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 deemed OK
for me but the language was very coarse and lacked any definite style. I was
young and confident and had projected 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 hopes around this little
effort by the year 2009. And all of sudden in the April of 2016, I started
rewriting the novel 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. Aakash quest 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. Not to mention
elders with interest in literature can find 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, academic course books and this Novel (debut) I also have written a
script - Fight Klub: भटमास, चिउरा, सेकुवा.
I am
35 and have done my Masters in Clinical Psychology (2007) from the Tribhuvan
University, Nepal. I call myself a Psychosocial
Engineer and I am a Psychologist,
Lecturer, Writer, Storyteller, Filmmaker and a Long Distance Runner.
I am actually from Pokhara but my current residence is
Lalitpur, Nepal.
Synopsis
Khushi खुशी: In the Line of Sorrows (2017, Raj Basyal)
The story is set in winter-spring of the year
2000 but there are quite a few memories and 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.
Rajesh and Seema
Devi have not come to terms with
each other even after 20 years of alleged love 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 in his life. He craves love and happiness but which has not been the
priority of this family. He finds them inside 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. It is obvious 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 tries to reshuffle many fragments of his life and reduce the mystery
in the puzzle. He knows that sorrows have no beginning but sure have an end. He
sets his journey for happiness but without any definite milestones to be
achieved.
He
changes his school. And as suggested by his best friend Sandesh,
Aakash tries to be optimistic. During this period he finds that life to
be a beautiful game when we lead it, otherwise 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 and his own 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 in this lonely boy. Aakash believes, he took a responsibility like a
father without ever acknowledging it. But Aakash is left to care for himself
when Jhapat`e Dai is dies all of sudden. 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 sudden turn. He eventually falls for drug addiction. He experiences
life in many forms and colours amidst having just four months left for his
final school exam, the School Laving Certificate (SLC).
As
the story progresses Aakash finds himself among many other stories of teenage
and childhood turmoil. He friends are frustrated with their own existence. They
have attempted suicides. They are drowned themselves in failed relationships.
They have been deciding emotionally, they are addict, they are rebellions. They
are the victim of undesired pregnancies, abuse, depression, addiction, etc.
Though they are not in warring zone but their present is marred by the contemporary
Maoist Conflict (1996-2006.). Their present is violent, an indirect effect of
conflict in the society.
They
had their opportunities to assemble their life for better but they missed or
denied. They are the direct reflection of impact of the society and neighbour
they are living.
These
jumbles of untoward events increase 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 even more destructive than he is. Due to his addiction many of his friends,
schoolmates and neighbour has finally rejected 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 who are left to beg or scavenge waste. He concludes that he has a life better
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 erase this long
sufferings and unhappiness.
What happens thereafter is for you to read.
Khushi खुशी:
In the Line of Sorrows (2017)
Word count: 213000 +
Pages 940 +
Genre: Young Adult Fiction/
Teenage Turbulence- Sociodrama/ Family Saga
By: Raj Basyal
Lalitpur, Nepal
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