KATHMANDU

Nepalaya has republished Matrika Prasad Koirala’s ‘Koshiko Katha’, an anthology of essays, as a part of Nepalaya Classics for 2020. According to a press statement released by Nepalaya the book was published initially in 1990 by Prativa Puraskar Pratisthan, Biratnagar but had been out of print for many years now.

Speaking about the book Kamal Koirala, son of the late author said, “The book had been out of print for a while now. I am very happy that after all these decades, the book will find its way into readers because the book has much to offer in terms of personal history of the Koirala’s in exile, but more importantly, also to understand the anthropological account of Koshi river, its inhabitants and their stories. Koshi, which was then known as the Sorrow of Bihar has turned into its boon and like they say, much water has flown down it, but these stories are quite timeless in their depiction of human sorrow and quest for hope” added the statement.

The nine essays in the collection meander along the banks of Koshi, sometimes reaching all the way to India, where the author spent a major part of his childhood on a political exile imposed upon his family. Koirala doesn’t limit his study of Koshi River to politics but gently exfoliates its historic, anthropological and mythical aspects as well. The book is a crisp but dense historic document.

Matrika Prasad Koirala is remembered mostly for his role in the anti-Rana movement of the 1940s as Nepali Congress’ Supreme Commander. He eventually became the first non-Rana Nepali prime minister in 1950. But Koirala’s literary repute precedes his political career, which was not without controversies. Perhaps the Koshi Agreement of 1954 being the most notable of them. Therefore, the book, with its intentionally personal essays on Koshi, throws valuable insight into Koirala’s political persona and also into Nepal’s history.

As a part of its Nepalaya Classics, Nepalaya publications has been publishing unpublished or out-of-print literary works from eminent Nepali writers. So far, Nepalaya has already published Brahma Shamsher’s ‘Nepalko Mahabhukampa’, Lekhnath Poudyal’s ‘Kavi Shiromani Rachnavali’ and Manjul’s ‘Samjhanaka Pailaharu’ as its classics collection. ‘Koshiko Katha’ is latest addition in the lieu.

‘Koshiko Katha’ is priced at Rs 295 for the Nepali market and is available at all leading bookstores of the country. The ebook can also be purchased from Thuprai (www.thuprai.com), while it will be available worldwide on Amazon.