Child’s play

Children’s literature in Nepal, particularly works written in English, hasn’t seen too many takers so far. But author Mahesh Paudyal seems determined to change that, an effort visible in his recently-published Little Lovers, a novelette wherein child psyche takes centre stage. Paudyal makes an admirable attempt here to explore the young mind, foregrounding the kind of desires, eccentricities and vulnerabilities that it is bound in. What the book also does is reveal the circumstances of the Majhi community in Nepal, in an attempt to give audiences a glimpse into the plight of these people, brought on by extreme poverty and the discrimination they suffer.

      Lakhum and Dukhini comprise a married couple from Dolalghat, whose lives revolve around fishing. Paudyal frames the world of the Majhis as one that is perpetually shackled in oppression, and fear. There is Kumar, the self-proclaimed ‘king’ of the area, who inflicts unthinkable atrocities on the poor families of the community. But the Majhis are too afraid to raise a voice against his bullying—a lack of agency we are told stems from decades upon decades of being subjugated and trained to believe in the legitimacy of their own inferior status.

        The tyrannical behaviour of Kumar and his ilk is only compounded by the fact that the Majhis are also facing potential displacement thanks to the infiltration of new fishing equipment and technologies. There are repeated references to the coming in of motorboats to replace the traditional canoes the fishermen use, in what can be considered the author’s general critique of rampant technological advancement in various spheres, and how these threaten traditional occupations. Exhausted by it all, Lakhum decides to take his family to Nuwakot, where Tilke, another Majhi, resides, and where he believes he will be able to start anew.

     The story takes a turn at Tilke’s house, when the two men make a pact of sorts to have their daughter and son, only one and two at the time, enter into wedlock once they are old enough to do so. The children, Malashree and Bikawa, find out about these plans and the knowledge has profound psychological impact on them. The two come to internalise the idea of matrimony, and decide to hurry the process along, and begin playing at being a married couple. These sequences are some of the book’s most poignant; there is a melancholy

joy in witnessing the blooming of love between the children as they navigate their relationship, adopting that sense of indestructability and power that is the realm of the young. Their simple, innocent games, however, prove to be short-lived, because tragedy is looming around the corner.

      Paudyal’s skill lies in his ability to gauge his targeted readers—the ‘young adult’ audience he so clearly singles out in his note—and deploy language and perspectives most suited to that demographic. “The real readers I have in mind are young adults, who have preferably crossed the water mark of middle school, and are in a position to convince themselves that certain beliefs in our society need critiquing, because it has many provisions for unproductive culturing of children’s mind,” he writes. To that end, phrasing is clear, accessible, and simple, littered here and there with Nepali words, perhaps an attempt to demonstrate authenticity, preserve some ‘local’ elements, an appreciable decision considering these would most certainly have been lost in translation.

       Of course, the book could’ve done with more rigorous editing—there are quite a few typos and grammatical errors throughout the text—but nothing unforgiveable. Paudyal has ultimately created something of conspicuous literary importance. For one, he puts the spotlight on a community that has largely been ignored by mainstream literary discourse in the country. Secondly, by crafting a book so deliberately aimed at a ‘young adult’ audience, he has sought to fill a void within a genre that doesn’t get the kind of attention it deserves. Third, Paudyal critiques the notion of child marriage—not in a blatant manner as has been attempted by other writers in the past, but by directing his satirical arrows at a culture that encourages jokes and casual conversation about young marriage, without thinking of the consequences these can have on impressionable young minds. And finally, he has also packed in an expression of doubt on the impact of globalisation on traditional occupations. Although that is a lot for a single volume, Paudyal is able to mesh it all in, without sounding preachy, with utmost skill. As per the author’s wishes, this is definitely a book adolescents and teens will enjoy, and hopefully, learn from.