Reading is supposedly a dying culture. It is not hard to understand why this perception is so prevalent, and not just in Nepal. There are so many mediums for entertainment and learning competing for people’s eyeballs these days. Even 20 years ago, radio was the primary source of information and entertainment for the majority of Nepalis.
The tiny minority that could read relied on books and newspapers to get their daily fill. There were very few alternative sources of entertainment like good cinema halls and playgrounds for children. All this started to change in the mid 1990s with the entry of cable TV. [break]
All of a sudden, Nepalis were bombarded with choice: feature films were now available at a click of a button, Santa Barbara and Zee Horror Show became matters of discussion at social gatherings, CNN and BBC beamed pictures from around the globe into Nepali living rooms.
But it was the penetration of internet beginning in the noughties which completely changed the game. People started making virtual friends online; porn went mainstream among youngsters; cyber cafes and online and video gaming took off—all contributing to shape the national culture in profound, unexpected ways.
Compared to these fast, in-your-face mediums, books started being seen as a rather timid and boring means of knowledge and entertainment. Their obituaries were soon being written. But defying expectations, the reading culture in Nepal flourishes, as the quality of Nepali literature (and the paper they are printed on) continues to improve.
Nepalis are also getting used to the idea of literature festivals. Ncell Nepal Literature Festival, in its third year running, has generated enormous enthusiasm among literary-minded Nepalis.
It is doing a great service to the society by acquainting Nepalis with quality literature from Nepal and beyond. But there is more than literature on offer at the festival. There is a touch of glamour to it as well: there are sessions with actors, actresses, models, and other famous personalities.
This poses an image problem for the ‘literature’ festival. How are sessions like ‘Celebrating Rajesh Hamal’ or one on the achievements of Haribansha Acharya and Madhan Krishna Shrestha, as popular they might eventually turn out to be, remotely related to literature? We understand the value of glamour to an event being sponsored by a corporate house.
Besides, if Maha Jodi, Rajesh Hamal and Nisha Adhikari can entice more people to read, what is the harm? Yet, there is also the danger that the festival could deviate from its core objective. First and foremost, it should be a celebration of good literature.
That thin line should never be breached. We hope to see more literature festivals in upcoming days, outside Kathmandu and with the inclusion of literature in regional languages (more than 120 languages are spoken as mother tongues in Nepal).
We hope the Ncell Nepal Literature Festival is just a start of a nationwide trend of the promotion of quality literature. This is extremely important during these times when far less salubrious distractions are competing for the attention of our youngsters.
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