Book review for the month of March: "Urgenko Ghonda"

Mhendo is in dilemma. In one hand, she has her pride, pride of her ethnicity. She has to fight for her people, for the whole nation. On the other hand, she has to fight for a life, a life which is still inside her and ready to face this world shortly. But she has no choice. She has to choose the latter, with stone in her heart. For this, she has to travel long from one corner of the country to the other. And what more? She has to be careful, for her own safety and for the safety for her child against the state, the state which has been dominating her ethnicity for centuries.

                 

                Yug Pathak, a journalist turned novelist, has brilliantly told the story about a rebel, fighting for her identity. With his magical literary touch on his first novel, 'Urgenko Ghonda', Pathak describes every aspect of 'the people's war' that saw the developmental activities completely ceased for ten years in this poverty stricken country. Yet he puts enough light on the fact that 'the people's war' was inevitable. 

            Mhendo has been seeing this 'white horse' for eight years now. The horse does not leave her alone every time she feels rage over the 'people' who betrayed her race and mercilessly murdered Urgen, a mythical character. The white horse that Mhendo sees in her 'daydreams' is Urgen's horse which was also killed along with its master in the conspiracy. Urgen was a great warrior of Tamang state. But in a battle, he was killed along with his king after being betrayed. His enemies had called him and his king for a treaty. But the enemies had other plans. From that day, the history of Tamang people was erased. They lost their identity as creative ethnicity and as great warriors. The world forgot that Tamang people had their own state and they had their own identity; history. Mhendo is in the search of this lost identity. The only way possible for this was the war against the present state ruled by a bunch of bourgeoisie leaders. For this, she knows that she has to sacrifice all that she has except her willingness to sacrifice for the country. Yet, she is ready for all.

               The novel puts light on every aspects of the 'people's war'. Mhendo's cousin, Dorje was also a rebel, but he revolts against his own party. Mhendo's husband was a soldier, thus was too loyal for the state. But he too revolts and joins 'people's army'. Akash, a rebel, betrays his own army and makes his party a means for accumulating handsome bank account.

             Author Pathak has written the book in a very unique way. The story of Mhendo is written as 'a novel inside the novel'. And, different characters read Mhendo's story in different situations. A poet, a police, three rebel women who gather courage for a jail break and two students all read Mhendo's story in their own respective situations. Pathak has beautifully arranged the situations, making the novel a must read by every patriot. The political arguments made in the novel might seem biased for some. However, I think, after reading this novel, no one can argue that this novel is one of the bests in Nepali literature. One of my must-read recommendations!


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