These days he heads the Patan Museum Development Committee as the Executive Director. He cites the recent earthquake as one of his career's biggest challenges. However he and his team, along with the locals, have made great strides on their road to recovery. In fact, after a lot of hard work, they have recently even reopened the Patan Museum.
Priyanka Gurung met up with Tiwari at his office in Patan and there the archeologist opened up about the role of books in his career and life so far.
Excerpts:
Do you remember the first book that absolutely grabbed your interest and imagination?
Yes, of all the reads, there is one book that stands out in my memory. It still fascinates me. But to be honest, I got hold of it much later in life and it is related to my line of profession. We, as Nepalis, are aware of how there have always been controversies regarding Lord Buddha's birth place. The debate still crops up every now and then but in my time, the discussion was raging on. Just then PC Mukharjee published Archeological Remains of Nepal Terai. There in the book, with his findings, he laid all doubts to rest. He proved once and for all that Nepal indeed was the birthplace of Budhha. It was magnificent. We, archeologists, still worship that book.
Do you venture out of the archeological reads? Is there any other genre that you like?
I'd be lying if I said I have the time to read other kinds of books. I just got so engrossed in archeology, especially later on in my life, that it seemed the days were too short to fit in anything else.
Still in my earlier days, back when I was in India, I remember being absolutely obsessed with 'Manohar Kahani'. They basically were stories based on true incidents from around different cities and gallis. Similarly, there were works from the likes of Gulsan Gandha, Prem Chanda Munsi, Sharad Chand Chatupadhya. These were big hits in the Indian literary scene during my days. Their works too were largely based on societal situations and issues. Looking back at my choice of reads, I guess it's clear that my interests were largely about the workings of the society.
Didn't you ever appreciate any works of fiction?
I must have. But I don't remember any today which are worth mentioning though. Besides when you are reading archeology, you don't need any works of fiction. Archeology students know that facts themselves can stretch your imagination to the limit. Facts themselves are incredibly fascinating.
Could you please elaborate and tell us what you mean by that?
As a simple random example, I could tell you about our fore fathers and the Paleolithic culture of that time. Before civilization, before the invention of words, when there were primitive living and hunting communities, can you guess how they used to preserve meat? Whenever they managed to kill a large animal, to save the meat from being ruined, they used to wrap it in banana leaves. Then they used to plaster it with thick three inches of mud and slowly roast it over fire for two to three days. As a result they could use that meat for months.
This is the sort of things archeologists read about. The facts that we come across in our books are amazing. While reading them for the first time, I remember being stunned, captivated and excited at the same time. So I never really missed fiction. I was too absorbed in my course books.
So, would you say books based on archeology are underappreciated as a genre?
Definitely. We have to realize that the world's history is buried underneath our feet. It's with the archeologist's efforts and discoveries that we become acquainted with it. It's where the historians, and cultural experts, even religion gurus, get their information. Most of the books I read for my work are, in essence, a trea
sure trove of stories. What's more, they are all real.
Don't you have any writing aspirations? Haven't you ever wanted to write books about the discoveries that you have made?
Decades ago, there was a time when I wanted to write about Terai and the archeological findings of the area. I even planned to team up with a senior of mine but unfortunately somebody else had already thought about it. So that was a bit of a bad timing. But since then I haven't had such urges. We are constantly writing reports spanning around 50 pages. It is then passed around among the people in our circles. It is very fulfilling to help start beneficial projects based on our findings and reports.
However, as an archeologist, I'm afraid we have to be very straight forward and factual with our writing style. There was a time when archeological reports were more like stories to engage the readers, but that's not allowed these days.
Lastly, what are you reading these days?
Of late, I find my interests shifting to spirituality and religion. Sometimes I feel like I have been working for too long. It can become tedious so I have been seeking some inner peace. So, religious and spiritual books are what I have been going through these days.
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