Cover Story
Published on november 28, 2014 in the Republica newspaper. |
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Every child who grows up in Nepal is familiar with these lines that follow the end of a tale. You might have heard them countless times from your parents, grandparents, teachers and elders. For some, it may have even been a nightly ritual or a requisite to get green vegetables and milk down your throat. For the others, it might be a ticket to a wonderland that no amusement park on earth can ever match up to. These words bring back a beautiful bygone era that is locked in a forgotten chamber of our mind that happens to be one of the most cherished and naive segments of our subconscious.
“Children’s literature in Nepal has a history of a little more than a hundred years. And the stories have always been largely based on oral folklores, myths, religious texts and the tales of Panchatantra ,” says Pramod Pradhan, a researcher of children’s literature in Nepal and the writer of the book “Nepali Bal Sahityako Itihaas” (The History of Children’s Literature in Nepal.)
Photos: Dinesh Gole
According to him, the first recorded book of Children’s Literature in Nepal was Gorkha Pahila Kitab by Gangadhar Shastri Drawin which was published back in 1849 BS. After that, Maha Kavi Lakshmi Prasad Devkota wrote a book called Rajkumar Pravakar which is believed to be one of the earliest pieces of work as far as children’s literature in Nepal is concerned. “After that, there have been some 2,500 books on children’s literature in Nepal, barring the textbooks,” informs Pradhan.
The most crucial ingredient of children’s literature is the simplicity with which the imagery and message has been presented in the stories and novels. There must be at least that one time when each of us must have attempted to talk to a cow or a dog with a hope that it will answer because those in your favorite stories always did. We have all wished that a pumpkin turns into a golden carriage and checked for monsters under our beds at night. All these ideas that were not with us at the time of birth are developed after we are introduced to the mystic yet fantastic world of fairytales while growing up.
That being said, some children relate more to visual objects than to blandly written words. This is why another important part of children’s books is the cartoon and pictures that help them understand the themes and characters more clearly. The stories should be as rich in imagination as in didacticism so that there is a healthy balance between knowledge and entertainment which will be more beneficial for the little readers to come to terms with what they are reading.
Mahesh Paudyal, a writer and critic, believes that those stories that are written for children should be equally capable of appealing to adults. The element of imaginativeness and creativity that is a building block of any fictitious writing, according to Paudyal, should be the connective factor between two or more generations of readers who can interpret the stories on the basis of their own level of understanding and caliber.
“Any reader, regardless of their age, community and gender, requires a hero figure to relate to when it comes to their favorite stories. This tendency is particularly high with children because they are extremely fascinated by what they read in books and watch on television,” says Paudyal.
The psychology of hero worship actually runs quite deep in the case of children. They start identifying with a certain character in their favorite story. They start acting, talking, walking or dressing up like him/her in their real lives. They feel so intensely attached with them that their pains and joys become their own and a slice of their own lives gets entangled with those of the imaginary personalities.
“We, as parents and teachers who introduce our children to this world of fiction and fantasy, must make it clear to them about who is the good guy and who is the bad one,” says Alisha Bhattarai, Psychologist at Nepal Academy of Psychology.
She further adds that in today’s world of tough competition and so much stress, it’s always advisable to acquaint the children with those stories that boost their self esteem and self confidence. Those stories that talk about ghosts, spirits and other fearsome entities may curb a child’s psychological abilities to function at a daily basis which might make life very difficult for children in the long run.
“The kind of reading materials that you are introduced to during your childhood has a lasting impact on the way your personality is shaped as an adult. That is precisely why elders should be vigilant about what their kids are reading,” she says.
Every culture in the world is endowed with its own share of stories. And it is always easier for the children to understand their traditions, society and circumstances better if they are presented to them in the platter of a well written story.
In the context of Nepal, there are many stories in the remote corners of the villages that need to be brought out into the open so that they can see the light of the day.
“Our native stories for children can be an excellent way for our little ones to gain a better understanding of their own land and people. Those stories are like treasures that must be extracted out of the older generation that resides in the rural parts of the country,” says Kartikeya Ghimire, a writer and publisher who has been traveling all over Nepal with an aim to collect forgotten stories for children. “Our stories carry in them a large part of our history and culture that our children must be made aware of,” he says.
There is a certain kind of beauty in reliving those childhood fantasies of the prince on a white winged horse, the beautiful princess who loves to sing with the birds, and the evil wizard who is determined to marry her. Every child has his/her own Cinderella or Prince Dikpal to relate to while going through the tedious process of growing up. The reason why these stories are so popular is due to their simplicity where the good always gets rewarded and the bad always gets punished. And perhaps the biggest favor we can do to our little ones is to set them free in this fantastic universe because it is so much more beautiful than the adult world that awaits them just round the corner.
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