Kathmandu

College life is not just confined to studies — along with the responsibility to study, students can get many opportunities to polish their personality and character. Among many other occasions, the birth anniversary celebrations of various literary figures give students an opportunity to remember the icons’ contributions to Nepali literature.

And poem competitions organised on the occasion of Aadikabi Bhanubhakta Acharya’s birth anniversary — Ashar 29 (July 14 this year) — in colleges every year provide the students a platform to showcase their creativity.

However, there are many colleges that do not celebrate such kinds of days. Nevertheless, our college students are positive about celebrating and remembering literary icons of Nepal.

The impact

There are various literary genres and to honour the contributions of the literary figures of those genres, various competitions like poetry recitations, storytelling, debates, et cetera are organised by colleges.

Various clubs of colleges too get busy at this time. And the students’ Nava Srijana Club at Golden Gate International College, Battisputali initiates poetry competition on the occasion of Bhanu Jayanti every year, as per Devi Ram Pandey, Department Head of Extra Curricular Activities at the college.

“It is supported by the college. Such an event is necessary for students to help them unleash their creativity,” he added. Such contests also broaden the students’ knowledge on political, cultural and historical accounts of the country, he opined.

Echoing a similar view, Kiran Pandey, a Class XII student at the Golden Gate International College stated, “Celebrating and remembering literary figures of Nepal help students learn about the initial phase of Nepali literature. It is a kind of knowledge sharing and raising awareness.”

About the need for literary events, Shishir Lal Amatya, BA LLB IInd Year student at Kathmandu School of Law, Bhaktapur expressed, “Literature can be the medium to express one’s inner feelings and it lets one express views and thoughts too.” Amatya’s college often holds debate competitions among others.

But Alisha Basnet, studying in Class XII at National Integrated College, Dillibazar complained, “Our teachers only focus on studies and there are no such extracurricular activities organised for students. However, I believe that through literary competitions like poetry, essay writing and so on, a student can express his/her opinion. It would also open the horizons of getting exposure and experience in creativity.”

Getting inspiration

Being creative in literary field is not everybody’s cup of tea. For those who have it in them, they too need dedication and passion.

And our young college students are inspired by Nepali literary icons like Acharya, Laxmi Prasad Devkota, Bhairav Aryal and so on.

Hari Sharan Aryal, studying BA IInd Year at Gramin Adarsha Multiple Campus, Nepaltar was “inspired by life of Bhanubhakta during my school days. I felt I should be someone like him”. That is why, Aryal too writes poems, essays and ghazals.

Meanwhile, Govinda Bahadur Karki, Campus Chief of Koteshwor Campus, Koteshwor expressed, “Events organised in a college make an impact in the students’ life even after they leave college. And one can even pursue his/her career in a similar field in

the future.”

That is not all, students also get a chance to promote their college through various inter-college poem, story or essay competitions. And such exposures help students build their confidence, as per Pandey.

For those who are interested in literary activities but their colleges do not organise such events, Amatya pointed out, “Those who are interested in literature can do good in the literary field on their own even if the college does not organise such events.”