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"Parijat": Sirish Ko
Phool
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Bishnu kumari Waiba better known as Parijat was a renowned
female
novelist,
poetess and storywriter in Nepali literature. She was born in
1937 at ‘Lingia Tea State’, Darjeeling.
She is best known as existentialist and progressive writer in
Nepali literature. She faced series of harsh crisis in her life.
Those abnormal crises had created deep frustration and
depravation within her. That badly distorted all her inherent
ability to experience beauty in life and nature. Her indomitable
will to survive and her reverence for life has been overpowered
and overshadowed by a kind of death wish. She wanted to escape
from fear of death and absurdity of life. But paradoxically, she
did that by adopting a philosophy that provided a basis for
accepting meaninglessness in personal and social milieu. She
started philosophizing that life is absurd; love is meaningless
or rather meaninglessness is love. It was her ability to write
and self expression that over powered the over encompassing
frustration and death urge in her personal life.
She had published three collections of poems, four collections
of short stories, ten novels, three memoirs and one essay
collection in a book form. Her famous existentialist novel
“Shirish ko Phool” own highly regarded Nepalese Literary Award
“Madan Purakar”. To name few of her publication, “Adim Desh”,
“Anido Pahad Sangai”, "Addhyan”, “Shangarsha”, "Parkhal Bhitra
Parkhal Bahira",”Boni” etc.
She belonged to an oppressed gender and ethnic group, her
consciousness and material poverty brought her to the camp of
oppressed class. In her interaction with the people she
discovered that individual pains do not go by itself, but when
seen in the larger context of the suffering of the people they
hurt less and they can be lessened even more by sharing pain and
happiness with others, by supporting one another. That urged her
to involve in many social forums. She was one of the founding
members of Human Rights Organization of Nepal. She led the
protest of writers against the bureaucracy of Royal Nepal
Academy. The wretched condition of prisoners was her special
concern. She continued to raise voice for women's liberation and
dignity of oppressed minorities. She is best known her
relentless efforts and struggle against the oppression and
discrimination of women. She helped revive the "Progressive
Writer's Association" in 1980's. She also headed a literary
forum called “Bedana”.
She had been suffered with paralysis and had been nursed by her
relatives. Parijat passed away in April 20, 1993. In her memory,
Parijat Memorial Center was established and Parijat
sangharshishil Purskar was recognized. The center has published
“Parijat Smriti Granth” that compiled memoirs, reflections,
critiques and evaluation of her life and work.
Resham Thapa
Omaha, Nebraska, USA
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