Updates

Last weekend was an interesting adventure with a British MP (Conservative Party).

I was invited to a fund raising dinner for the party, in which I was able to meet some senior people including Lord Lawnside (descendant of one of the Prime Ministers and Vice-Roy to India), a senior person in the upper house. The dinner was actually in his massive property hosting a country club and a spa.

Driving around Wiltshire with the MP to attend various Sunday Rememberance events was another fun. Although the day was dark, dreary, cold and raining, the spirits of the people in various small and big towns were high. They had gathered in the churches and streets to remember those heros from their area who lost their lives fighting for the country in various strife and war in the past.

It was a solemn occassion for me as well because many Gurkhas have lost their lives fighting for the British government. Now slowly, they are granted better treatment, but many of those who survived the horrors of war were sent back to Nepal empty handed. The British public now recognised that this was a gross mistreatment of the heroes who fought with their blood and sweat for the British empire.

The events also included offering of wreath to the idols marked with the names of people who lost their lives. Sessions were held in the local churches as well. If you didn't mind the biblical jargons and "amens", churches acted really as a community centre for all, religious and atheists alike. The events also include parade by the scouts and security units in the area. The whole town was shut down during the parade.

I was happy that people were glad to receive me. I always have the impression that people from rural areas are more friendly and open that those from the mega-cities. However, everybody asked me if I was a Gurkha. Perhaps I discovered a stereotype against Nepalese people hidden among the British public. However, I didn't mind because they didn't mean to demean me or whatever. All of them expressed their profound respect for and solidarity with the brave Gurkhas. It was indeed a great thing to learn.

It was interesting to learn that lot of people from Wiltshire were still in the army.

It was also an oppoprtunity for me to see how British politicians work. He was not working as a pompous or a high-profile person. He got along with virtually everybody on the streets. The mayors of the little towns looked a bit pompoius, though. He drove a very simple car and always made sure that he got to the venue on time. It was a learning experience for me and will be useful especially if I indeed joined politics in my country. He keeps me encouraging to go back and involve in politics with the aim of providing fresh air to Nepalese politics. I think this is one of the things I am interested in future, though not certain at this stage.

I spent the evening at his house in a rural part quite far off from Chippenham. It was such a wilderness. He had 5 horses, 2 pigs (pets), some roosters and dogs. His wife was a hard-working country woman who loved going hunting, working with and riding horses and things. It was a pleassant experience for me as I felt as if I had been back to my village home in Gorkha.

The rest is fine. I am struggling on with my novel. I hope to pull hard this weekend as I am not going anywhere this weekend. It has already crossed 11000 words and I am desperate to get it over 50 k by the end of the month, as required. The other day I read out bits of it to a native British couple. They quite liked my exotic stories based on Nepalese hills. Their views encouraged me further to plough through.

Busy man....

Novel writing month

I have ventured on a new mission:

As per the tradition of the Failed Novelists, I enlisted myself for the novel-writing-marathon this November. The rules of the game dictate that I should have a minimum of 50k-word novel completed by the end of the month. And the suggested way forward is to finish a daily installment of around 1600 words.

Initially I was hesitant, but I did get on with it. I did start writing and the big plot is pretty clear in my mind. I intend to reflect on the lives of ordinary Nepalese people in the war-torn hills of Nepal. A war that is still largely unheard of to the world community, thanks to the biased western media. My story will also have elements of discrimination against the low caste, of course, but the main focus will be the difficulty of having to live with violence.

I believe ordinary lives in fact reveal extraordinary facts. Some of the incidents will be based on real stories from around my village, although the characters will be named differently.

I am conscious of one thing though - marketing in the west. The western readers do not find it interesting unless there is some connection to their lives and societies. I am pondering over how I could make such references or linkages between the Nepalese hills and Britain. Gurkha could be a possible linkage, but weaving it naturally will not be easy.

The other thing that worries me the most is that I may not be able to express as well as I do in Nepali. I have indeed published a few Nepali stories and some editors have appreciated it. It is certainly different to command a second language, but I hope that the publishers will polish it, if they see some scope with it.

As the organisers of the marathon claim, I need not worry now whether I will produce a marvellous piece like The Devil Wears Prada or a complete rubbish. Even if I indeed presented the latter, I will have learnt the lessons and will get an experience of writing. If it comes out to be an okay-product, I will be asked to revise in December. Or I could choose to revisit the piece after a few years, once my English has got better at Oxford. Anyway, I have taken the challenge and it is indeed a thrilling experience. The protagonists have already begun to speak to me about how they wish to be presented.

However, I should admit, I could not take the story forward that much today. I am short of nearly 900 words today. I hope I will recover on Tuesday.

Something to warm up for the fast approaching winter chills.

Novice writer