Friday, November 29, 2013

Thank You Manu..........!!!




Manu, you'd nearly frightened me when you didn't utter a single word in Nepali for whole three months in the office. I thought of you to be different species as this was unusual, even though ours was English medium environment. You spoke English as fluent as the native speakers do and so, I thought you to be a different breed of human being. But there was something in you; you had so many things that others didn’t have. You could see beyond horizon; you could see the unseen and you reached those heights of imagination which others only dreamt to fathom.
You could create beauty, you could create hope and you could create art. Manu! You babbled with us and told us things that were, sometimes, impossible to believe. We too acted as if we believed you and enjoyed every bit of your words. But within this babbling, you had something that all of us lacked. You had creative genius inside you. You meditated in the long hours of night and you wrote poems. 
We thought you are nothing more than a babbler.
We listened to your talks with interest. The interest never faltered. The attention never diverted. And that was it. Thank you Manu for those great many things you told.
Manu, I thank you for igniting the love of literature in the people around you. I remember the day when I showed to you the very first story I translated from Bengali. You were elated to read it. Later, the story entitled ‘Ek muthi aakash' was published in our publication 'The Kosedhunga.' I didn’t tell you that I too wrote things in the wee hours. Many a times my writings didn’t make sense. They were just a jumble of words. But still I loved to write and still do. I thought nobody would like to read what I wrote. So, stories which I wrote were hidden in the pages of my notebooks. Then I decided to translate beautiful stories from other languages before showcasing my own. I believed I would be able to create a little space in literature one day by translating stories.  Thank you Manu, for those first words of praise.
Some years later I came up with a compilation of translated stories from Hindi : “Jindagi Ek Photo Frame.” Many thumbed down to my effort saying it was nothing more than idiocy to translate somebody else’s stories and publish them at my own cost. But I knew I was right. I lost nothing. Instead it gave me a stage to perform- as translator,a story writer and  an editor.
My work of translation got very wide recognition. Specially in the Hindi speaking world. A London- based Hindi writer Tejendra Sharma approached me for translating his stories into Nepali. I readily accepted, translated and showed the manuscript to you. You were again elated, and at my request wrote a beautiful prefatory note for the book. You wrote about my style of translation, my style of using language and the type of stories I wrote. You wanted to see me shine in the world of stories. You crafted every sentence with care, and lifted me to the arena of contemporary literature. Thank you Manu. Thank you very much.
Slowly and steadily I started churning out stories. You loved them as you loved my translated stories. Your comments added poetic beauty to my writings. And then, years later, I again wanted your pen in my book. You took time, but came up with such a balanced and beautiful preface for my collection of short stories 'Tyo Pahenlo Phool' for that I can say nothing except "Thank You Dear Friend" from the very core of my heart.
You told sometimes that by writing poetry you've added beautiful things to the existence. It is indeed true that a beautiful poem is something that makes this world more beautiful. 

Thank You for writing poetry and Thank You for being my friend.

4 comments:

  1. Lovely piece. A thankful heart is poured upon the feet of your beloved writer.
    What else a writer can expect from a reader?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lovely piece. A thankful heart is poured upon the feet of your beloved writer.
    What else a writer can expect from a reader?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Igniting:.... Three months no conversation. ..... Instantly confused. Rest is a blend of art and emotions. Movero.

    ReplyDelete