Rajani Dhakal is a lecturer at Tribhuwan University and a literary critic. Aside from teaching and encouraging her students to read and write, she spends her time penning her thoughts in the form of poems and essays, as a result of which, she has published quite a few number of books. The process of writing and reading, for her, is an excuse to analyze and dissect events in the society. Most of her writings deal with her feelings and thoughts about the various facets of life. Recently, she was in conversation with The Week's Sachi Mulmi where she talked about the literary process.
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How long have you been writing and what importance does it hold for you?
I taught at Padma Kanya for a few years and there, I met a few friends, and even teachers who encouraged me to write, to which I happily gave in. Besides that, I used to read a lot of materials for teaching and I even used my research results to write and publish a small book about Nepali critics, which my students found very helpful as a reference book. So you can say that I've been writing for quite some time now. As far as the importance it holds for me, my students know that I'm a writer, so they want me to keep them occupied with the poems I write, besides the lectures. Writing has become a way for me to express what I think and feel about the society.
How much time do you invest in reading? How important is reading for a writer?
I spend most of my time reading about the works of various writers, trying to understand what other people think about those writers and literary articles. In my experience, you have to read at least fifty books before you can even think about writing a line. But now, I'm preparing for my PhD, so I haven't been able to spend a lot of time reading. In fact, I'm trying not to indulge in easy reads so as to concentrate on my work. But after this, I'll be back to reading like I used to.
How does reading increase a person's level of consciousness?
In one of the Holy Scriptures, it's said that literature is the lesson given by a lover, because normally, a person wouldn't care about any kind of lesson. Literature puts things in such a way that you can't deny it, and it's said that if you want to change somebody, you should give him books to read. That being said, reading not just increases a person's level of consciousness, it makes him a different person. It makes you more humane in many ways.
How is the portrayal of disasters, earthquake, for example, in Nepali literary texts?
There are very few books regarding the 1934 earthquake, and I haven't found the portrayal of disasters to be in a great number in Nepali literature. But coming to think of it, there is one by Brahma Shumsher called 'Mahabhukampa'. In Govinda Bahadur Malla Gothale's story called 'Ke Gareki Shobha?' the depiction of destruction left by the 1934 earthquake is heart-wrenching. The description of fallen homes and people, much like the protagonist, distresses me.
Do you stress on the importance of literary representation of such disasters?
As you would have it, Nepal Pragya Pratisthan recently formed a team of literary critic and sent them to Bhaktapur, to take note of what had happened and later transform it in literary texts. I happened to be in the team that took a literary survey of the place. It was all done to ensure that Nepali literary scene would have texts that would remain generations later, so as to remind the people of what happened. So of course I think that it's very important.
How do you think such an event will change the literature scenario?
We may not come to terms about writing about it right away. It is difficult recalling those days, and the whole country is still reeling under the pain. But in the coming days, we will definitely write about it, there will be criticisms, there will be much discussion on how things could have been, but all this dialogue is important. This is our truth and we can never leave it behind if we are to live here and go on with our lives.
