st draft was deemed
OK for me but the language was very coarse and lacked any definite style. I was
young and confident and had sustained some visual elements in this 40+ page
draft. So I contacted some Nepali movie producers (2005 to 2007) but the
meetings didn’t materialize. I gave it to a publication house (2007) but
returned with a note to brush the content and language.
I had lost all the hope around this little
effort by the year 2009. And all of sudden in the April of 2016, I started rewriting
again. I had already completed my Masters Degree in Clinical Psychology, with few
years of experiences as a lecturer and many years of experience as a
Psychosocial Engineer, Clinical Psychologist, Therapist and Researcher. I had
my own journey to backup my efforts.
The rationale behind rewriting is I wanted to
share my knowledge about the beauty of life to the common people. There are
already as many philosophers, scientists, authors, engineers, doctors and entrepreneur
in this world but a common man understands their endeavor through simple
stories crafted with the backdrops of history, contemporary society, politics
and the individual liberty.
The story, set in the year 1999, trails up to
the April of year 2000. This boy Aakash is in his journey for Happiness and
Love in the backdrop of a broken family, a country at civil conflict, his
volatile adolescence and one major academic assessment at stake, the SLC. The whole
journey of turbulence is narrated in the winter-spring of the year 2000.
As an aspirant
script writer, I have applied efforts to blend visual poetry in the novel
through prose poetry, use of colours and descriptive scenario. The theme is
gloomy but the colours are bright. Every chapter resonates like
a short story. The characters are intended to be young adults but are
way more intelligent. They are little less than adults.
The novel is especially aimed at middle grade students to adults and even
elders but has a universal appeal.
I am Raj Basyal from Nepal. A Psychosocial
Engineer; I have been a storyteller, filmmaker, athlete, microbiology graduate
and Lecturer of Psychology. Apart from Short Stories, Science Fictions, Songs,
Poems, Course Books and this Novel (debut) I also have written a script - Fight
Klub: भटमास, चिउरा, सेकुवा.
I am
37 and have done my Masters in Clinical Psychology (2007) from the Tribhuvan
University, Nepal.
The story is set in winter-spring of the year
2000 but there are flashbacks. The backdrop is provided by many interweaving
short stories.
Even
though the story has been told through the point of view of Aakash, the
protagonist and the sky (meaning Aakash), as the narrator, the center of the
drama is the story itself. Aakash is present here as the observer, narrator,
offender and the victim of this conflicting home called "Pratap
Kuti" where Rajesh Pratap and Seema Devi
are his father and mother.
The
alleged love marriage between Rajesh and Seema has not taken its momentum even after 20
years of marriage. They brawl everyday and it is Aakash to suffer.
Although they live in the same house, they are physically and emotionally
separated. The conflict at home has brought an emotional and spiritual
vacuum his life. Love and happiness has been in his priority since long. He
finds them outside his home but not in his life. Like any other teenagers he also
fantasizes for an ideal family and caring and loving parents. He is eventually
frustrated. He has grown to be an insecure person.
But
while in the tenth grade in the school, in the year 1999, he sets a new outlook
for life. He knows that sorrows have no beginning but sure have an end. He sets
his quest for nothing but happiness.
He
changes his school. As suggested by his best friend Sandesh,
Aakash tries to be more optimistic. During this period he finds that life
to be a beautiful game to play if we are able to lead it, otherwise when life
leads us it’s just a nightmare.
The
history, contemporary society, politics and the civil war has weaved many short
stories and characters in the backdrop of the story. His friends are rebel,
addicts, poets who project many faces of their growing to adulthood. Aakash is
good at studies and is also an upcoming poet and musician.
Jhapate
Dai, the butler of their aristocratic house, was the one who inculcated good
virtues and humanistic presence in the life neglected by his own parents. He was
like a father to him. The worst is this guardian has died leaving him to care
for self. His best friend Sandesh Regmi, the other mentor and emotional
support, is killed in a traffic accident in the first day of year 2000.
His
life takes a turn; he fall for drug addiction. He experiences life in many
forms and colours amidst four months left for his school leaving examination.
As
the story progresses Aakash finds himself among many other stories of teenage
turbulences. He friends are frustrated with their existence. They have attempted
suicides. They are drowned in failed relationships. They are addict, they are rebellious.
They are the victim of undesired pregnancies, abuses, depression, many types of
addiction, confusion. Though they are not in warring zone but their present is
marred by the Maoist Conflict (1996-2006.)
They
also have the opportunity to assemble their life for better prospect but deny
the prospect. There are many incidents in the neighbour which also impact his
psyche.
These
jumbles of untoward events escalate his dependency on drugs. He stops his
search for eternal happiness, peace and starts to hunt for dope. He enters a
circle of lads who are frustrated and destructive. Due to his addiction many of his friends,
schoolmates and neighbour rejects his company. Aakash
walks aimlessly to meet people of different walks of life. He encounters their
stories, wisdom and acknowledges that though wisdom is two dimensional, life is
three dimensional. He understands the past of Mira, Sandesh's wife. He finds
the cause to runaway kids. He concludes that he has a better life than theirs. He
sees many reasons quitting drugs but there is no one to lend him emotional
support required to unlearn those habits.
A
series of event concludes. He is finally determined to kill to erase this long sufferings
and unhappiness.
What happens thereafter is for you to read.
Synopsis By: Raj Basyal
