The story gets interesting right from the beginning when a journalist, Dipak, is being told by an older man that the media has missed the point. The media, according to him, has focused only on the ugly side of war – death, bloodshed, and conflict. Human struggles and their failures and triumphs are some of the sides of war that need to be acknowledged too.
He suggests that life transcends the demarcations set by people themselves, calculations go wrong, unplanned things happen and the scuffle to strike a balance between the head and the heart are far challenging and romantic than just war stories.
Ananta, the first character Dipak meets, shares his secret. The former high-class government officer who seemed to be a fine man throughout his career had committed a 'sin'. In 1985, during a trip to the beautiful mountainous region of Nepal, Ananta had met a young girl, Pema, with whom he had been intimate. He had promised her that he would return to take her to Kathmandu. But he never did. Only after his wife and son die, he sets off for Solukhumbu to meet his daughter, Dechen.
Ananta's story makes Dipak think. He finds the newsroom even more mundane. The only way to get in tune with the new found spirit and outlook was to start 'celebrating life' through his writing ability. And celebrating life of the ordinary heroes in a weekly column would attract more readers. His weekly special gets approved by his editor and thus begins Dipak's journey with several characters, who desperately want him to listen to their agonies.
In the second chapter, Curse, the author exhibits his capacity to make readers wonder about the unseen powers that might be controlling people's lives, without their knowledge. Realistic developments in Megha's life show how a 'curse' played its part. The connection between this chapter and the third one, Madness, is also quite remarkable. The intense love story of Megha's timid sister Maya and her husband, which goes through tremulous ups and downs is fascinating, to say the least.
Each of the following chapters has its own theme. While 'Powder' deals with the world of a loving wife of a drug user, 'Retribution' is fully dedicated to the inside stories of 'People's war'. The challenges faced by the insurgents, their sacrifices, and unfulfilled dreams have been portrayed in a realistic way.
Thousands were killed in the war and young boys and girls were used for the bloody game. Police and army lost their lives too. Once the war is over, the rebels are left feeling that they were cheated in the name of revolution. Their chairman was no different than the corrupt politicians against whom the battle was lodged. His selfish ulterior motives blinded him from seeing how people supported him in his cause, only to have been left defeated.
Most of the characters' sad stories end happily. However, Dipak's girlfriend Akriti never comes back to him. A wartime hero 'Tara' eventually gets himself recognized as a villain for bombing off dozens of civilians and chooses to end life. In the end, the writer shows just how Tara's death was a result of a sane man's failure to continue in an insane world.
The stories are interesting and the language is simple. The debut book by journalist-turned-novelist Bikash Sangraula is likely to engage both Nepali and foreigner readers. While the familiar context and characters will allow native readers to connect with the stories, non-Nepalis wanting to learn more about Nepal might be fascinated by the descriptions of the different kinds of lives, culture and places of the Himalayan nation.
What is missing, though, in the art of storytelling, is the lack of pauses. The writer has not closely observed the people who are sharing their intensely private stories and this, in a way, makes it hard for the readers to be empathetic towards the characters. He hasn't given them much space to express themselves through their body language and facial expressions. He is just narrating their stories, stories told to him in one or two sittings. So even though the stories are engaging and entertaining, the book, as a whole, fails to leave a lasting impression on the readers after they turn the final page.
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