Book Review : Karnali blues

Many poetry, stories, and novels are written about the suffering and love of mothers, but there are only few stories written in favour of fathers. And Karnali Blues is one of the ‘father’s’book. Karnali Blues depicts a father- son relationship where the narration is through the son (young boy’s) eyes. It tells how he sees his father throughout his entire life. The story begins with the narrator (son, Brishbahadur) recalling his younger days as he rushes towards hospital to see his father (Harshabahadur), lying on deathbed. The author has described the story from an eye of a small boy whose father is his superhero. And as plot unfolds, from the eyes of adolescent boy who learns that his father never failed to fulfill any of his needs. The book contains 11 chapters, those 11 chapters were 11 days he spent in the hospital with his father and recalls memories of him and his father. The family goes through many ups and downs when they moved from Matera, Katase to kalikot. And with the narrator’s narration, readers can also get to meet different personalities and interesting characteristics like mamata didi, chandre, bhagiram. Each of them has quirky story to tell and a lesson to teach. Readers witness the majestic nature of far western region. Along with the beauty and nature of far west, author shows the bleak side of the rural village. The stories can make readers emotional, cry, laugh and recall their own childhood. Above all, the story makes you think about your own father, his love and sacrifices. No matter how mischievous one gets, no matter hoe many problems one creates, father stands as a rock to shield their children. As the writers father is dying in the hospital bed, he realizes that it was his father who had lost the most. He realizes that father’s are harsh but loves and sacrifices so much for their children. By the end of the story, the narrator establishes maturity in his thoughts. Karnali blues is all about transformation. Transformation about the narrator.He is transported to kalikot instead of surkhet due to mental change and the father’s death has changed son’s (narrator) life and perspective about father. Karnali blues is not so extraordinary story in itself. It’s based on father and son’s relationship but Buddhisagar’s writing skill is so special that it takes readers through various stages of the novel, which make it remarkable. Buddhisagar was born and brought up in karnali region and he has used all his real life experiences to describe the setting, characters and plots. Buddhi Ram Chapagain, popularly known as Buddhisagar is a leading name in modern Nepali literature. He was born on 2 June 1981 in Kailali district of Nepal. Later his family moved to katase bazzar and finally Kalikot. The novel Karnali Blues is also set in these locations.