The nonconformist further elucidates, “I can’t agree with the Maoists, who come from a violent background. But we also have nothing to relate to with the other political parties.”
Sumit, 32, believes that Nepalis generally are okay with the idea of being indoctrinated, which is not because they actually believe in the ideology.
“But for progress and materialistic personal growth, each would be ready for any kind of indoctrination because one understands that lining themselves with certain party or ideology has its perks,” Sumit opines.
The main confusion, however, according to the debutante, is the “obliteration of system and structure” which means there is a void for people to do or aspire for – and thus the confusion.
By profession, Sumit is a “development consultant.” The London School of Economics graduate has been writing for different publications on socio-economics and politics of Nepal along with experiences of his field trips. Sumit also hosted a television interview show called “Face the Nation” for more than a year on Nepal One Television.
Part memoir, part reportage and mostly a public rant about the happenings during his lifetime, the book depicts the needs and wishes of the generation that has already entered adulthood but is largely put out of the process in the making of new Nepal. The author and his likes are basically looking for a role in the current change.
Sumit expresses his ideas, but often finds it hard to explain as he contradicts himself a lot in his book and produces inconsistent deliberations. Many times it seems like he is not able to make up his mind when confronted with difficult choices of life; and at other times, he questions his own belief, faith and understanding. In all, he is a dubiously confused guy.
The book at times reads like it is spilling all over the place. Parliamentarian and his buddy Gagan Thapa has theorized it in the foreword of the book and proclaims that the book is not meant for people who are “seeking new knowledge, new science and new theories. As a reader passes through the book, they are confronted with the conflicting views of the writer.” Thapa draws a parallel of the state of confusion we generally are in Nepal with this book, and elaborates that the “confusion is one of the strong and beautiful aspects of the book.”
Born in a political family, Sumit got the opportunity to observe politics from near and inside. His generation has already seen three important political revolutions for democracy. In his book, Sumit explains his father to give a portrayal of what Nepali Congress (NC) is (and what is wrong with it). As an activist of the party for the last thirty years, his father still remains an activist, never yearning to be a leader or a minister. A nonconformist rebel Kangresi himself, Sumit unknowingly discovers what is wrong with the Congress by looking into his father’s past and the contributions many like him have made to the political struggles, and the making of NC. The party, of course, did not turn out to be as they would have wanted.
A former leader for Nepal Student Union (student wing of the NC), Sumit has asked a lot of questions in his book, just like any other normal bloke. And most of the time, they remain unanswered. In the book that took him more than a year to write, Sumit also tries to find a meaning to life and an identity to fit him.
His book has been divided into four chapters. The first chapter is the story of the author alongside the political changes Nepal has gone through. The second chapter is an analogy of present-day Nepal along with the rise of the new political power – the Maoists. The third chapter inscribes new ideas for newer contexts; and the last chapter calls for a Nepalis to wake up.
Published in digital format only by Cooperjal Limited, a UK-based publisher, Unfinished Journey will be made available in paperback by the Adroit Publications of India in the first quarter of 2010, according to Sumit.
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